Monthly Archives: July 2008

Featured Photo, Life in the Capital, The District, The Mall
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Featured Photo

Presidential Helicopter Passing the Washington Monument by realkevin

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. This perfectly framed shot of what could be Marine One flying in front of the Washington Monument makes me wonder what George was up to. Was he coming back from Andrews AFB? Was he on his way to Camp David? Was he giving some Saudis a tour of the city or just out for a joy ride? We’ll never know.

According to my trusty sources on The Google:

As a security measure, Marine One always flies in groups with identical helicopters, sometimes as many as five. One helicopter carries the president, while the others serve as decoys for would-be assassins on the ground. Upon take-off these helicopters begin to shift in formation (sometimes referred to as a Presidential shell game) regularly to keep the location of the President secure. Also, Marine One reportedly is equipped with standard military anti-missile countermeasures such as flares to counter heat-seaking missiles and chaff to counter radar-guided missiles. To add to the security of Marine One, every member of HMX-1 is required to pass a Yankee White background check before touching any of the helicopters used for presidential travel. Marine One is always transported (as is the president’s limousine) wherever the president travels, within the U.S. as well as overseas.

I find anything and everything to do with the presidency fascinating. For example, “Air Force One is the call sign for any fixed-wing aircraft that the President of the United States may happen to be in at any given time. Should the aircraft happen to be a rotary-wing aircraft, it is referred to as ‘Marine One’.” Also, “A Marine Corps aircraft carrying the Vice President is designated ‘Marine Two’.” Who came up with these call signs? Why not call them ‘Big Bird’ and ‘Little Bird’? Or ‘Dumb’ and ‘Dumber’? I guess there’s a reason they didn’t consult with me on this decision.

I haven’t been lucky enough to be near the Mall or the White House with my camera when one of these choppers is flying around, but I know that no matter the occasion, one of our talented photographers will be on the scene.

The Daily Feed
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Drupal DC Meetup Pop Quiz

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

I am here at the Drupal DC monthly meetup and we already have a decent pop quiz:

At what now-defunct dot-com did you learn foosball?

I honed my twirling skills at the long gone Worldwide Retail Exchange. The largest B2B that no one ever heard of.

And you?

Comedy in DC, The Daily Feed
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Liz Winstead is Classy

I met some friends at the Arlington Drafthouse last week to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a movie that pretty much demanded to be seen in the company of a few pitchers of beer. On the way in I noticed a few posters for upcoming comedy shows, including one shilling for “Daily Show Co-Creator Lizz Winstead” on Aug 8 & 9. Sounds good – I’ve seen her on tv and found her amusing.

I’m a little less enthused after seeing her delightful performance in the above video. I suppose she doesn’t think of people coming to see her here in our neck of the woods as “losers,” as she calls the people who were coming to the show she’s talking about in the video. Let’s hope that – if she doesn’t cancel on them – the AD management sees the above video and makes sure not to serve her any booze before the show…

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, The District
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DC To Announce New Gun Rules

guns.jpg

New rules, same as the old rules. The Examiner is on top of the coverage for the new laws. However, it seems that Councilman Mendelssohn’s proposal flies directly in the face of the Heller verdict. Specifically, his bill would still require that after you purchase AR-15 magazines and spent time and effort to buy the perfect one for you, the firearms stored in the home be kept unloaded and disassembled or under trigger lock.

The standard set by Heller is that requiring trigger locks and disassembly are unconstitutional, and that any law with them does not pass the test setup by Heller thusly (on page 58):

We must also address the District’s requirement (as applied to respondent’s handgun) that firearms in the home be rendered and kept inoperable at all times. This makes it impossible for citizens to use them for the core lawful purpose of self-defense and is hence unconstitutional

It seems to me to be fairly ridiculous, and a waste of time, and a slap in the face of the highest court in the land, to pass a bill that will only be struck down by the first court to hear the case. While the opinion for Heller makes not that the law lacks a clear exemption for self-defense, just adding a blanket exemption for self-defense doesn’t address the storage of firearms as effective home-defense weapons.

But, I guess they think that an unarmed populace is what they’d rather have, so be it. So long as they enjoy getting taken to court and losing.

Case O’ Guns originally uploaded by wild-smith

Talkin' Transit
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Questioning Ghost Bike Barricades


Photo by maxedexposure

As a cyclist, I have two minds about the Alice Swanson Memorial that WABA organized.

On one hand, I do see it as a way to remind drivers and cyclists that we all need to share the road and respect each other a bit more, no matter our presumed importance or right of way.

On the other, doesn’t this memorial itself present a danger to cyclist and motorist alike? Pretty soon, this will become yet another obstruction on the sidewalk, no matter its good intentions, and by diverting pedestrians into the street, it will cause cyclist and driver alike to quickly swerve into each others’ path.

Might there be a better way to remind us of the dangers of metal vs. human? Maybe a painted chalk outline of a cyclist on pavement or a rumble strip shaped like a bike?

