Possible explanations for your behavior this weekend:
1. "It was all a big misunderstanding." ("Order cigarettes! Order cigarettes!")
2. "My doctor told me to":
3.You’re just so impressionable, aren’t you?
What are your must-see arts events for this weekend?
And here some good news to welcome the weekend. According to the Virginia Employment Commission, the state unadjusted unemployment rate for April fell to 6.6 percent in April, .3 percent less than in March.
In Charlottesville, the number of unemployed residents decreased to 5,860 in April (5.5. percent) from 6,040 (5.6 percent) in March.
One year ago, the local unemployment rate was as low as 2.5 percent.
Driving in this morning, I heard a bit on NPR about GM and bankruptcy and the dismal economics of the auto industry in general. During the segment, the reporter made kind of a side point about the fact that automakers think a lot of pent-up demand for new cars is building as we speak. The logic goes: We usually buy 14 million new cars per year; right now we’re buying at a rate of only 9 million per year; sooner or later we’ll have to cash in those junkers we’re driving and get ourselves down to the dealership.
I’m here to ask, Will we really? At my house, we own two cars. One is a 1984 Volkswagen GTI that gets about 30 miles per gallon. It developed some problems about a year and a half ago and had to be taken off the road, but my husband slowly put it back together and now it’s driveable again. I used to drive a 1988 Dodge Caravan, which died with 394,000 miles on it. At that point, we treated ourselves to something relatively spiffy: a 1995 Nissan truck (up to 29 mpg!) with only 200,000 miles. No rust. Runs great.
My point is not to brag about our antique car collection, but to provide an example to counter the assumption that people "need" new cars. (Cubans famously provide a much more extreme example.) It is, in fact, entirely possible to live your life with an older car. Or, to put it another way, most cars hit the junkyard much sooner than they really need to. If Americans are currently buying fewer new cars than usual, we could all take that as proof that our standards have been artificially high, at substantial cost to the environment.
I’m aware, of course, of the gas mileage concerns. Why not grab a new Prius and pollute less, now? That’s a valid argument. What I’m saying is that, in general, almost all our stuff—including cars—gets trashed too early. We love what’s new and shiny, and that causes tons of waste.
What do you think—are old cars worth loving? Or does efficiency trump the landfill?
Governor Tim Kaine was at the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant groundbreaking ceremony yesterday to give his blessing and handle a golden shovel.
The governor said he chose to attend this event because he had “never done a wastewater treatment plant,” and wished to emphatically support “very aggressive river and stream clean-up.”
Kaine said that this construction will lead the plant to reduce its annual output of nitrogen by about 500,000 pounds, and phosphorous by 150,000 pounds. Phosphorous and nitrogen are especially dangerous to the environment, according to Kaine.
More after the photo
Gov. Tim Kaine was the keynote speaker yesterday afternoon at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“I hope that this plant can serve as an example to others,” said Kaine, adding that in the past, Virginia has lagged to support the clean-up of waterways, particularly the Chesapeake Bay, but now the state is “about three times more” than other states.
Over the next 42 months, the Moores Creek facility will not only receive upgrades and expansion to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous output, but it will become a facility that will use waste taken from the water to power some of the plant’s operations.
The project will cost around $50 million, with $21.5 million coming from the state’s Water Quality Improvement Fund.
“[This plant] is not just good enough, but excellent,” said Kaine.
Next week’s Feedback column spends a bit of time with Lem Oppenheimer, a co-founder of the Easy Star record label and manager of the Easy Star All-Stars (who had their first gig at the defunct and de-funked Starr Hill Music Hall, and return to Is on Friday, June 5). Oppenheimer may be the only person in the city to make a career out of reggae music—no easy feat, if you consider that Charlottesville’s reggae scene imported a lot of acts from Harrisonburg (The Greg Ward Project, Stable Roots), and any regular gigs (Stable Roots’ shows at Outback Lodge, Oppenheimer’s own "Reggae Mondays" at Blue Moon Diner) seemed to be short-lived.
Oppenheimer, a former Music Today employee who moved here in 1997 and now works full-time on Easy Star projects, seemed like a good person to ask about the State of the Local Reggae Union. "In terms of live reggae, it’s not a particularly strong town. And that’s understandable," explaind Oppenheimer. "To have the best players, you’re going to [need] more of a D.C., or New York, or Los Angeles, where you have more direct influences, more opportunities to see true Jamaican artists coming through."
So, what’s your best bet for local reggae? "Goldfinger has been the standard-bearer for Charlottesville [reggae] for years," said Oppenheimer, referencing the WTJU DJ who has held a regular time slot on Fridays from 2-4pm. "That’s always been one of the key things happening." Check out details on Goldfinger’s show here, and watch the video below for details on the latest Easy Star All-Stars release, Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band, the latest of the group’s well-executed covers albums after Dub Side of the Moon and Radiodread. (I recommend the cover of "Within You, Without You.")*
Also, can Charlottesville sustain a reggae scene? Let me hear your thoughts.
