Month: September 2006

Categories
Living

Martha’s Café

Martha’s Café faces some stiff competition in its tucked-away location on Elliewood Avenue, off the Corner—it’s across the street from sorority girl-cum-Wahoo bar crawl mainstays Take It Away, the Biltmore Grill, and Buddhist Biker Bar—but it holds it own as a purveyor of reasonable meals just like Mom used to make, but with an exotic flair. We started with their artichoke dip, a gooey morass of cheesy deliciousness, before moving on to the main course, a Mediterranean quesadilla. A tortilla stuffed with goat cheese, herb chicken, tomato, and sprigs of cilantro, it’s one of those rare fusion dishes that’s more “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” than “black bean and corn sushi?” In other words, a match made in heaven.
Martha’s Café • 11 Elliewood Ave. • 971-7530

Categories
The Editor's Desk

Don’t use sex as a weapon

Don’t use sex as a weapon
The last time I wrote to C-VILLE to object to advertising that used the female body and sex to advertise a product, I was essentially told not to read C-VILLE if I didn’t want to be offended. I believe the respondent was a male. Well, I like C-VILLE, (although I like it’s [sic] competitor better), so here I am again complaining about a Judy b. Clothing Salon ad in the September 5-11 issue. As I reminded Judy when I called her store, clever and creative advertising doesn’t have to exploit the female body—doing so is a cheap and offensive backslide to disrespect and unenlightenment.

Rebecca Keese
Charlottesville

Welcome to America
The two letter-writers attempting to defend Senator George Allen’s latest blunder [Mailbag, September 12] both try to obscure the issue of Allen’s lack of judgment with variations of the old “bait and switch.” Jamie Slawski tries to shift our focus away from Senator Allen’s rudeness by comparing it to comments made by other politicians. This is like excusing a purse-snatcher by saying: “So what? Stealing’s only human. After all, look at Ken Lay.”
    Pamela Sellers offers the bait-and-switch of blaming the victim, insinuating that Senator Allen’s vulgar name-calling might have been justified by some provocation on the part of Mr. Sidarth, the recipient of Allen’s attack. This is also known as the “He hit me first” defense, which is dubious in kindergarten and totally out of place when it comes to a U.S. senator addressing one of his constituents.
    What really offended me about the whole incident was not so much the name-calling, but the senator’s follow-up. After calling him “Macaca,” Allen said to the American-born Sidarth: “Welcome to America.” Through his nasty comments, Allen revealed that his notion of America is “whites only,” and that someone whose skin is darker must be a foreigner who ought to keep his mouth shut and his face hidden. Welcome to America, indeed.

Daniel Stern
Quinque

News, or editorial?
My roommate and I just finished reading the article about Bud Davis [“UVA wide receiver gets jail time for bookstore incident,” Courts & Crime News, September 5] and his situation. My only concern with the article is this: “…and is barred from UVA football, sparing us all the trouble of having to say his name (which is pronounced THAIR-en) this season.”
    First of all, I think this statement borders on sounding racist. Also, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that, yes, he made a stupid decision, and yes, he should be—and is—being held accountable. I think that with everything that resulted from it (i.e., withdrawal from school, three months in jail, removal from the team, a fine of over $1,000, and both an article and picture in your paper), it was a little unnecessary to, in so many words, joke on his name—a name that has an African-American sound.
    I do not think we all feel happy to be spared “the trouble of having to say his name”—I think maybe it’s just you and yours. Also, to be considered a credible news source within the Charlottesville community, it is foolish as a journalist to include one’s own haphazardly “funny” opinion when supposedly objectively reporting. This article was a mockery of not only [Theirrien’s] name, but what you all consider his mediocre performance on the football field. Is this an actual courts and crime story, or a cheap attempt at a sports editorial?

Jessica Turner
Charlottesville

CORRECTIONS
The relative enormity of the audience for the Dave Matthews Band’s 2003 concert in Central Park was misstated last week [“The once and future fan”]. At 100,000 it was and remains the band’s largest domestic audience. According to the band’s management, DMB has played larger concerts in South America and Europe.

