Virgin Wool: Richmond

Showing posts with label Richmond. Show all posts

Friday, August 03, 2007

Wake Up, Number 37

For the past few days, my heart has been with the folks in Minnesota as they, like the rest of the country, relive the horror of Wednesday's bridge collapse over and over again as it's aired on CNN.

And everywhere around the country people are wondering about the safety and stability of bridges in our own hometowns.

I think about the Huguenot Bridge, which took me to high school every day for four years, and more recently, seems to be closed for repairs every single weekend. And yet, although the paved surface is a patchwork quilt of pothole fill-ins, it is not cosmetic repaving work that's being performed on Sundays, and that makes me more than a little uneasy.

Huguenot Bridge, Richmond, VA
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Although of a different construction than the steel-trussed I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, the Huguenot Bridge is still at risk. In May 2006, the deck, superstructure and substructure of the 57-year-old bridge were rated as poor, while the August 2006 underwater inspection rated the footings as just "fair". Not comforting. Fortunately the bridge is scheduled for replacement in 2010. Here's hoping it holds up that long.

I've also had the phrase, "Wake up, Number 37" rolling around my head these last few days. If you've seen the movie, The Mothman Prophecies, then you know to what I'm referring. If you haven't, then I won't spoil it for you. But it's a fantastic movie, in my opinion -- spooky, (in a fun, Sixth Sense kind of way), but not gory, and has a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat, heart-stopping ending which makes watching all the spooky stuff worthwhile. And of course, Richard Gere (my sister's hunky "co-star" in the upcoming Nights in Rodanthe flick, heh heh), is in it.

But what happened on Wednesday is not a Hollywood movie. Real people were injured. Real lives were lost. And thank God there are many more survivors than originally expected.

Yesterday I emailed my friend Marci, a Minnesota native currently living in Florida, and asked her if anyone she knew was involved. Her answer was thankfully, no, but she does have a friend who takes that bridge home from work every evening, usually right around the same time as Wednesday's rush hour collapse. Her friend went home by another route that night. And I'm guessing her friend is feeling particularly grateful to be alive these days.

Wake up, Number... ?

Have a safe weekend, everyone.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Cuzzin Liz Comes to Town

Have y'all met my Cuzzin Liz?

See any family resemblance?
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It's been ~~never~~ ages since we've talked. But I understand. She's a busy gal, with all the reignin' and crown-wearin' and purse-carryin' and walkabouts she's got on her busy schedule. Bless her pea-pickin' heart. But today she's decided to come visit me in this-here my hometown. How sweet of her. But, sheeooot, I reckon my invitation to the big party got lost in the mail. And I can't seem to find her cell phone number. Dang....

Seriously, though -- where do I get the audacity to be so familiar with Britain's reigning monarch?

It goes back to a couple years ago, when my dad was deep in the throws of family genealogy. We'd about exhausted the available information on my dad's paternal side of the family, and alas, our surname's research only goes back as far as my paternal great-grandfather. Beyond him, that branch of the family tree comes to a frustratingly abrupt halt, mired in the muck and confusion of muddled Danish and German ancestry, with little hope of tracing him further back.

And so, instead, my dad began enthusiastically researching my mom's side of the family. In the process, he stumbled upon another genealogist in her family who had traced the line directly back to one Owen Tudor, who, it turns out, is my 18th great-grandfather. Old Owen was also the great-grandfather of Henry VIII, who, according to the relationship calculator on my genealogy software, is my second cousin, eighteen times removed. (That's a heck of a lot of removin'!)

Cuzzin Hank
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And thanks again to grandpa Owen, (who, poor fella, lost his head in 1461 during the War of the Roses), I'm related to the current Queen of England -- Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II. She's my 17th cousin, twice removed.

That, and $3.62, will buy me a Grande Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks.

The Queen and I -- we're like >this< - thick as thieves. And yet I'm still awaiting her phone call, inviting me to high tea....

The story gets better. Owen Tudor's grandson, John Grey, married his fifth cousin, Anne Grey, (they're my 16th great-grandparents). Anne is a direct descendent of King Henry II and Princess Eleanor of Aquitaine, (they're her 7th great-grandparents), which makes them my 25th great-grandparents.

Grandma Eleanor was a "handsome" woman
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(Confused yet? Bored yet? Hang with me...).

Grandma Eleanor has a crazy lineage herself. Among her (and my) ancestors are William the Conqueror (my 28th ggf) and the cousin-uncle he ousted in 1066 - King Edward III -- the Confessor, (my 30th great-grand uncle). Uncle Ed was later canonized a saint by the Catholic church. (Coincidentally, I grew up going to St. Edward the Confessor parochial school and Catholic church, where my parents still attend mass.)

Uncle Ed*

Things get crazier still. Eleanor has some Jewish ancestry, most notably King Jeconiah of Judah, her 35th (and my 62nd) great-grandfather. King Jeconiah is listed in the genealogy of Christ, in Matthew 1:11-12. King Jeconiah's son and grandson, Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, both also listed in the Matthew 1 genealogy, are also listed in Luke's genealogy of Christ, which goes all the way back to Adam.

I am, therefore, a direct descendent of Adam....

...JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET!

So, I suppose that's not going to open any doors for me at Buckingham Palace.

Sigh....

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Zoo!

A few images from yesterday's trip to the Metro Richmond Zoo:

The zoo's best feature -- giraffe slobber!
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Five little monkeys
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Homo sapiens subsp. geriatricus
(my mom & dad)
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As much fun as last year's visit!

(Many) more pictures have been uploaded to and can be viewed on Flickr here. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Movie Magic

A totally off-topic post, which is a blogger's prerogative.

