Best adult entertainment

Charlottesville? May as well call it Fertility-ville with all the discussion of pregnancy, birth, diapering, child rearing and Montessori tuition that fills the air. If it’s not the best adult entertainment it’s certainly the favorite. Do you people know there are two wars on? Have you heard of health care reform? Like the lone old […]

Best ornithological discovery

Between the ages of 8 and 10, I owned four parakeets—Sparky, Tweety, Sparky II and Zippy. The fact that one of these birds was named “Sparky II” should tell you that this story doesn’t end happily for everyone involved.   Squack ‘n’ roll! The duo behind Birdlips (Lindsay Pitts and Cliff Usher) are still perched […]

Best stop on the local celebrity tour

When Dave Matthews Band returned to town to perform at the John Paul Jones Arena in April, the producers of CBS’ “Sunday Morning” sent a film crew to Miller’s to collect footage of the group’s early home.   Built like a rock: Local architect Gate Pratt’s house sits at the center of local music history, […]

Best reason to look at scantily clad hotties

So, what do you watch when you’re not watching the fists of the fiercest females in our city? Depends on who’s wrasslin’. Turn the other cheek? The Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers may be that revealing, but they aren’t as forgiving. Even when the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers first started gripping up and getting down for […]

Best intersection to sell life insurance

If hell truly is other people, then they all pass through the same intersection on the way there. Just take a glimpse at the spot where Hydraulic Road meets Route 29 on Google Maps: It looks like Satan’s pitchfork, with Commonwealth and Brandywine drives as a pair of prongs that run parallel to our city’s […]

Best Marmaduke

Daniel Strickland hears you talking about him—“You could put a saddle on him,” “He’s as big as a horse,” “You could ride him!”—and, quite frankly, he’s tired of the dog jokes. “My friends say it’s like being a celebrity bodyguard,” says Strickland of owning Tyrone, his 2-year-old Great Dane. Tyrone gets the attention and Strickland, […]

Best way to get pepper-sprayed by a colleague

I like a little Cholula on my eggs, and a touch of cayenne pepper on my fries. Hell, I like a bit of Tabasco in my Budweiser. But I could do without Mace at my hip-hop shows. When a fight broke out among audience members during an April 4 hip-hop show at Is, a relatively […]

Best garage attendant

“Well.” Don’t forget to pay the toll! Local artist Kate Daughdrill keeps operations at The Garage, her cozy First Street gallery, running smoothly. The white-haired woman doesn’t know what to make of The Garage. She looks into the tiny room—a sort of brick closet posing as an art gallery, although it’s really an art gallery […]

Best mammal

On December 10, four days before the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was scheduled to arrive at the John Paul Jones Arena, a lone tiger stood, confidently, at Central Place on the Downtown Mall. Slowly, she tread toward the pen. The moist air hugged her spotted coat. She took a few more steps […]

Best shod

People call politicians “suits” for a reason. Yet, one Charlottesville City Councilor rocks it with a delightful collection of colorful cowboy boots. “I think I have 25 or 30 pairs,” says former Fire Chief Julian Taliaferro. He’s got ’em in aqua blue, UVA orange and everything in between. They strike a contrast to his dark […]