Save Arlington's Goats

This was just too funny to pass up writing about ...

From the Sun Gazette ...

What's an environmentally conscious and easy way to cut grass? For Arlington residents Bryant Nichols and Matt Haggerty, the answer was a pair of goats they bought on Craigslist.

You can even view the goats and rally in their suport with their very own goat cam.

This is hilarious! Please comment.

Favorite Arlington Restaurants?

Where do you like to eat?

Recently, the Arlington Insider asked people for their favorite Cheap Eats. You can click here for those responses. There's some good info there.

So, I thought I would ask you - what are you favorite places to eat in Arlington? Cheap? Expensive? Best brunch? Best place to hang out?

Feel free to comment, or if you want a full post, we can do that too.

Update: I just got this list of places to brunch in Clarendon. So, if you're looking for ideas, here's some great ideas in Clarendon:

Clarendon Grill (Sun. 11 am)
Galaxy Hut (Saturday + Sunday) 11 - 3
Java Shack (open daily 7 am)
La Tasca (Sat./Sun. 10:30 - 3)
Mexicali Blues (Sat./Sun. 11am-2)
Mister Days (Sat./Sun. 11am-1)
Molly Malone's (Sat.10:30-2/Sun. 10-2:30)
Robek's (7am daily, 8am Sat. + Sun.)
Sette Bello (Sun. 10 am to 3 pm)
Tallula (Sat./Sun. 11am-2:30pm)
Whitlow's (Sat./Sun. 9am - 3 pm)
Boulevard Woodgrill (Sat. 11am/Sun. 10am)
Earl's (Saturday 10:30 -7 pm/Sunday 10 am - 3 pm)
Kitty O'Shea's (Sat./Sun. 9 to 3)

Photo by Flickr user Luna

R2D2 in Arlington?

Anybody seen one of these in Arlington?

Picture by Flikr User: Pringle's Picks

Busboys and Poets Coming to Arlington

The Green Miles beat me to the punch on announcing the coming of Cakelove, but what he didn't mention was that Busboys and Poets is also coming to Shirlington!

If you've ever been to the one in D.C. you know it's a very cool mesh of bookstore, restaurant, bar, and of course, poetry readings, and special events... and very packed on a weekend night.

The fact that one is coming to Shirlington makes me want to celebrate like, I don't know, I just won the World Cup or something.

Cafe Scientique at Front Page

I just found out about this regular event and thought it sounded potentially interesting for the science geek in all of us.

Cafe Scientifque flourished first in the U.K. (see http://www.cafescientifique.org/) as a way for the public and scientists to mingle and discuss science issues in an informal setting. At least 35 cafés now exist in the U.S. The National Science Foundation initiated Café Scientifique (Arlington) and its occasional cousin in Washington D.C. in April 2006 to make science more accessible and accountable by featuring speakers whose expertise spans the sciences - and who can talk in plain English. Generally held on first Tuesdays at the Front Page.

Previous topics include A Brief History of the Earth and Moon, Are We All Martians?, Before the Big Bang, and the Science Behind Climate Change.

Cafe's seem to generally begin at 6:00 with light hors d'oeuvres and then a short presentation and dicussion at 6:30. Free and open to the public. No science background required.

Unfortunately, I just missed this month's presentation, but you can sign-up to be on their listserve at the National Science Foundation website, and get information about future events.

I'm interested to see what future topics are and to try to check one out. I'm not a huge science geek, but I like learning new things.

Miscellaneous Roundup

So much to do, so much to read, some highlights:

*Have you been following the new Fresh Aire initiative rolled out by Arlington's new board chair? Pretty cool I have to say. And more props to the County for rolling out a Fresh Aire blog to provide information. There is even a guest post by my blogger buddy The Green Miles.

*I just realized I missed a recent event by one of my favorite organizations, Art Outlet. Turns out they just hosted an event called Flux - An Art Sensory Overload. Sounds very cool - I hope they do a repeat performance in warmer weather. I added myself as a friend to their MySpace page, so hopefully I'll get updates in the future -- and I'll let you know about them here.

*In case you didn't catch this in the comments of my last post, I highly recommend the musings of Girasol - our very own bi-lingual Arlington dog.

