Ficke

"There’s no Journey here. No one’s throwing their hands in the air.”

And now we can never go to Marvin again:

Those taking an evening off from the darts-and-Dockers bar scenes in Georgetown or Adams Morgan say it feels more than a few Metro stops away from their usual haunts.

Also:

Outside, a sweeping roof deck framed by lanterns and gathered curtains was so packed that Tino Fletcher barely had enough room to spin around to show off his leather blazer and alligator boots.

“This place is cool enough for someone as cool as me,” said Mr. Fletcher, 37.

Yeah. We tried to go up on the roof deck to enjoy the warm night on Thursday (11pm on a Thursday! Don't these people have jobs?) and couldn't even get past the doorway to the deck because of the crowd. I guess a lot of people just really like those moules frites.

This reminds me that I've been meaning to endorse the Emily- and Ezra-approved plan for more porch-type gatherings for our summertime drinking.

Target Opens

The Target is open! Ahead of schedule, too. I stopped by tonight to check the place out, and it's not bad. For the most part, just a bog-standard Target, though they do have a Starbucks and a decently stocked groceries section (though they don't carry produce). Of course the Park Rd. Giant is only a block away, so I don't think many people will be doing their main food shopping at Target, but it's a nice supplement.

Disappointing discovery: despite what the Washingtonian reported, I didn't see any beer or wine for sale inside. Did I just miss it?

Also, Columbia Heights has now joined the elite ranks of those neighborhoods with two separate Starbucks across the street from each other. Be proud, fellow residents, for we have arrived.

All in all, I'm happy with the new place. The creeping suburbanization of the neighborhood (particularly the big parking garage that's accompanying the shopping center) is not totally ideal, but it's nice to not need to trek out to Maryland for shopping trips. Now if only we can get that REI...

Getting My Drink On

Since most everyone I know in the DC area is in another country, at the beach, or otherwise on vacation at the moment, I am spending my Friday night drinking at a bar by myself. And it's great! This is a woefully underrated activity, at least by those of us who have yet to achieve full-blown alcoholism.

The bar in question is Mayorga Lounge, located on the second floor of the old Tivoli Theatre at 14th and Park NW (above the coffee shop), a block north of the Columbia Heights Metro station. I've been hanging out here this past week, and I must say I'm impressed. It's not the sort of place I'd ordinarily frequent (the place is a bit slick, with a lot of artsy subdued lighting), but I like it. Their free wifi (and ample table space for such a small place) helps, and the bartenders know their stuff—their mixed drinks are well prepared. They have a small but respectable draft beer selection—Dogfish Head IPA, Pilsner Urquell, two varieties of “Hook and Ladder” beer, which I had never heard of (and is delicious), Blue Moon, and Miller Lite for the frugal-minded. Likewise with their whisky.

However, I don't know how well the place will hold up if more people start coming. A large part of the appeal is that it's not at all crowded (at 12:30 on this Friday night, there are 5 other people here), so we'll see if it changes as more people find out about it. It's only been open a short while, and I hope they can stay open, but I don't want the douchebag crowds that have been lately taken over Wonderland to migrate over here. Only time will tell. In the meanwhile, I'm going to milk this place for all it's worth.

Play On

We are all nekulturny swine, says the Post, too bleary-eyed and caught up in the daily bureaucratic grind to appreciate beauty when it unexpectedly pops up. Alright, fair enough--after all, just one person out of a thousand identified Joshua Bell as he played incognito for 45 minutes in a station of the Metro here in DC, and only a handful more even stopped to listen for a few minutes.

But for the risk of sounding too much like the creepy neighbor kid from American Beauty, my vanity would have me announce that, of course, I would have stopped to take in such a rare and magnificent spectacle. For am I not a man of culture and taste? Ordinarily, this would be a purely hypothetical and unfalsifiable assertion, as the subway buskers I tend to run into in Washington are more likely to be playing out-of-tune guitar riffs with a cheesy recorded synthesizer backbeat than, like, Bach.

However, on this day of days, I was surprised to encounter a lone violinist tucked off in a corner in the Woodley Park Metro station, at the top of the escalator, while heading home after work. He was quite good, playing a familiar piece that I nonetheless couldn't quite name, and seemingly oblivious to all those passing by. Whether his presence was due to the appearance of the Post article, I cannot say, but the crowd still blew by with their lamented haste.

Now, being so refined, I naturally stopped to listen for a brief while. But (and this brings me to the point of the story), it was really awkward. There's no natural place to stand, and dozens of people are pushing past in their attempt to reach the surface. It is quite uncomfortable, wondering if you should make eye contact, or say something, or put money in his case (and at what point in the process this should happen), and so on. And I actually liked the music!

Eventually I went on my way, after putting a few dollars in the man's violin case, convinced both that his presence had made my evening commute more pleasant, and that the best way to experience music in such a setting is to simply pass by, perhaps slowing your step slightly if you are particularly captivated. It is but a momentary pleasure. To ask more of it seems greedy.

It Glides as Softly as a Cloud

Stop the presses! The solution to DC's transportation woes has finally been found:

"I am not an engineer, an architect or a transportation expert. But in reading the extensive articles about the extension of the Metro system from West Falls Church to Dulles International Airport, I wonder whether anyone has ever given thought to the monorail...Would not the Washington area benefit from a modern, attractive mass-transit system that would reflect 21st-century thinking?"

Despite the fact that whoever edits the Post's "Letters to the Editor" section was obviously drunk on the job yesterday, this letter raises a good point. For far too long, we have failed to properly implement mid-20th century visions of 21st century thinking. Once we come to our senses and embrace the monorail, reliable and affordable jet packs and hovercars can't be far behind. The future is going to be awesome.