May 15th, 2003 issue #0219

May 15th, 2003

Earl Hamner's NFL notoriety: How Heidi irked Jets-Raiders fans

Earl Hamner was thrilled when he was hired to adapt Johanna Spyri's children's classic, Heidi, into a television movie. Little did he know its airing would become a date that would live forever in pro football infamy. That date is November 17, 1968 with 65 seconds left in a crucial game between bitter AFL rivals the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders.

read more
Earl's world: Almost like being in a real place

Normally the Hot Seat is an 800- or 900-word affair, affording a glimpse into the lives– and refrigerators– of local newsmakers. But when we asked raconteur Earl Hamner to sit on the Hot Seat, the answers he provided were too engaging to be chopped down to normal Hot Seat size. Thus was born the Extra Hot Seat– because, as Hamner himself would say, "Sometimes you ask the time, and you learn how a watch is made." ***

read more

The week in review

Worst local weather: A vicious thunderstorm and unconfirmed tornadotear through Central Virginia May 9, killing James R. Ward when a tree falls on his Buckingham County hom...

Arriverderci, mush: Al dente comes to town

Tired of overcooked pasta, menus dotted with misspellings (Dish's faves: proscuitto for prosciutto, focacca for focaccia, linguini for linguine), and a general lack of ima...

Cloning: You shouldn't live so long

Fresh off its proposed ban on all human cloning, President Bush's Council on Bioethics is now considering whether it is ethical to pursue biomedical research aimed at exten...

Foreclosure auctions

May 20, 2003, at 10:30am at the Albemarle County Courthouse Property: 11.266 acres on State Route 640 Debtor: Vincent and Kris C. Sweeney Originally owing: $85,000 Bidder ...

$old!

CHARLOTTESVILLE 4/18 Katherine L. Wells, Trustee, to Elisabeth U. McRae, 921 St. Charles Ave., $235,000. Tracy S. Weaver to Sarah M. Wood, 1008 Sheridan Ave., $148,...

Que sera? What will this house become?

ASKING: $185,000 SIZE: 1840 fin. sq. ft./150 unfin. YEAR BUILT: 1913 ADDRESS: 700 Graves Street NEIGHBORHOOD: Belmont CURB APPEAL: 5 out of a possible 10 LISTED BY: Roger V...

Black is back! Machine-made, but still awesome

For the 99 percent of you who are so stoked about The Matrix Reloaded that I couldn't keep you away with nuclear weapons, a two-word review will do: awesome, dude! Rather t...

Smooth delivery: Singing stories at Nature

Richard, Your Postmanat NatureFriday, May 9 As my friend Jack said last Friday night, standing in front of the new rock duo Richard, Your Postman, and surrounded by ...
Where are we? Drum 'n bass group takes us to London

Siameseat Orbit BilliardsWednesday, May 7 The year was 1995, and the rave scene in England and Germany was just beginning to reach its peak. Clubbing was at an all-t...

Chez Dowdell: House and contents under the gavel

The wet weather of Saturday, May 10, may have looked foreboding to some. But drizzle and rain were no impediments to the shoppers picking over the loot accumulated by discr...
David and Goliath: Moms-and-pops in boxville

T.J. Maxx, Pier 1, Circuit City. Drive 29 North, and these behemoth national chains catch the eye. But nestled among the Goliaths are the Davids small locally owned busines...
Frozen assets: Ice Park changes hands

Poor, poor ice park. First its parents, Colin Rolph and Lee Danielson, had a nasty and much publicized divorce. Now, just one year after Rolph won sole custody, the park wa...
No 'monster': But UVA garage razes houses

What if UVA built a parking garage and nobody cared? Compared to last year's outrage over the "1,200-car monster" now under construction at Ivy Road and Emmet Street, there...
Pavement pounding: Charlottesville Marathon proves a national draw

Russ Gill recently took to running a business literally. During the six months of planning for the event, Gill's Charlottesville Marathon quickly sole-d out. And by the tim...
Transit center: Location irks transportation advocates

Here's the traveler's ideal: Arrive in town on the train, walk out the door of the station and hop on a bus to your in-town destination. That's called intermodal, and it's ...

Heads up! Falling balls hazardous

Q. Would a baseball tossed off the top of a tall building be going faster than a pitched fastball by the time it hit the ground? Could somebody catch it? B. Robinson &nb...

Stone man: Toru Oba rocks

Toru Oba's fingers are short and thick. At each fingertip there's a wide, square fingernail, and at the joint just above where thumb meets wrist, a round callous like a qua...

Master plan: Anderson quits UVA before he gets old

The plywood walls of construction sites have sprouted widely across University terrain of late, and in 10 years graduates will return to find their hallowed grounds a place...

Lane's honor attack lame

I was appalled when reading [part of The Hook's May 8 cover story] "Copycat? Another UVA Prof Endured Scandal."(http://readthehook.com/93432/cover-copycat-another-uva-p...

Eclipse! Moon around Thursday night

One weekend when I was a teenager, a group of friends and I lit out of town for the family cottage in the country. The sun had long set by the time we rolled up the dirt ro...
Fading: Orr's work mirrors Eurydice's fate

Clearly, the Orrs have cornered the market on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Poet Gregory Orr has retold the entire story in short poems that he subsequently published as O...
Fun for funds: Live Arts hosts musical fete

If you’ve ever been to a musical play in Charlottesville, you have probably seen local star Doug Schneider. He has performed on every stage in town. From appearing in Fou...
Monroe's merlot? Ash-Lawn hosts wine festival

Raise your glasses. It’s time to toast President James Monroe, winemaker. Does that sound funny? That’s because, despite his efforts, Monroe was much more skilled at go...
Ride it out: Stick with White Buffalo

The trick to reading Peter Skinner’s debut novel, White Buffalo, is not to put it down. This is a book with a powerful pulse and a disdain for traditional storytelling. O...
Still got "it": Crenshaw's 20-year itch

If you are like me, you have had more late night conversations revolving around the statement “Generally speaking, meaningful pop musicians just lose it after a few years...