Charlottesville Words » bloomington

Will Shortz to speak at UVA

Elizabeth McCullough — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:40:38 +0000

This one is going on the calendar for sure:

Will Shortz
Location: Chemistry 402
Date and Time: Wednesday April 2, 2008, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (EST)

Description: Come see Will Shortz, crossword editor of The New York Times whose puzzles appear in the Cavalier Daily. He is puzzle master for NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” and founder of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Along with writing/editing more than 150 books, Will Shortz is the subject of the acclaimed 2006 documentary “Wordplay.” A graduate of UVa Law School, class of 1977, he also holds the world’s only college degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles.

Contact Information
Kate Becker
757.567.4571
klb6y@virginia.edu

Yeah, yeah, UVA Law School — but guess where he got that degree in Enigmatology? My alma mater!

Three Days of the Night of the Living Cicada!

Elizabeth McCullough — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:24:20 +0000

For the past week, a slim envelope has been taunting me from its comfortable seat on the living room ottoman. I know what’s in it; the problem is, it’s addressed to Mr. Glass, and other than those pesky financial forms and records (URGENT! Last Notice! You May Already Be A Winner!), I keep my mitts off Mr. Glass’s mail. And Mr. Glass himself? Has been out of town for the last week and a half.

But after he gets home tonight and has had some time to rest from his labors, O, what a mighty unveiling there shall be! At long last we will feast our eyes on the contents of that package — a movie seventeen years in the making — THE CICADA EARTH. (No, I don’t get the title either.)

What’s so special about this movie? It contains illustrations derived from Mr. Glass’s photos of the great cicada invasion of 2004.

If you like cicadas (and who doesn’t?), you can find some fun stuff here.

Christmas, Hoosier style

Elizabeth McCullough — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:01:44 +0000

Behold how they roll in Indiana:

Bloomington does it again

Elizabeth McCullough — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:20:50 +0000

National Geographic Adventure Magazine names Bloomington, Indiana, one of the 50 Best Places to Live. And which Central Virginia university happenin’ town is not on this list? Is there no justice in this world? Did I bring bad mojo when I moved here? Is it the gangs? The security cameras?

Surely not.

A little taste of home

Elizabeth McCullough — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:39:25 +0000

The Indiana State Fair, always a culinary leader, has banned trans fats from its concession stands. I know, there’s nothing wrong with a deep-fried Pepsi ball or a deep-fried Snickers Bar that eliminating trans fats is going to cure. I assume it’s just a PR move.
You don’t have to spend much time in Indiana to realize that this is the state of the corn-fed guy and gal. The frustrated food section editor of my hometown paper once ran a recipe for Deep-Fried Sugar-Coated Lard Balls and actually got letters from readers who complained that they couldn’t make the recipe work out — the lard balls kept melting in the deep fryer.

Bloomington, Ind. : A great place to live

Elizabeth McCullough — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:22:46 +0000

Bloomington, Indiana, the hometown of my heart, hit the number one spot on Mother Earth’s 8 Great Places list.

Charlottesville, why aren’t you on this list?? You’re a great place to live for all our citizens! Or something like that.

Moocher??

Elizabeth McCullough — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:28:12 +0000

Teaser from an interview with Jackie Earle Haley at Salon.com:

Fifteen years ago, Jackie Earle Haley had given up on acting. Now the former teenage heartthrob is back with an Oscar nomination for his creepy role in “Little Children.”

We’re talking about Moocher from Breaking Away, right? Now, Breaking Away is one of my favorite films of all time, and Haley acquits himself quite creditably in it, but he was hardly a heartthrob. That role went to Dennis Quaid. I didn’t watch much tv during my college years — did Haley undergo a hunky transformation in the early 80′s and I missed it?