August 8th, 2002 issue #0127

August 8th, 2002

  • Toy story: New adult shop has town buzzing

    Once upon a time, Charlottesville had an X-rated adult store called the Pleasure Chest. In a town that doesn't go in for flesh peddling in topless bars, the Pleasure Chest didn't survive the 1980s. In fact, one local video-store owner calls the Pleasure Chest a "study in how to do it wrong" because of its bold advertising and open-door policies. Today's key word in selling adult items? Discreet. It is possible in Charlottesville to get a blow-up doll, nipple clamps, or a video of Dirty Debutantes– but you have to know where to look.

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4Better Or Worse

  • The week in review

    Worst jail outbreak: Scabies, which had male Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail inmates quarantined for several weeks after the under-skin burrowing mites were brought...

The Dish

  • Burger burglars

      When businesses get burgled, the first thing thieves usually go for is the cash drawer. But a couple of thefts on West Main Street have the business owners and the c...

Essays

Real Estate - On the Block

Movie Reviews

News

Strange But True

  • Summer knights

      Q: Imagine knights of old gathering for a roundtable discussion with modern baseball players. What "materials strength" tips could they share? ­C. Ripkin  A: ...

Facetime

Hotseat

Letters

  • It's not schwag

      [Regarding the website pitch to buy "Hook schwag"]: Guys, the proper term for gear à la rock & roll is "swag," not schwag. It's an old seafarer's term (with Aus...

  • Sins of omission

      I read with much pleasure Mark Grabowski's round-up of local music ["Sonic Boom," cover story, July 25, 2002] (http://readthehook.com/92318/cover-story-sonic-boo...

  • Timely thanks

    It's a pleasure to find a local publication which gives information regarding movies, where they 're playing, and the times the films are shown. As a person who works in th...

Cultural preview

  • Festivalmania

    It's a season of firsts for the Shenandoah Shakespeare Company just over the mountain in Staunton. In the past few months, their brand-new Blackfriars Playhouse, a performa...

  • Festivalmania

    It's a season of firsts for the Shenandoah Shakespeare Company just over the mountain in Staunton. In the past few months, their brand-new Blackfriars Playhouse, a performa...

  • Hot tomatoes: Old varieties make comeback

    When I was growing up 30 years ago in the wilds of Northern Virginia, homegrown tomatoes were a metaphor for summer. Effortless broadcasting of seeds brought forth a green ...

  • Iraq attack? Forum follows Senate hearings

    Timing is everything. A year ago, a forum on “The American Policy Dilemma in Iraq” might not have drawn much of a crowd in Charlottesville. Malnutrition and disease, lo...

  • Middle ground: Fitts neither neat nor messy

    For some, a healthy dose of anarchy in one’s domestic space reflects a complicated, busy mind. Unfortunately, the tyrannically clean among us don’t seem to buy that arg...

  • Power Hammer: Tight trio livens up Fridays

    Popular music lovers always have a soft spot for a good power trio: there’s a lot to be said for a band that can create a tight, memorable composition consisting of guita...

  • Suweeeee: Fairs make summer fun

    One of the best things about August is that it’s county fair time. These days there’s almost always one of these summer celebrations around somewhere. Hog calling, trac...

  • What's hot? August groups run the gamut

    There’s less than a month of “dog days” left, and I firmly believe we should all spend them on the porch with a novel and a pitcher of lemonade.To those of you with a...