Month: June 2006

Categories
Arts

Online and doing fine


As the music business continues to inch toward the digital age, both on-line promotion and music downloading seem as inevitable as pizza delivery. Of course, with digital downloading (just like home-delivered pizza), what you lose in sonic quality is reimbursed in convenience.
    Lauren Hoffman is due back in town this week after trekking around France in support of her new CD, Choreography. She says things are going well for her, in part due to the discovery of her music by pop band Fall Out Boy’s bassist Peter Wentz. Wentz, who took to one of Hoffman’s early songs, “Fall Away,” has been writing about Hoffman on the band’s website, fall outboyrock.com. And since he took up her cause, Hoffman has received 500 to 1,000 e-mails, many from 15-year-old girls, who want to be added to Hoffman’s Myspace page. And while these fans may not know her music yet (which is quite different from Fall Out Boy’s punk-pop), the resulting buzz could help Hoffman’s CD get released in the States. In Hoffman’s view, that means Myspace is working, because “it helps make the distinction between local and national matter less.” It could also help local bands Bella Morte and Sarah White, who are both prominent on Hoffman’s Myspace page. Bella Morte and David Sickmen open for Hoffman at the Gravity Lounge this Thursday night, June 15.
    As for downloading music, Hoffman says she buys a lot of music from iTunes, and—although she gets handed a lot of music backstage at shows—she tries not to download music for free online. She is in a position to feel the impact directly. “When people get my music off the Web for free, I am less likely to come and play for them live, because the industry takes no notice of [free downloads] at all.”

Coincidentally this week, it was reported that songs from Radio-head singer Thom Yorke’s new solo CD have already been leaked, one month prior to the release date. Of course, it seems unlikely that Yorke’s sales will be affected much—unless the album is, in fact, really crappy, and word of mouth kills it.
    Our own great power pop band, Sun Domingo, played Starr Hill this past weekend, and the band’s Edgel Groves says that “digital is our main thing right now.” Groves says that he met 10 people at the Starr Hill gig who showed up solely because of their Myspace presence, and that, on a recent tour swing through Kansas, many of the fans came out to see the band for the same reason. Groves says the Myspace magic is “about making a connection.”
    As for selling their music, Groves says that Sun Domingo would like to see their CD in stores, but for now they are content to offer digital downloads, both free and for sale, at Myspace and Disclogic.com. Groves goes on to say that “we are not living in an album age right now. We are living in a singles age. I think very few people could come up with a concept album these days. But I am really about the singles.” Sun Domingo will be back in town at the Outback in July.
    If you are not aware of the band (who started life here musically as Wisher), you’ll have more opportunities to check them out, as the group recently returned to Charlottesville from Atlanta. One
of the reasons for the band’s energy
and great songs was guitarist Forrest Burtnette, who just parted ways with the group this past month. He says that the band’s 250 dates a year on the road wore him down, and he is now looking to do other things.

Categories
Living

Restaurant Gossip

First things first: Bodo’s founder Brian Fox has sold the venerable 20-year-old bagel business to his three general managers, Connie Jenson, John Kokola and Scott Smith. Fox lays out the whole story himself on page 42—but definitely stay tuned to this space in coming weeks for more behind-the-bagel coverage.

It’s just a little pot

Restaurantarama believes in democracy. After all, we vote with our dollars every time we choose one eatery’s pig feet over another’s paella. And, being hedonistic types, we like democracy best when it’s entertaining, as it was during City Council’s comedic June 5 debate
about some pot. Er, the Melting Pot. (Which, as previously reported, is a franchise fondue restaurant coming soon to the Holsinger Building on Water Street.) Fortunately for you, our dear cheese-addled readers, we were there to observe the scene as the democratic process melted down.
       See, the Melting Pot wants to put up a wall sign with a logo representing a fondue pot. But the Board of Architectural Review nixed the sign in April. Says BAR member and Downtown businesswoman Amy Gardner, who represented the board to Council, “We find the image of the logo to be decorative, embellished and effusive,” meaning it doesn’t match the clean, modern building. Thus, says Gardner, the sign doesn’t meet the zoning guidelines BAR enforces, nor does it fit in with its neighbors on Water and Fifth streets. And it’s too damn big.
       The Melting Pot appealed to Council, and here’s where the circus began. Council discussed this issue for no less than 53 minutes.  During that time, the following events occurred: 1) Out of turn, Councilor Rob Schilling tried (over the pointed objections of Mayor
David Brown) to introduce a motion to approve the sign as submitted.  He failed, but did manage to get this very odd sentence entered into the public record: “I’d be happy to entertain your ignoring it.” Um, thanks, Rob. We’re feeling happy, too. 2) Council proved its
leadership on font-size issues. 3) Famously verbose Councilor Blake Caravati slipped in a pun on “gaudy” (as in the Melting Pot sign) and “Gaudi” (as in Antoni, the Spanish architect).
       Gardner says that the fact that Melting Pot is a chain was not part of the BAR’s discussion, but she does believe that, like any locally owned business, “They need to contribute if they’re going to take advantage of what the Downtown Mall has to offer.” Melting Pot franchisee Chad Hornik, who’s currently based in Richmond, professes great respect for Charlottesville’s jealously guarded charm. “I love the way Downtown looks,” he says, sounding hurt that anyone would suggest otherwise (and annoyed that the Melting Pot’s opening will be, if not delayed, more complicated).
       In the end, the discussion was tabled until Council’s next meeting on June 19, giving Councilors another chance to showcase their cheesy opinions. As long as there’s nothing good on TV that night, Restaurantarama will be there. Look for our totally nonpartisan picket sign: “Logo or not, we want the pot!”

