At one time or another most of us have been in a certain kind of relationship called ‘friends with benefits’.  Generally the benefits don’t include gym membership and health insurance (though I met one young lady who told me she’d take this as an option over sex) - so you get the idea.  You’re good friends, you both get horny, you both get drunk, and it’s usually all at the same bar.  You’re both twenty something downtown-bar-hopping kids with libidos that cannot be contained.  What a coincidence!  Why not kill two birds with one stone and in the morning get a hungover breakfast at Blue Moon, have a couple mimosas, and go your separate ways.  There’s no emotional attachment, you both get your hookup with person of choice, and life is good - right?

Well, unfortunately the ‘friends with benefits’ model is eventually threatened by the prospect of a more serious relationship.  I polled a half dozen men and women about this subject and came up with a list of warning signs for those currently in FWB status.  If you start to exhibit any of these behaviors, or your benefit friend does, you are drifting towards relationship territory.  Take it as you will - I know plenty of people who started out as FWBs and ended up happily dating.  None of these things are inherently bad, but be aware - if a relationship is not at all what you want then these are 10 warning signs that you’re drifting in the wrong direction:

In no order of importance:

1- You go over to their house and don’t have sex.

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Popularity: 51% [?]

As you may or may not know, there are a wide variety of low-end fortified wines available in the Charlottesville area. While none are locally produced, they all pack a particularly interesting wallop and are quite distinct in their own way. I managed to convince 6 Cvillains to be brave enough to help me evaluate them and determine which is the best. Here are the results.

I went shopping on Friday afternoon and hit two convenience stores to get the goods. At the Shell station on Preston I picked up the first 4 bottles - Night Train, Wild Irish Rose ‘Red’, ‘Wild Grape’, and ‘Wild Fruit’. When I put them on the counter at the register the cashier looked at me and said “Wow.” I replied that it was for science and she told me that if it was for anything else I was about to spend the next 2 days in the bathroom “both ways”. I hurried the plastic and paper bags back to my car before anyone saw the massive amount of fortified wine I was buying.

After a few more unsuccessful (re: they only sold REAL wine, like from a vineyard) stops I found a few more bottles at the Estes Market on Cherry Avenue. It was here that I bought Thunderbird, Cisco ‘Black Cherry’, and Wild Irish Rose ‘Green Apple’. There were a lot of varieties of Cisco, no doubt made with different grapes, but in order to limit the scope of this wine review (and be easy on my volunteer tasters) I elected to only sample the Black Cherry. I was surprised that none of these wines were as cheap as I’d expected. A 750ml bottle of each was $4.99.

And now the results… »Read More

Popularity: 46% [?]