'HFS, Chef Geoff's and Rappin' About the Debt

Happy Thursday, Rockville!

Wow, so that’s what temperatures in the 80s feel like. I’d forgotten.

The National Weather Service says to expect more of the same for the next few days. Usually I prefer enjoying this (awesome collaboration) in the summer time, but it’s felt more like this lately. I’ll take a few clouds if it means lower temperatures.

The other day I started writing a “Rundown” intro, then decided to put it away for a rainy day. Well, today’s that rainy day and with it comes some news that makes that intro all the more timely. So here it is—now with news!:

A long time ago, in a youth far, far away, there was a radio station called WHFS. They held an annual music festival at RFK Stadium. (OK, I know they still hold the HFStival, but it isn’t the same—or maybe I’m just way too old and hooked on terrestrial radio.)

During one particularly memorable festival, the heavens opened up just as General Public broke into “Rainy Days,” giving sweaty festival-goers a much-needed shower and a summer concert moment to remember.

(Full disclosure: I wasn’t there that day. I was with a few friends in the bleachers at Camden Yards on my 18th birthday. Cal Ripken hit the fourth grand slam of his career. It was awesome. But not as awesome as that year’s HFStival—or so the rest of the senior class at Sherwood High told me. I’ve touched on this before. .)

Those things stay with you. Maybe it’s the sights, but more likely it’s the sounds. The music is the catalyst, triggering memories of the sights, the smells and the feel of summer. It’s a chain reaction where each sense triggers memories of the others. And it’s why summer concerts are great.

Here’s the “remembering when rain was fun” edition of “The Rundown”:

• WHFS is back. In Baltimore. Oh well, there’s always the Internet. The cool kids couldn’t be happier, including at least one at USA Today. (OK, and .)
  Not everyone’s happy, though. Dave Hughes at DCRTV doesn’t seem too pleased that Charm City now has “our radio station.” (Set your volume to low and check out the 3:55 mark.)
  He’s right. All I get on 97.5 FM is bleed-over from WASH-FM. Ugh. If anyone can get WHFS on their car radio in Rockville, please let me know where. I might have a new “mobile newsroom.”
• In crime and courts news, the Associated Press reported Tuesday that a Rockville man was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison in connection with a February burglary near Catholic University that turned into a deadly shootout with police. Fox 5 has the backstory.
• Do you like art? Do you like parties? VisArts and The Rooftop have both, from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight.
• A popular DC restaurant could be coming to Rockville … in 2014. (And you thought the wait was long at some of these places.) @chefgeoffs, also known as Chef Geoff Tracy, tweeted this on Friday.
• Sip wine and network from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight with the Rockville Chamber of Commerce at The Bottle Shop … in Potomac. (Huh? Just sayin’.) Free for members. $20 for non-members.
• All that debt ceiling talk wasn’t much fun for anyone—unless your name is Remy and you used all that “material” flowing off Capitol Hill to write a new song. Don’t know Remy Munasifi? . Then be sure to follow YouTube to his “Metro Song.” Pure genius.
• We teased you with talk of summer concerts. If you’ve made it this far it’s only fair that we tell you where you can get live outdoor music this week. from 6 to 8 tonight with roots rockers Ruthie and the Wranglers.
• Know a good summer concert? Post the details below, on our “Events” calendar, or let us know about it @RockvillePatch on Twitter or at Rockville Patch on Facebook.