Month: August 2010

For those of you who are yet to notice, the Cavaliers have returned to town. And with classes starting at Jefferson’s university tomorrow, a handful of students will set foot inside the biggest project on Grounds for the first time.

Although the 116,000-square-foot South Lawn opened a few of its facilities in January—almost a full year ahead of schedule—the entire site is now ready to host students in its full capacity.

According to UVA Today, South Lawn, which includes a pedestrian terrace that crosses Jefferson Park Avenue from New Cabell Hall to new classroom spaces, will be the new home for the Department of History, the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics and the Department of Religious Studies.

Click here and here for previous coverage of the South Lawn. And, while you’re at it, check UVA Today for information on a few additional new or revamped facilities, from the Curry School’s new Bavaro Hall to the reinvigorated McLeod Hall for UVA’s School of Nursing.
 

The Coyles, a Roanoke family, started a college fund for twin sisters who lost their parents in a car accident in Orange County on July 31. Charlottesville residents Dale and Shirley Parrott were on their way to an international church retreat in Kansas City when the accident occurred.

Rebbecca and Sarah Gaunt, 18 and friends of the Coyles’ daughter, were to attend Radford University in the fall. The money for their first semester was a loan entitled to Dale Parrott, which was retracted in the wake of his death.

The Coyle family created The $10 Miracle Facebook page to cover the expenses for the twins’ first semester and have so far raised more than half of the semester’s $16,700 tuition costs.

Click here to visit the Facebook page for more information.
 

Happy Friday, all. Here’s a roundup of things you can do this weekend.

Hey you, C-VILLE reader—yes, you. Come to a late night block party on Second Street this evening, which begins at 11pm and brings our annual Best Of festivities to a close. Fittingly, it’s the best party of the year, for the best readers in town. More details here.

Bam!

The UVA Art Museum hosts Man Ray Day on Saturday, to celebrate the new African Art: Beyond the Modernist Lens exhibit. Attractions include traditional French music, the Charlottesville Community Drum Choir and lots of other, more crazy and Man Ray-related stuff, like pinhole Polaroid portraits. Oh, and a word to the wise: Students return this weekend, so walk or bike to the museum.

Man Ray’s Le Retour à la Raison

Saturday night, Sarah White has grabbed the reins from Neko Case, who cancelled her show that was scheduled for the Jefferson Theater. The Daily Progress notes that we get a music of comparable quality for much less money. If it hasn’t yet been said: That, friends, is what local music is all about. She’s posted some new recordings on her website, including this one:

Sarah White’s "Spoken Word," the 2010 version.

A skeleton walks into a bar. What’s next is up to Funnyman Skiba, the first in the National Stand-Up Comedy Series, which promises to bring funnymen and -women to town monthly for lotsa laffs. Catch Skiba, whose First Night Virginia show sold out this winter, on Saturday night night at Live Arts.

 Sample Skiba’s goods. More below.

The online PR machine has been pushing the following concert on my e-mail inbox pretty hard, and with good reason: Darren Beachley and the Legends of the Potomac—who come from Maryland to play the Southern on Sunday—"harness the very best of bluegrass past and future" into a music that’s good for both knee-slappin’ and relaxin’.

What’re you up to this weekend?

If I didn’t have a wedding to attend, work and family in town, I would totally be at this radical potluck that’s happening over at Monticello’s Tufton Farm on Sunday.

Monticello’s own veggie and fruit gardens (photo courtesy of monticello.org) 

Slow Food Albermarle Piedmont (SFAP, which is fun to say) is having their first kick-off yum fest from 4-7pm at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants. It will be a potluck and participants are asked to consider giving a $10 donation (to SFAP) as well as sharing a dish of some homegrown goods on non-disposable dishes. 

When I first encountered the term ‘Slow Food’ I thought it was just a good title for the cookbook I was ogling. Alas, when I went back to my local bookstore to find that particular book I was met with dozens of cookbooks with a similar title. And, no, it’s not just a fancy new escargot-only diet (although, the go-to Slow Food quarterly is called The Snail).

Slow Food began, in fact, to counter the ‘fast food’ culture that was literally taking over an Italian neighborhood one McDonald’s at a time. About 25 years and many international chapters later, Slow Food has crept into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the help of the folks at Roundabout Farm, among others. It’s not just about food. The movement encourages more community and individual involvement with food- from school gardens to farm tours and tastings it’s about having a true relationship with your eats and others.

If you would like to learn more about SFAP or just go get your fingers sticky with fresh figs and peach pie, drop the Slow folks a line: slowfoodalbemarle.piedmont@gmail.com. I’m sure they’ll get right back to you (only kidding)!

Are you going to the picnic? If so, be sure to let me know how delicious it was!

New UVA President Teresa Sullivan issued a statement this afternoon concerning questions raised regarding management of UVA’s prized literary journal, the Virginia Quarterly Review. In the wake of managing editor Kevin Morrissey’s suicide, allegations of "workplace bullying" have been leveled at editor Ted Genoways.

Last week, UVA spokeswoman Carol Wood told C-VILLE that "all VQR staff members had been working with human resources professionals to address issues within the VQR office," as was Morrissey prior to his death.

The statement from President Sullivan follows, in its entirety:

"The untimely death of Kevin Morrissey, the managing editor of Virginia Quarterly Review, has caused a great deal of pain for his family, friends and colleagues. It has also raised questions about the University’s response to employees’ concerns about the workplace climate in the VQR office. I therefore am announcing that we will be undertaking a thorough review of VQR’s operations.

"Conducting this review does not in any way presume that any members of the VQR staff have been involved in improper conduct. The review will, I hope, provide a factual basis for understanding this workplace and deciding what corrective actions, if any, the University should undertake.

"Two weeks ago, I approved a financial audit of VQR. Today, I am charging Barbara Deily, the University’s chief audit executive, to broaden the examination to include the management of VQR. Ms. Deily reports directly to the Board of Visitors and is authorized to work with any outside consultants she may choose to assist in this review.

"Ms. Deily, who is known for the highest of professional standards and audit acumen, will undertake an independent, fair and impartial review.

"My hope is that this review can be completed by the end of September so that we can address the issues and allegations that have been raised. This timetable, however, will be subject to change if unanticipated complexities are discovered. It is more important that this review be done well than that it be done quickly.

"The Virginia Quarterly Review has enjoyed a distinguished history since its founding in 1925 as a publication dedicated to independent thought in the fields of society, politics, and literature. The University of Virginia remains strongly committed to VQR."

Wanted to point out an unusual show that’s happening tonight at the Southern. Ian Lawler releases his disc Future Nostalgia, before moving to Dallas on Tuesday. The record is great, and chock full o’ locals: it features Lawler on guitars, and contributions form Darrell Muller, Brian Caputo and Anita Byers, among others, all in a package designed by Browning Porter. Tonight may literally be your one chance to get the disc straight from Lawler. Read more here.

Dave Matthews’ ATO Pictures (Art Takes Over, that is) announced earlier this year that it would, in a partnership with Samuel Goldwyn Films, begin domestically distributing independent films—good news for a withering industry. The first film in that partnership, Mao’s Last Dancer, will be released this weekend in major cities this weekend. ATO CEO Temple Fennell writes in an e-mail, “Films like Mao are rare in the market these days and any support you can give to help it survive the studio blockbuster summer assault is very much appreciated.” And it sounds good: Directed by Bruce Beresford (Tender Mercies and Driving Miss Daisy) and starring Kyle MacLachlan, Mao is about a Chinese dancer who defects to Texas to pursue an American love interest.

For all of you Parachute fans, there’s been some seriously entertaining pictures on the band’s Tumblr in recent days—not that I’ve been checking, like, every hour, or anything. Click here for pictures of the UVA grads arranging strings, playing mandolins and, er, golfing.

Front man Will Anderson directs a gospel choir.

The Fifth District Congressional race between Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello and Republican challenger Senator Robert Hurt is heating up this week, both on TV and in print.

Perriello’s latest campaign advertisement (watch below) attacks Hurt for missing the first Fifth District candidate debate, held in Charlottesville on August 11. On that day, Perriello squared off against Independent candidate and Tea Party member Jeffrey Clark. Hurt had previously said he would not participate in any debates that include Clark, because the Republican candidate argues Clark is not a viable candidate. (According to the Martinsville Bulletin, support of 10 percent of district voters in an independent poll might change that stance.) The ad likens missing the debate to skipping a job interview:

Perriello also came under attack recently when signs were banned at town hall meetings—a move that Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead criticized as "an act of outright censorship that raises grave constitutional concerns."

"Historically, town hall meetings have been public forums wherein constituents can hear and address their representatives," said Whitehead in a press release. "In such an environment, the public’s right to freely express themselves should be at its zenith, which is something our Constitution protects."

Perriello has announced a series of 20 town hall meetings around the district through September 3. As of today, signs will be allowed at the remaining meetings, according to the Daily Progress.

I have two boys under the age of 3 and I can tell you that whether I want to deal with it or not, poop is literally often on my mind, or hair, or hands, or clothes… When in it comes to babies, it seems creating “waste” is the majority of what they do. How do we as parents (and adult consumers) make conscientious choices about our children’s poop?

When I was pregnant with my first, Pierce, I read a lot about the whole cloth versus disposable debate. The conclusion that I drew was that cloth is the better choice. 

But the debate did make me pause and encouraged me to look at other alternatives. And boy, are there alternatives. You’ve got your standard disposable numbers, all-in-ones (AIO’s to those in the know), cloth diapers (organic or just un-bleached) with plastic waterproof covers, felted wool covers, waterproof fabric covers with Velcro, with snaps and so on.  And don’t forget: Diaper pails, diaper pail deodorizers and the almighty “Diaper Service.” Whew.

Then I came across what seemed to be the holy grail of diaper-dom: the g-Diaper. What they are, in essence, is a combination of disposable, cloth and the AIOs. The inside liners are flushable or if they are just wet they are compostable. The whole package stays on your baby with Velcro tabs. You can also substitute regular cloth diapers for the flushable liners.

Awesome, mostly. g-Diapers don’t come cheap. Plus, after the first post-partum rainstorm, our compost pile looked like the remnants of a gnome slumber party (the liners kept absorbing water until puffy, bloated and saturated). The flushing went fine until we hosted a big family gathering for a few days with lots of Indian food (We’re still not sure if the blockage had more to do with the Indian food than the g-diapers). So, now we skip the liners and opt for cloth inserts.

Except when we’re on a trip, we now use cloth diapers pretty much exclusively. We have a simple method for laundering them at home and a system for keeping things as stink-free as possible (baking soda). All of the research paid off because we found a way to be the least wasteful with our kids’ “waste.”

Then again, there’s always Elimination Communication…

Do you use cloth diapers for your little ones? 

Days before UVA student and lacrosse player Yeardley Love was found dead in her 14th Street apartment, she fought with her boyfriend George Huguely, the student and lacrosse player charged with first-degree murder in Love’s death.

According to search warrant affidavits released today by the Charlottesville Circuit Court, an unnamed witness mentioned an e-mail correspondence between Huguely and Love that took place one week prior to Love’s death. Police salvaged a portion of an e-mail, but contents of the letter have not been made public. The e-mail was recovered from Love’s laptop, which Huguely told police he deposited in a garbage bin on Sadler Street, within one block of his apartment.

The affidavits also mentions a police interview with an unnamed witness who says she saw "Love hit Huguely with her purse" days before her death (via the Washington Post).

Read C-VILLE’s previous coverage here.