Day: April 25, 2006

Now I have admitted I’m not a huge fan of bars, but for some silly reason I do have a greater respect for pubs. Yes, ABC license-wise they may be the same as a bar and like a bar they can produce folks who come out after last call loudly wandering your neighborhood looking for a place to piss or their car. But like restaurants, which I really like, they are known for their food like shepherd’s pie. Umm, shepherd’s pie. Shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, and lamb stew. I have been the UK enough to appreciate a pub culture that is truly communal that you don’t age out of, that you remain a part of regardless if you have kids (hey, bring them too, but in the day) and actually fosters conversation (I don’t know how you can hold a conversation with poptunes blasting). Anyway, according to Metrocurean there is an “Irish” restaurant/pub coming to the edge of Shaw.
UPDATE
The Duffy’s Website is no longer aiming for a April ’06 opening. It now says “Opening very Soon! Keep checking back for Grand Opening info!”

I was reading another blog that was quoting a website commenting on a NYT article and I was hooked into reading it because with a title like “Most black men have not been involved in the criminal justice system and do not drop out of school….” You have to read it. Yet there wasn’t much substance, but it did get me thinking. Mainly about all my male relatives and the criminal justice system.
My dad, a troublemaker in his youth and half his adulthood, (and black man) as far as I know only went to jail once or twice. For a total of week. For… let’s just say traffic/driving violations. Being self-employed it was a minor blip. I had a cousin, was a NBA player (poor kid makes it, blah, blah, blah, you know the story) and he went to jail for failure to pay child support, for about 5 days. Beyond those two, of all the men in my family, I believe the majority of them have never seen the inside of a jail, and more than likely don’t know where the jail is. Prison? I’m going to have to call my mom, but I don’t think any of my uncles or cousins have been to prison, ever.
So now I’m questioning this whole ‘black men are more likely to go to be involved in the criminal justice system than go to college’ thing. My male relatives on mom’s side are all bourgie so they have been to college. There was no question about that. Dad’s side? They are stubborn hard headed men who are mainly self-employed, they would not succeed if they were not their own boss. They didn’t go to college, but it didn’t matter.
What does this have to do with Shaw? There was a link but I deleted it. Maybe in my original thinking was to chip at the thinking (which I sometimes fall into) that Black always equals poor or less than.

|—————————————–|
| Blagden Alley Association |
| Monthly Meeting |
| THURSDAY, April 27, 2006 |
| 7:30-9:00 pm |
| Marthlu and Hal’s |
| 905 M Street, NW |
| ^^^ Note |
|—————————————–|
The newsletter is at

http://www.pro-messenger.com/Blagden/Monthly%20Pages/2006%20Monthly%20Pages/BAN_
2006_04_P1.html

Topics of the meeting:

BeBar (1318 Ninth Street). The Saga Continues…
Recap of the liquor licence hearings. It’s interesting, and
important and is the first of many such over the next fuw years.

917 M Street progress…
About to start
There azre floor plans

On the crime front…seems awfully quiet…

Also, see the web page at http://blagdenalley.com or http://naylorcourt.com,
(depending on your persuasion).

Do hope to see you there.

The Harvest for Health Department of the Capital Area Food Bank is hosting its
first Grub Party Thursday May 18th from 7pm to 10pm at Vegetate, featuring the
new book by Anna Lappe’ and Bryant Terry, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic
Kitchen.

Join us for a fun-filled evening to raise awarness and dollars about the
benefits of organic, sustainable living.

The Grub Party will include hor d’oeuvres featuring recipes from the Grub book
prepared by Vegetate’s chefs using local, seasonal, pesticide-free,
sustainably-grown produce, music arranged by Vegetate’s own DJ Dredd, a short
address and book signing by Anne Lappe’ and a cash bar featuring organic beer,
wine and seasonal fruit beverages.

Tickets are $50 and are available online at:
http://capitalareafoodbank.org/events/GrubPartyatVegetate_0506.cfm