RVA Volume 1 Issue 4

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THE RIVER CITY BURNERS THURSTON HOWES D A R K E S T H O U R TIMOTHY SEAN JOHNSTON MELT BANANAT H E R I S I N G S O N S WHAT JAZZ SCENE ?? T H E S I L E N T T Y P E TURNSTYLE KARL STEINBRENNER LUTHER THE GEEK R A D U I S 2 5 0 7 WAYS TO SUNDAYM A R K F A R I NA RICHMOND LUCHA LIBRE P A U L M U I C K H I G H C O N T R A S T THE PINK RAZORS

ISSUE 4 / AUGUST TIME FOR LIVING

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MAPS OF THE METRO NOW A FULL PAGES

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Richmond’s Local Magazine

A call for action, a new beginning, a time for living.

RVA MAGAZINE

THERE’S PLASTIC IN THE AFTERLIFE. ISSUE THREE / YEAR ONE / JUNE 05 R. Anthony Harris LAYOUT Parker CREATIVE DIRECTOR Joe Gavin EDITOR Ian Graham DISTRIBUTION Anneke Schoneveld MARKETING

WRITERS art Kim Frost Angela Barrow music Parker Jason Hodges Tomothy Towslee Landis Wine film Teddy Blanks Matt Goins Kevin Gallagher local M. Dulin Laura Ann Tess Dixon Jane Samborski Julia Taylor

DESIGNERS Ollie Cortum promotional Eddie Wilson web Bizhan Khodabandeh Andre Shank Ian Graham

ILLUSTRATORS Brian Nozynski Eric Seat Andre Shank Dash Shaw

PHOTOGRAPHERS Kim Frost Michelle Dosson Parker Nate “Igor” Smith Georgre Weistroffer

CONTACT Inkwell Design L.L.C. 3512 Floyd Ave. Apt. 1 Richmond, VA 23221 tony@rvamag.com www.rvamag.com

ADVERTISING For all local and national advertising inquiries contact tel: 804.349.5890 eml: advertising@rvamag.com

DISTRIBUTION If your business or establishment would like to carry RVA Magazine contact tel: 804.349.5890 eml: distribution@rvamag.com

SUBMISSIONS RVA welcomes submissions but cannot be held responsible for unsolicited material. Please send all to submissions to content@rvamag.com HEADS UP. The advertising and articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinion and attitudes of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publisher or editors. Reproduction in whole or part without prior written permission from the publishers is strictly prohibited.

RVA Magazine is published monthly and is $5.00 USD. All material within this magazine is protected.

RVA is a registered trademark of Inkwell Design L.L.C. Thank you.

RVA

/ CONTENTS

ART

04 Pick & Choose

06 Wanna See More??

12 Fashion Week Recap

18 Oura X

22 Dash Shaw

MUSIC 28 Interview / Mastodon 32 Reviews / THUNDERBIRDS ARE NOW!! / CHROME / THE COUGHS / ONEIDA 34 interview /The PINK RAZORS 35 Review / Silver Jews

FILM 38 Dispatches From KG 40 Raviotta 43 A Jaws Anniversity 44 Pickles & Kirchfeld / Phone LOCAL

46 Upside Down

48 A Dulin Story 52 The Good LIfe / The International Gentleman

54 Review /

Special thanks to Kim & Anneke.

Whores On The Hill

56 THE QUICK GUIDE For June / Business Listing / Richmond Indy Radio Schedule / Nanci Raygun / Fusion / Alley Katz / Canal Club / Cary St. Cafe In future issues the listing will be expanded to include: Movie theatres, playhouses, video rental, more restaurants, yoga, galleries, video equipment rental, Mac & PC computer repair, bike shops, boutiques, tourist spots, bookstores, club, martial arts, acupuncture, public libraries, tourist spots, tattoo shops, print shops, U of R Radio, VCU Radio, massage parlors,

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Artspace 0 East 4TH Street RICHMOND,VIRGINIA 23224 phone // 804.232.6464 web // www.artspacegallery.org email // artspaceorg@hotmail.com gallery hours // Wednesday thru Sunday 12-4PM

Thank you to Dana from Artspace.

G. Pohl New World Hero, 2003 $3500 USD Kinetic assemblage with light (the world, men, marbles, a cage, chrome doo-dads)

The Fourth Friday in the Manchester District’s Plant Zero, art openings happen every month.

We picked one piece we would have from the ongoing Radius 250 show at Artspace. A major juried art show featuring artists working within a 250-mile radius of Richmond.

Pick & Choos

Wanna See More ?? a sneak peek at the work being produced in the city

Art

“The slicker my commercial work needs to be the rawer my personal work becomes. There always needs to be that balance within my life.� - Thurston

The Development of Thurston Howes / Anneke Schoneveld I was introduced to the haunting imagery of his photography five years ago while I was going through VCU’s photography program. For a man that has done intensely powerful portrait/documentary work from the hardcore scene to strippers to self-proclaimed “freaks” – he is not what you may first expect. When I showed up to interview him, he greeted me with a goofy smile, wearing jeans and a t-shirt that said, “Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting.”

Howes is a humanitarian. He sees people as other humans who he can relate to, and you can see that connection in every image he takes.

“You need to have integrity, honesty and respect for who/whatever you photograph – these things will translate into the image. You need to treat people as people.” He is drawn to photographing people that are on the outside of the accepted norm – whether they are at a punk show or a patient so sick that it breaks your heart to see them. He can connect with people with great empathy – so in his photographs you are given the chance to see into their lives – not as stereotypes but as people with a soul and a story to be told. “My images are created through direct experiences with the real world.” He is not one to hide behind the camera just being an observer – but he reaches out to his subjects. He often uses humor to make people more comfortable with him and in that allows them to show more of their reality in front of the camera.

I believe in the supposition ‘that the truth must be discovered and not constructed.’ I look through the camera much as a social anthropologist looks at society, being objective and having no preconceived ideas. My photographs are nonjudgmental, allowing subtle truths to emerge.” You can reach into the commonality of the human experience with every one of his portraits.

Every one of his photographs has a moment captured within it. “It’s about the event of taking a picture that’s important. Sight, smells, touch… it all needs to be distilled down to one sense that captures everything.” He respects every subject the same way – whether it is a series on war protestors or a local little league or flowers.

The maturing of a photographic artist can be felt by the whole of their audience. It is at that point that people start to single them out for their look and their style. Buying not only their artwork, but also hiring them as a commercial artist for the look that they will bring to the project, rather than asking them to just take the picture. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to make an image look like something the art director pulled out of a magazine. Now people are hiring me saying, ‘Can you do what you do – for my project?’”

He quotes famous photographers, such as Man Ray, Minor White and Henri Cartier Bresson, often as we sit and talks about life and about art.

“I believe that ‘through the act of living the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us.’ My photography is about discovery and learning, [my images] are intended to inform rather than convey personal feelings. As a documentary photographer

Thurston is a jovial man who does not take himself too seriously in life, in fact all of his friends think of him as the class clown type. And he would laugh when he read this if I called him a wise man – but he is a man who has not been afraid to explore his art and his medium as deeply as he explores his own soul. His understanding of photography is not just about an art to him – but changes how he sees life and people and those moments that we can share of our experience in this life.

To see more of Thurston’s work please visit www.thurstonhowes.com.

Playing With Fire / Parker If you’ve been on the First Friday’s Art Walk recently you’ve most likely been among the wide eyed spectators witnessing flames being twirled, thrown, spun into patterns, and even breathed. These flamboyant performers are The River City Burners. They want to expose you to the unique and ancient art form known as poi or “fire spinning.”

Parker How did all of this start out for you guys? What made you want to perform with fire?

Stephen Bowman I was first bit by the fire/poi spinning bug after watching Brenda (my sister-in-law) and Sean, from the DC Burners perform in DC. Like most people watching fire spinning for the first time, I was amazed and mesmerized. I could have watched them all night.

Carol Lee Bowman Yeah, my sister got involved with fire spinning in D.C. She came down to visit us and lit up her poi in our front yard. The next day I was on www.homeofpoi.com ordering an instructional DVD to start practicing poi. I was hooked!

Brandy Horvath Well, I went to a music festival in Georgia, and I saw this guy spinning fire. I thought, “I have to learn how to do that!”. So, when I got back home, I researched and found the home of poi website. I soon met Carol Lee, Stephen, and Michael and we started to perform together.

P Can you talk about the history of fire spinning and where it originated?

BH Poi was originally used, many years ago by the Maori people of Polynesia to increase their flexibility, strengthen their hands and arms, as well as improve coordination. Different tribes over the years passed on their own history of poi. The type of poi used, as well as spinning styles, are as varied as the tribes that they originate from.

P It seems like it is not only an art form, but also a way to get more in tune with yourself.

BH So true! Not only does spinning poi help with flexibility and coordination, it helps you center yourself and definitely gives you an outlet for being physical.

SB Fire/poi spinning has helped with my physical as well as my emotional coordination. I have become much more in tune with my body and mind. It

has forced me to think in new ways, maximizing the balance between the left and right sides of my brain.

CLB Until recently, I have only been comfortable in water. Land was where I had to be in between trips to the water. Spinning poi has changed that. When I spin I feel a wonderful rush of excitement. I am hopelessly addicted to the combination of music and movement with the thrill of the fire. Spinning calms my restless hydrophilic soul.

P You guys all have fire performing names and each member?

CLB Since poi originated in the Maori tribe of New Zealand we decided to have animal totems represent each member of the group. My tribal symbol is the catfish and my performing name is Pyrofish. I am a huge fan of the James River and love to snorkel with the catfish at Pipeline, Nickel Bridge, and Pony Pasture. During the drought a few years back I have amazing images burned in my brain such as swimming with 20 flathead catfish in the bottom of a swimming hole, hovering over huge blue cats during spawning season, and being eye to eye with some really big flatheads nestled under boulders. Snorkeling the James is my favorite place to be.

I have a Master’s degree in Marine Biology and every job I have had has involved water. I have worked on ships with submersibles and ROVs, I was a research diver for four years, I have worked at zoos and aquariums, and I have taught countless people how to swim. My speciality is definitely the fire poi. I am teaching myself to spin fire staff and I am toying with the idea of fire fans in the future.

SB My fire name is HyperFire. I was hyperactive as a child and that child is still inside me today. Coupled with a monster metabolism, my fire/poi spinning stems from this energy. Oddly enough, fire spinning relaxes me.

BH I’m Catalyst. I spin poi and double staff, or batons.

Have you had anyone interested in learning to spin? Are you interested in adding to the ranks of The River City Burners?

CLB Right now the River City Burners is made up of four members. I hope to add to the ranks in the future as new spinners pop up in the Richmond area. I would love to hold organized poi spinning classes where we could teach people how to use poi to exercise and relieve stress. It does wonders for me and I would love to share this to anyone who is interested. For now we just have informal “spin jams” where we get together to exchange new

moves.

SB We have had many people that are interested in learning to spin fire/poi. Our e-mail list grows with each event, and we post to everyone on the list when we get together for the spin jams and informal lessons.

BH Yeah, a lot of people have inquired about lessons here and there, and we would definitely like to start teaching. Hopefully, the summer will prove to be a busy one and we will be scheduling days at a local park to bring new people out.

Do you see performance in this genre increasing?

BH I do. I feel like the fire arts are becoming more and more popular. There is more of a fire community overseas, in England and Australia, but I think that the U.S. will be quick to catch on (hopefully). That’s part of what we are about, spreading the word and introducing new people to the art form.

You guys are now a staple of the First Friday Art Walk. What is your opinion of the event? Do you see it growing or the energy changing?

CLB Every time I go to First Fridays I am always amazed that Richmond has such a wonderful showing of culture and, more surprisingly, a showing of people supporting the art community.

I would love to see Richmond become a thriving artistic town rivaling Austin, TX or Athens, GA. We have such a great source of artists and the potential for our city is very exciting. If spinning fire on the sidewalks during First Friday brings Richmond closer to realizing that potential then definitely count me in.

SB I think the First Friday Art Walk is a huge success.

It is nice to see the people of Richmond supporting Art. First Friday is an excellent reason for people to

come downtown. I would love to see Broad Street shut down to vehicle traffic for each First Friday event.

What are some of your goals for the future? Talk a little bit about your philosophy.

BH Our goal is to not only perform, but to be able to meet new/or connect with other fire spinners or fire artists and to help the fire community grow. Our philosophy is about spreading the joy of fire spinning. I have personally had such positive experiences through learning to spin and spinning fire. I want to share that with whoever is interested. www.rivercityburners.com

Comic Illustrator Cloonan / Patrick Godfrey Becky Cloonan is one of the fastest rising stars in the comic book field.

Her 12 issue hit miniseries “Demo” with writer Brian Wood just wrapped up, and she’s currently working on several new projects. Velocity Comics owner and Oddgod Press publisher Patrick Godfrey sat down with her over the computer for an IM chat to see what’s up with this new Richmond transplant.

Patrick [3:02 PM]: Ladies and gentlemen, Becky Cloonan! You can’t see them, but I’ve got a live studio audience here. They’re cheering madly.

How’s Richmond treating you?

Becky [3:04 PM]: No complaints so far! The weather has been good for drawing comics, and we got this sweet pad in the fan. My only complaint is about the serious lack of Delis. But then I haven’t even been here a month yet...maybe I’ll get used to it.

Patrick [3:05 PM]: Consider this a clarion call to all Deli-owners in the vicinity to cater to you. There’re some choice options around.

Patrick [3:06 PM]: Have you had much contact with the art scene? Any opinions?

Becky [3:08 PM]: Not much yet, but I’ve been really busy. Moving set me back a few weeks, so it’s been a constant game of catch-up since then. I haven’t really done too much except go get coffee every morning. Maybe when things even out a bit I’ll get more involved, but my summer looks pretty packed.

