The Post is reporting on the possible paradigm shift in the Administration regarding the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay. Which is timely, considering for my last minute theater experiment on Friday night I saw Studio Theater’s production of the play “Guantanamo.”

Studio’s new expanded facilities are exceptional. “Guantanamo” is playing in the upstairs space of the Milton Theater, with an improved reception/bar area, and the overall building modernization, including a new entrance on the 14th Street side, is an exciting development for the neighborhood.

I don’t usually enjoy so-called “political” theater, of either side of the aisle, as more often than not it can be bombastic and one-sided. “Guantanamo” avoided this pitfall for me by being a well-crafted and intelligent piece of documentary theater. The text is taken strictly from the real-life testimony of detainees, their families, and others. By weaving these words together – sometimes incendiary, sometimes heartwrenching – a living breathing testament to man’s inhumanity to man is formed in all its complexity.

The pacing could use some tightening, but I’ve no doubt that it will once beyond opening jitters, given director Serge Seiden’s impressive track record and the commitment of the excellent ensemble cast. Possibly the most effective stage business is that upon the audience entering the theater, the prisoners are already there. And they are still there when you leave – no curtain call, which perfectly highlights the limbo of their situation, and also reinforces that this is not an ego piece.

Whatever your politics or your view on this policy, I think there’s something almost sacred about being able to see this kind of theater in the nation’s capital. We have that right, that freedom, to watch and challenge, whether we agree or not. If we ever are unable to see theater like “Gauntanamo”… well, I can’t imagine it. And I don’t want to.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Originally uploaded by kevinliu.

Okay, okay, I know I have mixed feelings about DC right now, but while I was assembling an Ikea nightmare on Saturday, the weather was phenomenal. I had the house open to the breeze, the cats were playing in the leaves, and the foliage was at its peak on my little residential street. While I was cursing at wrenches, Kevin Liu was capturing some of the best “Golden Hour” photography I’ve seen in DC. This shot was my favorite, but wander over to his flickr photostream for his whole day. Man, what I wouldn’t give to have gotten some of these shots!

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The best quote I ever heard about investing in airlines is that you should only do it with your mother in law’s money. Apparently the folks that spent their hard earned cash on Independence Air are about to learn that lesson the hard way as Independence has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in Delaware this morning. No word on what Sen. Vinick (R-CA) or Rep. Santos (D-TX) have to say about this after their discussion of airline bankruptcies in their live debate last night. Seriously, don’t you wish your politicians talked like those guys? Without message people, or anything? And were mostly eloquent? Anyhow, Independence flights are on schedule for today, but no word on what’s going to happen next.

Personally, I’m rooting for JetBlue to buy them up for their gate space at Dulles.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Coatrack Eagle

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

As Tiff and I headed for lunch today, we saw this wonderful statue in the lobby. Apparently the security guard was off on his building rounds and needed somewhere to hang his coat. Awesome.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Or so says the National Weather Service, via DC Text Alerts, and even AccuWeather. What, might you think, could trash a beautiful day like today? Well a squall line that is headed this way in a hurry.

Already it is responsible for a tornado that killed at least 11 people and injured over 100 last night in Indiana and over 130 reports of severe weather overnight from Missouri to Ohio. Winds up to 89 mph were reported as it raced east and it due here tonight.

Word to the wise, stop web surfing and get outside now. You’ll have plenty of time to read tonight, when you’re hunkering down hoping a tree doesn

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After years of just missing the brunch menu at Polly?s Cafe, we finally got up early enough on a Saturday morning to get in and get down with the smoked salmon eggs benedict. This is a slightly pathetic victory considering they serve brunch until 3pm (ok, I know, it?s very pathetic), but a trip to the vet got me up early and guilty enough afterwards to seriously need that pitcher of mimosas.

(?Did you know your cat is missing a tooth? Oh, he also has a bad ear infection, did you know that?? ?Uh, no,? I said sheepishly, squirming under the technician?s You?re An UnFit Cat Owner glare?)

I?ve loved Polly?s rough and honest simplicity for a long time. I love it?s motto ? ?All Fresh All the Time. No Freezer. No Microwave.? It?s a gastro-pub, one of the pioneers of the first wave of U Street?s ?revitalization? (or ?gentrification,? or whatever the hell else you want to call it, how about ?foodification,” let’s all get along and rejoice in getting more food in the hood!). The cosy underground space is at it?s best in fall and winter, when the red brick walls and wooden banquettes invite you to linger over a beer and gaze into the fireplace while your husband watches a game on the bar TV, conversation ebbing and flowing in a soporific haze of relaxation. The pub grub is always satisfying, the servers casual and friendly. And where else can you hear Siouxsie one minute and James Brown the next?

I was so happy to dig into those perfectly poached eggs and toast to the genius who invented the mimosa, that I forgot all about the horror awaiting me when I got home. I have to give my crotchety cat ear medication twice a day for the next week…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

As resolved, Friday I strolled over on my lunch hour to TICKETplace to pick up some half-price tickets for that evening. I ended up with ?Guantanomo,? mostly out of guilt that I barely have ever patronized my local theater, Studio.

Wandering back through the blocks that make up the designated neighborhood of Penn Quarter, it struck me as so idyllic – in the unseasonal (but welcome!) balmy warmth, the quaintness of it all was very appealing. So it is a bit manufactured in places, but still somehow? I like it. I stopped into Teaism for my favorite, their addicting green tea/wasabi-spiked Salmon Ochazuke soup, and just lingered.

It started me wondering, who lives in Penn Quarter? It seems to me the swanky condominiums are designed to attract a certain set of forty-to-fifty-somethings, who feel possibly too hip for Georgetown. But I could be wrong, there could be younger folks living there. With a world-class repertory theater like Shakespeare, the new home of Woolly Mammoth, cool furnishings stores like Apartment Zero, and several delicious restaurants ? I?m really curious now, who lives there and do they think they?re as lucky as I do?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I don’t know why I do this to myself. I don’t. It’s just that when I need furniture, I can’t bear the thought of going to Marlo and paying out the ass for a good pair of bookcases, or getting cheap crap from Target. I just can’t. So, it’s off to that haven of matching items and DIY, Ikea. We got in the car this morning at 10 and drove down to Woodbridge to look for a desk and some bookcases and maybe a dresser. We found what we needed, and enjoyed our trip through the rampant consumerism labyrinth, and headed for pickup and checkout. We ended up cramming my Jetta full of flatpacks and tying down the trunk for the drive back. Once home, we unloaded and began assembly of the dresser unit we fancied. That’s when it began.

We unpacked the box for the dresser and found just about half of what we needed to make a dresser. Crap. Back to Ikea.

I got the second box and we started again. Worked great, until we got to the last of the drawers. The bores for the camshafts didn’t line up. Neither for the dowels. Crap. Guess where I’m going? Yeah. Back to Ikea.

This time, I took them the parts with me and said, “Fix it!” So they did. And off I went back to my condo to finish the dresser. Drawers assembled, time to put on the rails. Drawer one, no problem. Drawer two. Aw shit. Not again. The rails line up, but there’s no holes for the screws! For crying out loud, people, what the fuck is going on?! Furious, I sped back down 395 weaving in and out traffic (I am sorry if I inadvertantly caused road rage this weekend, please blame Ikea.), I headed for the store trying to make it before close. I was told that the rails that I had wouldn’t work with the drawer, because they’d changed manufacturing techniques for the dresser midstream (they’re made in Poland. I will let you fill in your own ethnic joke here.), and that I needed new rails. Mollified by new rails and screws, I sped back up 95. Total miles driven today? 167. All back and forth to Ikea.

God, is there some magic solution to the Ikea nightmare? I’ll tell you, I’m afraid to assemble the bookshelves and desk now, for fear that I might have to drive that horrid route again tomorrow. If, however, you see me on the 10pm news tomorrow night, it’s because the desk or bookshelves have missing parts. Please come bail me out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The DC Web Women are holding a Networking and Résumé Consultation Mashup after work on November 9th. My employer is sponsoring the event, which will be held at our offices and will feature the advise and expertise of my coworkers and me (we’re IT and Creative recruiters). Come network, have some food, and polish up the ol’ CV. The event is only $10 and you can RSVP online!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

It was a long day downtown, and as I cruised down 15th St. toward 395, my mind wandered as I slid through traffic, thoughts ranging from the end of the baseball season to the recent controversy over Scooter Libby’s loose lips to how much I was looking forward to a beer from my fridge when I got home. When I merged onto the Bridge and past the Pentagon, I felt a presence off the side of my car, and saw the USDOT label of a bus on my left, but when the bus moved past in traffic, I was wishing for my camera. It was the Miller High Life Cruiser, in the style of an old Airstream, all decked out in chrome and a gorgeous red paint job. I hate it when I leave my camera on my desk, that would have made for a killer shot on the way home. Anyone know where it’s going? It was heading south on 395 at 6:25 tonight.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

It wasn’t too long ago that District Officials thought it might be a good idea to institute a tax on those people who live in Virginia and Maryland and work in the District. Essentially, instead of just hitting us up for 10% of our lunch money, and a good chunk of our Metro fares, they wanted to grab a good 2% of our income here as well. Well, some smart folks picked up the phone and called their lawyers and sued. Today they won a major court battle and the federal appeals court here in DC said in its verdict that the Constitution gives all power pertaining to the federal city to Congress.

Good luck getting that one through, boys. DC’s not the only city with this problem, though, as New York City draws commuting workers from nearby Connecticut and New Jersey and somehow manages to make do without their wallets. Chicago somehow survives without the income of all of the Wisconsin and Indiana people who work in the city. Such it is here. I feel for the city, but I already feel sufficiently taxed without having to pay extra just to work here.

[Update] After local lawyer JW commented on this point, I’d like to clarify a few things from his point of view: The DC Commuter Tax is designed to be neutral effect on those who pay it, ie, the money you pay to DC will be deducted from your state taxes. In addition, the suit was begun by DC residents, not city officials.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Apparently, a class of second graders learned a valuable lesson yesterday: Do NOT mess with bees. Nobody died, just some stinging, but all I can think about in this sort of situation is Chris Farley and David Spade in Tommy Boy.

Tommy: “Bees! Bees! Bees in the car! Bees Everywhere! God, they’re huge! They’re ripping my flesh off!”

Cop afraid of Bees (Christopher John): “Son, uh, roll around. You hear me? Roll around on the ground!”

Tommy: “Forget that! I’m starting to swell up!”

Richard: “Save yourself. Don’t be the hero!”

Cop afraid of Bees: “Frank, I’m alergic to bees.”

Cop afraid of Bees Frank (Adrian Truss): “Me, too.”

Tommy: “They’re huge, and they’re sting crazy!”

Cop afraid of Bees Frank: “We’ll come back later and check on you!”

Cop afraid of Bees: “Yeah, in a while.”

Richard: “Save yourself!”

Tommy: “Your firearms are useless against them!”

Listen up

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Ah, Vinny, I will miss you. But, it was your time. Sure, you’ll like San Diego with its fancy new stadium, and the warm dry summer, but I’ll always remember those hot nights we spent together at RFK. That magical opening game where you almost hit for the cycle, and so many other wonderful moments. No, it’s not that we love Ryan better, though he is younger, faster and better, but it’s that we need pitching. That’s why we traded you for a guy who went 7-15 with an ERA of nearly 5. Sorry dude, but you’re just too good for us. Really, we mean it, it’s not you, it’s us.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Once upon a time I went to school in DC for drama and even acted here for a while, but after falling out of it I failed to really keep up with the local theater scene. It’s a shame, because DC theater is thriving, with choices ranging from top-notch repertory houses to cutting-edge fringes. I’ve been meaning to start seeing more theater for a while now, but the successful marriage of hectic scheduling and procrastination have managed to keep my resolution unfulfilled.

When I was a teenager I used to take the train into NYC with my friends, stand in line at the half-price ticket booth, pick a play from what was available, and that was it. No advance planning, beyond a very rough idea of what was on and what Frank Rich hated. So while thinking of a way to jump-start my resolution, I remembered that DC has a half-price ticket place as well, and am now determined to use it to end my theater-going slump.

TICKETplace, newly moved to 407 Seventh Street in Penn Quarter, sells discounted tickets every day for that evening’s performance. You can purchase them online (starting at 12pm) or in person (starting at 11am), and you can also sign up for a daily email listing the current offerings.

So tonight I’m off with a friend to see a play that we’ll just randomly pick from what’s available. Hopefully this will inspire me enough to continue with theater-going. We’ll see how it goes…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I was getting my coffee this morning (much needed, thank you), when the cover the City Paper caught my eye. “Wait a second,” went the voice in my head, “Why does she look familiar?” Oh right! I see her on the corner of 18th and L on the weekend, clutching a sheaf of t-shirts for sale. The slogan always catches my eye, as they read, “Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution,” in white text on a plain black shirt, my favorite style. Yet, there’s always something about these folks that just screams “OMG Creeepy!” Now I know what the creepy is all about.

