Thursday, September 30, 2010

aggressive towing in Arlington

In an excellent investigative report, TBD stood its ground to record a video of aggressive towing in a parking lot in front of the Arlington Department of Motor Vehicles.  Arlnow had a follow-up story which makes clear that aggressive, mercenary, and completely unmerciful towing is occurring around Arlington.   That post attracted thus far 142 comments expressing a variety of viewpoints.  Feel free to join that debate.  But unless it generates a new wave of compassion in the 'hood or some reasonable regulation of towing, watch out where you park. 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

local foods, local chefs at locally owned Santa Fe Cafe

Santa Fe Cafe in Rosslyn is featuring a "local foods, local chefs" entree through Oct. 14.  Last week the entree was Valentine's Country Short Ribs of Beef braised in American Indian Museum "Hatch" green chiles, onion, portabella mushrooms, and carrots over mashed potatoes with mashed turnips.  The source of the short ribs, Valentine's Country Meats, is based in Orange, VA, a few miles south of Culpepper.  According to Virginia foodie the Houndstooth Gourment, Valentine's is part of a Mennonite Amish Church.  Its meats are "grass fed, no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones."  As for the chiles, chiles don't get any more local or more prestigious that those grown at the American Indian Museum. Dutifully dining in journalistic service to the community, I found the meal quite tasty. 


Santa Fe Cafe's local foods' entree for this week is Valentine’s Country Lamb Cooked with Eggplant, Tomato, American Indian Museum Green Chiles, Portabellas, Leeks and Basil with Turnip and Potato Mash. Santa Fe owner Kip Laramie knows well local farmers' markets.  You can be confident that this entree will also be quite tasty.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

views of Rosslyn from the air

BeyondDC collected some historic aerial photos of DC.  Here's Rosslyn in 1953, and Rosslyn in 2009.  No question about it, Rosslyn is looking more and more like Manhattan.


(1953 photo from Rosslyn Central Place study; 2009 photo from prior Ode Street Tribune post)

Community Energy Plan Townhall on Oct. 21

Arlington is doing a big think on its energy use.  You can add your brain power to the effort.  A Community Energy Plan Townhall is scheduled for Oct. 21, 6-9pm, at Wakefield High School.  If you're interested in environmental and energy issues, this Community Townhall is a good chance to learn and contribute.

Cycling is good way to burn easily renewable fat rather than fossil fuels.  To get to the Community Energy Plan Townhall from Rosslyn by bike, ride down the Mt. Vernon trail and take a right on the Four Mile Run trail.  Wakefield High School is on the left, just past Barcroft Park.  A couple of years ago a saw a fish only slightly smaller than the Loch Ness monster in the Four Mile Run canal just past the waste treatment plant.  So keep one eye on the water and you might see something interesting.

Arlington should set up an active electric grid so persons can give back power as well as take it.  If you're riding a stationary bike at a gym, wouldn't you like the satisfaction of knowing that you're generating power for the community?

Monday, September 27, 2010

moon attracts photographers to Rosslyn

When the moon rises over DC, knowledgeable photographers gather in Rosslyn.  This past Thursday was one of those rare moonrises, and about fifty photographers gathered in front of the Netherlands Carillon in Rosslyn.   To get a prime spot, some came before 6pm to set up their tripods.  Many of the photographers were from the Meetup group Unexpected Treasures.  You can see some of the photographs they took here.  

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Max stars at Clarendon Day

Clarendon Day drew a big crowd in sunny, hot weather.  The day's star was Moog's dog Max.  He displayed amazing tongue technique, curling his tongue and using it as a fan to help generate more airflow in the hot conditions.  A top Squadra Coppi cyclist used the same technique in a hard sprint to the finish in this year's Giro di Coppi.


Also at Clarendon Day were booths from neighborhood restaurants and local organizations, children's games, some impressive skateboarding shows, and live music all day long.  Some might think of Clarendon as just a place to have dinner before coming to Rosslyn for a cultural event.  But at least on Clarendon Day, Clarendon had a lot to offer.

