Quirk. How do you feel about it? This is the primary question you must ask yourself before you decide to see Saint John of Las Vegas. It’s such a double edged sword. It can make a movie, but too much and it becomes forced; it can devolve in to parody. This is a movie that is literally drowning in quirkiness. It is a sea of quirk, a river of it flowing directly in to your face. Can you take this much quirk?

John (Steve Buscemi at perhaps his most awkward) is a natural loser, a gambling addict with terrible luck, who seems in love with the idea of who he could be, who he wants to be. He works in an insurance claims company where he sits next to a perky and quirky woman (Sarah Silverman) who has a quirky obsession with smiley faces decorating her cubicle, house, and body with them. His quirky boss is a self obsessed midget whose desk is flanked on four corners with large free standing Greek columns. Intending to ask for a raise, he ends up being promoted to Fraud Investigations, teamed with a pensive “angry young black man” character and sent out on a meandering travelogue to disprove the claims of one Ms. Tasty Delight. On paper the film claims to be a loose adaptation of Dante’s Inferno. Dante is actually listed in the credits as “based on a story by”, though on the face of it, this is basically bullshit. Yes, the main character’s last name is Alighieri, and his companion’s name is Virgil, and there’s even a character named Lue Cipher. But the only serious connection between the two is that it gives the film license to to show scene after scene of super quirky strangeness, each dripping with the all pervasive quirk. »Read More

While attending a downtown concert a few weeks ago, I was mulling over whom I should talk to regarding coverage of the Virginia Film Festival, when I fortuitously ran into an old friend.  Alexander had introduced me to William S. Burroughs long ago, and knowing that Burroughs was responsible for nicknaming John Waters, I thought this could provide a solid pointer as to who should tackle the fest.  Alexander and I decided to engage some of the more offbeat items from the 80+ showings, as the more mainstream ones are likely covered to death.

Trapped in world he never made, Alexander wanders through life perplexed and confused by the things others take for granted. His strange and skewed perspective can amuse and illuminate as well as disturb. Pursued by a demon of boredom he is compelled to go out, over and over again, to watch and experience, forced to socialize and make new friends, lest he be consumed from within. He enjoys film, music, literature, things that are cute, and everything strange.

Details are slightly fuzzy on this one, however, we are hearing rumor that Outback Lodge is continuing it’s battle for strangest events to be thrown in C’ville on a Wednesday, with the Coed Olympic games.  This is a follow up to the Girls Jello Wrestling we covered a few weeks ago, and the foam party of last week.  We do have to wonder if the lack of higher proof spirits may dull the exhibitions at events such as these.  Anyone planning on attending, or perhaps even competing?  Is Michael Phelps in the house?

After attending the Thievery Corporation show, and discussing the audio quality of various performances there, the old myth that the Pavilion suffers from inferior acoustics was brought up again.  This rumor has been floating around since the building was constructed, and the C-Ville covered this question back in 2005, also noting the proposed correction, namely installation of the fabric baffles hanging under the outer shell, which prevent reverberation.

Additionally, a study earlier this year showed the decline in audio fidelity discernible by incoming first years at Stanford, indicating that the inherent quality issues within MP3s has actually become the standard by which those in their late teens are judging all audio sources by.  So even if the quality was there, many could conceivable misjudge the details due to a lack of audio knowledge.

So, can we collectively call this issue dead, or are there a few audiophiles out there who would still consider it a sub-optimal listening stage?

Last year we had a semi-abandoned area, evil & cheap concoctions being distributed, cover bands, and undoubtedly the largest gathering of revelers.  That’s right, if you missed IX last year go ahead and slap yourself, since it appears there WON’T be a followup event like it this go around.

From restaurant and online chatter, it seems just about every bar will have something going on, but where will cVillains be celebrating their Samhain?  [Photo Credits]

The Harris Teeter on 29 (at Forest Lakes) has an ongoing problem with pricing wine and beer.

Example: Dead Guy Ale is on currently on sale, according to the huge sign at the door, for $9.99, except that when you get to the register, it’s $10.99.

According to store management, this kind of problem has been going on for months: wine and beer often don’t ring up at the same price as the sign on the shelf. “Oh, we get several of these a day,” said the apologetic manager. “A couple of days ago a bottle of wine rang up for twenty dollars more than the price on the shelf!”

The reason for this, according to the corporate office in North Carolina, is that sometimes the distributors set the prices for wine and beer. They create the display, apparently, and even print the little sign. And sometimes they just MAKE UP discounted prices, and don’t tell anybody.

So the lesson is: if you shop at Harris Teeter, and you find that your favorite beverage is on sale, get out a pencil and write the price on the bottle. When you get to the checkout, make sure you got charged what the sign said. If you’re overcharged, don’t be a dick and hold up the line. Pay the cashier, and take it the receipt to the manager, who’ll cheerfully refund the difference. They’re all really nice about it. But they apparently have no control over the process.  [Written entirely by an observant birdie]  [Photo Credits]

Charlottesville just keeps pushing the envelope on this topic.  After UNCUS provided a full frontal copy of the UVa Playboy shoot, we wrapped the US Pole Dance East Coast Competition @ The Paramount, and now we hear that Girls Gone Wild is conducting ‘phone screenings’ and requesting images be submitted for consideration of a local shoot, and on Craigslist none the less…

If you meet the age, weight, & height requirements, your 15 minutes of immortal fame shall be compensated by a crisp Ulysses S. Grant.

A well loved cVillain birdie just dropped a very interesting piece of info into our mailboxes.  Apparently, rumor is that Mo Roman, the owner of Si Tapas & iS Venue, was recently convicted of sexual battery, and this may be a link in why the restaurants have closed so unexpectedly.

We have no confirmation that there was, in fact, a conviction, as the Court Database system does not currently show a record for the associated Circuit Court trial.

Being that it is only a misdemeanor, although a class 1 (which may carry up to a year of incarceration), it is hard to say if this would have impacted a business to the extent that it must close.  Perhaps a conviction could have carried the loss of a liquor license, and this may tie into the recent statements by Jeyon concerning the expiring licenses on premises.

Whatever the case may be, the search runs cold within the court databases, as the charge was supposedly ‘Appealed To Circuit Court 08/28/09′.  Check back as we continue to dig up information in the never ending SiiS debacle.

It appears that the last remaining bastion of Just Curry’s curried goodness has called it quits, and almost a month ago at that.  The corner location was the first to shut down in January of this year, and it appears that the transit center location has followed suit.  There has been rumor that owner Alex George may have something planned for the Fry Springs service station, on the corner of JPA & Maury, as a liquor license application for the premises was placed this past July.

Any other word on the street about a replacement for the Transit Centers empty space?  Anyone found a new curry favorite in town?

The X-Lounge is opening it’s doors for our first Club Villain event this evening, and we couldn’t be more excited.  These events are an opportunity for restaurants to show off what they do best, and to offer new food & drink options to our readers.  And in our effort to be Local, we are asking each host to provide something from our very own region, and X-Lounge is bringing in a keg from Devils Backbone just for us.  The event starts at 9:00PM, and we encourage everyone to be there early to enjoy a few surprises throughout the night.

Food Specials:
Crab Cake with Roasted Pepper Emulsion – $7.00
 
Arugula, Wild Mushroom and Fontina Cheese Spring Roll – $7.00
 
Beer Draft:
Devils Backbone IPA – $3.00

Specialty Cocktails:
Martini with St Germain, Cucumber, Lemon, Topped with Sparkling - $6.00

Fall Martini with Bourbon and Spicy Apple Cider – $6.00
 
Bubbles by the Glass – $5.00

Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon – $5.00