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NO.16
The Scene: It’s 1942 WWII, Deep in the Vichy - controlled southern France, The Plaid Avenger struggles to take out a french Collaborator.
The only thing I hate worse than a Nazi, is a french collaborating Nazi!
THE STEALTHY SON OF SOUTHERN RHĂłNE: Gigondas
Sac Le BLue! Viva Vichy! Morte Le Plaid!
Now to beat a hasty retreat.
I think not Mon Ami!
10
Grapes Have Landed!
14
D efyi ng Gr av it y
ADIEU
ASSHOLE!
Pencil & Colors by: Klaus Shmidheiser
Ah! That was my first and most unforgettable introduction to Gigondas! It’s a city, a wine region, and a powerhouse wine, all in one! A stealthy son of the Southern Rhône, Gigondas is situated right under the rugged, rocky range of the Dentelles de Montmirail, a sign of the rustic, edgy flavor found in wines from the area‌but also still heavily influenced by the hot climate of the Mediterranean Sea area. Overshadowed by its well-recognized next door neighbor Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas is a much more moderately priced wine, but lacking nothing in the category of body, flavor, or power.
With just seconds to spare, the Plaid Avenger plummets to the french country side below...vaugly aiming for vineyards
P laid A venge r pa r at r oops into V ichy - e r a F r ance - Adventure awaits, but first, a glass. But drinkers beware: This wine is not for the feint of heart! Gigondas is known for its assertive power, not prestige and elegance. Hey, just like the Plaid Avenger himself! As with most southern RhĂ´ne wines, Gigondas is comprised mostly of the workhorse grape Grenache (usually 80%), Syrah and/or Mourvedre comprising the bulk of the remainder. And that recipe is a Rhone classic: Grenache, Syrah, & Mouvedre, making the acronym GSM, which you may have seen mimicked in California or Australia blends. Love the GSM!
But back to Gigondas greatness! Exclusively a red wine producer, their wines are ruby-red to dark purples in color, ripe fragrant aromas and flavors of plum, cassis, cherry and raspberry dark fruits‌. but wait; it also has funky ass hints of earth and leather and pepper and jerky‌.and chocolate too. Funk it up! Rich, robust, and spicy, full bodied and potent, and when well-crafted are complex and polished, Gigondas is a giga, giga, giga mouthful! Fantabulous with a sizzling steak or other hearty fare.
N
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$3.50
Featurin
warning:
this comic guage and contains adult adult themes. lan-
So if you are seeking a bold blast of RhĂ´ne ruggedness, but paying predominantly less than for a Pape, check out the gig in Gigondas.
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WWW.PLAIDAVENGER.COM
Inks by: Kelley Coleman
18
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1
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FIND OUT MORE
Arts and Culture Magazine May 2009 Issue #16
TM
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I C S CAN $4.50 NINJA www.plaSTAR idavenge DEC r.com
K C M oye r soa r s in the gymnasium and on stage . Touchdown in the RhĂ´ne valley...near the town of Gigondas. Time for a drink.
1 6 Blo c k s
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Landscapes in Solitude A P hoto meditation on B lac k sbu r g by N ight .
Mish Mish Art Mannequin contest winner, created by Gilbert Linkous Elementary School fifth-grader Melorie Jenkin Photo by David Franusich Page 16 - Daffodils Photo by Christina O’Connor Page 17 - 4/16 2nd Anniversary Photo by Courtney Myers
04 Norris Hall Update 04 Chatterblocks 06 Politics 08 Lost Virginia 13 Fork and Cork 21 Out of Town Gigs
23 Artist: Bill Connelly 24 Logos: Lydia 26 To Do List 30 Idle Minds 31 Support our Advertisers
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publisher’s note: The history of the personal camera goes back several decades. With the film camera, it peaked with the snapshot. You took a Polaroid and watched the images come into focus, or else you dropped your film off at the drugstore and picked up your prints in a day or so. You didn’t see those pictures unless you knew the photographer. A friend or relative placed the photos in your hand, or you glanced at them on the fridge, in an album, on the hallway bulletin board. The “everybody cameraâ€? works differently now. Go to a concert (or the Presidential Inauguration) and everyone’s hands are in the air‌ taking pictures. A digital camera or a cam-
Amy Splitt
Everybody’s Camera era phone plus the internet equals a world of photographs that are personal but also public. Here we are at the wedding. Here we are at the game. Here we are at the show. Here we are at the bar, drunk. Although everyone has a camera, not everyone is a shooter. Most pictures never see the light of day. Crappy shots from the old snapshot film camera end up in the drawer. 500 shots get dumped from the memory card. Throwing these things away can seem sad or wasteful, but really, do we need all those images out there? Or do we just want the good ones?
Editor
How does a photograph exist today? An image on a pixilated screen: the experience is disposable. It’s not the same thing as printing those photographs and exhibiting them in a gallery, hanging them on the wall, publishing them. Putting a picture up on the fridge is more of a personal commitment than looking at a slideshow on the web. So is the Ansel Adams poster on your roommate’s wall. Viewing a photograph is still a personal experience. A photograph engages us in another human being’s image of the world at a given moment. It becomes a more meaningful part of our world when we can connect with the image in print.
asplitt@gmail.com David Williams Webmaster
dtw@vt.edu
C O NTR I BUTO R S
Danny Phillips Illustrator Aerin Toler Illustrator Klaus Shmidheiser Illustrator Tuan Pham Photographer Al Fayez Photographer Pris Sears Features Writer John Boyer Wine Columnist Bill Connelly Featured Artist Chuck Ronco Chess Guru Christine Fay Graphic Designer Alyssa Peltier Graphic Designer Len Comaratta Guest Writer Courtney Myers Guest Photographer Wehttam Trauts Guest Writer
REDEDI CATE D : AN UPDATE ON NORRIS HALL The second floor of Norris Hall is open again for regular use. On one side of the hallway is a series of laboratory spaces for the Department of Engineering. The other side is the new home of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. The wing where the shootings took place in April 2007 has been completely remodeled. The doors into the building are new, made of heavy, glossy wood; the room numbers are different; even the walls enclosing the various spaces are new. Only the windows still look the same. Everything else has changed. The hallway is floored with dark and honey-colored woods and the walls are
What’s going on in the 16 Blocks? We want to hear what you have to say.
painted a warm buff color. There are wooden benches, soft lights hanging from the ceiling, and eye-catching signage. The most arresting architectural element is a series of floor-to-ceiling LED-lit frosted glass panels with the words “Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention” etched into them. The CPSVP has an open-plan office space, with space for an office manager, an IT manager, several graduate students and a new campus club, Students for Non-Violence. There is also an office for Dr. Jerzy Nowak, the
area…. We feel that there are other locations. We’ve been checking on the parking at Roanoke and Draper and it is full constantly, and we’re just so afraid that we’re going to lose 50% of our customers. 16B: Can you think of any other ways that the Town or the Friends of the Farmer’s Market could mitigate that impact on your business? SM: They could not make it a permanent location. I’ve heard that in Europe they do temporary Farmer’s Markets. Kind of like what they are doing now.
