ThayerAvenue.com

Yeesh – has it been that long? Shame on me. No, I haven’t died. I think it was just the tryptophan. At any rate, I’m back, and a lot is going on in the ‘hood these days…

Mayorga Blogger Mayhem
As you have no doubt seen from The Gazette, the plethora of blog posts, and the press release from the horse’s mouth, Mayorga’s fuel-injected enterprise is coming to a close. (Props to SoCo Eats for being the one to sent the InterWeb into a flutter with his mention.) As everyone has mentioned, things have been going downhill there lately. The food had become subpar, they took the French Cuban sandwich off the menu, and servie was spotty at best (bar notwithstanding).

And as a parent, I can say this: Mayorga is NOT the place for parents to sit and chat while their children run wild, yet that’s what it turned into many weekday mornings. At any rate, it will be interesting to see where the daily campers with their computers end up. And if you never went for beer pong (sponsored by Hook & Ladder), you really missed out.

In Less-reported News…
On or about November 23, Montgomery County Police reported an arrest was made for drugs at Red Lobster in DTSS. How this did not make the wider gossip circle for ridicule, I’ll never know, but I’m gonna push it. I, for one, have never eaten at that Red Lobster, but my wife and I continue our threats to go in order a drink, ask for several baskets of Cheddar Bay Biscuits, chow, and leave. Stay tuned to the Twitter stream for up-to-the-minute action.

But I digress. What drugs? Patrons or workers? Dealing or using? The mention in the crime report, of course, contains no details, but the place always seems to have a pretty good crowd. And for the record, searching Google images with the keywords “lobster” and “drugs” brings back some interesting results.

Have a slice. Don’t cost nothin’.
Silver Spring’s new pizza joint, Flippin’ Pizza (8517 Colesville Road, across from Discovery), is having their Grand Opening on Tuesday, December 15. You can score two free slices (cheese or pepperoni) and a drink for free from 4:00 to 7:00pm. Expect a big honking queue for that one as it gets RTed all over the Twitterverse over the next five days.

Celebrity Panhandler
There’s been much hullabaloo on the listserv about some guy (white male) panhandling from door to door in the neighborhood. He’s apparently making up stories about needing to get somewhere or his mother being sick, or some other such nonsense. Everyone and their mother has called the cops on this guy, yet he continues to evade apprehension. Theoretically, walking up to someone’s door and asking for money is not against the law, but I can see the public nuisance issue. Posts about his exploits have become so ubiquitous on the listserv that someone busted out the term “Our Neighborhood Celebrity Panhandler.” (Well done, Jerry!) I can only hope this guy surfs the Web from the library or something from time to time and recognizes his status.

On a serious note, if you run into him or he comes to your door, call the Montgomery County Police Non-Emergency Line at (301) 279-8000.

Thanks to an alert ThayerAvenue.com reader for this info – and the photo.

Tuesday morning saw some interesting police activity on Thayer Avenue. While the photo above gives some immediate context (with that god-awful house at the corner of Houston and Thayer on the left), the thumbnail below will take you to a much larger image. This is the end of the activity, unfortunately, as everyone was getting back in the vans, but reports indicate there were at least a dozen or so officers, clad in black bulletproof gear with large automatic weapons.

They walked a bit down Thayer from where these vans were parked, “inspected” a house, and then left. Appeared they simply stayed on the periphery and had some discussions about what to do, or perhaps debated the merits of early-20th-century residential architecture. Who knows. But it didn’t appear to be anything requiring firearms discharge.

If anyone has any more information on what the hell is going on in our ‘hood, would love to hear it.

It’s been non-August-like weather outside, and I haven’t been able to bring myself to sit in front of the computer any longer than is necessary. But news continues its end-of-summer trickle.

The Rah-Rah Safeway
This my new name for the Thayer Avenue Safeway. I will also accept “The Nice People Safeway” or “The No-Quimby’s-For-You Safeway.” But the rah-rah comes from the rousing chorus of emotional support recently on the listserv. To which I respond: Blah blah.

After repeated tries, they couldn’t annex Quimby’s for an expansion project (which, as a loyal Volvo owner, I’m happy about), so they’re redoing the interior. For the time being, half the inventory is on wire shelves and it’s good to see things getting cleaned up. Yes, the people are nice. Yes, it’s convenient. And of course it’s less expensive than Whole Paycheck. But all this doesn’t belie the fact that it’s a bit grungy, the produce seems to goes bad inordinately fast once I get it home, and the lines all too often remind me of the Soviet Safeway in the city. Yes, I’ll still shop there, but only in between trips to see part of Falkland Chase get razed for my beloved Harris Teeter.

