There’s an in-progress hostage situation going on in Pentagon City on 20th St. Nothing on the news about it yet but the above subject line is a quote from one cop talking to another cop. Which leaves about 14 more not participating in the conversation. Here’s hoping they didn’t really say M4.

Update 8:40pm: The situation continues. At least some of the roads are closed off in Crystal City around 20th S and Ives. Neighborhood chatter and what’s been overheard from the cops indicates the hostage taker is named Gene who had been trying to cope with a substance problem for the last year. Communication between Gene and the cops is going through a friend he is on the phone with. No word on who, if anyone, is being held against their will inside.

Update 10:20pm: The situation has ended with a sniper shot. The hostage-taker was wheeled away on a stretcher, apparently alive. No word of yet about the status of any hostages but nobody else was seen being taken away by ambulance.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

This is another Friday stockday for the CVS at 15th and K Streets. This is not the first time it took over the street or blocked the sidewalk.

Taking over the entire street and blocking the sidewalk is a new level of obstruction.

What is next? Taking over all of 15th and expanding into K Street? Tune in next week..

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Every once in a while, and more frequently than it used to happen, I have a moment where chills run down my spine and I wonder what the fuck we’re doing to ourselves as a nation. Today’s comes courtesy of the Washington Post and the DC Housing authority:

The D.C. Housing Authority began a crackdown yesterday to rid one of its most crime-ridden sites of unauthorized residents by changing the locks on dozens of apartments and requiring every resident over age 10 to get an identification card to carry at all times.

Housing officials in red T-shirts, accompanied by police, knocked on the doors of all 174 apartments at the Park Morton complex in Parkview, asking each person to produce identification.

I know crime’s been bad around here, but are we really going to a system whereby you have to carry your travel papers on you at all times? Or where people can’t visit their friends for fear of being thrown out bodily by a security guard? There’s got to be a better way.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Education is at the center of the city’s malaise. For whatever reason, be it the school board, the adminstration, the poor facilities, what-have-you, DC’s Public School system is hurting. There are a lot of folks who say they want to help out, but are too busy to volunteer, too busy to sit on the board, but rare few are too busy to take a second to give some cash for a cool project. Check out Means for Dreams, which uses a system whereby teachers can craft proposals for classroom projects that you can help fund. Projects run the gamut from donating some DVDs for a Shakespeare DVD library to a Mathematics In-classroom system from Texas Instruments to a science kit for 1st and 2nd graders.

Best still, you can search for your Ward, so you can find schools in your neighborhood. Each school lists the percentage of students who are assisted by the city, each project lists the details of the school that you’d be helping out. All donations are handled through the Means for Dreams organization, which is a 501(c)3 charity, meaning that your donation is 100% tax deductible. Projects range from the small to the large, and you don’t have to donate the entire amount of a project to make a difference. Go, try to make a difference in DC’s schools by helping out on a project basis.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Okay, folks, I’m about to make a joke so epicly bad and in such poor taste that I am apologizing before the link is even thrown down. Sorry. It’s gotta be done.

Apparently the Nats aren’t the only thing at RFK that sucks.

Had to be done. Had to. So yeah, not that I condone getting a hummer at the ballpark in public, in a place where families are (supposedly) hanging out with their kids, but yeah, when the Nats are as bad as they are, I can’t say that I blame the couple in the upper level 500 seats.

As they say on the Mastercard ads…

Tickets to a Nats game: $6
Program: $5
Two Hot Dogs, and some beer: $70

Getting a hummer in the 7th: Priceless.

Here’s to hoping they didn’t get caught. Thanks Deadspin. So, where’s the craziest place you’ve ever caught (or been caught!) an amorous couple?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I knew the Curly and The Rocket “Electricshow” album launch party this Saturday would be different when a supermodel sent me a concert Evite that included these odd and tempting benefits of the $20 cover:

• Your very own copy of Electricshow, the album
• Unlimited intoxicating libations and fun foodstuff
• Photo opps for camera phones

– combined with –

• Swami Yomahmi and Mysterion the Mind Reader
• The Cheeky Monkey Sideshow

And now that I’ve interviewed the Curly part of that duo, I know its not only going to be different, the show is going to be amazing. Why? Let me tempt with you this tidbit from the interview with Curly:

Why the Cheeky Monkey Sideshow in your album release concert?

We wanted to bring together different kinds of artists and performers for our show. Who says seeing live music has to be an opening band and a headliner?

We also feel a kindred connection to the sideshow act – our electric power duo is live, immediate, raw, unusual and independent. I’ve always thought of it in terms of Vaudeville, Chautaqua, and the Carnie Sideshows because we’re bringing our act to the people.

.

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

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Lucky Mr. Mystery, inventor of a now obsolete technology, is getting a good cleaning this week thanks to the National Park Service.

Now here is the question I ask: Who and Where is the Mystery Man and for the bonus, what is the history behind the park?

Winning Prize: A joe-cool, much coveted, Metroblogging DC T-Shirt

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

By way of Circumlocutor comes today’s amazing WTF?!: Rap star DMX says he was raped by a DC woman that now has a child as a result of that encounter.

I guess that’s just how tough DC women are: they can rape 6 foot angry rap stars.

Is there anyone out there who believes this story for longer than a femtosecond?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

For those who have not visited the Eden Center shopping plaza at Seven Corners in Falls Church, you are missing out. The shopping center, at the corner of Wilson Blvd. and Route 7, boasts restaurants, gift shops, video stores, jewelers, a tofu shop and more. People who live near various ethnic neighborhoods may be thinking, “So what? I have my choice of 50 authentic restaurants within walking distance. What’s the big deal?”

The big deal is that the Eden Center is not just another marketplace but has the best of everything with one parking lot and easy access to all. The fact of having one good restaurant, like the award-winning Huong Que (Four Sisters), requires all the others to step up and provide the same level of quality. This is evident as you stroll by the windows and see one after another displaying write-ups in various newspapers and different awards they have won.

A real gem of the shopping center, though, is the Eden Market, which is one of the largest Vietnamese markets I have seen in the area. My test for which Asian market to shop at has to do with availability of ingredients. I look for one particular type of fruit that is particularly tasty and fragrant to those of us who have acquired the taste but disgusting and stinky to those who have not. This market passed the test, having both fresh and frozen durian – the king of fruits. Eden Market is the real deal.

If you have not been there, definitely go check it out. The shopping center is just a mile from the East Falls Church metro and is on a few bus lines as well, so ease of access is not a problem. You will find a treasure trove of super shopping and delightful dining for any taste.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

On Mass Ave there is a protest about political represson in the Philippines. Their catchy slogan: Extra Judicial Killings Must Stop!

I do not want to discount thier protest. I am sure they are very ernest about the people effected.

I would only humbly suggest that they pick a catchy slogan if they want more than a handful of protesters to join them next time.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Which would you rather have around the new baseball stadium in Southwest:

1. A vibrant cityscape of mixed-use buildings with ground floor retail and reasons to spend before and after a game

– or –

2. A barren parking lot extending out around the stadium like a asphalt blast zone of heat and emptiness

If you are a city resident and the Mayor or Herman S. Miller, its Option 1, a new community centered on the baseball stadium that would be a pleasant experience for both baseball fans on game night and city residents any night. A new nightlife and tax-base option that best leverages the already massive investment by the city in the stadium.

If you are the Lerners, owners of the Nationals, or Gandhi, the District accountant, you want to spend the absolute minimum on development outside the actual stadium. Gandhi as a steward of taxpayer money, the Lerners as shred businessmen who want 100% of your spend inside their domain and a clear view to the Capitol from home plate.

According to today’s’ Wash Post article, the Lerners vision of a money vacuum rising from endless suburban-centric car parking lots is one step closer to reality. The city and Miller were unable to reach agreement on the mix-use idea, with pressure from Gandhi and the Lerners contributing to the impasse.

And now the only city-beautifying, non-baseball fan benefit to the whole $600 million plus fools errand is gone. Goodbye Camden Yards South, hello empty FedEx Field/RFK Stadium dead zone.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

In the wake of the voting catastrophes in Maryland during the September 12th primaries, Governor Ehrlich is now calling for a return to paper ballots for the November 7th General Election. This is a bold and applaudable move. The Diebold solution that the State of Maryland paid over 100 mil for failed not only the laugh test, but the personnel failure test, and the hardware test as well. With machines rebooting during voting, registering a vote when none was cast, and leaving no verifiable paper trail behind, this is a system that can’t stand for trustable elections.

What I propose is this: Scantron. Everyone remembers these machines, albeit with a bit of horror, from testing in High School, but they provide everything that a ballot needs: Machine Readability, Paper Backup, Hand-countability, easy manufacture, easy reading. This is the perfect ballot and we’re ignoring it for a touch screen system because it looks flashy?

We have abandoned the paper ballot to our own peril, Governor Ehrlich knows it, you know it, let’s do something about it.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Who might be using this low-slung urinal in the Westin Arlington Gateway hotel?

Ballston midgets or dwarves, that’s my guess for this ankle splasher in the men’s bathroom.

That or men hung low. Either way, it makes me feel grand.

Remind me to frequent more places where I can tower over my fellow midget man.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

While Tom never skips the opportunity to bitch about taxes, especially his perception that DC taxes are what keep him from living in the District, I never miss the opportunity to call “bullshit” on his whining.

Today, I even have backup in my contention that his grievances are groundless. While I still contend that taxes in DC, VA, and MD are very similar, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute just published a new report that says:

The common perception is that DC residents pay the highest taxes in the region. This analysis shows that after three years of substantial income and property tax cuts, taxes on middle-income DC households are now lower than in either suburban Maryland or Virginia.

And before folks say its different if you own a home – Tom’s constant contention – or have kids, they even have handy graphs of different income levels, renters & homeowners, and even family size.

My favorite? This beauty that captures my big ear-to-ear Cheshire Cat grin:

Thanks WashPost!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Do you listen or watch when a live band plays in a space as tight at the Velvet Lounge?

As a visual person, I watch. And Saturday night, it was a feast. Up on stage was Supercade a funky cool band fronted by Devon Randolph.

While my crew said her voice was Natalie Merchant-esque, when they could hear it over the too-loud cymbals, I wasn’t pinned in the back of the upstairs venue like they were.

No, I was upfront and drooling. Devon’s smoking hot lace-trimmed plaid miniskirt outfit was so naughty but nice I could overlook the Velvet Lounge’s acoustics.

I could even forget to grab a free post-gig CD, which hip-hop-MC-turned-indierock Supercade guitarist Tony Blankenship keeps trying to send me.

No need, Tony. I got my gig swag already. Seared into my brain.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Seems that MPD’s Crime Eye’s are expanding. Jim Graham, Councilmember for Ward 1, MPD Commander McCoy and MPD Chief Ramsey are excited to announce 4 new Ward One crime cameras.

14th & Oak; 14th & W; 14th & Columbia; and 17th & Euclid increase to seven the 24/7 surveillance cameras in Ward One. Does that make you feel safe?

How about this quote from Councilmember Graham’s email:

We will now have a good experience with how effective these devices are in fighting crime. One thing I want to repeat: While these cameras have some utility to scattering embedded crime, MPD must be prepared to give chase.

Yeah, I’m felling so much more watched safe now.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Two rounds were fired into a B8 Bus in Northeast DC by a youth with a revolver, according to NBC 4 News this evening. Police are looking for a male teenager around age 16 of medium build and height (could you guys really be more specific?) who is armed. No one was injured, but this story is still developing.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

There’s a blog for everything. Really, I swear it. Enter The Blank Top Cab Chronicles. It’s a dispatcher at one of the Arlington Cab Companies, and it’s absolutely high comedy at its finest:

ME: Well, ma’am, the truth is that I’m pretty sure there’s nothing the slightest bit illegal about parking a car with up to date tags and registration on a public road. Sorry.

LADY: Huh. Well then maybe I’ll just take his license plates off and tell the police it’s abandoned and have them tow it.

ME: Interesting idea. That’s probably a felony, but go for it if it’s really pissing you off that much.

LADY: Maybe I will.

Wow. People are crazy. But this blog is hysterical.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Why would anyone pay $10 to drink $2 Bud anything? Is Budweiser really worth $2, even by the pitcher? And we’ll not even get into Bud Select.

On top of that, who would head to Rumors or Mackey’s on the weekend? I can see either of those bars as a happy hour, I know I’ve had many at both, but on a Saturday?

Besides my abhorrence of the venue and libations, the Capitol City Fall Bar Tour does attempt to have a good heart. Donated canned foods go to the Captiol Area Food Bank.

As you might gather, I say donate the canned goods yourself and skip the bar crawl.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Hat tip to BoingBoing for pointing this awesome resource of DC history out. Go check out the new video podcasts and PDF maps of the punk rock tours that will highlight some of the amazing rock history here. Teen Idles. Fugazi. It’ll even give you a reason to respect Marion Barry. Seriously.

Check out their sweet Google Maps hack as well. This is an amazing site, and an amazing way to see some of the amazing history of DC. Go check it all out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs