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Showing posts from November, 2008

Pedestrian story #55: AMTRAK's impromptu delivery

I had walked up to JPA Fast Mart to get a beer, as a way of taking my dog Billy for a very long walk. The kids were in bed and I wanted to exercise. The night sky was beautiful and I wanted to get used to the cold. I had a mission that satisfied many objectives, and so off I went. I walked down Cherry Avenue and up Highland before heading over the JPA Bridge to the store. I stood in the Wayside Deli's front-yard while texting someone, and had to pull a bone out of my dog's mouth. He was in heaven. I tied him to a post next to the pay-phone while I went in. After the mission accomplished, I began the journey home. I didn't even notice the cold anymore. On the way back, I took a right onto Shamrock, even though I was worried about walking down that road at night because of the at-gun-point mugging that happened last week. I decided to go that way anyway, because I figured my dog would keep any attackers at bay and because I really didn't want to give in to fears. Besides,

Live-blogging City Council

I'm messing around with a live blog of City Council . Want to extend the range of services we provide. Will likely be here until 9:30 PM. Early meeting tonight. UPDATE: Well, it was a lot of fun, definitely. I will be taking down the item from public view at some point tomorrow, as it was not quite meant to be an official product of Charlottesville Tomorrow. I need to make sure that we have the guidelines in place to make sure it's up to our editorial standards. I was able to get some interesting feedback, and I hope to be able to do it again soon.

Charlottesville Tomorrow stories in Google News!

For five years, I've used news.google.com as my home-page. It's become the equivalent of my newspaper, as I use it to skim and see what the biggest stories are at the moment. I think it's a very efficient way to get a quick overview of what's happening. Now I'm pleased to report that our stories at Charlottesville Tomorrow are now appearing in the results for Charlottesville . This is a big deal to me, to know that the work I do is showing up in my virtual newspaper. Also, the stream was a success last night. I'm hoping we'll do more of that.

Tonight's band: Archers of Loaf

So, I just ditched my Rhapsody subscription after four years in order to save money. It was such an awesome service, but I can no longer justify it. I canceled the $13 a month payment in part because there are alternatives to sample music. Tonight, I wanted to hear some Archers of Loaf . I first heard "Wrong" on WUVT in 1992 or so when I was still a freshman at Virginia Tech. Of course, none of my roommates had any interest in the same kind of music as me, and neither did anyone at the student newspaper at which I worked. I only met one other person who had even heard of the band, a guy who wasn't even a student. Of course, I had a friend at UVA who also shared the same interest in the band. I think at one point I'd hung out with him and he'd played this song, "Might". The videos aren't so hot a decade and a half later. As a matter of fact, watching isn't really advised. The songs are much better without watching a visual companion. But, wow, it

Now streaming: South Fork Rivanna Reservoir Task Force meeting

I've been experimenting with providing live audio of events I cover for Charlottesville Tomorrow as a beta project. Now I'm streaming the latest meeting of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir Task Force meeting. Listen in here using Winamp or iTunes . Check out the agenda here . Would love feedback. I'm also twittering updates as it continues. Here until 8. UPDATE: It's over now, of course. Do check in on that feed from time to time. You never know what you might find.

Charlottesville Dancing

View Larger Map Amy had come to pick me up to take me to an appointment. We were in a hurry, as always, given that I always need to arrive at Place B as quickly as possible. The sun was shining in Court Square, and the perfect light of autumn makes the bricks glow with a sense of civility. The sky was a perfect blue, a bracing wind was blowing, and our gold car was beginning to move towards our destination. We didn't have much time. Yet, I was somehow able to spare a minute in an impromptu dance that made my day. Let's freeze time for a second to describe the scene. As I had left my building to jump in to the car, I held the door for another man who was leaving another office. Amy was parked on the stubby end of East Jefferson Street. I hopped in the passenger seat. She backed up and turned to head west. The intersection of Park Street and East Jefferson is an odd one (see map), as the road continues for another 30 feet or so before hitting my building. Every day I witness fr