David Bowie: Rock’s Transcendent Shapeshifter

January 20, 2016

He was born in 1947 in Brixton, England, as David Robert Jones, three single names so ordinary that they are held by themselves by millions of boys and men in the English-speaking world, hugging the anonymous, near invisible John Doe.

But when David Robert Jones became David Bowie, he became one-of-a-kind, singular, but also a musical shaman who became Ziggy Stardust and Major Tom and took on other personas and wrapped himself and his voice in cloaks of reinvention.

The world has lost David Bowie, and all of his edgy, generous, outward bound gifts went with him but also stayed behind.  Bowie died of liver cancer in New York on Jan. 10 after a long illness and courageous battle at the not-quite-old age of 69.

But Ziggy, and the music, and that voice, the makeup, the androgynous  look, the spiked red hair, the costumes,  the movies, the voice, the videos, the performances, all of that stuff remains—if not the same due to his absence, pieces of stardust, always hot to the touch.

Ziggy came out of his second album, full blown, a persona, a style, glam and punk and singularly him, looking not just to be heard, but to be fully seen: “Ziggy played guitar/jamming good with Weird and Gilly/and the Spiders from Mars/He played it left hand/but made it too far/Became the special man/Then we were Ziggy’s band.”

He could always sing the blues. In “Space Oddity,” Bowie turned to movement, to glitter, to folk-rock, to blues and something very special and different that lasted through the the Ziggy phase. And then he retired as Ziggy and became a host of other things, including for real (or unreal) a bona-fide movie star in cult movies like “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (he was that man) with Candy Clark, the Tony Scott erotic horror movie “The Hunger” with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon.  

His life in the later years of the 20th century was erratic, but the music always bolstered by his ear for fine lyrics that he often wrote himself and a voice that was his alone, a pop voice, a screamy  voice, an anguished voice, especially “Heroes.” His second marriage to the model Iman steadied him, his life and his music. His last album, “Black Star”, released last week on his birthday, Jan. 8, was a collaboration, perhaps not surprisingly, with a jazz quartet. It was called by the New York Times “typically enigmatic and exploratory.”

His visionary spirit, his journeys in invention, his music inspired jazz players, Lou Reed, Kanye West, the hip and the hop.

Here’s one last look:

Go online.  Dig out “Heroes,” the version he sang at the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985.  Here’s Bowie, skinny light blue suit, thin yellow tie, rich flock of brown hair,  tireless, thin, elastic, the drummer shirtless, a girl sax player with short blonde hair, two backups, and a stadium of thousands of thousands swinging their hands in the air

They were singing—not “Bye, Bye, Miss America Pie”—but “We could be heroes, for just one day.”

Say hello and goodbye to David Robert Jones, Ziggy Stardust.

Here’s to David Bowie, singular man, singer and supernova.

Here’s to Major Tom:

“I’m stepping through the door

And I’m floating

In a most peculiar way

And the stars look very different today.”

They do. They do.

Georgetown Theater Sign Shines Briefly for New Year’s

January 19, 2016

Saying goodbye to 2015 and welcoming 2016, the iconic sign for the former Georgetown Theater at Wisconsin Avenue and O Street NW was illuminated for several hours, Dec. 31 to Jan. 1.

The capital letters, “GEORGETOWN,” were aglow in neon-red at night and in the early morning light. The sign had not been lighted for more than 20 years.

Building owner and architect Robert Bell met with family and friends at the old theater on New Year’s Eve briefly for a champagne toast to the sign, the building and Bell’s years of work on the project.

The sign will be switched on for good sometime in the next few months. The official ceremony for the sign’s relighting has not happened because the main doors of the building are not ready, said Bell, who bought the old theater property in October 2013 and is still renovating the building at 1351 Wisconsin Ave. NW for retail and residential use.

Bell added that the glass-topped canopy at the building’s entrance will be trimmed with vintage marquee lights.

The original sign was hauled away in September 2014 and re-done at Jack Stone Signs, which originally manufactured it in 1950. It was reinstalled in July, but not lighted.

“Restoring the neon Georgetown sign has been a project of mine for seven years,” Bell told the Georgetowner previously. “The Georgetown Theater is the missing link to restoring Wisconsin Avenue from Book Hill to M Street as one of America’s best streets. Restoring the façade and vitality of this property will be a major improvement on the quality of Wisconsin Avenue and Georgetown.”

Architect Robert Bell and his plans for the rejuvenation of the old Georgetown Theater property were the subject of a Jan. 15, 2014, Georgetowner cover story.
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Man Barricaded in Office Shuts Down Streets at Georgetown Waterfront


After a seven-hour standoff on Jan. 4, a man who locked himself in an office at Washington Harbour at 3000 K St. NW surrendered to the Metropolitan Police Department. He reportedly had a gun. MPD received a call just before 3 p.m. that requested a check on a man in “crisis”—indicating a possible suicide situation.

According to those familiar with the incident, the individual may have gone to his office at Washington Harbour after a domestic dispute.

The afternoon call prompted an unusually large police, fire and emergency medical response that shut down streets along the Georgetown waterfront. SWAT tactical units were on the scene. Police cruisers, fire trucks and EMT vehicles clogged K Street, while police walked or stood along the streetwalks.

Wisconsin Avenue and 29th and 30th Streets were blocked at M Street going south to K Street as well as Rock Creek Parkway exiting into K Street. The street shutdown ended around 10 p.m.

According to police, the man—whose name was not released—was not charged with any crime. He is expected to undergo a mental health evaluation.?

Weekend Round Up January 7, 2016

January 14, 2016

DC Shorts’s LAUGHS! 2016

January 8th, 2016 at 07:30 PM | Event Website

DC Shorts presents its favorite comedy films from 2015 paired with live performances by the area’s top stand-up comics.
Each 90-minute show combines film and live performance for a spectacular and lighthearted evening. Arrive early and enjoy the Laughs Bar in the Heritage Center lobby. And make sure to grab an extra drink for the show.

This is the perfect opportunity to catch films you might have missed from past years — and check out the best of DC’s stand-up circuit.

Address

U.S. Navy Memorial, Burke Theatre

Ella-Rue Basement Sale

January 8th, 2016 – January 10th 2016 | Free | Tel: (202) 333-1598| Event Website

The Basement Sale starts Friday, January 8 at upscale consignment boutique Ella-Rue (3231 P St. NW)! This weekend only, score 20-75% off select merchandise. Don’t miss this one!

Address

Ella-Rue; 3231 P St. NW

Leanne Marshall Trunk Show

January 8th 2016 – Sun, January 10th 2016 | Free | Event Website

Stop by Lovely Bride Salon on January 8-10 for a Leanne Marshalle Trunk Show. Browse the designer’s new bridal collection and enjoy 10% off select gowns. To make an appointment, click here.

Address

1632 Wisconsin Ave NW; 2nd Fl

History Talk – Lucretia Mott: Speaking Quaker Truth to “Slave Power”

January 9th 2016 | Free | Tel: 202-727-0233 | Event Website

The Peabody Room at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library is pleased to present a special history talk, “Lucretia Mott: Speaking Quaker Truth to Slave Power.” Jaimie Stiehm, a Creators Syndicate columnist and contributer to USNEWS.com, will discuss Lucretia Mott’s journey to Washington, D.C. to speak out against slavery … the “peculiar institution.”

The history talk will take place on Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Address

Georgetown Neighborhood Library; 3260 R St NW

NSO in Your Neighborhood: From the Strings, To Your Ears

January 10th, 2016 at 11:00 AM | Free

Acoustics are a natural part of the built environment and the quality of sound is affected by the materials that make up a building. Join us on an acoustic tour as a National Symphony Orchestra string quartet plays music in three different spaces inside the Museum. Registration is required.

Address

National Building Museum

401 F ST NW

Italian Cooking Class – Pasta and Sauces

January 10th 2016 | Free | events@viaumbria.com | Tel: 202-333-3904 | Event Website

Join Via Umbria’s Chef Jodie for an authentic Italian cooking class on January 10 at 7:30-9:30 p.m. Learn to make delicious homemade pasta and pasta sauce. The cost of the class is $50. To register, please click here.

