LOVE HOUSE PARTIES? Hey, so do we. Especially when they're secretly ROCK SHOWS!
Kansas House seems like a simple Arlington residence, but ring the doorbell for admittance to The Points' show. It'll be crowded, sweaty and fantastic. You'll probably make friends, or at least be in very, very close proximity to strangers.
The Points are a punk rock band in the very best tradition — think the Ramones — and they're making a comeback in a little house in Arlington, accompanied by The Shirks and Baby Guts.
» Kansas House, 900 N. Kansas St., Arlington; Mon. Oct. 13, 7 p.m. (Virginia Square)
Photo courtesy The Points
WHEN LIFE IMITATES ART, the occasion is often deemed ironic and sometimes gets repackaged with curatorial glee on the likes of the "The Daily Show." When art imitates life, poetic justice usually plays to smaller crowds.
Politics and art have been making strange bedfellows for centuries, but while Washington's reputation as America's political epicenter is superficially considered the city's raison d'etre, Washington's reputation as an artistic epicenter is much less defined.
Arlington Arts Center's passionate rebuttal is "Picturing Politics," a dense collection of works that addresses the political landscape and pushes for Washington's berth as a clarion-voiced artists' den.
"We don't want to live in the shadow of the Washington Color School," said Jeffry Cudlin, the Arlington Art Center's director of exhibitions. "It's a misperception of D.C.'s art. It doesn't get treated in a thorough way."
Continue Reading "Rules of Engagement: Arlington Arts Center's 'Picturing Politics'" »
SOME CONDO BUILDINGS include gyms, indoor pools and other add-ons to entice would-be buyers. But a new structure planned to rise in Arlington will boast an atypical amenity: a ground-floor funeral home.
The project is the Club on Quincy, a building slated to be constructed near the Ballston and Virginia Square stations on the Orange Line. And as The Post's Jerry Markon reported on Saturday, the jokes have already started about how the current Arlington Funeral Home, pictured here, will be incorporated into the new building.
Continue Reading "New Arlington Condo Amenity: A Funeral Home" »
WHEN GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY's law school was established in 1979, it used the old Kann's department store in Arlington County's Virginia Square neighborhood as its temporary home. The law school eventually moved out, but the aging building, with its ancient escalators pictured above, continued to house various undergraduate and graduate classes.
Now, though, the building is being emptied to make way for a new university complex, which will house the School of Public Policy and the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, along with academic and student support services. Reports The Post's Jerry Markon:
The $82 million project is a key part of a five-year, $600 million expansion and renovation of three GMU campuses in Northern Virginia, including Fairfax and Prince William counties. But the need is particularly acute in Arlington, university and county officials said.Construction on the new building starts this month and is slated to wrap up in 2010.
» "GMU Prepares For a Farewell to an Original" [WaPo]
Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post
IF YOU THOUGHT the story of the amateur photographer who was told he couldn't take pictures in Downtown Silver Spring was a little wacky, get a load of what happened to Keith McCammon.
As reported today by The Post's Marc Fisher, McCammon had the audacity to snap a photo of a building at 3701 N. Fairfax Drive in Arlington, which, to his great misfortune, just happened to house the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, a Defense Department branch that conducts high-tech research. He was approached by security and told to delete the photo and pass along some personal information.
But it didn't end there. Writes Fisher:
McCammon decided to fight back. He demanded to know why he had been stopped, why the government needed his personal information, and why any record of the incident should be kept in government records. He got quick, polite responses from Arlington officials.We dunno, all of those tourists near the White House sure look suspicious to us."I hope that you would agree that the security of any such building is of great importance and every law enforcement officer is duty bound to investigate all suspicious activity," wrote Arlington Acting Police Chief Daniel Murray. "I am certainly not implying that a person taking photographs is inherently 'suspicious,' but when the appearance is that the subject of a photograph is a government installation, officers have a duty to ensure the safety of the occupants of this structure."