*As a bonus, I tried to dig up a video of Sonic Youth’s excellent cover of "Within You, Without You," included on 2007’s Daydream Nation reissue. No such video exists, but nobody should be denied a tasty Sonic Youth cover; I recommend that you give a listen to their covers of "Superstar" (a classic, and a great Carpenters video spoof) and "I’m Not There."
A documentary produced by UVA’s Center for Politics and the Community Ideas Stations has won the International Academy of Visual Arts’ highest honor.
“Questioning the Constitution,” a film by Mason Mills, explores constitutional reform and it ultimately questions whether the document should be changed or reformed.
Larry Sabato and NAACP Chairman and UVA history professor Julian Bond are among the film’s commentators.
The Washington Post’s regular wine columnist, Dave McIntyre, couldn’t make it to the London International Wine Fair, but fortunately, Mary Jordan could, and reporting in today’s Post, she describes Virginia’s successful "efforts to step out on the world wine stage."
The United Kingdom remains the world’s largest wine importer, so it’s cause to celebrate when cork masters from fancy wine clubs say things like, "We are plenty suprised about Virginia wines."
Virginia’s wine industry continues to grow—one of the few agricultural enterprises on the rise in the state—and our Viognier was well received, Jordan says. There was also praise for the much-loved Cabernet Franc Reserve from Barboursville Vineyards. Barboursville winemaker Luca Paschina was among the dozen in attendance at the London fair.
"Virginia is not on my radar," said one South African winemaker, but after tasting the Cab Franc Reserve of Barboursville Vineyards’ winemaker Luca Paschina, above, it was.
In a pirate state of mind? Well, consider this a treasure map for those of you who are equally fond of Killer Crab Burgers and "Fruitcakes." (Mea culpa, Jimmy Buffett, mea maxima culpa.) On November 17, you can have ’em both: Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band are coming to town.
Both Pollstar and Buffett’s Margaritaville website confirm that the planet’s least threatening, most melodic pirate will perform at the John Paul Jones Arena on November 17. (The arena hasn’t posted ticket info at this time.) And I promised a treasure map, didn’t I? Here you go, from Cheeseburger in Paradise to "Cheeseburger in Paradise":
(Watch out for landsharks.)
As a former Florida resident—do you believe in Magic, Lebron?—I’ve listened to an inordinate amount of Jimmy Buffett, not always willingly. (But hey, if it’s all right by Bob Dylan…) In what was an entirely apolitical move, my folks took me to see him perform at a rally for gubernatorial candidate Lawton Chiles when I was a wee hermit crab. And, while that experience was a long (long, long, long) time ago, I would no sooner begrudge anyone the fun of a Jimmy Buffett gig than I would dare to not party hard at an Andrew W.K. gig. Music has very little to do with it.
Also, I have a soft spot for "He Went to Paris," too, Bob.
Here’s an easy good deed. Buy a T-shirt from Better World Betty, who’s officially a friend of this blog—and I don’t mean on Facebook—and is always up to various planet-friendly schemes for Charlottesville and Albemarle. Betty is essentially a source of information and encouragement, answering such questions for locals as "Where am I supposed to take these dead batteries?", "What’s the hottest Earth Day party in town?", and "Why should I care?" She also writes a column in C-VILLE’s ABODE section.
Good question.
Actually, I shouldn’t say "buy" since Betty is a nonprofit. The shirts are free with a $15 donation, kind of like those "premiums" that public radio and TV always happen to be handing out to people who just sent them money. You can get them at Nature’s Child, which is a kids’ gear store on the Downtown Mall. (Betty is very into shopping local.)
Another reason I shouldn’t say "buy" is that Betty herself, or to be technical, Betty’s director Teri Kent, completed an entire year of not buying anything new (food excluded) for herself or her family. Instead she shopped secondhand and found ways to do without all the silly stuff the rest of us insist on carting home from Target. That was in 2008, and I for one am still quite impressed.
$15 to a good cause, folks. And the color scheme is reminiscent of ice cream. Dig it.
Local Republicans defied the rain on Tuesday night to nominate two candidates for the county Board of Supervisors.
After eating a potluck dinner under a shelter in McIntire Park, more than 70 county residents picked Duane Snow to run in the Samuel Miller District and Rodney Thomas in the Rio District.
The latter promised to reduce spending if he is elected—he would have to beat incumbent David Slutzky—by lowering taxes. “The taxpayers of Albemarle County should not be solely responsible for making up the shortfalls of the budget,” he said.
Thomas ran unopposed for the nomination but Snow beat out fellow candidate Phil Melita to try to replace longtime Supervisor Sally Thomas who is retiring after 15 years on the board.
“We have county leaders that have no idea of how to run a business,” he said, calling on his 35 years of experience as the owner of Snow’s Garden Center.
Democrat Madison Cummings and independent John Lowry will challenge him for the seat.