Sunday, October 28, 2012

Open Source RVA: October 26, 2012 Podcast

It's the spine-tingling HALLOWEEK edition of Open Source RVA!

This special, skin-crawling episode of WRIR's weekly audio news digest explores spiritualism and early ghost hunting with Sean Kane of the American Civil War Center at Tredegar. We also talk with chiller film expert Doc Gillespie and the James River Film Society's Jeff Roll about the art of the horror movie. And we speak with paranormal investigators Big Ray Rucker and KB Ballos of "Ghost Raps" about their attempts to document the ectoplasmic entities of Richmond.

Don't be frightened. Click here to listen to the Oct. 26, 2012 podcast of Open Source RVA.

Your ghoulish hosts are Chris Dovi, Don Harrison and Amy Daniel. Your devilish producers are Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. Your ethereal board op is Rachel Soloman.

Don't forget to join us every Friday at 4PM for Open Source RVA. You can locate the show by pointing the K2 meter to 97.3 FM or by logging on with an EMF detector at WRIR.org.

And here are links to previous episodes of OSRVA. You say you missed one? Now, that's scary.

Oct. 26 - Spiritualism, horror films, ghost hunting - the Halloweek installment
Oct. 19 - School expulsions, Yes! Dance Invitational and political fact-checking
Oct. 12 - Richmond Symphony contract dispute, mountaintop coal mining
Oct. 5 -   Regional cooperation, windowless apartments
Sept. 28 - Co-Housing, SOL scores, Richmond's musical history
Sept. 21 - Richmond Folk Festival, abortion clinics pt. 2
Sept. 14 - Abortion clinics pt. 1, open government, Mayoral candidate Michael Ryan

Friday, October 26, 2012

Style Weekly: Night Vision

When you've got ghosts.... who ya' gonna call?

It's only makes sense that, if Richmond is crawling with stories of spirits and poltergeists, the city would have its fair share of ghost hunters. Last year, I wrote a cover feature for Style Weekly, "Night Vision," that documented River City's many intrepid paranormal investigators. For the story, Style photographer Scott Elmquist and I accompanied the RIP / Ghost Raps group as they embarked on a nighttime investigation of Weston Plantation: 
BETTY WEBB'S HAD her hair pulled here in Weston Plantation. She's watched light bulbs flicker and heard phantoms cleaning the fireplace.
Once, the former Weston tour guide thought she was alone in the historic Hopewell house — until she heard someone walking in the front passageway. It was "almost like they were pacing," she says. "I remember turning around and holding my breath, and it was then that I felt something go right up my back."
Built in 1789, Weston is one of the last remaining plantation homes on the Appomattox River. Standing as dusk approaches on a pleasant Saturday evening, the stately white house has just played host to an afternoon wedding. But five minutes after the happy bride and groom drive away to new beginnings, dark clouds approach. The search for the dead now begins.

RIP's main spirit busters, Big Ray Rucker and Ken "KB" Ballos will be among our guests on today's special Halloween edition of "Open Source RVA" (hear it at 4PM on WRIR 97.3 and wrir.org). At the time of the feature article, Big Ray and KB could be heard on radio station WLEE, but the duo now host their weekly Friday night radio show, "Ghost Raps," on WHAN. For more on them, click here.

Insert spooky EVP here. (Photo by the mighty Elmquist)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Richmond Magazine: Cultural Shift at First Fridays

Some assignments are fun to write and some are a bit of a hard journey. 

My latest feature for Richmond Magazine was one of the latter examples. As a longtime follower of Richmond's popular First Fridays event, it pained me to have to chart the considerable political wranglings that are currently occurring behind the scenes at the once-a-month arts gathering. For various reasons, a lot of people wouldn't talk on the record for the piece, and a few of the key participants in the story didn't want to talk at all -- and I had to go back and forth with City Hall about its role (or non-role) in the maneuverings. It's a tangled mess, frankly.

The print version of the piece is merely an overview of the situation.  The expanded online version is now up and is the one to read if you want to know what's really going on. 

Is Richmond's most successful downtown rehab project about to change for the better? Or is this the end of First Fridays as we know it? The jury is still out. 


And I should thank Chad Anderson, the magazine's executive editor, for his above-and-beyond work on helping me keep up with all of the breaking news and sudden "shifts" in the story. (Photo by the mighty Ash Daniel).

