Month: January 2007

Categories
News

2006 was runner-up

The real estate market in greater Charlottesville once stood astride a lofty peak, but now it’s packed up its trail mix and water bottle to head back down the mountain. Sounds a little ho-hum, right? That’s exactly what Dave Phillips, CEO of the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors (CAAR) (www.caar.com), predicts for 2007: “Everyone will be satisfied; no one will be ecstatic.” In CAAR’s year-end report on 2006, Phillips calls 2006 “an important year of market transition” when sellers ceded control to buyers, and market forces aligned in a state of equilibrium that will keep things “solid” and “modest” in 2007. How very…mature.


Total sales for the Charlottesville market area (including the City of Charlottesville and counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Green, Louisa and Nelson) were down 7.1 percent from last year.

To break it down: Total sales in the market area (Charlottesville, Albemarle, Nelson, Fluvanna, Louisa and Greene) were 4,332 for the year, down 7.1 percent from 4,665 in 2005. Sellers of condos, though, were living in a more bubbly reality: Brisk condo sales meant Charlottesville was the only portion of CAAR’s area where sales actually went up in 2006. In fact, one out of two sales in the City last year were condos.

Though sales were down overall, prices kept going up. The median sales price was $274,900, up from $256,000 in 2005. And though the average number of days-on-market (DOM) was up 16 days
to 76, that increase is a bit low considering how sharply inventory went up—about 66 percent, to 2,504. In other words, there are lots more properties out there to buy, but by and large they keep moving anyway.

So: Condos are hot and otherwise things are pleasantly lukewarm. One more fact to remind you just how loftily those peaks can soar here in Jefferson’s Virginia: In 2006, CAAR recorded 107 transactions over $1 million. How very… mature.

Categories
News

Planners hope for earlier bedtimes

As anyone can attest who’s attended an entire session, City Planning Commission meetings can be drawn-out affairs. After all the staff comments, applicant comments, public comments, commissioner comments and commissioner comments on the other commissioners’ comments—the hour often creeps past 12am.

So in order to cut back on the midnight madness, the Planning Commission recently changed their bylaws such that they can now hold a less formal meeting before the meeting at 5pm, to preview the agenda, to hear about issues coming down the road—and to float questions.

At the meeting before the meeting January 9, for instance, Commissioner Michael Farruggio used the opportunity to see how much traction he’d get on questioning a request to have a daytime center for the homeless at the former First Christian Church on 112 W. Market St. “Personally, I have seen an increase in the problems that would be seen as people drinking or drunk in public in Lee Park and possible sexual activity going on underneath the blankets in the park in the past four weeks since the [homeless] pick up point was moved…right next to the library,” said Farruggio. “My question would be, how much planning or thought has been put into whether or not this is the best location for this type of situation Downtown?”

But after getting no support from fellow commissioners at the pre-meeting, he opted to rephrase at the public hearing. “This is a great example of, as a planning commissioner, how you learn,” said Farruggio. “Originally I had, and I still have some, reservations from what I see daily, that problems could congregate more, but I also see the great need and the great opportunity here.” The commission unanimously recommended the request.

Categories
Arts

Capsule reviews of films playing at Charlottesville theaters

Alpha Dog (R, 117 minutes) Mr. Sexy Back himself, Justin Timberlake stars in this controversial crime drama based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood, a notorious drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Hollywood is still on trial, so prosecutors wanted the film pulled from release. Guess they didn’t get their wish. Hot young cast includes Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Lukas Hass and Emile Hirsch (who despite the Timberlake publicity actually headlines as our Jesse James Hollywood substitute). Hot older cast includes Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone. There’s plenty of energy on display, but the film isn’t very insightful. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Arthur and the Invisibles (NR, 102 minutes) Frenchy Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Professional, The Fifth Element) ditches gun-toting females for a sec to bring us this kiddie fantasy about a 10-year-old boy (Freddie Highmore, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) who goes on a treasure hunt to save his grandfather’s house from demolition. The film is a unique mixture of live-action and CGI as Arthur is shrunk to micro-size and enters the land of the Minimoys, tiny people living in harmony with nature. Madonna, David Bowie and Snoop Dogg are among the voice cast. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Blood Diamond (R, 138 minutes) Leonardo DiCaprio stars as an opportunistic South African smuggler who teams up with an enslaved farmer (Djimon Hounsou) to hunt down a fabulous pink diamond. With the help of an American journalist (Jennifer Connelly), the two men embark on a quest that could return one man to his family and offer great wealth to the other. Amid the adventure and thrills are some pointed comments about Africa’s unscrupulous diamond industry. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Charlotte’s Web (G, 96 minutes) This live-action adaptation of E.B. White’s much-beloved book stars adorable Dakota Fanning as plucky farm gal Fern whose pet pig Wilbur conspires with a wise spider to avoid a one-way trip to the dinner table. The requisite all-star cast (Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates, Cedric the Entertainer, Reba McEntire, André Benjamin, Robert Redford) is on hand to provide cute animal voices. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Children of Men (R, 109 minutes) Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, who’s given us everything from Y Tu Mamá También to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, helms this low-tech sci-fi film set in the year 2027. Seems that in this polluted, dystopic future, mankind has lost the ability to procreate. Clive Owen (Inside Man, Sin City) is a reformed activist who agrees to help transport a mysteriously pregnant woman (multiple Oscar nominee Julianne Moore) to a sanctuary at sea, where her child’s birth may help scientists save mankind. Based on the novel by P.D. James. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Code Name: The Cleaner (PG-13, 91 minutes) Lucy Liu and Nicollette Sheridan join Cedric The Entertainer in a story about an amnesiac janitor who believes he is an undercover agent. Don’t expect this film to clean up at the Oscars. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Curse of the Golden Flower (R, 114 minutes) Director Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) sticks with the epic historical action films. This one takes place in 10th century China where the Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat, The Killer) and the Empress (Gong Li, Memoirs of a Geisha) are involved in a vicious power struggle, highlighted by betrayals, affairs and all-out assassination attempts. There’s a bit more Shakespearean drama in this film, making it a sometimes uneven combo of Yimou’s recent action flicks and his emotional early efforts (Raise the Red Lantern, To Live). Even if the complex melodrama is hard to follow at times, it looks ravishing from start to finish. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

The Departed (R, 149 minutes) Martin Scorsese seriously reworks the 2002 Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs, transferring the intense cops-and-robbers action from the Far East to the East Coast. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a fresh recruit from the Boston Police Academy who is put deep undercover in an Irish mob run by flamboyant gangster Jack Nicholson. At the same time, Nicholson has got his own undercover agent (Matt Damon) operating inside the police department. Much bloodshed erupts when our two moles are dispatched to find out each other’s identities. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Dreamgirls (PG-13, 125 minutes)  It takes a little while to get into the mood of this lengthy showbiz musical. Once it’s fully up to speed, however, the film sings along at an absorbing clip. Like the Broadway musical that inspired it, the tune-filled tale follows the rise and fall of a Diana Ross and the Supremes-like musical group from the late ‘50s through the turbulent ‘60s and on into the disco era of the ‘70s. Of course, there’s plenty of backstage backstabbing as the group’s beautiful lead singer (Beyoncé Knowles) gets groomed for superstardom by her husband/manager (Jamie Foxx). Former “American Idol” contestant Jennifer Hudson is the real showstopper here, commanding the spotlight as the group’s bitchy but supremely talented backup singer. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

Eragon (PG, 103 minutes) Based on the juvenile fantasy series by Christopher Paolini, this epic fantasy follows the adventures of an orphaned farm boy (newbie Edward Speleers) who finds a rare dragon’s egg, and uses his magical new friend to overthrow your basic evil king (John Malkovich). Jeremy Irons is in there too, bringing back uncomfortable memories of
Dungeons & Dragons. Expect multiple sequels. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Freedom Writers (P6-13, 123 minutes) Veteran screenwriter Richard LaGravenese takes a stab at directing in this latest instalment in the miracle-worker-teacher genre. Hilary Swank stars as a teacher who brings her disadvantaged and racially divided students together. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

The Good Shepherd (R, 160 minutes) Robert De Niro finally gets around to directing another film (after 1993’s A Bronx Tale). This one’s a detailed drama about the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency. Matt Damon plays an idealistic young man recruited to become the prototypical superspy. Angelina Jolie is his unsuspecting wife who watches her husband grow more paranoid and jaded as the Cold War wears on. The tone is grave and the pacing measured, but De Niro has created a Godfather-like saga about the Powers That Be. Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

