It looks like Cheeburger Cheeburger is coming to The Village next to the smoothie shop.  The sign’s up but there are still brown paper over the windows hiding the store’s interior.  We’ll see if we can swing by sometime to see if there’s an approximate opening date, although nothing on their website yet.  I love a good cheeseburger and Cheeburger Cheeburger (don’t you think doubling their name would make it expensive for their signage and marketing materials?  Maybe it’s like a sneeze:  “CHEEEEEEEEBURGER…..CHEEEEEEBURGER!!!!”  “Bless you.”) makes some of the best burgers around.  I think that’ll be an excellent location for them as there really aren’t any burger places around The Village with the comparables, IMHO, being Five Guys at Willow Lawn and Carytown Burgers in Carytown.

Looking forward to watching their opening progress!

RVANews and its partner site, RVABlogs, which spearhead the all encompassing RVA “blogosphere” released the winners of 2008’s Blog Awards today.  We’d like to pass our congratulations along to:

• Best New Blog – The Checkout Girl
• Best Kept Secret – 10 South Boulevard
• Best Comment Thread – RVANews Richmond mayoral forums
• Post of the Year – NBC12 anchor Gene Cox pissed he didn’t make Style’s Power List from Tobacco Avenue
• Best Blog – Tobacco Avenue

And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank
Feb. 5, 6, 7 – 7:30 pm, McVey Theatre, St. Catherine’s School

A multimedia play that weaves videotaped interviews of Holocaust survivors, Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg, with live actors, recreating scenes from World War II. Part oral history, part action, part direct address, part remembrance, this play has been acclaimed by audiences and critics in productions worldwide.

Performances are February 4,5,6,7 at 7:30 p.m. On the night of performance reservations will not be taken after 5:30 p.m. and tickets will not be held after 7:20 p.m. The cost is $4.00 reserved and $5.00 at the door.

Reserve your seats now: Online Reservation Form

The University of Richmond usually has an impressive array of speakers via events that are generally free and open to the public.  This event is no different, featuring acclaimed poet Andrew Zawacki on February 26th in Weinstein Hall’s Brown-Alley Room at 8pm.

From the official press release:

Zawacki will read from his third book “Petals of Zero Petals of One,” which was published this month.

A graduate of The College of William and Mary, Zawacki is a former Rhodes and Fulbright scholar. He teaches English at the University of Georgia and is co-editor of Verse magazine with the University of Richmond’s Brian Henry.

For more information, call the university at 804-289-8287.

Registration for the City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ cultural arts classes is currently underway.

A wide variety of classes are offered for both children and adults. Art classes include pottery, jewelry, painting, photography, fiber arts and more. Dance classes include African, salsa, tap, modern, hip hop, ballet, line dancing and belly dancing. Martial arts classes are also offered.

For a complete listing of cultural arts classes visit the department’s website at www.RichmondGov.com/parks or call 646-3677.

Registration will continue until classes are filled, with the exception of registration for adult dance classes, which has been extended to March.

Congrats to the University of Richmond for overtaking James Madison University in UR’s only home swim meet.

Jimmy Young of the UR Collegian reports:

The Richmond swimming and diving team trumped James Madison University 167-127 Saturday in front of a raucous crowd at the Robins Center Natatorium, led by three seniors competing in their final home meet, and several freshmen swimming in their first.

The Spiders, who hope to capture their eighth consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Feb. 17 to 21 in Buffalo, N.Y., honored seniors Lauren Beaudreau, Cara Smaniotto and Julia Bizer before the meet. Coach Matt Barany spoke highly of all three athletes, praising them for their abilities and leadership.

Picture by Ben Weinstein/The Collegian – Freshman Michelle Johnson (left) finished fifth in the 200 butterfly in 2:14.12. She also finished fifth in the 1000 freestyle in 10:38.95.

Seeing Happy the Artist’s car at Bandy Field puts a smile on anyone’s face!

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We came across a quick mention at the Hills and Heights community blog about how Richmond Animal Control is cracking down on educating dog owners and enforcing leash laws at the popular Pony Pasture recreation area. Since Bandy Field on Three Chopt is such a popular place for dog owners to let their dogs run freely, we thought it may be an idea to pass this info along to our readers as well.

A local resident asks Why Richmond Why?!? at Richmond.com about enforcement of the leash laws at Pony Pasture. The short answer is it is illegal to have a dog unleashed in any Richmond public park and expect to see some Animal Control and Care officers in that area in the coming weeks to educate folks and even give out tickets.