Local Businesses Speak Out on Farmer’s Market Renovations Recently, HUD allotted $500,000 in funding for the Town of Blacksburg to transform the lot at the corner of Draper Road and West Roanoke Street. Our correspondent checked in with some local merchants to ask for their thoughts on how the changes may affect their business. Susan Murphy of the UPS Store: They are taking away 22 parking spots for a permanent Farmer’s Market that is there for 12 hours a week and approximately 8 to 9 months a year. And along with that, on Farmer’S Market Day they will be taking the remaining 17 spots. Many of the farmers are not even local; they are from Floyd, even one from West Virginia, so we’re pulling money out from our town to support a group that really isn’t a majority from this
16B: Do you plan to mount an opposition at the April meeting of the Town Council about this issue? SM: Yes. I spoke at the January HUD advisory board, when they were voting to give them $500,000. That just blows my mind, spending a half a million dollars on a permanent Farmer’s Market at this time with finances being the way they are. We’ve had petitions out and we’ve been talking to locals and no one knows about this project. Nancy Willoughby of Fringe Benefit: They are going to build a permanent structure and it is going to be moved inwards, so there won’t be so many traffic issues with kids and with people spilling into the streets. And it will have a public park and a nice place for people to eat outside, which will also benefit restaurants downtown. It will be a safer environment and it will allow people to be out there and be comfortable in the rain or the bad weather. And it will be a nice green space. It will eliminate a few parking spaces, but we really don’t have a parking issue downtown because we have a garage and plenty
Director of the Center.
Next to the CPSVP office is the Global Technology Center. This is also an openplan room, with stateof-the-art videoconferencing equipment. There are three 60inch flat-panel screens on one wall, which can support two separate endpoints so that threeway videoconferences can be held. The furniture consists of 12 trapezoidal tables on wheels, which can be easily rearranged into clusters, circles, lines, or horseshoes depending on the events taking place.
of off-street parking besides that. It’s better for the community to have the farmer’s market. 16B: How do you think it will impact your business? NW: I think it will be good for my business. 16B: Do you think the construction process will impact your business negatively? NW: Sure, it will be a pain in the neck, but I’ve lived through the sidewalks being torn up and everything like that. It’s a small inconvenience for the greater good of the community. Margaret Breslau of Homebody: I think any time there is any kind of work being done in that parking lot, it’s offputting for any customer. They just don’t want the hassle coming here. A lot of my customers bike or walk, but nonetheless I’m a bit concerned about the loss of parking spaces in an area where parking is already at a premium. 16B: Do you have an opinion on the Federal Community Block Grant that is being used for the Farmer’s Market? MB: I support the Farmer’s Market and I think expansion is a great idea, but my concern is how long this is going to take and how it is going to impact the small independent businesses. Whenever there is a farmer’s market day as it is, that whole parking lot is taken up with the Farmer’s Market. We already do our share. Haregewin Bekele of Excellent Table Ethiopian Cuisine: It is not like I jumped right off the boat and started doing this, you know. I started doing
by Pris Sears There will never be classes in this space again. The new activities in this wing of Norris Hall will be student-centered, with rooms for research, studying, collaborating, and the pursuit of peace. Throughout April the University has held limited tours of the newly configured space: first for student survivors of the shootings, then for families of the victims, and finally for the general public. Now the second floor is open again, rededicated. [Ed: Pris Sears works in the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention.]
it door to door and my friends, mostly Ethiopians, told me I had to take this to the next level. …Then I got a call from Oasis and they said, “We heard that you are doing Injera and we want to order, and are you willing to do so?” I decided to bring it to the Farmer’s Market. And I had cooking sauce, Injera, and cooked meals prepared in one day. The next thing that happened was Harvest Moon in Floyd heard about me and wanted my product. And so it just boomed. And I am constantly working to get here. After I found the ideal kitchen, it took me six months to start this thing and it took about a year and half for people to start to hear about me. I just started! It’s a lot of work. But now it’s costing me the parking lot! I got enraged when I heard it. I was for it when I was told there is going to be a parking space, a sitting space, a tree; I thought this is such an ideal thing. But like they say, the devil is in the details. The more I found out, this is not a carpet rolling here, this is a digging ground, a changing pipes, and lights and I was like “Wait, wait, wait!” It took me six months to get this done, how long is it going to take you to get that done? So I figured it, I think it’s going to take a year. So I realize, this is going to go into the tube. All of my hard work. I have customers that no one else has and they keep telling me ‘we want you to stay, we don’t want you to go.’ They can never replace my customers. It’s so easy to say: ‘Okay, you shut your door for this long and we’ll compensate you.’ Wait a second, there are other Ethiopians that are looking for a place! Faith Capone of Capone’s Fine Jewelry: I don’t really think [eliminating
continued on page 27
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I S S U E 1 6 05
POLITICS
A Sati rical Corr es pond e nc e o n Susta i na b il it y
by Amy Splitt and Pris Sears illustration by Danny Phillips
16 Blocks’ editors present the following disturbing messages that were mysteriously received attached to the legs of pigeons. A cautionary tale on the excesses of sustainability.* September 1, 2020
I don’t know who will read this. I’m writing on this ancient typewriter, and attaching my messages to pigeons I’ve lured with crumbs of whole-wheat bread I save from my meals. I am perhaps the only person who dares speak out against the TaliBURG, a totalitarian regime bent on so-called “sustainability,” that has seized control of what was once a “special place” known as Blacksburg, Virginia. If you are reading this, you must send help! I suggest airlifting troops in to the area, as all roads leading in have been broken up and planted with sunflowers and soybean fields. I am approximately located at latitude and longitude 37.24°N 80.43°W. There is a barrier of rusting machinery ringing the entire area -- anything with a combustion engine that couldn’t be converted to bio-diesel. Be careful, the inhabitants are heavily armed with home-made bows and arrows, slings, bolos, and lariats.
October 12, 2020
My efforts have all been fruitless. As much as I tried to bring the nefariously biased local magazine’s libelous screeds to the attention of powerful out-of-towners, for some reason I have had no results. When big businesses are helpless against the reactionary whims of an organized (yet hopelessly misinformed) majority, then this country has truly spiraled into corruption. Currently trying to catch a bird big enough to carry copies of the magazine out. Perhaps a buzzard?
November 2, 2020
The only place here to get a burger is a restaurant at the border of Giles County. An evil vegetarian dynasty has taken over the heart of downtown, and they will only serve tofu, tempeh and the appropriately named “seitan.” The only meat on the burger restaurant’s menu comes from cows that the patrons must kill themselves. The cows are killed “humanely” by reading transcripts of Diane Rehm’s radio show to them until they lose the will to live.
November 14, 2020
My enemies are ruthless. They sit in the highest echelons of academia and local government. They will not rest until we are all riding recumbent bicycles to nowhere, because who the hell wants to pay top dollar for picked over organic produce and fair trade hemp attire? Must go to the compulsory voting this weekend. I may be the only sane person there, but I will do my duty!
*Because satire is the sincerest form of flattery.
06 1 6 B L O C K S
December 21, 2020
Ha! They thought they were rid of me, this time they exiled me halfway to Roanoke, but I made my own snowshoes from the skin of a roadkill deer and made it back. They’ve placed me in this farmhouse and given me a kitten. Damn them!
March 17, 2021
Have not been able to blog much. Exhausted from my five-hours-a-week forced labor in the community gardens.
April 5, 2021
The town seems to be preparing for something. Maybe there is going to be a liberation attempt! My blog has attracted the attention of the authorities! In other news, I dropped my wristwatch into the composting toilet. But that won’t stop the blog from going out!
May 2, 2021
Typing on the twice-recycled toilet paper that is all I am provided from the town co-op is a challenge, but the blog can’t be stopped. I’m too far out of town to connect my computer to the wireless service provided from the methane-filled blimp that hovers over Henderson lawn. They probably wouldn’t give me the password anyway; they fear the truth! This damned typewriter has KLeys that are sticKLing, I will have to take it to the town free repair shop. Communists! My KLingdom for a WalMart!
May 21, 2021
The hippies at the repair shop managed to fix the typewriter (and my wristwatch). A dreadlocked girl with the noxious moniker “Sunrise” was working there. I told her of my plight as a political prisoner of the TaliBURG and she seemed sympathetic. She actually invited me to the big summer street dance. I risk public persecution (they all know who I am) but I think I might go, if only to get more intelligence for the blog, of course.
