Friday, October 29, 2010 3:14:01 PM
Never thought I'd think about that here in downtown DC. It's really a western expression used by people who live, say, on a ranch and have livestock and the occasional protected wolves. Can't shoot the wolves. Just have to let them eat your livestock, your livelihood.
The expression was popular during the during the Clinton administration, when the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was being especially vigilant about the Endangered Species Act. The Act was dearly beloved in cities and thoroughly hated in ranching territory. Hence, the bumper sticker of the time: Bobbitt the Babbitt.
The Washington Times has an
article today on how the ESA mentality now has taken hold in the District.
Over the years, the editor has encountered possums, raccoons, and various vermin (of the non-political kind). There was a young possum that visited a while back. The editor has fed an outdoor, feral cat for many years. He rarely leaves the food out past dark. He was late retrieving it a couple of times, and the possum showed. He has gotten scrupulous about getting the food in early, the outdoor cat has learned to show earlier than before, and we are now possumless. There are indoor cats watching the back yard. When something is there, they let you know. Actually, they ask to go outdoors and chase it.
So be careful how you handle the mice and rats. Use kid gloves. And if you're going to release them on the Far Side, do it at night with your license plate obscured.
One more thing: Don't leave apples out at night. That can attract raccoons.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 6:09:49 PM
Just in from Carmencita Kinsey, Chair,Washington Convention Center Advisory Committee
Subject: MEDIA ADVISORY: WASHINGTON MARRIOTT MARQUIS GROUNDBREAKING
October 25, 2010
CONTACTS: Chinyere Hubbard (WCSA) 202-439-5133; Jennifer Nguyen (EOM) 202-340-8420
**** MEDIA ADVISORY ****
A Ground-breaking Day for
Washington, DC as a Convention Destination
Fenty and the Washington Convention and Sports Authority to break ground on new Marriott Marquis Hotel
WHAT: Fenty, city officials and the Washington Convention and Sports Authority (WCSA) to break ground on the much anticipated $520 million, state-of-the-art, four-star Washington Marriott Marquis Hotel in the historic Shaw neighborhood.
WHO: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty
Chairman Vincent C. Gray
Councilmember-at-Large Kwame Brown
Councilmember Jack Evans, Ward 2
WCSA Board of Directors
WCSA President and CEO Gregory A. O’Dell
Chairman and CEO of Marriott, International Bill Marriott
President and CEO of Destination DC Elliott Ferguson
WHEN: Wednesday, November 10, 2010
10:30 AM - Check in
11:00 AM – Press Conference
WHERE: 9th and Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Adjacent to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Comment
Finally.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 3:21:52 PM
Dan Zeman's lease has run out. He's no longer in Blagden Alley. That hurts. He filled the alley with a lot of younger people quite late at night. That's a good thing. Lots of people is anathema to the drug and prostitution trade. We had severe tagging going on a few years ago in Blagden Alley, Naylor Court, and the surrounding blocks. When Dan came onto the scene,
tagging ceased in Blagden Alley.
There was an article in the WaPo a couple of Sundays ago which covers a lot of the history of Blagden Alley's time with the skateboarding world. It's
here. The editor understands that some in the younger generation do more exciting things than he did at that age, unless you include climbing down the side of
Royal Gorge when you aren't supposed to and not roped in. We will miss the crew.
Sunday, October 24, 2010 4:14:14 PM
We have a cat, Mosby, who is about 42 inches nose to tail. Here he is when younger
and a bit older
here.
There have been a number of news stories in the last few days about Guiness making
Stewie the new longest (domestic) cat. Stewie beat out
Leo, who had been longest. There is something in the article on Leo about him being 6 inches longer than the previous record. The editor and his wife have seen Main Coon Cats at shows which would easily be within an inch or two of Leo and Stewie, if measured and publicized.
Oh well.
Sunday, October 24, 2010 3:50:28 PM
From Mike Benardo (ANC 2F06) who lifted it from DPW press release, as did the WaPo:
Weekly residential mechanical street cleaning will end for the season on Friday, October 29, 2010. “No parking/street cleaning” restrictions will be lifted and motorists may park along posted, alternate-side, daytime street sweeping routes without being required to move their cars on street-cleaning days....By suspending the street sweeping program, DPW personnel can focus on leaf collection, which will begin November 8, as well as the upcoming snow removal season. The 2010-2011 leaf season will run November 8, 2010, through January 15, 2011. During this time, leaves will be vacuumed from each street at least twice.
The editor's wife saw it in the WaPo this morning and said (the editor paraphrases) "Why do they always do it before the leaves fall? Now we'll just have to clean out the gutters so the storm drains don't clog."
"Life is unfair," John Kennedy observed at a press conference one day in 1962.
Monday, October 18, 2010 2:30:45 PM
It's an election again, 15 days from now on November 2. From a neighborhood point of view, the editor is a very, very strong supporter of voting, even if you file a blank ballot or leave some of the choices unchosen, either because you don't know who the candidates are, or maybe because you do. (The editor finally remembered "periods".)
In a few months, one of the things referenced is which neighborhoods voted hard. It's good to be one of those neighborhoods, and over time it makes a difference. Your choices in the voting booth are simply tabulated, and otherwise unknown. But what is known is whether or not you voted. And say "hi" to the poll workers. They've been subsisting on doughnuts and coffee all day long.
Take down the signs after election day, if you can. I say after because every cycle someone takes some of them down early. That's cheating. A short video of such is
here.
It's grainy and the action is right at the start. One of the commentators on another site said he always wipes his campaign signs in poison ivy. He can usually tell which neighbor took the signs.