Smoking

Until very recently, hookah aficionados have mostly congregated at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. Now they have another option: Basil, the Mediterranean place on 14th Street. Owner Raif Antar is offering hookahs between 2 and 6pm, when—let’s face it—there’s really nothing better to do than smoke mango-flavored tobacco, eat mezzes and jabber on with your friends. Antar hopes to attract a diverse crowd: “students, people from the [UVA] hospital, professionals who want to run away from the office, wives running away from their husbands.” Physicians and harried spouses, take note.

Categories
Living

True grits

If over 20 of your favorite local restaurants, bars and food shops joined with wine and beer purveyors to offer samples of their wares under one roof, you’d be hard-pressed to find an excuse not to go, right? And, if 100 percent of the proceeds benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, there should be no stopping you. Well, if you’re reading this on Tuesday, June 13, you should grab your appetite and a few friends and head over to UVA’s Sponsors Hall from 5:30pm to 8:30pm for “Taste This! 2006.” To give you a mouth-watering preview, we asked one of the participants, Innkeeper Alan Pyles of The Lafayette Inn in Stanardsville, to share the recipe for one of the dishes they’ll have on hand. Kindly, Pyles chose the most amateur-chef-friendly entrée, the Inn’s Shrimp and Grits. Grits, of course, are a Southern tradition—and The Lafayette Inn knows tradition, believe me. Built in 1840, the Federalist-style brick building on Main Street in Stanardsville has housed a hotel, restaurant, boarding house, Civil War hospital, telephone exchange and local newspaper.  Now open for overnight guests and hungry diners, the Inn acts as the local coffee house in the mornings, a weekday lunch spot from 11:30am to 2:30pm (with brunch on Sundays), and a romantic dining choice from 5 to 9pm Wednesdays through Sundays. So try this recipe at home, and let Pyles know how you did at Taste This! (Tickets are $40 at the door. Get more info at www.brafb.org.) —Pam Jiranek

Lafayette Shrimp and Grits

8 21/25ct shrimp
1/4 cup purple onion, sliced
1/4 cup yellow and green bell pepper strips
1 oz. Southern Comfort
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup prepared fresh stone ground grits (The Inn’s grit recipe can be found at
TheLafayette.com)
1 tbs. clarified butter

Place pan on high heat, then add clarified butter. Toss in shrimp and sauté. When shrimp begin to turn opaque, add peppers and onion, and toss. As the vegetables begin to melt, remove from heat and add Southern Comfort. Return to heat and flambé. As flambé dies down, add BBQ sauce and simmer for 1 minute.
       To serve, place a scoop of grits in the center of a soup plate; arrange shrimp (tails up) on grits. Place onions and peppers in the center. Drizzle sauce along outside. Serves “one hungry client.”

Categories
Uncategorized

Other news we heard last week

Tuesday, June 6

Allen a little late to the party

And now this from the Better-Late-Than-Never Department: The UVA men’s lacrosse team won the 2006 NCAA Division 1 Championship! They capped an exciting season with a precedent-setting perfect record. And, it all happened…last month! Never one to turn down a ride on the bandwagon, however, Republican Senator George Allen drafted a resolution today to congratulate Dom Starsia’s squad. The lengthy call to action, replete with seven “whereas clauses” concludes thus: “Resolved, That the Senate— (1) congratulates the University of Virginia Cavaliers men’s lacrosse team for winning the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I National Championship; (2) recognizes the achievements of Head Coach Dom Starsia, Assistant Coaches Marc Van Arsdale and Hannon Wright, and all the team’s players; and (3) directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to Dom Starsia of the National Champion University of Virginia Cavaliers and a copy to the University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III.” Check the mail in September, kids!

Pilot makes new friends in the military

Gas, check. Pilot, check. Toothbrush, check. Permission to fly through restricted airspace—oops! Reuters reports today that a private Cessna 182 attempted to fly through a restricted airfield around Washington, D.C., without first asking permission. The plane was on its way to Charlottesville from Philadelphia when two F-16 fighter jets intercepted it and escorted it to an airport in Maryland.

