Welcome to the my Web site, v. XII. The blog is typically published Monday - Saturday. My primary topics tend to be the Nats, Penn State (esp. football), BeltwayLand, transportation, media, photos and more. The rest of the site gets updated as warranted and is noted on the blog.
Out of a chili rivalry came Hard Times Cafe - William World News
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Out of a chili rivalry came Hard Times Cafe
How D.C. Invented Texas Chili Mac - CityPaper First off this is a misleading headline. This article is really about the rivalry between former co-owners of the late Texas Chili Parlor Hazel Calloway and Barbara Abbott. The two bought the place and couldn't stand each other within 2 years. Eventually, they split and Calloway opened Hazel's Texas Chili Parlor in 1966. Hard Times Cafe founder Fred Parker fondly remembered Hazel's and in 1980 opened Hard Times Cafe in Old Town Alexandria with a similar recipe and spirit. The article is well worth a read as it expands on the origin story posted on the Hard Times Web site. Also, next Thursday, February 25 is National Chili Day, so Hard Times will be giving away a free bowl of chili with a dine-in purchase.
Traffic reports used to originate from the Washington Monument - William World News
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Traffic reports used to originate from the Washington Monument
30 years of steering you home - WTOP The dean of D.C. traffic reporters Bob Marbourg celebrated his 30th anniversary as a traffic reporter yesterday. Congratulations to him, but the most interesting part of the story was that before he took the job, traffic reports used to come from a department of transportation employee stationed on top of the Washington Monument. That's pretty cool and just about impossible to imagine these days with traffic stretching up to 40 miles away from the monument now, but back that then it was pretty resourceful.
Back to Marbourg, what do you suppose the odds that he and morning traffic reporter Lisa Baden have a rivalry with each other?
"The Band That Wouldn't Die" looks good - William World News
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
"The Band That Wouldn't Die" looks good
I have a soft spot for the Baltimore Colts.
While my antipathy towards Baltimore's baseball team is well documented, I have said on a few occasions that the Colts moving out of Baltimore is probably the worst franchise relocation in professional sports history. The fans were great, the team had great, memorable players and a marching band with a catchy fight song. The team moved away ultimately because the owner, Bob Irsay, was a really nasty individual who was also an alcoholic. Indianapolis was and still is completely unworthy of those horseshoe helmets and uniforms.
Noted film director Barry Levinson, a Baltimore native, has made a documentary for ESPN 30 for 30 about that marching band, "The Band That Wouldn't Die." The band played on even after the team abandoned them and eventually became the Marching Ravens after the Cleveland Browns (another bad move, but one that was corrected almost immediately) came to Baltimore. The whole story gets told tonight at 8 p.m.
Why Washingtonians should not cheer for the Twins - William World News
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Why Washingtonians should not cheer for the Twins
Last night the Minnesota Twins beat the Tigers in 12 innings to claim the AL Central crown and a playoff series with the New York Yankees. I noticed a few Nats fans on Twitter pulling for the Twins to win last night. The Twins had been the original Washington Senators. Do you know why thy moved to Minnesota? They moved because owner Calvin Griffith was a racist. He was a liar too.
I'm rooting for the Yankees in that series of course and I hope they can bring an end to indoor baseball in Minnesota in short order.
Randy Johnson beats Nats for 300th win - William World News
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Randy Johnson beats Nats for 300th win
Giants' Johnson wins No. 300 - San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco takes game 1 of the twi-night doubleheader as Randy Johnson wins his 300th game. Jordan Zimmermann took the loss for the Nats, giving up two runs. Joel Hanrahan had a rough ninth too, but the Nationals were already losing.
There were not many people in the park on an unseasonably chilly and wet day. There was also another home run call that did not go Washington's way too.
In April, the Mount Vernon distillery and adjacent gristmill will open to the public for the season. And for the first time in nearly 200 years, liquor fans will soon be able to purchase whiskey made in the distillery, following Washington's own recipe.
"There's nowhere else in the country you can see what a distillery was like in the 18th century," said Dennis Pogue, Mount Vernon's associate director of preservation who oversaw the distillery's reconstruction. And the experience shows visitors an intriguing side of George Washington. "It's an opportunity to talk about different aspects of Washington's career that most people don't know about," he said.