See, they’re agrarian cultists, amongst other things. They told me they were underground artists. Really, they’re just farmers who Believe. Definitely worth a read. Well Done, City Paper.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Well, I dunno if anyone told you, but Web 2.0 is here, and that means the browser wars are making a reappearance, but in the form of extensible services. First it was Google Maps. It was awesome, gave great direction, gave you cool features and a slick interface. But it was limited in scope. Directions were only between two locations. Adding a third location was a no go. No traffic data to help plan your route.

Enter Yahoo Maps new Beta.

Want to go from Arlington to DC to Leesburg? No problem.

Want live traffic data on the map, too? No problem.

Nearest ATM? Gas Station? Laundry? No problem. All there.

Restaurants? With Reviews? Sure, why not?

Email? Sure. Print? Sure.

The only thing that’s left of Yahoo Maps is to advertise the nascent application, which it purported, would do with the help of some white hat links. The metadata in the new beta gives out what sort of traffic problem you might be facing. Of course, DC looks like a major road hazard right now with all kinds of road construction going on this morning, but better to know that P St is torn up before you go out, so you can leave extra time before you have to be at your next meeting off Dupont.

Can Google keep up? Damned if I know, but it’ll be interesting to see how that works out in the long run. What do you make of our two competing map services?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I know I said I wasn’t going to do a lot of wedding-related whining over here, but as Jenn Larsen said to me last night at the MBDC meetup, “thousands of women across the city need this information!”

As you may recall, Tom and I chose Glen Echo Park as the site for our wedding reception. The National Park Service has granted an exclusive contract to Ridgewells Catering to be the only caterer allowed in the park.

Ridgewells has a reputation for being, shall we say, a bit more high-end than the picnic-in-the-park kind of event we’re going for, so before we committed to Glen Echo, Tom called Ridgewells just to get an idea of what the cost would be like. He spoke to Polly Ernst, who handles all the events at Glen Echo Park. When he asked for a ballpark figure of what we could expect to pay for a barbecue-type reception there, she said “$50-$75 per person.”

That seemed a little high to us, but since the park doesn’t provide things like tables and chairs, we figured it was worth the money for the rentals and whatnot.

We decided to put down a deposit at Glen Echo Park, budgeting about $6000 for catering in our plans. Then Tom called Ridgewells to get a firm quote.

Two days later, Polly got back to him. Suddenly, magically, the quote was for nearly $100 per person.

So let me get this straight. Before we committed to a venue at which Ridgewells has the catering monopoly, we were told $50-$75. After we locked ourselves into the Ridgewells monopoly, the price nearly doubled. In the space of a week.

Fuck off, you deceitful bastards.

Now we’re reconsidering the whole plan (for the event, not for the marriage!), which may involve a reschedule, venue change, and severe curtailing of the guest list, all because one of the biggest players in the local Bridal Industrial Complex hears “wedding” and sees an opportunity for price gouging. Thanks a lot, assholes.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

…One of those days where you just loathe your city?

I used to really love this city. It was magical to me. Gosh, there’s the Capitol! And the White House! And the Washington Monument! And holy crap the Smithsonians! These days, though, the sight of the 14th St. Bridge is enough to make me swear like a sailor, and the mere mention of the cherry trees causes me to recoil with hatred for the tour busses that infect this city like roaches.

I need to get my DC Groove back. What gets you out of your DC funk?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

So, much ado has been made over the Metro “Dictionary” ads, and this morning, I saw my very first one.

God what a fucking waste of my fare money.

Doorker? Are you kidding me? Dude, it’s not the guy on the train that’s the problem, because really it’s not like he’s got anywhere else to stand on a 4 car blue line train during rush hour. The real problem are the idiots on the platform, who hover in front of the doors before anyone else can get off. The other day I was on a rush hour red line train, and there were literally 20 people blocking the path out of the train car at Farragut North. That’s the fucking problem, Metro.

Of course, surely, the new Ridership Committee will solve all this? Right? Wait, why are you laughing like that? You mean, Metro did that to assuage public concern but they have no intention of listening? Oh. I get it now…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Really?!

Originally uploaded by tjbax.

So there we were, at 19th and N, trying to figure out which client to take Halloween candy to next, when I saw it.

“Hey Steph, you get a free rose just for being named Stephanie.”

“What? Awesome!”

So she marched right into Palace Florists and asked for her rose. Which they gave her, happily.

I’m told by our client across the street that Palace does that a lot, and change the name frequently.

So stroll by and see if it’s your day to get a rose.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs