Hampton Roadscholar

All-Time NFL Sacker Meets His Match

2009-05-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

A certain invincibility must attend one’s assent to stardom, after all, fame was not easily won in most cases. As one joins the elite, one may feel they are part of a privileged society, immune to the same weaknesses of the average person. But often one's Achilles tendon will exhibit itself at the worst times, as in the recent DUI arrest of NFL great Bruce Smith. This latest arrest is especially unflattering as it arrives just months before Smith will be receiving his highest honor - induction into Pro Football's Hall of Fame. Additionally, it is his third arrest for DUI in just over a decade, revealing a pattern of weakness.......click the title to read the rest of the article.

Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Challenger is a Cyclist

2009-05-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

BC Politics Premium

A cyclist fatality on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach, Virginia continues to fuel debate on why charges have not been filed against the driver who struck and killed cyclist, Daniel Hersh on April 19. The race for Virginia Beach commonwealth attorney has just entered the fray, as challenger Mark Hardman accused incumbent Harvey Bryant of failing “to pursue justice against drivers who injure or kill cyclists.“
The fatality is a hot topic locally; there seems to be much division between motorists and the cyclists. They both want ownership of the roads, but the road’s design is not welcoming to bicyclists and the roads have become more crowded with vehicles. This is in part due to a lack of leadership in preparing for the explosive housing market several years ago that made many realtors rich and many travelers weary.
The Tidewater Bicyclist Club has organized rides and the local community has filled the editorial pages of the Virginian-Pilot and blogs with their concerns related to this fatality. The TBA is a passionate group with a growing membership, and I got an immediate response from their Vice-president and President in regard to my article about fatalities on Shore Drive, Drive Safely on This Death Drive. The article proved to be a bit prophetic, as it was published within one hour of Hersh’s death.
Several years ago, just blocks from where Hersh was hit, a motorist hit our Dumpster, slamming it into our store building. Our electrical box was destroyed at impact and part of the wall fell over near where I was standing. Electricity was disabled, and for weeks we were running on only partial power from a rented generator and drop cords. We lost a lot of business during that summer month. As far as I know, the driver did not get a ticket for her reckless driving. She even tried to leave the scene by crashing through our fence, busting the pad lock open, before police arrived.
Continued on the next page

Mayor Sessoms of Virginia Beach

2009-05-12T06:09:00.000-07:00

I first met the new mayor of Virginia Beach at the Farmer's Market in the Princess Anne area of Va Bch. He was Vice Mayor then and there was a logo contest for the market where I was one of the finalists who received an award from the city. All the logo entries were displayed in a barn-style room next to vegetable stands and country crafts, sporting phrases like "Home Sweet Home." There was music and refreshments.

A Date with an American Beauty

2009-05-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

The 1936 Cord, a conception that got last place in a 1933 GM sponsored design contest. I drove this car for months and nothing was more unforgettable than its timeless lines from the sculpting hands of Gordon Buehrig, a designer that didn't allow rejection to stop his drawing from becoming a reality, and how.

This Poet's element is off-stage

2009-05-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

A local poet hits the street in virginia beach...

The Original Tough Copper

2009-04-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

How would you catch a bootlegger if you were a cop in the 1930’s? You’d chase him and if you lost him, you’d call for back up to intercept him, right? Well, that wouldn’t work too well for Norfolk cops, who didn’t get radios installed in their cars until 1941. And searching for a gas station with a phone, would often give crooks time to escape. But my late grandfather, John Estes, a Norfolk police officer for 35 years, had a skill that terrified criminals - he could fly...

Click on the title above to link to the rest of the article, The Original Tough Copper on the on-line magazine Blogcritics.

Life-Sized Betty Boop Remains Headless

2009-04-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Associated Press picked up the story on Betty Boop's Beheading from the Virginian-Pilot, which I had submitted a press release, which the Pilot had titled, "Cartoon Violence" in July 2005. AP reverted back to my original press release titled with the three B's - "Betty Boop Beheaded..." It became a top story in papers, TV, and was even on live-feed radio. Someone told me they read about it in the NEw YORK TIMES. Yesterday I submitted an update on the still unsolved mystery, to Blogcritics which they published right away. See the article - http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/04/25/171030.php

Meaningful Co-incidences in Bicyclist Artcile

2009-04-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

The links between my article and the latest fatality on Shore Drive:

1)My article was written as a warning to those on Shore Drive just hours before the latest fatality. And within one hour of it being published, the accident occurred.

2)The vehicle that hit Hersh was a white Explorer, the same type of vehicle I own.

3)Hersh was hit just blocks from where I recounted my own bad experiences on Shore Drive in my article.

4) The other bicyclist that was killed in Virginia Beach this year was hit on Witch Duck road where I grew up in my teens.

5) I just delivered yesterday an item to a customer that lives off of Starfish Road, where the accident happened. It was the same day that my 2nd article on this accident was published.

I could go on with other links, but it would only get more bizarre...

Writer's Warning a Tad too Late for Bicyclist

2009-04-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

My article about the synchronicity between my warning (a Blogcritics article) to drivers on Shore Drive and the most recent fatality (of a bicyclist) can be seen in a explanatory perspective in my latest article with the same title above. Very Stephen Kingish - I even, in the my earlier article, compared Shore Drive to elements in his novel, "Christine." Web http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/04/23/023620.php

Mayor Fraim meeting with citizens

2009-04-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

In the mid 1990's, Norfolk Mayor Fraim, began offering opportunities to individuals to meet with him one-on-one. It was a revelation when a group showed up parading as one, like they were attending an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The Virginian-Pilot is a-changing

2009-04-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

I had a morning and evening route, folding this paper in thirds and binding it with a rubber band. I delivered them before and after school. When my brother got his first van, I used to ride on the back and toss the papers from the top to customer's door steps, like a daring trashman. The evening paper, the Ledger-Star, is de-funct. But, the struggling morning paper (continous lay-offs) has greatly changed with a new publisher and a new look - with more ads plastered on it, including the near-sacred cover, in vivid color, nonetheless. Therefore, front page news is no longer as great as it was. Not when a car dealer or realtor can buy a place on the same page, forcing the publisher to sometimes relegate important news to another less prominent spot, thus weakening the priority of news and its placement hierarchy, further creating less of a paper and more of a daily advertisement. Thinking money, money, money will only destroy the paper's long standing reputation in my hometown. If only the HRS could interest Daddy Warbucks in purchasing the ailing paper, he could take the paper back to its Banner Days (Not the AD banner days of today), when reading the paper was part of our daily ritual, which we looked forward to reading with our orange juice, bacon, and eggs. The HRS would re-name it the Retro-Pilot and boost circulation to 450,000, and rehire the fired staff, and turn them onto skim boarding on the Chesapeake Bay during low tide and eating freshly caught crabs. He would hold editorial meetings on the Ocean View pier on good nights.

Drive Safely on This Death Drive

2009-04-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

In a twist right out of a Stephen King novel, less than one hour after publication of my story about the many vehicular fatalities that have happened on Shore Drive, a bicyclist was killed by an SUV in the same drive. Interesting enough, in my story published on Blogcritics, I mention my run-ins with vehicles where I used to work, which is on the 3700 block of Shore Drive, just blocks away from where the most recent fatality happened. The point of my artcle was to serve as a public service announcement to visitors to the tourist route. Read the relevant article published today on Blogcritics.

Reverse 911

2009-04-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

Motivation is a variable. So many things influence it.

Teenage Bomb Enthusiast in Virginia Beach

2009-04-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when the Independence Day movie was out with Will Smith, and a nut stock housing bombs was discovered, I did this take. There was a roughness and a bit of a backwardness about this nut. Here he uses a bike pump as an interactive device with his favorite part of ID4 movie. I dug it from my archives because of the latest news on a teenager found with bombs at his parents home in Virginia Beach. It's almost too difficult to find something comicky about it but that is part of the challenge in these shocking things that demand disbelief, which is why perhaps humor is paradoxical.

Middleman

2009-04-16T03:24:00.000-07:00

What would a Fix look like if it was inside out?

That depends on whether you are an insider or an outsider.

Newport News Fish

2009-04-15T05:33:00.001-07:00

The chemicals, TBT, used to keep barnacles off ships can create interesting changes to the bay's water creatures. There have been days where I go to the Chesapeake Bay and the beach is filled with dead fish along the shore. And little explanantion was found. Perhaps, that was best, as the real reasons may have been too shocking for some specimen.

Photo Doctoring

2009-04-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

The Hampton Roads Scholar was following a story about a picture of ex-Governor Wilder of Virginia, with then-prez Clinton, in a photo with Mark Warner. It was from the mid 1990's but delineated the power of photo-altering software like photoshop. Not that any harm was done, but you are judged by who you are associated with.

Vision Line

2009-04-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

The Hampton Roadscholar created Vision Line to allow citizens the chance to submit their visions to their leaders. Certainly, these passionate pleas must have appeared as abstract paintings to those schooled in say, local seascapes.

It's a Gas!

2009-04-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

In the 1990's, a popular topic of contention was the Lake Gaston pipeline, miles and miles of piped water crossing many areas before providing hampton roads with more water. City leaders were instigated to fight with the mere mention of the word water. Here in this page of local history are the Fab Five city leaders on unicycles, the wheels of which are the respective city seals - the point was to see if they could get along in a physical activity other than fisticuffs, but it didn't work - someone changed the HOV lane to H2O and all hell broke loose. The Hampton Roadscholar proposed adding the other 4 city seals to mount trashmore alongside the already emblazoned Virginia Beach seal, but naturally he was met with severe resistance.

Summit at Mt. Trashmore Continues

2009-04-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

How would we ever justify the payroll of politicians if there was a continuous state of getting along. If things went smoothly, as they could if the powers that be allowed it to be, they would have to fight for their jobs like those with real jobs . Thus, by unwritten law, we must have arguments, battles, and wars. If leadership was effective, with time, there would be continous positive results built on the careers of other leaders, not a constant emphasis on change around voting time. L:ife would become better, not worse. Ill-placed assistance can perpetuate problems as much as deliberate ignorance. It's how it is used. Perplexing, paradoxical, and ironic, but, a well lubricated machine, this is.

Summit at Mount Trashmore

2009-04-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

Bringing the Fabulous Five - Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk to a Summit to explore group activities was a good way to entice the respective leaders to at least appear as a team. Mount Trashmore was a good place for this to occur, as it was essentially the only mountain in the area and it made a great photo op for the press. Imagine each leader running up the many steps and then embracing at the top like Rocky climbing the steps of the Philadelphia Museum.

Virginian-Pilot Mascot

2009-04-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

It is the nature of a locale to be almost myopically focused on its own surroundings. It's always been challenging to simultaneously focus on the trees and the forest. And thus city leaders should stay focused on their own areas, as they know them best. The mascot of regionalism serves the purpose of reminding the different city sectors of a common goal, a realization that our actions have ripple effects. Jeez, this could get deep.

Downtown Norfolk

2009-04-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

Having grown up in Norfolk, I couldn't help but see the many "cart pushers." They could have the appearance of an undesirable, but they were doing something admirable - cleaning the public streets at no cost to the city, of trash that probably on more cases than not was left by the so-called more respectable citizens that could afford the more expensive cans of beer and cigarette packages that lined the curve. So, amidst an area known for its crime and drug pushers, was the cart pusher, a homeless street person that could have one heck of a spirituality beneath that dirty, musty clothing.

Neptune Festival

2009-04-07T17:57:00.001-07:00

What's worse than the rising tide in destroying a sand sculpture at the Neptune Festival?

Home Scams

2009-04-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

The box to my recliner made a great home for a Cleveland homeless person. I gave him some plastic to put under the box to prevent moisture, but he wasn't content - he wanted not one blanket, but two. I also offered some decorating ideas for the inside of the box, but he wasn't interested, saying he wasn't going to live there long enough to enjoy it.

Virginia's Polluters Relief Act

2009-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Virginia Polluters Relief Act had a couple of loop holes the size of a trashed tire. The Hampton Roads Scholar delineates a few of them from the past.