[video included above]

Thursday, September 23, 2010

intersection traffic getting worse


Traffic this morning at the N. Meade St. / Arlington Blvd. intersection backed up past N. Nash St.  Some drivers were cutting that intersection by going up N. Nash St. and coming down 14th St. N.  But the 14th St / N. Meade intersection isn't good either.

Hear some good news: the paving of N. Lynn St. is complete.  The directional sign on the north side of the Meade St. bridge was knocked down.  It's now standing proudly with a new metal pole.

Arlington has hired the Toole Design Group to study pedestrian, bike, and car traffic from 19th St. near Key Bridge to Marshall Dr. alongside Arlington cemetery.  Two landscape architects were out surveying traffic yesterday.  A community meeting will be held in about a month to discuss the traffic situation.

Stay tuned to the Ode Street Tribune for further details.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Ode Street poles firmed up

The firmness of a neighborhoods' poles contributes significantly to its well-being.  While performance failures in the Ode Street neighborhood have not been nearly as severe as in other Arlington neighborhoods, even a few minutes' failure can be disruptive.  To improve performance and reliability, Dominion Power recently had a subcontractor working on Ode Street to harden its poles. One new, longer pole has been put into action to supplement a shorter pole. Other poles have had their heads refurbished.  These changes lessen possibilities for dysfunction and uncomfortable living conditions.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

dream images at Piola in Rosslyn

A new exhibition of paintings, Sueños de Insomnio (Dreams of Insomnia), opened today at Piola in Rosslyn.  The artist, Marcelo Novo, explains:
I try to suppress my conscious awareness as much as I can, distracting it and bypassing its interference, thus allowing the images to flow freely. I utilize whatever medium is necessary in order to obtain a more pure and faithful transition between the inner and the outer. I start and finish my works in one session with the purpose of capturing a particular (or specific) state of mind. I consider that my art has its roots in Latin American and European Surrealism. ... Since it is not my intention to communicate any particular message through my art, I would like the viewers to make their own interpretation based on their individual experiences. I believe the viewer completes the work.
So you have Novo's permission to make your own interpretation of the above image.

Novo's work calls to mind an ocean churning with mixture of bright, bold colors.  I taste Piola's Mareverde pizza (shrimp, brie cheese, arugola, tomato sauce and mozzarella).  Or maybe it's an Ortomisto (fresh tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, sweet peppers, zucchini, broccoli, tomato sauce and mozzarella).   While Novo grew up in Argentina, if you view his paintings and have a Buenos Aires (onion and mozzarella), I insist that you have totally misinterpreted his work.  As an art critic, I do not share Novo's interpretive permissiveness.

Novo moved from South Carolina to Arlington two weeks ago.  While in South Carolina, he wrote out a plan for a ballet on napkins in a restaurant and then realized it in collaboration with a choreographer (Novo did the scenery and costumes).  He's looking for studio space and interested in working on collaborative projects with other artists.

Sueños de Insomnio (Dreams of Insomnia) will be on display at Piola in Rosslyn through November 27, 2010.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Car-Free Day is this Wednesday

Celebrate Car-Free Day this Wednesday with car-free creativity.  The Car-Free Day website suggests "bicycling, walking, teleworking, carpooling, vanpooling or taking transit."  These are all excellent ideas.  But what about skateboarding?  With the Potomac River getting cleaner and greener, you might also consider swimming.  Or even better, do a triathlon commute: run to the Potomac, swim across, and then grab a Capital Bikeshare to go the final distance.  

Triathlon commuting is not just for an ironman.  Ducks waddle, paddle, and fly.  Anyone can waddle, paddle, and peddle.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Ode Street sign gives up


The Ode Street sign that has stood at the corner of Ode St. and Fort Myer Dr. for decades has given up and left.   Apparently it no longer wants to be involved in the exurbance and vitality of persons in our neighborhood.   Street signs can help to distinguish a neighborhood.  The loss of the iconic Ode Street sign is unfortunate.

Have no fear, the Ode Street Tribune will endure.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Rosslyn attracts movers and shakers


Since Rosslyn's a place where major agreements and deals are made that shape the future of our nation, you often see eye-turning movers and shakers passing through the streets.  This Friday, Laura and Beverly, students at the Graham Webb Academy in Rosslyn, attracted notice with an impromptu hooping demonstration during lunchtime on Wilson Blvd, just outside the Artisphere. Laura and Beverly didn't have much prior hooping experience, but they picked up the technique quickly and attracted a crowd.

The hoops were available for Park(ing) Day 2010 in Rosslyn.  Park(ing) Day, celebrated world-wide, temporarily converts parking spaces into parks.  This was a fun day to park in Rosslyn.

[video included above]

Friday, September 17, 2010

Baird Automotive won't give up

Picking up my car at Baird Automotive after having an oil change and a Virginia safety inspection, I asked the friendly owner of the shop, Joey Baird, an Arlington native, about his sweet-looking Harley.  It's a 1998 model.  He said he doesn't ride it much around the area because the car traffic makes motorcycling riding dangerous.


Joey was limping a bit.  He competed in the Ironman Wisconsin last Saturday.  The Ironman Wisconsin is held on one of the toughest ironman courses in the world.  And if you don't know, an ironman triathlon means swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles (a marathon).  Joey cramped up in the swim, but soldiered on to finish in 13 hours, 9 minutes, and 52 seconds.  That put him in the faster half of the field of incredible athletes who do this ironman race.  Last year Joey finished much faster.  As a 55 year-old man, he finished in an astonishing time of 11 hours, 33 minutes, and 34 seconds. That's an ironman without a speck of rust.  That's a guy who deserves a long, pleasant ride on a beautiful Harley.

Baird Automotive has been serving Arlington for nearly two decades.  If you have car troubles, I'd guess that Baird Automotive wouldn't give up before they got your car running well.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Arlington County continuing plans for Rosslyn boathouse

Arlington County Manager Michael Brown spoke at the Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association (RAFOM) meeting this evening.  Brown, who has been in office for four months, came from a job as City Manager of Savannah, Georgia.  He grew up in Northern Virginia.  He also mentioned that he proposed to his wife at L'Enfant Plaza.  While that might raise questions in some persons' minds about his appreciation for urban space, the bottom line is that his proposal worked.  In fact, his wife even attended the RAFOM meeting and sat through his presentation.  That's a very loyal and supportive spouse.

Brown's presentation, most of which is included in the video below, touched on a wide variety of projects the County is undertaking.  Brown stated that he is involved in continuing planning for a boathouse along the Potomac in Rosslyn.  Brown noted that the Virginia Department of Transportation this past week turned over Columbia Pike to the County.  The County is moving forward with renovation plans for Columbia Pike, including the streetcar.  Brown also noted that the state has agreed to fund improvements to Route 50.  Brown observed that the County faces a much tighter budget than in previous years and will have to establish priorities and ensure a minimum standard of services across the County.  Brown has walked the Rosslyn neighborhood and eaten at the Quarterdeck.  He showed good local knowledge, especially for a manager who has been on the job for only four months.


Brown faced some tough, informed questions about new LED streetlights.  A resident at 13th St. and Troy stated that the color and direction of the LED light there is extremely bothersome.  Other persons at the meeting also observed lights that are not well-directed.  Much of the light goes upward rather than downward onto the street.  Stop lights, which all now use LED lights, demonstrate possibilities for coloring and directing LED lights. However, streetlights run about $1,100 per fixture, so changes to streetlights are a serious cost issue.  Brown was well-informed about light technology.  He expressed a willingness to put County staff to work to address residents' concerns.

Other items from the meeting:

  • Verizon will be splicing a new section of cable about 2220 Fairfax Dr. through Sept. 24.  This may create some noise in the neighborhood. 
  • Excavation at the Rosslyn Commons site across from the Belvedere will begin by the end of this year.
  • Excavation at 1716 Wilson Blvd, just down from Cafe Assorti, will also begin by the end of this year.
  • A proposals is stirring in Congress to increase the number and size of flights out of Reagan National Airport.  That creates the risk of more airplane noise over Rosslyn.  RAFOM will circulate a petition opposing the proposal.
  • Hillside Park renovations are running behind schedule, but they should be finished by the end of this year.
  • Urban Forestry Commission member Steve Campbell is co-coordinating a tree survey at Ft. Myer.  We are lucky to have those trees nearby.  Helping to preserve them is definitely in our neighborhood's interest.
  • The RAFOM annual meeting this past June attracted 140 persons.  RAFOM Vice-President Patricia Darneille led the organization of this event.  The event benefited from the generosity of Burns family in making the gorgeous Top of the Town venue available, and from the generosity of Lou Gatti of the Quarterdeck for providing drinks.
The next RAFOM meeting will be Oct. 12, 7pm, at the Belvedere.  It will feature candidates for Congress, the County Board, and the School Board.  The candidates will present their views, question each other, and take questions from the audience.

[video included above]

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Arlington Public Schools should seek more men as teachers

Arlington Public Schools is seeking a teaching staff that broadly reflects the diversity of its students.  That's a laudable goal.  But Arlington Public Schools is ignoring students' and teachers' sex in striving toward diversity.  That's hypocritical and deplorable.

At the Arlington School Board meeting on September 9, Superintendent Patrick Murphy detailed Arlington Public Schools efforts in four pages of his First Day of School 2010 presentation.   According to Murphy's figures, 22% of Arlington Public Schools teachers are non-white.  The district is seeking to hire more non-white teachers.  This year the share of non-white teachers hired was 27%, compared to 18% last year.  Since the substantial issue of concern shouldn't be statistics themselves, but students' interactions with teachers, these statistics would be more informative if provided on a full-time-equivalent basis.  If non-white teachers are more likely to be part-time teachers, then students' over-all experience of being taught is whiter than Murphy's statistics indicate.  Also useful to know, but not reported in Murphy's presentation, is that 52% of Arlington Public School students are non-white.

Murphy's presentation totally ignored the sex composition of the teaching staff.  Arlington Public School students are about 51% boys.  Boys are different from girls.  That difference is probably more important personally to most boys and girls than is race and ethnicity.  Do leaders of the Arlington Public School system care about the sex composition of its teachers?  Apparently not.

Boys would benefit from having more men as teachers. Nationally, only 15% of elementary school teachers are men.  Nationally among secondary school teachers, 41% are men.  Boys are most likely to first encounter a man as a school teacher in physical education classes.  While boys' distinctively physicality should be welcomed and celebrated, men have more to offer boys and girls than lessons in physicality.  Sensational and misandristic media preoccupation with some men's evil acts can cause children and adults to forget the many good men.  Many men are dedicated, self-sacrificing, and brave.  Arlington Public Schools should explicitly and seriously seek more men as teachers.

Note: here's a worksheet with data and source links concerning the race and sex composition of Arlington Public Schools' students and teachers

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

living through difficulties

About 1938, fresh with experience of the Great Depression's hard times, Mamie Bell Mackley Brown opened a beauty salon, called Friendly Beauty Salon, at 2424 S. Shirlington Rd. in Arlington.  She subsequently also started a cosmetology school.  The school held its first graduation ceremony at Mount Olive Baptist Church, where Brown's husband, Rev. Aaron Mackley, was pastor.  Brown's school graduated over 300 students. Because Virginia did not issue cosmetology exams and licenses, Brown led her students to DC for these services. Brown gained a reputation throughout the Washington area as a leading instructor in cosmetology. Her philosophy was "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right."

Perhaps because of business difficulties, Brown took on a job at the U.S. Patent Office from 1957 to the mid-1960s.  She then began working at the Federal Drug Administration, where her job involved analyzing the chemical content of animal feed.  Her hair salon, which changed its name to the Friendly Beautorium in the early 1960s, apparently closed in 1968.  Brown retired from government work in 1980.

Brown prevailed through a variety of difficulties.  As an African American living in Arlington in 1938, she lived in a racially segregated community in which blacks were treated as inferior human beings.  She almost surely had no access to the (white) banking system.   Being a pastor's wife, a mother, and a business operator, all at the same time, must have been very difficult.  The failure of her marriage surely caused her, the Rev. Mackley, and their family and friends great pain.  But she endured and subsequently married Rev. Paul W. Brown.  They remained married through to Brown's death at age 72 in 1987.  In 1957, Brown, at age 42, apparently had to develop a new career.  That's never easy and becomes more difficult as one gets older.  But Brown made the switch from beauty to the Patent Office, a bastion of ugly bureaucratic work.  She subsequently moved to a job that may have drawn on chemical knowledge that she would have developed as a cosmetologist.

Mamie Bell Mackley Brown lived a full life despite great social and personal difficulties.  So can you.

*  *  *  *  *

Sources and notes:  Information about Mamie Bell Mackley Brown's development of a beauty salon and a cosmetology school was displayed on a poster at the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington's booth at the Arlington County Fair.   Additional information about her education, career, and second marriage are from her obituary in the Washington Post, Nov. 27, 1987, p. B4.  Rev. Aaron Mackley's obituary in the Washington Post, Apr. 6, 1997, p. B9, notes that his marriage to Mamie Brown, with whom he had two children, ended in divorce.  Both Brown and Rev. Mackley received degrees from Storer College in Harpurs' Ferry, WV.  Rev. Mackley took up the job of pastor at the historic Mount Olive Baptist Church at age 26 in 1938.  He continued there as a beloved pastor for 55 years.  He married Adele T. Mackley in 1951.  They remained married to his death at age 83 in 1997.  Rev. Mackley was the first black to serve on the Arlington County School Board and was a forceful advocate for school desegregation.  On Rev. Mackley's service at Mount Olive Baptist Church, see Washington Post, "A Pastor Who Tended His Flock for 55 Years," Sept. 30, 1993, p. DVA10, and Mount Olive Baptist Church's 135th Anniversary DVD.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

another home eviction in DC


Several men who live under a bridge in DC have been served with an eviction notice. Last year they were evicted from their home under the bridge on the other side of the road.  They've lived under that bridge through some brutal winter weather, including this past winter's massive snowstorms.  While communities can and should do more to help persons living on the street, at least don't bother them if they're not seriously bothering you.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

frogs make their voices heard

As Arlnow has reported, an anti-frog-legs protest recently occurred at Uncle Julio's Mexican restaurant in Ballston.  A large number of frogs live in the marshy area along the bike path out near Wolftrap.  They are loudly against serving frog legs for dinner.


But a rooster in Fairfax says he's in favor of it. "I've eaten a baby frog once myself," he said.  "Tastes like a grasshopper."  "How would you like to be served for dinner?" I asked. "Live well and die young," he said and scurried off to chase a large group of hens just inside the barn door.

Building political coalitions among animals is difficult.  Either they're preoccupied with chasing the opposite sex or they're at each others' throats.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

skateboard to work

If biking to work doesn't appeal to you, have you considered skateboarding?  Despite only taking up skateboarding six months ago, Alex skateboard-commutes two or three times a week between his home in the Clarendon area and his workplace in DC near Metro Center.  He favors the Iwo Jima route over the Custis trail / Key Bridge route because the later has steep descents that are tricky to negotiate in high traffic.

Skateboarding is more fun than sitting in a car in rush-hour car traffic.  Skateboarding doesn't spew any noxious fumes into the atmosphere, nor does it deplete the earth's natural resources.   But skateboarding is much bigger than that.  Skateboarding provides a whole new way to look at the world.  The upcoming Skateboarding Side Effects exhibit in the Artisphere's Terrace Gallery will show:
Skateboarders visualize urban areas differently from the general population. Handrails, empty pools, concrete benches and walls are stripped of their traditional functions and minimized to simple form, shape and line. Whether jagged and slow or smooth and fast, the experience of riding a board blends artistic vision and an understanding of physics with adventurous athletics, nurturing the creating mind and fueling the art of improvisation.
You won't get an experience like that driving a car.


[video included above]

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

back to school for everyone

A class in American Sign Language began yesterday at Arlington's Washington-Lee High School.  The class meets for 2.5 hours every Tuesday night and runs for 10 weeks.  The instructor, Karen Moser, is friendly and energetic.  She has set up a well-structured course plan that includes quizzes, group activities, and even some homework.  If you spent your time in school sitting in the back and talking with your friends, this is not a class for you.  If you want to study and learn sign language, this looks like a great class.

Arlington Public Schools' Adult Education offers a wide variety of classes organized into three terms a year.  Back to school isn't just for kids!

Monday, September 6, 2010

N. 15th St. road improvements

Excellent road improvements recently occurred on the 15th St. hill connecting Courthouse to N. Rhodes St.  A bike lane has been marked on both sides of the road.  Parking is no longer allowed on the right side of the road just uphill from the intersection with N. Rhodes St. (see car with ticket in above photo).  In addition, the double yellow line has been erased to allow a more even division of the road.

The 15th St. hill has been a bad section in a key bicycle route.  Cyclists coming up from the Iwo Jima trail and heading west of Rosslyn travel on the (small) Arlington Blvd, past the Ft. Myers Heights Park and the majestic Westmoreland Condominiums, across the N. Queen St. bridge over Rt. 50, and up the 15th St. hill.  That bike route is now significantly better.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

$500,000 Hillside Park renovation raises concerns


Renovation of Hillside Park, which began early this year, is still ongoing.  Hillside Park is a unique forested area in the heart of Rosslyn.  As part of winning approval for the Rosslyn Ridge site plan (the construction to occur near Hillside Park, between N. Oak St. and Clarendon Blvd), the developer put up $500,000 for renovation of Hillside Park.  Some concerns about the renovation:
  1. The renovation project should be finished promptly.  Hillside Park is currently fenced off with an ugly chain-metal fence.  To local observers, work at the park appears to take place only a few days a week.   Half a year is more than enough time for a high-budget, low-action renovation.
  2. The renovation team should show more concern for the health of the trees.  In April, May, and June, total rainfall was about 40% less than normal.  The renovation team did not provide sufficient water to trees that the renovation stressed.
  3. The renovation should highlight the natural beauty of the area.  The upper sitting area will enhances the feel and view of the park.  The lower metal entrance gate directs attention to itself.  The metal bird silhouettes topping the fence and the railroad-style park signage should be junked.  In any case, cleaning up smaller pieces of garbage littered throughout the park is a cheap and important form of renovation.  It hasn't been done yet.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Myer


Right here in Rosslyn, about 200 yards up from the Fort Myer gate at the corner of N. Meade St. and Marshall Dr. is a building that housed Buffalo Soldiers.   These were soldiers in African-American cavalry units formed in 1866.  From 1891 to 1894, the Buffalo Soldiers of Troop (Company) K of the 9th Cavalry Regiment were stationed at Fort Myer.  From 1931 to 1949, Buffalo Soldiers of the Machine Gun Troop of the 10'th Cavalry Regiment were at Fort Myer.


The Buffalo Soldiers' barracks signal their field of duty in the Southwest.  The top of the side wall of the barracks has a shape characteristic of the Spanish West. That Spanish-West style is not deeply integrated into the form of the whole building.  I speculate that the Buffalo Soldiers' themselves built this barracks and added that styling to a general-issue building design. 

The U.S. military was desegregated only in 1949.  Institutionalized racism has endured even longer.  Buffalo Soldiers served valiantly a country that served them unjustly.


 *  *  *  *  *

Image notes:  1) Buffalo Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment, 1890, wearing buffalo skins in cold weather, 2) Buffalo Soldiers' barracks at Fort Myer, and 3) Buffalo Solder, 10th Cavalry, Fort Myer, 1934