Evince Magazine May 2023

Shining a Positive Light on the Community

by Paul Seiple

by Emily Wilkerson

by Dave Slayton

Presented by Showcase Magazine

by Mack Williams

CEO / Publisher / Andrew Scott Brooks Editorial Director / Paul Seiple editor@evincemagazine.com

by Barry Koplen

by Josh Lucia

Contributing Writers

Barry Koplen, Linda Lemery, Josh Lucia, Paul Seiple, Dave Slayton, Mack Williams, Emily Wilkerson

Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont)

Finance Manager Cindy Yeatts (1.434.709.7349) cindy@showcasemagazine.com

Advertising

For ad information contact a marketing consultant listed below.

Lee Vogler Director of Sales and Marketing (434.548.5335) lee@showcasemagazine.com

Kim Demont Graphic Design, Marketing (434.792.0612) demontdesign@verizon.net

evince\i-’vin(t)s\

1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly; reveal syn see SHOW

Deadline for this and all other stories, articles, and calendar items is Monday, May 15 at 5:00pm for the April issue. Please send calendar info to demontdesign@verizon.net.

© 2023 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

On the Cover: Von Wellington. Photo by Laura Mae Photography.

LLocal, serial entrepreneur Von Wellington, has an array of interests including art, photography, cars, and his community. It was the love for cars that lead Wellington to open River District Auto Spa (RDASpa). “It originated in 2016. RDASpa wanted to provide a unique old-school hand wash for patrons to help better serve and maintain their vehicle’s paint over years,” Wellington said.

Since inception, a car wash at RDASpa has grown from a basic hand wash to a work of art. “The business went from a small local ‘mom and pop shop’ to a nationally recognized IDA Certified / Dr. Beasley’s Authorized Training Center and full detailing shop. We pride ourselves as the ceramic coating headquarters of Southern Virginia.” Car owners come from all over Virginia and North Carolina to have their vehicles detailed.

Wellington views the act of detailing as art. “It’s all about appearance and reconditioning, restoring, transforming, and enhancing one’s investment. The art form of auto detailing isn’t about using expensive products on cars. It’s about knowing and understanding the detailing procedure and process, the chemical abrasive and adhesion breakdown of a product, and how it works on the vehicle,” he said.

Wellington has a special eye for restoring a car’s natural glow. “At first sight of a vehicle, I will automatically, in minutes, process what is needed and what is to be done to make the car ‘pop’ along with a thorough prep and stellar detail.”

His passion for restoring a vehicle’s appearance to a new car form led to the creation of an “Intro to Detailing” workshop. The comprehensive course is divided into two days. “Day one is split between theory and auto detailing education and hands on. Day two is strictly hands on, applying what task is at hand. Detailers learn about start-up marketing, bay set-up, labor versus revenue, skills and time, tools, supplies and equipment,” he added.

Another area of vehicle maintenance is ceramic coating. It’s a technology that is revolutionizing the detail industry. Wellington added, “Essentially, a ceramic coating is a second layer of skin on the surface of your car. It utilizes nanotechnology, which are tiny particles that come together to form a very thin and transparent layer that is completely invisible to the naked eye. This layer seals the pores on your car’s paint, producing superior hydrophobic properties, as well as being more resistant to ultraviolet rays,

scratches, bugs, bird poop, contaminants, chemicals, and extreme heat. The ceramic coat forms a semi-permanent bond with the surface of your vehicle, meaning that it will not wash away or break down over a short period of time.”

When he isn’t bringing a car’s beauty back to life, Wellington is deeply involved in the community. As a past recipient of Showcase Magazine’s Community Strong Person of the Year, he incorporates the community into his business ventures. Wellington said, “RDASpa feeds and has fed the first responders, which started on the first wave of the Covid hit. We work closely with our neighbor Norma’s Place and the House of Hope, hiring several homeless men, giving them an opportunity to learn a vocational trade as well as offering them housing placement.”

Wellington sees his art for detailing growing in the future. He hopes to expand into other cities with the RDASpa brand. Above all, Wellington plans to continue educating about and teaching the skill of detailing. This will include more extensive workshops. And as always, he will continue to shine a positive light on the community.

