Around Town

With the past music, photography and acting aspirations of Real World cast members in mind, I was preparing myself for pity laughter and polite applause when Eric took the mic as the last act of the night on Friday.

The stand-up comedians who preceded him on stage at the sold-out Arlington Drafthouse were actually quite funny — but it was Patrick’s name on the marquee out front. Would the former State Department employee live up to the billing?


Around Town

The reason for the towing may not be a surprise to patrons of Saturday morning’s Courthouse farmers market. But it is a surprise to many people who park in the far southwest corner of the large county parking lot Friday night, not looking for the special farmers market parking notice on either side of the seven otherwise unremarkable metered spaces.

Nothing on the meters indicates that marking is restricted on Saturday. In fact, the meter indicates that parking is enforced from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays, when it is in fact reserved for the farmers market from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.


Events

Vintage Crystal is back with the same Latin flavor as last year. The fourth annual festival will feature wine and tequila tastings, all-you-can-eat tapas from more than 20 local restaurants, Latin American music and salsa dancing.

Tickets are $20 and come with a complimentary wine glass.


Around Town

Let’s step back and take a quick breather. The past several days have gotten a little crazy on the comment sections. While I appreciate a vigorous discussion of the day’s stories, I think we need to be clear about what is and is not appropriate conduct here.

Here’s what is appropriate: Discussion of the article. Passionately arguing a relevant point. Criticizing companies, government entities or other organizations.


News

In the ballroom of the Westin Arlington Gateway hotel in Ballston, elected officials and party donors had a chance to reassure each other that Democrats were fighting the good fight and would eventually prevail against Republican attacks and media pessimism.

There seemed to be little worry that Republicans may start winning local elections in Arlington, where every single local elected office is held by a Democrat or a Democrat-endorsed candidate. Rather, the main concern of the night’s speakers seemed to the erosion of public support for the Obama administration. That, and the poor state of the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s copy machine.


Opinion

I’ll just say it: Arlington doesn’t get enough good thunderstorms. And when storms do approach, too many times it seems we get a “close call” — like last night, when we caught the edge of a storm and then were forced to watch as lightning flashed in the distance.

C’mon, weather gods, give us some legit wind and hail (without destruction of property or other bad things happening, if possible, although a short power outage would be fine by me).


News

Ryan left WRC two months ago after failing to agree to a new contract. If the experience of other on-air talent at the station is any guide, the contract proposed by WRC management may have included a pay cut.

Starting today, Ryan will appear on WJLA’s 11:00 p.m. newscasts, while Hill will remain on air at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. They will appear together during severe weather events, according to the Washington Post’s Paul Farhi.


News

I’m very proud to announce tonight that ARLnow.com is the first site to partner with new D.C. local news site TBD.com.

TBD is helmed by former washingtonpost.com executive editor Jim Brady and backed by Allbritton Communications, parent company of ABC7, NewsChannel 8 and Politico. We’re excited to be working with Jim and his team, including Erik Wemple, Steve Buttry, Jeff Sonderman, Lisa Rowan, Julie Westfall, Steve Chaggaris and Mandy Jenkins (who did I forget?).


Around Town

We stopped by the hotly-anticipated European brasserie over the weekend for one of the “soft opening” events and, despite the high expectations, left thoroughly impressed.

The first thing we tried was the mussels. Lyon Hall has two distinct mussel varieties: spring garlic/English peas/fontina/mustard and Hungarian lamb sausage/celeriac-apple-beer broth. We went with the Hungarian lamb and were not disappointed. You’d be hard-pressed to find a tastier plate of mussels anywhere in the D.C. area. And the $14 “large” option was more than enough for two people.