I am quite interested to check out the distillery, though when I learned in the article that the whiskey was not barrel aged, I became less enthusiastic for actual product. Nevertheless, I'll be happy to give it a try.
25 years ago, the Colts were taken from Baltimore - William World News
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
25 years ago, the Colts were taken from Baltimore
On March 29, 1984, Robert Irsay moved the Colts out of Baltimore under the cover of darkness to Indianapolis, an unworthy destination. In observance of the anniversary, the Sun has a number of articles in Baltimore Colts section that basically say "let's get over it already." Yes, there is a bit of irony in those statements since the paper's Web site has a regularly updated section a generation after the fact, but they are probably right. In the end, Baltimore got a new team, one that won a Super Bowl, and stadiums for football and baseball. The new team, the Ravens, came from Cleveland, but the NFL did the right thing and insisted the colors and name be left behind there and put a team back there three years later.
I have said before that while I hope for nothing failure and misery when it comes to the Orioles, I have sympathy for the Colts fans who were on the wrong end of what was likely the worst sports team move ever. Why move out of a football crazy city to an irrelevant midwestern city? The Colts left because of the absolutely belligerent and incompetent Irsay (Sports Illustrated), a drunk who shopped the team for years despite strong fan support. The team only after he died. His son, Jim Irsay, still owns the team and missed an obvious chance to redeem the family legacy when he did not return the colors and logos to the city of Baltimore. Perhaps it was because he was high (Indy Star). The Indy side of the story is here if you care.
On a lighter note the reporting of the move has been, shall we say, imprecise over the years.
With its rolling lawns and secluded glens, Fort Ward looks like a lovely place to take a walk. Turns out, it's far more than a park in Alexandria -- it's one history sacrificed to make way for another, a Civil War military installation that has become a contemporary battleground over whose story gets told.
Occasionally, I take my son for a stroll through Fort Ward Park, located not far from my condo, but I have not yet explored any of the history there. As Fisher points out, different eras are in conflict over what the park is, was and should be.
Also, I kind of like that both my current and former (Pentagon City) neighborhoods were occupied by Union troops during the Civil War.
8 years later: Prehistoric Nats blog post - William World News
8 years later: Prehistoric Nats blog post
Years ago, my Web site had a news section, called Weekly William News (named after the long-lost/lamented Weekly World News) that I updated manually. Essentially, it was a blog, but I didn't call it that since I had not heard of such a thing yet. It also did not have any sort of content management system, so after working with even a primitive one professionally, I lost interest in updating pages through a text editor and FTP.
Anyway, eight years ago today, I put up this "post" on the proto-blog:
Of course, MLB waited another 4½ years to listen to me and I did not blog about D.C. baseball again until April 9, 2004 (fourth item), about a month after I started up William World News. Distinguished Senators, the first blog specifically about D.C. baseball, waited until June 2004.
"We play all or none." In 1946, the Penn State football team voted unanimously to cancel a scheduled game against then-segregated University of Miami, rather than play without its two black players, Triplett and Dennie Hoggard.
For the 1948 Cotton Bowl, Southern Methodist, Penn State's opponent tried to get Penn State to leave Triplett behind, but the Nittany Lions would not do it. Triplett scored the game-tying touchdown in a 13-13 tie.
The story is well worth a read, whether you are a Penn Stater or not
The 1987 film, No Way Out, is a good Washington/Cold War thriller that holds up pretty well, despite some glaring location errors (mostly about Metro), cheesy synthesizer music that belongs in bad sci-fi and Sean Young. Additionally, No Way Out opens with a tracking shot directly over my old apartments in The Potomac at Riverhouse* in Pentagon City. That shot ends on a house on Arlington Ridge Road where the protagonist, played by Kevin Costner, is being interrogated. A while back Fritz and I went looking for the house, but it is long gone. Fritz, who still lives in Pentagon City (his building was barely visible in the movie) found the location of the former house and wrote about it, so go there and read about it. Good detective work Fritz.
Oh and here is the opening of the movie with the tracking shot over the old, barely developed Pentagon City:
*Technically, my father's appartment too, as he lived there when it was called Riverhouse II.
Amen to your feelings on Sean Young! She was horrific in that film.
I forgot to mention this in my post, but at the end of the movie while the end-credits roll, the opening tracking shot gets reversed--i.e., it starts at the house on Arlington Ridge Road, pans right back over Riverhouse, then holds steady over the Pentagon and DC.
# posted by Fritz :
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:30:00 PM
Testing
# posted by WFY :
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 9:51:00 AM
Post a CommentWhy wasn't Sammy Baugh above the scroll/fold on Post? - William World News
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Why wasn't Sammy Baugh above the scroll/fold on Post?
The greatest Redskin of all (if not the greatest D.C. athlete ever), Sammy Baugh, died last night. For some reason, washingtonpost.com did not feature this news above the scroll as of 9:45 a.m. Their local competitors washtimes.com and dcexaminer.com both had Baugh in their carousels. On the print edition, Baugh's passing is only noted at the bottom. The front page of The Wash. Times has the news on the fold. Even the Philly Daily News had Baugh's passing noted on the back (sports) page.
Baugh made football in this town and revolutionized passing. He was also one of the greatest punters of all time and an excellent defensive back. His #33 is the only number officially retired by the Redskins. He was the only quarterback to lead the Redskins to multiple titles (1937 and 1942). I hope the Redskins honor him with a #33 patch on their uniforms for the rest of the season.
Depending on the source, Baugh may have never returned to Washington after retiring in 1952, preferring life on his Texas ranch.
Union Station centennial photos - William World News
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Union Station centennial photos
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This past weekend, Union Station celebrated its first century by displaying old locomotives and trains on the Gate B platform. Locomotives and cars from the Pennsylvania, Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O), Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), Southern and Atlantic Coast Line railroads were featured. Some of the cars allowed visitors too. The locomotive I really wanted to see, a New York Central 20th Century Limited Hudson was not featured because the were all regrettably scrapped.
The lighting, nothing more than work lights that you might use to paint your bathroom, left something to be desired. I used low light and night-time settings to get my shots. As always, the photos are SOOC (straight out of camera). Hopefully, they will find a reason to do this again in the future and have a little better lighting.
Not that I need an excuse to go to Union Station - William World News
Friday, October 03, 2008
Not that I need an excuse to go to Union Station
This weekend is the 100th anniversary celebration of Union Station. For some reason, the Union Station Web site does not mention this, but an AP/USA Todayarticle does. Some details:
The centennial celebration is Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. The free event will feature an exhibit of historic locomotives and passenger cars from the heyday of rail travel, as well as modern Amtrak equipment. Visitors will be able to walk through the cars and even buy souvenir stamps inside an old railway post office car. Archival photos of the station will also be on display.
My parents took us to the reopening 20 years too. I love Union Station; it is probably my favorite building in the District. The National Cathedral probably places second.
Mickey Vernon; Smooth Fielder, Hot Hitter for Senators - The Post Mickey Vernon was one of the most popular D.C. baseball players ever and probably the best first baseman. He died this week. I don't know if this was acknowledged at Nationals Park as his death may not have been known until after the home season ended. Given that he was from outside of Philly, I wonder if there was a moment of silence for him at Citizen's Bank Park last night. Vernon was also the original manager of the expansion Senators too.
The new light will not be as powerful as the lens that was installed in 1859, Rinaldi pointed out. The original lens, which is on display at the Barnegat Light Museum and Gardens, is about 10 feet by 8 feet with a kerosene lamp at its center.
The soon-to-be-installed lens is about 20 inches high and 20 inches wide, composed of Lucite panels. A rotating turntable behind the panels can accommodate a 10- to 100-watt bulb. The Coast Guard has approved the use of the new light, which is being imported from Vega Industries Limited in New Zealand at a cost of about $15,000, Rinaldi said.
As the turntable rotates, the light strikes a panel that refracts and magnifies the light to create a single beam that can be visible for up to 22 nautical miles.
This is all being done to commemorate the 150 anniversary of the lighthouse, first lit on Jan. 1, 1859. Old Barney is probably one of the most recognizable sights at the Jersey Shore. I have climbed all 217 steps to the observation deck a few times. The first visit, in the 1980s, revealed that about 172 feet below, our car was parked on the helipad. Oops.
Oh be still my heart! A lighthouse post on a Nats blog that was not written by me! Very cool story! (hmm.. may have to look into that NZ light manufacturer...)
# posted by MissChatter :
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 3:29:00 PM
The last game should have been scheduled for the day, not at 8:05 p.m. Of course, I'll get to see some of it this way since I am going to the Nats game this afternoon.
The opponent should have been the Red Sox or at least a team that had been around in 1923. Baltimore were not in the majors then.
This game should have been on the last day of the season, not today.
I am in no hurry to see the new Yankee Stadium. I don't want to go up there until after the current one has been completely removed. Seeing half a Yankee Stadium still standing sounds very depressing. -
Agreed on just about every point you make. First, this game should have been on the last day of the season. Was it scheduled this way to make sure it gets more attention versus the final day of the season and possible divisions and playoff spots being determined? Perhaps.
Second, it is a shame Bob wasn't there in person.
Third, to schedule the game at night was a travesty. ESPN games always go way too late, especially AL games. I stayed up to watch it but it was a shame to see such a historic event happen so late.
Fourth, the O's were probably scheduled to help ensure a Yankees victory. It's only fitting to have the Yankees win their last home game there.
# posted by Kevin McGuire :
Monday, September 22, 2008 9:59:00 AM
What is wrong with this picture? - William World News
Friday, August 22, 2008
What is wrong with this picture?
Um, nothing?
THE BRONX -- Forgive me if I find the case for building a new Yankee Stadium less compelling than say, Nationals Park. The building is old and the corridors are steep, but overall it remains a perfectly viable venue. While I have little doubt that it makes more financial sense to build a new facility, I think Yankee Stadium was special enough and the fan base is strong enough that they could have stuck it out in Yankee Stadium -- four million fans a year can't be wrong. It is all a moot point now, and perhaps when I walk into the new Yankee Stadium someday, I will forget about the old one. After all the new Yankee Stadium will look more like the original Yankee Stadium (in some respects) than the current one. Perhaps I am just being sentimental because my grandfather was born and raised on 161st Street, watched the stadium get built, and could hear the crowd from home when Babe Ruth hit a home run. Also, my mom worked there for the Yankees before the renovations. At least they are staying in the Bronx.
Last year Cliff pointed my in the direction of the excellent Esquire article from 1966, Frank Sinatra has a Cold. It is a great read and perhaps the birth of New Journalism. Among the great lines:
He seemed now to be also the embodiment of the fully emancipated male, perhaps the only one in America, the man who can do anything he wants, anything, can do it because he has money, the energy, and no apparent guilt.
Great writing and insight into the chairman of the board. I figured it was on topic because of this week's Music Tuesday entry.
Are you going to go on the tour? (Monument Park, press box, etc) Enjoy the game. Nathans Hot Dogs are excellent. I have already warned you about the use of Hunts Ketchup there--if you see Hank, please ask him to switch to Heinz in the new Stadium.
Also, take a few minutes to walk around the new ballpark. It has the look of being impressive, at least from the outside.
# posted by The Maryland Bureau Chief :
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 8:24:00 AM
There are no tours that day, but a visit to Monument Park is planned. Thanks again for the warning about the ketchup too, though I have never been a big fan of Nathan's -- I'm a Sabrett man.
# posted by WFY :
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 8:43:00 AM
Post a CommentWorld Champs flag at Nationals Park - William World News
Monday, June 23, 2008
World Champs flag at Nationals Park
I noticed during yesterday's telecast a flag behind the scoreboard has 1924 on it. That was the year that Washington won the World Series, defeating the New York Giants in an epic seven games.
Whether they were the Senators or Nationals then is open for debate, I suppose, since the two names were used interchangeably until the mid-1950s when Charlie Brotman made Senators the official name.
Does anybody know if they have pennants for the 1925 and 1933 AL champions as well?
