Tuesday, September 11
Dig these drummers
WSLS, a CBS station out of Roanoke, reports that the UVA marching band, which has only existed since 2003, already enjoys a bit of national recognition (albeit of the commercial variety): The band’s 30-member drumline is featured in a series of print ads for Yamaha instruments. Apparently this is an honor usually reserved for bands, like the one from Ohio State, that have been around for much longer than UVA’s. (Nope, nothing dorky and cliqueish about marching bands. Nothing at all.) The 230-member band includes 12 students who attend PVCC, and was founded after a $1.5 million endowment from benefactors Carl and Hunter Smith.
Wednesday, September 12
Evan All Righty
All righty, that is, only when compared to the nine other flicks that topped it in The Washington Post’s list of the 10 worst-reviewed movies of the summer. Crozet-made Evan Almighty rolls in at the very end of the list, below stinkers like License to Wed (No. 1), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (No. 2) and The Invasion (No. 8). Critics, apparently, weren’t too happy with this summer’s crop, flinging such zingers as “incoherent and semi-vile” (the Chicago Tribune on I Know Who Killed Me). We particularly like the New York Post’s comment on Captivity: “sick, slick sleaze.” For its part, Evan—the most expensive comedy ever made—was described by the Village Voice as “the work of an angry God.”
Thursday, September 13
CarMaybe
A post today on The Motley Fool details the business strategies of CarMax as presented by that company’s CEO, Tom Folliard, to the Goldman Sachs 14th Annual Global Retailing Conference on September 5. Folliard’s presentation included a discussion of the CarMax store right here in Charlottesville, which is part of a smaller-might-be-better experiment the company is undertaking. Our “very small” store is meant to move only 100 to 150 cars per month, compared with 426 at your average CarMax superstore. Is the experiment working? Folliard says it’s too soon to tell.
Beebe walks
Having served about six months at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail for the 1984 rape of fellow UVA student Liz Seccuro, William Beebe walked out today on parole. The release was a few days earlier than had been expected because of time Beebe had served in Las Vegas when he was arrested in 2006, according to The Daily Progress. Beebe’s total sentence, handed down in March, was 10 years with all but 18 months suspended.
Friday, September 14
The new smart
In his regular New York Times column today, David Brooks waxes humanistic as he discusses the way our understanding of intelligence has evolved: from an “objective” measure of brain power expressed as I.Q. points, to a more nuanced view—in his words, “less like measuring horsepower in an engine and more like watching ballet.” Still, I.Q. is not considered meaningless, and its response to a person’s environment is of interest: Brooks cites, for one, the research of UVA’s Eric Turkheimer on the way growing up poor can negatively affect a person’s intelligence.
Saturday, September 15
High “C” stands for “cool”
The Washington National Opera announced this week that, on September 23, high school and college students across the country—including at UVA—will have the chance to view a free simulcast of a “new, edgy” production of La Bohème. The event is an effort to lure new opera fans from among the iPod generation, who at that time—2pm on a Sunday—should be just about awake and ready to take in the classic tale of young love. Alternatively, if you happen to be on the National Mall in D.C. that day, you can watch the production on a giant screen near the Washington Monument.
Sunday, September 16
Toasters headed north
Have you been wondering whatever happened to the toaster museum once envisioned in our fair city? Neither have we, but nonetheless thestar.com helpfully provides an update: Kelly Godfrey and Eric Norcross, the married couple with the vision for the museum, are living in Buffalo, continuing to store their 525 vintage toasters here in Charlottesville and eyeing Toronto as a possible host city for their beloved appliances. Explains the story, “They think southern Ontario, with its history of 20th-century manufacturing, would be ideal for their museum.”
Monday, September 17
Liberal fired; UVA prof fires back
Political blogs continue to grumble today about the firing of Erwin Chemerinsky on September 13 from his post as Dean of a new law school at the University of California Irvine. Chemerinsky, a well-known constitutional scholar, had been appointed to the role and signed a contract before officials rescinded their offer because of his “polarizing” views. A Los Angeles Times story about the firing quotes UVA Law School Dean John Jeffries as follows: “It seems late in the day to notice that Erwin Chemerinsky is a prominent liberal. …It’s rather like discovering that Wilt Chamberlain was tall. How could you not know?”
