Sunday, January 31, 2010

view from Rosslyn


This is where you live.  If you had attended last week's Rosslyn Renaissance get-together, this is what you would have seen from a 28'th floor Waterview penthouse window.

snow fell


The official snow-measurement point shows 5 inches.  While Ode St. and N. Ft. Myer roads look bad, more highly traveled roads are largely clear. Watch for black ice tomorrow.

Walgreens open on Wilson


A Walgreens opened this past May at 2825 Wilson Blvd, just up from Revolution Cycles in Clarendon. It's about a twenty-minute walk from Westmoreland.  Hours are 8am to 10pm, seven days a week, but the pharmacy is open only 9am to 6pm on Sat., and 10am to 6pm on Sunday.  The store got a few sanitary violations in June.  I hope that the store has fixed these problems.  In any case, they're no problem if you buy packaged goods.  Seems like a large CVS to me.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Rosslyn cultural center named ARTISPHERE

Election results are in.  By popular choice, the new Rosslyn cultural center has been named ARTISPHERE.  The Ode Street Tribune favors democracy, even when it produces the wrong outcome.   We thus fully support this name.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

special operation to save endangered seals

Three Navy SEALs worked as part of a team that captured alleged terrorist mastermind Ahmed Hashim Abed.  A U.S. service member reported that one of the SEALs punched Abed in the stomach after Abed was secured in U.S. custody.  The SEALs allegedly attempted to cover up the alleged abuse and intimidate a witness.  Those three SEALs -- Julio Huertas, Jonathan Keefe, and Matthew McCabe -- are now facing court martial.[*]

SEALs are assigned the most dangerous, difficult jobs imaginable.  They are as close to superhuman as humans get.  If a SEAL makes a mistake, he may be killed, his unit mates may be killed, or innocent persons may be killed. Mistakes, unfortunately, happen.  If a SEAL punched a captive, that was a minor mistake. If SEALs fear serious punishment for such a mistake, that's a major organizational problem.  Putting individual SEALs on trial for a minor mistake and a major organizational problem is a gross injustice to those SEALs.

The Ode Street Tribune encourages everyone to mount a special operation to support those SEALs.  I've written to all three of my Congressional representatives -- Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Jim Webb, and Rep. Jim Moran.  While waiting for responses from these political leaders, the Ode Street Tribune's Command Central is reviewing other tactical possibilities.  Democracy depends on special forces.  Be your own special force of one.

- - - - -

[*] Understanding the facts of the case isn't easy.  News reports don't even link to primary-source documents.  One such document is a letter from forty Congressmen to Major General Charles Cleveland, Commander of Special Operations Command Central.  The Congressmen requested that all charges against the SEALs be dropped.  Maj. Gen. Cleveland responded with a letter providing some details about the situation and assuring the Congressmen that the SEALs rights would be respected.  He did not agree to seek to have the charges against the SEALs dropped.  House Rep. Dan Burton responded to Maj. Gen. Cleveland's letter by again urging Maj. Gen. Cleveland to drop the charges against the SEALs.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

dirty, wet ride



Unpredicted rain fell this morning and added to the fun of cycling.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

election time -- vote!

Rosslyn residents recognize the importance of voting.  Last year, building upon an influential endorsement from the Ode Street Tribune, Rosslyn's Key Bridge was elected to be placed on the Arlington car decal.  This year's car-decal election features four fine candidates.   Because none of the candidates comes from Rosslyn, the Ode Street Tribune will not officially endorse its favorite, which is the image of cyclists' beloved W&OD Trail.

The election runs through noon on February 21. Vote!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Rosslyn metro challenge



Bringing the Giro D'Italia bike race to DC in 2012 is a great idea. Here's another: how about a time-trial race up the down escalator in the Rosslyn Metro? It could be bigger than the Empire State Building Run Up.  After all, running up the Rosslyn down escalator, if you didn't climb fast enough, you would face an unlimited number of steps.  Just getting to the top would be a major achievement. 

Such an event could give Rosslyn a unique place on the sporting map.  If the race used only one of the down escalators, closing the metro wouldn't be necessary.  All the people going in and out of the metro would get free front-row seats.  Others could view the event via a special broadcast to the NBC big screen at the corner of Lynn and Wilson.  This event could be a Rosslyn complement to the Nation's TriathlonRosslyn BID, sign up Washington Mayor and ace triathlete Adrian Fenty!