The editors regret to say that no more blog entries have been received. We can only assume the author was indeed silenced for his political beliefs. A chilling glimpse into life under the brutal regime of the TaliBURG.
Read more of our political satire online at www.16blocksmagazine.com
I S S U E 1 6 07
H
ave you ever driven through Virginia and seen the remnants of small communities? The signs announcing arrival in a place where there are no visible signs of life? The old general store, once the center of a town, now closed or maybe used as a hay barn? The overgrown railroad tracks leading to nowhere? While some of these places have reinvented themselves, all have in common a lost industry or way of life. These losses have forever changed the place and the reason for the community’s development. The Lost Communities of Virginia project by the Community Design Assistance Center at Virginia Tech began with a curiosity about such places and a desire to learn more. We study their histories, interview long-time residents, and photograph buildings before they disappear. by Terri Fisher photographs by Kristen Sparenborg
08
Eggleston, Giles County
G
unpowder Springs, later called Eggleston Springs, became a popular spa in the early 1800s, with its sulphur water said to cure everything from skin diseases to old gunshot wounds. Eggleston Springs remained a popular resort until the early
Riner, Montgomery County
R
iner was known as Five Points in the early 1800’s because an intersection there connected the Christiansburg courthouse with those in Floyd, Franklin, and Pulaski Counties. Old church, bank, store, and hotel buildings can still be seen marking the intersection. Later named Auburn, the community became a stop for farmers driving their horses from Kentucky and Southwest Virginia to market in Danville. In 1922, Riner residents campaigned to have a hard-surfaced road pass through their community from Christiansburg to Floyd. The new route bypassed the original Five Points intersection, moving businesses to the new Route 8. Riner is still rural today, but farmland is being displaced by development and there is no longer a well-defined downtown.
1900’s when competing railroads on either side of the river made the site too noisy for relaxation. The railroads made Eggleston an important transportation hub with a thriving business district, until the 1950’s when automobiles and trucks became more affordable modes
of transport. Today, most of the business district is gone, but The Palisades Restaurant recently moved into the old store. This brings many new visitors to the old community.
Paint Bank, Craig County
I
t is said the Cherokee Indians used the red clay deposits on Potts Creek for pottery and war paint; and so Paint Bank got its name. In the early 1800’s, Paint Bank became a popular stop for travelers headed to the healing springs on the Virginia/ West Virginia border. Later, the Virginia Iron, Coal, and Coke Company built company houses, a store, and the Potts Valley Branch connecting to the main Norfolk & Western line at Ripplemead in Giles County. Their iron mining operation lasted less than 10 years, with lumbering lasting about 10 more before the railroad tracks were removed in 1933. Paint Bank reverted to a quiet agricultural community. Today visitors take scenic Route 311 from Salem to eat at the Swinging Bridge Restaurant in the old general store and stay at Depot Lodge in the former train depot.
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I S S U E 1 6 09
The Scene: It’s 1942 WWII, Deep in the Vichy - controlled southern France, The Plaid Avenger struggles to take out a french Collaborator.
The only thing I hate worse than a Nazi, is a french collaborating Nazi!
Sac Le BLue! Viva Vichy! Morte Le Plaid!
Now to beat a hasty retreat.
I think not Mon Ami!
With just seconds to spare, the Plaid Avenger plummets to the french country side below...vaugly aiming for vineyards
ADIEU
ASSHOLE!
Touchdown in the Rhône valley...near the town of Gigondas. Time for a drink.
Pencil & Colors by: Klaus Shmidheiser
Inks by: Kelley Coleman
10 1 6 B L O C K S
THE STEALTHY SON OF SOUTHERN RHóNE: Gigondas Ah! That was my first and most unforgettable introduction to Gigondas! It’s a city, a wine region, and a powerhouse wine, all in one! A stealthy son of the Southern Rhône, Gigondas is situated right under the rugged, rocky range of the Dentelles de Montmirail, a sign of the rustic, edgy flavor found in wines from the area‌but also still heavily influenced by the hot climate of the Mediterranean Sea area. Overshadowed by its well-recognized next door neighbor Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas is a much more moderately priced wine, but lacking nothing in the category of body, flavor, or power. But drinkers beware: This wine is not for the feint of heart! Gigondas is known for its assertive power, not prestige and elegance. Hey, just like the Plaid Avenger himself! As with most southern Rhône wines, Gigondas is comprised mostly of the workhorse grape Grenache (usually 80%), Syrah and/or Mourvedre comprising the bulk of the remainder. And that recipe is a Rhone classic: Grenache, Syrah, & Mouvedre, making the acronym GSM, which you may have seen mimicked in California or Australia blends. Love the GSM! But back to Gigondas greatness! Exclusively a red wine producer, their wines are ruby-red to dark purples in color, ripe fragrant aromas and flavors of plum, cassis, cherry and raspberry dark fruits‌. but wait; it also has funky ass hints of earth and leather and pepper and jerky‌.and chocolate too. Funk it up! Rich, robust, and spicy, full bodied and potent, and when well-crafted are complex and polished, Gigondas is a giga, giga, giga mouthful! Fantabulous with a sizzling steak or other hearty fare.
TM
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WWW.PLAIDAVENGER.COM
I S S U E 1 6 11
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BLACKSBURG by Amy Splitt
A Spring Celebration at First & Main
On
May 2 from 11 AM to 6 PM, the new shopping center at First and Main hosts a new celebration of early spring. The Blacksburg Fork and Cork festival blends the great tastes that locals crave: creative cuisine, Virginia wine, and the pleasures of music and visual art. Fork and Cork was created and planned by the Blacksburg Partnership, a non-profit organization founded in July 2003 to stimulate local business development and help the Town grow along with the University while maintaining its unique identity. The Partnership’s Board of Directors includes well-known names from Virginia Tech, the Downtown Merchants, local government, and other town businesses. Their most visible fundraising project was Gobble de Art. Yes, this is where the giant Hokie Bird statues came from. Sales of the sculptures, each decorated by a local artist, raised money that the Partnership reinvested townwide. At this time the Partnership is using some of its funds to grant loans to downtown businesses, a welcome move while the economy is in a state of upheaval and downtown needs a boost. In creating Fork and Cork, the Partnership’s vision went a step beyond simple fundraising. Blacksburg Partnership President Diane Akers says, “We wanted to create a high quality signature event” that would bring locals together and also draw visitors to Blacksburg. To
out-of-towners, Blacksburg is known mainly for sports. This cultural event brings out more of what the Town and the surrounding area have to offer. The choice of site has caused a little bit of controversy: “Why isn’t it downtown?” “What about parking?” Although parking was more scarce at the the First and Main location when it first opened, now it does have ample parking on site. Overflow parking is available across the street by the VT Surplus warehouse.
The shopping center also provides an outdoor location that doesn’t require streets to be closed down. And we can still look forward to the downtown festivals we do have already. The event is rain or shine. Admission to the art, food and music pavilions is free. Musical performances start off with Cheryl Lunsford, whose tunes pair bold cabaret-style vocals with her knockdown fast flat-picking guitar style. She’ll be followed by Jazz pianist Lenny Marcus with the Water Drops band; and the Porch Loungers will keep the energy going under the late afternoon (we hope) sun, to shake off the wine buzz and send everyone home dancing. Two dozen booths will showcase artwork and fine crafts. The art for sale will be quite diverse,
and none of it is mass-produced. The whole gamut is there to browse through: paintings, sculpture, ceramics, woodwork, homemade soaps, jewelry, and one-of-a kind toys. Keep a lookout for a few of the students from the VT School of Visual Arts program, some of them going pro for the first time. The Partnership waived the vendors’ fee for students to encourage their participation. Vendors from the First and Main restaurants will sell refreshments, but the highlight should be the cooking demos by Blue Ridge Mountain Catering, The Fresh Palate, Preston’s at the Inn (their lately-lauded Executive Chef will be doing the honors) Gourmet Pantry, and Foodies of Roanoke, as well as Ila Rye, a local independent caterer. Akers is especially pleased with the inclusion of these live cooking presentations, saying, “Normally wine festivals don’t have that opportunity to pair wineries with chefs.” For a small, first-time event, the number of wineries involved is impressive: fourteen of them, some from as close by as Fincastle and Smith Mountain Lake, and of course probably the most famous, Chateau Morrisette. One advantage of holding a festival like this in town is that patrons won’t have to schlep miles away; instead they’ll get to enjoy a virtual tour of Southwest Virginia vintages close to home. Tickets to the wine-tasting pavilion cost $18 at the gate, $15 if you call ahead. With 14 wineries, it should be worth the price to indulge. But even if the wine goes to your head, you might want to keep your wits about you in anticipation of a visit from our Sauterne-sipping superspy friend, Plaid Avenger! He knows his wine, and there could be a pop quiz.
Get more info about Fork and Cork online at www.16blocksmagazine.com
13
by Hart Fowler photos by David Franusich
The
floor of a gymnastics studio is soft, springy and full of reverberation. It feels like a near-miss by a stampede when the prancing herd of about a dozen adolescent girls in dance costume flurry past towards the water fountain before their next routine. KC Moyer stands past the performing floor towards the back with the members of his team, the older team which goes on last. He is helping one young athlete limber up. One of her long and shapely legs is planted on the ground, the other up on his shoulder, her thigh muscles flexed as Moyer supports her in the stretch. “This is a change of venue, and one of my other homes,” says Moyer. Another home perhaps would be The Lodge, a group house where he practices with local band All Kinds of Gravity a couple of times a week. The other venues would be The Lantern, Champ’s, Awful Arthur’s, Attitude’s, and, years ago, the old Baylee’s. If there’s a stage within a hundred miles that holds regular rock shows, then KC’s strong, gospel-influenced croon and animated stage presence has graced it, either with All Kinds of Gravity, or an old local favorite, True Sound. His warm-up pants off, Moyer jumps up and down a few times and rolls his
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wrists around, the standard motions of the athlete before go-time. His team takes the floor in a spread-out formation, with KC and 5 other guys holding up the rear. They’re still for a moment, then the dance tune rattles from the speakers and they go. Three minutes of tumbles, holds, dances, passes and pyramids; the routine is a thundering amalgamation of dance and gymnastics, cheerleading and the circus. . Oohs and aaahs from the audience punctuate the big moves mostly executed by the men. It seems fitting that Moyer’s current band is named All Kinds of Gravity midway through his team’s routine when the first spotlighted tumbling passes occur. In tumbling, the gymnast builds up energy from a short sprint and transfers the momentum into a series of vaults, twisting or flipping in the air, a flying display ending in a (hopefully) firm landing. “On my tumbling pass, I did a round-off Arabian step out round off x out full,” KC said, winded after the routine. “I was supposed to do x out full, but I didn’t hold the full.” For KC, this is the evolution of a childhood spent trying to get airborne. He was inspired by “watching kung-fu movies. We were like 12 and me and my brother would take the mattresses off
the bed and put them on the floor and try to do what I saw in the movies.” “I’d also put my foot on a stump and then flip off of it. I don’t need a stump anymore,” he said, even though he still really enjoys flipping off of walls. He completed his first back flip at 13 and his next goal is to complete a double back and a double front which means two complete rotations in the air. The fear of being eight feet off of the ground, inverted, the forces of gravity ready to slam him down wherever he may be in rotation, bears similarity to the pressures of performing on stage. “When I first started performing, I used to get the butterflies big time. Now that I do this, it’s kind of like adrenalin, and you actually get to be in the air and rotate. You get a little bit of a rush from that, and that’s cool.” If KC Moyer can take you up to that higher place with a vocal run or a chorus at the rock show, maybe it’s because a few hours before, he was testing the limits of gravity above the springy blue mats, vaulting like Bruce Lee into the great up, up, and away.
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HEAT&HAMMER A Sunday afternoon with Eric Collins, Blacksmith a photo essay by Al Fayez
I’m
holding the chisel, he’s hitting it with the sledge hammer. He guides my hand to where he wants it on the leaf shape, and he starts banging on the metal with the sledge hammer. He’s still saying, “Wait and see.”
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The forge looks like a charcoal grill, except it has an attachment like a mechanical fan. You cannot see the fan part, enclosed; the output is covered and it feeds directly under the forge. Because of the air-flow by the fan, he can reach the forced temperatures of 900-1100 Fahrenheit that are required to soften steel.
He takes a steel rod and heats it, and makes it into a chisel. After that he takes another steel rod and heats it. Then he flattens it out into a leaf-like shape. Then he turns it like this and it becomes a shandle. He starts heating it up again. He takes two wrenches and then twists them in different directions. To maintain the texture he found a firewoodsized log in the backyard, and he uses it to bang on the metal again with less impact and more touch. When the handle is quenched (this is the process of hardening the steel in water), Eric says, “Feel how hard it is. When you are done with a part, you quench it. When you’re not done with a part you keep it hot so you can continue annealing it.” Annealing is the process of treating a metal with heat to alter and refine its structure. I love wide angles, and being close to my subject. 1000 degrees is extremely hot, though, and towards the end I was very worried that I was pushing the thermal limits of my Nikon To get as close as possible without interfering with the fire and the banging of hammers, there was a limit where I had to be careful not to throw him off or else I’d risk damage to the camera.
My full name, Almohanad translates in Arabic to “The Sword made out of Indian Ore.” I always knew that Indian ore was special, and one of my first questions for Eric was, “Why is Indian ore special?”
These photographs are from my new series, “Faceless,” in which you can’t see any of the faces. It’s portraits of people in their environment. You can’t see the people, but you can relate them to the environment.
He tells me that in the old days, Indian ore had the highest carbon content that made their swords stay sharp longer.
“Faceless” will be in Bollo’s this summer.
He rotates the metal shape to the inside. “What are you doing?” I ask. “I don’t know what I’m making. What do you think we should make?” Without hesitation: “A sword!”
See more of Al Fayez’s photos online at www.16blocksmagazine.com
Night
a photo essay by Tuan Pham
B
eing a photographer, I tend to have a different way of seeing things. Most of the time they are parallel to what I see with my eyes. With the camera I can also see what I don’t usually see with my eyes. There’s an overlap there. Landscapes Come to Life Wandering through Blacksburg at night, each spot tended to register in my mind. When I came back with a camera, I tried to capture what I had seen before. The special thing about night is that when you stay there and stand still, things seem to move around you, but the architecture stays there just to absorb the light. The light really accentuates the shape of the buildings. The night light brings out the different life of the landscape itself. Something that we don’t usually see during the day.
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It’s the beauty of landscapes that I try to capture all by themselves without the distraction of humans, even though they are created by humans. I came to these places on many nights, and some seemed to look better on one occasion than the others. Like downtown is on a rainy day, or the Plantation Road is on a foggy day, and the path next to Armory is on a foggy day. Midnight and later is the time when the landscape is not disturbed by people’s activities. The strength of the landscape, even though it’s masked by the beauty, you can see both when they are undisturbed. For the shots I really planned on, I brought the tripod with me, but sometimes the best shots are just spontaneous. One of those is the picture of the alley. I just happened to have the cam-
era on my bike when I was riding home. The best things that I see, they are usually unplanned.
can use that leverage to put it on top and make it better. Like coming from ice skating to hockey.
