Yeah, it’s been a rough week for Politicians, they can’t talk about their penises or getting drunk with the underage pages who work on the Hill anymore, and it’s causing a lot of stress out there. There was apparently a Republican brawl at Capitol Lounge last week, with all sorts of issues associated with it. But worst of all, it appears that the DC Prosecutors are now looking into the Foley case, possibly subjecting Mark Foley to an inside look at the DC Jail.

I hear they don’t look too fondly on child molestors in prison.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I’m headed to the Mount Vernon Fall Wine Festival and while they offer several ways to get there, including by Metro and by boat(!), in this yucky rain, I’d rather take a taxi there.

In DC, I would just hail a cab on the street, cabs being plentiful even if driven by psycho taxi drivers. Out in the wilds of suburbia at the Braddock Road Metro exit, I don’t think I will be as lucky.

Here’s where I need your help, NoVA Metroblogging DC readers: What taxi company do you find responds the fastest and offers the best service in south Arlington County? I want to call one to be waiting for me at the Metro exit and retrive me from Mt. Vernon.

As for the Zip/Flex car proponents who will chime it, the copious amounts of fermented grapes I shall consume preclude any motorized vehicles operation.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of theimacguy

Well it seemed like the logical progression of Vote or Die…

If you’re not already registered to vote the clock’s ticking down on you. In DC and Virginia you’ve got till this coming Tuesday, October 10th. In Maryland you’ve got another week, till the 17th. If you do it by mail you can have it postmarked on the 10th for DC and Virginia but Maryland has to receive it by the 17th.

Forms and information are online here for DC, Maryland and Virginia.

If you’re already registered and are interested in in absentee ballots you can find forms here for DC, Maryland and Virginia.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Now what might this be? An armored troop transport, I assume. And by that color scheme only meant for one location, Iraq, but what the hell was it doing rolling down 9th Street NW last night?

Why might the Army drive a military troop transport through downtown Washington DC? Was there a fear of attack in Chinatown? Might the Pentagon be upgrading Present Bush’s limousine? Could this be Vice President Cheney’s “undisclosed location”?

Or is this the coffin for Rumsfield’s career as Secretary of Defense?

Photo by DC Metroblogger. More photos here and here.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of Costco

I’m gonna forgoe my usual cutsey headline this time and be straight to the point. The Fed says there’s plenty of flu vaccine for everyone these year, for the first time in a while. So go get the shot. The flu kills a bunch of people 36,000 people in the US every year, and while they are primarily the very old or very young – and you may be neither – there’s still two excellent reasons to get the shot anyway.

One, having the flu sucks. It hurts and is no fun, uses up time off work that would be better served playing hooky with your loved one on a beautiful day, and leaves those of us who did get the shot at the office taking up your slack. Or worse, giving all your cow orkers your bug because you’re too goddamned type-A to stay home.

Which brings us to Two, every person who gets the bug because they didn’t get the shot is one more potential vector to pass on the virus to those old and young people who are gonna croak from it. This is a definite example of “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” In the words of my hero, John McClane, quit being a part of the f***ing problem!

The excellent website Find a Flu Shot will help you find a location and time near you.

Personally I’m gonna angle for the Costco since they’re nice and cheap at $18, but there’s a lot of sites to choose from. If anyone’s got information on free or reduced cost shots you can email me or post them in a comment here. I’ll try to highlight any best-of suggestions. That Costco poster claims that if you have Medicare Part B and no HMO coverage they’ll even bill for you, which I assume means you walk out without paying a dime. Can someone back that up?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

There is a nice patio at Circle Bistro, just off Washington Circle. It used to be full of fun and happy people.

Now it is empty. Unused, unloved, a wasted space.

Why? Because the neighbours, in their love of quiet, hatred of fun, need for vigilance, made the hotel close this great little patio.

Now I look longingly at seats in the sun, the last rays of summer warmth, wasted.

Thanks neighbours!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Cap City Oktoberfest

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Fall is here, the weather is garbage outside, but that doesn’t have to mean you have to stay inside! Come on out to the Capital City Brewing Company‘s annual Oktoberfest in Shirlington on Saturday. Running from noon to 7pm, with an admission cost of $20, you’ll have all kinds of tasting options for excellent beer both imported and local. A little birdie whispered to me the beer listings, click the extended entry to see what you’ll be drinking this Saturday!

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

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Now I’ve had a few business cards in my life, what with the many jobs I’ve done, and I’ve given out my fair share of cards, both for personal and professional reasons.

Still I do have to say that my Metroblogging DC business card does start the most conversations, and as this prospective supermodel proves, is always well received and securely placed.

Now if she would only call..

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Dear Eisenhower Middle School administration:

It’s a really good idea to educate your staff aboutyour written policies as well as the First Amendment before attempting to educate any children.

Love,

Tiff

You’d think that a vice principal charged with teaching children to read would be delighted when they ARE reading, rather than attempting to prevent them from quietly reading the religious text of their choice over lunch. (Why yes, I would indeed be JUST as outraged if the child had been prevented from reading the Koran, thank you.)

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Today’s 15th and I Street bicycle rack bike pack is a parking problem everyone should love.

Cyclists should celebrate the full take over of the bike rack – not a scooter in sight. Drivers should be thrilled with so many less cars crowding their DC commute.

I am excited that my bicycle is in the pack. Tonight I ride the Mt Vernon Trail!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

How is this for fancy and cool technology in DC? A super duper automated teller machine (ATM).

This robo-ATM can dispense cash from 10 types of financial systems. You can pay major bills, Verizon advertises that on it. You can get or send money orders or cash checks even. You could probably withdrawal money in buckets, if you had that much.

Better yet, with 20 minutes and your ATM card I could even refinance Venezuela’s national debt.

I you wanna test run this monster ATM, head down to the 7-11 at 14th and Rhode Island Avenue. Just be sure to read the manual first, otherwise Chavez might be calling you the devil.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I exulted in playoff baseball yesterday, but not with the same dramatic fervor as if our own Nationals were in the hunt in any way shape or form. While our boys are resting at home, dreaming of February and beyond, cities across the country are bubbling over with playoff fever. While DC is fighting over financing and stadium parking structures, cities like New York are jubilant over their successful squads.

When will the day come when DC can do the same? With the Nats giving outright release six pitchers yesterday, I would think we’re looking at several years before we can even dream of competing on a playoff level, and that’s absolutely crushing. Though Soriano put up MVP numbers in Washington this year (46 HR, 95RBI, 179H) it’s not determined whether or not he’ll be back next season. If the Nats can sign Soriano, we’re looking at the core of a new team, but can Lerner, and more importantly, Bowden, deliver a championship to Washington?

I’m not so sure, but I’d like to be proven wrong.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Halloween is four weeks away!

Time to inaugurate the spooky season with a little taste of bone-chilling tales. Here’s a great list that runs down the most famous Washington hauntings.

Then head over to DC’s own version of the Blair Witch Project, the Washington Horror Tour. Its classic combination of realism and grand guignol may be just the thing to get you in the mood.

(With apologies to the author of WHT, that patch of grass that plays such an important part in its climax was actually the sight of something far more frightening in real life – the old motel that CUA bought and used as a dorm for a number of years before they tore it down. Ramshackle and rat-infested, it was so bad it made the bloody-halled Overlook look as inviting as the Burj al Arab. But then again, maybe it really was possessed. That dorm you see in the background of the picture in the Brookland story does feature prominently in a very creepy CUA urban legend …)

Want more shivers? It stands to reason that I should have some ghost stories of my own, living in a house that’s 110 years old and deep in Civil War hospital camp territory. But I’ll save them for closer to Halloween itself. What is terror without a little anticipation?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of NeilGaiman.com

I already had an engagement to go see the Nats lose and Teddy get robbed one of 36 times, so I didn’t make it out to see Neil Gaiman speak last Friday. I’m disappointed in those of you who did, however – those damned New Yorkers already have an attitude of superiority over us, do we have to be duller even in book signings?

The list of things presented to Mr Gaiman to sign in NYC? “books, comics, a pair of breasts [female] and a bottletop [initials only]” In DC? “The only unusual thing I remember signing yesterday night was a lady’s red suede shoe.”

A shoe. Seriously? You couldn’t come up with some underwear? An hourglass? A copy of Joe Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces? Perhaps a wing, either left or right? Okay, a real live macaque monkey could have been hard to find (and hold still) but surely someone could have come up with a bent-over page.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Sadly, DC Cabbies have a bad reputation. Worse still, it seems they still deserve it, according to Talking Budgie:

I politely asked the cab driver where we were going because this didn’t seem to be the usual route. He said to me in really abusive tone “Well where do you think you are going?” I responded that we were going to (Cross street) and Independence SE near Eastern Market. He yelled back at us that “(Cross street) and Independence is not Eastern Market. Give me some respect. I am not your boyfriend. Shut up in my cab.” He then proceeded to curse us for about 5 minutes.

Yikes. Fortunately, there are four Taxi Commission hearings in the next 10 days. They start tonight in Ward 4, then in Ward 5 on Thursday, then in Ward 8 on the 10th and Ward 1 on the 12th. Help make DC Cabs a better place for us all, go speak up about your bad cab experiences.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Leave it to an Indian Dutch woman to give us such a great example of how you can take the same scene and turn it into a thing of beauty or a thing of despair.

In the above photo, saskiamarisha takes what is otherwise just a couch in an abandoned lot, and lets its beauty shine through. The soft focus, warm and unusual lighting, and the inclusion of the leaves at the top make it seem like the couch is a pink ballerina dancing amongst a bunch of dirty criminals. The couch is almost inviting you to came take a load off, and you’re close to accepting, if only you’d had a recent tetanus shot.

Conversely, the photo below is downright sinister. That sweet ballerina has turned into a dark, evil mob boss and he’s saying, “You lookin’ at me?” Her use of black and white here, as well as the angle it was shot from and the dark lighting create quite a different mood. Suddenly that couch that once looked so inviting is making you think twice about trusting any more couches.

So it’s up to you. When you see a photographic opportunity, not only do you need to think about composition, shutter speed, f-stop, but also how you want to portray your subject. Is it a pink ballerina or a dirty mob boss? That’s for only you to decide.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

In a masterful move on the part of Mayor for Life Councilman Marion Shepilov Barry, the new baseball stadium may yet be enveloped in a wonderful, pedestrian-friendly, pro-city mixed use development instead of isolated on a barren asphalt parking lot.

According to the WashPost:

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) was leading the effort and had distributed a bill that seeks to alter the $611 million stadium cost cap approved by the council in March. The legislation would allow the city to spend money from the sale of development rights on stadium land to pay for the parking garages.

While Metroblogging DC would like to encourage his resurrection of the beautiful Herb Miller plan, Barry was unavailable for comment.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Can you count the number of SUV’s in this photo? Enlarge it and take a look.

This isn’t staged or photoshopped, this is 18th Street in Adams Morgan on Sunday. This is also very unusual and I think only due to the Crafty Bastard Art Fair. Or it better be.

More of this SUV scene and I’m calling Earth Liberation Front.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

We just heard a fighter jet fly overhead at my office (Connecticut & K, a few blocks from the White House).

Anyone know what’s going on?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

That’s right everyone, only three short months left before the real health threat of second-hand smoke will be reduced in Washington, DC.

And I mean health threat. To quote U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona:

“The scientific evidence is now indisputable: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults.”

So all you lung-killers out there, moaning about you soon-to-be-lost endangerment of my life, I say Smoke Free DC shall not come a day too soon.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs