Karaoke and Fairfax, VA

I

have been a baseball fan all my life, but have been turned off recently by the greed and lack of loyalty to fans. Ball players used to be a member of the community and they developed direct ties to their fans. Now with free agency they move to the team that offers them the most dough. But, a lot of this was brought about by greedy owners. Oh well, despite this, I am happy that DC finally has a baseball team of its own--the transplanted Montreal Expos--and they are now called the Nationals. I will be going to my first game today. They play Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners.

Anyway, let's continue answering questions.

I don't particularly have a question, per se... but I have a demand. I put up another clip of me singing... this time, a full song. Now it's your freakin' turn!! BUWAHAHAHA!

takunishi79

now... that i wanna hear! singing!!!! yeah!!!!!!!!!

jerjonji

I swear, I don't ever remember saying anything like that, unless I was joking or just plain drunk. And besides, i don't have a karaoke macine to mixe the voice and music together. Unless there is some free mixing program on line that I can download onto my computer. Anyone know of one? If there is one, I'd consider putting up my vocals. You, Taku, are a brave man.

what are some of your favorite hangouts in VA? and what do you think of the housing here; will prices ever drop? or will everyone have to move either very far south or west??

KENSHIR0

The prices of houses in Northern VA have skyrocketed to ridiculous levels. My own modest little place has increased in value by about 2.5 times in about five years. I have heard that the real estate bubble may burst soon, but our location--about a seven minute walk to the Vienna station--will likely keep our land value high, I think. So keep your fingers crossed. You may still be able to buy something in the Fairfax area, but buying a place for less than 300K will be difficult, I think.

As for my local hangout: I have mentioned many times that I go to Glory Days in Pan Am Center near the Vienna Metro. I go there about once a week and know the bartenders there. It is a sports bar so the place is not known for haute cuisine. But I enjoy some of the items on their menu: beef on weck, steak salad, chili. I stay away from pasta dishes and M will not eat fish anywhere except at home or at fancy places like Kincaid's in DC, but Glory Days has a pretty good sirloin stake, especially for the price. Indeed it's better than Outback's and other similar steak joints. So if youever go there and see an Asian couple sitting at the bar, it will probably be us.

Other than that, I sometimes go to Famous Dave's on 123 in Oakton. I will go there on a Sunday afternoon maybe once a month or two. I sometimes think the service is suspect, but the ribs are incredibly good. I am no expert on this typically southern dish, but man, they are the best I've ever tasted. Head and shoulders better than Red Hot and Blue and other NoVA rib places.

The best place for my money, however, is Arties, right next to Lotte's just south of Fairfax Circle. It is a bit pricier than most are eateries, to be sure, but the food is excellent. Their chopped salad is amazing. Their pork chops are delectable. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, they have a prime rib that is spectacular--although expensive. Their fish dishes are pretty good too--oh yeah, M will eat fish here too. But the grilled Tuna, I think, was just so-so. If they have halibut as a special, definitely order it. THAT is good. But because it is pricey, I will usually sit at the bar and order three or four appetizers with M instead of two full meals. I like variety.