Sam Moore's tribulations

Newsmaker Sam Moore was dealt a setback yesterday, as Virginia’s ABC Board voted to snatch away Moore’s license to sell alcohol at his Club Velvet in Shockoe Bottom. Still, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s coverage Moore’s high profile strip club will apparently be allowed to operate as usual, selling alcohol to its lap-dance-loving customers, until its legal appeals have been exhausted.

"The evidence in this case demonstrates that . . . there was massive consumption of alcoholic beverages on the premises of Velvet by underage persons with the full knowledge of Mr. Moore," [ABC officer Clara A. Williamson] wrote.

Click here to read the entire article by Michael Martz.

Letting Moore continue to push booze across the bar is likely to lead to more newsworthy developments. How long before he has a big fat provocative sign up on that outside wall he likes to redecorate? If he decides he's bound to lose, imagine what the final days could be like.

Hey, I can remember witnessing a night club totally trashed in 1983, when its ABC license was taken away. All the beer on hand was given away to anyone who came by that afternoon. The taps ran constantly for hours. (Click here to see a little video I made from old Super 8 footage I shot that has some clips from that happening.)

Keeping up with Moore’s adventures can be time-consuming. Wasn’t he arrested last week for threatening a cop?

So, if you only have so much time to devote to news stories chronicling the colorful saga of Mr. Samuel J.T. Moore III, who best captures the essence of this battle between Citizen Moore and ABC? Would it be in a newspaper, or magazine or maybe on television?

Not necessarily. SLANTblog recommends Tobacco Avenue on the Internet for its take on this made-to-be-mocked reality soap opera.

“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,” ABC commissioner Gabriel Hudson said at yesterday’s hearing. “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. Thou art a disease that must be cut away.”

Click here to enjoy the entire post, "O Woeful Day: Dandiest City Gentle-man’s Club Loses Thy Liquor License."