Shining a Positive Light

on the Community

by Paul Seiple photo by Laura Mae Photography

If you’re someone who won’t try to write a poem when you feel like you want to, you’re not alone. Among the many reasons that block you from becoming even a novice poet, the most common is that you don’t know how to begin.

You’re frustrated because, although you’ve mentally gathered all your thoughts and feelings, you haven’t given them a shape or pattern. Nothing rhymes. And you’ve never heard of a simile or a metaphor.

In other words, you think you would do nothing more than embarrass yourself. If so, you’re in good company because every poet or poetess has felt the same way. In fact, if each of them could confide in you, they would tell you they felt that way almost every time they wrote a poem.

You may want to read Emily Dickinson’s poetry. According to the Emily Dickinson Museum: By the time Dickinson turned 35, she had composed more than 1100 concise, powerful lyrics that astutely examine pain, grief, joy, love, nature, and art. She recorded about 800 of these poems in small handmade booklets (now called “fascicles”), very private “publications” that she shared with no one.

That’s important because, to Dickinson, writing her poetry, rather than publishing it, was most important.

The Writers’ Page Chapter Five

How Often Have I Heard, “I Want To Write A Poem, But…”?

by Barry Koplen

While I attended a poetry workshop for thirty of us would-be poets at the Robert Frost Homeplace, a prominently published poet addressed us. After he read a few of his better-known poems, he announced that he wanted to do something he had never done. For our benefit, he read a poem that he hadn’t finished; he wanted our opinion.

Imagine this: you’re sitting there, listening to a poem that describes a giant water pump that is so powerful that it pumps the water from one pond through the air to another pond a mile away. As strange as that was, the poem turned into an even stranger horror story.

Because one couple swimming in the first pond didn’t realize how strong the suction was, they stayed in the pond. Less than a stanza later, that pair was sucked into the giant hose and were sent sailing in the direction of the second pond.

Horrified by that image, all of us novice poets were in shock when the speaker stopped and said, “That’s as far as I’ve gotten.”

By comparing Dickinson to that poet, it’s easy to see that some poets say too little and others, in an attempt to broadcast their poetry, go well beyond what they should have said.

That’s why you shouldn’t be concerned about writing poetry.

Poetry is an art form that develops slowly. Two of the most important attributes for any aspiring poet are patience and persistence.

A good way to begin is to visit a library and read poems from a number of different poets. You may want to ask a librarian to recommend a few poets to you.

Think of what you’re doing as sampling a menu. In other words, don’t stop reading different poets until you find one you like. Once that happens, read more of that poet’s work. Get to know that poet’s biography.

It won’t take long before you recognize the poet’s style. In many ways, you’ll like it the same way you like certain musicians more than others.

With that in mind, return to your jumble of thoughts and ideas. Then, use them in a way that your new favorite poet might have used them.

Please, please, don’t worry about being a copycat. That won’t be possible because your usage of words and your selection of words will differ from those of your new favorite poet.

You’ll think of that poet every time you write another poem… until you realize that yours have a different flair, a different feel, and a style that’s all your own!

For questions or comments, please email Barry at barry@ evincemagazine.com.

My collection of poems about the life and untimely death of Mary Jo Kopechne, indeed, a satin doll…

May Calendar of Evince

Abbreviation Key

• DSC = Danville Science Center, 677 Craghead Street, 434.791.5160 www.dsc.smv.org

• HNT = The Historic North Theatre 629 North Main Street, 434.793.SHOW (7469)

• IMPotters, 406 Lynn Street. 434.448.4677. www. impottersclayworx.com

• MSAC = Main Street Art Collective. 326 Main Street. 434.602.2017. mainstreetartcollective.com

• The Prizery = 700 Bruce St., South Boston, 434.572.8339 www.prizery.com

• RBA = Ruby B. Archie Public Library, 511 Patton Street, 434.799.5195 www.readdanvilleva.org

• WC = Wednesday Club, 1002 Main Street in Danville.

Ongoing

Danville Science Center Exhibits

Hands-On Harley-Davidson - Explore the history and mechanics behind one of America’s most iconic motorcycle brands. Ages 3-12. Go! - Highlights the intersection between the physics of machines and biology of the human body. Water - Discover history trapped in ice, experience clouds first hand, uncover life found in a droplet, plunge to the depths of the ocean, learn about water usage from a towering wall of 2,000+ water bottles, enter a room of rain and don’t get wet, and more.

Crescent Crossing - Train-themed exhibit introduces families to important science, technology, engineering, and math fundamentals, such as creativity, problem solving, and cause and effect.

Butterfly Station & Garden – Find out which type of caterpillar certain plants attract, learn the best methods to attract butterflies, and get inspired to create your own butterfly garden.

Ruby B. Archie Public Library

Programs - Don’t miss the programs offered at the Library. Whodunit Book Club, The Write Stuff - Writer’s Group, Puzzlers Club, Unrequired Reading – Classics Book Club, Adult Arts and Crafts, Tween Craft NightDIY Bookmarks, Teen Advisory Board, Teen Takeover, Youth Dungeons and Dragons, Tiny Library Craft, LEGO Brick Engineers, Mad Scientists - It’s a Bug’s Life, Little Explorers Storytime, Little Learning Lab - Construction, Construction, What’s Your Function?, Book Babies, Paint and Sip for Kids, Maker Mondays, Tree House Tuesday.

Museum Attic Sale Donation Drop Off. Accepting donations of household items, furniture, books and media, decorative items. No clothes, TVs, or computers.

Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm. DMFAH 434.793.5644

May 2 & 16

Intro to Mountain Biking - Intro to mountain biking workshop series. Navigate the trails of Anglers Park and learn maintenance skills. 434.799.5150.

May 4 (thru 26)

Parks & Rec Programs for Children & Teens. Homeschool Physical Education, Homeschool Junior Naturalist, Families Unplugged, S.T.E.A.M. Nights, Teen Hang Out. Times / Dates Vary. Coates Rec. Center. 434.799.5150.

May 4 (thru 25)

Dart League & Trivia Night Thursdays 6-9pm. Ballad Brewing.

May 5

The Drifters. One of Rock & Roll’s founding vocal groups with hit like Up on the Roof, Under the Boardwalk, This Magic Moment and so much more. 7:30pm. Prizery.

May 5 (thru 26)

Friday Night Wheel Try-it - Try pottery wheel throwing in this very intimate workshop with just two participants. Get a demonstration and instructions, then it’s just you, the wheel, and the clay to make one or two pots. 4:305:30 & 5:30-6:30pm. IMPotters.

Chatham High FFA Bass Tournament 7am-3pm. Penhook Boat Ramp, SML. 434.770.1613. Run for Rotary 5K. A fundraiser hosted by Danville Riverview Rotary. Packet Pickup May 5, 2-6pm, The Brick. 8:30AM-11AM. Woodall Nissan. 434.334.6699.

Dyno Shoot. Cash and trophies for each category. 9am. Thunder Road Harley-Davidson. FB.

You & Me at the Bee. Fun filled day of shopping, treats & pampering, 9am-1pm. The Bee Hotel. FB. Recycling Fun-Flower Wreath Beautiful flower wreath out of recycled book pages and cans. $25. Ages 12+. 11 am. MSAC.

Classics Movie Club - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. 11am-1:30pm. Ages 18+. Registration required. RBA Auditorium. 434.799.5195.

Gretna Strawberry & Wine Festival Nosh on strawberries, and sip wine from eight of the region’s best wineries. Live entertainment. Ticket includes souvenir wine glass, and wine tasting. 12-6pm. Old Dominion Ag Complex. Gretnastrawberrywinefest.com.

Spring Pops Concert - Give My Regards to Broadway. Danville Symphony Orchestra. 2:30pm. Carrington Pavilion. FB.

Mt. Hermon Fire & Rescue Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser. $10. 5-7pm. MHF&R Station. 434.429.3895.

Gala Fundraiser - Smokestack’s Speakeasy Cabaret. Ticket includes performances, canapés, drink tickets, dessert, one raffle ticket, and a gift. 7pm. Smokestack Theatre Co. 434.549.5445.

May 7 (thru 28)

Board Games at the BreweryEnjoy our games or bring your own. Sundays 12-8pm. Ballad Brewing.

May 10

Collaboration Lab Q&A. Learn about Collaboration Lab, a tenmonth opportunity to come together with regional leaders creating and strengthening collaborative networks. 9-10am. Danville Regional Foundation.

May 11

Healing & Hope Tour. Richard C. Harwood Speaker Event. 5-7pm. Registration Required. drfonline.org. 434.799.2176.

