Aah, the Downtown Mall.  A place for family and friends during the day, and drunken brawls by night.

While walking up the mall this past Friday, a few Villains and I were confronted with a rather large crowd.  Of cops.  Twenty two of them in fact, along with eight cruisers, two firetrucks, two ambulances, and one individual on a stretcher.

Apparently a fight had broken out inside of a certain downtown club, and spilled out onto 3rd Street.  At least one individual was hospitalized due to head trauma.

While attempting to take photos of the incident, an unspecified officer heckled our photographer with the question “Haven’t you ever seen flashing blue lights before?”, to which we responded “Yes, but we report on the news.  Smile!”  Unfortunately he didn’t.

This marks the second time in two months I’ve come upon police presence on the mall in relation to a fight, all around the 2AM time frame.  So the question begs to be asked, do you feel safe on the mall after the bars close down?

Sent in by a birdie..

I’d like to see coverage of the rivalry between Milan and Royal Indian. The owner of the latter was a chef of the former until some kind of dispute sent them separate ways. Now there is a fierce competition — and maybe a hatred — between the two, leading to all kinds of shows of animosity, including very obvious “fake” reviews on charlottesville-dining.com for both. Some of them make veiled but clear references to the other. I tried to make a point about this in a review there, saying that you can’t trust all the comments, but of course it was edited out.

More broadly, this is reminiscent of the Mas affair. Lots of big restaurant fish fighting for their rights in this small Charlottesville pond. Funny stuff.

Few comments after the break…

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This is the third feature “Charlottesville Deathmatch” where we put two or more similar businesses, places, restaurants or things into a sealed cage of pain, suffering and death. Ultimately only one contestant lives and it’s up to you to figure out who that is.

We have a bunch of sandwich places in this town, just waiting to to be forced together, into a heated mess of aioli, cold cuts and toaster ovens. It’s a wide open battle which includes contestants of all builds and skills. We have everything from bagels to hoagies and just plain old white bread.  Now it’s your turn to decide the best sandwich place…

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This is the second feature “Charlottesville Deathmatch” where we put two or more similar businesses, places, restaurants or things into a sealed cage of pain, suffering and death. Ultimately only one contestant lives and it’s up to you to figure out who that is.

This week we put all the contestants into an electrified cage of exploding nails and booby traps.  In one corner, we have the 40-headed hydra, Saga Communications, which pretty much has the exclusive on commercial radio stations in Charlottesville.  In the other corner, we have a pack of baby velociraptors with claws so sharp, your eyeballs fall out just by looking at them.  Let’s get ready to RUUUUUMBLE…………….

We’re starting a new feature this week where we put two or more similar businesses, places, restaurants or things into a sealed cage of pain, suffering and death. Ultimately only one contestant lives and it’s up to you to figure out who that is.

This week, we present C-Ville Weekly vs The Hook.  In one corner we have an overzealous beast of envy who eats livers for breakfast and huffs more glue than the internet.  And in the other, we have a rabid junkyard attack dog whose teeth have been replaced by poisoned razor blades.  Who wins?  You decide!

It looks like Falls Church isn’t the only enemy of Charlottesville these days.  We just discovered an editorial from Lynchburg’s News and Advance which has insulted us too many times to count.  They even label an organization that we even know existed called the MPO, short for Charlottesville Metropolitan Organization. It’s not a gang,  like you may think.

Those insults, in the piece titled “Nothing But Excuses From Charlottesville” follow:

• Charlottesville transportation officials are completely out of touch with and could care less about the needs of those who travel U.S. 29 on a regular basis
• Charlottesville Metropolitan Organization [is] “a rogue” and a “renegade” group that for 18 years has sat on $50 million in federal highway money intended for planning and right-of-way purchases.
• The bypass around Charlottesville is not “just another road” built to serve the needs of real estate and shopping center developers. It is a road that would eliminate the bottleneck in Charlottesville that has existed on U.S. 29 for more than 20 years. And mass transit has nothing to do with it.

In short, we are rogues who have no grasp of the reality of roads and our little green mass transit plans amount to epic stupidity.  We all know 29 North sucks, do you really have to bitch to us?  Oh, and if you really did know this problem existed for 20 years, THEN WHY WOULD YOU PLAN A JOB OR A COMMUTE AROUND IT?  Idiots.  Now, it’s our turn to insult you:

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I was just perusing the Charlottesville Craigslist musician’s blog and discovered a heated debate about paying musicians vs. playing for tips. A local Belmont coffee shop put out a request for musical acts and offered food, drink and tips as compensation. However, this arrangement didn’t sit well with at least one local musician who thinks such an offer is an “insult to musicians” everywhere. I don’t really see anything wrong with playing music for tips or a cut of the door, but I’m curious as to what other folks think.

Is it really insulting to ask musicians or bands to play for no guarantee? Seems to me most up-and-coming bands would jump at a chance to gig out and get some exposure, even if the compensation wasn’t exactly pro-level.

[Post highlights added after the break]

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Why?  Because Chainsaws and Samurai Swords are used for domestic violence.  I am not making this up.

According to the Star Exponent, there were two weekend fights that involved these fantastic weapon choices.

Chainsaw Incident:  Two brothers were fighting and one allegedly attacked the other with the chainsaw.  They do not know if they chainsaw was turned off or on.

Katana (Samurai Sword) Incident:   A verbal argument turned into a threatening with a samurai sword.  No slashings reported.

Now, if we put these fighters in a room who would win?

[pic, pic] [via Star Exponent]

Ok, I’ve had enough tipsters sending this in that it should be a full post on it’s own. I think we can solve this puzzle quickly. Let us know in the comments below and read one very smart birdie’s insights.

UPDATE, Thanks DONK: The roadies [who went to Rapture, not the band members] let out the word that Eddie & Wolfgang got into an inter-band fight the night before in Florida.

Van Halen recently canceled a planned show at the John Paul Jones arena. An awesome little birdie sends in a link to an “industry-leading” website called “Ticket News.” The website explains: »Read More