Tom Bridge

Special to We Love DC from our friend, Lisa King

I’m not going to argue the politics of whether the Park Service or DC should control the World War I Memorial on the National Mall. I will say it’s a damn shame that we don’t have a national memorial to the Great War, and I wish the DC World War I Memorial got more attention.

And I can’t believe that the Memorial Day events – scheduled for this Sunday (May 19th) – fell victim to a $1,000 budget shortfall due to sequestration. (Though I understand this is where the politics might come in.)

In any case, to honor my cousin James who died in the Meuse-Argonne just days before the Armistice and all the others who served and never came home, I will be at the World War I Memorial on Sunday morning at 10:30 am with a wreath. Feel free to join me.

Continuing with the bike path meme, our next stop is the Arlington Loop, a contiguous 16.5-mile loop that runs along four trails: Four Mile Run, W&OD, Custis and Mt. Vernon. This loop, depending on where you pick it up and which direction you go will either be about a 5 on the difficulty scale or it’ll be an 8. Clockwise, starting from the 14th Street Bridge, and you have a good ride with light to moderate ascents and some quality downhill. Counter-clockwise starting from Theodore Roosevelt Island, you have a brutal ascent up the Custis Trail, followed by relatively flat descent to National and back around.

Personally, because I hate hills except to go down them, I chose to pickup the Mt. Vernon Trail at the 14th Street Bridge on my way through town. This approach is one of three I’d recommend: Starting in DC, head to the Mall, then down & around 15th street past the Jefferson Memorial and then up the bike path over the Potomac there. At the foot of the bridge is the Mt. Vernon Trail, and you can head North if you love a good steep climb up the Custis Trail, or you can head South past National Airport.

I opted for the latter not because I’m afraid of hills, but because my knees just aren’t all the way down with the standing climbs necessary for a few of those Custis beasts.. If you want that extra cardio workout, though, go North by all means. The Mt. Vernon Trail along the Potomac is serene, with some incredible vistas.

My favorite part of this whole ride, though, is right at Gravelly Point near the Airport. Depending on the wind and the aircraft direction, planes will be taking off and landing right over your head, and the photographic possibilities from here are absolutely endless. Don’t miss this one if you can avoid it. It’s worth your time & attention. There are also a couple portapotties here, making it one of the few likely restroom breaks on this particular route. Your other options are pretty limited in this regard.

There are several entry/egress points for this ride, with clear access at the 14th Street and Memorial Bridges, as well as the Teddy Roosevelt Island path entrance from Rosslyn at Lee Highway & North Lynn Street. The Custis Path has a number of Arlington access points and listing all of those would take quite some time.  The W&OD Trail also has a number of access points, but the clearest are along Four Mile Run Drive in South Arlington.  From there, the Four Mile Run trail also has a number of entry points, including Shirlington, South Glebe Rd, and near the sewage treatment plant. 

Don’t forget to hydrate and fill your bottles before you get on the trail, your opportunities for refreshment are pretty few & far between on this ride. 

The exercise of your franchise as a citizen is the simplest task. Show up, prove who you are (photo ID not required, most times), push buttons or circle in ovals, file your ballot, and walk out whistling a happy tune. The whole thing can be a process, I know, but today you have the benefit of voting in a special election, which means turnout across the city is going to be light, which means there will be no lines. 

Don’t know where to vote? No problem.

Not sure if you’re registered? No problem. (If the answer is no, also no problem, you can vote in DC on a same-day registration. You need a District ID, a lease or utility bill with your name, or a bank statement in your name, a paycheck with your name and address, or another government document with your name and address.)

So. What are you voting for?

First up is the easy one: an amendment to the District’s Charter. This amendment, if approved, would grant the District direct control over revenue paid by District residents.  Currently, all revenue for the District is subject to the interference by the Congress, where we have no representation. This amendment would allow the District Government to directly appropriate tax dollars collected by the city instead of passing them to the Federal government and requesting them back. 

This one’s a no brainer.

The next one is a lot more interesting, and a lot less clear: an At-Large member of the Council of the District of Columbia. When Kwame Brown resigned, and Phil Mendelson filled his chair in the November election by popular vote, his own At-Large seat went vacant. It has been held since then by Anita Bonds, who put there by Democratic Party fiat. The election today fills that seat until the 2014 general election, the rest of Mendelson’s original term.

Who’s running? Anita Bonds (D), Matthew Frumin (D), Elissa Silverman (D), Paul Zukerberg (D), Patrick Mara (R), and Perry Redd (SG). 

That’s four Democrats, one Republican and a Statehood Green. I can’t tell you who to vote for – that’s not our job – but many say that this is a three-way race between Bonds, who represents an older, more traditional DC, and Mara and Silverman, who each represent reform for the city Council. Mara is on his third run for the council, all three from the Republican side of the aisle, something the council hasn’t seen since Carol Schwartz was bounced during a primary (she lost to Mara). Silverman is on her first run for the council, and is on leave from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, a think tank that works on DC budget issues.  Before serving at DCFPI, she was a Loose Lips columnist for Washington City Paper.

Mara, Silverman and Bonds are likely going to duke it out over a very few votes, so if you want to feel like you have outsize influence in a local election, today’s your day to go out and vote. Go vote, you’ll feel better no matter what happens.

There are so many monuments in DC it’s hard to keep track of them all. No, really, it’s kind of ridiculous how many statues there are in this city, not even including Statuary Hall at the Capitol or any of the interior objet d’art at various national organizations who make their home in the District. Fortunately, the Park Service and the National Capital Planning Commission have your back, and their latest effort was published today.