Best of Silver Spring – Extended Edition
No, this is not the better, subversive version seen here. Silver Spring Center has extended the voting on their site through the end of August. I wonder if it was because of lack of response or because of the great answers I know they’ve been getting (and are perhaps hoping for some more reasonable responses to balance those out).

Speed Cameras on Wayne
Silver Spring, Singular touched on revenue generation from speed cameras in Chevy Chase, and I, too, would like to know how much the MoCoPoPo are pulling in from the one on Wayne Avenue. More importantly, I was struck by a story in the Washington Post about a couple got clocked doing 100mph in their Toyota Echo during rush hour going uphill 1/4 mile after the stoplight at Sligo Creek Parkway. Luckly, traffic enforcement admitted the mistake, chalked it up to human error for not checking things properly, and the $40 the couple paid will be refunded. Don’t take anything for granted, folks. MoCo *really* wants your money.

In Less-Stellar Police News…
The cops in Prince George’s County still won’t really admit fault or offer an apology directly to the family they violated during a recent drug raid in Prince George’s County. I know it’s not in our neighborhood, but I encourage you to read the press coverage and try not to be pissed off. They busted down the door (with what could have been an improper warrant to do so) and then shot the two black labs. Unbelievable. The Department of Justice has been called in to investigate, and my prediction is that this is far from over.

It’s like when my parents left us alone for a weekend while they were out of town. Everything has the appearance of cleanliness and a lack of improper activity, but the crack in the crystal egg tells me otherwise. Where to begin?

Thayer More Sinister than Bonifant
Breaking reports indicate a body was found in Sligo Creek Park near the intersection of Thayer and Dale. Reports are sketchy, but expect the news crews to converge pronto and report more tonight (assuming this isn’t a farce).

Blogging the Bloggers, Volume 42
Silver Spring, Singular’s post from Monday, July 14 has racked up an unprecedented 87 comments to date – some of which, it appears, were a little to fiery for public review. Nothing like Fensworth Fights and Veridian Nazis – and a reminder that we still, unfortunately, live in a segregated society – to get people fired up.

Long Live Foie Gras
Leave it to the People’s Republic of Takoma Park to impose a ban on foie gras. I know it might not be the most humane thing in the world. And yes, I know they put a funnel in the poor goose’s throat and force feed it to enlarge the liver. Then they hack it open to extract that huge morsel of tasty goodness. Shut up with your animal rights crap. It’s too goddamn tasty to ban. (Begin flaming posts from PETA people… *now*)

Majestic, Part 1
While my trip to The Majestic over the weekend was better than most (you people who take your infants to a 10:50pm show of The Dark Knight are IDIOTS), the worst part about the whole deal? The theater was OUT OF ICE. That’s right. No ice. I thought Regal might inject some much needed sanity into the logistics over there, but we all know that’s way too optimistic.

The movie, on the other hand, was spectacular.

Note to self: Don’t ask schmuck behind the counter how cold the Coke is.

Majestic, Part 2
And back to the baby comment… When my wife was pregnant, a waiter at Red Rock Canyon Grill gave us some advice on mixing child rearing with a vibrant social life. He said that it’s easy enough to take a baby to the movies, no problem. Just drop a little bit of Hennessy in the baby bottle before you go. Not much – just a little bit. They’ll sleep right through a late show. Is that what you people are doing? We sort of laughed at the time – in a scared, I-hope-he’s-not-really-serious kind of way, but I have a feeling that’s *exactly* what’s happening. About an hour and a half into the 2.5 hour movie, children started fussing. We should link a theater cam directly to Child and Family Services.

This Place Matters
I mean, it matters that it was finally ripped out by the roots. Once the Little Tavern stopped being a Little Tavern, it lost all “endangerment” in the historical context (though in 16 or so more years, it could have been designated “historic” at the ripe old age of 50) and became a suck-ass, third-rate Chinese/Subs/Chicken place. One step closer to the new library – which better have Rock Band Contests when it arrives.

Thanks/apologies to Silver Spring Penguin for the photo.

And yes…
The TRUE Best of Silver Spring compilation will be coming this week. Stay tuned.

Thank You.
First of all, thank you to the families (you know who you are) that so graciously put on the Thayer Avenue Picnic. Once again, a great turnout, great food, and great company. Something we always look forward to every year. Also got to meet the kiddies our Maggie will be growing up with for years to come. Looks like a great crop of overachieving youngsters.

Just Like an Episode of Cops
I was getting RCN cable, phone & internet installed on Friday (more on that in a moment), so I was home for the duration of the day. At one point about 2:30pm, I looked out my back window and saw two cops in the backyard next door with their guns drawn. Pretty cool, right? Well, my wife came home shortly thereafter saying that there were MoCo Police crawling all over the street. She had the chutzpah to stop and ask what was going on, and evidently there was a burgular that had been chased by the police in between the rows of houses between Thayer and Easley. They recommended she get in the house and stay there. Last update I heard was that he was chased out of the neighborhood, but not apprehended. Updates to the situation are welcome.

The Coming of RCN
A guy named Mike knocked on our door a little over a week ago with an offer from RCN Cable: Get loads of channels, telephone service, and the InterWeb with 20Mbps download speed for $109.99/month. I had seen some traffic on the listserv with generally positive comments about RCN and figured, with a “switch you back for free” guarantee, I’d give it a try. Here’s what I’ve deduced:

• The internet is blazing fast. I noticed it when I first opened up Firefox after the connection took hold. I’ll look forward to that with all the porn video and audio I upload/download/view on the Web.
• Got an HDTV box, and both that one and the standard digital version look as good as Comcast’s. The only issue is learning a new channel lineup and making sure TiVo is updated.
• SMTP outgoing mail server settings for RCN sort of piss me off.
• Make sure the phone works before they leave.

We rarely use our home phone. My in-laws call that number regularly, and we get lots of telemarketing crap that we usually ignore thanks to call waiting. (If the DNC is reading this, QUIT CALLING ME. I won’t give you any more money until you PICK somebody to run.) So the fact that the phone didn’t work after the technician left wasn’t that big of a deal – except for TiVo. For those of you that have a DVR, you know what I mean. It updates via the land phone line, and I felt like my left arm had been cut off. No updated channel lineup, no buffering – pure torture. We ended up going to Strosniders to get a 100-foot phone cord so TiVo could update from the one active jack in the house. Well worth the $10.98 it cost. And they’ll be here tomorrow to fix the phone permanently, thank the gods.

If you’d like to give it a whirl, call Mike Dato at 301-512-5775 and tell him that Eric sent you. I could use some referral bonuses.

Why Do I Need Referral Bonuses?
Excellent question. We went stroller shopping this morning (and that, in and of itself, makes me cringe as much as what you’re about to read), and we found out why Bugaboo strollers are so damn expensive: Because they ROCK. For a mere $900, you can get a stroller that defies any previous stroller technology and will last you through an entire Irish family’s upbringing. I’m always looking for the latest and greatest of anything I buy, and in the world of strollers (in which, it appears, I am firmly entrenched), these are the shit.

The reason I mention this is something a little more comedic. One of the stroller brands we looked at was “Quinny,” which is not cheap, either. Seems innocuous enough, but my wife’s comment was, “Isn’t that renaissance slang for vagina?” Turns out, she’s right. Sure, it’s the Urban Dictionary, but it was evidently referenced in the movie Elizabeth, as well. I’ll leave you to your own jokes about babies being rolled around in $500 vaginas.

Thayer Avenue has confimed that the shooting on Easley Friday night was, indeed, a premeditated act. The victim, Marc Ray, has been shot twice before in apparent “hit” attempts. Looks like the third time was a charm.

The suspected shooter, 27-year-old Rohan Campbell, allegedly took a cab to Silver Spring Towers, where he shot Ray and then fled the scene. The details that led to his eventual arrest remain unclear at this time.

What this means, of course, is that you’re no worse off walking home from the Quarry House than you are anywhere else. But in the immortal words of Mad-Eye Moody, “Constant Vigilance!”

EDIT: Post edited to properly insert “suspected” and “allegedly.” In the absence of trial and conviction, he is presumed innocent. I feel it all the more important to emphasize that in a day and age when our bonehead leaders think extraordinary rendition is a good idea.

Thanks to alert neighbor DS for the heads up on this. Someone was shot last night about 100 yards away from my house. Right in the path I take when walking home from downtown. Many thanks to ABC7 news for apparently being the only local news outlet to report this story.

According to the story, the shooting happened around 11:15pm Friday night and took the life of 30-year-old Mark Ray. Witnesses saw a man fleeing the area, but there aren’t many other details. If you walked down the camera angle from the photo for about 60 seconds, you’d probably be in my backyard. This is a little disconcerting, to say the least.

And in other news…

The Washington Post has a story about speed cameras coming to Montgomery County. Our esteemed County Executive was well quoted:

“Unfortunately, we’re here to remind the citizens of Montgomery County again of the need to slow down and observe safety regulations in order to prevent tragedies,” such as the four pedestrians killed in the county during August, said County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) yesterday during a news conference near Wheaton High.

How about the need for people to not jaywalk with a sense of entitlement? Sure, people need to slow down, but not for the sole purpose of being able to stop for some idiot that crosses against a light – or nowhere near a crosswalk.

UPDATE: Right after I posted this, the story on the ABC7 site was updated to say that a suspect has been arrested in the incident. No other details yet.