ThayerAvenue.com

Luckily, Bonifant More Sinister Than Thayer was on-hand to capture this bizarre happening at the Fountain on Monday:

It appears as if the clown cut a swath through the kids at the fountain, as none of them wanted to flock around the horror-movie figurine. But he’s also carrying a Smithsonian umbrella. What’s up with that?

My first ever excursion to the St. Luke’s Tent Troupe Yard Sale this past weekend yielded spectacular results. For a mere $25, I scored a Nintendo Entertainment System and a plethora of games:

• The Adventures of Zelda
• The Adventures of Link
• Blades of Steel
• Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
• Chessmaster 2000
• DuckHunt
• Gyromite
• Paperboy
• Star Wars
• Super Mario Brothers
• Super Mario Brothers 2
• Super Mario Brothers 3
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• StarTropics
• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
• World Cup

I also managed to nab Battleship (original with all pieces contained therein) and a complete set of (wooden) Lincoln Logs. My two favorite toys growing up were Lincoln Logs and matches – used to play a little game I liked to call “Insurance Fraud.” Good times.

Dead bird! I’m gonna put it on you!
The listservs indicate a rash of dead birds in the area. Fire up the grill!

Much ado has been made in the past 24 hours about the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 658 relocating to the corner of Fenton and 410 on the south end of DTSS from their estranged home on Wayne Avenue. It appears that the thrust of the discontent comes from a desire to have a gateway park on that land, but I think we have enough parks in the area for the time being – not to mention the fact that can be a busy intersection. Would people really congregate there? It’s a bit separated from the CBD, and the Moose Lodge needs a new home anyway. Why not right there?

I also like the talk of having a big moose head on the front of the building. Or even a large moose statue out front. I’d pay to see that. And I’d also pay to join. I have no idea what it takes to join the Moose Lodge, but I have a feeling that organizations like that are looking for younger members to keep the place running for years to come. Am I right? Does anyone out there know how one joins the Moose Lodge? If any of the members are reading this, please feel free to contact me. I know more than a few people who would follow.

In the meantime, it looks like the community is gearing up to send a posse to the liquor license hearing on June 5 at 10:00am in Rockville. Not sure what the goal would be, but I think it would be a great idea to find a big Bullwinkle costume and show up at the hearing to provide support for the Loyal Order. Maybe that could score me a much-sought-after membership.

A confluence of events has led me to believe Silver Spring has much bigger problems than a purple line, pee in a bottle, or the potential for rampant folk music.

Recently, Silver Spring, Singular has wondered aloud at the history of UFOs flying over our fair (unincorporated) city, and last week, a Denver man proposed an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission – 18-member group that would form a strategy “dealing with issues related to the presence of extraterrestrial beings on Earth.” 54-year-old Denver resident Jeff Peckman has to get 4,000 signatures to get his proposal on the ballot for the Colorado-based commission.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to be your Jeff Peckman.

As our yearning County Council feedback has looked to the mundane – public transit, saving dilapidated buildings because of their “historicality,” and whether Joni Mitchell or White Lion could fill a Silver Spring music club faster – I think it’s time we look to the future.

We are but passengers on this third stone from the sun, subject to the whims of the universe and, potentially, alien overlords. What’s our plan? If they come, where will they go? I’d be happy to accompany them to the current Final Cut of Blade Runner at AFI. But I would think they’d have bigger plans.

While I’m sure our esteemed federal government has a plan, I feel it’d be rife with violence and overblown Department of Defense contracts. We need real people in a real place to show these visitors what life is really like here, and I think getting the motion in front of the County Council is just the way to go.

Who’s with me?

It’s only been this year that I’ve started taking Metro regularly to work (just because the current/temporary contract I’m on is in a different location). While my walk from the King Street metro is uneventful (thanks to the uninspired architecture and construction efforts of the Carlyle Group), I always enjoy my walk from the Silver Spring metro back home (minus the panhandlers, of course).

The savory smell of Jamaican beef patties at Negril is usually the first sensory stimulation, but the music eminating from Roadhouse Oldies always picks up my pace and puts a smile on my face.

May is National Historic Preservation Month, and Silver Spring Historical Society President Jerry McCoy recently sent me a link for the “This Place Matters” Campaign from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He submitted a story talking about how Roadhouse Oldies matters to him, and I encourage you not only to read it here, but to support this great Thayer Avenue business.

Thanks to Jerry and the Historical Society for all their efforts.

The InterWeb is Broken
Stupid RCN. It’s been three days now, and resolution is supposed to come today between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00pm. At least that’s what the Mumbai Help Desk told me. In the meantime, here’s some food for thought…

Music Venue Overcomes Hurdles
It looks like Live Nation is one step closer to becoming a reality. I know I’ve talked a lot here about getting things going faster for this project (and bitched about IMP impeding progress with Seth’s offer), but after a meeting with Seth, his publicist, Audrey, and Silver Spring, Singular, I am convinced Seth Hurwitz is not evil incarnate, doesn’t have three heads, and might actually have a larger best interest in mind.

I’ve labeled some of his moves as anti-competitive, which might still be the case in some sense of the word, but Seth is a competitor. As Ted Mankin himself (of Live Nation) said, music is a volume business. Seth hasn’t gotten to be one of the best by going with the flow. It’s a cutthroat, competitive business, and like any great business owner, Seth wants to win.

When we talked about bands that would play here – and the segmentation of music between 9:30 and a Silver Spring Venue – I pressed him on getting the top notch bands to Silver Spring. I was impressed with the answer: “Bands know 9:30. It has such a rich history, and I’m the one that established that. When bands come to the DC area, a lot of them want to play at 9:30. There’s nothing I can do about that. But I would make sure to give Silver Spring the kind of music the people here want.”

I can respect that, and I have to hand it to him that he is the one who made 9:30 what it is. So for what it’s worth, I’d be more than happy to have Seth run a club up here. But this process is so far along, there’s no way anything could fall through at this point, right?

Yes, Birchmere people – you can still go screw yourselves.

Downtown Fight Club
I’ve seem more and more brawls and scruffles in the downtown area. Nice to know the Washington Post is hard on the heels of pressing news about Silver Spring. Sure, it’s newsworthy, but I feel like it perpetuates the old stereotypes about Silver Spring. I guess anything to divert attention from the safe streets of DC, right?

814 Thayer Avenue
As I type this, the planning board is talking about logistics of parking and thoroughfares for the development slated for 814 Thayer. I have the day off and fully planned on going, but now I’m hopped up on caffeine and have to clean the house before relatives come (for the Magster’s First Birthday!).

Have a good weekend, everyone.