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Open Source RVA: Oct. 19, 2012 Podcast

Another packed edition of WRIR's audio news digest, readymade for your ears.

The Oct. 19 episode of Your Show of Shows features a frank discussion about the disproportionate suspensions of African-American male students across the region with Henrico/Varina supervisor Tyrone Nelson, the ACLU's Kathy Greenier and Tichi Pinkney Epps, former president of the Richmond Council of PTAs. We also talk about the state of political fact-checking with University of Richmond professor Ernest McGowen and preview the 14th annual Yes! Dance Invitational with K Dance director Kaye Weinstein Gary (pictured) and K Dance board member Rebecca Jones.

Click here to hear the Oct. 19, 2012 podcast of Open Source RVA.

Your hosts are Chris Dovi, Don Harrison and Amy Daniel. Your producers are Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. Your board op in absentia is Rachel Soloman.

Don't forget to join us each and every Friday at 4PM for Open Source RVA. You can locate the show by pointing that radio dial to 97.3 FM or by logging on at WRIR.org.

And here is a complete list of our podcasts to date. Listen now because there may be a test later:

Oct. 19 - School expulsions, Yes! Dance Invitational and political fact-checking
Oct. 12 - Richmond Symphony contract dispute, mountaintop coal mining
Oct. 5 -    Regional cooperation, windowless apartments
Sept. 28 - Co-Housing, SOL scores, Richmond's musical history
Sept. 21 - Richmond Folk Festival, abortion clinics pt. 2
Sept. 14 - Abortion clinics pt. 1, open government, Mayoral candidate Michael Ryan

Richmond Magazine: Easy to Boo

Halloween is nearly upon us. But River City residents don't need some ritualized holiday to celebrate local ghosts and ectoplasmic entities. They live with us all year round, if you believe some folks.

In the October issue of Richmond Magazine, I provide a list of some of the Richmond area's so-called paranormal hotspots --  the Byrd Theatre, Henricus Historical Park, Belle Isle and more --  in an article entitled "Easy to Boo."
Click here to read "Easy to Boo."
And stay tuned to the Don blog for more local ghost adventures... if you dare.

(Cue maniacal laughter)

Friday, October 19, 2012

Open Source RVA Checks the Facts Behind Facts

On today's episode of Open Source RVA, we will take a look at the woeful state of political fact-checking (whether you are in the middle of a debate or not), and talk to a knowledgeable panel of guests about the social implications behind the Richmond region's school expulsion rates.

We'll also take you behind the scenes of the Yes! Dance Invitational, which is happening this weekend at the Firehouse Theatre, and chart Richmond's status as a "dance town."

We'd tell you about the rest but why spoil the surprise?

Your hosts are Chris Dovi, Don Harrison and Amy Daniel. Your producers are Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. Your board op in absentia is Rachel Solomon.

Won't you join us at 4PM? Tune the radio dial to WRIR 97.3 FM or check us out on the vast series of tubes at WRIR.org.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Open Source RVA: Oct. 12, 2012 Podcast

On this episode of Open Source RVA, you'll hear a symphony. Or, I should say, three members of the Richmond Symphony talking about money and labor issues.

The Oct. 12 episode features an exclusive interview with Molly Sharp, Mary Boodell and Richard Serpa, who serve on the Richmond Symphony musicians' negotiating committee. They talk with us about the ongoing contract dispute between the RSO players and the Richmond Symphony board and management. Also, we take a look at the environmental dangers of mountaintop coal removal with representatives of the Beehive Design Collective, who recently brought their program, "The True Cost of Coal," to Richmond.

Click here to listen to the Oct. 12, 2012 podcast of Open Source RVA.

Your hosts are Chris Dovi, Don Harrison and Amy Daniel. Your producers are Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. Your board op in absentia is Rachel Soloman.

Don't forget to join us each and every Friday at 4PM for Open Source RVA. You'll find Your Show of Shows by tuning the radio dial to 97.3 FM or by logging on at WRIR.org.

And here is a complete list of our podcasts to date. Tell a friend so they don't get left out:

Oct. 12 - Richmond Symphony contract dispute, mountaintop coal mining
Oct. 5 -    Regional cooperation, windowless apartments
Sept. 28 - Co-Housing, SOL scores, Richmond's musical history
Sept. 21 - Richmond Folk Festival, abortion clinics pt. 2
Sept. 14 - Abortion clinics pt. 1, open government, Mayoral candidate Michael Ryan

Friday, October 12, 2012

Richmond Folk Festival: It's Diatribe Time!

