television

Moran: Congress Must Do More To Stop Gun Violence

By Aaron Kraut

Rep. Jim Moran (D) called for the renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the closing of the “Gun Show Loophole” in an interview Monday afternoon on MSNBC.

Moran spoke with Martin Bashir guest-host Thomas Roberts about gun control laws in the wake of last week’s movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., in which 12 were killed and dozens were injured.

Moran referred to “more than 60 multiple shootings” nationwide after the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

“We shrug our shoulders and come up with all kinds of pious, remorseful rhetoric. We ought to do something,” Moran said. “And we haven’t done anything about this. To some extent, we are complicit in these crimes if we don’t stand up and speak out.”

Moran also said that lawmakers have been “politically castrated” by the National Rifle Association.

Video: Arlington Resident Has the World’s Largest Natural Breasts

By ARLnow.com

An Arlington resident will be profiled on the TLC show Strange Sex this weekend. The reason? She has the world’s largest natural breasts.

Annie Hawkins-Turner, also known in the world of fetish modeling by her stage name Norma Stitz, recently moved to the Fairlington section of Arlington from Atlanta, Georgia. In a preview of the show (above), the 53-year-old talks to TLC about being bullied in school — “kids would point and stare… I wasn’t able to sit at the desk like other kids” — and her decision to not get breast reduction surgery — “why fix something that’s not broken,” she said.

Hawkins-Turner has a rare condition called gigantomastia that has caused her breasts to grow so big — her bra size is 102ZZZ — that they now weigh 85 pounds. She says she’s used to attracting attention where ever she goes.

“No one looks like me,” Hawkins-Turner said. “I’m one in a million.”

In addition to being featured on the show, Hawkins-Turner was featured on the website Gawker today.

Strange Sex will air on Sunday, July 15, at 10:00 p.m.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Free Slurpee Day — It’s 7/11, which can mean only one thing: it’s Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven. The convenience store chain is offering its customers a free 7.11 ounce Slurpee today from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The 7-Eleven website lists 22 stores in Arlington. [Slurpee.com]

Arlington Jeopardy Champ’s Run Ends — Arlington resident Stephanie Fontaine has more than $50,000 to show for her three-day winning streak on Jeopardy. Her streak ended with last night’s episode, when she came some $2,200 short of a fourth victory. [Sun Gazette]

Summer Staycation? — Arlington County’s CommuterPage Blog suggests that a “staycation” in Arlington may be a fun and inexpensive alternative to a leaving town on summer trip. [CommuterPage Blog]

Photo courtesy Scott Schlimmer

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Plane at DCA Sinks into Tarmac — It was so hot Friday that a US Airways flight got stuck in some heat-softened pavement while taxi-ing to the runway. [Washington Post]

Vote Set on Pike Streetcar Plan — On July 21 the Arlington County Board is scheduled to vote on whether to proceed with plans to build a streetcar or add enhanced bus service along Columbia Pike. The Board is expected to formally sanction the streetcar plan, then apply for federal funding. [Sun Gazette]

Arlington Living Wage Increased — Arlington County has raised its minimum salary for contracted employees to $13.13 an hour, up from $12.75. The increase puts Arlington in line with Fairfax and Alexandria, both of which pay a $13.13 living wage. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Resident Wins on Jeopardy — Arlington resident Stephanie Fontaine racked up two back-to-back wins on the televised game show “Jeopardy!” last week. She’ll try to make it 3-for-3 on the show tonight. [Sun Gazette]

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Ask Adam: ‘Million Dollar Listing’ vs. Real Life

By ARLnow.com

Editor’s Note: This periodic sponsored Q&A column is written by Adam Gallegos of Arlington-based real estate firm Arbour Realty. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com. Please submit follow-up questions in the comments section or via email.

How similar is the TV show Million Dollar Listing to real estate in Arlington?