Address

1525 Wisconsin Ave NW

Free Barre Class

January 11th 2016 | Free | Tel: (202) 333-1738 | Event Website

Stop by Lululemon on Monday, January 11 at 7-8 p.m. for a complimentary barre class hosted by Lava Barre. In this dynamic power hour you will use your own body weight to isolate, lift, tone and lengthen your muscles. Bring a mat & a friend!

Address

3265 M St NW

Thinking Ahead: the Confident Mayor Muriel Bowser

January 13, 2016

“When you’re the mayor, you know, that’s where the buck stops. There are a lot of big decisions I have to make every day. The thing about making decisions is that some people are going to be happy and some people aren’t. I feel very comfortable. I tell people, even in the most difficult, challenging times we’ve had, that I’m glad that I am the one sitting here making the decisions.”

That was Muriel Bowser, talking with The Georgetowner in her offices in the Wilson Building near the end of her first year as mayor of the District of Columbia. In a Dec. 21 interview with senior writer Gary Tischler and editor-in-chief Robert Devaney, part of a blitz of end-of-the-year interviews she did with various news outlets in the city, she spoke with a solid self-confidence. The singular impression was that there was no question in her tone or her answers to questions that she owned the office and the job.
The attitude and the confidence seem part of an evolutionary public process for Bowser, as well as Washington, D.C. She, and especially the city, have changed greatly since she first came into the political radar as a public figure.

Bowser’s time in the public eye in the District of Columbia has been relatively brief as political careers go. On paper — despite her climb from a serene Ward 4 upbringing, to a successful educational and professional life, to an advisory neighborhood commission seat, election and re-election, to the ward’s city council seat, to a successful run for mayor of the city — she is still at something of a getting to know you stage, a work in progress.

That impression may still exist for some District residents, but after a little over a year as D.C.’s mayor, you get the idea she knows exactly who she is and that she belongs where she is.

The confidence that you see and hear during the interview is the same that we’ve seen in her forays all over the city — because it’s an aspect of the job she loves and has grown into with enthusiasm.

If you check out her recent schedule, you get a good sense of her energy and visibility: on Dec. 29 she signs her body-worn camera legislation; on New Year’s Day she hosts the Second annual Fresh Start 5K Run/Walk; Jan. 4 she kicks off her Safer, Stronger DC Tour and pushes the District Council to act immediately; on Jan. 6 she launches a robbery intervention task force after a noticeable rise in robberies in the city; on Jan. 7 she announces the appointment of the Director of the Office of Unified Communications; Jan. 8 she makes a traditional wager with her counterpart in Green Bay, ahead of Sunday’s Redskins-Packers playoff game (Green Bay won, in case you missed it); and also on Jan. 8 she talks about the District’s anti-human trafficking efforts.

It’s a mix of motion, all over the city, a visible effort to show that things are getting done, that she’s responding to public safety needs, to crime and is initiating new policies — that she’s on the move. But it’s also something she clearly enjoys and handles deftly, as we’ve seen from her appearances in Georgetown Citizens and Business Association meetings and elsewhere. But it’s also something she’s grown at ease and comfortable with because she enjoys doing it.

“I do love that,” she told us. “I love community meetings, that’s where the rubber meets the road.”

She has, it’s been generally acknowledged, built a solid administration and team, and made allies out of one-time opponents. Both former Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells and prominent district restaurateur Andy Shallal are members of her administration, and Ward 2 councilman Jack Evans, who ran against her for mayor, are now key allies on the council.

“I’m a very hands-on person,” she said. “I have a great team, they’re very responsible for their areas of expertise.”

Her confidence has evolved from her first election to the Ward 4 Council seat, which she won with the strong support of then Mayor Adrian Fenty, who was a mentor to her. On the council, she was initially much less vocal. But she grew into that job also, and felt strong enough to take on incumbent Vincent Gray, who operated under a cloud after a lengthy investigation into his campaign that ran straight through the Democratic Primary. Even after winning the critical Democratic primary that had its share of controversy, and sweeping aside David Catania in the general election, there were still plenty of questions of the kind that surround a new mayor.