To Whom It May Concern:

I consider myself a pretty fair-minded guy. I don't normally go around looking to tell people how to live their lives or do their business -- unless it's my daughter and it's homework time. I'm told I can be pretty tenacious when I want to know something, or when I feel that some public figure is hiding something that they have a public obligation to reveal. As a journalist, I can be kind of weird about all that. But as a guy just walking around, living the life and shooting the shoot, I don't go looking to scold or foist my feelings on people willy-nilly. Maybe I did when I was much younger but not so much these days.

So it really pains me -- causes me heartbreak and makes me almost break out in a rash -- to have to tell certain people who attend the Richmond Folk Festival to please shut the fuck up.

Let me explain. Earlier tonight, I -- seated with a mass of first-night folk fest attendees -- found myself treated to a transcedental performance by the great Hector Del Curto Tango Quartet, a four-piece ensemble from Argentina led by the master bandoneon player Hector Del Curto. This exceptional quartet, augmented by an erotic and affecting tango dance duo, absolutely twisted my heart up with impassioned playing and exotic, intricate sounds that summoned up reservoirs of meaning and feeling. I nearly cried during some of their selections, and I'm not really the blubbery type.

Let me stop here and say that there are many great performers on tap for this year's installment of the folk festival, which has grown into the largest and most successful festival of its kind. There are so many wonderful acts that one simply can't catch them all, even with three days of trying. But if you intend on going to this year's installment, scheduled through Sunday, treat yourself to one of this group's performances -- you need to surrender to this music and allow it to take you over. And if you listen, really listen, it will happen. I guarantee it.

Let me put it in a more personal way: After being treated to this group's 45 minute set at the MWV Stage, I already began plotting the ways in which I would learn the bandoleon, the German-derived accordion that was handled in such a masterly way by bandleader Del Curto. It's an insane dream, I know, like saying that you intend to learn how to pilot fighter jets, practice brain surgery, or do the New York Times crossword puzzle with a pen. What folly! To think that you will ever play like this third-generation tango master plays is as futile a hope as wanting to learn to write like William Faulkner, box like Mike Tyson or dance like Michael Jackson. Del Curto displayed a virtuosity on his beautiful instrument that was as mind-boggling as it was soulful, and he made the whole thing seem so easy. Don't get me started on the rest of this band, who jelled in such a fragile and intricate way that they may as well have been miming to a recorded tape that took months to craft in a studio with Pro Tools.This was a performance that I will carry with me for some time, and the kind of experience that I always seem to have, once or twice, during the annual folk festival.

So why, during the show, was I fighting to actually HEAR this great music?

That's because the crowd on display insisted on jabbering, chit-chatting and blandly yakking its way through it - to the extent that the more subtle points of the sound were blurred and hard to hear. I'm not referring to the people who became lost in the music and had to express it -- the fans who found themselves whooping and clapping and interacting with the chord changes and stylish arrangements. Not at all. I certainly couldn't help but be vocal at times. I don't see how anyone could keep totally quiet when presented with art like this.

No, I'm referring to the people who used the occasion to foist their offhand chatter on the rest of us, and in tones as loud as possible, preventing their neighbors from actually hearing the music being presented.

I have no doubt that the experience that you had at Kroger earlier in the day, when you couldn't find those veal cutlets, is important to you. I'm sure it was. And your vocal opinion of Yankee skipper Joe Giraldi's managing skills is, for all I know, pressing enough that you needed to express it. Right now. And, yeah brah, it's a real shame that the beer vendor line was longer than your thirst could possibly bare. I have every confidence that, to you, the wait was an American tragedy.

But this is not the time nor the place to express any of those things in the way I heard them expressed tonight. And if you really think that it is, bless your heart, can you somehow find a way to whisper those concerns? The Lord above gave us the gift of voice but he also blessed us with a volume control. Try it out some time. Seriously, magpies, if you could please summon the ability to quietly share how much poundage your friend Edwina lost by using that Weight Watchers program, and maybe even do it after the show, those of us who are there to actually listen to the performers on display would greatly appreciate it.

This kind of thing seems to happen every year at the festival, unfortunately. And it's getting worse. As record crowds join in mass to attend this popular community gathering, it is inevitable that there will be more and more people who are there simply to see and be seen, to turn what is a stellar series of concerts into loud social club meetings with their pals. 

