Happy Weekend, RVA: It’s fear itself you fear!

Maybe your clothes will dry out this weekend? Or maybe you will start sprouting fungi. Who can tell!

April 11, 2015; 7:00 AM • by Susan Howson

If you’re reading this, I assume we all made it through TEDxRVA without our brains literally exploding from inspiration. That is to say, assuming our brains didn’t already explode with excitement when Will Wade was officially hired as VCU’s new men’s basketball coach. No word yet on whether or not VCU Athletics has accepted my suggestions for our new defensive strategy (I really liked SORROW!), but it looks like we’ll be keeping HAVOC! anyway. If not, there are more where that came from, Will. I’m batting the idea around for “Fear Itself.” “It’s fear itself you fear!” Still working on it. Oh, and the weather will be mostly sunny with highs in the low 70s. Perfectly appropriate for spring. Apparel translation: denim jacket, one flip-flop, one regular shoe, just in case.

On a side note, Weather.com got me to click on this article with the clickbait headline “They Saw the Tornado, Then This Appeared.” I said to myself, “If it isn’t a spinning sepia-toned house, I will be really upset.” I’m really upset.

In case you missed it

We spent much of this week in News Land recovering from last week’s Fall of Richmond excitement–both the sesquicentennial commemoration and the decline of VCU basketball fans into madness, grief, and sometimes rage. Aaron Williams’s take on the Will Wade hire was illuminating, and those of us who are recent Rams converts are excited to be able to get into something on the ground floor. And anyway, it’s soccer season.

Phil Williams published his penultimate Civil War column about the Appomattox Surrender, and at some point I will have to surrender to the fact that this entire thing is ending. Not that I wish the Civil War had spilled excessive amounts of unnecessary blood for more years just so that an interesting writer could keep providing us fascinating content, but I do wish there were another multi-year event that I could convince him to cover. Civil Rights! The World’s Fair! The reign of Governor Wilder! The Greater Richmond Chamber’s i.e.* initiative! Get me some ideas, public!

I keep thinking about Stephanie Ganz’s piece on choosing a CSA and I desperately want to get in on Agriberry’s fruit one, but I need some partners. I can’t consume that much fruit myself. I am not a fruit bat. Does anyone know of some fruit bats who have a steady income? Accepting submissions, and also I think they are adorable.

Next week, we’ll be continuing to fill your mind full of Earth Day excitement and just excitement in general, including an interview with fascinating expert on all things horticultural, Amy Stewart, my thoughts on Cuddle RVA, volunteer activities you could be doing on Earth Day, and more more more.

Reasons to stay in bed

To watch videos about A Field in England.
First the trailer.
And then this interview with the director.

What a cool-looking film that I have never seen. Movies, man! I like the idea that director Ben Wheatley says in the interview, “There are a lot of films I like that I don’t consume in one moment, and when I’ve finished watching them, I have to think about them…I don’t think it’s a particularly complex film, to be honest!”