Empowering Teachers/Overcoming COVID-19
By John L. Horton Well, the “new” school year (2020 – 2021)) is almost upon us. And, the issue of “improving” our public schools lies before us as never before. Accordingly, I got to thinking about what “we” can do to significantly “improve” our public schools for...
Progressland
By Tom Robotham Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, which I had the opportunity to visit twice. When it opened, I was just shy of my 8th birthday—the perfect age to appreciate the exhibits, it seems to me, in that I was old...
John Lewis: A Profile In Courage
By Tench Phillips It is a good time to reflect on the civil rights era of the sixties and re-learn the effective strategies used by protest organizers and leaders. America has long memorialized the life and work of Martin Luther King. And yet there were other...
OPINION: Moment of Reckoning
By Tom Robotham On the evening of June 1, I was watching CNN’s live coverage of a peaceful protest near the White House. It was quite encouraging, given that rioting and looting had taken place in various cities the night before. Then, without warning or...
Juneteenth — Its Symbolism, Substance And Significance
BY JOHN L. HORTON One hundred and fifty-five years after slaves were declared free, I can imagine the joy and jubilation in Galveston, Texas, when the proclamation was read. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger recited the order that included these...
Chrysler Museum to Reopen June 20
The Chrysler Museum of Art plans to reopen to the public on June 20. From June 16 to June 19, members will get an early opportunity to visit the Museum. In planning its reopening, the Chrysler has adopted several guidelines designed for the safety of visitors and...
OPINION: America Needs Leadership
BY JOHN L. HORTON An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep. — Alexander the Great To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and...
Living with Books
By Tom Robotham As my friends and family members know, I own a lot of books—somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000, by my estimate. Many people have a lot more than that, of course. Years ago I did a feature story on a retired Norfolk librarian who had about...
OPINION: Time Is Now for Granby St Pedestrian Zone
(Charlottesville's Mall, a pedestrian-only corridor in downtown. Photo courtesy of Visit Charlottesville) BY JEFF MAISEY There has never been a better time than now for the city of Norfolk to revisit the idea of closing Granby Street in the downtown corridor and...
FOREVER STAMP: Norfolk Botanical Garden
BY JEFF MAISEY Beginning May 13, Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) will be featured on a United States Postage Forever stamp as part of the upcoming "American Gardens” series. The image from the NBG features the beautiful Bicentennial Rose Garden. “The honor of being on...
Bela Fleck Returns to Bluegrass Roots
(Banjo great Bela Fleck. Photo by William Matthews) By Jim Morrison Bela Fleck is on the phone ruminating about why he dips in and out of so many genres from bluegrass to newgrass to jazz to classical, from his mind-blowing creations with The Flecktones to his work...
New Morse Code Shares World Premieres and Excitement
(New Morse Code. Photo by Tatiana Daubek.) By Montague Gammon III Some things visual and lots of things musical this way come, in the hands of a cello-percussion pair of performers/professors (accompanied by a computer wielding composer), a duo called New Morse Code....
REVIEW: Don Quixote Conquers Chrysler Hall
(Don Quixote dreams of his Dulcinea. Photo by David Polston) By Jeff Maisey The legendary Don Quixote triumphantly rode into Chrysler Hall on Friday, March 25, conquering the hearts and minds of all who attended the phenomenal opening night to the Virginia Arts...
Figaro’s Mad Marriage, Mozart Style
(Alisa Jordheim is playing Susanna) By Montague Gammon III If Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro, the Virginia Opera production coming up on the last weekend of March, were a Golden Age Hollywood romantic comedy, or a door slamming stage farce, it could well be...
Self-Taught Artists Spark Creative Imagination at Muscarelle Exhibition
(Len Jenkin, “Coming In On A Wing and a Prayer,” on loan from Linda Matney Gallery) By Betsy DiJulio The need to create has long been a fascinating, somewhat mysterious, aspect of human nature. Perhaps this drive is nowhere more evident than in the work of...
PREVIEW: The Ribbon Mill @ Little Theatre of Norfolk
(Jessi DiPette plays Patsy in “The Ribbon Mill.” Credit: Josh Stubbs Photography) By Jim Roberts Unless you were a die-hard theater fan living in Memphis in 2002, you probably haven’t heard of a play called “The Ribbon Mill.” But if you’re adventurous enough to take...
Fountain of You is a Must-See at The Z
Maya Days, who played roles in Law & Order (1990), Damages (2007), and Melange (2020), is now cast in “Fountain of You” at Zeiders. By Jim Roberts Faye Chiao and Tasha Gordon-Solmon are working artists in New York’s theater industry, but their new musical...
Sweeney, Selina, and the Antiheroic Tim Burton Revolutionary
By M.T.C. Gammon I didn't expect to find tales of class war in either slashers or superhero films, but an interest in Tim Burton's work led me to try watching both Sweeney Todd (really more of a musical melodrama) and Batman Returns. I found that sometimes...
Terrell’s More Than All Right with Debut Album
By Jeff Maisey Sultry jazz vocalist Liz Terrell will unveil her debut full-length solo album “It’s All Right with Me” on January 20 & 21 with a live performance of the work at American Theatre intimate Studio Theater in Hampton. Terrell’s dynamic voice is...
Uptown Nights Pays Tribute to Early Jazz
(Byron Stripling is conductor and trumpet soloist.) By Jerome Langston “A lot of this is informed by Count Basie,” says Byron Stripling, the acclaimed jazz trumpeter, actor and conductor. “The show is informed by the music of Ella Fitzgerald and so many others, so it...
O’Connor Time: Stepping Out With a New Brew or Two
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones At last, ‘tis springtime, with the azaleas in tender bloom, as the beer lover’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of alluring ales and lovely lagers. But, as in love, doth not waste thy passion on a brew unworthy, for your unrequited...
Tattoo Brew Debuts
By Jeff Maisey The Virginia International Tattoo is a vital component to the Norfolk-based Virginia Arts Festival. Both got their start 20 years ago. To commemorate the occasion, Festival organizers Scott Jackson, Rob Cross and Board member Jim Hixon (Executive Vice...
FOOD REVIEW: The Stockpot
(Photo courtesy of The Stockpot) By Marisa Marsey They say you can tell a lot by the company you keep. So even if the name weren’t a tip-off, you’d sense The Stockpot’s wholesomeness given its neighbors in this 19th Street strip near the Oceanfront: Wareings...
Adventures in Oxidation, or Forsooth, Can a Beer Be Too Long in the Tooth?
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones There is an expression that some things get better with age. Examples of things that get better with age are many full-bodied red wines, those Levi jeans you wore in college, and us, the collective we, gain wisdom as we get...
Buckle Up for Smartmouth Bottle
By Jeff Maisey Norfolk’s Smartmouth Brewing Company debuts its Bright Ideas Series on Saturday, February 6 with a big, 22-ounce bottle of Buckle Up, an imperial Belgian coffee stout. “It is the first in our Bright Ideas series of 750 ml bottled beers,” said Port Hardy...
Class is in Session at Lynnhaven Pub
By Elizabeth Erschens Rob McGraw, owner of The Lynnhaven Pub in Virginia Beach, recently found out I was serious when I said I would invite myself over for anyone that loves beer and can cook great food. Like Arlo Guthrie sang in a song about another restaurant, “I’m...
Malt-Forward Coelacanth Opens in Norfolk
By Jeff Maisey At age 49, Kevin Erskine has decided to take the craft beer plunge, and he’s jumping in with both feet. Erskine was raised in New York City before departing at age 18 to attend college at Syracuse. He then went on to graduate school in Baltimore....
Results: VEER’s 2015 Golden Tap Awards
By Jeff Maisey Southern Bank presented VEER Magazine’s 2015 Golden Tap Awards December 8 with Norfolk’s O’Connor Brewing Company scoring the most overall points to earn the Golden Tap for Brewery of the Year. Gold, silver and bronze medals were given in brewery/beer...
BREW NEWS: On the Beer Town
By Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones This month we are inspired by Sam Martinette, whose articles in the Virginian Pilot’s Compass kept us informed about goings-on in the local restaurant and drinking establishment scene for many years, back in the day. So, here we...
Barley’s Angels Coastal VA Turns 3
By Elizabeth Erschens Warning: If you adhere to following the social hashtags #prim, #proper, or #sensibilities that are easily offended, you will want to trash this magazine….or hand it to that open-minded vixen, two seats down the bar, enjoying that craft...
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