At the same time that I spew all of this, I don't want to downplay how happy it makes me to see all of you chatterers there.. It's a fantastic thing that you and your friends and family want to come down to the folk fest and experience this event, for free, but these are performers who may never pass this way again. And I, and many others, actually want to hear them.

If you must loudly talk about how unfair Aunt Brenda was to Uncle Ted at the wedding last week, or how you felt when Paul Ryan wouldn't explain at the debate how those Romney tax cuts would be administered, do it elsewhere... not in the music tents. There are plenty of places throughout the festival site where you can hold those  no-doubt-pressing conversations. There are many performers at the festival who play loud dance music which can mask your yips and your yaps, but there are just as many offering music that relies on contemplation, owes its power to subtle nuance -- like the Hector Del Curto Tango Quartet. And these loud conversations you are having about the bar you intend to frequent after the performance is over, or how you feel about Short Pump traffic snarls, are simply not as important to the rest of us as they are to you. And especially not here.

At the same time, don't misunderstand me. I don't want to be the kind of insufferable music snob who shushes people, like those anal-retentive presenters of classical or folk concerts who insist that all crowd involvment needs to be policed like it is a violent crime (I'm looking at you, Birchmere). I don't want to have to be the one giving you the death ray eye because you simply have to tell everyone in your party how much you enjoyed last week's episode of "Hawaii Five-O"... but we just aren't interested. Some of us are there to listen. To the performers. Not to you.

As much as I greatly enjoyed the music on display during tonight's memorable tango tutorial, I was alternately embarrassed for Richmond that so many of you were unable to turn your own personal gossip off for less than an hour to honor this great band with your full attention. Is it really that hard? And if it is, why are you here exactly?

This is a long and windy spiel, I know, but I've kept this sentiment bottled up for some time. And as a fan, as a music lover, as a member of the folk festival programming committee (who speaks for himself only), as a writer who has covered the festival from its earliest beginnings, let me say once again that it makes me proud that so many of you take the time to patronize this amazing event.

But, from the bottom of my heart to the pleasure centers inside my ear cavity, I have to ask you to show some decency, some real respect, some sense of genuine participation, and shut the fuck up.

Respectfully yours,

"That Guy"TM

Open Source RVA Charts the Dissonance

On today's episode of Open Source RVA, we will talk abut the environmental dangers of mountaintop coal removal with members of the Beehive Design Collective, a Maine-based activist collective who brought their acclaimed "True Cost of Coal" presentation to Richmond last week.

And we also present a wide-ranging discussion with Richmond Symphony musicians Molly Sharp, Mary Boodell and Richard Serpa about the long-simmering contract dispute that RSO musicians have been engaged in for months with the Richmond Symphony board and management. (For more on that, click here to read Drew McManus' coverage of the situation on his excellent orchestra business blog, "Adaptistration" and check out the RSO Musicians own blog right here).

Will the orchestra musicians be forced to strike? Tune in and find out.

That, and so much more, on WRIR's weekly audio news digest. Tune your radio to  97.3 FM or WRIR.org at 4 p.m. and get sourced!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Open Source RVA: Oct. 5, 2012 Podcast

Let there be more light!

The Oct. 5 episode of WRIR's weekly audio news digest includes a discussion about the state of regional cooperation, and a talk about Richmond's disturbing trend of building windowless apartments. And much more!

Click here to listen to the Oct. 5, 2012 podcast of Open Source RVA.

Your hosts are Don Harrison, Chris Dovi and Amy Daniel. Your producers are Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. Your board op in absentia is Rachel Soloman.

Don't forget to join us each and every Friday at 4PM for Open Source RVA. You'll find it by aiming the radio dial at 97.3 FM or by logging on at WRIR.org.

Miss an episode of Your Show of Shows?  Here is a complete list of our podcasts to date. Tell your neighbors:

Oct. 5 -    Regional cooperation, windowless apartments
Sept. 28 - Co-Housing, SOL scores, Richmond's musical history
Sept. 21 - Richmond Folk Festival, abortion clinics pt. 2
Sept. 14 - Abortion clinics pt. 1, open government, Mayoral candidate Michael Ryan

Friday, October 5, 2012

Open Source RVA Sheds Some Light!

Why can't we live together? And why can't we let the sunshine in?

On today's episode of Open Source RVA, join us for a discussion about regional cooperation with Bob Crum and Wendy Burtner-Owens of the Capital Region Collaborative.

We'll also have an illuminating talk about windowless apartments in Richmond with David Johannas of the Richmond Planning Commission and Style Weekly news editor Scott Bass.

That's 4PM today on WRIR 97.3 FM and WRIR.org. Be there. Aloha.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Open Source RVA: Sept. 28, 2012 Podcast

It's another super fine episode of WRIR's weekly news digest, jam-packed with information and entertainment.

On this episode of Open Source RVA, we present a frank discussion about Richmond's recently-released SOL scores with former school Board member Carol Wolf, talk about co-housing opportunites in Richmond with Cary Houseman and WRIR founder Chris Maxwell, and give you some insight into Richmond's formidable musical history with Gregg Kimball of the Library of Virginia, one of the planners and guides behind WRIR's Musical History Tour.

Click here to listen to the Sept. 28, 2012 broadcast of Open Source RVA.

And don't forget to join us each and every Friday at 4PM for Open Source RVA on WRIR 97.3 FM or WRIR.org. Your hosts are Chris Dovi, Amy Daniel and Don Harrison. The show is produced by Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. The board op is Rachel Soloman.

And if you need to catch up with "Open Source RVA,"  here is a complete list of our podcasts to date. Don't fall behind:

Sept. 28 - Co-Housing, SOL scores, Richmond's musical history
Sept. 21 - Richmond Folk Festival, abortion clinics pt. 2
Sept. 14 - Abortion clinics pt. 1, open government, Mayoral candidate Michael Ryan

Open Source RVA: Sept. 21, 2012 Podcast

Fundraising? More like... FUNraising.

On this episode of Open Source RVA, the OSRVA gang takes some time to raise money for WRIR 97.3 FM. We also present part two in our coverage of Virginia's new abortion clinic regulations by talking with Scott Price and Christine Daw of the Alliance for Progressive Values. We also take time out from the heavy stuff by having a roundtable discussion about the incredible entertainment slated for the forthcoming Richmond Folk Festival. And we've got the team to help us do it -- Stephen Lecky and Lisa Sims of Venture Richmond, Virginia Center for the Public Press board member Jim Wark and columnist, DJ and all-around renaissance man Chris Bopst (all of them Folk Festival programming committee members).

It should be noted that this is a "special" broadcast of Your Show of Shows. How special? This is the one podcast so jam-packed that we couldn't even fit in a show introduction. That's how dang special.

Your hosts are Chris Dovi, Amy Daniel and Don Harrison. The show is produced by Jay Westermann and Gabi Schatzi. The board op is Rachel Soloman.

Click here to listen to the Sept. 21, 2012 podcast of Open Source RVA.

And just because the big fund drive is officially over doesn't mean that you can't still give to WRIR. Toss us a Franklin and we'll give you a great looking WRIR 2012 fall fund drive t-shirt. Just call the station at (804) 649-9737 or go on line to donate at WRIR.org.

And if you need to catch up with "Open Source RVA,"  here is a complete list of our podcasts to date. Collect and trade:
 
Sept. 28 - Co-Housing, SOL scores, Richmond's musical history
Sept. 21 - Richmond Folk Festival, abortion clinics pt. 2
Sept. 14 - Abortion clinics pt. 1, open government, Mayoral candidate Michael Ryan

Monday, October 1, 2012

Virginia Living: Interview with Ralph Stanley

To commemorate his forthcoming appearance at the Richmond Folk Festival, Virginia Living Magazine has posted "Old-Time Man," my expansive 2008 cover interview with the legendary Ralph Stanley. The banjo master will perform Oct. 14 on the Virginia Folklife Stage, as part of the festival's tribute to Virginia's National Heritage Fellows.
The tourists are taken aback at the impromptu exhibit. They have braved twisting mountain roads to reach the far-southwest Virginia town of Clintwood this Tuesday in March in order to visit the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center, and there’s the man himself, leaning back in a white rocking chair in the Music Center’s front room. “I’m thinking about doing another recording and doing a lot of religious songs a cappella on it,” the longtime leader of the Clinch Mountain Boys says softly. He’s sporting a sharp, brown western suit and a neatly coifed hairstyle that was probably not acquired in Dickenson County.
Read "Old-Time Man" by clicking here. (Photo by the mighty Robb Scharetg.)

(... and for more on this year's Richmond Folk Festival, which starts Oct. 12, go here.)