Our coverage of the flyer controversy in Albemarle County Schools [“School flyers still up in the air,” Courts & Crime News, September 19] mischaracterized Liberty Counsel’s involvement. The civil liberties group did not file a lawsuit against the Albemarle School Board—they wrote a letter asking the board to review the schools’ flyer policies, which were subsequently deemed unlawful by School Board attorney Mark Trank. The policies are in the process of being revised. We apologize for the error.

Categories
Living

Your most comprehensive listing of where to eat & drink in Central Virginia!

Your most comprehensive listing of where to eat & drink in Central Virginia!

Categories
Living

The Shebeen

In honor of Johannesburg native Dave Matthews’ impending two-nighter at the JPJ, we stopped by The Shebeen for a taste of authentic South African cuisine. The unique blend of East Indies flavors and traditional Dutch and English dishes makes for a delicious dinner—and, given their generous portions, tomorrow’s lunch, too. Try the Lamb Sosatie: chunks of lamb skewered on stalks of sugar cane, garnished with a helping of lentils, yellow rice, and a selection of chutney and sauces. We recommend accompanying your meal with a pint of one of their imported draughts—and thinking about how good it would taste out on the dusty veldt.
The ShEbeen    247 Ridge-McIntire Rd.    296-3185

Categories
News

Cross words


The width of Route 29—along with the high volume of traffic and lack of sidewalks—make it an unlikely candidate for crosswalks.


Dear Ace: As I drive up 29N, I always see people trying to hoof it across those eight lanes of high-speed traffic. I can’t believe that there’s not a single crosswalk anywhere on this stretch of highway! Are there any plans to remedy this alarming situation?

Dear Screech: Ace—who, it should be noted, is not prone to make a mad dash for, well, anything—is sympathetic to your cause. After a brief meditation on the history of jokes involving the highway-traversing motivations of barnyard fowl, Ace was on the case.
    Crosswalks are indeed nowhere to be found on Route 29 from Hydraulic Road all the way to Airport Road (and beyond, for that matter). To learn more about the reason why, Ace put in a call to Lou Hatter, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
    According to Hatter, VDOT’s engineers are “not aware of any significant volume of pedestrian crossings in that area.”
    “It’s an area that might not be the best location to encourage pedestrians to cross there,” he added. “For most of that area up to the South Fork of the Rivanna River, it’s four lanes in each direction, plus turn lanes. You got a wide road there with a 45 mph speed limit.” He also pointed out that the lack of a sidewalk on the east side of 29 near Airport Road, and questions about people’s visibility at night, added to the safety concerns about any potential crosswalk on that stretch of road.
    This makes sense, given a Federal Highway Administration study Ace read about the safety of marked and unmarked crosswalks. According to the study, “on multilane roads with traffic volumes greater than 12,000 vehicles per day, having a marked crosswalk was associated with a higher pedestrian crash rate (after controlling for other site factors) compared to an unmarked crossing.” In other words, big roads with fast cars are not conducive to pedestrian safety.
    So are we likely to see a crosswalk on that stretch of 29 anytime soon? Probably not. Hatter tells Ace that VDOT “has not received any requests to look at putting in any crosswalks in that area.”
    So, dear reader, to borrow a phrase from 95 South (the band, not the crosswalk-free highway), there it is.

Categories
Uncategorized

Other news we heard last week

Tuesday, September 12
Artist David Breeden dies
Conway David Breeden, known as David Breeden, died today at the age of 68. His obituary in The Daily Progress listed the cause of death as heart failure. Breeden, a well-known local figure who ran Biscuit Run Studio south of town, lived and worked in Charlottesville for more than 30 years. His interest in public art was expressed not only in his seven soapstone sculptures around town and works in other cities, but also through the “Art in Place” program with which he was associated. Lately his name had become familiar in real estate circles as the long-planned sale of Biscuit Run now opens the door for a giant residential development that will drastically change the county landscape.

Wednesday, September 13
Three cheers for population control
Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population (ASAP) held a press conference today at the County Office Building, asking that County officials pick a size—any size—for the Charlottesville-Albemarle area and let that dictate planning decisions. “Some fear Albemarle’s growth will soon lead us to a tipping point beyond which our unique geographical, historical, and social characteristics are irreparably altered,” said ASAP in a news release. “We now have about 130,000 residents together in Charlottesville and Albemarle County; do we want 150,000? 200,000? 500,000? What do these different scenarios mean for our future quality of life and the sustainability of other life forms and natural systems?”

Thursday, September 14
What’s so funny?
The Cavalier Daily felt the wrath of the God Squad after two “Quirksmith” comics by student Grant Woolard prompted thousands of letters from Christian groups, a demand for an apology from the head of the Catholic League and a scolding from Bill O’Reilly. One comic depicted Jesus crucified on a Cartesian coordinate plane, another mocked a nativity scene, with Mary saying her rash had been “immaculately transmitted.” The Cavalier Daily initially refused to apologize for the comics, a move that was lampooned as hypocritical, given the paper’s tail-between-its-legs apology over a comic last year that offended the gay community. O’Reilly called the comics an “unbelievable assault on Christianity” and demanded that UVA donors halt donations until the paper was booted off campus. Eventually, the newspaper removed the comic from its website and Woolard apologized.

Friday, September 15
Shroomin’ in Bristol
Construction worker Denton Brubaker discovered a “giant puffball” mushroom near Highway 381 in Bristol, according to The Daily Progress. The mushroom has a circumference of 3.5′, and was mistaken for a ball by Brubaker. To the delight of stuffed mushroom fans, the Calvatia gigantea is edible, though a such a huge ‘shroom will gather lots of dirt and can “turn pretty quickly” once harvested. It is unknown if additional overgrown foodstuffs were found by the interstate.

Saturday, September 16
Wahoo wuh??!
Looks like UVA football fans are in for a long season after today’s stunning 17-10 loss—on Homecoming, no less—to the lowly Western Michigan Broncos—the first Mid-Atlantic Conference team ever to beat the Cavaliers. Head Coach Al Groh kept the quarterback carousel in full-rotation: a junior, a senior and a redshirt freshman all got snaps under center. Groh pulled starter Kevin McCabe in the first half after he threw two interceptions (leading to 14 points for the Broncos). Jameel Sewell, the freshman, played the entire second half, and it looks like he’ll play on Thursday, when the Cavs travel to Atlanta for their first conference game against Georgia Tech.

Sunday, September 17
Let the games begin!
Virginia’s senatorial hopefuls faced off for the first time today on “Meet the Press,” where Tim Russert grilled Senator George Allen, the incumbent, and James Webb, his Democratic challenger, for one clip-o-riffic hour. Throwing up his trademark “gotcha” quotes and excerpts, Russert needled Webb on his 1979 article “Women Can’t Fight” (“I’d say, look at my actions regarding women in the military since then,” Webb parried), grilled Allen about the “macaca” thing (“If I thought that that was slurring anybody based on their ethnicity…I would never do it,” Allen insisted), and smoked both candidates on their preferred type of tobacky (that would be chaw). On that point, at least, the candidates were in complete agreement: Bad habits die hard.

Monday, September 18
Tune in to a “different kind of radio station”
Sorry, static fans. Today marks the last day you can tune your radio to 106.1 and get an earful of that familiar crackle, because starting tomorrow, that frequency will be occupied by new station 106.1 The Corner. The Charlottesville Radio Group, which already operates 3WV and WINA, is launching The Corner in an apparent effort to (wait for it…) corner the eclectic market—meaning a little Gnarls Barkley, a little Bob Marley, and a little B.B. King. Programming kicks off tomorrow with a whopping 10,000 songs in a row. Early adopters should also rejoice, as they’ll finally have a station in the Charlottesville area that broadcasts a HD signal as well as regular old analog.