Business After Hours on The Rooftop Networking opportunities for members and provide a means to showcase the business’s products, services and facilities. Members free. $5 nonmembers. 5:30-7pm. The Bee Hotel. www.dpchamber.org.

Music at the Market Concert Series - Just Us Band. Bring a chair, blanket, and picnic basket for a relaxing evening listening to music. 7pm. Danville Community Market. 434.857.3384.

Ladies of Laughter Fun and Fabulous Tour - Comedy Show. Features funny and fabulous winners and talent from a national competition. 7:30pm. Prizery.

May 11 (thru Sept. 14)

Tossing at the Crossing - Cornhole Tournaments. Will be a blind draw for partners. 434.857.3384.

May 12

Flip Flop Friday. Bring your lawn chairs and friends to settle in for a fun, relaxing evening. Enjoy music, food, & wine. 6-10pm. Homeplace Vineyard. FB

Movies at the Crossing - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Gates 7pm; Movie 8pm. Community Market. 434.857.3384.

Live Music - MamaBriBri & The Stranger. 7pm. Grizzly’s Hatchet House. FB.

May 13

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Fundraiser for God’s Storehouse. Place your non-perishable food items in a bag by your mailbox. 434.793.3663. See ad page 15. VA Concealed Carry Course. This class meets and exceeds the state of Virginia requirements to apply for a Resident Concealed Permit. 9am-12pm. Courtyard by Marriott. www.focusedfire-training.com.

Spring Soiree - Auction Fundraiser

Bid on fabulous dinners by local cooks, a sunset boat cruise at SML, travel and entertainment packages, art work, winery tour with limo and more. 6pm. Prizery.

May 19, 20 & 21

Festival in the Park. Arts and crafts vendors, food vendors, children’s activities, family entertainment, rides, Main Stage music and entertainment, Ride’s & Rods Car Show and more. Ballou Park. 434.799.5150.

May 20

Virginia Breeze 5k. 7:30 am. Festival in the Park, Ballou Park. Virginiabreeze.org.

Riverview Rotary Rods & Rides. Come out and enjoy some cool cars, good food, live music, and vendors... and enjoy all the Festival in the Park has to offer at what will be our biggest show yet. 10am-2pm. Ballou Park. gclark302@gmail.com.

Blairs Fire & Rescue Golf Tournament

Many cool prizes, including a Scotty Cameron Putter raffled, Long Drive & Closest to Pin Winners. 4-man team, captains choice. Cedars Country Club. 434.251.0778 or 434.728.5588. Flip Flop Door Hanger. Paint a cute pair of flip flops as a door hanger. $39. 11 am. MSAC.

Sippin Saturday. Enjoy music, wine and rockin’ on the screened in, wrap around porch. 12-5pm. Homeplace Vineyard. FB Corks & Forks. 6:30-9:30pm. Train Station, DSC. See ad page 10

May 25

Dino Day – Stomp over to the library to learn about your favorite dinosaurs. Enjoy dino-style games, crafts and activities, including making your own stuffed dino friend to take home. Ages 2-7. Registration required. 4-5PM. RBA.

May 27

Clarksville LC Wine Festival. Ticket includes admission, souvenir wine glass, unlimited tastings at wine & whiskey vendors, access to hand selected artisans, & live entertainment. 12-5pm. 434.374.2436.

Smokestack Improv. 7pm. See ad page 10.

Live Music - Mama BriBri & The Stranger. 7pm. 2 Witches Winery & Brewing Co. FB.

UPCOMING:

June 1

Lip Sync Battle. 5:30pm. 2 Witches Winery & Brewing Co.

June 2

Game Night. We have lots of board games but feel free to bring your favorite to share. 6-8pm. MSAC.

June 3

Cruzin for Humanity Car & Bike Show 9am-12pm. Habitat Restore parking lot, Riverside Dr. 434.793.3630. Hydrangea Painting. Paint a beautiful hydrangea using acrylic paint on a canvas. $40. 11 am. MSAC.

Food Truck Rodeo. 12-6pm. Downtown Danville, Bridge Street. FB. RNB Explosion Music Festival. This exciting event will feature talented R&B artists from around the country, performing all of your favorite hits. The festival is the perfect opportunity to dance and sing along with friends and family while enjoying the beautiful outdoors. 3-7pm. Carrington Pavilion. Eventbrite.

