HoCo’s Outer Beltway

Since moving to the corporate colony of Columbia Gateway I've begun using an interstate highway to move between Columbia and Ellicott City. From Route 32 to the south, to Route 100 to the north, I-95 has become part of makeshift HoCo outer beltway.

The numbers bear this out. According to the MDOT traffic maps, average daily vehicle volume on I-95 increases from an average daily volume of 190,680 cars below Route 32 to a peak volume of 197,902 vehicles between Route 175 and Route 100. After MD Route 100 the volume drops back down to the 191,280.

Today, at 4:00 PM, as I merged on to 95 from 175, traffic had slowed to 35 mph. By the time I hit 100 it was picking back up again. 

Even with the slower speed, I managed to make it from my office in Gateway to my appointment in Ellicott City in just over 10 minutes.

Spring Fever

The blog has slipped down my priority list lately. It’s not that I don’t have the time is just that I've chosen to spend that time differently. For instance, Mama Wordbones and I spent the last five weeks binge watching Homeland. We had both heard people rave about this series so when FiOS gave us two months of Showtime for a free trial we decided to check it out. We were hooked on the first episode.

Work has cramped my blogging time as well. In case you hadn't noticed, commercial real estate in HoCo is becoming red hot. I've lost count of the number of projects underway; Whole Foods, Clyde’s, Merrill Lynch building, the Metropolitan, The Mall expansion, Wilde Lake Village Center. There is more to come too, with at least two more projects being announced in downtown Columbia alone before the summer is over.

If its any consolation, I've at least been thinking about posts for To2C. One of the topics that has started germinating in my twisted mind is the dynamics life in HoCo’s largest business park, Columbia Gateway. It’s really another Columbia village of sorts. People may not live in Gateway but a very large population spends the better part of each work day within its bounds.

How many?

The National Association of Industrial and Office Parks recently concluded that the average US worker occupies 176 square feet of office space. Columbia Gateway has 4,185,941 square feet of office space so that would work out to 23,782.1 people. That doesn't include those who work in buildings that aren't classified as office, which would include most single story buildings in the park.

That’s a lot of people, the majority of which will never have the chance to interact with each other within their corporate village.

Maybe we can change that. My colleague TW often quips about Colonel Gateway in reference to the state highway signs leading to the entrance off of 175 that reads “Col Gateway Drive.”

Maybe we can create a fictional character called Colonel Gateway and throw a big birthday party for his fictional birthday.

I’m thinking April 1st would be the perfect fit.

Toby’s Rocks Helen Hayes

Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia received eight nominations for musicals in the 29^th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, more than any other theatre in the metro area, dinner or otherwise. According to this story by Nelson Pressley in The Washington Post, the “production of “The Color Purple” scraped the buffet clean with eight nominations, followed by seven for “Dreamgirls” at Signature Theatre.”

In addition to the nod for Outstanding Resident Musical, Toby Orenstein was also nominated for Outstanding Director. The other nominations were Dayne Quincy for Outstanding Lead Actress, David Little for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Theresa Cunningham for Outstanding Supporting Actress, Anwar Thomas for Outstanding Choreography, Lawrence B. Munsy for Outstanding Costume Design and Christopher Youstra for Outstanding Musical Direction.

“The nominations, announced during a low-key, brightly lighted event (it was live-streamed online) in the National Theatre’s Helen Hayes Gallery, were compiled by a floating panel of 48 judges who evaluated 201 eligible productions during 2012. All shows are now closed, making the affair ceremonial and celebratory — not a Tony Awards-style rush for box-office gold. The 29th annual awards, administered and presented by the service organization theatreWashington, will be April 8 at the Warner Theatre.”

Two Hour Delay

A ripple effect is inevitable. When the school system declares a two hour retreat from the regular start time, the weekday rhythm for homes with school children is upended. At 10:30 this morning there was still a back up on Route 29.

For high school students it always welcome reprieve. Instead of rising before the sun on a cold winter day they get to linger in bed a bit longer, something that most teenagers I know seem to relish as much as anything.

For the rest of us it’s a scramble of rescheduling morning meetings and clearing off cars and driveways. A two hour delay is not a snow day where events are canceled and the there is a real possibility of working from home. A two hour delay day means arriving at work and already being two hours behind.

Pot Etiquette

What does one do when a guest decides to toke up at your cocktail party?

The fact that this issue is now being openly discussed is as sure sign as any that societal attitudes towards marijuana have dramatically changed. In this article by Kyle Spencer in The Washington Post the reporter explores how locals are learning “to navigate dinners, cocktail parties, barbecues and cross-generational family get-togethers as more people liken puffing on a joint to sipping a glass of wine, while others still consider it a malodorous habit that’s best done not at all, or at least far from our house.”

“Here in D.C., it is far from a partisan debate, something that both Republicans and Democrats struggle with. “It’s a cross-party issue,” said a 27-year-old aide to a GOP congressman who, like many interviewed for this story, preferred not to give her name, further highlighting people’s discomfort with this subject. She says she smokes often at home, but does so without telling her ultraconservative, 50-something boss, her co-workers, or even many of her friends. “It’s really hard to know how people stand on it.”

I found particularly amusing the quote from Andrea Khoury who suggested that any such accommodation would be a non-starter in her idealized world. “My neighborhood is prim and proper,” she said.”

I think Andrea might be surprised to discover what goes on behind closed doors in most neighborhoods. Even otherwise prim and proper folks have been known to inhale on occasion.

The times they are a-changin…

Spurs of the Moment

We had a discussion about spurs this weekend. The theme of this years Evening in the Stacks library fundraiser is “Sparkle & Spurs,” so Mama Wordbones was contemplating how to work spurs into her evening wear.  

I may go an entirely different route.

We have time. The event is a little over a month away so there is still plenty time to get your tickets and find your own spurs. It’s a fun event and a great way to shake off those winter blues. You can find more information here.

Record Sellout

It may have taken them 35 years to get there but last night the Columbia Orchestra had its first sellout performance at the 747 seat Rouse Theatre. They rocked the full house with a powerful performance of one of my all time favorite pieces,Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1. I can’t recall where or when I first heard it but it soon became a favorite. I've always been a fan of big piano music and Concerto No. 1 is big piano music. Last night Anne Kosclieny tore up the keys of a twelve foot concert grand as conductor Jason Love whipped the orchestra through its paces.

They rocked.

We almost missed it. Earlier in the week I had noted that the orchestra was a having a concert on Saturday night. We considered it a Saturday night option. I really didn't think it would be necessary to purchase tickets in advance. 

I was wrong. We were lucky to snag the last two seats together and only because someone turned them back in.

Is it just us or does anyone else find the seats in Rouse to be a little tight? 

Anyway...

Last Tuesday, as I was heading back to my office, I heard this story on All Things Considered, by Shankar Vedantam, about whether orchestras really need conductors 

“They seem important. After all, they're standing in the middle of the stage and waving their hands. But the musicians all have scores before them that tell them what to play. If you took the conductor away, could the orchestra manage on its own?”

It’s a great story. The bottom line is that they have now scientifically concluded that a conductor, particularly a good conductor, makes the music better.

Jason Love is a good conductor. They've even made a bobble head of him.

To cap the evening off the orchestra treated their record audience with Sleigh Bells.

Good stuff.

Pull My Chord

A month ago I spotted this bell in front of 10211 Wincopin Circle in downtown Columbia. The cord was laid out in such a way as to invite passersby to ring it.

I pulled the cord. It made a nice gong sound.

I thought to myself that this was a pretty cool piece of public art and my immediate thought was that the building owners had put it there.

It turns out that the building owners only allowed it to be placed there but the Howard County Arts Council actually put it there. “Temple Bell” by Ed Kidera is part of ARTsites 2012, a year long public art public art exhibit spread around 12 locations all around HoCo including Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Cooksville and Laurel.

“The goal of ARTsites is to place sculpture throughout Howard County in order to generate interest in public art and make art more accessible to the community.”

It’s a great program but it also means the art is only temporary. At the end of the year the exhibit comes down ARTsites 2013 will begin. Then again, I suppose a building owner could always decide they like having a temple bell in front of their building and just buy the thing.

Or you could buy it for your own temple.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Friday afternoon my sister asked me if I had an American Express card.

I do.

“Did you get your free money?” she asked. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“If you have an American Express card you can get a $25.00 credit if you use the card to patronize any of their small business clients on Small Business Saturday.”

I didn't get that memo. Fortunately, it wasn't too late so I went to the website and signed up. Last night, after I got home, I picked up a six pack of New Belgium 1554 from Kelly’s Liquors in Ellicott City, realizing a net gain of about fifteen bucks.

That’s the good.

Last night Mama Wordbones and I decided to catch the eight o’clock showing of Lincoln at the AMC Theatres in downtown Columbia. I purchased the tickets around six o’clock on Fandango. Unlike the Regal Cinemas at Snowden, the AMC Theatres do not allow you to print out the actual ticket at home. For AMC you need to pick up at the box office or at one of their automated ticket stations outside the entrance. At the downtown AMC Theatres  there are five of these. Last night only one was functioning. The line for remaining machine rivaled that of the box office. We decided to split up to cover both in the event that one turned out to move faster.

They both moved slowed. After a time, a gentleman in an AMC shirt stepped out of the doors of the theatre and started talking into a microphone. The sound quality was on par with that a subway car announcement and nobody around me at least could make out a single word he said. Someone yelled out and asked him if the customer service window was open. He nodded, briefly, before retreating back inside.

That was the bad. You’d think that the theatre would gear up for the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, but apparently no one at AMC got that memo either.

About a month ago I started experiencing problems with Disqus, the commenting widget that I employ here at To2C. I thought that I could fix the issue by simply upgrading to the latest version. I thought incorrectly.

Several readers and a couple of regular commenter’s have told me that they continue to have problems posting comments.  I’m sorry. Please bear with me. I realize that the fix is beyond my limited technology skills. For all I know I might have made a bad situation worse with the upgrade.

That’s the ugly. Hopefully the offer of help from my friend Jamie Howard is still valid and a solution to this problem will soon be found. I hope he get’s this memo.

Redistricting Humor

A To2C reader named Anna sent me this cartoon today. She said she “ is affected (effected?) by the BOE's new redistricting plan.”

“I asked my neighbor David Justice who is an illustrator to create a cartoon that was living in my head that sums up life in HoCo for parents with kids in the HCPSS.”

Thanks for sharing.

Hidden Memorials

Yesterday, on the real Veterans Day (11^th hour, 11^th day and so on…), Mama Wordbones and went for a walk around the hills of Ellicott City. At the top of Court Avenue we stopped at the Circuit Court courthouse facing what was originally the main entrance when the building was built in 1843. It remained the front door until a major renovation and expansion in 1986 moved the “court house steps” to the rear of the building.

It occurred to me that I had never stood at the original entrance so I bounded up the old granite steps to take a look. It was there that we discovered this memorial to the veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean “Conflict.”

This wasn't the only memorial we found up there. To the left of the entrance we discovered this memorial to the “brave men who fought so courageously in the Confederate Army.”

I was intrigued by the listing of a General James R. Herbert since I hadn't heard of any HoCo citizen that served as a general in the Confederate Army. A little research revealed that General Herbert was a Colonel in the Confederate Army but after the war became a Brigadier General commanding the Maryland National Guard in 1874. 

Happy Veterans Day (observed).

Unrest in the West

The rural west of HoCo was the subject of two stories in The Sun this past week. Last Thursday Arthur Hirsch reported on the neighborhood opposition to the proposed Dar-us-Salaam mosque in Cooksville and yesterday Timothy B. Wheeler wrote this piece about the Mullinix brothers in Dayton, who want out of the state’s agricultural land preservation program.

A little flexibility on all sides would go a long way towards settling things down.

In Cooksville, Dar-us-Salaam wants to purchase the former Woodmont Academy for a new mosque to serve their growing congregation in the region. They have outgrown their current facility in College Park.  The 66 acre former Catholic school, “with buildings already in place and plenty of undeveloped land for parking and a new mosque to accommodate thousands of worshipers in the decades to come…” The site is located within a mile of the interchange of I-70 and MD Route 97.

The neighborhood isn't exactly rolling out the welcome mat.

"That's not what rural, country land on wells and septic was created for," says David Yungmann, who lives in the Carriage Mill Farms community in Woodbine, about a mile west of the Woodmont site. "We're constantly defending the rural environment, the rural zoning, which is in law."

I get that but this is place of worship, not a big box retailer, and it was previously a Catholic school not a farm. I hope the community and the mosque can come together on this.

Over in Dayton the Mullinix boys, who sold the development rights for their 490 acre farm to the state in 1984 for $450,000, are having second thoughts. In recent years they've tested the limits of the program.

“The Mullinixes have run afoul of the program a few times over the years with activities deemed non-agricultural. In 1999, they were denied a request to have a commercial landscaping business on their property, and two years ago they were forced to remove a topsoil screening machine, according to West. Last year, the foundation threatened to fine them up to $50,000 unless they shut down a second landscaping business operating from leased land on one of the farms.”

Now they've decided they want out but that’s not going to be easy. Not only do they have to prove that operating a farm on the property is not profitable, they would have to pay back the money they got from the state in today’s dollars. "Repayment is based on what the land is worth now — substantially more than it was in the 1980s — minus the value of the farming operation.“

The problem seems to the lack of flexibility in the state program versus a similar program run by the county. Howie Feaga, the head of the HoCo Farm Bureau suggested “said the state farmland preservation program could perhaps be made more flexible.”

Again, as with Dar-us-Salaam, it seems that there should be a way to accommodate the Mullinix boys and keep them in the program. The Mullinixes may be the first to rebel but unless some changes are allowed they are unlikely to be the last.

Election Day 2012

I love my voting precinct. It is one of the smaller HoCo polling locations which makes voting a pretty low key affair. This morning, at nine o’clock, there wasn't even a line.

“We were busy earlier,” the election judge told me. That makes sense, folks in my neighborhood seem to prefer voting on their way to work. This morning I opted to work a little at home before heading into the office.

Still, it’s such a voting backwater that there were no campaign volunteers outside this morning. None. Not even a paid poll worker for Question 7.

After voting, as I drove to Columbia, I listened to Don Gonyea report from a polling site just outside Columbus, Ohio. He said he spoke earlier with an eighteen year old man who was voting for the first time. After voting, the new voter told the reporter that “No matter who wins, that’s my president and I’ll pray for him and wish him well.”

That made me smile.

Various Stuff

To2C regularly receives suggestions and/or requests to write about this or publicize that. Some folks even send in stuff with instructions to “please post this to your blog” as if To2C were some kind of community bulletin board.

It’s not.

That being said I get sent good stuff too like yesterday when David Gertler contacted me about giving an assist to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

“My family and friends are still without power and the relief efforts are painfully slow (over half of LI residents are still without power).  I grew-up in Long Beach and Lido Beach NY (a small barrier island) and Long Beach is still without water and sewer services.  Gasoline is scarce (for generators) and it's hard for people to get around (also, in some areas, cellphone service is out so there is almost no way to reach people).”

It is getting a little desperate in some areas with shortages of gasoline only exacerbating an already bad situation. Donations are being accepted accepted by the American Red Cross and other local charities.

And speaking of desperate... I've also become aware of a new blog in HoCo, ukdesperatehousewifeusa, “a little taste of America through my UK eyes.” She’s a British expat, now living in Clarksville, with a wry sense of humor and an easy writing style.

"It’s a little bit adventure, little bit stream of consciousness, little bit Bill Bryson."

Check her out.

