It was peer pressure, ultimately, that led me to Charlottesville. In May of 2007, I had just graduated from James Madison University, and was entering my 22nd year in Harrisonburg, Virginia (which, by any account, is about four years too many). My two best friends whom I’d known since middle school were packing up and [...]
Documentaries which focus on the process of recording albums or staging concerts are usually only of interest for die-hard fans and completists; it’s not often that one makes musical and political history and gets nominated for an Oscar. But The Buena Vista Social Club is significant for a number of reasons. When Ry Cooder, the [...]
As debate over Virginia’s controversial new voter ID law rages on, Republicans on the Albemarle County Electoral Board have quietly orchestrated an investigation into what they say are serious vulnerabilities in local voter registration lists. It’s a crusade that’s raised legal questions over improper reproduction of court documents and divided the three-member Board. But vocal [...]
05/24/2013 9:30 pm Eli Cook Band Durty Nelly’s, Charlottesville VA
Obama will make a campaign stop in Charlottesville next week. The President will visit Wednesday, August 29, according to a regional press spokesman, though event time and location haven’t yet been announced. The Charlottesville stop will round off a tour of college towns that includes [...]
A Charlottesville moment. It’s not an imaginative thing to name it, I know, but what else can you call those times when you’re talking to a server at Skybar for 10 minutes before you realize you grew up down the street from her and the two of you built an igloo with your siblings during [...]
Charlottesville got its hooks in me at a relatively early age. During my high school years I visited frequently, after my grade school best friend relocated here from the wild hills of West Virginia, where we shared our hippie youth. As the child of a folk singer, I was happily bounced around [...]
“Oh, he lets them do anything,” boasts my client while her two kids play tug-of-war with a hound dog’s ears in the exam room. Judging by the nonplussed expression on the poor creature’s face (and the complete lack of expression in his tail), I suspect she’s right. He will let them do anything. [...]
It was hard not to draw comparisons yesterday when UVA President Teresa Sullivan met with reporters on Carr’s Hill—her first press conference since she was forced out and then reinstated this summer. Back in June, managing a press corps swollen with TV and print journalists from Washington and [...]
Crafty brewers Every month’s a good month to celebrate Virginia’s ever-growing craft beer movement, but this month it’s official. And what better way to commemorate Virginia Craft Beer month than with the First Annual Virginia Craft Brewers Fest on Saturday, August 25 (Sunday if it rains) from [...]
Tucked away in a chilly corner room in Gilmer Hall are rows of plastic aquariums, each home to a rough-skinned newt with enough toxin in its skin to kill up to 12 grown men. The poisonous amphibians are just one example of research quietly moving forward on Grounds thanks to the work of young, [...]
From the best place for karaoke to your favorite local blog, here are the top picks in the local entertainment scene. JUMP TO: Music venue Place to dance Place to look at art Place for karaoke Place to watch the game Annual festival Movie theater Musical group Singer/songwriter Local play or [...]
Live music is one of the best aspects of life in Charlottesville, as each day of the week offers concerts in all genres from both local and touring musicians. Any personalized “best of” list is sure to be biased and idiosyncratic, but here are some of the most memorable musical experiences I [...]
The agenda of director Jay Roach’s new movie is obviously not to mine the finer nuances of American electoral procedures. This might come as a shock or a relief, depending on whether you go into The Campaign remembering Roach as the politically-minded maker of HBO’s Recount and Game Change or [...]
Seven years ago this month, Dr. Neal Kassell had an epiphany. The UVA neurosurgeon was struggling with the challenge of treating certain brain tumors too deep for the knife and too big for targeted radiation. At the same time, he was researching how to use sound waves to measure blood flow in [...]
We launched a new website today. People are launching new websites every day, but it’s a big deal for us as a print-focused media company that’s been on the same online platform since 2006. I arrived at the paper last year from a digital startup in a small market that used WordPress and [...]
While you may know the best, we know the rest, so the C-VILLE editorial staff has thrown some picks into the mix, too. When you get right down to it, your love (and our love) of this place isn’t just about TJ or UVA. As the folks in this town figured out a long time ago, it’s [...]
During the weeks of turmoil following UVA President Teresa Sullivan’s ouster, Rector Helen Dragas promised the University of Virginia community that the Board of Visitors had not, and would not, play a role in directing academic courses to be eliminated or reduced. “These matters belong to the [...]
At the start of your planning process, you’re no doubt embarking on a long journey filled with questions. We asked four local vendors—a photographer, caterer, stylist, and florist—to give us the top five questions brides ask before they commit. Jack Looney of Jack Looney Photography (249-6266) [...]
A rich, vibrant palette spells one thing to guests: fun. We’re not talking every color in the crayon box, but why choose just two or three colors, especially if you love them all? Instead, put Roy G. Biv (that acronym for the sequence of hues in the rainbow) on the guest list for your big [...]
Google announced August 13 that it’s buying travel guide company Frommers, and plans to use the brand to build up its local search results. The search engine giant is already doing just that with content from Zagat, which it bought last year—ratings from the famous review guide will soon [...]
And so another Philip K. Dick story gets another shot at being another movie. Funny how hard it is not to go in feeling protective and skeptical, as if Paul Verhoeven’s admittedly singular Schwarzenegger staple from 1990 were some kind of inviolable masterpiece. This version, from director Len [...]
Charlottesville has a habit of slowing down during the summer months. Most UVA students and many faculty are on summer break, cutting the population by nearly a third. Some art galleries close, concerts and performances are comparatively sparse, and many local residents take a vacation. It’s [...]