Curren Sheldon and Tijah Bumgarner are the wizards behind the extremely entertaining web series, "Quarantine Life," which asks—and answers—the question: What do two mondo-talented West Virginia filmmakers do during a global pandemic that has locked down the usual creative projects into which they had been pouring their life force?
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ROADTRIPPING: “Ohio Rover” Homage to a Bridge
Needing to get out of Quarantine Dodge this week, we took a roadtrip out of the Mountain State and up the Ohio River, passing the stately suspension tie bridge between West Virginia and Ohio. Here's a jazzy, one-minute musical homage, which commences WestVirginiaVille's "Roadtripping" video series.
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DRAGLINE: The Pro-Pipeline Editorial by the Pipeline Industry CEO/Publisher
“It’s damn easy to figure out what has been lost,” Doug Reynolds wrote in his West Virginia newspapers, “but for the life of me I can’t ascertain who won.” What Reynolds fails to mention is what exactly is losing: his natural gas pipeline construction company.
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5 THINGS | 1 Bridge, 1 Motorcycle, 1 Queen, 1 Mask & 1 Batman
Here are 5 images from the life, times and artistry of WestVirginiaVille, by staff and contributors. Including a drive-by Batman, a misty West Virginia icon and more.
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VIDEO: Not Your Average Ice Cream Truck Story
The tinkling sound of a new ice cream truck cruising the streets and cul-de-sacs of Cabell County, West Virginia, has a quite remarkable story behind it by a quite remarkable mother and son.
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CHARACTERS: A Rebel of the Decidedly Non-Confederate Sort
She hated several things, one of which she called“narrowmindedness,” a catchall term for her that included racism, religious bigotry, homophobia, science-denying, disapproval of card playing, abstinence from wine and other offenses against humanity.
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TRAILER: A Peek at “Bye-Bye, Stonewall” mini-doc
Here's a peek from the trailer to WestVirginiaVille's upcoming mini-documentary, "Bye-Bye, Stonewall," on the years-long backstory on how a school in a black neighborhood in West Virginia's capital city finally got free of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson's name and mug.
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DEAR DOUG REYNOLDS: An Open Letter On Your Pro-Pipeline Column
"One would think you might have had serious second thoughts about not revealing some key information in your pro-pipeline column. After all, you were standing in the bully pulpit of a newspaper that prided itself on shedding light into dark corners of conflicts of interest and spotlighting partial truths that mask self-interest."
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READINGS | A Stroll Deep into a West Virginia Marsh
If it’s true we are mother, father, sister, brother, related all to all, maybe that's one way to comprehend and befriend the ten thousand things. The hundreds of voices, cries, and songs rising from this manifold marsh.
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VIDEO: When the Confederate Flag Cuts and Runs
We direct your amusement to this Tiffany Thouartdope Finkton insta-rap. She made it after capturing a special moment outside the Kaoard of Education meeting to consider renaming Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston WV. The fellow who arrived with a Confederate flag was definitely not reading the room.
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VIEW FROM THE PLAYGROUND: On Changing Stonewall Jackson Middle School’s Name
As adults decide the future of Stonewall Jackson Middle School's name at meeting Monday, July 6, 2020, we visited a playground in Charleston WV to find out what a group of students thought about the idea.
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POINTS of VIEW | ‘If You’re Silent About Your Pain’
A LETTER TO NEUTRAL COLLEAGUES: "I realize you may be actually confused about whether blacks are offended or feel pain from reminders of that dark period. Zora Neale Neale Hurston once said: "If you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." So, I will clarify that we are offended. We are in pain."
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‘ALEXANDRIA SPEAKS’: Why Stonewall Jackson Middle School Needs a New Name
Why rename a school long named for a Confederate general? Watch a 13-year-old student in Charleston WV tell why in an impassioned plea to the adults considering whether to rename her Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
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CHARACTERS | The One-Armed Bandit of No. 1 Holler, West Virginia
The life story of the "The One-Armed Bandit" is the stuff of heroes and legends. You may not know Gary Mays' tale, though, as the major league career the West Virginia native might have had may have been blocked by racism. But nothing ever kept Gary Mays down for long.
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NATUREGRAM 1 | Sheltering-in-Nature during a Pandemic
Could you use some Canadian geese, chuckling water and scenes of nature not trying to sell you something? Here is a WestVirginiaVille Public Service Mental Health Pandemic Video.
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READINGS | Ruminations of a Coal Miner’s Ex-wife
"Living here in Southern WV is very much like not being able to see the forest for the trees. So much of what went wrong in my marriage went wrong because my then-husband was being exploited and made to think that he had the good life. No—he was made to think he had the best life. He couldn’t say no."
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DITCHING MITCH: A Crowdsourced Look at the Roots of a WV Senate President’s Ouster
We hereby enter these videos into the Multimedia Historical Records of the Great State of WestVirginiaVille. How Mitch got Ditched: a crowdsourced look at the beginnings of a purge.
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POINTS of VIEW: ‘What Is Their Cause, Has to be My Cause’
Suddenly, what is of importance only to people of color is now of utmost of importance to this person of white privilege. ~ Rabbi Victor Urecki
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SONGS of WEST VIRGINIA | “I Know I’m Home”
The tune "I Know I'm Home" kicks off a new WestVirginiaVille series showcasing original "Songs of West Virginia." The tune was co-written by Al Smith and Ron Sowell, the leader of the "Mountain Stage" band. Sowell was a wandering minstrel who landed here and found some harmony. And stayed for good.
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Prehistoric W.Va. was not an uninhabited hunting ground
You don't have to live long in West Virginia before you hear that the land used to be a "hunting ground" for Native Americans. The actual history is more vibrant and complex, as the region was more likely "an Interaction Zone" or melting pot of native ethnicities, languages, and technology.