Happily N’Ever After (PG) No, that’s not a typo in the title, and yes, this is the latest animated flick with celebrity voices. This one’s about a gang of evil-doers who wish to capture Fairy Tale Land, and Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar and, um, Gerge Carlin are just a few of the bodiless stars. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Happy Feet (G, 87 minutes) Wouldn’t March of the Penguins have been so much more interesting if the birds could sing and tap-dance? Well, that’s the premise of this CGI musical featuring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Brittany Murphy, Hugo Weaving and Robin Williams. (Couldn’t rehab have kept Robin out of at least a few movies this year?) Playing at Regal Downtown Mall 6

The Hitcher (R, 90 minutes) For teenagers and people with very short memories comes a remake of the 1986 thriller starring Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell. The original, about a serial killing hitchhiker, was fairly preposterous to begin with. That didn’t stop music video director Dave Meyers from recasting it with Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) as the bad guy and Sophia Bush (“One Tree Hill”) as the (now female) victim. Coming Friday; check local listings

The Holiday (PG-13, 138 minutes) Two romance-hungry ladies (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) engage in a cross-continent home swap for the holidays. In America, Winslet meets Jack Black, while in England, Diaz hooks up with Jude Law. Another star-driven RomCom from writer/director by Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give). Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Night at the Museum (PG, 108 minutes) Ben Stiller stars in this fantasy-filled adaptation of the best-selling children’s book of the same name. In it, he plays a bumbling new security guard at the Museum of Natural History who accidentally lets loose an ancient curse causing all of the displays to come to life. Hijinks ensue. Cameos include Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Mickey Rooney and Owen Wilson. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

The Painted Veil (PG-13, 125 minutes) In this adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel, an unhappy wife (Naomi Watts) is dragged to a cholera-afflicted Chinese province in the ‘20s by her husband (Edward Norton) after becoming embroiled in a life-changing affair. This visually lush, emotionally bitter drama was shot once before in 1934 with Greta Garbo as the lead. Playing at Vinegar Hill Theatre

Primeval (R, 94 minutes) The incredibly misleading commercials would have you believe this is a based-on-a-true-story horror flick about the “most prolific serial killer in history.” It is based on a true story, but what the commercials fail to mention is that the killer in question is an African crocodile. Yup, it’s a chintzy Sci-Fi Channel-style movie about a big crocodile. But, if you’re a major fan of Alligator, Eaten Alive, The Great Alligator, Crocodile, Krocodylus, Lake Placid, Killer Crocodile and other such Crocodilia-based monster movies, you may find something to sink your teeth into. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

The Pursuit of Happyness (PG-13, 117 minutes) Will Smith stars in this tear-jerking can-do drama as a struggling, largely homeless single father who takes custody of his young son (real-life offspring Jaden Smith). Unable to support himself, Dad makes a life-changing decison—to get a job as an unpaid intern on Wall Street. This “inspired by a true story” tale is just as schmaltzy as you would expect, but Smith the Elder does give a emotional, award-hungry performance. Playing at Regal Seminole Square Cinema 4

Stomp the Yard (PG-13, 114 minutes) If you can’t get enough of urban dance movies like You Got Served and Step Up, then you might have some use for this formulaic pic about a troubled teen from L.A. who winds up at a black university in Atlanta, where he tries to win over a girl while being courted by two fraternities who desire his near mystical abilities in the realm of free-style step dancing. Unless you went to a primarily African-American college in the southern U.S. you’ve probably never heard of step-dancing. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

We are Marshall (PG, 127 minutes) This inspirational sports drama is based on the true, tragic story of a 1970 plane crash that wiped out nearly all of the Marshall University football team. Despite some emotional oposition, the team’s new coach (Matthew McConaughey) tries to revive the team as well as the spirits of his traumatized community. Playing at Carmike Cinema 6

Categories
Arts

The sweet sound of desperation

“American Idol”
Tuesday 8pm, Fox

I literally spit in disgust when I think about how Taylor f’ing Hicks actually won last season’s “American Idol” competition. I mean, come on, people! I gave y’all a lot more credit than that. But I guess this is how things like Urkel or Jessica Simpson happen. Now is your chance to right your wrongs. It’s a new season. The rules remain completely unchanged. Paula will, undoubtedly, be drunk and/or frisky. And thousands of moderately talented souls are desperate for your attention and approval. Please, America, take your job seriously this time. Pick someone with at least a legitimate shot at sustainable fame; someone whose disc won’t make you shudder in embarrassment when you come across it in your CD tower five years from now. I’m only looking out for your best interests.