I for one, would rather have dedicated bike lanes instead of a dedicated ghost bikes.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Durian Ice Cream Recipe to Beat the Heat


Durian by US Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center

Okay, so it’s not quite a scorcher today but you should make this recipe now in preparation for the big heat wave that is surely on the tail of this cold front. My friend Grace of Fearless Cooking TV asked me for the recipe after hearing that I was so brave as to make durian ice cream. What? You don’t like durian? Shame on you! You can use any other fruit instead, but not with the same unique flavor and scent.

You will need to follow your ice cream maker’s instructions on how to do it precisely, but here are the ingredients I used to make a quart of ice cream:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups cream
  • 2 cups durian pulp (substitute other fruits if you can’t hang with durian)

Beat together the eggs and sugar until it’s good and creamy. Then mix in everything else, put it in your ice cream maker and when it’s done, just freeze it for a day or so. It’s easy and delicious. Want to try durian ice cream? Just let me know. I have a quart of it and my lovely wife won’t go near it.

The Daily Feed
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Painting Over Graffiti


Graffiti – AC/DC Lane, Melbourne CBD
Originally uploaded by Toots Fontaine

DC’s spending $100,000 over the next year to eradicate large graffiti murals by hiring folks to paint murals over them. The first mural went up this weekend in Northwest at Georgia & Fairmont near Howard.

All surfaces must be clean, dry and free from anything that will interfere with the adhesion of the materials to be applied. Remove loose and failing material by scraping or brushing with a stiff bristle brush to a sound edge. Feather sound edges with a fine grade abrasive paper. Prior to painting, the moisture content should not exceed 18%. Remove all dust. Remove all visible signs of organic growth and treat the areas with Zinsser Mould Killer in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. In areas with sound paint clean down with Zinsser Universal Cleaner & Degreaser to remove any contaminants. Rinse thoroughly with clean water to remove all residues. Allow to dry. According to powder coating dublin, you should fill any cracks and small surface defects with a suitable filler in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Allow to dry. Rub down with a fine grade abrasive paper. Remove all dust.

If you’re painting over a wall with a paint that is close to the previous color, then in general, you don’t need to prime existing paint. To prepare for repainting:

  • Wash the wall to remove any grease.
  • Fill any holes and cracks with suitable filler, perhaps using flexible filler for cracks.
  • Sand and prime the filled areas—priming will seal the filler and keep it in place. You might want to sand and reprime the whole wall to avoid a patchy look.
  • Repaint the wall with at least two coats of your new color. If you’re painting over a dark color with a lighter one, you might need more than two coats to stop the previous color from showing through. If that’s the case, using a primer or basic white matte emulsion for the first coat (or two if it’s really dark) is a more cost-effective option than using the more expensive colored paint for all the coats. Unfortunately, you don’t always discover that in time.
  • Finally, paint in full daylight—especially for the final coat—so you can see where you’ve been.

12 other murals will go up this year; the designs for 6 have been approved already.

Crime & Punishment, History, News, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Stolen Shakespeare First Folio Recovered

December, 1998: “I shall steal this priceless edition of Shakespeare’s First Folio from a Durham University exhibition! The perfect historical literary crime! Ha ha!”

July, 2008: “I wonder if this First Folio I stole is authentic? I shall bring this to the Folger Shakespeare Library and leave it with them for analysis. No way they can tell if it was the stolen one, and what will they do if they can? Call the FBI who in turn will alert Scotland Yard? I think not! Ha ha!”

(The suspected thief was apprehended by authorities back in the UK — in the town of Washington, of all places — then questioned at Durham and released on bail.)

Arlington, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Welcome to Murky. You Don’t Get it Your Way.

I am at Murky Coffee, where I just heard a conversation in which the barista told a guy that he was not allowed to pour his espresso over ice.

“But that’s how I want it,” the guy said.

“You can’t have it over ice. It ruins the quality of the coffee. It’s also against our store policy,” the barista said. After the customer left the counter, the barista was fuming and told his coworker, “I almost told that guy not to come back.”

Thanks, Nick, for hiring such helpful young people who uphold basic tenets of customer service. Where would the world be if customers could get what they wanted? This young fellow did a good job protecting the ignorant customer from cold espresso.

Barista guy – get over it. It’s just coffee, not a matter of safety or health, and the guy knows how he wants it.

The Daily Feed
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Nosebleed Seats at National Stadium

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Can you see those little dots down there? Those would be baseball players, viewed from the ultimate nosebleed seats: the very top row in the entire stadium.

Thanks to Carl, my friend Adam and I are enjoying the Nationals scene from these heights tonight. The view is actually decent even if distant.

Now if only the Nationals were not losing 6 to 2.

Arlington, People, The District
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Why I Love DC: John

Let me be honest. I never meant to come to DC, let alone stay here.

I came here in the fall of 1995 as a college freshman. I had hoped to get into UVA’s architecture school, but I got into Catholic U’s program instead. I spent the last five years of the millennium in Northeast DC, rarely venturing outside of the typical college student haunts. Making the typical student mistakes; getting off at the GMU stop on the orange line when trying to go to a concert at the Patriot Center. Driving to the Southeast end of Pennsylvania Avenue at 11 at night because of shoddy directions. Going to Rumors. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Peaches!


…looks good…
Originally uploaded by christaki

After making an abortive attempt at getting an iPhone this morning, I decided to stand in a line that was both tasty and sane. I hit up the Toigo Orchards market stall at the Courthouse Farmers Market, instead. There was a line, but at the end of it was persian cucumbers, ultra sweet bing cherries (they’re like sex, in your mouth.) some hot-house tomatoes, and holy crap, what’s that?!

First peaches of the season. Now, it was still a little crunchy, and it wasn’t nearly as pretty as the one in christaki’s photo here, but peaches have come to market, and thank heavens for them.

In other news, I’m about a week or ten days from the first roma tomatoes, and my first yellow cherry tomato should be ready for tasting by Wednesday.

All Politics is Local, Comedy in DC, Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Ron Paul DC March

Ron Paul, the anarcho-capitalist cryptolibertarian neoconfederate survivalist Texas congressman and sometime presidential candidate who published a racist newsletter and opposed a medal for Rosa Parks, civil rights, MLK Day, Tibetan freedom, DC voting rights, and the 14th and 16th Amendments, and enjoyed endorsements from such greats as the John Birch Society, Stormfront White Nationalists, and the Ku Klux Klan, is having a march and rally today! Continue reading →

Business and Money, Entertainment, WTF?!
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I’m sick of the iPhone, and I want one

That was the scene at the Pentagon Mall yesterday, with so many people waiting for the iPhone 3G that the line stretched from the Apple store three storefronts to the left all the way around the balcony.

At 8:15 in the evening.

I don’t want to belabor the point, since I am so sure that the media today is tripping all over itself to talk about this that I’m tired of it already and I haven’t even turned on the TV, but the scene was so jaw-dropping that I needed to share. The only news I’m really interested in about this is specific to Pentagon City mall, where I made a rough count of about 70 in that line. With Apple quoting about a 7-10 minute time to process a single sale – contracts, you know – I figure that one of two things happened:

  • They stayed open till around 1am to handle all those customers
  • The shut their doors at about 10pm, stranding 40+ people who then rioted, breaking and burning all around them before degenerating into savagery and bludgeoning each other to death with iBooks.

I figure it looks something like this there now.

screengrab from the Dawn of the Dead remake, if you wondered….

Media, The Daily Feed
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Make the bad man stop, mommy

Christ almighty, traveling back and forth to Baltimore on the MARC these last two days (why have a 615 train if it never even shows up till 630?) I thought i’d reached the limit to how much suffering mass transit could heap on me. But no, someone had to leave a copy of the USA Today on the seat I plopped myself down on. Which is how I came to read about how HBO, amongst their other greenlit projects, is going forward with a half hour series based on Cutler’s Washingtonienne novel.

Now, in fairness, I think this makes a lot more sense than creating alternate media based on books like the DaVinci Code, which some people have actually read – this way there’s something new on the screen for people. But how much mileage can you get out of a low-wage worker slacking her way through the day, screwing people indiscriminately, sometimes taking money for it, and failing to live up to one of the most basic tenets of being a whore by not talking about it?

photo Amplified Pain by by besto-Baker

Petworth
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Why I Love DC: Wayan


Photo by mosley.brian

After five hours crammed into this seat on a red-eye from San Francisco, I can tell by the shift in the plane, that we’ve started our decent into IAD. Its another bi-coastal BBQ week for me, and I can’t wait to be home.

Home, where the South Asian driver of the Washington Flyer taxi and I will have a long talk about Pakistani politics as we glide past iconic symbols of our nation and then drop into the green valley of Rock Creek park.

Home, where my block party neighbours will be just waking, about to take their morning walks around the neighbourhood, where I shall soon join them with my personal Taxi in tow.

Home, where my half-million dollar mortgage shelters my still-sleeping wife, who let’s me travel even with a Ziggy on the way.

Home, where after a decade I feel I have found my place, my life, a whole community of good friends and great times that make me love this great city.

Home, I love Washington DC because its my home.

People, The Daily Feed
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RIP Jerome Jones

Jerome Jones was the first African-American superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools from 1983 to 1990, hailed by many as one who extended new opportunities to women and people of color in the SLPS. More recently he left retirement to teach here in DC, at Howard University, where he founded the Department of Educational and Administrative Policy. He was about to move on to become Dean of Academic Affairs at University of the Virgin Islands at St. Croix — when he was hit by an SUV while crossing a street on June 26th. He died on July 4th, just three days after his 71st birthday.

I mention this because it turns out that all this time, Mr. Jones was my neighbor and I didn’t know it. He lived in my apartment building, and I would greet him frequently, though I knew him only as “that guy I see in the lobby who’s always going out jogging.” Only the day after he was hit by that SUV did I learn who he was, and only yesterday did I learn of his death.

Sad, sad passing of a neighbor whom I would have liked to know better. May he rest in peace.