http://www.brickweekly.com/ Brick Weekly News en-us sitehelp@gatewayva.com Wed, 26 Dec 2007 2:39:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/fcc_forging_corporate_control/ 2007/12/26 “If the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) proceeds with a vote tomorrow (Tuesday Dec. 18th) on media ownership issues, I urge all the commissioners to weigh carefully the impact of any new rules or waiver standards on the historic policy values of diversity and localism. Our democracy relies upon an informed citizenry and there are few issues that the FCC will address that will have a more profound impact on our civic institutions than the media ownership proposals that may be voted upon tomorrow.” Except from a letter released Monday Dec. 17th by Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), providing an update on media ownership issues in 16 case study markets around the country. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is a man on a mission. Despite overwhelming popular opposition to proposed relaxing of media ownership rules and even a bipartisan group of 25 U.S. senators threatening to override the FCC if the agency votes to loosen media ownership restrictions at a meeting scheduled for this past Tuesday (if he goes ahead with the vote, “we will immediately move legislation that will revoke and nullify the proposed rule,” the letter states), Martin feels that he (and his friends in big media) knows what is best for the American people. He wants to let the pigs loose at the trough. Martin (as of this writing) is steamrolling the vote to lift the 1975 media cross-ownership rule that forbids a company from owning a newspaper and television or radio station in the same city (a merger that combines a big daily newspaper and a TV or radio station would be allowed in the 20 largest markets, as long as none of the top four TV stations were involved.). The vote is a forgone conclusion because the Republican majority (Chairman Martin and commissioners Robert M. McDowell from Virginia and Deborah Taylor Tate from Tennessee) is expected to vote for the proposed changes with the Democratic minority (Jonathan S. Adelstein from South Dakota and Michael J. Copps from Wisconsin) anticipated to vote against it. On Monday, he said he would, “temper” his planned relaxation of media ownership rules and that the latest changes would make newspaper-broadcast mergers in smaller markets more difficult (to be considered for a waiver in a smaller market, a newspaper must have lost money three straight years, and a TV station airing no local news would have to supply at least seven hours a week) than under the plan he originally proposed. This is what Martin had to say regarding the proposed changes when he testified before members of the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 5th. “The media marketplace has changed considerably since the newspaper/broadcast cross ownership was put in place more than thirty years ago. Back then, cable was a nascent service, satellite television did not exist and there was no Internet. Consumers have benefited from the explosion of new sources of news and information. But according to almost every measure newspapers are struggling. At least 300 daily papers have stopped publishing over the past thirty years. Their circulation is down, their advertising revenue is shrinking and their stock prices are falling. Permitting cross-ownership can preserve the viability of newspapers by allowing them to share their operational costs across multiple media platforms.” That would sound reasonable enough if it were the truth. Problem is that it isn’t. Newspaper profits are down, but on average, publicly traded newspaper firms still generate profit margins that are greater than the average for the Fortune five hundred. Dean Singleton, owner of the York Daily Record and dozens of other papers of the Media Newsgroup, said that the newspaper industry is, “very, very, very profitable and it will continue to be for a long time.” Scarborough Research, a firm that is closely affiliated with the Newspaper Association of America, concluded in their recent report on the state of the newspaper industry that, “they continue to find that when online readers are considered, the story of newspaper readership for many papers transforms from one of slow, steady decline to one of vibrancy and growth.” When confronted with this information by congressman Mike Doyle (D - PA) during questioning at the hearing, Martin replied that he hadn’t. Truth is that he doesn’t give a shit. And that’s what it comes down to. The hundreds of people that spoke out against the changes (as they did here in Richmond in 2003 when then FCC Chairman Michael Powell was trying to push through similar deregulation) until 1 in the morning in Seattle during one of the committee’s 6 public hearings over the issue know their opinions amount to a pile of feces to Martin. Over the last 18 months, the overwhelming message Martin and the committee has received from the general public is don’t do it. In today’s FCC, what the public wants doesn’t matter. Thu, 13 Dec 2007 4:46:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/salvage_your_weekend/ 2007/12/13 “Where are you taking us?” asked Isabel as we trundled up that barren stretch of 295 towards Mechanicsville in my clunky old Blazer. “You’ll see.” A few miles later I sighed with relief as I realized I knew where I was going after all. We pulled off at the Pole Green Road exit and took an immediate left onto Antique Lane. Giant stone and brass statues loomed before us as we pulled into the gravel lot. I jumped out of the truck and marched between a 12-foot Patrick Henry declaring “Victory or Death” and a several topless mermaids frolicking with a dolphin. “Welcome to Governor’s Salvage Yard!” That’s when I noticed the sign that read “Closed: Sundays.” “Hell, that would have been worth a phone call!” I said as I pressed my face against the glass doors. “Now what?” Just as I was about to turn away, a lone figure emerged from the dark interior and waved for us to enter. “Come on in, we’re open on Sundays through Christmas.” “Have you folks been here before?” asked Paul, our mustachioed host. “I have. They haven’t,” I told him as Dwayne and Isabel goggled at the glass cases full of antique toys, soda pop signs, pocket knives and other glittering by-gones. “Then I’ll leave you to it. Holler if you need anything.” He disappeared into the office leaving us alone in the towering maze of tchotchke. I led us through the central room to a wing stacked tall with old photos, paintings and prints. We paused briefly to take our photo with a giant stuffed buffalo and then flipped through a few dusty frames. “Come this way, I want to show you the outside!” We stepped into the vast salvage yard where every imaginable item that could be pulled from a house prior to its demolition was piled on shelves 15 feet high. Bin after metal storage bin of woodwork and mantel tops, street lights and stop signs crowded the narrow lanes. It was like that scene in the Matrix where Lawrence Fishburn stands in a field of endless white and declares “We’re gonna need some guns,” but instead of guns he said “sinks.” A hundred yards of bathtubs lined the outer wall and between them a miniature stampede of ceramic sheep, porcelain pigs and more mermaids stared us down with glazed eyes. “This is a horror movie waiting to happen!” Dwayne called to us as we crept carefully through a narrow crease between a teetering stack of doors. Our path opened up into a barn full of barstools, tables, chairs and a decrepit player piano. “Oops! Dead End.” We backtracked our way to sunlight and went into the main building, waving at the buffalo head as we passed. “How can there be so much stuff?” asked Isabel, gazing up at the hundreds of chairs hanging from the rafters. Dwayne and I found a bucket full of old woodblock type buried in a room brimming with cast iron skillets. We picked out a few and took them up to the front counter, where Paul happily rang us up. “Did you find everything you were looking for?” “All that, and everything else.” It would take years to dig through every corner of the 12-acre establishment and you never know what you’ll uncover.—TP Tue, 20 Nov 2007 1:44:01 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/the_ale_house_for_you/ 2007/11/20 Not into Beer? Think you know beer? Really. Drinking it for umpteen years is no measure of one’s knowledge. Unless you can name, oh, 25 labels, you’re not even in the running. According to Matt Simmons, there’s much more to know about brews than their logos, their flavors or even their countries of origin. Simmons and his partner Chris Holder know their beers, all 300-plus labels served at their Capital Ale Houses downtown and at Innsbrook. In fact, they’ve turned their love of hops into a burgeoning business, with a third location opening in Midlothian early next year. But they didn’t get here by peddling old standbys to time-worn tastes. Simmons, Holder and their silent partners met while working at Legend Brewing Co. several years ago. “We were big beer enthusiasts,” Simmons says, noting that Legend served specialty brews but only a handful of them. “We wanted to create a place where we could have beers from all over the world.” But providing buckets of beers was only the beginning for the owners, who just celebrated the fifth anniversary of the downtown location. Visiting beer bars around the country in the due diligence phase, they found “lots of beer bars with lots of beers,” but they had yet to come up with their ideal business model. “We knew what we didn’t want,” says Simmons. “We didn’t want a place where the waitstaff wore T-shirts, if there were any uniform at all, and we didn’t want a place that always has nachos on the menu.” Before you object, know that Capital Ale House isn’t your daddy’s beer bar. In fact, unless you’ve visited some of the better brew houses of Europe, Capital Ale and its clientele are several steps up from the backslapping, stool-hogging, peanuts-on-the-floor beer refineries you’re used to. It’s urbane, even sophisticated. Ask any of the downtown denizens who begin staking out bar space as early as 3 o’clock on Fridays. Fulfilling the claim that Capital Ale is so much more, there is a music hall downtown (for bands on tour, as well as regular Blues and Brews on Friday nights, to the accompaniment of the River City Blues Society); a beer garden (inspired by a particular venue in Munich); and a game room, where the cue sticks are appropriately chalked and the darts aren’t sharp enough to injure. Just as persuasive is the menu. “Our guiding principle is how well the food pairs with particular beers,” explains Simmons. German beers, for instance, are enlivened by a wurst platter of brats, knockwurst, German potato salad, sauerkraut and sweet and sour red cabbage. Want your salad Greek? Simmons recommends a light German, Czech or American pilsner. Have a taste for a heavy ale? Balance it with bleu cheese and bread. Feel like a steak? You’ll want a dark ale as well. The menu is a collaborative effort between the executive chefs, the owners, staff and customers. “Everybody gives us ideas,” he says. “We’ll try them out as specials, and sometimes they end up on the menu.” If you’re stuck on your personal favorite, don’t give up. Place yourself in the right hands, Simmons says, and there’s hope. “There’s a beer out there for everybody. A lot of people say they don’t drink beer when they come in. It’s interesting to see their reactions change.” Employees are meticulously trained to hand-hold, cajole and guide in the right direction. All attend beer classes in the upstairs training center at the downtown Ale House. (And, no, you cannot enroll unless you work there.) “First is Beer 101,” explains Simmons. “They there’s a German beer class, an English ale class, American mircrobrews. . . Sometimes we line up the classes with seasonal beers, like Irish beer around St. Patrick’s Day or German beer around Oktoberfest, or Belgian beers around the [Thanksgiving/Christmas] holidays.” Armed with international beer knowledge, servers gently guide. “The way to pull [new enthusiasts] over is not to pressure them,” says Simmons. “Just let them taste it. Eventually, their appreciation opens up a little more.” If you’re not intrigued at first, just drink more. “We have an expression,” says Simmons. “You don’t go from Budweiser to Belgian ale in one step.” Let Capital Ale House show you the way. Capital ale house 623 E. Main St. Richmond, VA 780-ALES (2537) Wed, 10 Oct 2007 2:15:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/the_peoples_beer_of_richmond/ 2007/10/10 Pabst Blue Ribbon—you have a fan. That’s right; Richmond has dubbed you the working man’s brewski. PBR, formally known as Pabst Select, has long been known in River City as the underdog beer that we love to drink—it not only tastes pretty good, but it comes with a good helping of street cred. And everyone from scenesters to button-down types are touting its comeback. “Back in the early 90’s it was Black Label that was known as the beer of Richmond…now we have PBR,” says David Garrett, beer buyer for Carytown Beer & Wine. “It’s cheap—that’s why it’s popular.” In fact, Pabst has become so synonymous with our capital city that one of the top definitions on UrbanDictonary.com pegs PBR as the “People’s Beer of Richmond.” And on the popular social networking site MySpace, a “Richmond” page proudly sits with over 8,000 friends, boasting a vintage PBR can as its logo for our hometown.  Christian Detres, Marketing Director for RVA Magazine, created the page as a personal nod to Richmond, and picked PBR to represent the city. “It’s the perfect synthesis of party and smart. It’s cheap, plentiful and does the job just as well as those high-falutin’ fancy Yuenglings,” explains Detres.  “Carrying a PBR around says to onlookers: ‘I’m not going to let being poor keep me from having a good time, and I’m not going to let having a good time make me poor.’ Not to say Richmond doesn’t know good premium beer—we know all about Miller Lite.” All jokes aside, Pabst Blue Ribbon is enjoying a healthy blue collar resurgence. With sales sinking steadily for the past thirty years, many drinkers had counted out the brew until “The Hipster Handbook,” a manifesto of cool, began to bring attention back to PBR once again. By the turn of the century some of the trendiest bars were pouring PBR—from New York, Chicago, and even Portland, which is typically known for its taste for fine microbrews.  What a difference a few decades make, as now the beer is among the fastest-growing of the top-50 domestic beer brands. It trails only Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Corona. Despite the buzz, the smart folks at Pabst Brewing Company, have resisted the urge to exploit this beer of choice for dissenters and fans of counterculture. To fuel its feisty base, a different form of publicity tactic has been unleashed—such as PBR CD compilations, as well as vinyl singles, that promote local music rather than the fat cats in the music industry. And instead of sponsoring large corporate events, PBR has popped up in small scale neighborhood tattoo parlors, local record shops, and bike rallies. Here in Richmond, beer drinkers are finding PBR in cans at the likes of Emilio’s, Sticky Rice, and Mars Bar, to name a few. And on tap, we have such hometown heroes as The Hill Café, Galaxy Diner and Roxy Cafe to thank. “PBR is by far our biggest seller,” confirms Steven Brown, a bartender at Roxy Cafe in the Fan District. Preston Duncan, a local songwriter and visual artist, was so moved by his love for the good beverage that he penned a note, entitled “An Open Letter to the Noble Brewers of Pabst Blue Ribbon,” that he recently sent to Pabst Brewing. In it he sums up River City’s passion for the brew by writing, “The empty cardboard packaging of a PBR twelve pack is as much of an indication of a Sunday morning as the pastel clad churchgoers that pass our sleepy windows just after our evening has ended.” Duncan, who admits that he has yet to receive an official response, concludes, “PBR, you are a shimmering gesture of defiance to an industry that bases merit on price and fancy labeling and clever marketing campaigns. There is no PBR Super Bowl ad, no stupid frog enchanting suburban living rooms across the nation. And we don’t want there to be. We like your honesty, your modest presence in the beer aisle, your dusty banner at the gas station.” Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:05:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/dog_day_afternoon/ 2007/10/04 Hide the women and children.  There’s a new party planned for this weekend involving loud cars, motorcycles, tattoos, rockabilly music and—puppies? Well the puppies don’t sound so scary. On the other hand, the host bar charges $1 for PBR. Those two sort of cancel each other out. The first annual “Trash-O-Rama” takes over the Sportsman Bar & Grill on Saturday. Event organizer Rik Surly couldn’t believe his good fortune when he stumbled across the domain name http://www.trashorama.com. So pithy. So memorable. So money. Surly’s shindig for tattooed rebel rousers is designed to raise money for an Ashland no-kill dog shelter. Surly’s wife, Marti Jackson, helped plan the event and select the dog theme.  Orphaned pups will be available for adoption in the parking lot and a representative from the shelter will also accept dogs from owners who can no longer care for them. What does one wear to a day devoted to canine crusading and trash culture? Surly expects an eclectic crowd. Many will be shod in steel-toed boots and wife-beaters (the undershirts, not actual spouse abusers). They’ll be acting like yahoos, Surly said. But nothing violent, just a good loud time. The idea is to look tough. That means it’s probably not the right venue for a bowtie or seersucker suit. If only novelty stores sold clip-on goatees (not sure how that would work—especially considering some Trash-o-Rama attendees have really long goatees). Judging by Surly’s rhetoric, the group’s bark is worse than its bite. But Trash-o-Rama will feature more than dogs. There’s a tattoo contest, a motorcycle contest and a hot rod show. Expect loud engines and lots of flaming paint-jobs with or without skulls.  “We’re doing this to bring more people in for the charity,” said Surly, “but people will be around all day drinking beer on ice and discussing cars and bikes.” They’ll also be discussing who looks the best during a pinup contest for the women and a Greaser King contest to find the man who looks most like “The Fonz” (consider it the trash equivalent of homecoming king and queen). Then there’s the rockabilly, a rowdy blend of honky tonk, boogie-woogie and country music. Trash-o-Rama features eight bands: Hick’ry Hawkins, The Deadneks, The Defilers, Mean Mean Man & the Brass Knuckle Band, Memphis Morticians, the Dregs, Hamburger James, Black Cash and Wrenn Mangum. The event is its own kind of animal. A point made even clearer when Surly said, “We’ve got cars, bikes, rock ’n’ roll and dogs all rolled into one.” Trash-o-Rama Saturday at The Sportsman Bar & Grill, 3308 Williamsburg Rd. http://www.trashorama.com Thu, 27 Sep 2007 9:18:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/drag_queen_for_a_day/ 2007/09/27 It took Clinton Leupp a long time to find the pride in being gay. In fact, if you had to name the ten worst places in America for a swishy boy to grow up, the Bronx would probably be right up there. “I stood out as a gay boy, so I really was picked on, it felt like, every day,” says Leupp. Leupp survived. And now he’s making bank with his tales of tribulation as Miss Coco Peru, a saucy, sassy survivor who not only struts and sings but also brings lightness and laughter to a touchy subject. Not for nothing, he looks good in a dress, too. You might have seen her… on “Will & Grace,” “Boy Meets Boy,” or “Arrested Development.” No? How about “To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar”, when she appeared as herself? No? Well, sashay your skirt to the Gay Pride Virginia Festival on Saturday, where Miss Coco will offer up a shaved-down version of the 90-minute show she performs in theaters. (Last month, she drew audiences for 12 nights at London’s Soho Theater.) “People have said my drag show, you could take your mother to,” Miss Coco said in a phone interview this week. “I don’t know if they want to share the gift of Coco with their mothers or if they’re saying, ‘See mom? It could be a lot worse.’” Coco’s shows are primarily monologues that delve into Everygayman’s inner demons. “I’m known as the drag queen that talked, when I started almost 14 years ago,” Miss Coco notes. Her shtick isn’t about mimicking Barbra or lip-synching to Donna Summer. “I like my shows to have a beginning, a middle and an end. I sing certain songs, but I do them my own way, sometimes without having to change the words.” And it all has a point: Be true to yourself. “I jokingly say I had a calling to do drag, but I honestly felt that way,” she says. Coco/Leupp wrote the bones of the show before ever donning a dress. “Two weeks before my first show opened, I saw myself in drag for the first time. Since then it’s been one great moment after another.” Among the greatest moments, Coco says, are emails from people all over the world. “I especially like to get emails from young people who value my material. It makes me feel good, like I’m being heard, to see a young person at 15 saying they came out after seeing my show.” Coco was way too coy about sharing any show teasers. But she did say what we won’t see (unless she reads this and changes her mind): a bit she calls “Ugly Coco.” According to Miss Coco, the hit show “Ugly Betty” ripped off one of her bits. “On the road, people come up to me and say I stole it from ‘Ugly Betty.’ They stole it from me.” Worse, it happens more frequently than TV viewers think. “Once I saw a comedian on HBO doing part of my act. It’s shocking, and it’s devastating, because I don’t have access to those big kinds of TV audiences.” In the “Ugly Coco” bit, she addresses the issue. “It just makes me uglier. But that’s what people want to see. Not a well-adjusted drag queen, but the ugly, bitter drag queen.” Pride 07 Saturday Noon-6pm 17th Street Farmer’s Market http://www.misscoco.com http://www.gaypridevirginia.org Tue, 25 Sep 2007 9:23:01 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/bricks_weekly_leisure_roundup/ 2007/09/25 Holy Day-Planner! This weekend is a whopper. Now that Autumn has officially shown up for the party, the city is kicking into full FUN mode. But having too many choices can present its own dilemmas. Take Saturday: I do not envy all of the gay Italian-American punk rockers who love alpacas. They have some hard choices ahead of them. Enough chatter! Without further ado, here are some things to a do. Thursday 9.27 It’s State Fair of Virginia time again, folks. And as much as we want to make jokes about racing pigs and how hard it is to tell contestants from audience members at livestock competitions… we aren’t going to go there. We’ll take the high road for now. Get yourself out to the Richmond Raceway Complex: play some games, pet a Carny and eat food on a stick. It’s your duty as an American. If we don’t eat funnel cake… the terrorists win. Open 10am to 9pm daily. (804)569.3200. http://www.statefairva.org Are you tired of whining to yourself about Downtown Richmond? Join others and whine in public! The Downtown Master Plan Update will be held from 6:30pm–9pm at The Renaissance Conference Center (107 W. Broad St.). This is a follow-up to the July planning sessions. Perhaps this is when they finally break the news that none of what was proposed is economically feasible and the city has decided to convert downtown in a theme park called Urban-Land. You know I’ll be first in line for the City Council Coaster (no twists and turns, just a slow backward ride) and the Shockoe Rocket (a harrowing ride over cobblestones and crack pipes, dodging projectile vomit and AK-47 rounds). If you’re miserable and looking for a depressing place to drink the pain away, why not pop in during the Poe Museum’s Unhappy Hour? Music comes courtesy of folk acoustic group Trilobita and the wine tasting is compliments of Heritage Wines. Your misery can find company between 6pm-9pm at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (1914 E. Main St.). Admission is free, bring money for drinks. And please note: this is the last gathering of the season… just another reason to be bummed out. Ground Zero Dance presents “Symbiosis,” a modern dance interpretation of “passion, dysfunction and loss.” The performance features work by Richmond choreographers Rob Petres, Kat Legault, Pam England, and Damion Bond. Special guest choreographer Maria Bauman also contributes. Performances run tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. $10-$15. At the Grace Street Theater (934 W. Grace St.). http://www.groundzerodance.org Friday 9.28 If you want a feel good flick, go see “Ratatouille.” If you want thoughtful, moving and slightly downbeat foreign cinema… follow that 18-year-old kid in the Land Rover. The University of Richmond International Film Festival kicks off with a screening of “Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams” at 3pm and 7:30pm in Room 118 of Jepson Hall. The film repeats on Sunday at 7:30pm. http://www.library.richmond.edu Saturday 9.29 If you like cannolis and chest hair, you’ll want to be at the Richmond’s Original Italian Street Festival from 11am–8pm in Church Hill (the Festival also runs from 11am-6pm on Sunday). Admission is free and the corner of 25th Street and East Broad will be filled with the smells of calzones, pizza and pasta. There will also be cultural displays, dancing and a pizza tossing competition. Sadly, meatball fights are discouraged. http://www.richmonditalianfestival.com They’ll be here and odds are… they’ll be queer. The open-air celebration known as the Virginia Gay Pride Festival will commence at noon and go until 6pm in the streets surrounding the 17th Street Farmers Market (17th and E. Main Sts.). The event is free. Entertainment will be provided by Coco Peru, musicians Eric Himan and Adam Joseph as well as the inevitable throng of narrow-minded, protesting douchebags. http://www.gaypridevirginia.org You like to rock the party? Then the folks at RVA Magazine have something for you: the first Fist City Fury Music Festival invades Toad’s Place with live music inside and outside on the Canal Walk stage (see page 11 for more info). Doors open at 2pm. $10 in advance, $15 day of the show. For all ages. Mike Sager has been called “the beat poet of American journalism.” The Writer-At-Large for Esquire will be at Fountain Bookstore (1312 E. Cary St.) at 7pm reading from his new book “Revenge of the Donut Boys,” which includes stories about Roseanne Barr, swingers and Mike Ditka. Eww. http://www.mikesager.com If you have the energy, try to make it to National Alpaca Farm Day. Immerse yourself in all things alpaca from 10am-2pm on Friday and Saturday at Double JJ Alpacas,12480 Tower Hill Road in Midland. http://www.alpacafarmday.com Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:02:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/the_weekly_leisure_roundup/ 2007/09/20 We’re big enough to admit that none of the people (or corporate robots) we hired to do this job has worked out. So rather than sift through a heavy stack of applications in search of some under-qualified replacement, we realized that it’s not necessary to pay someone to do a half-assed job that we’re perfectly capable of doing ourselves. So without further ado, here are some things to a do. Thursday 9.20 Need a hobby? Considering doing drugs? Check out the free lecture “The Pharmacology of Recreational Drugs,” given by Robert L. Balster, Ph.D., director of the VCU Institute for Drugs and Alcohol Studies. Free and open to the public, at 7pm in the VCU School of Business Auditorium (1015 Floyd Ave.). The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts hosts Third Thursday tonight at 6pm. This week’s theme is “The Club Scene.” Music will be provided by DJ Mr. G’s R&B Dance Party. The food and beverage combo is Blackened Catfish and Blue Martinis (which sounds to us like a sure-fire recipe for “morning after” trouble). Tickets are $10. Friday 9.21 Master P went from slinging crack in New Orleans to the hallowed pages of The Guinness Book of World Records where he is listed as the highest paid entertainer of 1999. Now he has a book to show you how he did it. Rapper Percy “Master P” Miller signs copies of his book, “Guaranteed Success” tonight at 7pm at Barnes & Noble Short Pump (11640 W. Broad St.). The VCU Arabic Film Festival starts today. All films are free, subtitled in English and open to the public at the Grace Street Theater (934 W. Grace St.). Friday’s first screening is at 6:30pm. Continues all day Saturday. http://www.arabicfilmfestival.com The Third Annual St. Benedict Oktoberfest starts today at 5pm. Admission is free. Beer costs money. In the parking lot between St. Benedict Catholic Church and Benedictine High School (300 N. Sheppard St.). http://www.stbenedictoktoberfest.com Friday night the United Wrestling Federation brings Capital Punishment II to the Siegel Center. What does this all mean? Carnage baby, lots and lots of carnage (otherwise known as beefy, longhaired dudes in tight-fitting unitards slapfighting and sweating like pigs… aka good times). Show starts at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10. http://www.uwfusa.com Saturday 9.22 The Second Annual Virginia Garden Festival takes place at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens (1800 Lakeside Avenue) from 9am–5pm. This is the place to be if you have a figurative “Green Thumb.” An actual green thumb will likely require the attention of a licensed physician. Admission is free. http://www.virginiagreen.org/virginiagardenfestival.htm If you like System of a Down and meat pies, you won’t want to miss the 49th Annual Armenian Food Festival. Every member of the band has an Armenian background and fueled their rapid rise to hard rock success with plenty of spinach triangles and beef kebobs. Emulate them by visiting St. James Armenian Church (834 Pepper Ave.) all weekend (Saturday from 11am–9pm and Sunday from noon–7pm) for mezza plates, pomegranate wine and sweet bread. Admission is free. http://www.stjamesva.org Sunday 9.23 The Family Peace Festival takes place at St. Joseph’s Villa (8000 Brook Rd.) from 11am–5pm. The free event features performances by Drums No Guns and East Indian Dancers as well as food, arts vendors and a moon bounce (see page 4). http://www.familypeacefestival.org Monday 9.24 Once upon a time, the Quaker who founded Pennsylvania said this: “All excess is ill, but drunkenness is of the worst sort. It spoils health, dismounts the mind, and unmans men. It reveals secrets, is quarrelsome, lascivious, impudent, dangerous and bad.” Was William Penn right? Or was he just a loudmouth buzz kill who spoiled everyone’s Colonial fun? Decide for yourself by checking out “Live Outside the Bottle: The Story of Alcoholism in America,” a traveling exhibition making a week-long stop at the Science Museum of Virginia (2500 W. Broad St.). Various displays, interactive activities and multimedia guide you through the history and treatment of alcoholism. Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:32:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/giving_peace_a_chance/ 2007/09/18 What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. We’re talking about war, of course. Four years into Iraq, many defenders of the war are finding it hard to argue that this one’s anything but a loser. Meanwhile, on a local level, Richmond Peace Education Center is doing its part to break deadlocks, dissemble stalemates and diffuse stand-offs of all kinds by sharing the tools of conflict resolution. If all goes as hoped, the exercise will provide a foundation for a new generation of leaders to deal with conflict. It’s a lofty ambition, but weren’t the Pyramids built one ginormous block at a time?  RPEC’s brand of resolution efforts can be applied to conflicts of any size, anywhere, from your own kitchen to the United Nations to a prison near you. “There are three parts,” says Santa Sorenson, certified by RPEC as a conflict resolution facilitator. “The theme we work on is affirmation; who you are and what you are,” explains Sorenson. “The next level is teaching the right communication skills to keep people open to possibility of resolving a conflict. Third is cooperation, where you learn how to work cooperatively with a group.” Finally, the fourth step is actual resolution. “It’s the most intensive part, but you have to have the other three levels first.” Sorenson says that although RPEC offers the workshop to the general public, there’s been little interest from that broad forum as yet. But get this: They lapped it up when Sorenson brought her dog-and-pony into the local corrections system. At the end of one workshop for the incarcerated, the inmates were so grateful that they awarded certificates of appreciation to their facilitators. Sorenson has scheduled another foray into the prison system later this year. And with an eye to the future, RPEC is sponsoring a workshop for youth of all faiths the last weekend in September. If it all sounds too threatening, you can ease into the spirit this Sunday when RPEC and friends put on the Family Peace Festival from 11am to 5pm Sunday at St. Joseph’s Villa, north of the city. Fest organizers expect the fourth annual event to draw 1,000 people. (Last year, approximately 600 attended.) Like all the other outdoor events this festival-crazy town hosts, there will be food vendors, crafts vendors, and live music, most notably by the Richmond Boys Choir, Ban Caribe and Drums No Guns. “Music is a uniting force,” says Sorenson. But the tie that binds? Faith. Of any kind, Muslim or Methodist, Unity or Catholic. The more diverse the better, Sorenson says. Sunday’s festivities kick off at 11am with an interfaith worship service, scheduled to end around noon with the release of three peace doves. Then comes the frivolity. Entertainment is borderless and not all serious. In addition to food, music and crafts, that popular party pleaser the Moon Bounce will keep kids busy. Best of all, games are structured so that no one loses. As in successful conflict resolution, no one leaves crying. “They’re cooperative games, all win-win situations,” explains Sorenson.  “We’ve always just wanted to have people of different faiths come together and have a great time,” says Sorenson. “Meet each other, talk to each other, all in a pleasant setting. Just having fun next to a person of another faith, whom you’d never meet anywhere else.” Based on her own experience, Sorenson says, people leave with new friendships, “and new understanding.” http://www.rpec.org Family Peace Festival Sunday 11am-5pm St. Joseph’s Villa Thu, 13 Sep 2007 9:41:01 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/leisurebot_5000_presentsthe_fun_o_matic1/ 2007/09/13 The following message is relevant for the week beginning on… Thursday… September 13 and ending on… Wednesday… September 19. The following items have been selected to heighten your personal amusement and to make the most efficient use of your personal leisure time here in beautiful… Richmond… Virginia. Recommendations made by the LeisureBot 5000 are meant strictly as suggestions and have been based on a patented 35-point entertainment merit system developed by Automated Leisure Industries and licensed exclusively to… Brick… Weekly. Automated Leisure Industries and… Brick… Weekly… assume no responsibility for misinformation, cancellations or false claims on behalf on the following event organizers and participants. The following recommendations are meant only as suggestions and in no way reflect an endorsement by Automated Leisure Industries and… Brick… Weekly. Selection #091307-01 – Artist and photographer Rosamond Purcell will present a lecture entitled, “THINGS is where it’s at” on Thursday (9.13) at 4pm on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Oliver Hall (1001 West Main Street) Room 1031. Purcell has been called the “doyenne of decay” as a tribute to her fondness for photographing dead things, weird things and old dead weird things.  Selection #091307-03 – Comedian Brett Butler will perform humorous recitations at the Richmond Funny Bone (11800 West Broad Street, Suite 1090) from Thursday to Sunday. Best known as the star of the television sitcom “Grace Under Fire,” Butler is also famous for her deep voice, Southern drawl and former alcoholic shenanigans. Show time and ticket information is available at http://www.richmondfunnybone.com Selection #091407-01 – A screening of the documentary motion picture, “Into Great Silence,” (introduced by Dr. Nancy Klein Maguire, author of “An Infinity of Little Hours” ) will occur this Friday at 6pm at The Library of Virginia (800 East Broad Street). Both the published work and the film deal with the daily life of the Carthusian monks, a community of religious hermits who spend most of their time praying, gardening or flogging themselves. Warning: the film does not feature husky actor/comedian Jack Black, a climatic fight scene on the Golden Gate Bridge or a hit theme song performed by the rock group Nickelback. It does feature elderly and devout religious men. Proceed at your own risk.  Tickets are $15 ($10 for students) and include food and fancy beverages. Selection #091407-02 – The Diavolo modern dance troupe performs at the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm in the Alice Jepson Theatre. The performance is officially described as such: “…doors, chairs and stairways provide the back-drop for dramatic movement—leaping, flying, twirling—that creates metaphors for the challenge of relationships, the absurdities of life and the struggle to maintain our humanity in an increasingly technological world.” In other words, the elaborate stage performance will act as therapy for an entire nation of people who have anxieties about programming video cassette recorders, answering cell phones during sexual intercourse and worrying if their repetitive joint injury colloquially known as “Blackberry thumb” will ever heal. Interesting. Selection #091507-01 – The ¿Qué Pasa? Festival of Virginia will be held Saturday at the Science Museum of Virginia (2500 West Broad Street) from noon until 8pm. Organized by the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the festival is designed to celebrate the culture and contributions of Hispanics. Details on the specific vendors were not available, but logical calculation concludes there will be a heavy representation of spicy foodstuffs. Entertainment will be provided by an Afro-Caribbean Orchestra, a mariachi band, the Latin Ballet of Virginia, Capoeira dancers, a Guatemalan rapper and a giant piñata shaped in the likeness of CNN television news personality Lou Dobbs. Consult http://www.quepasafestival.com for ticket information. © All material copyright 2007 Automated Leisure Industries. Thu, 13 Sep 2007 9:31:00 EST http://www.brickweekly.com/index.php/thehole/downtown_sneak_attack/ 2007/09/13 The French Riviera has Sneakerzion. Hong Kong has Samplekicks. Patta is No. 1 in Holland, and Berliners line up at Overkill. Now Richmond’s Henry on Broad in VCU-Land has sneakerheads buzzing. If you’re the kind of person who wears a pair of sneaks until bare foot meets ground, stop reading, move on. This one’s not for you. HOWEVER, if you remember how you were shod when, say, you met your special one, had your first beer, or got your third tattoo, Henry is there for you. Sneaker boutiques like Henry cater to Sneakerheads, defined by Urban Dictionary as those who collect “limited, rare, OG [original gangsta], or flat out exclusive kicks.” Despite its gangsta origins, the sneaker culture has spread to fans of all music genres, from hip-hop to punk to hardcore. Sneakerheads not only have foot-forward fashion sense that keeps them in rubber soles for every occasion, serious cases, like Henry co-owner Rudy Lopez, collect them, keep them and chart their lives by them. “Some guys reference points in their lives by their sneakers. I have some from middle school,” Lopez admits. “I don’t necessarily wear them, but I still have them around. And I definitely have some from high school that I wear.” In fact, Lopez notes, responding to demand, some shoe companies are re-releasing some designs from the ‘90s, when Lopez was flashing his kicks at St. So-and-So’s High in Northern Virginia. While working at a NoHo sneaker boutique, Lopez’ foot focus blossomed into a viable business adventure. As a student of fashion merchandising at VCU, Lopez had learned how to establish and market a business. So when he teamed with Billy Manzanares to create Henry about a year ago, the two had a sound business plan that earned them a bank loan for a store specializing in sneakers and the street fashion that evolved with them. Being more collectors than consumers, sneakerheads prefer buying from the Little Guy for their exclusivity. “There are a lot of shoe companies that have select accounts for boutiques, with sneakers that are not available to any of the big players,” Lopez says. Both art school grads naturally bring another facet to the business. “Although our first purpose is to be a sneaker fashion store, our secondary purpose is to showcase artists who normally wouldn’t be recognized by other downtown galleries, because it’s more forward, more of a pop feel,” says Lopez. For instance, VCU grad Pepe Botardo, creator of the Civilize clothing line sold at Henry, had an ink and watercolor exhibit there depicting the artist’s friends and family members committing suicide. “At first glance, it looked pretty morbid,” says Lopez. “But once you read the artist’s statement, you understood he was portraying the pain he’d caused these people over the years, yet they remain close.” Whether they’re driven by compassion for fellow artists, great promotional skills or both, Lopez and Manzanares know how to target a market with scalpel precision. A recent exhibit showcased skateboard deck art. “Most were done by artists,” Lopez explains. The tattoo studio Absolute Arts provided some of the art, as did a Brooklyn, NY-based tattoo art group and some street fashion clothing companies. Henry will host another bash on Friday at Gallery5 (200 W. Marshall St.), just around the corner from their gallery/boutique space at 212 W. Broad. Part promotion, part party down, there won’t be any retail going on. But stop by Henry sometime as a gesture of appreciation. http://www.thehenrygallery.com