By Wayan
Last night, after the massive Hurricane Party, I was hit by the urge for Ben & Jerry’s. Lucky for me and now for you, Safeway in DC has a 4 for $5 special on B&J to-go cups.
Just the right size to be guilt free if eaten while walking up the 16th Street hill, the to-go cups also allow you to try new flavors without pint-level commitment.
Me, I took 4 for the walk home.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Tom Bridge
They’ve sentenced Moussaoui today, and he will die. He will die in Prison. Old. Alone. Forgotten.
Not a martyr, less relevant than last week’s American Idol loser.
Justice today is served.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Now we’re a competitive town right? One filled with overpaid Liberal Arts majors, now lawyers and Hill rats, who fight over semicolons for sport. What could be the best way for these folks to blow off steam?
How about a DC Spelling Bee!
That’s right kids, DC Bee is a spelling bee for cool people. Every other Monday at the Warehouse, step up and get your spell on. They promise not take it easy on you. Whiners need not apply and those larmoyant are eaten alive.
Next bee? Monday, May 8th @ the Warehouse Theater. See you in Spell!!
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
One of the things I’ve missed most about my hometown (Pittsburgh, for those of you just joining us) since I’ve moved here was the Strip District. No Wayan, it’s not so named because of a preponderance of nudie bars- it’s a long, narrow couple of city blocks in the warehouse district. Train tracks and easy highway access made it the most convenient place for shipments of produce and other foodstuffs to come in and out of the city before being delivered to restaurants and grocery stores. Eventually, the residents caught on and the owners of the warehouses started opening retail space to serve individual customers as well. As a result, there’s a cluster of specialty stores all crammed together- ethnic markets, a butcher shop, a purveyor of gourmet coffee, bakeries, etc. It’s crammed full of people on a Saturday morning, because that’s where you get all the best stuff.
On the list of things it has taken me four years to hear about, by far the most embarrassing is the Capital City Market, which I had to read about in the Washington Post for crying out loud.
I am so there. But I still won’t be able to get a proper sammich without making the trek back home.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Tom Bridge
Now that I’m a little more mobile in where I put my office each day, I’ve been doing all kinds of reconnaissance on the parking meters around this place. Of course, Stacey’s adventures in Georgetown notwithstanding, the meters on this side of the river are an odd bunch, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours. Today, though, today is an epic day, as I’ve found a meter that can go toe-to-toe with my parking needs. Usually I have to set an alarm on my phone to remind me once an hour to feed the meter, lest it summon a meter daemon and issue me yet another $25 parking ticket.
Look for the green meters, they’re definitely the best.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Dear CVS at 15th and K Streets:
I write you this morning with conviction and purpose, I write to you with energy and compassion, I write to you just to say, with love and passion: WHAT THE F~~K!!
Can you not have only one cashier during the morning rush, the slowest cashier ever, the one who you can watch the wheels in her mind turn as she makes change? Can you not have the pharmacist who detests my presence at his counter with goods to buy but sans a prescription? Can you waste more of my morning and make my shopping experience any more unpleasant? Best yet; film me from the start, like I need to be watched.
Wait, with this kinda service, you better watch me – I might just go postal the next time you screw over my morning.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Jenn Larsen
The ominous score on the TV screen at Mackey’s was like a warning beacon flashing through my tipsy brain: “Buffalo 7 Philadelphia 1″… signalling the need to leave the convivial atmosphere of the Hurricane Katrina fundraiser and even abandon a very interesting conversation on exotic dancing to join my favorite Flyers fan in his hour of woe.
Off I dashed in a haze of cheap vodka-and-soda’s to Ventnor’s, a sports “cafe” in Adams Morgan. The lively downstairs bar was filled with Philly and Buffalo fans jostling each other in good-humoured but loaded subtext. It’s not your “typical” sports bar and definitely deserves a visit. Owner Scott Auslander greeted me with a challenging glint and that caustic Philly bite that I’ve grown to love in others from that greatest of underdog cities – clearly this is a man who both loves sport and his customers, and his well-run bar reflects that passion. The menu is filled with pub grub like potato skins, the necesary classic cheese steak, and burgers loaded with a wide choice of fixings (goat cheese? drool!).
Despite the sad loss inflicted on my dearest Philly fan, it was an enjoyable evening with a truly friendly vibe. And how can you beat such quirky specials as “Fllip Night” – upon asking for our tab we flipped a quarter for a chance at half-price on the bill. Of course, fitting to the night’s bad luck, I didn’t call it correctly but hey, there’s always next season (or next Tuesday… or tomorrow night for “Rock Paper Scissors” – I mean, how fantastic is that?)
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
We at DC Metroblogging ask you this in awe. You must really be dedicated to your job.
We are more.. um drunk? Or at least getting there at the Hurricane Happy Hour.
Join us yet?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Yes, what you’re seeing is straight out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory – it’s a chocolate fountain. Seen at a conference in the Fairmont Hotel, once I realized it was real chocolate pouring out, endlessly, I lost all interest in geekdom.
I was focused, I was fast, and when I finished, I was full of chocolate covered strawberries.
Now I want the home versions. One for the kitchen, one for the bedroom!
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
DC Central Kitchen has had to suspend providing meals to homeless shelters around the city due to a holdup in the city’s contract process. Is the District capable of accomplishing anything on time?
I’ve heard it said that the primary problem with doing business with DC Government is that the director who assigns you the contract inevitably comes under investigation for corruption, you get subpoenaed all over the place, and you end up spending more in legal fees than the value of the contract to begin with.
It looks like most of the affected shelters were able to make alternate arrangements to have meals provided to clients, but who knows how costly and untenable those arrangements are. In the meantime, DC Central Kitchen could probably use some additional cash to shore up its meal programs. They were getting $50,000/month from the city- it wouldn’t take that many people to commit $20/month to DCCK to replace that money and then some.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Tom Bridge
Marion Barry and Vincent Orange got all pissy the other day, held a press conference and basically made it out to be that the Lerner family was “renting blacks” in order to complete the bid process for the Nationals. In essence, they were hoping to sink the Lerner bid in favor of the Smulyan bid (do they have minority investors?) or the Malek & Zients bid (who has Vernon Jordan on board. And Colin Powell.)
Mayor for Life Barry, though, forgot to study up on Bud Selig. As Chris Needham at Capitol Punishment wrote: “It didn’t work then, and it didn’t work now. Bud Selig is many things. But he will not be bullied.” Bud may be the worst thing to happen to baseball, ever, and that does include “The Cream” and “The Clear”, but there’s one thing he won’t do and that’s cow to two grandstanding politicians like Orange and Barry. Remember when Marion tried this happy horseshit with the stadium? Didn’t work then either.
Sorry Marion. You just can’t outbully Bud Selig.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Just look at the beautiful yellow blooms – don’t you feel more at peace? The ever-present Bomb Lady hopes so. How about the knowledge that looking at these flowers you are in the shade of one of the ten largest trees in D.C.?
Casey Trees says that the biggest tree identified in DC to date is an 80-foot American elm in Lafayette Square. Nice to know that the fattest squirrels in DC have the largest tree to chatter in.
Now check your hood – might you be sheltering a larger tree? What about more picturesque blooms? Shout out if you can compete.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Don
Need something to do today during May Day today’s boycott, or the rest of the week? Through Friday local yoga studios will be promoting themselves and yoga through DC Yoga Week, a special where you can attend a class for $5. I was in the best shape of my life – as weak a statement as that really is – when I was a regular yoga practitioner, and I miss it. Unfortunately the selection out here in the sticks is pretty weak, so I’m back to a traditional gym.
If you’ve somehow still got an impression in your head of yoga being a discipline that involves sitting on a floor calmly and humming, go check it out. You might be surprised how rigorous a workout it can be.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Wednesday night, after drinking myself silly till late trying to assuage my wounded only $140! Babes for Boobs ego, I took an Arlington cab home and watched the meter in amazement. A 20 minute journey, what Google Maps tells me was around 6 miles, came out to $11. The next morning, stumbling through a hang-over to work, my morning taxi was $9.90 for a 2 mile commute.
Tell me, does that compute?
Not the drinking part, but the amazing 3x more expensive per mile drive in a DC Taxi with the new taxi fares. And yet when I talked with the taxi driver, all he could do was say, in a mindless repetition, gas prices, gas prices, gas prices.
Well gas prices my ass – even at $3 a gallon. If DC cabs weren’t $6.50 to go three blocks, or if you get out on the wrong side of the street $8.80 because you crossed an imaginary, arbitrary, and ill-defined line, we would take more of them, more often. I wouldn’t walk the extra two blocks to save $2, and I could take one across town with confidence instead of confusion.
When I tried to explain the difference between 10 rides at $8.80 and 20 at $5, again all the taxi driver could do was mumble about gas prices. Like he wasn’t wasting half his tank just circling around looking for a fare anyway, getting closer to a psycho taxi driver breakdown.
Please, now that we’re about to be Smoke Free DC, can we be Taxi Meter DC too?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Don
So is this a clever spelling of “Nats” or is the guy just a Giants fan?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
It is wonderland’s summer dress party – come in a sun dress and drink on the cheap.
It is also a great case study in why women wear dresses and men do not.
Men, you can even pick up while in a dress. Well, as long as your legs are not better than hers. Reason why I am in jeans.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Riding back from this morning’s 23 Annual Sallie Mae 10K, I noticed that several churches on 15th Street NW had parking cones, signs, and even attendants out to guide parishioners to proper parking spaces.
Might this be the beginning of a logical truce between Logan Circle homeowners and out of state DC churchgoers? Could the churches be doing what the homeowners wanted all along – respecting local traffic laws or at least practicing common curtsey?
Maybe this is why Mayor Williams gave a moratorium on cracking down on illegal church parking. Maybe churches in DC are starting to realize that their congregations, once nearby and now out in PG County, don’t vote or pay taxes in DC. Maybe they might be getting a little sense.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By 