Recently I received a letter from an attorney claiming to represent school board member Brian Meshkin. The letter informed me that he had reviewed my blog and determined, in his opinion, that “many statements and insinuations made by you , and also by some of your correspondents, in the blog are clearly defamatory…” He has demanded I “remove all of the defamatory discussions concerning Mr. Meshkin, “Salugen”, and Proove Biosciences, Inc. from your blog site."

He did not specify which posts he found objectionable but I suspect they may have included this one, this one and this one.

Obviously I disagree. 

Poll Dancing

As much as I disdain Question 7, I grudgingly appreciate the amount of money it has poured into the Maryland economy this fall. The ballot question to expand gambling may be the most egregious example legislative shenanigans to ever befall our state but it has been a windfall for the local advertising and public relations industry. Both sides of the issue have poured millions into various media outlets to try and sway voters.

It’s even giving people jobs. A friend who is working an early polling site for one of the better school board candidates (Gertler,Giles, Siddiqui, Scott) told me that MGM is paying people a hundred bucks a day to ask voters to vote “yes” on Question 7 while Penn National is paying people to ask voters to vote “no.”

“The folks are dropped off by a van, photographed periodically to make sure they are there working hard, and picked up at the end of the evening.”

Imagine if that kind of money were available for the really important stuff like the HoCo charter issues.

Sigh.

The other day I asked Waterboy how he was planning to vote on Question 7. Waterboy is a 2010 college grad with a good job. He recently bought his first home.  “I’m voting for it,” he replied. He told me his reason was that he supports adding table games in Maryland.

I do too but the bill that is being put in front of the voters is about much more than table games. It’s about Maryland politics at its lowest. Our legislators can easily add table games to the current casinos without adding a new one in National Harbor. The way I see it, voting against Question 7 is a chance for voters to send a message to Annapolis that you’re tired of those who put personal politics ahead of the common good. 

Frankenstorm: Giving Up the Ghost

Every year, my neighbor Peter goes all out for Halloween. His front yard ghoulish display is among  the best I've ever seen. Each year he even adds a new character or prop. Last year it was a full sized coffin. This year it was the Mummy. A larger than life Frankenstein is a standard feature of the tableau.

Frank and the Mummy have retreated into the garage. It’s a wise move. They may inflict shivers and chills on children but they are no match for Frankenstorm. Yesterday, three days before Halloween and in the face of Frankenstorm, the display came down.

I’m thankful too. Fifty mile an hour winds could easily put Peter’s monsters on the move. I like them just fine in his yard but not so much sticking their heads through the screens on my screened porch.

Our display is much more modest. Since CG was just a little girl Mama Wordbones has always put a simple little homemade ghost in a front yard tree. That ghost is gone now too.

Peanut got some good news this afternoon. HoCo schools are giving up the ghost too. HCPSS announced at noon that public schools will be closed tomorrow.

At WSw the temp is now 56.3 degrees, and humity is 66%.  Pressure continues to drop at 29.42 inHg. Average wind speed has doubled to 4 mph.

Baby steps of the beast

Frankenstorm

My gray hair has led me to become suspect of storm hype in Maryland. I still harbor memories of high school homework deferred, relying on the certainty of our loco meteorologists predicting an approaching storm. The weather professionals would always add “expect school closings and/or delays.” 

I counted on them only to awake to clear skies and business as usual. They failed me. If you've lived in Maryland for any amount of time, they've likely failed you too.

Oddly, as often as not, it is the storms that they don’t call that hit us hardest. Nobody seemed to see that Derecho thing coming four months ago. I challenge anyone to identify a loco meteorologist who even uttered the word “derecho” in a forecast before June 28^th.

With this in mind, I ponder the warning of the predicted collision of Hurricane Sandy and a classic nor'easter right smack dab over our heads beginning this Sunday, with some trepidation. Right now my Weather Station wordbones (WSw) is showing a tendency towards high pressure and clear skies. Admittedly my meteorological horizon is more limited than the big picture guys with the serious storm hardware. Those are guys are calling this impending weather event, “Frankenstorm.”

You have to admit that this is a pretty cool name for a storm. This could potentially be one for the books. Forget trick or treating this year. We’re battling a real monster this Halloween!

As of 8:36 this morning, Foot’s Forecast had this to say about Frankenstorm in their posting on Facebook:

“Although the effects of Hurricane Sandy may not reach Maryland until Sunday, it is expected to be a long duration event. If the storm reaches the Delmarva coast as projected, it would produce winds e

qual to or greater than what we all observed with Irene. Impacts would be felt from the New Jersey coast to Norfolk.

From Ocean City to the Baltimore Metro area, sustained tropical storm force winds for a 24 hour period with higher gusts is not impossible, if there is a slow-moving system is crossing the state from east to west.”

I have a lot of respect for the accuracy of the Foots folks. I’m a Foots fan.

Prudence suggests proper preparations; water, check, flashlights with batteries, check, wine, check.

We’ll be ready at WSw. As long as I have service I’ll post about the readings of my little loco snapshot of the storms progress. If there are other HoCo loco weather geeks out there with their own set ups who feel like sharing, drop me an email at wordbones@verizon.net. Send pictures too, if you’d like. I’ll put up as much as I can. 

Right now WSw is reporting a temperature of 61.2 degrees, 85% humidity, and pressure at 29.91inHg. Calm.

In the meantime, check those batteries.

Covenant Cops Back on the Beat

A year ago I wrote a column in The Business Monthly about the lack of covenant enforcement in some of Columbia’s commercial properties. I singled out two properties on Dobbin Road as examples of blatant  violations of Columbia's once rigorously enforced covenants; the chain link fence surrounding an auto repair storage lot and a taped up storefront window at Hanmi, Inc.

The window had been taped up for over three years.

What a difference a year makes. The window at Hanmi has been replaced and last week the chain link fence was taken down and a new, less noticeable, fence has been erected in its place.

These covenant corrections indicate that the Howard Hughes Corporation is still committed to protecting the Columbia brand, even in areas outside of Town Center. 

The Bullying Bandwagon

The anti bullying effort seems to attracting a cadre of what one loco wag calls “tragedtunists,” someone who sees opportunity in tragedy. First there was Brian Meshkin with this shtick and then, late last week, I spotted this sign on the back of a car on Dobbin Road, promoting something called Breaking the Silence Now. The only thing on the website so far is the name and address of a guy in Hagerstown and something called My Best Friends Magazine.

The biggest tragedtunist however, might just be Mark Harvey. He’s the doofus who ran out on the field at the Ravens/Patriots game last night wearing a cape with an anti-bullying message stenciled to his bare chest. The whole scene was filmed by someone associated his anti-bullying website.

The problem with these self promotion efforts is that they take away from the serious efforts like the one launched by the Columbia Association and the HoCo library with an assist from Ray Rice. If these tragedtunists really wanted to do something about bullying they could just as easily get behind an effort like this rather than attempting to turn the spotlight on themselves.

Season Opener

Last Friday we attended the preseason game for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The evening featured a sampling of the offerings of the forthcoming season which gets underway this Thursday.

I used the sports analogy because in addition to our beloved Orioles and Ravens, the BSO is a major league team. We are indeed fortunate to have a world class orchestra with an “elite” conductor less than a half hours drive from HoCo.

Marin Aslop rocks. If you haven’t seen her put the orchestra through its paces, and you love music as I do, you owe it to yourself to catch at least one of their concerts.

There is a real HoCo connection to the BSO too, as a few of the orchestra members make their home here and contribute to the HoCo loco music scene as well. For instance, according to her bio on the orchestra website, violinist Wonju Kim is “a founding member of Music in Common, a Columbia-based concert series devoted to building new audiences for chamber music that was created by her late husband, Daniel Malkin.”

This season’s line up includes Beethoven’s Eroica on October 6th, the Vienna Boy’s Choir on December 8^th and Hairspray in Concert on January 25^th and 26^th.