» "Developer in Silver Spring Concedes to Photogs" [Free Ride/Express]
» "Secret Buildings You May Not Photograph, Part 643 [Raw Fisher/WaPo]
Midlife Crisis? Go to the Ballston-Rosslyn Corridor
Map It:
Ballston Clarendon Court House Rosslyn Virginia Square
THE HEART of the Orange Line in Arlington has healing personal energies, serves as a refuge for people in transition and "is becoming the place to move in Northern Virginia after a life-changing event, like divorce, the loss of a spouse, a cross-country move, kids moving out or parents dying," The Post's Daniela Deane reports.
So what is the secret to the lure of Wilson Boulevard-Clarendon Boulevard corridor? Does it lie inside the Alladin-esque chocolate-vanilla swirl domes of Clarendon's Cheesecake Factory? Is there some sort of soothing peace found in The Prime at Arlington Courthouse aka The Meridian? (The development's promotions campaign at the Court House station certainly shows many, many smiling people living life on their own terms, if Free Ride is paraphrasing correctly.)
Actually, Deane writes, it's the simple formula of easy access to the District, good transit and all the "new restaurants, upscale shops, dance studios, coffee bars, bike trails, dog parks, gyms and live entertainment."
Continue Reading "Midlife Crisis? Go to the Ballston-Rosslyn Corridor" »
Around Town: Harry Reid and the Ritz
Map It: Capitol South Foggy Bottom Georgia Ave-Petworth Virginia Square
THE STAFF at the 22nd Street NW Ritz Carlton sure must love Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, pictured here. According to amended campaign finance disclosures, the Nevada Democrat and Ritz Carlton resident used campaign funds to donate to the hotel staff Christmas fund, which is a no-no. Reid has since repaid the amount with personal funds, The Post's Jonathan Weisman reports, but this and other financial disclosures have caused a political stir.
Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images
» "Reid to Amend Ethics Reports To Fully Account For Land Deal" [WaPo]
» VIRGINIA SQUARE: Geez, how could Clarendon let neighboring Virginia Square outshine it in franchise glory? With Cosi locations in Rosslyn, Court House and Ballston, Virginia Square is the latest Orange Line Metro-accessible neighborhood that will boast an outpost of square bagels, salads and flatbread. According to D.C. Metblogs, signs announcing a future Cosi have popped up at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation complex off Fairfax Drive. [D.C. Metblogs]
» MOUNT PLEASANT: The branch of the D.C. Public Library system at 16th and Lamont streets NW is a little gem that's set for renovation. But even the current library isn't all that bad, Livejournaler Mr. T in D.C. writes:
There were plenty of books, maps, an actual current globe (no Soviet Union!) and plenty of tables and chairs.Yes, but does it have the latest Serbia-Montenegro split? [Mr. T in D.C.; BBC]
» CAPITOL HILL: There was a small fire at the Folger Theatre on East Capitol Street over the weekend when a spotlight ignited a costume. Although the fire was quickly contained, it did damage the costume room, delaying the production of "A Midsummer's Night Dream," which was to start this Thursday. [WaPo]
» GEORGIA AVE.-PETWORTH: More mixed-use development is planned for the Georgia Avenue corridor near the Green Line Metrorail station in Petworth, which has been targeted by the National Capital Revitalization Corp. for investment. According to the Washington Business Journal, the new project from Jair Lynch Cos., called Georgia Common, will have 110 mixed-income apartments and a Results the Gym. [WBJ; subscription req'd]
A FEW QUICK METRO ITEMS of note to tell you about this week: First, commuters in Virginia Square are going to be getting some love. Members of Metro's prize patrol will out in full force at the station tomorrow from 11 a.m. to noon, passing out Metro knickknacks like key chains, notepads, lapel pins, squeeze train toys and baseball caps. We aren't sure if Virginia Square is considered a lunchtime destination (there's a Starbucks and an office building deli adjacent to the station), but if you want a chance to win free stuff, don't expect lunch to jump out at you. The giveaway is part of Metro's 30th anniversary celebration.
Second, Metro has released details of its special train service for the Fourth of July fireworks. From what we can tell, it's the same as previous years. New this year: You can download the "Revolutionary Map" to your iPod.
Third, as you've probably already noticed if you ride the Orange and Blue lines, trains are running at reduced speeds in the vicinity of the Federal Triangle station as Metro repairs some control systems that were damaged during this weeks flooding. The repairs are expected to be complete next week.
Addison Road