June 3 (thru July 28)

Expressions 2023 Exhibit. Work which howcases regional talent featuring an eclectic mix of work such as watercolor, oil and acrylic, mixed media, drawing, photography and sculpture. Piedmont Arts. 276.632.3221.

June 16

Dance & Dine. Prizery. See ad page 4.

Kris Dodds Williams made her acting debut at 6 as Goldie Locks in a school production and has had the acting bug ever since. After being born and raised in Southern Indiana, Williams moved to Danville to study theatre at Averett University. There she played her favorite role of all time, Romaine Patterson in The Laramie Project. “I was able to interpret a character who represented a real person who had experienced struggles that in some ways mirrored my own at that time in my life.” Taking the stage as that character is what gave Williams the confirmation that she was to do theatre for the rest of her life.

After graduating from Averett, Williams was concerned about finding theatre work in small town Danville, Virginia. She stayed and remained hopeful that an opportunity would come along while working customer service and restaurant jobs, as most theatre artists do. Finally, in 2009, she received an offer to become the drama teacher at Tunstall High School, where she works to this day. In addition to teaching drama and yearbook, Williams is the director for Tunstall’s awardwinning productions. Outside of school, she is also an actor and director, among many other roles, at Smokestack Theatre Company.

When asked how she prepares for a role, Williams says, “For me, I tend to prepare for acting roles the same way I attack a show that I’m directing. I like to see what the

Action!

Inside the Method of Acting

Kris Dodds Williams

by Emily Wilkerson photo courtesy of Smokestack Theatre Co

actor has in mind.” She thinks it is not only vital that she does her own research in the script to find her character, but also to find out what research her fellow actors have done for their characters, and how those decisions might affect her. Communication is key. “Theatre is such a collaborative effort. If your cast and crew communicate well, it only leads to the success of the show.”

Williams stresses it is imperative for actors to collaborate. “An actor must also be willing to make someone else look good onstage for the sake of the show. As much as an actor prepares a role, learns the lines, learns the blocking, and adheres to the vision of the production staff and director, they must also be able to turn on a dime, improvise, and be so very present in the moment. As much as it sometimes seems like ‘actors’ are self-absorbed, the best actors I’ve worked with and learned from are those who are the most gracious team players.”

One of the most common questions an actor gets is “What’s your dream role?” For Williams, there is no single dream role. She just tries to bring her best performance to every character she plays. She says, “I think that the best and most coveted roles are the ones you don’t know about yet–the role that you never knew ‘you were right for.’”

Serving as the current Board President, Williams is very excited

for the upcoming year for Smokestack Theatre Company. She will be the director for Clue: On Stage happening in early July. “We have been in our new space for a year now. We have a season that is engaging, entertaining, and innovative! I am looking

forward to all the experiences that STC will create for people who may not have even known it existed before they walked into the house. I am looking forward to classes, shows, production meetings, collaboration, and PERFORMANCE!”

Scene: Plant and Linda are sitting in morning sunlight on Linda’s back porch. In a birdhouse, a bird is feeding its young.

Plant: What is it like to have a mother?

Linda: You never give me any warning about when you’re going to start talking. You just start.

P: Does that bother you?

L: You ask me open-ended questions that force me to think.

P: I could just be silent like all the other plants you own.

L: You’re constitutionally incapable of silent contemplation.

P: We get more heavy lifting done when we are conversing. Answer the question.

L: A mother is love.

P: You had trouble defining love several months ago. Your responses, past and current, on that topic and this one, are inadequate.

L: Don’t judge me... a mother takes care of children. To be fair, in a two-parent household, the mother and father often work together to raise children. Sometimes one parent is single parenting. In this case, regardless of household, we’re talking about mothers taking care of children.

Plant VII:

Motherlode

by Linda Lemery

P: I do not have children. I cannot relate.

L: I take care of you.

P: In case you have not noticed, I am a plant. Not much care required. I just need a little water, sun, dirt. And conversation.

L: Snarky response, Plant. And you require a lot of conversation.

P: Conversation leads to growth which is uncomfortable.

L: Is growth as uncomfortable for you as the questioner as it is for me as the questionee?

P: Less uncomfortable after I pry answers out of you.

L: Like a mother with adolescent children. Mom asks questions in her roles as teacher, coach, nurturer, protector, provider, guide. Adolescence means kids don’t answer, assume parents have subnormal intelligence, are prone to over-reaction, begin to pull away.

P: The mother probably feels frustrated. Like me in this conversation.

L: But she loves them anyway. In healthy families, it doesn’t matter whether she birthed or adopted them: She nurtures them all, like the mother bird outside.

P: They are part of her chosen nuclear world.

L: Yes.

P: So important that she takes care of them as well as she can.

L: Correct.

P: Food, water, home, love.

L: Sure.

P: Experiences that help them grow.

L: Within reason.

P: Define reason.

L: Let’s be thought-provokingly indirect. I think of Maslow’s list of needs. Maslow theorized that there were basic and higher level needs to be met: biologic and physiologic, safety, love and belonging, esteem, selfactualization. A more recent list included, after esteem, cognitive and aesthetic, and after selfactualization, transcendence.

P: This is like you defining love all over again. You are just giving me theory.

L: In the expanded list, the first four are “deficiency” needs; the rest are “growth” or “being” needs; all stretch over a lifetime.

P: What does this have to do with mothers?

L: Who’s often in charge of the child during the early years in a two-parent household?

P: ...The mother...

L: So, who’s making sure that all the “deficiency” and “being” needs are met during the time the child is growing up?

P: The mother ...

L: ... Along with help from family and friends, school system, religious community, and other communities.

P: Your point about Maslow’s need theories?

L: It’s important for child development that early needs are met, that later needs are met, too. And mothers aren’t usually trained in child-rearing. They just do their best under the conditions they have—familyrelated, functional, financial, social, emotional, environmental, whatever. That’s really the motherlode here.

P: Mothers need help from the extended community.

L: Right. It takes a village.

P: And they get help if they need it.

L: Yes, but they have to ask.

P: Like we all do, to understand what we do not understand or achieve what we want to achieve.

L: You’re sounding like a mother.

P: Maybe we mother each other.

L: Or maybe we just quibble over definitions until we’re both exhausted.

P: I am so looking forward to the next skirmish.

About the author: Happy Mother’s Day to Evince readers from Plant and Linda Lemery llemery@gmail.com. Both welcome reader comments.

Movies You Missed from

20 years ago

by Josh Lucia

Wrong Turn

(6/10 Rating)

Released May 30, 2003

For rent/purchase on all major platforms. Genre: Horror, Thriller

R: Strong Violence and Gore, Some Language and Drug Use

1h 24m

Wrong Turn (2003) is strictly horror and within its own genre probably more of a 7/10 rating. Chris is headed to Raleigh for a job interview and decides to beat traffic and take a backroad through West Virginia where he has a collision with a group of five friends leaving them all stranded in the middle of nowhere. They find a creepy cabin and soon become the prey of three mutated mountain men. If you like The Hills Have Eyes you’ll find some similarities here, mixed with Deliverance. We’ve all been camping or driven on some backroad and seen locations stuck in another time period. In fact, we don’t have to drive far out of Danville just to find locations like the ones in this movie. Maybe that adds to the fun here. You know, if your idea of fun is being creeped out by mutant cannibals and seeing disgusting, gory kills. The film is paced well, gradually unveiling more about the antagonists,

building the stakes, and leading us on a thrilling chase through backwoods WV. The scares come mostly because the film stays just within the realm of reality, leaving you questioning your next backroad detour to avoid traffic. There were multiple sequels made, each getting worse than the one before it. Stay away from those. They aren’t even fun in a “so bad it’s good” way. However, a few years ago, a new Wrong Turn (2021), written by the same screenwriter, Alan B. McElroy, came out with little fanfare. It has nothing to do with the original, and barely the same plot, but it is worth a watch for horror fans. A lot of Wrong Turn (2003) fans did not like the shift from the source material, but if anyone had the right to do something new, it was the original creator and it is a fun ride through multiple sub genres. So, if you find yourself searching for the 2003 version and make a…” wrong turn”…stumbling across the 2021 version, you may have made an enjoyable mistake!