Since the U.S. Attorney for D.C. declined to indict Gray, it’s become apparent that Gray, who is seemingly not a big fan of Bowser’s, may run for office again — most likely for his old Ward 7, or possibly an at-large, seat. Asked about the possibility of Gray’s presence on the Council, Bowser said, “We’re all trying to work together here, with the council. I think if anyone is going to come in with an agenda to create gridlock at city hall, they are going to lose.”

She had a big year in many ways, as she tackled ongoing issues in sometimes surprising ways — working on the seemingly intractable issue of homelessness, which is linked to the issue of affordable housing; tackling the city’s undeniably dramatic and hopefully unsustainable homicide total for 2015 (162); and negotiating for a Pepco-Exelon merger after an initial deal was rejected by the Public Utilities Commission.

Energy

That deal, because of the way it happened, had its opponents — including some D.C. Council members — who said she had changed her mind about a deal. “I opposed the initial deal. I would say the deal first on the table was not good for the residents of the District of Columbia,” she said.

But she was emphatic that “I negotiated an excellent deal and that is the deal I support. … It secures the energy future for the city. … We now have a deal with that large company [Exelon] and if this doesn’t go through, I don’t think we’ll be in that position in the future.”

Housing and Homelessness

Washington is obviously a city in a state of flux and change and that’s affected the existing population. “Our focus on affordable housing has been robust — we have a $100 million program,” she said. “And we are definitely focused on ending homelessness — and it connects to affordable housing, to transition to affordable houses throughout the city. We’re closing D.C. General as a homeless shelter, and we have an eight-ward strategy to replace it.”

Development

Change has brought both prosperity and, well, change.

“On the business side, we are more attractive. We have a reserve that is the envy of the nation. Our bond status is good.” But with change, there’s a price. “We lost a chunk of our middle class and lost some diversity in our neighborhoods,” she said.
“I feel strongly that Washington is not just the monumental core … but nothing stays the same. That doesn’t mean you throw out the old for the new.”

She’s upbeat about the bigger changes — in Southwest, where “the biggest project on the East coast is the Wharf … The soccer stadium will deliver in 2016, and we’re connecting a missing link at St. Elizabeth’s in Southeast. We’ve got a jewel there with the Mystics (basketball team) practice court.”

Crime

The homicide rate is troubling the whole city — although the deaths have been mostly in Wards 7 and 8. “There’s no single issue and cause for this. We approach it as a comprehensive package, called ‘Safer, Stronger’. We have to deploy more police, have tougher sentences.”

New mayors always have agendas, exude confidence and enthusiasm at inauguration. “We had a lot of things we wanted to do,” she said. “But look what happened. We didn’t even have time to catch our breaths. It started snowing, and then there was the death and the fire at the Metro Station, and we had to deal with that right away.

“You learn,” she said. “I learned a lesson — that in big cities things are always going to happened. You need to be strong, communicate with the public and get back on your agenda.”

In the wake of the death of a black man in the custody of police in Baltimore and the resulting riots, the mayor doesn’t think something like that could happen here. “We need to do a lot of things, certainly, but our police department has a lot better relationship with the community than what existed in Baltimore,” she said. “The police force has earned a certain amount of calm, knowing we will be forthcoming with information to the public.”

Education

She touts the steady-as-you-go approach to school reform and a need to work closer with, and integrate with, charter schools, which are a hefty part of the public school system.

Progress comes in slow doses, over time, and rarely explodes all at once. The streetcar project, still not ready for prime time, is one example. The fight against homelessness remains a work in progress. Sometimes, it’s the little things that count.

Bowser said she was touched when she met a man who had gotten a job after 20 years of homelessness, who told her, “You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

Check Out The Latest Issue Of The Georgetowner


The latest issue of The Georgetowner covers Ben Bradlee’s passing, the Citizens Association Gala and crime in the area. Flip through the issue to see more.

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Georgetown Business Association: Let the Liquor License Moratorium Expire—No Strings Attached

January 11, 2016

The Georgetown liquor license moratorium—in effect since 1989 and due to expire April 3, 2016—has garnered opposition from Georgetown’s neighborhood groups, such as the Citizens Association of Georgetown and the Georgetown Business Improvement District.

At the end of December, the Georgetown Business Association, which represents businesses throughout all of Georgetown, added its own unequivocal take on the debate: let the Georgetown liquor license moratorium expire, with no strings attached.

The Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission is expected to vote at its Jan. 4 meeting to let the ban expire by spring, according to a source close to the negotiations on a so-called “Georgetown Settlement Agreement Template” between the ANC, the BID and CAG. The BID and CAG are expected to vote up or down on the final version on Jan. 21. (Future agreements between new businesses serving alcohol and the neighborhood are considered to be voluntary.)

Community and business leaders predict that the Georgetown ban, the last active liquor license moratorium in the District of Columbia, to be a thing of the past by the spring of 2016.

The following is a Dec. 28 letter to Fred Moosally, director of D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration from the GBA that details and explains its position on the moratorium.

December 28, 2015

Mr. Fred Moosally

Director Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration

2000 14th Street NW, Suite 400

Washington, D.C. 20009

Dear Director Moosally:

Established in 1976, the Georgetown Business Association (GBA) is a nonprofit membership organization committed to maintaining and improving the climate for conducting business throughout Georgetown.

There is an overlap between GBA and the Georgetown Business improvement District (BID), but the BID covers a limited area of Georgetown and is prohibited under its enabling legislation from “lobbying on legislative or administrative actions with respect to any property or area.” furthermore, in accordance with its bylaws, the Bid is controlled by the owners of the commercial properties in the Bid zone. in contrast, GBa’s bylaws do not provide that any single segment of the Georgetown business community controls the organization’s decisions. it follows that GBA and the BID share similar views on many issues, but may differ on others.

Therefore, GBA is writing on behalf of all the businesses throughout Georgetown con-cerning whether the liquor license moratorium currently in effect should be continued. For the reasons stated below, it should be allowed to expire without the imposition of additional legal restrictions in the form of a template or otherwise.

THE MORATORIUM

Georgetown was perhaps the center of nightlife in the District of Columbia before the late 1980s. It was perceived to have an abundance of drinking places, generating noise, vandalism, and trash. In response, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board established the first liquor license moratorium in Georgetown in 1989.

However, the conditions which led to the creation of a moratorium in Georgetown no longer exist. ABRA is likely very familiar with the current conditions in Georgetown, com- pared to those in other commercial areas such as U Street, 14th Street, Logan Circle, Adams Morgan, H Street, and Capitol Hill, all of which are adjacent to residential neigh-borhoods and have considerably more vibrant nightlife.

During a public Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting on November 30, 2015, Commissioner Tom Birch, long the Co-Chair of ABC matters for ANC 2E, openly addressed whether the conditions which led to the imposition of a liquor license moratorium in Georgetown still apply. As reported in the December 2 issue of the Georgetown Current: “During the meeting, Birch acknowledged that the moratorium was created under neighborhood conditions that no longer exist. Concerns about the neighborhood serving as a regional entertainment district to the detriment of residential stability are no longer relevant, he added.”

Georgetown has some very good restaurants, but because virtually all restaurants today serve alcoholic beverages, the moratorium restricts the entry of new restaurants. On December 9, the Washington Post ran an article categorizing Washington, D.C., as one of the “ten best food cities” in the United States. The Post’s food critic wrote: “I have no doubt that the nation’s capital deserves to be on the roster. The sentiment springs from neighborhoods that have recently blossomed into food destinations (Petworth, Shaw, H Street NE in the District and the Mosaic District in Fairfax) and, this year alone, a flurry of impressive restaurant launches that have made headlines outside the beltway.”

The Post then listed 22 restaurants as “Where to Go” in the metropolitan area. Not one of them is in Georgetown.

