Despair Inc has a satirical poster I’m fond of that says MISTAKES: it could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others. Well, DC Fire and EMS have taken that life lesson to heart for use in their safety demonstrations. During one at Galludet University their demo got away from them and ignited a plastic curtain, showering a few of the firefighters with molten goo. It all goes pear-shaped at 1:20 into the video, when the firefighters get too close in and the curtain which was meant to contain smoke goes up and falls on the firefighters who are, inexplicably, in the box rather than spraying from outside it.

One firefighter suffered minor burns to the face and hand and will be returning to work in short order, so hopefully he won’t be carrying any scars.

‘Artomatic 2009 Ramune’s Candy’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

This is a town full of associations, which usually just gives us something to gawk at when we walk around the city. Political scientists, videographers, historians, architects, anthropologists. I think it would make for a good tourist group bingo game.

In this case however, the association is giving not just amusement but ten pounds of candy. The National Confectioner’s Association just put up a contest that they’re having judged by four “celebrity” bloggers from Gizmodo and other big blogs. All you have to do is amuse them by providing the best costume idea, posted in their comments. Win and you get enough snacks to take you through hockey playoffs next year. You know, so you have something to eat as you watch the Caps pound on the Penguins.

Yes, I do happen to have a personal connection to NCA which is why I heard about this so quickly. However kissing up to me will garner you no favors. Which should not stop you from sending me free beer. Say, if you’re from the brewer’s association.

‘Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)’
courtesy of ‘Tim Green aka atoach’

So a bunch of farmers were arrested outside of DEA headquarters yesterday. “For what?” I hear you ask… They were trying to plant hemp seeds on the DEA’s lawn. To protest against the ban on growing hemp.

Hemp, as you probably know, is related to marijuana, and although it doesn’t actually have any psychoactive effects itself, its cultivation is banned in the US as part of the War on Some Drugs. All hemp products in the US have to be imported from other countries, once the plant has been turned into rope or fabric or whatever, lest some idiot try to smoke something that won’t actually get you high.

I’m sympathetic to the farmers (in case you couldn’t guess), but really? Showing up in a mob outside a government agency brandishing shovels? Maybe not the best form of civil disobedience you could have chosen, eh?

‘preakness 086 rachel alexandra’
courtesy of ‘apium’

Perhaps you skipped the Preakness race this past May, along with the approximately 40,000 others who chose not to return in 2009, due to a new policy prohibiting BYOB. Well, rest assured, you didn’t miss your last chance. The race will return in 2010 for it’s 101st year in Maryland. Whether or not the beer policies will continue is still TBD.

The bankrupt holding firm of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Magna Entertainment Corp., is selling the ownership of the race, but said it will not consider auction bids that would remove it from the state of Maryland. In April, concern over the 20,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in revenue that Maryland would lose if Preakness were to leave the state prompted Maryland lawmakers to give Maryland the supreme authority to buy the race.

WaPo reports that Baltimore developer David Cordish and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos have both expressed an interest in keeping the race alive and well at Pimlico.

‘Cathy Lanier’
courtesy of ‘Women_in_Uniform’

The City Paper‘s City Desk blog has a really informative entry on exactly why Chief Cathy Lanier deserves the credit for the District’s rapidly dropping homicide rate. They cite an increased emphasis on arresting suspects in non-lethal shootings (this one seems like a no-brainer; was this really not a priority previously?), and aggressively managing and encouraging communication between all the various police sub-groups that could have information about particular gangs, neighborhoods, and persons of interest. The CP specifically dismisses “All Hands On Deck” as a possible factor.

The whole entry is worth reading, if only for the excellent use of the verb form of “beef.”

‘2008’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Since “social media douchebag” is one of the many professional hats I wear, I was particularly interested to see that George Washington University has been ranked the top most active university on Twitter. More interesting, though, was that they attained that distinction by using Twitter to post interesting content, rather than just hooking up an RSS feed to a Twitter account and never thinking about it again. Which pleases me, because I’m pretty astonished that anyone thinks a Twitter account full of university press releases could actually be interesting.

Hooker ads, slighty legitimized
courtesy of Me

We told you when the council published their proposed rules governing massage establishments last month and last Friday they went into effect. WaPo seems to have gotten the memo and the three ads above were the only ones in today’s print edition of the sports page. That’s half the quantity MediaBistro noted in their hooker ad count two years ago and none are actually in DC, where the statute is in place.

Anyone have a week or two old Post sports section to check if there had been any surviving DC-area parlor ads before the law went into effect?

‘NMAI South Facade’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

I just noticed a mention on twitter that the cornerstone for the White House was laid on October 13, 1792: 217 years ago today. It would take another eight years before it was completed and one of our presidents would move in.

The facts I’ve found in my searches about the cornerstone have included a lot of interesting information (the stone and the foundation were largely built by slaves and freed slaves) and even an article about this anniversary on Politico. But no pictures of the cornerstone. Any of you history or architecture buffs know where on the building it is? Is it visible to the general public? At all? There was no big ceremony, so does the stone lack other adornment?

‘Howard University Hospital’
courtesy of ‘brownpau’

After a week in intensive care, Marion Barry has has been released from the hospital. He released a short statement thanking God and his Doctors for returning him to good health again. No statement from the council has been released.

Personally, I was kinda hoping he was going to step down for health reasons, but then I remembered it was Marion Barry and he’ll be in office til he dies or his constituents wake up and recognize who they’re putting into office.