08 Exhibitions at White Canvas, Quirk, & Eric Schindler galleries

16 J. Pocklington

22 Richmond Had A Little Lamb...

28 Souvenir’s Young America

33 Duchess Of York

36 Then And Now

39 The Concice Vehicle

42 Microjoy Positive Force Separation Rise Of Kings Tickley Feather/Bermuda Triangles - Split 7”

43 Mattew Sharpe’s Jamestown

44 Mix Tape: The Breakup Mix

46 Southern Whirlwind Tour

52 Welcome To VCU: The Real Rules for School

54 Capoeira Resistencia

60 Free Palestine NOW!

68 Compare and Contrast: Arts and the City

70 Cutting Weight part 2 of 4

74 Rumor’s Fall Fashion Cheat Sheet

76 Deepwood Sportsman Fresh Scent

80 Letters To Lazio

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SUBSCRIPTION Go online to 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 publisher is

strictly prohibited. RVA Magazine is published monthly.

Images are subject to being altered from their original

format. All material within this magazine is protected.

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

THANK YOU.

RVA VOL .3 ISSUE 6 Th ink B ig, Wa lk Ta l lcover image by Ian Graham

R. Anthony Harrispublishersenior designerwebsite mgt.

Parkermanaging editor creative director

Adam Sleddmanagersenior writer

Christian Detresadvertisingfashion

Jeff Smackdesignerillustratorwebsite designer

Ryan SchellScott Whitenercopy editors

PHOTOSThomas H.

ConnorScott Elmquist

Chris SmithChris Lacroix

David KenedyMichelle Dosson

Grant PullmanIan M. Graham

ILLUSTRATIONAdam Juresko

Jeff Smack

WRITERSJames Wayland

J. PocklingtonChristian Detres

Lauren VincelliPauline Dean

M.D. StoneDavid McRae

Casey LongyearKen Howard

Erin StaticPaul Lazio

Sean Patrick RhorerParker

Adam SleddR. Anthony Harris

AD TEAM Christian DetresDoug SpoonerJeff SmackIan M. GrahamKim FrostAnt INTERNSMatt Ramsey

corrections : The article on artist Kevin Orlosky in the last issue of RVA was written by a tired and hung over Parker.

THE WHITE CANVAS

GALLERY

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THEOPEN HOUSE RECEPTION

SATURDAY, Sept 15th5:30 pm- 8:00 pm

“Iced Tea and Memories”Mixed media paintings from

Virginia Folk Artist William H. Clark

depicting the companionship often shared around the very Southern drink iced tea, and the joyful glimpses into the community and characters

within his life.

September 15, 2007 –

October 17, 2007

White Canvas Gallery is located next to La Diff

in the Historic Shockoe Slip District111 South 14th StreetRichmond, VA 23219

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday

10:00 AM – 6:00 PMSunday

12:00 PM – 5:00 PMFirst Friday hours

10:00 AM- 8:00 PM

For info visit www.whitecanvasgallery.com

804.782.1776

08

Quirk Gallery | September 7 - October 21

Co-curated by Rober t Meganck & Sterling Hundley

Curatorial Assistant: Beth Demmon

Since opening in September 2005, the focus of Quirk

Gallery, located on the historic Broad Street corridor,

has been to live up to its name by filling a niche in the

Richmond ar t scene with quirky, fresh and innovative ar t.

Never bowing to convention, the bar has been raised

with each show, constantly redefining the labels of what

is considered ar t. Tables to Walls is no exception.

Co-curators Rober t Meganck and Sterling Hundley

remark, “Tables to Walls challenges the notion that

TA B L E S T O W A L L S

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J oe Mo r se “Hoodoo & Cake”

11

T i f enn Py t hon “La Grenoui l le de New Or leans”

12

impor tant ar twork is only created for the gallery wall. This show will take the work of nine

ar tists from the pages on your tables to the walls of Quirk Gallery. In a new context, the

ar twork of these highly influential ar tists is allowed the luxury of space. You need only supply

the time.”

Illustrations surround us in our everyday lives. From billboards we see on our way to work,

to books we read to our children, to the labels on the soft drinks we buy, to the pages of the

dog-eared magazines resting on our coffee tables. They speak directly without using words,

executed to perfection for the satisfaction of a client. We take the spate of images we see

for granted.

The idea of lassoing creativity for commercial use is repugnant to some ar tists, but the idea

is cer tainly not a new one. Would any ar t historian criticize Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel,

commissioned by the Pope? Would anyone consider Norman Rockwell a less capable ar tist

because of his many Saturday Evening Post covers? Should we take less time to thoughtfully

consider illustrations due to their intended location? Absolutely not. Regardless of purpose,

any ar tistic endeavor retains a par t of the creator. Illustrators, painters, sculptors, designers

– ar tists from every field – can attest to the surge of parental pride when a work of ar t is

completed.

Many of the illustrators featured in Tables to Walls have been awarded the highest honors

in their field. Clients include Coca-Cola, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Time, Newsweek,

NFL, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, New York Times, Sony Music, Nike, Universal Pictures,

Enter tainment Weekly, ESPN, Scholastic, Black Book Magazine, Nylon, Washington Post, and

Elektra Records to name just a few. Several have received gold medals from the Society of

Illustrators, one of the oldest and most distinguished groups promoting illustration today.

Tables to Walls unites these remarkable ar tists in a way that transcends the gap between

commercial and fine ar t, and offers the chance to experience these works of ar t in a completely

new setting.

Exhibiting ar tists include John Foster, Gary Kelley, Anita Kunz, Patricia Mar tin-Nelson, Joe Morse, Tim

O’Brien, Rober to Parada, Tifenn Python, and Greg Swearingen.

Quirk Gallery is located at 311 W. Broad Street and hours of operation are Monday-Friday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.,

and Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Please check our website at www.quirkgallery.com for information about this

exhibition and other upcoming exhibitions.

J ohn Fos t e r “Hurr icane”

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CARNIVALOF5FIRES

J am ie Poc k l i ng ton Wha t ’ s up w i th the “ J ”? Why no t use your name , “ Jam ie”?

J. Poc k l i ng ton Peop le tend to th ink I ’m a woman . T he f i r s t day o f h igh schoo l my name go t ca l l ed i n the g i r l s ’ r o l l ca l l . T h i s happened in f r on t o f fou r c l asses o f k ids . Eve r yone l aughed a t me .

Jam ie Wher e do you ge t the peop le you use as sub jec t s i n your wor k?

B i za r r o J I t r o l l t he I n te r ne t fo r open pho to a lbums o f peop le I don’ t t h ink wou ld e ve r see my wor k . Ask ing fo r pe r m iss ion wou ld be a pa in ; so wou ld ge t t i ng sued .

Jam ie Wha t do you th ink o f t he a r t s cene i n R i c hmond?

B iza r r o J Peop le shou ld c hec k ou t the E r i c Sch ind le r Ga l l e r y i f t hey haven’ t , espec ia l l y i f t hey a r e i n te r es ted i n ac tua l l y pur chas ing g r ea t ( ye t a f fo r dab le ) a r t . Ga l l e r y5 , ADA , and P lan t Ze ro have b r ough t a l o t o f l i f e to the scene . 1708 has never heard o f me .

Jam ie : Any th ing com ing up a f te r your Sch ind le r show?

B iza r r o J Yes , t hanks fo r ask ing. Ten ta t i ve ly a g r oup show in Mar ch a t the Long V ie w Ga l l e r y i n D.C . T he show w i l l be compr i sed o f fou r V i r g in i a a r t i s t s who wer e f ea tu r ed i n the mos t r ecen t M id -A t l an t i c ed i t i on o f Ne w Amer i can Pa in t i ngs. I have ano ther so lo show a t the E r i c Sch ind le r Ga l l e r y i n l a te 2008 o r ea r ly 2009 . I m igh t go bac k to schoo l fo r my MFA (Mas te r o f F ine A r t )… i f someone wan ts me .

Jam ie You ’ r e the wor s t i n te r v i e w e ve r.

B i za r r o J T hanks !

Go c hec k ou t J am ie…er…J.Poc k l i ng ton’ s show

PA INT INGS AND DRAWINGS OF PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW AND A SELF-PORTRA IT THAT ’S NOT EVEN ME Sep tember 14 - Oc tober 9 , 2007 - E r i c Sch ind le r Ga l l e r y - 2305 Eas t B road S t . - R i c hmond , VA 23223 - p / / (804) 644-5005 - www.e r i c sch ind le r ga l l e r y. com

J. Pocklington Interviews Himself. . . a n d G e t s B o r e d Q u i c k ly .

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18

17

Richmond Had a Little Lamb...

– Its Soul Was Black As …Kinda...by Christian Detresimages by Chris Lacroix

– Its Soul Was Black As …Kinda...by Christian Detresimages by Chris Lacroix

ins ide Toad’s Place, Richmond, VA

Lamb Of God

F o r t h o s e o f u s t h a t a r e n o t p l a t i n u m r e c o r d - s e l l i n g “ r o c k s t a r s ” , l i f e i n o u r l i t t l e c i t y

i s c o m f y - n o t q u i t e l a z y b u t f a r f r o m “ s p a r k l i n g ” . ( K o r e a o w n s t h a t h e a d s c r a t c h - w o r t h y

m o n i k e r ) F o r t h e h a n d f u l o f t h o s e t h a t a r e “ r o c k s t a r s ” , R i c h m o n d o f f e r s a l a n d o f p o l i t e

a n o n y m i t y. B e i n g r e c o g n i z e d i n R i c h m o n d m a y g e t y o u a n a p p r e c i a t i v e n o d f r o m t h e a d j a -

c e n t t a b l e o f b i k e m e s s e n g e r s a n d a c o m p l i m e n t a r y J a m e s o n ’ s a t E m p i r e , b u t r a r e l y s p e w s

t h e v e r b a l j i z z o f s t a r - s t r u c k ‘ b u r g s t o o c o o l f o r R i c h m o n d ’ s w a r p e d p a v e m e n t a n d q u a i n t ,

h o m o g e n o u s o v e r c u l t u r e .

I t ’ s n o w o n d e r t h a t L a m b o f G o d , u p o n r e t u r n i n g h o m e f r o m e x t e n s i v e t o u r i n g a n d h e a d l i n -

i n g t h e p r e m i e r m e t a l f e s t o f o u r t i m e , O z z f e s t , w o u l d e x t o l t h e v i r t u e s o f h o m e s o v o c i f -

e r o u s l y f r o m o u r n e w p u l p i t o f r o c k , To a d ’ s P l a c e . L i k e y o u r b e l o v e d f i r s t b o r n r e t u r n i n g

h o m e a d e c o r a t e d w a r v e t e r a n , L a m b o f G o d d e s c e n d e d u p o n R i c h m o n d w i t h t h e w i c k e d f u r y

t h a t h a s b e c o m e t h e i r c a l l i n g c a r d . R a n d y B l y t h e s c r e a m e d l i k e a m a n o n t h e w a y t o t h e

g a l l o w s , o r r a t h e r, a t o u r - w e a r y s i n g e r t h a t k n o w s h e ’ s g o i n g o n a n e x t e n d e d v a c a t i o n t o -

m o r r o w. T h e a b a n d o n w i t h w h i c h t h e b a n d c h e w e d t h e s c e n e w a s d a m n - n e a r f r i g h t e n i n g .

I ’ m g o i n g t o a s s u m e n o o n e i n t e r e s t e d i n r e a d i n g t h i s a r t i c l e n e e d s a p r i m e r o n R i c h -

m o n d ’ s f a v o r i t e m u s i c a l s o n s . A s m y f i r s t i n c l i n a t i o n s a r e u s u a l l y w r o n g , h o w e v e r, I ’ l l t r y

23

t o s u m i t u p q u i c k l y. L a m b o f G o d w a s B u r n t h e

P r i e s t w h i l e a n d a f t e r a t t e n d i n g V C U , s h u f f l e d

s o m e b a n d m e m b e r s a r o u n d , w e n t t o a l o t o f

s h o w s a n d m a r v e l e d a t t h e t e c h n i c a l b a t t l e m a s -

t e r s S l i a n g L a o s a n d B r e a d w i n n e r. T h e y d e c i d e d

t h a t t o k e e p u p m e a n t t o b e c o m e t h e b e s t a n d

w o r k e d t h e i r w a y t o t h a t g o a l . H a v i n g d o n e s o ,

t h e y ’ v e e s c h e w e d t h e P a l m - l i n e d b o u l e v a r d s o f

L A a n d r e m a i n e d t r u e t o y o u R i c h m o n d . I l o v e

t h a t s t o r y.

B a c k t o t h e s h o w. S e p t e m b e r 2 n d w a s t h e c o d a t o

O z z f e s t w i t h i n v i t e e s 3 I n c h e s o f B l o o d , A l a b a m a

T h u n d e r p u s s y a n d H a t e b r e e d p l a y i n g s u p p o r t . 3

I n c h e s o f B l o o d c h a n n e l e d M a n o w a r a n d t h e e p i c

f a l s e t t o s c r e e c h e s r e m i n i s c e n t o f R e a g a n - e r a

m e t a l o p e r a t i c s . A l a b a m a T h u n d e r p u s s y m a d e y o u

w i s h y o u w e r e d r i v i n g a P o n t i a c F i r e b i r d t h r o u g h 3 Inches Of Blood

24

k u d z u , h e a d b a n g i n g a l l t h e w a y. H a t e b r e e d w a s

m y f a v o r i t e o f t h e o p e n i n g a c t s w i t h a f i e r c e

b a t t l e c r y a m p e d b y a s t a g e p e r f o r m a n c e e q u a l

t o t h e h e a d l i n e r. R a n d y m a d e a g u e s t a p p e a r -

a n c e d u r i n g t h e i r s e t a n d t o g e t h e r t h e y i g n i t e d

R i c h m o n d ’ s g e l i g n i t e .

M u c h o f L a m b o f G o d s ’ ‘ t w e e n - s o n g b a n t e r

w e r e s h o u t o u t s t o h o m e , h o m i e s a n d w i v e s .

T h e s n i p p e t s o f h u m b l e s w e e t n e s s s a n d w i c h e d

i n s o n g s o f r a g e a n d d i s t o r t i o n m a d e m e p r o u d

t o b e i n a t o w n t h a t b i r t h s s u c h a n a p p r e c i a -

t i v e c l a s s o f h e r o . I n m a n y w a y s , I f e l t a s i f

R i c h m o n d w e r e p u t t i n g o n a s h o w f o r t h e m -

s c r e a m i n g , d a n c i n g , a n d w e l c o m i n g h o m e o u r

A m b a s s a d o r s o f H o w l i n g P e r f e c t i o n .

Hatebreed

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THE OCEAN LOST ITS WAYSOUVENIR’S YOUNG AMERICAby M.D. Stone

S t an l ey K ub r i c k once sa i d , “ T he t e s t o f a wo r k o f a r t i s , i n t he end , ou r a f -f e c t i on fo r i t , no t ou r a b i l i t y t o exp l a i n w hy i t i s good . ”

T h i s i s com fo r t i ng t o me . Fo r s t a r t e r s , i t a l l ows an e s ca pe f r om t he u sua l l y i n e f f e c t i v e t a s k o f des c r i b i ng a band ’ s sound . I ’ v e ne ve r been an adhe r en t t o t he some w ha t s i l l y, nea r l y un -a t t r i bu t a b l e max im t ha t “Wr i t i ng a bou t mu -s i c i s l i k e danc i ng a bou t a r c h i t e c t u r e ” ( a t d i f f e r en t t imes c r ed i t ed t o E l v i s Cos t e l l o , Fr ank Za ppa , Lau r i e Ande r son and , some w ha t i n cong r uous l y, Ma r t i n Mu l l ) - w r i t i ng a bou t mus i c c an be bo l d , r e ve l a t o r y, c aus t i c and ex c i t i ng , and

art

wo

rk c

ou

rte

sy

of

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tos

by

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de

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t he w r i t e r has v e r y nea r l y c hea pened t he i r en j oymen t o f t he sub j e c t i n a v a i n a t t emp t t o cod i f y t ha t v e r y t h i ng .

So i t ’ s no t w i t h any g r ea t de l i gh t t ha t I t r y t o exp l a i n t o you w ha t makes Souven i r ’ s Young Ame r i c a suc h a compe l l i ng band . T he band d r aws i n sp i r a t i on f r om a v a r i e t y o f sounds and s t y l e s - f r om B l a c k Sa b ba th t o A u t e c h r e t o (guess i ng he r e ) p r oba b l y some Leo Ko t t k e /K i l l i n g Jo ke co l l a bo r a t i on t ha t no one e ve r ima g i ned e ven ex i s t ed - t hough t hey have ended up sound i ng l i k e none o f t hese . T he band ’ s mus i c t hus f a r has been en t i r e l y i n s t r umen ta l - a t r i c k y b i t o f (mos t l y ) gen r e m i s s - a l i gnmen t t ha t o f t en l e ads t ow a r d compa r i sons o r r e f e r ences t o bands w i t h w hom t hey o f t en ho l d l i t t l e t o no t h i ng i n common .

Jona than Lee ( keyboa r ds & e l e c t r on i c s ) “ I ha t e w hen peop l e a s k me w ha t my band sounds l i k e a f t e r t hey f i nd ou t I ’m i n one . I t ’ s so ha r d t o ans we r. I j u s t t e l l t hem t o l i s t en t o i t . T ha t i t ’ s i n s t r umen ta l . I don’ t k now. We ’ ve go t t en some p r e t t y c r a z y compa r i sons ove r t he yea r s . A f e w o f my f a vo r i t e s? A u t e c h r e and S l ee p do i ng Tom Wa i t s songs . Ea r t h mee t s Can . A heav y me ta l L a b r ad fo r d . Dese r t r o c k . Space me ta l . I h a ve no i dea i f a ny o f t ha t he l p s o r f i t s . I c ou l dn’ t make up ha l f t he t h i ngs I r ead . ”

So, i f we a c ce p t K ub r i c k ’ s s t a t emen t ( t he K ub r i c k r ub r i c ? ) , i t i s n’ t enough fo r me t o t e l l you t ha t Souven i r ’ s Young Ame r i c a a r e good because o f t he i r un i que cons t i t u t i on o f i n f l u ences and ima g i na t i on . I t i s n’ t enough fo r me t o t e l l you t ha t Souven i r ’ s Young Ame r i c a has a gu i t a r sound t ha t ’ s a l t e r na t e l y c r u sh i ng and ca lm i ng , t ha t t he d r ums a r e t r i b a l and t r ance i nduc i ng , t ha t t hey u se t he i r e l e c t r on i c s and keyboa r ds some t imes w i t h sub t l e t y and some t imes w i t h s t unn i ng s t r eng th , t ha t t he r e a r e cons t an t l y l aye r s and l aye r s o f sound .

G r aham Sca l a ( d r ums & gu i t a r ) “ I t h i n k a p r ob l em w i t h a l o t o f bands we ge t l umped i n w i t h i s t ha t t he i r s cope o f i n f l u ences doesn’ t ex t end muc h f u r t he r bac k i n t ime t han Mo gw a i o r I s i s . T he r e ’ s no t h i ng w r ong w i t h be i ng i n t o cu r r en t bands l i k e t ha t , bu t t he r e i s so muc h mo r e mus i c ou t t he r e . ”

27

as a r eade r, i t ’ s c e r t a i n l y t he t op i c I ’ v e i nges t ed mo r e wo r ds on t han any o t he r, f o r good o r f o r i l l . Bu t ex ce p t f o r w hen i n t he hands o f t he v e r y t a l en t ed and t he ve r y g i f t ed ( r ead : no t t h i s w r i t e r ) , t he t a s k o f des c r i b -i ng w ha t makes a band good o r un i que - i ndeed , w ha t a band sounds l i k e - i s an unenv i a b l e one , bo r de r i ng on t he imposs i b l e , and ce r t a i n l y t hank l e s s . Mo r e o f t en t han no t , t he r eade r i s con f u sed , t he a r t i s t o r band i n ques t i on d i s a g r ees a t bes t , i s i n su l t ed a t wo r s t , w h i l e

None o f t h i s i s enough . A l l I c an t e l l you i s t ha t my a f f e c t i on fo r t he mus i c con t a i ned on t he band ’ s r e -cen t l y r e l ea sed se cond f u l l - l e ng th a l bum , An Ocean W i t hou t Wa t e r on C r u c i a l B l a s t , i s qu i t e nea r l y bound -l e s s . And shou l d you f i nd you r se l f w i t h a pa i r o f headphones and t he a b i l i t y t o s e t a s i de a bou t 42 m in -u t e s fo r l i s t en i ng , c r o s s i ng t h r ough An Ocean W i t hou t Wa t e r shou l d have you sha r i ng i n t ha t a f f e c t i on .

I t ’ s a l so some w ha t f i t t i ng t o be g i n a p i e ce a bou t Souven i r ’ s Young Ame r -i c a by i nvok i ng t he name o f K ub r i c k . T he i r de bu t a l bum seemed t o be i n -de b t ed t o some de g r ee t o exp l o r i ng t he same space t e c hno l o g y, human e vo l u t i on g a l a x i e s o f 2001 : A Space Odyssey , w i t h song t i t l e s l i k e “ Le t -t e r s f r om t he Ea r t h ” and “Sa g an’ s Equa t i on . ”

Ken R ayhe r ( gu i t a r ) “Some t imes t he songs on t he f i r s t r e co r d we r e w r i t -t en w i t h t he sou r ce i n m i nd . ‘ T h i r -t een fo r Cen t au r us , ’ w h i c h i s a sho r t

s t o r y by J . G . Ba l l a r d , i s an examp l e . I ’ d j u s t f i n i s hed r ead i ng a co l l e c -t i on o f Ba l l a r d ’ s s t o r i e s be fo r e we d i d ‘ T h i r t een fo r Cen t au r us , ’ and a l o t o f t he v e r y su r r ea l p s yc ho l o g i -c a l and t e c hno l o g i c a l t hemes t ha t a r e p r e sen t i n h i s wo r k we r e on my m ind w h i l e w r i t i ng t ha t song. ”

Bu t i n t he same w ay t ha t K ub r i c k w as a b l e t o t a ke h i s own pe r sona l a r t i s t i c v i s i ons and a pp l y t hem t o w i l d l y d i f f e r en t s cena r i o s ( 2001 : A Space Odyssey v e r sus Ba r r y Lyn -don , f o r examp l e ) , An Ocean W i t h -ou t Wa t e r s ees Souven i r ’ s Young Ame r i c a r e t u r n i ng t o t e r r a f i r ma ; i f no t Ea r t h , t hen some o t he r so l i d g r ound .

And speak i ng o f so l i d , t he t heo r y o f An Ocean W i t hou t Wa t e r be i ng a r e t u r n t o t he Ea r t h seems some -t h i ng l e s s t han s t u r dy w hen one no t i c e s t ha t t he l e ad t r a c k on t he a l bum i s en t i t l e d “Ma r s A s cendan t ” and t he l e ad t r a c k on t he v i ny l B -S i de i s “ T he She l t e r i ng S k y. ” Bu t t he sound i s somehow mo r e so l i d

t han i t ha s been i n t he pas t . T he open i ng song o f f e r s c l e a r g l imps -es o f nea r l y a l l o f t he many wea p -ons emp loyed by Souven i r ’ s Young Ame r i c a t h r oughou t t he a l bum : t he d r ums ; gu i t a r s and e l e c t r on -i c s , bo t h moody and e p i c , mass i v e and pass i v e ; and pe rha ps t he mos t su r p r i s i ng supp l emen t , t he i n i t i a l i n t r oduc t i on o f Noah Sav a l ’ s ha r -mon i c a , w h i c h i s hea r d on se v -e r a l t r a c k s i n c l ud i ng t he menac -i ng show down “ I nvoca t i on I n T he Ca l de r a , ” a r e i nven t ed ve r s i on o f t he Mo r r i c one -esque song on t he i r Se p t embe r Songs EP w h i c h w as a l so Sav a l ’ s de bu t con t r i bu t i on t o t he band .

Wa i t - ha r mon i c a? I t hough t t h i s w as space r o c k a bou t r i d i ng a r ound on s i l v e r mac h i nes and se t t i ng t he con t r o l s f o r t he hea r t o f t he sun? And s i n ce w hen does t ha t i n c l ude i n t e r p r e t a t i ons o f “B l i nd” W i l -l i e Johnson songs? He r e we f i nd “Da r k Was t he N i gh t , Co l d Was t he G r ound , ” a song t ha t w as i n c l uded

28

29

on t he “go l den r e co r d” sen t i n t o space v i a t he Voya ge r spacec r a f t i n 1977 , s e l e c t ed t o commun i ca t e some essen t i a l t r u t h a bou t l i f e on ea r t h , sound i ng a s i t ne ve r has be fo r e . I t ’ s t he pe r f e c t , and pe r f e c t l y s ub t l e , h i gh l i gh t o f t he a l bum ’ s exam ina t i on o f t he exp l o r a t i on o f bo t h i nne r and ou t e r space : b r oken , r e cons t r u c t ed , r e cons i de r ed and r e -ma r ka b l e . T hen t he r e i s “ Co r a g yps A t r a t u s (Ego Te Abso l vo ) ” a f u l l on e l e c t r on i c j ou r ney t ha t bub b l e s i n t o d r on i ng p s yc hos i s t hen exp l odes i n t o haun t i ng sounds f i t t i ng fo r any Dav i d Lync h f i lm .