“Psych”
Friday 10pm, USA

This plucky detective show returns for Season 2 after a successful run last summer. The show stars the adorable James Roday as Shawn Spencer, the son of a cop (played by Corbin Bernsen, who really hasn’t aged well since “L.A. Law”) who now works as a psychic consultant to his local police department. Thing is, Shawn isn’t psychic—he’s just very perceptive, and a fantastic bullshitter with a bit of a prankster streak in him. He helps solve crimes with the assistance of his straight-laced pal Gus (Dule Hill, acquitting himself nicely post-“West Wing”). If you like the humor-laced crime drama of fellow USA hit “Monk,” give “Psych” a try.

“Ocean’s Deadliest/Steve Irwin Tribute”
Sunday 8pm, Discovery Channel

When Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray last September, I felt about the incident much like I feel when a NASCAR driver dies in a racetrack collision: Sure, it’s sad—but brother kind of had it coming. You spend your life taunting crocodiles and snakes, chances are you’re going to end up a snack for some member of the wild kingdom. Still, Irwin was a crusading environmentalist, and for that he will be missed. Tonight Discovery debuts the special he was working on when he died (no footage from the day of the accident is included), in which Irwin and Philippe Cousteau (Jacques’ grandson) document some of the scary-ass animals living in the waters between Australia’s Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. It’s followed by a 30-minute tribute to the man who launched a million “Crikey!”s.

Categories
News

In Tenebris, with Andsvara, and the Opposite Sex

music With all the mesh shirts, laced corsets and school girl skirts favored by women in the local goth scene, I could have easily been distracted at Outback Lodge on January 6. But not even all that exposed flesh could take my attention away from In Tenebris, the night’s headline act. The band offers a hard-rocking show that sets a crowd in motion and leaves everyone wanting more.

Rose between thorns: Christina Fleming lets her vocals loose, and the rest of In Tenebris follows behind.

The opening acts were Andsvara, a side project of local metal chanteuse Kim Dylla (see her with This Means You), and the Opposite Sex, a D.C. band that wowed everyone by using a baritone sax in lieu of a guitar for their first song. Both bands delivered solid performances and managed to lure patrons from their spots at the bar.

But the true darling of the night was In Tenebris, hands down. Taking its name from the Latin for “in darkness,” the band showcased the soaring, operatic voice of Christina Fleming—her years of classical training evident in the way she effortlessly glided from note to note in impossibly high ranges. Metalheads, think Tarja Turunen. Everyone else, think Sarah Brightman, and you’re not far off.

Fleming and guitarist Jdavyd Williams form the group’s core, with both sharing songwriting responsibilities. Whatever they’re doing, it works. The band’s songs are contemplative without devolving into the pity party that is common to other groups in the goth scene.
Pounding drums, up-and-down bass lines and heavy guitar riffs in songs like “Chrysalis” suggest In Tenebris legitimate hard-rock know-how. Dance-friendly, electronica-influenced pieces like “Haunted” show that the group is comfortable in its own skin and able to work outside of any rigidly defined genre. This band is going places; be sure to snag a copy of their first full length album, which is slated for release in March.

Categories
News

The Complete Reprise Recordings

cd The country-based awe shown to Gram parsons sometimes makes us ignore the influence of R&B and blues on his writing, even though his choice of cover songs proves James Carr touched him as deeply as George Jones. Despite his lethal habits, the temporary Byrd and Flying Burrito Brother leader was smart enough to sense a convergence of the agonies of truckers and the Delta weariness of black sharecroppers—a connection so unnerving to ’60s country fans their attitude to Parsons was often hostile.

Country music’s grievous angel, remembered through tunes handpicked by country music’s best backup vocalist, Emmylou Harris.

This box set of his complete Reprise recordings comes with many alternate tracks and radio interviews, respectfully assembled by his singing partner Emmylou Harris, another country artist who knows this genre gains greater depth when it acknowledges its kinship with all the traditions of the South.

Categories
News

“Beyond the Frontier: The Photography of Peter Eve”

gallery Just like the United States, Australia lives with a messy history of contact between its Aboriginal people and the Europeans who arrived later. When this relationship erupts into art, if anything, more questions arise—as with Peter Eve’s photographs of the Kimberley region, paired with paintings by Aboriginal artists from that area.

Bold portraits like "Rammey Ramsey" make for a stark contrast to lush landscape shots in Peter Eve’s photography exhibit.

Eve presents two types of images here: sumptuous nature photographs, as aloof and violently colorful as anything in a Sierra Club calendar, and black-and-white portraits of Aboriginal people, shot in a hard-nosed journalistic style. The viewer veers between admiring the exotic hue of cliffs in the Carr Boyd Range (like our own red clay, but turned up a thousand notches) and intimately encountering Paddy Bedford, a white-haired man sitting in a pickup truck with a shepherd dog in the bed.

It’s certainly a finely made image. You can almost smell the sun on his skin, feel the road’s dust, breathe the smoke from his cigarette. The truck’s window makes a second frame around man and dog, increasing the sense of their being distanced from the viewer. Indeed, a social context for Bedford, and the other people in the photos, is hard to grasp. Does Eve see them as stewards of this stunning place? As victims? Artists (which many are)? Sometimes they’re shown entwined with the landscape (Peggy Patrick stands within a fallen tree branch, its shadows crossing her face); sometimes they look more like visitors (Rusty Peters sits tentatively on a rock near Black Rock Pool, wearing jeans and sport sandals, holding a pack
of cigarettes).

The dualities—between the portraits and landscapes, between Eve’s photos and the paintings that fill the rest of the museum—are troubling, if we imagine that Eve is not confronting them. The show is too small, and too thinly curated, to know for sure.

Categories
Uncategorized

Out of the ordinary

It’s a good time to be Gomez (www.gomeztheband.com). The British quintet is all over America’s telly, rocking Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, even landing a song on the hit show “Grey’s Anatomy.” In Charlottesville, they will appear in the flesh on Tuesday, January 23, at Starr Hill Music Hall.


The British band, Gomez, is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks in part to Dave Matthews and Coran Capshaw’s baby, ATO Records.

After a 10-year career and five studio albums, Gomez owe their sudden burst of airtime—and their first appearance in Charlottesville—to ATO Records, the label founded by Dave Matthews and Coran Capshaw, which signed Gomez last year.

“This is the most attention we’ve received in the United States, by a long shot,” says singer and guitarist Tom Gray.

The spotlight is trained on Gomez’s new album, How We Operate, released this past summer. Their first effort for ATO marks another evolution for a band that has defined itself by refusing to be defined.

Gomez broke out in 1998 with Bring It On, embedding melodic hooks within sprawling, experimental compositions. Bring It On earned Gomez a wreath of “next big thing” laurels, and they went to work on Hut Recordings, a subsidiary label that British media behemoth Virgin designed to tap the booming market for quirky, independent music. Gomez continued writing catchy rock spiced with studio wizardry on subsequent albums Liquid Skin (1999), In Our Gun (2002) and Split The Difference (2004).

“Gomez really came into being for the purpose of genre-busting,” says Gray. “We didn’t want to sit in one place and be ordinary. We tried to do something different every single time.”

Such an approach defies an industry that relies on labels like “alternative” or “low-fi indie-alt-polka-core” to peddle bands in ever-narrowing consumer niches. Though Gomez’s musical pastiche lured listeners of various stripes, they never became the big thing Virgin hoped for.

Hut Recordings shut down as Virgin “downsized” several years ago, and Gomez asked Virgin to release them. Soon afterward, Chris Tetzeli of Red Light Management tracked down Gomez at a New York performance and signed them to ATO in 2005.

“Getting out of [Virgin] was a huge relief,” says Gray. “These guys [at ATO] are lovely. We know who owns the company. It’s actually founded on the basis of building careers in music, rather than milking something quickly in the marketplace.”

For How We Operate, ATO hooked Gomez up with veteran producer Gil Norton, who previously worked with the Pixies and Foo Fighters. Gray says Norton helped the band build songs efficiently, instead of “just throwing stuff around” in the studio.

The band’s experimental style is still evident on How We Operate, but the effects are subtle, not sprawling. Sly oddities (like sudden bursts of silence on “Notice,” or a robotic banjo riff that kicks off the title track) come tucked into tightly constructed pop songs like blueberries in your pancakes. Songs like “See the World” are sweet but not saccharine, made for iPods.

In fact, Gomez has thrived in the digital age, where one catchy tune can spread like a virus. Single-song downloads, along with songs sold for movies and TV, now makes up one quarter to one third of the band’s income, says Gray.

Rock bands still need to hit the road, though, and Gomez is now on an extensive American tour (in a bus burning bio-diesel fuel) opening for O.A.R. and headlining with Ben Kweller. In Charlottesville, they will show why their eclectic spirit has earned them a reputation for dramatic live performances. “Expect dynamics,” says Gray. “We like to do very quiet and very loud. Hopefully when people walk away, they feel entertained because they haven’t had a chance to get bored.”

