What: Join BikeArlington to cheer on the Tour de France at Summers Restaurant!
When: Thursday, July 24th, 5 -7pm
Where: Summers Restaurant, at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Courthouse Road, just one block from the Court House Metro (http://www.summers-restaurant.com/)
Why: To enjoy the camaraderie of fellow cyclists as we watch the pros climb through the hills of the Monts du Forez on their way to Saint-Etienne in the 18th stage of the 21-stage Tour.
We’ll have the TVs tuned to catch the highlights of the day’s 197 kilometers. Summers has happy hour specials in place for us to enjoy, such as $2.50 for selected domestic beers, and $1-off wine and other beers. We’ll order up some appetizers and enjoy the company of other bikers as we take in the Tour.
RSVPs to mesposito@arlingtonva.us are welcome, but not necessary.
On behalf of BikeArlington, we can’t wait to see you there!
Getting there:
Metro’s Orange line to the Court House Metro is one block away;
Metrobus routes 38B, 4BE; ART route 41, 62;
and of course by bike: there is plenty of bike parking at the Court House Metro, at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Uhle Street.
I’m going to do my best to make it. Say hi if you see a guy in a CSC Invitational shirt (or one of these).
I probably don’t have a lot in common with John McCain, but I bet we both dig the Andrews Sisters. However, I came by that fandom through my grandmother (and mother) while he probably heard this when it was still a hot hit on the radio in 1941:
And he probably wouldn’t be as impressed with this brilliant remix:
But still. Andrews Sisters are good for everybody.
Bono said the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a “Walk” signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and then Novak made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said.
That right, Robert Novak hit someone who rolled across his windshield, and he didn’t even notice it. If he’s that unaware of things, why does he still have a national column, nevermind his car keys?
He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over.
Bono said that throughout, Novak “keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him.
Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can’t hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”
I used to have an office right on that corner (1776 K St.), and while I was glad to get out of there, I sure would have loved to have had it today. (Also, this Bono fellow is running for the board of the Washington Area Bicycle Association. I think he just cinched my vote.)
Sorry for the ease up in content, of late. I’m trying to make progress on another project (which I hope to be sharing here, as soon as I’m done), and that’s taking up quite a bit of time. Also? I managed to rip open a good portion of one of my palms on - of course - a rusty nail. It’s one of those stupid little injuries whose effect on your general disposition is outsized to its actual import.
Back to the regularly scheduled programming soon, I hope.
(Photo of the scaffolding going up on the north side of the National Archives)
Update: Wow. This is the website he kept, advertising his alternative medicine practice. It boggles.
Update II: That is most probably not a website for him. The best clue is the registration date. Ah well. Count me in as a hot news sucker. But, at the end of the day, he’s still going to rot for the rest of his life. And that’s what’s important. (Thanks to M.E. for the tip off.)
Why Google’s the single biggest threat to Americans’ privacy today.
Case Study: How Google Systematically Threatens Americans’ Privacy:
1. Google’s radical “publicacy” mission is antithetical to privacy.
2. Privacy is not a priority in Google’s culture.
3. Google gives privacy “lip service.”
4. Google threatens the privacy of more people than most any other
entity.
5. Google collects/stores the most potential “blackmail-able”
information.
6. Google’s track record does not inspire trust.
Information is power. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts
absolutely. Google’s market power over private information is corrupting
Google, just like former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was corrupted by
his power and mastery of personally-sensitive information. Google’s
unprecedented arbitrage of privacy law combined with its exceptional
lack of accountability is fast creating this era’s privacy-invading,
unaccountable equivalent: “J. Edgar Google.”
More on this from me later, but I wanted to pass it on lest it get lost in the ever growing Draft Posts folder . . .
This is usually a quieter mix, but I’m feeling a little more energy today. Enjoying the summer. The first track lays down Run-D.M.C’s lyrics and beats from It’s Tricky over Metallica’s Enter Sandman. Try not to bounce to that. This then segues (quite smoothly) into a nifty mashup between UK hip hop phenom Lady Sovereign and the Eurythmics. Finishes up with something unexpected, laying out Tegan & Sara vocals over a Mylo track. Hope you enjoy the genre-bending.
Okay, we start with an obvious choice, but despite my harping on cycling topics, I’m pretty comfortable in assuming that my audience isn’t the type that would consider leading off with Kraftwerk unforgivable:
Draft Siouxsie and her Banshees in the flats:
Climb up the Hautacam with The Ark:
And get some Bad Religion for the final sprints:
Big ups to Manxman (!) Mark Cavendish, winner of four Tour de France stages, and only 24 years old.
Yesterday was the first day you could register a handgun in DC. How many people were in line, clamoring to exercise this new right? Two. And one forgot his gun.
~
I was never a fan of comics as a kid, but after being introduced to a few really impressive “graphic novels” as an adult (i.e., Maus, Blankets, and Palestine), I’m a little more open to the artform. So I found myself sucked into the webcomic Yehuda Moon the other day. Not as serious as those graphic novels, but a bit of light - if occasionally pointed - fun. If you’re a cyclist, check it out.
~
Perhaps the most entertaining session I attended at the first YearlyKos convention was the one where Dave “Mudcat” Saunders threatened to punch Whistling Past Dixie author Tom Schaller for speaking frankly about some of the uglier sides of the South. As I’ve previously noted, Tom’s probably not the best messenger, but he’s got an important message. Vivian Paige just started posting a multi-part review of the book, and I’m looking forward to her take on it.