G r aham Sca l a “ T he i dea w as t o con f l a t e t he e so t e r i c and t he mundane . On one hand t he r e i s a pas t i c he o f a l l s o r t s o f mys t i c /Gnos t i c ima ge r y and on t he o t he r, t ha t ima ge r y i s p l a ced i n t o t he con t ex t o f a dese r t w i l d e r ness . T he a r t ex i s t s i n a space w he r e t he ce r e b r a l mee t s t he v i s ce r a l and I t h i n k t ha t ’ s p r e t t y muc h w ha t we t r y t o do w i t h a l l a s -pec t s o f t h i s band . ”

S t i l l , d e sp i t e t he ba r r en w as t e l and v i be , t he r e ’ s some th i ng t ha t f e e l s v e r y mode r n a bou t An Ocean W i t hou t Wa t e r , s ome th i ng ve r y cu r r en t . T he r e i s a momen t on t he song “B l ood A l one Does No t a Fa t he r Make , ” a t j u s t o ve r ha l f w ay t h r ough , j u s t w hen t he d r ums have bu i l t up some s t eam , j u s t w hen t he gu i t a r be g i n s an a lmos t hypno t i c and hum-a b l e l i n e , and j u s t be fo r e i t a l l bu r s t s i n t o a con t r o l l ed c l oudbu r s t o f son i c s t ha t j u s t c r u shes me . To me , i t s ounds exa c t l y l i k e t he mode r n wo r l d , l i k e t he buzz i ng conven i ences and annoyances o f be i ng cons t an t l y w i r ed fo r commun i ca t i on , p l odd i ng fo rw a r d t ow a r d some unce r t a i n f u -t u r e , hop i ng we can s t op mop i ng a bou t , ye t an x i ous l y eye i ng t he a p -p r oac h i ng s t o r m ove r ou r shou l de r s .

T ha t ’ s my i n t e r p r e t a t i on . He r e ’ s ano the r :Jona t han Lee “T ha t t i t l e comes f r om my own expe r i ence be i ng a f a t he r. Mo r e spec i f i c a l l y i t add r esses my f ee l i ngs a bou t be i ng a s t e p f a t he r. Some t imes you f ee l some w ha t ‘ l e s s t han’ i n mos t peop l e ’ s eyes i n c l ud -i ng you r c h i l d . T hen t hey su r p r i s e you w i t h r e w a r ds you d i dn’ t expec t . And you su r p r i s e you r se l f w i t h w ha t you pu t i n t o f a t he rhood . E ve r yday i s f u l l o f p r om i se , con f l i c t , emo t i ons , and se l f - d i s cove r y. I t f i t s t he t hemes o f t h i s r e co r d pe r f e c t l y. ”

S t an l ey K ub r i c k once sa i d , “Reac t i ons t o a r t a r e a lw ays d i f f e r en t be -cause t hey a r e a lw ays dee p l y pe r sona l . ”

Jona than Lee “Wha t i n s t r umen ta l mus i c c an do i s exp r es s f ee l i ngs o r des c r i be s i t ua t i ons w he r e wo r ds f a i l . And because t he r e a r e no wo r ds t o l e ad t he l i s t ene r, ea c h i nd i v i dua l c an have t he i r own i deas , v i s i ons , o r expe r i ences w i t h ea c h song. ”

Ken R ayhe r “ I ’ d l i k e t o be a b l e t o con t i nue push i ng t h i s band a s f a r a s i t c an go a r t i s t i c a l l y, and I r ea l l y don’ t s ee any l im i t s t o t ha t . ”

An Ocean W i t hou t Wa t e r i s ou t now on C r u c i a l B l a s t Reco r ds on bo th CD and LP.

Cop i e s c an be found l o ca l l y a t P l an 9 Reco r ds o r wo r l d w i de i n f i n e r e co r d s t o r e s

e ve r yw he r e .

www. s ya r v a . com

www.myspace . com/souven i r s young amer i c a

www. c r u c i a l b l a s t . ne t

Speaking in Rebellious Tongues – Duchess of YorkWritten by Christian Detres and Whiskey image by Scott Elmquist

A clapboard, whitewashed church in the dead of August hosts a sea of sweaty brows behind hand-held fans waving in rhythm to the stentorious bellow from the pulpit. The swelling pressure builds in pews that creak with anticipation. Zeus-like, the pastor hurls down proclamations of Apocalypse. He is the way, right your wrongs, rise from your seats and shout your “AMEN!” This is your power, this is your sanctuary, release to it, give in to the lust of the moment’s sound and fury. Testify! Dance, rejoice – your Saviour has taken notice of you! Sawdust from the rafters as the room erupts in rapture - it is aglow with the spirit. Arms are raised, voices go hoarse and another week of poverty, oppression and injustice are steeled against. Sunday to Sunday, this moment will raise any chin facing all indignity.

Mixed with Appalachian bluegrass, the gospel according to Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, and Sam and Dave ignited the passion in Elvis’ rubber hips, Jagger’s devil lips and Chuck Berry’s killer licks. The lustful rite of adolescence that would claim that spirit drowned what remained of the righteous call to redemption. Faith immaculately conceived Action. Expectation of paradise spawned its mockery of jubilant hedonism. This is the clay and iron foundation for the gorgeously leering idol of Rock and Roll.

Is all this preamble fitting of a CD review of Richmond’s Duchess of York? By way of making a point – yes. Sometimes we forget what it is about Rock and Roll (and I don’t mean indie, shoe-gaze, electroclash or whatever new buzzword flits about to invoke thinking man’s pop) that still brings us to our feet. Duchess of York has its roots deep in the Delta, wrapped tight around the Rock of Ages and deep in the Mississippi mud. The family was raised by conscientious Pentecos-tal parents, and, like Rock and Roll itself, decided the now was more exciting than the promised future and set its sights on celebrating life, in all it’s filthy lubricious glory.

This is the lesson inherent in Duchess of York’s new release Era in Static. I could dwell on the York family’s perfect hair, sharp dress and sell the soul to Ol’ Scratch good looks but that would just be the jam on the bread. Yes, they command attention on stage – Jerry Lee Lewis would agree to the necessity of theatricality. They display showmanship beyond most national acts, but heart and soul is the calling card to this young band’s imminent rise.

Fronted by the seventeen-year-old Michael and supported by brothers Austin, Constantine and Beck, Duchess of York is an answer to the masses of Richmond acts pulling from a shallower well. They drop sonic references to newer outfits like the White Stripes and the Strokes but seem to transcend the connection reaching back fur ther to Robert Johnson and the Rolling Stones. Refreshing like a front porch glass of iced tea, the new EP is rife with unforgettable hooks, creative changes, Beatle-esque vocal melodies and a sticky thumping backbeat. Michael’s guitar work is one A&R rep away from stardom and bewilders at the depth of emotion dripping from its steel strings.

In a city storied for its punk and metal gauntlets, Duchess of York adds the breastplate of righ-teousness in its anachronistic expression of gospel, blues and rock and roll. There’s an authority in its unnaturally wise voice that reaches to the cheap seats better than most of the howling screams heard on your myriad Loud Rock records this year.

Glowing review, yes. One need not wait to hear what they’re going to do next in the face of this damn-near perfect release, but holy hell, I’d put money on a major label debut by 2009. Here’s hoping they still take my calls then.

For more information on Duchess of York go to www.myspace.com/doymusic and come check them out live at RVA’s Fist City Fury Festival (www.rvamag.com/fistcityfury).

31

FUN SIZEDa tes : 1991 - 1998 DEF IN IT IVE RELEASE : G lad To See You ’ r e No t Dead

CD [1998 , Fue led By Ramen]

IMPORTANCE : A t a t ime when harder punk seemed

to be on the dec l i ne i n popu la r i t y, bands l i ke Fun

S i ze he lped b r idge the gap be tween the louder aes -

the t i c and mor e poppy, hook d r i ven mus i c . T h r ough

tour ing and u l t ima te ly wor k ing w i th Fue led By Ra-

men (a l abe l r un by a member o f Less T han Jake

and now known as the home o f Fa l l Ou t Boy, Gym

C lass Heroes , and L i f e t ime) , Fun S i ze ga ined a f an

base a l l a long the Eas t Coas t and beyond .

LAST ING IMPRESS ION : No t on ly d id they he lp l ay the g r oundwor k fo r Fue led

By Ramen to become a s t r ong fo r ce i n pop-punk , bu t they a l so l e f t a s t r ong

impac t on R i c hmond . As one o f t he ea r l i es t memor ab le examp les o f t he i r

s t y l e , Fun S i ze canno t be eas i l y i gnor ed when ch ron i c l i ng the c i t y ’ s under -

g r ound mus i ca l h i s to r y.

WHERE D ID THEY GO? S ince the i r dem ise i n December 1998 , the member s o f

Fun S i ze have gone on to such bands as T he Med ium, T he Easy Cha i r s , One

Day For e ve r, K i l l T he Camer a , and mos t no tab ly R i ve r C i t y H igh . Wh i l e a l l a r e

s t i l l p l ay ing mus i c , bass i s t O r i ce i s r umor ed to be cons ide r ing sh i f t i ng h i s

a t ten t ion to cu l i na r y schoo l .

by Sean Patrick Rhorer

T H E N+

N O W34

PINK RAZORSDates : 2004 - p r esen tNo tab le Re lease : Wa i t i ng To Wash Up (2006 , Robo t i c Emp i r e )

IMPORTANCE : P ink Razor s have been ac t i ve ly add ing an -

o the r c hap te r to the pop-punk h i s to r y o f R i c hmond fo r the

pas t th r ee year s . Be tween tour ing a longs ide Av a i l and

p lay ing Ha l l oween shows en t i r e ly o f Sc r eech ing Wease l s

cove r s , t hese guys do a g r ea t j ob o f p lay ing good mus i c

w i thou t t ak ing themse l ves too se r ious ly.

RELATED BANDS : P r io r to fo r mer ing P ink Razor s , member s

p layed i n such loca l f avo r i t es as Landmar k and S top I t !

E r i n Tobey, who r ecen t l y j o ined the band to f i l l a gu i t a r i s t

v acanc y, has fo r mer ly p layed i n Abe For eman and s t i l l pe r -

fo r ms so lo.

WHAT ARE THEY UP TO NOW? Fo l l ow ing the i r r ecen t appear -

ance a t Bes t Fr i ends Day, the band ’s nex t show w i l l be open -

ing fo r l oca l pop-punk l egends Ac t ion Pa t r o l a t t he i r r eun ion

show in December.

image by M i c he l l e Dosson

35

T H E C O N C I C E V E H I C L E Cons t r uc ted by Pau l i ne Dean image by I an G r aham

a number of year s and a long the way have wor ked wi th var ious promoter s and per for mer s. The van prov ides me wi th a str ucture to take what I ’ ve done on my own and expand on i t . Through the events and venues I ’ ve per sonal ly wor ked wi th over the year s, l ike In the Mix , Nanc i Raygun, A l ley K atz, Ga l ler y 5, p lus the var iety of groups I ’ ve been for tunate to wor k wi th, D iv ine Prof i tz , Backmain, VA S l im, Mid At lant ic K ingz, Grown Folks - we’ ve created a tr ue in fr astr ucture of h ip-hop ar t is ts, venues, promoter s, etc . I t on ly makes sense for us to come together. That ’s Conc ice.

PD Isaac , you’ ve been wor k ing on the Swordplay pro ject w i th in the Conc ice vehic le s ince Geof f ye l led a l l aboard. Where has the r ide taken you so far?

Isaac Ramsey I met Geof f when he d idn’ t have a record label and Swordplay d idn’ t have a record, so we f ixed that and have been bui ld ing f rom there. We both want to get R ichmond on the map for r ap. Hopefu l ly, a l l I have to do is wr i te some new songs. Conc ice is growing and the coolest par t of i t for me is co l laborat ing and rock ing shows wi th the new ar t is ts we are meet ing a long the way, l ike those Swordplay per for mances that have been happening wi th the Lovedaspencer and mar t innealreamy of Jazz Poets. Yeah, don’ t miss those.

PD And you, Geof f r ey Dean, what is your ro le in th is van?

Geof f r ey Dean Isaac needed a r ide.

PD Ok.

GD I put some gas in the van.

PD Expla in what the hel l you’ re ta lk ing about .

IR I th ink he means he put out two Swordplay records. Geof f, can I smoke a c igaret te in the van?

GD Yes.

IR See, he’s been making a lot of dec is ions in the van. He’s the dr i ver. Somet imes I nav igate.

GD See, Conc ice was star ted pret ty much as a way to put out a record (Swordplay’s T i l t EP) for Isaac. Once i t was out , we f igured we’d need to put together some shows to promote i t and began moving into booking and promot ing h ip-hop shows around town. We began meet ing people that were a lr eady doing the ir th ing in town, l ike Swer ve. Swer ve was doing a monthly event at the Nanci Raygun at the t ime. He was one of the only people keeping leg i t imate l i ve h ip-hop shows going. As the Raygun c losed, those involved in the independent h ip-hop scene were a l l scr ambl ing for venues and so for th, l ike many music scenes in R ichmond.

