Due to a fire on a bridge in New Jersey, the DC-NY Metroliner service (which is replacing suspended Acela service) has been suspended.

So if you were planning to take the train to New York anytime real soon, better go Greyhound.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

That’s right, a favorite DC tradition is coming back: Restaurant Week! Jason Storch of DC Foodies has has the announcement.

Set your calendar for August 1-7 and get ready for some Good Eats! 3 course prix fixe meals, $20.05 for lunch, $30.05 for dinner, at some of the very best restaurants in town. No restaurant list is up yet, but it’s coming, so keep your eyes open!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

This week’s Favorites post is all about the movies. Sometimes, you just want to sit back, grab the popcorn and watch the credits roll. We’re here to help you find the best place in town to do just that. Read on for all about favorite theatres, from the Uptown to the Hoffman Center to Bethesda Row.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading →

It was about ten after twelve when I finally got back from a tech call, I sat at my desk, packing my things, getting ready to head for the Orioles/Twins contest up in Baltimore. The alarm was going off in our building, again, but I figured it was yet another false alarm.

Then I heard the voice, shrill and cutting to the core of my very being. It was Judy, and she was agitated. “Everybody OUT. NOW!” Such orders from Judy could only be considered miraculous divination, as this is the woman who would not even let us out one millisecond early during the inaugural mess. But, of course, there she was, watching MSNBC in the conference room when the alerts came and she marched people toward the elevators.

Of course, it turned out to just be some jackass in a Cessna, but hey, it sure was exciting. Of course the two guys involved will be spending a long time explaining themselves to Very Angry Customs Agents, followed by Very Angry Capitol Police and Secret Service.

By the by, we DID hit Code Red today, according to WTOP, which is a first for the DC area. Never before have I been so glad to see the Capitol in my rear view mirror.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

So, does anyone know a benefactor who’d like to help out this seasoned adventurer?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Sure, Los Angeles has its charm: the movies, the orange groves, the beach, the star wars line. Here in DC, we have the Capitol, the Smithsonian, the Monuments, and…our own Star Wars Line?!

Hey, at least our line is at the right theatre…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

A poster on Craigslist Boston has a cautionary tale that I’m sure everyone in the Capital area will benefit from.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I love listening to baseball on the AM dial. I grew up on Ray Fosse and Bill King on AM 560 in the Central Valley, spoiled by their incredible nuance and style, I was disappointed first by the Orioles Broadcast team, and initially by Dave Shea and Charlie Slowes. However, these two have grown on me, more than I ever expected. Tonight I listened as they called the second and third innings on my way home from rehearsal, and I was pleased to hear them on Z104, calling Tony Armas’ return to the diamond. They’re getting better, learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses, playing to the former and avoiding the latter. It’s nice to hear a new team mature, just like our Nationals (currently up 2-0 on the Diamondbacks.)

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Has anyone else noticed reliability problems with Washingtonpost.com lately? I was all set to link to their story about the ad-wrapped Metro cars and provide pithy commentary, but despite it’s placement as the featured photo on the front page, the story itself is (as of this writing) completely missing from the site. You can’t find it with a search, you can’t click on the link, the photo link doesn’t lead to it… This has happened at least once a day for the last week- I’ve tried to read a WaPo story online, and been thwarted by whatever gremlin is stealing it from their content management system.

The short version of the story is this: Cash-strapped Metro is going to start accepting more forms of advertising- TV monitors in the trains that will show headlines, weather, and ads; tunnel ads where the panels will be sequentially placed to be viewable as you pass through, and of course, ad wrappers on the outsides of the cars. The first one is an ad for McDonald’s Fruit and Walnut Salad.

This has met with tempest-in-a-teapot controversy.

People tired of seeing ads plastered on everything: “Wah! Ads on metro cars! It’s tiresome! Wah!”

Metro riders: “Hey, if the extra money gets me to work faster and keeps fares down… whatever it takes.”

Obligatory smartass interviewed for comic relief: “They’re advertising food on a system where you’re not allowed to eat.”

I suppose I fall into the second camp- Although Metro has shown an unusual ability to mismanage taxpayer money, if they want to mismanage private funds and maybe actually do some good with it in the meantime, more power to ’em.

I too tire of being treated as a pair of eyeballs to stick ads in front of, but look… we already live in an area where billboards are mostly forbidden. The DC area is already full of buildings that either by choice or by ordinance can’t or won’t change their facades to include obnoxious signs and lights, so compared to other cities, we’re actually getting off pretty easy on the whole advertising thing. And as any blogger will tell you, sometimes advertising is the best way to break even on your product.

So your choices are either to fund Metro better, pay higher fares, or put up with a great big set of Golden Arches over the sliding doors. Give me the Golden Arches any day.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Yesterday Mayor Williams did something rarely done: he actually fired someone who was bad at their job. Yesterday, Taxicab Commission Chair Lee Williams was unceremoniously thrown from the ratty driver’s seat of the Taxicab Commission, charged with incompetence and mismanagement. As anyone who’s ever attempted to get a cab in DC may tell you, “It’s about damn time.”

Sure, he stopped cheating on the licensing exam, but only by stopping the exam, entirely. Sure, he’s saved hundred in cab fares for the citizens of DC, but only by failing to order the stickers associated with the spring fare hike. Yep, this is one employee DC surely won’t miss.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

While the Pentagon is the largest office building in the world, there are a lot of defense workers that don’t actually work in the Pentagon, but in rented office space all over Northern Virginia. Of course, due to a new DoD regulation, they may well be moving soon. The new reg says that any building with in which DoD staff works that is not on a military base must be a bizarre and odd 82 feet from the road, which eliminates much of their Northern Virginia space. Oops. New office space out beyond the beltway is becoming more and more likely for the DoD. Of course, this just on the heels of an article about the recovery of the Northern Virginia Commerical Real Estate.

Oops.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

What’s spring/summer in DC without Yet Another Article about how much time we spend in traffic?

The study, which was based on 2003 data, says that DC denizens spend 69 hours per year stuck in traffic.

Seeing as how that data is now out of date, it’s probably worse now.

Blah blah, our traffic is almost as bad as LA and San Francisco. Blah blah, expanding population, not enough road capacity. We’ve heard it all before, but if you’re interested, there it is again.

Of course, this morning traffic on the 395 was light and it took 15 minutes to go the seven miles from Tom’s house to his office, and then another 30 minutes to go the one mile from Tom’s office to my parking garage, so go figure.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Thanks to astute reader Joseph for his tip about the US Capitol Switchboard, coming from Blue Oregon and Metafilter:

Talked on the air to KPOJ’s Thom Hartmann this morning, and he suggested calling Senator Gordon Smith (and the rest of the right-wing extremists back there) by using the toll-free call-in line on Capitol Hill: 1-877-762-8762.

But here’s the great part: That number translates to 877-SOB-U-SOB. (Seriously!)

You’re never more than a few SOBs away from the Capitol!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Tomorrow is the annual Free Comic Book Day, but due to the vagaries of the calendaring system we all share, it is also National Masturbation Day. I know that some folks, maybe even readers of this site, will be torn between participation between the two. I would ask that you not confuse the locations, though.

For Free Comic Book Day:

Beyond Comics 2 on Wisconsin Avenue will have A. David Lewis signing autographs.

Cards, Comics & Collectibles in Reistertown, MD will have Frank Cho (Spiderman, Liberty Meadows), Steve Conley and John Gallagher signing autographs.

For National Masturbation Day:

Please keep this confined to your home. With the windows covered. Please. Think of the children.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Sure, Los Angeles has Coachella and Burning Man, New York has Woodstock, but here in DC, we can only dress it up to the nines and get some gambling involved. That’s right, it’s Gold Cup Weekend: where the dress code is insane, the drinking prolific and the horse racing is hotter than the Kentucky Derby, only with less julep. The gates open at 10am, and the Tavern Tents open at 11, so get your Saturday best on (Hunt Country Casual, please!) and be sure to check with the Washington Socialites as to what’s in this season.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Channel 9, WUSA, is now broadcast their news in full High Definition television signal, the first local station in the area to do so. Of course, much of their footage is still shot in standard definition, and some of the bugs are still getting stamped out, but the digital television revolution appears to be coming closer to home. What does this mean for viewers? Well, not much. It does mean you get to see their striking new set, but I’ll bet you kiam to kittycats the anchors will be giving their makeup folks an extra bonus this holiday season, as you can see much more detail in HD than you ever could in standard definition.

Of course, it’s still local news…

…But Topper Shutt is top drawer, and don’t you forget it <wink>

No idea why WUSA wasn’t covering the real party over at Chief Ike’s tonight, hosted by our friends at DCist, but we were pleased to see them get some love from the Post.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I was taking Metro to a client visit, and when I got down to the Farragut North platform, just as I was choosing a waiting spot on the platform that was just the right personal space-protecting distance from my fellow passengers, I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the far end of the platform?

WTF? Did someone fall off the platform? Everyone turned to look. Including the Metro cop standing near there, who didn’t do much of anything else. So much for serving and protecting. Never did figure what that was about.

But it did remind me of your Public Service Announcement for today. Do you know what to do if you would happen to fall off a platform? Being sort of short and therefore the person that other people tend to trip over, I wonder about this when I’m on a crowded platform full of jostling people who think they’re more important than I am.

Under every platform is a small shelter area you can hide in so that an oncoming train won’t hit you. It runs the length of the platform, and is wide enough to accommodate a fireman in full protective gear. So if you fall off the platform and a train is about to arrive, you can press yourself against the platform itself, under this overhang, and hope you don’t suddenly develop claustrophobia.

When I got off the train at Judiciary Square, there was a street team promotion. Have I mentioned how much I love Metro station street team promotions? There were the Danactive Smoothie people, the M&M candy bar giveaways, but this one was samples of Degree antiperspirant. This would be sort of boring for me, as I’m a Secret Shower Fresh Scent girl myself, except… Well, have you seen the commercials for the action figures? The Mama’s Boy, the Suck Up, etc?

They had hired an actor to be the Suck Up action figure. The guy was standing in a human-size cardboard and clear plastic box, frozen with a grin and a thumbs-up gesture. There was a large group of people hanging around him taking great joy in trying to provoke the Suck Up into reacting in some way. Alas, had it not been for them (and the fact that I was running late for my appointment), I would have been able to take a picture.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

This town has its share of traffic problems. New York Avenue in Rush Hour, the godforsaken American Legion and Wilson Bridges, 66 when it’s not HOV, 495 at 270. All of them are enough to cause grown men to weep like babes on bad days. It’s a minor miracle we don’t have the same gun violence on freeways problem that Los Angeles does. Fortunately, it’s Yahoo to the rescue, they have added traffic data to their maps. That link, in addition to revealing my secret lair’s location to the world, will also show some traffic issues near my house.

Better yet? There’s a Traffic Dashboard Widget for all of you Mac using folks.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

That’s right, folks, just when you thought Maryland drivers couldn’t be any worse, they surprise you, by doing something so absolutely asinine that there just aren’t words. That’s right, the guy in the Jeep in front of me had a set of Bumper Nuts.

Why is it that people are possessed to put a scrotum on their car? Is it to make up for some personal lack? Nice car, sorry about your penis?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs