Well, K St. Blues notwithstanding, one of DC’s lobbyist-Kings, Jack Abramoff plead guilty to felony tax evasion, fraud and conspiracy to bribe a government official. He faces 30 years of prison, though it’s more likely he’ll get around 10 years in Federal Pound Me In The Ass Prison, in exchange for helping the Feds take down a half dozen or so members of the House and Senate. So, K St. gets dealt another black eye, and the Hill pays its own price.

I suppose it should piss me off how obvious this seems, or how deep this seems to go, but it really doesn’t. Is it so bad that I’ve come to expect the absolute worst from lobbying firms on illustrious K St., when I know they’re capable and able of doing good without resorting to payola, bribery, and unabashed-favor-baiting?

Perhaps Lucky was right when he called DC a city of liars and cheats…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

In the wake of Howard Stern’s departure, DC 101 is airing some weird ads for their Elliot in the Morning radio show. They’ve ponied up for some large network spots, including ads during Scrubs tonight, and last night during Las Vegas that have me scratching my head. See, the ads themselves are supposed to be edgy, but they’ve just got bad camera work. They’re trying to be semi-wholesome, but the show’s big along the Howard Stern lines. Sure, no strippers in the booth, but I’d say they talk about sex a good deal (hey, their latest promotion involves an STD map.) and other things along those lines, trying for the new radio audience that’s available post-Stern. Why not focus on that, instead of Flounder grinning like an idiot?

Anyone else catch these ads? I mean, I’m used to being wrong, so maybe someone with more…expertise can explain the gap that I’m seeing between what the show is and what it’s advertised as?

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Local blogger K Street Blues has a hysterical take on the search for the new voice of the Metro.

So what if Metro got some politicos and famous-for-D.C. types to do their announcements? Some examples could be…

Bill Clinton: “I did not stand in the way of those doors, on the Metro train.”

George H.W. Bush: “Read my lips: Stand clear of the doors.”

James Carville: “It’s the closing doors, stupid.”

Howard Dean: “Yyyyyaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh! Stand clear!” (Or, alternatively, “The doors are gonna close at Dupont Circle, and Woodley Park, and Cleveland Park! They’re gonna close at Farragut West! And King Street! And Wheaton!”)

JFK: Ask not what what the Doors can do for you, ask what you can do for the Doors.

Dan Snyder: Stop thinking about the doors or I’ll trade you.

Nixon: I am not a door-blocker.

Oliver North: I don’t think there is another person in America that wants to close these doors as much as I do.

Oh this is just fun. Contribute your own in the comments.

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Amy Storch, wife of DCFoodie Jason Storch and the other dinner guest at the infamous Buck’s Fishing and Camping dinner that resulted in the cease & desist, shares with usthe story of what happened that night.

And also, an adorable baby photo. Awww.

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So, it’s the third day of 2006. And a dreary melancholic day it is. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw your New Year’s Resolutions out with the tinsel! Resist the temptation to chow down on all those chocolates and cookies your evil co-workers are trying to unload in the office kitchen or cafeteria, and stick to your resolve. Yes, this is the time when so many of us aim to be better about food, fitness, and body image. You’ll see gyms hawking their deals all over the place for the next few weeks as they take advantage of everyone’s guilt over the holiday binge. So I thought I’d add a shout-out for the man who helped whip me into shape last year, Karim Steward and his cadre of top-notch trainers at One World Fitness.

One World Fitness is a small private gym at 14th and S Street that’s personable, inviting, and completely non-threatening. Oh, and they will kick your ass. If you’re the sort of person who needs the extra motivation of a personal trainer I highly recommend this place. It certainly jump-started my 2005 resolution, so maybe it can do the same for yours in 2006.

Sadly, my kitchen renovation currently trumps my training budget (there’s a certain irony there, no?) so I have to take a break, but I will be back eventually to continue getting stronger than I once thought a resolutely non-athletic girl like me could ever be…

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Charles Village

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Michael’s post jogged my memory, reminding me to write about my own New Years’ celebration up in Baltimore. My friends Dave and Jason invited Tiffany and I up to Tapas Teatro in Charles Village for a New Year’s dinner. Boy am I glad we went. The Tapas were easily as good (if not better) than my favorite Jaleo. When you go, make it a priority to take advantage of their cheaper-than-DC winelist and certainly cheaper-than-DC Paella. The parking garage across from the restaurant is a scant $2, and on this night had some awesome reggae blasting from the office. We ended the evening at the Charles St. Lounge right next door to the garage for a nice beer, and some killer garb on the bartenders who were straight out of the 1920s.

If you get the chance, head to Charm City to check out the theatre, or some tapas, or even a drink afterward.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Chris Needham of Capitol Punishment was kind enough to grant reposting rights for this criticism of the Bob DuPuy’s editorial in today’s Washington Post. We have done minor editing to the HTML code, but the editorial’s text appears here unedited. Thank you, Chris!

Robert DuPuy, ever the artful negotiator states his case in a Washington Post Op-Ed today. Needless to say, he puts a favorable spin on events.

Thirty-three years after the Washington Senators left town, the District government won a multi-city competition to relocate the Montreal Expos to the nation’s capital.

Except that it was a competition in name only. The only serious contender was Northern Virginia, and the politics of stadium financing were probably even messier there, forcing their proposal to be located somewhere closer to Winchester than DC.

Now that the District has a team, the D.C. Council is trying to walk away from the agreement that brought the team here in the first place.

Except for the fact that the DC Council was never a party to the original negotiations, hence they can’t actually walk away from it. The BSA bears the signatures of Tony Williams and Marc Tuohey. And DC Law requires Council approval of all expenditures over something like a million bucks. It’s a bit disingenuous to say that the Council is killing an agreement that they’ve never considered previously.

