Tuesday, October 10
Dave, as bad as he wants to be
The Hollywood Reporter and EW.com today carry the news that local bartender-made-good Dave Matthews will take the role of the bad guy in his third movie, Lake City, currently in early production somewhere in the state of Virginia. Matthews joins another local big shot, Sissy Spacek, as well as Troy Garity (better known as the son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden), Rebecca Romijn and Keith Carradine. The story? An estranged mother and son are reunited in order to save their home. Mayhem ensues.
Wednesday, October 11
Wearing the environmental dunce caps
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) release their annual “National Environmental Scorecard” today and, once again, Charlottesville’s Dear Leaders in Washington don’t grade out too well. Senator John Warner receives 14 percent, House Representative Virgil Goode gets 8 percent, and Senator George Allen is left with the big fat goose egg: 0 percent. The scores are based on the number of “pro-environment votes” on issues such as offshore drilling, drilling royalties, public health and environmental funding. Says LCV President Gene Karpinski of Goode: He “put special interests ahead of [his] constituents in Virginia by voting for giveaways to oil companies, and against clean water and food safety, and the public’s right to know about toxics released in their communities.”
Thursday, October 12
Warner to “real life”: You win
Though he’s demonstrated remarkable fundraising ability (his PAC raised $9 million) and generated lasting buzz as the “anti-Hillary” in the nine months since leaving the governor’s office in Richmond, Mark Warner has apparently been leveled by the simple business of raising a family. Today he e-mailed supporters to announce his decision not to run for president in 2008. “This past weekend, my family and I went to Connecticut to celebrate my Dad’s 81st birthday, and then we took my oldest daughter Madison to start looking at colleges,” he wrote. “I know these moments are never going to come again. This weekend made clear what I’d been thinking about for many weeks—that while politically this appears to be the right time for me to take the plunge—at this point, I want to have a real life.” Democrats who want a real candidate for the White House are left looking for a contender who can convince voters that he or she can work some bipartisan magic.
Friday, October 13
Just fishing?
New George Allen gossip surfaces today, as reported on political blogs Not Larry Sabato and Daily Kos: George Felix Allen has been found in the Albemarle County Warrant Index, as well as in the Albemarle General District Court Criminal Case index—the latter is dated February 15, 1973. Per standard procedure, the detailed records were destroyed. So what’s it all about? According to Not Larry Sabato, the Allen camp is saying the warrant stems from Allen being caught fishing without a license. Commenters on both blogs debate whether fishing in February is logical or not, complete with quotes of average temperatures and anecdotes about how fishing and game wardens love to bust small pond fishers on sunny winter days.
Saturday, October 14
Lame and lamer
Fans on either side of the Commonwealth rivalry between Virginia Tech and UVA can now weep together, as the Hokies fell to Boston College 22-3 on Thursday, and the Cavaliers today blew a seeming sure-win over Maryland. Confident ‘Hoos who left after their halftime hot dog—when Virginia was up 20-0—are sorely disappointed to hear about the Terps scoring 28 straight points in the second half. After Virginia’s Emmanuel Byers muffed a punt and gave Maryland the ball at the Cavaliers’ 1-yard line, it was all turtle power. UVA had a chance to tie the game with two minutes left, but couldn’t complete the two-point conversion, and the score was left 28-26, leaving a “shell”-shocked Virginia team staring at a 2-5 record and little hope of a bowl game.
Sunday, October 15
Grisham claims parking innocence
Continuing his tireless involvement in the illegal parking scene in Charlottesville, Jonathan Coleman writes as special to the Washington Post today about a little, er, problem involving a red Porsche, a parking spot at the Main Street Market and everyone’s favorite lawyer/author/local celebrity. That’s right, John Grisham, model citizen, nearly got towed from his spot—for which you’re supposed to pay $5 to the “honor box.” Grisham penned an angry letter to Allan H. Cadgene, owner of the market, protesting having to pay to park in the “crummy little parking lot” when he was inside spending $300 a week on food. Cadgene volleyed that indeed, the parking arrangement was the tenants’ doing—store owners like Kate Collier of Feast! now worry that Grisham and his crew won’t be back for any more panini. We’re confident Grisham, an experienced letter-writer, can take the heat.
Monday, October 16
Flippin’ out
As reported in today’s Cavalier Daily, the third annual “Pancakes for Parkinson’s” fundraising event at UVA was a syrup-drenched success, serving over 8,500 pancakes to around 6,000 people, and whipping up $15,000 to $17,000 in donations. The annual event, which began in 2004, set a personal record in both number of flapjacks flipped and amount of money raised (all proceeds will be delivered, piping hot, to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research). No word yet on when we can expect to see the companion event, “Marty McFly’s Back-to-the-Future Bacon Fry.”