EMPOWERING YOUNG BLACK MALES
By John Horton “It is impossible to pretend that you are not heir to, and therefore, however inadequately or unwillingly, responsible to, and for, the time and place that give you life – without becoming, at very best, a dangerously disoriented human being.” (S) James...
The Third Kingdom: Notes From the Underground
By Tench Phillips, Naro Cinema After a cool August morning searching vainly for chanterelle mushrooms within an aspen forest on the high slopes of the San Juan Mountains surrounding Telluride – I had reluctantly given up. Turning back towards town empty...
America’s Best Idea
By Tom Robotham Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. – John Muir Thirty years ago, when I began contemplating the idea of moving from New York City to Norfolk, I made...
Eggleston’s Noble Mission for the Holidays and Beyond
(Brad Kirkpatrick, Director of Retail Operations, Eggleston Services) By Jeff Maisey Many people during the holiday season contribute to people and organizations in need. Most also decorate their homes with festive Christmas trees and wreaths, and look forward to...
COMPLETE GUIDE: Holiday Events/Concerts/Parades
(“Holidivas: A Holiday Cabaret” featuring Lindsay Eure runs December 12-15 at Zeiders American Dream Theatre) HOLIDAY LIGHTS & PARADES Million Bulb Walk Norfolk Botanical Garden Through December 14 4-9 PM Nightly www.NBGholidays.org Olde Towne...
Virginia Arts Festival Announces 24th Season
(Hong Kong Ballet’s “Alice” will be a visually spectacular performance) By Jeff Maisey The Virginia Arts Festival announced its 24th season in a ceremony attended by corporate sponsors, the media, and leaders from other arts organizations. The many highlights of the...
The Demise of Common Culture
By Tom Robotham Recently in a public speaking class I teach at Old Dominion University, I decided to show my students a YouTube video of a commencement address that Peter Dinklage gave to the 2012 class of Bennington College in Vermont. I’d had the good fortune...
ADVICE: Basics of Parenting
BY JOHN L HORTON “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your...
Virginia Beach Needs Laura Habr as Treasurer
By Jeff Maisey Virginia Beach restauranteur Laura Habr has long been an advocate for positive change. Over a decade ago she led the effort to ban smoking in restaurants — a bill then Governor Tim Kaine signed into law at Croc’s 19th Street Bistro, the...
NEON Festival Turns 5
(Artists descend upon the Chrysler Museum during NEON Festival) By Jim Roberts The third weekend in October—which includes the Town Point Wine Festival and the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival—is widely considered one of the best weekends of the year in Norfolk—if not...
Chris Thile: God, Community and the Mandolin
By Jim Morrison Chris Thile's first solo album started with a conversation with Bob Hurwitz, the former head of his record label, Nonesuch, backstage after his now-canceled "Live from Here" did a show focused on God. "He's like, man, I dig what happens when...
Falletta’s Finale
(Maestro JoAnn Falletta bids us farewell with Beethoven. Photo by David Beloff.) By Montague Gammon III Celebrating Beethoven by polishing off a couple of Fifths, JoAnn Falletta, formerly Music Director of our Virginia Symphony Orchestra and now appointed to the...
MUSIC REVIEWS: Runnin’ Shine/Chang3/Demons & More
Runnin’ Shine “Nowhere to Go” (Self-Release) Award-winning contemporary country band Runnin’ Shine have another excellent album to be proud of with the 13-song “Nowhere to Go.” Rockin’ country requires some upfront guitar and they are keen to deliver it on songs like...
EmiSunshine & The Rain Bring Brightness to Zeiders
(EmiSunshine and The Rain's "Family Wars" album. Photograph/Design by Alan Messer) By Ron Wray A huge band tour bus emblazoned with the name “Little EmiSunshine” pulled up outside the Crown Center Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, and out walks a small girl in a bright...
PREVIEW: Reliving the Music of Aretha & Whitney
(Aretha Franklin in1968) By Jerome Langston When the world lost its Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, on August 16, 2018, it felt, for many, like losing a beloved family member. The massive outpouring of tributes—many from fellow music artists, and fans who grew up on...
d’Art Center’s New Forever Home
(A separate gallery space is housed inside the former bank vault.) By Betsy DiJulio Slipping into the sleek and low-slung lobby of the Atlantic Permanent Savings and Loan Building on Boush Street in downtown Norfolk is akin to stepping onto the set of Mad Men or maybe...
Meet Holly Koons
By Jeff Maisey Last October, Christopher Newport University named Holly Koons as the inaugural executive director for its $60 million-dollar state-funded 83,000-square-foot Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center. The Torggler Center, named for the CNU Benefactor and...
REVIEW: Tony Vincent Delivers on Music of Bowie
(Tony Vincent superbly sings the Music of David Bowie while backed by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and rock band Windbourne Music. Photo by Jeff Moore.) By Jeff Maisey Ground Control to Hampton Roads: Concerts are back. Saturday night’s “Music of David...
Vocalist Kenny Washington Keeps Jazz Standards Alive
By Jerome Langston Amidst the long overdue return to an active and vibrant local arts scene, comes the reemergence of serious jazz shows that are delighting both enthusiasts and casual fans alike. Earlier this month, we were treated to an outstanding...
PREVIEW: The Music of David Bowie
(David Bowie's "Aladdin Sane" album cover reimagined by Norfolk artist Dwight Easter) By Jeff Maisey On Saturday, May 22, the Virginia Arts Festival will present “The Music of David Bowie” featuring rock band Windborne fronted by Broadway star Tony Vincent and backed...
St. George’s Day
By Jeff Maisey You could say April 23 is not only England’s national day it’s also a banner date at one Hampton brewery. Yep, St. George’s Day. St. George is the patron saint of both England and Germany. When the brewery got its start some 20 years ago, owner William...
Lunch with the Chef: Taste’s Thomas Yager
By Steve Marsey If there were a lineup to pick out chefs, Thomas Yager probably would be the least likely IDed. Tall, slender and meek, there’s none of the swagger or swelled ego that one might expect from such a young man holding the title of Executive Chef at...
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...
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