Mark Trail(er)
Today's Richmond Times-Dispatch includes two articles about trailer parks and camping trailers -- neither of which is available on their Web site. One, a Los Angeles Times piece about the Monterey Trailer Park, which dates from the '20s and might soon rank among LA's historic-cultural monuments. Two, a Jay Dedrick feature about vintage trailers. Given my current interest in old cars -- and my road trip, I'm wondering whether I'd be better off in a trailer or camper than a car. At least I could sleep now.
Sunday, September 22, 2002
No Media Res(t) for the Weary Traveler II
When I get to a new town, I do several things. I map out the main post office, city hall, train or bus station, high school, police station, and main branch of the public library -- thinking that, if you hit at least several of these landmarks, you see most of the livable city. I also check the Yellow Pages for comic book stores, record shops, and book stores. I did all of this in Richmond. I also picked up as many free papers and alt.weeklies as possible.
In Richmond, there are three primary entertainment sections and alt. weeklies. While I didn't pay as much attention to other entertainment and shopping guides as I did when I visited Chicago, I did pick up several papers worth mentioning: the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Weekend section, Style Weekly, and Punchline.
First up, Weekend. This is your basic daily newspaper entertainment section. This edition is particularly worth your attention because it features an article by Kelly Gerow entitled "Just Push Play: For Many Richmond Bands, Home Really Is the Road." The article communicates the mixed message that
There is a Richmond music scene
Local bands are really only appreciated outside of the city
Gerow highlights Engine Down (whose CD I picked up at Soundhole), Bats and Mice, Denali (whose CD I bought at Plan 9), Broken Hips, and Soft Complex. As I shopped for records, I got mixed reviews. One record store clerk (at Plan 9) said, "So, you raided the local section." And the owner of Soundhole, Greg, steered me away from the local section, saying that most of the bands were "dead issues" and that, if a record worthy of attention wasn't on sale on consignment -- which they wouldn't be in most cases, I was led to believe -- it'd be in the main racks. He also suggested that I listen to a handful of records -- of which I purchased several -- and then threw in several free local records and samplers. Hoorah, Soundhole. If you're local and you haven't gone, go go go!
Then there's Style Weekly, which isn't associated with a local daily -- and which resonates more with the Chicago Reader than New City. Opening with an oddly placed front-of-book advertorial about an art nouveau exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, the Weekly seems oddly upper crust -- more Mass. Ave than Davis Square. To its credit, the weekly does include a piece by Edwin Slipek that analyzes the architectural Renaissance slated for downtown. Considering the $105 million performing arts complex, Slipek looks at Richmond's urban development plans, placing them in a cultural and political context that draws on the use -- and misuse -- of several city blocks and properties in question. Given Slipek's active and forceful voice and perspective, he might well be a local writer to watch.
Lastly, Punchline. With an Adam Kidder cover this week, this New City- and Weekly Dig-like weekly is what I'd read regularly if I lived here. Given, it's not that well written or designed, but Punchline seems to be the voice of young Richmond. It's got edgy commentary on sobriety, the lottery, and the fall TV season. The paper name drops Haruki Murakami and seems to have a stronger sense of local music, and includes the listings to back it up.
Punchline also has a stronger sense of comics sensibility. Featuring work by George Tautkus, Tony Millionaire, Jen Sorenson, N.V. Dogma, and J.M. Coates, the paper indicates that it's plugged into the right artistic sockets, even if they don't power all of the weekly's editorial slots.
When I get to a new town, I do several things. I map out the main post office, city hall, train or bus station, high school, police station, and main branch of the public library -- thinking that, if you hit at least several of these landmarks, you see most of the livable city. I also check the Yellow Pages for comic book stores, record shops, and book stores. I did all of this in Richmond. I also picked up as many free papers and alt.weeklies as possible.
In Richmond, there are three primary entertainment sections and alt. weeklies. While I didn't pay as much attention to other entertainment and shopping guides as I did when I visited Chicago, I did pick up several papers worth mentioning: the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Weekend section, Style Weekly, and Punchline.