"SHORT STILL STINKS" (This was the best I could get of an excellent homage to the darkest day in D.C. baseball history)
For the second series in a row, the Nationals face a franchise that abandoned the Nation's Capital. This time, it is the Texas Rangers, formerly Senators 2.0. Owner Bob Short moved them to what Shirley Povich (The Post) called "some jerk town with the single boast it is equidistant from Dallas and Fort Worth."
Before the 1969 season, Short outbid Bob Hope for the Senators with money he really did not have. Short charged the highest ticket prices in the game by a wide margin and made a disastrous trade for washed-up Denny McLain in 1971. Broke, he bolted for Texas, only to be rewarded with lower attendance than the Senators. During a Rangers-Orioles game in 1972, Senators fans, lead by Bill Holdforth, paraded a dummy around him in the stands with photographs of Short and his effigy appearing in sports sections across the country. Even more damaging was Holdforth placing an ad in a Minnesota newspaper during Short's senatorial run.
In 1978, when Short ran for a Minnesota Senate seat, Holdforth and some friends formed the Committee to Keep Bob Short Out of Washington. They held a beer bash at Holdforth's apartment to raise $3,000. "We charged $10 a head, and we had auctions," he said with a chuckle.
The money paid for an ad in the Minneapolis Tribune attacking Short. "Bob Short held our trust for three years, and we were SHORT CHANGED," read the ad, which ran the Sunday before voters headed to the polls.
Short won the primary but lost the election to David F. Durenberger. The night after his victory, Durenberger came into the Hawk 'n' Dove on Capitol Hill, the bar where Holdforth worked, to thank the committee, Holdforth said. "I wasn't the brains behind the operation, that's for sure, because it was fairly successful," he said.
He killed D.C. baseball for 34 years through his incompetence and avarice. Screech's Best Friend says that Short made a deathbed confession that moving the Senators was the worst decision he ever made (duh). That decision is why he is in the Chesapeake Bay watershed wing of Hell*, listening to Calvin Griffith go on and on about how much he hates black people and Bob Irsay repeat his introductory speech to Indiana where he said, "it isn't your team, it isn't the city's team, it's my team."
Bob Short: loser in baseball, loser in politics.
*He's awaiting a new member, from Baltimore, to arrive when the time is right.
The Newseum is now open. Admission is free today, but starting tomorrow, $20. The price seems steep, especially with the Smithsonian's free admission, but it is worth it
I thought I would round up some articles about the museum, some pro, some con. I reviewed it last week after attending a preview.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Since I am a "special friend" of the Newseum, I was able to get free preview tickets to the new museum. Erica, Fritz, dl004d (another media stuides major -- I'm not alone!) and Grand Marnier came along as well. Back when the Newseum was in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Va., I went to original Newseum, which closed in late 2001/early 2002, several times over the years. In fact, when I worked in Rosslyn I parked in a garage at the old Newseum.
The beginning starts of our visit was a little awkward.. Newseum guides recommended we start on the lower level, past the Berlin Wall and into the "holding center" to wait for the next showing of the 4D movie. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Several panels of the wall and a death tower are on display. The wall is not much more than a giant Jersey barrier with graffiti on one side, the barbed wire is all missing.
After moving on into the holding center, 4D glasses (stylish!) are given out and a video about "getting it right" is played. The 4D movie about the power of the media in America is quite good, both for the technology and the message. It is also unintentionally funny in the beginning.
From there, we took the elevator to the sixth floor. They have an outdoor observation area that details the history of Pennsylvania Ave. and provides excellent views. The view of the Capitol building would be absolutely perfect, but for the fact there are maple leaf flags all over the adjacent building, an embassy, across the corner. It is a harsh reminder of Canadian domination on American life. The sixth floor also includes digital versions of today's newspapers.
Moving down to the fifth floor we checked out the history gallery. Newspapers in clear display drawers are heavily featured as well as other artifacts from news gathering. This area is significantly bigger than the previous Newseum -- you could spend all day right there. One disappointment though - the FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD Daily News was not featured. How can you skip that if you are having a gallery of famous newspaper fronts? I skipped the books gallery - next time I'll check it out. I recall there being an exhibit about Edward R. Murrow on that floor as well.
