By Tom Bridge
‘Solar Car Project 3’
courtesy of ‘Fan of FOTC’
You might’ve seen a weird UFO-lookin’ car rolling down Mass Ave tonight if you were out and about, that’s the X1, a solar car. We’re not sure quite why they’re in town, but hey, if it’s gone all the way up to the Arctic and back, that’s pretty awesome. Marcelo de Luz, the driver, was after the world record for a solar car, and got it in California. He’s on the way back from the trip now.
By Tom Bridge
‘Shopping Bag Ban’
courtesy of ‘Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com’
The DC City Council voted, unanimously, to place a 5¢ per bag tax for any plastic or paper bags used in stores in the District of Columbia. The tax is designed to promote the use of reusable bags which create less landfill waste. However, just consider: If you average 3 bags a trip to the store, and two trips to the store a week, that’s 30¢ per week; you’ll pay off three new bags by March next year.
What you have to do, though is remember them all the time, which I’ve not been as successful at doing as I’d like to report.
By Katie
‘Look what’s for dinner!’
courtesy of ‘jessicafm’
I got slightly snarky a while back about the upcoming Kid’s Restaurant Week (June 13-21) but promised in my last post about it that I’d offer up my personal picks for the event, even if I plan to stay far, far away. So here’s keeping good to my promise. Continue reading
By Jenn Larsen
Alex Mills as Puck in Synetic Theater's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Photo credit Raymond Gniewek, courtesy of Synetic.
Blending both breathtaking physical control and hypnotic emotional projection, Synetic Theater is the bright star of the Washington arts scene. Seriously, if anyone ever yaps on and on to you about DC having nothing to offer in the way of brilliant theater, get them to the current production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and dare them to say so afterwards. This is both a beautiful and hysterical night out. For a company known for dark tragedy and breaking hearts, they also prove themselves more than capable of splitting your sides.
Right from the start Synetic puts their signature wordless stamp on a play most of us know well. The fairies are powerful, pagan and exotic. In a perfect twist on the plot, Puck becomes the orphan that Titania and Oberon fight over, instead of it being some nameless child, and that battle is a glorious dangerous display of both the physical and the magical. The thwarted young lovers are discovered drinking away their sorrows with a bottle of Jack. They go from sadly tipsy to athletically audacious on a dime – there are some frighteningly daredevil toss-and-catch fights. The goofy “rude mechanicals” are a hodge-podge of leather and denim. There’s even a delightful nod to the Marx Brothers with a pianist in a Chico hat (and was that a riff from “A Night at the Opera” maybe? brilliant job as always by composer Konstantine Lortkipanidze). Not to mention a hilarious parody of Synetic’s past Shakespeare productions. You have to love a company that can make fun of itself. Continue reading
By AcaciaO
‘DSC_01500001’
courtesy of ‘cruffo’
The Nationals fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire today, replacing him with Steve McCatty, a AAA pitching coach from my very own Syracuse Chiefs. According to the Nationals Journal, while St. Claire was clearly not thrilled, he seemed unphased: “That’s life. I’ve been in this game for 31 years. I’ve been fired before.” The decision comes as little surprise, considering the team’s current ERA – 5.69 – the worst in the MLB. The Nats also ranked worst as of May in pitching rank when it came to walks, wild pitches, triples allowed and total bases. St. Claire had been with the Nats for 7 years.
‘1/100 Strangers Project – Steve’
courtesy of ‘Kasia Swierczek’
City Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) introduced a bill today that would include the homeless in DC’s hate crimes law. As broad as DC’s bias crimes law is, I’m actually surprised the homeless aren’t already protected by it. Since the strongest reason for hate crimes laws is to deter crimes that particularly terrify an entire class of people in the community, it seems like a no-brainer to add protection for a group of people who already have an uneasy relationship with the police and other members of the community, and who frequently are homeless because of issues that would also prevent them from reliably reporting a crime or identifying an assailant.
By AcaciaO
‘(Old) Blackberry’
courtesy of ‘rwkvisual’
Late last night, when walking home with friends, I learned about a technology that is either really useful or too much information: My Alert DC. Apparently you can get text message updates from the DC Metropolitan Police alerting you to emergencies and crimes in the neighborhood of your choice. When a crime occurs, for example, you get a text which reads like a police blotter, essentially, alerting you to the nature of the crime, the profile of the perpetrator and of the victim. My friend noted that he gets 2-3 every day, and since he had received none yesterday, something was “due to happen,” statistically. And indeed, not ten minutes after we got to our respective homes, he forwarded me a message.