It’s the cool air, the calmness, and the serenity that I get from being on the move. And yet I can still see beautiful things passing by.
Synthesis I’ve been around these places many times. The setting and the mood gradually crystallized into what I wanted to see. I can visualize a picture that I want to make. So when I come back, I use that information combined with what I see in the field.
Light Coming from a film background, I learn ed a lot of how to deal with light at night and the uses of lens and exposure control to achieve what I want to see or want to capture. Coming to this digital age I carry on that knowledge and utilize the technology on top of that. You have something old school, and now you have the new thing, and you
It’s a synthesis of the thesis, and the antithesis then is what I see to produce this synthesis of what you see now. That’s how I do photography. After seeing the results, I always try to improve. It can always be better.
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CERITANO’S BRINGING BLACKSBURG A PIECE OF ITALY
Tina Ceritano uses La Chitarra, the pasta guitar, that originated in her home region of Abruzzo, Italy, to cut fresh pasta for Ceritano’s linguini and spaghetti dishes. “When you cut it like this, the edge stays rough and it holds the sauce better. It’s tastier,” says Nino Ceritano.
LUNCH BUFFET
11:30AM-2:30PM Spring Mix Salad Baked Salmon Stuffed Shells Pasta Boscaiola Spaghetti Meatballs Chicken Parmigiana Brick-Oven Pizza All for $7.95
LUNCH Special
Pepperoni Pizza for $5.95 Gelato Coming Soon
CONTACT
Phone: 443-9135 428 North Main St. Blacksburg, VA 24060
Hours
Mon-Wed 11-9 Thurs-Friday 11-10 Sat 12-10 . Sun 12-4
www.tinagourmet.com
Why is Ceritano’s considered by many to be the best Italian restaurant in the area? Possibly because Ceritano’s offers the best brick-oven pizza in the New River Valley or because all of the pasta here at Ceritano’s is handmade like in authentic Italian restaurants. The only other way to get a more realistic Italian experience is to buy a plane ticket. You will only find satisfaction when you come to Ceritano’s.
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Humans. Nature. Human nature. As an artist and a person, these are my interests and influences [as well as alliteration and the obvious pun]. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, a city known for its bridges, I strive to bridge the gaps of my interaction within those three subjects. Coincidentally, I also hope to bridge the gaps of several styles and movements which have emerged through the study of human nature and artistic expression. Abstract Expressionism. Pop Surrealism. Street Art. New Brow. With continual stimuli within those three subjects, experience allows that most encounters rarely originate from a bleached canvas. By embracing raw materials and found objects in my exploration, my illustrations and sculpture investigate the internal and external forces at hand. My personal relationships. My relationships with my environments. My relationship with my own growing psyche. With an eye for the simplicity and vagueness in life, I try to reiterate my reactions by employing the directness of line, form, and color. Welcoming all of the simple and vague interpretations that each and every one of my viewers, and their experiences, can lend. My materials have their own histories, much like we as people do. Just When You Thought It Was Safe 18’’ x 11’’ Hold On To What You’ve Got 49’’ x 17’
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LOGOS speech. word. reason.
short fiction by Wehttam Trauts
The
boat chugged.
Lydia looked back at the dock and wondered for a moment if her parents would notice she was gone. Probably not. Probably she would be out on the boat all day and return to exactly the same calm, stifling stasis she had left. “The curse of consciousness is boredom,” she’d thought to herself as she lay in bed earlier that morning. And so she had gone out to the front porch of the family’s thousand-dollar-a-night beach house, where she watched a slug slither across a leaf. The slug paused when it reached the tip, as if to examine the trail it had left behind. It was having a productive morning. Lydia could not speak so well of her family vacation. Even more than most fifteen year old girls, she considered spending time with her family to be much like the kind of hell reserved for Nazis, rapists, and pedophiles. Life was not easy for Lydia. She was smart, a quality not held in high esteem
at Abraham Lincoln High School. While other girls learned how to give blowjobs without accidentally biting, Lydia read Kafka. She didn’t quite understand Kafka, but he made more sense than fellating football players. Not that she’d had many requests for those. Lydia was no classic beauty, perhaps because she disdained the effort. She had bad skin, baby fat around her middle, black greasy hair (to make matters worse, she didn’t wash it often), and affected a slumped posture which would probably give her back pain later in life. She didn’t care much about her lack of social standing at Lincoln. She had had a boyfriend once, in fifth grade, and wasn’t interested in trying it again. His name was Weegei Gefts and he had green teeth. She’d been intrigued by his strange name, but quickly lost interest after their first kiss. Now, in high school, she preferred to keep everyone at a healthy distance. Her physical appearance and penchant for cryptic, seemingly random musings tended to do the trick. Her math teacher asked
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her how she was doing once, and she replied, “Neither schwa nor small I.” He never spoke to her again. But her defenses met their match on family vacations. She could not cloister herself in her room, amongst her library books and the scraps of paper on which she furiously jotted. Family vacation meant Florida, Florida meant the beach, and the beach meant her mother and father would want to spend quality time together. In bathing suits. They’d been in Florida for three days now, and Lydia was beside herself with barely sublimated fury. She had cracked the night before, when her mother mentioned they might take a day trip to Disney World. “What do you think, Lydia? Wouldn’t that be fun? You can ride the rides, and we’ll go to Epcot!” Lydia glared out through her spectacles and split ends. “Every time I go over there I want to go SLIT/SLIT/BLEEEED. It’s fucking awful,” she said. She immediately regretted her profanity, which sent her mother into hysteric
convulsions and her father into a redfaced conniption. “You watch that mouth, young lady!” yelled her father, “I didn’t bring you out here to be subjected to your attitude!” Lydia had already committed to whatever punishment she would receive, so she decided to see it through. “You’re such a thigmophile, daddy,” she deadpanned. Her father wasn’t sure what she had just said, but figured it to be bad, so he sent her to her room and forbade her to leave the house for the rest of the trip. Normally, this would be a gift in Lydia’s estimation, but he gathered up her books and papers and thus bereft her of oxygen and sustenance. She sat in the corner of her empty room all night, contemplating life’s rich pageantry and plotting an escape. What was Tolstoy’s phrase? “…the tragedy of the bedroom...” It can’t last much longer, can it? Then she thought of the boat trip. If she snuck out early, her parents
would never notice. She tended to sleep until early afternoon anyway, so they wouldn’t realize she was gone before she returned. Boats took tourists around the marina all day. Lydia thought there was something of an idea of solitude about it, even if there were other people on the boat. She could look out on the wine-dark sea and imagine sharks devouring the chum of humanity. She could go out on the boat, and maybe stop by a bookshop on the way back. The boat was full of old people, but their numbers were challenged by a purgatory of college age kids advertising various 1980s pop culture artifacts on their t-shirts. They were obnoxious and offensive in the manner customary to their age. She heard one of the young men loudly waxing profound: “I bet the worst thing about being blind would be like when you’re fucking some chick and you think she’s all hot and stuff and you’re like, ‘Yeah, this slut is all kinds of hot’ but really she’s not. She’s super dogface ugly. And all your friends are laughing at you because you’re blind and didn’t know.” His friends laughed raucously while the old folks gave them wide berth.
“They pass to death’s liberty without feeling anything,” observed Lydia, and her thoughts turned to suicide. It gets no better. There is no relief. She thought of an article she had read about the depletion of fossil fuels. It took 10,000 years to reach a human population of one billion. Since that point, it’s only taken 100 years to reach six billion. Could it be that we are unable to learn from Easter Island? We’re made in the image of God. Lydia spat to remove a strand of hair the ocean breeze had blown into her mouth. “Hey hippie chick! What’s your name?” The question broke Lydia from her reverie. Elijah had left his prospect and was talking to her. She stared at him, nervous but not wanting to appear so. “What’s your name?” he repeated. “Brittany,” said Lydia. “Brittany,” said Elijah, “When I look at you I want to abuse myself.” He chortled and looked at his friends to make sure
they knew how funny he was.
Lydia decided his name was Elijah. He had to have the name of a prophet so that the tragedy of his existence would include an appropriate touch of irony. Elijah was a little shorter than average, with defined muscles carefully enhanced by his armless Lita Ford shirt, sandy blonde hair and a dopey sneer. His shoulders were tattooed with Chinese characters and poorly rendered tribal designs. He was a generational icon. The boat steadily increased its distance from the shore. Lydia watched out of the corner of her eye as Elijah attempted to charm a melon-breasted girl who looked as though it took every ounce of her brainpower to breathe. Lydia listened to their mating ritual.
“Hey, that’s great,” snarled Lydia. “Have you met my friend FuckOff? He’s over there. Really cool guy. Why don’t you go say hi?” She turned to stomp away but found her progress impeded by a gaggle of geriatrics watching pelicans dive for fish.
“…I want to know what you think about stuff,” said Elijah.
“If I wasn’t a Christian, Bob, I’d fuck you,” she heard a boy say while she hurried off. Lydia seethed with anger and embarrassment. She felt the sidelong glances of all the old people, the snide guffaws of the boys and their ridiculous girlfriends. “And this too shall pass,” she thought and tried to calm down. She strode to the boat’s aft and looked out over the water alone. She only wanted
“What do you want to know?” the girl cooed. “What you think about stuff.” “Oh, all kinds of things!”
The other boys laughed. One snorted and said to Elijah, “Bob, what the FUCK are you doing?” “Well, hippies got pussies too,” said Elijah. The Confucian wisdom of his reply made the group laugh even harder. Lydia felt her cheeks flush as she pushed her way to other end of the boat.
to be somewhere where she could hate everyone from a distance. School, family, the mall, vacations, it was all the same. There was no escaping other people, no solace, even in solitude. Maybe she could jump out of the boat and swim to a desert island and live there all alone, surviving on local herbs and fruits. No, she had no books to take and could not swim anyway. There was nothing. The world surrounded her. Lydia stifled tears. The daily degradations of school life didn’t bother her much, but for some reason this particular time, in this particular place, these particular boys got to her. She stood by the rail for quite some time, lost in suicidal daydreams. Suddenly the boat slowed, and Lydia looked back to the other passengers to see what was going on. They all had rushed to the side of the ship, and were looking and pointing at something in the water. Lydia’s curiosity pulled her, and she slid through the throng and
looked over the rail. Below her was an enormous manatee, gray, hulking and still. The old people Ooh’ed and Ah’d and Did you ever see something like that before’d. The manatee floated. “They’re so gentle and slow,” said some old woman. “Isn’t it cute?” “Little big to be cute,” said some old man who had probably married her. The manatee floated in calm splendor while the water languidly lapped its sides. The boys were whispering and snickering to one another. Suddenly Elijah (now known as “Bob”) broke from the group and yelled, “I’m gonna ride it! I’m gonna ride that manatee!” Before anyone could react, he climbed over the rail and leapt onto the manatee’s back, square in straddle position. Elijah plunged through the manatee’s back, which liquefied and allowed him no purchase. The manatee’s bloated flesh erupted in blended chunks of gray, red, yellow, green and purple. It must have been dead for weeks. The stench hit the boat in a spray of juices which previously carried life but were now the manatee’s revenge on the world which
had abandoned it. Lost for a moment in the manatee debris, Elijah surfaced and emitted a strangled yelp. He vomited with all his might in the ocean and then heaved, sucking in salt water and emulsified rot. He grasped at a floating bone but it dissolved at his touch. Someone in the boat’s crew managed to gaff him and drag him onto the boat. But then the effluviums wafting from the rotten manatee entered the noses and mouths of all the intrepid tourists, and the suffering began. First the melon breasted girl threw up, then her friend. The deck glistened with undigested fruit cup. One of the old people groaned and dribbled his own offering to the sun. Elijah, the bringer of pestilence, tried to stand, but he retched and his bile and nectar innards spewed forth, a rainbow choking the breeze. He collapsed to his hands and knees, puking and puking and puking. The sounds, the smells, and the heat of the day intermingled a n d encouraged the other passengers to form a chorus, a vomitous mass. In their shared humanity, they were one. Elijah struggled to raise his head between convulsions. Lydia looked at his tear-streaked face wracked in anguish. There was a brief moment of stillness, and he looked in her direction before another reddish stream gushed forth. Though the poison felled all those around her, Lydia felt revolted only by the wretched sight of the sick. Her nostrils were full of roses and lavender. She was displaced, the hub in a wheel of chaos. She surveyed the scene before her, and her revulsion subsided. She felt only pity. Lydia turned toward the sea, away from the cacophonous sickness. All over the boat humanity flopped in the primordial ooze of creation. Beneath her were the waters of life and death. Above her was the blue sky. The ocean wind blew gently through her hair and spoke a soft tickle in her ear. She heard nothing else. Lydia took off her glasses and slid them into her pocket. She stared into the distance where sky met sea, and gave herself over to the ebb and flow of universal woe.
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16 To Do List
We like art!
MUSIC Get your groove on! Thurs. 4/30 - Erik Akers / Septapus / What The People Want 10:30, Attitudes 900 Price’s Fork Rd, Bburg Tonight the line dancing is put aside for a night to allow for some rock and/ or roll. Erik Akers headlines the night singing the songs he wrote, Septapus is back from their homeworld Z’trop after 7 days off and What The People Want are planning on delivering on their name (unless it’s a pizza). -LC Sat. 5/2 - Soundfest Saves the Day 7PM-? Squires Commonwealth Ballroom, VT Campus Live music by local bands You, Me, and Everyone We Know; Dr. Manhattan; IN.A.ViATE; and Facepaint. $Free. Tues. 5/5, 5/12, 5/19, 5/26 Jazz Tuesday Nights 9PM, The Cellar Restaurant 302 N. Main St, Bburg A weekly tradition. Upstairs is nonsmoking. Show is free. Thurs. 5/7 - Adrienne Anemone 7PM, Gillie’s 153 College Ave, Bburg Weird magic from an operatic folk performance diva whose influences range from Julie Andrews to PJ Harvey. Carnival mermaid themes and bizarre noisemaking will ensue in a good oldfashioned soul medicine show. $Free. -AS Thurs. 5/7 - Freekbass 9:30-2AM, The Lantern Funk Bass God returns to Lantern. Can you dig it? $10 at the door, $8 ahead. Sat. 5/9 - Barn Dance 7-11PM, YMCA Thrift Store 1000 N. Main St, Bburg Music by the Wild Turkeys sets the mood for this country dance party. Don’t know how to dance? Let the caller lead you. Cash bar for liquid courage. Snacks served. Stags and Sadie Hawkins’s welcome. $10. -AS
ART
Sat. 5/9 - Trainwreck 10PM, Awful Arthur’s 213 Draper Rd, Bburg OK, at first I only could find one band called Trainwreck in my searches, and it is the latest ricockurock project by Kyle Gass of the very awesomely ricockulous Tenacious D. Further research revealed that this is not that band. However, if you enjoy Southern Rock-ish blues pyrotechnics, stop by anyway, because that is what you will get. Is that Freedom Rock? Why, yes, it is. Turn it up. -AS Mon. 5/11 - Eastern Boundary Quartet 7:30PM, Jefferson Center 541 Luck Ave, Roanoke Avant-garde jazz meets Hungarian ethno. Drummer Balazs Bagyi, saxophonist Mihaly Borbely of New York City bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Jefry Stevens (coleaders of the Fonda/Stevens Group). This is the quartet’s first US tour. Call 540-345-2550 for ticket info. -AS Sat. 5/16 - Hope Hop 9:30PM, The Lantern 211-B Draper Rd, Bburg Hope Hop has a new keyboardist, Aaron Noe who you might know from The Apatite who recently won second prize at last month’s Battle of the Burg. -HF Sun. 5/17 - Keepin the Light On Benefit 9:30PM, The Lantern The conception and delivery of a proper music venue is a roller coaster in the early stages, and oftentimes the epic sized shows and quality art being displayed doesn’t translate directly to the bottom line. Local bands are gathering to show their support for the Lantern nearing the celebration of their first year. Come for the bands, and come for the place that brought you Asylum Street Spankers, Larry Keel, Lotus, Perpetual Groove and some of the most happening local shows regularly. Escape the scores of graduating, graduated, and under-graduated masses celebrating that holiday known as the end of the academic school year by holing up in the cavernous confines of The Lantern. Safely underground below the sure-tobe shenanigans going on at street level when the sun goes down. And it’s a benefit. -HF
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Fri. 5/1-5/30 - Paintings by Jennifer Cox 10AM - Close, Perspective Gallery Squires Student Center, VT Campus Cy Twombly and Sally Mann, two of the world’s most respected modern artists, reside in Lexington, VA. So does Jennifer Cox, whose naturalist paintings are exhibited in Perspective Gallery for the month of May. -HF Fri. 5/8 -- Art By Night 5-9PM, Downtown Roanoke. Special late hours for over a dozen galleries. Look for the Shuttle limo. Call 540-342-2028 for more info and gallery addresses - or see 16 B’s Issue #15! Fri. 5/8 - Lauren Erickson Senior Show Opening 7-9PM, XYZ Gallery This artist recently took an award at the Progeny film festival. She also creates 2D and 3D art. Stop in and enjoy the opening reception.