*I hate the Sabres, but at least this Buffalo blogger gives props to the CAPS and their new practice facility here in Arlington.

*Has anybody else heard this rumor about Iwa Jima? I don't believe it, but it's kind of amusing to read about.

*I recently put out a call for bloggers writing about Arlington. In addition the ones on my blog roll on the right, and the ones mentioned above, here's a few others worth checking out:
--The Buckingham Herald Triblog -- all about Buckingham
-- Chez Robert Giron - an Arlington arts/literature blog
-- Plant Whacker - very interesting blog from an invasives volunteer in Arlington

Signature Theatre Open House

I had the privilege of checking out the new space for Signature Theatre recently. Let me just say - it is very very cool. It's very open, colorful, inviting, and just generally cool.

This weekend you can check out the space as well and enjoy some open house activities.

Free events include concerts by Tony® nominees Emily Skinner and Euan Morton, and a preview performance of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. Signature is located in Shirlington Village at 2800 S. Stafford St (Google doesn't seem to like that address, but if you can get to Shirlington, you'll find it. . Events are free, but some are ticketed.

You can check out the full open house schedule on the Signature Theatre website.

Check back next week for my thoughts on the new show - Into the Woods.

Air Force Memorial - up close and personal

Last post about the Air Force Memorial, for a while, I promise.

I finally got off 395 and got up close and personal to the Memorial, and I have to say it was pretty cool.

First issue - how to get there. I know it looks a bit unwelcoming from 395 with those barracks (is that what they are?) right there and no signage from the 395. But it's actually quite easy. From 395 -- Merge onto Washington Blvd / VA-27 W via Exit 8A toward VA-244 / Columbia Pike. Turn slight right onto VA-244 / Columbia Pike. The Memorial will be visible on Columbia Pike on your left at One Air Force Memorial Drive, Arlington, VA, 22211. Once you get up to it, there are signs for parking - not an over abundance of parking, but, at least when I was there, it was plenty. The parking is directly across the street from the Memorial.

So, you may not think there is much else you can see that you can't see from the road, and while that technically may be true, it's pretty cool to get right up on it (and underneath it). There's some other stuff there as well - basic memorial stuff - a statue, some quotes, some information. But really the best thing is just getting that close - it makes you want to take all kinds of pictures (which I obligingly did)

So, actually going up to the Memorial gets a thumbs up from me. It's very easy and only takes a few minutes to get off 395 and head over there. I highly recommend it.

New Year's Resolutions

Wow! 2007 already. I don't know why, but 2007 just sounds so much more "futuristic" to me than 2006. So, in the spirit of New Year's, I thought I would give some 2006 highlights and 2007 resolutions.

2006 Blog Highlights

• The What's Up Arlington! blog started in 2006 with a review of a Shelter from the Storm.


• Mardis Gras was a common theme in 2006 with both Mardis Gras in Clarendon and Mardis Gras in China


• Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer, Ropes Courses, Hikes, and Outdoor Festivals - June, now that was a good month.


• In October, I made one of my favorite discoveries of the year - Art Outlet


• November found YouTube sightings for both CRM and Bike Arlington.

So, all in all, 2006 was a good year of discovering and enjoying Arlington. I learned a lot, discovered a lot, and generally enjoyed myself. But, as with all things, there is room for improvement, which brings us to ...

2007 Resolutions

I really didn't do enough in 2006. Despite my best intentions and despite the fact that I almost always enjoyed the things I did, I didn't get out enough and try new things in 2006. I definitely fell in to times of excuses and other commitments. So in 2007, I will

• Get out more and try new and different things


• Engage more guest bloggers - there is so many cool things out there to do. And as much as I would like to go to all of them, it's just not practical. I've always hoped that just magically other people would want to contribute to this blog and talk about the things they do in Arlington, but, with a few exceptions, it just hasn't happened. This year I'm going to actively seek out more voices. I want your voice here too!


• Get XY Arlington off the ground - for those of you who know me, or are die hard readers of this blog (or the Washington Post), you'll know that I've been trying to get this initiative I'm calling XY Arlington off the ground. I'll spare you the gory details, but the bottom line is, it's not happening as quickly or smoothly as I think it should. I'm going to fix that.

