Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Krapp's Last Tape playing at Keegan Theatre

Samuel Beckett's play, Krapp's Last Tape, is being performed at the Keegan Theatre in Arlington from February 19 through March 14, 2009. Krapp's Last Tape is a modernist theater masterpiece first performed in 1958. David Bryan Jackson directs this production for the Keegan Theatre's new island project. The play stars Brian Hemmingsen in a brilliant solo performance. Check out my review at purple motes.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Feb. RAFOM meeting

The Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association (RAFOM) met on Feb. 24. Some notes:
  1. Treasurer David Treworgy reported that RAFOM has 78 dues paying members and 316 persons signed up on its email list.
  2. Negotiations continued for free access days for local residents to the observation deck that will be part of the Central Place construction. RAFOM and other community groups are seeking three days of free resident access a week, while JBG, the developer, is offering only two.
  3. The Rosslyn Ridge site plan includes $500,000 dedicated to improving Hillside Park (here). Plans include improvements to the recreation area at the top of the park, new signage, and possibly better lighting. RAFOM members are working to ensure that the trees in the park will be preserved and that the park will be maintained as an urban forest.
  4. Steve Campbell described the Arlington Tree Give-away program. Single-family properties can receive one free tree. Multi-family properties can receive multiple free trees. The purpose of this program is to encourage the planting of trees on private property so as to increase the size of the Arlington tree canopy. Orders for trees will be taken through April 24. Persons living in the RAFOM area and who want trees should contact Steve Campbell via email at mitska 'at' juno 'dot' com, or by telephone at 703 243-6265.
  5. Peter Fallon, chairman of the Arlington County Planning Commission, addressed the meeting. The Planning Commission is an all-volunteer body required under state law. It advises the County Board on development issues and gives the Board recommendations on site plans. In busy times the Planning Commission members have attended three or four meetings a week, as well as meetings on Saturday. This is extraordinary volunteer service. Mr. Fallon noted a slowdown in site plan submissions associated with the worsening economy. He stated that no Rosslyn site plan applications are currently pending. He also noted that Arlington is relatively well positioned economically because 45% of its tax base is commercial.
The next RAFOM meeting on March 31 will include a presentation on health and exercise.

Feb. Westmoreland condo board meeting

The February Westmoreland Terrace Condo Board Meeting was on Monday, Feb. 23, in the the condo office. Issues discussed:
  1. Noise is an issue for some residents. Be careful walking in shoes with heels on uncarpeted areas of your unit to avoid disturbing residents below.
  2. Verizon has offered to wire all units for Fios service. This will involve pulling a wire into each unit and installing a board in each unit's closet. The board has dimensions approximately 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch. The Verizon Fios service will provide an alternative to the Comcast cable that has already been installed in each unit. Perhaps Fios service will be available to residents by this fall, but that date is not certain.
  3. Possibilities for green/environmentally conscious roofing material were discussed. Actually having plant life on the roof would be prohibitively expensive. The new roof will have double the insulating value of the old roof (R10 to R20), which will increase energy efficiency.
  4. Concerns about cars cutting through Building 1301's parking lot were discussed. A gate could be installed on the low-traffic side of the parking lot to control this problem. The gate would cost roughly $3,000 to $4,000 dollars plus an additional $1,000 per year in maintenance expense.
  5. The condo association's annual meeting is scheduled for Apr. 27, 2009. Three positions on the Board will be open. Serving on the condo board is an important service to the Westmoreland community. We should be grateful for the service of current board members and for anyone willing to serve in the future.
  6. Westmoreland has been offered a new refuse collection contract. Our previous contract costs $2600 per month. The new contract with American Disposal Service Systems offers $1342 a month. With this new contractor, recycleable material will not have to be sorted separately by type.
  7. Phase 3 brickwork with start with Building 1315.
  8. Expert opinion states that our trees do not present a hazard to pedestrians and cars. However, an annual tree maintenance contract may be needed to keep the trees in good health.
Board members Jose Calvo, Valerie Corda, and Jennifer Hastings, residents Joe Ruland and Douglas Galbi, and Property Manager Dennis Freeman attended the meeting.

Next Board meeting is scheduled for March 23, 7pm, in the condo office.

Monday, February 16, 2009

bagpiper heard in Rosslyn

Next time you're near the Netherlands Carillon, listen for bagpipe music. Courteous Arlingtonian Thomas Cook practices his impressive piping skills down by the highway so as not to disturb his fellow residents. He sounds good to me. Thomas plays for the competition-oriented City of Washington Pipe Band.

Freaky Friday Gala Opening for Crystal Couture

Forget your old images of Crystal City. Crystal City is now an epicenter of fine food, fashion, glitz, and glamor, right here in Arlington County, Virginia. If this is unbelievable to you, believe. The Ode Street Tribune is bringing you the news.



But don't just read and watch, go there. From February 13 to February 28, 2009, Crystal Couture offers a dazzling lineup of fashion and fun in Crystal City. Boutiques are displaying special lines, other booths and sections offer jewelry, massages, and hairstyling, and you can watch runway fashion parades as if you were in L.A.

The Freaky Friday Gala Opening was extraordinary. Bowen McCauley Dance performed sizzling excerpts from two works. Young, local fashion designers under their labels Missy Klectic and YOSOY showed originality and flair in two runway fashion shows. These are people who obviously put a huge amount of effort into their work.

The scene was remarkably friendly even to appallingly unfashionable persons such as this intrepid reporter. Kourosh Chitsaz, owner of the hot, new Profile boutique at 11th and U St in DC, told me about his exclusive, Euro-Brazilian fashions. I think he also mentioned that his boutique, which opened about nine months ago and occupies two floors of what was formerly a townhouse, serves martinis.

Now is a good time to buy some new, fashionable clothing. You'll be helping to stimulate the economy!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Café Assorti open in Rosslyn

For something a touch exotic, without busting your budget or spending hours of your time, drop into Café Assorti at 1800 Wilson Blvd., about a ten-minute walk from the Rosslyn metro or from Westmoreland Condos. I had for dinner a beet salad, an eggplant salad, and vegetarian manti with cabbage and sweet potatoes as an entree. Yup, I like to eat. And for a total cost of $23 (which includes tax and tip), I ate a lot of unusual, fine-tasting food.

My favorite dish was the beet salad. You might remember your parents trying to force you to eat beets. Since your parents didn't have Wikipedia, they didn't know to tell you this:
Beet pulp is fed to horses that are in vigorous training or conditioning and to those that may be allergic to dust from hay.
How about the fact that beets can also be used to make wine and sugar? Whatever. The Café Assorti beet salad was much better than the beets I pushed around my plate as a kid. The Café Assorti beet salad is made from thinly sliced beets mixed with walnuts, garlic, and some secret sauce. The salad had the earthy, broad flavor of beets and walnuts, with a bit of sweetness and a slight piquancy of garlic. Delicious.

Café Assorti offers a variety of lunch/dinner entries for $7 to $12. Various forms of dumplings, savory pastries, and crepes are specialties. There are also straight-forward entries like pasta with meatballs and Breton chicken. Some items on the menu are changed daily, so there will always be something new to try.

Café Assorti also offers a full breakfast menu along with an espresso bar, liquor bar, sweet pastries, and serious cakes and pies. So if I haven't convinced you to have a beet salad, you could just go for a slice of metropolitan cake or chocolate tart.

Hours of service for Café Assorti are 8am to 10pm, Monday through Saturday, and 8am to 9pm on Sunday. The restaurant's telephone number is 703 465-0036, and also 703 465-0038. The restaurant opened on January 27, 2009.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

fire-gutted apartment building across Rt. 50



On January 6, a fire in the basement of the apartment building at 1523 Fairfax Dr., straight across the the Rosslyn walkway over Rt. 50, forced all residents to abandon the building. The Arlington County Fire Department Station 3 unofficial website has good coverage of the fire down toward the bottom of its page. This is a tragic, real-world example of the importance of fire safety planning.

You might also note the passing of Arlington Fire Department Retired Captain Elbert F. Green, Jr. Captain Randy Higgins offers a fine tribute to Captain Green:
His territory knowledge was second to none. He not only knew every street, alley and shortcut he could also tell you the color of the house, the name of the owner, the name of their kids and the [name of] their pets. You could never stump him on a territory drill. He was an all-around firefighter.

art show in Rosslyn

"East meets West," a culturally themed art exhibit, is on display February 5-28 at the Century 21 Redwood Realty, 1711 Wilson Blvd. The Arlington Artists Alliance is sponsoring the exhibit. Wilford M. Scott, Head of Adult Programs at the National Gallery, juried the show. He selected 38 paintings from among 87 entered for the exhibit. Works selected for the exhibit include a variety of styles--in oils, water media, collage, pen and ink, prints, and mixed media--in large and small formats by 26 Arlington artists. I saw some fine art here last year.

Opening reception, Friday, February 6, 6:30 – 8:30pm. Regular exhibit hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 4 pm; to confirm weekend hours, 703-528-8195.

Notes from the opening:

Nancy Carter was awarded Best in Show for her oil painting, "Sunset". Nancy explained to me that this work developed through her reaction to a friend's burial in Arlington Cemetery. She had expected the ceremony to feel cold and formal, but she experienced it as quite emotionally moving. She painted "Sunset" as a way to relate to the emotions she felt there.

Other awards: first place, George Bowles, "Coffee Pot and Chinese Pear"; second place, Bud Hensgen, "Mask"; third place, Sandi Parker, "Hong King Marketplace"; Honorable Mention, Jane Coonce, "Things Go Better With Coke" and "Secret Writings" (which sold during the opening); Honorable Mention, Linda Jeffers, "Feel Magazine Cafe Bar".

The exhibit includes some beautiful collages and mixed-media work offered at relatively low prices. Harriet Meehan's "Postage To and Fro," which included postage stamps, is priced amusingly at $131.25.