east county activists prepare to walk across country

Y'all might remember musician/activist/friend of JUTP Davey Rogner from our story two years ago on a student-led campaign against the InterCounty Connector, or maybe from his [now-defunct] band, Lonely are the Brave. When he recently told me about his plans to spend the next year and a half walking to San Francisco, I was impressed more than I was confused.

Most of my newly-graduated friends are either working or looking for work. But Davey, who grew up in White Oak, and a couple of his friends will leave in less than three weeks to walk from Maryland to California, organizing community trash clean-ups and leading discussion about "alternatives to our nation's throwaway mentality." Their campaign, dubbed Pick Up America, will maintain a heavy online presence during their trip. Pick Up America's holding a fundraiser tomorrow at the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting, and Davey sent out this letter to friends and family explaining their trip:

On March 20th, 2010 I am leaving to walk across the country and pick up trash for over a year and a half. As you have been a part of my life in some way, I feel it is my responsibility to let you know of my eminent departure. This journey, known as Pick Up America, is the the ultimate test of my physical, mental and spiritual stamina.

I know that by the time I complete this journey I will be drastically different. My first and primary motive for walking is to actualize my full potential. There is something inside me stirring; telling me that if I can improve myself, I can inspire others to take the proactive steps that will improve their lives. Through our website, social media, and short videos, our campaign hopes to illuminate a paradigm that measures well-being by the inner happiness one feels, as opposed to the material comforts one can gather. Pick Up America is my addition to the conversation of how we can reform the American lifestyle to become happier and healthier.

Like so many in the past, our path will mimic the great American migration west in search of more bountiful resources. Throughout our walk we will be speaking to people about how to sustain America's natural resources for generations to come. We believe that the concept of waste can and should be eliminated from the human paradigm. Yes, we are talking about RECYCLING and COMPOSTING, but more importantly we are addressing the pressing need to REDUCE and REUSE the number of products we consume on a daily basis. Simply put, we live in a finite world and the insatiable appetite of (not only) the American economy has overtaken the ability of the natural world to regenerate. If we continue along this path, the vital support base that the natural world provides to our economy will collapse and we will experience a serious downgrade in the human experience.

I would like to invite you to Pick Up America’s March Forth Fundraiser (on March 4th) at Sandy Spring Friends Community Center in Ashton, MD. The event will feature a description of our entire initiative, a three course vegetarian meal, jazz standards, local art that depicts our route, a raffle with cool prizes, as well as keynotes from the new mayor of College Park, MD Andy Fellows and Brent Bolin, the policy advocate for the Anacostia Watershed Society. We are asking for a minimum donation of $30 to attend. I have attached a flyer that details the event. Please RSVP as soon as possible as space is very limited.

In essence I am leading four people under the age of twenty-five into the heartland of America picking up trash, giving presentations about zero-waste economies and documenting our adventure on the internet. Along our path, we will be doing anything and everything we can to help people develop the ideas of how their community can actualize sustainability. The task is monumental and our success is wholly dependent upon our ability to communicate our vision and develop alternatives with interested individuals. It is also wholly dependent upon our ability to generate support from people who believe in this vision and would like to contribute to our adventure.

Please share Pick Up America with as many people you feel may be interested. If you would like to support Pick Up America, but can not make the fundraiser, please visit our website, www.pickupamerica.org, and make a contribution through paypal. I have taken the steps to designate our group as a non-profit, so all donations we receive will be tax deductible for your 2010 tax return as long as I provide you with the proper documentation. I will be trading slips in exchange for checks at the fundraiser. If you can’t make the fundraiser, donate and need documentation please write to me and I will get you the appropriate form.

Please contact me before I go if you would love to talk about my adventure!!!! Trust me, I can use all the advice I can get!!!!


--
All the Best,

Davey Rogner
Campaign Coordinator
Pick Up America

what's up the pike: sudo make me a sandwich

- Tonight, IMPACT Silver Spring continues its successful annual networking event with Silver Spring Action: Re-imagine Community Space!, taking place at 7pm in the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Georgia and Fenwick. Just like last year's event, you'll get some serious networking in and enjoy free food. Visit IMPACT's website to RSVP.

- The venerable Quarry House Tavern at Georgia and Bonifant has been named one of the nation's 150 Best Beer Bars according to DRAFT magazine. "If you’re sitting inside this basement bar in downtown Silver Spring, you’re either a local or a well-researched tourist on a mission to find the best watering holes in the D.C. area (mission accomplished!)," reads the review.

- Velatis, the recently-opened-but-historically-signficant candy store near Georgia and Wayne, will soon add ice cream to its menu, carrying on a tradition that began in Downtown D.C. over 150 years ago. It sounds like Gifford's will have some competition in the nostalgic sweets market.

- Are you looking to open a shop in an adorable little house that's been converted for commercial use? There's one for rent in Burtonsville's village center, and I think it'd make a neat ice-cream shop. (I've gotten distracted.) Somebody please move in there, and soon! We can't let Maple Lawn take any more business from the area.

(Today's non-sequitur post title comes from xkcd, one of my favorite comics but also one heavily quoted by my friend Gili, for whom today is his twenty-fourth twenty-third birthday. Happy birthday!)

the great peruvian taste test: results (part one)

At long last, here are the first results of Just Up The Pike's Great Peruvian Taste Test, finding you the best pollo a la brasa in suburban Maryland. We've been taste-testing the top five restaurants as selected by You, The Reader and rated according to our established taste test criteria, with a couple of changes.

What we haven't done, however, is taste them in order. So to begin, here's #3 and #5:

Inka's Chicken
9423 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring.

Inka's Chicken, which took fifth place, is well removed from the clusters of rotisserie in the downtowns of Wheaton and Silver Spring, wedged between an aquarium and an adult video store. If you're into running across seven lanes of Georgia Avenue, you might having dessert at Tropical Ice Cream Cafe, formerly known as York Castle.

This place isn't particularly welcoming. The windows are tinted and I waited five minutes for the cashier to finish conducting a conversation in Spanish with another customer. You won't find the snappy service of more "mainstream" joints like El Pollo Rico or Crisp and Juicy. But the food is more than worth it.

Meat and Flavor. The first bite of an Inka's chicken is like a punch in the face. Be prepared to experience a really complicated, smoky taste, in which flavors bubble up to the surface and disappear. I was pleasantly surprised.

Sides. Plantains are $2.59 extra, an unpleasant surprise for me with $6 in my pocket and not wanting to meet the minimum for credit cards. While I couldn't try them, it's worth noting that they are made fresh - the plantain is cut, sliced and fried right before your eyes. Instead, I had coleslaw - it all tastes the same, and you wouldn't come to these places for amazing slaw anyway - and rice that tasted as flavorful as the chicken it was served with.

Sauces. The same as everywhere else. But really, it doesn't matter because the rice and the chicken (and presumably the plantains) are so good you could eat them dry.

Pio Pio Super Chicken
2531 Ennalls Avenue, Wheaton.

This humble strip mall on Ennalls Avenue in Wheaton is where El Pollo Rico first became famous and subsequently burned down two years ago. In its place have risen a number of Peruvian rotisserie places, including El Pollo Kiki Riki and Pio Pio Super Chicken, which took third place in our Great Peruvian Taste Test reader poll.

Of all of the places we've taste-tested, Super Chicken certainly has the busiest signage, no doubt a requirement when its block and all of Wheaton are saturated with the heavy scent of rotisserie. The food also stands out from that of its neighbors, but it's not perfect.

Meat and Flavor. The chicken was juicy and tender and not particularly greasy, either. It falls right off the bone. I found the meat kind of bland. There were some weak hints of cumin, but I felt I had to search for it. Overall, it wasn't much different than what you'd find in non-Peruvian rotisserie restaurants.

Sides. As at most places, plantain costs extra. The portion was a little skimpy but it was golden and not too sweet. Overall, it was the best part of the meal. The rice is soft and buttery.

Sauces. Super Chicken's green sauce was a little watery and not too spicy. The yellow sauce was nothing out of the ordinary, but I went through it pretty fast in a desperate move to put some flavor on the meat.

Later, we'll catch up with the rest of our taste test winners - Crisp and Juicy, Sabroso Grill and the venerable El Pollo Rico. Is it as good as its reputation suggests? We'll find out.

what's up the pike: blogs and bagels

- IMPACT Silver Spring continues its successful annual networking event with Silver Spring Action: Re-imagine Community Space!, taking place at 7pm Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Georgia and Fenwick. JUTP met a lot of people - and pissed off a couple of them - at last year's event, and I'm looking forward to going again this year. (The food was also very good.) Visit IMPACT's website for more info and to RSVP.

- Speaking of IMPACT, their staffer Kusum Pushkerna's started a Facebook group called I Blog in Silver Spring, for "bloggers who blog and share stories in Silver Spring, MD through blogs." There's already thirty-one bloggers in the group, which as you may note is many more blogs than there are in the "East County Blogs" box at the bottom of your screen. Check it out!

- Are you tired of the Tea Party movement? I don't bring national politics into this space but - wow! I'm much more a fan of coffee. So I'm happy to read that there's a Coffee Party and that it started right here in Silver Spring. If you like your grassroots political activism without a healthy dose of "you betcha," check them out.

- Both Goldberg's Bagels in Montgomery Hills and Joe's Record Paradise in Downtown Silver Spring both opened for business this past weekend. Thayer Avenue notes the extensive selection of 45's (before my time) at Joe's, while Silver Spring, Singular explains how to get towed for parking in the wrong lot behind the store, though it looks like the awesome bagels at Goldberg's made up for it.

- Tonight, see new local swing band Swingtopia, an eight-piece outfit led by Doug Elliott and featuring our very own Cyndy, who writes the blog Photocynthesis, on the bass. They'll be making their first appearance at Greek Village, a restaurant in Colesville best known for the deer that crashed through their window last year. Check them out at 8pm at the restaurant, located at New Hampshire Avenue and Randolph Road.