Sifter: The New Flying Squirrels Experience

Nutzy Unchained!

"The Sevens," my column for TV Jerry's new Sifter site, takes a look at how Richmond Flying Squirrels games might change if the new Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium and slavery museum gets built.

Read it right here: http://www.tvjerry.com/the-sevens/

Virginia Living: The Norfolk Sound

Presented for your approval, my new overview feature on "The Norfolk Sound" in the Nov.-Dec. edition of Virginia Living Magazine. 

It begins:

There was once a building at 408 W. Princess Anne Road in Norfolk, purchased in 1959 by a record store owner named Frank Guida who used the space to record the works of local singers and musicians, such as Gary U.S. Bonds, Gene Barge and Jimmy Soul. Numerous hits were cut here during the early ’60s, including Bonds’ raucous “New Orleans” and “Quarter to Three,” and Soul’s exotic calypso rock ‘n’ roll tunes, “If You Wanna Be Happy” and “Twisting Matilda.”

This is the spot where the Norfolk Sound was born, the rambunctious party rock that influenced generations of musicians, among them the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead and the New York Dolls.

Read the rest of the article by clicking right here.

With input from yours truly, VL has also put together a cool online slideshow featuring key "Norfolk Sound" hits and rarities on the Legrand and SPQR labels, as well as prime slices of '60's soul from the Shiptown label, which was started by Norfolk businessman Noah Biggs and singer Ida Sands. There is also a link to the new documentary produced by the Virginia Foundation For the Humanities on Hampton Roads bandleader, Charlie McClendon. 

Go here to see all of that.

The feature article is a complimentary piece to the article I wrote for the magazine years ago on legendary saxophonist and bandleader, Gene "Daddy 'G'" Barge. 

You can find that right here.

Hopefully, all of this coverage will make you want to seek out and listen to all of the great R&B and soul music produced in the Norfolk area in the '60s and '70s. (Photo of Gary US Bonds, with his signature curl.)

Coastal Virginia Magazine: Reading the Buildings

My feature article for Coastal Virginia Magazine on a new book, "The Chesapeake House," published by UNC Press, tells about the ongoing research into early American architecture by Colonial Williamsburg Foundation historians.

Fascinating stuff (or at least I hope you think so). It begins:

Carl Lounsbury is used to letting folks down gently.

“Their buildings are often not as old as people think they are,” Lounsbury, senior architectural historian at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, says about people who send the museum photographs of their houses. “We urge them to do it because you never know what’s around the bend,” he says. “But it can be disappointing to them. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to give the bad news: ‘No, George Washington did not live in your house or stay there.’”

The College of William & Mary history professor and his accompanying team of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation historians are so seasoned and battle-tested that not only can they tell you whether Ol’ George stayed in your crib but also the likely room where he ate his supper.

The piece can be found in Coastal Virginia's Nov.-Dec. edition, which is the first issue since its name-change  from Hampton Roads Magazine.

The issue is on the shelves now, wherever fine magazines are sold. You can also read it by clicking right here.

(Photo: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

Virginia Living: The Big Picture... online!

Honk your horns with glee!  

Virginia Living Magazine has posted my cover feature on Virginia's surviving drive-in theaters.

The story begins:

A short row of cars is lined up at the entrance to Hull’s Drive-In Theatre, which sits just off Route 11 in Lexington, not far from a fireworks vendor and a truck stop. The warm late-April Sunday is turning brisk as the sun lowers and longtime Hull’s ticket taker Sam Newcomer stands outside the rickety ticket booth nursing a cough. 

“Fridays and Saturdays are busier. Sundays are usually the slow night,” he tells me after he collects $7 for admission from a man and his Shih Tzu in a late model truck.

The sounds of “At The Hop” are echoing off the mostly empty drive-in movie lot, and the smell of popcorn is in the air. Hull’s opened in 1950 as the Lee Drive-In Theatre and, unlike many open-air cinemas constructed during that time, is still doing business today. When longtime owner Sebert W. Hull passed away 15 years ago, a group of Lexingtonians formed the Hull’s Angels and rallied to save it, boxy metal speakers and all. Today, Hull’s is the only community-owned, nonprofit drive-in theater in the U.S.

 Click here to read "The Big Picture."

Photo by the mighty Cade Martin!

Hampton Roads Magazine: Sexuality in Service

My latest feature for Hampton Roads Magazine, "Sexuality in Service," takes a look at the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and the immediate after-effects of allowing gay soldiers to serve openly. It begins:

It was the lip lock felt ’round the world.

When the U.S.S. Oak Hill came home to Virginia Beach on Dec. 21, 2011 after a long deployment, Petty Officer 2nd class Marissa Gaeta kissed her girlfriend, Citlalic Snell, to commemorate the dock landing ship’s ceremonial first kiss. Gaeta, like many of the sailors on board, had purchased several $1 tickets in the Oak Hill’s raffle in order to compete for the opportunity.

The act was much publicized and discussed. It was the first time in the naval homecoming tradition that a gay serviceperson had done the honors and embraced a person of the same sex. 

With no advance hoopla or protests—the ship’s commanding officer, David Bauer, called it a “non-event”—this simple gesture was seen as a symbol that President Barack Obama’s then-recent signing of a repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, a controversial initiative that asked gay soldiers to keep their sexuality hidden, was being accepted by a majority within the ranks.

You can find the article in HR's September issue. Or you can click here to read the rest of "Sexuality in Service."

 

The Washington Post: Now Showing at Drive-Ins

It looks like I'm the designated "drive-in guy" this Summer.

Take a gander at my Sunday feature in today's Washington Post. The article is about the Family Drive-In (near Winchester) and the state of the outdoor movie experience.

In a few hours, cars will roll into the Family Drive-In Theatre and settle into neat lines next to row upon row of waist-high speaker poles. For tonight at least, that is just as it was during the first show in 1956.

“These speakers and posts are getting harder to deal with because there’s only one manufacturer that still makes the parts,” says James Kopp, manager of the Stephens City, Va., theater. “It’s in Kansas City.”

Click here and read, "Now Showing..." 

And don't forget to read the sidebar, about the history of the drive-in.

Virginia Living: The Big Picture

"Let's All Go to the Movies!" 

Pick up the July/Aug. issue of Virginia Living Magazine and read "The Big Picture," my cover feature on the surviving drive-in theaters of Virginia. You'll also learn why many drive-ins across the country may go dark next year, even as the popularity of outdoor viewing would appear to be on the rise.

The article is not online but you should get the printed edition anyway as the VL art department did its usual superlative job in presenting the piece. Speaking of which, I'd like to extend a special thanks to the folks at the Goochland Drive-In for helping out with the special period-style photo shoot. For more on that, the fine folks at Virginia Living have a special slideshow available that showcases the many vintage autos that were used "on location." The photos are by the mighty Meredith West, who did an excellent job. Check that out right here! 

To whet your appetite for the article, listen to this Open Source RVA podcast and hear my interview with Goochland Drive-in owner John Heidel.

And, again, the management would like to thank you for replacing the speaker on the post before exiting the theater. You drove off with the dang thing last time and those poles are near-impossible to replace.