Probably not that much more similar than your life is to the Real Housewives franchise. The shows are crafted for entertainment, featuring plenty of showboating and drama.

My favorite scenes are the face to face negotiations. They’re a great way to breed drama. In contrast, almost every real estate offer in Arlington is presented over the phone and then transmitted via email. I’ve only ever had one agent deliver an offer in person, but the negotiation had already taken place.

What’s also interesting is that they negotiate verbally without anything in writing. As a listing agent, you’re not going to get me to present anything to a seller without all the terms written out and signed by the buyer. There’s way too much that could go wrong and there are a lot more variables involved than price.

The broker open houses are much more fabulous on TV. The nicer broker open houses in Arlington usually consist of a catered lunch and maybe a drawing for a $50 gift card. In reality they are probably just as effective as the lavish events you have seen in Million Dollar Listing. In my opinion, brokers opens are as much about educating the realtor community about a home as they are about creating buzz. Education is especially important with some of the high performance green homes being built.

One practice some of us share in common with the agents on TV is staging . I’m sure this sounds like a waste of money to some of you, but I can tell you from experience that how a home shows goes a long way towards how it sells. According to the staging company I use, 94.9% of their staged homes sell in 45 days or less.

Though the guys on TV drive around in Porsches, wear $25,000 watches and strut around town in Gucci loafers, this is not how we roll in Arlington. Maybe there is a little of that in Great Falls, but I don’t see it around here. I should point out that far less than 1% of realtors earn the level of income that these guys on TV are making. According to CNBC.com 12 Most Overrated Jobs, the average annual income of a realtor is $40,357. That’s a respectable income, but it doesn’t get you far in Arlington and it sure doesn’t look anything like the $594,000 commission I just saw Ryan earn on Million Dollar Listing New York.

So how many million dollar listings actually sell in Arlington? Thus far in 2012, 63 homes have sold for $1,000,000 or more. The two most expensive homes sold in Arlington this year, went for $3,100,000 and $4,200,000. The latter is a penthouse condo at Turnberry Towers.

I have to give Bravo TV a lot of credit. If they can make real estate look cool or at least entertaining, then they are good at what they do. Today I had a walkthrough, closing, home inspection to negotiate and emails to respond to leading up to writing this article. Trust me, it had very low entertainment value.

Continue to send your real estate-related questions to: [email protected]

Good Stuff Eatery Holds Party in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Spike Mendelsohn brought some glitz and glamour to Crystal City Friday night at the private opening party for his newest Good Stuff Eatery location.

Between the the celebrity DJ inside (Josh Madden), the Ferrari parked outside (it belonged to one of Spike’s investors), and the reality show production crew that filmed the whole thing (we were told they were working on “Life After Top Chef”), the party was more Hollywood Boulevard than Crystal Drive. Taking in the excitement — and the beer, fries, burgers and milkshakes — was a capacity crowd that included young partiers, local notables, and Mendelsohn family members.

The restaurant, at 2110 Crystal Drive, is set to open to the public on Wednesday.

1/21

Bakeshop Featured on Cooking Channel

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) Bakeshop (1025 N. Fillmore Street) was featured on the Cooking Channel “Unique Sweets” this past Sunday.

The Clarendon confection store’s owner, Justin Stegall, and his mother Linda were both featured on the program, as well as Bakeshop’s oatmeal creme pie, 7-Up cupcakes, and red velvet cake. The episode was focused on nostalgic “childhood treats.”

Unique Sweets bills itself as “an insider’s peek into innovative eateries across America that are creating the most unique and exciting desserts today.” The show airs on the Cooking Channel at 10:30 p.m. on Sundays, though repeats are aired multiples times during the week.

Stegall says he got a call from the producers of the show out of the blue, asking if he wanted to be featured. A camera crew spent seven hours in the store a couple of months ago, Stegall said, and the finished, edited segment was about seven minutes.

Stegall says he was surprised by how many people have told him that they saw him on television.

