Here are some of my favorite Charlottesville blog entries from the past week
Anoop Ranganath reviews his dining-out experiences of the week. Let me just say that I’m jealous that he eats out so much. Orbit good. Mellow Mushroom and Sticks eh. Old Virginia Fried Chicken good. Martha’s too slow. Tokyo Rose service atrocious. Sheetz’s nachos awesome. Anoop promises more each week.
Colton Noakes pleads with you, for the love of all that is good and holy, to rent his apartment. He even put up a web page about his Monticello Ave. pad.
Andrew Hersey is freaked out that people from his past keep showing up in his life again. His theory? Good karma.
Jennifer doesn’t understand why Democratic Council candidates don’t have their yard signs out yet. Former party chair Lloyd Snook replied explaining that Schilling broke the no-signs-before-the-Dogwood-Festival deal and caught the Dems unawares.
Dave Norris is worried that the revitalization of Cherry Avenue will destroy its social, historical, and cultural fabric. Smart guy that he is, he proposes a solution involving a Community Development Corporation working with residents and developers to lift up the neighborhood intact, rather than pricing out the lifelong residents.
Bill Emory looks back at the Woolen Mills’ sewage problems in 1917 and doesn’t see that much has changed. Because he’s Bill, he includes an awesome photo that’s also pretty gross—the RWSA outlet into Moores Creek with a sketchy-looking foam on top of the water.
Joe Stirt is amazed by a crazy-cool service that tracks, in real time, what songs are playing on the radio. yes.com tracks some area stations, including WNRN which is, at this second, playing Nelly’s “Grillz.” If it weren’t for the internet, I would have to suffer the indignity of walking across the room and turning on the radio to find that out. WNRN’s top 5: Foo Fighters’ “No Way Back,” Nada Surf’s “Imaginary Friends,” Gorillaz’ “Dare,” Flyleaf’s “I’m So Sick,” and Blue October’s “Hate Me.” I’ve never heard of 3/5 of those artists.
Cory Capron had a run-in with a bobcat at 1:30 yesterday morning. I’m guessing his whacking stick isn’t going to do the trick; I’d best loan him my rifle.
Brian Wheeler provides the audio of the first City Council candidate forum, held a few nights ago by the 10th & Page Neighborhood Association.
And, finally, “Patience Crabstick” (I love that pseudonym) visited a health food store in town only to have a woman recite poetry when the check-out line was held up. Apparently she wasn’t crazy—she just wanted to read her poem. A poem about vegetables. Patience doesn’t report if it was any good.
[…] If Michigan Is Looking at Rapid Transit, Can Virginia Be Far Behind? TDRs, a Step in the Right Direction Media Hype? on the emerging buyer’s market Why do planners favor automobiles? Subscription required – read it today! Casualty of the housing bubble Charlotteville’s blogging roundup […]
I like the 1 blog, 1 paragraph format, Waldo!
What I don’t like are the type of (automated?) responses like the one above. This happens a lot over at the Hook Blog as well. Kinda pisses me off.
In my opinion, if someone wants to generate more traffic to their blog by posting on another blog, please at least post your name and a complete thought. I would be happy to read more elsewhere, but this type of response to a post seems like SPAM.
Bilco –
I am sorry about that – I have been putting off figuring out how to turn the pingbacks off, but, now I’ll see what I can do. It’s probably an easy setting or something.
–Jim
Hey, Jim:
I am not sure that an apology is in order on your part. I could be the only person who gets cheesed by that sort of thing. In any case, I do appreciate your quick response and explanation.
Now, I am more than happy to be off to read your blog!
Though it may not appear so on first blush, that’s actually a pretty great feature of blogs. It’s called a “ping” or a “trackback.” They’re created by blogging software automatically, whenever a blog entry is posted. The idea is to help create a visible network of blogs writing about a single topic. So when Jim Duncan writes something on his blog with a link to a specific cvillenews.com article, his blog will trackback to that blog entry. That allows cvillenews.com readers to see that he’s commented on it, though on his own blog.
The overall concept helps to make the web the web—it creates a level of interconnectedness that helps create a good community.
Waldo:
I do like the trackback idea, especially here in such a local environment, however my complaint is more in its execution. As I said above, the bizarre user name and chosen segment of the post that appears on this blog is off putting and seemingly SPAM-like. Or let me say, off putting to me as I am the only one who has mentioned it. Anyway is there a way to have trackbacks handled differently than regular posts? Like a list of links in the sidebar? I don’t wanna be that guy that complains about the free ice cream that is cvillenews, but here I am.
Keep up the good work and ignore me. That is my advice.
Well, Jim has an unusually long blog name and description, and his link was just a mention in a longer blog entry. The result is that his trackback is a bit puzzling (though that’s certainly not his fault) compared to a blog entry dedicated to a topic discussed on cvillenews.com.
What I love about trackbacks is that it makes it possible for local bloggers to participate in cvillenews.com discussion while simultaneously writing on their own blogs. And I want to do everything that I can to encourage people to write about local matters on their own blogs, rather than commenting on here, while still making it possible for cvillenews.com readers to read those comments and discover those blogs.
But, yes, it’s a little awkward. :)
“Former party chair Lloyd Snook replied explaining that Schilling broke the no-signs-before-the-Dogwood-Festival deal and caught the Dems unawares.”
I’m sorry to inform you that this is made up history. David Toscano repeated this lie on Charlottesville Right Now on WINA on Monday.
Yard signs go up a couple weeks after the nominating convention–however long it takes to have them printed up after you learn who the candidates are. After the Dogwood Festival would give only 1-2 weeks for signs.
Schilling’s signs are up so early because they’re recycled from 4 years ago. Same color. Same layout. Same slogan. But nobody’s criticizing him for that, maybe, because it shows an efficient use of resources.
This is the fourth council race I’ve been closely involved with. Yes, Schilling’s signs were early but the Dogwood Festival is the crucial time to show your signs when the community is out and about.
The Democrats just make stuff up to fit the smear of the day. It is amazing to watch.