What’s that you hear? Is that the sound of a jubilant Washington? It is! The Redskins beat the Bucs, 17-10. This means Mayor Williams won six cuban sandwiches from the Tampa Bay mayor as part of the victory. All that money spent on a flashy offense, and it was the defense that won this game. Arrington’s interception set up a short TD for Clinton Portis. That, with Sean Taylor’s fumble return for a TD made up the lion’s share of the scoring for the ‘Skins.

In fact, the ‘Skins lackluster offense was slumping pretty hard: Mark Brunell was a whopping 7/15 with a piddling 41 passing yard, while Clinton Portis only racked up 51 yards. This has got to change next week in Seattle. Hasselbeck and the Seahawks represent a formidable challenge, as they have an offensive that makes the Bucs look like a Division III squad. That’s going to make for a real challenge to the ‘Skins.

Technorati Tags: DC, Sports, Redskins

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Apparently, DC Lawyers are bristling that they might not be able to screw their clients. Not just in the courtroom, or at the bank, but anywhere, for any reason:

The D.C. Court of Appeals is considering revisions to ethics rules based on a model from the American Bar Association. That model considers “transactions” – another word for sex – with clients to be a conflict of interest.

So, sleeping with your client isn’t a conflict of interest? Well, perhaps it is: “Instead, it wants a strong warning that sleeping with clients could create a conflict of interest. Lawyer Anthony Epstein tells the D.C. Examiner the local bar doesn’t approve the practice, it just doesn’t think a categorical ban is appropriate.”

Yeah, I really got nothin’.

Technorati Tags: lawyers, DC

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Do you bike to work? Better yet, are you Car Free DC too? Then mark the date for Washington Area Bicyclist Association‘s Bike to Work Day 2006 – May 19, 2006. Bike to Work Day is always a fun celebration of the DC cyclist culture, with prizes, food, and even a free T-shirt and water bottle to all attendees.

Granted, there have been cold & wet Bike to Work Days in the past, but let’s hope this year is like 2004 – a beautiful spring day, perfect to celebrate cycling. Start praying for sunshine now. Registration starts March 1st 2006.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I know Clinton Portis is a character. He is. Definitely. But this week’s Press Conference (scroll down to Clinton Portis Press Conference), is a hoot. Excerpts from this week’s conference include:

:18: Wearing a whistle, tight pants, a fake gut and oversized ears as a headset, Portis enters, introduces himself as “Coach Janky Spanky” and says “that Gregg Williams ain’t got nothing on me.”
• :42: Randomly scribbling nonsense, the press corps, usually cracking up during these things, is oddly silent. It almost seems as if Portis is bombing.
• 1:06: The first big laugh: Portis, inexplicably, writes the word “ETTE” on the clipboard and the letters “MS” above it, then draws sharp lines downward. He looks at the reporters: “Look at that. There’s no way you can stop that blitz.”

Wow.

Just watch. And hope that Portis can annihilate the Bucs the same way he does the press corps.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

While Tom is worried about Pentagon advertisements watching him, you should be worried about local Congress members watchin you. As the Associated Press found, the NSA was using cookies to track web visitors, and now CNET has looked at Congress’s cookie use.

What did they find? Congress is watching you too. To quote them:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for instance, has been a longtime advocate of strict privacy laws to restrict commercial Web sites’ data collection practices. In a statement posted on his own Web site, McCain assures visitors that “I do not use ‘cookies’ or other means on my Web site to track your visit in any way.” But visiting mccain.senate.gov implants a cookie on the visitor’s PC that will not expire until 2035.

CNET looked at every Congress member’s website cookies and found five local politicians raiding the cookie jar, one even with a pledge on their website against collecting cookies!

The local cookie trackers:

Title	Name	Party	State	Pledge	Expires
Rep.	Hoyer, Steny	D	MD	No	Years: 30+
Rep.	Cardin, Ben	D	MD	No	Years: 30+
Sen.	Mikulski, Barbara	D	MD	Yes	Years: 30+
Sen.	Allen, George	R	VA	No	Years: 30+

So the next time you see Sen. Mikulski, do me a favor, please. Ask her: How do you spell “hypocrisy”?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I apologize for the grainy nature of this phonecam snap. It’s the Pentagon Metro station. There are signs that say No Photography, so whipping out the digital camera might get me put on a watchlist or sent to Gitmo or something. Anyhow, there I was, off the train, headed for the bus when I saw this ad.

See, in that soldier’s hands is a Serious Weapon

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The fools over at Project for Public Spaces released their 16 Squares Most Dramatically in Need of Improvement survey, the top 16 urban spaces worldwide that could be transformed from embarrassments to great community places, and guess what they put at number 13? Dupont Circle

Yes, they say that the great Dupont Circle of Life isn’t up to par. In fact, they go so far as to say:

Many think DuPont Circle is the best destination in Washington. We think it is performing at 30% of its potential. The city has undergone a metamorphosis in the past ten years, with many areas gradually becoming more vital. However, there seems to be a limit to this improvement: a rigid adherence to a master plan that keeps many areas from coalescing into real destinations. DuPont Circle needs to be freed from that mold.

-snip-

In fact, DuPont Circle could become a traffic-calmed, pedestrian friendly destination and quite possibly the core of a great urban district. Fulfilling this tremendous opportunity is essential if Washington is to become a world class city.

Now if I’m not mistaken, or hallucinating on any beautiful spring day, isn’t Dupont Circle already a “real destination”, “the core of a great urban district” and part of what makes Washington “a world class city”? I mean, call me crazy but its wall to wall people every time I walk by, a visual feast unparalleled anywhere in the District of Columbia.

The dumb asses can’t even spell it right. It’s “Dupont” not “DuPont”. And we like it that way! To quote City Desk:

If you mess with our circle, we’re gonna sic 24 bike couriers, 14 homeless men, 17 chess players, 22 yuppies sunning themselves, 3 bad guitar players, and a political button salesman on you!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The madness of the real estate market here never ceases to amaze me, as I’ve touched on before. Possibly the silliest by-product of the development craze has been the invention of new neighborhood names, or the invention of names in order to make existing hoods sound more, um, top-draaawer dahling. For example, saying Dupont East instead of Logan Circle or Shaw. A real estate agent friend of mine just stopped by tonight and alerted me to a new example that really takes the cake.

“There’s a condo being built just down the street from you,” he said, pointing down 11th, “that’s advertised as being located in ‘Logan Heights’…”

Logan Heights? I’m sorry, what? Aren’t we in the U Street Historic District? Or Shaw? Or Old City, as the old maps say? Heights? Where the hell is the hill? Logan Slopes, more like it, or Logan’s Bottom. Heights, my ass. Please, developers, get a bloody grip.

As if calling a condo building off 14th Street “Saxon Court” wasn’t bad enough.

Good grief.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you’re headed back down to Virginia after a long hard day in DC, don’t expect getting home via VRE to be possible tonight. Via the Post, VRE service is cancelled for the evening:

Virginia Railway Express is canceling all Fredericksburg Line trains tonight.

All passengers should take Metro’s Blue Line to Franconia-Springfield. If headed to Lorton you should then board Fairfax Connector bus 171. If you are not headed to Lorton, once at Springfield, take the escalator down to the bus bays, where they promise VRE staffers will be waiting to help you find a bus for Woodbridge, Rippon, Quantico, Brooke, Leeland Road and Fredericksburg. Those buses will leave at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Everyone can ride the Metrorail free by showing their railroad tickets to station managers when they enter and leave the subway.

Five people were injured when train 304 jumped the tracks outside of Quantico this morning.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on 15 January, 1929. So it makes perfect sense to have the parade in honor of his natal day in…April? Another great idea, care of Councilman and Mayor for Life, Marion Barry. Apparently one of his staff thought the parade should take place on the first of April. Yeah, that’s a bright idea. So Barry, claiming he never agreed to that date, has now floated the 8th of April.

