Charlottesville filmmaker Mark Edwards and Mary Michaud are going to be showing their latest film Friday night at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center.
But then they are taking the show on the road.
True, they have sent off an entry form to see if they can get “Mr. Angerhead” into the Sundance Film Festival, but they have opted for something less traditional to market their movie.
With screen and projector in hand, they are going to take their film to Moose lodges and art galleries across the state.
“The thing about film festivals is that they charge you 50 bucks to reject you,” Edwards said, “And we can rent a Moose lodge for 50 bucks and be guaranteed that we are going to make our money back.”
“And that people are going to see it,” Michaud said.
“So, we kind of like that idea better,” Edwards said.
It’s capitalism at its best.

Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger

Republicans are having all the fun these days of having a wide-open presidential nomination contest—OK, guys named Tom and Duncan are likely to drop soon but they still have a Mitt, a Fred, a Rudy, a Ron, a Mike and a John—and now folks are lining up to take on Jim Gilmore.

Jim, the first to drop from the presidential lineup, is by far the front-runner for the right be become the serious underdog to Democrat Mark Warner, another former governor looking for a 2008 Senate seat.

Now a Chris and a Bob are looking seriously at getting in with Jim for a convention battle to see who gets to take on MarkNotJohn.

Chris Saxman, a delegate from Staunton, is little-known outside of GOP circles but has few of the negatives people might attach to Jim Gilmore if they recall the split he helped engineer between Senate and House Republicans during his governorship.

Bob Marshall, a veteran delegate from Prince William County, is better known as perhaps a truer conservative than mighty conservative Gilmore. Marshall is also mulling a Senate bid and notes that Gilmore is not held in high esteem by conservatives for saying he would allow abortions during a woman’s first trimester.

“I’m just looking around,” Marshall said the other day. “I like Jim. I’ve worked with him, but his hands-off first trimester abortions, that’s not going to enthuse anyone.”

“Is it possible for me to do this? I think so,” Marshall said.

Is Gilmore a pure enough conservative for party activists? That question will be knocked around Friday night and Saturday at the GOP’s Advance in Arlington. There’s nothing like a little competition to keep a party kickin. 

What’s the million-dollar question? Where do I land two tickets for the Virginia-Virginia Tech game? That one, however, is outside my control so save the e-mails. ... But kick yourself for failing to get season tickets. Besides, minus the Pittsburgh landslide, the 2007 home schedule has provided local football fans with some outstanding action. ... The burning question, however, is in regards to Virginia’s bowl fate. A 9-win season in the worst-case scenario should leave Virginia in a promising game for pay, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Virginia fans merely know this much: the Cavaliers should go to a better bowl game than Florida State (3-4 ACC), Georgia Tech (3-4), Miami (2-4) and the loser of Saturday’s upcoming game between N.C. State (3-3) and Wake Forest (4-3). While there is a small loophole, keeping hope alive for the winner of the Wake-N.C. State game, the ACC enforces a two-game rule - any team that’s two games better in league play (typically) is not to be skipped over in the bowl-selection process. In theory, that leaves Virginia’s worst-case scenario as the fifth team selected (if Wake beats N.C. State to finish 5-3 in the ACC or if N.C. State wins out to go 5-3 in league play). … The order, in case you are in doubt, is as follows for the top four spots: 1. Orange Bowl (ACC title game winner unless that team is No. 1 or No. 2 in final BCS standings, and that’s not happening this year); 2. Peach, err, Chick-fil-A Bowl (likely the ACC title game loser, but the bowl can reach outside depending on league and BCS standings and/or a desired contest); 3. Gator Bowl (common logic says this game would prefer a team that did not play in the ACC title game since it would be a repeat trip to Jacksonville, Fla., for the team’s fans); 4. Champs Sports Bowl.
… The bowl games in Nashville, Charlotte and San Francisco then take the remaining teams and submit bids on their top three choices. The ACC office then tries to match things up accordingly. Should the ACC title game loser be on the board, Nashville’s Music City Bowl must take that team. … The MPC Computers Bowl on Boise’s blue field is left to collect the scraps, and will likely take the winner of the N.C. State-Maryland game winner (the two five-win teams play Nov. 24). Miami could throw a wrench into the plans if it wins at Virginia Tech or Boston College, but winning requires scoring. … What does it all mean? Well, if Virginia loses to Virginia Tech, expect a trip to see Mickey Mouse at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. Sure, the Gator Bowl could scoop up Al Groh’s boys in this scenario, but the loser of Saturday’s Boston College-Clemson game would likely be more appealing. BC has a Heisman Trophy candidate in Matt Ryan. Clemson travels in really big bunches. In case you care, the Champs Sports Bowl is played Dec. 28 on at 5 p.m. at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Possible Big-Ten opponents? Penn State and Purdue come to mind and Iowa and Michigan State are long shots. Of course, Virginia could just beat the Hokies and jumble the entire mess. 