“It’s kind of funny, I didn’t know cooking TV was as big as it was,” he said. “The craziest thing is that my friends… are calling up and telling me they saw me on TV, and I didn’t tell them it was going to be on.”

Screen capture collage courtesy of Lu

WUSA 9: Memo Reveals ACPD Ticket ‘Quota’

By ARLnow.com

A memo sent to Arlington County police officers earlier this month appears to outline a quota system for traffic tickets, arrests and parking citations, according to a report from television station WUSA 9.

Though the memo says “there is not, nor has there ever been a quota for traffic enforcement,” it goes on to list “monthly proactivity expectations,” complete with a set number of traffic summons and a maximum percentage of warnings.

ARLnow.com obtained a copy of the memo from a police officer who expressed surprise that the department would issue such an obviously controversial directive. The memo itself was authored by two patrol commanders, both captains.

In a statement issued to WUSA, Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said the memo “serves as a guideline for Operations Division personnel and will not be considered a quota for enforcement.”

SOJA Performs on The Tonight Show

By ARLnow.com

SOJA, a reggae group founded by a group of Arlington natives, made their national television debut Monday night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The band performed “Gone Today,” from their new album Strength to Survive, which is currently #1 and #2 respectively on the Billboard and iTunes reggae charts. The album was released on ATO, the record label co-founded by Dave Matthews, with whom the band has toured.

(The video, above, is queued up to the beginning of the performance.)

Also known as Soldiers of Jah Army, SOJA came from humble local beginnings. The band was founded by two best friends, Jacob Hemphill and Bobby Lee, who started performing together as middle school students in Arlington. After picking up three other bandmates in high school, SOJA was formed and began performing around the D.C. area. Following graduation, the band began touring and their success has been growing ever since.

“Over the course of the past few years, SOJA has sold more than 150,000 albums, headlined large theaters in more than 15 countries around the world, generated over 20 million+ YouTube views, amassed more than a half-million Facebook fans, and attracted an almost Grateful Dead-like international fanbase that grows with each tour, with caravans of diehards following them from city to city,” the band’s website says. “Most impressive of all, they’ve accomplished all this on their own.”

SOJA is currently on tour and will be performing for two nights at the 9:30 Club in D.C. in May. One of the nights, Saturday, May 19, will feature ?uestlove, of The Roots and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon fame, as a special guest artist. SOJA will also be performing at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee in June.

“Top Model” to Hold Casting Call in Pentagon City

By Katie Pyzyk

Here’s a chance to strut your stuff in an attempt to get on television. America’s Next Top Model will be holding a casting call in Pentagon City.

This season will be the “college edition” and casting directors are looking for ladies involved in all types of continuing education. They’ll be recruiting at the Pentagon City mall from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Applicants must be females between the ages of 18 and 27, and need to be at least 5’7″ tall. A filled out application and photo ID are required at the casting call. Additional eligibility requirements are available online.

Del. Englin Blasts Abortion Bill on MSNBC

By ARLnow.com

The goings-on within the Virginia General Assembly generally do not make national news, but that changed this week after legislators passed a Republican-sponsored bill requiring women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound.

Incensed by what he saw as unnecessary government intrusion into the private lives of women, Del. David Englin (D) issued a scathing statement about the bill.

“This bill will require many women in Virginia to undergo vaginal penetration with an ultrasound probe against their consent in order to exercise their constitutional right to an abortion, even for nonsurgical, noninvasive, pharmaceutical abortions,” Englin said. “This kind of government intrusion shocks the conscience and demonstrates the disturbing lengths Republican legislators will go to prevent women from controlling their own reproductive destiny.”

The statement apparently attracted the attention of cable news bookers. Englin, who represents parts of Arlington and Alexandria, was invited on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show last night to reiterate his point for a national audience.

Before the interview, Maddow argued that should the bill be signed as-is by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), it could hurt his chances of becoming a Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012.

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