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ALICE SWANSON. Ask any cyclist in the D.C. area and they'll know her story.
On July 8, 2008, the 22-year-old was struck and killed by a garbage truck while commuting to her job at the International Research & Exchanges Board via bicycle. Over the last year, Swanson has evolved into a symbol of cycling safety in the city. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association placed a bike painted white — called a ghost bike — at the scene of Swanson's crash (Connecticut and R streets NW) as a memorial and reminder for others on the road.
On Aug. 28, the Department of Public Works removed the bike. Speculation swirled that nearby businesses had considered it unsightly.
Now, the ghost bike is back — and it's brought friends. The bikes were unloaded this morning by Legba Carrefour, a 27-year-old Columbia Heights resident, who says their number is significant.
"[Swanson] was 22 when she was hit," he explained. "So we're putting out one bike for each year of her life."
WHAT INSPIRED DAN MORRISON to start a nonprofit that connects socially conscious people with critical, charitable projects in developing nations around the world? A well.
A broken well, actually, having just been demolished by an earthquake in the small village of Vachharajpur in Gujarat, India. Residents then had to make a daily five-hour trek to the next town to get clean water.
Morrison, a management consultant, heard about the situation while visiting India for business. When he returned to the U.S., Morrison couldn't forget the town's dire need and decided to raise funds to help the people.
GROWING UP IN Colombia, young Claudia Arbelaez saw a future in fashion. She studied design, showed a small collection during Fashion Week 2004 in her native country, and designed uniforms and the wardrobe for an opera.
Then — poof: Her mother died, Arbelaez met her future husband, and she spent 2006 in Milan to delve into her field. The next year her new husband won a Fulbright, and they moved to a third continent so he could study at the University of Maryland.
Arbelaez looked for a fashion-related job, but nothing around Washington paid well or — after all these changes — had much appeal anymore.
Jewelry did, though. Her mom had loved jewelry, and skills in that area could transfer to Colombia when the couple moved back after two years. "Jewelry is more rewarding because people see more meaning in it than in clothes," she says. "Also, it lasts longer."
Arbelaez enrolled in the jewelry-design certificate program at the Corcoran College of Art + Design (1801 35th St. NW; 202-298-2542; Corcoran.edu/ce). To pay for school and gain experience, she took a low-level jewelry job at Lund Trading in Columbia, Md.
Continue Reading "A Career Set in Gemstones: Claudia Arbelaez's Journey into Jewelry" »
WANT TO FIND the true story behind "Real World: D.C." before the Dupont-dwelling housemates stop being polite?
Easy: Hit up the World Wide Web. Thanks to the explosion of social networking sites, Washingtonians don't have to wait for the 23rd incarnation of the MTV show to premiere.
Just ask Chris Wiggins. As the man behind the Twitter feed Twitter.com/RealworldDCNEWZ, the 29-year-old freelance writer has become the go-to source when it comes to tracking the castmates' whereabouts.
Some sample tweets:
"KIDS: 'Hanging with' the Real World Cast is different from being in the same place as them and stalking them...thought u should know."
"CURFEW REMINDER: the #RWDC kids have to leave Third Edition and be home by 2:00 a.m... So rush on over there b4 their bedtime!"
Wiggins' frequent detailed updates have drawn followers in droves -- at press time he'd reached 3,771. What began as a whim has accidentally become a full-time reporting beat, with his Twitter feed serving as an aggregator of "Real World" online updates. But he's quick to point out where his self-imposed mission ends ("I'm not one of the many stalkers following people around," he said) and what his ground rules are.
Continue Reading "Real Time: MTV's 'Real World: D.C.' Meets Social Networking" »
SO, YOU THINK you can dance? If not, Andre Cleofe may be the man to see.
Cleofe, 33, dances for a living. He never expected to — who does? — but his family was always footloose; older folks twirled children at gatherings, and Cleofe's father once practiced by dancing with a towel tied to a doorknob.
After emigrating from the Philippines, Cleofe did economic research, then worked at American Express in the pay-by-phone division — talking with customers who didn't understand their statement or had overspent their limit — first as a call taker and then as a supervisor.
He was almost ready to become head of the supervisors when burnout struck. On a leave of absence, he visited relatives. As always, a little dancing ensued. This time, someone suggested that he look into Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios.
It was May 2003. He called the Silver Spring location (there are six in the Washington area) and walked in curiously. Staffers in a meeting looked back just as curiously: Cleofe was wearing a suit.
Continue Reading "If You Can Dance, Teach: What it Takes to Make Others Move" »
UPDATE: Apparently a 'Real World' cast member did in fact sign the sidewalk. We just received the following statement from MTV publicist Tamika Young: "I just got confirmation from production that one of the roommates did sign the sidewalk."
Mystery solved!
ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, a memorial ceremony was held for Alice Swanson — the 22-year-old cyclist who was killed by a garbage truck a year ago — at 20th and R streets. Strolling by the spot today, Washington Area Bicyclist Association's Ben West found condolence messages scrawled in chalk — including one that caught his eye: "R.I.P. Luv Real World."
Was the message really left by the cast of "The Real World: D.C."? We called MTV to find out.
"Unfortunately I can't give you any information," said publicist Lameka Lucas. "It's a documentary. It's not something that we publicize all throughout the taping. Of course, if there's anything you want to talk to producers about the franchise as a whole, that's something we can do now. But specifics about anything taping for the season, I can't speak on it."
If the message did come from the cast, West says he isn't happy about it.
Continue Reading "Did the 'Real World' Cast Really Sign Cyclist's Memorial? Apparently, Yes" »
IT'S BEEN 24 HOURS since Remy Munasifi uploaded his latest video on YouTube. And if you've got a Twitter feed or a Facebook page or a Gmail account, you've probably already seen it: It's a rap lauding the 28-year-old's Starbucks-laden, Whole Foods-hoppin' 'hood: Arlington, Virginia.
"Arlington: The Rap," which sings the praises of Crate & Barrel and notes the ubiquity of brown flip-flops, has jumped from 300 to 30,000 YouTube views in less than a day. We caught up with Munasifi to quiz him on his, uh, Clarendon street cred.
» EXPRESS: What makes Arlington so hardcore?
» MUNASIFI: It's populated by straight-up thugs. Really, seersucker is a fabric, but it's really a fabric that holds the town together. I was on the Metro and I saw a guy with brown flip-flops and seersucker shorts and I said, 'Yes! This is a video that needs to be made.'
It's a unique place — that's why I moved here. I like it a lot. There are a lot of individuals, unique personalities, creative people. It's kinda artsy. Everybody's real nice, too. It's not something that happens completely up and down the East Coast.
» EXPRESS: The video has gotten a lot of traffic in just 24 hours. Has response been crazy?
» MUNASIFI: That's cool. Now I'm just worried that folks are going to get sick of it; it's only been a day. I'm just happy that folks liked it. I put other videos out there — about something general. But this [song] was about a two-mile radius, so I didn't think it was really going to do [well].
» EXPRESS: Where did the idea come from?
» MUNASIFI: I live in Clarendon now, just a couple blocks from the Metro. I just moved here a few weeks ago and I thought that would be kinda cool to introduce everybody to my new 'hood. I really like Clarendon; I didn't land here by accident. It was like a celebration. I got a couple e-mails yesterday that folks liked it, and I was content with that. So far today it's been more of the same.
SATURDAY: When it's not raining buckets, May evenings in the District can actually be pretty serene — a perfect time for couples to take evening strolls along the Mall to sweetly gaze at our marble monuments.
Just one small problem: Blisters while pounding the pavement from one scenic spot to the next aren't so dreamy. For those seeking nocturnal sightseeing with a breezy zip, sign up for the Potomac Pedal Touring Club's Moonlight National Mall Tour on May 16. Ride your bike on this 18-mile excursion that wends its way past the Reflecting Pool, the National Gallery and the Capitol.
Register at the Tenleytown Metro stop at 8 p.m. for excursions that depart at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Head and rear lights are required. Still in a cycling-state of mind when you finish? Cruise over to the Washington Area Bicyclist Association's Bike Prom at the Black Cat — just pick up a corsage on the way.
» 4501 Wisconsin Ave. NW, free, Sat., May 16, 8:30 and 9 p.m., free; Bikepptc.org. (Tenleytown)
Photo courtesy Greg Drury
DIRECTOR JIM JARMUSCH had only the vaguest notion of a film in mind when he asked his friend Isaach de Bankole to play the lead. There was no script, barely even a treatment, just a bundle of themes and ideas with little connective tissue. It was, says the actor, an experience both thrilling and nerve-wracking.
"It was a great pleasure, an act of trust and confidence," says de Bankole, "but at the same time it was a weight on my shoulders."
The result of that collaboration is "The Limits of Control," Jarmusch's 10th feature and his fourth with de Bankole, who was born in Ivory Coast and worked in Paris before moving to the United States.
Continue Reading "The Silent Treatment: Isaach de Bankole on 'Limits of Control'" »
ALLISON FEIGEN got a few startled stares on the Metro a few weeks ago when she had an unexpected run-in with a familiar face.
"Someone had recognized me from an event," explained the 23-year-old. "It was a little funny to say, 'Oh, I met you at FART.' That was kind of awkward."
FART stands for Faux Athletic Recreational Tournaments -- gatherings in which adults play games most of us remember from the playground: Connect Four, shuffleboard and even four square.
From that blithe spirit came the group's cheeky name. "The thought was 'FART' or 'FART in D.C.' is something you can remember," said group president Dave Band, 29.
Since founding FART in September, Band and his board of directors — four close friends ranging in age from 26-29 — have been steadily planning monthly activities. They're starting their spring season April 18 with a citywide game of hide and seek ($15 donation, Fartindc.org for details).
According to Band, the inspiration for FART grew out of D.C.'s kickball leagues, whose participants often unwind after games by packing local watering holes like Adams Mill Bar & Grill or Kelly's Irish Times.
Addison Road