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DaveO

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Everything posted by DaveO

  1. DaveO
    I'll be a son of a b#%(#. Now someone tells me. The one I purchased involved endless months of design and mind f:%#ing time.
  2. DaveO
    Beautiful
  3. DaveO
    SPOILER ALERT In early 1971, Frank Serpico, a New York City Undercover Cop was shot in the face by one of the people being pursued during an attempted drug bust made with fellow cops. The fellow cops did not call in the shooting. It was called in by a neighbor. Frank Serpico, a long term NY cop had refused to join in the widespread corruption in the police force and starting in 1967 had attempted to report it to authorities. He was rebuffed numerous times. Ultimately his fellow cops turned on him. As a result of all these long term efforts, NYC initiated a widespread investigation of the NYC police force and ultimately made major changes in a force rife from top to bottom with corruption. Serpico, the movie, made in 1973, starring the young Al Pacino, newly famous from his first starring role as Michael Corleone in the Godfather plays real life NYC cop Frank Serpico in this epic film. It is the story of the lone "honest man" struggling in a dishonest world. The story documents Serpico's experience in the police force from new rookie, to uniformed cop to undercover narcotics cop focusing on his years in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Pacino does a marvelous job portraying both the intensity for which he is famous, the struggles of a cop trying first to just not be involved in the rampant corruption, the problems he faced in doing so as he aroused suspicions from fellow cops, his decision to report these problems, the struggles he faced during this period, his emotional struggles while coping. His character ranges from quiet to raging, from mild to intense. Its all highlighted by the period and the place; The hippie culture of the late 60's and early 70's, NYC and Greenwich Village, and the unique environment among the police. Pacino is magnetic, enthralling, and epic in this role. On top of that the period piece is fun to watch as Pacino's many undercover disguises are simply magnificent.
  4. DaveO
    I read it. (the description of Silver Spring) Its a great history. Very interesting and informative. You laid out in a way how that former urban center was bypassed by Bethesda. Having moved to the area in the late 70's I had no idea of Silver Springs significance before then. Now we all have to populate that topic with references to its restaurants. Once I got to Silver Spring I did start eating at both the original and shorter lived 2nd version of Chrisfield's. Wonderful place, and as you describe it, the epitome of a certain style of seafood. Can't beat sitting at the counter and dining on spectacular seafood delights.
  5. DaveO
    Joe: I chatted with a friend who is an investor in one of those sites in Tysons that has was eligible and has received approval for upgraded zoning (has received = they paid a lot of money, submitted a lot of paper work and was approved). The site is approved for "a ton" of extra development over what sits on the property today. Theoretically its worth a significantly more. In actuality that value won't hit until the market evolves and the demand begins to migrate to their location. Then it will have a ton more value. It could occur in less than a decade, a decade or 20 or more years. It will take a long time for all that planned development to occur. That time frame is similar to what has occurred in Arlington, Tysons, Reston, Bethesda, etc. It can take a long time. (lord--I was involved in trying to do a cool restaurant deal in Reston in the early 80's that never occurred...so long before the millions of feet that sprung up in that area) So many events and reactions occur as a result of all these changes. Your descriptions of an enormous number of classrooms in trailers is a prime example of the less desirable after effects. It was interesting to read about Silver Spring from the late 1960's. 2nd biggest city in Md. I didn't know that. Its before I moved to this area. Silver Spring got development but has lagged behind so many other areas. Its rents still lag more fashionable locations such as Bethesda, Arlington, Tysons, and Reston. Yet, it can be a great location for strong restaurants. It has huge population demographics that are proximate to Silver Spring, the restaurant competition isn't as fierce as some other areas, and the rents are favorable. and getting back to demographics....it has lots and lots and lots of population density nearby...of many income levels. Tysons, though. Ughhhhhhhhhh. The danged traffic. Its a pain to get there. Its a pain to get through there. It can be miserable to be in one end of Tysons and go to the other end. If Fairfax can figure out how to fix the traffic congestion problem it would be a great place for restaurants.
  6. DaveO
    oi. there are still a lot of friggin detailed rules. Who cares if one uses discount or happy hour???? OTOH: If bars can add happy hour info on their websites and post big happy hour signs outside for the drive by and walk by traffic most of the important info is passed on to most of the public. From my past conversations with bar owners and operators they were incredibly frustrated by the former rules.
  7. DaveO
    That article proposes a very expansive concept of social theory based on being able to chat, connive, and plan in bars or cafes. It seems like a sort of romantic concept for creating social movements over time. I suppose there is truth to it. Interesting that the article features The Saloon on U Street as a bar that encourages conversation. Its also a remarkable example of non marketing in today's world. It doesn't have a website and its facebook page is virtually dead. yet it could be a busy neighborhood place. Wow...its an example of the "good old days". The Saloon does have a thread here.