Categories
The Editor's Desk

Nukes aren’t for kids?

Nukes aren’t for kids?
Michael Stuart’s letter is misleading [“Kids for nuclear power,” Mailbag, August 28]. North American Young Generation for Nuclear, the group he represents, are by and large current or former Dominion employees. Current and former Dominion employees packed the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) meeting on August 15 and were also present in somewhat smaller numbers at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) hearing on August 16. Some of them even came by bus. Dominion employees were provided with green balloons, pizza, posters and stickers advocating for those new, “so green” nukes.
    The issue both evenings, which Michael Stuart and pro-Dominion speakers at the hearings avoided, is that a third nuclear reactor with a wet/dry cooling tower will not decrease evaporation from Lake Anna, and will therefore result in decreased downstream flows. Already the two operating units with once-through cooling systems are problematic with increasingly warmer summer temperatures. Decreased flow impacts flora and fauna and fisheries downstream in the York River watershed and the bay. Louisa County already faces a water shortage as new housing developments are built in the Zion Crossroads area and will be tapping the James River for water via a very long pipeline. New reactors at Lake Anna may increase the tax payment by Dominion to Louisa County, but construction will result in decreased availability of water for communities downstream whose populations are increasing.
    Numerous speakers, including Lake residents who are not anti-nuclear, objected to the incomplete review by the NRC of water quality issues. At the August 16 hearing speakers urged VADEQ to study and research the effects on downstream flows of new reactors, and questioned Dominion’s compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act. Virginia’s water is precious.
    It was clear at both meetings that the debate regarding new nukes now includes the need to safeguard regional water resources. NRC and VADEQ need to hold more public hearings, especially in communities downstream that may want to draw water to meet the needs of an increasing number of residents. To encourage VADEQ to hold public hearings in impacted communities downstream send comments to elirons@deq.va.gov.
Patrick Moore has been disavowed by Greenpeace and has been referred to as a shill for the nuclear industry.

Elena Day
Charlottesville

Car trouble
Two apparently unrelated items in your September 5-11 issue prompt me to write. [“Watching traffic in Fry’s Spring neighborhood,” Development News; “Foundation to double Fontaine Research Park?,” UVA News] For 13 years I have lived on Stribling Avenue. I know that the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association exists, but have never received a notice of a meeting. My repeated efforts to get on its mailing list have failed.
    Traffic on Stribling Avenue flows very fast. Cars speeding over a rise toward Jefferson Park Avenue make backing out of my driveway very risky, and also threatens the lives of pedestrians (there are no sidewalks) and children playing in the street. Some years ago, when I asked the police department to monitor vehicles’ speeds, the check was conducted in the early afternoon, when traffic is at its lowest point. I was informed that the problem I had identified did not exist.
    Traffic on Stribling Avenue is indeed a problem. With several new construction projects already underway, and UVA’s plans to double the size of the Fontaine Research Park, it is almost certain to grow worse. The new road “in the general vicinity of Stribling Avenue” mentioned by UVA spokesman Jeff Hanna might help—but only if the City takes concrete steps to ensure that Stribling cannot be used as an alternative to it.

Anne Jacobson Schutte
Charlottesville


Stop bullying Bell!
I am always amazed at C-VILLE’s efforts to minimize Delegate Rob Bell’s legislative accomplishments [“Anti-bullying law causes few disciplinary changes,” Courts & Crime, September 5]. Since his election in 2001, he has worked extremely hard on obscure issues like mental health care for juvenile offenders and updating the rules for emergency medical custody orders. These are high-effort, low-profile bills that make Virginia a better place to live. He has also written laws to keep sex offenders out of schools and to promote prosecutions of domestic abuse. His office is well known for diligent and effective constituent service.
    In the same issue of C-VILLE, you laud the decline in drunk-driving deaths over the last few years. Strangely, you failed to point out that Delegate Bell wrote the very laws you praise. He has been repeatedly recognized by groups like MADD and the National Transportation Safety Board, which noted that he showed “extraordinary leadership.”
    Delegate Bell’s bullying law required each school to institute a bullying prevention program, required notice to parents if their child was a victim of a crime, made the prevention of bullying part of Virginia’s character education program, and made sure that teachers who intervene will not be sued. These are all good ideas and will help ensure that fewer kids are afraid to go to school.

Alan G. Collier
Charlottesville

CORRECTION
Due to a data entry error in last week’s “Fall arts” preview, the price of the Virginia Consort’s presentation of Mozart’s Requiem (Sunday, November 5, at the Darden School Auditorium) was listed incorrectly. Admission is not free, but $75—a price that includes the concert, champagne and hors d’oeuvres. We sincerely regret the error.

Categories
Arts

Collector’s edition

Mike Webb, publicity director at The Nation, got wind through a friend that his magazine was Dave Matthews’ favorite read. Webb called C-VILLE Weekly’s editor, who put Webb and The Dave together through contacts at Red Light Management. That led to a photo shoot after a DMB gig in Boston. The ad is part of a series entitled “No One Owns The Nation,” and is out in this month’s edition. It will also be in print in an upcoming holiday issue. Matthews added his mug to the ad series that has included stars from Paul Newman to Russell Simmons. You can buy a copy on newstands now.

•

Another local music celebrity who reads The Nation is record collector Brent Hosier. His two anthologies of 1960s Virginia music, Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things, and Ol’ Virginia Soul, are must-buys for raucous parties, fans of rock nuggets, and interested musicologists.
    Hosier started record shopping with a friend in the black record shops in Richmond in the early 1970s, where he began picking up LPs by local artists like Mr. Wiggles. “My friend got me into it. The problem then was I didn’t know what I was looking for,” he says. He found himself an avid collector when, in 1973, he bought a copy of The 13th Floor Elevators’ single “You’re Gonna Miss Me” (“I was knocked out immediately”). The next year, Hosier was traveling to New York City looking for more records by the band. Now, he says, “there is something about the recording sound back then that I like.”
    Hosier’s passion for collecting old vinyl has, happily for music lovers, spilled over into his professional life. He has released seven CDs of 1960s-era, mostly Virginia-based garage, psychedelic and soul music. The first volume of Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things was made up exclusively of garage bands from the Virginia Beach and Norfolk area, and included one cut that had been recorded in Vietnam by a Tidewater-based GI. Volume Two expanded the geographical area, with one band hailing from Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The third volume, more psychedelic than the previous two, drew from an even greater geographical area. The fourth volume is due out this fall.
    Hosier has also released three volumes of soul music on Ol’ Virginia Soul. He says the third one is far and away the best. He says he was able to mine all of the soul cuts from the Virginia area because the era of soul music in Virginia was stronger and longer-lived than garage music.
    While most of the cuts on Hosier’s CDs came straight out of his own collection, there are some tunes that, on vinyl, are “very rare and high dollar,” and he had to borrow other collectors’ LPs to get the tunes he wanted for his CDs. He has also taken tunes from 1/4" recording tape that he found, tunes that he says probably would never have been released.
Hosier has been dedicated enough to do most of the distribution legwork himself, and Norton Records in New York licensed one of the Aliens CD for release on vinyl. (He’s even gotten an offer from an English distributor, Jazzman, to license his third OV Soul CD in Great Britain.) But Hosier says that, in the age of downloading and burning, distribution has become more complicated. He knows for a fact that the first two volumes of OV Soul have been bootlegged and sold in England, online and in stores. Bootlegged copies include everything but the extensive liner notes that Hosier adds to legitimate copies.
    Hosier says you can check online for legit copies of any of his CDs at www.dcd
records.com—an interesting website based in Orange—or at Plan 9. While Parts one and two of Ol’ Virginia Soul are currently out of print, he says it’s very likely someone will put them back out.
    When I spoke to Hosier, he was in Richmond remastering for a new CD. He had also just located some vinyl in Tidewater from The Phelps Brothers, who were recording rockabilly music there in the 1950s. He was helping the couple who owned the records sell them, and he was also headed up to a record fair later his month in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

•

    I asked Hosier if there were any current artists whose music he was enjoying, and he said, “Despite myself, I like Cat Power. The sound of her voice and her songwriting. It is intense without being over the top.”

