Month: July 2010

Another Fundraiser for Martin

Hopefully we will be nearing the end of this. But the legal bills for CCCA Prez Martin Moulton to defend himself against the accusations of the former SMD ANC Leroy Thorpe, who is suing him for a kajillion dollars because Martin was demanding an accountable government. Attached is a PDF about the July 15th fundraiser. June15Fundraiser.pdf

They claim this land in the name of Spain (Winners of the World Cup)

No not really.
Protest sign 2 ONE DC a local wayward child of Manna DC is staging a protest summer camp at the corner of 7th and R/Rhode Island, NW. I will admit I really haven’t paid much attention to what has been going on with that parcel. I am gathering some deal fell through and that primo spot is back in play. Yay! Can you tell I’m not too keen on a mirror for that other example of a human right in action, Lincoln-Westmoreland which sits across the street.

Trust, a fragile thing

The only reason why I’m mentioning this article from today’s Washington Post, “The Court of Vanished Dreams,” is because the court in question is in the TC. According to the article a homeless fellow had a good idea, create a basketball league, involve area teens to keep them out of trouble. Problem was James Russell, the homeless fellow who started it, bailed on the teens and the other homeless men who were to be coaches and timekeepers, taking $1,000 with him. Being charitable, one could say Russell couldn’t battle his own demons which part of him meant well but another part didn’t and that part won. Not being charitable, Russell was a con man who not only took away people’s money but heavily damaged their trust in others. Trust is a very fragile thing and when it is damaged it hardens the hearts of the victims and makes it that more difficult for the next person who might not want money, but good will, time, mercy, patience, and or faith.
According to the article, the league used the basketball court at 1st and Florida on the Shaw side of Florida, opposite the Big Bear. I’ve seen groups playing there but never really thought any of it was organized. Next time, I’ll take another look and be a bit more observant.
There is a bit of a bright light to this story of a bum that let his colleagues and the kids down, another homeless fellow, Wade Simmons, who was coaching for the league took over. Though the whole thing is less than kosher, meaning if it were run by some responsible non-profit a number of the participants might be excluded. But it is good in that it allows the usual recipients of charity to be charitable and it is better to give than receive.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 8, 2010 8:13 AM.

Beau Thai

Don’t get that excited yet. Walking by it still looks like they’ve got a few more weeks of painting and shifting stuff around before she (the owner) opens up and starts making this neighborhood what I hoped it might become when I bought the stack of bricks and wood 9 years ago.
I got an email from Mr. Renew Shaw about what’s up and I’ll just sum it up. The opening should be soon, like maybe in about a week and she (Aschara) will be gradually building it up from carry out (phase I) to sit down real live restaurant (phase II). There is stuff to get through with BZA (Board of Zoning Adjustment), which is why she’ll have to start as a fast food carry out place.
Mr. Renew Shaw had an opportunity to taste Aschara’s food and says the menu has fresh and healthy Thai fare.

Theater Stuff

I am looking forward to Banished Production’s Fringe Festival piece “Handbook for hosts” which is described as where film noir meets radio drama. Go to their website at http://banishedproductions.org/productions.html to see what it is all about. I’ve enjoyed their past productions of a “Tactile Dinner” and wonder what they have in store. The tickets are about $15 which is a good price for live theater. You can get tickets here. I’ve been told they’ll be doing this out of the Studio Theater on 14th which is a good Shaw spot for pre-theater noshing and grabbing chocolate.

I also got another theater email, and since I don’t really do announcements anymore (that’s what BACA is for), but now looking at it now the information had expired. Oh well.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 7, 2010 8:24 AM.

Quiet July 4th

Now if you moved into the neighborhood less than a year ago you’ll probably think I’m nuts, but really this was a quiet July 4th, compared to previous years. Since I wasn’t invited to anyone’s rooftop this year, I stayed home and decide to watch a chick flick with a glass of wine. At a point the localized explosions brought me outside where B. was sitting on his porch. Then a neighbor across the street ventured out and we then made our way to the end of the block to catch a glimpse of the Mall’s fireworks beyond the trees (damned trees!).
Last year I mainly stayed in for the smoke because the empty space at the end of the block had served as a staging area for a local fireworks show. This year that space was filled with parked cars. Some guy walking by expressed his amazement that my block wasn’t getting blown up. He said that there had always been something in the last 40 years. I can believe it. But this year, nada. Now there was something going on in the direction of the Cook/Slater schools, maybe even the Armstrong (CAPCS) school lot.
Yes, there will be more fireworks going off for the next few days or weeks. Now either I’ve gotten so that I can mentally block them out or there are fewer non-July 4th fireworks going off. Normally, one can expect nighttime explosions until early August. Since this year seems comparatively quiet, the noise may cease earlier, like mid July.

Looks Like We’ll Have a Library This Summer

The following announcement came across some of the listservs about the Waltha Daniels/ Shaw Library.

Dear Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library Patron,

The new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw library located at 1630 7th St. N.W.,
across from the Shaw Metro station is scheduled to open on Monday, Aug.
2. The Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Interim Library, located at 945 Rhode Island
Ave., N.W. will close Tuesday, July 13 at 5:30 pm in order to move to
the new library.

The new three-story library is approximately 22,000 square feet and will
feature separate reading areas for adults, teens and children; a
children’s program room; space for 80,000 books, DVDs, CDs and other
library materials; 32 public access computers with free Wi-Fi Internet
access; comfortable seating for 200 customers; large program room for up
to 100 people; two 12-person conference rooms; and a vending area.

The nearest libraries are Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial Library, 901 G
St, N.W. and Northwest One, 155 L St, N.W. Library users can return or
renew books at any DC Public Library.

Archie

Well, yay! I’ll admit I haven’t ventured over to the trailers when the library building was getting worked on because my lazy self thought an extra block and a half was too far to go for horrid flashbacks of the classroom trailers I had to endure in high school.
Now I wonder how strong that wi-fi signal is going to be as I imagine internet junkies hanging around the outside with their Starbucks cups. I’m glad to see that there will a section for children, which hopefully will include children’s books, something woefully lacking in the old building. Though I avoided children’s anything in library school, I do realize the great importance of reading to small children. I hope the library will have the classics Cat in the Hat, and Goodnight Moon.
While I have your attention I’m going to propose calling the new building the Shaw library because people keep thinking ‘Waltha’ was a woman and it’s too Barry-era to me. Shaw, is the neighborhood name.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 2, 2010 10:28 AM.