Mike BenardoHe's currently Commissioner for ANC 2F06, and has been for several terms. He's running again, and the ANC election is part the general election on November 2. The map of ANC 2F, and 2F06 is
here. That one block indentation of the block between L and M, Ninth and Tenth, is due to the politics of 10 years ago, when almost no one imagined anyone ever living on that block. The current voter guide is
here, which downloads a PDF file.
Mike's competition is a Kate McMahon. The editor doesn't know her, although he did have a McMahon as a debate partner in Colorado many moons ago. He went to Dartmouth.
The editor was on the Foggy Bottom ANC (2A) for it's first four years, two as Chairman and two as Treasurer. Given the presence of George Washington University, he understands how much difference an ANC in a changing area can make. 2F has been a solid ANC, and Mike has been a very good Commissioner for the Blagden Alley and Naylor Court area. Being an ANC Commissioner is just work, "part time" work but still work. We've gone through several ANC Commissioners in 2F06, and Mike is simply the best we've seen in a long time. (There were a couple of ones earlier, but not recently.) The editor is voting for Mike.
Friday, October 15, 2010 2:08:57 PM
The O Street Market people (good guys) are giving a presentation on the project, which has been groundbroken, from 7:00 to 8:30 at the Immaculate Conception School, 711 N Street, NW.
If you haven't seen the presentation, it's a good one and has good news. There is more to it than one might expect, what with the underground loading docks for the Giant and restoration of the historic O Street Market.
It's also election night, so make sure your iPhones are charged.
Sunday, October 10, 2010 3:12:58 PM
If you've walked by the front of 930 M Street, which is really on Tenth Street but doesn't sound so Georgetowney, you've noticed a deepening depression around the manhole cover out front. It didn't make a trip to CVS a trek through the Grand Canyon, but you did have to watch your step.
They worked on that Saturday:
and had the backhoe heady here, all polished and everything.
Some Nostalgia:The building in back is 943 M, which Lynda Wright has owned seemingly forever. The editor has some newly found old photos, from the fire described
here.
You'll notice 943 in the background. And a sign where 930 M is going to go, probably proclaiming how wonderful it would be. Also, no Quincy Whatever. Just desolate wasteland.
OK, that's going too far, but things have changed. And if you saw cars like that parked here these days, you'd probably call 911.
Sunday, October 10, 2010 2:57:00 PM
The old pub at Ninth and M is going to come down, I guess. The editor remembers that it seemed to be closed in the late seventies and opened, in a fashion, for some time in the very early eighties. The "some time" is an appoximation of things past, and it could be months or even a couple of years. Since then, it has been closed up and vacant, at least insofar as an official certificate of occupancy is concerned.
Here it is Saturday morning:
and
The editor was convinced that Saturday was its last day, but in the afternoon the dinky little backhoe was gone and some sewer work had been done.
Thursday, October 7, 2010 1:50:04 PM
Apparently the DC Board of Elections has been experimenting with the idea of internet voting. And they got what they asked for: A serious stress test.
Here and
here are a couple of entries on the subject. One of the blogs says the obvious: "... also notes what many of us have been trying to tell Internet Voting proponents for so many years: it's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to make the system secure." The editor knows a bit about computers and security, and the idea gives him the heeby-jeebies. Not so much that it couldn't be done by good people, but that voting takes place in a political environment, often prone to cheating.
Simpler is better.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 3:43:42 PM
OneCup has a new sign out front.
Since it's pointed at southbound drivers on Ninth, one presumes that it must be the start of the CCH disruption. Or construction. Whichever comes first.
Just think, in two years everything will be back to normal.
Friday, October 1, 2010 1:48:53 PM
The editor occasionally walks a bit in the morning. Yesterday he saw three guys in the parking lot at Ninth and Mass, talking about something. They looked like the foremen you see at a construction site. He thought that they might be planning where to do a test boring, or whatever.
This morning, we get, via the always gracious Theresa DuBois, who handles external affairs for the Convention Center:
PRELIMINARY WORK ON WASHINGTON, DC MARRIOTT MARQUIS HEADQUARTERS HOTEL SITE BEGINS
(Washington, DC) - The Washington Convention and Sports Authority today announced that it will provide limited early access for preliminary site remediation work to the project development team for the Washington, DC Marriott Marquis, the proposed Convention Center headquarters hotel. The early remediation activities, which could start as early as this week, include removal of underground storage tanks, demolition of the Erhlich Building, erecting fences, placing signage around the site and readying the area for construction.
“We’re excited to get the pre-construction process started,” said Gregory A. O’Dell, Washington Convention and Sports Authority president and CEO. “The Authority and the District are finalizing the documentation and preparing to close on the bonds as we anticipate a groundbreaking within the next 30-45 days. This headquarters hotel will position us to aggressively compete as a premier convention destination and serve as a centerpiece for the continued economic revitalization of the historic Shaw neighborhood, including roughly 900 new hospitality jobs.”
The hotel site is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, 9th, 10th and L Streets, Northwest. The 1,175- room headquarters hotel, which includes more than 100,000 square feet of meeting areas, is slated to open in 2014.
The developer and the Washington Convention Center Advisory Committee are working to establish a formal process to answer community questions and address community concerns. In the interim, questions regarding the hotel project construction and development may be directed to:
Norman Jenkins, Capstone Development, LLC
normanjenkins@cstonedevelopment.com or 202-661-3536
A Recommendation:
We're going to be talking about it a lot, the "WASHINGTON, DC MARRIOTT MARQUIS HEADQUARTERS HOTEL". Let's just say "CCH", for Convention Center Hotel, and get on with life.
Just sayin'.
My Opera