Categories
Uncategorized

Try This Now

Writer’s Eye Competition UVA Art Museum, 155 Rugby Rd. Local students, UVA students and adults are invited to submit original prose and poetry inspired by a range of works in the museum. The deadline for submissions is November 3. For more information or to schedule a tour, call 243-2050.

Acting for Film classes 1144 E. Market St. 977-1371. Offers weekly workshops on acting for film with an Emmy-winning director. Call for days and times. $150 per month.

Action Theater workshop McGuffey Art Center, 201 Second St. NW. Learn verbal and movement skills while practicing the art of presence and the joy of improvisation. The workshop is offered October 20-22. To register, e-mail bradstoller@adelphia.net. $130-150.

Biscuit Run Studios potluck 981 Old Lynchburg Rd. 977-5411. www.biscuitrun.com. Hosts an open house and potluck supper every Wednesday, 6pm. Free.

Blue Ridge Beads & Glass 1724 Allied St. 293-2876. www.blueridgebeads-glass.com. Stained Glass Seminar is back.  Every Saturday, 3-4:30pm. Free.

Charlottesville Camera Club 250 Pantops Mountain Rd. 973-4856. www.avenue.org/ccc. Visitors welcome. Club meets at Westminster Canterbury the second Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm. Free.

Charlottesville Music Teachers Association www.cvillemta.org. Learn about this organization in an introductory forum October 11 at 10am. Come early to socialize. E-mail cmta@cvillemta.org for meeting location.

Charlottesville Writing Center Offers several evening writing workshops for adults. All workshops: 6:30-8:30pm, $185.  For more info: call 293-3702 or visit www.cvillewrites.org.

Dance classes with Miki Liszt Dance Company McGuffey Art Center, 201 Second St. NW., Studio 20. 295-7973. www.mikilisztdance.org. Offers evening classes in jazz, modern and cardio dance. For more info: e-mail rachaellshaw@yahoo.com or visit www.mikilisztdance.org.

Dance Explosion Held at three locations six days a week: Footnotes Music and Dance Studio (2363 Commonwealth Dr.); Studio 206 (206 W. Main St.); and Angell’s Fitness and Dance (7 Centre Ct., Lake Monticello). Offers classes in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, modern, conditioning, ballroom, salsa and country. For more info: call 953-8268, e-mail jazz-explosion@hotmail.com or visit www.dance-explosion.org.

DanceFit Movement Center 609 E. Market St., Studio 110. 295-4774. www.njira.com/dancefit. Holds the aerobic “DanceFit” class every Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30pm. $10-13.

Dances of Universal Peace Westminster Presbyterian Church, 190 Rugby Rd. 242-6510. Eat, dance and pray. All are welcome at this event held the second Sunday of every month at 7:30pm.

Friendship Force Photography Show 296-2202. www.avenue.org/ffc. The Friendship Force of Charlottesville wants your submissions for its photography show “Visions of Peace and Friendship.” First, second and third-place ribbons will be awarded in six categories: Friendship Moments, People, Landscapes, Nature Close-Ups, Architecture and Eclectic. Deadline for submissions is October 2. Eentry fee is $5 for up to five entries. Call or visit the website for details. The show will be held October 27.

Glass Palette classes 110 Fifth St. NE. 977-9009. www.theglasspalette.net. Offers classes beginning the first week of every month. Classes run on four weeknights or two Saturdays. $200-250.  Preregistration required.  Call or visit website for schedule.

International Folk Dancing Senior Center, 1180 Pepsi Pl. 806-6770. Learn dances from the USA, the Balkans, Greece, Germany, Russia, France, Canada and many more countries every Tuesday. Each lesson begins at 6pm and the dance begins at 7pm. Free.

Kluge-Ruhe Collection tours 400 Worrell Dr. 244-0234. Offers 45-minute guided tours every Saturday, 10:30am. Free, no reservations necessary.

La Tertulia: Spanish Conversation Group Central Library, 201 E. Market St. 979-7151. All levels welcome. Brush up on your Spanish the first Thursday of each month, 7pm.

Live Arts Play Readers’ Circle 123 E. Water St. 977-4177, ext. 100. www.livearts.org. Meets the third Sunday of every month, 3-6pm. Offers a look at the politics of love and war through some of the most revolutionary plays in theater history. Free.

Live Arts Actors’ Lab: The Basics 123 E. Water St. 977-4177, ext. 100. www.livearts.org. An eight-week series that meets every Tuesday September 26-November 14, 2:30-4:30pm. $85-95.

Live Arts Playwrights’ Lab 123 E. Water St. 977-4177, ext. 100. www.livearts.org. Meets the first and third Monday of every month to share scripts and offer constructive feedback, 6:30-9:30pm. Free.

Live Arts Teen Acting Studio: The Basics 123 E. Water St. 977-4177, ext. 100. www.livearts.org. Meets every Thursday September 21-November 2, 5-7pm. $65-75.

Live Arts Youth Acting Studio: You and the Greek Stage 123 E. Water St. 977-4177, ext. 100. www.livearts.org. This workshop for students age 10-13 meets every Monday September 25-November 6, 5-7pm. $75-85.

Live Glassblowing Demonstrations Sunspots–Charlottesville, 2039 Barracks Rd, Meadowbrook Shopping Center, corner of Emmet Street and Barracks Road. 977-5531. www.sunspots.com. Watch molten glass being formed into beautiful art objects.  Demonstrations offered Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm.

The Live Poets Society Gordon Avenue Library, 1500 Gordon Ave. 296-5544. Share original poetry or listen, the first Wednesday of the month, 7pm. Free.

Main Street Artspace classes Noon Whistle Pottery, 328 Main St. 985-6500. www.noonwhistlepottery.com. Holds over a dozen classes on subjects like knitting, clay, drawing, pastels, fabric, jewelry making and more. Visit website for schedule and price list.

McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. 293-8733. www.mcguffeyartcenter.org. Offers several visual arts classes for teens and adults this fall, including: “Drawing from Experience,” an eight-week class held Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm, beginning September 26; “Jean’s Gutsy Abstract Oil Painting Class,” an eight week class held Wednesdays, 6:30-9pm, beginning September 27; and “Beginning Watercolor,” a six-week class held Tuesdays, 1-3pm, beginning September 26. Visit website for full schedule and price list.

Mixed-Media Art Class McGuffey Art Center, 201 Second St. NW. 293-8733. www.rosamondcasey.com. This eight-week class will teach artists, writers, photographers and curious beginners a new concept for visual thinking in art making. Classes will be held every Tuesday, 9:30am-noon, beginning September 26. $230, materials not included.

Poem Site: Songs in the Landscape 2331 Highland Ave., Fry’s Spring. This month: “The End of Autumn,” featuring poetry by Laurance Wieder painted on a salvaged window by Andrea Korotky and take-it-with-you poem “In the World, and Out of It, and Of It.” Free. For more info: call 295-5057 or e-mail poemsite@gmail.com.

Poets’ Critique Group Meets every Friday 10am-1pm to provide a forum for poetry and constructive feedback. Call 973-3577 for directions to a private residence in Albemarle County. Free.

