Thursday, March 28, 2013

honoring Rosslyn's Mongolian heritage

Rosslyn is one of the world's leading centers of Mongolian culture.  The finest Mongolian school outside of Mongolia is located right here in Rosslyn.  Rosslyn's Artisphere hosted the internationally acclaimed Haamtda: Together exhibit of extraordinary Mongolian cultural treasures.   And a Mongolian won the prestigious Rosslyn Neighborhood Hero of the Week Award.

To maintain the Ode Street Tribune's edge in the Rosslyn local news business and to ensure that it doesn't miss any important Mongolian Rosslyn news, Tribune management required all the members of the Tribune's staff to read The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck: His Journey ot the court of the Great Khan Mongke, 1253-1255.  This is one of the few surviving first-hand accounts of the massive thirteenth-century Mongolian Empire, before it reached Rosslyn.  The account provides fascinating descriptions of Mongolian life.  The Tribune's journalist took particular note of this insightful Mongolian practice:
They never wash clothes, for they claim that this makes God angry and that if laundry were hung out to dry it would thunder: in fact, they thrash anyone doing laundry and confiscate it. [*]
Honor Rosslyn's Mongolian culture by not doing your laundry!

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[*] The Tribune's objectivity and credibility is impeccable.  Thus you will not be surprised to know that the above quote accurately reflects its thirteenth-century source.   However, readers not familiar with the Tribune may want to verify this quote.  See Peter Jackson and David Morgan, trans and ed., The mission of Friar William of Rubruck: his journey to the court of the Great Khan Möngke, 1253-1255 (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub. Co., 2009) p. 90.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

watch out for new spur on VRW Expressway

A new concrete spur has been added to the Virginia-Rosslyn-Washington Expressway.  But the spur ends with a curb, not a ramp.  If you're walking without paying attention, you could trip. On a bike, you would feel a big bump.  Take the next right spur just a few yards more along the trail for a much smoother experience.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Ode Street Tribune reaches out to its readers

A reader from the southwest area of greater Rosslyn recently lamented that the Ode Street Tribune doesn't cover the "Duke Blue Devils."  The Tribune is here to serve its Rosslyn readers.  If Rosslyn readers want to read about the "Duke Blue Devils," the Tribune will order its journalist to find out about them.  But do Rosslyn readers really want to read about the "Duke Blue Devils"?

Please respond to the survey below to help the Tribune plan its news coverage.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Rosslyn Highlands Park field needs re-turfing

Now that construction of the Ft. Myer Heights Park children's playground is underway, other Rosslyn parks deserve some thought.  Rosslyn Vista Park is a national treasure that already attracted sunbathers earlier this year.  Rosslyn's Hillside Park is painful to contemplate.  What about Rosslyn Highlands Park?  This park, nestled between Rosslyn's legendary Fire Station 10 and Rosslyn's great Mongolian School, used to host friendly pick-up soccer games.  Trailers were set up on the field to provide temporary classroom space.  The trailers have now been removed.  But the grass is destroyed.  The field no longer attracts soccer players.  A low-cost renovation of this field could help make it once again a neighborhood place for gathering and play.

Update: Arlington Public Schools is responsible for the field. Other Arlington Public School fields have higher priority for renovation. If you have problems with the field, contact James Meikle at Arlington Public Schools, (703) 228-6617.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

help for drivers who pass Rosslyn

Drivers coming to Rosslyn from the east and from the south on Rt. 50 currently face the risk of missing the quick right-side ramp to Meade St.  Coming to Rosslyn from the south on GW Parkway is particularly tricky.  You have to navigate the road maze near Memorial Bridge and then quickly cut across two lines of Rt. 50 to arrive happily in Rosslyn.  
Fortunately a new digital traffic sign has been installed on Rt. 50 right above the Westmoreland Pedestrian Overpass.  This sign can be used notify drivers that they need to exit to the right immediately to get back to Rosslyn.  Possible messages to flash on the sign:
  • RIGHT NOW DONT MISS ROSSLYN
  • U TURN IMMEDIATELY
  • EXIT RIGHTLY OR REGRET GREATLY
Let's hope this sign goes into operation before too many people miss the International Design Festival now on exhibit at Artisphere.

Efforts are being made to help persons come to Rosslyn from the north and from the west.  Signage to facilitate access to Rosslyn from the east and from the south complements those efforts.  Rosslyn welcomes visitors from all the nations of the world.

rally to save four-way stop

After the Rt. 50 construction is completed, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is planning to remove the four-way stop that has been installed at intersection of the local Arlington Blvd and Queen St., at the bridge over Rt. 50.  Local residents have been advocating for years to make that intersection a four-way stop so as to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety.  The four-way stop appears to be functioning well.   Join neighborhood residents in calling on VDOT to leave the four-way stop in place after the Rt. 50 construction!

The explosive information that the four-way stop is planned as temporary came up at tonight's Radnor Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association meeting.  Other items from the meeting:
  • the County Board has approved the Pierce-Queen Apartment redevelopment project
  • the use permit for the forthcoming year-round homeless shelter near the courthouse building has been approved
  • residents expressed concern to Wayne Wentz, Arlington County Bureau Chief for Transportation Engineering and Operating, about lack of parking in Rosslyn
  • the Rt. 50 construction with include an artistic bridge facade with LEDs providing color for the shaped concrete
  • picking up and dropping off passengers at the Rosslyn metro can only be done at the back entrance to the metro.  Hence the passenger has to either walk down the stairs or around the building.  That's difficult for mobility-impaired persons.
  • Here's information about the Silver Line, which will start running into Rosslyn this December.  WMATA has plans to further expand Rosslyn metro facilities as part of its long-term Momementum Plan

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Rosslyn Safeway gets new manager

Rosslyn's famous Safeway got a new manager last week.  The new manager's name is Tony.  Safeway's vegetable section is looking great today.


Get yourself some vegetables.  Here's an idea for dinner with broccoli and asparagus

In related news, an Ode Street Tribune reader commented about two months ago that Safeway's cranberries were three months old.  Ode Street Tribune readers are widely regarded as very well informed.  However, a Tribune investigative team has ascertained that Safeway regularly receives shipments of cranberries.  Safeway continues to distinguishing itself by selling fresh cranberries.  Fresh cranberries make a fine breakfast with raw oats and mixed nuts.

Update: The above report was based on a source deemed to be reliable.  Direct testing has revealed that the cranberries aren't very fresh.  If Safeway is getting shipments of cranberries, it's getting a lot of bad berries.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

no need to rust in the Lord

Two "rust in the Lord" signs are currently featured in a window of one of Rosslyn's venerable retail establishments.   These seems to be signs of potential benefit from ideas at the International Design Festival now on exhibit at Artisphere.  But if you are rusting in the Lord, Rosslyn's Arlington Temple is only a short walk away.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

realizing Rosslyn

Arlington County Board Member Mary Hynes introduced tonight's Rosslyn Sector Plan Update (Realize Rosslyn) public workshop with the observation that Rosslyn is one of the most important urban centers in Arlington.  Billions of dollars of private investment are going into rebuilding Rosslyn.  The Rosslyn Sector Plan Update will help guide that investment to make Rosslyn an even more distinctive urban place. 

The workshop began with draft vision principles:
  1. unparalleled transportation connections and choices
  2. competitive in evolving regional, national, and global economies
  3. walkable
  4. an urban district that celebrates its connections to nature
  5. placemaking inspired by a unique diversity of people and activity
The workshop focused on big-picture developments for Rosslyn.  These include removing the Ft. Myer Dr./Wilson Blvd. underpass, making Ft. Myer Dr. and Lynn St. two-way streets, developing dining and retail opportunities, creating green streets, and improving pedestrian path connectivity and walkability.  Downtown Rosslyn's building mix is currently 41% housing and 46% office, with the rest hotel rooms, retail, and other.  Over the next two decades, the building mix may shift further away from housing.  Careful planning is needed to ensure that Rosslyn is an active, attractive place 24/7.

You have additional opportunities to participate in Realize Rosslyn discussions on Thursday.  Planning staff will be available for personal discusssions at the Rosslyn BID office from 11 am to 4 pm.  A second public workshop will be at Artisphere from 6:30pm to 9pm.  See the Rosslyn-Courthouse-Clarendon Patch for additional details.

Monday, March 11, 2013

social and environmental interconnection at Artisphere

Have you ever gazed at the fluorescent light above you head and thought of the sun?  What about your boss's call for blue-sky thinking  -- can you see that on your office wall?  Artisphere's uniquely shaped space now offers you a new perspective and new inspiration with local artist Billy Friebele's Floating World

You can be part of the art world at Artisphere. Your movement through Artisphere triggers a fan that blows the balloons about the sky.  The balloons are connected to a writing instrument that inscribes those winds onto a record of this world's movement.   The result is an artwork that moves beyond Jackson Pollock's ego-centric abstract creations to artwork of social and environmental interconnectedness.  This work represents the socially conscious, environmentally aware heart of Rosslyn and other leading new urban centers.  Go to Artisphere, and contribute your movement.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

vintage finds at Rosslyn's Miracles


Miracles, a Rosslyn hair salon that's been serving patrons from around the greater metropolitan area for the past eighteen years, now offers vintage jewelry, accessories, furnishings, and art.  Next time you're strolling along Wilson Blvd, do some window browsing at Miracles (near the corner of Wilson & N. Oak St.). 