The fourth floor features a 9/11 exhibit with a TV antenna from the World Trade Center, a time line of events and newspaper front pages. Photography is prohibited, which was fine with me. Having felt my office building shake when the Pentagon was attacked, I don't need to have reminders of that day. Also on the fourth floor was an exhibit on the First Amendment, which was quite interesting. We were reminded that burping is not covered by the First Amendment.
The third floor featured the Journalists Memorial and (if I recall correctly) the bombed out remains of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles Datsun. He was killed in the 1970s while investigating mafia. World news is also explored on this floor. I found the color-coded Press Freedom map of most interest.
Since being "On TV" was not of any interest to me, the third floor was skipped. You can do a newscast there with assorted backdrops. It did not seem very well organized.
The second floor is the Hall of News with a large screen featuring still photographs of major news events and a ticker that uses mixed-case letters instead of all capitals, which pleased dl004d. A satellite and news helicopter hang at this level.
Interactivity is a big part of the Newseum experience. There are touchscreen monitors all over the place. There is a downside to this though, the touch screens provide many opportunities to see bad news like the Challenger explosion or several different assassinations. It gets to be a bit much.
Despite spending over four hours in the Newseum, we really just skimmed it. It would probably take several days to see everything there. Also, we stopped by "The Food Section" a cafeteria with Wolfgang Puck food. The prices were high, but the quality was fairly good. On that level there is the first satellite news truck as well as a small exhibit on comics.
Overall, all were quite pleased with the new Newseum. I am sure I will go back sometime, but at $20 admission, it will probably be a while. Even at that price though, the Newseum is a good value if you can devote a day to spending in it.
"Harsh reminder of Canada's domination on American life?" Surely you jest.
# posted by CP :
Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:41:00 PM
I'm as serious as a 5 on 3 powerplay. Watch this video and see what I'm talking about.
# posted by WFY :
Thursday, April 17, 2008 2:40:00 PM
Post a CommentWho hasn't admired the integrity of the Berlin Wall? - William World News
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Who hasn't admired the integrity of the Berlin Wall?
WASHINGTON D.C -- I should have the Newseum write-up done tomorrow. In the meantime, ponder this message: ""In order to maintain the integrity of the Berlin Wall, please do not touch."
Pop Candy notes that Lego turned 50 yesterday! I should have known something was up when I saw Google spelled out with Legos yesterday.
I loved Legos as a kid, especially Legoland and Space sets. Legos were probably my favorite toy all time. I've avoided downloading Lego Digital Designer so far, but one of these days, I might cave in and do it.
As I have previously mentioned, I think Lego has gotten a little too specialized these days, but I'll admit I would have been all over the Star Wars Legos.
Random YouTube magic: End of good NFL broadcasting - William World News
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Random YouTube magic: End of good NFL broadcasting
The NFL ignored the social contract when it sold rights to NFC games to Fox, ending 38 years of CBS coverage. This was the last few minutes of the final telecast.
Well done, even with the cheesy syth music. Terry Bradshaw was restrained back the and not acting like a buffoon every second he was on camera.
The opener before that game was also quite good:
It isn't a stretch to say that my diminishing interest in the NFL began with the move from CBS to Fox. Several factors, primarily my passion for Penn State football, contributed of course, but this was the beginning. By 1997, the NFL wasn't appointment television every Sunday anymore.
I was pleased when CBS got the NFL (though the AFC) back and they do a pretty good job when they're aren't going gah-gah for the Patriots, but it is still a far cry form the glory days.
Rebel Yell is a misleading name for bourbon - William World News
Rebel Yell is a misleading name for bourbon
While I was out in San Francisco, I sampled some of David's Rebel bourbon. In fact, we toasted with it. It was okay, but I don't think I'm in any hurry to add it to my liquor cabinet.
I could not get over two things about Rebel Yell:
Since 1849 -- Putting that year on the bottle is just silly since the Civil War did not begin until 1861 and thus the Rebel Yell hadn't been created yet.
