Yes, these pics are SO freaking exciting, we just had to post them.  And for all of you haters who think no one cares about this stuff…you are so wrong! (shooting devil horns in your general direction).  The mystery gift turned out to be a pair of shoes/sandals a million sizes too small for our dear Shenanigans.  One day she will meet her Prince Charming and put on the perfect fitting glass/cloth slipper.

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The other night I heard that the UVa football team has in house masseuses/chiropractors that work on the team as part of their training.  This isn’t that rare I think.  Most schools, especially with great sports programs have mini physical therapy centers solely dedicated to their athletes.

ANYWAYS, so the NY Times reports that neck manipulations have a high-correlation to people getting strokes.  Yes, very scary indeed.  It seems a

technique called cervical spinal manipulation, involving a forceful twisting of the neck, could damage two major arteries that lead through the neck to the back of the brain. Strokes in people under age 45 are relatively rare, but these cervical arterial dissections are a leading cause of them.

In light of this weekend’s upcoming game…we might want to stay away from our athletes’ necks!  Has anyone experienced really bad side-effects after a session with the chiropractor?

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CVILLAIN ALERT:  SHENANIGANS WILL UNVEIL THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX AT SOUTH STREET TONIGHT AT 8PM!!!!!

During last week’s chatter about Yard Sales,  one “Otterdung” was apparently smitten by our beloved Shenanigans and claimed to have sent a package to the Spicy Bear office.  Shen said:

Is there a present for me at the Spicy Bear office y’all? I wanna know if Mr. I’m-trying-to-seduce-you-with-my-French is for real or just pulling a Max Bacon…

Parlie was quick to jump in:

DO NOT OPEN THE BOX. otterdung has the upper hand.

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Algae is quickly becoming the crowd favorite for Princess of the Alternative Energy ball. 

University of Virginia researchers have a plan to greatly increase algae oil yields by feeding the algae extra carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) and organic material like sewage, meaning the algae could simultaneously produce biofuel and clean up environmental problems.

While many companies around the world are hard at work on this technology, UVa is trying to prove the feasibility of mass production and its positive (hopefully) effects on the environment. 
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[source: Reuters]

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Uncus posted an article yesterday about the things cville is doing to be and not be green.  I was surprised to find out they placed the “localvore” trend in the anti-green habits of the city (the cite UVa research…didn’t see that one coming), and that they missed out on the Eco Dry Cleaners habit of distributing glossy stock spam across town.  Asides from their bullet points, what else are we and are we not doing green in town?

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I attended yesterday’s highly anticipated Launchbox Demo Day in Reston VA.  For those of you not in the tech-know, Launchbox is a start-up incubator that selects a handful of businesses, gives them just enough cash to buy a sandwich everyday and 12 wks to create the next .com masterpiece.

UVa PhD, Ashon Wardak, and undergrad student, Luc Castera,  are the founders of Sharememe, one of the nine companies out of 200 Launchbox selected to be a future .com darling.  So what is Sharememe?  Essentially it provides one outbox for all of your informal messages.  To explain further, lets walk through an example of planning a birthday party without Sharememe:

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There is a new kickboxing/boxing gym in cville, and the owner/trainer is VERY enthusiastic about his business. I tried for a long time to get more info on training with him, and the following is our long-winded conversation.  Frustrating always, but humorous none the less.  I highlighted the funny parts in bold:

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Unless you live under a rock, you have to have at least seen the only tarot card reader on the downtown mall. Perhaps he smiled, and you kept on walking, or perhaps he read you a future you never imagined. I assume most of you keep walking, hey, I was guilty of just that. I decided to break social norm and find out who he is. Here are a couple “Ed” factoids:

• His name is Ed Rowe (pronounced Rau-German ancestry) and he will talk your ear off
• He is a father
• a veteran high school teacher of the New York school system and probably one of the most well-read people you will meet in cville (outside of UVa I presume)
• He is a college graduate and has a Masters degree as well
• Has a cell phone that he pays for himself and ONLY uses to call his children
• Sleeps in a camp-site every night
• Showers and cleans his clothes every day
• Uses email regularly at Mudhouse or the UVa library
• Never begs for money and will NOT accept donations

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Another of our famous Mallstars, Tony is owner of the hippest coffee joint on the downtown mall, Cafe Cubano.  I don’t know anyone else in town that takes more pride in drawing a shot of espresso than Tony…be sure to ask for a cortadito (typical Cuban coffee:  lots of sugar, espresso and a drop of milk…it will knock you on your caffeinated feet), and you will see the attention he gives to the tiny succulent shot.  So I thought it would be great to find out more about the man behind the coffee…so here goes!

Starting a life and business in Charlottesville

Where were you before Charlottesville?
I was in Miami in the restaurant business, but when my wife was diagnosed with a serious illness we moved to Alexandria. There I partnered with a restaurant guy in the DC to manage a couple locations and we later sold the business to a South Korean group in 1992. That gave me the chance to move to cville. I started working in Richmond for about a year consulting for a restaurant group and later worked for UVa with a management consulting group.

Why did you come to Charlottesville?
My first wife, who passed away, had a sister that lived here.  For twenty years we traveled to cville about 2-3 times per year.  I was always impressed by the environment.

How did Cafe Cubano come about?
I had an opportunity to meet the brothers from Higher Ground Coffee. I loved their food and coffee and decided to buy it. My goal was to deliver a micro-concept on the downtown mall. I loved the diversity and “city” feeling of the mall. The customer base came from all walks of life. From movers and shakers to UVa professors and students to nerds to entrepreneurs…it reminded me a lot of old-town Alexandria.

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Most of us are obsessed with the downtown mall usually out of convenience. What is off the beaten path? My interest in procuring a new breakfast spot has yielded a diamond in the cville rough: C’ville Coffee. Located at the corner of Harris and McIntire in what seems to be an antique/furniture business park, it serves up more than just coffee.

My curiosity with Cville Coffee began with the Chocolate Chip Honey Bunches I tried at the City/Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago. Something so simple and delicious surely had to come out of a creative kitchen, or at least a business that really cares about its customer experience.

About an Owner

I had lunch with Toan Nguyen, owner of C’ville Coffee soon after our introduction at the City/Farmers Market. We discussed everything from business to politics to the local “green” initiative. He has quite a colorful past, influenced very much by his wife’s career ambitions. She was a high-powered San Francisco lawyer in the 80’s, no doubt slinging together crazy private equity and leveraged buy-out deals in the hay day of financial market abuse (just a thought, not actually confirmed). Confronted with the realization that working for the Firm would not allow for a great family life, she told Toan she wanted to move back to cville where she attended Uva Law.

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