Ericka and DC Mayor Anthony Williams
Originally uploaded by eralon
So former DC mayor Anthony Williams is strolling down K Street yesterday, when he notices a passerby snag a package out of the back of a UPS truck and try to slip away.
So what did he do? He took off after the guy. You’re damn right he did.
When Williams caught up with him, the thief simply said, “You used to be the mayor,” before handing over the stolen package and slipping away into the crowd.
Nice work, Mr. Williams.
By Jonathan
Mind the Gap, courtesy of Jonathtan
If you want perspective on the DC Metro system, sometimes it’s valuable to look at another light rail system somewhere else. And nothing signifies subways more than the London Tube. (All New York City fans can feel free to argue this in the comments section.)
The first thing to realize is that DC and the Tube are, in many ways, very much alike. If you have ever used the Metro, you will be right at home with the Tube ticket vending machines and the entry gates. And there are just as many escalators in a Tube station as there are in most Metro stations. Even the platforms look a lot alike, with the textured area right next to the trains to warn the blind of the dangerous area ahead.
There are some great comparisons, and lessons that I think both sides could learn…
XM Sirius, photo by maxedaperture
I certainly wouldn’t call any XM Sirius a “monopoly” when it has to compete with free terrestrial radio, not to mention my iPod and CD changer, but I’m still not at all sure how I feel about the latest development in the XM Sirius merger. Subscribers to each individual service woke up today to new channel lineups that, theoretically, maintain the best of both services. The new XM lineup replaces my beloved Ethel, Fred, and Lucy with similarly-formatted Sirius channels (though it sounds like some of the XM deejays were retained). The new Sirius lineup replaces the Sirius decade channels with the XM equivalents (though after the XM program directors for those channels were laid off, I’m not sure if the quality is going to stay the same).
Having only had limited time to listen to my XM subscription, I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, “Ethel” as a station name has way more character than the prosaic “Alt Nation,” and the deejay during my commute this morning was just awful- I’ll particularly miss the local flavor of the DC-based Ethel deejays. On the other hand, all my preset buttons seemed to give me the same types of music as they did yesterday, so it’s possible I won’t even notice that much. And I’m actually kind of excited about having BBC Radio One where I previously had U-POP. (Yes, I’m a closet Europop junkie. Sorry.)
There do seem to be some weird programming choices- I’m not sure why the “Latino/World” category needs TWO stations for Canadian pop, only one for “Latin/Tropical,” and apparently no channels for music from outside the Western Hemisphere. Wasn’t satellite radio supposed to bring us lots of interesting and quirky little niche programming instead of just more channels of homogenized crap? Do we really need an all-Springsteen, all-the-time channel in any universe?
So what do you think, DC satellite listeners? Are you keeping your sat radio subscriptions? Cancelling to protest the loss of DC-based jobs? Adding new programming from the other network to your subscription? throwing up your hands and going back to free FM?
By Katie
P Street, Golden Hour
Originally uploaded by lightboxdc
DC has announced the second sales tax holiday, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28th (and not a minute sooner!) through exactly 12:00 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 7th.
“The Sales Tax holiday grants an exemption from the 5.75 percent sales tax for clothes, shoes, and accessory items. To qualify, each item must cost $100 or less.”
Here is the very (read: overly) specific list of what qualifies:
Clothes (clothing)
Any article of apparel for humans, including pants, shirts and blouses, dresses, coats, jackets, belts, hats, undergarments, and multiple-piece garments sold as a set, if $100 or less.
Shoes
All footwear, except skis, swim fins, roller blades, and roller-skates.
Accessory Items
Jewelry, non-prescription eyeglasses, watches, watchbands, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, gloves, scarves, ties, headbands, hats, belts and belt buckles, and other traditional accessory items
So go forth and holiday shop! Wait… whats that you say? You’re broke? Bad economy? Cutting back on holiday spending? Huh? Pshhhh.
By Tom Bridge
Spam wall
Originally uploaded by freezelight
If you’ve noticed that overnight, you’ve gotten fewer V1agr4 emails, you have Brian Krebs of the Washington Post to thank. See, as part of the Security Fix blog, he’s been tracking down a lot of malware networks, a lot of spammers and a lot of kiddie porn traffickers. About 75% of the spam networks can trace their core servers and services back to a single server co-location facility in San Jose, called McColo.
