Events

Tonight: The CIA and the Sunken Soviet Sub

By ARLnow.com

It’s a plot straight from a Tom Clancy novel — except it’s real.

In 1974, the CIA embarked on an outlandish, secret $350 million project to salvage a sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine from three miles below the North Pacific. Under the cover of an undersea mining operation sponsored by the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, some of the country’s best and brightest were given the task of figuring out how to raise millions of pounds of steel from a nearly unreachable depth.

The result was one of the greatest feats of American engineering since the 1969 moon landing.

Tonight from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Arlington Central Library, author and historian Norman Polmar will discuss recently-revealed details about the audacious effort, told in part through interviews with the men who made it happen.

Here’s a trailer for a documentary produced by the co-author of Polmar’s book, “Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of K-129.”

Registration Open for Local Winter/Spring Races

By ARLnow.com

Registration opened today for the 2011 George Washington Parkway Classic, and a number of other local winter/spring races are also currently in registration mode.

The GW Parkway Classic will be held on the morning of Sunday, April 10 in Alexandria. There is a 10 mile course and a 5K course, which start at either Mt. Vernon Estates or Belle Haven Park and end at Oronoco Bay Park in Old Town.

The 2011 race calendar kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 13, with the annual Love The Run You’re With 5K, a Valentine’s Day-themed race for couples and singles alike. The run starts and ends at Pentagon Row, followed by a post-race party.

On Saturday, Feb. 19, the GW Birthday Classic will take runners on a 10K course up and down Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria.

And on Saturday, March 12, the second annual Four Courts Four Miler will invade the Courthouse and Rosslyn areas. The race sold out last year and attracted a big crowd, despite windy, rainy weather. Even if the weather is miserable again this year, there will at least be “food, friends and a bit of liquid courage at the end of the rainbow,” as organizers describe the post-race festivities.

Photo by Barry Skidmore

Reminder: Donnellan to Hold Budget Forum Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss the county’s upcoming financial year 2012 budget.

The forum will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Arlington Central Library’s auditorium (1015 North Quincy Street).

As we reported earlier, Donnellan has said that her recommended budget will likely not include any further cuts for county parks or libraries, but it will include sizable cuts in other areas.

Rosslyn to Light Up for the Holidays Tomorrow Night

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn is holding its annual Light Up ceremony tomorrow night to celebrate the start of the holiday season.

At 6:31 p.m., TBD-TV anchor Morris Jones will throw a giant switch, turning on the rooftop LED lights that give the Rosslyn skyline a festive glow this time of year. Rosslyn building owners started decorating their rooftops for the inaugural Light Up Rosslyn event in 1993.

Before the switch is thrown, there will be free food, drinks and music for anyone who wants to stop by. Santa Fe Cafe is providing chili and hot cocoa, while Monday Properties is providing cookies and hot cider. The Potomac Harmony Chorus and Beltway Brass will perform.

There ceremony will also feature a winter clothing drive for the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN).

The festivities start at 5:00 tomorrow under the WJLA Jumbotron at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and North Lynn Street.

Artisphere will be hosting a free open house after the ceremony.

Photo courtesy Steve Uzzell/Rosslyn BID

Profile: Arlington-Born Singer/Songwriter Margot MacDonald

By ARLnow.com

For now, Margot MacDonald is a 19-year-old with an incredible voice and undeniable songwriting talent who lives with her parents in Lyon Park. Given her steady ascent in the world of music, however, it’s hard to see how that last part is going to last long.

MacDonald, who is playing IOTA Club (2832 Wilson Blvd) tonight with two fellow Strathmore Artists in Residence, seems destined for bigger things. A five-time Washington Area Music Award winner, MacDonald received “a little bit” of national recognition in the past year, when her self-funded album, Walls, made a list of possible GRAMMY nominees for Best Album of the Year.

Walls was actually the teen’s third album. Her first came out when she was 12, about three years after she started classic opera training. During her young career, MacDonald has veered from very folk-oriented to “completely hard rock” to what she now describes as “pop acoustic rock with a bit of a world influence.”

She has worked with two noted local record producers, including fellow Lyon Park resident Marco Delmar. But until now the former Long Branch Elementary and Kenmore Middle School student has shrugged off interest from labels.

“I haven’t felt particularly ready up until this point… I’ve just been trying to figure out who I want to be as an artist,” she said. But MacDonald says she now feels more comfortable than ever with her own musical style, and might be ready to make the leap to the big leagues of the music industry.

Earlier this month MacDonald, who has performed at the 9:30 Club and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage locally, played her first show in New York City. She says she’s anxious to go back.

