Thursday, September 29, 2011

stay in Rosslyn all night long

If you leave Rosslyn after dinner or later in the evening (why would you do that?), watch out for construction on Rt. 50 heading west. Tonight as of 10pm, Rt. 50 westbound was down to one lane just past the Rhodes St. Bridge.  With the lane closures, the merge into Rt. 50 going west from the on-ramp near the Rhodes St. Bridge is even more treacherous than normal. At least when the traffic backs up you don't have to pull out abruptly into Rt. 50 where cars are going 45 mph or faster.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Westmoreland delinquencies up

Condo-fee payment delinquencies have risen to unusually high levels at Westmoreland Terrace Condominiums.  While Rosslyn has a vibrant and creative business community, Rosslyn is not immune to economic developments in the rest of the world.  European economies are struggling with severe public-debit problems.  Residents in debt-free Rosslyn, buffeted by these and other economic developments, are facing more difficulties than usual in paying their condo fees.

Other notes from this Monday's Westmoreland Terrace Condominiums' Board Meeting:

  • There's not a lot of crime in the area, but some.  Use common sense: lock doors, keep portable devices (GPS in cars) out of sight, etc.
  • The Board renewed its snow-removal contract with Lancaster.
  • The Board paid a total of $119,903 for a new electrical switch for 1315 and for the second of three payments for the facade and landscape improvements for 1336.  
  • The Reserve Study/Audit that an independent agent is performing will be ready next month.
  • Work on 1336 is nearly finished.  The new railing on the outside stairs at rear will be installed within about a week.
Attending the meeting were Board members Jose Calvo, Jennifer Feinleb, and Joe Ruland, Property Manager Dennis Freeman, and residents/owners Barbara and Fernan, and Kip of the Arlington County Police. The next regularly scheduled Westmoreland Condo Board meeting is the last Monday of next month, Oct. 31, at 7pm in the on-site condo office.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

local beauties


The Radnor / Ft. Myer Heights neighborhood includes beautiful and historically important properties.  At the recent Arlington County Board meeting, the Arlington County Landscape Recognition Program recognized two properties in the neighborhood: 1510 Condominiums and the Gables Twelve Twenty-One.  Everyone can enjoy looking at these properties at no charge.  Moreover, given that we've been blessed with bountiful rain, these and other plants around the neighborhood will remain green and beautiful for a long time.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Tacchino Circlocross delivers chocolate donuts

In cyclocross, the bike riders have to leap barriers.  To summon energy for that leap, riders at this Sunday's Tacchino Circlocross could pick up a chocolate donut before the barriers.  Nothing goes with riding in the mud like a chocolate donut.

The Tacchino Circloss is the signature cyclocross event for local bike racing team Squadra Coppi.  Legendary race director Jim McNeely made this year's Tacchino even bigger and better than last year's race.  The Tacchino race led off a major series of area cyclocross races.  For more on the race, see district cycling or watch a highlights videoJay Wescott, still on the Squadra Coppi injured reserve list, took some great photos of the event. You've already enjoyed one above; enjoy more below!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

the glamor of Rosslyn

David Chung's magnificent painting Rosslyn (2000) captures beautifully the glamor of Rosslyn.  It can be seen in the Rosslyn metro station.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Ft. Myer Heights Park playground conceptual design


At this past Tuesday's RAFOM meeting, Arlington County park architect Aaron Wohler presented the conceptual design and plans for the forthcoming Ft. Myer Heights playground construction. RAFOM meeting participants voted to approve the design. The video below shows Mr. Wohler's presentation and one follow-up question.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

come ashore at Artisphere

Last Friday, the PARK(ing) Day realization in Rosslyn encouraged persons to dispel the frantic search for a parking space.  Imagine instead gliding into Rosslyn on a small boat guided by mermaids to the newly constructed Rosslyn boathouse, with a pier extending all the way to the front of Artisphere.

Dance Exchange dancers Sarah Levitt and Shula Strassfeld helped Rosslyn PARK(ing) Day spectator-participants to experience that glorious vision.  They performed a site-specific adaptation of their work Hammock.  Some commenters at Arlnow were somewhat dubious about this work and PARK(ing) Day in general.  The actual event turned out to be thoroughly vitalizing and inspiring. 


In an exclusive interview with the Ode Street Tribune, spectator-participant Douglas Galbi said, "Even though I hadn't properly parked and locked my bike, I felt completely relaxed."  The Tribune asked him if the noise from the airplanes passing close overhead hindered his ability to rest.  He said, "Not at all.  Resting in the gentle sway of the hammock, I didn't even hear the airplanes."  Did he realized that he was alongside a major street in Rosslyn in front of Artisphere?  "I could see Artisphere and the sky and Rosslyn's beautiful buildings," he said.  "But still, it was like a dream, except in my dreams the women are usually naked."

The Ode Street Tribune believes that PARK(ing) Day in Rosslyn should not be criticized for not having naked women. PARK(ing) Day in Rosslyn was a fun, creative, low-cost event.  These are the kinds of events that make Rosslyn the emblem of Arlington's attractiveness.

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Note: a video is embedded in this post.  If you don't see it in your email reader, you can find it here.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

noisy RAFOM meeting about airplane noise

The Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association (RAFOM) meeting packed the Prospect House meeting room tonight.  Most of the attendees were very irate about airplane noise.  As the video below from about three years ago documents, airplane noise has been an ongoing concern in our area.  At tonight's meeting, National Airport officials Bob Laser (Operations Manager, Air Traffic), Neal Phillips (Manager, Aero Acoustics), and Mike Jeck (Assistant Manager, Noise Office) discussed the problem with residents for over an hour and a half.

Some points from the airplane-noise discussion:
  1. Residents perceive airplane noise to be getting worse, both during the evening and late at night.  Airplane noise is seriously affecting residents' quality of life.
  2. Repair of the main runway began on May 16 of this year and is scheduled to finish by the end of this year.  The main runway repair closes the main runaway from 11pm to 6am.  All aircraft use an alternate runway that causes most flight traffic landing going south or departing going north to pass directly over Rosslyn on a radial flight line.  The completion of the runway repair will result in less aircraft traffic over Rosslyn from 11pm to 6am.
  3. A new aircraft flight departure procedure, called Laser-1 after none other than Bob Laser, who has worked for five years in implementing it, will put flights on an automatic navigation path along the river.  This departure procedure is planned to go into effect in April of next year.  It will result in most aircraft departures staying over the river.
  4. National Airport places significant demands on pilot flight skills.  Flying along the river, while taking care to avoid the strictly restricted airspace (P-56) about the White House and Capitol, requires pilots to execute tight turns. The new Laser-1 procedure will allow this navigation to be automated.
  5. Major national political and economic interests push for more flights out of National Airport.  Local representative have a tough time fighting against these interests.  
  6. Weather conditions outside the DC area effect the density of flights into National on any given day.  Particular traffic circumstances on a particular day can cause a heavy volume of flights using runways that require a direct pass over Rosslyn.
  7. The RAFOM neighborhood is about 2 miles from the end of the runways.  Aircraft descend on average about 300 feet per mile.  Hence aircraft on average are only 600 feet above the ground when they fly over our neighborhood.  Some aircraft noise will be a fact of life in our neighborhood. 
A RAFOM resident put forward an excellent approach to addressing the airplane noise problem.  She invited Bob Laser to have drinks on her balcony Sunday evening.  Other well-positioned Rosslyn resident should likewise extend such invitations to other National Airport officials.  Area residents have been complaining vocally about airplane noise for years.  The results have been meager.  Why not try direct-experience hospitality and inaudible appeals?  How about a special RAFOM evening cocktail party for National Airport flight control and noise officials? 


Other points from tonight's RAFOM meeting:
The next RAFOM meeting will be Oct. 26.  It will be a candidates night.

Monday, September 19, 2011

remembering Zorigoo Munkhbayar

Before dawn this past Friday, Zorigoo Munkhbayar was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Rt. 50 near the Rhodes St. Bridge. Zorigoo, only 23 years old, lived in River Place Apartments in Rosslyn with his dad, mom, sister, and twin brother.  Many of his grieving friends gathered on the Rhodes St. Bridge Sunday night to remember Zorigoo and to mourn his death.  They described him as a very good person.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Squadra Coppi's Elder in the money at Charm City

In today's exciting bike-racing action at Charm City Cross, Richard Elder, a star on local bike racing team Squadra Coppi, took 5th in the Cat. 4 men's race.  A huge field of 87 riders started the narrow, constantly turning course.  After the first lap, which featured some spectacular crashes, Elder was about 15th place.  Using his superior fitness and expert technical skills, he steadily moved up through the field, deftly navigating the sand pit and barrier jumps.  If there were another lap, he may well have finished third.

Squadra Coppi acquired Elder from the Royal Air Force cycling team last year.  Early this year, Elder took a podium spot in the prestigious Giro di Coppi road race.  Expect to see Elder at the front of more cyclocross races coming up this year.


While other Squadra Coppi riders did not finish as high as Elder, they recorded some outstanding performances.  Jean Woodrow, back on the bike after having a baby, showed impressive technical skills.  Her husband Ken rode so aggressively that he crashed four times.  Adam Austin powered through the sand, leaving other riders gasping in his wake.  Kimani Nielson seemingly effortlessly floated over the barriers.  Douglas Galbi, who is regularly flogged as a beat reporter, showed his tolerance for pain by racing both a morning and afternoon race.  Micah Smith showed up 15 minutes before the start of his race, said he hadn't ridden for two weeks, and still registered a strong performance. 

Twenty 20 Cycling of Baltimore deserves credit for putting together a fun, well-organized day of cyclocross racing.  If you missed today's racing, you can head to Druid Hill Park in Baltimore on Sunday for the second day of Charm City Cross.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Arlington Library is only a click away

Arlington Public Library offers to Arlington Library cardholders a huge array of ebooks, as well as streaming music, online audio books, and premium websites, including ones offering online learning courses.  All you need to access these enriching cultural and educational resources is an up-to-date library card. 

Just as with anything, some technical frustration is possible.  If your library card has expired (they must be renewed every two years), you can still sign in with your card number and pin.  When you try to access an ebook, you will be told that you don't have access to it. But you won't be told why you don't have access.  Here's some helpful information: if you're having trouble accessing Arlington Library's digital resources, the first thing to check is whether your library card has expired. 

A digital bookmobile, which in fact is a massive physical truck, will be in the Arlington County Library parking lot on Wednesday, Sept. 21, from 1pm to 7pm.  It offers equipment and hands-on teaching on how to use the Library's digital collections.  If you want to know more about what digital equipment you need, or some help in using it, go to the Library on Wednesday afternoon or early evening, Sept. 21.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Aspen New York Rosslyn Jazz

Rosslyn's 21'st annual Jazz Festival attracted an enormous crowd to Gateway Park this past Saturday.  Grammy-winning and Tony-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater declared that she was honored to play at the Rosslyn Jazz Festival.  An Ode Street Tribune on-the-spot investigation left little ground to doubt Bridgewater's sincerity.  See video below for details.


A regular attendee at the Festival told the Tribune that finding inhuman-powered-vehicle parking was rather difficult.  She suggested that the Festival work out an arrangement with the nearby Marriott to offer paid parking on the day of the Festival.  Such an arrangement could generate significant revenue for the Festival and allow it to be even bigger.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

bricks missing

Downtown Rosslyn features much elegant brickwork on sidewalks and street crossing.  However, after the recent fierce primary contest for our Virginia senator seat, several bricks are missing from the crosswalk at Key Blvd. & N. Oak St.  I've reported the problem on Arlington County's handy High Density Pedestrian Concrete Maintenance Report Form.

Monday, September 12, 2011

beware of wild mushrooms

Another advantage of all the recent rain are wonderful wild mushrooms springing up all over Rosslyn's hinterlands.  The grounds of the historically important Westmoreland Terrace Condominiums displayed many fine specimens.  You might be tempted to pick some to make a tasty mushroom curry.  But, beware, many wild mushrooms are deadly poisonous.  Don't eat wild mushrooms unless they have been expertly identified as edible.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

watering and sprouting

Rosslyn's past five straight days of rain have propelled it into the ranks of world-leaders India (monsoon season) and Oregon (all year long) in providing beautiful weather for plants and gardens.  But what about Rosslyn's landless class of mere wage workers?  Because they don't have any land to cultivate, they don't benefit from all the rain. 

Karen's magnificent herb garden, a Reserve Grand Champion at this year's Arlington County Fair, offers hope for Rosslyn's landless class.  It takes landless herb gardening from subsistence farming to highly civilized gardening.  Follow Karen's lead to help develop our local economy.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Hatch green chile specials at Santa Fe Cafe

Rosslyn's Santa Fe Cafe has a lineup of specials this month featuring the in-season Hatch green chiles.  Hatch green chiles come from near the town of Hatch in southern New Mexico:
The Hatch Chile Festival is an annual event that occurs each Labor Day. This event attracts people world wide to a place known as the chile capital of the world. The small town (population 1,673 in 2000) has accommodated up to 30,000 people for this event. This small farming community is known world wide for raising very good chile.
One of the Hatch green chile specials at Santa Fe Cafe this week is Mushroom, Green Chile, Chorizo over Polenta:
Seasoned and grilled portabellas, shiitakes, link chorizo, green chiles and goat cheese are served on a bed of creamy polenta with fried onion strings
Tears are salting our staff's Taco Bell burritos as they think about these Santa Fe Cafe specials!

Monday, September 5, 2011

beat reporter given day off

The Ode Street Tribune's publisher, acting against the strenuous objections of its managing editor, department editors, and associated sub-editors, has decided to give the Tribune's reporter the day off. He will be back to work tomorrow.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

red-hot Rosslyn Jazz Festival

Next Saturday, September 10, is Rosslyn's renowned Jazz Festival.  The festival is from 1 pm to 7 pm at Gateway Park near Key Bridge.  Among the performers will be too-fast-to-be-blue blues pianist Henry Butler.  Full lineup and schedule here.  Admission is free. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Internet art lives on the Internet

You only have a few days left to go to Repetition is a Form of Change in the Works-in-Progress Gallery at Artisphere.  The title panel for the exhibition features four stacks of narrow paper flyers pinned to the wall.  You're invited to take one.  Look on the backside of the flyer and you'll discover, "Internet art lives on the Internet."

There's a lot of great art here.  Fellow office drones might especially appreciate the artwork, Experiencing Deep Personal Grief, by Alexandria McCrosky.