All in the family
I suggest, for Il Cane Pazzo’s name-change [“Name games,” Restaurantarama, January 6, 2009], “Ciao!.” This is the standard Italian friendly salute, often valedictory, equivalent to French “Au Revoir,” but also English, “Hullo!” as well as “So Long”; but, in any case, it sounds (roughly) like the English (or American) “chow,” as in colloquial “chow down [food].” Also, “Bread & Wine” (after Friedrich Hölderlin and Ignazio Silone). (Vinegar is soured or acidified/aceticized wine.)
(Mrs.) Stephanie Nohrnberg joins me in making these suggestions, and also suggests “Oil & Vinegar Hill," a tribute to the historical site the restaurant partly occupies.
James Nohrnberg
Charlottesville
Do the math
I don’t have any comments on the safety/health issue [“Turf vs grass,” January 13, 2009] but find it interesting that the argument for the fake turf is saving money. According to the article, the fields cost $600,000 each, will last up to 10 years, and will save $30,000 in maintenance per year. Doing a little quick math shows that the county will spend $1.8 million on the fields but will only recover $900,000 in maintenance savings and this ignores the time value of money. So the fake turf would cost the county an additional $900,000 if they didn’t have the $1.3 million anonymous donation to bail them out. I guess the question now should be, how much is it going to cost to replace the fake turf in 10 years? If it is $600,000 like the original installation and another anonymous donor doesn’t step up, the fake fields will be much more expensive. The good news is that the county has 10 years to evaluate the fake turf to see if the higher cost is justified by increased benefits and what the annual cost savings will really be.
Downing Smith
Charlottesville