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

Since Darpino asked, I’ll share my New Year’s Eve story.

Right up until the last possible minute, we had no idea what to do. As I noted before, sometimes we have a party, but this year we started tearing up three layers of linoleum from our kitchen floor (more on that later for you renovation geeks) which rendered a party pretty impossible. There was an eleventh hour call to go to Baltimore, but fear of amateur night drunks and cops galore on the ride back squashed that idea. So we settled at last on “low-key, someplace local.” We were just going to go around the block to Bar Pilar, when an ad in the City Paper for New Year’s Eve at Asylum caught our eye. “Martini luge? Retro Pin-up Girls? Pole Dancing?” Honestly, what more can you ask for $10? So off we went, with a healthy dose of scepticism, which it turned out we needed.

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Personally I was disappointed when the new team was named the Nationals rather than the Senators, though I understand the reasons for not re-using the name. However, I’m less obsessive a fan than Joe Boyd, the lead character in Arena Stage’s production of Damn Yankees, who is so rabid in his support that he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil just to give the Senators a winning season over those damn Yankees.

Arena’s production is quite good, and while I’m not really qualified to speak about what people who don’t like musical theatre would enjoy, I think it has pretty broad appeal. I saw it Friday and I highly recommend it.

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Saturday night will be the Night of 100 Elvises at Dr. Dremo. They’re celebrating Elvis Presley’s birthday and are asking, “For the love of God and beer, wear an Elvis costume to Dremo’s this Saturday. We are trying to get 200-300 Elvises in attendance at our annual salute to the King’s birthday. Make it a good get up, not a cheesy attempt, and you shall be rewarded. You may win the $100 cash first prize in the costume contest. At the very least, you will not only get in free, but you will be moved to the front of the line.” Of course, you also get in free for being dressed like Elvis.

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Dumb: Robbing a Politician.

Dumber: Robbing a sitting Councilman in his home district.

Dumbest: Robbing Marion Barry at Gunpoint in his Apartment in Southeast.

Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to think this is at all a good idea? Anyone want to start a pool as to when these kids turn up at a local police station, with a few extra bruises? Or do you suppose folks in the Eighth will just use rubber hoses?

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The Post has a great profile of Kerry Skeen, founder of soon-to-be-defunct Independence Air and some of the issues that he considers to be the reasons for their demise:

Even as fuel prices climbed and the airline tried to grow, competitors slashed their prices, awarded bonus frequent-flier miles and added flights on routes where they competed with the beleaguered airline.

“Every outside pressure kind of manifested itself,” Skeen said.

You can’t expect the marketplace to be static when you introduce further competition. If your fares become loss-leaders to get people on board with the new brand, you have to expect other airlines to introduce countermeasures to protect their business. Skeen didn’t plan for that when Independence launched, and so the airline suffered. Of course, flying high cost dinky planes doesn’t help you either. While the destination is important in airlines, how you fly there and the customer experience is equally important.

I’m a big guy, which makes me hate tiny commuter jets. They’re not comfortable to fly on, and when you’re crammed into one for two hours, there had better be good reason to fly them. With most other airlines offering real planes for the same trips, I know which way I’ll go. Sorry, Kerry, it sucks that you blew your chances to get out of the business with your shirt. It’s just a shame that now 2800 people are out of work because of it.

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While Jen is right, small-town Florida isn’t up to speed, we both have family down here, which means the obligatory trips home. Unlike Jen, I love coming down for a long weekend at a time – it’s the only way to ensure a deep, rich tan all winter that strikes envy in the hearts of ass-white snow-bunny Yankees.

Starting today, sun runs for us with family on the Space & Treasure Coasts will be getting so much easier and quicker. Delta Connection carrier Comair are introducing the only non-stop flights between Melbourne and Washington, D.C.’s National Airport. I just checked the schedules and the 6:45pm departure time from DCA pared with a 6:45am departure from MLB means you can get your full sun + fam dose for a weekend, without missing a minute of work.

Sees ya soon on a beach like this:

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Monkey Love!

Originally uploaded by tjbax.

To add to Don’s collection of license plate photos… Tom and I spotted this one in the Wegman’s parking lot in Sterling.

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The District Council is considering a bill that would hugely expand gay rights, though not actually legalize gay marriage.

The measure would create inheritance and tax rights, as well as create the equivalent of prenups and alimony in the event of a breakup, and it would also apply to unmarried heterosexual couples.

What’s the holdup for this and for actually legalizing gay marriage? The Council has to worry about the wrath of Congress, which can overturn laws passed by the council. (Yay representative democracy, or whatever…)

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It’s all over but the crying for Dulles-based Independence Air, as they’re closing operations on Thursday. Independence, formerly the regional and short-haul carrier for United at Dulles, closed after just 18 months of operations. While it’s tough to see the airline choices at Dulles dwindle, it does give us hope for other airlines to pick up their gate space at Dulles. Perhaps this will give Southwest an in at Dulles, or perhaps JetBlue could pick up the other gates. Either way, Independence’s assets are still up for sale, so if you’re interested in a commuter jet, or a luggage truck, I’m sure they will be glad to sell it to you.

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Sometimes it’s hard to be a blogger- you get no respect. Newspaper restaurant critic? Bowing and scraping from the chef. Internet restaurant critic? Nastygram from the restaurant’s lawyer (who apparently can’t spell “proprietary” or even get the name of his client right).

I enjoy Jason Storch’s DCFoodies quite a bit and refer to it regularly when I’m looking for a new place to try. Judging by the Post’s reader reviews of Buck’s Fishing and Camping, Jason’s experience is hardly unique.

I guess I know where I won’t be going for my next night out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Just wanted to be the first to say that. Now enjoy 2006 and break some resolutions, pronto.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs