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courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

If hitting the pool isn’t your cup of tea or the recent Legg-Mason competitions have got you interested in picking up a racket East Potomac Tennis wants us to let you know they’re delighted to take your money.

As an indoor activity it’s not a bad deal at $20 per hour, and considering that the temperature and humidity are on their way up you may want to take your exertions inside, to learn how to play, visit tennisinformation.net. They’re located over on Hains Point and have indoor and outdoor courts to choose from and a variety of services and instruction options.
Tennis is a very popular sport in Australia and is played by people of all ages. Tennis can be played by two people (called ‘playing singles’) or four people (‘doubles’). Players use racquets to hit a ball over a net into the other side of the court. A game of tennis involves a variety of types of play, including serving the ball over the net, rallies (when the ball is hit back and forth between opponents), fast movements and strategic game play.

Tennis can be played as a sport or as a recreational activity with friends and family. Either way, playing tennis is a good sport to maintain your health, fitness, strength and agility. It has been calculated that an hour-long game of singles tennis burns around 600 calories for men and 420 calories for women.

Honestly, I think they deserve your business just based on their having a FAQ question that starts with “I am a complete, uncoordinated beginner. Can I learn tennis?” I am, admittedly, somewhat easily amused.

‘Just playing around in the back yard…2’
courtesy of ‘cruffo’

Batter, up! It’s now the ladies turn to swing for the fences in the first-ever Congressional Women’s Softball Game. A team of Congresswomen from both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate will face off against female staffers of the DCCC, RNCC, DNC and RNC tonight. Donations will be accepted at the gate and will benefit the Young Survival Coalition.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz D-Fla., herself a breast cancer survivor, will co-captain the congresswomen’s team with Rep. Jo Ann Emerson R-Mo., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand D-N.Y. and Sen. Susan Collins R-Maine.

The congresswomen’s team will also include the following big-leaguers:

Betty Sutton, D-Ohio; Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Pa.; Betsy Markey, D-Colo.; Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y.; Grace Napolitano, D-Ariz.; Susan Davis, D-Calif.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio; Laura Richardson, D-Calif.; Donna Edwards, D-Md.

The game will be played at Guy Mason Field, 3600 Calvert St. NW. The first pitch will be thrown at 7:30 p.m.

‘take me out to the ballgame…’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

City Paper has a piece about – and the full text of – Marion Barry’s weird open letter to fellow councilman David Catania. It essentially asserts that Catania’s reactions to Barry lining the pockets of his girlfriend is all about a dispute over a past vote and that he’s pursuing some sort of vendetta. Rather than, say, being disgusted, embarrassed, or offended by unethical behavior. Even if it’s 100% on target, complaining about being persecuted works way better when you’re not admittedly guilty.

I wouldn’t find it worth noting except that I thought to myself “If it was anyone else I’d wonder if this kind of behavior was a sign of the onset of Alzheimer’s. But with Barry it doesn’t reflect any kind of changed behavior.”

‘A New Trail’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

There was a pretty nasty bike accident this morning at 13th and Florida NW, witnesses tell us. A biker was speeding down the hill past Cardozo H.S. toward stopped traffic without slowing down. When he finally noticed the stopped cars in front of him, the biker slammed on his brakes, flying over the handlebars and crashing into the back window of the SUV. Witnesses of the accident called 911, but police showed up within minutes to move the biker (who was, in point of fact, wearing his helmet) off the street and give him assistance. No word on the biker’s condition, but we hope he’s okay. Just a daily wake-up call for bikers across the district to be extra aware.

Scott Oudsema by Max Cook

Last week the Washington Kastles were in last place in the Eastern Conference and things were looking grim.  Despite having Rennae Stubbs and Leander Paes, two players who recently competed in the Wimbledon finals, the team just couldn’t get a win.  Troubled by double faults and a low number of aces and break point conversions, the Kastles got off to an 0-4 start.

Continue reading →

‘GravelHillReportCard_1942-43_Inside’
courtesy of ‘Small Town OK’

Congratulations to the students, teachers and administrators at DC Public Schools, whose 2008-2009 assessment scores were higher than the preceding years. The numbers themselves are less than stellar, though, with just under half the students in elementary school at “proficient” or better for their grade level in reading and mathematics. High school students are at a mere 40% proficient in reading and mathematics. Pretty scary when you think about the number of kids in DC’s schools who can’t achieve at grade-level.

‘Happy Panda’
courtesy of ‘headsoak’

Tiff mentioned the National Zoo’s announcement about another spotted leopard cub; the zoo also announced a new red panda cub today, born to a somewhat older panda named Panya – the fifth red panda born at the zoo’s conservation research center in the last three weeks.

I’d love to show you a picture but for some reason they didn’t post any. Crazy! Red pandas are cuter than giant pandas and spotted leopards put together. Perhaps the shots did not come out because the camera shattered from too much adorable.

Baby Boom of Endangered Species
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian’s National Zoo

…with all the cute baby animals. Apparently the clouded leopard adult pair at the zoo are kind of randy, and have produced another cub, born Friday afternoon. Like the first pair of cubs, this one will be hand-reared by Zoo staff to help with socialization. Which is good, because his big brother is pretty much demanding some belly-rubs.

You know, the pandas could take some lessons from a species actually interested in its own survival.