Grape StompingDear Neighbors: A source phoned in a few more details about the post-Roma enclave in Cleveland Park. Firehook Bakery will take over the Roma garden and maintain the grapevines. Goodness knows we’ll still be stomping grapes in the Fall. Also following the retail trends are Made By You, a do-it-yourself pottery painting place, and a cigar and martini shop (bar?) sponsored by the folks who own Atomic Billiards and have an interest in Coppi’s .The Bar is supposed to feature chess and backgammon. Ritz camera is coming as you read in the Post. And rounding out the Quinfecta is a Vietnamese Restaurant. I don’t know the name but it’s by the same owner of a successful restaurant in Arlington. The cigar and ceramics folks are Cleveland Park residents. ////\\\\\////\\\\////\\\\\/////\\\\ Also free! dc.movie: Free movie passes, short movie reviews, and movie discussion. Send an email message to story@intr.net to subscribe. Cheers, '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Tenleytown The discussion over what kind of establishment should fill the Maggies’ vacuum is my opportunity to pitch an idea I would throw good money after...if DC zoning will let me: What upper Northwest really needs, and would solve all the neighborhood problems — and act as a local crime deterrent, is a good, old fashioned, New Jersey style diner (akin to the place where the Seinfeld crowd hangs out). Let me explain. Where my family lives in northern New Jersey, there are approximately six diners, open 24 hours a day, within a five minute drive. These diners serve everything from lobster tails, to scrabbled eggs, french toast, sandwiches, steaks, french fries, and milk shakes at all hours. The whole menu, often, 5 or 6 pages long, is always available, and the food is always more than eatable. The wait staff is usually rude — but that’s part of the charm. Before you say: American City Diner on Connecticut Ave, let me clarify. First of all, the food there is lousy. The eggs are runny, the cheese on the burgers isn’t even melted, and the menu is way too limited. It’s also got way too much kitsch, it’s small, and it closes. The idea here is a place with little to no charm in (or money spent on) its decor — we don’t need wait staff on rollerskates, chrome plated stools, fancy neon, or cigar rooms. What we do need are booths, tables that move (so a party of four can add two or four more), and a counter you can sit at. It’s well lit, and open 24 hours. You can go in and get a coffee and run (95 cents), or sit at the counter and read the paper. You can hop in at 7:30 on the way home from work and get a Chef’s salad to go ($8.50 plus tax), or go in after an evening out and get french fries and gravy at 1:30 am ($2.50 plus tax). You can meet friends for a muffin at 2:00 in the afternoon or morning ($1.50), or stop in for chocolate cake at 10:30 PM after a movie down the block ($3.00). Entrees run from $7.00 for spaghetti and marinara, to $16 for pork chops (with potato and vegetable) Maybe it has a salad bar (included with entrees, or on it’s own, $6); perhaps it has a rotating dessert display case; it has good deli sandwiches ($4.00 to $7.00); a half dozen specialties of the day, usually things like mousaka or backed cod); and the local police stop in for coffee and sandwiches at all hours. Got it, now let’s find someone with some venture capital and open the "This Town’s Diner." **** Parking Fun Diane Rhodes commented on the difficulties of parking in Friendship Heights when there was a music venue for music in the neighborhood. As a relative newcomer to DC (8 months) I’m curious what others think about the resident parking system. In Boston, you get a free sticker for your neighborhood if you can prove residency (which requires Boston registration plus a bill or bank statement mailed to your Boston address). Most resident parking zones are residents-only, 24 hours a day, period. There are some that are restricted only during certain hours. There are very few where you can park 2 hours as a non-resident, all you want as a resident. Residents can petition the city to make streets in their neighborhoods resident zones. Most of the central core of the city is already resident only; typically, streets near subway stops in outlying area end up being zoned for residents during the daytime only, so they don’t turn into commuter parking lots. I think DC’s 2-hours for non-residents is a really sensible thing during the daytime, when a lot of car-owning residents have driven those cars to work and school. (My Boston neighborhood tended to have at least a third of spaces empty during the day.) But I think it’s kind of crazy that at night anyone can park anywhere — isn’t this exactly when resident most need the spots? **** Redemption A popular comic recently noted that it is only in D.C. that a convicted drug user could be elected as Mayor. He notes that much of the electorate believes in the concept of redemption, that everyone deserves a second chance. We even hear the cry that Barry should not support the death penalty, since he himself received a grant of leniency, in the name of redemption. The problem is that this is not just a case of a former drug addict, or of cop killers. The problem is that this leniency is endemic in D.C. and undercuts any chance for improving life here. After all, why should a teacher be fired just because his/her students don’t learn? Why should a training program be terminated, just because no one is trained? Why should an agency head be fired, just because her/she (illegally) overran his/her budget? The problem is that this leniency harms the people who grant it. Poor teaching hurts the students, and our common future. Mismanaged training programs fail to help people rise to better lives. And agency heads who blow their budgets just transfer the pain, because the price will be paid, one way or another. The list goes on. Until "redemption" is tempered with "taking responsibility" we are all condemned to a local Government that does not meet the needs of its citizens, particularly those who rely on it the most. **** Things That Go Hump In the Night Speed humps are one example of traffic calming devices. There are others. Narrowing streets, for example, tends to lower speeds; this can be done by building "neck-downs" that extend out from corners, "chicanes" that divert the direction of traffic slightly, or (small-scale) traffic circles in the middle of intersections. I’d have to confirm this, but it’s my understanding that stop signs are more effective at slowing traffic than are speed humps; a stop sign on 43rd street at the exit of the (as yet unbuilt) parking garage, for example, would be far more effective in preventing crashes than speed humps would be. **** Imagine The Alternative DC Universe For anyone out there experiencing nostalgia for the lost "open road"… Or those suffering withdrawal pains from the fractious "DC metro highway battles" of the 60s and 70s… Imagine the alternative DC universe: May 1, 1997—Congress closed the Metrobus system today, faced with a rising tide of red ink—ridership had dipped below 2,500 per day from over a quarter million only a few years ago. The Byzantine collection of regional bus services are left faced with fewer riders as well, and no common collection points—thanks to a proposed Metrorail system which was never built, and thus Metro stations that don’t exist. Meanwhile, in good highway news, the last taxpayers are moving efficiently out of the District—driving on the nearly-empty 10 lane freeways that cris-cross the once-proud city. However, Georgetown and Adams Morgan continue to thrive as 24-hour party zones—no locals, no rail access, but note how efficiently those suburbanites can get into and out of town. And quickly they must—as the Federal Bureau of Prisons prepares to take over the District. Though time saved escaping "Fort DC" is quickly invested on the long road trip home: "suburban" residents are as likely to live in Frederick or Fredericksburg, as in a near-in suburb like Leesburg. With the Beltway, Outer Beltway, Outer Outer Beltway, and various By-Passes of By-Passes—they can choose from any one of hundreds of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania "small towns" conveniently located on one of several exits, and now all pleasantly part of Greater Metropolitan Washington. ***** Redeem This I don’t know about you, but it looks like Barry’s about-face on the death penalty for the murder of a police officer is an announcement for re-election in ‘98, and Carol Schwartz’s "me, too" sounds as if she’s throwing her hat into the ring as well. Election season’s sure starting early this time around, isn’t it? And, I’ll bet that every cheesy politician in town will be running with a murdered cop on the ticket to corner the tough-on-crime vote. The exploitation of officer Gibson’s widow as the poster child for the pro-death camp doesn’t help matters any. I’d also venture a guess that Barry’s turnabout isn’t so much playing to Congress as pandering to them, in a manner not unlike a certain spineless, Mickey-D’s french-fry-eating, Lincoln-bedroom-for-rent, totally vision-free President (see the ‘94 Crime Bill, the ‘95 Anti-Terrorism Bill). For my slightly more entertaining take on the issue, see my cartoon on the Web at http://myhouse.com/mikesite/toonhome.html . You’ll also find here cartoons on a wide variety of national issues guaranteed to satisfy, inspire, amuse and anger. I’ve never seen anyone look at these cartoons and say "ehh, whatever" .As seen on the streets of downtown DC, Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle since the Persian Gulf Slaughter (I won’t dignify it with the term "war"), and highly recommended by Sam Smith’s "Free DC News Service." **** Transportation Kudos to Metro GM Richard White: If there is to be any new money for roads, there had better be _at least_ corresponding new money for Metro. "Investments" in roads have proven time and again to be a bad bargain—so long as access to those roads is essentially free, we will _never_ get a handle on what actual demand needs to be met. And I for one refuse to continue paying for road demand (including my own) that is premised on free access—an appetite that is sated only with tens and hundreds of millions of our tax dollars. Paying the "privilege" to breath a few thousand more vehicles’ exhaust, sit in more traffic jams, and spread ever outward this already overly suburbanized and exburbanized city. Squeezing Metro to fund the lost 20 years of highway "catch up" is not the answer. Getting Metro to concentrate on regional (or lateral) bus transit, considering more lateral-like rail extensions where the density justifies (Dulles corridor, Tysons, Bethesda-Silver Spring perhaps), and making our urban, suburban and even exburban medium and high-density cores more livable—these are where we should be playing catch up. (At least for now, skip the planes)... **** Do nothing D.C. government! Well the Clinton has offered to pick up some of the cities services. It is estimated that the district will come out ahead by several hundred million dollars a year. He has also offered to pay off a very large debt. But the city council has decided that being on the federal tit is a too secure and warm place. Eventually a compromise will be adopted. The question I have is, when will all of those hard working diligent D.C. employees that are providing these services be fired? My best guess is never. They do nothing now so who will we have left to doing nothing in the future. Who is going to work all those do nothing overtime hours. We must also think of all those highly paid managers that manger the people that do nothing. What will these people do in the future? I understand that their is a shortage of do nothing jobs in the private industry. We don’t want to have a do nothing shortage. Lets petition Clinton for another do nothing jobs program to solve this crisis. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.queries Water & Sewer Rate Increase I just received my water and sewer bill and was surprised to find the following note at the bottom of the bill: "Effective April 4, 1997, the water and sewer service rate increased from $2.868 to $4.073 per 100 cubic feet." Does anyone know the history behind this 40% increase? Marcus Rosenbaum mrosenbaum@usa.net '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.events Footlights—A Modern Drama Discussion Group Do you like discussing plays you’ve read or seen? Then Footlights is for you! We meet monthly in a DC-area restaurant to discuss plays from the modern theater. This month we discuss Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Heidi Chronicles." We will meet Thursday, May 15, at 6:30 for dinner & 7:30 for our discussion, at Luna Books, 1633 P St., NW (3d floor). Admission is free (except you have to pay for dinner) & you can come just for the discussion, which should end around 9:45. Next month we’ll discuss "5th of July," by Lanford Wilson; our special guest will be director Chris Henley, whose production of the play will open June 5 at the Washington Shakespeare Company. For further information about Footlights visit our website at http://www.jskay-consulting.com/theatre/ or write dsobelso@capaccess.org. David Sobelsohn dsobelso@capaccess.org ***** Cleveland Park Authors Four Cleveland Park authors will speak on their works on successive Tuesdays in May at the Cleveland Park Congregational Church, 34th & Lowell Streets, at 8 PM. May 6: Susan Shreve; May 13: Christopher Buckley; May 20: Martin Walker; May 27: Kate Lehrer. Admission. For more information call (202) 363-6358 or look for poster at Cleveland Park Bookshop and flyers at neighborhood coffee houses. Judy Hubbard Saul, Cleveland Park Historical Society jandrsaul@aol.com **** Zoo Events Monday, 5 May 1997 7:00 p.m. Book signing 8:00 p.m. Slide-illustrated lecture Education Building Auditorium National Zoo Enter at Connecticut Ave. Park in Lot A Free, but please RSVP by calling (202) 673-4801 or sending e-mail to nzpem053@sivm.si.edu Frans Lanting, internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, will present a richly-illustrated lecture and sign copies of Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape. In 1991 Lanting spent several months in Zaire photographing bonobos, the least-known of the great apes. He teamed up with noted primatologist, Frans de Waal, for this book. Lanting, whose work regularly appears in National Geographic and Life, is one of a handful of Westerners who have ever seen the bonobo in the wild. Due to the political situation, this region of Zaire is all but off-limits to foreigners. Lanting’s pictures provide insight into the bonobos’ female-dominated society, where sensitivity to other group members replaces aggression. ******* Wednesday, 28 May 1997 7 p.m. Book signing 8 p.m. Lecture Education Building Auditorium National Zoo Enter at Connecticut Ave. Park in Lot A Free, but please RSVP by calling (202) 673-4801 or sending e-mail to nzpem053@sivm.si.edu Kent Minichiello, co-editor of "From Blue Ridge to Barrier Islands," will sign copies of his new anthology and present a talk, "Reflections on Nature: 400 Years of Mid-Atlantic Literature." Through the writings of people such as John Smith, Thomas Jefferson, and Rachel Carson, Dr. Minichiello will explore the rich, literary heritage nurtured by this region’s natural beauty. Margie Gibson NZPEM053@SIVM.SI.EDU Office of Public Affairs, National Zoo (202) 673-4866 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.market One Bedroom Large, sunny 1-bedroom apartment with nice view available at 4200 Cathedral Ave, NW. Includes utilities, great storage, and secure indoor parking. 850/month. Available June 5. Marian Rowan mrowan@intr.net **** Help Wanted Charming museum near Embassy Row seeks a full-time Assistant Manager for The Museum Shop. Must have an interest/knowledge of textiles. Must be available to work Tues. - Sat. Salary $18,000. Good benefits. Send letter/resume to Manager, The Textile Museum Shop, 2320 S St, NW, WDC, 20008 or Fax to 202-483-0994. Maury Sullivan TextileMus@aol.com **** Car Roof Rack Yakima Q-Tower Stretch Kit (part of a car roof rack for bikes, skis, canoes, kayaks, etc.). Used it only three times. I got a new car which does not require this particular part. All of you bikers who’ve been weighing in on the Calvert St. bike-lanes may want a way to take your bikes to more peaceful riding territory :)! $50 (retails at REI for $89). Call (202) 537-6655 or e-mail to the address below. Carrie Staff staffc@mail.aauw.org ***** Need Wedding Photographer Looking for creative, artistic wedding photographer for friend with October wedding. Judie Guy EMikesell@aol.com **** Computers Buying one shouldn’t be so scary. Setting one up shouldn’t be so scary. Getting on the Internet shouldn’t be so scary. Jeffrey Itell Story@intr.net 202.244.4163 ================= dc.story is a discussion group. The opinions stated are the sole responsibility of the authors. dc.story does not verify the information provided by readers. ---------------- For fast, reliable Internet services and cutting edge Websites contact Michael Mann at Internet Interstate mmann@intr.net. Web: http://www.intr.net ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ dc.story—Your Electronic Backfence http://www.dcstory.com Kibitzing by Jeffrey Itell (story@intr.net) Copyright © 1997 by Itell Communications, Inc. All rights reserved |
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