Dear Ace: What’s an Albemarle anyway? How did the county get its name?—Al B. Marlow Al: If nothing else, it’s certainly a mouthful for outsiders: Ace has heard every pronunciative variation on our fair county’s name from the common “Al-Burr-Marle” to some unholy, mush-mouthed amalgamation involving albums, Arlo (Guthrie, Ace presumes) and marbles. But lest […]
Dear Ace: I hail from New York City, where we reserve the word “ma’am” for women over 60. I’ve noticed that in Charlottesville, pretty much any female can be “ma’am.” Why the difference?—Thea Soros Thea: If that’s the only difference you noticed between New York City and Charlottesville, Ace suggests you pay a little less […]
Dear Ace: On a recent trip to Richmond, I noticed that all the state buildings were flying the Commonwealth flag at half-staff while the U.S. flag was at full-staff. Isn’t this a deviation from flag-display protocol?—Fannie Flagg Fannie: No offense, but prior to receiving this question, when Ace heard phrases like “deviation from flag-display protocol,” […]
Dear Ace: I was walking on the Downtown Mall the other day and I saw a guy in stocks in front of Zocalo. What’s the deal?âThor Churr
Don: To answer your question, Ace went straight to the source: the Code of Virginia (for Ace’s less legally inclined readers, that’s the big book of laws that breaks down what you can and can’t do in the Old Dominion). Unfortunately, Ace got a little distracted once he flipped to the section on traffic violations. […]
Dear Ace: I heard the John Paul Jones Arena was not named after the well-known naval hero of the Revolutionary War, but inside the arena, they have engraved one of his famous quotes,
Dear Ace: What’s with there only being one High Definition TV channel in Charlottesville? I’ve got this kick-ass TV, and I don’t have anything to watch on it!—Cuckoo Channel Cuckoo: Ace knows how you feel. Why bother even watching “Flavor of Love” if you can’t make out every last pore on Flava Flav’s nose? And […]
Correction appended Dear Ace: I was a little sad that, for all the local press, former Virginia running back Thomas Jones couldn’t lead the Bears to victory on Sunday. How many Wahoos have been able to claim Super Bowl glory?—Lacy Supp Lacy: What’s new, pussycat? For Thomas Jones, crushing disappointment. But hey, chin up: There […]
Dear Ace: Why is February the shortest month?—Cal N. Dar We all remember the old rhyme: “Thirty days hath November, and please don’t forget September. But if April and May were candy today, we’d all have a happy tomorrow.” Or wait. Ace is a little confused. But there’s one thing he does know: February is […]
Dear Ace: The kids’ so-called winter break ended recently, and it got me wondering about snow days. No, not will we ever see the frosty precipitation again (I saw An Inconvenient Truth!), but, in the event that it’s coming down outside, who decides when to call a snow day and how do they make the decision?âCab N. Fevre