Placing the amber-bead necklace on the summit of the second-highest mountain on Earth was going to be a death-defying feat.  With years of mountain-climbing experience, Greg Mortenson felt he was capable of conquering the Himalayan giant known as K2. Although Mount Everest is higher, the “savage peak” is widely considered a more difficult climb.

When Mary Johnston Cox arose on a June morning in 1967, she knew it was going to be a life-altering day for her.  She didn’t expect anyone outside her immediate sphere to make any note of it. “People retire every day,” she might have thought as her 43-year teaching career was about to end.

In early October 2005 - mercifully, I cannot recall the exact day, which turned out to be one of literary infamy - I was given Charles A. Taormina’s “Gratuity” to review. After I had recovered from the trauma of reading it, honesty prompted me to describe the book as “Â…the worst, the most pretentious, most unliterary, self-infatuating book I have ever read.”

As a species, humanity has proved to be resilient, at least so far. But on a molecular level, individual to individual, few of us make it through life without some emotional damage.

Mannheim Steamroller has carved out its own Grammy Award-winning musical niche with a combination of high-tech advances and old-school expertise. Tonight, Charlottesville fans can head to the John Paul Jones Arena to hear - and see - how the combination not only stood the test of time, but stayed on a merry, inventive path of creating new sounds.

As the United States neared its 200th birthday, a patriotic fervor swept the country.  Everything from mailboxes to fire hydrants was being painted red, white and blue. The U.S. Treasury minted Bicentennial coins, and the Freedom Train chugged through all 48 contiguous states carrying more than 500 pieces of Americana, such as the dress Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” and George Washington’s copy of the Constitution.

Nikolaj Znaider isn’t concerned about boredom when he encounters a familiar composition. That’s because the Danish-Israeli violinist knows that he will discover something new each time.

PVCC student art show tempts with chocolate The annual exhibit of works by Piedmont Virginia Community College art students opens with a reception from 5 to 7 this evening in the PVCC Gallery. The exhibit runs through April 19.

Philadanco is heading to the Paramount Theater at 8 p.m. Thursday for a show that was postponed by winter weather.  The Philadelphia Dance Company has been entertaining audiences for 38 years with a blend of African-American-based movement with ballet, jazz and modern dance.

The University of Virginia Department of Drama is presenting a new play by UVa associate professor of playwriting Doug Grissom.

The New Music Ensemble will present an evening of the latest compositions at 8 tonight in Cabell Hall Auditorium at the University of Virginia.  The ensemble, directed by Kate Tamarkin, Matthew Burtner and Ted Coffey, includes instrumentalists, singers and faculty members who bring today’s music to audiences.

Play On! - A New Virginia Theatre will open its latest production, “Impossible Marriage’’ by Beth Henley, at 8 p.m. Thursday in the troupe’s Theatre at Ix.

The thrill isn’t gone for the Charlottesville Pavilion, because blues legend B.B. King is one of the performers slated for the venue’s new season.  Kirby Hutto, the Pavilion’s general manager, announced the lineup for the first part of the 2008 Budweiser Concert Series and the first half of the Fridays After Five summer concert season on Wednesday morning.

Edna-Jakki Miller had no idea she’d started a journey of choreography and growth when she casually picked up a CD from a bookstore rack. This weekend, that simple act will come full circle.  When Experience Dance Theatre presents its fourth annual concert, “Move,’’ at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at DanceFit Movement Center, audiences will be able to see the dancers perform “Full Circle.’’

Kirby Hutto, the Pavilion’s general manager, announced the lineup for the first part of the 2008 Budweiser Concert Series and the first half of the Fridays After Five summer concert season on Wednesday morning.

They’ve been pioneering their trendsetting bluegrass style for more than 35 years, and despite what their moniker might suggest, D.C.-based The Seldom Scene are still on the road, playing shows and spreading their sound across America.

The perpetual cacophony and constant motion of a rock band’s life on the road doesn’t exactly provide the best “feng shui” to do meaningful songwriting.

There is power in simplicity. There is power in good storytelling.  Had those been enough for Clinton Johnston, who directed Suzan-Lori Parks play “In the Blood,” currently running at Live Arts, he’d have had a much more powerful production to give us.  Johnston’s director’s notes show that he understands the power of the story. But it seems that in his love for the playwright’s works, he has tried too hard to give it embellishments it doesn’t need, while neglecting some basics.

Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933. Congress approved public works programs to put Americans back to work during the Great Depression.

If you’ve glanced at those signs around downtown that look vaguely like a Ouija board without reading them, stop a moment.  They’re there to tell you about Offstage Theatre’s 20th anniversary show, which is being performed a year early. Offstage has never been a stickler for convention.

4:51 p.m. Van Halen has rescheduled all of the previously postponed dates on its North American tour, and the show at Charlottesville’s John Paul Jones Arena has been rescheduled for May 2.

Raymond Spitler remembers very little about his dad. He was just five years old when the World War II draft called his father to duty.

The flipside of the inch-thick piece of heart pine paneling wasn’t expected to see the light of day for at least a century.

Last week’s column focused on actor Laurence Hugo, who spent a lot of time at his Nelson County summer home.

Sometimes, if you want young people’s minds to grasp big ideas, you have to allow their hands to grasp them as well.

It feels like spring - let’s go out and play. This feeling echoes through young and old alike at this time of year.  If you do like the outdoors, this is a particularly good time of year to check out the Outdoor Adventure Social Club. Now 240 members strong, this club, which is celebrating its fourth anniversary this month, features loads of activities - outside and inside.

We remember the main characters of a great play or movie. Yet, the plot can hinge on one or more relatively minor cast members. Do we understand the roles we play in the masterpiece God is writing, producing, and directing through our lives-

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Barbara Bailey Hutchison will be performing 8 p.m. Saturday for the Barking Cherry House Concert Series.  Hutchison performs music geared for grownups and for children. Most folks, however, are familiar with her voice for another style of music - she’s the voice behind hundreds of commercials.  Television viewers have heard her sing in commercials for McDonald’s, Heinz, Hallmark Cards and other national brands.