Tuesday, July 25
Cavs have room to Groh
One problem UVA football won’t have this year is high expectations. The ACC media pick the Cavs to finish fourth of six teams in the ACC Coastal Division, just one point ahead of UNC (though far ahead of Duke). Al Groh plays up the low bar in the press today, saying the prediction “is probably pretty accurate, pretty smart thing to do if you want your postseason standings to mirror your preseason standings,” according to The Daily Progress. When asked if he’d like to finish higher than fourth, Groh answers, “Even higher than that, but we always try to look at the reality of things, too.” Way to fire up the troops, coach!
Wednesday, July 26
From the Department of Irony
Real Simple, a home decorating magazine, came out in the August issue with a 1788 quote by, of all people, Thomas Jefferson: “I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.” Neither Jefferson or the dozens of slaves who maintained his two mansions, Monticello and Poplar Forest, could be reached for further comment.
Thursday, July 27
Pat Michaels passes the hat
Last year, UVA prof (and State climatologist) Pat Michaels told business leaders that he was running out of money for his research, which questions the cause and extent of global warming. Luckily for Virginia’s own anti-Gore, the energy industry heard him loud and clear, and, according to the Associated Press, a Colorado utility launched a campaign to collect donations. The Intermountain Rural Electric Association kicked things off with a cool hundred grand, and reportedly has another $50,000 already lined up. Michaels has a history of taking research money from the energy industry, but he has long insisted that the funds don’t influence his research (which has claimed, among other things, that excess carbon monoxide actually helps the environment).
Friday, July 28
Kanye West apparently wrong
Julian Bond cheering George Bush? Such was the recent scene at the White House, reports The Washington Post today. Bush signed a bill yesterday that extends the Voting Rights Act before a crowd that included civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Julian Bond, NAACP board chairman and history professor at UVA. The legislation maintains, for the next 25 years, measures taken in the 1960s to ensure voting rights for Southern blacks. Some Southern House members balked at the renewal, saying the South no longer needed federal oversight of elections procedures, but in the end the bill passed with little conflict.
Saturday, July 29
Jurisprudence’s loss is puzzlers’ gain
Celebrated “puzzle-master” Will Shortz—beloved by crossword fanatics everywhere for his work on The New York Times puzzle and NPR Weekend Edition quizzes—was nearly sidetracked into a different profession entirely, he told Allentown, Pennsylvania’s The Morning Call today. Shortz, who had created his own crossword-centric major (“enigmatology”) at Indiana University, enrolled in UVA law school in 1974. “Originally my idea was to practice long enough to retire and do what I want,” he told the paper. “But then I thought, ‘Why spend 10 years of my life doing something I didn’t love?’” After graduation, Shortz moved right into puzzle-making, and the rest is crossword history. As for the legal road not taken? “I never had second thoughts,” he said.
Sunday, July 30
The Apostle prefers Piedmont
Piedmont Virginia is going upscale, The Washington Post reported today, in yet another article about the “urbane country” phenomenon. According to the Post, more people are earning big-city incomes working from home in places like Culpeper, Warrenton, Madison—all the way down to Albemarle and Charlottesville. To up the star factor, the Post interviewed Warrenton resident Robert Duvall, who personifies the gentrification (and growing celeb status) of Virginia’s rolling countryside. The article also notes expensive restaurants, $1,200 artworks and Starbucks as far as the eye can see. Rural charms and historic character are met with urban tastes and modern technology, he writes: “Think of it as Monticello on broadband.” Um, we already do.
Monday, July 31
That’s some grilled chicken
The Downtown Mall crowd had one less choice for lunch today: A fire at Eppie’s caused an estimated $6,000 in damages just after midnight. The Daily Progress reports no one was injured in the fire, which investigators determined was started by some cleaning rags in a closed garbage bag. “It doesn’t look like anything suspicious,” said Battalion Chief Jeff Garrison.
Capshaw unloads MusicToday
The Wall Street Journal reports today that local music and real estate mogul Coran Capshaw has sold his 6-year-old rock merchandising company, Music Today, to Live Nation Inc., a spin-off from Clear Channel. Live Nation, “the world’s largest concert-promotion company by revenue,” according to the Journal, had previously held a minority stake in Capshaw’s company, which reportedly did sales of more than $100 million last year. Today’s deal delivers Live Nation a majority stake. Capshaw will still run the company, which he described to the Journal as “connecting the artist and the fan and, in a friendly way, monetizing those connections.”