So, those are a couple of things, I resolve to do in 2007. Along the way, I hope to make this blog and the accompanying What's Up newsletter a useful, informative and fun source for you.

Happy 2007!

Public Skate at IcePlex

I just returned from checking out the public skate session at the IcePlex in Ballston. My general impression - it is just so cool that this is in Arlington! (no pun intended on the "cool" ... ice ... get it ). It was crazy packed, holiday music was playing; it was just a great fun atmosphere.

Some details: I don't recommend these daytime public skate sessions during the holiday break. There were a kazillion kids there - which if you have kids, might be good; for me, not so good. Crowds are fun, but personally I prefer it to be more adult oriented. Kids can be fun to watch, but this was almost all kids. There are plenty of other options though including some adult only sessions - just check at the schedule at www.kettlercapitalsiceplex.com.

So, I highly recommend you checking it out. The facility is really nice and ice skating is really fun and it's just really exciting that we have this in Arlington. OK, I probably sound a little overboard here, but really it's fun.

See you on the ice!

More Air Force Memorial

Ok, I know I'm probably overdosing on info about the Air Force Memorial, but I found this review at DCTraveler that I thought was pretty informative:

According to the Air Force Memorial
Foundation’s website, the three spires are intended to “invoke flight and
the flying spirit” and “represent the three core Air Force values of - integrity
first, service before self, and excellence”.
The $30 million memorial also includes a Runway to Glory, a glass “Missing Man” Contemplation Wall, which honors airmen and women who died in service to their country, as well as a bronze Air Force Honor Guard statute.

The original planned location for the memorial was about 200 meters from the Marines (Iwo Jima) Memorial, but was changed to its current location after much controversy and protests from the Marines about its proximity to the Iwo Jima Memorial. Celebrated architect James Ingo Freed, also the designer of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Ronald Reagan building in DC, designed the new memorial.

I promise, I'm going to go soon and check it out for my self - up close and personal -- and then more posts about the Air Force Memorial :-)

Two quick things

I have been so completely overwhelmed lately that I have not been getting out and doing any of the fun things going on in Arlington. My personal advice - being involved in your community and giving back is a good thing - being on two boards of directors (including treasurer of one), being volunteer coordinator of a local youth sports league, and picking up a few hours a week at a part-time job/hobby "just for fun" ... well, sometime I think you need to pick your priorities, give your all to those, and learn to say no. So, enough of my rant ...

One of my favorite monthly Arlington activities is tonight - cross-cultural cinema at Central Library. Tonight's showing is Born in to Brothels. If anyone makes it out, and would like to write a guest blog about it, I would love to have it.

And for those of you who don't already get it, the latest version of What's Up Arlington! (the e-newsletter, not the blog) is now available. In this issue - winter recreation classes, Light Up Rosslyn, Project Christmas Angel, Places to find Christmas gifts.

My early New Year's resolution - unbury myself from this mess of over commitment, and get out and enjoy more of all this great stuff going on.

Don't Let this Weather End!

Wow! Have you been enjoying this weather as much as I have? Between Veteran's Day weekend and this most recent spell, we have had some incredible weather. I've

• Played tennis at Quincy Park - You can get a listing of all Arlington public tennis courts online,


• Went bike riding - check out BikeArlington for some great trail tips


• Went out to eat and sat in the outdoor seating


• Played a little pick-up touch football to help get rid of all that turkey


• Did some running - check out WalkArlington for some ideas on walking/running trails


• Ate lunch outside and read Life of Pi - available at your local Arlington library

The weather forecasts suggests we've got a few more days of this before we start to get some more seasonable cold temperatures, so get out there and enjoy it while you can!

What do you think of Clarendon?

Did anybody read the article in yesterday's Washington Post about whether Clarendon has "lost its edge". There's also a discussion piece with the author, another article about urban villages with a focus on Clarendon, and an audio file about Clarendon.

There definitely was a Clarendon theme going on in the Post yesterday.

So, I'm curious. What do you think? Has Clarendon "lost its edge". Is that a good thing? A bad thing? What do you think?