No Honeymoon in themail
Dear Eager Critics:
There's no honeymoon here, and no mercy, either. Tony Williams hasn't even
taken office yet, and his grace period is over. Former New York Mayor Ed Koch used to go
around town asking his constituents, “How'm I doin'?” So tell us, how is Tony
Williams doing? Or, if you haven't had any direct contact with the transition effort, what
is your prediction for how he will be doing after his first 100 days or six months in
office? Do you like his promises, and how many of them do you think he will keep?
Establish your record for accurate prognostication, and get it in print so you can prove
to people later that that's what you actually did say.
In this issue, I promise, the last word on the motto contest for a good
while. But I can't help passing on three late entries that were sent in instead of votes
for the two finalists. John D. Muir, Jr., John.Muir@rudnickwolfe.com
, suggested “America's Gateway to the World.” Louis Lieb, llieb@erols.com , recommended “DC — where
having your garbage picked up requires an act of Congress.” And dceger@aol.com suggested “The Lost Colony.”
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Rampant Commercialism
Phil Greene, pgreene@doc.gov
In the December 6 issue, John Olinger suggested that
teleprompter-challenged Charlene Drew Jarvis redo her Southeastern University commercial
that frequently graces our local airwaves. Funny, I'd never noticed her teleprompter
performance, as my attention was always fixed on another aspect of the commercial, namely
this one inexplicable scene which shows several young people, apparently students at the
University, strutting across the parking lot, books in hand, as if props. If there was
ever a compelling reason for attending an institution of higher learning, that scene says
it all. Sign me up. Of course, that commercial is not nearly as comical and amateurish as
the one for Senate Auto Insurance (kiss my bumper), which follows the Southeastern ad as
often as May follows April. In a long tradition of great local commercials, from Mad Man
Muntz to Mr. Ray's Hair Weave to Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwan Do (Nobody Bothers Me) to Ralph Brown
Buck (Nobody...nobody), you got hand it to our local artists.
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Big Surprise??
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Lest anyone believe that the Teacher's Union is interested in improving
the education of the CPS students one needs only to observe the reaction to Airline
Ackerman's proposal to increase the starting salaries of new teachers in the District. The
union's reaction was to recoil in horror that ALL teachers' salaries were not raised. Why
should all teachers' salaries be raised? Many of the teachers in the District need to be
replaced, not have their salaries increased. We are trying to attract new teachers just
starting out, teachers who might be motivated to come to the District and have good
classroom teaching skills. Once again we see the real motivation of teachers' unions
— more money, no accountability, less work.
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More Man-Made Potholes
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
Here on the Hill, we have many which I don't think will be filled. On 5th
St., S.E., between. Independence and Pennsyhlvania, and on 6th S.E., around 3rd. Imagine
there are others but these are on routes I take. They've been around for some time —
and will be, if we get snow, hazardous. Complaints don't seem to help. Better ideas?
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Thanks to those who responded to the previous message on this topic. DPI
seems to have put off plans to cut down trees to next week. They now will have a
horticulturist look at site and meet with neighbors. Also thanks to Kathy Patterson's
office for making calls on the issue. Plan is apparently to widen road slightly, because
people speed on Loughboro and don't slow down when turning onto MacArthur. Until you hear
otherwise, please just slow down and save yourself and a tree.
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The reason I like a change in our motto is that I am not only interested
in our local issues, right to self-determination etc., I resent my tax dollars being used
in other ways over which I have no say. I am interested in how Congress allocates money
for defense, highway funds, etc. Without a voting representative in both the House and
Senate, I am not represented on how my money is being used. And we go discuss further the
lack of representation on social issues, impeachment, and so much more. Let's combine the
two mottos “DC — the Last Colony, Taxed without Representation.”
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“Taxed Without Representation” is a great slogan for our city.
Let's get the DMV to put it on our license plates! It certainly beats Ohio's old slogan on
its plates: “Seat Belts Fastened?”
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DC’s Motto
Wonderful W. Wayson, wayson@juno.com
Thought I was not going to like it! Reconsidering, it's better!
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Not with My Approbation
Ms. Dorothy Persiflage, daniel@hers.com
As you may have noticed, Ms. Persiflage chose not to bless your little
vote with her personal approbation. As several others noted, “the last colony”
was not very accurate, and both choices were, in Ms. P's opinion, whiny little politically
correct nose droppings hardly worthy of attention by serious adults. And so, Ms. P did not
vote, and hopes that you will inform Councilmembers when you write to them, as you
threaten to do, that Ms. Persiflage frowns on this whole process.
There are certain fundamentals to be considered here. Just as the death
penalty underlines a certain social morality (forget all those limp arguments about
deterrence, etc.), at which we draw an indelible and irreversible line about behavior,
there are certain standards for a public motto which are, so to speak, written in stone.
Ms. Persiflage was horrified to see that the two choices were in plain English, for
example, and that neither required the average D.C.P.S. student to pick up a dictionary to
decipher the city's motto. How tacky can the nation's capital become?
Ms. P. notes that when the fathers of Florence had to dedicate their new
church (Santa Maria del Fiore — “the Duomo” to us tourists) they didn't
resort to the equivalent of rap music or popular culture, but enlisted the more
traditional isorhythmic motets of the Burgundians, and specifically the music of Guillaume
Dufay. The same way we have Roman fasces adorning our federal legislative bodies, and coin
statements such as “E Pluribus Unum” for public use. Although Dufay was a hot
number in the top ten of the then-modern chanson style, he nevertheless continued to write
isorhythmic motets for solemn public ceremonies, in order to dignify them. His 4-part
motet — “Nuper Rosarum Flores — Terribilis Est Locus Iste” was played
in front of Pope Eugene IV on 15 March 1436 for the dedication of the Church, and it was,
Ms. P is informed, a very big hit indeed. Ms. Persiflage notes that this motet's rhythmic
proportions and other details were even designed to correspond exactly with the
proportions of the cupola of the duomo, which itself had been designed by the famous
Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi in terms of “musical proportions” of
ancient treatises.
Have we no sense of dignity left? “Taxation without
representation!” How pathetic. A tout' ta
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Bosnia/Kosovo Evening
Katherine Waldbauer, kwald@mirror.his.com
From Bosnia to Kosovo: Looking Forward, Looking Back, Friday, December 11,
7:30 p.m., Gallery LIPA, 1635 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 2nd floor, Dupont Circle metro stop,
Q Street exit. Showing of the acclaimed video “Killing Memory: Bosnia's Cultural
Heritage and Its Destruction,” narrated by Harvard's Andras Riedlmayer (42 minutes);
talk by Mihajlo Mihajlov on the current situation in Bosnia and Kosovo, followed by
discussion. Mihajlov was a commentator for Belgrade's leading independent newspaper, Nasa
Borba, until Milosevic recently closed it. He visited Bosnia and Kosovo earlier this
year. Mihajlov lived in Sarajevo for 15 years, was a leading dissident under Tito, and
spent 7 years in Yugoslav prisons. In 1978 he predicted the ethnic bloodbath that would
follow Tito's death. He is a senior associate in the Program on Transitions to Democracy,
Eliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University.
Benefit for the Bosnia Support Committee. Refreshments. $10 donation at
the door. Call 703-281-7195 or 202-546-5672 for further information.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Babysitters Needed on Saturday Mornings
Clare Feinson, cfeinson@erols.com
Fabrangen, an alternative Jewish congregation, is looking for a few good
people (not necessarily Jewish) to provide child care on Saturday mornings for the younger
members of our congregation. Our services are held at the Hillel Foundation at George
Washington University, which is at the corner of 23rd and H Streets NW, one block from the
Foggy Bottom Metro.
