The One-Minute Pitch

So I arrived at the Emerging Technology Center, Baltimore's Technology Incubator at 8:00 pm just in time for the pitches and a quick drink of something. I  chugged an Amstel Light down as I glanced around the burgeoning crowd of 150 plus of Type-A people.  Many developers and entrepreneurs had used the time wisely over the last two hours to get to know each other and to sell their ideas.   Not knowing anyone, I was already at a serious disadvantage -- and I needed people to vote for my idea, or else I wouldn't make the cut.

We made our one-minute pitches in a large hallway with no chairs and barely room to crawl -- just the floor to sit on and the person next to you to lean on.  There were over 75 pitches that night (more than half of the people attended had ideas), but only about 20 would be asked to demo during startup weekend.

Most of the people there were Business, marketing types with less than half being developers -- me being an MBA communications type and designer, finding a developer was the one critical skillset needed to make RUNIN Out functional by Sunday evening.

Nursing Mothers Revolt Against Hirshhorn

 "If you don't know the rules, Wikipedia is just a few clicks away."

Today, dozens of lactivists will be visiting the Hirshorn Museum not to admire sculpture but to nourish their babies (in public).

Reclining Nude at the Hirshorn

The incident that spurred this nurse-in occurred last month when Noriko Aita, who was nursing her daughter on a bench in the museum was told to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet, not once, but by two different guards.

I understand that the guard had good intentions.  But when you're not sure of the rules, Wikipedia is only a few clicks away.  That's what Noriko did and after confirming that a mother has a right to breastfeed on federal property (Right to Breastfeed Act, 1999), she went online to report the outrage and word quickly spread.

For Once in a Year, Chinatown Gets its Groove Back

Colin misses Chinatown LA.  There's so much more to do there, the dim sum is better priced, the pork dumplings are juicier and yes, even the bass comes straight out from the fully-stocked fish tank.

But apart from jetting cross country, we had to settle for the subdued rhythm and aura of New York's more conservative second cousin.

Video we shot from Chinatown Cafe.  Next year, come here to get a great view from your dining table.

For the rest of the year, visiting Chinatown DC equates to rooting for  the ruinous Wizards only to have your hopes dashed again and again or keeping up with the latest fashion or decorative trend trend at American Apparel or Bed and Bath.  Or perhaps even grabbing a Murphy's stout at Fado Irish Pub after an Ovechkin score.

Up ahead, the two jumbo electronic billboards flash colorful displays of anything from cell phones to under amor.  Then there's the music -- the soothing tone from New Orleans Jazz from the man with the scraggly beard or the street drummer using overturned paint buckets mimicking the beat of the street drum corps.

So there's not much China in Chinatown anymore.  Back before the Verizon Center revitalized this once edgie ethnic enclave,  Chinatown stretched 9 blocks from Judiciary Square to the old Convention Center (now a huge parking lot). It was a family-oriented neighborhood, and over the years as development encroached, the boundaries started shrinking.

A Wal-Mart here--in my Own Backyard??

Wal-Mart is coming!  No, make that multiple Wal-Marts are invading!    The largest retail store in the world (based on revenue) is very interested in setting up a foothold in one of the nation's most powerful city.

There is even talk that Wal-Mart is scouting out Skyland, the decrepit, oft-forgotten strip mall that through a bitterly contested battle in court was seized by eminent domain and now so ripe for development.  Across the street, Clancy's the dark and danky strip club -- the last in the southeast -- closed around a year ago.

Skyland could be Wal-Mart's 5th location in DC

When I first came to DC in 2003, I heard that someone big was coming here.  Seven years later I am still tapping my fingers, hoping for Ikea. Will a big box with a yellow smiley face put me out of misery?

Photo by andrewmtu (DCist)

But Wal-Mart will equate to  jobs, a place to purchase a vast variety of food at attractive prices and spur further urban revitalization.  But that's what they said about Nationals Park four years ago, and I'm still waiting for a place to buy fresh fruit that's not wrapped in plastic at Subway's.

And clearly not everyone is smiling about Wal-Mart's bold announcement.  Last week, a small group of protestors picketed in Woodley Park in front of the home of a developer who has stated that he wants to open stores for Wal-Mart in DC.  This is an effective way of getting a message across -- scare the living daylights out of their children.

There are clearly no shortage of anti-Wal-Mart sentiment across this country and DC is no different.  The litany of complaints is seemingly never ending, starting with ole Smiley being a Bully and their unethical tactics of squeezing down labor costs and fixing prices.

The Service of the Shrivers: Best Buddies

circa, 1962 (Wikipedia)

Today we lost a great American hero: Robert Sargent Shriver.  He was a heroic statesman, the driving force behind the Peace Corps and a wonderful husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Last year, I was blessed to be a small but life-impacting part of the 2010 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Challenge serving the Best Buddies organization.  I was also delighted to meet Michelle Kwan in person.  This was not the first time I met her.  I had seen her onboard the USS John C. Stennis during the 2001 Pearl Harbor Premiere in Hawaii.

Although, I did not actively participate, I stopped by and got to meet new friends as well as welcome old ways.

Here is the video. Late but still pertinent and I hope it moves you to make some difference in people's lives. This post is months late, but it's never too late to serve, to make new friends and to challenge each other so we can perform our best.

Also featured on this blog are one of the most accomplished athletes of all time: Carl Lewis.

It was great to see David Archuleta perform for us.

This beautiful portrait is displayed at the National Portrait Gallery

GWU Wishes Happy Bday to MLK at Former Gang Plagued School

The spirit of service is alive and vibrant at George Washington University (GWU) and on the birthday of the legendary Dr. Martin Luther King, hundreds of GWU students, staff and faculty took a day ON, not a day off to beautiful this former gang-plagued school.

Ballou High School in the past has been plagued with violence both off and on-campus.
 

In 2003, the school was shut down for weeks due to a mercury spill in the chemistry lab.  In 2004, a 17-year-old student, star football-player, (J-Rock Richardson) was killed during a confrontation after class.  The hallways were filled with trash and graffiti.  Teachers were too afraid to correct students.
Students from Condon Terrace and Barry Farms feuded with Ballou.

My Plan to Swim the Anacostia Before I Croak

I love stand up paddling on the Potomac, but on the Anacostia?

The new Anacostia River license plate (costs $25 to purchase)

Why there's too much ice up river?  Not really, Anacostia is my home and this forsaken river is my backyard.

This afternoon, I launched from Diamond Teague Pier, the brand new pier built to one day facilitate ferries to and fro the Nationals Ball Park.   What a perfect memorial for a smart kid that cared so much for the development of his community.  Diamond Teague was a charismatic young volunteer at the Earth Conservation Corp who was shot in the head in front of his house in 2003 at the age of 19.

Live, Love or Else

In life, you either just live by, or you LIVE in it.  I choose the latter.

After being pickpocketed in front of Macy's Philly and biking consolant but cheerful back to my car in Fairmount Park to grab more cash -- the only thing now left in my name, I stumbled upon something that totally brightened up my visit: couples of all types, lining up anxiously for a memorable shot in front of Robert Indiana's Love Sculpture.

There were couples, madly in love, young and old, friends, platonic and borderline lovers, some rekindling the fire after many decades, their progeny now with many children of their own, wanting to know how the fire sparked that caused Mom and Dad to become ONE.

The image of couples romancing, the line never stopping, made me truly realize that this was too good of an opportunity to let slip by. In life, you either just live by, or you LIVE in it.  I chose the latter.

I set up a camera on the platform behind by the water fountain to film time lapse to prove once and for all that while I was there, the line never stopped -- truly all day and night -- there's always some couple approaching or waiting in line to get their picture-perfect shot.  If not lovers, there are skaters -- one or the other, people tend to flock to and admire the simple but meaningful iconic image made famous by Robert Indiana.

To complete the all encompassing emotionally powerful scene, I decided to chat to couples and ask them two simple but sound questions: 1) Where did you guys meet; 2) What are your plans in the City of Brotherly Love.

The posted video is the results. I hope you find it enlightening as it was for me.  Actually the story from one of the couples resoundingly melted my heart.  My heart is still in tattered pieces as I mindfully revisit this scene.

Oklahoma -- Oh What a Beautiful Play

Today, Tanushi and I had the honor to attend the Arena Stage's inaugural centerpiece: Oklahoma, and oh we were in for a pleasant experience.  I had waited almost 3 long years for this Southwest masterpiece to be opened, and the wait though painful for an inpatient guy like me, was definitely worth every minute of it.

Oklahoma was everything I expected and everything I didn't expect.  For starters the main actors were not the traditionally white farmers who you expected to see in the rugged southwest during the turn of the century, but African American and Hispanic.

What was amazing was that Curly's love is played by Eleasha Gamble, an African American woman who was raised in DC and studied at Catholic University. What is even more amazing is that Eleasha was called up to take the leading role just days prior to the play's debut in DC (due to a family emergency with the former actress).

There was no time to absorb what she was getting herself into.  She just had to jump in and soak up as much as she could.  The spirit and drive of Eleasha playing her role dynamically shows just how gutsy and endearing she can be.

You first see Laurey singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," and after Curly flirts with her, you fall in love with Laurey right away.

Although Eleasha performed her show with mini scripts tucked neatly in her apron, they were not distracting and reminded me of the gargantuan task that she faced.  Plus, she rarely referred to them.  It was amazing how Eleasha soaked up her script and the whole surrounding so smoothly.  That gal has a lot of guts.

Kudos to Eleasha, Nicholas Rodriguez, and the rest of the stars for making this performance so riveting.  Kudos to Molly Smith for adding in diversity for reverting a potential crisis and for making this production so powerful and life changing.