Jaybird's Jottings

Memorable Moments of 2009

Apologies dear readers, I’ve neglected you these past few days.    The better half and I were in California, visiting her family and our friends.    As always, we had a great time seeing everyone.   A hearty thanks go out to those who hosted us, and a special shout out to Chris for the tour of the Pet Network Animal Shelter in Incline Village.   The work she and the others do there for our furry friends is something really special.    If you are looking to adopt in the Lake Tahoe area, you cannot do any better than with these caring folks! 

Last time we talked, I offered my best blogs and books for 2009.   With the year all but eclipsed, here’s some memorable moments from the past twelve months. 

January 

The Mall has hosted a long list of historic events, and joining that list was the inauguration of President Obama. Friends from Oakland came out.   Together we went to the Dream Concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial.   While they were on hand to see the Inauguration, we watched on TV.  Just an amazing time for our country. 

February 

I celebrated my tenth anniversary of writing on-line.   Still waiting for that pin….

March 

We checked out Bike and Roll, who opened their doors in Old Town.    Their cozy corner spot has been a great addition for Alexandria and visitors in need of rentals. The bike lane on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge also debuted.

April 

Cherry trees, Tidal Basin, nice day, optimism, nuf said.  

May

For the first time, the better half and I hop on Segways, for a nifty little tour of parts of Pennsylvania Ave, Capitol Hill,  and the Mall.  Oh what fun this urban safari turned out to be. 

June 

June was a memorable month at Nationals Park.   We witnessed one of the three sell outs produced by Red Sox Nation and I got my Giants on, seeing Tim Lincecum and the boys.    The seemingly endless rains were a story too, but the memory etched in my mind is The Big Fellow Randy Johnson picking up his 300th career win.   Didn’t make that game but watched on TV. 

July 

Over 600 fanatics came to the Nation’s Capital for SABR’s 39th Annual Convention. Baseball nirvana.

August 

One of the sadder moments of the year, we visit the gravesite of Ted Kennedy at Arlington Cemetery. 

September 

For the Nats’ last home game of the season, we hopped on board the water taxi from Old Town, our first ride over.  In the bottom of the ninth on Fan Appreciation Day, it didn’t look good for the home nine, but Justin Maxwell stepped in and cracked a game-winning grand slam. 

October 

Through a driving rain, we drive up to Harper’s Ferry to take in the 150th anniversary commemoration of John Brown’s Raid.   Pivotal moment leading up to the start of the war.

November 

I decided to get to know DC better this year with a series of neighborhood visits.   Hard to pick one that stands out the most but the transformation of U Street and Shaw is quite remarkable. 

December 

Its 16.4 official inches at National Airport ranks just seventh in the all-time Washington list, but the December snow storm sure felt bigger.    As we speak, some small spots and frozen mounds are still on the ground. 

          

End of Year Wrap

With 2009 fading fast, it’s time once again to look back on the past year of reading.   Here are my favorite blogs and books for this year. 

Blogs 

Greater Greater Washington 

David Alpert and friends take a bow; DC is a better place to live due to your blog and civic activism. 

WeLoveDC 

We sure do, and we love reading Shannon’s Neighborhood Looks and DC Myth Busting, as well as the other regular series such as Why They Love DC.  Weekend doings a must for Fridays.  

Rushisaband 

Daily fix of Rush news.   Nobody does it better than Ed Stenger! 

Capital Weather Gang 

It’s all here, geeking out on the local weather charts, passing along precip totals and weather observations, sharing weather stories and memories, and checking out CWG’s forecast.   The confidence levels for their forecasts are a huge plus, something the TV meteorologists don’t usually provide. 

Business of Baseball 

Maury has all the news outside the lines.

El Lefty Malo 

Tasty nuggets of Giants news.   Lefty knows the Giants! 

Nats320 

Jeff has been accused of being too much of a softy, but that’s his unabashed point of view.   

Neil Peart 

For someone who is supposedly aloof, this guy sure does share a lot! 

Reliable Source, Washington Post 

Thanks to the new administration and the establishment of Hollywood East, Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger can now sit at the same table with Woodward and Bernstein.  Well, once in a while… 

DC Mud and DC Metrocentric (Real Estate) 

They’ve made my neighborhood visits a lot easier.

WashCycle 

Thanks to this advocacy blog, I’m more cautious around bikers, or at least I try to be.

GIANTS WIN! 

GIANTS WIN! pulls no punches and brings back good memories for us fans. 

Twitter 

I followed some authors on Twitter, but reading tweets is like eating sunflower seeds one at a time… 

Best Blog 

Mighty tough, so tempting to go with a co-winner.   But the first site I check when I get home is WeLoveDC, who really stepped it up this year with a terrific team of writers.   Greater Greater Washington is close second and Honorable Mention to Rushisaband. 

Books 

2009 was the year the Washington Post’s Sunday Book World said so long. Author appearances at book stores seem to be diminishing, but there’s always CSPAN’s BookTV.  Big applause for our local Barnes and Noble.   Maureen, your having-the-book streak is amazing! 

Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training by Charles Fountain 

Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero by Peter Morris. 

As They See Them, A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bruce Weber 

Miracle Ball:  My Hunt for the Shot Heard Round the World by Brian Biegel 

Willie's Boys : The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend by John Klima.  

Satchel:  The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye. 

Rocket Men, The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson 

Monument Wars, Washington, D.C., the National Mall, And the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape by Kirk Savage 

Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, DC., by Scott W. Berg. 

Hallowed Ground by Robert M. Poole

Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C. Heller

Best Book 

National heroes, astronauts, pioneers, umpires, those with mental challenges, refugees, Negro Leaguers, and our men and women in uniform.   It was a year of reading about those who showed courage and grace under pressure.   This makes this year’s pick a tremendous challenge. 

I’m going with Hallowed Ground, a wonderful book about the most heroic group of all.  

Note:  Big hat tip to Ron Kaplan and his Baseball Bookshelf blog for the heads-up, previews and reviews. 

 

 

 

 

Snow! The Perfect Storm

Today at Capital Weather Gang,  Kevin Ambrose makes note of what he considers The Perfect Storm. 

1) Snow depths of 20" or more. 

2) No changeover to sleet, ice, or rain.  

3) No dry slots occurring during the storm. 

4) Sub-freezing temperatures for the duration of the storm. 

5) Cold weather following the storm.

6) A weekend storm. 

Saturday’s storm met all his criteria.  A bonus would be the fact that it’s almost certain that some of the snow will still be on the ground on Friday, giving Washington a fairly rare White Christmas.

For me, my perfect storm would have his factors 2-6.  I would replace number one with a foot or so, and add seeing big juicy flakes.  Since we didn’t have that last one, this one was near perfect for me.

(Snow lovers are such a strange and picky lot, don't you think?)

Snow! Day Two

On Friday afternoon, the forecasts all agreed – 12 to 24 inches. Remembering the storms of ’96, ’03, and others, I said to myself, that’s the models, plus 20-30% tacked on for CYA purposes.    We’ll get 14 to 16.

That’s about right for Alexandria (our final total was 16), but for the Great Storm of December ’09, that’s the low end.   Dubbed “Snowpocalypse” by an overwhelming vote at Capital Weather Gang, this is the one they’ll be talking about for a long time.  

Reports range from 16 to 24 in the Washington area. According to CWG, Reagan National Airport got 16.4 inches.   That sets a mark for December that could stand for decades.   As far as all-time snows here, it ranks seventh on the list.  

I doubt much is open today.   The Ravens-Bears game (pushed back to 4:15) could see record TV ratings from a captive audience.

Time to bundle up and shovel.  

Uncle!

Snow Part Three

It looks like Washington will have a white Christmas.   The storm kept a kicking into the evening hours,  producing some eye-popping totals so far.    

Here in Alexandria we’re on the low end with 15 inches!  

This is one for the record books.  Probably will make the Top Five, maybe even Top Three!   

Snow! Part Two

 It's about 4 pm.  The snow is still coming down, but it has let up from earlier, and the radar shows we might have about another hour or two. 

I just took a measurement.  Supposed to take three and average but my one dip down reveals we got a foot so far.  That jives with NWS reporting. 

According to CWG, National did break the December record, a baker’s dozen worth recorded at 2 pm.   Amateur reporting shows as much as 18 inches in the suburbs, with Dulles having 16 so far.   Drifts no doubt are higher.   The snow plows came through our streets twice but not lately.   Local news shows some cars getting around.  

This will go down in the record books as a biggie.  It could slip into the Top Five, but I doubt it will move into second place past the 20.5 inches in 1899.

My snow needs have been met.  It is beautiful outside.   But you want to know something funny?   This snow left me disappointed in terms of the way it came down, not very  flaky.   

Hope to get out tomorrow.   Be careful shoveling, take it easy and don’t over do it.  

Snow!

The Great December Storm of 2009 (one to two feet predicted) has begun to dump its fluffy dry payload on the Greater Washington region.   Snow lovers here woke up this morning to 4 to 8 inches on the ground, and with the knowledge that today will bring what will certainly be a record amount for December (one foot) and possibly a Top Five total.   (28, 20.5, 18.7, 17.1, 16.7) 

Of this storm, Capital Weather Gang said it best:

The stars have aligned about as perfectly as they can for D.C. area snow lovers. No rain/snow line, probably little to no sleet, and no last-second wobble in the storm track. 

Of course, not everybody gets excited about snow, but the ones that do had quite a time last night.  The snow talk at CWG went on into the wee hours of the morning, a continuous stream of sharing thoughts and measured totals.

Check back with us in 36 hours when we get cabin fever and sore backs from shoveling.

But for now, the long wait is over.  The last big time snow in these parts was 2003.  For snow lovers like myself, that’s an eternity.   

 

Viewers Angry at DC News Station

By Jay Roberts 

Special from The Garlic Times 

To the generations who get their news on the web or through Twitter, the decision making process of a TV news station is not a big deal.   But for those brought up on broadcasts, such things can matter.  

Yesterday, dozens of angry viewers in Washington flooded the offices of NBC News4 with complaints.   Two major stories, the hiring of new Redskins GM Bruce Allen, and a possibly historic snow storm headed for the region, were overlooked as the lead-in.  Instead, dismayed viewers saw a report about a busted main water pipe in Baltimore.  

One email summed up the complaints.   

“Two stories that will easily make the Top Five of the Year, and they go with a pipe bust in Baltimore??  

A spokesperson for NBC News 4 apologized.  

“We’re going through personnel changes," she said.   "New staff are being briefed on what matters in Washington."

The seasoned journalist added with a chuckle.  

“We had a boss here once who had a big sign over his desk.   Redskins and snow storms.   Number one and number two, and don’t you ever forget it!”

My Tiger Hat

I like to wear hats.    They help with the vanity of hair loss and each one makes a statement.   One of my favorites is the one I bought this summer at Tiger’s Tournament, the AT&T National.   The other day I reached for it, only to pause, and decide not to wear it.    

That’s a tiny, tiny thing in the grand scheme, but with all that is happening with the greatest athlete of all-time, a lot of Tiger fans are pausing and trying to figure out how we feel about him.  As sports fans, we pay what sometimes feels like too much money for gear and tickets, an extension of our strong emotional investments in the players we look up to.    We’ve all been let down before by their shortcomings, and always will.  

But I have to say that my disappointment in Tiger is one of the greatest let downs I’ve ever felt.   In addition to all the great things he has done on and off the field, Tiger put his footprint here in Washington.   After the demise of the Kemper Open, Woods restored big time golf to the area by establishing the AT&T National in 2007.   There he was this summer on Capitol Hill, there he was at the White House giving President Obama golf tips, there he was chumming around with former President George H.W. Bush at Congressional’s first tee, there he was thanking the troops, there he was thrilling the enormous galleries, there he was draining long putts to win his own tournament.   As far as loving a sports figure, it didn't get any better.

I hope to wear my Tiger hat once again.   When that will be depends on how he handles things, and when he returns to the game.  

One thing is certain:  when I do reach for my Tiger hat, I’ll never look at it the same way again.     

 

Red Rocks Pizza

The other day we talked about the pending arrival of Pizza Paradiso in Old Town Alexandria.   For that bit of news, I’m sure residents further away from the river were thinking, too bad it isn’t closer to us.  

Well, it looks like you too will be getting a new pizza place.   The other day I was pounding the pavement on King Street, and as Yogi would say, it was déjà vu all over again.   Taped to a window at 904 King Street (across from the Majestic), a permit application introduces Red Rocks Pizza to the suburbs.     Residents of Columbia Heights know this as another highly rated maker of tomato pies, and one that uses the Neapolitan style.  

Great to see these two establishments coming to Old Town.   This restaurant Row will be an even better place to eat.