So I was assigned to help cover the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K today. All would have been peachy, DESPITE the early hours—I’m a night owl—had the rain not gotten heavy right about the time I was balancing a reporter’s notebook, a camera and an umbrella.

Yes, the Times-Dispatch has professional photographers—and good ones, at that—but they can’t be everywhere all the time. Given that they deal with this inclement weather on a regular basis, let me just say “hats off.“ Except it was far too icky outside to doff my hat.

Hats off to the runners and walkers, too. I salute you for making it despite the weather. You guys rock! (Look for tons of coverage in tomorrow’s Times-Dispatch and at http://www.inRich.com.) By the way, I was sorry to miss my friend Helena, whose birthday is today. You might have seen her—she wore a birthday-cake hat as she ran. Gives new meaning to “Someone left the cake out in the rain” (for those of you who know “MacArthur Park”). Ha!

I also dropped by the Festival of Punjab at Cultural Center of India. If you get a chance next year (too late this year!), check it out. Exotic food, dancing that combines traditional with MTV and wonderful, colorful, bejeweled and gemmed garb.

The one funny, sort of out-of-place thing was the pink cotton candy machine in the food area.

I asked what cotton candy had to do with it. Andrew Schwieder, a freshman at Henrico High School who was working the machine, said, well, cotton candy got its start in India ... . Smart aleck! Manpreet Dhillon, a junior at Henrico, took pity on me and explained, “They sell cotton candy at fairs in India, too. AND it makes a lot of money.“

I had hoped to make it to the first Downtown Lofts Tour today, as well. But it wasn’t in the cards, time-wise. Lucy Meade, who does marketing and development for Venture Richmond, said nearly 1,000 tickets were sold to the 14-loft tour. People were totally impressed, she said—of course, that stands to reason because would YOU open your home to tourists if it weren’t perfection?

She said the loft-owners had a great time, too. One of them commented, “I’ve never had this many people in my bedroom!“

I’m going to stop talking about this NOW, but just for the record ... two more George Michael “sightings” since Thursday: 1. I was home yesterday afternoon and turned on the TV so I could read the paper. You know, multi-tasking. “Ellen” happened to be on, and suddenly I realized she was doing a George Michael bit where she had him on the phone. Then today, I turned on Lite 98 on my way to work. Who do you suppose was playing? You guessed it. Aiiiieeeeeeeeee! He truly IS everywhere.

 

Posted by Cynthia McMullen in • Entertainment • Music • Lifestyle • Life in Richmond
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