Barry said the initial April 1st date would cause DC to be “laughed out of the world.”

We’d just be joining you, Mr. Mayor, I’m still laughing at you about getting robbed by hoods in your own apartment, in your own district.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

As Sean pointed out in LA, you can do Yoga while naked. Apparently DC has their own Naked Yoga (NSFW) Yahoo group. They have classes in DC three times a week at a location that is secret only to the members of the group. Classes are between $10 (student) and $20. Sorry ladies, this one’s for the dudes. Interested in Naked Yoga, guys?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Well, it’s official, by a vote of 12 to 1, the DC Council voted to ban smoking in bars in restaurants effective on 1 January 2007. Now what’s left is the endless lawsuits, the building of the economic hardship guidelines and a whole sackload of congressional oversight. So, while we’re just 361 days from a fully smokei-free DC, it’s not going to be an easy task.

Councilwoman Carol Schwartz was the lone opposing vote, citing personal freedom and the acts of consenting adults.

It’s just a shame that I never consented to let others stink up the room.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Lo and behold, when I check my email there’s something from the Washington Capitals, who have my address from a purchase earlier this year. In it they’re shilling me to refer them some people who might be interested in season tickets. In exchange, if any of those people purchase tickets, I get a 10% credit towards the coming season, based on the price of the tickets, as well as an entry in a drawing for a H3 hummer (known amongst my friends as “a truck with a really ugly body”).

Now, before you say “so what?” and point out that businesses ask for referrals all the time, let me point out a few issues to you.

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

Part of the Radio Shakeup that happened at noon today, killing off Z104 and replacing it with WGMS, moves WTOP to 103.5, WGMS’ old radio dial home, and frees up 107.7 on the FM dial for the Washington Post?!

Okay. Slowly.

Z104 (104.1) is gone. Replaced by WGMS at 104.1.
WGMS (103.5) is now WTOP.
WTOP (107.7) will become Washington Post Radio.

While negotiations are ongoing for the broadcast rights for next season of the Nationals games, it’s looking like Bonneville Broadcasting (the parent company of all of these stations) will get the rights and spread the games between the new Washington Post Radio and WFED 1050AM.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Amendments exempting Hookah Bars, Tobacconists and Cigar and Cigarette Bars from the Smoke Free DC legislation have been rejected by a majority of the council, which would doom places like Chi-Cha Lounge and other such places to closure or re-tasking in the face of the ban. Both attempts failed 8-4, because apparently, intoxicants like 180 Smoke e cigarettes  hadn’t come to the market to be abrogated.

Councilwoman Schwartz is now attempting to amend the bill to permit restaurants and spaces under 750 square feet to be waived until such time as the business is sold or changes configuration.

[Update] Schwartz’s amendment failed.

There’s now a motion to reconsider the hardship clause before the council, Councilman Graham sponsoring.

He has now yielded to Councilman Fenty. Councilman Fenty has an amendment before the council: Amend the Smoke-Free law to provide guidance for the Mayor’s Office regarding the exemption to the smoking ban for financial hardship. It would add a 15% threshold year to year, for businesses.

Councilman Catania suggests this may be unwise due to the fact that the standards for economic hardship should be evaluated on an individual basis. His argument was successful, and the amendment was rejected , 9-3 against.

Councilman Fenty brought another amendment, to implement the bill much more quickly than 1 January 2007, but rather a date on 1 July 2006.

Councilman Catania has countered: restaurants will be forced into compliance upon completion of the legislation, while bars have a year to seek outdoor space for smokers to congregate. The department of health will have difficulties hiring appropriate staff and the limitations of the current department’s training department, according to Councilman Catania.

Councilwoman Schwartz has noted that the bill has said the department may do inspections. The language was specific to avoid financial costs. Thus, inspections would have fiscal cost at any point if they’re required. Councilwoman Schwartz has also pointed out that the bill’s current date of 1 Jan 2007 is conveniently after the council election, when the politicians will not have to pay the consequences immediately. She is for the move-up of the date to 1 July 2006 as it will force the issue as part of elections.

