Just a little over a month ago, DCist Jeff updated our very occasional series, What We're Missing, with a plea for the introduction of municipal bicycles available for rent all over the city, a la the same deal that Paris, France is about to get. Here's what he said: At first, we cringe at the thought of hundreds of street-clogging lost tourists and a cottage industry of bike thefts. With more examination, though, there's a... more ›

DCist Jeff Beam contributed to this post. Drew McManus, who writes about the orchestra business at the ArtsJournal blog Adaptistration, has dubbed April Take a Friend to the Orchestra month. For the second year now, Drew has lined up names in the classical music world to write pieces on how ordinary people who love classical music can invite a friend who does not regularly go to hear live music to a concert. This year's articles... more ›

After a thoroughly dominating March, the Florida Gators cut down the nets for the second straight year. Meanwhile, in the DCist Reader-Staff Bracketfest, reader Seth Rappaport had the honor of cutting down the virtual nets. Seth built a commanding lead with perfect first round brackets in three of the four regions, then dealt his finishing blow by picking a perfect Final Four. Coming in second was our own Hayden Alfano, bracket manager extrordinaire. Thanks Hayden,... more ›

Here at DCist, we're all bout doing things bigger and better in 2007, so get ready for Unbuckled 5, coming your way next month. more ›

Presumptive Mayor-to-be Adrian Fenty is in New York City today, reports the Post, in order to pow wow with Mayor Michael Bloomberg about how he went all authoritarian on New York's public school system. Many aspects of what Bloomberg has done in an effort to turn things around for the city's failing schools are intriguing, if not without controversy: What Bloomberg and Klein will describe to Fenty is a massive overhaul in which they rolled... more ›

Been wondering what that enormous sculpture erected on a hill near the Pentagon -- the one that looks like "wavy future grass," or "where Wolverine is buried," according to friends of ours -- is, exactly? Well, you can get your chance to find out this weekend at the dedication services taking place for what is the area's first Air Force memorial.

Dedication services will be taking place all weekend long, starting with a ceremony at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, which the general public can view from the South Pentagon Parking Lot. Other festivities will continue throughout the weekend, including a performance by country! superstar! Lee Ann Womack; the U.S. Air Force Drill Team; and F-16s flying overhead.

More information about the events can be found here, and Metro has kindly posted transportation info here.

As for the memorial itself, which is designed by James Freed and shoots nearly 300 feet up in the sky -- well, we're not architecture experts, but we did solicit the opinions of those better versed, better looking, and generally smarter than us for their thoughts about the memorial. DCist Jeff had this to say:

I have no affinity for zooty, contemporary art or architecture, but I rather like the AF memorial. I think it gives exactly the impression that the AF wants. When I saw it this weekend, it reminded me of the white smoke streams left behind planes when they split formation (jets peeling away from each other at ridiculous speeds, sound shrieking, sort of an awe-inducing experience). With that thought in mind, I thought it nailed it pretty well.

...As a whole, the project bothers me. The exact flight path of Flight 77 on September 11th will probably never be mapped, based on the plane’s angle at impact there is a good chance that it flew either directly over or very close to where this monument is being built. In fact, that same hill between the Navy Annex and Citgo is where the media and curious onlookers gathered for the best vantage of the fire and destruction. On the heavy traffic mornings when we creep along Route 27, the highway between the Memorial and the Pentagon, I can’t help but to consider the people who were in a similar situation when 77 thundered by at over 500 mph 30 feet above their cars...And without dwelling too long on theories of space-time and dimensional continuity, I feel that having a large, essentially claw-like structure flaring 270 from the ground disrupts this venerated airspace.

Have you seen the memorial? (Considering that it's so effing huge you can see it practically anywhere in D.C., we're guessing yes.) What are your thoughts?

Computer-generated photo from airforcememorial.org

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