As hard as it might be to imagine, Jeff Capel once was just another basketball coach, handing out resumés at the Final Four, hoping to land a job as an assistant coach somewhere, anywhere. Imagine that. Capel got a job as an assistant coach at VCU for the 2001-02 season. Then, he was promoted to head coach at VCU at the age of 27. He was the youngest Division I head coach in the country at the time.

With Halloween just around the corner, why go out to see a horror movie when you could be in one? Touting it as “the first horror film funded by the victims,“ Lead Balloon is offering the experience of getting killed in a horror movie to those who pledge donations to the production. The film, “Dr. Bonesaw,“ is the story of a patient who escapes a massacre at a mental institution, only to unleash her own bloodbath upon a lusty hospital staff, with—you guessed it—her bonesaw hand. The film’s Web site, http://www.drbonesaw.com, offers a gory preview and behind-the-scenes videos.

When Dr. Cary Grayson Suter taught his neurology students at Medical College of Virginia about hysterical seizures, they wouldn’t believe that people could fake seizures. Then, in his favorite canary yellow suit, he would collapse on the floor and change their minds. “He would fake a seizure,“ said his daughter, Anna Deane Begiebing of Whitehall.

The Snapple folks proudly and cleverly proclaim their beverages are made with the “best stuff on earth.“ What, then, is a nice company like Snapple doing with a drink like this—Venom Death Adder? Venom Death Adder is made with stuff, but it is not necessarily the best stuff on earth. Venom Death Adder is an “energy” drink, and it sits on the shelves of grocery and convenience stores along with Red Bull, Rip It, Amp and Monster, to name just a few.

Residents of metropolitan areas take dentistry for granted. People on casual drives through Central Virginia, for instance, will pass numerous dental practices. They encounter signs for family dentistry and cosmetic dentistry. Many patients schedule routine sessions for cleaning and check-ups. At the first sign of a toothache, they put in a call.

Nine Hanover County residents are among 17 people in four states getting rabies shots after being exposed to a rabid kitten. A Hanover woman picked up the stray on the way to a vacation with friends and family in Delaware in late June. The 6to 8-week-old kitten was alongside the road on U.S. 13 on the Eastern Shore near the Delaware line.

Q.I have been reading about taking some types of supplements in order to recover quicker from exer cise. The ones I hear most about are the antioxidants, especially something called reservatrol. Are there truly any benefits from taking something like this or is it just hype? A. Reservatrol is a polyphenol phytochemical, or plant-based chemical, that occurs naturally in red and purple grapes, especially the skins. This is the chemical found in red wine that has received much attention regarding health benefits of red wine.

Chesterfield County’s SportsQuest, which caters to professional and amateur athletes in Olympic sports, expressed to Minor League Baseball an interest in possibly providing a site for a baseball stadium. SportsQuest also may have interest in becoming part of an ownership group for Richmond’s new baseball franchise. Dr. Steve Burton, SportsQuest’s chief executive officer and chairman, said yesterday there have been discussions “at the highest level with the office” of Minor League Baseball. Burton said the primary purpose of those discussions was to ask Minor League Baseball how SportsQuest could “engage Minor League Baseball programming within our campus.“

As Christine Alison Bohle Schroeder was having an emergency cesarean delivery with her second son, her husband, Mark Alan Schroeder, was intently watching her team of doctors. Seeing them work together inspired him to become a doctor, she said. In 2002, he graduated from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. He did an internship at CJW Medical Center and a residency at Chesterfield Family Practice Center.

Currently the world is riveted to the hourly news updates citing the rapid spread of swine influenza virus infections from Mexico to countries on at least five continents. The debut of this virus causes concern because of the global lack of immunity, the large number of deaths in Mexico, and its apparently efficient transmission from person to person.

At the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Dr. James Fisk Stubbins, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, was renowned for his boxes. An aficionado of scientific literature, “he recorded every paper he ever read on an index card. He had boxes of them,“ said Dr. Richard A. Glennon, chairman of the VCU Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Q. My daughter is a 15-year-old soccer player who has had right foot pain for more than three weeks. She also runs track and she believes she may have first injured her foot when she ran in a track meet. Since then, she experiences pain on the inside of her foot while running and kicking the ball. It occasionally swells on that side of her foot. She is starting to limp while at school. Should she just ice, elevate, and wrap it, or do you think this needs to be seen by someone?

Dr. Larry Benson could have been a Division I basketball player, but he decided to concentrate on becoming a doctor. From the Detroit area, Class of ‘91, heralded high school basketball hotshots included Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Shawn Respert . . . and Larry Benson. All eventually went pro - Rose, Webber and Respert to the NBA, Benson to the medical profession.

Children Award Celebration
  Honoring: Dr. Robin L. Foster
  When: April 1 from 6 to 10 p.m.
  Where: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Ave.
  Special guest: Former NBA and U.Va. basketball star Bryant Stith
  Tickets: $75 per person,
$150 per couple
  Info: (804) 359-6166, ext. 309, or go to http://www.preventchildabuseva.org

Dr. Vito Perriello, a founding partner of one of the Charlottesville area’s first pediatric-medicine practices and the father of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, died Sunday from complications of a stroke, family members said. Dr. Perriello, who practiced medicine for Pediatric Associates for 37 years, had retired in January. He was 68. Dr. Perriello was stricken last week, and his son left Washington to be with his family.