Categories
Living

The great UVA men’s basketball mystery

The identity of Dave Leitao’s first Virginia team was a scrappy, understaffed crew that had no fan expectations.  The team had a few surprise wins and even managed to make a postseason tournament in the N.I.T.

So what is this year’s team identity?
   
Don’t ask them.  They’re still trying to figure it out themselves.

Halfway into their season and entering into Atlantic Coast Conference play, Virginia is an erratic team.  You and I (and maybe even Leitao) really don’t know what version of this team will show up on the court from night to night.


ESPN analyst Dick Vitale says that with the wide-open ACC, the UVA men’s basketball team is "right in the mix"—as long as they’re consistent.

Do you get the intense defensive performance and lights-out shooting from the Cavalier team that buried Gonzaga 108-87?

Or the team that played in a lesser gear four days later in a 76-75 loss to Stanford?

Longtime ESPN analyst Dick Vitale has kept an eye on this team early on in this season.

“I think they’re exactly where I’d thought they’d be.  They’d have some shocking moments and same disappointing moments and I think that’s the case,” said Vitale.  “David Leitao has got a good back court. [Sean] Singletary was absolutely incredible against Gonzaga when he put 37 on the board and prior to that I caught the game on the tube and watched them beat an outstanding Arizona team.  They are two great wins but you got to come back and beat Stanford on your home floor.  That, to me, is a loss they’d like to have back but those things happen and now they’ve got to go steal a win somewhere.”

Keyword: somewhere.

With Virginia returning home Tuesday, where the Cavaliers have tallied an 8-1 record, to face ACC foe Maryland, it needs to be pointed out the majority of this team’s issues have flared up on the road. 

Struggle would be an understatement for this basketball team away from the John Paul Jones Arena.  Including last Wednesday’s 79-69 loss in Chapel Hill to North Carolina, the Cavaliers’ lone road win came in the seventh place game of the San Juan Shootout against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in December.  Even that proved to be a seven point squeaker.

In his first year, Leitao’s only road wins came against Richmond and Virginia Tech. Prior to that in Pete Gillen’s final season, the team only salvaged a 2-9 road record
in 2004-05.

Six games still remain on the road, including North Carolina State and Clemson this month, and the last time I checked they don’t play a NCAA tournament game in Charlottesville this season.

So where does Virginia stack up in this conference?

“I think the middle’s wide open,” said Vitale.  “I think there’s so many teams so equal and there’s so much balance there.  Virginia’s right in the mix.  Virginia, Florida State, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech—they could all beat each other.  Even Duke!  Duke, as we saw with Virginia Tech, Duke is no longer invincible.”

(Writers Note: Due to press time, this column was submitted before Virginia’s game at Boston College.)

Wes McElroy hosts “The Final Round” on ESPN 840. Monday-Friday 3pm-5pm.

Categories
Living

Dead on arrival

There’s no doubt that unless you’ve been eating Rice Krispies in a hole for the past year, you know a thing or two about the social networking site, My Space. In many ways, My Space is the sign of a pulse—a collective pulse—amongst the Me Generation. It’s ground zero for “LOL” and “WTF” and other oh-so-youthful shortcuts to conversation that the Me Generation puts to good use.

My Death Space is exactly what it says it is. It’s My Space for My Space members who have prematurely gone six feet under. The site is basically a map of the United States, dotted with little gravestone symbols, each of which link to the how and why of a My Space member’s premature death, as well as to the link to the person’s My Space page where friends have inevitably left pages of tributes. In other words, “LOL” becomes “i miss u” and “i love u.”

Because My Space is the domain of the young folk, 99.9 percent of the dead are between the ages of 15 and 25. Pictures pop up of these kids kicking it in their cars, giving peace signs, arms draped around their friends, smiling, and alive. Then you see the causes of death: 99.9 percent are “automobile accident.” A few murders, brain hemorrhages, and suicides are thrown in for the mix, but the site drives home (no morbid pun intended) the dangers of driving. Drunk driving, drag racing, sitting at a stoplight, minding their own business behind the wheel: The scenarios vary but the message is the same. Cars kill.

It’s not an easy site to visit. Breaks the heart, in fact. But I came away from it with my daily reminder of mortality…and humanity.