Monday, August 31, 2009

better art

Check out the sculpture installation in the plaza of the new Courthouse Marriott just past the Courthouse AMC Theatres. The artist is Texan Jesús Moroles, known for his granite sculpture.


I would have preferred a more dynamic pattern of branching water flows on a surface less distinguished from the surface of the rest of the plaza. Whether that could have been built, I don't know.

bad ART



An ART bus crashed into the guard rail above Rt. 50 near the intersection of Queens St., Rhodes St. (bridge) and Arlington Blvd. about 6:45 pm today. I would guess that its brakes failed when it tried to stop for the bus stop at the bottom of the downhill on Queen St. It ran over the nearby stop sign, which has been re-erected with makeshift repair. That repair may not last, so watch out for cars failing to stop at that intersection.

In other traffic news, about 6:15 pm today, a car made a left turn from Arlington Blvd. onto Meade St. with little space to spare. An approaching car did not slow down at all, and the two cars nearly collided. The Arlington Blvd - Meade St. intersection is another dangerous intersection in our neighborhood. It's even more dangerous when drivers act like idiots.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

paranoia reigns at Arlington County Fair

While last year Arlington County Fair visitors could freely recognize Westmoreland's excellence, this year all the competitive exhibition tags included just a number. I asked a Fair Official why the exhibit tags didn't include the exhibitors' names. She said that some persons were worried about having children's names on exhibition tags for exhibits that children entered. So they eliminated names from all the tags.

Many children enjoy frightening and probably slightly risky rides at the Fair. The risk associated with many rides at the Fair is surely greater than the risk of somebody seeing a name on an exhibition tag and that name turning out to be a child's name. The risk of harm from a traffic accident while driving to the Fair is probably orders of magnitude larger than the risk of harm from having someone see a name on an exhibition ticket, where that name turns out to be a child's name.

Encouraging children to be unreasonably fearful of their neighbors is bad for children. Perhaps Arlington County was just trying to help the mental health of horror-obsessed parents. While I think that horror-obsessed parents should try not to pass their fears on to their children, I have enough compassion for those parents to accept not having children's names on exhibit tags.

But also eliminating adults' names is completely absurd. It makes the idea of Arlington community a farce.


Suppose Chul is having a problem with vampires in his attic. His neighbor Linda says, "Chul, remember Ijahman? He spoke to the civic association several years ago about growing herbs. I haven't seen him for ages since he moved to his new place in Ballston. But when I was at the Arlington County Fair today, I noticed -- his garlic won the Second Premium Prize! Why don't you look him up and ask him for some fresh, strong garlic?"

Thanks to the new paranoia in Arlington, this sort of neighborly conversation can't happen any longer. Whose garlic won Second Premium Prize? Why, it's Exhibitor No. 354! I can't wait to tell that to my neighbors! Isn't No. 354 quite a gardener?

Horrible, horrible, horrible.


A beacon of inspiring humanity amidst this administrative depersonalization was No. 890, the First Premium Prize Winner and Fair Champion for zucchini bread. No. 890 attached to its entry the complete recipe for its zucchini bread. What a great spirit of sharing! No. 890 obviously was not afraid that its neighbors would try to copy and make for themselves its award-winning zucchini bread. I think No. 890, whoever you are, deserves to win again next year.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

play golf with your dog

Stephanie and and her dog Kingsley enjoyed some golf practice this Tuesday evening in Fort Myers Heights Park. I haven't seen such enthusiastic tail-wagging for a long time.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Galbi victorious with parsley-pesto goat cheese

An Ode Street Tribune foreign correspondent reporting from the Clark County Fair in the state of Washington has confirmed that Joan Galbi won the "Best in Class" First-Place Premium Blue Ribbon in the soft cheese category. Galbi triumphed with her pioneering parsley-pesto goat cheese made from fresh goat milk and garden-grown parsley. Galbi modestly claimed that she wasn't going to bother entering, but her husband urged her on. With true pioneering spirit, her award-winning parsley-pesto goat cheese masterpiece emerged from the ingredients she had at hand. The Ode Street Tribune correspondent personally attests to the fact that Joan Galbi's homemade goat cheese is particularly delicious eaten on the top of a piece of dried mango.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

vandalism in the neighborhood


I don't have any problem with Goths dressing up and enjoying themselves. But Vandals knocking down traffic signs isn't good and wholesome.

About two weeks ago, a 25 mph speed-limit sign was knocked down and a newspaper box was dragged up onto the pedestrian bridge crossing Rt. 50 at the bottom of Ft. Myer Dr. Given that Arlington Police seem to generate a steady stream of revenue by catching speeders at just this spot, I figured that the sign would be fixed in no time. But it's still down.

In addition, a sign warning of the pedestrian crossing is now also down. Cars coming around the corner on the right as you approach Rt. 50 on Ft. Myer Dr. appear quite quickly. It's important for everyone to stay alert at this intersection and crossing. The bright yellow pedestrian sign, when it's up, helps make the crossing safer.

There's also some graffiti on the west side of the pedestrian bridge, near the south (Ft. Myer Dr.) end.

I called these issues in to the Arlington Police. Keep an eye out for vandalism. If you see it, report it promptly to help keep our neighborhood safe.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

beautiful bug


Some apartment complexes have problems with bugs in the apartments. This amazing bug (which had more purple coloring than the photo shows) I found on the OUTSIDE of Westmoreland Condos this evening. If we could figure out how to get a lot more of them, they could beautify the apartment landscape as much as our azaleas.

I will award a free, one-year subscription to the Ode Street Tribune to anyone who can identify this bug.

Squadra Coppi shop night at Conte's

Local bike racing team Squadra Coppi had a shop night at its sponsor Conte's Bicycles of Arlington on Monday night. Good turnout of team members, attractive discounts on bikes and stuff, and pizza that went really fast once it arrived. And quite a prince was there on display. I mean of course the 2009 Pinarello Prince Di2. It features carbon-fiber everything and the Shimano Di2 electronic shifting system. But outside of fairy tales, princes don't come cheap. The list price to take this one home was $18,000.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

styling bike rack in Rosslyn



On the sidewalk outside Rosslyn's new Turnberry Tower is an excellent Dero Bike Rack. It will probably get a lot more use once Central Place turns downtown Rosslyn into the center of the universe.