And yesterday, his work took McColo’s internet connections offline. Continue reading
By Wayan
Caged, the Taxi Dog is all depression and disappointment
In May we adopted Taxi from the Washington Animal Rescue League, where she’d languished for three months after her previous owner returned her (1). As soon as we adopted her, we got her service animal registration done as we never wanted to leave her alone at home when we went out.
Usually she is a very happy dog. She loves to run at the now-closed Clark School and she even loves Dog Beach, but she hates to be alone. When we leave the house for important nearby chores she goes into fits of separation anxiety that are heart-wrenching. Just watch her freak out when I left for a mid-day meeting:
By Katie
Originally uploaded by erin m
Perfectmatch.com issued a press release today that although the economy might be taking a swift kick, signing up for online sites like match.com, chemistry.com, and of course, perfectmatch.com is on the rise. The release claimed that when times take a turn for the worse, more people reach out for support, and are looking out for a significant other.
The press release says: “Recently released statistics from Perfectmatch.com show a spike in new members of 47% over the last quarter, accelerating a trend that started at the beginning of 2008. In addition, matches are up 125%, as members are renewing their subscriptions and finding more perfect matches than ever before.”
DC regularly rates among the “best cities for singles” according to various different publications and sources – which is actually a stat often taken by counting how many people from a given region are signing up for these online dating sites. Which, I don’t think makes it a “great city for singles” since clearly people are turning to the internet for love instead of being able to find it in-person. (I have plenty of girlfriends who will tell you that’s the darn truth!) But the best singles city ranking does mean that a lot of people are online in DC looking for love. So… match.com or e-harmony anyone? Craigslist? Where have you had the best luck in online love in DC?
By Amélie
Fishy
Originally uploaded by maxedaperture
I’m not one to eat and tell, but I guess that “celeb-spotting” in DC is not reserved to strictly politico types. I know Paulo caught the enigmatic Lindsay Lohan on a golf cart to Union Station. I on the other hand, a consumer of all news and an anglophile at heart, caught our local BBC World News America anchor, Matt Frei, pondering his overwhelming options of bentō boxes and small sushi trays at Nooshi on 19th street.
It’s odd that while, say an ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN or Fox newsperson (local or national) could cause a minor stir if snagged in public, rather than having an intern doing their bidding. Our friends from “across the pond” can steal away from their anchor desks and fetch their own eats without a mere notice by the regular populace in D.C. (I did congratulate him and his team on the awesome coverage of the campaign this year). Now if I could only catch the cast of Top Gear at the nearby Chipotle, my year would be truly made. Mr. Clarkson and his crew are my unabashed “free speech” heroes at this moment in time, PC or not!
Who’s the oddest or “most famous” celebrity spotted by our readers in D.C. recently?
By Tom Bridge
P1010175_1
Originally uploaded by inked78
Do you live in Wards 3-8? Do you have once-weekly trash pickup? Your Trash Day May Be Changing, according to DPW. If your day is changing, you’ll get a door hanger from DPW with the new schedule explained in English & Spanish. The new schedule takes effect on December 1st. Unfortunately, DPWhasn’t changed their site yet with the new dates, or to announce they’re coming.
By Tom Bridge
CRW_0739 by tbridge
The new Capitol Visitors Center is due to open in another three weeks or so, but we got a sneak peek yesterday at the brand new CVC and Emancipation Hall. The new Visitors Center began its project life as an extended above-ground addition to the Capitol, but over its design process, changed into a subterranean addition to the Eastern side of the Capitol. The 580,000 square foot addition to the Capitol is quite a site to behold. The interior construction is mostly sandstone, to match the rest of the Capitol, but it hasn’t yet been imbued with the same sense of character and gravitas as the rest of the building. I suspect that with another 50 or so years, it may begin to feel like the Capitol, instead of a shiny new convention center.
Set your calendars for Friday. That’s when the new Visit the Capitol website goes live. Once it’s up, you’ll be able to schedule your own tour of the Capitol, either through your member’s office (and yes, I understand this also includes Delegate Norton) or just on your own. While the site wasn’t previewed for us yesterday, we’re assured in a lovely glossy flyer that it’s going to rock. So, plan on visiting their site once Friday hits, and schedule yourself a tour of the new space.
The CVC will be the new point of entry for all tourism-related visitors to the Capitol, containing a full security screening area, and staging for the tours. The screening area opens upon the football-field-sized Emancipation Hall. The beautiful view from the skylights that you’ve seen everywhere is from the north and south sides of Emancipation Hall. I think we may get to see some incredible weather shots once it opens this Winter. Can you imagine the shot of a guy shoveling snow from there? Or hailstones piling up? Or the video of a downpour? Yeah, expect to see this one everywhere. Continue reading
By Don
Air Force Memorial
courtesy of Me
If you haven’t been over to the Air Force memorial by the Pentagon this would be a nice day to do it. It’s sunny and lovely and only barely breezy. While it’s not metro-convenient you could get off at the Pentagon or Pentagon City and have a leisurely half-mile walk over. The Navy Annex metrobus stop is only a block away if you really don’t want to walk – grab one of the 16 line busses for that.
Veterans Eve
Originally uploaded by erin m
It’s Veterans Day, so while you’re enjoying either the day off from work or the light traffic into the city, please take a moment to remember the generations of men and women who served their country in times of both war and peace.
Today, I honor my paternal grandfather, who served in Germany in the late early 60s, and my maternal grandfather, who was stationed in London in the RAF during World War II, as well as several of my uncles who served in various branches of the Armed Forces as young men.
Feel free to leave your own tributes in the comments.
By Katie
Nestled along Clarendon Boulevard in the Court House area, Yaku looks to be the perfect neighborhood hot spot. Two levels of glass and glowing lights, it always looks warm and inviting from the street. I live in Arlington, and have walked past Yaku almost daily since it’s conception as just an empty office space below my dream real-estate local, The Odyssey condominiums.
When it finally looked as if something was actually going to go in the space (that had stood empty since before I moved here in fall 2007), I got pretty excited. On my walk home, I ran up to check the posted licences to see what it would be. It’s the perfect location to be our new favorite go-to spot. Yaku, the signs said. Hmm… I said. That’s an odd name. A little googling, and I find that Yaku will be another restaurant from Latin Concepts, the same people who brought us places like Chi-Cha Lounge, Mate, Ceviche, and Guarapo (which is only around the corner from Yaku).
According to the Web site, “YAKU, is a “Chifa” restaurant lounge brought to you by Fraga-Rosenfeld. Chifa is the fusion of Chinese and Peruvian cuisine developed by Chinese immigrants to Peru in the late 19th and early 20th centuries… The name YAKU means “water” in Quechua (Incan Language) and is intended to capture Asian-influenced Andean culinary styles unique to the region.” Yaku is also, says our friend wikipedia, a town located on Yaku Island, Japan. So let’s just go with Asian-Peruvian fusion, and call it interesting… Continue reading
By Katie
My co-worker Kelly dressed up as the Metro map for Halloween, a totally awesome costume if you ask me. Which triggered a discussion of Metro gear. You know, wearing stuff by Metro. So with a little googling, I discovered a multitude of Metro swag from WMATA.
Now, I personally loathe Metro. But not so much WMATA itself (though I know more than a few of you have beef with WMATA), but I mostly hate being cramped next to someone smelly and gross and smooshing myself into a crowded car while the doors closing gong goes off. It’s the part of my day that I do and then promptly forget I did. But at the same time, I’m sort of oddly fond of Metro. It does get me from place to place, and I’m ALWAYS curious about Metro’s random facts, like how fast cars can to go (max of 59 mph) to the fact that Wheaton has the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere (!). So I can see how someone would want a history book on Metro. But… WMATA.com provides so much more swag that just a book. Did you know you can buy a tee shirtfor your favorite metro stop? A mouse pad? Or a coffee mug? There are even customizable metro note cards!
I’m dying to know how much revenue it makes. But more than that, I’m dying to know who actually owns it, and why – so I ask you, reader, do you own some Metro swag? And WHY? Do you have a Dupont Circle tee shirt that you wear proudly on the weekends? Did you send your mom a personalized Metro note card? Please, please tell! I promise I won’t make fun of you… too much.
Photo courtesy of flickr user Needlessspaces.
By Tom Bridge
Upwards to the Capitol
Originally uploaded by tbridge
This shot was taken from the entranceway to the new Capitol Visitors Center this morning. While the CVC doesn’t open to the public until December 2nd, we got the private tour today, along with a lot of the rest of the media. The short version? It’s amazing. The slightly longer version? It’s amazing, but it cost over $600 Million and will have taken almost 7 years to complete. Emancipation Hall is the centerpiece of the CVC, at the heart of which is the original 5-piece plaster statue of Armed Freedom, the bronze version of which sits atop the Capitol Dome.
Thanks much to the CVC Media Staff and the Senate Press Gallery for their help today!
By Tom Bridge
Especially right now with all of DC’s amazing arbor turning gold and red, the view from the Dome of the Capitol Rotunda must be pretty much amazing. I caught these folks the other day getting a tour from their Member of Congress. See, that’s how you get up to the very tippy top of the Capitol to get to look out. So, if you want to get up there, write in to your representative, and see if you can’t finagle a Dome Tour.
By Ben H. Rome
together, courtesy of jaime_montemayor
You guys certainly took advantage of this fabulous past weekend! I had a hard time deciding on the multitude of photos people took across our area; many were monument-centered, as the sky and lighting was near-perfect for photography.
After the jump, a cross-cut of what area folks enjoyed during this glorious weather weekend. Sadly, it’s not sticking around, as we’ve got colder temps coming. Hey, at least it’s not snowing…
By Tom Bridge
The way they were tearing down the structure on Wilson at Highland, I was expecting that they might be keeping the ancient brick façade that used to house the Clarendon Valet, the British Goods store and the Viet Garden. Friday, as I walked by, it was apparent that was no longer the case. Everything behind the Hard Times all the way through to the next block was a big ol’ pile of rubble, making way for a new office tower. It’s not the only lot in Clarendon that’s looking more like war-zone than anything else: the lot between Danville & Cleveland is all clear now, as well, waiting to be…who knows what. But, the nice thing I love about that neighborhood: chances are, it’s not just another chain. Unless it’s retail, then we’re pretty much boned.
By Tom Bridge
Nice save on the Post by pimguy
Before there was West Wing, there was Sports Night. One of my favorite piece of comedic/dramatic television ever is the Pilot of that show is the Pilot, wherein we get to meet the cast. The first introduction of Jeremy, the stats guy and sports nut, is hysterical, and it sums up my general problem with today’s column. See, I’m a baseball/football kind of guy. The winter sports are hard for me. But, because I’m a trooper, let’s take a look at how the local teams fared this week.
The Caps
Record: 7-5
Past Two Weeks: 3-2
Place: 2nd in the Southeast.
The story of the season so far has to be Alexander Semin. While he’s fallen from the top of the points chart, he’s still got 21 points in just 12 games, and his +/- of +11 is first in the NHL. The Caps’ front line of Semin, Ovechkin & Federov sounds an awful like a Russian Mob Law firm, and their effects on the Caps’ opponents might be equivalent. They ended up +7 on Saturday, though Federov left in the 3rd period with an unknown injury.
I keep waiting for Ovechkin to show off the superstar quality that he shined to a high gloss last season, but it just doesn’t seem to be coming. He’s stuck with just 8 points, and only two goals. If the Caps want to be a 1st place team, and I think Ted Leonsis wants them to be, then Alex is going to need to find where he left his accuracy. 4% accuracy just isn’t going to cut it in the NHL. Caps play the Lightning at the Phone Booth tonight, then head out to Carolina for the Hurricanes on Wednesday. Let’s see if you can’t get a few points, eh, Alex?
By Don
You’re never too old for a good game of follow the leader
courtesy of Jean-François Chénier
Well, if you’ve ever sat around and pressed refresh 500 times waiting for someone to respond to your comment on one of our posts… KNOCK IT OFF! Bandwidth ain’t free, you know!
Oh, alright, we’ll help you out – we’ve added a new feature here at We Love DC. When you post a comment on one of our posts you can elect to be notified when someone else comments. Or if you just want to watch a particularly entertaining back and forth between Crank A and Crank B you can choose to be notified without leaving a comment of your own.
Don’t worry, you can stop the notifications when you lose interest in following the discussion. Every email you get will have a link you can follow to manage your subscriptions.
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