1600 block of 29th St.
Dave Brubeck – 1920 – 2012
Yesterday the great Dave Brubeck passed away. GM’s always had a special place in his heart for Brubeck, so he’d like to take today to share some of memories of this great jazzman.
GM grew up in the town Brubeck called home for the last 50 years. Before GM knew anything about Time Out or “Take Five”, he knew Brubeck as the guy whose house sometimes had a great haunted house on Halloween.
Long after those days, GM finally listened to Brubeck’s work and grew to appreciate the art behind it (as an alto saxophonist himself, GM probably was first drawn more to Paul Desmond).
Years later, when GM was fooling around with a music looping program on his computer he decided to give a shot at remixing a tune. He didn’t have to think long about what song he’d try. The results (embedded above) are hardly stellar, but it was truly done with heart. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Uncommon Fritillary.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Despite what was announced at the ANC meeting, the G2 won’t be returning to its full route by “mid December” unless you consider December 30th to be “mid December”.
- Come on Carol! Let us know what neighborhood restaurant let you down.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
What’s More Valuable: A Bikeshare Station or Three Parking Spots
Photo by Jason Pier.
Back in November, DDOT moved the Capital Bikeshare station, that was on the sidewalk of Wisconsin Ave. by the canal, about 20 feet south and into the street. This was reported at the time by the Patch. DDOT explained that with the eventual construction of the new condo building where the Verizon parking lot is, there would not be enough space on the sidewalk for the station.
Moving the station into the street would necessitate eliminating three metered parking spots. To mitigate the impact of that change, the ANC requested that DDOT convert a loading zone across the street into a metered space and to introduce multi-space also across the street to enable more cars to park there.
When the parking spots were removed, the grumbling began. Most of it originated from Grace Episcopal, in front of which the parking spaces were removed. A church bulletin read:
While Grace supports the Bikeshare program (we have members that frequently bike to services), many members of our congregation rely on convenient access to street parking to attend services here. They include older members with health issues, families with young children and others for whom cycling to church is not an option. The loss of these three spaces is already being felt.
ANC chair Ron Lewis mentioned at the ANC meeting Monday night that he expected a compromise to be found whereby the station would be moved somewhere else. And GM is happy to support a compromise that each side can live with. But this situation presents a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate just how disproportionate the impact car parking has versus bike parking. Continue reading
Filed under Transportation
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Ehpien.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Innocent people generally don’t Google “Mexican Extradition” the night their wife is murdered.
- How the rest of the city (or at least large swaths of it) can become a little bit more like Georgetown.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
ANC Round Up: Seeing Signs Edition
Last night the ANC met for its last meeting of 2012. It was also the last meeting for Commissioner Jake Sticka, who did not run for reelection this year due to the fact he’ll be graduating this spring. As is normal, the commission will honor him with a special commendation at the February meeting.
But he wasn’t gone yet. And he dutifully took notes through the length of the relatively uneventful meeting. (GM wonders if the next crop of student-commissioners will refuse to serve as secretary. They’ve been stuck with the job going at least as far back as Jenna Lowenstein.)
One of the more substantive topics on the agenda last night was the city’s proposed signage regulations. This is something GM has mentioned briefly before. In short, the city is proposing the adoption of signage rules for the whole city. Technically speaking signage rules are nothing new for Georgetown. But too often they are more honored in the breach than the observance. The new rules would bring some more vigor to the rules, even those that already apply to Georgetown.
Last night the ANC voted to submit a letter supporting the new rules with some proposed changes. For instance, the ANC’s comments suggest that neon signs should be banned unless they meet certain criteria such as being the only sign on the store identifying the store name (like Bridge Street Books does). Additionally, they suggest that sandwich boards should be kept off of the main drags but remain allowed on the side streets.
(Full disclosure: GM drafted CAG’s comment letter on the same rules. CAG took a more conservative approach. For instance, rather than list exceptions out to the blanket prohibition on electronic signs, CAG suggested the rules be drafted to make it clear that the Old Georgetown Board’s review standards should apply.)
Everyone is in agreement that something needs to be done to crack down on the proliferation of ugly and illegal signs. Hopefully these rules can lead the way. Continue reading
Filed under ANC
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Daquella Manera.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- WaPo asks readers to choose the city’s best coffee shops, but leaves out local fave Baked and Wired.
- Streets of Georgetown will close next year.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
More Archaeological Treasure
A couple weeks ago, GM reported on the archaeological finds in his garden. While some prep work was being done for a new tree, some pottery shards, oysters, and coal turned up. Well, last week when the tree itself was planted, another cool piece of history popped up.
You can see above that it’s the bottom of a glass bottle. In this case, the bottle bears the familiar name of Heinz’s. Specifically it says: “7/Heinz’s/Pat Jany/13 1882”. Continue reading
Filed under History
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