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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New Massage Business on the Pike — A new massage parlor on Columbia Pike is advertising its services in the ‘Adult Entertainment’ section of Backpage.com. “Friendly and well trained sweet Asian staff are waiting for you!” the ad says. [Pike Wire]

Was the Internet Really Invented in Arlington? — County officials have been touting the role of the Arlington-based Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the creation of the internet, but does DARPA — and Arlington — really deserve credit as the birthplace of the internet? In an article entitled “Mythbusting,” We Love DC’s Tom Bridge says that he’s skeptical. [We Love DC]

Couric a No-Show at Pentagon City Book Signing — Arlington native and outgoing CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric was a no-show at a scheduled book signing at the Costco in Pentagon City. What forced her to cancel the event? Her Twitter account offers few clues. [Glittarazzi]

Shirlington Dog Park May Ban Kids — Arlington County is reportedly planning on banning all children under 8 and unaccompanied children between the ages of 8 and 14 from the Shirlington dog park. [Examiner]

Courthouse Apartment Building Sets Record — The Palatine apartment complex in Courthouse just sold for $142 million, making it the most expensive per-unit luxury apartment project in the D.C. area, ever. [Washington Business Journal]

(H/t to Janet of Shirlington Village Blog)

Katie Couric Returning to Arlington for Book Signing

By ARLnow.com

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is coming back to Arlington for a book signing.

Couric, an Arlington native, is a graduate of Jamestown Elementary, Williamsburg Junior High and Yorktown High. On Wednesday, May 18, she will return to Arlington to sign her new book, The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives, at the Pentagon City Costco (1200 S. Fern Street).

The book signing will start at 11:00 a.m., according to Costco’s web site. Couric recently announced that she will be leaving the CBS anchor chair in June, when her contract expires.

Hat tip to @DCCelebrity

Accidental Osama Tweeter Likes the Arlington Rap Guy

By ARLnow.com

The Pakistani computer programmer who accidentally live-Tweeted the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound is apparently a fan of ‘Arlington Rap’ guy Remy Munasifi.

Sohaib Athar achieved worldwide fame for providing real-time Twitter updates during the raid — without knowing that it was a raid or that it was Osama bin Laden’s secret hide-out that was being raided. Munasifi, meanwhile, achieved region-wide fame for his music video ode to life in Arlington.

Despite the fact that Athar lives in Abbottabad, Pakistan and Munasifi lives in Clarendon, Remy’s comedy apparently crosses physical and cultural borders — his parody video “Hey There Khalilah” is one of Athar’s “favorites” on YouTube.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Jim Morrison in Arlington? — The late Doors frontman Jim Morrison apparently was an Arlingtonian. The son of a Navy admiral, Morrison lived at as many as three different Arlington addresses. The current resident of one of his reported former addresses says Morrison’s ghost has haunted the house on three different occasions. [Falls Church News-Press]

Pete’s Apizza Groupon Selling Fast — A 50% off Groupon for Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza (3017 Clarendon Blvd) has nearly sold out. As of this writing, 5,800 people have purchased the deal — 4,800 specifically for the restaurant’s recently-opened Clarendon location. Expect the Clarendon restaurant to get considerably more crowded over the next few weeks as a result. [Groupon]

Mobile Visitors Center Honored — Arlington’s first-of-its-kind electric-powered Mobile Visitors Center has been honored as the Visitor Center of the Year by the Virginia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus. The Mobile Visitors Center “serves travelers and residents at six Metro locations five days a week, and at major annual events.” [Arlington County]

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

http://staging.arlnow.com/2011/03/24/petes-new-haven-apizza-plans-sunday-opening/

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Zach Galifianakis Spotted in Clarendon — In town for the White House Correspondents Dinner, actor Zach Galifianakis was spotted walking the streets of Clarendon on Saturday. According to the caption, he did some shopping and had lunch at Clarendon Grill (1101 N. Highland Street). [ContactMusic.com]

Arlington Young Republicans Growing — The Arlington Young Republicans have added nearly 100 members over the course of a year, making it the largest Young Republican organization in Virginia. [Sun Gazette]

Goose Lays Eggs in Shirlington — A mother goose is apparently nesting her eggs in a planter outside the IO Piazza apartment building. So far, no friendly deer have been spotted. [Shirlington Blogspot]

Crystal City Freshfarm Market Starts Today — The first Freshfarm market of the season in Crystal City will be held on Crystal Drive between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. today. [Freshfarm Markets]

Drafthouse Gets Clean, Then Dirty With Coulier, Dice Clay

By ARLnow.com

On back-to-back weekends, the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse will host one of the cleanest acts in comedy and one of the dirtiest acts in comedy.

Dave Coulier, of Full House and America’s Funniest People fame, will be performing a “special family-friendly comedy show” at the Drafthouse on Mother’s Day weekend. Tickets to see “Uncle Joey” — on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 — are $23 apiece.

Just one week after Coulier’s squeaky-clean stand-up act, the only performer ever banned for life from MTV will take the stage.

Andrew Dice Clay, described in promotional materials as the “most controversial and outrageous comic of all time,” was the first comic to sell out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row. Now, having just landed a reoccurring role on HBO’s Entourage, he’s coming to Arlington for two nights of comedy.

Dice will be performing at 7:30 and 9:55 p.m. on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14. Tickets are $40.

