Author Archive

No, it’s NOT really J-Walking…

Dear Ms. D-DOT Employee,
While in our right to be impatient pedestrians, we do appreciate the (hard) work it is to direct traffic that you perform. I realize you’re there to (possibly) protect us from those bad motorists, but we are all adults, and we realize that we can walk on our own accord. It is [...]

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Well, as some of you may be aware, because you are either extra stinky today, thirsty, or just plain out of the wet stuff, WSSC reported a water main failure this morning in Montgomery County. Now, as of the most recent update, it’s now two breaks, which occurred after initiating standard procedures to shut down [...]

Free Concert @ Farragut Square 5-7pm

The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (or GTBID for short) is having their kick-off in a series of “Sounds in the Square” this evening at 5pm. I’m not sure how much foot traffic of commuters it will draw away from the mass movement of people to and fro as they rush home, but at least [...]

You can voice your 1st Amendment rights in D.C., just as long as you’re QUIET!!!!

In the wonderful wisdom that is the D.C. Council taking their lead from the President in trying to *hush* dissent in the Capitol, preliminary approval was given to quiet noisy demonstrations within the city. As WTOP reports, that the measure is aimed at getting demonstrators away from residential neighborhoods and limit “non-commercial public speech” to [...]

World Malaria Day … or Rock Concert at Work

For those who do keep their finger on the world pulse, tomorrow is World Malaria Day (April 25th), sponsored by the World Health Organization. While Spring is here, and the standing water from the heavy rains a few days ago will sure spawn our favorite Summer pest, the mosquito, it’s good to remember, that here, [...]

Pope Behind the Rope

So, D.C.’s in a tizzy with the Papal visit this week, and all the supposed traffic tie-ups it’s supposed to bring. This afternoon, a cadre of D.C. police and crowd control specialists (aka “barricade men”) lined Pennsylvania Avenue with aluminum corrals. Supposedly tomorrow will pale in snarly comparison with Thursday for the 10am Papal mass [...]

Shaaaaaaane! – The Pogues rock the house!

If there was a house band at the gates of hell, The Pogues would probably be who you’d hear playing…. and you’d like it! I have to say, I wasn’t a big Pogues fan, but I do have a musicological interest in the origins of modern music. To that avail, I had the pleasure of [...]

The Urban Voodoo Machine

If you missed the final Pogues show this evening at the 9:30 Club, their astounding gypsy-surf-punk-rock opener, The Urban Voodoo Machine is playing at The Red & The Black at 9pm tonight ($8). This was one high energy act, and everybody in the place got into it. So if you think the opener gets [...]

Beer, Food… what more could you ask for…

“SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience” is coming to DC May 16 & 17th at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. Learn how to pair REAL food with REAL beer (something other than a Miller Lite and a hot wing) with brewers and chefs from around the country. This is really a who’s who’s [...]

Receipt, We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Receipt

Now, I’ve been reading about a number of these incidents over the past year, where the compulsory showing of receipts at the door, of well, almost every store, as a way to prove the junk in your shopping bag you just paid for 12 feet away was, um, well paid for. One of my favorite [...]

A Holiday for Nutjobs

Well, I’m working from home due to the bomb scare at the World Bank today. However, it may have been a good day for everybody to stay home. It’s been reported via WUSA, that a well-armed nut job made his way on to the capitol grounds armed with a tactical vest (probably bullet-proof and loaded [...]

What is that SMELL?!

C&O Canal

Originally uploaded by alberto238
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Well, with all the traffic woes of this morning, I decided to hang back a bit and delay my entry. Now with the American Legion Bridge work entering it’s supposed final phase, that backed up traffic quite a bit even in the [...]

DC Restaurant Week 2007

Yes, for you gluttons of premiere food in DC, Restaurant Week 2007 is upon us. Although the gimmick is getting old, IMHO, here’s a chance to try from “prix-fixe” menus for lunch ($20.07) and dinner ($30.07) from many a “fu-fu shi-shi” dive in DC. I’m not sure I’m up for having twenty dollar lunches, but [...]

The Great Equalizer… The Restroom

While at the Kabuki at the Warner Theatre last night (which was excellent, even though I didn’t understand a word of Japanese), I had felt that nature called during intermission, and wandered to the less crowded restroom in the basement. Besides the overpowering odor seemingly seeping from the tiles (I thought this was a “high [...]

Escape From D.C.

No, this isn’t really the next John Carpenter film with Snake Plissken taking aim at the White House and Congress (although, I wished it was). But it’s about mid-season for all the D.C. natives to head out of town just to catch a breather from the madness that is life in the Capitol Region. [...]

The Dirtiest Jobs in DC?

I’m addicted to Mike Rowe and his Discovery Channel show, Dirty Jobs. They’ve supposedly “searched this great land of ours” for people performing “jobs that make civilized society possible”. He’s hit Baltimore (Glen Burnie – McShane Bell Foundry) for a bell maker and groundskeeper for the Bowie Baysox, but no love for DC?

What do [...]

Talk To Me… No, Really…

I’ve been wanting to post about this film for a few months now, namely since seeing the trailer and also realizing it’s a film about an interesting time in DC, as well as the local celebrity that spawned it. The film is “Talk To Me” and stars Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda”), Martin Sheen (“The West [...]

DC could learn a thing from Tijuana

I’m not sure where I came across this artist’s work, offiically, but the DC Department of Transportation (as well as other surrounding communities) could learn a thing or two about the project started in 2005 by UCSD art student, Shannon Spanhake… planting pothole gardens.

Why fill the negative space with soul sucking and uninteresting asphalt [...]

Over Engineering Your Morning Cup-O-Joe

Now, I always was thinking, what if the Germans turned their expertise in building the perfect automobile towards other domestic tools of the trade… it seems that they also need a little “pick me up” in the morning, too.. Rube Goldberg style.

I think this site remains in it’s original German due to a [...]

Kabuki @ The Warner Theatre

Anybody here into ancient Japanese theatre arts and music?… C’mon, raise your hand, I see you.

So Heisei Nakamura-Za Kabuki is in DC this Thursday at the Warner Theatre downtown (as if it was anywhere else). I’ve kind of been enchanted with, at least, the music that could be heard, since it’s not ethnically from [...]