Late Night Stage @ Gillie’s
Thurs Apr 23 7:00P| bluegrass duo
The House Floor
Fri Apr 24 9:30P| with guests Shapiro and Facepaint!
enue king V n-Smo
No
NOW thru 4/30 -- Art From All Angles Mish Mish, 125 N. Main St, Bburg Grad students from Radford U’s Fine Arts program display selections of their best work from this semester.
Chickenwings & Gravy
y Frida FREE etizers! pp ight A
N
Fri. 5/8 - Graffiti Art Exhibition & Afterparty 8-12PM, Ceritano’s Restaurant 428 N. Main St, Bburg Graffiti displayed in a legal place and as art, which is the way it should be viewed. 16 Blocks and Nino Ceritano have 12 local graffiti artists pieces up for display for this juried event with $1000 prize to the winner. A video documentary of the process involved in spraying these massive 10 by 20 foot pieces will also be shown. -HF
Patrick & Goorsky Sat Apr 25 7:00P | acoustic bluegrass
The Apatite Fri May 1 9:00P | local rock
Royal Pine
Sat May 2 7:00P | acoustic indie/folk
Adrienne Anemone
Thurs May 7 7:00P| experimental Brooklyn folk
Bourbon Shades
Fri May 8 9:00P | classic rock/blues
Later in May
Rum Runners | local acoustic Old Man Kelly | songs, stories and shanties $10 Sins | honky tonk/blues The Porch Loungers | jamgrass favorites visit us online: www.myspace.com/gilliesmusic 153 college street | downtown blacksburg | 540.961.2703
chatterblocks from page 4 some parking spaces] is going to negatively impact my business. People are creative with their parking when they come downtown, and they know that downtown has issues with parking and that they have to kind of deal with it. I think that the addition of the park factor and the addition of the availability of play space and gathering space might give us a little plus. 16B: So you think it could have a positive impact on your business? FC: I think it could be a positive impact, yes. I don’t know about my business, but I think as far as the downtown is concerned, I don’t necessarily see the farmer’s market impacting us for the positive or the negative. 16B: Do you think the Farmer’s Market could be somewhere else? FC: I feel that downtown is the heartbeat of a community. People who lose their downtown lose their center. So, the downtown needs that kind of support. 16B: Could you comment a little on the bigger picture of transportation issues in downtown? FC: I think that downtown should be aiming for foot traffic, bicycle traffic, and even scooters. Trying to encourage that sort of downtown over worrying about where we’re going to put
our big cars. Parking is only a small fraction of how downtown thrives. It thrives on people’s loyalty to downtown businesses and what they provide and their customer service. Anthony Harvey of Harvey’s Barbershop: One of the reasons I picked relocating over here is because of the parking. At first the Farmer’s Market didn’t really bother me, because at first it was really just over on this one side. But then slowly and surely they started tagging all the meters. So they were on one side and they started going on the other side. And then when my customers come past here, you know they can go five more blocks up the street to New Image and park. You see, this parking right here is lovely for them: I have older people. I’ve got people that can’t go a long ways, can’t go up and down steps. This is handicap accessible. When I moved [from beneath the Hokie House], this seemed more feasible. I get more people, I get the older crowd. A foot crowd…. But when they see this Farmer’s Market, then I have to do the explaining. Blacksburg needs businesses. That farmer’s market stuff, it can go anywhere. I need my barbershop. 16B: In brief, could you tell me as you understand it what changes are proposed to the Farmer’s Market? AH: There’s a lot of people out here that HUD could be helping other than
giving $500,000 for the Farmer’s Market. Right now, in this world, there’s too much other stuff that could be done with that. The way I look at it, if they really want to help them, then the Farmer’s Market person, or whoever is the head person, then they have to go do what we have to do: go and rent a building. That way they get right into that eco-chain with us…. I mean, if they are going to get $500,000, if you really want to be right here in this Farmer’s Market, help us. Help us, while you are helping yourself. 16B: Do you think you will participate in the town council meeting next month? AH: I’m not going to say I will, because you know I’m struggling, and for me to go down there, that means I have to miss out on business. I’m to the point where I don’t even care. Because they are going to do it, nothing’s going to stop them. They have too many people backing them. And not enough people are listening to these businesses right here. I can’t do anything about it, but I’m hoping Blacksburg is going to stand up and say, “Maybe he’s right on this,” and, “If we’re going to force this on him, we need to do some compensation for him. We’ve got to move him somewhere else and help him get right back where he was.” Here in Blacksburg, we’re building up all this stuff that is unnecessary and we’re taking all this stuff that’s been here and
just throwing it by the wayside. Now the big thing is this Farmer’s Market. For what? I don’t know. When you have this big Kroger coming in down here and you can go buy your food right down there. It’s not like Blacksburg needs a produce market. We’ve got Kroger. Lia DeOliveira of Lia Hairstyling: We don’t have a lot of parking over here, but mostly we have a lot of walking that comes from over at the campus. [But we have] a lot of older clientèle, like old ladies that can’t walk all over the place. 16B: Do you think the development could have a long-term positive impact on your business? LD: I think so, I don’t know how this is going to work, though. It’s probably not going to bother me. You see, I walk over here. I live walking distance. Or I catch the bus. I’m from Brazil, I make things easy for me. I don’t think its going to be a big deal, but we’ll see. 16B: Do you have any other comments? LD: I believe in development. Blacksburg can’t be the same for the rest of our lives. You just have to pray and see how it goes.