  8. DaveO
    I just spoke with one of our grads from a couple of years ago. She took a lot of the mixology classes and loved them. In fact she started making mixes and syrups at home to enhance her skills.
  9. DaveO
    Frankly the restriction seemed to be a weird stupid little archaic law. Third party websites arose that were titled something like Arlington happy hours, Fairfax happy hours, etc. Operators weren't sure if by putting their hours on a third party website they were in violation of the old law or not...and finding out involved a lot of calls, and checking on a stupid restriction. Now all these Northern VA bars can blast away something along the lines of "Hey, y'all come on across the river and get stewed in our bar, rather than some DC rip off joint". Before this, happy hour "deals" were available....there were just these archaic little laws restricting advertising, marketing.
  10. DaveO
    Blazing Saddles is among my all time favorite comedies, and possibly among my favorite movies also. That is an interesting article; so serious about such a silly uproarious comedy. Interesting, though, that Brooks said he couldn't make that movie in current times because of political correctness perspectives. My favorite line from a Brooks movie is "Its good to be the king" from History of the world part II. That line is applicable in so many different environments. Yet when I looked at this video its apparent that Brooks had one application of the phrase in mind:
  11. DaveO
    .....and so I will. After posting this I read Porcupine's description of a film and among other things marveled at how much more articulate, informative, and inviting her description was than the one I wrote. I could respond....trust me.....watch it. But that doesn't do it justice. .....and so I will provide a richer description of this epic performance
  12. DaveO
    Any way to avoid tysons traffic is a good way. Perhaps the horrible traffic is a major detriment to better restaurants. How can one rely on making reservations with that traffic?
  13. DaveO
    I was speaking to a friend in the real estate business far more knowledgeable than me and current. He suggested a 30 year time frame for all that development. That is probably pretty reasonable. It takes a long time for enough people to want to move to Tysons to live and for businesses to want to relocate and take advantage of metro. 30 years. Probably reasonable. Consider the time it has taken Arlington to build out from when Metro hit the Rosslyn to Ballston corridor in the late 1970's. At that starting time the Rosslyn to Ballston corridor was pretty much Rosslyn with high rises and the Ballston Mall at the other end with little high rise in between and many choices for Vietnamese food in Clarendon. Now there is one old Vietnamese restaurant in Clarendon, tons of high rises, expensive real estate everywhere....and as all this has occurred over 30 years, as Joe pointed out there is a big big completely finished empty office building in Rosslyn, and another one around the corner that won't start construction because the current office market is week. Meanwhile most of the wonderful older Vietnamese restaurants in Clarendon have departed the area and a wide variety of wonderful newer choices have arrived. It takes a long time, for all this to occur though.
  14. DaveO
    Rolling Stone called this the best SNL skit ever: "Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker" (1993) Starring Chris Farley So many great skits. So much laughter. So many talented comedians over the decades. I'm still partial to the "Jane You ignorant slut" skit: In fact there is so much more to it than that memorable line: "Point / Counterpoint" (1978) Starring Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd
  15. DaveO
    Like Joe, I recall R. Crumb when he/they were active, prolific, publishing a lot. maybe a wee bit after Joe, but roughly the same years. R. Crumb. It reads best when one is stoned. Who knows maybe they'll make a comeback in Colorado.
  16. DaveO
    Nice one Rich. . Don: hotel personnel everywhere get paid by restaurants to make local dining suggestions. It occurs in Woodley Park, Wilmington, and Waterloo.
  17. DaveO
    And now the lease holders of the restaurant/coffee shop at Big Chair are back....but the process is tough. "Anacostia's 'Big Chair Coffee and Grill Is Back In Business" by Tim Carman on washingtonpost.com
  18. DaveO
    I don't thing that is accurate. When I was involved in this project it was before 9/11. It was already planned to be mostly above ground (except for some stops like in Tysons). It is immeasurably less expensive to build above ground than below ground. I think that could be deciphered at some point in the last decade when there were battles about finally going ahead and who and how this entire project was going to get paid for, with federal, state, and local monies. One of the issues that arose was how expensive it was to build underground into Dulles Airport, for a stop that would be significantly closer to the entries to the airport versus a stop that was somewhat removed from the gates, and would require a walk or an intermediate trolley or some other kind of transport. That last mile or two, (or less) and primarily going underground is a huge huge expense.
  19. DaveO
    I don't have facts on that but can only venture a guess. I'd bet there is old data that gives comps for sales of land somewhat similar, with similar zoning and prices....although that particular property, while having somewhat weird access is sort of at the epicenter of Tysons. I'd guess its value back then was about $15-30 a buildable foot of commercial construction but at that time they could build less than 1 foot of building to land. Now the base price would be some multiple of that guesstimate of the original price. More impactful though would be the fact that it was upzoned to accommodate an enormous high rise. The increase in value, in my estimate, would be truly enormous, significantly impacted by the change in zoning. I'm not the restaurant fan or historian or as knowledgeable as are you guys. I mostly related high end dining in Tysons to steak places, of which there have been many, and still are. If they do manage to build a lot of high rise residential, both owned and rental, and at high prices I'm sure the area will attract a wider variety of better places to dine. Meanwhile hasn't Silver Diner been a go-to place for early morning eat and business meetings? If and when they do get more restaurants and of higher quality I do hope it dramatically expands outside of the steak house theme.
  20. DaveO
    Joe: that top website is very interesting. The proposed height of buildings at what is called the greensboro station are truly stunning. From my time working at this project and in conjunction with Fairfax County Planners, I don't recall that level of density, heights, etc. That is extraordinarily urban!!!! As much as all this is planned or approved who knows how long it could take for development. Development over the very long term is very jagged. It occurs in fits and stops. Tysons has a lot of office space. It has more office space than most known cities. Its spread over a lot of acres though and a sizable amount is low rise. But to bring it all back to Da Dominico and Clydes....I don't know if Da Dominico is part of the proposed Clydes site or not...but if not...its owners probably have a high rise in mind also. One last old real estate reference. In the early 80's I sold land across from Mazza Gallerie for development. The Clydes team owned one of the parcels. In retrospect it was fascinating to speak with them. They had these parcels of land in various areas around the region. It was way before they had restaurants in those areas. Their partnership had the foresight and money to get involved in areas where they ultimately placed some restaurants. Our clients built one of those projects but they didn't buy the small Clydes parcel. It was too pricey.
  21. DaveO
    Destruya: Those 4 stops in Tysons are exactly where they were planned to be 12 or so years ago when I worked on that project. The locations were there before I got on board. I have no idea exactly why or how those locations got chosen. I do know the locations were a function of engineering, land availability, functionalness with the areas, and other concerns. I suspect a lot of issues were weighed in choosing exactly where the stations are. I'm not an engineer either but a lot of them worked on this project including people with vast experience on the construction of subways across the country over the decades. If you think about it though, metro rolls beneath much of dc, including under a lot of buildings. In fact at least one in DC (at Conn and L) doesn't have underground parking b/c metro is directly below it. I never felt a rumble on the lowest level.
  22. DaveO
    That statement startled me. I don't believe that sites along Metro suffer from this at all. Then I went to volumes of reviews for Da Dominico or the Clydes of Reston and scanned them. There were no references to the sense of a mini earthquake from any review. There are metro's running under buildings all over the region and especially downtown. I don't believe there is an issue. But in that search I saw the following reference for new high rise development on the Clyde's Tysons site and some nearby smaller properties. Up to 2 million square feet of development and up to 36 stories high!!!!! Zounds!! This was just approved this past Autumn by Fairfax County. Here is my little "connection" to that story. Back around 2000 I left the commercial real estate business and didn't know how I was going to spend time. I was recruited by a civil engineering group that was working on the Environmental Impact Analysis for the proposed metro extension to Tysons, Reston, National Airport, and beyond....and also worked on similar analyses for other proposed transit projects. Part of the approval process hinged on the proposed volumes of ridership for these projects. That in turn relied on traffic estimates based on density of development around the sites. That is where I came in. I was part of a group with planners from Fairfax County. We looked at every parcel of ground in the proposed stops and estimated future development. Then that information went to the transportation planners that used a formula to estimate ridership. A lot of number crunching and usage of advanced tested formulas for estimating transit ridership. Its all estimates. Who knows how it will play out. From my recollection though, when we looked at the Clydes' site and others near it we never assumed that much development density and heights of buildings. Of course if and when this gets built is anyone's guess. It depends on market conditions, financing, etc etc etc. It could take decades. The Clydes site is very close to one of the metro stops though, so it might get into the ground sooner than others that will change the skyline of Tysons, and probably take an already miserable traffic experience and make it far worse. I don't know if Da Dominico is part of this proposed development or not...or will be part of some other planned super structure....but I doubt it will feel the effects of metro's rumbling underneath and nearby.
  23. DaveO
    PofR and all the Pines' have always been kid friendly in food, price environment which imho gives them an extra star as a destnation for many.
  24. DaveO
    I was there not long ago. veal chops still good...but my god... a leak in the roof. that's ridiculous. I used to go there periodically 15, 20 years ago. A strong contender for wonderful veal chops....still doing a good job. but FIX THE ROOF!!!!
  25. DaveO
    I'm sorry, but if all the Pines' restaurants are offshoots of Pines of Rome in Bethesda....that is an example of the great spread of mediocre meals at affordable prices. and lord knows I've eaten meals at a slew of the Pines' over many years. years of mediocre food at middling prices. ho hum
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