Besides crime alerts, which are useful pretty much only when something is on-going and otherwise serve to make you more anxious than normal, you can get severe weather warnings, government closings, Amber Alerts and school closings. All of this is tailored to what you want and your chosen neighborhood or school area. I signed up out of sheer blogger-ly nosiness and curiosity, but I’m curious as to what others think.
By Katie
Hailing from Winchester, Virginia, Devon McTavish grew up watching DC United play soccer, and has early memories of his Dad getting lost in the twisted DC streets near the White House. So if any DC United player loves DC, it would be Devon, our quasi-hometown boy. He and I grabbed drinks at Whitlows, and I grilled him on his favorite places around DC, his toughest game this season, and what he does in the community. Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
‘jumping in vain’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Gene Wojchiechowski of ESPN thinks we could all do without the Nats, putting them atop the list of 50 Things We Can Do Without in Sports. Now, the Nationals are bad, and I’ll admit that they’re on their way to eclipsing the 1962 Mets for the worst single season record of all time, but really? We have a beautiful stadium here now, and we’re supposed to ditch the team? For what?
Well, that got me thinking:
What do you think we should do?
By Rebecca
Picture is a bit fuzz and of poor quality, but I caught a DC cop driving through Georgetown, while chatting away on his cell phone sans hands-free device.
Now while I’ll admit to being occasionally guilty of talking on my cell while driving, shouldn’t our cops be exemplars of the code of law? Granted they’re only human, but come on! The least they can obey common laws while on duty, in uniform and driving a police car!
In DC, I’ve seen specific police traps that target motorists on cell phones. In fact, there’s often one not far from where this picture was taken. Surely, this cop has never been a part of those traps or ticketed anyone for cellphone violation that he himself is guilt of. I mean that would just reek of hypocrisy.
A question that occurs to me is: Could another DC Cop ticket this guy for the violation? Of course that would be a blatant violation of the Brotherhood of the Cop, but feasibly is that possible? Can an on duty officer receive a ticket?
By AcaciaO
‘Rita’s Tangerine Ice’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
I’m salivating already. This past weekend I had my first taste of Rita’s Water Ice. Come to find out, Rita’s will be opening a new location… less than a block from my house. Cha-ching! Unfortunately we still have 2 months to wait, the grand opening of the H Street NE Rita’s, which will take up the old Kwame Brown headquarters on the north side of H, isn’t until August 1. But I have a feeling that it will be just in the nick of time with heatpocolypse coming on.
Also in the works is a 6th and H Chinatown Location. But if you need Rita’s, like, right now, try one of the following: Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
Fail Rail
Originally uploaded by brhefele
Thanks much to Unsuck DC Metro for posting the tale of yesterday’s broken train which screwed up rush hour, forcing single-tracking between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom. If you’ve ever been on a stuck train, you’ll recognize the brusque behavior of the train operators, as well as the radio conversation with Central. If you want the official version of what happened to go along with the on-train story, The Post has Metro’s explanation.
By Max
vespa-7 by Huro Kitty
When Vespa Washington closed its doors last fall, a big void was created in the DC scooter scene. How can a cool city like DC be without its own scooter shop? Sure, there’s Vespa of Arlington, but…it’s in Arlington. Well have no fear, scooterists! Some former staff members from Vespa Washington are starting their own shop called Modern Classics. Vespa currently has only one line of electric-powered scooters and they too are welcome in the shop. With electric scooters everywhere taking the market gradually, Vespa had decided to join the industry and in the future might plan on making designs of electric kick scooters like on https://scooteradviser.com/razor-pocket-mod-bellezza-electric. Located at 955 V Street NE (near the arboretum), they will serve as a repair and maintenance shop for scooters old and new, with the possibility of scooter sales in the future. As the new owner of an old P200E, it’s comforting to know that when I’m up two-stroke creek, these guys can come to my rescue.
The first thing you will need to do is the research at Go2Scooter , and decide what you want. You can get a kick scooter if you want a cheaper option. Kick scooters are the smallest and lightest models of scooters, usually no more than four feet long and under five pounds. Mopeds are powered by a gasoline engine but some models come with gasoline kick scooters that are also much smaller than regular mopeds. You can choose any of these scooter types as long as it has a gas engine to run.
Their grand opening is this Saturday as part of Scootergate 4 where they’ll be hosting “Gymkana & Scooter Jackassery”, providing food, playing your favorite iPod playlists, and even hosting a scooter swap meet from 2-5:00pm. So far the weather is looking pretty, pretty, pretty good for this weekend, so be sure to partake in the what will go down in DC’s history as the time when Max got killed on a scooter one of the best scooter meetups EVER.
By Max
Rolling Thunder ’09, Washington, DC by Nicole Aguirre
Memorial Day weekend is one of my favorite times of the year in DC. With so many monuments dedicated to remembering those who have lost their lives defending our country, our city fills up faster than the Titanic with people of all different ages, from all around the country, from all walks of life. It’s a time when people put aside their differences and focus on what they have in common, a love and sense of patriotism for our great nation.
This week’s photo shows two people from two walks of life, brought together by a park bench and some shade. According to the photographer (who had to wait for a gap in the pedestrians to get this shot), these two were “leaning into each other most of the time” as they watched the Rolling Thunder rumble by. What I love about this photo is that it makes the viewer wonder, wonder what the couple talked about all afternoon, wonder what war memories each of them has, wonder how their lives have differed to this point and even wonder how they’ve been the same. As someone who was born on the 4th of July and longs for the days when our country’s values were intact, this photo is moving and reminds me that there is a lot we can learn from our elders. Great capture, Nicole.
By Tom Bridge
‘In Jail’
courtesy of ‘Daniel Voyager’
The brazen embezzlement of tens of millions of DC City Tax Dollars, distributed through refund checks by Hariette Walters, appear to be the fault of Walters’ upbringing, depression, childhood traumas, obesity and other causes, all of which mean that Walters should only serve 15 years in federal custody for her role in the theft.
Really? I was thinking maybe the fact that the city schools, and infrastructure, that are taking the hit for the theft might rather suggest she spend a good 20-25 in prison instead.
By Kirk
‘Happy Birthday, Abe!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
So as not to let the occasion go unnoticed:
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon the city a new memorial: conceived in the likeness of Abe and dedicated to the….
…ok, enough kitsch. Yesterday marked the 87th anniversary of the Lincoln Memorial. If you get a chance, head down there to congratulate honest Abe (or to shake your fist and remind him that the South will rise again, if that’s how you roll).
By Katie
‘Hurricane Isabel’
courtesy of ‘John Griffiths’
Yeah, I was going to say here come the ‘Canes but the thing is? I’m from North Carolina where the ‘Canes have a whole ‘nother sporty meaning… but point is: This week marks the start of the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season! WOO HOO! This year, the National Weather Service predicts a near normal period with nine to 14 named storms, four to seven of them becoming hurricanes, and one to three will be major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
Pepco, your much-hated power company sent along some handy tips for your power survival: 1) Keep Pepco emergency numbers accessible to report outages or wires down. For outages, call 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662). 2) Make sure Pepco has the latest phone number registered in our automated Outage Management System, to identify your location and quickly locate the source of trouble. Customers can update numbers online at www.pepco.com or call Customer Care at 202-833-7500.
Other more general tips for the season include: 3) Prepare an emergency survival kit. This would include a flashlight, battery-powered radio, fresh batteries, essential medication, nonperishable food, and enough fresh water to last several days. 4) Develop a contingency plan. Decide what to do in the event of a lengthy power outage such as seeking temporary shelter with family or friends. I personally am covered since my total worry-wart Mother (love you, Mom) gave me this for Christmas.
‘Love on an Escalator’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’
Via MovingMomentarily comes the story of a couple who got engaged right on a Metro escalator:
“We went down to the metro platform, I was beaming and looking at my ring and a woman standing near us asked if we had just gotten engaged. I said “Yes! It’s kind of strange to tell you first since we don’t even know you!” but she was very excited for us and said congratulations several times.”
I’m sure some of you are thinking that you would never accept a proposal that came in a Metro station, but since a park ranger was the first person to know about our engagement… I think it’s adorable. And since she said yes, I’m guessing she agrees.
By jasmine
‘DSC04273’
courtesy of ‘Matt Lancashire’
It’s June! We made it! Finally, an end to those cold temperatures and a hearty welcome to sundresses and summer concerts. I know I’m excited. For that reason, I have included a couple of larger venues in my June concert preview that I’ve been leaving out in the past. Because what better time is there than summer to hang out on the lawn, enjoying a huge band you’ve always wanted to see? Can I interest you in some Eric Clapton, No Doubt, or even indie fan fave The Decemberists, perchance? Details after the break! Continue reading
By AcaciaO
‘The Red and the Black’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’
H Street hot spot The Red and The Black has opened its back patio, reports Frozen Tropics. If you’re looking for a Capitol Hill/Northeast spot to enjoy a happy hour as well as the beautiful weather, head on over. The bar also boasts nightly shows for a small cover — tonight hear the mod-psychedelic pop of Très Bien, starting at 9 p.m. Hit this up instead of the H Street Country Club tonight – the newest Atlas District installment is closed for the evening while they put some finishing touches on (read: repair and amend?) the mini golf course.
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