Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Bike Arlington shines at Diamond Derby
The Diamond Derby created an incredible underground bike racing scene today in Crystal City. The race course looped and turned through the underground parking lot at 2345 Crystal Dr. The course's many turns, as well as the smooth concrete surface of many turns, kept the bike racing to civilized speeds.
The Bike Arlington team put in an outstanding performance. Chris Eatough, BikeArlington coordinator and six-time 24-hour solo mountain biking World Cup champion, performed impressively in the bike tire toss and blackjack checkpoints to win the open racing competition. In the team competition, BikeArlington's anchor was a mother who tore around the race course with a baby in a bike seat. The baby seemed to enjoy the noise and the bumps, and never gave out a cry. Even if you don't want to ride a bike for your own enjoyment, think of the children.
Numerous spectators raucously cheered the racers. Finishing places in the Diamond Derby are of great public significance. Unfortunately, final results from all the races are not yet available at the Ode Street Tribune's tight press deadline. Look for Diamond Derby results in other quality news sources.
The Bike Arlington team put in an outstanding performance. Chris Eatough, BikeArlington coordinator and six-time 24-hour solo mountain biking World Cup champion, performed impressively in the bike tire toss and blackjack checkpoints to win the open racing competition. In the team competition, BikeArlington's anchor was a mother who tore around the race course with a baby in a bike seat. The baby seemed to enjoy the noise and the bumps, and never gave out a cry. Even if you don't want to ride a bike for your own enjoyment, think of the children.
Numerous spectators raucously cheered the racers. Finishing places in the Diamond Derby are of great public significance. Unfortunately, final results from all the races are not yet available at the Ode Street Tribune's tight press deadline. Look for Diamond Derby results in other quality news sources.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
keep an eye on a hole
A hole has opened near the Virginia-Rosslyn multi-user expressway where it crosses Marshall Dr. across from Rosslyn's Arlington National Cemetery. The longest distance across the hole is only about five inches, but the cracking on the asphalt indicates that the hole could get bigger. The hole is on the new asphalt recently put down to cover the trench dug for the power line installation along Marshall Dr. Local cyclists rate the over-all quality of that asphalt work as uneven.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
plant a tree for free
On October 13, Arlington County tree stewards will be distributing trees for free from the county nursery for any residents who request (in advance) a tree. Types of trees available are:
- American beech
- American holly
- Red oak
- American basswood
- Hophornbeam
- Hornbeam
- Sassafras
- Spice bush
- Persimmon
Monday, September 24, 2012
Rosslyn offers rest for Capital Challenge Walk MS
This past weekend, walkers on the Capital Challenge Walk MS walked through Rosslyn and other scenic areas in the greater Rosslyn metropolitan area before finishing the 50 kilometer walk at the U.S. Capitol. Jacki's Determined Soles, a team of walkers in this challenge, set up a rest stop for the walkers in Rosslyn's Ft. Myer Heights Park. The space that their tent occupied should have already been dug up for the construction of a new children's playground. Fortunately, the installation of the playground has again been delayed, so the park served as a pastoral place of rest for the determined walkers.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Rosslyn celebrates Park(ing) Day
Rosslyn joined in with major cities around the world to celebrate Park(ing) Day 2012 this past Friday. Park(ing) Day turns an inhuman-powered vehicle parking spot into a temporary public park. In Rosslyn, Park(ing) Day meant a new park near the corner of Wilson Blvd. and N. Lynn St.
Rosslyn's new temporary park included a basket for collecting clothes to help the homeless through the Arlington Street People's Assistance Network (A-SPAN). On Oct. 31, 2012, a Rosslyn Walk for the Homeless will offer information about ending homelessness in Arlington and raise funds for A-SPAN. Walking is better than parking. Register now.
Rosslyn's new temporary park included a basket for collecting clothes to help the homeless through the Arlington Street People's Assistance Network (A-SPAN). On Oct. 31, 2012, a Rosslyn Walk for the Homeless will offer information about ending homelessness in Arlington and raise funds for A-SPAN. Walking is better than parking. Register now.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Santa Fe Cafe closing causes howls of despair
Santa Fe Café, a small, locally owned restaurant that has featured locally grown foods, has lost its lease and is closing at the end of October. The building in which it's located will undergo major renovation. Owner-operator Kip Laramie, who's 60 years young, isn't positioned to put out the large amount of money necessary to set up Santa Fe Café in a new space.
Losing Santa Fe Café is a major loss to Rosslyn. Santa Fe Café has been serving food in Rosslyn for 24 years and is Rosslyn's longest-running restaurant. Owner-operator Kip Laramie patronized local farmer markets to secure ingredients for his locavore specials. He also has been extremely generous in supporting Rosslyn civic life. For example, Laramie donated chili and hot cocoa to warm up Rosslyn's Light Up event, and also found time to serve the food personally. This past July Santa Fe Café donated 50% of a special night's dinner sales, which amounted to over $1,000, to Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Santa Fe Café has regularly donated food for the Radnor-Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association's holiday party for low-income Rosslyn families. In addition, Laramie has been serving as co-chair of the Partnership for a Healthier Arlington and as chair of the Homeless Services Committee of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.
Many persons testify to Santa Fe Café's excellent food. One commenter at Arlnow described Santa Fe Café as "my favorite place for salsa in the area." Another commenter described Santa Fe Café as having "the best margaritas in the DC area." The Ode Street Tribune considers Santa Fe Café's lightly steamed Swiss Chard to be the best Swiss Chard dish east of the Mississippi.
The fate of Santa Fe Café's business assets isn't clear. Will the secret recipe for its special salsa be sold? Who will acquire the knowledge behind its local specials and Hatch chile features? Santa Fe Café did well in a tough Rosslyn restaurant market. Another restaurant would be smart to seek to imitate Santa Fe Café's success.
Laramie characteristically is concerned about his employees. The average tenure of across his current employees is 14 years, and 3 out of 5 of the employees from its beginning are still with the restaurant. Many businesses, especially news organizations, don't treat their employees with sufficient respect and appreciation. (^And it should be added, not all employees are as hard-working, honest, and loyal as Santa Fe Café's employees -ed.) Laramie is keen to find good, new jobs for his employees.
Losing Santa Fe Café is a major loss to Rosslyn. Santa Fe Café has been serving food in Rosslyn for 24 years and is Rosslyn's longest-running restaurant. Owner-operator Kip Laramie patronized local farmer markets to secure ingredients for his locavore specials. He also has been extremely generous in supporting Rosslyn civic life. For example, Laramie donated chili and hot cocoa to warm up Rosslyn's Light Up event, and also found time to serve the food personally. This past July Santa Fe Café donated 50% of a special night's dinner sales, which amounted to over $1,000, to Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Santa Fe Café has regularly donated food for the Radnor-Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association's holiday party for low-income Rosslyn families. In addition, Laramie has been serving as co-chair of the Partnership for a Healthier Arlington and as chair of the Homeless Services Committee of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.
Many persons testify to Santa Fe Café's excellent food. One commenter at Arlnow described Santa Fe Café as "my favorite place for salsa in the area." Another commenter described Santa Fe Café as having "the best margaritas in the DC area." The Ode Street Tribune considers Santa Fe Café's lightly steamed Swiss Chard to be the best Swiss Chard dish east of the Mississippi.
The fate of Santa Fe Café's business assets isn't clear. Will the secret recipe for its special salsa be sold? Who will acquire the knowledge behind its local specials and Hatch chile features? Santa Fe Café did well in a tough Rosslyn restaurant market. Another restaurant would be smart to seek to imitate Santa Fe Café's success.
Laramie characteristically is concerned about his employees. The average tenure of across his current employees is 14 years, and 3 out of 5 of the employees from its beginning are still with the restaurant. Many businesses, especially news organizations, don't treat their employees with sufficient respect and appreciation. (^And it should be added, not all employees are as hard-working, honest, and loyal as Santa Fe Café's employees -ed.) Laramie is keen to find good, new jobs for his employees.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
not all airplanes have GPS
The Radnor-Ft. Myer Heights (RAFOM) civic association meeting tonight addressed airplane noise. The featured speakers were Russ Adams, Support Specialist, FAA, and Mike Jeck, Aiport Noise Office, MWAA. In contrast to last year's meeting on airplane noise, this meeting was relatively quiet.
Airport officials have been working on a GPS-based river departure procedure for 14 years. A major challenge is slow implementation of new navigation technology in airplanes. Some aircraft's flight management systems have refused to fly the GPS river route because it is too close to airplane performance tolerances. Moreover, while most smartphones today have GPS, many airplanes flying today don't have GPS. A workaround for pilots is to navigate using their iPhone. But that's not recommended.
Airport officials apparently put into operation a GPS river departure procedure earlier this year, but suspended it because of various problems. A revised procedure (called Laser-2) will be put into operation starting Oct. 2. However, only planes with appropriate GPS technology will be able to use it. The new procedure is not likely to reduce significantly Rosslyn airplane noise. As long as the number of flights out of the airport is capped, noise should go down long-term because of improvements in airplane technology.
Airport officials face complaints not just from Rosslyn, but also from Georgetown, Alexandria, and Prince George County residents. Routing planes over the river increases risks of noise complaints from Georgetown. In dealing with noise problems, airport officials grapple with difficult public relations situations as well as complex technical issues. One obvious implication: don't expect clear answers about noise problems.
Other items from the meeting:
Airport officials have been working on a GPS-based river departure procedure for 14 years. A major challenge is slow implementation of new navigation technology in airplanes. Some aircraft's flight management systems have refused to fly the GPS river route because it is too close to airplane performance tolerances. Moreover, while most smartphones today have GPS, many airplanes flying today don't have GPS. A workaround for pilots is to navigate using their iPhone. But that's not recommended.
Airport officials apparently put into operation a GPS river departure procedure earlier this year, but suspended it because of various problems. A revised procedure (called Laser-2) will be put into operation starting Oct. 2. However, only planes with appropriate GPS technology will be able to use it. The new procedure is not likely to reduce significantly Rosslyn airplane noise. As long as the number of flights out of the airport is capped, noise should go down long-term because of improvements in airplane technology.
Airport officials face complaints not just from Rosslyn, but also from Georgetown, Alexandria, and Prince George County residents. Routing planes over the river increases risks of noise complaints from Georgetown. In dealing with noise problems, airport officials grapple with difficult public relations situations as well as complex technical issues. One obvious implication: don't expect clear answers about noise problems.
Other items from the meeting:
- A committee has applied for a Hillside Park improvement grant. The grant is sought for removing invasive species from Hillside Park and planting new trees.
- Order forms are available for ordering trees from Arlington's free tree distribution.
- The Rt. 50 ramp to Queen St. is finally being repaved.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
bug dies in solar compactor
On the corner of N. Oak St. and Clarendon Boulevard, less than 100 yards from where the Internet was invented in Rosslyn, a bug recently died in a Big Belly solar trash compactor. If Rosslyn's weather always was cloudy and rainy, this bug would not have died.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Beyond the Parking Lot in Rosslyn
Beyond the Parking Lot, an exhibition currently at Artisphere, addresses ugly urban landscapes. The bare concrete floor of the Artisphere's Terrace Gallery has the cold, sterile feel of a parking lot. The exhibition is educational. It offers concrete suggestions on how to conserve resources, such as not having lights on when they're not needed. It also offers intimations of uncanny beauty, especially Gregory Euclide's landscape vignettes There's No Place Without Foam.
You should circle again and again from Beyond the Parking Lot in the Terrace Gallery to Pattee Hipschen's Rural Beauty, A Visual Diary of the American Landscape, in the Mezz Gallery. Is this too great of an artistic range for one place?
Absolutely not. Head out from Artisphere onto Rosslyn's green sky-road park. And make sure you come to Rosslyn for Park(ing) Day this Friday.
You should circle again and again from Beyond the Parking Lot in the Terrace Gallery to Pattee Hipschen's Rural Beauty, A Visual Diary of the American Landscape, in the Mezz Gallery. Is this too great of an artistic range for one place?
Absolutely not. Head out from Artisphere onto Rosslyn's green sky-road park. And make sure you come to Rosslyn for Park(ing) Day this Friday.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
light on too soon
Two streetlights on Rosslyn's Meade St. bridge were on at approximately 5:45pm today. Two other similar streetlights were not on. Why waste electricity by turning on streetlights when there's plenty of light outside?
Update: a sensor on top of the streetlight turns the light on and off. That allows the light's on time to track the changing sunset and sunrise. Apparently the sensor is malfunctioning. I've reported the problem to the Arlington County on Arlington's handy online streetlight problem form.
Update: a sensor on top of the streetlight turns the light on and off. That allows the light's on time to track the changing sunset and sunrise. Apparently the sensor is malfunctioning. I've reported the problem to the Arlington County on Arlington's handy online streetlight problem form.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
rooftop possibilities for Rosslyn agriculture
Local nonprofit Rooftop Roots is working with the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), Arlington County Extension, and Arlington Central Library to demonstrate sub-irrigated planters for growing vegetables. The demonstration garden will produce tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, and beans for AFAC.
The sub-irrigated planters are constructed from recycled food-grade containers that local restaurants have donated. Since water is draw from a reservoir at the bottom of the planters, that planters are self-regulating, use water efficiently, and make the plants impossible to over-water. Here's a detailed schematic and construction instructions for the planters.
Rooftop Roots offers great hope for effectively expanding the supply of farmland and fresh vegetables in Rosslyn. With Rooftop Roots, you can now turn your roof green and productive at relatively low cost.
The sub-irrigated planters are constructed from recycled food-grade containers that local restaurants have donated. Since water is draw from a reservoir at the bottom of the planters, that planters are self-regulating, use water efficiently, and make the plants impossible to over-water. Here's a detailed schematic and construction instructions for the planters.
Rooftop Roots offers great hope for effectively expanding the supply of farmland and fresh vegetables in Rosslyn. With Rooftop Roots, you can now turn your roof green and productive at relatively low cost.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
mud not a factor at Tacchino cyclocross race
Rosslyn rider Jay Wescott, riding for local bike club Squadra Coppi, made his cyclocross debut in the tough single-speed open category. The rolling terrain with many twists and turns required the cyclists to break and accelerate constantly. That's particularly leg-breaking on a single-speed bike. Wescott's impressive ride put him on one slippery turn right at the feet of U.S. National Cyclocross Champion Jeremy Powers, who was watching the single-speed race and later rode away to win the men's elite race. Rosslyn sport fans should keep an eye on Wescott and other Rosslyn riders throughout the rest of the cyclocross season.
Squadra Coppi organized the Tacchino race. The team put in a large amount of work in setting up the course, administering the race, and cleaning up afterwards. Members of local bike team CXHairs pitched in with much muscle and a very helpful pickup truck. When a competing team provides a huge helping hand, you know that you're in a good scene.
Race director James McNeely has made Tacchino into a widely lauded event. This year Tacchino attracted more than 600 racers. McNeely is taking a well-deserved retirement and turning the directorship over to Dave Pedersen, a keen cyclocross racer well-known and well-respected on the local cyclocross circuit. Look for more good camaraderie and clean fun at Tacchino next year.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
ferocious storm pummels park
Saturday's evening's storm took down a medium-sized tree limb in Rosslyn's Ft. Myer Heights Park. The falling limb caused minor damage to a picnic table. Most of the picnic table remains fully functional. As usual, Rosslyn's charm implies little cause for worry or fear.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Rosslyn birds swarm to remember and salute
This past Friday evening, Rosslyn birds swarmed to remember and salute the sacrifices of many as a result of the events of September 11, 2001. The birds flew to the roof of the building at 1655 N. Ft. Myer Dr., lined up, and stood at attention facing Rosslyn's Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Rosslyn has a distinguished place in aviation history. Rosslyn today is a leading location for airplane watching. Military personnel from generals to foot soldiers regularly travel the Meade St. parade route by the Iwo Jima memorial into downtown Rosslyn. When you're enjoying morning in beautiful Rosslyn, take some time to remember their sacrifices.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Artisphere fosters artistic concentration
Rosslyn is home to many hard-working artists and designers. Recently the Ode Street Tribune discovered graphic designer Feven Amenu hard at work in Artisphere's Wi-Fi Town Hall. Amenu will soon graduate from Rosslyn's Art Institute of Washington. She was working on a website to showcase her amazing portfolio of work.
Some critics who will remain unnamed because the Tribune prefers to celebrate vegetables than to engage in mudslinging with critics who don't understand and appreciate true local news have accused the Tribune of being at times unfocused. Irrespective of that issue, the Tribune confesses to be impressed with Amenu's artistic concentration.
As the video above documents, it's a crazy world out there. Feven Amenu doesn't let it distract her. Don't let it distract you.
Crystal City Diamond Derby on Sept. 29
Following up on the brilliant Diamond Derby this past March, Crystal City is holding another Diamond Derby on Saturday, September 29. The day will start with the Dandies & Quaintrelles leading a style ride from downtown DC into Crystal City. Down in the underground parking lot in Crystal City, there will be kids' races, open fun races, and highly competitive expert races. Mixed in with all that will be food, music, socializing ,and fashion shows: cycle citizen fashion, cycle chic fashion, and cycle classic fashion. Events like the Crystal City Diamond Derby play a crucial role in providing ideas for leading Rosslyn fashion designers. Whether you ride bikes or not, don't miss this event!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Rosslyn Jazz Festival this Saturday
The Rosslyn Jazz Festival will be sending out groovin' vibrations this Saturday, September 8, in Rosslyn's Gateway Park from 1pm to 7pm. The headliner is Joshua Redman, a saxophone player who has drawn inspiration from jazz legend and current Rosslyn resident James Coltrane. Also on the bill are Afro Blue, a vocal jazz ensemble from Howard University; the Don Byron New Gospel Quintet, whose music, like Rosslyn's Arlington Temple United Methodist Church, brings gospel to unexpected places; and René Marie, born in Warrington, Virginia, in the Rosslyn countryside. You don't want to miss this great afternoon of music.
The above video presents the Joshua Redman Quartet playing Headin' Home. Georgetown is just across Key Bridge from Rosslyn's Gateway Park, downtown DC is just across the Roosevelt Bridge, Crystal City and Alexandria are just down Route 110, and Centreville is just a short distance west of Rosslyn. Everyone should be heading to their spiritual home in Rosslyn for all this jazz.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
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