Washington City Paper: Contents for Jan. 19, 2007

Chairman of the Board
When Darren Harper was growing up in Southeast, he kept his love for skateboarding a secret. Little did he know that his board would one day get him off the streets.

Cover Story By Huan Hsu

All Darren Harper wants to do is get some skateboarding in before dark. Normally, Freedom Plaza would be teeming with skaters of all shapes, sizes, and skills, but the U.S. Park Police, which administers the site, has been enforcing the no-skating rule today. Most of the skaters have either gone home or scattered to the smaller spots around downtown.

Harper ventures onto the plaza and pushes around. He slaps down an ollie, launching himself into the air by kicking down on the tail of the board, and then takes a running start for a couple of tricks along a ledge. One of the kids spots a tall police officer approaching on a bicycle. The kids frantically stash their boards in a trash can, but Harper just keeps skating.

“I don’t run,” Harper, 25, explains. “I’m a grown man. And it’s not like I got an eight-ball in my pocket or something. I got a skateboard.”

“Sorry,” the officer says, “but you can’t skate here today.”

Harper nods and steps off his board. He heads to the U.S. Courthouse on Constitution Avenue, which he figures he’ll have to himself. He’s right: Someone before him has even set up a bicycle rack at the base of the fountain to form an improvised sliding rail.

... Continued

Issue of Jan. 19, 2007

News and Features

Chairman of the Board
When Darren Harper was growing up in Southeast, he kept his love for skateboarding a secret. Little did he know that his board would one day get him off the streets.
Cover Story By Huan Hsu
Mail Bonding
Dupont Circle residents get familiar with prolific postal thief.
The City By Jonathan York
Pleading the Filth
Ending Decades of One-sided Health Code Violation Reporting
The City By Sarah Godfrey
Conventional Wisdom
Taking You Behind the Scenes of America's Industry Confabs
The City By Rob Tierney
Service Industry
Rating D.C.'s Houses of Worship
The City By Aaron Leitko
Dirt Farm
Comics By Ben Claasen III
Lulu Eightball
Comics By Emily Flake
Ernie Pook's Comeek
Comics By Lynda Barry
Red Meat
Comics By Max Cannon
Ted Rall
Comics By Ted Rall
Thingpart
Comics By Joe Sayers
The City
Comics By Derf
Found Art
Distractions
Post Secret
Distractions
InkWell
Distractions
City on the Drink
The Mail

Columns

Fenty For Ward 7 Council
Loose Lips By James Jones
Foreign Diplomat
When it comes to imported soccer talent, Johan Cruyff was tops.
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Channel Serf
A Week of Substance in TV's Vast Wasteland
Television By Mario Correa
More Tales of Cuckoldry
Savage Love By Dan Savage

Eats

Chinatown Express
Peter Smith’s ambitious PS 7’s zips along the right track
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman

Movies

Short Subjects
Film Reviews By Tricia Olszewski
Identity Crises
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Interior Designer
Talking Pictures By Mark Jenkins

Music

Discography
Music Reviews By David Dunlap Jr.
One Track Mind
What's new in the local music scene,
a few minutes at a time
Music By Kim Gooden

Theater

Love on the Rocks
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Hear Not My Steps
Theater Review By Trey Graham
Curtain Calls
Theater Reviews By Glen Weldon

Arts and Events

Jan. 18-25, 2007
To Feb. 24: Colby Caldwell: Small Game
City Lights
Out of Sight
Local artists don’t have many options when their works disappear.
Show & Tell By Jessica Gould
Mash Appeal
DJ 2-Tone Jones and the art of the mix tape
Artifacts By Chris Richards