Squadra Coppi team banquet


Local bike racing club Squadra Coppi held its annual team banquet this past Sunday night at Eventide Restaurant.   The club had its best racing year ever this year.  It also sponsored the Giro di Coppi road race and the Tacchino Cross cyclo-cross race, both of which were great successes.  Jim McNeely received the club's annual Fausto Coppi award for his outstanding contribution to the club.  Seems strange that leading local cycling blog the Unholy Rouleur has made no mention of this important local cycling news.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Japanese street fashion at the Textile Museum



The wonderful Textile Museum in DC held a show of Japanese street fashion, called Harajuku, this past Sunday.  In the Harajuku District of Tokyo, every Sunday afternoon Japanese youths gather along the Jingu Bridge to express themselves themselves through fashion and to socialize.  Types of Harajuku fashion include various Lolita styles (pretty innocence / Victorian lace), cosplay (costume play), and Visual Kei (pop-music expressed in clothing).  If you're tired of wearing jeans, here's a helpful how-to on Harajuku.

The fashion and modeling of local area Harajuku enthusiasts, including at least one woman from Arlington, was quite impressive. Their fashions showed dedication, passion, and a great spirit of play.  Some of their elaborate dresses the presenters themselves had hand-made.  Others expressed their fashion through their choices of bought pieces and accessories for their outfits. 

The event included a presentation on Harajuku by MC Nick Ferris, short presentations and question-and-answers with some of the participants, a Japanese quiz show, and a runway segment.  The Ode Street Tribune's reporter won a prize in the Japanese history category of the quiz show and thus underscored the worldliness that supports the Ode Street Tribune's foreign reporting.

The event attracted an unexpectedly large audience.  The 2pm show, set in a room holding about 50 persons, sold out.  The organizer then put together a second show for 5pm, which also sold out.  As of Wednesday of last week, there was a waiting list for tickets to the second show.

The Textile Museum presented the Harajuki show in conjunction with its current exhibition Contemporary Japanese Fashion: the Mary Baskett Collection. T-Mode, which is having a convention celebrating the fusion of Asian, Western and urban pop culture in Alexandria this April, co-presented the Harajuku show with the Textile Museum.  

La Carmina offers some excellent coverage of this Harajuku show.

Other local fashion news:
[see video included in this post]

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Q&A about Arlington budget with Arlington County government staff

Arlington County is facing a projected $80 -$100 million budget gap for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011).  That amounts to about 10% of the total County budget.  Balancing the County budget will require tax and fee increases and service cuts.

Detailed information on the FY 2011 budget is available on the Arlington County website.  Arlington County will also host an online community Q&A about the budget this Thursday, Jan. 14, from 2-3pm.  County government officials will answer questions from the online audience.  A complete transcript of the session will be available afterwords.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

new Arlington art gallery

The Arlington Artists Alliance has created a new co-operative art gallery at the site of the former Lac Viet Gallery at 5179 Lee Highway.  The gallery's opening reception is this Saturday, Jan. 9, 5-8pm.  Thirty artists will be showing a wide variety of works.  HB-Woodlawn students Lisa Konerts on flute and Ava Oaxaca on English Horn will provide classical music during the reception.

New work will be shown at the gallery every month.  The gallery is open Monday - Saturday, 11am - 7pm. Gallery owner Mr. Duc Nguyen also runs an on-site framing business that can promptly get your art ready for hanging.


Sunday, January 3, 2010

ice hazard returns



An ice hazard exists on the sidewalk and on the road on the small Arlington Blvd. between Fort Myer Dr. and Nash St.  The source of the water is run-off from small holes at the base of the concrete wall. A similar hazard appeared here last year.  It was fixed by channeling the water under the sidewalk and out to the curb.



But that just moved most of the problem out into the street.



If you've got some good ideas for fixing this, contact Arlington County.


appreciation for Westmoreland staff



The person expressing appreciation is currently unidentified.  We submitted this photo to the Ode Street Tribune's forensic handwriting specialist, who identified the writer as a woman born under the sign of Libra.  We don't find that analysis credible.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Chewy is back!


Chewy the Epiphany Camel will be at the Church of the Covenant on Military Rd. in North Arlington this Sunday at 10:30am.  While I sadly missed this great event last year, I'm planning to go this year.  Look for further coverage right here.

Update: Chewy the Epiphany Camel fully lived up to his leading billing.  Inside the church, frankincense and myrrh were burnt so that the congregation could know their smell.   A children's choir, accompanied by two violins, a cello, and a piano, performed admirably part of Vivaldi's Gloria.  Pastor J. Beth Goss delivered a scripture-based sermon that provided considerably historical context and explored added details (such as the camel) that have enlivened the story over time.  She explained that wise men coming from the east (the same direction from which came Assyrian and Babylonian invasions) to honor a baby in a manger turned upside down expected relations of power and authority.  She prefaced her sermon by praying that God would speak to the heart of each community member, even if her words were not the right words that a particular person needed to hear.  Later, urging the church to participate in course of reading the bible in 90 days, she expressed her faith that the bible would speak to everyone, even through the human failings of Christian institutions.  The church was friendly, and several persons went out of their way to welcome me. I'm sure that the church would welcome you.



damage from water main disaster



Damage remains from the disastrous water main break this past November. Eventually the road will be repaired.  The tragic loss of Arlington County employee James Bea is forever.