Students, au pairs, child care workers, babysitters, recent immigrants
(English-speaking), and other interested persons who would like to earn $10 per hour for
working from 10:30 to 1 on Saturdays are invited to contact Melissa Kahn at (301)565-9278
or melkahn@erols.com , or Clare Feinson at (202)667-4701 or cfeinson@erols.com .
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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTING TO HELP
After living in DC for 15 years (off and on), I will be spending my first
Christmas here this year. Since it's just my mother and I, we decided that we'd like to
volunteer our time on Christmas day to help a charitable organization; maybe serve food
for a homeless shelter, give out donated toys, whatever we were needed for. Trouble is, we
don't know where to find out who needs help. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks for
your help.
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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS WANTED
Seeking Small Gifts for Adams Morgan
Children
Lynne Mersfelder, Adams Morgan ANC, LMersfelder@ocean.nos.noaa.gov
Can you help? This holiday, the Urban Rangers Youth Group in Adams Morgan
(targeted for poor or at-risk youth) will provide small gifts to some 40 children ages 1
year to 16 years old and seek donations. If you can provide any kind of contribution, your
gifts or donations are tax deductible. For gifts or other donations, you can drop it off,
mail or contact: Katie Davis at phone: 202/332-0774; or address 1751 Lanier Place, NW, WDC
20009. Make checks payable to “Urban Rangers.” Donations are also being accepted
in a can at Mr. Kim's convenience store at the corner of Lanier and Adams Mill Rd.
Donations of new gifts might include items such as the following: books
for all ages; art supplies and school supplies; basketballs, footballs; sport T-shirts;
dolls, both African American and Anglo; calculators; jewelry, hair accessories; socks,
gloves, hats, etc Thank you! Lynne
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Orioles Tickets
Valerie Kenyon Gaffney, vkg0531@aol.com
Great holiday gift for the baseball fan in your life: (2) tickets to each
of 13 Oriole's Sunday home games for 1999 season. Section 328, rows F & G, seat #13.
Just right of home plate, looking down the third plate line, these seats are great —
slightly shaded for blistering hot days, oh-so-slightly under cover for rain delays. Two
seats of a six seat grouping, which is why they're one in front of the other. Need to sell
as soon as possible so we aren't forced to forfeit our seat location — $338 for the
package. E-mail to vkg0531@aol.com or telephone days: (703)916-2409 or evenings:
(202)887-4767.
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Baldwin, Brothers
Willie Schatz, willie@his.com
Wanna sing me a song and be the piano man? You can with this beautiful,
rarely used Baldwin. My ex and I bought it thinking our sons might be Billy Joel — or
maybe even Keith Jarrett — but other vicissitudes of life intruded. They tried, but
it didn't compute. So the piano is in great shape. It's yours for $400. Call 202 244-6572
days, 202 363-1326 nights. I hang at 4451 Albemarle Street.
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CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
Cropp's Vacillating Stewardship: On Election Night, Anthony Williams celebrated his
mayoral victory by inviting D.C. Council Chair Linda Cropp and her colleagues to join him
onstage at the Mayflower Hotel. After building an impressive coalition that swept all
wards in the Nov. 3 election, Williams was trying to make space in his tent for the city's
historically fractious legislative body. The gesture, on the council's part, carried about
as much sincerity as a vow of friendship from Linda Tripp. When the next mayor sat down
with councilmembers three weeks later to map out their new lives together, Williams asked
for a rather reasonable concession: that the council put off changes to the city's
Comprehensive Plan until after he takes office in January. Whatever Williams' motives,
they weren't good enough for Cropp.
Read the entire Loose Lips column this Friday at: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early
warnings for upcoming events:
Tuesday, Dec. 15: Alice McDermott reads from and signs copies of “Charming
Billy” at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 4801 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda. Free.
Wednesday, Dec. 16: “Anna Christie.” Cari Beauchamp will introduce a 35mm print
at noon and 7 p.m. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. $6
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
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