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THEATER and such It’s live! Fri. 5/1@8pm; Sun. 5/3@2:30pm Opera Roanoke Presents: Otello Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave, Roanoke Without the “H” it means opera. Otello” is an opera, written by Verdi, based on a libretto by Arrigo Boito, which itself was based upon the Shakespeare play “Othello”. Whew! Watch as a conqueror of Men, the fearless Moor, Othello is brought down by his own jealousies and the deception of his most trusted lieutenant. -LC Thurs. 4/30-Sat. 5/2 The Conversation About the Keys 7:30PM, 204 Performing Arts Building VT Campus Two companion plays that have the characters wax idiotic on the rules of relationships and modern romance from the chase to the loss. This play was written by Masters of Fine Arts candidate Alice Shen and directed by Patty Raun. -LC
Thurs. 5/21-Sun. 5/24 The Cemetery Club Fieldstone United Methodist Church, 3385 N. Franklin, Cburg (540-585-4295) New River Stage presents a gentle vintage comedy about 3 friends whose lives are changed and brought closer together by early widowhood in Queens, NY. Directed by Robert Smith. -AS 5/10@3pm Sisters of the Circle Fitzpatrick Hall, Jefferson Center Roanoke, VA SOTC is a performing arts group made up of young women, ages 14-18. The program helps provide arts mentorship and creative development to underserved women in Roanoke and the surrounding areas. This performance will feature dance, music, stories and skits, all based on the participants’ own experiences. -LC
Wed. 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 5/27... Weekly Comedy Club 9:30, Attitude’s 900 Price’s Fork Rd, Bburg Blacksburg’s only regular source of live standup. Host Anthony Quinn brings acts from around the US. Do you, too, believe that you are funny? Send an audition video. It couldn’t hurt. Much. -AS
New River Stage
MOM SAYS Put down the Wii and try some fresh air! Thurs. 4/30-Sat. 5/2 VT Horticulture Club’s annual Spring Plant Sale 8AM-6PM Hahn Horticulture Garden, SW Washington St, Blacksburg. Got a brown thumb? You can’t even keep a philodendron alive in your apartment? Don’t buy that sorry ass fertilizer -- anyone can garden, even in a window sill or on a balcony. Check out the plants for sale and when you see something you like, ask the Garden Club folks for advice. Chlorophyll is the new black. -AS Fri. 5/1-Sat. 5/2 - Annual Strawberry Festival 10:30AM-5:30 PM, Elmwood Park, 760 S. Jefferson St, Roanoke Mmm... strawberries... Sun. 5/10 – YMCA Spring Hike Meet at Blacksburg YMCA’s Lancaster House, 403 SW Washington St. Party leaves at 1:30! Work off brunch on this 4 mile hike along the War Spur loop out of town and back. The grande finale will be a quick drive to Wind Rock. Jaunt up the trail to the panoramic view popularized in local Sci-Fi classic, River of Dread. Bring your own water. Giant space-robot sightings not guaranteed. -AS
Sun.5/16-AmazingCountyTreasureHunt Noon-5PM, Garst Mill Park Roanoke County Call 540-387-6078 x251 for more info. Geocache party -- bring friends, a GPS, walking shoes, and your brain. -AS
Community Theatre in the New River Valley
presents
“The Cemetery Club” “funny, sweet-tempered, moving”
May 21-24, 2009 Fieldstone United Methodist Church 540.585.4295 www.newriverstage.org
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Spring Festivals Sat. 5/2 - Blacksburg’s First Annual Fork and Cork. See Article on page 13. Sat. 5/9 - Spring Forward Block Party Noon-8PM, Collegiate Square Shopping Center, Price’s Fork Rd, Bburg One week after the Fork and Cork celebration, the Collegiate Square development is holding their own spring throwdown -- ‘tis the season. Minus the wine tent and cooking demonstrations but plus some more local acts on their stage. Bitterhill, The Roscoe, Andy Hollander and recent Lantern Battle of the Burg champions All Kinds of Gravity are all original and unique and local, which is a relief from most street festivals that go for more mainstream or cover bands. There’s a juggler and pony rides and some of those big inflatable things that give kids extraordinary levels of bounce and fall. -HF Summer Festivals Plan ahead! Tickets sell out fast. July 4 and 5 is Floyd Fandango Beer & Wine Festival out at the Floydfest Site. This year Ye Olde Fandango joins forces with the popular Wine Along the Trail festival. This year Buckwheat Zydeco is playing, and so is BASSHOUND, so one can imagine it will be a party for all. Tickets are already on sale. $50/Adult gets you the weekend plus a campsite, or just pay $25 to stay for one day. Then on July 23-26, Americana Pop Festival Floydfest returns. 4 days of music and other groovy hippie stuff. Bring your sunscreen and your doumbek. Ticket prices rise as the date approaches, so if this is your thing, you know what to do. -AS
The Horticulture Club and
SEPTEMBER 3 - OCTOBER 10 "LA DANSE DE LA VIE" Sculptures and paintings by Jennifer Kaye Martin. Reception for the Artist: September 3, o rg a n S aye rs - “ Tu g of Wa r” 4 -M 6pm.
April 30 through May 2
APRIL 28 - MAY 2 SENIO R
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Greenhouse/Garden Complex Washington Street, VT Campus
SHOW
OCTOBER 21 - NOVEMBER 21 MARYANN HARMAN C as ey B a r to k - “ 2 S id e d ” New paintings by Maryann Harman. RecepSENIO R SHOW tion for the Artist: October 21, 4 - 6pm.
Trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, tropicals, herbs, veggie transplants
THANKSGIVING BREAK: NOVEMBER 22 DECEMBER 3
MAY 5 - MAY 9 C o u r t n ey Mye rs
…everything your garden desires!
DECEMBER 19n d Li fe” “ Li n3e- s,DECEMBER Le t t e rs a SENIOR SENIO SHOWS R SHOW Participants and reception dates to be announced
Proceeds benefit Hort Club service projects, scholarships, and Hahn Horticulture Garden operations.
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More info? * plantsale2009@vt.edu * www.hort.vt.edu/hhg * 540.231.5451 or 540.231.5970
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Since you can’t “pass” your turn in chess, sometimes you have to make a move you don’t want to. This ‘compulsion to move’ is called zugzwang. Use zuzwang to narrow the Black king’s movement choices so that he has to walk down the arch of sabres.
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It is impossible to force mate with only two knights, you can force mate with three, but the king must be against the wall, however here, we should be able to mate him without an edge..
Solutions at top of page.
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Across
Wondering how 16 Blocks gets published, when we have never charged for a single copy? Does a grant or bank loan help us bring you the unique content and provocative, beautiful graphics we’ve become known for? Do we have wealthy parents or did one of us seduce a millionaire? None of the above.
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Every issue of 16 Blocks Magazine comes to you courtesy of our advertisers. Businesses from our community entrust our team to bring you their messages along with our own. We give thanks to our advertisers for their continued support. We could not exist without them.
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A: Attitudes (Ad on pg. 2) B: Snyder & Assoc. (Ad on pg. 5) C: The Inn at Virginia Tech (Ad on pg. 7) D: Matrix Gallery (Ad on pg. 7) E: Neyhart, Robertson & McConnell (Ad on pg. 7) F: Ceritano’s (Ad on pg. 22) G: Bull & Bones (Ad on pg. 12) H: Cabo Fish Taco (Ad on pg. 9) I: Sake House (Ad on pg. 12) J: Sturbridge Square Apartments (Ad on pg. 5) K: Nice Dreams (Ad on pg. 7) L: Wireless Zone (Ad on pg. 12) M: Backstreets (Ad on pg. 9) N: Smith’s Landing (Ad on pg. 12) O: Mad Dog (Ad on pg. 22) P: Armory Art Gallery (Ad on pg. 29) Q: Mish Mish (Ad on pg. 29) R: Zeppoli’s (Ad on pg. 7) S: YMCA (Ad on pg. 5) T: The Cellar Restaurant (Ad on pg. 9) U: Gillie’s (Ad on pg. 26)
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