Fan of the Fan

Beginning tonight comic prints by R. Crumb will be on display at the Page Bond Gallery at 1625 W. Main Street. (You may have read other stories of R. Crumb in RVA this week.) An opening reception honoring the artist will be held from 6-8 PM on Friday, October 30. The display itself will run through January 30, 2010. The exhibit is running in conjunction with a display at the University of Richmond.

“Crumb is an artist and illustrator known for his satirical view of the American mainstream. Early in his career, he designed greeting cards for the American Greetings Corporation and contributed artwork to various publications including underground newspapers such as Philadelphia’s Yarrowstalks. After moving to San Francisco in 1967, Crumb produced the first issue of Zap Comix in 1968, which is credited as beginning the underground comics movement.”

The Firehouse Theatre at 1609 W. Broad Street debuted Neil Labute’s  This Is How It Goes last night. The play runs through Saturday, November 21. Additional insights can be gleaned from the Firehouse blog.

Staged on continually shifting moral ground that challenges our notions about gender, ethnicity, and even love itself, This Is How It Goes unblinkingly explores the myriad ways in which the wild card of race is played by both black and white in America.

If ordering your tickets online today or tomorrow for tomorrow night’s show, enter the promotional code “boo” to get tickets for $15 (that’s 40% off the regular price).

From the Fan District Association:

Fellow residents,

Once again the VCU student body is working within our community to enhance the safety of our streets.  For several years now members of the student body have organized themselves to assist the surrounding communities on nights that we have our special events.  On HALLOWEEN night, Saturday, October 31st, from 5:00 pm until 9:30 pm, the students will be out in full force to help protect those enjoying the Halloween activities.  The students will be out in teams, well identified, and making sure the only tricks that occur have treats attached to them.

When you notice a team in your neighborhood please be sure to give them a special warm welcome and thanks for being positive contributors to our community.  I would like to send a special thanks to Sean Reddy who has been the coordinator of this constructive effort… THANKS SEAN!

Regards,

Jim Vigeant
FDA/VCU Liaison

VCU’s team in action

That’s right, “quidditch”. As in the game played by Harry Potter with flying broomsticks and floating goals. I’m a little late getting this info, but apparently VCU and UR have quidditch teams.

College students right now are the ones who grew up with Harry Potter, the first book having come out in 1998 when they were between 6 and 10 years old.

From an article that appeared in the spring of last year in VCU’s The Commonwealth Times:

“The brooms can’t fly and the snitch is a human player, but VCU is following in the footsteps of more than 130 other schools across the U.S., Canada and Argentina by forming a campus muggle quidditch team.

Quidditch was invented in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, and the muggle [non-wizard] version combines elements of rugby, dodgeball and pure imagination to create a sometimes dangerous sport.

“It’s a very rough sport,” said Heather Wright, the VCU team’s captain, coordinator and chaser. “We’ve had a lot of injuries.” Amber Cummings, one of the team’s keepers, said she almost had her teeth knocked out by a teammate’s broom during practice.”The brooms have a tendency to hit people in the face,” Cummings said.

A more recent article ran in the RTD, referencing the recent Intercollegiate Quidditch Association World Cup III in Middlebury, Vermont. VCU’s team didn’t win their games but this year’s team captain Britni Puccio says:

“We met a lot of teams and made some great friends.”  She said the Quidditch team would continue practicing through the end of the semester and hoped to schedule a few more matches against the University of Richmond.

You can see their promotional video on youtube. And, if you’re interested in further reading check out UR’s The Collegian, which also ran an article about quidditch.

Richmond Bizsense has an article about the new stores going into the space at W. Cary and Lombardy streets. In Spring of 2007, the area was transformed from a used car lot and garage into retail space.

Now it houses Nirvana Salon & Spa which opened in September, and Fitness Together, which is a personal training studio opening November 13th.

Read the whole article here.

10/23/09, 9:45 p.m., 1000 block of West Grace Street: Two males reported they were robbed at gunpoint by two unknown males.

10/25/09, 8:30 p.m., 1125 W. Grace St.: Two males reported they were robbed by two unknown males.

10/26/09, 1:00 a.m., 100 block of North Morris Street: A female and a male reported they were robbed at gunpoint by two unknown males.

RTD article

Here are some Fall selections…

The Historical Society, james_shelton32

leaf litter, KNmoore

Random House On Monument Ave, puck90

Colour, j00cyjuice

untitled, woofwoofwoof

23 Hair Studio - Warthan Farms Photography

23 Hair studio is a new salon that opened in the Fan on October 6th. The salon is not named in reference to their address (it is located at 1213 W. Main St.), but because 23 is a special number for owners Kelly Hopkins and her husband. Both of their birthdays and anniversary are on that day.

Kelly is a native of RVA and grew up around the salon business. Her aunt and uncle owned a salon where she worked on and off throughout her teenage years. When asked about her experience, she says, “Though trained in a humble family environment, I have worked in several corporate-driven salons as well. I knew I wanted the upscale style and service of a corporate salon, but with the laid back approach of a mom and pop shop. And thus, 23 Hair Studio was born.”

Owner Kelly Hopkins - Warthan Farms Photography

I stopped in the other day and was impressed by the salon. There was a professional and sophisticated air yet it remained friendly and accessible. The sitting area is one I would not mind waiting around in and the decor is pretty and clean. All of the staff were quite friendly as well.

The studio offers hair, nail, and waxing services as well as facials and skin treatment. Prices seem pretty reasonable, with haircuts starting at $25 and color starting at $40.

For more info:

804.288.5452

www.23hairstudio.com

23 Hair Studio is also on facebook

Fan of the Fan recently received this email from local firefighter Alex Farber:

Currently in the City of Richmond, there is an ongoing issue with the fire department closing companies on days where staffing shortages exist.  The Richmond Firefighters Association, I.A.F.F. Local 995, has created a blog to help keep the public abreast of these closings as they occur as well as other information regarding this issue.  Please pass on the address, richmondfirefighters.blogspot.com to your readers.”

Sincerely,
Alex Farber
Richmond Firefighters Association Local 995

Some highlights from the blog:

Since the beginning of the 2009 – 2010 fiscal year, the Richmond Fire Department budget has experienced cuts that directly impact the amount of fire protection available on a daily basis to the City of Richmond.

Due to cuts to the departments overtime budget, when staffing levels on a daily basis decrease due to sick time, vacation leave or other occurrences, the department is not hiring overtime at a level to maintain full staffing. As a result, the department selects different companies, usually Quints 1, 10, and 13, and places them out of service for the shift depending on staffing level on that day. As a result, fire protection throughout the city is greatly diminished, placing both the citizens and firefighters at a greater risk.

What can you do? Contact your council person and mayor and let them know that you want the fire protection that you deserve and need. Tell them that funding cuts to the fire department are unacceptable!

You can go to this site and see which companies have been closed on what days. Since October 7th, there have been 12 different instances of local companies closing for 24 hours.

So apparently Drew Barrymore has been reading the New York Times. Namely, the recent article about Richmond. (It’s entitled 36 Hours in Richmond, VA, and if you haven’t read it, I recommend it – because it’s always fun to hear other people praise the city you love.) Barrymore was spotted today getting out of a car from The Jefferson and going into Kuba Kuba for lunch. Before going in she took photos of the surrounding Fan houses and, according to a source, fire trucks. Maybe her next movie is about firefighters?

HT: C&ST