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Y'all know HBO is filming the John Adams miniseries here in the Richmond area? Its all-star cast includes Paul Giamatti as John Adams, Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, David Morse as George Washington, and Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin.
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My sister-in-law's brother, (aka my brother's brother-in-law), (whatever you call him, he's actually no blood or legal relation to me, but I think of him as my brother-in-law, anyway), has been working on it as an extra, and sent me a few camera-phone pictures, which I thought were fun enough to share here.

He has no lines, is not allowed to talk to the stars or approach them for autographs, and says the hours are grueling but has had a lot of fun.

One day they had him costumed as an upper-class, moneyed gentleman:

And another day he was a "rogue":

He says he prefers the tri-cornered hat.

This "Philadelphia 1776" set was built on a farm out in Mechanicsville:

The cobblestones are real. The buildings are just walls. The trees are fake. (And notice the green screen in the background.)

Here's another view of the green screen:

There is another set built on a farm in Goochland around the prisons out there.

Here's the make-up tent:

And here are a bunch of extras "taking ten":

Redcoats get hungry too:

He tells me:

In our instructions they specifically said not to ask for autographs. The [stars] walk away from the scene pretty quickly after a shoot so you are not really that close or in a position to get them.

I remember seeing Paul Giamotti looking very intense pacing back and forth mumbling to himself just before shooting a scene. I know I wouldn't dare interrupt his train of thought. I couldn't wear my glasses when we were shooting so I didn't realize that David Morse was playing George Washington.

We had no speaking lines; other than clapping and yelling in one scene, we were pretty much scenery. We did have to act like we were talking to each other in some scenes. The friends I met there had digital cameras and they have some great shots. I can't wait to see those.

Welcome to Tinseltown, Virginia!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Large Men Throwing Stuff

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The Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival. Basically, heaven-on-earth for the single woman. And this single gal was definitely in heaven yesterday, attending that fantastic event. What I want to know is, where have I been? It's been hosted here for the last twelve years! I suppose in the past when I've seen advertisements for it, I've thought, "well, I'm not Scottish, so I wouldn't enjoy it". Boy, was I wrong! ("Boy" being the operative word, hee hee!)

Whoever thinks that large men in skirts aren't throw-me-down sexy has never walked around large groups of them. And any man who would feel girly or silly or self-conscious wearing a kilt needs to get over that real quick, because, I'm telling you, a man in a kilt is an out-and-out babe-magnet. Just sayin'. There was a thick, but invisible cloud of testosterone floating around the entire festival, and it was quite heady. See for yourself:

The wind was a-whippin', an added bonus to those of us enjoying the bevy of bare-legged boys in skirts. Of course, I imagine most of the guys were prepared for the weather and were not wearing their kilts regimental. Our loss.

This fellow in the middle leaves nothing to the imagination, unfortunately:

Biker shorts. Sigh. He killed the fantasy.

And, if you can't buy a kilt for whatever reason, then make one. Out of duct tape:

It's okay to bring your dogs to the event. Many, many people did, because at some point there's a "blessing of the animals", but we missed that. Some pooches even sported their clan's tartan:

I'll bet he's wearing it regimental!
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But, back to the reason I came to the event. That's right -- large men throwing stuff.

First, the caber toss. It takes six men to carry that tree:

shades of Iwo Jima
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But only one can toss it:

oh, almost made it!

there ya go, fella!

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Next is the sheaf toss -- basically, throwing a heavy burlap bag with a pitchfork over a bar:

And then there's the:

Contrary to popular belief, that is not a contest between nagging wives, but rather is an actual axe-throwing competition. Anyone could sign up to try:

That woman on the end tried to throw an axe with a purse on her shoulder.
She was not successful, as you might have guessed.
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If one was not interested in the more athletic events, once could still participate in the elbow-bending competition:

And even at a Celtic festival, one can find fibery goodness:

I've always wanted one of these rings, but the vendor didn't have one in my size.

Maybe next year I'll get one. And maybe next year, I'll go both Saturday and Sunday! All kilts, all the time!

I have made light with all the eye-candy-in-skirts references, but this really is a wonderful event, and there's so much more that I didn't capture here. Each represented clan had its own tent which flew their own tartan's colors. There was a tent where a helpful person would look up various family surnames for you to find your particular tartan. Hundreds of attendees of all ages wore tartans in a fascinating variety of colors. On Saturday night, my friends attended a formal dinner for the Henderson clan, and met the international chief of that clan, in town all the way from Australia. Everyone was incredibly friendly, the food was yummy, (typical bad-for-you festival food - yes, I had funnel cake), and the music, ohhhhh, the music.

I don't know what it is, but something about standing in such close proximity to core-vibrating bagpipe music moves me in such a way that I am helplessly reduced to tears. Thank God I was wearing sunglasses. Here's a little sampling of it:

Bagpipers

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We ended our lovely day by watching another wonderful group of musicians called "Poisoned Dwarf", perform in the Dewar's tent:

Poisoned Dwarf
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I am an instant convert to this incredible event, so you better know I'll be there next year.

Wearing plaid!

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(Feedblitz subscribers go here to see embedded videos that don't email well.)

Friday, October 20, 2006

Hometown Tourist - Part Deux

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Well, it seems as if the Science Museum of Virginia is the place to be, these days.

I was there on Monday, and President Bush was there last night for a campaign fundraiser.

And I think I may go back tonight for LiveSky and perhaps a Sky Watch.

It's quite the happenin' place!

Here's a little history about the building, (click any photo to enlarge):