Councilman Catania objects that this will allow for another full holiday and New Year’s season.

Councilman Brown requests a friendly amendment to allow the date to be changed to 15 September. His request is denied. His attempt to amend the amendment failed.

The amendment to change the date has failed.

This is getting a bit confusing for me, as two amendments concerning hookah bars and tobacco resellers were just passed that made absolutely no sense to me.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Z104, purveyor of crappy morning shows and more commercials than I thought was possible on a “music” station, is now gone. They shut down at noon today to make way for WGMS, DC’s highly regarded classical music station. Subbing for Matthew Blades will be James Bartel. Of course, that’s one less competitor for Elliott in the Morning, and the rock and roll music the kids these days like to hear. Last year, it was WHFS turning into El Zol, this year it’s Z104 turning into WGMS.

The big question remains: Who will broadcast the Nats games this spring?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

You following the Smoke Free DC progress? You pick your side in the debate? You wanna know what’s happening now?

Well a citywide ban on smoking in restaurants, bars and other public areas appears headed for final approval today by the D.C. Council, according to both supporters and opponents, and you can watch history live on the DC Council channel. At work? Well then stream it live from the website http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/ like I’m doing right now.

Technology: cool. Democracy: very cool. Using technology to watch democracy saving my health: priceless.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Well, Wonkette is dead, long live Wonkette. That’s right, Ana Marie Cox is on her way to becoming a famous author with her new book Dog Days, and she’s now retiring from the political gossip market. So, Gawker’s found a replacement for her…with a dude. David Lat ghost-wrote Underneath Their Robes, as Article III Groupie, and now will assume Wonkette’s duties.

I’m a bit confused about the whole gender/suffix thing at the moment, but welcome David to the crazy menagerie.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Yes, I mean it. Drop trou and give someone eyeful. Moon your friends and neighbours. If you can keep your seatbelt on, you can probably even moon folks from your car, teenager style. Yes, you can do all that and not be indecently exposed according to Judge John W. Debelius III, of the Montgomery County Circuit Court.

He ruled yesterday that mooning, while distasteful, is not illegal in Maryland, with this classic quote in the Washpost article:

“If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Ocean City would be guilty.”

Woops, so I guess you only get to flash one cheek at a time, or maybe just the top half. Either way, you’ll not be guilty of indecent exposure, but the judge will think you guilty of lesser crimes. To quote the WashPost again:

Debelius made clear his disdain for the defendant, calling the alleged act “disgusting” and “demeaning.” The outcome could have been different, he suggested, if the man had been on trial for “being a jerk.”

Luckily for the moonies of Maryland, “being a jerk” is not a criminal offense.

Update: How did I miss this? Seems mooning in DC is legal too, as the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that indecent exposure is limited to a person’s genitals way back in 1986. And the final quote of the article may just be the best:

James Maxwell, one of McNealy’s attorneys, said yesterday’s ruling should “bring comfort to all beachgoers and plumbers” in the state.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If Damn Yankees was too feel-good for you, then maybe you’re the audience for Fat Pig, a Neil LaBute play being put on at Studio Theatre. LaBute’s work probably qualifies more as feel-uncomfortable, though often darkly funny. All his plays that I am familiar with like “The Shape of Things,” “Your Friends and Neighbors,” and “In the Company of Men” explore the ways people can be crappy to each other. Fat Pig, about how a man’s friends respond when he dates a “plus sized-and then some” woman will likely be no different.

I’m endeavoring to go into it cold so I can’t speak to how Fat Pig compares to his past work, but I’ve yet to be disappointed by LaBute. I’m also not expecting to be disappointed by Kate Debelack in the lead, but as she’s a friend I’m not impartial on the matter.

Previews start tonight and opening night is Friday. I’ll post my thoughts after I see it Saturday.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs