outskirts: life and times in charlottesville

When I get back to the village I tend to get rather depressed. I continue to be shocked at the number of smokers here compared to any place north of here (even DC). I was at a memorial service at lunchtime and there were so many smokers just looking on that trying to get to the service was like walking through a cloud of nuclear waste.

During the day you have to know when you are allowed outside, since smokers get a smoke break every 60 minutes, and as regularly as hands on a swiss clock turn, the C-Ville smokers appear in mass.

Then the Hoos, young and old, would come out for a smoke.
And they’d smoke! And they’d smoke!
And they’d SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE!
They would start on Hoo-mayo-pudding, and rare Hoo-pigs-feet-beast
Which was something the Doc couldn’t stand in the least!
And THEN
They’d do something he liked least of all!
Every Hoo down in Hoo-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, with kids running and biting.
They’d stand hand-in-hand. And the Hoos would start cig lighting!

To deal with the daily ongoings of the village I’m working on a list of things on how to make my life happier. It started with buying a few goodies. By Friday I should have:

• SanDisk 2 GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card
• Sony Cybershot DSCT30 7.2MP Digital Camera
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
• Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR Lens
• Sony 2 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo

I needed a new walk around camera, I’m dying to get the ultrawide for my Rebel, try out the Extreme III card, and having a book to read about cadavers will be a bit livelier than life here in the village. I’m now stuck trying to pick out one more lens…the 24-105mm USM IS f4L, or the 24-70mm USM IS f2.8L. I hate trying to make decisions on things like that….so I just put it off for now…but soon.

My list is still under development, but a new Mac is on the list, and near the bottom is finding a new place to live. Hopefully the list is about a one year plan. One other thing on the list is watching the Dolphins win the Super Bowl this year (oh..wait…I’ve been saying that since the 70′s).

The village is so slow in the summer time that nothing really happens. It is painful. I’ve rapidly migrated to summer living. I’m getting back from the gym and showered around 9:30 in the evening when I settle down for dinner and a movie, combined with browsing the web while researching new software and other things on my list

Tomorrow I’ll probably call the doctor and schedule a drop in visit to have my ankle looked at. I’m not optimistic (I fear it may be a stress fracture..or age…). Maybe a cholesterol check while I’m there (400 +/- 50…as a rough guess). At least I don’t have another brain check for awhile (of course that is a very debatable statement..many think I’m just a scarecrow).

Two pictures from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial around 7:30 AM.

So I’m here in DC for the weekend (or at least part of it). I found a local coffee shop and sat down for some caffeine to get perked up for the rest of the evening. While sitting outside looking at some big historic building with a gorgeous sunset I took note of the fact that I did not see one person smoking during my entire 40 minutes of relaxation. Try that on the “historic” downtown mall of C-Ville. Be sure to bring your kids to the mall for the 30th anniversary of the “historic” mall.

So the Jefferson Theater will be shutting down next week. The Crapshaw has taken over yet another aspect of his kingdom. Let me guess…music will play there…and it will sound just like DBM. From the J site the former owner talks about the restrooms and the future of the special crap-like events.

Already, plans are being made to install sprinklers, new comfort systems, better lighting, and more flexible stage systems to bring in more concerts and other special events. (And a real ladies room too.)

You have every right to be disappointed that second-run movies could be making a retreat. But I think that if you consider the big picture, that this theater was spared from the condo-izers and handed to someone who can make entertainment work, you’ll agree with me that the best days of the Jefferson lie ahead.

A ladies room. That is progressive for this village!

Summer is almost here in our tiny village, and that can only mean one thing…CRIME. It really rocks around here when it gets warm. Yesterday there was a story of a sting operation here in town:

Charlottesville police set up a decoy car on Madison Avenue, loaded it with an iPod, a cellphone and in the back seat a hidden camera.

In just three minutes two teens took the bait. A 14-year-old and a 15
year old they rode up on their bikes, saw the goods, and took it.

My bike was once stripped between 9 and 9:15 am on a main street one morning. They really don’t waste much time around here.

Every morning on my way to work I notice how many windows on the ground floor of the historic mall have been broken. It is frequent. I really can’t remember how many times I’ve seen the CVS window cracked or missing. All I can say is that if you are looking to lease a store on the mall, be sure your landlord will cover all costs for getting the broken windows repaired.

higher res version on my Flickr

I was told that the water in the north downtown area was running a bit brown this morning. Maybe they are cleaning the modern sewer lines (progressive city and all). From my tipster:

Thought I’d give you something else to complain about Charlottesville. Mmmm, brown tap water.

I wonder if they announced this on the city home page. I’d try to look at the city page to see, but I’m sure the errors are still rampant.

A few shots from the grand opening of Five Guys on the downtown mall. The line of hungry customers, people enjoying the food, and the meal itself. Will I survive? My stomach is currently a bit iffy.

The first exclusive view from the inside of Five Guys. They are actively getting things ready and the grill was all fired up. At 11 am today you can drop by and do a bit of eating. Things are rather large from what I’ve heard.

4th Street may be one way, but that doesn’t stop people from exploring their options.

In this photographic sequence a truck decided to come up the street in the wrong direction and park. Needless to say, others wanted to drive along the road. Eventually the truck backed out of the road (aka alley) and although not visible in the photo, the extension of the truck clipped the edge of the stop sign. No damage was evident.

I’m just wondering when the first “I just went postal” incident will occur.

View the entire sequence for the Thrilla in C-Villa, the Deuce.

Always a bit sad when an innovator passes away. The number of movies that relied on “blue screen” technology can’t be counted. One of the movies that always pops in to my mind when I think of the technology is North by Northwest that was released in 1959, the same decade that blue screen was developed. Technology is amazing.