what's up the pike: getting ready, getting set

- Somewhere between all the carping about whether D.C. is a "hip" enough city and whether Silver Spring is a banal suburban wasteland are local bands like Lonely are the Brave, who prove that good music doesn't give a shit which state it's in. I saw them last weekend at the Calvert House Inn, a small, homey bar/restaurant in Riverdale Park with North America (who share LATB's roots in Colesville), Frederick's Lost Tourists and The Five One, who incidentally are from D.C. It was an evening of loud, brash, but melodic punk and hip-hop that ignores the boundaries of genre and throws a saxophone in for good measure, leaving you deaf, sweaty and completely danced-out.

To me, it's Silver Spring condensed into songs (frenetic, multi-ethnic and often political) - and proof, in a way, that you don't need a homework club to get kids working hard and giving back to their community in any way, shape or form. (We interviewed LATB's Davey Rogner last year about his efforts to stop the InterCounty Connector.) And what purer way to express yourself/your life/your community/your politics than starting a band? Kinda makes me wonder if I should've done something different with all my over-scheduled high school afternoons.

- Depending on how you stand on the Purple Line, you're either sleeping much better or anxiously lying awake at night that the County Council's approved the light-rail line between Bethesda and New Carrollton. It's a big triumph for the project's supporters, who now wait for Governor O'Malley to issue his recommendation later this spring. But we should expect to hear soon from groups like Save the Trail in Bethesda, the Town of Chevy Chase, and the Columbia Country Club, all of whom don't want to see the line routed along the tree-lined Capital Crescent Trail (at right) between Bethesda and Rock Creek Park and have invested significant amounts of time and money to stall the project throughout its twenty-year history.

It's not related to any of the opposition groups, but rumor has it that State Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Dist. 18), who represents Chevy Chase and has spoken out against putting light-rail trains on the Capital Crescent Trail between Bethesda and Rock Creek Park, attempted to delay the Council's vote in an attempt to manipulate Prince George's County leaders who support the project into backing off a proposal that would take away state funding from MoCo.