LesDunBelle Neighbor Featured in Photography Show!

Opening reception will be at the Del Ray Artisans gallery
Friday, November 6th
7 pm–10:00 pm
2704 Mt Vernon Ave (map)

You may (or may not) find more information here:

• Del Ray Artisans
• @ eventful.com

And who is this esteemed neighbor? Well, if you put on your spectacles and squint at the flier above, you should be able to see that it’s James Locke! (He’s the first name on the 2nd to last row of names.)

Chit-Chat Corner (Nov-Dec, 2009)

Participate in the age old tradition of casual neighborhood conversation (read:  gossip)!  Just click on comment below and jump into the dialog.

“Boooos” In the Alley–Coming this Weekend!

Drawing by William Kammersell

This coming weekend we will be celebrating our 2nd Annual “Boooos” In the Alley.  Woo hoo!

This is a very informal and low-key gathering on the evening of Halloween (or therabouts).  Marni and William inaugurated this event last year, though they didn’t give it this goofy name.  I love the name, but I can’t remember who thought of it?  (Anyone know?)

Anyway, here’s the plan:

• Gather in the alley that runs between Bellefonte and Duncan, just East of Leslie Avenue. (See map below.)
• Start gathering in the alley around 5pm. We can mingle, and be jolly, and treat the early trickortreaters to some candy (if they are intrepid enough to wander down the alleyway)
• Hopefully, people (who live off the alley) will bring their grills. I’ll bring mine, and we’ll try to make sure we are ready to begin grilling no later than 7pm.  Bring your own burgers or hotdogs (or other meat, if you prefer).
• Bring a side dish if you can, too. Comment below to let us know what you’re bringing.
• BYOB

Once you’ve accomplished all of the above, we can simply hang in the alley and visit for the evening.

More details to come as necessary.

Oh….and do let us know if you plan to attend by voting in the poll below. Vote yes for every person that will be attending.

All (good peeps) are invited. Bad peeps (like, evil to the core) are also invited! Moderately bad peeps are asked to beg out (unless, you know, maybe you could up your game for this event?)

LesDunBelle Crime Prevention Meeting

Several of you have asked about the crime meeting. The “LesDunBelle Committee” has succeding in arranging a crime prevention meeting in early November with Officer Charlette Young of the Crime Prevention Unit of the Alexandria Police. The details are below. Please feel free to post comments below if you have any questions. Do join us if you’re interested.

Date:                 Monday, November 2, 2009
Time:                 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location:           Duncan Library Meeting Room
<invixxsible txxx2501 Commonwealth Ave.
Fee:                    Free!

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Tentative Agenda/Topics

• How to secure your home
• Preparing for the holiday season – how to be safe
• Q&A session

Idea: LesDunBelle e-Swap Meet

So what do you think about this…

…we start a little eSwap Meet on the blog, where people can post about things they want to sell or get rid of for free?

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Pros:  Would be nice to give/sell stuff to neighbors rather than Craigslist.

Cons: Might be tacky?  And would people really use it?

Vote below and tell us what you think.

Del Ray Chili Cookoff Is On for Tomorrow, Rain or Shine!

Get your chili recipes back out, and start up your cookers…

The Del Ray Chilli Cookoff is on for 4pm tomorrow (Saturday, October 24).

All are invited, either to enter the contest, or to taste the many delicious entries! For full details about the event, see the Del Ray Chilli Cookoff website.

To enter your chili in the contest, it’ll run you $10, but it is free to everyone else! You’re only asked to bring a side dish.

The event will be held, as always, in the alley that runs west off of LaGrande Avenue, right between Howell & Bellefonte Avenues.  Just follow the murmurring of the crowd, and you should have no problems finding it.

Del Ray’s Halloween Parade Needs You!

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This message is brought to you by those great folks who bring us the Del Ray Halloween Parade.

(Reposted from the DelRayParents Yahoo Group.)

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If you’ve ever been to Del Ray’s annual Halloween Parade, you know how much fun it is. Kids get to walk down Mount Vernon Avenue in their costumes and collect candy at the Rec Center.

Unfortunately, we do not have enough volunteers to run this year’s event. While the Parade is still scheduled to take place on Sunday (10/25), we desperately need volunteers to donate an hour of time (jobs below).

To volunteer, please contact Gayle Reuter atdelrayhalloweenparade@yahoo.com or show up at the time and place(s) listed below. Thank you.

* * * VOLUNTEER NEEDS * * *

This week
Daytime – anytime
Distribute flyers to specific homes in parade route area
Pick up packet at 110 E. Del Ray Avenue on the porch

Saturday, October 24th
2-4 pm
Stuffing 2,000 Halloween Goodie bags with candy and give aways
Location: Mt. Vernon Recreation Center, 2701 Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria, VA

1-4 pm
Help distribute donated Halloween Costumes to those children in need
Location: Mt. Vernon Recreation Center, 2701 Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria, VA

Sunday, October 25th
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Halloween Parade Set up
Blow up balloons with helium & distribute to 8 block parade route
Set up tables, judging areas, stages, grills, food, etc.
Put up street barricades with Amy
Location: Meet at Mt. Vernon Rec Ctr, 2701 Commonwealth Ave.

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm
Help with Registration of Dogs and Strollers
Location: Meet at Mt. Vernon & E. Howell Avenue

1:30 – 3:00 pm
Parade Marshalls
Stand at intersections along the Parade route to assure flow of parade, help direct participants to start of the parade.
Location: Check in at Mt. Vernon Rec. Center

1:30 – 3:30 pm
Refreshment Stand
Help cook & distribute free hot dogs, apple juice & cookies
Location: Mt. Vernon Rec. Center Fields

2:00 – 3:00 pm
Distribute Goodie bags to Children in the Parade
Location: Mt. Vernon Rec. Center Fields

2:45 pm (or as soon as parade ends)
Help pick up barricades w/Amy
Location: Start at Mt. Vernon Avenue & E. Bellefonte

3:30 – 4:00
Clean up
Take down tables & clean up field
Location: Mt. Vernon Rec Center Fields

Don’t Forget: PYPAG Meets Tonight at 6pm!

Who?

PYPAG.  You know, the Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group!

(By the way, how should PYPAG be pronounced?  I think it should be PIE-pag, but please, someone go to their meeting tonight and find out!)

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PYPAG invites residents to a community workshop on the redevelopment of Potomac Yard.

When:
Tuesday, October 20
6:00 pm to 6:30 pm (open house)
6:30 pm to 9:30 pm (meeting)

Where:
Charles Houston Recreation Center
901 Wythe Street

Why You Should Be There:

Over the last year, the Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group and community members have been contributing to creating a vision for the future redevelopment of the Potomac Yard retail center. The vision includes a future Potomac Yard that is built around transit, including a new Metrorail Station, incorporates a vibrant mix of uses and amenities, provides an urban street grid, and is organized around vital open spaces. At the October meeting, attendees will view a three-dimensional model and other media that present the current plan proposed to promote the long-term vision for the Potomac Yard retail center.

For more information, please refer to the website at www.alexandriava.gov/PotomacYardPlan, or contact Valerie Peterson at 703-746-3858 or at valerie.peterson@alexandriava.gov.

Ooooooo….New Header. What’s Up With That!?

Nothin’ really. Just thought we could do with a little change around here. If you’re handy with the camera, send me some good neighborhood pix, and I’ll make them into our header.  If you crop your images to exactly 760 by 190 pixels, I can use it as-is. Otherwise, I’ll have to crop it a bit.

‘m whittling down my pedal collection, and since I am not really a big fan of chorus, I’m letting go of this top-of-the-line chorus pedal. (Also, I’m wanting to save up to buy some other goodies that I do need!)

I’m including with the pedal the 24V adapter it came with (not pictured below), and I also have the original box. (If you use a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus, you can purchase a $10 Y-cable from Voodoo Labs that will power the pedal, or I’ll sell you mine for $5. This is the cable in the picture below.)

The pedal works great and has only been lightly used. It has velcro on the back, but I will include the original rubber pads (4). The SN is 0171 (see picture below).

This pedal has been hailed by many. Here’s the Diamond web site giving details and demos of the pedal: http://www.diamondpedals.com/products/halo.html

Below are some excerpts from the Diamond web page:
“The Halo Chorus is a combination delay/pitch modulation/phase modulation chorus design with autoconfigurable I/O for mono, mono in/stereo out, and stereo in/stereo out operation. The combination of pitch and phase modulation can be used together or individually for traditional chorus sounds or unique, spatial tones. In addition to the top mounted controls there are two user adjustable internal controls (delay time and LFO wave shape) that allow for fine tuning of the chorus from deep and syrupy to light and airy and all points in between.”

“Features:
• parallel combination of delay / pitch modulation and phase modulation gives versatile control over modulation effects from light chorusing to deep ‘vibey’ swirl
• stereo operation gives wide stereo image spread while preserving the original guitar tone
• NOS MN3007 analog bucket brigade chip running at 15V rails for extended headroom
• dual opto ‘vibe’ phase modulation path also running at 15V rails
• all analog circuitry
• autoconfigures for mono, mono in / stereo out, and stereo in / stereo out operation
• pure sinusoidal LFO using a dedicated function generator IC for smooth modulation with variable ‘SPEED’ and chorus pitch modulation depth ‘CH DEPTH’
• ‘CH MIX’ and ‘PM MIX’ controls allows independent control of chorus and phase modulation mix levels in both mono and stereo configurations
• kill-dry switch for parallel FX loop operation or use of chorus path for pure vibrato
• mono input signal passed through to both outputs on bypass
• phase switch to invert phase of right channel output relative to left
• LED indication of LFO speed
• expression pedal control of LFO speed
• same Vishay JFET / audiophile BurrBrown opamp signal path as in Memory Lane delay
• telecom grade relay switched true bypass operation on all inputs and outputs
• internally regulated to 15V, can be run from provided 24V adapter or from 18V pedal board power supply outputs (including Y-cable powering from 2 9V outputs on the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus)
• genuine Hammond cast aluminium 4.7 x 4.7 x 1.0 inch case”

Bummer….Del Ray Chili Cookoff Postponed

Well, put your chili bowls back into the cupboards, and turn off your cookers…the Del Ray Chili Cookoff (aka “Rally in the Alley”) has been postponed for a week due to inclement weather.

New Date: Saturday, October 24, 4pm