Premiere season of Play On, a new Virginia theater The Theatre at Ix, 983 Second St. SE. 872-0184. www.playontheatre.org. Play On’s first show, the Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum begins September 29. Season ticket plans start at $38.

Shergold Dance Studio 652 Rio Rd. 975-4611. www.shergoldstudio.com. Offers a variety of evening dance classes, from tango to hip-hop and pole-dancing. Babysitting available for some classes. See website for current schedule. $10 drop in.

Smocking Arts Guild of America meeting 420 Shoppers World Ct. 295-1481. The Monticello Chapter meets the third Thursday of the month at Les Fabriques to discuss service projects, 7pm. $10 per year.

Studio Baboo workshops 321 E. Main St. 244-2905. www.studiobaboo.com. Holds numerous jewelry-making workshops. See website for full schedule.

Sun’s Traces Gallery 5549 Governor Barbour St, Barboursville. 973-3700. Offers a handbuilding clay workshop, September 23 and 24, 9am-4pm. $140, materials and firing included. Also offers a metalsmithing workshop
November 11 and 12, 9am-4pm. $175, stones and silver not included.

Terry Dean’s Dance Studio 1309A Seminole Trail. 977-3327. www.terrydeansdancestudio.com. Terry offers weekly classes in partner styles from cha cha to two-step. Partners are provided for singles. See website for current schedule. $5-10 drop-in.

West African Drum Classes 1104 Forest St. 977-1499. Kevin Munro holds lessons at the Charlottesville Quaker Meeting House every Wednesday, 6-7pm. $70.

Zabor Dance Old Live Arts building, 609 E. Market St. (804) 303-2614. Every Saturday Edwin Roa and Amberlyn Sasser offer beginning Argentine tango lessons 5-5:30pm, followed by an intermediate lesson 5:40-6:10pm. Wear ballroom shoes or dance in your socks. Come early to sign up. $6. For more info, call or e-mail zabordance@yahoo.com.

Categories
News

Geraldine Ferraro handicaps the election

A diminutive Geraldine Ferraro shared a secret with a packed ballroom at UVA’s Newcomb Hall on Wednesday night, September 13. During her 1984 campaign for the vice presidency, she stood on an important platform. Specifically, a box. “It really made a difference,” the former Democratic congresswoman said with a laugh.
    Ferraro delivered a keynote address on her most popular platform—the role of women in politics— in an event sponsored by UVA’s Center for Politics, Wilson Center and Women’s Center. Though she acknowledged her position as a model for women in politics, Ferraro spent little time on her position as a figurehead in 1984, focusing instead on the importance of female officials and the female voters that enable them to take office, nationally and internationally.
    Ferraro’s speech came on the same evening that another female political ground-breaker, Ann Richards, died at the age of 73. Richards was a one-term Texas Governor who lost a re-election bid to George W. Bush in 1994.
    After an introduction by the first female attorney general of Virginia, Mary Sue Terry, Ferraro took the stage and shared predictions, but no endorsements, for the 2008 presidential race. Ferraro mentioned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, as strong candidates for the Republican presidency and vice presidency in 2008. When she reached the Democratic hopefuls, she conceded that Hillary Clinton “could win the nomination and election.”
    Ferraro predicted the Congressional elections, too. “We currently have 70 women in the House of Representatives. And one of them—Nancy Pelosi (D—CA)—will be Speaker after the midterms,” she said.
    At the conclusion of her speech, Ferraro answered questions from the audience. A student asked Ferraro to expand on a statement that women “should love who they choose.”
“You mean, ‘Do I support gay marriage?’” Ferraro asked to applause. “Yes.”
    Another man said he was torn between two 2008 hopefuls: former Virginia Governor Mark Warner and Clinton. He then asked if Clinton’s “hawkish” presence and “tough opinions on tough questions” implied that she was “running as a man.”
    “You don’t run as a woman or man—you just run,” Ferraro answered, then added: “I think Governor Warner is terrific. Maybe he’d like to be [Clinton’s] V.P.”