PD How did that a f fect your game?

GD In a way i t probably uni f ied us a b i t . By th is t ime Concice

I t ’s late af ter noon and we’ re r id ing in a van through the Blue Ridge Mounta ins. Local R ichmond h ip-hop acts, Swer ve 36 and Isaac Ramsey (a lso know as Swordplay) , are among those in the van. They are per for ming tonight at a loca l music venue in Blacksburg. Dr i v ing the van is Geof f r ey Dean, co- founder, cur rent par tner, and, in genera l , a jack-of-a l l - t r ades in the ex ist ing and ongoing Conc ice Records organizat ion. These three f ine young men have a l lowed me the oppor tuni ty to r ide wi th them, par t ia l ly because th is show fa l ls on the ta i l end of my honeymoon wi th sa id dr i ver, but more impor tant ly, to record the ir thoughts as they begin a new stage in Conc ice’s ongoing jour ney. Being on our own smal l jour ney to the show, i t seemed a per fect t ime to let these guys speak on the mi les behind them and what l ies in the road up ahead.

Paul ine Dean Swer ve, you are one of the newest member s to the Conc ice Records Fami ly, but you are probably the most exper ienced in the R ichmond hip-hop scene. What br ings you to the metaphor ica l Conc ice van?

Swer ve 36 The love of h ip-hop and a long h istor y and des ire to enter ta in people and speak my mind in a publ ic for um. I ’ ve been not only DJ ing but a lso promot ing shows for

38

and Swordplay were networ k ing and Swer ve was networ k ing, and Div ine Prof i tz , Micsource and other s were a l l do ing the ir th ing. Many of the ar t is ts in R ichmond were a l r eady per for ming wi th each other at the shows they had put together or promoted. I t just became c lear we a l l wanted to make moves in the same direct ion. Back in Apr i l , Swer ve and I par tnered on putt ing together the two-day h ip-hop event , The Museum Fest i va l , in R ichmond. That ’s rea l ly to me where the thoughts of expanding and uni fy ing became obv ious, in my mind, at least . Now Swer ve is coming on as a fu l l par tner and Br yan and James f rom 3rd Floor Studios and Mike Puer to R ico are now fu l ly involved as wel l . Th is wi l l a l low us to be so much more than we’ ve ever been. I t ’s a l l in the interest of suppor t ing each other and making moves upward together.

PD So Swer ve, you’ re now a fu l l par tner wi th Conc ice and a lso an ar t is t w i th Conc ice?

S36 Yeah. As an ar t is t , Conc ice a l lows me the f r eedom to put out a co l lect ion of songs wi thout the inter ference of a major label . As a par tner, I br ing a unique per spect i ve and p lan to deal w i th ar t is ts d i r ect ly to make sure the ir v is ion is at ta ined. A rea l gr assroots movement where the ar t is ts make the music as they see f i t and the company se l ls a t r u ly or ig ina l product .

PD What wi l l be your f i r s t moves wi th the label?

S36 F ir st of f, on October 2nd we re lease my solo debut Thanks But No Thanks. Then we’ re going to fo l low wi th the pro ject I execut i ve produced, Chadrach’s Soul Search a lbum. Chadrach is the producer and founding member of the Div ine Prof i tz .

PD So the ar t is t roster is growing?

GD Al l o f Conc ice is growing, but i t a lways has been growing s lowly and del iberate ly. By tak ing th is next step, Conc ice wi l l be better prepared to go af ter the v is ion of a label that Swer ve has descr ibed. We’ re able to wor k wi th more ar t is ts and achieve more th ings for them. More Richmond ta lent and independent ta lent deser ve to be recorded and exposed. We want to be in the center of a growing movement of ar t is ts. A lot of ar t is ts don’ t want to be bus inessmen and some do, but most do want people to hear the ir music . We ex ist to he lp those ar t is ts get a l is tenable product that they, the ir c i ty and beyond can rea l ly get into.

PD What does th is expansion do for you, Isaac? What does your future hold wi th Conc ice?

IR I don’ t know, more records and more shows. We’ ve f igured out how to do what we want to do and there’s rea l energy behind i t . The shows Concice has been promot ing make Richmond a wor thwhi le tour stop for

underground r apper s, which there’ re a lot of. I want the ones I th ink are dope to come here and p lay a good show. As a per for mer, I just l ike watching that happen as of ten as i t does.

------------------------------------------------

Upcoming Concice Releases:- Swer ve 36 Thanks But No Thanks CD – October 2007 - Chadrach Soul Search CD – Fal l 2007

Upcoming L ive Per for mances: - September 7 – Nara (1309 W. Main Street) - Swordplay, D iv ine Prof i tz , Spoken Nerd (Nashv i l le , TN), Ker s, and DJ Mani fest - September 22 – The Camel – Swordplay, mar t innealreamy, I l lbotz (Roanoke, VA)- September 28 – Nara - The F*ck in’ S lugfest ! Featur ing Div ine Prof i tz , Swer ve 36, Derek32zero (Hampton,VA, featur ing product ion f rom Knotts Raw), mar t innealreamy, Mid At lant ic K ingz (Roanoke, VA), and DJ Bi l ly When?- September 29 – 18th and Red (2436 18th Street , Washington DC) – Echo Boomer s, D iv ine Prof i tz , Swordplay, Swer ve 36, and DJ Bi l ly When- October 20 – Nara – Astronauta l is (Flor ida), Mid At lant ic K ingz and Case Jones (Roanoke), p lus Micsource and other s

39

MICROJOYPositive ForceKingosabi Records

Microjoy, out of

Richmond, keeps it

true to their roots

with this gem of a

record. Shouting

out to Oregon Hill,

reppin’ our city, and

dissin’ the Party

Patrol this release

is filled with local

references but

is not trapped by

them. The record

has musical range

– from electro punk

on “Party Patrol,” to

hardcore thrash on

“The New Old School,”

to reggae with “My

Behavior” – that

shows the skills

of the players with

hooks that will have

you mumbling and

nodding your head by

the first minute.

Positive Force is a

throwback record

with the rough spoken

vocals reminiscent of

old punk, a touch of

The Toasters in the

reggae moments, and

straight up thrash

that delivers the

goods at full tilt. It’s

just a fun record that

I have listened to at

least 10 times in the

last 48. - Ant

SEPARATIONRise Of KingsSeparated Music Studios

If you like your music

grinding, fast and

heavy then this local

product is your cup

of tea. Separation

is in the vein of

Richmond heavy

metal icons Lamb

of God, but add a

chunkier sound and

some organs to give

it a slight dramatic

angle. It’s a brutal

record filled to

40 LOCAL BAND NAMES ARE IN RED

the brim with grim

themes.

The intro track,

“Spineless,” is a

statement track

about a band on a

warpath against

things not respected,

an utter beat down

of speed, guitar,

and bass. But the

title track, “Rise Of

Kings,” carries this

album with a “voices

in my head” type

intro then rips into

bone crunching, slam

dancing rif fs and

double bass. A call

to arms track with a

live show that I am

sure gets people up.

The rest of the tracks

get lumped together

as a very passable

record for metal

heads. Rise Of Kings

is a very good metal

album that doesn’t

reinvent the genre

but is good enough to

want more and check

out the shows. - Ant

TICKLEY FEATHER/ BERMUDA TRIANGLES Split 7” inch C.N.P. Records

Immediately af ter

hearing the tracks

on this split I was

wondering what

drugs are going around

at C.N.P. Records, i.e.

“call me guys I’m not weird enough already.”

Jason Hodges does it

again as the captain of

this label in collecting

the most interesting

cast of characters in

this town and beyond.

The whole catalog is so

far out there but still

entertaining.

Let me try to explain

the Bermuda Triangle’s

side. It’s like a

repetitive electro-

MATTHEW SHARPE’S

JAMESTOWN History is best Reimagined

“We’re on a thing that once was called Route 5. The autumn storms are fierce down here. We’ve put the rag top up on the jeep but it leaks. I’m driving north without the girl I love. Martin lies across the bloodied back seat and since he now takes up so little room Dick Buck can sit by him and cauterize his wounds.

Tenenbaums spoken by Eli Roth (Owen Wilson), when he explains the premise of his hit novel as, “Everyone knows that Custer died at Little Big Horn; what this book presupposes is maybe he didn’t.” The simplest way to describe Sharpe’s novel may be this: everyone knows John Smith, John Rolfe, and company arrived in central Virginia aboard the Godspeed in 1607, and that their interactions with the Powhatan Indians subsequently shaped western history. What this book presupposes is that maybe the Godspeed wasn’t a boat crossing the Atlantic, it was an armored bus driving down I-95 out of Manhattan. And maybe the year wasn’t 1607, it was sometime in the near but indeterminate future,

misguided-unloved-

love-child of Ministry

and Devo that will

have you repeating

“Cosby Sweater” for

days. The song feels

like being on meth

and wandering around

your room looking for

something that is in

your pocket.

The other side, Tickley

Feather, gets me

thinking of little girls

on carnival rides and

whispering to me in

weirdly sexual tones.

It makes me feel

strange. Listen to

this LP if you have any

questions or think that

I am talking out of my

ass. It really sounds

like that. - Ant

at the tail end of our civilization’s collapse.

Sharpe’s version of Jamestown retains the cast and the plotline we already know: Smith, Rolfe, and crew come to Virginia as an advance party, bungle everything, and still manage to survive by the skin of their teeth. Pocahontas saves Smith from death but winds up falling for Rolfe, this time around with a courtship by email. It’s a love story set amid terrifically graphic violence and disease that reads almost like a Tom Robbins version of “Apocalypse Now”: “Some great, quaint pre-annihilation philosopher described the movement of history as thesis, antithesis, synthesis, whereas I’ve seen a lot more thesis, antithesis, steak knife, bread

knife.” As if the subject isn’t interesting enough, Sharpe’s use of language and point of view (each chapter is told from a different character’s perspective, though mostly by Rolfe and Pocahontas) keeps the story bouncing along in its own zigzag fashion.

While the language exercises occasionally bog down the plot, Sharpe never strays far from his two big themes of intercultural love and the cost of survival in an unforgiving new world. And, somehow, he manages to pull off one hell of an interesting feat: making an imaginary Jamestown feel as real as the one we learned about in history class. - Adam Sledd

In the shotgun seat, Smith contemplatively holds his own injured left arm with his uninjured right arm. Who among us isn’t almost Martin now: woozy, incredulous, legless, enraged?”

As you should already know by now, 2007 marks the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement. And if you’ve been living in Richmond area you’re probably tired of all the hoopla, what with the Godspeed docked and the Queen of England come and gone. But of all the (a)historical books and shows and articles to have been released in the previous nine months, only one stands out for review here in RVA magazine: Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe.There’s a fantastic line early on in The Royal

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The Magnetic Fie lds T h e C a c t u s W h e r e Y o u r “ 6 9 L o v e S o n g s [ V o l . 1 ] ” 1 : 1 3 H e a r t S h o u l d B eEl l i ott Smith W a l t z # 2 “X o ” 4 : 4 0Björk B a c h e l o r e t t e “ H o m o g e n i c ” 5 : 1 7Paul S imon 5 0 W a y s t o L e a v e Y o u r L o v e r “ S t i l l C r a z y A f t e r A l l T h e s e Y e a r s ” 3 : 3 2Ann Beretta L o n g D i s t a n c e “ T h e O t h e r S i d e o f t h e C o i n . . . ” 3 : 5 3Descendents H o p e “M i l o G o e s t o C o l l e g e ” 1 : 5 9Stars Y o u r E x - L o v e r I s D e a d “ S e t Y o u r s e l f O n F i r e ” 4 : 1 6Nada Surf I n s i d e O f L o v e “L e t G o ” 4 : 5 9The Sti l l s S t i l l i n L o v e S o n g “ R e m e m b e r e s e ” 3 : 4 3Johnny Cash D e l i a ’ s G o n e “ T h e S o u n d o f J o h n n y C a s h ” 2 : 1 7Lucero A l l T h e s e L o v e S o n g s “L u c e r o ” 4 : 2 7Hank Wi l l i ams I ’ m S o L o n e s o m e ( I C o u l d C r y ) “ H a n k W i l l i a m ’ s G r e a t e s t H i t s ” 2 : 5 0Patsy C l i ne Y o u r C h e a t i n ’ H e a r t “ T h e P a t s y C l i n e S t o r y ” 2 : 2 2El la Fitzgera ld E v ’ r y t h i n g I ’ v e G o t “J a z z S i d e s : V e r v e J a z z M a s t e r s 4 6 ” 3 : 2 3Gladys Knight & thePips M i d n i g h t T r a i n T o G e o r g i a “ G l a d y s K n i g h t & t h e P i p s ” 4 : 3 5Aretha Frankl i n T h i n k ( F r e e d o m ) “Q u e e n o f S o u l ” 3 : 1 4Ben Fo lds Five S o n g f o r t h e D u m p e d “ W h a t e v e r a n d E v e r A m e n ” 3 : 3 9Kind Of l i ke Spitting V a l e n t i n e s D a y i s O v e r “K i n d o f l i k e S p i t t i n g ” 4 : 4 4The Magnetic Fie lds I D o n ’ t W a n t t o G e t O v e r Y o u “ 6 9 L o v e S o n g s [ V o l . 1 ] ” 2 : 2 4

“T he cac tus wher e your hear t shou ld be has love ly l i t t l e f l ower s so though i t ’ s a lways p r i c k ing me my a r dor ne ver sour s . ”- T he Magne t i c F i e lds

Send your p lay l i s t sugges t ions to Laur en . v ince l l i@yahoo.com - LV

Mix Tape : THE BREAK UP MIX Her e a r e some b r eak up songs to he lp you ge t ove r your summer f l i ngs . Hear th i s p lay l i s t and mor e a t h t tp : / /www. l as t . fm/user /RVAmix /

i l lustrat ion by Jef f Smack

I t ’ s s o m e t i m e i n t h e n e a r p a s t a n d t h e p h o n e

i s v i b r a t i n g . O u r a s s o c i a t e D y l a n L a n g u e l

h a s i n v i t e d u s t o j o i n h i m a n d t h e G o o g l e

E a r t h c r e w f o r a n o u t i n g i n t o t h e S o u t h w i t h

t h e b a n d ! “ Yo u b e t y o u r a s s I ’ m t o t a l l y t h e r e

y o u c r a z y d u d e y o u ! ” W e g a z e d o u t i n t o t h e

s u n a n d l a u g h e d b u t c o u l d n ’ t c o m e u p w i t h

m a n y c o n c l u s i o n s .

W e ’ r e i n C h a p e l H i l l , N o r t h C a r o l i n a ! A p l a c e

w h e r e y o u c a n b u y a H a n k W i l l i a m s a l b u m ,

e a t A f r i c a n t u n a s a n d w i c h e s , r e a d a b o u t

s p e r m w h a l e s , a n d w a t c h G o o g l e E a r t h p l a y a

s h o w w i t h t h e i r t o u r b u d d y J u i c e b o x x x a l l a t

t h e s a m e s p a n k i n t i m e ! B u t w h o c a r e s s i n c e

w e ’ r e n o w i n G r e e n v i l l e , N o r t h C a r o l i n a

D A V I D K E N E D Y ’ s S O U T H E A S T E R NWhirlwind TourThis ar t ic le isn ’ t go ing to make any

sense so read i t rea l ly fast . Ready, Go!

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w o r d s a n d i m a g e s b y D a v i d K e n e d y

45

… w h e r e y o u c a n t r y t o g o t o t h e y e a r r o u n d

H a l l o w e e n s t o r e w h i c h i s r e a l l y j u s t a h u g e

t e a s e , b e c a u s e t h e y l e a v e t h e d a m n s i g n u p

a n d e v e r y t h i n g i s t h e r e i n t h e s t o r e s o y o u

t h i n k i t ’ s y e a r r o u n d , b u t i t ’ s r e a l l y c l o s e d

u n t i l n e x t H a l l o w e e n ! W e s t a y w i t h A d v e n -

t u r e , h i s p a r t i a l l y m e l t e d d o l l h e a d f i l l e d

w i t h s c r e w s p i c k s u p t h r e e c h a n n e l s ! W a n n a

w a t c h T V ? S o r r y d u d e ! W e ’ r e o f f t o S t o n e

M o u n t a i n , G e o r g i a

… w h e r e w e m a k e n e w f r i e n d s a n d t a l k a b o u t

w h a t p u n k r o c k r e a l l y m e a n s . N o b o d y r e a l l y

k n o w s ! L e t ’ s t a k e a h u g e b r e a t h , s m e l l t h o s e

p i n e s . A a a h h h h . D y l a n c u p s h i s h a n d s a n d

B r i a n s p i t s o u t h i s b e e r. W e l a u g h i n h a r -

m o n y ! T h e v a n s h a k e s w i l d l y i n t h e n i g h t !

T h e r e ’ s a k i t t e n w i t h a p u n c t u r e d e y e ! R o b o -

t u s s i n ! B l o o d i n B r i a n ’ s G a m e b o y ! B r u n c h a t

t h e W o r l d M a r k e t ! D o n ’ t e v e r g o t o A t h e n s ,

G e o r g i a ! L e o r e s c u e s t h e c a r s f r o m t h e t o w

l o t o n f o o t ! W e d i d n ’ t e n d u p s w i m m i n g i n M i -

c h a e l S t y p e ’ s s a l t w a t e r p o o l ! W h o j a c k e d o f f

i n t h e h o t e l s h o w e r ! M o b i l e , A l a b a m a !

… D y l a n ’ s t e e t h b l e e d f r o m h e a v y f l o s s i n g !

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S t o p f l o s s i n g s o m u c h D y l a n , t h i s i s M o b i l e , A l a b a m a

a n d t h e r e ’ s n o b o d y h e r e b e c a u s e a p p a r e n t l y n o b o d y

l i v e s i n M o b i l e , A l a b a m a ! L e o i s d r i v i n g w i t h R i c k y i n

t h e c a r d r i v i n g J u i c e b o x x x i s r i d i n g i n t h e c a r w i t h B r i a n

i s d r i v i n g w i t h D y l a n i s d r i v i n g w i t h m e a n d w e n e e d t o

g e t s o m e g a s ! I s e v e r y o n e h a v i n g t o n s o f f u n o n o u r f u n

b a n d t o u r ? W e n e e d t o c h e c k o u r m y s p a c e y o u s a y ? S h u t

t h e f u c k u p ! W e ’ r e i n N e w O r l e a n s !

… M e e t a g u y n a m e d A l o m a r, h e ’ s b e e n r e a d i n g c a r d s

f o r 1 4 y e a r s a n d h i s f a v o r i t e t h i n g a b o u t i t i s t h a t i f a n

a s s h o l e c o m e s u p f o r a r e a d i n g h e c a n c a l l h i m a n a s s -

h o l e b e c a u s e h e ’ s p s y c h i c a n d t h e r e f o r e k n o w s t h a t i t ’ s

t r u e ! W h a t a l i a r ! R i c k y ’ s p o o p t a l l y i s a t I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

a n d r i s i n g f a s t ! A u s t i n w a s s u p p o s e d t o b e i n t h e d e s -

e r t ! N o w t h e c o p s a r e a t t h e d o o r, s h o u l d w e a . ) i g n o r e

t h e m a n d h a v e e v e r y o n e a t t h e s h o w s p e n d t h e n i g h t

a n d g e t a r r e s t e d i n t h e m o r n i n g , b . ) s t o p a n d a n s w e r

t h e d o o r a n d l o o k s t u p i d b e c a u s e w e h a d t h e s h o w i n a n

a p a r t m e n t , o r c . ) w e ’ r e i n B i r m i n g h a m , A l a b a m a ! E v e r y

b a n d p l a y s i n a d i f f e r e n t r o o m o f t h e h o u s e f o r a s e n s e

o f v a r i e t y, y o u k n o w , s o m e t h i n g d i f f e r e n t , k i n d o f l i k e

s e a r c h i n g f o r t h e b e s t e x p e r i e n c e p o s s i b l e .

W e ’ r e a l l s e a r c h i n g f o r s o m e t h i n g .

W h a t a r e y o u s e a r c h i n g f o r ?

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sensible to own a car in the city. That being said, riding a bike around town is essentially the same thing as driving a car. You are a moving vehic le and should follow traf fic laws. This includes stop signs, l ights, turning at the appropriate time, etc. This also means you should put l ights on your bike. At the very least, a red blinky on the back helps cars to see you at night. Also, I would advise you to purchase a really strong lock, because bikes and bike par ts have a tendency to get stolen around here. You can purchase these and a lot more at Richmond Re-Cycles (2611 W. Cary St.).

One thing that you should avoid doing is harassing the kids who ride their bikes through the city. Yell ing at them, throwing things, tr ying to knock them off their bikes, or tr ying to hit them with your car is i l l advised. People can

impor tant issues concerning driver safety. Richmond is a city with a wealth of history. It is also a city with a wealth of one-way streets. I know that it can be tricky to remember which ones go where. For tunately, all of these streets are equipped with fair ly large and highly visible signs that say “one way,” with an ar row that points in the appropriate direction. Follow the ar rows and you’ ll avoid those pesky head-on coll isions and moving violation citations. The Fan also has a lot of stop signs. These keep people from going sixty miles per hour through a residential area. Contrary to popular belief, these stop signs are not optional. People cross the street at these signs, using those crosswalk things that we discussed ear lier. Remember : stop, look both ways, and then proceed with caution. Safety fir st, my friends, safety fir st.

Now, I’ ve noticed that a lot of you have chosen to bring bikes instead of cars. That’s great! Richmond, for the most par t, is a very bike-friendly town, and let’s be honest, with gas prices being what they are nowadays, it’s not very fiscally

Hey, congratulations on getting in to college. That’s awesome! Richmond is a really diverse town and it’s chock full of cool people and places that you’ ll get to know in your time here. Since we’re all going to have to coexist for a while, here are a few tips for behaving like a normal human being.

Fir st of all, let’s talk about walking. VCU is an “urban university.” This means that the campus is right in the middle of the city. You are sur rounded by the people who live and work here year round. To ensure your safety and the safety of everyone else, please don’t walk in front of cars or bikes. There are these white l ines at most stoplights and signs. These are called crosswalks. Until you get a good feel for how people drive and bike here, stay in them and wait until the litt le man pops up on the box across the street. This means, “Go.”

While we’re talking about bikes and cars, let’s cover some

by E r in S ta t i c

WELCOME TO

THE REAL RULES FOR SCHOOL

V C U

to be ser ving you drinks once you finally turn 21. A good rule of thumb: unless you’re at McDonalds, tip your waiter/waitress and tip them well. If you can’t af ford to tip them, you probably shouldn’t be going out anyway. Tipping does a few things for you. Fir st of all, you’re ensuring that the person who ser ved you can af ford to pay their rent and bil ls and stil l be able to go to school at the same time (it’s crazy, but it happens). Second, tipping well wil l cause the ser ver to remember you. Once you’ve established this rappor t, ser vers wil l generally do all sor ts of extra nice things for you. On the f l ipside, if you seriously piss of f a ser ver, they wil l remember you for the rest of your time in the city, and your order wil l always be “lost,” “wrong,” or that 14th refi l l you’ve been waiting for wil l never appear.

***Side note: tipping does not just apply to ser vers. I know you’ve walked by the tattoo shops in the city and thought about getting some sick ink. Maybe you want to get your navel/tongue/nose pierced. Those guys and gir ls who are

get seriously hur t, and remember, those bike kids are generally equipped with one of those heavy duty locks we talked about a minute ago, and more likely than not, they’re going to come after you with it.

So now that we’ve got you out and about in the city safely, we should probably cover a few things about social outings.

Richmond is full of amazing restaurants and eateries. You can get pretty much any type of food you want here, probably ser ved to you by a tattooed kid whose band you’ ll see at one of many shows you’ ll attend here. Most people don’t know this, but ser vers are only paid $2.13 an hour. This means that the tips they receive are what they pay their rent/insurance/bil ls/etc. with. Also, these are the people that are going

going to tat you up are performing a ser vice for you as well. Tip them, or they’ l l most l ikely “wang” you next time. ***

Now, drinking is fun. We do it often in this city. However, since you’re not quite old enough yet, do us a favor and stay out of our bars. You don’t understand the reign of ter ror that is the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control, but we do. This is a city full of smar t, savvy bar tenders who have no problem taking your fake ID and throwing you out of the bar by your intricately popped collar. So don’t tr y. Most of us don’t have the extra two grand to pay the fine we would receive for ser ving you. Go ahead and get someone to buy your beers at 7-11 and have one of those raging house par ties that you kids are so good at. Once you turn 21, give us a call. We’ ll do shots.

All right. I think I’ ve covered most things. Get on out there and learn something...change the wor ld...whatever you want. Just remember, you’re an adult in the big city now. Let’s behave like it.

CAP OEIRA RES ISTENCIA

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CAP OEIRA RES ISTENCIA

CAP OEIRA RES ISTENCIA

After the abolition, some ex-slaves returned to Africa, but the majority stayed in Brazil. With the planters no longer interested in them as a work force, most headed to the cities to form slums and shanty towns. There was no employment in the cities either, and many organized into criminal gangs. The government began to associate capoeira with criminal activities and anti-government organizations and for these reasons capoeira was outlawed in Brazil. For those who were caught teaching and practicing capoeira the punishment could be very severe. Some practitioners would have their Achil les tendons cut. Others, more for tunate because of their knowledge of capoeira, were hired by polit icians as bodyguards.

The very nature in which capoeira was conceived and practiced in the past gives the ar t much more depth than just f lashy kicks and acrobatic jumps. Music and singing are just as impor tant as the kicks themselves. The main instrument of capoeira is the berimbau. The berimbau consists of a small wooden bow with a length of steel strand tightly strung to both ends. A gourd, hollowed out and dried, is attached to the lower end and acts as a resonator. To play the berimbau, one holds it in one hand, wrapping the two middle fingers around the verga (wooden bow), and placing the litt le finger under the cabaça’s (gourd) string loop, and balancing the weight there. A small stone or coin is held between the index and thumb of the same hand that holds the berimbau. The cabaça is rested against the abdomen. In the other hand, one holds a stick (baqueta) and an optional rattle (caxixi). One strikes the arame (steel string) with the baqueta to produce the sound. The caxixi accompanies the baqueta. The dobrão (coin or stone) is moved back

to learn capoeira?” he says with a strong Brazil ian accent.

Capoeira [kap-oo-air-uh] is a mar tial ar t that was born in Brazil, a product of the resistance to slavery. In

many places it is refer red to as the “Dance-fight game”, because from the obser ver it does appear to be more of a dance than a mar tial ar t. Capoeira is a mixture of the many dif ferent fighting styles of African tribes brought to Brazil for forced labor. The Africans developed a system of

fighting called “jungle war” or ambush. Capoeira was the key element in the unexpected attacks. With fast and tricky movements the slaves caused considerable damage to the white men. In capoeira the attacks are performed mostly with a series of strong kicks, sweeps, and takedowns. Capoeira became their weapon, their symbol of freedom. When an expedition to recapture escaped slaves was successful, the slaves who were returned to the plantations taught capoeira to others there. Sunday was their one day of rest and that was when they practiced capoeira. But there, in the quar ters, the practice soon was altered. Music, singing, dance and ritual were added to capoeira, disguising the fact that the slaves were practicing a deadly mar tial ar t. The slave masters saw capoeira as an amusing acrobatic dance and performance. When the true nature of capoeira was discovered by the slave masters, the ar t was made il legal and punishment for being caught included severe beatings and even death. This forced capoeira to go fur ther underground.

CAP OEIRA RES ISTENCIA

by David McRaeimages Chris Smith

The large remodeled school sits back in a corner by itself atop its hil l. As you pass through the heavy doors and head up the steps, comfor tably worn in by years of use, your eyes catch the paintings and sculptures that sit on or in front of the walls. Once you make it to the second f loor you can hear faint music and chatter. Passing through the double doors you enter an open studio space. Everyone is dressed in practically identical white pants and a white t-shir t with the group’s name written across the chest. Some have multi-colored cords around their waste knotted at the sides, dangling down their left leg. A few people stretch while others are engaged in joking conversation. Toward the far wall on the right a small man sits in a folding chair quietly obser ving the entire room. His size betrays the strength and speed that he possesses. He always greets newcomers with a warm smile. “Hello my name is Master Panao, do you want

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and for th from the arame to change the tone of the berimbau. The sound can also be altered by moving the cabaça back and for th from the abdomen. When played, the instrument sometimes gives a sound similar to tch tch tch ching dong dong. This instrument is usually accompanied by a drum or conga and a tambourine called a pandeiro. Usually the most experienced player or master plays the berimbau which controls the tempo of the action. He or she also leads those watching in a song those watch follow with the chorus.

With the music, students learn about the history of capoeira and many of its famous players. For example Bedsore Mangangá was given his nickname for his abil ity to disappear when faced with overwhelming danger. He would not only disappear when facing danger, but also turn into a big black beetle, scaring everyone around. His strength and speed were believed to be supernatural and legend has it that he single handedly disarmed an entire army squad by himself. Rumors of his powers became so great that a witch doctor was hired to create a special knife that he would later be kil led with. Songs about other famous masters like Master Bimba who star ted the fir st legal capoeira school in 1937 are also very popular.

Matches between two capoeiristas are called games and they are played in small circ les called rodas formed by those watching, with the player of the berimbau at the head. Inside the roda you must pay attention to everything: your opponent, the music and even the people watching because at any point

someone from the crowd may jump into the game and become your new adversary. The manner in which games are played also helps to broaden your awareness; you are forced to pay attention to so much more than just the person in front of you. Players must beware of trickery and dir ty tactics from their opponents and those outside of the game. Most often in the roda, the capoeirista’s greatest opponent is himself. Philosophy plays a large par t in capoeira and the best teachers strive to teach Respeito (Respect), Responsabilidade (Responsibil ity), Segurança (Safety/Security), Malicia (Cleverness/Street-smar ts), and Liberdade (Liber ty/Freedom).

“RUN!” Master Panao yells out and all in c lass jog in a l ine around the training space. Running followed by a series of calisthenics work outs are just the warm up before actual training in technique begins. Techniques are more than just a variety of kicks; instead they are a series of movements that are trained again and again so that they are memorized by our muscles. Movements require use and control of your entire body. So that after a spinning kick one can go directly to standing on one’s hands. Controlled falls give the appearance of an opening but in fact it is just a trick to get your opponent to expose themselves. Through training these movements we are learning the language of capoeira. Each game is a conversation, a conversation with oneself and your opponent. When your opponent asks a question with a cer tain attack, you answer with the proper defense. The game is similar to a conversation with a stranger. You have to listen to what is said,

respond in time, and depending on what you say the conversation could take many dif ferent turns. The game can continue to be playful and polite or become rude and aggressive.

To someone who is unfamiliar with how capoeira is performed many of the games look as if they are choreographed. Bodies move in and around each other’s space in perfect rhythm. Players feint kicks and throw violent headbutts at each other’s chest and chin. Kicks are evaded by the smallest margin. Strikes are thrown so fast it is hard to imagine that the entire scene was not practiced beforehand. It is games like those that have caused many to think that capoeira is merely a very aggressive form of dance.

Everyone in the class trains hard; you can tell the beginners from the more advanced students by the grace and control of their movements. No matter what level the student, towards the end of the class everyone is covered in sweat and breathing heavy. There is not a single student present that doesn’t feel l ike they have trained hard. During the last fifteen minutes left in c lass all the students star t to form a roda. Master Panao begins to play a berimbau and leads the class in song. It seems like all the fatigue that was present a couple of minutes age is gone. Students eager ly position themselves at Panao’s feet and wait for permission from him to enter. With a quick nod from Panao they au (car twheel) into the center and the game begins.

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Classes held daily Monday - Friday at Fulton Hill Studios and/or Richmond Christian Center. New students always welcomed.

2nd Annual Batizado (Conference) Nov 2nd - 4th, 2007

A conference bringing together 20 or more Mestres (Masters) from around the wor ld presenting workshops, demonstrations and lectures on Capoeira, plus Maculele, Samba Dancing and Music of Brazil.

Check out “Crupo Resistencia” at RVA’s Fist City Fury + Monthly “Brazil Night” hosted at different locations around the city. 10pm Wednesday September 26th at Emilio’s 1847 W. Broad St.

kulturerva.commysmokestack.com8 yr anniversary event coming soon!

NEWFLAVOR!Charlottesville Grand Opening

August 25

Fr ee Pa lesti n e N OW!an interview with Thomas H. by R. Anthony Harris images by Thomas H. & Connor

Thomas H. is by first glance a normal-looking 25 year old white man among a sea of them at our local university but everyone has a story. After spending time with him on a recent road trip across the United States he opened up a little and I liked what I saw. In our conversations I began peeling back the onion of his personality, and found a person with an uncommon perspective.

Back in 2003, he traveled to Palestine to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in fighting against the Israeli occupation. He broke bread with Palestin-ians in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilia, and Tulkarem listening to and wanting to tell their stories.

from www.palsolidarity.org:The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles. Founded by a small group of activists in August, 2001, ISM aims to suppor t and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources: international protection, and a voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming military occupation force.

I have watched on the news for years about the conflicts of the Middle East with a sense of detachment. Reality TV starring people dying everyday, children blowing themselves to pieces, tanks rolling through the streets, and I was so numb to it all. I wanted to take the oppor tunity to pick this man’s brain and learn about a subject I really didn’t understand.

The following is just one man’s curiosity and another’s opinions.

R. Anthony Harris What was your first contact with ISM? How did you get involved? Why do you care about Palestine when it is half a planet away?

Thomas H. When I first entered VCU in 2001 I met a young Jewish activist who opposed Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territories. Together we formed an orga-nization called Free Palestine Now! and began to organize solidarity lectures, actions,

and meetings at VCU and in the Richmond area. Through my work with that organization we came into contact with people who had been instrumental in forming ISM and others who had successfully and unsuccessfully attempted to enter the occupied territories to volunteer for the group. From the second I heard of what the ISM was trying to do in Palestine, I made up my mind to one day give whatever I could to the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom and self-determination. I care about the Palestinians for two reasons. 1) I believe that there can never be peace in this world without justice. That is to say that the sins and injustices of the past must be corrected in the present in order to create a situation were peace can be attained in the future. I believe that the current war between radical Islam and western capitalism is a tragedy that could have been prevented and can still be resolved if we, America, take steps to correct the historic injustices we have helped perpetrate on the people of the Middle East, and the world. These injustices include financing the for ty-plus year military occupation of the Palestinian territories, and arming the Israeli military which has murdered thousands of Palestinian civilians. I believe that if the United States took a proactive role in advocating justice for Palestinians — a state of their own, control of their own borders, removal of the illegal settlements, East Jerusalem as the capital, and return or compensation for the millions of refugees — Al-Qaeda would lose their single greatest recruiting tool and the majority of the Muslim world would begin to reject their message. 2) The Palestinian people have been largely ignored by the world community since 1948. People in this country and around the world were up in arms over Apar theid in South Africa, yet the racial segregation and the walling off of ethnic population centers which happened in South Africa is also happening in Palestine. But nobody speaks up. This is primarily be-cause Israel and the pro-Israeli lobby in America ruthlessly attack anyone who speaks up for the Palestinians, labeling them “anti-Semitic.” Just look at what happened to ex-President Jimmy Car ter when he published a book called “Peace not Apar theid.”

RAH In your work for the ISM, what was the overwhelming condition of the Palestinian lands and people?

TH First I did not work for ISM, I was a volunteer with their Freedom Summer campaign. When people say Palestine is under a “military occupation,” the true meaning of the term is not fully understood until one experiences it. Occupation is the complete physical, eco-nomic, and bureaucratic control of millions of people who are denied their right to self determination. When traveling through Palestine, the occupation is everywhere; it is un-avoidable, it is destructive, and it is a violent everyday reality for the Palestinian people. Occupation is the illegal settlements that are seemingly on every hilltop; occupation is the

hundreds of checkpoints that litter the land restricting Palestinian movement; occupation is the 24 hour a day, 100+ day curfews; and occupation is the control of water resources for Israeli use. These are known. But occupation is also roadblocks on all Palestinian roads; occupation is deliberate economic sabotage of roads, telephone wires, and water towers; occupation is nightly incursions by commando teams; occupation is the “accidental” murder of children at checkpoints; occupation is the random arrest and tor ture of civilians; (Israel is one of the only countries in the world that legally sanctions tor ture as an interrogation method) and occupation is the refusal to give travel documents, building permits, and work licenses based upon the fact that you are Palestinian. Occupation is the total control and subjugation of an entire people through racism, fear, brutality, and intransigence. The Israeli occupation of Palestine has but one aim; to make life so incredibly difficult for the Palestinian people that they either pack up and leave, (making more room for illegal colo-nization) or fight back and die.

However, the Palestinian people under occupation are some of the nicest, most hospitable, and strong people I have ever met. People who have no income, no jobs, who live in refugee camps will invite you into their home and share with you whatever they have. Most Palestin-ians resist the Israeli occupation just by living and surviving. The courage, bravery, and determination of the Palestinian people in the face of such oppression and repression is incredible.

RAH What is the Apar theid Wall and how is it being used against the people of Palestine?

TH The Apar theid Wall is Israel’s latest attempt to illegally annex Palestinian land. The Apar theid Wall is being built throughout the West Bank and is a mixture of concrete struc-tures taller than the Berlin Wall and razor wire encircled fences. The wall is a land grab operation, pure and simple. It is being built inside the West Bank, far from the internationally recognized “green line” separating Israel and the occupied territories. In every village I visited it is built as close as possible to the last house so as to annex as much land as pos-sible while keeping the people inside the wall. The wall also involves a number of secondary walls which encircle Palestinian cities, effectively dividing the West Bank into eight walled-off ghettos. The Palestinian city of Qalqilia is one such example. The wall now surrounds the whole city, cutting it off from the farmland around it that the people need to survive. The wall is one of the most repulsive and horrendous things I have ever laid eyes upon, and anyone who sees it immediately realizes the true nature of the Israeli occupation. However, all walls fall, and it is only a matter of time until this one is also brought down.

RAH I read in your essay on the subject (found here: http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/fpn/throughmyeyes.html) that you were shot while protesting Israeli actions. How many peo-ple from the ISM have died and were/are you committed enough to do the same for the cause?

TH I was shot twice with rubber bullets at a demonstration against the Apar theid Wall in a small village near Tulkarem. We were also gassed and hit with smoke and concussion gre-nades. During the week that I was wounded, thir teen other internationals were also wound-ed. In the months before I went to Palestine, two volunteers with the ISM were killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). On 16 March 2003 Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old American, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer as she attempted to protect a Palestinian house which was being razed by Israel. A few weeks later Tom Hurndall, a 21 year old British photographer, was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while he was attempting to pull Palestinian children out of a street being fired on by Israelis troops. He spent nine months in a coma and died in January 2004. At the time I was willing to sacrifice my life for the Palestinian resistance struggle, although it was obviously not my goal. Before I left I wrote letters to my family and friends to be delivered if I was killed. Now, although I am still 100 percent committed to the Palestinian quest for freedom and justice, my personal situation has changed. As a newly married man, I can no longer state with cer tainty that I would again put myself in such a situation where death is such a possibility.

RAH At the risk of sounding ignorant and oversimplifying the situation, Israel is occupying land that was Palestinian and the United Nations gave them the right to do it. In your opinion was there a better way of creating a land for the Jewish people?

TH Well that is an interesting question. While the UN has issued many resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories, it is par tly the UN’s fault that the Palestinians were deprived of a state in the first place. Following the Second World War, the UN decided that it was going to par tition (divide) the British mandate of Palestine between the Jews and the Palestinians, seeing that both had been promised a state in the area by the British during the First World War. The problem was that the UN decided to give the Jews — who were only 1/3rd of the population and owned only 7% of the land — more than 50% of the country, and the most fer tile areas around the sea. The Palestinians naturally rejected the par tition, and in the resulting war between the Arab states and the new state of Israel, more than 800,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes into refugee camps across the region; refugee camps that many still live in today. The first two

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countries to recognize the new state of Israel were the Soviet Union and the United States. The West initially suppor ted the creation of Israel for two reasons. 1) They rightfully felt guilty over allowing the Germans to perpetrate the Holocaust and for turning away Jewish refugees. 2) The governments of Europe were still filled with rabid anti-Semites, some of whom believed that the creation of Israel would lead to the exodus of remaining Jews from their countries, something they wanted to achieve. The Palestinian people did not massacre the Jews by the millions, yet it was the Palestinians who were forced to pay the price for Europe’s hatred of Jews.

I fully believe in the right of Jews to have a state and to have self-determination. However, I find it interesting that nobody suggested carving out a piece of Germany following the war and giving that to the Jews for their state. It was the Germans who mass murdered the Jews, not the Palestinians. Many people will counter this by saying that the Jews want to have a home in the “holy land,” but Palestine was just one of a number of options that the Zionist movement considered for their homeland, including locations in South America and Africa. In summation, the Jews deserved a state in which they could live in peace and security, but the minute that they and their western backers decided to deprive another people of that same right, then I believe they forfeited moral, political, and legal legitimacy in the matter.

RAH If I spoke with someone from the Israeli viewpoint, how would they react to what you are saying? Would there be no meeting in the middle? Is there only victory and no com-promise?

TH First and foremost, there is no one “Israeli viewpoint,” just as there is no one Pales-tinian viewpoint. There are thousands of Israelis and Jews around the world who do not suppor t the illegal occupation of Palestine, and who actively organize against it. Some of these groups include: Jews Against the Occupation (JATO), B’Tselem, Jews for Justice, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and others. There are also hundreds of Israeli soldiers who have gone to prison for refusing to par ticipate in military actions in the occupied territories.

That being said, a good number of Israelis and Jews in the west are Zionists and suppor ters of Israeli actions in relation to the Palestinians. Their argument is usually four-fold. First, they argue, like former Israeli PM Golda Meir, that there is no such thing as a Palestinian. That the Arabs in Palestine only began to identify as Palestinians and not Arabs after Israel had been created. My answer to that is: regardless of what someone calls him or herself,

it does not change the fact that those families had been living in that area for hundreds of years prior to the ar tificial creation of Israel, and they were all physically forced out and their houses which were seized or destroyed.

Second, they argue that the Palestinians are to blame for the current conflict because they have repeatedly rejected Israel’s “peace offers.” However, not one Israeli peace offer has proposed a return to the internationally recognized 1967 borders; not one offer has given the Palestinians control over their own borders; not one offer has included dismantling all of the checkpoints and roadblocks; and not one offer has proposed a just solution to the Palestinian refugee crisis. Also, the Israeli government has never in its history recognized the right of the Palestinian people to have an independent state. By contrast, the Palestin-ian people, through the PLO, recognized Israel’s right to exist in 1988.

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groups need dedicated people and funds. The movement is strong, it is determined, and it will eventually succeed in helping the Palestinian people achieve liberation and justice.

RAH There is a cultural divide in the city of Richmond split more or less down the color line. There is a land grab, racial profiling, drugs, rape, murder - do you have any interest in this complicated issue? Should we hold our breath and wish for the best?

TH Of course I have an interest in this issue. In fact this issue and the Palestinian issue are very much interconnected. From 1949 to 1997 the United States gave over 134 billion dollars to Israel, and to this day gives well over six billion dollars a year of our tax money to the Israeli government. This money comes in the form of direct aid (usually around 3 billion a year) and loans which are sometimes paid back and sometimes forgiven. Much of that money is then used to buy weapons from American arms corporations (this year 2.4 billion in direct military aid), and those weapons then used to kill Palestinians. So not only is America giving nearly $1,000 of American tax money a year to every Israeli man, woman, and child, that money is then used to enrich American weapons corporations, widening the gap between the rich and poor in America (because the poor are much less likely to own stock in such corporations than the rich). Then, when the radical Muslims become fed up with American weapons being used to kill thousands of Palestinians by Israel and attacks America, it is overwhelmingly the poor who fight and die in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. I for one, would much rather see that three billion dollars a year (not counting the hun-dreds of billions spent on the war in Iraq) of direct aid be spent here in America to help Americans, like those in Richmond, who are suffering from the historical legacy of pover ty, neglect, and exploitation. Three billion dollars a year could help to provide every American high school senior access to higher education, it could bring millions of families above the pover ty line, could fix the public education system, or provide medical access for millions of uninsured children. All these things are desperately needed in places like Richmond to create a more just and equitable society in which ALL are given the same oppor tunities regardless of class and race. A society where the destiny of millions of people is not prison, drug abuse, sexual assault, or death. Instead of using our tax money to fix the deficiencies in our own nation, our government is using it to finance the destruction of an entire people. I believe that this is absolutely criminal.

RAH Thank you for taking the time and speaking with me.

Third, they argue that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and a die-hard ally of the United States, and as they are surrounded by “hostile” nations they should be allowed to occupy the Palestinian territories for security reasons. I respond to this by saying that it is hard to consider Israel a true democracy because for for ty years it has denied democratic rights to more than three million people under its military occupation. It also sanctions tor ture as an interrogation method and enforces strict racial segregation policies in the occupied territories. In my opinion, it is the hundreds of billions of dollars that the United States has given to Israel — which Israel has used to kill thousands of Palestinians — that is the primary recruiting tool used by radical Muslims to incite attacks on Americans.

Lastly, they maintain that it is because of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks that Israel has to continue to occupy the Palestinian territories. While it is true that the Palestinians have carried out thousands of attacks on Israelis, including suicide bombings, there are cer tain facts deliberately left out by the western media. First and foremost, the vast major-ity of all Palestinian armed actions are directed at soldiers and settlers in the occupied territories. Under international law, armed resistance targeting soldiers is fully legitimate. Terrorism is a tactic of war that has been around since the dawn of human history and is frequently used by groups which do not have the same resources or abilities as their enemy. In almost every political revolution in history, including the American Revolution, there has been some form of terrorism directed by the oppressed at their oppressors. The Palestinians have used terrorism in the past because they have no army to combat the Israeli tanks and APC’s firing into their homes; no air-force to fight the Israeli F-16’s and Apache helicopters firing missiles into their street; and no navy to break the economic blockade of the Gaza coastline. In essence, the suicide bomb is a poor man’s F-16. The first suicide bombing in Israel did not happen until 1994, twenty-seven years after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip began. So, what came first, the occupation or suicide bombings?

RAH How can one get involved in the struggle from here in Richmond, VA?

TH There are thousands of Pro-Palestinian groups across the United States and the western world. They range from groups like ISM, which co-ordinates volunteers in the occupied territories, to the aforementioned Jewish human and civil rights groups. There are groups at nearly every University and major city. Some groups, like SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Tax Aid to Israel Now) are fighting to prevent our tax dollars from suppor ting the occupation, and others which are raising money for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians. All these

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Compare and Contrast: Arts and the CityBy Don Harrison

***

“I have no doubt it’s going to get done,” says another person close to the project. “But it’s going to get pretty dirty and pretty ugly.”

— “Pomp & Circumstances: The Untold Story of Richmond’s Arts Center,” Style Weekly, June 2005.

And how.

News accounts of the ever-evolving CenterStage boondoggle confirmed what readers of local blogs reported weeks earlier: Things have now offi-cially gotten “dirty and ugly.”

As we see:

- The Virginia Performing Arts Foundation has failed to include annu-al operating expenses in its budget for CenterStage, which is already receiv-ing $25 million — the rich, well-heeled power brokers behind the Foundation would prefer to have taxpayers foot the bill for $500,000 a year, thanks.

- Construction bids have come in $2.4 million higher than anticipated…. and guess who will pay for that? (No one knows or is willing to say).

- The Foundation only has “plans” to include an artists endowment — oh, did we mention that this was about the arts? — and admits that their project to “save downtown” will operate at a $1 million per year deficit.

- VAPAF bypassed city council authority by de-molishing the interior of the Carpenter Center before an agreement with the city was final-ized— never mind those pesky PPEA regula-tions.

Nevertheless, at presstime, VAPAF’s Center-Stage is slotted for an undeserved multi-million payoff from Richmond’s politicians — did we mention that, earlier, these same folks spent $22 million to build a hole in the ground? — and we can contrast the deal with how the city treats genuinely successful and popular “street level” downtown arts projects.

In a Sept. 1 article entitled “First Fridays gets UR touch,” by Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer Cynthia McMullen, a sponsorship deal between the University of Richmond’s performing arts center and Curated Culture’s “First Friday Artwalk” was detailed.

“In a classic case of east-meets-west and vice-versa, University of Rich-mond’s Modlin Center for the Arts will be the presenting sponsor for the sev-enth season of Curated Culture’s First Fridays Artwalk,” the article begins. “The collaboration brings much-needed funding — $25,000 — to a smallorganization, says Christina Newton, director of Curated Culture Inc.”

On a message at the Curated Culture website — www.firstfridaysrichmond.com — part-timer Newton made the case for assisting her program: “We greatly appreciate everyone’s support and enthusiasm, and ask that you keep us in mind when you consider your giving plans or when speaking with your elected official. Our First Fridays program has helped revitalize Down-town like no other in the City, and yet, we received no financial support from the City of Richmond this year.”

In the Times-Dispatch, Newton de-tailed how her grassroots operation (with an annual budget of $100,000) has transformed Richmond’s down-town into a happening place — and how little that endeavor has been appreci-ated at City Hall when it comes time for funding dollars.

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“Our efforts have made the greatest impact on revitalization but the city says there’s nothing it can do.” She pointed out that cities are normally partners in similar programs. “I think [city of Richmond officials] think because it’s happening, it will continue to happen.

“I’ve been trying to get a meeting with the mayor for a year and a half.”

In the article, City spokesman Linwood Norman replied that Curated Culture should speak with the Arts & Cultural Funding Consortium. “That kind of funding request goes through the con-sortium,” he is quoting as saying.

Er... the Mayor’s mouthpiece should get his facts straight. The “original members” of the Arts and Cultural Funding Consortium (a.k.a. the ones who get the bulk of any annual funding — access the list at www.richmondarts.org/funding/index.html) are forbidden to lobby the city directly. But Curated Culture is one of those smaller “annual members” who get the scraps (if they are lucky and ask real, real nice) and can lobby the city in blank verse and in full makeup all day long if they choose.

But the mayor’s office would probably know all that if they actually met with Newton, heard her out and picked her brain on what she and her low-budget operation — with those wonder-ful participating galleries and events — is doing right for downtown on the TGIF of every month.

At present, the city is too busy OK-ing an unverifiable and shoddily-constructed plan to write 40 years worth of blank checks to a pri-vate organization that says it wants to do what the arts galleries are already doing: To bring people back downtown. You could call their plan “The Sixth Street Marketplace For the Arts” but, in reality, the expensive and sordid CenterStage deal has the potential to make that notorious booster-approved retail disaster look like the Taj Mahal. It will also soak up any potential city arts dollars from other, more worthwhile and thrifty, projects for decades.

Ah, but who did the city and the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation piggyback on when they needed to find some sort of legitimacy within the downtown arts community for their CenterStage groundbreaking ceremony inJune? Curated Culture’s First Friday’s!

And when push comes to shove, who helps out Curated Culture’s low-budget “street level” operation? Not CenterStage a few blocks down, but UR’s Modlin Center — a truly world class performing arts venue that, for one thing, isbringing DJ Spooky to town in March 2008 (a cause for celebration).

[Historical note: In the original consultant’s study for VAPAF’s arts center, it was claimed that the Modlin would not compete with a downtown arts center because the Modlin was at “the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.” That same consulting firm still clears thousands per month to advise the CenterStage project. As they say, you couldn’t make this stuff up.]

So, if you are scoring at home, our wonderful city leaders can find the money to fund “party patrols” to stop fun in the Fan, and enable huge “arts” boondoggles that will weigh on the budget for decades. But they can’t find a dime for — or even, in the case of the Mayor, schedule an appointment to hear out — the one successful arts project that is already revitalizing downtown.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Don Harrison is a Richmond-based freelance writer, and the co-founder of saverichmond.com where more information on these sub-jects can be found.

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A short story in four parts by James Wayland image by Adam Juresko

Sara vomited the soupy contents of her stomach onto the pavement just shy of the massive animal, which slowly turned to regard her. It was a black bear, the biggest she had ever seen. Terrified, the teen had already started to retreat, backing up at a snail’s pace in hopes that the bear wouldn’t be interested in her.

The massive bear’s dark eyes found her, but there was no visible reaction. There was a strange look on the animal’s face, or maybe it was the absence of any expression what-soever that seemed out of place.

Sara continued backward, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her heart pounding. She was exhausted, but her fatigue was lost in the cold grip that was held in by her mounting fear.“Nice bear,” she said, her voice a shaky whisper.

There was no response, but the bear contin-ued to gaze at her with that vacant look in its dark eyes.

She heard a low rumble and realized that it was growling.

“Oh shit,” the wrestler said, allowing herself to move a little faster.

The pickup truck was only ten feet away,

but she didn’t know if that reject in the cab was aware enough to let her inside. It didn’t look like he’d taken the time to unlock the door for his friend. There was a camper shell on the back and as ratty as it looked, it was possible that it wouldn’t be locked, but she didn’t want to take that risk.

Then there was no time to think about any-thing. One instant the big black bear was slowly turning its head, cradling its trophy in its massive jaws, and the next found the unlucky fisherman’s arm falling to the ground as the animal rushed at Sara, roar-ing. The sound was terrifying enough, but it was no match for the sight of the giant bear’s bulk in motion, bearing down on the terrified athlete.

It was only yards away when she slammed into the truck, her palms pressed against the metal, but the guy inside made no move to unlock the door. In fact, he didn’t react at all. He sat there, that same wretched expression mangling his features, his eyes refusing to focus on anything.

Sara could feel the bear rearing up behind her as its shadow fell across her. Be-fore her, the beast’s horrific visage was reflected on the bloody window. The bear bellowed, revealing an angry red mouth lined with rows of pointed teeth.

Without thinking, she dropped to her stom-ach as it swiped at her, shattering the blood-smeared barrier between the interior of the truck and the outside world. Screaming, Sara rolled beneath the truck as shards of glass rained down.

Finally regaining his senses, the country boy howled and came to life, ripping the glove compartment open. He pawed through the contents as the bear shoved the truck, rocking the one and a half-ton mass of steel on its worn shocks. Sara trembled as the grimy machin-ery hulking above her shuddered, a splash of black fluid pelting her high on the forehead.

The bear reached through the jagged opening where there had been a window seconds before and took a swipe at the hapless occupant, its claws digging into the flesh on his shoulder and dragging across the bone beneath.

He wailed as he was thrust against the door, the knob that rolled down the window digging into his hip. Blood pulsed from the wound, soaking into his clothing and pouring down his arm. He finally found what he was looking for in the glove compartment with his other hand and withdrew a snub-nose pistol, thumbing the safety off.

“Help me,” a wheezing voice begged from some distant hiding place. “I’m dying over here.”“Oh no,” Sara whimpered, thinking of the fool

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who had lost his arm. “He’s still alive.”

“Please,” he moaned.

“Fucking bear,” the guy in the truck mut-tered, the parallel slashes on his shoul-der assailing him with grimy waves of unyielding pain.

The animal was staring into the opening, staring through him it seemed, but there was something in the way it looked at him that chilled him to his very core. It was at war with the world, this bear, and anything that lived was its enemy.

He took aim with the pistol and fired, striking the beast point-blank. The shot ricocheted off the animal’s skull with a whistle, exposing a streak of white skull that was soon painted red as blood trick-led from the ruptured flesh.

The vicious roar that followed was so hor-rifying that the armed man wet his pants and began to sob.

Sara could only scream.

“Oh shit, I’m gonna die, I know it,” the unseen voice uttered from somewhere nearby.

The guy with the gun threw his door open and clambered outside, taking aim at the furious bear again. Before he could fire the animal was moving and then he couldn’t get a bead on it, it was just too damn fast. How could it be so big and move like that? It wasn’t fair. He started shooting, but he was too late and his shots were too far behind.

Sara heard the bear snarling and then she heard a sickening crunch followed by an ear-piercing scream. The scream went on and on, stopping only when the poor boy drew in a breath. There was a massive thud as man and beast came crashing to the ground, and then a wet munching that could only be the feast of the predator, occasionally inter-rupted by a cry from its victim.

“Why is this happening to us? All we wanted was a fucking picture,” the voice in the distance whined. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sara eased toward the edge of the truck, scanning what she could see. To her far left, there was the gruesome dining that she didn’t want to see, the sounds of which now included horrid whimpers of anguish from the man being eaten. Across the way to her right, she could see a pair of tattered boots and the legs of the man wearing them, but a cluster of pine trees obscured the rest of him.

A few feet in front of the truck and only a few feet from where she was surveying the scene, the fishing poles and beers she had seen them holding before were lying on the ground. Farther away she

could see something else, something bur-gundy that she recognized as a camera covered in blood only after a moment of intense scrutiny.

When the film was developed, the pic-tures would reveal a jovial drunken fish-ing trip that ended in tragedy. The last photos taken were a series of shots of the bear, each closer than the one before, the final image clearly depicting the guy in the cap prodding the bear with a stick.

Sara didn’t know what else to do, so she approached the situation she was presented with as a competition. She knew her opponent and she knew her objective—to get out of this alive—so all she lacked was a plan of action. What could she do? The guy in the truck had never cranked it. Was that because his friend had the keys, or had he been so out of it that he had only seen the vehicle as a refuge and had never considered it as a means of escape? Was she safe where she was? Should she try and help the one who had lost his arm?

There were no answers, only fear. For a moment, her body grew cold and the sweet comfort of madness beckoned. She could slip away right now and forget it all, even the horror she was currently mired in, or so it seemed. She could feel such

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a fate calling to her, whispering sweet promises of nothing into her ear, and after all, wasn’t nothing better than this madness?

No. She couldn’t do that.She wouldn’t do that.

“No,” she sobbed, her agony given voice joining the steady stream of misery com-ing from the man whose innards were being devoured as he watched.

“Oh, please, please, please, just stop, please God, make it stop. Make it stop,” the mangled victim sobbed as the bear continued to rake his insides with its gore soaked muzzle. There wasn’t as much pain as his blood drained into the ground beneath and shock set in, but there was a horrible understanding of what had transpired and what was yet to come. The bear tore away a lengthy strip of his small intestines and he began to cry, resuming his pleas for mercy that would go unanswered.

“Please, somebody’s got to help me,” the man concealed by the pine trees cried.

“Shut up,” Sara hissed, suddenly over-come by anger. “It’s only leaving you alone because it thinks you’re dead. Can’t you see your friend’s in worse shape than you?”

“Yes,” the unseen voice trembled. “I’m scared. I’m bleeding so much, I’m gonna die, I’m sure of it.”“Did you put on a tourniquet?”“A what?”

These guys really were idiots. “Take a piece of your clothing and tie it off above your wound. Just tie it in a knot and it will stop the bleeding. Do it quickly.”“Okay,” he said feebly. “How do I get a piece of cloth? I mean, how big a piece should I-““Shut up! It doesn’t matter, just tie that fucker off and be quiet or you’ll get us both killed.”

The bear had yet to relent in its feeding and the poor soul who had poked the massive animal with a stick had not stopped crying out, either.

Though she hated herself for it, she wanted noth-ing more at that instant than for him to shut up. She was hoping he would just hurry up and die, but she could only assume that he wanted the same thing. She felt herself sliding toward the break-ing point again and bit down on her tongue hard, forcing the dark thoughts away that wanted to entrance her. She had to find a way out of here.

She needed to know where those damn keys were, and there was only one way to find out. “Who has the keys,” she asked.

There was no response after a minute or so, so she repeated the question.

“I thought you didn’t want me to say anything,” the man protested, his voice strained.

It was all Sara could do to repress a roar of her own. “Just keep your voice down and tell me who has the keys.”“I do,” he answered.“Get them to me and I’ll go for help.”There was a lengthy pause as he thought it over. “Nope. You go, I go.”“Tell me how we’re supposed to manage that.”“You’re the one with the ideas,” he said curtly. Then he gasped. “Oh shit.”

She shifted her gaze and saw what he saw – the bear was done with his friend, who had finally fallen silent, permanently, and it had apparently heard them talking.

It was now approaching him with that same distant expression, as though it was totally unaware of what was happen-ing. And yet it was aware, it knew what it was doing on some level and it wasn’t stopping.

“Oh fuck,” he hissed. “What now?”

TO BE CONTINUED...

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RUMORS’ cheat sheet to this fall’s trends

Although brisk autumn weather may still be a few weeks away, many Richmonders are ready to trade in their f lip-flops for new fall apparel. It’s a brand new season, so update your wardrobe with a narrow silhouette, layered tops, and hints of plaid or herringbone. From military-inspired jackets to thick heels, this season is full of dramatic extremes.

Plaid:Plaid is the print of this season, and there are so many ways to wear it. Tar tan leg-gings, fitted jackets adorned with buttons, and silk blouses in color schemes of red and green plaid are the perfect match for the solid basics that were staples of your summer wardrobe.

Layers:Prepare for the cool weather with layers of knits in a palette of related colors. Add texture to your outfit with a layer of lace or tweed. An oversized belt will create an hourglass silhouette, and bows add a luxurious detail. Adorned necklines and cos-tume jewelry transition any outfit from daywear to par ty wear.

Shape:This season’s trends offer a few new feminine shapes that add flair and personality to an existing wardrobe. Ranging from full, blousy tops and lengthy tunics to slim leg-gings and pencil skir ts, dramatic shapes define fall’s silhouette. The trendiest pieces include voluptuous bubble skir ts, loose fitting trouser pants, and slim cut jackets.

Androgyny:Fall trends may find inspiration through menswear, but these slimly tailored jackets and skir ts are figure flattering when paired with a mix of feminine accessories. Opt for pinstripes, tweed, herringbone or plaid and add a soft touch with a ruffled shir t, a waist-cinching belt, and a clutch bag.

Casey Longyear

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Ken Howardphotography

Krystal Phillipsstylist

KC Ellis & Ariel Cantonmodels

KC, Ariel, Christian, Tony, Mom Dukes for always believing, Tupac,& Biggie Smalls, NAS, and all the soldiers keeping it real - one love 2oo7.special thanks

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DEEPWOOD SPORTSMAN,FRESH SCENT

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Lazio’s Lists: Features To Look For In A Downtown Condo

1. Rooftop Pool.

2. Exercise room mini-fridge always stocked with Sparks and PBR.

3. Extra soundproofing so random gunfire at night doesn’t disturb your sleep.

4. Is actually a multi-unit condo build-ing, and not just someone’s Fan duplex being sold as condos.

5. Great views of dilapidated buildings and empty storefronts.

6. Building has its own wi-fi network.

7. Close proximity to a presumed stop for the train/subway system that the city will surely build before global warming kills us all.

8. Half-pipe for skateboarding in the parking lot.

9. VCU has already contracted to buy your unit from you sometime in the next five years.

10. Don Harrison has yet to identify your prospective building as a sinkhole for taxpayer funds.

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