Barbeque. It’s a controversial subject in these parts, and you need to look no further than Wikipedia’s entry on regional barbeque to see all manner of subtle protest of one state’s traditions over another. Some people prefer St. Louis-style ribs with a heavy tomato-based sauce. Others prefer North Carolina-style ribs with a good solid dry rub followed by thin vinegar-based sauce. Which one you choose specifies the kind of personal preference usually reserved for Religion, Politics or Sports Teams. It’s not a small deal.

When my friend Jonathan told me about the Rocklands re-opening on Lee Hwy in Virginia Square, I couldn’t have been more excited. For a long time, Rocklands shared a space with the pool-bar Carpool right off the Metro. But, apparently, the management agree expired in 2005, and since then Arlington has been left largely rib-less. Sure, tons of places served the dish, but none really gave it the deep and abiding respect and love that good ribs deserve. Four of us went over that way last night, the new location is next to the Georgetown Valet (and the Ron Paul Revolution World Headquarters) where Pica Deli used to be.

When you open the door, the sweet, tangy smell of barbeque wafts gentle out into the outside, followed by the hickory smoke that makes their food so good. Rocklands is an order-then-sit type of restaurant, with both family-style and individual-sized meals. Tiff and I had sandwiches (Lamb, Brisket) and some of their spicy onion rings, while our friends had a full slab of smoked ribs. As we ordered, they were moving full-sized briskets and pork shoulder from the smoker to the carving platform, and they were huge cuts of meat, steaming from the heat, and smelling like heaven to any barbeque lover.

Rocklands will be a favorite of ours, I’m sure. Welcome back, guys, we missed you.

Rocklands
3471 Washington Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 528-9663

I asked our waitress at the Ballston Rock Bottom Brewery if she knew anything about canonization of saints in the Catholic Church. She said she didn’t, although we agreed that probably death was involved and we were pretty sure that the person had to perform some sort of miracle.

Later on, Mary assisted my lovely wife and me with the mysterious disappearance of my wife’s Mug Club card - that precious card on which they tally up the number of beers you have had and give you such prizes as pint glasses, hats and a free trip to a liver specialist after 300 beers. I am getting there but still have a few more to go.

Then Mary did the impossible. She looked up my wife’s information in the computer, added one beer to the total and presented her with a new card. There was a blinding light and a choir of angels as the new card, in spirit the same as the old one freshly raised from its grave, slipped into my wife’s wallet. So let it be written. So let it be done.

Thanks, Mary, for a wonderful experience this evening at Rock Bottom Brewery. And although you won’t need it, I’ll put in a good word for you with the Big G, should I reach the pearly gates before you do.

Are you moving? Do you want to use U-Haul, “your moving and storage resource” for a DC zip code change? Before you type in http://www.uhaul.com to make a moving truck reservation, go local.

Go Google Maps for UHaul.

Why? Because if you go to the main UHaul site, they will charge you a $5 service fee to tell the local U-Haul to call you back. Essentially $5 for the U-Haul website to give you a local telephone number.

I just realized this after I called the 1-800 number listed on the U-Hall website and tried to make a reservation for a moving van. They couldn’t guarantee me a reservation for my in-town move, saying they would have to call me back.

As I am in Egypt this week, gazing at pyramids on Giza Plateau, I asked for their number instead.

A $5 “nonrefundable reservation fee” later, they gave me the phone number of the U-Haul on U Street. Nice. Next time, if there is ever a next time with my half-million dollar mortgage, I’ll save the $5 and call the local U-Haul Company directly.

Before then, you can save $5 and have a better customer service experience. Just call your local U-Haul dealership directly and skip the scam website.

I recently killed an afternoon after work at the Rock Bottom Brewery at Ballston Commons, one of my favorite places to sit and enjoy a brew. Rock Bottom has a wonderful collection of beers brewed on premises by a master brewer. The food is good, although limited for vegetarians, which puts a bit of a damper on things. I am always satisfied with the nachos, though. Even if the selection is not great, what is there is excellent.