If the liquor license moratorium in Georgetown is renewed, Georgetown would be the only neighborhood in the city with a restriction on all classes of restaurants. As Commissioner Birch publicly acknowledged, the conditions here clearly do not warrant the unfair and discriminatory continuation of the liquor license moratorium, which impedes competition and discourages the entry of new restaurants.

THE TEMPLATE IN NEGOTIATION

Georgetown residents already have very extensive input into the ABRA process through CAG and ANC 2E, which has exercised great clout for many years, leading to the creation of numerous “voluntary” or “settlement” agreements. This process is sufficient to protect the legitimate concerns of Georgetown residents without super- imposing additional legal requirements that do not pertain in competing neighborhoods.

GBA is especially concerned about limitations on hours of operation that would not be in force District-wide. It is worth noting that Washington, D.C., has experienced extensive growth in its population of millennials, who tend to dine out more often and keep somewhat later hours than the generations ahead of them. They should not be discouraged from frequenting businesses in Georgetown by limits on hours of operation that do not apply to competing businesses elsewhere.

Similarly, the restrictions on noise should be the same in Georgetown as elsewhere. CAG and the ANC are extremely responsive to complaints from residents about noise generated by nearby business, and very effective in addressing them. Adding across-the-board provisions such as forbidding noise generated in a private outdoor space that can be heard inside a residence (presumably even through an open window) are excessive. This type of restriction could preclude relatively quiet outdoor dining at lunchtime, for example.

Other broadly stated noise limitations under the proposed template might apply even if the sound generated is not substantially audible at residences. For instance, if a moderate amount of outdoor noise were generated by a business located near Blues Alley or in many locations south of M Street, it is not likely that residents would be impacted significantly, if at all. Thus, some of the restrictions that the template would impose are overly broad and too onerous. GBA also questions whether it is fair to applicants to accord sole authority in these matters to the discretion of CAG and/or the ANC, though their views will be carefully considered by ABRA.

The proposed template seems especially anomalous in the townhouse environment of Georgetown, where residents are permitted to play amplified music in their outdoor spaces and can otherwise legally generate a range of noise that can be heard by their adjacent neighbors during daytime hours.

Competing commercial areas throughout the District are adjacent to residences; there is no valid reason to impose additional legal restrictions on businesses in Georgetown because residents here are entitled to some “special” treatment. Rather, liquor license applications in Georgetown should continue to be handled on a case- by-case basis under the same general legal requirements that apply District-wide.

If you have questions or would like to discuss these issues further, I would welcome your call.

Very truly yours,

Sonya Bernhardt, President

cc: Georgetown BID
ANC 2E Commissioners
Citizens Association of Georgetown
Ruth Werner, Office of Councilman Jack Evans

Iconic Georgetown Sign to Be Lighted New Year’s Eve


Just in time to bring in 2016, the iconic sign for the former Georgetown Theater at Wisconsin Avenue and O Street NW will be illuminated, beginning 8 p.m., Dec. 31, through the wee hours of Jan. 1, as a preview, owner and architect Robert Bell told The Georgetowner today.

Expect to see the capital letters, “GEORGETOWN,” aglow in neon-red. The lighting of the sign—for the first time since the early 1990s—may stop a few New Year’s Eve party-goers in their tracks.

An official ceremony for the sign’s relighting is not yet scheduled because the main doors of the building are not ready, said Bell, who bought the old theater property in October 2013 and is still renovating the building at 1351 Wisconsin Ave. NW for retail and residential use.

The original sign was hauled away in September 2014 and re-done at Jack Stone Signs, which originally manufactured it in 1950. It was reinstalled in July, but not lighted.

“Restoring the neon Georgetown sign has been a project of mine for seven years,” Bell told the Georgetowner previously. “The Georgetown Theater is the missing link to restoring Wisconsin Avenue from Book Hill to M Street as one of America’s best streets. Restoring the façade and vitality of this property will be a major improvement on the quality of Wisconsin Avenue and Georgetown.”

Architect Robert Bell and his plans for the rejuvenation of the old Georgetown Theater property were the subject of a Jan. 15, 2014, Georgetowner cover story.

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