If this NYE didn’t already find me with plans up in Fredericksburg I’d definately make my way down to this. Check it out for me, folks, and let me know how much it rocks for next year’s planning.

RVAMag (who’s helping put this puppy together) has some info here.

The Times Dispatch gave it a write up today. (h/t Snoopy)

Having been quite busy with work and the holidays, I kinda came in late to the whole Waldo/GGD “debate”. So, being such an insightful guy and knowing the limits of my own ability to phrase things, I’ll turn to Shaun’s post which does a great job of defending Waldo. And the blogger formerly known as Jaded JD follows up with a great defnese of Shaun here. Even Chad Dotson poked his head up to take a stand. So all the bases are covered.

I’ll also follow up with this. It is my understanding that it is very hard if not impossible to remove individual posts from some aggregator set-ups. Waldo would have been unable to simply remove the single offending post without removing the entire RSS feed from his aggregator. Which he did. And had every right to do because it was his own aggregator, created by him in his own time with his own money. If Republican’s can’t respect a man doing what he will with his own private property well, hell, what kind of Republican are you?

So let me put it graphically:

OLGA (OnLine Guitar Archive) has been shut down yet again due to legal issues with music companies. Assorted clippings about the situation are available here. I’ve used OLGA for years to find tabs for some of my favorite songs. It’s a great resource and has done wonders in helping me learn to play the guitar. Hopefully they can get past this and be back up in no time.

Richmond Flag Football League!

Now to form a team…

It’s not much, but it’s the Virginia Blog Carnival!

It’s the holiday’s and that means we should all think of sharing something this Christmas.

Kilo shares a couple of his favorite desert recipes just in time for the holidays. (I’s gots to get me some of that butter toffee…)

Ward shares his celebration of the second Sunday of Advent.

Emeril (or is he not Emeril? The world may never know…) helps us celebrate a Gaelic Christmas.

McQ over at QandO shares a story of his family’s charity and how you can help a couple of great causes.

And please keep in mind RVABlogs’ winter charity to Help Virginia Read.

Hope you and yours all have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season.

This Monday J’s Notes will once again be the home of the Virginia Blog Carnival. Have you blogged anything interesting in the last week? Read anything interesting on the VA blogs over the last seven or so days? Tell me so I can add that puppy to the line-up. Especially if said posts are Christmassy in their topics because, well, Monday marks one week from the holiday and so it’s kinda appropriate. But don’t feel like it has to be.

Then stay tuned to J’s Notes for the amazing amazingness that is the Virginia Blog Carnival!

And stuff.

Now this sounds interesting.

River City Rapids covers Richmond’s War On Nightlife through city council proposals aimed at granting the powers that be greater ease in revoking an establishment’s license:

There is a proposal on the agenda this week that will redefine how the city can easily revoke a club’s license that applies to clubs that stay open late, allows bands or dancing (hello, Footloose), or repeatedly causes trouble. But the resolution imposes some blatantly ridiculous restrictions on clubs that will likely do one of two things - close clubs because of said regulations or encourage clubs to not sell as many tickets as possible.

Why?

It stems from VCU’s and the city’s desire to close 534 Club on Harrison St. The club has been a venue for late night trouble and gunplay (click on link and type in “534 Club” and read the series of stories), but have survived the attempts to shut it down via revoking its liquor license and other methods.

But this new ordinance, if passed, will cripple other clubs that do not have the track record that 534 does. For example, Section Sec. 6-159 (b) of the proposal (Scroll to Page 9) states that if a club expects to reach its occupancy limit, then it must “submit a plan for traffic and crowd control in and around the establishment to the police no later than seven days prior to the event. The department of police must approve the traffic and crowd control plan before the promotion or event may be held.“

So imagine no club or venue willing to bring in a named band because they aren’t sure whether or not it will sell out and really don’t want to have to deal with the city. Or, as Snoopy points out:

What about smaller clubs like Alley Katz or the Canal Club or Brown’s Island or the new Toad’s Place and National Theater? What if a performance at the Empire Theater or the Firehouse Theatre sells out the day before the show? Richmond is a notorious city for buying tickets the day of the show - ask any promoter.

It’s a purposefully vague proposal that allows the city free reign to determine who to punish for this. Specifically, it let’s them target establishments like 527 while giving other businesses a free pass. There are other ways for the city to go about this than create a potential headache of a catchall that threatens not only the city’s current nightlife but it’s ability to grow beyond that.

MaxPower goes so far as to issue a call to action:

What we need here is a taskforce or a coalition of the willing or some shit — local business and creative leaders that are willing to stand up at city council meeitngs and say some things. Maybe run a couple billboards, flyers, websites, a myspace page, something.

More people at city council meetings voicing the true opinions of the city’s people would be a good place to start.

In 1983, comic giants Stan Lee and Jack Chick collaborated on what has become the Holy Grail of comic collectors and crazy-nutcase-people fans alike.

FT Rea’s right on:

My answer is another angle on the bullshit factor in today’s way of reporting the news of the day by the mainstream media. What I’m saying here is that this little exchange between Bush and Webb means almost nothing. If the reports about the incident are accurate, both men chose to pass on the opportunity to ignore a barb in the words of the other. But this is a yarn about conflict, however small, and editors dearly love easy stories about a two-sided conflict.

Still, I say that if Bush’s supporters want to think Webb was being boorish, so what. If Webb’s supporters want to think Bush was being imperious, so what. What’s new in any of that? That is exactly what those partisans thought last week, too.

What local bars/pubs do you all go to for evening wind-downs or hanging out? I’m not talking about places to get tanked and act like a fratboy (*cough*BigDaddys*cough*) but places to just hang out with the friends and some locals and enjoy tasty beverages and snacks at a decent rate. I’m just looking for suggestions.

And you know what that means:

That’s right! 73 degrees and humid!

Not that I mind nice weather but, well, back in my day it had snowed at least once by now. Ah well, just have to brace ourselves for the 20 degree drop they’re calling for into tomorrow and the 40s and 50s all next week.