Trumpeter John D’earth scores music for First Night celebration

John D'Earth
Trumpeter John D’earthPhoto: U.Va
John D’earth has been a fixture on Charlottesville’s music scene for decades. The trumpeter and his band play a set at Miller’s every Thursday night, and he’s also an instructor at the University of Virginia, playing in the school’s Free Bridge Quintet.

So, when First Night Virginia wanted someone to write to score for a piece commemorating the event’s 25th anniversary, they turned to D’earth. I stopped by his studio to find out more.

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This podcast has two interesting bits of trivia associated with it. The opening music is from the Thompson-D’earth Band’s new album, When the Serpent Flies. This is a track called Second of Many.

The second bit of trivia comes at the end of the piece. Don’t be startled by the sound of my 14-month-old daughter Josephine, who tagged along with me to John D’earth’s studio. She was really quiet for most of the interview, but let out a splendid squeal at the very end of the musical selection I was recording. John insisted I leave it in, so I obliged!



Charlottesville photographer talks about his story of Gunkanjima

This is a first-hand account of an island in Japan called Gunkanjima. In the spring of 2005, I traveled to this island to photograph and explore its history. Gunkanjima was an old coal mining island that holds the highest population density recording in the world. In the 1970’s the island was shut down, leaving behind a ghost town of a once thriving society.

Zona Latina to debut this weekend on ABC 16

The region’s first bilingual public affairs program will debut tomorrow on WVAW ABC16 at 9:00 AM. Zona Latina has been created to give Spanish-language speakers the chance to find out more about the community. I recently stopped by the Charlottesville Newsplex to speak with Diane Taylor and Carlos Teran, the show’s producers.

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Kickball league kicks off operations of new Charlottesville club

A transplant from Northern Virginia has started a new group called the Charlottesville Sports & Social Club. The club began operations this past Sunday with the first games for mobile phone in the inaugural Kickball League at Azalea Park. I stopped by and spoke with club director and umpire Chad Day.

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Local author writes children’s book on Japanese-American internment camps

 

Amy Lee-Tai’s mother and family were forced by the federal government to relocate to an internment camp in 1942. Lee-Tai has published a children’s book inspired by her family’s experience. A Place Where Sunflowers Grow is published by Children’s Book Press.

This piece was originally commissioned to air on WVTF Public Radio’s Studio Virginia program. CPN also receives support from the Charlottesville Daily Progress.

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Jefferson’s Eyeglasses – a Monticello Podcast

Franklin wore ’em. And you may not know it, but Jefferson did, too. In late 2005 radio producer Sean Tubbs (of the Charlottesville Podcast Network) interviewed scholar Katherine Stebbins McCaffrey who came to the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies to study Jefferson’s interest in eyeglasses as part of larger look at the history of spectacles and how their design and use changed in the 18th and 19th centuries.



Myo Sim Karate and Kendo turns 40


Rick Wellbeloved-Stone (left) and Christian DeBaun (right) spar while their master instructors look on…

Myo Sim Karate and Kendo celebrated its fortieth anniversary in Charlottesville this weekend with its annual black belt exams. Myo Sim was founded by Grand Master Sung Hong, a Korean immigrant who opened his first dojo near Galludet University in 1963. One of his students brought the practice to Charlottesville when he entered studies at the University of Virginia. Classes in both karate and kendo are now taught at ACAC. Sean Tubbs attended the celebrations, and spoke with Rick Wellbeloved-Stone and Christian DeBaun, two of Myo Sim’s instructors in Charlottesville.

Bryan MacKenzie wrote about Myo Sim last week in the Daily Progress.

Subscribe to the CPN podcast

CPN is an aggregator of podcasts from in and around Charlottesville. We post about a dozen or so pieces a week, from everything from public lectures to call-in shows like WINA’s Charlottesville–Right Now. To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe to the show for free in iTunes. This will automatically download everything posted here into your iTunes folder. Listen on your computer, or take CPN with you on the road.


New Citizens Take Oath of Citizenship at Monticello

New citizens take the Oath of Citizenship at Monticello

There are sixty-nine more Americans in the area around Charlottesville this week. The new citizens took the Oath of Citizenship on the steps of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello on Independence Day. They were welcomed by fellow naturalized citizens Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the pair responsible for huge public art projects such as The Gates and the wrapping of the Reichstag.

This is a six minute report featuring the highlights from the ceremony. Check here for the full ceremony.



Monticello Podcast: A look at the International Center for Jefferson Studies

A dozen years, several conferences, a score of books, and hundreds of scholars from twenty countries. Radio producer Sean Tubbs talks with Andrew J. O’Shaughnessy, Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies about the Center’s work fostering and sharing new Jeffersonian scholarship at home and abroad.



The Woolen Mills through the lens of Bill Emory

Courtesy of Bill Emory

Charlottesville is going through a dramatic period of transformation, caused by the region’s quality of life and a general rise in housing prices. This has forced the evolution of the city’s historic neighborhoods, including the Woolen Mills area, just to the east of the downtown mall. In this second in our continuing series on Charlottesville area bloggers, photographer Bill Emory takes us on a tour of the neighborhood. He’s taking a visual inventory of what the area looks like today to make sure it’s still there tomorrow.

You can read more on the Woolen Mills area here. This piece is supported in part by the Charlottesville Daily Progress, our news partner.

Our series of conversations with Charlottesville bloggers began with a talk with Chris and Darlene Bruce, the folks behind Eat Air, a blog about vegan cooking.

Area Hispanic immigrants rally in Charlottesville

Supporters of immigrants’ rights held demonstrations across the nation yesterday as part of a day of action to demand fair treatment. Many are opposed to border security legislation that passed the House of Representatives that would make it a felony to be in the country illegally.

Over three hundred people turned out at a rally in Charlottesville Monday night to show their support. They sang songs, lined Preston Avenue, and heard comments from Tim Freilich, the managing attorney of the Virginia Justice Center for Farm and Immigrant Workers.

This podcast is an expansion of a report produced for WVTF Public Radio, and features some of the songs and Freilich’s comments. We also spoke with one of the people who participated in the rally.

The Daily Progress has coverage of the event from Sarah Barry. We’ll update this page with other links as we can find them. We’d like to know what you think as well. Please leave a comment below. Bill Emory has a nice picture of a painting that was displayed on the steps of the Albemarle County Executive Office Building. Waldo has a post on it, and mentions that Nell Boeschenstein of C-Ville Weekly wrote about it as well.