At my most recent visit, however, I paid my $12 tab with a ten and a five and waited about 15 minutes, reading the City Paper, and never got my change. Granted, I had planned to leave the change as a tip for the waitress, but there is still a social contract between a server and customer that had been broken. I at least wanted the option to leave the tip rather than having her assume that I didn’t want my change.

Is this weird? I am not a bad tipper and left her the money in the end but she seemed really offended when I asked for my change, as if I had asked to return the plate of onion rings for a refund after eating them.

When did tipping become compulsory? I am a big believer in rewarding good service, but part of that good service should include not assuming that the change is yours to keep.

Don’t be blue,
The rumors are true.
The time is near,
It’s finally here.
Won’t it be great,
When all Arlingtonians can skate.
Sign up now,
So you’ll know how.

Yesterday, the Capitals announced that their new practice facility in Ballston would be named Kettler Capitals Iceplex. The announcement was really just a reason to get the credentialed media and others out there do a write-up about the facility; both broadsheet newspapers (The Post) complied (The Wash. Times). DC Sports Bog (source of the poem) was all over the story. On Frozen Blog and Puckhead’s Thoughts were there too and both have excellent coverage of the occasion too. Puckhead even has video.

The Iceplex or KCI (we’ll see which nickname will stick) boasts two regulation size rinks, one of which has seating for 1,200. There are training facilities and offices for the Caps and WNBA Mystics as well as a snackbar and a pro shop. Ninety percent of the time the rinks will be open for uses of than Caps practice, providing so much needed ice team for area leagues. Both the Georgetown and George Washington college teams, as well as six high school squads will use it as their home rink. There will be public ice time as well.

The first Caps practice there is scheduled for Nov. 7 and like all practices, is open to the public for no charge. It looks like this is going to be the second best thing to happen to the Capitals this century.

Perhaps if Wayan’s couch guest is still looking for a place to stay, he should take a gander at HotPads.com. HotPads appears to be a mash-up between google maps and wikipedia, offering a user-friendly at-a-glance look at available housing options inside the beltway.

Users can customize their search requirements by zip code, city, county or state, using a variety of variables. A quick Georgetown search turned up not a whole lot, whereas a quick search of my home zip code turned up two rental possibilities.

Looking for a roommate? You apparently can use that feature too, although it turned up zilch for me. This appears to be a great tool for relocation professionals who know naught about the new city they’ll call home. Doing a quick search of cities such as Seattle and Boston turned up a whole lot of useful information.

These three Notre Dame former college roommates moved to the D.C. area and created HotPads in early ‘05, relaunching the site last month. The best thing about HotPads? It’s totally free.

Between HotPads and The D.C. Crime Map newcomers to D.C. can learn much more about prospective neighbours before they even put down a deposit. Say ’sayonara’ to moving in sight unseen, suckers.

Tucked away in Clarendon, right near the Jiffy Lube and Hess gas station, is a Peruvian restaurant consistently rated by the Washingtonian as one of the area’s 100 Best Bargains. Costa Verde is the kind of restaurant you know that you should try, and certainly mean to, but for one reason or another never seem to get around to it - or at least that’s how it was for me until I went with a few friends the other night.

Entering the restaurant, I felt some trepidation at the fact that there were many table available, but only a few filled - an unlikely sight at most restaurants in Clarendon on a Friday night. But I suppose we were just ahead of the crowd, because as soon as a complimentary bowl of roasted corn kernels had been placed before us, the restaurant was quite full. The corn kernels are noted in most reviews of this restaurant, along with the accompanying salsa verde, and with good reason. Though a bit starchier than I anticipated - I suppose I was prepared more for something along the lines of a Corn Nut - they are surprisingly sweet and can hold their own against the salsa’s purée of chilies.