Wednesday, June 7

Warner defends a free
superhighway

Always a cutting-edge kind of guy when it comes to new technologies, former Virginia Governor (and unofficial presidential hopeful) Mark Warner posted a minute-and-a-half video today on YouTube.com, the website that lets users upload their own videos. Under the aegis of Forward Together (his money-raising Political Action Committee), Warner used the video to defend Internet neutrality, a hot topic that goes before Congress this month. Citing his experience with technology and business, Warner—who made his fortune in the nascent mobile telecommunications industry—argued that the Web must be kept “free and open.”

Thursday, June 8

Another 10 for Zimmerman

It’s so satisfying when we can get our favorite local baseball hero in to these pages without contrivance. Thanks, Washington Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden, for announcing in today’s Washington Post that your team plans to keep Ryan Zimmerman at third base for the next decade. Zimmerman, for the cave-dwellers who have just joined us, is the stand-out rookie and former UVA star whose diving plays and all-around defensive prowess has oft been compared to another great, Brooks Robinson.

Tinsley gets into the, er, swing of things

Rolling Stone reports in its current issue (which also includes Robert F. Kennedy’s charge that the Bushies stole the 2004 election) that Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley, a humongous tennis enthusiast, has composed the theme music for ESPN2’s coverage of Wimbledon, which is slated to start on June 25.

Friday, June 9

And in other DMB news…

The current issue of Spin goes where few music mags dare wander—into the brave new world of celebrity-endorsed wines. There they discover our own Dave Matthews’ Blenheim Vineyards Meritage 2004. And what do the (apparently surnameless) judges have to say about the vintage? “I like this one and I enjoy the smell,” “Melissa” offers. Says “Lane,” “Didn’t he used to be an alcoholic? I don’t think owning a vineyard is a good idea.” The Dave’s wine earned two stars, lagging behind the three stars awarded to Madonna’s Confessions Cabernet Sauvignon and the four stars earned by Mariah Carey’s Mendocino Ridge Zinfandel 2002.

Saturday, June 10

Belmonters can’t hear music, feel better

WCAV reports that the static has subsided over the noise emanating from concerts at the Pavilion, which last year caused one angry Belmonter to declare to City Council that she’d prefer to hear gunshots at night than the Pavilion music. (With the Spin Doctors on last year’s lineup, we can totally understand!)

Sunday, June 11

CHS girls take first loss in championship

They dominated all season, never dropping a single game, but somebody had to lose in the Group AA State Championship and, unfortunately, it was the Charlottesville High School girls’ soccer squad. After posting a 21-0 season, the girls fell to Hidden Valley, 3-2. The scene was tearful as play ended, according to today’s (impressively florid) Daily Progress: “When the final whistle blew, it looked less like a soccer game and more like a funeral procession as the reality of the first loss and the realization of the season’s end pummeled the Black Knights.” But with only four seniors leaving the team, prospects are bright for next year.

Monday, June 12

And your mama dresses you funny

Thongs and midriff shirts for 9-year-olds? What is this, Pretty Baby? In today’s Staunton News Leader, UVA psychologist Joseph Allen encourages parents to resist the mighty trend to outfit their little girls like hookers. “I don’t think parents need to be concerned if their children are asking about these types of clothing because it’s such a part of the culture,” he says. “But they should definitely say no because it treats kids as adults and robs them of their childhood.”

Categories
Arts

Enchanting April


April Johnson-Bynes was considering med school, but when she won the school talent show in fourth grade as a singer, she began to think, “Well, maybe I can do this.” She claims to have received her musical ability from her father, though it obviously runs in the whole family—she sang in the church choir with her mother and grandmother. April was part of a girl group, a la Destiny’s Child, in middle school, and graduated from the  performing arts high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Impressivley, she sang back-up for both Sheena Easton and Roberta Flack when they came through her hometown. As a student at North Carolina A&T, she began stepping outside of gospel and R&B and exploring classical voice. As director of the choral and theater programs at William Monroe High School, Ms. Johnson-Bynes  performs at Ash Lawn, and last month she gave a rousing performance at The Paramount Theater. She would very much like to sing at some of the larger venues, and ultimately has her sights set on The Kennedy Center.

Spencer Lathrop: The Paramount?
April Johnson-Bynes: The performance was intended to commemorate the Third Street entrance, which was the African-American entrance before the theater was integrated. I tried to cover the timeline of the African- American experience in this country. I sang Mozart, Brahms and Copland, and then went into negro spirituals, to hymns, then into jazz. Johnathan Spivey is my accompanist and my right-hand man.

Vocalists?
For classical vocalists, I would say Leontyne Price, because I love her style. And I like Denyce Graves. For jazz, I like Billie Holiday. I studied her life and music when I was in college. The first time I heard her was her tune “Strange Fruit.” And I like Nina Simone for her versatility. I especially like her protest songs, like “Mississippi Goddam” and “I Hold No Grudge.” My idol is Aretha Franklin. I try to buy all of her records. And I like singers from the neo-soul era, like Anthony Hamilton. I like the Marvin Gaye sound, concientious music.

