back to the James

During a trip to Virginia to visit family and attend the Richmond Folk Festival, I did some field recording.

Having been by, but never to, Ragged Island WMA, I thought it'd be worth a try to record both the James River Bridge (longtime fixture in family history) and the river itself.


I started near the bridge. Which was fine for that objective. But later took the observation trail to further down river. Both places I used the highly kludged together Big Fluff windscreen made with fake fur on plastic cross stitch grid whatever.

James River at end of observation boardwalk trail, Ragged Island WMA, Carrollton VA, noon 8 October 2010


Roughly a 1/4 mile away, the bridge traffic is still a big part of the sound. Noontime sirens sound across the river in Newport News.


Birdsong at Tredegar Iron Works 9 October 2010


The next day at the Richmond Folk Festival, I barely had time to get out my lo-tek MP3 player to do a quick and dirty recording of this birdsong coming from a small tree near Tredegar Iron Works.

Train passing overhead on trestle near Tredegar Iron Works/James River, Richmond VA, 10 October 2010


That following day I took a break by the riverside and a train came over the trestle.

The last day there I went down to Chippokes Plantation State Park, where I hadn't been in over 3 years. Once there, I found a spot on the James I wanted to record.



Forgetting some essential adapter gizmo for mounting my recorder, the tripod was dead weight (on a very mosquito infested trail) and I had to improvise.



James River near end of James River trail, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010


I recorded a couple of other spots on the beach, then switched to some DIY piezo mics for my first outdoor attempt at using them as hydrophones. Below is the sound of them dragging in shallow surf on sand and broken shells.

DIY piezo mics as hydrophones in the James River, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010


Time allotted was running out. I went by the Visitor's Center to see if there was any last fast opportunity.



Near a picnic shelter I just fitted the recorder with the Lil' Fluff windscreen my wife had kindly fashioned from the aforementioned fake fur.



And pointed it down to the banks of the James roughly 100 feet below.



James River surf below Shelter 1 near Visitor's Center, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010 A



James River surf below Shelter 1 near Visitor's Center, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010 B

a VDOT view of the snow

Photos posted on Flickr by the Virginia Department of Transportation of the recent snow storm.

seven on the flip side

click for a closer view

The above is from circa spring 1978 when my oldest brother kindly send me a clipping of a Richmond Times-Dispatch article on jazz music.

Thirty-one years later, sifting through my old old stuff, I found these movie ads on the back.

Of all of these movies, I've only seen Which Way Is Up?. If working my way through to watch the others, the Pam Grier and Rudy Ray Moore look the most promising. The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 will likely wait.

IIRC, these were all Neighborhood Theatres. The GNH seen in the movie times was short for Good Neighbor Hour and designated the cheaper matinee showings.

Only the Byrd and the Towne (now known as the National) are still standing. The Byrd shows movies and features a cool theater organ. The National is a concert venue.

But even the fallen Colonial, Capitol and State theaters live on at Cinema Treasures. All sorts of links to photos and such can be found, including this old newsreel of the State Theatre's opening in 1933 (no audio):

A bro'

My brother, Philip Alexander Seward, passed away last night at age 62.

He started out a young fellow who many thought would be on his way someplace. He'd graduated a year early from high school, attended Virginia Tech for a time, then VCU. Went on to work as an bank auditor and an accountant.

But he had chronic health conditions that made his life an uneasy roller coaster ride in both mood and metabolism. Ultimately, any conventional plans he had were undone.

After doing what he could and living everywhere from New York to Florida, he moved back home to live with his mom.

Restless and seeking sociability, he'd frequent restaurants, cafes, truck stops, diners and convenience store counters in nearby Surry, or in Ivor or Windsor or Waverly or Suffolk or Portsmouth. Out there somewhere he might talk to a trucker or a farmer or a waitress or the owner of where he was or someone else passing through.

In later years at home, he'd watch international business news on satellite TV, always seeking information and looking for a connection to the flow of events that his plans might have made for him out in the world.

As his physical condition became less steady, he chose to go out less frequently and to places closer by.

He moved to a rest home in Richmond early last year. His health continued to decline despite the efforts and attentions of so many, including his mom, eldest brother and sister-in-law. In form and comprehension, he was shrinking and becoming ever frailer. And at some point, the coming of this day became obvious.

So I created a label that tied together the bits of him I'd shared here with everyone & anyone & no one in particular.

He's the second sax player from the left here:



The wild knit shirt there are two sides to is one he wore (no doubt while dancing the Hustle in Va. Beach) in the '70s. The jacket from Loraine's Restaurant in Ivor is his old jacket from his old haunt. He was the one who told me there was a Stuckey's coming. Or the one I met for lunch at a now long gone Smithfield steakhouse.

He was a big part of this vanishing world, where I'd grown up and where I'd go back to visit.

And now like Elvis (or I should say James Brown), he's left the building. And the stage lights are down.

supermarket arcana

The above image is nowhere near actual size (something like 3/4" high by 1/2" wide). I'm not sure what one could get with enough Sav-A-Stamps saved (before the expiration date--here it's January 1, 1960). But I do recall the Colonial Stores supermarket in Smithfield.


Below are the front & back views of a old Food Fair courtesy card from the early 1970s:

this Bicentennial Minute is brought to you by

Another ad from the July 4, 1976 Richmond Times-Dispatch:



Though the above image can be clicked for a closer look, I rather liked the logo (and vaguely remember it from phone books gone by):




And here's a clickable & somewhat less blurry look at the Virginia Independent Telephone Association members as of 1976:



Actually, from what I can tell these nearly 32 years later, close to half of these independent phone companies still exist on the membership roll.

But the "IT" in VITA has since switched to "TI" as in the Virginia Telecommunications Industry Association (VTIA). And joining the locals are big dogs like Cox, Comcast, Sprint and Verizon.

Such changes notwithstanding, the existence of these small independents is of interest . . .

Spirit of 17.76

Back when my mom saved sections of the July 4, 1976 Richmond Times-Dispatch, I doubt she foresaw that I'd be paying more attention to the ads. Click the images for a closer look.

An ad for sight n' sound's bicentennial sale (please note the $17.76 pricing on the speakers and portable cassette recorder):




Here's a Murphy's Mart ad:




And an ad for Moore's Building Materials:

Miller & Rhoads return

With all these recent photos of old retail stuff, I have to mention BrandlandUSA's latest post, When Will Richmond Bring Back Miller & Rhoads?