The name -- Rebel Yell. Kentucky, a border state, stayed in the Union during the Civil War. While the were certainly Southern sympathizers there, choosing Rebel Yell for the name is historically misleading.
A Many-Storied Inn - The Post Inside this article about the history of the now-closed Hotel Washington comes disappointing news:
If you waited long enough, waited up here even during winter -- when the rooftop was officially closed but the staff let you up because you begged them -- you could stand on the terrace as blasts of cold wind whipped the plastic window coverings that hang from a balcony. The open-aired balcony gives you unfettered access to Washington. They say the new owners plan to enclose this porch behind glass. What a pity, you think. Behind glass, Washington from this rooftop will not look the same.
I enjoyed sitting up there on a handful of occasions and think the new owners are making a major mistake closing that balcony up.
SAN FRANCISCO -- For years had this desire to buy Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Massage" off the shelf. I don't know why, but it strikes me as a more fun way to find it than ordering it. I was hoping I would be able to walk into City Lights and pull that off, but alas they didn't have one. They did have a McLuhan's "Understanding Media" which I picked up. I also picked up a copy of Howl by Allen Ginsberg and a themed bumper sticker.
Oddly enough, I'm not a big fan of the Beats. Howl, which was first published by City Lights in 1955-56, is amazing poetry though.
America's original Irish coffee - William World News
Thursday, December 20, 2007
America's original Irish coffee
SAN FRANCISCO-- Our host David mentioned that The Buena Vista, a pub near Fisherman's Wharf, claimed to the first place in America to serve Irish coffee. Since we had spent several hours in that area buying chocolate and taken photos of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, America's first Irish coffee bar sounded like a great way to warm up. I'm not a big coffee drinker - Irish or otherwise -, but this experience may have converted me.
We wound up having dinner at The Buena Vista and were pleased with the food, the heater next to the table and especially our waitress who was very attentive and efficient. I had the fish and chips which were quite good, while Erica had Dungeness crab cakes. She noted that they were different than Maryland style in that they had red peppers and green vegetables mixed in. While she prefers the Maryland variety, she still enjoyed her meal. The pub is a popular happy hour hangout too, so it wasn't just tourists eating and drinking there.
50 years of the Harbor Tunnel - William World News
Friday, November 23, 2007
50 years of the Harbor Tunnel
Harbor Tunnel marks 50th anniversary - The Sun The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel is approaching its semicentennial. When I was a kid, it was a traffic nightmare, but once the Ft. McHenry Tunnel (I-95) opened in 1985, the Harbor Tunnel became a good alternate route.
Other notes:
I can't remember it before it was I-895, but I do remember all the non-MUTCD signs that only got replaced about ten years ago.
The Harbor Tunnel Thruway had unusual exit numbering schemes -- sequential starting after the tunnel headed northbound; mileage-based from the northern terminus southbound)
There used to be a Colt 45 brewery near the interchange with the Baltimore Beltway (I-695). It later became a Washington Flour facility.
I also remember the Segram's 7 advertisement that was on a brick building near the highway
The speed limit should be at least 55 MPH throughout the non-tunnel sections and maybe 60 MPH in the stretches without exits.
Heavy Metal Parking Lot story on WTOP - William World News
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Heavy Metal Parking Lot story on WTOP
Driving home and flipping through stations, I heard the unmistakable vocie of the one and only...
ZEBRAMAN!
Sadly, I didn't hear the whole WTOP report. There isn't anything on wtop.com yet either. Anybody know why Heavy Metal Parking Lot was being referenced?
Anyway, while we wait for clarification, take time to read the interview I conducted with the creators of the movie and parking lot cinema, Jeff Krulik and John Heyn.
While I'm at it, I'll also plug Krulik's latest project:
Jimi Hendrix! Canned Heat! Moby Grape! John Lee Hooker in Adams Morgan! Crystal Mesh, Mosaic Virus and Natty Bumppo! The Ambassador Theater Lives! Washington, DC's Psychedelic Concert Hall 40th Anniversary Celebration Saturday, November 3, 2007 3PM DC Historical Studies Conference FREE. No Admission Charge Info and registration at www.historydc.org
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