GW Baseball in Arlington

You may remember a few weeks ago I wrote about GW baseball in Arlington. Recently, on one of those beautiful spring days, I decided to head over to Barcroft Park(field #6 by the way, not #4) to check a game out.

GW was playing William and Mary - my alma mater so that was a bonus for me. Go Tribe! (my apologies for not rooting for the home team)

Random Aside: I googled "alma mater" because I was paranoid that I was spelling it wrong. Did you know alma mater is Latin for nourishing mother and was the motto of the most ancient university in the world, the University of Bologna in Italy, founded in 1088 - thus the origins of our use of alma mater? But I digress. Back to baseball.

So, when we left off I was enjoying a beautiful spring day of college baseball in Arlington. Here's my summary -- if you're a big baseball fan, you'll enjoy it. It's pretty high level baseball up close and personal. That can be a lot of fun if you're a baseball fan. If you're not a baseball fan, I wouldn't recommend this as a way to try it out. You'll get bored. But all in all, not a bad way to spend a beautiful spring day. If you're looking to play hooky this afternoon (4/26 - 2:30) - Georgetown is "in town", and if you're free Saturday afternoon, check out the LaSalle game.
(1:00 PM).

And in case you are wondering, it was not a good day for Colonial fans. William and Mary put a good thumping on, 13-1.

Mardis Gras: Made in China

I've written about cross-cultural cinema before and I don't want to be too redundant. But going to these movies makes we want to write. After only two visits to cross-cultural cinema at the library, I am convinced that this is truly one of the great programs in Arlington and a real bonus to living or working in Arlington. It's a simple idea, but it works.

So, last night I checked out Mardi Gras: Made in China, the latest showing in Arlington Central Library's cross-cultural film series. I wasn't superexcited about the movie - it sounded like just another left-leaning documentary on globalization, or some other topic. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of those tyes of films - Supersize Me, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Farenhenheit 911 - I've seen them all. But I feel like I'm starting to reach my limit - time to try something different, you know.

But this is an excellent, thought-provoking, informative stimulating documentary. As with the last time I went to cross-cultural cinema, I desperately wanted a discussion group afterwards. This fall, if the stars align correctly, we are going to be rolling out a program called XY Arlington: Activities for 20s, 30s, and friends - I think we should roll a cross-cultural cinema discussion group in to that. What do you think?

And the bonus of last night - the film producer / director came down from Brooklyn and did a QA after the film. And for those of you who might be right-learning and not enjoy the left-leaning documentary, I have to give this guy props, he was incredibly open to discussion - very interesting.

I'll spare you the details of the film. Despite the fact that I really want to talk about it, it's not really that relevant to these posts. I do recommend that you check out the website, and try to see the film if you get a chance. And of course, I strongly recommend that you try out cross-cultural cinema. I believe they are the first Thursday of every month - I'll try and get in What's Up Arlington!. And if you decide to go, let me know, and we'll grab some coffee after and discuss the film.

Oh, Cross-Cultural Cinema is at Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street - near Virginia Square Metro and right by Quincy Park. Films technically start at 6:30, but both times I've been, they haven't started till 6:45. And if, like me last night, you don't have time to grab dinner before, they have some very basic snacks which should hold you till after the film (I was hungry by the end, but interested enough to last through)

An Afternoon with Community Role Models

I hope this picture thing works. I tried once before and screwed something up. I'm generally pretty good with technology. I don't know why I'm having problems. Anyway,..

The picture here is from the recent Community Role Models - or for those of you on the "in" crowd - CRM for short - volunteer activity. In case you're wondering, I'm the guy in the red Nationals hat standing on the ground. If you read the What's Up newsletter regularly - and I know you do :-) - you'll know I give these guys a fair number of plugs.

For those of you who aren't familiar with CRM, here’s the quick 411. CRM is a group of 20s and 30s something committed to promoting and doing volunteer work in Arlington. Plus, they hang out and have a lot of fun in connection with the activity. That simple.

So I plug these guys for a couple of reasons. First, volunteering and making a difference in your community is a good thing. It's something we all, and definitely myself, should be doing more often. Second, it's a cool group of people. Volunteering with a CRM activity is like hanging out with some friends and having a good time - except as a bonus you are doing something really positive in your community.

The most recent CRM activity involved some painting and yard work and a home for disabled adults. It was a beautiful day and we really did make a huge difference in how the house looked. It was fun and productive.

I really recommend signing up for CRM activities. I put most of them in What's Up! or you can sign-up for their monthly e-update on their webpage. Check them out or as those in the CRM know would say "Get Up! Get Out! Get Involved! :-)


Proof that work really was done