First up, Weekend. This is your basic daily newspaper entertainment section. This edition is particularly worth your attention because it features an article by Kelly Gerow entitled "Just Push Play: For Many Richmond Bands, Home Really Is the Road." The article communicates the mixed message that
Gerow highlights Engine Down (whose CD I picked up at Soundhole), Bats and Mice, Denali (whose CD I bought at Plan 9), Broken Hips, and Soft Complex. As I shopped for records, I got mixed reviews. One record store clerk (at Plan 9) said, "So, you raided the local section." And the owner of Soundhole, Greg, steered me away from the local section, saying that most of the bands were "dead issues" and that, if a record worthy of attention wasn't on sale on consignment -- which they wouldn't be in most cases, I was led to believe -- it'd be in the main racks. He also suggested that I listen to a handful of records -- of which I purchased several -- and then threw in several free local records and samplers. Hoorah, Soundhole. If you're local and you haven't gone, go go go!
Then there's Style Weekly, which isn't associated with a local daily -- and which resonates more with the Chicago Reader than New City. Opening with an oddly placed front-of-book advertorial about an art nouveau exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, the Weekly seems oddly upper crust -- more Mass. Ave than Davis Square. To its credit, the weekly does include a piece by Edwin Slipek that analyzes the architectural Renaissance slated for downtown. Considering the $105 million performing arts complex, Slipek looks at Richmond's urban development plans, placing them in a cultural and political context that draws on the use -- and misuse -- of several city blocks and properties in question. Given Slipek's active and forceful voice and perspective, he might well be a local writer to watch.
Lastly, Punchline. With an Adam Kidder cover this week, this New City- and Weekly Dig-like weekly is what I'd read regularly if I lived here. Given, it's not that well written or designed, but Punchline seems to be the voice of young Richmond. It's got edgy commentary on sobriety, the lottery, and the fall TV season. The paper name drops Haruki Murakami and seems to have a stronger sense of local music, and includes the listings to back it up.
Punchline also has a stronger sense of comics sensibility. Featuring work by George Tautkus, Tony Millionaire, Jen Sorenson, N.V. Dogma, and J.M. Coates, the paper indicates that it's plugged into the right artistic sockets, even if they don't power all of the weekly's editorial slots.
Rock Shows of Note XLII
After dinner, Elizabeth, Wheeler and I crossed the street to Poe's Pub, which isn't really a pub -- or connected to Edgar Allan Poe -- to see Page Wilson with Reckless Abandon. I wish I'd had a chance to talk to Wilson, because, as a local radio DJ who specializes in folk, country, bluegrass, the blues, and other roots music -- and who's been involved in the local music scene for almost 20 years -- Wilson knows a lot about the local music and media scenes. Back in the mid-'80s, he published a fanzine-turned-newspaper called Out o' the Blue Review that has since evolved into a radio show -- first on a local commercial station and now on public radio.
Last night, he played with a five-piece band featuring an upright bass player with a wonderful baritone voice, a second guitarist, a younger (by comparison) fiddle player, and a mandolin player who could've been amplified more. There wasn't a dedicated percussionist, and the band didn't need one. Their stage presence was energetic and friendly, and they opened their first set with "Moonlight Midnight," a standard that -- eerily enough -- I last heard while in Nashville, Tennessee, visiting another Company of Friends coordinator who wanted to treat me to local music. And treat Jody did.
We arrived just before Wilson's show, and while I recommend you get to Poe's before shows start, I also suggest that you sit further forward toward the stage. As it was, as the place filled up around 11 p.m., folks began to stand in front of us, and the club -- which has featured Angry Johnny and the Killbillies, a band that has Boston ties -- quickly filled to standing room only. We left just before the band's second set, and I was struck by the wait staff's friendliness, the door man's sense of humor, and the audience's mixed makeup. Fun, fun, fun.
After dinner, Elizabeth, Wheeler and I crossed the street to Poe's Pub, which isn't really a pub -- or connected to Edgar Allan Poe -- to see Page Wilson with Reckless Abandon. I wish I'd had a chance to talk to Wilson, because, as a local radio DJ who specializes in folk, country, bluegrass, the blues, and other roots music -- and who's been involved in the local music scene for almost 20 years -- Wilson knows a lot about the local music and media scenes. Back in the mid-'80s, he published a fanzine-turned-newspaper called Out o' the Blue Review that has since evolved into a radio show -- first on a local commercial station and now on public radio.
Last night, he played with a five-piece band featuring an upright bass player with a wonderful baritone voice, a second guitarist, a younger (by comparison) fiddle player, and a mandolin player who could've been amplified more. There wasn't a dedicated percussionist, and the band didn't need one. Their stage presence was energetic and friendly, and they opened their first set with "Moonlight Midnight," a standard that -- eerily enough -- I last heard while in Nashville, Tennessee, visiting another Company of Friends coordinator who wanted to treat me to local music. And treat Jody did.
We arrived just before Wilson's show, and while I recommend you get to Poe's before shows start, I also suggest that you sit further forward toward the stage. As it was, as the place filled up around 11 p.m., folks began to stand in front of us, and the club -- which has featured Angry Johnny and the Killbillies, a band that has Boston ties -- quickly filled to standing room only. We left just before the band's second set, and I was struck by the wait staff's friendliness, the door man's sense of humor, and the audience's mixed makeup. Fun, fun, fun.
The Restaurant I Ate at Last Night XIV
After a day of touring Richmond, checking out area record shops and bookstores -- including the well-stocked Black Swan Books; Richmond's answer to Berkeley's Rasputin, Plan 9 Music; and the strip-mall square peg Soundhole (which is going to move closer downtown near Sweetwater later this year) -- and meeting the car decal guy so he could detail the car I'm using for the CoF Roadshow, my hosts and I relaxed at home for awhile before going out for dinner.
To eat, we headed across town to Millie's Diner, a wonderful diner-styled fine-dining restaurant that is in fact the namesake for one of my hosts' cats. I was initially surprised by the restaurant's layout -- and then by its menu. The restaurant is hardly a diner at all. With an extremely small cooking station perched between the restaurant's entrance and short counter, Millie's menu is relatively highly priced. Entrees range upwards of $20. But if you focus on the soups and salads and the appetizers, you can eat pretty well for around $15. You might need dessert, but at Millie's, the dessert is the best part.
I started with Millie's tomato and fennel bisque, which was very creamy and good. The bowl was a little shallow, so it cooled quite quickly, but the soup was awesome. Next up, the pan-seared scallops, which counted three and were accompanied by a panzanella comprising grilled bread, capers, and other goodies. The panzanella was a highlight of the appetizer and came topped with fresh bean sprouts. Very good. But the dessert? Oh, the dessert! If you ever visit Richmond, go to Millie's and insist on ordering the frozen mango mousse with honey dew and vanilla soup even if it's no longer on the menu. Consisting of two wedges of frozen mousse, the dessert was drizzled with blackberry sauce, and several blackberries joined in as garnish. Beautiful presentation -- as with all of Millie's food -- and utterly wonderful taste sensations. I need to figure out how to replicate this dessert at home. I was in heaven.
After a day of touring Richmond, checking out area record shops and bookstores -- including the well-stocked Black Swan Books; Richmond's answer to Berkeley's Rasputin, Plan 9 Music; and the strip-mall square peg Soundhole (which is going to move closer downtown near Sweetwater later this year) -- and meeting the car decal guy so he could detail the car I'm using for the CoF Roadshow, my hosts and I relaxed at home for awhile before going out for dinner.
To eat, we headed across town to Millie's Diner, a wonderful diner-styled fine-dining restaurant that is in fact the namesake for one of my hosts' cats. I was initially surprised by the restaurant's layout -- and then by its menu. The restaurant is hardly a diner at all. With an extremely small cooking station perched between the restaurant's entrance and short counter, Millie's menu is relatively highly priced. Entrees range upwards of $20. But if you focus on the soups and salads and the appetizers, you can eat pretty well for around $15. You might need dessert, but at Millie's, the dessert is the best part.
I started with Millie's tomato and fennel bisque, which was very creamy and good. The bowl was a little shallow, so it cooled quite quickly, but the soup was awesome. Next up, the pan-seared scallops, which counted three and were accompanied by a panzanella comprising grilled bread, capers, and other goodies. The panzanella was a highlight of the appetizer and came topped with fresh bean sprouts. Very good. But the dessert? Oh, the dessert! If you ever visit Richmond, go to Millie's and insist on ordering the frozen mango mousse with honey dew and vanilla soup even if it's no longer on the menu. Consisting of two wedges of frozen mousse, the dessert was drizzled with blackberry sauce, and several blackberries joined in as garnish. Beautiful presentation -- as with all of Millie's food -- and utterly wonderful taste sensations. I need to figure out how to replicate this dessert at home. I was in heaven.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
