Weekend things

The excruciatingly boring process of moving house has filled up all of my weekends as of late, and I’m the kind of person who obsessively rubs salt into wounds by looking around the internet at things that I could be doing if I were rich enough to hire people to pack, carry, and unpack stuff […]

February 1, 2008; 9:00 AM • by Susan Howson

The excruciatingly boring process of moving house has filled up all of my weekends as of late, and I’m the kind of person who obsessively rubs salt into wounds by looking around the internet at things that I could be doing if I were rich enough to hire people to pack, carry, and unpack stuff for me. I have also realized that this is my selfish, lazy life goal.

You lucky folks who aren’t stuck carrying my boxes of shoes and cookbooks around — you need to embrace your freedom! There is life to be lived! For instance, this Saturday, Feb 2, there’s the 5th Italian Film & Food Festival, sponsored by the Richmond Moving Image Co-op and the fantastic restaurants Mamma ‘Zu, Edo’s Squid, and 8 1/2. You pay $15 to see one classic Italian film (and eat food), or you pay $45 for an all-day pass! It’s like staying in and watching Netflixes and eating pizza…only better! As far as new film releases go, your options are slim this weekend anyway. Westhampton’s not making any changes to its There Will Be Blood/Diving Bell and the Butterfly lineup, and the Byrd insists on keeping August Rush for another week (albeit supplementing it with American Gangster, which I didn’t like, but you are certainly welcome to.) If you’re interested in taking part in the forthcoming RVANews Oscar contest (with logarithms by Justin!), you might want to brave Virginia Center Commons, which, as of Friday, will be featuring every Best Picture nominee.

Friday night, if one isn’t packing one’s kitchen into tiny boxes, one might be inspired to check out Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black doing hip stand-up at Toad’s Place. That’s $20, though, so if you’re broke, you could spend nothing and go see Jindabyne at University of Richmond (they have an International Film Series every semester that I mean to take advantage of and don’t, for some reason). Or you could go to Capital Alehouse’s weird but completely fun-sounding Karneval thing – Friday night is the German “Fasching” festival. It’s $5 to get in, but there’s German food, music, and singing. If you get drunk enough, maybe they’ll let you just sleep in a booth until the Brazilian/Latin Carnival starts the next night. Then you can avoid that $10 cover, get to see a Brazilian dance demonstration, AND listen to Richmond staple Bio Ritmo.

I’d say you absolutely must go see Ira Glass (you know, the guy from NPR’s “This American Life”?) at the Modlin Center (one matinee and one evening show on Saturday), but it’s sold out, so you’ll have to rely on the Italian Film thing, the Brazilian thing, or maybe (if you’re lucky) you can hide under the skirt of an excited middle-aged lady and get into Mamma Mia at the Landmark? Or if ABBA musicals aren’t your thing, you can hide under the denim vest of an excited middle-aged lady and get into NASCAR night at the Coliseum (this Renegades event actually seems like it would be an adventure at least)?

If you decide to can it all and stay in on Saturday night, I know you will be up and at ’em on Sunday for a leisurely tour of the Valentine Richmond History Center’s “Tell Me Where You’re Marching, Tell Me Where You’re Bound” to face the music about Richmond’s involvement with the slave trade. It’s a photo exhibit that might lend a somber cast to your Sunday morning, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to drown your sorrows in whatever beer gets consumed during the Super Bowl.

Then, Sunday night, you can sweep your floor, take out the recycling, unpack all of your dishes, and conserve your strength so that you can go to Ikea next weekend for me and get all the cheap, depressing stuff I need.

For a much more thorough listing, check out weeklyrant.com. I know I do.

February 1, 2008 9:00 AM 3