There's much, much more unique stuff within the salon.  So when you get that special new-you hairstyle, you can also contemplate a special vintage find to go with it.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

dark road needs lights

On a stretch of Rosslyn's local Arlington Blvd., lights set within a long concrete wall aren't working.  That makes this section of road and sidewalk dark at night.

Don't be afraid of the dark.  Go and unplug that smiley-faced night light in your bedroom.  Nothing bad will happen.  You'll help reduce carbon emissions.

Persons walking along this sidewalk probably would feel safer with working lights.  Moreover, the Tribune has received reports that cyclists riding along this sidewalk late at night have difficulty seeing pedestrians.  Cyclists must give pedestrians the right of way and should not "brush back" pedestrians on the sidewalk.  Fixing the lights on this dark section of sidewalk would help cyclists adhere to their traffic responsibilities.


The long concrete wall could also use an artistic upgrade.  The new concrete walls associated with the Rt. 50 Rosslyn Access Improvements convey blossoming palm trees and greenery.  The local Rosslyn Arlington Blvd. wall might be painted with a life-like vista of gardens and trees, and a sinuous, slowly flowing river.  In the center should be a shining gold skyscraper of pleasure with a dome like Artisphere.  Engraved in the stone in large, block-measured letters should be ROSSLYN.  Along the top, write a tribute in Mongolian calligraphy:
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Warren Buffet supports the Ode Street Tribune

Warren Buffet, the financial wizard of Omaha, has strongly endorsed newspapers such as the Ode Street Tribune.  Buffet wrote in his recent letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway:
If you want to know what’s going on in your town – whether the news is about the mayor or taxes or high school football – there is no substitute for a local newspaper that is doing its job. A reader’s eyes may glaze over after they take in a couple of paragraphs about Canadian tariffs or political developments in Pakistan; a story about the reader himself or his neighbors will be read to the end. Wherever there is a pervasive sense of community, a paper that serves the special informational needs of that community will remain indispensable to a significant portion of its residents.
Buffet has identified what makes the Ode Street Tribune so financially successful relative to most other major newspapers.  But have no fear.  The Tribune will not allow a large financial conglomerate, a multinational corporation, a business chain based in a faraway city, or any sort of profitable business whatsoever to acquire the Tribune.  The Tribune will continue to do its job for its readers as a fiercely independent, financially stable, well-managed business headquartered right here in Rosslyn.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

improved access to Rosslyn coming soon

The construction of improved access to Rosslyn from the West looks like it will be completed within a few months.  Traffic heading toward Rosslyn on 10th St. will be able to turn onto an access road between the existing lanes of Rt. 50 and then merge smoothly onto Rt. 50.  Once on Rt. 50, drivers should take the Meade St. exit into Rosslyn.

Once you've arrived in Rosslyn, there's no reason to leave.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Tribune starts park glass collection

Responding to sharp criticism of its journalistic practice, the Ode Street Tribune has smashed its previous objective-journalism position and moved forward to initiate a glass collection and analysis in Rosslyn's Ft. Myer Heights Park.  The Tribune's journalist collected many pieces of glass widely dispersed in the park grass.  Careful analysis of the collected glass has yielded several newsworthy points:
  1. The different colors and shapes of the glass indicate that it came from at least three different glass objects.  
  2. Some pieces of glass are rather thick, and some have design elements molded into the glass.  Hence at least some of the glass is not from low-cost beer bottles.
  3. The glass appears to be old.  That's consistent with the discovery of other historic artifacts in the park.
Underscoring its commitment to democratic journalism and open science, the Tribune has made its glass collection accessible to everyone.  The collection is in a plastic bag hidden under the wooden steps.  Anyone can add more glass to the collection and study the glass that has been collected.  Of course, broken glass is sharp, so be careful when handling it.  Gloves are highly recommended.

Arlington County attaches high importance to park safety.  Any residents concerned about park maintenance can email dpr@arlingtonva.us or call 703-228-6525.  Park Rangers can be reached at 703-252-0168.  The Ode Street Tribune has informed the Parks Department of this glass investigation and hopes that the Parks Department will participate.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

brushless car wash in Rosslyn


The Exxon at 1824 Wilson Blvd. in Rosslyn offers a brushless car wash for $10.  On Presidents' Day afternoon, about two weeks ago, seven very dirty cars were lined up waiting to get into this car wash.  Since then, heavy rain has cleaned streets and cars. 

Rain solves problems.  Never rush to do any sort of cleaning.