Composers?
I love Aaron Copland. I performed “Shall We Gather By The River” from his American Songs at the Paramount. I really fell in love with his music while I was in college. His songs are so calming. I love Brahms. His love songs are so beautiful. And I love Beethoven because his style is so fiery. 

By Spencer Lathrop
pluggedin@c-ville.com

Categories
Arts

Film Reviews

A Prairie Home Companion

PG-13, 105 minutes
Opens Friday at Vinegar Hill Theatre

    Minnesotans don’t like to draw attention to themselves, and the man who’s been pointing that out for over 30 years—drawing oodles of attention to both him and them in the process—plays the emcee in A Prairie Home Companion, Robert Altman’s cockeyed salute to a radio program that seems like it’s been around as long as radio itself. In a role he was born to play (literally), Garrison Keillor lumbers on and off the stage of the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, launching into one shaggy-dog story after another, whether he’s on the air or not. And it isn’t entirely clear how we’re supposed to take him. As a sage? A windbag? Both? The conceit is that it’s the show’s last night (the theater having been bought by a Texas conglomerate that intends to turn it into a parking lot). Keillor and his guests, played by such luminaries as Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, are ghosts. They just don’t know it.
    Improvising to beat the band, just as they did at this year’s Oscar telecast before handing Altman a Lifetime Achievement Award, Streep and Tomlin are the Johnson Sisters, Yolanda and Rhonda—all that’s left of what used to be a quartet. They still perform, but something’s clearly missing. Yolanda seems sad and tired, and Rhonda seems bitter. And like everybody else in the movie, they’re stuck in the past, swapping stories they’ve swapped so many times before that even they don’t remember who actually told them first. Alas, the stories don’t add up to much. We assume we’re being led somewhere, but we’re not. Altman’s always worked by indirection, finding his way to a theme and allowing us to find our own way—but he seems to have lost his sense of direction here. Although it’s based (loosely, one assumes) on a script by Keillor, the movie never gels. It feels like a first draft.
    And yet, as with any first draft, there are things worth keeping.  Duded up to look like they’d be perfectly at home on the range, Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly give faces to those longtime “Prairie Home” companions, Dusty and Lefty. And unlike Streep and Tomlin, these two could actually pass as a singing act: Their crusty voices conjure the very essence of popping open a can of beans while sitting around the campfire. But they’re given even less of a storyline than the sisters—although they still manage to break out with a bad-joke routine that turns out to be something of a showstopper. Also nice to have around (although he perhaps belongs in a different movie) is Kevin Kline as Guy Noir, the private eye who’s read too many Mickey Spillane novels. Now in charge of security, Kline’s Guy combines The Thin Man’s Nick Charles and The Pink Panther’s Inspector Clouseau—a bumbling fool with a certain debonair air. He, more than most, actually justifies Keillor having given flesh to what has heretofore been a figment of his imagination.
    Don’t expect any news from Lake Wobegon, though; Keillor is content to play a minor role in his own show (although there’s something in there about him and Yolanda having once kept the firelights burning, if you know what I mean). One wishes that Keillor and Altman had taken all these hints and turned them into something. The movie might well have been a worthy follow-up to Altman’s Nashville, which it resembles in certain ways. But Nashville, set during the American bicentennial, cast its net across the entire country, capturing the sense of doom that followed in the wake of all those political assassinations. A Prairie Home Companion, by comparison, seems stuck— hermetically sealed—in that old Fitzgerald Theater (and in the past).
    It’s about a show that was old-fashioned even when newly fashioned —“on the air since Jesus was in third grade,” as Keillor likes to say. And, for better or for worse, it goes out the same way it came in: not with a bang but with a whimper.

The Break-Up

PG-13, 106 minutes
Now playing at Regal Downtown
Cinema 6

    The Break-Up is billing itself as an “anti-romantic comedy,” so it shouldn’t surprise us when Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston spend the entire movie trying to make each other’s life a living hell.
    Think War of the Roses, only with a couple that just got together five minutes ago. Vaughn’s a guy’s guy, the kind that would like to put a pool table in the living room. Aniston is… Well, she’s basically Rachel again—sweet, spunky, skin the color of a perfectly roasted marshmallow Rachel. But here, to fit the movie’s contrived conceit, she has a preference for ballet over Nine Ball. Because, you know, opposites attract, right? Of course, before we know it, matrimony has given way to acrimony, but (what’re the chances?) neither party is willing to move out of their fabulous Chicago condo. Mayhem predictably ensues—as in War of the Roses, possession is apparently nine-tenths of the brawl.
    Directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On), The Break-Up is being hammered by critics. But it’s often funny (albeit sometimes uncomfortably so).
    And there’s something so… refreshing about how far it’s willing to go to make us both laugh and cringe. Call it a date movie for those who, unbeknownst to their partner, have been planning a break-up of their own.

