Monthly Archives: October 2008

Business and Money, The Daily Feed
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Disagree with Pearlstein? You’re a moron.

Photo courtesy of bionicteaching

dumb ass, courtesy of bionicteaching

We’re not the flavor of blog that would normally link to someone like Glenn Greenwald, but he does a nice job of excerpting some of the most obnoxious bits from yesterday’s Steven Pearlstein chat on WashingtonPost.com. I can’t think of a time where I’ve seen a writer be as rude to his readers as Pearlstein is here.

Greenwald’s extensive rebuttal to Pearlstein’s contention that only the ignorant oppose the bailout is more full of supplementary information and quality links than I care to construct, so you should just read it directly. However I’ll point out two things if you can’t stomach going to Salon or want the executive summary. Continue reading →

Alexandria, Arlington, Food and Drink
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We Love Food: Summer’s Last Stand

Ice Cream Desert, taken by Lotus Head (Creative Commons)

Ice Cream, taken by Lotus Head (Creative Commons)

I love this time of year.  The chilly evenings go really well with the beautiful warm days.  The leaves are about to turn colors.  And, just about any week now we are going to get another famous DC Indian Summer.

When Indian Summer hits all I can think about are all the summer things I want to do one last time.  And that means only one thing:  I’m going to be jonesing for some Ice Cream.

So, to help out everyone in DC, I’ve compiled a short list of three great places where you can get your fix.

Continue reading →

Petworth, The Daily Feed
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Sherman Avenue Speed Trap

Caution - thats a speed trap!

Caution - that's a speed trap!

This is the view southbound on Sherman Avenue NW as you approach Florida Avenue NW – that parked police car is there specifically to give you a speeding ticket. I know not because I got one, but because after noticing it there for a few days in a row, I stopped and asked the officer what they were doing.

On the front dashboard of the police cruiser was a super-fancy speed camera that was photographing speeders as they zoomed down Sherman Avenue NW pretty much all day – from the morning rush hour to past dusk. And that police car has been there since at least early July.

So be aware. You’ve been warned of the Sherman Avenue speed trap.

All Politics is Local, Entertainment, The Daily Feed
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Drinking It Up Tonight

bourbon.jpg
Olde Bourbon bottles by brent nashville

Personally, I find myself reaching for the bourbon bottle every time I see Gov. Palin on television spouting a sentence that even Slate’s crack team can’t diagram according to rules of English grammar. However, I understand there are reasons for one to feel the same way about Sen. Biden. Perhaps most recently when he asked the State Senator from Missouri to stand up. Despite being in a wheelchair.

The whole thing has me thinking that drunk as a skunk is the only way to turn on the television tonight. So. Here’s a couple ways to play along with your favorite liquor.

My friends Dori & Tom have whipped up a sweet Palin Bingo card for tonight’s debate. And, We Love DC author Ben Stanfield has whipped up another set of rules for tonight’s debate that will get you utterly soused.

Arlington, The Daily Feed
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Goodbye Parking Meters

Disabled parking meters

If you’re used to parking your car in the lot outside of Murky Coffee all day, it’s time to find a new parking spot.

Arlington has been replacing parking meters with “Pay and Display” meters.  These new boxes take the old coins (which was my last refuge for all my spare change) and also accept dollar bills and credit cards.  So running out of change is no longer a good excuse.

After a successful test run in other locations (outside the shops at Clarendon was one) they are expanding the program to other areas.  Yesterday, they modified the large parking lot that runs from St. Charles Church to Murky Coffee.

Continue reading →

Fun & Games
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Getaways: Dog Beach, Maryland

Taxi, charging the surf at Dog Beach in Pasadena, Maryland

Taxi, charging the surf at Dog Beach in Pasadena, Maryland

Now that I am a dog owner, I hang out at dog parks daily, and have been hearing much about the “Dog Beach” in Maryland. It was described to me as a canine oasis on the Eastern Shore where dog, sand, and sun can come together in an untethered paradise of play and pooches. I was really looking forward to this journey, and so, got some travel gear for dogs from Dog Gear.

Enchanted with the vision of a broad, flat beach where our dog Taxi could dash for balls and splash in the surf, Amy and I headed to Dog Beach, better known as Down’s Park in Pasadena, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. There our beloved Taxi sure found joy in the surf.

In the photo above, we have Taxi charging the knee-high waves in an attempt to eat all the bay’s foam. Yeah, she never did that, but did drink enough saltwater to give us a few liquid “surprises” over the next several hours. The beach itself offered us its own surprise too.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Sweet Nectar of Life!

News alert! News alert! What’s that you say? Cheap coffee???! Better yet, cheap Dunkin’ Donuts coffee!?

From today until Nov. 11, coffee from your local Dunkin’ Donuts will cost 4 times less than your morning ‘Bucks or ‘Bou run! From 2-5 p.m. small hot and iced lattes will only cost you 99 cents! Now that’s something to get you through that 3 p.m. work day drag! I’ve always thought the slogan “America runs on Dunkin'” is pretty gross (conjuring up images of myself going for a jog after downing a few  glazed makes me nauseous) so through Nov. 11th I propose a change to “Caffeine-crazed America runs TO Dunkin’!”

To locate cheap coffee near you, click on over to the Dunkin’ Donuts store finder.

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Senate Passes the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007

Lincoln Memorial - Lincoln & His Right Hand - 9-30-08
Lincoln Memorial – Lincoln & His Right Hand – 9-30-08
by brian.mosley

Better known as the Bailout. That’s right, folks, it’s really just a Senate Amendment to HR 1424, whose purpose is: “To amend section 712 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act, section 9812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment, and for other purposes.”

Get all that?

Yeah, me neither

But really, it’s the bailout bill.

Or something.

All Politics is Local, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed, The Mall
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The Right Kind of Cruel

Cruel DC.png

This can be a cruel town. Politics. Religion. Money & Taxes. These are our day-to-day discussions! Poor Emily Post would just keel over dead with the inappropriateness of it all. But, it doesn’t always have to be that way. Enter Cruel DC, the second time that Cruel 2 B Kind will be played in our fair city.

What’s the game about? Well, the idea is, you win by complimenting people. Crazy, I know! The boundaries for the game are 7th & Constitution to 12th & Independence, right in the heart of the tourist district. You get a set of “lethal” attacks, like compliments to someone’s shoes, which when they’re used on appropriate targets, will result in you winning the confrontation. Confused? Me too. But it’s fun! Check out the rules in their entirety.

Best of all? It’s free to play. Sign up and have a bit of fun! Game’s not til the 18th, but you’ll need to sign up by the 17th.

Essential DC, Talkin' Transit, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: Transfer Pains

Photo courtesy of Mr. T in DC
Metro SmarTrip Card, courtesy of Mr. T in DC

Metro has announced they are moving forward with their plans to eliminate the free paper-to-bus transfers, as well as the discounted rail-to-bus transfers, beginning on January 4 of next year. Discounts aren’t going away, however – you just have to have a SmarTrip card to get it.

There’s a lot of flak hitting Metro for the decision, however. Riders groups in the area have mentioned a few concerns, namely that of time and money.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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CNN: Lost on Upper 16th Street

That's no where near downtown DC

That's no where near downtown DC

Are you watching CNN’s coverage of the “grenade like device” that DC police are responding to at 16th and Kennedy Street NW? If so, do you note the many errors in their report?

  1. 16th and Kennedy is not “downtown”, its 16th Street Heights and no where near the White House
  2. 16th and Kennedy is no where near the Egyptian Embassy, which is over by Van Ness
  3. Last but not least, I doubt there is an emergency at all – if DC Alert hasn’t sent at least a dozen texts about it, does it exist?

If you want the facts, try Fox News (did I just write that?). They have the park police reporting a suspicious package in the north playing field of Morrow Drive at Carter Barron.

The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
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City Oasis: The Portico Cafe at the National Portrait Gallery

national portrait gallery porch

Aren’t fall afternoons lovely? I spent a relaxing afternoon meandering Penn Quarter/Chinatown recently, and my boyfriend and I wound up in the National Portrait Gallery. After visiting the Ansel Adams and Georgia O’Keefe exhibit we wandered upstairs.

Needing a break, we stumbled upon the Portico Cafe on the second floor. The Portico Cafe is a second-floor oasis overlooking F street and the International Spy Museum. Sunny, warm and surrounded those ever-so-cliche DC columns, it’s the perfect place to take a breather and watch the city go by.

iron at the national portrait gallery porch

Visit the National Portrait Gallery (free) at 8th & F Sts NW, close to the Chinatown Metro Station and Metro Center Metro station. The Gallery is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Photos taken by Flickr user needlessspaces.