Patrick [3:08 PM]: What are you working on currently?

Becky [3:12 PM]: My big project right now is called “East Coast Rising,” a 3 graphic novel series being published by Tokyopop. I’m still working on the first book, so it probably won’t be out until early 2006. I’m writing and drawing...it’s been a good time. I’ve got another book lined up, but I’m sworn to secrecy!! Hopefully I’ll be able to spill it soon. Other than that I’ve just been doing some freelance work, some album covers and storyboard work.

Patrick [3:14 PM]: It’s interesting that you mention Tokyopop (a manga publisher) and doing album covers, as I was going to comment that music and manga both seem to inform your work to a large degree.

What gives?

Becky [3:23 PM]: My work has evolved from so many different influences, it’s hard to even keep track any more. I really like the black and white medium, which a lot of manga really utilizes. It’s also really cinematic, and easy to read. For the most part, emphasis is put on pacing and storytelling rather than dialogue and exposition. That’s what really drew me to Japanese comics in the first place. And music--most people I think will agree- is just such a big part of my life. I constantly listen to music when I work.

When I lived in NYC, I was going to a lot of shows and getting involved in the local scene there, doing a lot of flyers and tshirts for local bands.

Even though I don’t really see my art as too deep or personal, it still reflects myself to a certain degree. I guess it’s only natural that my interests show up somehow.

Patrick [3:24 PM]: Do I detect a little Paul Pope in there, too? Any comic artists made an impact on you?

Becky [3:36 PM]: I guess there might be a little Pope, but not TOO much. Hehe, actually I try not to get too inspired by other comics. The comic industry is so small, I feel like sometimes it gets a little incestuous. I try to look for inspiration elsewhere: in film, painting or nature. Some artists I really look up to are Hiroaki Samura, the total awesomeness of his work on Blade of the Immortal is something I’d like to achieve some day.

Patrick [3:40 PM]: Yeah, it amazes me how he can change it up between ink and pencil and have it all flow.

You play around with multimedia at all?

Becky [3:41 PM]: I used to do a lot of collage work, but nothing recently. I’m a little scared of it, actually. I mean, brush and ink is hard enough!

Patrick [3:42 PM]: You nail it, though. Are there any specific examples of you work you’d like to point out if people aren’t familiar yet? Anything of which you’re particularly proud?

Becky [3:45 PM]: I’m involved in the Meathaus anthologies, they always put out such quality books, and it’s just great to be a part of.. “Love Songs,” Meathaus #7 is a great comp with some fantastic artists.

Becky [3:47 PM]: I also do a lot of flyers and posters, though it’s mostly for small, local bands. It’s something I really enjoy. If I ever got tired of comics I’d be silk screening flyers full-time. One day I’d like to put out a book of all the flyers I’ve done. But not yet.

Patrick [3:50 PM]: I’d say my faves of yours are probably Channel Zero: Jennie One and Demo #6. You’ve collaborated with writer Brian Wood on a few projects now; any other writers you’d like to work with? How does that stack up against writing your own material?

Becky [3:56 PM]: Working with a writer is wicked different. On one hand it’s easier because they take care of plot and dialogue. On the otherhand, though, sometimes it can get tricky trying to match up what they want with the best way to tell the story. I’m pretty picky when it comes to writers. Brian was great to work with; he let me do my thing, and I let him do his, and the books just came out. There was some good chemistry going on. One writer I’d love to work with is Rick Spears. His stories are always rad, and his scripts are more like screenplays. He told me once that he liked to think of the artist as a director, which to me makes so much sense!

Becky [3:57 PM]: Writing East Coast Rising was pretty tricky. I haven’t written anything over 30 pages before, so to jump to 160 pages was pretty intense. But it’s all falling into place, thank God. Patrick [3:58 PM]: Did you grow up reading comics? Or, better put, how old were you when you got the bug?

Were you more into mainstream stuff or independent?

Becky [4:05 PM]: My dad would read me old Silver Surfer comics for bedtime stories. I guess that’s where it all started. I didn’t start buying and reading comics until high school though, when I had a car and could get myself to a comic store. I was mostly reading Ranma 1/2 and Uncanny X-Men (hehe!) After that I got really poor and didn’t buy too much. I’ve never been hardcore into comics, although I love the industry and try to keep on top of it as much as I can.

Patrick [4:07 PM]: So if one of the major companies knocked on your door and handed you a big pile of money to work on any company-owned property, what d’you think you’d do? Anything you’d geek out on?

Becky [4:08 PM]: SILLLVER SUURRFFEERR!!!! Like, a teenage Surfer and Nova totally kicking Skrull ass, I’d be all about it. I will do anything to draw that book.

Patrick [4:10 PM]: I kinda figured you for a Wolverinefighting-ninjas kind o’ lady.

Becky [4:13 PM]: Who needs Wolverine when your boss eats planets?!?

Patrick [4:12 PM]: Is there anything else you’d like to say to your new neighbors in RVA? becky [4:13 PM]: Comics are awesome, Richmond is pretty sweet, and San Dimas High School football rules!

Patrick [4:14 PM]: After this you’re gonna have deli owners chasing you down the street begging you to eat there.

Becky [4:14 PM]: I can only hope.

Music

Darkest Hour / Jeff Grant Darkest Hour fits into the metal world, somehow. No one really seems to know exactly where though, or how they did it. Their recent DVD “Party Scars and Prison Bars: A Thrashography” illustrates that the band often has trouble taking themselves seriously—a rarity among their Ozzfest peers often clad in face paint, costumes, and a general bravado that dares you to laugh. At times you get the idea that Darkest Hour are the uninvited guests, they snuck in the back to crash the party. The joke stops when the amps turn on though, as Darkest Hour typically outplays every other band on the bill. They prove to metalheads, punks, and hardcore kids alike that not only were they invited, but after a ten year birthday, an upcoming album, and endless touring—they’re still not ready to leave.

From the wide-eyed looks on their faces too, one would think they’re just getting started.

With members living in both Richmond and DC, I spoke with guitarist, DC local, and “Dad” of the band, Mike Schleibaum. Richmonder Ryan Parrish was vacationing in Hawaii at the time. Rough life.

Does the band’s heart belong to Richmond or DC? That’s a good question, I mean DH started in DC but really we wouldn’t have been able to continue if it hadn’t been for the fucking RVA vibe, man. I mean, RVA is the only place in the world where you can have a practice space for $50 a month and play till like 4 in the morning next to a police station or something. It is also one of the few places where you can go to a party that has a bonfire in the back yard with firemen drinking from the keg instead of putting it out! No but really, I like to think we have been able to take a few things from the DC and RVA things and kind of combine them. So really, Darkest Hour is really a menage a trois of METAL! What steps do you take to stay out of trouble on tour? Does one member emerge as the Dad? Definitely! That is me since I don’t drink, I baby sit! Ian MacKaye never wrote about that shit in “straight edge.” I mean if I knew that I would just end up being the baby sitter I would have pulled that Pantera shirt out of the closet and just turned into one drunk redneck!

How do you feel about the DVD and what would go on the next one?

I am cool with it, I mean I am glad that it was not just some band playing live bullshit. I think we wanted it to be more like those old metal videos we used to watch, “Cliff ‘Em All” or the Pantera videos. Those were fun videos and really showed that bands could have personalities too!

You guys have talked in other interviews about preferring the hardcore scene to the metal scene and even put-down the metal scene sometimes.

How do the metalheads feel about this stance?

I mean first of all that is BULLSHIT. Don’t believe the hype or everything you read. There are as many problems with the hardcore punk scene as there is with the metal world. I would say we equally love and hate them at the same time. Also, DH is a perfect example of how metal dudes and punk dudes and core dudes can all be in the same band and play a sort of combination of them all, so DON’T BELIVE THE HYPE! How would you go about changing the metal scene?

I would make it a little less about ripping off the little guy. Metal is so based on rock stardom. It should be based on those little bands that usually have to sell tickets just to play with their favorite washed up band who has a bloated guarantee. No really, I wish that metalers would take more interest in local and underground bands Victory is already lauding your upcoming Undoing Ruin to be the “Album of The Decade.” How does it feel to not have to write another record until 2010?

I know, I mean that is a pretty pretentious thing to say, but hey, that’s what they do, hype that shit. I guess for me it feels good because I don’t really have any more riffs so it will take about another 5 years for us to figure out how we can pull more songs off the fret board.

What are pros and cons of being in a band that’s been together for such a long time?

Pro—at least we know we are not trendy bullshit.

Con—too many ideas in the stone age, like can you believe Darkest Hour booked our first tour before almost anyone had the internet!

What becomes of the Darkest Hour members that leave the band?

Dude, they just become washed up dudes who work the door at Baja Bean Company or Sticky Rice. And they usually move out to Southside RVA and take over the night shift at the Applebee’s!

A Meeting with Jesse Split & Miz JoAnna O / Donny George

The good people at Turnstyle recently spent some time with RVA’s own Donny George to talk about Richmond, the Electronic music scene, & trying to bring the two togetther.

1. Briefly introduce yourselves. Names, dj names, position, etc.

JO: Jesse Oremland aka DJ Jesse Split :-co-owner TURNSTYLE (house & techno officianado), (turnstylesoundsystem.com), WRIR 97.3fm DJ (wrir. org), ‘THERAPY’ producer (EvolveVA.com)Resident @ Konkrete Jungle - VA JW: JoAnna Willey aka Miz JoAnna O. : co-owner TURNSTYLE (breakbeat, d&b buyer + Fashion Junkie), +THERAPY+ producer /// DJ Residencies: Therapy (Friday nights), “FREQUENCY” Saturday nights from 11pm - 1am on WRIR 97.3FM, Konkrete Jungle VA (Monday nights) 1a. What is the concept behind Turnstyle?

JO: A lifestyle boutique

that is dedicated to the Turntable Lifestyle. From the music, to the fashion, to the accessories that support the ‘DJ’, the ‘CLUB’, and the ‘CLUBBER’.

JW: Urban neccessities for the Turntable Lifestyle - ala Turnstyle.

2. What made you decide to want to open a vinyl boutique specializing in electronic dance music in Richmond?

JO: It was too difficult to get the music and fashion that I was looking for in Richmond and found that others felt the same way.

So I felt I could bring my years of experience and world travels to the table and offer Richmond something new.

JW: We both wanted to open a record store well before we moved to Richmond. So in 2003, the timing was right & Richmond got lucky.

2a. What difficulties did you have when you started that you were able to overcome?

JO: Overcoming incor-

4. How do you divide up the responsibilities for running things or do you both just do everything rect perceptions of what Electronic Music is, as well together? as the negative image that JO: We definitely try to split up work according to the media has painted each others strengths and over the years. It is a constant struggle, as with help the other in areas that may be weaker. We any scene. just have a good sense of JW: Ridding the city of the tired (1999) mentality what the overall goal is, and we each work towards that “Nothing goes on in that goal. Sometimes Richmond”. responsibilities overlap.

JW: We both have specific 3. What have been your expertise in different areas biggest successes so far?

JO: I look at anything that that balance well when put together. We are moves Electronic Music always together anyway, in a positive direction as so eventually everything a success. The EVOLVE gets done in the 60+ festival, Turnstyle, WRIR, hours we work per week.

THERAPY, Anniversary Event when we blocked 5. Where is your store off Broad Street during located?

First Friday’s Artwalk JO: 102 West Broad Street, (June 2004).

Downtown Richmond JW: Jesse pretty much summed it up. The future JW: It’s all about Downtown. Just a few short continues to look bright for Richmond as a techno blocks from VCU, conveniently located just mincity. The addition of utes from interstate 95. good techno on the FM airwaves gives our music 6. Why did you choose a voice like this city has that location? never seen before.

JO: Its downtown, and I love living and working in a downtown urban environment. Downtown Broad street is on the rise.

JW: We never thought of any other location.

Downtown is where the action is at.

7. What kind of contribution do you hope to make to the Richmond community?

JO: I just hope I can bring a positive influence to a city that needs more positive influences.

JW: To continue bringing quality techno music & urban fashion to Richmond.

Therapy 8. Briefly describe your night “therapy.”

JO: A downtown clubbing experience that highlights turntablists, live performances, and just the best that Electronic Music has to offer in a one of a kind venue.

JW: Good Vibes, Superb music, fine people, strong drinks, booming sound, wooden dancefloors, and we party till 4am. Sounds like Therapy to me.

9. How did you come up with the name “therapy”?

JO: This night is for those that are tired of the same old crap, you can come get your end of work week therapy. Let loose and blow off steam after

a long week. Because we could all use a little therapy. Music is very therapeutic.

JW: Agreed. And, It is quite humorous to hear your friends tell others that they have to be at “Therapy” on Friday night.

10. Can you tell us about the venue?

JO: Mr. Bojangles Entertainment Complex is a 3 floor, 14,000 sqft nightclub with the most unique layout of any club I have seen. The second floor has an outdoor patio that overlooks Festival Park with a backdrop of the Richmond Coliseum. The 3rd Floor opens up to the 6th Street Green House and has floor to ceiling windows that overlook the Richmond Coliseum.

It really is something that has to be seen to be believed.

JW: I can honestly say it is by far one of the most incredible venues I have seen. You can take the elevator (or stairs for the super healthy) up to the 2nd or third levels.

Grab a drink at one of the four bars, relax on the patio while takin’ a break from dancin’ on the nice wooden dancefloors. As a

DJ, the sound is the best I have ever played on in Richmond. The top level is my favorite though, it almost reminds me of an amusement park for adults.

11. What can people expect when they come out to therapy?

JO: The downtown nightlife experience, whether you just want to socialize, listen to music, or work it out on the dance floor.

