Weekend Five

The Virginia Brewing Company
Image from Old Roanoke (page 38)

As part of my concerted effort to be a better blogger, I'm actually entering this week's Weekend Five in the midst of the weekend. Huzzah!

1. Forgotten Roanoke: This is a personal site, and frankly, I am a fan. First, I want to drop you the bio:

We are a married couple. She is from Florida originally, then moved to New York. He spent most of his life either on the edge of - or in New York City. We've always been interested in history, but in NY - if its old - its torn down. And besides, how many times does the history of NY need to be retold? However when we moved to Roanoke, and found a community that embraces its history, its old buildings - we were in heaven. Mostly because it seems alot of the older history of Roanoke has been "misplaced." And with the large amount of people just now moving into the area (not that we would know anything about that *koff koff*), we thought why not put together a site that explores Roanoke as best as we can. Of course, it also grew out of our frustration at not finding anything online about certain buildings downtown. I (KMC - she is KJC) remember my first trip down here with my parents while they were looking at places down at the lake for a vacation and possible retirement. I remember clearly seeing the side of Twists and Turns, before it was Twists and Turns. That glass block brick, and looking around at the surrounding area (this was probably about 1994) and thinking, wow - this place has serious potential. I was probably 18-19 at the time, and embarking (for the first time) on my culinary career. I remember thinking, what a great place for a restaurant. What a beautiful town. Well, it only took about 10 years, but Im finally here. Happy to see mountains instead of more houses.

Now, I find that interesting, the notion that folks from outta' town have embraced a city and, in their love of the place, have begun to seek out not only the well-known history, but the secret history. I'm reminded of course of Knoxville's own Jack Neely, and all I can say is that that's a very, very good thing. I think my pal Joe might just like this one.

2. Old Roanoke: And, speaking of great websites focusing on the Star City, how about Old Roanoke, which bills itself as, "A photographic history of Roanoke, Virginia." Wonderful.

3. Ptelevision.org: Golden Globe of the World Expo: One of the blogs I try to check out at least once every week or so is Ptelevision.org, the homepage of a fellow named Jay Corless. The articles are always interesting, and often strike a note with me. Well, this one, which is brief but pleasant, is one of those, a short tale of Jay's first experience with our Beloved Sunsphere. Huzzah!

4. Bristol Herald Courier: "Wooly Worm Festival Underway This Weekend": I love woolly worms. They rock. Also, and I quote:

Working on the theory that the champion woolly worm that wins the race to the top of a three-foot string shall be the reigning meteorologist, Morton attracted national news coverage for the first event. Last year, 20,000 people showed up to cheer on the little fellows, and the contest will be staged yet again on Oct. 21-22 at Banner Elk Elementary School.

Yeah. You got it. for $5 American you can buy a meteorological arthropod. In Banner Elk, North Carolina. God, to have spare time.

5. Gary Monroe: I'm a daily reader of Boing Boing, one of the best damn web institutions ever, and it was therein that I found this site - think of it as Renaissance-style iconography fully integrated with that of snake-handling Biblical literalists in the Southern mountains. Awesome stuff. Even for a theologically morbid Methodist like me.