Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Rosslyn's natural beauty

Beneath Rosslyn's stylish urban dress are features of natural beauty. Rosslyn has a wild side.Take the time to explore it.

Monday, September 29, 2014

conflict erupts over Westmoreland ivy bed

Tonight's board meeting for the historically important Westmoreland Terrace Condominiums points toward terror. Among an usually large attendance of residents, five in total, three complained bitterly about the state of the ivy bed next to the 1301 Westmoreland building.  Disappointment and anger with Westmoreland's landscaping company, Lancaster Lanscapes, is universal.  Popular sentiment seems to be headed toward boots-on-the-ground action.  One resident declared, "Lancaster is worse than ISIS!" Some residents have proposed forming a voluntary army to take care of the problem. 

The Westmoreland Board urged caution and consideration of legality. The Board declared that it is considering switching next year's landscaping contract to Greenscape. The Board also decided to defer voting on an additional contract with Lancaster to remediate the ivy bed. Whether this Board action will be sufficient to address the tense situation remains unclear.

Other items from tonight board meeting:
  • The board approved an audit of condo finances.
  • The board decided to call for bids for milling and repaving the parking lots next summer.
  • There's some concern about Zalco's poor performance in timely payment for contractors.  The Board is making inquiries about the issue.
  • Noise from heat pumps on the roof of 1301 is a concern.  Culbertson's roof contract will not be completed until additional noise associated with racks for the heat pumps has been resolved.
  • Excessive, late-night noise from a fraternity house next to the Gables complex is disturbing residents. As a diverse neighborhood of fun-loving kids and grumpy old folks, we have to show some consideration for each other. 
Attending this month's condo board meeting were five residents and condo board members José Calvo, Jennifer Feinleib, Joe Ruland, and Gretchen Sprehe.  No Zalco representative attended.  The next regularly scheduled condo board meeting will be on Monday, October 27.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

robots in Rosslyn

Recognizing Rosslyn increasing leadership at the bleeding edge of media and technology, TandemNSI sponsored a technology entrepreneur forum at Artisphere tonight. The forum included a panel of expert speakers and some amazing technology.  You could control the above robot with a heads-up display. A guy there was wearing an arm like the one that the robot has.  He could control his mechanical arm with his brain.  This sort of technology could be of great help to persons who get injured serving in the military or as journalists.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

head prosecutor began career as news reporter

At this evening's RAFOM meeting, the head prosecutor for Arlington County noted that she began her career as a news reporter.  While attending law school at night, she was hired in the local prosecutor's office in 1987.  Theo Stamos is now the head prosecutor in Arlington.  That's evidence for the importance of news reporting in providing the foundation for seeking justice in our community.

Both Stamos and police chief Doug Scott spoke at the meeting.  Stamos' office has a total budget of $4 million/year, while Scott has a budget of $65 million/year.  Scott noted that Arlington has 361 police officers, with a ratio of 1.67 officers per 1000 residents.  That's considerable lower than comparative jurisdictions, which have an officer ratio of about 2.5 officers per 1000 residents.  Fortunately, crime in Arlington is at historic lows.  Assistance that residents provide police helps to keep crime low.  If you see suspicious circumstances, don't hesitate to call the police and let them know.  

Key public safety challenge today include:
  1. Mental illness and addiction.  Arlington lacks sufficient facilities to care for the mentally ill and those suffering from addictions.  Transporting such persons long distances drains police and sheriff resources.
  2. Bicycling and walking.  Having more persons bicycling and walking is a great development.  More attention to public safety is needed, however, among both cyclists and pedestrians.  No one benefits from an accident.  Do your part to reduce the risks of accidents.
  3. Ensuring public trust and confidence in the criminal justice system.  Stamos and Scott will participate in a community forum on trust and confidence in the criminal justice system on Oct. 15 from 7-9pm at Wakefield High School.
  4. Homeland Security.  Arlington police take very seriously Homeland Security concerns and potential emergency situations.
Other items from this evening's RAFOM meeting:
The next RAFOM meeting will be a candidates' night on Oct. 20.

Monday, September 22, 2014

RAFOM meeting Tuesday with police chief and prosecutor

The Radnor Ft. Myer Heights Civic Association (RAFOM) is having a meeting this Tuesday night, Sept. 23 at 7pm.  The featured speakers are Doug Scott, Arlington Police Chief, and Theo Stamos, Commonwealth Attorney (head Arlington prosecutor).  The meeting will occur at The Belvedere Condominium Party Room, 1600 N Oak Street, in the heart of Rosslyn.  Rosslyn is a very safe community. Come find out how Rosslyn is kept safe.

Friday, September 19, 2014

"make us bicyclists look good" in Rosslyn

Rosslyn is the mother hub of a vast network of multi-user trails across the whole Greater Rosslyn Metropolitan Area. At the high-traffic intersections connecting the Custis Trail to the Mount Vernon Trail next to Rosslyn's Gateway park, inspiration for bicyclists has recently appeared stenciled on the sidewalk: "make us bicyclists look good." 

As a cyclist, here are ways you can make yourself look good by upholding Rosslyn ideals of community-spiritedness, caring, happiness, and long life:
  1. Always ride your bike in a predictable, alert, and lawful manner.
  2. Stop at road crossing with a stop sign or a stop signal.  Even if you have a green walk light, checking for traffic before rolling through the intersection is a good idea.  Some cars occasionally run red lights. Some take right turns without regard to traffic entering a crosswalk.  You can help prevent idiot drivers from killing you.
  3. Recognize that pedestrians always have the right of way.  Slow down, signal your approach, and ride cautiously around pedestrians.  Some pedestrians may be hard of hearing.  Some pedestrians may get confused between left and right. Some pedestrians may all of the sudden turn across the path. Cyclists need to be ready for such possibilities.
  4. Look happy riding your bike. You don't have to have a face of agony like runners.  You have wheels. You can roll!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

high-tech construction on Ft. Myer Dr.

Trench-digging probably associated with laying a fiber-optic communications cable is creating a minor traffic hazard on the left side of N. Ft. Myer Dr. just past Rosslyn's famous green sky-road park.  Rosslyn is rapidly changing as it moves to the forefront of cutting-edge media and technology

Nonetheless, the publisher of the Ode Street Tribune insists that the Tribune will always be a traditional ink-and-newsprint newspaper.  Some things never change.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

don't miss augmented reality and Intergalactic Nemesis at Artisphere

This Friday from 7-9pm at Artisphere is the opening night for Think With Your Hands, a pioneering augmented reality presentation of illustrations by renowned Spanish graphic designers Pep Carrió and Isidro Ferrer. Anyone interested in art and technology should attend this exhibition.  Rosslyn has an illustrious history of traditional journalism.  But don't be mistaken, Rosslyn also has action at the cutting edge of media technology.

Complementing Think With Your Hands are performances of Intergalactic Nemesis: Robot Planet Rising at Artisphere this Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Intergalactice Nemesis is a live-action graphic novel:
Three actors voice the dozens of characters, a Foley artist creates all the sound effects, and a pianist plays a cinematic score, while more than 1,250 individual full-color hi-res comic book panels tell a hilarious sci-fi adventure story visually from an enormous movie screen. And it’s all done live in front of your eyes.
Intergalactice Nemesis is for all ages and for "the kid in everyone." As a wizened journalist once counseled a cub reporter, "You're only young once, but you can act immature your whole life."

Monday, September 15, 2014

start collecting now for recycling event on Oct. 11

Join with Rosslyn's famous mushrooms and other greenery to help make a more green environment. Arlington's biannual Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) will occur on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, 125 S. Old Glebe Rd.  At this E-CARE event, you can safely dispose of household hazardous materials (HHM), small metal items, shoes, clothing, bed frames and other recyclable items.  Bring an ID to the event to verify Arlington residency.  If you have an old bike, check first to see if Phoenix Bikes is interested in it.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

native groundcover flourishing in Rosslyn's Hillside Park

Heroic residents have reclaimed Rosslyn's Hillside Park after it was tragically occupied by invasive English Ivy.  New native groundcover, which the Ode Street Tribune's Plants & Mushrooms Bureau has tentatively identified as Chrysogonum virginianum, appears now to be flourishing in Hillside Park.

Update:  Apparently the plant isn't Chrysogonum virginianum. Here's a close-up of the leaves:
 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

twin mushrooms exemplify Rosslyn's togetherness

Twin mushrooms have popped up near the corner of 12th St. and Oak St. in Rosslyn. By helping to sequester atmospheric carbon, mushrooms play in important role in Rosslyn's leading efforts to reduce global warming. These darling twin mushrooms, growing up close together, also exemplify Rosslyn's old-fashioned sense of family and community.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Rosslyn Jazz Festival draws huge crowd

Rosslyn's legendary jazz festival drew a huge crowd to the green urban oasis of Gateway Park in Rosslyn this past Saturday.  A fierce thunderstorm held off until 7:30pm out of respect for the importance of the event.  The top-of-the-bill group Rebirth Brass Band, which came to Rosslyn from New Orleans, put on an energetic performance on a hot, hot day. The title cut from the group's new album, Move Your Body, brought tears to the eyes of the Ode Street Tribune's journalist as he recalled not moving his body fast enough as the Tribune's Managing Editor came after him. But the matter has been painfully settled.  As long as the journalist remains employed at the Tribune, he will work on Mondays.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Artemis Herber's hope amid bleakness and instability

Don't miss seeing Artemis Herber's evocative pieces in Artisphere's Works in Progress Gallery through Oct. 5.  Herber's works are three-dimensional, continually transforming structures built with acrylic paint on corrugated cardboard.  The above piece evokes the elevated loop road and skywalks once central to Rosslyn's urban plan. At one point in making the work, Herber left it out in the rain for a day to get a more organic response from the cardboard.  The ladder structure that appears within the swirling sightlines suggests the transformative ascending and descending of the Rosslyn built environment.  But there's no question that the ultimate destiny is the promised land of a revitalized Rosslyn.

Another of Herber's work highlights Rosslyn's tectonic change. The cardboard folds and pushes upward in response to cosmic forces.  In some places the surface of the cardboard has been removed to reveal individual corrugations.  Yet the overall sense is of world remaking. That's what's going on right here in Rosslyn.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

enjoy Rosslyn's multi-user paths

Walking, running, and cycling are great ways to relax, enjoy the outdoors, and see many spectacular views of Rosslyn.  Pedestrians always have to the right-of-way on sidewalks and multi-user paths.  Cyclists should always use great caution around pedestrians.  At the same time, when you are out walking, lessening your risk of heart attacks, stress, and many other illnesses, some awareness of potential hazards from cyclists can lessen the small risks of a serious accident.

Walking as far to the right on the path as is feasible ensures that any traffic passing you will be passing you on your left.  Cyclists passing you should always give an audible signal. If you hear such a signal behind you, and you see a bike on the path ahead coming toward you, that's a good time to just step to the right off the path. That will help to ensure that both cyclists see each other and don't have a head-on collision.  You don't have to do that.  Don't do it if you have balance problems and doing so would cause you a risk of a fall.  But if you can do it, it's a nice thing to do.

Cyclists have to be very wary of obstructed vision.  Particularly when looking up paths or across roads, the mind tends to interpolate empty space for obstructed portions of view.  So don't trust an obstructed view that appears clear.  Always look for an unobstructed view showing a clear path.

One of the multi-user paths that deserves the most caution is the path along 110 connecting downtown Rosslyn to Rosslyn's Arlington National Cemetery.  Hills and curves at both ends of the path create risks.  In addition, the path has a kink around a tree in the middle.  As always, pedestrians have the right of way. But if you're walking, a great choice is to enjoy a scenic walk through Rosslyn's Arlington National Cemetery rather than walking on the path along 110.  Cyclists and runners are not allowed along the cemetery path.  The cemetery path is quite, peaceful, and beautiful. It's only a few hundred yards longer than the 110 path.  If you're walking, the cemetery path is a great choice.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Tribune management addresses medieval holidays

After returning from their August vacation, the Ode Street Tribune's publisher, managing editor, deputy managing editors, assistant managing editors, department managers, and other managerial functionaries held an emergency meeting to consider reports about the Tribune's failure to publish on the previous three Mondays. The source of the problem was tracked to the Tribune's journalist. He claimed that those Mondays were holy days that no one knew. 

"Holy day or holiday, I don't care," harrumphed the Tribune's publisher. "We've got to move the Tribune out of the Middle Ages and into twentieth-century journalistic best practice."  "Here, here," exclaimed all the editors in unison. "Hear me! Twentieth-century journalistic best practice!" "Here, here," repeated again all the editors. Then a front-page sub-department deputy assistant editor softly lamented, "We can't fire the journalist, because we haven't received any top-rate respondents to our job posting for a journalist."  A silent tension fell over the crowd. 

"Without Rosslyn local journalism, democracy is finished," declared the Tribune publisher. He paused, and then said decisively, "Threaten to break his shoulder if he doesn't work on Mondays."  "Will do immediately," responded the managing editor. The meeting then quickly dispersed. 

The Ode Street Tribune management team is confident that the Tribune's new labor relations strategy will ensure that the Tribune is published on Mondays in the future.