Also check out: Bruce Almighty (7/10), Finding Nemo (8/10), The Actors, The Italian Job (6/10), The Matrix Reloaded (5/10), Down With Love, The Shape of Things (follow @ jlucia85 for these reviews and more)

Ihave heard it said that wine and cheese are the ultimate power couple in the food and wine world. For many, including me, it is true. Let’s consider classic Brie cheese. Brie, usually made from cow’s milk, originated in Seine-etMarne, France. As you probably know, it is a soft cheese with a rich, buttery flavor and a runny, creamy texture. So, do we pair this cheese with an oaky, buttery chardonnay? You can, but consider this: Brie has a fair amount of fat, and you may want to balance that fat with a crisp (acidic) white wine. But which white wine?

The Drink and Pair blog by Maurice K. Beaver suggests sparkling wine to accompany your Brie, and not just any sparkling wine, but Champagne and not just any Champagne but Blanc de Blanc Champagne (Champagne made with only from Chardonnay grapes).

The sweetness category of the paired sparkling wine is mentioned in this blog. Beaver states to stay with a drier sparkling wine, since a sweeter sparkling wine usually has more residual

Wine and Cheese

They Were Meant for Each Other

sugar and less acidity. For Brie, we need that acidity to balance the fat, so stick with the Brut classification or drier.

Speaking of acidity, a crisp Sauvignon Blanc is an alternative to sparkling wine for your Brie appetizer. As Beaver says, it is crisp with flavors of lemon, lime, grapefruit, grass, and green herbs. The grassy notes complement the grassy flavors found in Brie. At the same time, the high acidity of Sauvignon Blanc sharpens the earthy, nutty, and fruity flavors of the Brie.

And you say, what if I have a guest that only likes red wine? In this case, Mr. Beaver points to a favorite, Beaujolais-Villages, a light and fruity red wine with flavors of cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and plums (notice that these are just some of the possible toppings for your Brie). Beaujolais-Villages is low in alcohol, something to consider for cocktail receptions or picnic lunches featuring Brie.

If you are looking for a cheese that is easy to match with wine and always a crowd pleaser, say cheese, Brie cheese. Cheers!

by Dave Slayton

photo by Dave Slayton

Everywhere, Like Life, but not Alive

by Mack Williams

Irecently thought back to the old 1980 Carl Sagan Cosmos series on Public TV and his conversations about the possibility of life on other worlds looking different from on earth. He added that such life could be based on other elements than what all life on earth is based on: carbon. Remember, to the aliens in Star Trek the Motion Picture (1979), Captain Kirk and crew were just “Carbon-based units infesting the Starship Enterprise.”

Sagan surmised that on some other world there might be life which spends its entire life in the upper air (even birds have nests in trees and gobble up worms while walking upon the ground).

But some life forms spend all of their time in the water (a boon to the fisherman).

Over time, I’ve noticed something

that, just like actual life, has seemed to carve out a multitude of niches for itself in every kind of habitation possible (I even a saw a picture of one of these “things” on the bottom of the sea floor).

I’ve seen some of them “perched” in the twigs at the ends of the highest tree limbs, in both young saplings and giants. I’ve also seen them caught in the leaves and stalks of roadside weeds, as well as flying high on an air current, like a kite or balloon! Why, just the other day while walking at Danville’s Ballou Park, I saw one of them seemingly “ambling” across the ground.

And some of their brightest colors almost steal the morning glory’s glory! When I saw a bright red one “hanging around” a tree seedling on the side of a modest cliff’s rock outcrop on Memorial Drive, I first mistook it for a red sign warning of small rock slides.

Since they seem to be so universal, I guess I should go ahead and give some of them a scientific name, just as in the scientific journals, while adding a brief description.

I will include in my made-up, pseudo-scientific name the word “Medusa,” since that is part of the actual scientific name for the jellyfish; and because, just like the jellyfish, they also have a “bag-like” shape.

Here are a few of them which I have “classified”:

• Medusa superdollarensis (a yellow color stands out),

• Medusa walmartensis (a dark gray color stands out),

• Medusa targetensis (a white color stands out, with the strange marking of a red circle surrounding a red dot),

• Medusa thankyouensis (a white color stands out, with the word “Thank you” repeated a multitude of times, as if to note a sense of politeness). Any specimen of these which has freshly entered the natural world often carries the smell of some popular foodstuff within.

Just like life, they’re everywhere; but not the least bit alive!