JW: To leave all the BS at the door, and get ready to have a good time! Music & clubbing is all about having a good time and nothing else.

12. How long have you been djs and how did you get started?

JO: 10 Years, I got started by buying tracks on vinyl because they weren’t available in another format. If I wanted to hear my favorite song, I had to

play the record. The next logical step was to learn how to mix the tracks together, so I bought a pair of decks. But even as a little kid I was always trying to adjust EQ’s and knobs in order to get a different sound out of stereo equipment.

JW: 7 years. I could always be found on the dancefloor prior to dj’ing. At the time, most of my friends were dj’s, so that is just how we hung out.

There was seriously one summer where the music never stopped because someone was always spinning. I never had the intention of becoming a DJ, I was just looking for another creative outlet & it seemed to come natural to me after years of playing the piano at an early age. I promise I will still be spinning records when I’m eighty.

14. How would you describe your style and approach as a dj?

JO: I adjust my style and approach depending on the audience I’m playing to, the equipment I’m playing on, and the vibe that I get from the audience. If you don’t have good equipment(sound

system, mixer, turntables, needles...I could go on) it really limits the overall potential and it becomes more difficult to perform the way you like. The DJ’s job is always to move the crowd, which is a lot more than just playing a song that everyone knows.

JW: It depends on whether we are playing together (as Turnstyle Soundsystem) or individually. But in either case, The ADHD I was never diagnosed with as a child seems to come out when I get behind the decks. Lots of cross fader action & EQ Tweakin combined with slammin beats.

I enjoy making people sweat to my beats.

15. Is performing as a duo different from performing solo?

JO: Sure, its just like any other musical performance, when you’re solo you really have to bring it from yourself, as when working with another musician, you can vibe of each other.

JW: I enjoy performing both ways. When we play out together it is generally a house / breaks / techno session. When playing solo, I am usually booked to play breaks or dnb.

Sometimes being a female

DJ tends to overshadow us as a duo, focusing more on the novelty of me being a girl than on the sound of our music.

16. Do you ever get nervous before performing? how do you deal with it?

JO: Sure, whenever I perform to a crowd there is the anxiety of the unknown. I just try to have confidence in myself and my abilities, and remember that everyone is there to have a good time.

JW: Most definately, if I didn’t there would be something terribly wrong.

It is more like a nervous / excitement though. I generally count to ten and take deep breaths, after that it’s on!

Witte’s Gone Bananas / Timothy N. Towslee Yako, Agata, Rika, and Sudoh while in Japan/Dave Witte while in the rest of the world are Melt Banana, one of the best-known Japanese punk bands in the U.S. these days. Part of that might be that they’ve been around for sixteen years and have released five full-length albums and about eight million 7”s and other ep’s on various labels scattered all over the planet. Most of their more recent records have been released on A-Zap records, who have distribution all over the world.

Melt Banana take their listeners on a musical thrill ride that beats the piss out of that new Tomb Raider ride at King’s Dominion. Yako’s vocals sound a bit like a baby kaiju monster while keeping melodic qualities at the same time. Agata’s truly unique guitar sounds can be attributed to a arsenal of homemade guitar ef fects and perhaps serve as a response to his personal ailments (he’s allergic to the sun!). As far as Rika’s bass talents, she is like the deceptively small, schoolgirl from recent Japanese action movies (and the American ones who rip them of f ); she may look cute and sweet, but she pounds the shit out of those four strings. For various reasons, Sudoh, Melt Banana’s drummer is unable to leave the countr y, so in order to tour the world in the traditional rock band fashion, they have recruited fairly recent Richmond import, Dave Witte to fill the

vacant spot. For those unfamiliar with Witte’s repertoire, he is one of the most talented musicians in Independent music today (and probably elsewhere, too, but who cares about them?).

The following interview was conducted via e-mail while Dave Witte was on tour with Municipal Waste in California. At the time Dave’s responses were sent back to RVA, he was staying at a punk house in Fresno, where there were cat turds on the keyboard of the computer used to send said responses.

Dave Witte on…

R ichmond: RVA What brought you to Richmond?

DW My lovely girlfriend Amy McFadden, she rules my world. I love her to death.

RVA You’ve always been a pretty busy guy when it comes to drumming. What are some of the projects you’ve been involved with, in the past and currently?

DW Lately I’ve sworn myself to Municipal Waste, but I’ve also started a new band here in Richmond called Hex Machine with my buddies Trevor(Human Thurma) and Paul (Hortus) as well as doing work for Melt Banana, Alec Empire (Atari Teenage Riot), and Soilwork. I have also drummed and done some session work with Burnt by the Sun, Discordance Axis, Human Remains, East West Blast Test, Candiria, Anodyne,Black Army Jacket, Phantomsmasher (James Plotkin), Merzbow, Exit 13 and Hope Collapse.

RVA Be honest, which is your favorite?

DW I like them all because I get to incorporate

dif ferent styles of playing and get to be creative within each band. Discordance Axis really let me play my heart out though- non-stop energy.

RVA Besides Amy, what do you love about Richmond?

DW All the great people playing music and running small businesses make living a little nicer. I’ve met so many nice and talented people here; it ’s a great community. I also like the warmer weather. The restaurants here are great too- I feel spoiled.

RVA What could you do without about this place?

DW The high food tax, ha ha.

M elt B anana: RVA At the Melt banana show a while ago at Alley Katz, I heard this kid tell his friend that Melt Banana is a local band. I guess he’s partly right. How did you come to be involved with a band from the other side of the world?

DW Melt Banana are old friends of mine and the band I was in (Discordance Axis) at the time when I met them organized part of their first tour here in the US. During DA’s last Japanese tour they (MB) mentioned that they needed a drummer for ther upcoming European tour and asked if I would like to do it. That was in 2001, 7 tours ago.

RVA I’ve heard you say that the Bananas do better in the states and Europe than

they do at home? Is that true?

DW Yes, it’s strange but not really when you look at it I guess. There aren’t really that many places to play in Japan, so a full Japanese tour could be thirteen shows or so, tops. There are so many more places to hit here and in Europe. The bulk of their releases are through U.S. labels and distributors, too. Japan is kind of overflowing with unique music as well. Maybe the Japanese are jaded and just want to absorb other musical cultures.

RVA Do you take any credit for that?

DW While I have been quite the busy bee in the music scene, there are definitely some people who come out to see what I am doing, but Melt Banana can pretty much stand on their own. They write all of the music and I really can’t compare any band to them, they are in a league of their own.

RVA Are there any language barriers between you and the band?

DW Sometimes, but they have taught me a great deal of Japanese and I am improving slowly. There are some kinks of course; when they become present we basically slow things down so everyone is on the same page.

RVA I heard you ran into some trouble the last time you guys went to Europe?

DW Scandinavia is not a part of the European Union, so when we last toured there in 2003 and we had problems with Norwegian borders and customs. They basically blackmailed us by making us sign these false documents saying that all our merch would be returned upon exit of the country, but actually said everything is property of Norway and confiscated all our merch and made us pay 1000 Euros just for getting in the wrong inspection line when we entered the country.

Other than that everything was fine, great people everywhere, great food, great beer. Most European countries are very supportive of the arts and music, where the government actually sponsors and helps fund a lot of the clubs. Playing music in Europe is amazing for me.

RVA Is it actually possible to melt a banana?

DW Sure, there are many ways. People have even told me they use melted bananas to pleasure themselves.

East West Blast Test: RVA So, does East West Blast Test mean anything to you? Just kidding.

Actually, no I’m not. Tell us about East West Blast Test?

DW Ha Ha, I love Connecticut and hand farts [sorry for the inside joke]. Seriously, East West Blast Test is a project that Chris Dodge from Spazz and Slap A Ham Records and I did via tape trading. I recorded a bunch of adlib, improvised drums and sent them to him.

He wrote music on top of the drums and it was released on Slap a ham, then Relapse Records licensed it. It turned out so well, that [Mike] Patton and Greg at Ipecac were into releasing another one. It took a while this time with our schedules being crazy, but it’s finally done and should be out in January on Ipecac.

RVA How amped are you that Mike Patton is putting out the new record?

DW I’m excited that it will reach a whole different group of people and that those guys are into it and were supportive while it took so long to get done.

H aving your shit together: RVA You seem to be the guy who has his shit together in all of the bands that you’ve been in. How do you feel about that?

DW I don’t mind, I just know what I want to do with music and touring, sometimes people are on board and sometimes they aren’t.

Luckily these days everyone’s on the same page.

RVA Does it ever get annoying having to be the voice of reason?

DW Sometimes, but hey, it’s not a perfect world and, like a lot of things, music can be a pain in the ass at times. You just got to love it.

the bass line

Thank you to Ryan, Jesse, Joanna, & Jason for the reviews

The Rising Sons The Rising Sons Kroy Music The four Richmond guys playing in the Rising Sons are probably too young to get into an R rated movie and definitely too young to frequent the bars they play in.

Channeling such blues influenced rock and roll greats as Cream, AC/DC and the Rolling Stones isn’t anything different than what a lot of other bands are doing these days, but the Rising Sons manage to do it and do it very well.

Guitars darting back and forth like a dog that’s broken its chain, a rhythm section that beats like Ike Turner Ratings from 1 to 5

4 of 5

and songwriting that never oozes with high school swill is as far from melodramatic as it is from controversial.

It’s only a matter of time before we see just how far these Sons will actually rise.

The Pink Razors Scene Suicide Robotic Empire When I first heard the name of the band I wondered if they actually used the little pink razors deemed for feminine use (blue being for dudes) or if it was just a campy name. Judging by the final words “tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya” on “Fine Food 5:15” maybe they do, in fact use the pink razors they boast

3 of 5

on the cover of Scene Suicide.

It doesn’t matter though, I use them too because they’re less harsh (i.e., I’m a wuss), but the Pink Razors aren’t a wussy punk band.

I didn’t think I would like them much because the cover art confused my numb skull with a bunch of different repeated letters and the bands name was upside down.

For a while I figured it was some kind of an artsy puzzle and finally gave up trying to figure it out (i.e., numbskull).

seven and a half minutes of simply gorgeous music.

“Zeppelin” is another beautiful art-rock seven minute plus epic complete with subtle synthesizers and the most poignant guitars this side of a tissue.

With not a single song “Zeppelin” is the song going beyond the Virgil would have made two-minute mark, the The first track “Kneel” if he had been in a rock eight songs on Scene is a down-tempo song band and if he wasn’t Suicide are poppy-punk beginning with almost really, really dead. The blasts of caffeine fueled a minute of really sad lyrics “The coins rest intensity. guitar. Then the crash deep in the wells of my of a symbol harkens the eyes / Placed gently The Silent Type listener to a beautiful there after I died / It’s Of Writing / Of Violence barrage of guitar and a small penance I’m Limekiln Records violin notes followed by willing to pay for my the melancholy larynx fare, my fate, my escape This Richmond quintet of Nathan Altice singing / But what beauty and with a slew of other “I’m no longer fit to grace will remain as “additional musicians” kneel at your alter / The our ruins, our relics, or are really fuckin’ eyes will confess / Your names?” stunning. servant has faltered.” An aural journey through The Iliad anyone?

5 of 5

Bryan Zentz on Monoid High Contrast High Society (4xLP) The long awaited mix Hospital Records UK CD from this Virginia native brings the Mark Farina releases The UK’s youngster techno like only he another in his High Contrast releases can. Bryan has been legendary Mushroom a 4 x LP smasher on the Jazz series mixing hip- producing tracks that longtime, respected hop and house only the have support from UK DnB label Hospital DJ’s around the world way he can.

Records. The album from Carl Cox to Danny contains smooth & jazzy Howells.

With tracks from elements with sassy such powerhouses as vocal hooks. This album As a DJ, masterful Pete Rock, Dj Spinna, is full of thrilling tracks, mixing and track J Boogie, and the with zero fillers. selection is Zent’s Starving Artist Crew, calling card and he does Notable dancefloor this compilation of blunted beats is a must not disappoint with this anthem “Natural High” have for anyone looking offering. leads this pack with for that laid back vibe. anticipated buildups From dub reggae to that lead to an house into techno, astounding breakdown Bryan takes you on a that is sure to get the musical journey like dancefloor heated in a only he can. frenzy. This album will be a staple in my bag Highly recommended. for many years to come.

Mark Farina Mushroom Jazz 5 (LP/CD)

Ratings from 1 to 5

5 of 5

5 of 5

5 of 5

The Boredoms Seadrum/ House Of Sun Vice Recordings Japan’s Boredoms return with their most adventurous record to date. Gone, are the old days of shrill screaming, belching, farting, noise with song titles with the word “anus” in them.

No, they’ve certaintly matured. Two songs in a little over forty minutes...”Seadrum” is a storm of percussion with crazy free-jazz style piano and beautifully sung vocals weaving throughout the song, very hypnotic, I almost wrecked my van listening to it....

3 of 5

seriously.

And for that matter, track two, “House Of Sun” is extremely hypnotic as well. It seems to constantly build up while never really getting there... keeping you, fantastically, on edge. A strange acid-drenched cross between weird, harem music and The BEATLES’ more psychedelic moments.

Definitely not driving music, trust me...but I can think of a few things this would be a good soundtrack for.

Awesome sreen-printed cover too!

QUINTRON The Frog Tape CD Skin Graft Records

Quintron has never been afraid to go in different directions and this one definitely isn’t like the current danceparty records he’s been doing lately but more like Halloween- party music...if the people at the party were really weird.

I had always heard of this tape but Quintron had sold out of them when I saw him at the time. Now Skin Graft has made it available on disc so, being a big Quintron fan, I’m excited to finally hear it. “Stray Cat Strut,” “Scary Office,” and “No Love” Those not familiar with really swing while Quintron, based out songs like “The Throat” of New Orleans, he’s and “Frogs” are exactly one man doing all of what their titles say the music and most they are. He also invents of the vocals...playing a simulated backward organ and his drum effect with the volume machine invention control on the song “The Drum Buddy” with “Backwards.” his wife Ms. Pussycat accompanying on Certaintly more vocals and rattles. interesting than most of the shit coming out zOne of the best live these days. shows in America. Mr.

3 of 5

KNIFE SKILLS Get Home Safe CD EP Self Released I actually heard about this band through myspace.com and I’m glad I did.

Full- throttle, powerful songs that sort of rock in a vein like maybe, SHELLAC? But, Knife Skills definitely have their own sound. Just outside of a club as soon as you hear their tone when they tune their instruments you’ll know it’s them...just ask my friend, Chris.

Anna Barie on guitar and vocals with FonLin Nyeu on bass and vocals front the band... the drums on this album are by Gerhardt Fuchs, they now have a different drummer

5 of 5

who’s name escapes me but has the same power as the drums on this disc.

I highly recommend seeing this band live if you get the chance...

Anna even called her mom on her birthday and had the crowd yell “happy birthday” when I saw them...very charming.

This CD rules, I wish it was longer. Everytime I listen to it I end up playing it twice.

THE RESIDENTS Commercial Album DVD Mute Corp.

forty” record. It’s one of my favorite Residents albums.

Anyway, also at this time they released four one minute movies or “videos” that gave people, for the first time, a glimpse into the bizarre world of The Residents.

Twenty Five years later this DVD is released which has the original four videos plus 10 new videos by The Residents and 56 new videos by a shitload of different directors...all of them being songs off of the “Commercial Album.”

There’s alot of computer animation, but most of is visually insane and The actual “Commercial it really fits well with their Album” came out in sounds and songs.

1980 and basically it’s forty songs, all a minute This shit is as weird long apiece...their as it gets and I highly weird version of a “top recommend it.

5 of 5

What Jazz Scene?? / Brandon Martin Duke Ellington once described Jazz as, “...a trunk of soul with limbs reaching in every direction...” Metaphorically, there is no better way of describing a music that lives, that grows, that breaths, absorbs, entwines, climbs, bebops, rocks, pops, and sighs as does Jazz. It stretches itself across the world but never thin. It bounds from smoky clubs and strip mall restaurants; independent radio stations and coat and tie concert halls.

Jazz lives. Its roots are totally original and grounded in this country as something we can call our own, but the branches are thick enough to hold anyone, anywhere, who will nourish it with an instrument or an open ear.

It doesn’t take a major metropolitan city to dance in its shade - there’s plenty room and plenty cool even in a cozy Southern city like Richmond.

The limb of Jazz that grows here has its own branches that vine throughout the city and into clubs and concert halls from Short Pump to the Northside, the Fan, VCU, Downtown and into Shockoe Bottom. Venues here are in no short supply and the diversity of styles of the Jazz sound is very available, such that it’s possible to see a Flamenco act, dance to a Swing Orchestra and cool off with a smooth Trio in one night. That’s part of the luxury of living in a city like Richmond, whose size and speed are often mistakenly regarded as the cause of lacking activity.

It is a common assumption here that this, the capitol city of Virginia, would be the last place to have any cultural “scene” worthy of nationwide attention. That may be true but it is in no means due to a lack of talent.

Richmond is right in step with any of the major cities as far as the skill of its players. But a bigger city means more support. More crowds and more demand for something like Jazz mean more musicians and more style-specific venues.

Which, in turn would bring more national acts, more attention and before you know it, we would have a “Richmond Jazz Scene.”

Among what could be considered an almost fraternal organization of young Jazz musicians in this city, there is a Jazz scene that lives in the interchanging line ups of trios, big bands and all sizes in between. Within this circle of players who are all familiar with each other - most likely because they have probably all played together at one time or other - is an eagerness and enthusiasm to play for a crowd that will pay attention.

But live Jazz in a professional sense, listening rooms and lounges where the draw is the music, not the meal or what’s on tap, is something with which our smaller city isn’t familiar. When the music is relegated to the back corners of a classy restaurant or sandwiched into rotation at a rock and roll bar, it’s easy for a crowd to overlook the authenticity of the music, even in a city that is home to VCU’s nationally recognized Jazz program.

As you walk into somewhere like Maggiano’s at Short Pump Mall, if the band isn’t playing, it’s hard to pick the corner that the music is going to come from over the forest of high dollar casual wear and three dollar sign dinners. There is no microphone and no announcement from the band, other than a smooth number that drifts over the chatter and clatter of dinnerware.

In lieu of applause between songs there is a fishbowl drink glass on top of the piano that catches a dollar or two before another song politely rejoins the conversation.

The musicians are there to provide the warm ambience that easy Jazz can offer to a fine dining experience and they are very appreciative of what those gigs provide.

High end restaurants like Maggiano’s, Cabo’s, and the Hard Shell offer a place to play and usually a full house which means a few interested hands and feet tapping along. But dining experience and a Jazz experience are separate entities, and it’s hard to get a table with no intention to eat.

For a solid Jazz experience, the music must be sought out and listened to instead of casually heard. You have to go to the clubs where the music lives and breathes, where Richmond is almost an anomaly as far as night club Jazz. The music continuously flows from a contradiction in that the musicianship is strong enough to transplant successfully into any major city, but the city is small enough for the public to overlook the talent.

Groups play for unofficial “Jazz nights” at places like Bogart’s Back Room, which is a staple for great acts, Jazz or otherwise. One night a week, Café Diem might as well be on Bourbon St. and the patrons are always very grateful at both spots, but it’s not like you won’t find a seat. Upper East Side Jazz Lounge has one of the few dance floors in a room for live music, so there is usually Swing or Dixieland playing before the weekend brings in Funk and Hip Hop Night. Emilio’s on Friday and Saturday night, Jazz nights, is a lively, unconventional room where it’s hard to distinguish where the band stops and the audience begins. Anywhere in the room, someone might stand up and start playing the trumpet.

The favorite spot for Jazz among the players is Fusion on 12th St. next to the Tobacco Company. The room is fairly new to Shockoe Bottom but it has quickly become the preferred spot for most performers because of its genuine quality as a listening room rather than a bar with a great soundtrack for drinking. The owner is a musician himself who wants to bring to Richmond the style of a New York Jazz club and has the touring experience to do so.

Still, there are usually more chairs than listeners in front of the bandstands and stages in town. VCU and the Modlin Center can usually fill a concert hall and do so with top acts, but Jazz is difficult to make successful in a night spot, regardless of the talent in the city.

There is no Jazz revolution going on in Richmond, because the music just isn’t on the radar.

It takes listeners to water a revival enough that it grows into a “scene” and what’s interesting about Richmond is that there is potential here. The city itself is the perfect setting to accommodate a fan of Jazz. The musicians are enthusiastic to play with or without a crowd, unpretentious, and approachable for a drink between sets to talk music.

On some levels Richmond may not have a “scene,” but it does have a sound. A sound that comes from musicians dedicated to its expansion and a drive to create the real thing.

Jazz is a sound that improvises and adapts and therefore always comes back into style.

Richmond has the musicians to make it swing but it needs fans to make it a scene. So start at Fusion in the Bottom, ask around and they’ll show you which way to climb.

Questioning DJ Krames / Dylan R. Mullins Dylan It’s summer in the city, and new mixtapes always drop at the beginning of each summer. what are you mixing up right now and where?

Krames I haven’t been working on mixtapes lately. I’ve been working on beats and some remixes. Mostly stuff for me and Copeasetics Dollars & Pounds LP coming out in the fall.

Dylan When is “Keep It Dirty 2” dropping, and what can be expected from that release?

Krames Keep It Dirty 2 is on my mind but I gotta get another concept together and things like that. Vol. 1 was real tight, I think part 2 will be all bounce tracks, old and new.

Dylan Well, a little bit about the shows you are doing at Alley Katz--who are the other dj’s involved with you there? What kind of practice do you see together?

Krames The Alley Katz shows have slowly turned into an all Dance night without the bands. Me and Mesh have been DJing the Slow Ed party since the first one in December.

At the last 2 we had Hoodrich and I think me and my partner are gonna keep with that lineup for a little while. We all play the same type of music so we play off each other well.

Dylan Do you guys vibe outside of the shows?

Krames Yeah, we (Dollars & Pounds) record at Mesh’s spot. Me and Hoodrich both do a show Fridays on WRIR 97.3 FM. Dylan What is the dj scene like in Richmond as far as the overlaps you are involved with?

Krames Right now there are a few groups doing promotion, booking and things like that and we all work together and do our own things as well. I don’t see a lot of overlap between the commercial radio DJs compared to the club DJs. Dylan Who else do you parlay with? You are in a hip-hop group with MC Copeasetic, called “Dollars and Pounds”. anything else coming out of the woodworks?

Krames The album coming soon when we finish it. We are opening for U-God in August at Alley Katz, that should be hella tight.

Dylan What’s your niche right now? What would play right now at a gig?

Krames I would want to play electro-funk.

Dylan Do you get requests from people often?

Krames On the radio, yeah. At a party, usually if people like what they are hearing they don t ask for anything specific.

Dylan Do you play them?

Krames If I got it I’ll play it.

Dylan Do you find that people generally know what you are spinning, or that they simply enjoy it and leave it at that?

Krames Sometimes they know it, or they think they know it. There are some songs that everyone knows and you can tell by the reaction when you play that song.

Dylan Do you have a philosophy on dance music as of late, not just a window of time or a BPM? Krames I’m into progressing through a set and going through records quickly. I usually like starting with some freestyle and HipHop stuff and then getting into some darker or heavier electro later on in a set.

Dylan Where does the cross-over lie between a “Keep It Dirty” south-style mix, and the type of set you might play at a Slow Education dance party?

Krames They are both party music, it just depends on what you are into and where you are at.

Dylan What on your mind, something that’s been pissing you off, or pissing you want to talk about?

Krames I don’t know, I’m trying not to linger on the past. I did kinda start eating meat again the other day after 5 years.

As vicious a bastardization of Heisenburg’s Uncertainty Principle that is, I can do no better than Tony Shalhoub to state the essential difficulty of observation. In my case I am attempting to record my Appalachian Trail experience and regurgitate it on to film. The issue I have, the problem of every documentarian, is if in my filming of an experience, I corrupt the moment I am intending to capture. I have a fine line to walk, literally and figuratively. Yes, that sentence was nothing but cliches and puns...let’s just hope I’m less of a hack as a filmmaker...

RVA’s own KG & his ongoing one man journey to complete his career defining film. This is his reflections on the process, facing the possibility of failure, & things that go bump in the night.

Check out Issues 1 & 3 for earlier entries.

Dispatches from the Cinema Affairs Desk Part 3 Your Man in the Field, Kevin Gallagher ...well, you gotta look at it. But sometimes you look at it, your looking changes it. Ya can’t know the reality of what happened, or what would’ve happened if you hadn’t-a stuck in your own goddamn schnozz. So there is no what happened? Not in any sense that we can grasp, with our puny minds. Because our minds... our minds get in the way. Looking at something changes it. They call it the “Uncertainty Principle.” Sure, it sounds screwy, but even Einstein says the guy’s on to something.

- Reidenschneider

“The Man Who Wasn’t There”

I have this friend who, for the sake of anonymity, we’ll call Patrick Power. Everyday Patrick records some aspect of his life and posts it to his blog, creating a running commentary on his existence. I have argued with him that this removes him from actually experiencing his life. He is stuck looking for the perfect photo-op in every moment rather than just looking for the moment itself. Even if this works for the man with the highly fictionalized name of Patrick Power, I know this would be too obtrusive a level of observation for my film.

At the other end of the spectrum is the danger of keeping the film so distant from the subject, the A.T. that I only document the inconsequential. I could only capture the

moments of down time, awkward bits of nothing that as a whole might give the viewer some clue as to what I am relating to them. This is a gamble, if the film becomes too secondary an element of the trail then I will have nothing to show for my effort. The documentation would be futile.

This film has been a constant struggle to maintain that balance. I have spent some days hiking farther to great pain, just to film the trail at a certain spot in a certain light. Other days I have neglected the film entirely. This problem is compounded by my inability to view dailies in any way. I’ll have no clue of the quality of what I have recorded until I am done hiking; that means I’ve got about 1300 more neurosis shattering miles to go. So, until Katahdin, I will click my ruby boots together three times and repeat the sacred mantra of all filmmakers, We’ll fix it in post, we’ll fix it in post, we’ll fix it in post.

Pickles & Kirchfeld / Matt Goins

Our monthly creative take on horror reviews.

INT. CIRCUS TENT. NIGHT A raucous gathering of drunken malcontents surround a large cage holding the Geek. Their shouts announce another ounce of spilt beer. We see KIRCHFELD, a dashing young man with a shorn head and tight beard, wheeling a sour faced old man in a wheelchair, MR. PICKLES, into the tent.

Inside the cage a dirty freak, THE GEEK, crawls about the straw littered floor chasing a chicken. He catches the chicken and holds it up for the crowd to see. The crowd is hysterical. The Geek bites the chicken’s head completely off. Blood sprays from the severed neck, covering the Geek and most of the crowd in a thick red.

MR. PICKLES Where am I?

Mr. Pickles is giggling like a little school girl.

KIRCHFELD Disgusting!

Kirchfeld sneezes.

EDWARD TERRY Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

KIRCHFELD We’ve come to see the Geek.

MR. PICKLES Just like in the movie!

Kirchfeld wheels Pickles next to a rickety folding chair and takes a seat. Beside him sits EDWARD TERRY, a short, pudgy bald guy who stares blankly ahead.

KIRCHFELD Mr. Terry, in the film, you appear as a large and threatening character. But, you’re only about 5’7”!

KIRCHFELD (cont’d) This is Edward Terry, star of Luther the Geek. Did you watch the film?

Edward Terry turns his head toward Kirchfeld, smiling. His smile reveals razor sharp metal teeth.

Mr. Pickles extends his hand to Terry who looks at it, then looks at Mr. Pickles.

EDWARD TERRY Cluck.

MR. PICKLES Whoa!

Luther the Geek Rereleased Troma Team Video 2005 90 minutes / Rated R

Pickles leans over to whisper in Kirchfeld’s ear.

KIRCHFELD You have the humor of a child.

MR. PICKLES Odd bird, don’tcha think?

Pickles spits on the ground, shooting Kirchfeld a malicious look.

A boy is plunged into homicidal madness after witnessing the strange exploits of a circus “geek,” who chomps the heads off live chickens.Grown to manhood, he perfects his own biting techniques on the terrified residents of his tiny town, having bolstered his own teeth with a set of sharpened metal dentures.- www.rottentomatoes.com

KIRCHFELD Method actor, no doubt.

MR. PICKLES Sorry I pissed in your cornflakes.

The three men stare at the large cage in front of themselves and the excitable crowd. The crowd is chanting.

EDWARD TERRY Cluck!

CROWD Geek! Geek! Geek!

KIRCHFELD I found your wordless

Pickles claps enthusiastically.

Kirchfeld turns to Terry.

performance to be astounding. You really captured the mind of a disturbed young man who identifies with the slaughtered chicken of his youth.

Bravo.

Pickles?

An abrupt farting sound is heard.

MR. PICKLES I think he laid an egg!

KIRCHFELD Preposterous!

EDWARD TERRY Cluck!

KIRCHFELD An underrated film containing all the humor, suspense, and drama fitting of greatness.

Kirchfeld stands up and begins to wheel Pickles out of the tent.

MR. PICKLES Don’t count it before it hatches!

Edward Terry stands up and struts around Pickles, doing a chicken dance, bearing his metallic teeth.

EDWARD TERRY Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

Pickles covers his eyes, letting out a cry of panic.

MR. PICKLES He’s gonna peck out my eyes!

The sound of bluegrass music wells up from beyond the tent.

The CAMERA pulls back and we see Edward Terry and Kirchfeld dancing maniacally around Pickles like Dervish Fowl. The large crowd of beer-sloshing men continue to cheer.

CROWD Geek! Geek! Geek!

The folds of the circus tent close before us.

FADE TO BLACK.

rva horror picks The Entity Barbara Hershey Ron Silver Director / Sidney J. Furie 20th Century Fox 1983

In this film, a single mother’s repeated phantasmagoric rape is an implicit comparison to her struggle with loss of innocence, true love and the stress of and hope for raising two well-reared children. We are shown her (played brilliantly by Barbara Hershey) working late, going to class, and coming home to clean up after her children, then thrown violently into a fantastic and horrifying sequence.

The seeming indictment of psychological institutions via the shrink character (Ron Silver) is an underlying theme. The therapist is unsympathetic to the woman’s genuine plight, focusing more on his stubborn commitment to scientific method and putative disbelief in manifest spirits.

The intrusive camera angles and pounding score heighten the intensity of the rapacious fury. As she is pinned down and abused, we feel conflicting urges to turn away in horror and watch on in morbid fascination.

The strength of Hershey’s performance carries The Entity, balancing the repulsive violence and abuse. Unfortunately, the ending is a tad unbelievable, due to a parapsychology department financially well endowed enough to fund such a ludicrous experiment.

Dellamorte Dellamore (AKA Cemetery Man)

Rupert Everett Anna Falchi Francois Hadji-Lazaro Director / Michele Soavi 1994

The Changeling George C. Scott Trish Van Devere Melvyn Douglas Director / Peter Medak 1980

Based on the “Dylan Dog” graphic novel series by Tiziano Sclavi, Dellamorte, Dellamore is about a man married to his work and the old ball & chain is a cemetery where the dead refuse their end of the bargain.

One of the last original haunted house stories, The Changeling is unique in its genuine creepiness and delicate character treatment.

Set in Vancouver, the film takes us through the grief process of a composer who has lost his The strange esprit de corps between Dellamorte and wife and daughter and subsequently moves his retarded assistant Gnaghi propel the story forward into a large and looming mansion . Once as their own individual love interest involve the dead; moved in, he begins to see and hear weird Dellamorte’s with a recent widow who dies and returns occurrences of the spook variety. and Gnaghi’s with the severed head of a rather abrasive

young girl.

The grief of John Russell (George C. Scott)

cements our mood in darkness. Identifying This film is the comfortable and comedic, if gory, answer with his pain, we are drawn into his experience to the typical zombie apocalypse film. The film continues of the mansion. The mansion, a Victorian the Pittsburgian tradition of the zombie flick by showing turned Gothic, is a central character in the us aspects of man’s behavior; before and after death, film. With its great expanses and dark wood though in a more romantic, emotional, and psychological interiors, it seems to swallow the stricken sense than its predecessors. It emphasizes the living as Russell. He is awakened repeatedly by a loud they react to their departed loved ones . and hollow banging, driving him to discover the clues to its mystery.

And although it is metaphor, it is not so to a fault; it is not formulaic or predicable. It tastes of the surreal and bizarre, If you like your horror quiet, your gore and given that its subject is Love and Death, it should. nonexistent, and your scary movie SCARY, then

The Changeling is for you.

The title translates to “Of Death, Of Love” and is also released under the title Cemetery Man. It is one of a dying breed. ed. note -Do you think you can write intelligent music / movie reviews ?? tony@rvamag.com.

Literature

Of Gnats & Camels / Lee Carleton Suppose you were invited to dinner by a neighbor who was rumored to be a good cook and who had told you so himself every chance he got. Let’s say he’s fixing a big pot of gumbo with his big chef’s hat on and, even before you get to his house, you anticipate tasting its spicy mix. There’s nothing like the right recipe to enhance the enjoyment of life. But imagine your surprise at finding your self-proclaimed super-chef leaning over the bubbling pot to strain out a gnat that fell in while a dung-encrusted camel bubbled up unrecognized and unaddressed.

What would this surreal experience tell you about your friend’s culinary knowledge?

You might surmise that, perhaps, there are some gaps in his understanding, that perhaps he was not as expert as he claimed in spite of his puffy hat. And, in the spicy moral gumbo of life, there are moral chefs who know what they’re doing and moral chefs who don’t. It’s all about emphasis.

Jesus was one “moral chef” we can trust. One of his more passionate exclamations, often ignored, is his criticism of the self-righteous Pharisees in Matthew 23:24. Here, Jesus mocks the moral priorities of these ostentatious power mongers by noting that their chief moral concerns were like a “gnat” compared to the moral “camels” they ignored. These were the same guys who tried to trick the Master by dragging a married woman out of bed (excusing her male lover) to stone her to death for her relatively minor moral infraction.

Jesus didn’t seem too upset by her crime and he reminded the Pharisees of their own sins, elsewhere calling them “whited sepulchers” or whitewashed boxes full of rotting flesh. The New Testament is clear: Jesus condemned self-righteousness and greed far more than the sensuality that obsesses so many churches today.

Our need for a sensible morality is obvious, but few are those with the courage to take up Christ’s prophetic message of genuine social and spiritual revolution - it’s too risky. Well,

maybe the Quakers come close - and those “liberation theology” folks we had killed during the Reagan regime seem to have understood the Sermon on the Mount.

And thank God we can have hope in those bold Episcopalians who are rejecting institutionalized bigotry and breaking from the dogmatic church. At least some Christians follow Christ. I don’t recall him ever railing against gay marriage, but he did question tradition.

In the midst of global warfare, torture, environmental degradation and obscenely skewed wealth distribution, it is ridiculous that our highest moral concern is what we do with our genitals. Those who hold that value may be straining at gnats. Perhaps they are not qualified to be our moral guides. The dung-encrusted camel of endless warfare is a far more serious issue - and threat.

Of course, even to suggest such a thing is to raise self-righteous indignation and to invite cries of persecution and suppression.

The absurdity of these claims is obvious, yet still they circulate in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The recent “nuclear option” attempt to control debate should be a sobering tonic to Americans: these fundamentalists are serious about political power and the bullying will continue under the guise of faith until people of a more mature faith stand up and stop it.

Let us not allow ourselves to be fooled - we must check out the book for ourselves. See what Jesus says about homosexuality. See what he says (and does!) about greed. See his mild response to adultery. See his deep concern for social justice.

What you won’t find in the Bible is a program for seizing government power, mandating Christian morality and erecting idols of a book all over the place. Ironically, one of the venerated commandments in Exodus 20:4-5 prohibits making a carved image and paying reverence to it, so we have to wonder: are these people even reading their own book?

Another example of their misreading is the fundamentalist obsession with persecuting homosexuality - this overlooks Ezekiel 16:49-50 that tells us Sodom was destroyed for arrogance and forgetting the poor, not for sex. Even if we connect the word “abomination” in this verse to the famous Levitical prohibition, this unnecessarily privileges only one “abomination” betraying a dogmatic bias. In the Old Testament, this word is also applied to the eating of shellfish, and dishonest greed is frequently called an “abomination” (got that corporate America?), so why the obsessive sexual focus? Was this the forefront of Jesus’ message? Is this the best they can do?

I doubt that we can really trust those who

so clearly misread and selectively interpret scripture. And besides, how can we honor and follow those who attempt to change the rules to exempt themselves from ethical accountability? We are weak and unwise to follow the moral guidance of those who support endless war but are all hot and bothered about our private sex lives - such moral blindness can hardly have credibility. And let us dismiss red herring claims of persecution and silencing when our leaders parrot piety, religious logos are on money, government meetings open with prayer, religious broadcasting thrives, and churches are supported by public subsidy. This is hardly suppression. Those who seriously believe Christians are persecuted in America should look into cultic psychology - the persecution complex is a big sign.

Better yet, check out the Bible, you might be surprised at what an unfettered reading brings.

Divide the gnats from the camels and see Jesus in a new way. Go ahead, read it for yourself, and think for yourself - like a good American.

Seven Ways To Sunday / M. Dulin In a university gymnasium on a hot Saturday afternoon, parents and their teenage children gathered in excited anticipation for a high school graduation ceremony. This threshold of adolescence offers hope for a future and a belief in a justified path.

Five miles away on a street corner located in a trendy shopping-district in Richmond, Virginia, sit two young men, both nineteen years of age and both very far from home. They had gone through the same ritual in different gymnasiums, which made their parents proud, then decided to go a path that is not as comfortable and often misunderstood. When the road turned -- they kept going straight.

These two individuals make up a portion of the population that is not recognized by the U.S. Census count. They do not pay taxes. They do not own homes. They are nomads of the industrialized world.

Ben wore black overalls rolled up to the knees. His shoes were split at the seams and his smile appeared to be permanent. He was thick with filth and idealism. Originally from New Jersey, he said that he had met a man once who rode trains around the country. Ben spent long hours asking any questions he had and learning all he could about this way of traveling. In the end, Ben felt the need to go because life grew duller everyday he dreamed of this foreign reality. So after some hesitation, he made his way to a New Jersey rail yard at night, jumped on a hot shot, or nonstop freighter going south, just as it started to roll.

“I’ve never felt so trusting of the uncertain in all my life,” Ben told me about his personal transformation five months ago when the train began to gain speed and carried him away from a comfortable home.

Tanner was a few months younger then Ben. He sat in the narrow slip of shade, caused by an overhang, holding a sign around his neck as if in a subliminal manner. The sign read very clearly; Give me money for some goddamn beer. His face showed traces of a struggling beard, but his eyes were bright and clean. Tanner said ‘hello’ to all who passed by, his voice filled with true intent. One young, attractive woman passing by glanced down at the content young man and broke into a smile herself. She

continued to walk on, then turned back and gave them each a dollar.

“Those smiles are definitely worth a dollar,” she said.

“Funny thing about it all,” said Tanner, “we don’t even drink beer.”

Tanner is from New Jersey, but had not known Ben previously. He made his way to Florida by hitchhiking. Not knowing much about the rail-system he preferred to stick to the road. In no real hurry and with chance as his compass, Tanner has been absent from structured life for eight months. “I don’t really have any set plans,” he said. “You know, you make some plans, goals or whatever, and before you know it they are so butchered you have a hard time remembering where you were going to begin with. Things just may go the craziest way ever.”

It is in Florida where these two new friends met. They told me of their journey to the mountains of North Carolina for an Anarchist gathering.

With Ben’s novice knowledge of the rails they opted to ride freighters up from Florida. After the gathering -- of which they both agreed that even anarchist need a little structure -- they decided to head toward West Virginia for a hobo camp in an undisclosed location. On this trip they were lead by a lone, unnamed female who knew the tracks better then either of them. The group made it as far as Richmond before being spotted by a bull, or rail-yard police, forcing them to abandon their boxcar and fleeing into the city. Now with their gear stashed in a hiding spot near the highway, they were spending the next four days of their lives in Richmond; at the end of which they will both go their separate ways.

I questioned them about their upbringing, their work ethic and their dreams for the future. Tanner and Ben said that they came from average families. That they still call home from time to time. “So as not to make them worry to much,” Ben added. “It was definitely confusing to them when I told them I was going traveling.” Tanner said, “now they see that it’s just what I need to do. They are more proud that I am finding my own way... but they still worry.”

They both have held many different jobs. They have sold themselves by the hour and did not like the taste. “You see a lot of unhappy people sitting here.” Ben said of the stern faces who rushed by on their way to

work. “We don’t even usually panhandle, it just gives us something to do and you meet a lot of people this way, people who usually would ignore you.” Ben began to talk of the extreme waste caused by modern society and how it could sustain a human life. He then takes a long drink of water before speaking again. “I consider myself a freegan,” Ben said in an effort to explain his lifestyle. “I have found that what I really need in life -- not what I want -- will always present itself.”

Some look at these boys as having made a mistake. “Some people,” Tanner said, “seem more validated in their life decisions seeing us sitting here.” Tanner and Ben have learned the patience of remaining flexible.

They know that one day their path may change and they will change with it. Ben talked of the future -- of going to film school. Tanner, though, doesn’t plan the day. He said that he is just enjoying his life right now and is always looking forward to tomorrow. “They should put a disclaimer about living like this,” Tanner said and smiled, “it’s easy to get used to.”

As we sat and talked I noticed a group of seven young girls, all in white dresses, crossing the street and headed our way. I recognized the costumes and realized that these girls were participants of the graduation earlier that day. The girls huddled tight as they passed; nervous in the world. Tanner focused on a girl carrying a Styrofoam box -- left overs from their previous meal. He stood as the girls approached and with a very large smile asked the group if any had food to spare.

A muffled “no” was expressed by those who acknowledged while the others simply gathered closer and fidgeted for cell phones.

He realized that he needed to be more specific as the group slowly walked away. “The Styrofoam box,” he emphasized, “no reason to carry that around.”

The girl carrying the box immediately awakened to his pleas, turned around and ran back to give him half a Club sandwich. She seemed pleased with herself for being able to do such a good deed. Tanner thanked her, wished her a nice day and turned around to come share the sandwich with his friend while the girl hurried to catch hers.

“It’s just different worlds, man,” Ben said of their choices, “ dresses don’t stay white in our world.”

A lucid observation from our madman world traveler, the International Gentleman.

THE HORRORS OF DUTCH CUISINE The International Gentleman

I once knew a Dutch girl who told me that her people hate to cook and this is the reason why Dutch cuisine is of such poor quality. What she failed to mention was the olfactory masochism intrinsic to even the finest Dutch palette.

The mystery surrounding the phenomenon of Dutch food is age old. European traders from far away lands and empires would often take difficult routes in order to avoid the Netherlands due to the horrific rumors they had heard about “the Dutch poison.� Being an international gentleman myself, I had the misfortune to taste what will remain in my memory as

culinary catastrophe. Needless to say, when attempting to describe Dutch cuisine, one seldom hears the phrase, “absolutely divine.” Let us take a look at some of the dishes I was forced to endure.

Typically, I would have stood for no more, arose and thrown my napkin angrily at the waitress, shouting a vulgar array of obscenities. But I felt that the Dutch deserved their dessert a tasting.

I began my meal with a beverage and some appetizers. The drink was something called Karnemelk, and should have been ample warning of what was to follow. When I first sipped the sour milk, I thought that I had perhaps offended the waitress with my excessive physical contact and the feeble justification that, “this is how we do it in America, baby!” and subsequently received a tainted batch of moo-juice.

For whatever reason—and granted, I concede it could’ve been those cat calls of mine—the waitress rolled her eyes at me when I demanded a sampling of the house desserts. Nonetheless, my sweets arrived. The first of the after-dinner “goodies” were the Muisjes. I stared at the strange paste for what seemed an eternity, before opening my Dutch-to-American translation book to see what it really was I was about to put my delicate taste buds through. And there it was. In plain boldface lettering: “Muis jes n, pl. –literally: mice.” These filthy Dutch animals were going to feed me crushed mice. I nearly vomited.

The Patatje Oorlog or “warring french fries” consisted of fries with mayonnaise, ketchup, onions and hot peanut sauce. I think when I realized I was expected to “dip” the fries into mayonnaise that I began to suspect the Dutch a barbarous lot. Surely, such a custom lends evidence to the theory.

I was next burdened with two odd appetizers, Kroket and Frikandel. Both are fried, burrito-like rolls that contain some sort of meat inside. As I am not accustomed to eating things when I do not know what they are, I naturally inquired as to the genus of the meat, only to be told to mind my own business (actually, the reply came in Dutch, a terrible language that I refuse to learn; I merely inferred that’s what it meant).

Foregoing the tasting of Kroket and Frikandel, I requested my main course.

This consisted of mashed potatoes with random vegetables and was served with a large sausage (which was actually quite good, despite it’s unsettling resemblance to a horse phallus). The mashed potato/vegetable mix is called Stampot in Holland’s native tongue. Although the sausage was “tasty,” this mushy atrocity that masqueraded as a main course was not only existentially nauseating, but caused me to reflect upon the ancient Japanese monk, Roshi Barfo. The patron saint of bad cooking, Barfo was a religious man who decided to take his own life by eating what he described as “a meal fit only for a Dutchman.”

Next on the menu was Drop. I had heard the many vicious rumors abounding about it’s mysterious addictive quality and the strange hallucinations that would inevitably follow its ingestion. I plopped it in my mouth, as if it were the last precious Altoid in a raging sea of halitosis.“ummm....ah...humm??...Oh...OH! OH! OH, GOD, NO!!!

I could take no more. It was as if they were trying to deliberately humiliate my person. I got up to storm out in my usual pouty fashion, when I was accosted by what appeared to me as a very dirty fat man dressed as a Dutch girl in traditional garb. He muttered something incoherent, and forcefully restrained me to my chair. I suspected, at the time, that this must be the all-feared “trip” that would accommodate any tasting of Drop.

But, now I fear this was reality, crude and simple. A large bowl of pudding was placed, with careful hands, in front of me. This pudding, I would later come to understand, is called Vla. I felt a gigantic hand on the back of my head pushing me ever towards the muck and a soft, soothing voice quietly chanting, “eat it, eat it you pig.” I don’t quite recollect what happened next, as I was unable to maintain consciousness throughout the ordeal, but I do know that I woke up panting.

Panting like an oversexed tigress.

Secret Winds / Verbally choreographed by Iman Shabazz, EmC I wonder what secrets are captured in the wind of the hurricane storm and rain scorn and pain through tears cried from unknown lives lost in an Afrikan holocaust blood stain coloring the canvass of amerikkka’s reality a history not completely erased just concealed imagine what would happen if the truth were revealed if we peeled back the layers of lies since it’s conception deception of a false democracy fake land of liberty born to the world under stolen identity unconvicted of its crimes against humanity created a system of normalized insanity and criminalized normality where wealth and resource are controlled be a minority class contradiction the masses forced to live in impoverished restriction victims of post traumatic enslavement syndrome how can you displace someone from their home and call it a discovery not so cleverly covered up the lies of columbus’ treachery yet they named their colonies after amerigo vespucci it doesn’t make sense to me capitalist propaganda purposefully propagated to perpetuate powerlessness in a people e plurius unum out of many one nation of unequal rights justice and opportunities for those who classify themselves as superior and we believe them like george washington never told a fib or eve was created from one of adam’s ribs or the syndrome of acquired immune deficiency started from the bite of an Afrikan green monkey while they quickly stashed away the key to unlock the chamber of secrets at fort detrick to hide the truth that synthetic biological agents are real

ask the Lakota or the Abenaki how small pox feels when received in the guise of warmth from blankets given as gifts from the u.s. army or those victims of syphilis from that experiment at tuskegee the manchurian candidate agent orange wasn’t experimental or accidental they planned it and programmed us to kill each other whenever they command it from the grind on the block to the iraqi front lines we’re externally and internally behind enemy lines fighting a war to reclaim our hearts and out minds but these truths will not hold self evident in the text books of their history someone please tell me what does george w. and a cherry tree have to do with education about as much as george w. and the reason behind gas price’s inflation you see they both lied about it and this time around there’s no doubt about it that we’ll all have to do something about it and we don’t mean no fake florida ballot boxes november 7, 2000 should have taught you and me that to vote is a weapon to be used wisely and not squandered away on some elephant or donkey either way you both end up a jack ass we can no longer afford the mistakes of our past we must get past this hold hand and sing cause the blood of our ancestors is listening for the battle cry to come to our defense we can not bow down in blissful ignorance or wickedness like Fidel faces amerikkkan terrorism without fear like the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere for over 500 years no trail of tears, blood or sweat formed from flesh of my flesh has caused me to be afraid to face death yet and i laugh in the face of these idol death threats because i know that our freedom is at hand but from the way it all looks we’d better start taking it seriously because we’ve already gotten wilder ‘n’ the bush

A Richmond Sestina / Pamela J. Gross I am shyly brave, sitting and smoking in sidewalk sun in Carytown, surrounded by the new south elegants and their monuments to suburbia eating the city: baby carriages and bleached, broad smiles. I am single and unkempt.

It gives me a kind of grace to be among them: a hungover Yank with mascara like clay applied thirty-six hours before. Like a pilgrim, or the main event of some strange Saturday circus. Though I remain in repose, folded languid in an aluminum chair, I carry the alertness that comes from knowing you don’t quite belong.

Clay Street is more my style: burned, boarded, broken, monumental blight--junk shops and pawn shops in place of the graceful vintage antique stores here. (I spent the rent on a broadly written history and a teardrop of Colombian coffee.) The broadway marquis over the movie house tempts vaguely, but my main purpose today is voyeuristic. To see the other half. The gracious tailored women with ropy knots of gold at their necks; the men who carry brass heeled canes and foppish Panamas they tip at each corner, monument and statue; the pastel young mothers with fresh scrubbed broods, clay plates freshly kilned in their tiny curling fingers, like the clay pots of annuals that bleed color to curbs; and light everywhere, broad strokes, gaiety.

Carytown in spring. Like a dime postcard, Monument Avenue in autumn, Hollywood Cemetery in snow.

A surface beauty, the main attraction for tourists who drown in washes of flat vowels and take care to avoid conversations of race or politics, preferring the grace and propriety of Juleps on the porch to the commonplace poverty of Grace Street. That they can see in their own northern cities. To claw out this perch is what makes me brave and shy, confederate with the Cary Street workers, a contrast to those they serve. Just a black-clad broad with silver tipped fingers, patches of skin shown haphazard, and a mane of oddly colored hair.

Do I stand out? Would anyone think for a moment I was local? Or just another wanderlust that scoffs at monuments to a past I cannot claim?

I’ve been here a decade and still I grate at the idea: southerner.

Tonight, I’ll crawl the pubs down Main Street and greet the bartenders by name, dragging my feet of clay from booth to bar to bed, and tomorrow too-the bus stops on Broad Street as familiar as the tattered totems stuffed into and carried in the pockets of my dirty jeans.

Monumental, this ability to claim myself a stranger, an alien, a graceful visitor with no intent to board the bandwagon, yet here I remain, for years, in sidewalk sun on Cary.

Local

Support Local Mayhem / Rebecca Johnson

Back at Last to Beat Your Ass. Fucking Blood Everywhere. Blood, Sweat, and Chairs. They’re all names of past Richmond Lucha Libre shows. In case you’re not familiar with RLL, the city’s own wrestling alliance, let me describe a typical show for you. Imagine a burly wrestler suplexing someone into a crowd of spectators, or a costumed guy flipping off the turn buckle of the wrestling ring.

Visualize a wrestler cracking a pair of crutches over his opponent’s body, or the same guy falling ten feet off the top of a ladder. As advertised, the guys from Richmond Lucha serve up mayhem at every show.

Richmond Lucha Libre started almost five years ago “as an excuse to have parties”, says wrestler Chris Hoyer, also known as “Horror Show.” I spoke with him recently at one of their practice sessions. Hoyer is a fierce and sometimes foul-mouthed opponent. His ghoulish, Misfits-inspired costume includes a skull mask and a denim vest that exposes his tattoo covered arms. When he’s not in costume, though, this free-lance photographer is all business. Hoyer and Richmond Lucha co-founder Warren Bellfield began wrestling one night at a Halloween party and later started doing back yard shows. It wasn’t long before, Chris says, “We were drawing 150 people in a backyard.” Now they headline at places likes Alley Katz, Wonderland, and the Nanci Raygun.

When I attended practice, members and trainees paired off to rehearse moves.

Every match is scripted, kind of like a comic book story come to life. They have heroes, villains, and a cast of supporting characters. There are fifteen wrestlers total, including good guy James Long or the “Kamikaze Kid,” a fellow with an affinity for the color blue and known for his signature move, the Kamikaze Kick.

There are villains like Chris “El Sucio” Osterfeld, Italian bad-ass and member of Team No Respect, a faction within Richmond Lucha. And like comic book characters, they perform high flying stunts and astounding feats of strength.

During one show at the now defunct Bottom Line, Osterfeld jumped off the

roof of the building and onto another wrestler standing outside of the ring.

“A lot of people don’t realize how hard wrestling will be because they think it’s all fake,” says long-time Richmond Lucha member Scott Seal a.k.a. “Spok Holly.”

Seal is the loud-mouthed leader of Team No Respect. Sometimes it seems a bit juvenile--a bunch of guys wearing costumes pretending to beat the crud out of each other. I can see why some people don’t take the sport seriously. But it’s very physically demanding and members start training about a month before each show, Seal explained. There are also risks to wrestling. Long once had to get nineteen stitches in his head after he was thrown into a column at Alley Katz.

And that’s just the beginning. Training is tough, but actually organizing a show might be more of a challenge. It takes “a tremendous, ridiculous amount of planning,” says Hoyer. Members first have to book a venue, which they try to do about six weeks beforehand. They have to make sure that the club has enough room for their ring and for doing stunts. There’s also the task of getting a license from the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Recreation. They license anyone who practices a trade, from hair stylists to tattoo artists. Wrestling, as strange as it may sound, is considered a trade. Richmond Lucha has a license now but getting one has proved to be a stumbling block in the past. The VDPOR has threatened to fine them and to shut down their shows for not having a license.

Richmond Lucha also books a band for every show. They’ve performed with fellow Richmonders Rocket Queen and Monarch. Who would they like to play with in the future? Avail and GWAR are at the top of Richmond Lucha’s wish list.

Although they’ve never actually played with GWAR, the band has appeared in full costume at a couple of their shows. The first time they acted as “ringside

enforcers” to keep Team No Respect from participating in the match. The second time they wrestled with Richmond Lucha--and lost. Hoyer grins and says, “You can’t win when you’re wrestling with the best.”

Richmond Lucha has come a long way since that first backyard show. You can check out their website (www.richmondlucha.com) for a schedule of upcoming matches and other events. They have t-shirts for sale, and a DVD is in the works with highlights of their favorite shows. Hoyer’s vision for the future: “Ultimately, I’d like Richmond Lucha to be synonymous with Richmond.”

So, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll heed the Richmond Lucha Libre motto and “Support Local Mayhem.” You don’t want to cross these guys, but you’ll love to watch them cross each other.

2005 RVA Ribbon / G. Steele Like toys from Batman’s utility belt, trucker hats, work shirts with a name patch, and Pabst Blue Ribbon have hung in the hipster arsenal for years.

PBR Miller High Life

Beer advertising has been slow to follow.

The standard cheap, non-micro brews, like Miller or Bud, target the “regular guy.”

Their TV commercials feature a sausage party that is suddenly crashed by one hot girl making a slow, exaggerated entrance into the bar, but none of the guys have the balls to talk to her. Lately, I’ve noticed a trend away from this type of beer commercial, and a movement towards blue collar, anti-establishment target marketing.

PBR is being dropped off by sales reps driving Vespas at art openings.

Budweiser has reissued commercials and package design from the 1950s.

Rheingold, Utica Club, and Schlitz are selling again in Jersey, and it’s not because the Swedish Bikini Team is chugging them in a hot tub.

Before spending a $3.99 for your next six-pack, remember what granddad’s beer actually tasted like.

BUD

Best drunk from a 16 oz can so the can taste will offset the sweetness of this lager.

Great as a chaser with tequila shots.

The color of a healthy urine sample. In order to swallow this one it must be: 1) extremely cold and 2) poured into a cup. Perfect for a fetish party, this is a chalky, metallic beer with an aftertaste of sweaty crevices.

Yuengling Lager

The weightiest, best tasting beer of the bunch, and not much pricier. This beer has been brewed for over 150 years in PA.

This beer outsells Yuengling in Richmond.

Why? Infused with iron notes, it tastes like a newly smelted can.

Blue Mountain CafĂŠ & Coffee Bar 3 4 3 3 W. C a r y S t , R i c h m o n d , VA Featuring live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7 t o 1 0 p m We offer great sandwiches and salads, fresh baked pastries, coffees and Italian soda.

ABC on premise. p// 355-8002

Look What the Cat Dragged In: Taking Dumpster Diving Seriously / Tess Dixon

Dumpster diving. It’s a pastime dear to any Richmonder’s heart.

When you first moved here, you were grossed out by the prospect of hunting through disgusting, trash-juice covered trash cans, looking for things to put in your house. But as you grimly watched your friends pull treasure after treasure out of those lovable, smelly alleyways, you had a change of heart.

The plunder that results from these outings doesn’t have to be associated with the “college lifestyle” (read: living in squalor). Another local dumpster diving guru, Blair Cooke, is planning on integrating one of her found items into a freshly-redone kitchen: “So the most interesting thing I have found was a sink straight out of the 50’s that I plan on using when we remodel our kitchen.”

Or maybe you grew up in Richmond: born with one hand on a Punchline and the other hand in the dumpster.

As with many subtle sciences, the “when” and “where” is key.

Either way, the benefits of dumpster diving are easy to see: 1. It’s fun.

2. It can be done at any time of the day or night.

3. It can be spontaneous.

4. It’s free.

5. It’s a great way to bond with friends (“Hey, remember that time we pulled that old chair out of a dumpster, and after we cleaned it we discovered it was actually white, not vomit green?”).

6. Best of all, most of the things you find can’t be found in a store anymore. Dumpster diving is a good way to add that extra boost of originality to your home.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can find on a diving spree. People around town are more than eager to tell you what they’ve acquired. “I go dumpster diving all of the time,” says Shree Fulcher, a self-proclaimed dumpster diving expert. “I can’t even tell you what furniture in my apartment has been found and what has been bought. Some of my favorite things are a 1970’s phone table, an old chair that my doggie uses as her bed, a shoe rack, a cabinet (I think it was a child’s play refrigerator), a window that is now under construction to be a sweet picture frame, and lots of cute miscellaneous items.”

“I actually found an old road bike once that was in perfect condition,” said graphic designer, Chris Seamon. “The person threw it out because they couldn’t replace the back tire. The bolts were on so tight that it took two days of going to the gym and a can of WD-40 ‘till I could open it.”

The Fan is the obvious bonanza, and alleys can be quickly and easily scoured. Many people who live there move quite frequently, and the process of expanding / contracting their possessions to fit into bigger / smaller spaces creates a lot of dumpster gems. “I think the best time to hit up the dumpsters for anything would be during the summer months when people are getting their move on,” says Seamon. In general, dumpster divers should be more active during times when cleaning or moving is heightened. “The best time of year is right when it starts to get warm and everyone is doing their spring cleaning, thus throwing out treasures. Another good time is when the dorms clear out and all the VCU kids move out of their Fan apartments,” Cooke said.

For a change of scenery, Cooke suggests Monument Avenue alleys for throwaway items from wealthier homes, and Lakeside for vintage articles.

“I also suggest stalking any house being renovated, because that’s when you can hit the jackpot,” said Cooke.

And apparently, dumpsters aren’t the only places that should be consulted: “Well, It doesn’t count as dumpster diving, but I know a few certain people who loved hitting up Goodwill trucks at night because people would leave stuff under there...I know a certain someone found a NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and 25 games,” says Eric Callahan, a local father and grappling enthusiast.

As the city heats up for the spring / summer 2005 dumpster diving season, you’ve got no choice but to throw caution to the wind and hit the alleys of RVA with some good friends and a pickup truck.

Happy diving, everyone!

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SHOCKOE SLIP

SHOCKOE BOTTOM

CHURCH HILL

QUICKGUIDE Carytown

Church Hill

Downtown

Restaurant / Bar 3 Monkeys Restaurant Acacia Venue Alley Katz Restaurant / Bar Avalon Restaurant / Bar Avenue 805 Restaurant / Bar Babe’s Restaurant / Bar Bacchus Restaurant / Bar Baker’s Crust Restaurant / Bar Bandito’s Burrito Lounge Coffee / Tea Betsy’s Coffee Shop Ice Cream Bev’s Books Black Swan Books Coffee / Tea Blue Mountain Cafe Bar / Venue Bogart’s Restaurant / Bar Border Chophouse Restaurant / Bar Buddy’s Place Restaurant Cabo’s Corner Bistro Restaurant / Bar Cafe Diem Coffee / Tea Cafe Gutenberg Restaurant / Bar Caliente’ Venue Canal Club Restaurant / Bar Capital Ale House Restaurant / Bar Cary Street Café Restaurant Carytown Burger & Fries Restaurant / Bar Chopstix Used Books Chop Suey Restaurant / Bar Comfort

theFan

Manchester

Shockoe Bottom

Shockoe Slip

Oregon Hill

VCU

2525 W. Main St. 204-2525 3325 W. Cary St. 354-6060 10 Walnut Alley 643-2816 www.alleykatzrva.com 2619 W. Main St. 353-9709 www.avalonrestaurant.com 805 Davis Ave. 353-2505 3166 W. Cary St. 355-9330 www.babesrestaurant.com 2 N. Meadow St. 355-9919 3553 W. Cary St. 213-0800 www.bakerscrust.com 2905 Patterson Ave. 354-9999 3200 W. Cary St. 358-4501 2911 W. Cary St. 204-2387 2601 W. Main St. 353-9476 3433 W. Cary St. 355-8002 203 N. Lombardy St. 353-9280 1501 W. Main St. 355-2907 www.borderchophouse.com 12 N. Robinson St. 355-3701 www.buddysplace.net 2053 W. Broad St. 358-1144 www.cabosbistro.com 600 N. Sheppard St. 353-2500 1700 E. Main St. 497-5000 www.cafegutenberg.com 2922 Park Ave. 340-2920 1545 E. Cary St. 643-2582 623 E. Main St. 643-2537 2631 W. Cary St. 353-7445 www.carystreetcafe.com 3500 1/2 W. Cary St. 358-5225 3129 W. Cary St. 358-7027 1317 W. Cary St. 497-4705 www.chopsueybooks.com 200 W. Broad St. 780-0004

Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Natural Market Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Coffee / Tea Restaurant / Bar Restaurant Bar / Venue Candy Coffee / Tea Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Coffee / Tea Retail Retail Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Venue Restaurant / Bar Bar / Venue Restaurant Retail

Commercial Taphouse & Grill Corner Cafe Curbside Cafe Davis & Main Dogwood Grill & Spirits Double T’s Real BBQ Easy Street Edo’s Squid Ellwood Thompson Emilio’s Tapas Bar Empire Ethos Cafe Europa Farouks’s House of India Fusion For Love of Chocolate Harrison St. Coffee Hollywood Grill Hyperlink Café Ipanema Cafe Joe’s Inn Jumpin J’s Java Katra Gala Kulture Clothing Legend Brewing Company Lucky Lounge McCormack’s Irish Pub Metro Grill Mojo’s Mr. Bojangles Mulligan’s Nanci Raygun Panda Veg Plan 9 Music

111 N. Robinson St. 800 N. Cleveland 2525 Hanover Ave. 2501 W. Main St. 1731 W. Main St. 2907 W. Cary St. 2401 W. Main St. 411 N. Harrison 4 N. Thompson St. 1847 W. Broad St. 727 W. Broad St. 17.5 N. 17th St. 1409 E. Cary St. 3033 W. Cary St. 109 S. 12th St. 2820 W. Cary St. 402 N. Harrison St. 626 China St. 814 W. Grace St. 917 W Grace St. 205 N. Shields Ave. 2306 Jefferson Ave. 2225 W. Main St. N. 18th St. 321 W. 7th St. 1421 E. Cary St 12 N. 18th St. 301 N. Robinson St. 733 W. Cary St. 550 E. Marshall St. 323 W. Main St. 929 W. Grace St. 948 W. Grace St. 3012 W. Cary St.

359-6544 355-1954 355-7008 353-6641 340-1984 353-4304 355-1198 www.easystreetrichmond.com 864-5488 359-7525 359-1224 344-3323 513-6700 643-0911 355-0378 249-2338 359-5645 359-8060 819-1988 254-1942 213-0170 355-2282 www.joesinn.com 344-3500 359-6996 644-5044 232-8871 www.legendbrewing.com 648-5100 www.luckyloungerichmond.com 648-1003 353-4453 644-6676 344-2901 353-8686 353-4263 www.nanciraygun.com 359-6688 353-8462 www.plan9music.com

Coffee / Tea Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Tattoo Shop Restaurant Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Restaurant Restaurant / Bar Restaurant / Bar Comic Books Movie Rental Coffee / Tea Indie Radio

Plant Zero Cafe Poe’s Pub Richbrau Brewing Company Robin Inn Salvation Tattoo Strawberry St. Cafe Starlight Sticky Rice The Eatery Roxy Cafe The Village Velocity Comics Video Fan World Cup Coffee WRIR 97.3 FM

0 E. 4th St. 2706 E. Main St. 1214 E. Cary St. 2601 Park Ave. 324 Pine St. 421 Strawberry St. 2600 W. Main St. 2232 W. Main St. 3000 W. Cary St. 1104 W. Main St. 1001 W. Grace St. 818 W. Grace St. 403 Stawberry St. 26 N. Morris St. 1045 W. Broad St.

726-4442 www.plantzero.com 648-2120 www.poespub.com 644-3018 353-0298 643-3779 www.salvationgallery.com 353-6860 www.strawberrystreetcafe.com 254-2667 358-7870 www.stickyrice.com 353-6171 342-7699 353-8204 725-6300 358-7891 342-1021 864-9450 www.wrir.org

Alley

Katz

10 Walnut Alley 804.643.2816 www.alleykatzrva.com 08.18 ANATHALLO / COLOUR REVOLT WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ALL AGES SHOW 6:00PM10:00PM WWW.ANATHALLO.COM $5ADV. $5DOOR 08.19 MUNICIPAL WASTE / RAMBO / CAUSTIC CHRIST / ASSHOLE PARADE / BARONESS ALL AGES SHOW 7:00PM-11:00PM WWW.MYSPACE.COM/HEEDTHEWIZARD $6ADV. $6DOOR 08.20 JUNCTION CD RELEASE WITH THE SWITCH 18+ 10:00PM-2:00AM LATE $5ADV. $7DOOR 08.22 HALO OF LOCUST / CHANNEL 43 / STEREO TYPEWRITER / LAST CRASH ALL AGES SHOW 7:00PM-11:00PM WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ HALOOFLOCUST $8ADV. $8DOOR 08.24 VENDETTA RED / BAYSIDE / NIGHTMARE OF YOU / SCHOOL YARD HERO’S / 12 STEP REVENGE ALL AGES SHOW 7:00PM-11:00PM WWW.VENDETTARED.COM $8ADV. $10 DOOR 08.25 IDENTITY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS 18+ 9:00PM-2:00AM $7ADV. $7DOOR 08.26 RAVENOUS MUNKZ AND BDC ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT THE 5TH ANNUAL HIP HOP FEST WITH U-GOD OF THE WU TANG CLAN & SPECIAL GUESTS 18+ 8:00PM-2:00AM WWW.MONASTERYRECORDZ.COM 08.27 RAVENOUS MUNKZ & BDC ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT THE 5TH ANNUAL HIP HOP FESTIVAL WITH RA THE RUGGED MAN & SPECIAL GUESTS 18+ 8:00PM-2:00AM WWW.MONASTERYRECORDZ.COM

58 More info @ the Nanci Raygun on myspace.com

08.28 RAVENOUS MUNKZ &BDC ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT THE 5TH ANNUAL HIP HOP FESTIVAL WITH TAG TEAM EMCEE BATTLE 18+ 10:00PM-2:00PM WWW.MONASTERYRECORDZ.COM 08.31 ONE DROP / JOHNNY 3 LEGS / BLUDSHOT / RESEVOIR / SPECIAL APPEARENCE BY STREET LEGAL 18+ 9:00PM-2:00AM WWW.ONEDROP.CA 09.13 EVERYTIME I DIE / HIGH ON FIRE / THE CHARIOT / THE RED CHORD ALL AGES SHOW 7:00PM-11:00PM WWW.HIGHONFIRE.NET / WWW.EVERYTIMEIDIE.COM

Canal Club

1545 East Canal Street 8 0 4 . 6 4 3 . 11 5 4 www.thecanalclub.com

08.19 Y101 PRESENTS COMMUNITY SERVICE: ROCK BOTTOM W/ FOUNDATION / CHANNEL 43 / LAST CRASH FREE DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 08.20 CULDERA W/ SPECIAL GUEST DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 $5.00 08.25 JIMMIE’S CHICKEN SHACK W/ SPECIAL GUEST DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 $10.00 08.26 Y101 PRESENTS COMMUNITY SERVICE: ROCK BOTTOM W/ FIAD SEARCHING FOR TIMOTHY FREE DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 08.30 TWIZTID W/SPECIAL GUEST DOORS OPEN AT 8:00 $15.00 ADVANCE 09.02 WILL HOGE DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 $8.00 ADVANCE $10.00 DOOR 09.09 ANGIE APARO & THE INFIDELS DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 $12.00 ADVANCE $14.00 DOOR 09.16 ZOSO THE ULTIMATE LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 $10.00 ADVANCE $12.00 DOOR 09.21PARTICLE WITH GABBY LALA DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 $15.00 ADVANCE $17.50 DOOR

HOCKOE BOTTOM CHURCH HILL

GREAT SHIP LOCAL PARK

LIBBY HILL PARK

CHIMBORAZO PARK

Nanci Raygun 929 W. Grace Street 804.353.GAME www.nanciraygun.com

8.17 VATICAN, MURDER NO MOTIV, BURNING SHADOWS - ALL AGES, $6, 5PM 8.18 ENGAGE, DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY, AT ALL COST - 18+, $5, 10PM 8.19 GET BENT 2005 - KHATE, FERALCATSCAN, CONTROLLED DISSONANCE, THE SILENCE BUREAU, MADMEN PROJEXORCISM - 18+, $5, 9PM 8.20 FALL OF ROME, SHADOW STRAND, JOKER, ROUGH WATERS - ALL AGES, $6, 5PM BESTFRIENDS DAY SHOW AND DANCE CONTEST! - NO OMEGA, AMATEUR PARTY, PINK RAZORS, HAIL SOCIAL - 18+, $5, 10PM 8.22 AQUABATS, THE PHENOMENAUTS, THE EYELINERS, TIME AGAIN - ALL AGES, $12, 5PM SACROSANCT- 10PM, 18-20/$5, 21+/$3 8.23 PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS, SMOKE OR FIRE, GLASS AND ASHES, THE SETUP - ALL AGES, $8PRESALE/$10DOOR, 6PM 8.27 THE COMMUNITY CENTER - PRESENTED BY SALVAGE ARMY AND 51PEGASUS - 18+, $5, 10PM 8.28 86 MENTALITY, PERMANENT (RECORD RELEASE), LA CRISI, INGEGNO, LET DOWN - ALL AGES, $7, 5PM 8.29 BREATHER RESIST, RED SPARROWS, ZOMBI - ALL AGES, $6, 6PM SACROSANCT- 10PM, 18-20/$5, 21+/$3

Cary St. Cafe 2631 West Cary Street 8 0 4 . 3 5 3 . 7 4 4 5 www.carystreetcafe.com

MONDAY TRIPP N’ JENNY BLUEGRASS / FREE EVERY OTHER MONDAY HARRISON DEANE BAND ROCK / FREE EVERY TUESDAY THE GROVE JAM BAND EVERY WEDNESDAY TBA EVERY SATURDAY CSC JAZZ JAM BAND 2P - 4P / FREE EVERY SUNDAY 12 NOON BLUEGRASS JAM SUNDAY

F u s i o n

109 S. 12th Street 804.249.2338

8.31 THE NEW ELECTRIC - 18+, $5, 10PM

RVA / There’s Plastic in the Afterlife / Quick Guide 59

/cajun/creole/zydeco 11pm-1am The Edge of America

/bluegrass/jug band 1am-3am Great American Music Hour

Tuesday

Richmond Independent Radio WRIR 97.3 FM schedule 08/17/05 Monday

6am-8am Breakfast Blend WRIR’s Multicultural Music 8am-9am Democracy Now! 9am-10am News and Notes w/Ed Gordon 10am-11am Le Show w/Harry Shearer 11am-12pm Power Point 12-12:30pm Homespun C-SPAN 12:30-1pm Asia Speaks w/My Lan Tran:

Serving RVA’s Asian community 60 RVA / There’s Plastic in the Afterlife / Quick Guide

---alternating with-- Defenders LIVE w/Ana Edwards

& Phil Wilayto 1pm-2pm Power Point Hour 2

w/Carmen Burns 2pm-4pm Talk of the Nation 4pm-4:30pm Voices Of Our World 4:30-5pm Free Speech News 5pm-7pm Lost Music Saloon Americana /alt-country 7pm-9pm Blue Monday

w/River City Blues Society 9pm-11pm Louisiana Dance Hall

6am-8am Breakfast Blend WRIR’s Multicultural Music 8am-9am Democracy Now 9am-10am News and Notes w/Ed Gordon 10am-11am Justice Talking 11am-12pm Thomas Jefferson Hour

w/Clay Jenkinson & William

Chrystal 12pm-12:30pm Weekly Sedition 12:30pm-1pm Richmond Indymedia News

w/ Jason Guard 1pm-2pm Radio Nation w/ Marc Cooper 2pm-4pm Talk of the Nation 4pm-4:30 Counterspin 4:30pm-5pm Free Speech Radio News 5pm-7pm Wide Ear Folk w/Eric Walters 7pm-9pm The Edge Of Americana w/Josh

Bearman 9pm-11pm Mercury Falls/eclectic rock 11pm-1am Broadcastatic Audio Collage 1am-3am Mellow Madness /world/freeform

Wednesday

6am-8am Breakfast Blend WRIR’s Multicultural Music 8am-9am Democracy Now 9am-10am News & Notes w/Ed Gordon 10am-11am Smart City w/ Carol Coletta 11am-12pm Living On Earth w/ Steve

Curwood 12pm-12:30pm Brown Bag Lunch Special

12:30pm-1pm Enlace Informativo 1pm-2pm New Dimensions: Uncommon Wisdom for Unconventional Times 2pm-4pm Talk of the Nation 4pm-4:30 pm T.U.C. w/Maria Gilardin 4:30-5pm Free Speech Radio News 5pm-7pm Activate! w/Mike Rutz Artists in

Richmond 7pm-9pm The Modern Beat w/ Christian

Hendrickson 9pm-11pm Radiomorphism w/DJ Morphism /industrial 11pm-1am 804noise Presents: Noise

Solution 1am-3am Late Night Flight /eclectic rock 3am-6am The All Nighter w/Tracy

Thursday

6am-8am Breakfast Blend WRIR’s Multicultural Music 8am-9am Democracy Now 9am-10am News and Notes w/Ed Gordon 10am-11am The Prent’s Journal w/ Bobbie

Conner 11am-11:30am Wings: Women’s

Independent News Gathering

Service 11:30am-12pm 51% w/ Dr. Kammer Neff &

Mary Darcy 12pm-12:30pm Richmond Education Today 12:30pm-1pm Inspiration Corner: Real Women, Real Life, Real Issues 1pm-2pm Prime Time Radio 2pm-4pm Talk of the Nation 4-4:30pm This Way Out 4:30-5pm Free Speech Radio News 5pm-7pm Future Perfect w/The TinyDj /new rock

7pm-9pm The Secret Stash w/Stuart Martin /indie rock 9pm-11pm Funwrecker Ball w/DJ Esskay /rock/punk/ reggae 11pm-1am Zendo Soundsystem w/DJ Nomadic/dub 1am-3am Crypt Shift w/Kiki

/twang trash rock n’ roll

Friday

6am-8am Breakfast Blend WRIR’s Multicultural Music 8am-9am Democracy Now 9am-10am News and Notes w/Ed Gordon 10am-11am The Book Guys 11am-12pm Selected Shorts: Short Stories

Read by Great Actors 12pm-12:30pm 20 Minute Pause

w/Liz Skrobiszewski-Humes 12:30pm-1pm Open Ear & Mind 1pm-2pm Calling All Pets: Advice & Entertainment for Pet Lovers 2pm-4pm Talk of the Nation’s Science Friday 4-4:30pm Richmond Indie Radio News w/Lauren Ball 4:30-5pm Free Speech News 5pm-7pm Global World A Go-Go w/Bill Lupoletti 7pm-9pm Beep Ahh Fresh Hip-Hop

w/Chuck B & Hoodrich 9pm-11pm Vinyl Cartel

w/Logan & Krames/hip hop 11pm-1am St. John the Pabstist

w/J. Swart & B. Porter/loud rock 1am-3am Screams from the Gutter

w/ Michelle & Justin/punk/metal

9am-11am The British Breakfast w/Jesse

Reilly & Gene Pembleton 11am-1pm Shake Some Action/classic rock 1pm-3pm Derek Sunshine/eclectic rock 3pm-5pm Songs from the Big Hair 80’s/rock 5pm-7pm Locals Only w/Scott Burger 7pm-9pm Mutiny w/JTF /electronic dance 9pm-11pm DJ Spotlight/electronic dance 11pm-1am Frequency/electronic dance 1am-3am Combustion w/DJ C/trance 3am-6am The All-Nighter DJ CJ

Sunday

6am-9am El Che Y La Rubia

w/tango/folkloric/rock en espanol 9am-11am Sunday Morning Salsa 11am-1pm All Jazz with Giz Bowe 1pm-3pm Freedom Jazz Dance 3pm-5pm The Other Black Music You Don’t

Get To Hear On Richmond Radio

w/Charles Williams/alternating

w/Ambiance Congo w/David

Noyes/r&b/ funk/african 5pm-7pm The Motherland Influence w/ Charles Williams & David Noyes/

african/caribbean/latin 7pm-9pm If Music Could Talk w/DJ Carlito world/freeform 9pm-11pm The Ming From Mongo Show 11pm-1am TBA 1am-3am Howl w/Chris Ramming 3am-6am The All-Nighter z

Saturday

6am-7am Inter Tribal (Tall Feathers)

Native American music RVA / There’s Plastic in the Afterlife / Quick Guide 61

The Last Word

Veronica Meewes

When I moved to Richmond last summer from New York, I hated it. I thought it was boring, run-down, and devoid of character. I was put off by how un-Northern, yet not quite Southern, it is. I scoffed at its weak attempts at nightlife, and lack of a cohesive art scene, despite the presence of VCU’s respectable art curriculum.

And then the unthinkable happened—it slowly grew on me. I realized that “grey area” that initially perplexed me is exactly what gives Richmond its charm. In other cities I’ve been to across the country, it seems as though everyone’s trying to fit into a scene.

And since Richmond doesn’t have too many scenes to speak of...well, it’s really every man for himself. I’ve met self-proclaimed “redneck faggots,” conservatives bearing inked sleeves and studs, shiny-eyed country bumpkins here for the thrills of a “big city,” handfuls of Northern transplants like myself who’ve been there and done that and just want something different, and though the proverbial hipster haircut is still impossible to escape...well, it’s a national crisis, really.

Thriving metropolis it is not, but I began to understand why local college grads end up staying in Richmond...or leaving and returning for life. Cheap rent, sparse traffic, and easy parking make for a virtually stress-

free living arrangement. It is small enough to navigate easily, yet big enough to explore, with gems like Hadad’s Lake and the Bellwood Flea Market. Though there’s not any one spectacular area to bar-hop on a weekend night, I can kill hours at Avalon or A Capella. And I really do think Richmond has some really respectable and innovative restaurants—too many to list even, from Croaker’s Spot to The Edible Garden. Call me a Yankee, but all the stainedglassy rowhouses and community gardens give me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, not to mention all the independent businesses, like that guy who bakes “bread for the people” in his Church Hill home, or Rudy’s Mushrooms, which has every cook in town sporting a T-shirt.

Now new lofts are popping up weekly in old warehouses, and rent is not-so-slowly creeping higher. It’s kind of cool to be living in a place that is on the brink of something bigger...but at the same time, it’s making me kind of nostalgic for an un-cooler Richmond. After all, there is definitely something to be said for the people that choose to live here: we are generally a less concerned, more laid-back kind of folk. We don’t need to live in a major (congested, expensive) city to prove we’re cutting edge or hip. We can sit back right here and do it a short distance from the beach and the mountains, and minutes from a pretty sweet river (if I do say so myself). Don’t get me wrong—I still hate Broad Street, and the fact that last call is essentially 1:40 (not 2:00) is at times too much to handle.

But sometimes you want sushi, and sometimes you want grits, and sometimes you just want both.

interested in having the last word ?? email tony@rvamag.com