Lets try this blog thing again. ... Heading out of the Sunshine State on Sunday, I dropped seven quarters for a newspaper at an over-crowded airport. I guess I needed to see it again for my own eyes. And, yes, the score had not changed. It still said: Virginia 48, Miami 0. Wowswers. Who saw that coming? ... I would love to say Virginia DE Jeffrey Fitzgerald saw it coming. Besides, two weeks ago the sophomore said his defense wanted a shutout. He was serious, but time was running out. Wake Forest was scoring about 40 a game in recent action before invading Great Scott. Virginia Tech was a month away and blanking the Hokies, well, that’s about as likely as strong voter turnout. Blanking a bowl opponent, with the month of rust and extra time to scheme a game plan, makes that doubtful at best (Remember Minnesota or Fresno State). And then there was Miami sandwiched in the middle of Wake and VT. Keeping Miami off the board for 60 minutes, regardless of the Cavs’ offensive outpouring, seemed unimaginable. Get a big lead and some unproven subs sneak in (as they did). Keep it close and the crowd stays jacked up (as they didn‘t). What we didn’t know was that Miami was not much better with Kyle Wright than it was with Kirby Freeman at QB. Dan Marino would have struggled with uninspired play from his wideout. And nobody - almost nobody - knew that the Canes would roll over with former legends inches away. Nobody, of course, except a fan wearing a Ray Lewis jersey on the third row. Mr. Liquid Courage turned to his buddy as the final seconds ticked off in the Orange Bowl and spouted, “I told you Virginia was the real deal.” That joker, one that was unsafe to drive home, must have missed a game at Wyoming or N.C. State. But for a few minutes, a moment that sped by too fast for Chris Long and Co., Virginia was on top of the world. The shutout proved just that.

The People’s Republic of Charlottesville; it’s a joke, and always a disparaging one at that, that people toss at the city government because it gets involved in some of the strangest activities for a medium-sized city. For instance, our republic has come out with foreign policy recommendations in the past, cast its weight against wars and death penalties and nukes and a variety of other actions that earned it scorn and ridicule from the social conservatives among us.

The republic has also been good about putting our money where its mouth is. Concerned about the environment? Replace your fleet vehicles with hybrids, grow turf on your roofs and increase the number of trees in the city.

Concerned about social justice and economic inequality? Create housing initiatives to put more people in affordable homes and spend bucks on social programs to level the playing field.

As a social moderate, none of that bothers me. As a fiscal conservative, I’ve gotten my panties twisted on a couple of occasions, but I’ve had little problem with the goals of the republic. For instance, the $8.000 Italian junket for councilors and school boarders doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the cool million the council wants to spend on creating a pay-to-ride ambulance service rather than funding the existing free-ride CARS program.

Right now, though, I’m tending to agree with the former fire chief Julian Taliaferro. Things are tough in the city and everywhere and likely to get tougher in the short run, not just for those in the lower socio-economic brackets for the great washed taxpayers as well. CARS should be dumped and any program not needed for safety and welfare scrutinized. I’m not saying cut them all, I’m saying be very careful with any increase and hold the line. Remember, any tax increase raises our mortgages and mine has increased every year for six years.

“We have to look carefully at the budget and see [what to fund], because I know this will be a tough year,” Councilor J.T. said.

It’s hard to be fiscally conservative and socially responsible. Please, my fellow republicans, do your best. My mortgage payment depends upon it.