Categories
Arts

Featured events

music
Red Stick Ramblers mine the musical history of Louisiana—blues, zydeco, bluegrass and Cajun—and mix it up with traditional ’20s and ’30s jazz as they tour for their fourth album, Right Key, Wrong Keyhole. This young quintet has très strong instrumental and songwriting chops—their tight Western swing will have you saying, “Laissez les bon temps roulez!” Jolie Fille opens. At Gravity Lounge, Tuesday, June 13. $10, 8pm.

etc.
Imagine Jack Kerouac’s On
the Road being created on 8mm film instead of that infamous 120′-long scroll of typing paper. The Summer Film Series at Art Across the Bridge offers such a glimpse. See The Cut-Ups, a radical piece that adapts William S. Burroughs’ unique cut-and-paste writing method to the big screen. Christopher Maclaine’s The End, an experimental flick
showing five different people on the last day of their lives, also shows. Wednesday, June 14. $4, 8pm. 209 Monticello Rd. www.thebridgepai.com.

etc.
It’s fish-fry time with the “save the fishes” folk. River lovers and landlubbers alike can attend the first annual Rivanna River Regatta and Fish Fry. Activities include a canoe and kayak race, leisurely river activities, an outdoor concert and, of course, a fish fry
with all the fixins. Don’t forget to bring the guppies. Sponsored by the Rivanna Conservation Society. At Darden Towe Park, Saturday, June 17. $5-10, 12pm.

etc.
People all over the country (and the world) celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of American slavery. Held around every June 19, the holiday marks the 1865 date that Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended (a full two-and-a-half years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation). This year, PVCC presents a tribute to black baseball in Virginia, an African Village, hands-on activities for children, re-enactments, food, art, and a special performance by the Kusun Ensemble, from Ghana, West Africa. It’s all happening in the
V. Earl Dickson Building at PVCC. Friday, June 16, 6pm; Saturday, June 17, 11am-4pm. 961-5372.

Music
On Thursday, June 15, The Blue Ridge Irish Music School brings the first of many (we hope) events to the former Prism space at 214 Rugby Rd. Chulrua, Paddy O’Brien, Patrick Ourceau and Pat Egan deliver virtuoso Irish fiddling,
button accordion squeezing and emotive guitar playing. Workshops before the concert include Irish guitar accompaniment, songs
and fiddle—as a bonus, each is offered by a member of the band. Call to register for
workshops. Concert: $12, 8pm. Blue Ridge Irish Music School. 214 Rugby Rd. 263-6288.

get listed

Fax: 434-817-2758
E-mail: getoutnow@c-ville.com
art@c-ville.com
classes@c-ville.com
dance@c-ville.com
film@c-ville.com
kids@c-ville.com
music@c-ville.com
outdoors@c-ville.com
stage@c-ville.com
words@c-ville.com
or
C-VILLE Weekly
106 E. Main St.
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Deadline:
5pm on Tuesday one week
prior to publication.
Include date, time, venue (with street address),
price, contact information including phone number, and a brief description of your event, class or workshop.

High resolution, good quality photos are
strongly encouraged.

Categories
Uncategorized

A rotating listing of classes, workshops and ongoing events

TryTHISNOW

Acting for Film 1144 E. Market St., Suite C. 977-1371. Offers acting for film classes with Emmy Award-winning director David Webster every Tuesday and Wednesday, 5-6:30pm. $150 per month.

Albemarle Therapy 1102 Rose Hill Dr. 979-8628. Offers an open gym/indoor playground for children 4 years or younger, with parental supervision, every Monday and Wednesday, 9:30-11am. $3.

Craft Attack at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library 201 E. Market St. 979-7151. For ages 8-11, ease summer boredom with crafts, every Thursday through July 27, 4pm. Registration required.

Creative Dance for Children 206 W. Market St. 823-4454. Every Tuesday at Studio 206: “Par-ents and Waddlers,” ages 8 months to 18 months, 9am; “Parents and Toddlers,” ages 18 months to 4 years, 10 and 11am. $90 for eight weeks.

Creative Learning After School and in the Sum-mer (CLASS) Program 1000 Belmont Ave. 245-2501. Offers daily after-school programs for Charlottesville elementary students, 3-5:30pm. Fees based on income.

DanceFit Movement Center 609 E. Market St., Studio 110. 295-4774. www.njira.com/dancefit. Holds KidsFit classes every Saturday for ages 3-7, 10:30am; KidsDance for ages 8-12, 11:30am. $10 per class.

Drop-In Storytime at Gordon Avenue Library 1500 Gordon Ave. 296-5544. A half hour of stories and songs designed for ages 3 through 5, all ages welcome, every Saturday through June 10, 11am.

Family Connections 1025 Park St. 296-4118. Offers parenting classes and workshops on a range of topics, such as “Surviving the Teen Years,” Thursdays, 6:30-7pm, $15; workshops Saturdays for parents of children up to age 6, 10:30am-noon, free. Registration required.

Family Focus Tours at Michie Tavern 683 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy (Route 53). 977-1234. Tours include treasure hunts, costumes and more (call for daily activities), 11am-3pm. Free for local residents, otherwise $6-8.