One person ordered a tamale as an appetizer, and was compelled to share it with the rest of the table - it was big enough to be a meal in and of itself - and served with with chicharrón, a succulent, tender, and somewhat fatty morsel of pork. We also shared a rich bowl of shrimp soup. The creaminess of the dish is well matched to the hints of saffron, garlic, and other seasonings - though a touch too salty for some. We devoured both dishes with delight while putting away a few bottles of Pilsen Callao.

(more…)

When it comes to haircuts, most guys have only a few options. For some, its the hair salon ala supercuts, hair cuttery, bubbles, etc.. For me it’s the Ballston Barbershop - and honestly it’s been barbershops pretty much my entire life.

Photo Credit: By Jahi Chikwendiu
The Washington Post Photo

For Mike Blot and Rudy Lilly, though, these options were not enough. They dreamed of a place where men could get haircut, manicure, pedicure, body wax - without the discomfort that comes with places that are too feminine and don’t allow men to be… well men. A place with "a relaxing beach atmosphere with sports on big-screen tv’s, irresistible music, and female stylists who just happen to be as attractive as they are talented."

And so they founded Paradise Cuts and made the employee uniform - bikini’s and sarongs. You may have heard their commercials on the radio about how bikini’s make everything better.

How big a deal is this? Big enough for the Washington Post to cover the opening day. The article quotes Stylist Sheryl Cubbage, 36, who also plays guitar in a local rock band,
on the
appeal of Paradise Cuts:

"Men like visuals, so why not have a good haircut and a . . . good conversation. It’s about being pampered. Women get it all the time, so why shouldn’t men?"

Today, you can only find this hooters-does-haircuts establishment in Fairfax - but Blot and Lilly currently have plans to expand their network of sexy stylists to Reston/Dulles and Alexandria. Franchise opportunities can’t be too far behind…

The large buildings that line the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor are required by zoning law to provide retail space on the ground floor (street-level). As a resident, I think this is a great bit of regulation, because it provides me with a broader array of services within walking distance of my house - particularly the necessities of food, coffee, and alcohol.

So when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) doubled the size of its Headquarters office, I was curious whether any business would set up shop in the newly created ground floor. This curiosity stems from the fact that the nearby Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) building has successfully argued against providing street-level business space because either (a) they need the space for their offices, or (b) any retail space would be too close to their mail operations (which happen to be on the first floor) and would constitute a security risk. Seeing as the FDIC is probably a cornerstone of the American financial system - I wasn’t holding my breath.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw workers avoiding the space when they were developing offices on other floors. Yet, I am no longer that happy… because the space is going to be occupied by yet another damn Cosi sandwich shop. As if we don’t have enough of these in the area!

It really disappoints me this space wasn’t given to some sort of small business - or at least a chain that doesn’t already have a similar outlet within walking distance (e.g. the Cosi at Ballston).

Virginia Senator George Allen (R) and challenger James "Jim" Webb (D) will face-off in Richmond tonight. The 8 p.m. debate will be moderated be moderated by Russ Mitchell, an anchor on The Early Show and Sunday Evening News on CBS. Viewers in Northern Virginia will be able to watch the debate live on WETA (local channel 26).

So far, both candidates have spent a considerable amount of time issuing and responding to personal questions or attacks. For Allen, the central issues have revolved around his (supposedly hidden) Jewish heritage, his use of the word "macaca," and his office’s showcase of a Confederate flag and rope tied into a noose. Webb has been questioned about a 1979 article on women in combat. Although I am hoping the debate will provide a showcase for both of these candidates to present clearly distinguishable platforms - I’m afraid that most of the debate will end up focused on questions of character…

Allen is predicted to say "Well shucks, you know that I was a bit of a rebel in my younger days, so I’ve always liked having a Confederate flag and noose ready for when the South will rise again."

Webb will think "…jackass," while stretching his hands in anticipation of the vicious pimp slap he is about to lay down.