Thursday, August 30, 2012

look for leeks


When you're in your local farmers' market or store, keep an eye out for leeks.  I spotted a leek a few days ago in Rosslyn's mysterious and intriguing underground Safeway.  I plugged the leek into my shopping bag and bought it. 

I was determined to eat the leek, but I didn't quite know how.  I figured I'd just start chewing on the top.  After all, it looks somewhat like lettuce.  But then I remembered -- the Ode Street Tribune recently reported a new community network, PLACE space.  Why not ask my neighbors how to eat a leek?  That I did, and I quickly received a great suggestion from Caroline Klam.

Don't eat the top of the leek. It's tough like wood.  Cut off the top and the roots at the bottom.  Then cut the leek in half lengthwise and wash thoroughly.  Then put the leek halves, cut side down and segmented into manageable pieces, into a cast iron pot (cook everything in a cast iron pot).  Cook a little.  Then add enough boiling water to reach half-way up the height of the thickest leek.  Then let the leek pieces simmer for about twenty-five minutes.  They'll become as soft as a well-cooked turnip. 

To give the leek some additional flavor, I cooked some chicken in the cast iron pot just before cooking the leek (cook everything in a cast iron pot).  I drained off the liquid from the cooked chicken and added it with the boiling water.  When you finish cooking the leek, don't throw out the liquid you cooked it in.  Simply add the liquid to quinoa that you have with the leek.  Makes for an excellent dinner that includes a side serving of cooked chicken.

 
Enjoy more vegetables with the celebrating vegetables series!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

PLACE space: new online virtual town square

Arlington County has opened a new online virtual town square called PLACE space.  It's an excellent, low-cost experiment in community networking.  Compared to social networks like facebook, PLACE space is community-focused, simpler, and not cluttered with ads, offers, and games.  You can help PLACE space get over the "I don't want to go there because nobody goes there" start-up problem by signing up and giving it a chance

The Ode Street Tribune has gotten involved in PLACE space by signing up and starting a vegetable circle.  The vegetable circle is intended to foster local discussion on growing, buying, cooking, and eating vegetables.  Is your garden producing far more zucchini than you can eat?  Offer some to your neighbors in the PLACE space vegetable circle!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Rosslyn becoming more powerful

Power cabling in being installed in the new power conduit along Rt. 110.  The power line will connect to Rosslyn's new Radnor Heights power substation.  The new power line should reduce risks of power outages in the area.

Some speculate that the new power line could be a prelude to Rosslyn taking powerful moves to regain historic territory.  Given Rosslyn's distinguished military tradition, some even fear military action.  But don't worry, that's not the Arlington way.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

ominous markings no cause for fear

Ominous markings outside the lower entrance to Hillside Park have generated a sense of fearful foreboding among some persons in the neighborhood.  But everyone can now breath a sigh of relief, feel relaxed, smile, and be thankful.  Go ahead, do it now!

The markings at the lower entrance to Hillside Park apparently marked only plans for extending concrete at the entrance.  While the Hillside Park renovation added considerable concrete and metal to the park, the small size of the construction at the entrance suggests that no plans exist to concrete over the whole park.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

talk with artist Heather Day at Artisphere


Life is complicated.  So is Heather Day's art.  Her art works across buildings in urban environments and personal relationships.  Think accreting, marring, decay, and refurbishment.  Structures are knocked to the ground.  New layers of development are added, undermining and overlaying.  A path winds through the space.  Another path crosses it.

These are paintings with a physicality that pushes beyond the surface.  You'll see in these paintings ripples and seams.  You'll see stitches and threads. The painted marks continue across the right angles of canvas stretched across the wooden frame.

Every line, stroke, drop, and stitch Heather has pondered and thought through from every angle.  The superficial roughness of her work is matched with a deeply feminine sensibility.  Her work resonates with the urban core and coursing vitality of lovely Rosslyn.

If you don't normally engage with abstract contemporary art, Heather Day's onsite residency at Artisphere is a great opportunity to observe and talk with a real flesh-and-blood artist intensely serious about doing abstract contemporary art.  Heather is working artistically in Artisphere's Works-in-Progress Gallery Friday and Saturday from 4pm to 8pm, and Sunday from noon to 4pm, every weekend through Sunday, September 16.  Head over to Artisphere to see Heather Day's work and to say hi.  Don't be shy.  While serious about her art, Heather is a very friendly artist!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

another hawk down

According to a credible source, early this morning or late last evening an adult male hawk crashed into a third-floor picture window on the eastern side of Building 1309 of the historically important Westmoreland Terrace Condominiums.  The hawk died from the impact.
A similar tragedy occurred this past Saturday.  The two hawks apparently were a nesting pair.  They built their nest in an old tree on the wildlands across from Westmoreland Condos on N. Ft. Myer Dr.  The nest is now desolate.

Westmoreland's picture windows create a forest mirage with the reflections of the beautiful, large trees on the property.  But is there more to this story?  An Ode Street Tribune investigative team scouring the site of the crashes discovered a lone feather lying in the parking lot.  The feather definitely belongs to the type of hawk involved in the crashes.  However, the feather appears to be too far from the site of the crashes to be an artifact of the crashes.
The Tribune's investigative team speculates that the cause of the crashes was the territorial instinct of the mating pair.  The hawks saw not just the reflection of trees in the window, but also their own reflections.  They took those reflections to be an intruding hawk.  When they responded aggressively, the reflection responded aggressively in turn. They dove to engage the foe, and the foe sped towards them.  They died from combat with their own reflections.

How did the Tribune's investigative team manage to form this conjecture based only on the discovery of a feather?  The key insight is the speculation that the feather is a feather from earlier combat with a real intruding hawk.

Stay tuned to the Ode Street Tribune for the best local investigative reporting.

Update: Westmoreland residents reported hearing cries of chicks from the nest earlier this weekend.  Unfortunately, without their parents, the chicks are doomed.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

nicer curve in Rosslyn

A curve on the Virginia-Rosslyn-Washington multi-user expressway is being widened.  The widening will make the curve safer.  It will also allow cyclists to take the curve safely at higher speeds.

The Ode Street Tribune estimates that net time savings for cyclists taking the curve safely at a higher speed to be about 2 seconds per trip. With an estimated 500 cyclists taking that curve twice a day for 200 days a year, the aggregate time savings amounts to an additional 14 8-hour work days per year.  Efficient transportation easily adds up to many additional vacation days.

The planning of this transportation improvement was excellent.  The improvement is being made in conjunction with the installation of the new power line along the road.  Hence the necessary equipment, work crew, and materials were readily at hand.  The additional cost to widening the curve, given the existing work to install the power line, was probably quite small.  The Tribune urges that the path improvement planning team be granted an additional vacation day in recognition of their excellent work.  

Monday, August 20, 2012

Sahara Dance Carnival fills Artisphere

Sahara Dance, an local independent dance studio, brought a huge troupe of recreational and professional belly-dancers to Artisphere this past Saturday night for four hours of non-stop action.  This first-of-its-kind event filled the Artisphere ballroom's lower and upper levels.

This wasn't your usual immobilizing show.  The event was structured like a carnival, with dancers not just on three stages, but also moving through the crowd.  The dancers swirled, swayed, and jiggled.  Persons in the crowd could sit in chairs, but they could also move freely to socialize, play games, get food, and buy merchandise. The Ode Street Tribune's investigative reporter didn't see anyone in the crowd struggling to sit still or checking for messages on a mobile.

The Tribune's reporter interviewed a dancer who goes by the lovely stage name Alilyah.  She grew up in Missouri and took up belly dancing after seeing a Sahara Dance performance here in the greater Rosslyn metropolitan area. Alilyah has been taking classes with Sahara Dance for four years.  The classes encompass tribal, cabaret, and fusion belly-dancing styles.  For the Sahara Dance Carnival at Artisphere, Alilyah performed a cabaret dance complete with a feather boa.  Even before her dance began, she already had money tucked into her costume.  She was performing without a doubt for an enthusiatic crowd.
 
Imagine yourself as a belly-dancer.  If that imagination moves you, make it real!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

hawk dies flying into mirage


At approximately 2:32pm this afternoon, a hawk flew into a windowpane on a second floor apartment in building 1309 of the historically important Westmoreland Terrrace Condominiums.  The hawk apparently was deceived by a mirage of a tree appearing on the windowpane.  The hawk died instantly from the impact.

Some have speculated that the hand of God guided the hawk into the windowpane in retribution for the hawk eating a child's pet dove.  The Ode Street Tribune considers that unlikely.  This was probably a different hawk.

Persons who have a large window that reflects images of trees across an open space should consider putting a sticker on the window or some other means to break birds' illusions.  That's better than having birds break their necks.

Things are not always what they seem.   Be careful not to speed into a mirage.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

coming into Rosslyn

Persons driving bicycles and inhuman-powered vehicles into Rosslyn from Lee Highway, Rt. 66, and Key Bridge need to understand the complicated intersection at N. Ft. Myer Dr. and 19th St. N.  The important point: if you want to travel under Wilson Blvd to the attractions in southern Rosslyn (such as the Iwo Jima, the Quarterdeck, and the Ode Street Tribune's headquarters), ride one of the middle two lanes of N. Ft. Myer Dr. across the intersection with 19th St. N.  If you want to get on Wilson Blvd. heading west, take the right lane across the intersection to the up-ramp.  Alternatively, take a right on 19th St. and follow it to Wilson Blvd.  If you want to get on Wilson Blvd. heading east (toward Artisphere), get in the lane second from the left, cross the intersection, go by the construction, and pull into the ramp on the left.  That will take you past the rear entrance to the Rosslyn metro.  At the top of the ramp, you can turn left at the light.

Come into Rosslyn today!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

sign to Falls Church knocked down


A sign on the north end of Meade St. Bridge in Rosslyn has been down for more than a month.  The sign formerly pointed to Rt. 50 west and Falls Church. 

You might think that no one in Rosslyn wants to go to Falls Church.  But that's not correct.  Persons come from all directions to visit Rosslyn.  After an exciting and enjoyable time, they sadly have to return home. 

The Ode Street Tribune has reported this down sign to Arlington Environmental Services, Transportation Engineering.  

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Rosslyn charming


One of the recent major storms knocked over a large tree behind the Nalbert Apartments at 1317 N. Ft. Myer Dr.  If the tree had fallen in the other direction, it would have crashed into the apartment building. Life in Rosslyn is charmed!

Monday, August 13, 2012

orientation doesn't affect growth

A scientific experiment displayed at the Arlington County Fair supports the hypothesis that orientation has no effect on growth.  The young scientist conducting the experiment grew radish plants right side up and upside down.  Here are the full reported results:
The results of the experiment showed that plants that are hung upside {down} have little, or no difference in growth compared to plants that are right side up. The final height of all the plants was around 9 cm. The only difference was that the plants hung upside down turned slightly upward toward the sun light from the window.  The plants right side up grew upwards and did not turn side ways to face the sun.  Two of the Radish plants, that were hanging up side down, died.  
While the Ode Street Tribune regrets that two radish plants died in this experiment, the Tribune believes that the advancement of knowledge is worth that sacrifice.   Vegetable competitions and scientific experiments should be expanded at the Arlington County Fair, even if that requires cutting back on games and rides.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

massive pumpkin at Arlington Fair


Arlington County Fair's vegetable competition includes an unbelievably massive, prize-winning pumpkin.  You can get a sense for how big this pumpkin is by comparing its size to the size of the cherry tomato in the lower left corner of the photo above.  Nabih S. grew this pumpkin in the Westover area of Arlington. Congratulations to Nabih for a truly impressive vegetable!

See up close and in person Nabih's pumpkin and other impressive vegetables at the Fair's indoor exhibits.  Those exhibits will be open through 9pm on Saturday and from 11am to 7pm on Sunday. 

If Rosslyn wants to be represented in the top ranks of the Fair's vegetable competition, Rosslyn must find more farmland.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

less than 10 days left for Retratos Compartidos / Shared Portraits

Kevin Krapf's participatory exhibit, Retratos Compartidos / Shared Portraits will close at the Artisphere on August 18.  That means that you have less than 10 days left to get hung in Artisphere. Krapf has been doing artistic re-interpretations of selected portraits.  One participant's favorite college professor was transformed into a painting that seems to allude to a statue of Socrates. Socrates was executed because he asked too many questions.  Draw your own conclusions.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

huge crowd for Freshbikes ride and BBQ

Cyclists from across the Greater Rosslyn Metropolitan Area converged this evening at 5th Rd. N. & N. Pollard St. near Freshbikes in Arlington for a bike ride and free barbeque.  The event began at 6:30pm with local bike racing team Squadra Coppi presenting a Squadra Coppi jersey to Vapiano in appreciation for Vapiano's support of local bike racing.  Arlington County police then led the riders across town to Military Rd, and then out to Glebe Rd.  The pace was intense, and the reason was obvious: riders were in a rush to get back to the barbeque.  At the barbeque, Squadra Coppi riders displayed impressive eating talent.

Monday, August 6, 2012

more Page Valley Road Race coverage

In addition to reporting Rosslyn cyclist Marc Edmonds' outstanding finish, we bring you additional Page Valley Road Race reporting with an exclusive after-race interview with Rosslyn rider Douglas Galbi. Here's a verbatim transcript:
"That was a thrilling, excitement-filled race and a great achievement for team Rosslyn. What was the most intense highlight for you?""I think I rode well, given that I'm old.  And the bike was shifting really well.  Getting the cable tension right is key."

"What are your hopes, fear, and dreams as a bike racer?" "I changed out my 11-23 rear cassette for an 11-25 because of the hilly course, but then the bike started shifting badly onto the upper sprockets.  I hoped to do well in the race, but I was really worried about slipping a gear on a climb."

"Was there a moment when you felt the triumph of the human spirit?" "I took my bike into my local bike shop, and they adjusted the cable tension with the rear barrel adjustor.  My bike is running great, so I'm happy."
"What are Rosslyn's prospects in next year's race?  Are there upcoming stars to watch for the future of Rosslyn cycling?" "I think Capital Bikeshare is helping to get more persons riding bikes. But equipment is important, even if you just like to look at it and talk about it.  You can get a much faster bike than a CaBi bike for not a lot of money."
To recap the results from the Page Valley Road Race, Rosslyn rider Marc Edmonds finished 12th and Rosslyn rider Douglas Galbi finished 20th in the men's category 4 race.

Stay tuned to the Ode Street Tribune for full, industry-standard reporting of sports news.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Rosslyn rider makes strong debut at Page Valley Road Race

Rosslyn resident Marc Edmonds cycled impressively today at the Page Valley Road Race in Stanley, Virginia. This was Edmonds first race as a Cat. 4 racer and his first time doing the brutally hilly Page Valley course.  The Cat. 4 race started at 3pm in scorching heat.  It was mainly a battle of attrition.  On the next to last climb, the leaders surged on the steep finishing section, shredding much of the field.  But Edmonds, with the tenacity and determination for which Rosslyn residents are known, matched the acceleration.  He finished in 12th place, maintaining to the finish close contact with the lead group.  Members of local bike racing team Squadra Coppi are now urging and pressuring Edmonds to join the team.


Among Squadra Coppi cyclists participating in the Page Valley race,  Coppi strongman David Wilson finished 16th in the Cat. 3 race.   Last weekend, Wilson won the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association men's 45 years and older road race champion jersey.  Wilson has taken the general-purpose "I'm old" excuse and stomped all over it.  If you're a middle-ager, you now need a new excuse.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Rosslyn wildlands

Despite major development projects, Rosslyn still retains wildlands.  One of Rosslyn's notable wildlands connects N. Fort Myer Dr. and the back parking lot of the Whispering Oaks apartment building at 1310 N. Oak St.  Recently some of the vegetation overrunning the walking path was cut back, giving the path a somewhat more cultivated look.  But long-time resident know that this is truly wildland. 

Put on your hiking shoes and check it out.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Dark Star indicates early end of sweltering summer

Residents in the Greater Rosslyn metropolitan area and across the country look to Rosslyn's Dark Star poles on August 1 to learn whether sweltering summer heat will end early, or will continue for another six months.  The Dark Star poles are elements of Rosslyn's world-famous Dark Star art installation.  This art installation was explicitly constructed to be in tune with cosmic alignments. Local experts believe that this indicator is more accurate than more primitive and uncultured observations of groundhogs.

Today, Rosslyn's Dark Star poles produced an auspicious sign: no shadows.  That indicates an early end to sweltering summer heat.  Celebrate this good fortune by taking a cool evening stroll around Rosslyn.