“I’m really happy with what I’m doing… slowly but surely getting better and better gigs and gaining more fans,” she said. “I’m not really sure what the future holds, but I hope it’s good.”

Check out Margot’s YouTube channel to watch her past performances.

Photo courtesy of Margot MacDonald.

Shirlington Tree Lighting Rescheduled

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:00 a.m.) Due to the rain and wind predicted for tonight, the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Shirlington Village has been rescheduled.

The lighting will now take place Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It will be followed by horse and carriage rides, photos with Santa, Victorian carolers and free giveaways. Shirlington stores and restaurants will also have free samples, activities and special deals.

See the Shirlington Village web site for more information, and the unofficial Shirlington Village Blog for a photo of the tree.

Artisphere to Host Gay and Lesbian Holiday “Kiss-In”

By ARLnow.com

Artisphere is hosting an event called Holiday Hugs & Kisses next month “to demonstrate broad community and regional support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people.”

The event, being held on Saturday, Dec. 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., will feature arts and cultural performances, culminating in “a large public display of affection by people from all walks of life.”

“We expect 300-500 people to attend, including many straight allies,” the event’s Facebook invitation reads. “A YouTube video will be produced from live footage recorded at the event… Our video will be premiered at the Artisphere Dome Theatre on December 20th along with an opening reception and will then be posted on YouTube.”

Cookies and hot chocolate will be served between video shoots.

The event is sponsored by the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance.

Flickr pool photo by Afagen

Saturday: Red Baraat Brings the Indian Funk to Artisphere

By ARLnow.com

Artisphere’s PR department says Red Baraat is the only dhol ‘n’ brass band in the U.S.

How there is only one domestic band that combines North Indian Bhangra and brass band funk is beyond us, especially considering the infectious energy that the culture-melding band brings to their shows.

New York-based Red Baraat features a rapping sousaphone player, three percussionists (counting the guy on cow bell), and a band leader whose collaborations have included performing with rapper Q-Tip and a fitness instructor known as “the Indian Jane Fonda.” That, combined with a five-piece horn section, produces a group that, in the words of the PR department, “plays fresh originals and Bollywood classics with an explosive stage performance and presence.”

Red Baraat is performing at Artisphere’s weekly Saturday night dance party this weekend. The performance will begin at 11:01 p.m. in the Artisphere ballroom. Tickets are $18 at the door, with sales starting one hour before showtime.

Chick-Fil-A Devotees to Start Camping Out Overnight

By ARLnow.com

Chick-fil-A expects that some people may start camping out overnight for the “First 100” giveaway at the company’s new Crystal City location.

The company is giving a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals to the first 100 adults in line at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, when the restaurant officially opens.

Chick-fil-A staffers will start monitoring the line — which will be forming in the park across the street from the store’s 2200 Crystal Drive location — at 6:00 tomorrow morning. If more than 100 people are camped out at that time, a raffle will be held to determine who is eligible to stay.

Chick-fil-A runs the “First 100” giveaway to build buzz in advance of each restaurant opening.

In another marketing move, the store distributed free chicken sandwiches to Crystal City lunch-goers over the past two days.

Ribbon-Cutting Set for Rosslyn’s Hillside Park

By ARLnow.com

On Saturday afternoon, the Arlington County Parks Department will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently-reopened Hillside Park in Rosslyn. The county is touting the park as a “sustainable public place” — but at least one critic is calling it “expensive” and “ugly.”

The county describes Hillside Park as an “urban forest.” It spent $500,000 renovating the 1.3 acre park from spring to fall of this year. The renovations included the placement of benches, picnic tables and walking paths, as well as artistic ironwork and other decorative flourishes.

Park planners utilized design techniques consistent with the county’s sustainable goals and practices. The park features permeable paving, elevated decks to protect tree roots, improved irrigation, recycled construction materials, and low water-use plants. The existing tree canopy was preserved and negative impacts from construction were minimized.

The funding for the renovations was provided by the developer of the adjacent Parc-Rosslyn apartment building.

Not everybody was impressed with the park’s design, however.

Douglas Galbi, who runs the Ode Street Tribune blog, called the renovations “ugly” and a “fiasco.”

“A half-million dollars was spent renovating Hillside Park,” he wrote. “The result isn’t worth a tenth of that.”

Galbi, who described the park’s decorative metal fences as “pointless,” now has a small photo of the park on every page of his blog along with the headline “WE CAN DO BETTER.”

Saturday’s ribbon-cutting will take place at 1:00 p.m. The park is located at 1601 North Pierce Street.

Photo via Arlington County Parks Dept.

View More Stories