Fellow Dukes Unite in Rossyln Tonight

It's time for Madison Monday again - and this time the JMU Alumni happy hour will be held at Continental Pool Lounge in Rosslyn. There will be drink specials, games, door prizes, and the latest news on our winning Football Team and MetroDukes activities.

Review: ACE Hike & Happy Hour

It was 90 and humid on for the Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment Hike & Happy Hour on Saturday, but the hike around Roosevelt Island was the coolest part of my day.

Why? Unlike the steamy walk to Metro and walk from Rosslyn to Roosevelt, the hike around the island was mostly in the shade.

I say mostly because the tree canopy is being slowly destroyed by invasive plants. As Arlington County Invasive Plant Program Manager Jan Ferrigan explained, invasive vines like English Ivy choke native trees. Once they die and fall, invasives like Japanese Honeysuckle cover the ground and prevent new trees from being able to push skyward. And new research shows another invasive, Garlic Mustard, releases a chemical into the soil that discourages new tree growth.

Ironically, a native species may be helping Garlic Mustard take hold. We spotted several deer during the hike, some right on the trail (in the photo to the right, the deer is in the center, click the picture for a larger image). Jan told us there are at least 20 on the island. The deer eat native plants but not Garlic Mustard, giving the invasive a leg up.

Once the hike wrapped up, we headed over to Continental in Rosslyn for the happy hour end of the event. It was great to hear how much environmentalism has become a part of people's lives, with discussions of everything from organic beer to President Bush's lack of leadership on global warming to compact fluorescent light bulbs.

We had a good time despite some surprisingly hostile treatment from the staff of Continental. The bar had donated pool table time for each of the previous three ACE Hike & Happy Hours, but this year the event manager told us, and I am not making this up, that there is no profit to be made by giving things away. Even though the bar was nearly empty when we arrived, the manager yelled at us for setting out some green products on our table. The bartender refused our request to put the Red Sox-Yankees game on TV because he was watching ultimate fighting. And the waitress refused our request for a refill of our basket of tortilla chips, informing us that even though we ran up a $200 tab, "they're not bottomless chips."

Despite the deer and the dopes, we had a great time celebrating National Trails Day with hiking and happy houring. Hope to see you on the trail and at the bar next year!

Events I Have No Interest in Going to: "Bodies" Exhibition Opens in Rosslyn

The Washington Post has more details about the new "Bodies" exhibition which opened Saturday in Rosslyn and runs through October 28th.

For those of you who haven't heard of it, the exhibition features actual dead bodies stripped of their flesh to various depths and posed in different positions. It was featured briefly in the latest James Bond movie, "Casino Royale."

I'm sure many people will attend "Bodies" and be fascinated by it. Nationwide, three million people have already ponied up their hard-earned cash to see it. But for me, the sooner this exhibition leaves town, the better. Allow me to explain why using actual quotes from the previous paragraph:

1) "The exhibition features actual dead bodies"
2) "[D]ead bodies stripped of their flesh to various depths"
3) "The exhibition features actual dead bodies ... posed in different positions"

Yes, I know all three quotes are just different phrases from the same sentence. But I cannot emphasize enough how creepy the whole thing is. Even when the county put out a traffic alert saying the streets near the old Newseum would be closed to unload the exhibit, my first thought was, "I am going nowhere near Rosslyn today."

Am I wrong? Is it artistic? Am I just a philistine?