Family Storytime at Jefferson-Madison Region-al Library 201 E. Market St. 979-7151. Every Wednesday, 30 minutes of stories, rhymes and songs for kids under 6 with an adult. 11:30am.

FootNotes Music & Dance Studio 2363 Com-monwealth Dr. 242-0605. www.footnotesstudio. com. Offers classes of Kindermusik and dance classes for ages newborn to 8 years. Visit website for schedule and details.

Kindermusik with Miss Dana 245-9888. dana craster@yahoo.com. Licensed Kindermusik educator offers classes for infants, toddlers, young children and combined age groups. Registra-tion required. $48.

Kindermusik with Pam 823-2387. kmusikwith pam@aol.com. Licensed Kindermusik educator offers “Village” classes (newborns to 18 months) every Tuesday, 9:15am, and every Wednesday, 10:30am; “Our Time” classes for 18 months to 3 1/2 years every Wednesday, 9:15am, and every Friday, 10:30am. $65-195.

Light House Studio Classes 121 E. Water St. 293-6992. www.lighthousestudio.org. Offers film and video camps, including directing and video as art. Call for schedule and times.

Magic School Bus After School Science Club at Virginia Discovery Museum 574 E. Main St. 977-1025. www.vadm.org. Kids ages 4 through 7 use science in weekly themed hands-on activities. Every Thursday, 4-4:45pm. Free for members, public $4.

Monticello Tours for Children and their Fam-ilies 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy. 984-9822. Monticello.org. Hands-on opportunities and tours for children ages 6-11. Every day (except July 4) until September 4, 10am, 11am, noon, 1pm and 3pm. Call for ticket information.

Mother Goose Time at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library 201 E. Market St. 979-7151. Every Monday through July 24, a program of stories, rhymes and songs with a caregiver for prewalkers, 10am, and children under 2 who are walking, 11am. Free.

Old Michie Theatre and Drama Camp 221 E. Water St. 977-3690. www.oldmichie.com. Offers student performances every Friday and drama instruction and puppetry arts, 11:30am and 2pm. $1.

Preschool Power at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library 201 E. Market St. 979-7151. Through July 27, a program of stories and songs for 3- through 5-year-olds without adults or younger siblings every Thursday, 11:30am.

Preschool Storytime at Barnes & Noble Bar-racks Road Shopping Center. 984-0461. Meets every Wednesday and Thursday, 10:30am.

Preschool Storytime at Crozet Library 5791 Three Notch’d Rd. 823-4050. Every Thursday through May 11, a half hour of stories, songs and more for the preschool set, ages 3 through 5, 10:30am. Registration requested.

Preschool Storytime at Northside Library 300 Albemarle Sq. 973-7893. Through July 26: A half hour of stories, songs and finger plays for 3- through 5-year-olds to enjoy without parents. Every Wednesday, 11am, and every Thursday, 10:15am. Registration required.

Saturday Morning at the Movies at Gordon Ave. Library 1500 Gordon Ave. 296-5544. Every Saturday, a different movie for kids. Preschool-ers should be accompanied. 11am. Free.

Step-Up Stories at Northside Library 300 Albe-marle Sq. 973-7893. Every Monday through July 24, stories for school-aged children, 2:30pm. Free, registration required.

Storybook Dance at Virginia Discovery Mu-seum 574 E. Main St. 977-1025. www.vadm. org. Kids ages 2 through 6 play their favorite storybook characters and develop motor skills. Every Friday, 10:30am & 11:30am. Free for members, public $4.

Tales for Twos at Crozet Library 5791 Three Notch’d Rd. 823-4050. Every Thursday through May 11, a program of rhymes, songs, stories and finger plays for ages 2 through 3 and parents, 9:30am. Registration requested.

Toddler Time at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library 201 E. Market St. 979-7151. Every Thursday, a program specially for 2-year-olds with stories, songs and finger plays, 10am. Registration required.

Watercolor classes for preschoolers with Lee Alter at Wee-Ville 218C W. Water St. 963-0540. www.leealter.com. See website for schedule, $145.

Wonderful Wednesdays at Gordon Ave. Library 1500 Gordon Ave. 296-5544. Every Wednes-day, from June 21-Aug. 2, enjoy a different activity and entertainment, for kids of all ages, 3pm. Registration required.

Woodworking Classes 3244 Old Lynchburg Rd. 929-1220. Offers woodworking classes for kids. Contact Judy for more information on winter offerings.

Young Readers Book Club at Barnes & Noble Barracks Road Shopping Center. 984-0461. For children ages 8 to 12, meets the fourth Friday of the month, 7pm.

