Richmond off-topic postings

[eandslee]

Good news Eric. Maybe you'll find some inexpensive fares from Atlanta to Richmond on AirTran (Southwest after the merger.)

Absolutely! I forgot about being about to taking advantage of that benefit while living in Georgia! Heck, Richmond might see more of me yet! Thanks Burt!

[burt]

I, too, have noticed quite a slow-down. I haven't been here as long as most of you guys but it seems like it has slowed quite a bit recently.

I think all forum sites go through those phases of slowed activity from time to time, so hopefully the forums will bounce back.

I'm really kinda bummed the Roanoke site isn't more active (or active at all). Its the only place I know to look for development activity in my hometown.

Calwinston, an expatriot like me (I'm in NYCity and he's in Los Angeles) joined us this year for a couple of months and contributed greatly to Richmond, Roanoke, and Hampton Roads forums. But, for some reason, he has disappeared from the scene.

Roanoke and Richmond had a wonderful contributor called mclawsdrive, and there was also electricmonk in Roanoke. Where are they?

StevenRocks in southwest Virginia, whose speciality is Retail, still visits from time to time.

Cadeho (Cam) is a brilliant photographer and Richmond historian who has enriched us with his love and knowledge of the city.

I especially miss TBurban (Tommy) who was 14 years old when he joined Urban Planet. He is now a junior (or sophmore) at VCU awaiting acceptence to Virginia Tech's School of Architecture. Some of his ambitious designs are in these threads.

Edited November 12, 2010 by burt

[Icetera]

Calwinston, an expatriot like me (I'm in NYCity and he's in Los Angeles) joined us this year for a couple of months and contributed greatly to Richmond, Roanoke, and Hampton Roads forums. But, for some reason, he has disappeared from the scene.

Roanoke and Richmond had a wonderful contributor called mclawsdrive, and there was also electricmonk in Roanoke. Where are they?

StevenRocks in southwest Virginia, whose speciality is Retail, still visits from time to time.

Cadeho (Cam) is a brilliant photographer and Richmond historian who has enriched us with his love and knowledge of the city.

I especially miss TBurban (Tommy) who was 14 years old when he joined Urban Planet. He is now a junior (or sophmore) at VCU awaiting acceptence to Virginia Tech's School of Architecture. Some of his ambitious designs are in these threads.

I do not see much of Joey (forgot his new screen name) anymore, either.

[Downtowner]

Hey im still here but mainly lurking. I have been extremely busy with work and about to move out of the Richmond area. I found a townhouse for rent in Baltimore MD and moving up and hoping to start the next part of my life up that way I am starting my own Sports Memorabilia shop and selling Sports Cards and Sports signed equipment by famous athletes. A friend of mine that lives in Baltimore will be rooming with me untill we go on our own paths. I love Richmond for all it was for me but now I have realized I need to explore more of this country and Richmond has not been the best to me lately and figured its time to get away while I can. I will stay up to date on Richmond and still talk to all of you all. Its sad to of learned today another tower development has been cancelled if anyone read todays Richmond Bizsense you would of learned that Centennial Tower has been canned for good. I was really sad to read it because I still feel like we will never get a huge influx of tall skyscrapers. I always feel like no matter how hard we try richmond feels like its undeserving of a tall skyscraper. I mean I really am tired of everything getting canned and pulled. Baltimore MD doesn't have that much going for it either but since it has the Orioles and Ravens its an excellent location to start the type of business I am looking to start. With the DC Metro near by that will be a huge plus too for me.

[Steve_]

Oh dont slow down Burt, I love catching up with your posts - best local news around!

[Cadeho]

Burt, you are the life of this forum. You posting less would be like pulling the plug. I had mentioned a few weeks ago about how slow the forums have become. I know everyone's lives have gotten busy. I keep in touch with some of you here. mclawsdrive I believe may be busy with his new band. Tommy I keep teasing about how busy he is. G, congratulations! And Joey is probably the only one I interact with more... I have them on Facebook... Burt if you don't have one, it'd be nice to see you there. I still take a load of pics from time to time, I just have not sorted them out or uploaded any in a while. I stop in here and lurk mainly.

[burt]

There has been a Dominion Power outage in the area from Foushee east to 6th Street and Broad south to Canal.

The Carpenter Theatre at 6th and Grace Streets reported they were not affected and the sold-out Richmond Symphony concert at 3PM went on as scheduled.

Ian Anderson of the Jethro Tull band is performing tonight at 8PM at The National Theatre. Its location at 7th and Broad Streets is also out of the dark zone.

The Jefferson Hotel is west of Foushee and presumably not affected. But The Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, Linden Row Inn and Crown Plaza hotels are all within the outage zone. I wonder if they were affected?

Dominion expects to have repairs done by 7PM tonight.

From the RTD at 4:22 this afternoon:

http://www2.timesdis...mond-ar-652615/

Edited November 14, 2010 by burt

[540_804]

The hotels (Marriott and HGI for sure, not certain about the other two) had back-up generators so they were not effected.

The Jefferson was also not effected from what I saw. I noticed the lights were on and there were people in the bar as I cycled past.

However, the power outages did extend quite a bit beyond Foushee.

I'm not sure exactly how far west the outages extended, but the traffic signals on Grace and Franklin were out all the way 'til just east of Belvidere. My building is west of Foushee and the power was out. Worst of all, my building has an HID proximity card access system...meaning when the power went off, no one was able to enter the building.

Fortunately that whole ordeal is over. However, on the bright side, it did give me a few hours to lounge around in the library and pick up some books. Its surprising how much there is to do out in this world when I'm forced to step away from the computer for a few minutes.

[burt]

There has been a Dominion Power outage in the area from Foushee east to 6th Street and Broad south to Canal.

The Carpenter Theatre at 6th and Grace Streets reported they were not affected and the sold-out Richmond Symphony concert at 3PM went on as scheduled.

Ian Anderson of the Jethro Tull band is performing tonight at 8PM at The National Theatre. Its location at 7th and Broad Streets is also out of the dark zone.

The Jefferson Hotel is west of Foushee and presumably not affected. But The Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, Linden Row Inn and Crown Plaza hotels are all within the outage zone. I wonder if they were affected?

Dominion expects to have repairs done by 7PM tonight.

From the RTD at 4:22 this afternoon:

http://www2.timesdis...mond-ar-652615/

Full power was restored by Dominion at 6PM.

[burt]

Seems to me Richmond ranked 99th in a list of most dangerous cities last year. Sad to report, it is now ranked #79.

http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/2010/City_crime_rate_2010-2011_hightolow.pdf

[burt]

I'm watching Eye Witness News on ABC 7.

Here in NYCity, there are big crowds uptown at West 79th and Central Park West watching baloons being inflated in side streets for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tomorrow, the route will take it down CPW to Columbus Circle, then east to 7th Avenue; thence down 7th to 42nd, east to 6th, and south on 6th to Macy's on Herald Square at 34th Street.

Rrecord crowds have filled Penn Station awaiting commuter trains and Amtrak, which is reporting its busiest day ever.

Traffic at LGA is up 5% over last year.

Richmond's Grand Illumination will take place Friday, December 3rd at The James Center.

Meanwhile, remember that the next day, Saaturday, December 4th, Richmond's big Dominion Christmas Parade with several giant baloons, marching bands and floats will extend from a starting point near the Science Museum at Davis Avenue and proceed along Broad to 7th Street.

Happy thanksgiving to all.

[540_804]

Thanks for the update, sir. I definitely want to see the Grand Illumination this year.

And I'll also get to see the Christmas Parade this year (my first in Richmond!)

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Cadeho]

I am less and less thrilled with the "Grand Illumination," because each year it seems a building that used to have the lights no longer does. We need to have all of downtown decked out, not just the ones near the James Center and river. All the towers should have something if they're not outlined.

[jbjust]

Does anybody know if the Williams Mullen building is participating?

[burt]

Wanna be in a movie and pick up a few bucks?

A Lifetime TV film titled "Unanswered Prayers" is shooting in the Richmond area now and through most of October.

They are specifically looking for good, trained football players between 18 and 30.

But who knows? They may be seeking other types as well. If interested, you can register at:

SportsStudioCasting.com

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...st22-ar-518164/

The movie will be aired on Lifetime TV in November.

UNANSWERED PRAYERS, the film shot in Richmond recently, will air tomorrow night, November 29th at 9PM on Lifetime Movie Channel. Here in New York, Lifetome Movies on Fios is Channel 141 (and 641 high definition.)

If you watch, you may recognize some local sites. At least one scene was shot at Havana 59 in Shockoe Bottom.

[burt]

UNANSWERED PRAYERS, the film shot in Richmond recently, will air tomorrow night, November 29th at 9PM on Lifetime Movie Channel. Here in New York, Lifetome Movies on Fios is Channel 141 (and 641 high definition.)

If you watch, you may recognize some local sites. At least one scene was shot at Havana 59 in Shockoe Bottom.

Correction: I discovered there are three Lifetime channels and the one showing UNANSWERED PRAYERS Monday is just plain Lifetime, channel 140 (and 640 high definition) here in New York on Verizon/Fios. Sorry if I misled anyone.

