Month: September 2009

My Carolina-Virginia Football Story 10/19/02

North Carolina has always been my personal nemesis. Ever since I was a little boy growing up here in Charlottesville, the Tar Heels seemed to always find a way to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. Virginia could be up by 12 with three minutes to play at home in a hoops battle at U-Hall and somehow, miraculously, Carolina would find a way to win. Or, perhaps more astutely, the Hoos found a way to lose.

October 19, 2002 ended up being one of the more important days in my UVA fan history; one of those days that sports taught me a real life lesson. My girlfriend at the time was a recent graduate of the evil, baby blue empire down there in Chapel Hill; a very bright Morehead Scholar, she worked in Virginia’s athletic department in her first job out of school.

While settling in to our seats in Craig Littlepage’s box, we were talking a little bit of trash about our respective schools. I’ve been lucky to know Coach Page since I was a little, smart-assed kid going to Terry Holland’s summer hoops camps. Every year since Scott Stadium has had suites (2000), Craig has invited me to a game as his guest. In all those years UVA is a perfect 8-0.

Before I knew it, Jawarski Pollock (great name) caught a pass and the Heels were up 7-0. Fast Willie Parker was running the ball with authority, and on the next possession Sam Aiken caught a 77-yard pass to put Carolina up 14-0. My great mood went straight into the toilet.

I’ve always been a slightly neurotic Virginia fan: not too cocky when we were winning, not an arrogant jerk when we were losing. But on this particular day, I just sat there stewing. Not talking to anyone and behaving like a real stick in the mud. Next thing you know another Carolina touchdown had them up 21-0 at the half.

As the second half began, my girlfriend said to me something to the effect of you are acting like a child. We are beating your butts and you are behaving like a four-year-old and embarrassing me.

Her father was a very well-respected high school football coach in North Carolina, and she had been around a lot of football. I looked at her with amazement since I was 9 years older than she was, and tried to shake it off. As the second half began Marquis Weeks ran the kick-off back 100 yards for Virginia to make it 21-7. As folks around us were celebrating I could barely muster a smile.  The South’s oldest football rivalry was getting interesting again.

As Virginia started to mount their comeback, I sat there nursing my beer and thinking of what my girlfriend had said to me. The Hoos scored again in the third quarter to make it 21-14 Heels, and my humor was still not improving. The Tar Heels did not score a point in the third quarter, and Virginia scored 23 un-answered points in the fourth quarter to make it 37-21 Virginia. Carolina scored a late touchdown and missed the extra point to have the game end-up with Virginia winning 37-27. As much as I wanted to snap out of it I couldn’t do it. I felt sick to my stomach as we walked out to our tailgate. Virginia fans everywhere were celebrating with bourbon and general craziness. Not me.

I learned several important lessons on that beautiful 50-something degree Saturday in Scott Stadium. You must win with class and lose with dignity. Never get too down and always understand that sports is life. No matter what happens in life something good is coming right around the corner. You only have one chance to make a first impression and if you are sitting there pouting, feeling sorry for yourself than you are in fact a loser.

As much as I loathe all things Tar Heel, life is too short to act like a four-year-old, spoiled brat. No matter what happens on the field of sport try to enjoy what you are witnessing on some level or just don’t go at all. Go Hoos and beat our only REAL rival this weekend in Chapel Hill. I’ll be there…Will you?  Please tell me your North Carolina stories, both terrifying and great.

Categories
Arts

Checking in with Zap McConnell

What were you doing just before we called?
I’m in the process of cooking breakfast before rehearsals.

What are you working on these days?
I am about to go teach in Mexico and work with some Mexican dancers to make a dance piece that will be part of the two-week dance extravaganza for the opening of Dogtown Dance Theater in Richmond, which is Ground Zero [Dance Company]’s new dance theater, which is totally fabulous.

Between teaching dance in Mexico and shifts at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar and Blue Moon Diner, where does Zap McConnell want to be? “I’d love to have a moment in the next couple of weeks to make it to The Bridge, to see what they’re doing…[and] I’d like to make it my prerogative to get some local swimming in.”

Do you have a day job?
Well, I have several. I work at the Blue Moon Diner, I work at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, I’m a teacher, and I’ve been teaching in Mexico the last few falls and spring. I’ve also been doing a lot of painting this summer…

Favorite tool of the trade?
I would say a really solid, lock-blade pocketknife. Also, a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

Locally, who would you like to work with that you haven’t worked with yet?
Russell Richards is someone who I’ve always wanted to work with, and we’re just starting a collaboration now.

Plans to present locally soon?
In the spring. We’re really trying to get people to come to Richmond to support this [dance theater] opening, trying to create this sister-city artistic vibe with Richmond.

An idea you’re carrying around with you?
How to continue focusing my life around making work in a sustainable way, with a community that supports that. How to continue to make work in a way that’s empowering to me and others, especially in this economy.

Favorite snack while you’re working?
I would say, depending on the season, local and seasonal fruit. Cherries are my favorite.

What upcoming event will you be getting a ticket for?
That’s the hard part about working on a project; I don’t have a lot of time to see things. I’d love to have a moment in the next couple of weeks to make it to The Bridge, see what they’re doing.

What songs are you playing on your iPod?
Right now, I’m listening to a lot of really strange stuff. Riceboy Sleeps, for example. Mostly it’s oriented around the dance piece I’m working on.

Guilty pleasure?
Science fiction. It’s a guilty pleasure when I need to sleep and I’m staying up ’til 4am to finish a chapter. I love William Gibson, and I just started The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters.

Favorite artist in your genre? What about outside your genre?
It’s hard to really pin down what genre I’m in. I’ve always been inspired by Martha Mendenhall. She’s part of the Performer Exchange Project—they’re great. Sian Richards is part of it, and Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell—they’re actually putting together a show that’s going to be at Live Arts in the winter [starting December 4]. I’m leaving town in the fall, and I’m coming back in order to see that on time. Outside my medium, I would say Radiohead.

Categories
Living

With orderTopia, Eppie's guy iPhones it in

“Restaurants are great places to meet people,” says Dan Epstein, co-owner with his brother of Eppie’s on the Downtown Mall. In his case, getting to know frequent customer Brian Williford from behind Eppie’s ordering line has resulted in a new business partnership: a company called orderTopia, which is developing technology that will enable restaurant lovers to order food from their favorite places online and through their iPhones and Smartphones. Williford, a technology entrepreneur, says he started pestering Epstein a few months ago to let him build an iPhone ordering application for Eppie’s.

Brian Williford, John Feminella and Dan Epstein (from left), figure if they can make an app work for remote ordering from a choose-your-sides mecca like Eppie’s, they can do it for any restaurant.

“I told him it couldn’t work,” says Epstein, who explains that Eppie’s relatively low-tech point of sale system and complicated menu of interchangeable side dishes and various combinations make online and mobile ordering more than a logistical nightmare.

Epstein speculates that early mobile-ordering adopters such as Chipotle likely had to spend thousands of dollars to build their own iPhone ordering applications. 

Rather than be defeated by cost and complexity, and thanks in part to funding from another loyal Eppie’s customer, Williford and Epstein have forged ahead with a business plan to make the new mobile world work not just for Eppie’s but for restaurants here, there and everywhere for a relatively inexpensive subscription of $100 a month (for their own branded iPhone app) or $75 a month (for mobile ordering through orderTopia’s own application). The technology will also give restaurants an interface with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 

“If we can make it work for Eppie’s, then we can make it work for just about anyone,” says Epstein, though he adds that mobile and remote ordering works best for casual-fine dining restaurants.

Dan Epstein explains orderTopia.

The beta testing site for orderTopia’s technology is Elevation Burger—a small organic burger franchise with several stores in Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Both remote and mobile ordering will be available there around mid-November. After that, the plan is to offer online ordering for Eppie’s by November 1 and iPhone ordering by 2010. Epstein says he’s already in discussions with potential clients Will Richey of Revolutionary Soup and John Spagnolo and Andrew Vaughn of Rise PizzaWorks—the new made-to-order, pizza by the slice shop scheduled to open soon at Barracks Road.

Kluge goes bigger; Al Hamraa goes smaller

Another sign that the downward-trending line graph of economic despair might be heading toward the light (or just heading south more slowly or however the talking finance heads try to optimistically describe it), the kitchen at the Kluge Estate Farm Shop, which ceased serving full meals in February, has reopened with an extended menu of freshly prepared meals on weekends only. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 11am-4pm, the Farm Shop will again offer such dishes as quiches, crab cakes, curried chicken salad and homemade cookies.

“After scaling back the Kluge Estate Farm Shop foods to cheese, baguettes and cookies, our customers begged for the return of the old favorites,” says Kluge Estate spokesperson Kristen Moses Murray.

Al Hamraa, the authentic Morrocan restaurant at the IX building from Al Dente owner Karim Sellam has combined its late-night menu and dinner menu and is now serving “Morrish tapas.”  Restaurantarama sampled the new style last week and stuffed ourselves on kefta briwat (seasoned ground beef pastry), boustaila (sweet and savory chicken pastry with almonds and eggs) and foul (fava beans, cumin, and olive oil). We’re going back for the lsan tair (Moroccan orzo pasta with goat meat), belly dancing and absinthe.

Categories
News

The Kids Are Alright; By Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch and Dan Welch; Harmony, 352 pages

“I don’t remember any of that,” writes Liz Welch in The Kids Are All Right, a heart-rending new memoir she co-authored with her brother and two sisters about their transition from members of an elite Connecticut family to orphans and outcasts. The book shifts in perspective between the four Welch siblings, whose ages span more than a decade.

The first of the book’s three parts sets family tragedy before a backdrop of opulence. Their father’s death in a suspicious car accident brings rumors of his involvement with the C.I.A. His unsavory business dealings in Central America leave the wealthy family saddled with debt. This forces his widow, a gorgeous soap opera star who is battling cancer, to sell the “house, pool, and poolhouse.” 

In the parts that follow, the Welch children run unsupervised through the emotional gauntlet of young adulthood while their mother ails in the next room. When she dies, parenthood duties are farmed out to a broad cast of characters, good and evil, leaving the orphans to search widely for themselves and each other. They ultimately stake a new claim on family life in Louisa, Virginia, where the oldest child, Amanda, buys a rickety country home and hosts for holidays.

The book’s multiple perspectives unearth meaningful discrepancies that inevitably arise when a family tries to render a collective past. Some of these are less meaningful than others; as Steiff teddy bears and pony rides give way to bong rips and benders, two sisters can’t agree who they paid to kick guests out of a keg party. But elsewhere, it shows the peculiar sensitivity one has to a sibling’s emotions in a time of need.

Amanda and Dan, both outwardly rebellious, serve as reminders that, Hamlet aside, eternal tragedies cast juvenile angst in an unflattering light. (“‘You cannot wear leather pants to your father’s funeral,’ Mom pleaded.”) But their evenhanded, often terse explorations show that the tragedy of losing one’s family begets that angst even as it belittles it. The youngest of the bunch, Diana, was too young to remember the earlier events. Her moody reconstructions—when her mother dies, she feels like “cotton floating apart from the stem”—feel more true to the processes of memory. Such ethereal musings go a long way to temper the authors’ natural tendency to narrativize things like death that operate on their own schedule.

As the title suggests, pop culture references do a lot of heavy lifting. The farthest we go into “an ’80s world of alternative music and drugs” is a Buster Poindexter concert. But aside from the occasional “ha” of recollection (much of this stuff happened in the ’80s, folks), The Kids Are All Right is not a funny book, but an affecting portrait of death in panorama. Just happens its authors watched their share of John Hughes films.

Categories
Living

How to smell 200 things at once? Drink wine

Smell is without a doubt the most powerful of the senses. For millions of years over the course of history­—whether foraging, mating, bonding or identifying predators—we’ve depended on noses to provide information far beyond the answer to “What’s for dinner?” And, with the areas of the brain that process smell inextricably linked to those that process emotion and memory, smell can whisk you down memory lane as fast as a flip through your old scratch-n-sniff sticker book. The average human detects 2,000 smells, and experts estimate that there are 200 smells in wine. Compare that to only four tastes (or five if you are into “umami”), and you can see that wine-tasting should really be called wine-smelling. So why, when 80 percent of something’s flavor is its smell, and when smell can drive both instinctual and emotional behavior, do we rely so much on taste?

 

A nation of instant gratifiers, we leap before we look, we speak before we think, and we taste before we smell. Our cave relatives may have had to give their food the smell test before eating it or feeding it to their cave babies, but we can just look at the handy-dandy expiration date before pitching that half-gallon of organic omega-3 DHA milk that would probably be fine for at least another week. I am told that I have the nose of a bloodhound. I can smell an orange being zested in another room, the empty candy bar wrapper that my husband surreptitiously stuffed in his pocket after a solo errand, and the smallest percentage of cabernet franc in a blended wine. The fatalist in me would like to believe that I was bestowed with a super-sniffer and therefore destined to do what I do, but perhaps I have a super-sniffer merely because of what I do; that is, maybe I just use my nose more than most people.

FOUR WAYS TO TASTE WITH YOUR NOSE

Freshly baked brioche. Janisson & Fils Blanc de Blanc “Bleu” NV. Wine Warehouse, $38.99

Crushed gravel after the rain. La Giustiniana Gavi 2008. Market Street Wineshop, $18.99

Lavender fields in Provence. Mas De Cadenet 2008 Cotes de Provence. Tastings of Charlottesville, $19.95

Red bricks. Roagna Barolo La Rocca e La Pira 2000. Foods of All Nations,  $65.99

The process of smelling is simple: Smells enter the nasal cavity and travel across a set of cells at the roof of the nose called the olfactory receptors. When an aroma reaches the receptors, it sends a signal to the brain that allows you to announce, “Mmmmm, fennel sausage” or “Ewwww, ginkgo trees.” The process of smelling wine is just as simple. You swirl the glass to turn the liquid compounds in gaseous ones, sniff, and then announce, “Mmmmm, black truffles” or “Ewwww, cork taint.” The chemical compounds that make up our library of 2,000 smells are the same chemical compounds that make up our library of 200 wine smells, but because wine looks like wine rather than blackberries and cloves, we tend to doubt our nose’s findings. In my wine classes, I instruct students to close their eyes when they sniff. Lose one sense and you will strengthen another.     

There is so much beauty in this world that is up for the taking through all five of our senses. Smelling a wine with your eyes closed can send shivers down your spine, remind you of a crushed gravel path after a rainstorm, and transport you to Provence when the lavender is in bloom. Maybe soon, you will even start describing taste in terms of smell. I’ve never tasted red bricks, but when I taste a fine Barolo, I’m 80 percent sure of what they taste like.

Categories
Arts

Second chances

“90210”
Tuesday 8pm, CW
If you’re one of the legions who tuned in for last season’s premiere, and then promptly tuned out because it sucked, I urge you to give this Spellingvision redux another shot. Now in its second season, lessons have been learned, the cast has been tweaked and the show has become infinitely more entertaining. Most of the credit goes to AnnaLynne McCord’s Naomi, who balances her delicious bitch-on-heels diva with surprisingly sympathetic character moments, and the fact that the producers apparently realized that everyone in America hates both the new Brenda-type character, Annie, as well as the irritating actress who plays her. In roughly three episodes they have turned Annie’s life into a living hell involving social ostracism, quasi-date rape, nude photos texted to the entire school and the crushing guilt that she killed a man while driving drunk—and still hasn’t told anyone about it! Fingers crossed that she spontaneously combusts come sweeps.

“Private Practice”
Thursday 10pm, ABC
When last we saw the doctors of Oceanside Wellness, things looked bleak: The business was on the verge of financial ruin, a power struggle left its leader packing up her desk, and one of the staff was fighting for her life after a crazed patient showed up at her doorstep intending to snatch the still-gestating baby right out of her womb. Yikes! The “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off found its identity in Season 2 by firmly embracing its wilder, soapier elements (not that “Grey’s” isn’t out there—ghost sex, anyone?), and you can look for even more of that as its third season begins tonight.

“Bored to Death”
Sunday 9:30pm, HBO
At first I thought HBO had simply retitled “Entourage” to reflect our nation’s ennui with its go-nowhere premise. But no, the cable net actually has a new comedy, an idiosyncratic little piece about a slacker writer who decides to get out of a massive personal slump by pretending to be a private detective. It stars Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore) as a fictional version of series writer/creator Jonathan Ames, whose love of Raymond Chandler novels leads him into a life of danger, sex and deceit he maybe has no idea how to handle. Also on hand are Ted Danson as Jonathan’s editor boss, Olivia Thirlby as Jonathan’s ex-girlfriend, and the indispensable Zach Galifianakis, who basically does the Zach Galifianakis thing as Jonathan’s comic artist best friend.

UPDATE: Both IS Venue and Si Tapas closing, effective October 1

UPDATE: Just got back from Si Tapas/IS, where folks are transporting pieces of Si Tapas’ furniture into a U-Haul and a Beck Cohen van is parked ominously in front of the building on West Main Street. Employee David Unroe declined to comment, but did confirm that both IS and Si Tapas were closing. Photo below:

UPDATE: Waiting on calls back, but—irony of ironies—I just received a package from Iamsound Records containing an album by Fool’s Gold, who were slated to perform at IS on November 14.

Also, here’s the series of messages that Is posted on Twitter, beginning with one dated September 26:

"really loves you. We really do" (September 26, 2:43am)

"soon to be "WAS Venue"" (September 27, approximately 7pm)

"regrets to announce that tonight will be our final live music performance. We are closing our doors this Thurs. Oct. 1st" (September 27, approximately 8pm)

According to a series of posts on IS Venue’s Twitter account, the concert hall that took the place of former venue Starr Hill Music Hall will close its doors on October 1, roughly a year after it first opened.

Calls to IS and its adjoining restaurant, Si Tapas, were not returned, and Si Tapas’ website is currently down. A call to Jeyon Falsini, the venue manager, also was not returned. The venue also notes on Twitter that it is working to reschedule bands for other locations. See the messages on IS Venue’s Twitter page here.

Breaking news: Rob Bell stands up for dessert

What are the odds? Mere minutes after posting this morning’s item about Rob Bell’s impending visits to local elementary schools, we received a letter from a student praising Bell for his inspiration and responsiveness two years ago when her fifth-grade class encountered a problem. Apparently the guy’s visits have a lasting (and delicious) impact. Read for yourself:

"Dear Editor,

"I think Rob Bell is an awesome Delegate. Two years ago, when my school had a problem, Delegate Bell worked hard with us students to fix things.

"Two years ago, when i was a fifth grader at Nathanael Greene Elementary, we had a problem. We used to be able to get ice cream on Fridays, but a new rule was made that took away our ice cream. We were really unhappy. A couple of weeks later, Delegate Bell came to speak to our class about how to get involved in government. His speech got us thinking. So, our class circulated a petition to get our ice cream privileges back, and everyone signed it. We took our petition to Delegate Bell, and he worked with the school and was actually able to get our ice cream back. When Delegate Bell spoke at our graduation later that year, he told us he had never been challenged by a fifth grade class before, but he knew he had to help us. Because of Delegate Bell, we now have ice cream again in Greene County!

"I feel so lucky to have Delegate Bell represent me. Delegate Bell works really hard on really big issues in Richmond, but he still found time to help a bunch of local students with a small issue like our ice cream privileges. I’ll always thank Delegate Bell for his hard work to our community. If I were able to vote, Delegate Bell would certainly have my vote.

"Sincerely, Amanda Jordan, Greene County."

Rob Bell to give civics lessons in local schools

Tomorrow will find elementary school students in Greene and Albemarle receiving a civics lesson from Delegate Rob Bell. The Republican is scheduled to visit four elementary schools to discuss his role in the Virginia Legislature and how the legislature’s activities affect students’ daily lives.

No word on whether the presentations will include the word "lobbyist," nor whether cautious parents will be allowed to opt their children out of this potentially politicized educational experience.

The schedule: 8:30am at Ruckersville Elementary, 9:30am at Nathanael Greene Elementary in Stanardsville, 12:15pm at Broadus Wood Elementary in Earlysville, and 1:30pm at Baker Butler Elementary. Bell will also visit Jack Jouett Middle School at 2:30pm for a "Virginia Flag Presentation."

UVA Football Losing 2010 Commitment at QB?

We knew it was bound to happen as the Hoos have started 0-3 and rumors of Al Groh’s future here in Charlottesville are negative to say the least. Apparently, Virginia has lost their first commitment for next season. Tyler Brosius has de-committed from UVA and committed to coach Tom O’Brien and NC State. At this point it’s still just a rumor, but my sources say it’s all but certain to happen very soon. Brosius (Tuscola High School) is a pro-style highly recruited QB from the western North Carolina town of Waynesville.

In my opinion this will not be the last commitment to come off the board for the Hoos.