Categories
Arts

Short film blurbs

The Break-Up (PG-13, 106 minutes) Reviewed in this issue.  Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Cars (G, 116 minutes) Now that Pixar and Disney are playing nice, the never-miss computer animation firm revs up the engine on its latest family outing. We’ve got a cocky stock car (voiced by Owen Wilson) who gets sidetracked on the way to a big race and ends up in tiny Radiator Springs. Busted for speeding, he’s sentenced to community service, and soon learns the meaning of friendship and respect. The premise sounds like Pixar’s weakest, but director John Lasseter (Toy Story) keeps things bouncy, fun and sweetly nostalgic. All-star voice cast includes George Carlin, Bob Costas, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Keaton, Paul Newman and Larry the Cable Guy. (Devin O’Leary) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

The Da Vinci Code (PG-13, 149 minutes) Ron Howard’s movie version of Dan Brown’s religious-mystery novel, in which a Harvard professor (Tom Hanks) and a Parisian cryptographer (Audrey Tautou) try to track down the Holy Grail while being pursued by a crazed albino monk (Paul Bettany), fails to get a decent spook going, à la The Exorcist or The
Omen. Howard has illustrated the book beautifully, but he hasn’t wrestled with it, made it his own. (Kent Williams)  Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (PG-13) Vin Diesel, having long lost any level of relevance to this fast-moving film franchise, is here replaced by Lucas Black, the kid from Sling Blade. But, really, who cares which humans are involved so long as you’ve got a tricked-out Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX to ogle? Black plays a troubled teen who heads to Tokyo to live with his military uncle officer. There, he falls into the world of underground street racing. The film is rated PG-13 for “reckless and illegal behavior involving teens.” In other words, it’s gonna be a huge hit with high schoolers. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (PG) You have no one to blame but yourself for this, people. Garfield goes to England where a case of mistaken cat-identity has him inheriting a castle. There, he runs afoul of the scheming Lord Dargis (played by a no-doubt embarrassed Billy Connolly) who wants the estate all for himself. I realize you spent $75 million on the first movie, America, but I’m confident you regret that now. Think of this as a bad first date you’re embarrassed you slept with. Just avert your eyes as you pass the theater and pretend you can’t see it. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

The Lake House (PG) Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (finally! a Speed reunion!) come together again for this romantic mystery, a remake of a beautiful if confusing Korean film. Bullock plays a lonely doctor who begins exchanging letters with a frustrated architect (Reeves). Turns out that Bullock and Reeves are actually living in the same lakeside vacation home, but exist two years apart and are communicating through a magical mailbox. …I told you it was confusing. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

Mission: Impossible III (PG-13, 126 minutes) J.J. Abrams (the guy behind “Alias” and “Lost”) takes over as director for this third outing. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Laurence Fishburne, Keri Russell, Billy Crudup and Philip Seymour Hoffman (doing bad guy duty) make up the impressive cast list. Unfortunately, it’s scripted by the guys who wrote The Island. As in previous Impossible outings, the plot is baroque to the point of nonsensical. The explosions look pretty, though. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Nacho Libre (PG) From the makers of Napoleon Dynamite comes this equally odd comedy about a cook (Jack Black) at a Mexican orphanage, who moonlights as a masked wrestler to save his adopted home from foreclosure. The story is simple, and the humor is pretty low key, but Black gives it his all, delivering a surprisingly dexterous performance. (D.O.) Coming Friday; check local listings

The Omen (R, 95 minutes) The 1976 shocker The Omen is really just a slasher film dolled up in Biblical raiment. But it’s still a damnably entertaining movie. Naturally, we required no remake; but we’ve got one anyway, once again documenting a clueless Washington family who seems to have given birth to the Antichrist. The cast (including Liev Schreiber, Julia Styles, Mia Farrow and Pete Postlethwaite) takes things seriously, and the direction is notably slick. Still, the script apes the original almost note for note, making this feel like a cover album of your favorite band—good if only for of the familiarity, but not nearly as memorable as the original. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Over the Hedge (PG, 96 minutes) An all-star voice cast (Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte) lends its talents to this CGI toon adaptation of the popular newspaper comic strip. Willis plays a mischievous raccoon who helps his forest buddies adapt to the encroaching sprawl of suburbia. The animation is fluid and the writing has a bit more spark than most of the recent computer toons we’ve been subjected to (The Wild). From the director of Antz. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

Poseidon (PG-13) Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss star in a big-budget remake of 1972 shipwreck movie The Poseidon Adventure, combining our fear of drowning with our fear of tight spaces. Director Wolfgang Petersen’s in too much of a hurry, keeping all the deaths at a distance. (K.W.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

A Prairie Home Companion (PG-13, 105 minutes) Reviewed on page 46. Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre

RV (PG) Steve Martin must have been busy, because it’s fallen to Robin Williams to star in this pathetic, plotless excuse for a “family” comedy. Williams stars as a hapless dad who tries to pass off a business trip to Colorado as a family vacation. Along the way, the annoying clan has lots of wacky misadventures in a rented RV. That’s it, folks. Williams was starting to get annoying on screen, now he’s just sad. Go rent National Lampoon’s Vacation instead. It’s pretty much the same movie, only 20 times funnier. (D.O.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

