‘Lunch from Korean Food Truck’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Well Washington, it finally stopped raining for a bit. Venture outside today and try some food for a truck, before the monsoons start again.

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‘Library of Congress Reading Room’
courtesy of ‘tzk333’

Put down the books for one second to pat yourselves on the back, DC. According to CNN Money, you’re the smartest city in America. Where does the city’s summa cum laude come from?

In the District and surrounding suburbs, 47.3% of people 25 years or older have bachelor’s, master’s, professional school or doctorate degrees, according to new Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The national average barely tips 25%.

The figures don’t surprise John Schmidt, senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in D.C. The city is built on jobs that require degrees.

“There’s a very high share of federal government employees here,” he said, “and people dealing with the federal government, including defense contractors, lobbyists, businesses that want to influence the regulatory process; there’s lots of lawyers.”

DC holds a slight edge in the distinction over a few Silicon Valley cities – San Francisco and San Jose – and the rest of the top ten includes many other tech and research regions around the country (the North Carolina research triangle and Boston round out the five smartest).

Now get back to studying and your post-graduate degrees, colleagues. It’s apparently what sets us apart.

‘No Answer’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

If you’re a habitual in-the-car caller and drive in Maryland at all you’d better pick up a headset before tomorrow’s morning commute. The new law requiring a hands-free device when dialing and driving kicks in tomorrow.

It’s what’s known as a secondary offense, so an officer cannot pull you over and cite you solely for holding your phone to your ear; you need to be doing something else that you can be ticketed for, such as speeding or failing to stop at a stop sign. However, while in theory there is no difference between theory and practice, in practice this isn’t always the case – get an officer’s attention by violating the law and you may find yourself getting stopped when you wouldn’t have otherwise.

You really should just hold that call till you stop – studies show that your performance behind the wheel is degraded by having that conversation, regardless of using a hands-free device. However if you’re going to take the risk anyway you may as well save yourself the $40 first-offender ticket. Further offenses will cost you $100.

‘The diamond’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

The 2010 MLB season has ended here in D.C., and even though the first six seasons of the Nationals in town have offered more lowlights than highlights, there is certainly hope that things will improve for the better. While local baseball fans take a moment to reflect on where Adam Dunn lands and how Stephen Strasburg recovers, an interesting story surfaced in this morning’s UniWatch about the Nationals past. This one involves the first home the newly relocated Expos had in the District – RFK Stadium – and Paul Lukas takes on an interesting mystery after the jump. Continue reading →

‘Another summer downpour comes and goes’ courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’ Uh, don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s a storm of biblical proportions out there. Since food trucks aren’t food boats (yet!) they aren’t really equipped for rainy days. There are a few brave souls out there though. Continue reading →

‘raindrops’
courtesy of ‘sally henny penny’

So, it’s raining, and not a little bit either. There may be as much as 2-4 inches accumulating just within this 24 hour period. Because of the volume, many different warnings have been released for the region, so make sure you keep safe, dry and updated on what to expect today.

• A flash flood watch has been in effect since last night, and it will be hanging around until 9 p.m. tonight. A warning is actually in place until 10:45 a.m.
• A tornado watch (yes, tornado) has just been issued for areas of the region. This one is set through 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
• Coastal flood watches are also currently on the books.

We’ve been through earthquakes, blizzards, thundersnow, lightning shows and record setting heat. What’s a little rain?

All lanes in both directions on I-270 have been closed for the rescue operation of a tour bus that drove off the side of the HOV sky ramp from 495. It landed on the 270 spur, just below the split. One person has been confirmed dead

The bus had been chartered for a school trip from Carlisle, PA, and according to TBD’s twitter, was carrying 8 and 9 year olds. I’m also hearing reports that the reason for the accident was the driver’s medical emergency, and that the driver is the one confirmed death. View the traffic camera.

‘Whirling’
courtesy of ‘quinn.anya’
Having just gotten back from a trip to Turkey, I’m still pining for the kebabs and whirling dervishes (and less so for the raki). Lucky for me, the annual D.C. Turkish Festival is this weekend. On Sunday from 11am-7pm, you’ll be able to wander Pennsylvania Ave. in front of Freedom Plaza and take in the sights, sounds and smells of Turkey.

Expect a Turkish bazaar with over twenty-five booths, live folk music, a coffee house with traditional Turkish coffee and tea, fortune-telling, artistic demonstrations, and an attempt to build the Guinness Book of World Record recognized “World’s Longest Shish Kebab”. Speaking of food, the food court will feature dishes from some of D.C.’s Turkish restaurants such as Cafe Divan, Meze Restaurant, Atilla’s Restaurant and many more. I’ve got my sights set on that giant shish kebab though.

If there’s one thing I want before a night of drinking, it’s a crepe. No seriously, it is. Melty and wonderful? Sign me up. Good news for you Georgetowners, Muncheez Mania will have fresh, quick food available for the post-dinner crowd as well as the daytimers. They will serve sandwiches, wraps, salads and crepes in their funky dining room while crepes will be available at their Wisconsin Ave. curbside window. For now the restaurant will be open until 10pm, but has plans to stay open until 4am in the future. Menu highlights include the “Muncheez” sandwiches, served on their homemade saj, a “thinner-than-pita but thicker-than-a-crepe” bread.

The counter service restaurant is slated to open by the end of October, but if you can’t wait that long, Muncheez will be serving both sweet and savory crepes out of their curbside window starting this Saturday. Muncheez Mania is located at 1071 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

‘they might be giants at lupo’s heartbreak hotel september 24, 2010 more’
courtesy of ‘bellemarematt’

Saturday night at the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage will be the nerdrock stylings of They Might Be Giants, whose work is as quirky as their longstanding history of awesomeness.  They’re performing in the Grand Foyer, with room for up to 4,000 folks, at 6pm FOR FREE.

Do yourself a favor and head on over to the Kennedy Center on Saturday night. It’ll be the best free nerdrock show you’ll ever see.

Remember when O.J. Simpson used to dominate the news? Now all he gets is a little mention on We Love DC. My how the mighty have fallen. If you’ve missed the man, the Newseum is taking you back to O.J.’s media frenzy days with several new artifacts from the sensational 1995 murder trial. Highlights include the tan suit, white shirt and gold tie that O.J. wore the day he was acquitted, which have been in storage for the past 15 years. The artifacts go on display Oct. 1  in the museum’s News History Gallery.