Sunday, March 18, 2007
Abandoned Car Explodes on Florida
Sometime around 3:30am a (stolen?) car that had been abandoned and set afire in an alley just south of the 1200 block of Florida Ave exploded. Several police cars and fire vehicles were on the scene as a large amount of smoke billowed from the alley. No injuries, but plenty of broken glass.
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23 comments:
Hey quick question for you. I'd like to post an open letter to the two churches on the corner of both blocks next to my house. Is there some way to do that? I didn't see anyway to email you directly on the blog? Let me know. Thanks!
you can email me by going to the about section, or you can just send something to inked78[at]hotmail.com.
Drove by Taste of Jamaica on my way home the other night and it looked like they had some tables and booths going in, finally! Minor note: I love the food there- but someone might want to mention to the owner that that violent shade of orange mixed with flourescent lighting is not the best for encouraging people to linger and eat(which might be the point). But the comination of good Jamaican food and a place to sit and eat it is great in my book!
cars don't just explode by themselves. maybe it was someone's idea as a 'cry for help'.
If you set them on fire, they can. I've heard speculation that the car was stolen, and would account for someone setting it on fire.
Do you know what kind of car it was? Make? Model? Was it a convertible?
I think the bright color is just the owner trying to create an island feel. Similar to the colors you'd find in Banana Cafe on 8th (Barrack's Row).
Tho' I know the owner and have strongly encouraged seating, I think it's quite presumptuous to suggest color and/or ambience for his establishment.
it's not presumptious. it's beneficial for the owner to listen to the wants/desires of people that actually eat there (his customer base)
it's just good business sense. presumptious is someone who designs/serves whatever he/she wants, and assumes that it's the only/right thing to do.
business 101
Simple:- You provide the comment.
pre·sump·tu·ous
1. full of, characterized by, or showing presumption or readiness to presume in conduct or thought.
2. unwarrantedly or impertinently bold; forward.
I used presumptuous as noted in #2.
Moving on...
bold folks brave the roughest sea
and even though it's not always "pc"
it's get you to where you want to be
;oP
"bold folks brave the roughest sea"
WOW! How profound, thought provoking and brilliant. That's why mfaith and/or anon 3:34 should provide their comment(s) personally. Good Luck in achieving your goal.
Whatever happened to people expressing themselves or designing their establishments in a manner appropriate and unique to them. I guess b/c you may sometimes purchase food there then your color preference should matter in the big scheme of things.
thank you.
i wrote that myself. :o)
i really think i'm on my way to be a columnist in the washingtonpost, don't you?
i love america!
To Anon 3:58:
I see it doesn't take much for you to reveal your true self and motivations.
Thank you for reminding me to stay aware.
God Bless America.
I don't have any other info on the car.
That comment was a bit flip and little presuptuous in that certainly noone asked for my opinion. However- I meant it as an aesthetic suggestion which might help the business should they find that they are not getting as much sit down traffic as they would like.
I'm a design student- and someone who is interested in seeing good quality businesses on H Street succeed. I think the food they serve is excellent, i like that the place is clean and tidy and I am psyched that they have added tables, but the intensity of the color combined with flourescent lighting would be one reason I wouldn't want to ge there to sit and eat on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong- I love color, and I get the island theme. It has been shown that really bright intense shades like red and yellow aren't conducive to people lingering. While they stimulate appetite-they can be a little hard on the eyes when there is nothing there to break up that mass of color.
I apologize for the delivery- but it was meant to be a constructive suggestion.
i totally understood where you were coming from.
i don't think we have a lot of design folks, or industrial pyschologists in our midst (or on H street for the matter).
just wanted to say that i did grad studies in marketing, so i got it.
i still don't think it was presumptious, but then again, i'm not much of a pansy either...
Anon 3:05
My apologies. I truly understand where you are coming from but I must say that I did take offense for several reasons.
Hear me out, I frequent this blog daily and as the dispute surrounding Cluck U hashed out re: the necessary requirements for seating there was some mention of TOJ. I immediately went to the owner and put a buzz in his ear that they might begin targeting his spot b/c of the lack of seating. I regularly visited him and continued to stress the importance of seating b/c of the regs. I also encouraged him b/c I thought his spot was ideal for indoor and outdoor seating.
Several weeks ago he was so delighted to announce that seating would soon be provided and I was happy for him. So when I saw the comment about the color, I thought to myself, give me a break: 1st seating now color. Enough already!
I think I understand your design opinion but please understand for a minute that the Taste of Jamaica not only offers food for taste but the asthetics/color is very much a taste of Jamaica. You will find that most Jamaican establishments are either bright yellow, bright green or bright orange. I'm just saying I'd just rather see folks let the owner express himself the way he wishes. Many in the H Street community fight for that right everyday.
Last, I also found it disturbing that the same folks who complain about the color would not conjure up the nerves to go to Banana Cafe and tell them that their multicolor decor may be uninviting to their customers or tell Joe that he should repaint the Argo and I could go on. But, a black owner trying to add a little spice to the neighborhood needs a lesson in design. Please, please let people strive w/ as little unnessary interference as possible. Trust me, there are many of things I don't particularly like but I don't go around assuming that my preference is golden.
In short, one person doesn't like bright orange and he changes it to beige, then another dislikes beige b/c it's not the best design in their opinion. Should he then consider changing it? Let's choose our battles and be mindful how our expressed preferences may be offensive to others.
Anon. 5:43, Anon.3:05 didn't pick the battle, you did. He or she simply stated an opinion about the interior color of the restaurant and you took offense to his/her opinion.
Again with the race issue. I somewhat resent that you felt I was criticizing Taste of Jamaica's owner because he is a black business owner-and that I felt it was my right to express a design opinion because I am not.
I understand the Islands' love of color- and that color appeals to certain ethnic backgrounds in different ways. My father is Latino. My people have a tendency to use strong color-i love color. i love orange. For someone throwing accusations of presumption around, what i read between the lines is that you assume I am a white yuppie who wants to paint Taste of Jamaica Pottery Barn beige who you are qualified to give a lecture on racial sensitivity.
My comment-as we have established-was not stated in the best way- was based on pretty in depth studies of people and their psychological reactions to color. (Yes, these are often influenced by culture and class and geography- but there are certain elements which have been shown to be somewhat universal.)
I see your point about that Banana Cafe is also brightly colored-but the difference there is that the lighting is softer and there are a variety of hues and textures. It works because these things tone down some of the color.And don't put it past me -if I ever have the opportunity-that there are some aspects of a Banana that could help it to function better-or that I think the Argo's shade of green could be slightly more appealing and still accomplish what is intended to. If I weren't trying to cut down on eating out so that I can pay for school and fix up my own house- I might hang out at all of these places more, get to know the owners, and find an appropriate and relevant time to express these opinions in conversations with them. Some day when I have time I'd love volunteer free design services to small business owners on H Street in order to help them succeed. Image and aesthetics are so important in retail/hospitality-it is a multimillion dollar industry.
I'm not trying to be snotty or opinionated in noting these things and pointing them out-it is what my brain does when I assess architecture,space,and interiors. But please don't accuse those opinions of being based on some racial prejudice. I find that more offensive than if someone were to tell me that they didn't like the color of my restaurant.
Does anyone know what what alley this car exploded? I've been out of town this week and live near 5th and Florida. Its the only alley I can think of in my neighborhood just off Florida.
1200 block of Florida.
the point about flourescent lighting may be the most crucial. i haven't been in taste of jamaica yet, but as a general rule, i thought that softer lighting than flourescent was the norm in restaurants? call me crazy. as for the color, that is quite the personal aesthetic choice. i figure if the food/service is good enough and perhaps softer light is considered, keeping the paint scheme shouldn't hurt too much. but then, the design student poster DID note academic studies on the issue, which carry weight. perhaps he/she should mention these studies to the owner? i'm sure he/she (they?) would take it into consideration if several academic studies show a particular consumer reaction to certain colors. what business owner would turn down advice that could increase his/her traffic by several percentage points, with no discernible loss in core clientelle?
Alan, Point well-taken. Hopefully a dimmer can achieve that goal if necessary.
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