Peterson



Beyond abracadabra

Beyond abracadabra

Arts |

“A magic trick is like a little story,” said Steven Klein.
In Make Believe, a 2010 documentary film produced by Klein and directed by Charlottesville native J. Clay Tweel

Victory lap

Victory lap

Arts |

In Chad Harbach’s debut novel, The Art of Fielding, morning sprints and protein shakes are the stuff that dreams are made on. The book follows shortstop Henry Skrimshander, the rising star of Wisconson’s Westish College Harpooners, as one wayward throw knocks his meteoric rise off course and forever alters the lives of his teammates. Excerpted [...]

Doctor Feel Good

News |

If the predictions of University of Virginia bioethicist John Arras are accurate, history will look kindly on our scientists, which can’t be said for many previous generations of U.S. researchers. 

School of thought

School of thought

News |

UVA President Teresa Sullivan argued for the economic benefits of university-based research in a speech last week entitled “Higher Education as the Engine of the American Economy,” the first in the Miller Center of Public Affairs’ fall forum season. Sullivan’s recipe for economic growth? “Gather diverse human talent in a university setting, add proper financial [...]

Quiet destroyer

Quiet destroyer

Arts |

As the Microphones, the Anacortes, Washington-based musician Phil Elverum released The Glow, Pt. 2 in 2001, through the tastemaking K Records. The record channeled analogue warmth and a personal style that turned the songwriter and studio whiz into one of indie rock’s most respected.

Minding her beeswax

Minding her beeswax

Arts |

To be a sculptor or a painter these days means living and dying by the photographs on your website. Martha Saunders, who has painted with beeswax for the last decade, often jokes about switching to a medium that's easier to photograph than encaustic, but she is quick to credit photographer Scott Smith with bringing her work to life online.

Setting the sails

Setting the sails

News |

When Scottsville resident Barry Long put the finishing touches on two-and-a-half years of work, he was only half-sure it would fit through the door. In his spare time, Long had built two flat-bottomed sailboats in his basement, and now he was prepared to alter the doorframe to get them out. Barry Long documented his boatmaking [...]

The DNA of Blues

The DNA of Blues

Arts |

Martin Scorsese once said that the Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré’s music constituted “the DNA of blues.” That puts Vieux Farka Touré next in line, not only as Ali’s son, but as the heir to a musical tradition that reintroduced the American blues to its West African origins.  Vieux Farka Touré’s latest album, The Secret, [...]

The king of dusty corners

The king of dusty corners

Arts |

When Stephen Steinbrink thinks of Charlottesville, he thinks of a trip to a swimming hole in torrential downpour, and how “drunk” locals are on the good shows that come to town. After a string of tour dates was canceled in 2009, the Arizona songwriter lingered here for a few days and played in some of [...]

Hyperactive on the floodplain

Hyperactive on the floodplain

Arts |

For more than a decade, guitarist and songwriter Ben Chasny has held the unofficial title of Busiest Guy in Indie Rock. In addition to playing with the MC5-inspired psychedelic act Comets of Fire, Rangda and a number of other groups, Chasny is the architect behind Six Organs of Admittance, which plays Wednesday, August 17 at [...]

Capsule Reviews

Arts |

  THEATERS: Carmike Cinema 6 (1005 Garden Blvd., 973-4294) Regal Downtown 6  (200 W. Main St., 979-7669) Regal Seminole Square 4 (2306 India Dr., 978-1607) Vinegar Hill Theatre (220 W. Market St., 977-4911)