Edited November 29, 2010 by burt

[burt]

Here's more about "Unanswered Prayers" airing at 9 o'clock tonight on Lifetime Network.

From today's Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond...ight-ar-672601/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, December 3rd:

I watched this TV movie and it was very good. Lots of scenes along Railroad Avenue in Ashland. Also, nice exterior shots of Havana 59 in The Bottom as well as scenes within the restaurant.

The football scenes shot at Varina were excellent.

The best known actor in the cast was Patty Duke who played the heroine's mother. But the entire cast was top flight, IMO.

I read that it was high in the ratings for Lifetime TV.

Metro Richmond looked superb. I especially liked a scene when the leads strolled hand-in-hand down hill from their stunning contemporary home to the river bank. I bet a quarter it was filmed at a home along Cherokee Road near Boshers Dam.

Edited December 3, 2010 by burt

[burt]

John Murden has a short piece about this Daily Candy excursion to Richmond in today's River District News.

I found it on google and am posting it here.

http://www.dailycand...rginia-Travel#1

It was obviously written before Jet Blue suspended flights between JFK and RIC, but otherwise appears up to date.

Click the forward arrow to see seven photos and read brief descriptions of sites, restaurants, hotels, etc.

Enjoy.

Edited January 11, 2011 by burt

[blake_p]

MCV was just on NOVA scienceNow on PBS. Unfortunately, it was just mentioned as an Emergency Room in Virginia, but they had a shot from the rooftop helipad looking towards Monroe Tower and a shot of an ambulance crossing the Leigh Street Viaduct as well as some interior shots.

[burt]

MCV was just on NOVA scienceNow on PBS. Unfortunately, it was just mentioned as an Emergency Room in Virginia, but they had a shot from the rooftop helipad looking towards Monroe Tower and a shot of an ambulance crossing the Leigh Street Viaduct as well as some interior shots.

I saw this, blake.

[burt]

This has nothing to do with Richmond -- except to remind it of its glory days when it was the second city of the South after Atlanta.

From breaking news at the RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...repo-ar-812872/

Note that Charlotte is still followed by the initials "N.C" as if nobody knew where it was.

Up until about 3 years ago, all references in the New York Times about the Capital of Virginia never had "VA" following the city's name.

I wonder why The Times changed that policy?

Richmonders may be modest, but they're still proud residents of a classsy city.

Edited February 2, 2011 by burt

[eandslee]

I'm in Richmond today (what a beautiful day) and it's good to be back in my hometown. Not here for a good reason (my grandfather passed away), but good to be here anyway.

[burt]

I'm in Richmond today (what a beautiful day) and it's good to be back in my hometown. Not here for a good reason (my grandfather passed away), but good to be here anyway.

Welcome home, Eric. I'm sorry your visit is because of a family loss. I believe your grandfather was my contemporary at Thomas Jefferson High School even though we didn't know one another.

Did you fly a low cost carrier from Atlanta?

Even if you don't have time to see The Picasso exhibit, try to drive by VMFA. Since renovation, it is World Class and the tenth largest contemporary art museum in America with a top-tier permanent collection.

[eandslee]

Welcome home, Eric. I'm sorry your visit is because of a family loss. I believe your grandfather was my contemporary at Thomas Jefferson High School even though we didn't know one another.

Did you fly a low cost carrier from Atlanta?

Even if you don't have time to see The Picasso exhibit, try to drive by VMFA. Since renovation, it is World Class and the tenth largest contemporary art museum in America with a top-tier permanent collection.

I believe that he did go to Thomas Jefferson High School! He was in the cadet corp (Navy, I believe). His name was Bernard Russell Lee, Jr. (I believe most called him "Russell"). He was 84 years old and I miss him - a very, very good man. His wife, Clara Lillian Smither (aka "Lil"), passed away about 5 years ago.

I did not fly since I brought my whole family (wife and 4 kids), but I went to the airport today to drop my brother off who couldn't stay for the funeral (my first time since the new terminal building was opened - very nice!). I also was able to drive the new airport connector! Unfortunately, he didn't fly a low cost carrier, but I had no choice or even influence in the matter (I didn't know he was coming until he go here).

I drove by the VMFA today! Wow, what a facility! It really has a nice presence on the Boulevard! Love that area of town too. It's been great seeing Richmond again. Makes me want to move back...if I could.

[burt]

Richmond should focus on tourism, says Mayor Jones.

From this afternoon's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2011/mar/10/richmond-puts-focus-on-tourism-ar-896955/