Twilight Convention Coming to Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Hundreds of Twilight fans will be flocking to the Sheraton National Hotel (900 S. Orme Street) this weekend for the D.C. leg of the Official Twilight Saga Fan Convention Tour.

The convention, which starts today, will feature appearances by a number of Twilight stars (including Chaske Spencer, left) as well as parties, musical performances, trivia competitions, auctions, photo ops and a costume ball. Tickets to the convention range from $20 for a one day pass to $289 for a weekend ‘gold’ package.

The event will be hosted by the sisters behind The Hillywood Show, of YouTube fame.

When we reported on the convention last year, it was sharing the Sheraton with a meeting of the Nation of Islam. We’re still disappointed that no one sent us a photo of the Fanpires, Twi-Hards and Nation of Islam members together in line for continental breakfast.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Storms Rip Through Area — A line of strong storms ripped through the area in the pre-dawn hours this morning. Winds in excess of 60 miles per hour were observed as the fast-moving storms passed by around 4:30 a.m. A tornado warning was issued for the region, but Arlington was spared from the worst of the storm damage. Expect showers, gusty winds and colder temperatures for the rest of the morning. [Washington Post]

Tejada Plans Ballston Rally — County board member Walter Tejada kicked off his re-election campaign over the weekend at the Dominion Hills Recreation Center. Tejada lauded the county’s commitments to affordable housing, walkable neighborhoods, and fiscal responsibility. He is now planning a rally in Ballston tomorrow — no word yet on when or where exactly the rally will take place. (Update at 12:20 p.m. — The rally will be held outside the NRECA building at 4301 Wilson Blvd at 6:30 p.m., prior to the Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.)

New Signature Theatre Line-Up Announced — Signature Theatre’s upcoming 2011-2012 season schedule has been revealed. Among the shows planned are The Hollow, based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Hairspray, the 2003 Tony Award winner for best musical; Brother Russia, a rock musical about a “comically fourth-rate Russian theatre troupe;” and Xanadu, based on the 1980 cult film starring Olivia Newton-John. [Signature Theatre]

Clint Eastwood and Crew Drop By Arlington Home — Last week crews were busy scurrying about North Arlington filming scenes for the Leo DiCaprio-headlined production of  ‘J. Edgar.’ Among the locations where filming took place was kitchen of one family’s house. DiCaprio, director Clint Eastwood and dozens of crew members took over the Rasmussen family’s home to film one scene for the movie. [Washington Post]

Local Reference in New Foo Fighters Song

By ARLnow.com

The Foo Fighters have a new album out, and it looks like another Northern Virginia reference has made it into front man Dave Grohl’s music.

A song entitled “Arlandria” is track number five on the album, Wasting Light. Arlandria is the section of Alexandria around Mount Vernon Avenue, across from the Arlington border.

Grohl is no stranger to the area. He grew up in Northern Virginia, went to high school in Alexandria and recorded an early solo album in Arlington. His first Foo Fighters album included a song called “Weenie Beenie,” after the Shirlington hot dog stand.

Listen to the new Foo album here. The lyrics for “Arlandria,” after the jump.

Hat tip to Jim S.

(more…)

Speaker Boehner Visits Guapo’s in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

In the midst of a high-stakes budget fight on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner found time to dine at Guapo’s Restaurant in Shirlington Village last night.

Speaker Boehner was joined by 8-10 people, who our tipster says were likely friends and staff members. The margarita-sipping crew left in two black U.S. Capitol Police SUVs around 10:00 p.m.

The visit — confirmed by a restaurant staffer — came on the same day that Tea Party members rallied in front of the Capitol to pressure Boehner and congressional Republicans to continue pushing for budgetary spending cuts. In case they’re wondering, the typical entree at Guapo’s is between $10 and $20.

Boehner is apparently a big fan of the Mexican cuisine at Guapo’s. He has been spotted there at least two other times in the past few months.

Our wonk-ish tipster hypothesizes that last night’s visit may indicate Boehner is planning on passing another short-term continuing resolution before finalizing the budget. After all, our tipster says, Boehner would otherwise be rushing to iron out key points in order for the budget to be “agreed to, finalized and posted by this coming Tuesday under their new 72 hour rules.”

Clint Eastwood Film ‘J. Edgar’ Filming in N. Arlington Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar Hoover biopic, which has been filming in downtown D.C. and Warrenton, Va., will come to Arlington tonight.

A county official we talked to confirmed that filming is expected to take place in North Arlington tonight, but could not reveal the exact location or exact time. Neighbors have been notified of the production plans, the official said.

No word yet on whether the film’s star, Leo DiCaprio, or its star director will be on set.

Update at 4:45 p.m. — The movie is filming in the Donaldson Run area, near Marymount University. Here’s the letter the production crew sent to neighbors:

Dear Neighbors,

Tuesday evening, March 29th we will be parking production vehicles involved with the filming of the Warner Brothers film entitled, “J.Edgar” in the Leaf Mulch Site on 26th St. N. and Yorktown Blvd.

We will be filming scenes for the motion picture nearby in Arlington. The vehicles will be parked in the lot starting Tuesday evening and will be in place until the end of day Thursday, March 31st.

We understand we are guests in your neighborhood and we will do our best to ensure that our brief stay is a pleasant one for all.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call the number below.

Thanks again and we look forward to the opportunity to be your temporary neighbors this week.

Sincerely,

(Redacted)

Photo via Wikipedia

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