See No Evil (R) Porn king Gregory Dark (New Wave Hookers, Let Me Tell Ya ’Bout White Chicks) tries his hand at directing a mainstream horror film. Naturally, he hooks up with professional wrestler Kane (who used to grapple under the name Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS). The story (such as it is) concerns a group of troubled teens (nobody you’ve ever heard of) who are assigned to clean up an old hotel. Wouldn’t you know it: There’s a serial killer living there. It’s produced by World Wrestling Entertainment Films. My work here is done. (D.O.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Thank You for Smoking (R, 92 minutes) Based on Christopher Buckley’s satiric novel about a tobacco-industry lobbyist (Aaron Eckhart) who seems to feel good about what he does for a living, Jason Reitman’s refreshingly un-PC film lets both sides of the smoking/anti-smoking debate have it with both barrels. Encompassing a trip to Hollywood as well as a kidnapping, the movie gives off a caffeinated buzz, capturing the book’s slightly giddy tone. (K.W.) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

X-Men: The Last Stand (PG-13, 104 minutes) The third installment in the Marvel Comics franchise delivers the goods, with moments of sublime pathos and mystic power. With a cure in the offing, society’s untouchables—mutants with superhuman powers—must once again choose between reform or revolution. (K.W.) Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Categories
News

Mary A. Sullivan is opinionated

As the mother of three (two of them teenagers) and a health educator who enjoys and is enlightened by middle- and high-school students, and who furthermore possesses a pathologically encyclopedic knowledge of sexually-transmitted infections, I consistently counsel teenagers to postpone sexual activity. I teach them about unintended physical consequences of sexual activity, and I encourage them to consider emotional consequences, as well. The comments of the adolescents I talk to are thoughtful and insightful. Their questions tell me how eager they are to discuss love, relationships and sexuality candidly, confidentially and comprehensively.
    I have done this work for many years—often precariously perched on the political see-saw that is sexuality education for adolescents—but I have never been as troubled as I am now by federal and State policy and funding allocation. Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families awarded $37 million to agencies providing “abstinence only until marriage” sexuality education programs serving adolescents. The Charlottesville Pregnancy Center benefited from this federal largesse, receiving $645,642 to implement a three-year abstinence-only education program locally. This program, called “Worth Your Wait,” aspires to reach 30,000 middle- and high-school students. If these programs reduced high-risk sexual activity, this financial outlay might be justified, but evaluations have not shown such efficacy. In a study of teens and “chastity pledges” conducted by researchers at Columbia and Yale universities, those who took the public pledge and those who did not had virtually the same rate of sexually-transmitted infections. What’s more, pledgers were less likely to be tested and treated for their infections. Perhaps pledgers were ashamed they had been sexually active; perhaps they did not know how and where to get help. Both the Society of Adolescent Medicine (SAM) and the American Academy of Pediatrics have recently released reports opposing this federal policy. In the SAM position paper, Dr. John Santelli, of Columbia University, and Dr. Mary Ott, from the Indiana University School of Medicine, state that, while abstinence is a healthy choice for adolescents, “Providing ‘abstinence only’ or ‘abstinence until marriage’ messages as a sole option for teenagers is flawed from scientific and medical ethics viewpoints.” Teenagers are as heterogeneous as adults, so a single ideological approach makes no sense. Those who care for, and about, adolescents should support those who postpone being sexually active, and provide education about (and access to) pregnancy and infection prevention to those who are sexually active.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior survey tells us that almost 70 percent of high school students have had intercourse by the time they graduate. Survey results from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released last fall provided information about teens and oral sex. Of teens ages 15 to 19, over 50 percent reported having had oral sex. Of those who had had intercourse, over 80 percent reported having had oral sex. This research highlights the need for explicit and accurate information about specific sexual activities (vaginal, oral and anal intercourse) and associated health risks.
    Over the past 10 years, the national and state teen pregnancy rates have declined, while rates of sexually transmitted infections increase steadily. The CDC calls STIs a series of epidemics, pointing to high rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes and HPV (a virus that can cause genital warts, and one that is also connected to cervical cancer). Of infections reported to local and state health districts, gonorrhea rates are highest in the 15- to 19-year-old cohort. The CDC estimates that almost 4 million teens are newly infected annually; most, who are not tested or treated, infect others, and may experience future infertility. Most likely this combination of decreasing teen pregnancy rates with increasing teen STD rates has less to do with sexual abstinence, and more to do with extremely effective birth control methods (such as Depo-Provera and birth control patches) that leave little room for user error, but provide no protection against infections. And yet our enlightened community of Charlottesville has actually seen a steady increase in teen pregnancies since 2001, the year in which the feds began pushing abstinence-only sexuality education. Charlottesville’s teen pregnancy rate—which, at last measure, was 70.8 per 1,000 females ages 10 to 19—now exceeds that of Virginia, and Virginia has the 19th-highest pregnancy rate in the United States.
    Is this any way to teach our children?

Mary A. Sullivan, M.Ed., is a Charlottesville/ Albemarle Teen Pregnancy and STD Preven-tion Coordinator.