This google map is annotated with literally hundreds of the various statues and markers that dot our local landscape. Some of the more obscure include the Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain (on the Ellipse), Nuns of the Battlefield (at St. Matthew’s on M Street), and Jules Jusserand (Rock Creek Park). There are detailed entries on a number of the statues and markers, the result of the collaboration between the two entities. It’s worth a look if you’re going to be playing tour guide any time soon, and perhaps it’s a chance to create a cool scavenger hunt for yourself this weekend.

It’s been a pretty hard day for a lot of people, and our hearts go out to the families of the injured and the dead in Boston, where two bombs exploded at the end of the Boston Marathon on Patriot’s Day. 140+ are injured and 3 are dead.

It is both hard to fathom the attack on Boston, and yet it is so familiar to all of us who lived through 9/11. The smoke and the chaos, the fear and the anger, the hurt and heroism. 

Tomorrow is Emancipation Day in the District, a holiday to celebrate the freeing of the slaves in DC during the waning days of the Civil War. There will be a parade and a festival downtown at Freedom Plaza, and many businesses and offices will close for the day. It won’t be quite the same atmosphere as a Patriot’s Day in Boston – really, what is? – but there will be eyes on the city tomorrow as it celebrates in public.

MPD and Metro have already gone to heightened states of alert, though there are no disclosed threats to the metro area or to our transit systems. And yet, I worry for my city tonight, afraid of what tomorrow brings. Then I saw what my friend and fellow editor Dave Levy wrote tonight: The Sun Rises on Boston Tomorrow. This is not a city afraid, or a city reeling and listing, it is a city rising up. 

If Boston rises tomorrow, unafraid and unfaltering, then the District must rise with them, unafraid and unfaltering. Tomorrow is Emancipation Day, when District residents will take to the halls of Congress to lobby for statehood and local control. Tomorrow, we march in celebration of freedom ordained by our founding documents for all citizens regardless of their skin color. Be vigilant, tomorrow, and be observant, but do not be afraid.

It feels insincere to tell a city not to worry when there are real dangers out there, but I know that this town, like our friends in New England, is full of those who meet danger with courage, fear with resolve, and meet challenges like this with strength and determination.

We stand with our friends in Boston tomorrow, and every day, determined not to let fear get the better of us, and to meet the difficulties of life with help and with support for each other.

So say we all.

This is the sort of weather baseball is meant to be played in.  

A gentle breeze sweeps through the outfield, the sun is pleasantly beaming, and some high clouds trundle across the sky far to the north. This is the sort of weekend you long to spend at the ballpark. You want a hotdog in the sun, and a cold beer to go with it. These are the dreams of a winter sleeper, these perfect days.

Unless that was this weekend, and you were a Nationals fan.

The Nationals/Braves series was hotly contested Friday and Saturday, and a flailing 9-0 disaster on Sunday (the details of which do not matter today), and the Nationals came out with three losses. Detwiler’s great start Friday was wasted by bullpen failures. Strasburg was human against the Braves’ wrecking crew on Saturday, and the Braves straight raked all over Gio on Sunday. The series was, as you might expect with these descriptions, an abject failure.

Baseball seasons are long. They’re designed that way. They are a grueling marathon after which there’s a short sprint. This is not football where one loss condemns you to obscurity, or where the loss of a few games means sell the franchise player to the highest bidder.

April records are funny things. The best April record from last year was the Texas Rangers, who couldn’t hold on to their division by the end of the year, and were sent back to Arlington to watch the playoffs on the last game of the season. While good months can help your cause, divisions and pennants aren’t won in April. They aren’t lost in April, either. The Nationals’ start is certainly slow, and there’s cause for concern, but there’s no reason to panic yet.

Here are three reasons why you shouldn’t panic:

1. Underperforming offenses correct

Yes, the Nationals offense has been underperforming this season so far. A weekend series against the Braves in which they were outscored 18-5 certainly looks bad for the Nationals offense, but with a quiet middle of the order against the Braves pitching, it looked a lot worse. The Nationals best hitters are underperforming right now, and that’s going to correct itself.  This isn’t the usual for Adam LaRoche, this isn’t the usual for Ryan Zimmerman or Bryce Harper or Jayson Werth. 

2. Small Sample Size

We’ve talked a lot on Twitter and elsewhere about the problems of small sample size, and the first twelve games of the season are certainly not a microcosm of their chances for the season. If you take this down to just their two losing series, the results only look worse. I’m not saying there’s no chance the Nationals miss the playoffs, I’m just saying that the margin of error on the current data is substantial. Panicking this early would be like panicking at the half in the 2nd game of the football season. Don’t do it. Especially since in that situation, the home team would be up at that half.

3. Look at the Calendar (hint: look at the month part, too)

Who do the Nats face next? The Marlins that they clubbed to start the season, and who have continued their slide to a lovely 2-10.  Follow that with the Mets who, with exception of an over-performing Matt Harvey (who will face off with Strasburg), are eminently an inferior team to the Nationals.

Now: remind yourself it’s still April, there are still 150 games to go this year, and this is a team that’s still favored to win the World Series. 

It’s gonna be okay.

Metro announced this morning that they are working to redesign the underground stations of its system. They are considering multiple new concepts, and have made a video to highlight a few options they’re considering for Bethesda station. The options include an anti-slip zone at the bottom of the escalators, and replacement of the traditional “Metro Brown” with sleek metal panels. Concrete barriers will be replaced with glass ones in the mezzanine section, and the standalone pylon lights will be replaced with taller winged standards that will include PID displays.

The concepts they’re playing with are still virtual, but it will not stay that way. Look for Bethesda station to get a few of these new concepts over the next few years, with the renovations being completed in 2015. The station will also be getting new escalators during the process, so if this is a regular spot for you, it’s probably going to get delightfully inconvenient (which is not WMATA’s new slogan, even if maybe it should be.) over the next few years.

As part of a new series, we’re going to be talking about some of the pedestrian and bike paths through the District and surrounding areas while it’s perfect for using them. Looking for a new place to go out, or just a reminder of some old familiar paths? We’ve got you covered. Leave suggestions for future routes in the comments.

When the biking bug bit me last year, I started asking around: where can I go ride where I won’t have to dodge cars the whole time? Some were quick to say the Capital Crescent Trail, while others suggested the Mt. Vernon Trail and the Custis Trail, and we’ll get to all of those this summer, but the one that made me fall in love with biking again was the Rock Creek Park Trail.

The trail is split into two sections: one from the District line down Beach Drive, one from Blagden Avenue down to the National Mall. Each has its moments, but they’re very different beasts.  On Saturday and Sunday, the northern section is a cyclist’s paradise, a gently sloping and curving road two lanes wide and closed to motorized traffic. You will see the spandex set climbing from Blagden Avenue northward to East-West Highway, it’s a phenomenal workout, but me, I prefer to cruise down it, having done all my climbing up Sligo Creek Parkway. The southern section is more narrow, but in my opinion, far more beautiful. Recognize, though, that this is a heavily trafficked trail, so I would not expect to get a lot of speed work done here. This is a good trail for cruising, not for booking it. It’s also a commuter route during the week, so you are

The trail itself has multiple entrances in DC, from Beach Drive at the northern end, to Military Trail NW, Blagden Avenue, and Tilden St NW in the middle, to 24th Street NW, P Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW at the south end, so you’ve got a lot of ins & outs if you want to work this into a regular rotation with other rides, and its accessibility from some major thoroughfares gives you options for using some of the many

View Larger Map

Where to Start: Start on Beach Drive in Maryland, just south of East-West Highway. There’s parking here if you want to drive your bike to the top and ride down, then climb back up again, and there’s a beautiful park that you can use to get your bearings and comfortable before riding down. Trust me when I say you don’t want to be checking your gear riding down, it’s way too beautiful.

What to Watch For: Along the Northern section, it’s all the incredible switchbacks. Each turn reveals new parts of the park to marvel at, especially now as the trees and flowers are starting to do their spring magic, and it’s pretty incredible in the Fall as well. The old stone bridges are also quite lovely. In the southern section, you get to ride beneath some of DC’s wondrous arch bridges, like the Taft and Ellington Bridges, so bring your camera and be ready to stop.  Don’t forget Peirce Mill, right there at Tilden St NW, which is a beautiful 1820s-era gristmill and has an awesome picnic grounds and park space.

What to Be Careful of: Traffic. This is a busy trail with walkers, joggers and cyclers, so be courteous. Use a bell, it cuts through the headphones better than a shout, but they’re probably still not moving out of your way either. Be careful, go slow. The bridge over Rock Creek after the Zoo is perilously narrow for cyclists, it’s single file and one way at a time, or you’ll end up in the road, which can be pretty hazardous with fast-moving traffic coming through the tunnel blind.

The umpires did not give comment as to why they were 20 minutes late for the Nationals game last night, so we made up a few potential reasons:

1. Home plate umpire Chris Guccione was so caught up in the beauty of the cherry blossoms that he spent twenty minutes sitting at the MLK memorial rocking back and forth while crying.

2. Third base umpire Phil Cuzzi wanted to try out a U Street Taco.

3. Look anybody can miss one turn on the Southeast/Southwest Freeway and end up in the HOV lanes all the way past Springfield. It can happen to anyone. Swearsies. Don’t forget your Garmin next time, guys.

4. First Base umpire Tom Hallion was busy having it out with some Half Street bros over the legacy of Margaret Thatcher at the Fairgrounds and lost track of time.

5. Dan Snyder. It’s always Dan Snyder’s fault. Remember that.

Tip of the cap to Dave Levy for the assist.

Adam Kilgore is right, the ball does sound different off the bat of the 20-year old, and that sonic assault was particularly sweet last night as Bryce Harper crushed a ball into the second deck of the right field stands on Wednesday night. The solo home run in the fourth tied the game for the Nats, and they wouldn’t look back from there. Ian Desmond went 3-4 with a pair of doubles and a triple, Jordan Zimmermann cruised through seven innings on just 90 pitches, and Raphael Soriano put together his fourth save as the Nationals claimed their second series at home for the season.

Like the future, the Nationals offense just isn’t evenly distributed yet. Bryce Harper (2-4, HR), Danny Espinosa (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Ian Desmond (3-4, 2 2B, 3B, 2 R) lead the squad, while Adam LaRoche (0-4, GIDP, 2 K) Ryan Zimmerman (1-4, 2 K) and Jayson Werth (1-4, 2 K) were struggling with Gavin Floyd’s pitch selection. The plate discipline from the core of the lineup was at times on Wednesday night pretty execrable. As one columnist remarked, it wasn’t until Jordan Zimmermann batted in the 3rd that the Nats had a good plate appearance.

But, on any given evening throughout the summer your heroes will be different, and the key to a successful season isn’t so much hitting on all cylinders every night as it is hitting on at least a few of them in turn. The Nationals have put double digits in the hit column three of their last four, all for victories. The Nats go for the sweep tonight at 7:05pm with Dan Haren on the bump hoping to make good after a rough first start.

Other Notes:

Wednesday’s game got underway about 20 minutes late due to the umpiring crew getting stuck in DC Traffic on their way to the park.

This is just about the most perfect time of year in the District, when the spring weather has sprung, the sugar magnolias and cherries are mid bloom, and the tulips and daffodils are brightening the landscape. Well, at least that’s what it looks like in proper gardens, my own space is still suffering from a surfeit of prunella and the hydrangea have yet to bloom. While my own space is in trouble, the gardens at The White House, though, are in perfect shape. This weekend, they open for their annual public tour of the Rose Garden, South Lawn and Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Tickets, free of charge, are available on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday & Sunday from 8am onward at 15th & E Streets at the Ellipse.

The Rose Garden (along the West Colonnade) celebrates its 100th year this year, as the original was planted in 1913 by Ellen Loise Axson Wilson after the Roosevelt remodel of the White House at the turn of the century. The original Rose Garden featured a lily pond at its center, unlike the current design, which is more in following with formal French and Italian garden styles, with defined lawn areas and defined beds for flowers. The 1960s revival of the White House Gardens under the direction of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and horticulturalist Rachel Lambert Mellon led to the gardens that are present today, dedicated by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in 1964.

Though the roses will likely not be blooming for a few more weeks, the large flowering saucer magnolia and Magnolia × soulangeana trees along the Colonnades should be at maximum potency this weekend, which should make for some pretty incredible photos. Be on the look for daffodil, jonquil, grape hyacinth, tulips and squill, amongst other spring blooming flower bulbs, as well as the perennials hollyhock, lavender and delphinium.

Cameras are welcome this weekend, but food and drink, as well as any large bags or suitcases are not. Obviously weapons and explosives are prohibited, as is smoking. 

The Nationals continued their systematic dismantling of the Miami Marlins with a 6-1 thumping on Thursday afternoon in front of 25,000 freezing Nats fans playing hooky from work and school.  Jordan Zimmermann took the mound hoping to extend the Nationals’ shutout streak past 18 innings – and he would, but just another inning.

Zimmermann did, at times, display the new change up he’s been working in the pre-season, and for effect. Justin Ruggiano, though, took a four-seam fastball into the right-field stands on the first pitch of the second inning. The wily righty battled the Marlins lineup for six innings, scattering eight hits, and benefitting significantly from expert defense in the field to keep things from getting out of control.

The Nationals’ offensive machine began to move in earnest against Wade LeBlanc, with Denard Span (1-3, BB, 2R), Jayson Werth (2-4, HR, 2R), Bryce Harper (2-4, R, RBI), and Ryan Zimmerman (3-3, BB 2B, 2RBI) all putting up stellar days. Manager Davey Johnson was quick to credit their approach in the post game press conference, saying, “no matter what we read, we don’t get too far in front.”

The Nationals’ pitching was stellar in the series, surrendering just one run across three games. Asked about the sharpness of the staff, Johnson smiled, “I love my staff, my starters and bullpen both. Every day is going to be a test, but I like how they approach the job.”  One approach we hadn’t yet seen this season until today was Henry Rodriguez, who claimed the final spot on the 25-man roster just two days before the end of spring training. He dealt the Marlins in order in the 7th, including a filthy slider to Giancarlo Stanton to end his brief trip to the mound.

After today’s game, the team heads next to Cincinnati to face a real major league baseball team, as the Reds are thought to be one of the few teams with as good a chance at post-season play as the Nationals.  The Reds are coming off a 2-1 opening series against the Angels that was tightly contested, with the first game going 13 innings. This will be the first real test of the Nationals’ lineup against a real opponent. The series starts Friday night with Dan Haren making his inaugural start for Washington against Homer Bailey, and continues with two afternoon tilts Saturday and Sunday. Johnny Cueto and Stephen Strasburg go head to head in the latter matchup in what will be an intense pitchers’ duel.

A Moment About Bryce Harper

There’s no question that Harper is in the rarified air at the top of the sport, but it would be just fine by me that the powers that be in our media landscape didn’t run out of their way, as MASN did today, to compare him to each and every hall of fame great out there. I understand he’s amazing – his 6-11 start is ridiculous – but let’s gather some perspective for a second. The book isn’t even half a chapter in for Harper, so don’t start applying the myths and legends of the Hall of Fame to his career before he’s earned them. It seems almost ridiculous to give him that standard of praise before he’s put up a whole season’s worth of numbers that earn them. Save it, guys. Save it. Otherwise you just look silly.

Take On Me – Just Say No

Look, I love a good ballpark tradition, and last season’s adoption of Michael Morse’s late innings walkup music was a welcome addition to the ballpark atmosphere. The iconic 1980s tune is the sort of thing that inspires pretty much everyone to reach, equally badly, for that falsetto high C, and it creates a moment of community in the crowd.

But, to me at least, something feels icky and wrong about using what Michael Morse shared with DC as something instead that DC shared with Morse. The co-opting of Morse’s music without him being here doesn’t feel right to me, and though the crowd seems to enjoy it, there’s something almost ghoulish about using the bond Morse made with the fans without him here. I had hoped the team would save it for his first at-bat returning to Nationals Park, because that’s the sort of respect I’d like to think everyone would have for him.

But, that’s not to be, and it’s going to be the 7th inning stretch music for some time to come, instead. I just think I won’t be singing along any time soon.

That’ll be $30.34, Please, Mr. Werth

Jayson Werth crushed a 425-foot home run beyond the visiting bullpen, just an absolute demolition of a fastball. Had Mr. Werth wanted to permit this act of demolition, it would’ve run him $30.34 and a postcard permit from DCRA. However, since he likely didn’t file that postcard permit, it’s possible that he’s facing a $2,000 fine for demolition without a permit.

Thankfully, it was done before 7pm, when the fees go up again. Whew.

After ten years of living in the greater DC area, I became a District resident in 2010. In those three years, I’ve grown to see more complexity in many different subjects, but most clear to me is how this city eyes the politics of race and of affluence. The front lines of DC’s gentrification are not a comfortable place, for the new or the old. And yet, they’re inescapable for a city in the midst of change and growth.

Tiffany and I moved to Monroe Street NE in the Brookland neighborhood, a part of DC that is both old and new all at once. Brookland is one of DC’s most diverse neighborhoods. There are new residents (white, black, hispanic), old residents (white, black, hispanic), poor residents, rich residents, the childless and families, and all are well represented in Brookland. I won’t call that coexistence easy or flawless, but I will say that this is a neighborhood that, for the most part, gets along despite their differences. The meetings can be contentious – see the 901 Monroe development for a good example – but this isn’t a place where all decorum is thrown out the window, making it an exception in Ward 5, known for its online drama.

On Sunday night, thirteen people were shot in front of their homes at Tyler House on North Capitol Street. The 284 units of Section 8 public housing at Tyler House are the site of a $25M renovation planned for the near term, separate from a necessary $100M commitment from Mayor Vincent Gray for the expansion of affordable housing for the District.

Much of the focus in the reporting on the shootings was placed on the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, and not on the victims. Discussion was framed around the big nightclub nearby and the changing status of the District rather than the thirteen individuals who were shot – thankfully none fatally – in front of their homes.

We don’t know the motives of the shooters.

We don’t know who they were, or who they were shooting at.

We don’t know what drove them to fire into a crowd on Sunday night.

The backlash towards the quotes in the article came quickly and fiercely, decrying councilman Tommy Wells’ response (to initially assign blame to the nightclub, not the shooters), and the city’s overall indifference to the violence that can mar our city’s visage. In many cases, that backlash is well-deserved, especially with a paucity of evidence in the shootings

In the followup discussion on Twitter, I was struck by tweets from our Shadow Representative Nate Bennett Fleming, who suggested that the concept of decentralizing public housing was “similar to the ‘back to Africa’ arguments regarding dealing w/ country’s race problem…” (Note from the Author, 5:37pm: Fleming contends that he was only making a logical argument aligning removal of “the problem” as a solution, and was not making bias claims against the author or Commander Solberg, whose quote in the Post was seed for this conversation)

In the three years since I moved into the District, I’ve been called a Klan member for supporting a pizza place in Brookland, and compared to slaveowners for supporting a multi-use development in Brookland.

This is part of a discourse I am increasingly uncomfortable with: how quickly we move to dehumanize each other in the pursuit of winning arguments. It is a trend that I find objectionable because it is only interested in keeping that division alive and present and painful, instead of all of us advancing together as one.

It seems that every civic interaction I’ve had since moving into the city has been fraught with this dialectical guilt, this heavy assumption of a historical burden. I am not arguing that we should ignore this history, or that it has no effects, but rather that we must find a more productive, open-hearted means of engaging with each other than leaping to heated ad hominem.

The point of this is to say: we all want an end to violence. We all want beautiful, livable neighborhoods, and good schools for our kids, and seniors to age in place if that’s their desire. These are things we all share in common. I don’t know anyone in our community that doesn’t want these things. There’s a lot of baggage in our history – heavy, heavy stuff – but sometimes your neighbor is just your neighbor, and they’re just trying to help.

Jenn: So much to catch! This is the last weekend of the DC Intersections festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center over on H Street NE, with exciting selections such as Vijar Iyer’s documentary concert Holding It Down: The Veterans Dreams Project, theOur City Film Festival, and a musical mash-up with North Indian classical violinist Nistha Raj, jazz saxophonist Aakash Mittal, tabliya Debu Nayak, and beatboxer Christylez Bacon. It’s also the last weekend for the opulent exhibit of Turkish design, The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art, at the Textile Museum. Plus the last weekend for Folger Theatre’s riveting production of Henry V. And I definitely want to hit Hogo for the next installment of their rotating chef series, with Aaron Silverman of the upcoming Capitol Hill spot Rose’s Luxury previewing some dishes like popcorn soup and spicy pork and lychee — yum. Can I say yum and still be taken seriously?

Tom: After the failed snowstorm this week, I’m thinking Spring might really be upon us. Have you looked at the weather? 51 on Saturday, 58 on Sunday, and full of sunshine. I’ve been dying to check out the Corcoran’s Pump Me Up exhibit, so it’s possible I’ll put on a go-go/native punk playlist and bike down to check it out. There’s also still baseball and hockey to watch to watch this weekend, and civic association work to be done, so look for me at Turkey Thicket getting a count on activity.

Rachel: One of my favorite things to do in DC is also something I haven’t done in a very long time … buy a book and do brunch at Kramer’s Bookstore in Dupont. My plan is to indulge myself in a fairy tale since my current obsession is ABC’s Once Upon A Time. I’m thinking some Peter Pan coupled with a little Corned Beef Hash will make for quite a splendid little Saturday. Otherwise, I’ll be laying low for the rest of the weekend but I really have been meaning to check out the Board Room for quite awhile. Maybe I’ll work in a trip that way and get in a live game of chess.

Joanna: It’s my first weekend back after a month away! Without intending, I scheduled a lot of lovely visual excursions in the next few days: I’m starting off with Manon Lescaut at the Kennedy Center because hello – opera! – and Puccini was the name of my mom’s first dog. (There’s a free answer to an online security question. De nada.) Saturday I’m hitting up the National Gallery of Art to see what’s changed in the last month. The Pre-Raphaelites exhibit looks fabulous. Toss in a session (or two?) at Bayou Bakery andMetamorphoses at Arena Stage, and call the whole thing a welcome home party thrown by art.

Katie: My internal clock got thrown way, way off this week (it’s not Tuesday today?), and it’s about to get thrown even further off through daylight savings on Sunday. In order to correct my clock, I think I need some wine. Luckily, our wine club’s theme this month is “fun labels, fun names and fun wines”. I’m going to stop by Schnieder’s of Capitol Hill to pick up some Bleasdale Uncle Dick The Red Brute, which fits all three qualifiers. I also want to revisit my southern roots by heading to Georgia Brown’s for brunch, and I’m taking my high school mentee to Benihana because she requested hibachi for her birthday.

Fedward:  this is a rare weekend when almost everything I want to do is at the Kennedy Center. Tonight the Washington National Opera presents Manon Lescaut, and tomorrow Norma. Also tonight and tomorrow are two concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra featuring Anne Sofie von Otter, whose recital Monday was one of the best musical experiences I’ve had. Also I should toss in a shameless plug for Backa Teater’s children’s show Little King Mattias, since the Social Chair is helping out as a discussion leader. And if you do get to the Kennedy Center, make sure you leave time to check out some of the art brought in as part of Nordic Cool 2013.  The isolated fortress of the performing arts is more alive, inside and out, than I’ve ever seen it. Note to whoever’s in charge over there:  more like this, please!  Sunday is the International Day of Awesomeness (March 10th, every year!) so I’ll observe that with some awesome brunch and awesome cocktails at the awesome Passenger.

Alexia: The good news: 3 of my favorite DC bands are playing tonight! The bad news: they’re playing in 3 different places. If I can figure out how to clone myself or bend the space-time continuum by tonight here’s where I’ll be: Heavy Breathing bring their freak-out electronica/rock to the Mansion at Strathmore tonight at 9pm, Sunwolf open. In Columbia Heights dreamy/dancey electronic act Black Hills play at The Dunes, along with Golden Looks and The Attic Ends. Show starts at 8pm. And across town on H Street, surf-punk rockers Shark Week play at Rock & Roll Hotel, along with The Joy Buttons (featuring members of Typefighter and Laughing Man), and Dance for the Dying. Show starts at 8:30. Saturday I’ll be heading to Reston for a friend’s birthday party, and Sunday doing a long-a$$ training run in preparation for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, which is less than a month away now!!! AAA!

Don: This weekend, like every other of late, revolves around That Darned Baby. Show him off to an old friend over dinner at Arlington’s American Tap Room, interview some local caregivers Saturday morning (found on our new favorite internet resource, Care.com) and then watch a bit of the Caps on tv while my darling wife meets a friend to look at some hand-me-down baby clothing. I swear it’s not a sexist division of labor; it’s just that if it was up to me the boy would be in old burlap coffee sacks till he stays the same size for more than a week. Come Sunday it’s more baby-showing and maybe a little waffle sandwich with Fedward and the Social Chair at the Passenger if the timing works out. Such excitement I bet you just can’t stand it.

Mosley: Finally a weekend with something to do. Saturday afternoon I’m helping some friends out at the Streaming Eagles tailgate before the DC United match on Saturday (they’re playing Real Salt Lake). Looking forward to the match itself, as it will only be my second United game. Sunday is fairly open but, if the weather is as good as is predicted, I might try to do a photo walk; I’ve been giving my cameras a break since my epic overseas adventure, but it might be time to dust them off. We’ll see.

The Capitals had flashes of greatness on Thursday night, slicing through the Devils lines like the team that won the Presidents Trophy in 2010, but a maddening display of undisciplined behavior in the third period undermined what should’ve been a Caps triumph. New Jersey 3, Capitals 2 was the final as the Caps dropped to 5-11-1, their 11 points is worst in the league.

There were some highlights, though: Braden Holtby made 35 saves — a number that usually means a win for the young net-minder — but tonight it wasn’t enough, as penalties mounted late.  Twice in the third period the Caps were missing two men, part of a disastrous collapse marred by mistake after mistake.  The Caps racked up 12 penalty minutes in the third on six minor penalties, giving the Devils the edge they needed to even the game, and then move ahead, on tallies from Loktionov and Kovalchuk.

One last thought: tonight was the first time since last May that we saw Alex Ovechkin display any of his unique talents. There were three breakaways tonight that carried that same fire that the talented forward can demonstrate. When he chooses to, Ovechkin can dazzle your senses, and do things that mortal forwards cannot, but so often this season that Ovechkin is absent from the ice. Tonight he was present and accounted for, if he was shut out by the Devils’ Brodeur. We also saw a careless tripping penalty (which really looked like a roughing penalty from where I was sitting. I’m fairly sure it’s hard to trip someone with an elbow to their face) from the Russian, though, which made him look petty amid the pretty.

The Capitals are running out of time. Now at the one-third mark of the shortened season, the Caps are six points behind the division lead and the last playoff slot. They will rematch with the Devils on Saturday at the Phone Booth. Tickets, as you might imagine, are plentiful on the open markets.

When I saw the load-in last night for Punch Brothers, I knew we were in for a treat. I’ve been there for shows like GWAR where the load-in takes hours and hours and the whole club is covered in plastic, and there’s a crew of a few dozen people to make it all go together. Those shows can be fun, but I love it when it’s the opposite. There were five mice and five pedals and one mixer on the stage and a curtain behind them.

My favorite shows are often the ones where there is the least between the band and their audience, both effects-wise and distance-wise, and the show from Punch Brothers delivered on both counts. Chris Thile, Gabe Witcher, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge and Paul Kowert are very possibly the most instrumentally precise group that I’ve seen live. I was doing some thinking last night after the show, searching my memory for a group that I could compare them to in that regard, and about the only group that fit the criteria were the Kronos Quartet.

Switching styles with grace, the quintet moved between traditional and progressive bluegrass last night, from new stuff to old stuff without so much as a flawed pick or missed note, and when you consider the complexity of the music they’re working with, from its manic picking to its dense harmonic structure, that’s the sort of thing you don’t hardly hear from a group that small.

My favorite point in the evening came, though, when their least experience singer picked up the mic for a cover of Through the Bottom of the Glass, a tribute to guitarist’s Chris Eldridge’s father’s band, the Seldom Scene. That honky-tonk classic sounded nothing short of divine from the quintet, with Chris Eldridge pulling off the Willie Nelson-esque vocals quite well. Let Critter sing more often, guys, Ben would’ve been proud.

As the night drew toward a close, I felt as if I had seen one of the better shows in DC, but what made it a perfect show was the encore. Thile returned to the stage toting just his mandolin, and I knew we were in for a treat. He played the Bach Sonata for Violin in G minor, the Presto movement, and he brought the whole house down. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the club that quiet.  I’ve seen the G minor Sonata a dozen or more times, but I heard it anew last night from the mandolin of Chris Thile.

As I walked back out into the cold, my heart was warm with Bach’s joy, and of the Punch Brothers’ incredible talent. Well done, men.

Photo by Luis Albisu, special to We Love DC

If the Nationals ever move from racing presidents, to racing supreme court justices, they’ve made a huge swing pickup.

On Saturday, the Nationals unveiled their latest signing: 27th President (and 10th Supreme Court Chief Justice) William Howard Taft, unveiled before a packed hall of fans and friends at the Washington Convention Center. The singular highlight of the day-long fan fest, the addition of a fifth racing president promises to provide some interesting rivalry options for the mid-game “main event” along the warning track.

In real life, Taft and Roosevelt were rivals that split the Republican Party in the 1912 election, leading to the election of Woodrow Wilson. Taft and Roosevelt split over the firing of Gifford Pinchot from the top of the Forestry Service at the USDA. A conservationist, Pinchot was canned when he opposed the Taft policies at USDA which he felt were an attempt to shutdown the conservation movement that Roosevelt had begun. Roosevelt had initially backed Taft as a good successor, but the divisions between the two men grew with the 1910 Pinchot-Ballinger affair, and then the 1912 prosecution of U.S. Steel split the party in half. Roosevelt would best Taft, but neither could assemble a majority. The rift that followed split the Republican party, formed the Bullmoose Party, and sunk the reelection chances for President Taft.

Nine years after the electoral disaster, Taft would accept President Harding’s nomination to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice, where he was approved 60-4 by the Senate.  Taft would push for the Supreme Court to get their own office space – a building immediately recognizable to all DC residents – instead of using the old Senate Chamber in the Capitol. In addition, he would reorganize their docketing structure to give the court more flexibility in modern scheduling and control. 

Taft wouldn’t live to see the new Supreme Court building built, though, as he would pass on in 1930.

He is buried at Arlington Cemetery, one of two presidents to bear that honor, and one of four chief justices.

Oh – and just to cut one off at the pass – Taft is not the inventor of the Seventh Inning Stretch, despite the anecdote of a seventh inning stretch inspired by Taft’s restless attendance at a Senators game, the practice predates his term by 50 years.

If there’s an agency that could use some good news, it’s beleaguered WMATA.

This morning, in an attempt to show they’re thinking about more than just the years and years of capital repairs they’ve embarked upon, the transit agency this morning unveiled a plan to carry Metro past 2025 and to 2040 with clear goals that include the separation of the Orange and Blue, and the Yellow and Green, lines underground through the center of the District of Columbia, as well as push the boundaries of rail further out to as far as Centreville, Bowie and Potomac Mills. 

The agency won’t be able to do that, though, without raising at least an additional $1.24B in revenue – per year – between 2015 and 2040. 

This wish list is divided into two buckets: 2025 (+$500M/yr) and 2040 (+$740M/yr). The 2025 list includes the money to run 8-car trains throughout the system during peak periods, new pedestrian connections between Farragut North and Farragut West, and Chinatown/Gallery Place and Metro Center, and some transit coordination between regional powers.  The 2040 list is far more ambitious, and includes new tunnels along M Street NW through Georgetown, and along 10th St NW from the river up to Thomas Circle, which would allow the yellow and green line to split through the core, as well as the orange and blue lines to split through the core.

I think, before most jurisdictions agree to outlay significant monies to boost Metro’s longterm vision, a clear path forward is necessary to the end of a system that is so delays as to be useless on the weekends, and full of consistent nagging problems on the weekdays.

Metro has an image problem – backed up by a failure to deliver problem – that it will need to combat in the public eye before the metro area will be willing to add $1.25B to the WMATA coffers.

You can read their press release or the Executive Summary (PDF), or check out the Post’s info graphic on the new plan.

Skates by yostinator

Every year since 2000, the Capitals have carried their home opener with a victory. Every year until 2013. The Capitals looked ragged and rusty on Tuesday night against the Jets of Winnipeg, and showed that a team that’s only been together a week is going to have some weaknesses that have yet to be purged by the fire of training and hard work.

In a lockout-shortened season, with a new head coach, and a whole new system, the Capitals looked more like a practice squad on Tuesday against the Jets. With two days to recover after a 6-3 loss to the Lightning on Sunday, the Caps had hoped to rebound better. The team looked listless and lost at times, and at least one forward found his playing time limited in the face of criticism from his coach: “I didn’t think he was skating.”

It’s a difficult position to be in, with a drastically shorter run-up to the season than in past years, but the Capitals will have to rally to put themselves together ahead of the rest of the short season. It’s one thing to drop a couple to start an 82-game season, but with just 46 games left, it’s dropping a couple mid-season and looking rusty.

The veteran presence on the DC lines will have to show some spark in the coming games if the Caps will want to succeed this season. There’s something missing, and while conditioning seems part of it, these are professional athletes and conditioning ought to be their bread and butter. At some point, it has to come down to chemistry, and Adam Oates has to show us: is he the master alchemist? Can he make sense of his talent and build it into a cohesive whole? Those are hard questions in a short season, and the Caps appear to be stunted by the short run-up to the season.

Also, before you point to the net as the problem here, as much as Holtby has appeared the human sieve, if you’re not even going to try to stop the cross into the slot, you really can’t blame the goalie. Look for Neuvy to get some playing time soon, but there is much to be desired from the blue line boys in the early offing.

We’re almost there.

Everyone’s been arriving for the last 48-72 hours, and the District has been packed to the gills with visitors and residents alike as we all cram into the ten miles square. Tomorrow’s festivities start mid-morning, with the oaths kicking off around 11:30am (both the President & Vice President took their official oaths today before noon), but there are pre-event festivities that will be starting earlier. 

What time do I need to get there?

Good question. Plan on getting there early. Crowds are likely to be more sparse than the massive turnout for the 2009 Inaugural, but I would still bet on half a million or so of your closest friends and neighbors to pack the Mall. Plan on getting there well ahead of time. Treat it like a sporting event that you could tailgate for, only, well, you can’t tailgate on the Mall. So you’re probably just going to stand there and chat with friends and strangers. 

Let’s just say, plan on getting to the Mall no later than 9am or so. If you have an actual hard ticket, plan on earlier still. If you’re just going down there to watch on the jumbotrons along the Mall, you’ve got a bit more time to get a spot near the big giant TVs. If you have to clear security, plan on more time even still. Everyone remembers the terrible purple tunnel of doom from 2009, and you really don’t want to get stuck like that.

How should I get there?

For the love of Pierre L’Enfant, don’t drive into the District. 

Because of the Inauguration, you can’t get anywhere near the parts of the city in a car that you might want to. Plan on public transit, which means buses, metro or even Bikeshare (more on that in a minute). Metro is running at rush hour pace from opening tomorrow until late in the day. Three stations are closed tomorrow: Smithsonian, Archives and Mt. Vernon Square. WMATA has made a fancy video and has a whole sub site for just inauguration information including a trip planner. 

What should I bring with me?

Well, as little as possible, frankly. There’s a list of Prohibited Items, and I wouldn’t recommend trying to cross the Secret Service on this one. But, if you’re into bringing stuff, may I recommend: a cellphone, a Smartrip card for Metro, your bikeshare key, pocket warmers, a small sealed bottle of water, and a snack.  You’re probably going to be outside in the cold for at least a few hours, so dress in layers. Leave your backpack at home.

What if I bike down?

Good for you. If you Bikeshare, CaBi will have two separate corrals (one north – at 17th & K NW, and one south – at 12th & Independence SW) where staff will relieve you of your bike and reshuffle them back into the system. If you are just taking your own bike, DCist reports that DDOT will have a big bike parking lot at 16th and I St NW for you to lock up your ride. Remember, people: lights and helmets if you can swing it. And don’t bike like a jerk, okay?

What about the parade?

Doesn’t everyone love a parade? The Parade Route is going to be crowded, so unless you’re part of the ticketed areas of both the swearing in and the parade, I’d recommend picking one or the other. If you have tickets to neither, you definitely have to pick. The parade route opens at 6:30, and you can bet that people will be there well before. So, be prepared to stand around and wait until the parade starts, and that’s not likely until at least 2:30pm. This is going to be a long stand. Be ready.

Okay, so that was fun, now what?

Well, if you got lucky and have tickets to one of the inaugural balls, have an awesome time. Be polite, don’t get too sauced, and if you do, please make sure not to throw up on your rental tux, okay? That’ll cost ya. But in all reality, if you don’t have ball invites, then head out on the town. 154 bars requested – and were granted – permission to serve alcohol until 4am on Tuesday morning, and here’s a handy map of them. 

Anything else?

Just one thing: have fun, and show off your city. This is a phenomenally beautiful place to live, work and play, and we shouldn’t be shy about sharing that with tourists, friends and neighbors. So share the love, everyone. This is likely their capital city, too, not just ours.