By jasmine
‘there they go’
courtesy of ‘LisaRoxy’
Local rapper Wale (say it: wah-lay) is bringing some DC flavor to Six Flags America‘s “Buzz Bands Bash” on September 20. He seems to be really doing his best to play for some big audiences (he was at Virgin Freefest a couple of weekends ago), and if you haven’t heard “Chillin” you probably should. The video, which includes LOTS of DC shots you will recognize, is after the jump. Continue reading
By Karl Johnson
‘Baltimore – Cal Ripken’s Statue’
courtesy of ‘mathplourde’
For all of you baseball fans in the DC area that existed between the years of 1972 and 2005, please join me in hating on the following four people: Gary Parker, 19, of Baltimore; Matthew Rayner, 19, of Chase; Patrick Reynolds, 18, of Middle River; and Jason Stonebuner, 19, of Essex. These four young souls dared to mess with #8.
Early this morning these kids stole the four foot aluminum number 8 from Camden Yards, a statue remembering the all-around awesomeness that was (is) Cal Ripken, a true DC/Baltimore area sports hero, and stashed it in the back of their truck to try and get away with it. Luckily this ridiculous theft was caught on a security camera. Police found the suspect’s truck, including the giant #8, about two hours after it was stolen. The disrespect is appalling!
Ok, so the Orioles are one of the worst teams in baseball and have been under .500 for a good 12 years or so now. But remember the good ol’ days. The days of the Ripken brothers, the days when #8 reigned supreme. Bad kids. Just be glad I didn’t catch you first. (Because I would have no idea what to do with you? Maybe I would yell at you. Get skurred.)
By Rebecca
‘Running Against the Grain’
courtesy of ‘john w’
Interested in getting a little exercise this weekend, AND raising money for a good cause? Then sign up ASAP (by Thursday, September 10) for the Sprint Four the Cure to benefit the Washington Hospital Center.
The 5k run starts near the Four Seasons Hotel and takes you along the scenic C&O Canal. Your $25 registration not only goes to a fantastic DC-based cause, but also gets you a t-shirt, raffle ticket and Four Seasons breakfast. YUM!
Additionally, Georgetown Cupcake will be providing post-race sweets and a number of local Georgetown establishments have donated raffle prizes including: the Four Seasons Spa, Clyde’s, Peacock Cafe and more. Grand Prize is two American Airlines tickets, two night stay at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale with Daily Breakfast and two 50 minute Spa Treatments.
So be sure to register by tomorrow either via Active.com or by calling 202.944.9163.
By Rebecca
‘DSC05164.JPG’
courtesy of ‘The_WB’
Celebrate Niner-Niner-Niner Day with copious amounts of Magic Hat #9 at RocketBar at 714 7th St NW in Chinatown starting at 7pm today. Free Magic Hat t-shirts go to the first 99 people, there will be 3-for-$9 specials on all #9s and awesome giveaways like free rounds of beer to parties of 9, a custom cruiser bike and iPod shuffles. Pretty solid marketing promotion for a tasty beer if you ask me. Hooray beer!
By Tom Bridge
‘Flags at Union Station in Washington, DC’
courtesy of ‘dc-hulls’
If you’re headed past Union Station today, or through it for travel purposes, don’t get too freaked out by the extra police presence. Though, frankly, in this town? There’d have to be a whole awful lot of additional police for me to notice. So, it’s possible it won’t even hit a noticeable threshold of additional policing, but be aware, there is that possibility. It’s all part of a counter-terrorism exercise headed up by Amtrak police.
By Donna C.
‘Solar eclipse 22 July 2009’
courtesy of ‘hughrocks’
On a rainy day, what better to think about than the sun?
So today’s topic is solar power. What will it take to make it a reality? Addressing the costs is a start.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Swiss embassy, you can hear Swiss and American solar power experts speak on Making Solar Energy Competitive, and share how new technologies and manufacturing methods can trigger rapid growth of solar.
After the talk, you’ll be invited to a reception at the Ambassador’s residence, a “green” building that has won awards for its environmental design. Bring on the sun!
By Tom Bridge
‘The animatronics for walking with dinosaurs at the o2 is seriously impressive. 50ft fully mobile dinos’
courtesy of ‘Mr Gus’
Via the Washington Times comes this interesting, sad, and yet just a little bit hilarious note. If the Mystics make the playoffs? They can’t play their first round games at home in the Verizon Center. Why? Walking with Dinosaurs is coming to the Verizon Center that week, instead. I suppose it’s a sad note about the viability of the WNBA that they can’t even play their playoff games at their own facility, but at least they’ll be heading to the Comcast Center at University of Maryland where Marissa Coleman and Crystal Langhorne made names for themselves playing for the Terps.
By Katie
‘photo.jpg’
courtesy of ‘erin m’
Meg over at 2birds1blog tweeted about this GROUNDBREAKING service of… wait for it… COFFEE DELIVERY! AAHHH!!! YESSSSSS!!!!! I just had that brilliant idea a few weekends ago when I was moving apartments and really, really needed coffee but couldn’t go get it. (See? See, I did, I swear.)
This. Is. Life. Changing! The Craigslist Ad says: “We currently deliver to the entire Washington DC NORTHWEST district, and BETHESDA/CHEVY CHASE, MD area. This will soon change as our company is projected to grow very quickly. While in the future we intend to have an on-call service, coffee orders need to be placed at least 5 hours in advance at the moment. Hot coffee will be delivered hot, and iced coffee will be delivered cold. We are in the process of negotiating discount prices with several coffee retailers, but the pricing right now is still only $5 plus the price of the coffee. Order 5 coffees for the office for only $20. Place your orders now to ineedajavagirl@gmail.com”
I will be their most loyal customer, unless somewhere in the subtext of that description I’m supposed to get that they’re actually strippers or um, shady masseuses. But if they for real deliver coffee, as in, the Caribou kind, not the scantily clad kind? Best Business Idea EVAR. EVARRRR.
By Tom Bridge
Okay, so the name kinda makes me want to puke, but the cause is pretty freaking awesome. Drinks on Thursday night at Midtown LOFT and proceeds go to Miriam’s Kitchen. Tickets are $20 today and $30 at the door Thursday, which would be almost 3 weeks of meals for a guest in their shelter, which is pretty awesome. Register now and save the extra $10 to hang out with the folks, or drop them a donation in case you can’t make it.
By Don
Out on the Potomac, courtesy of Me
…I’d head out to the ballpark.
I’ve enjoyed taking the boats out from oldtown Alexandria in the past and this one sounds sweet too. Starting tonight you can catch a round-trip ride to Nationals stadium for the game. $20 round-trip is more than the Metro will cost you but the view’s better. I’ve been meaning to catch at least one more game before the season’s over, so perhaps I’ll take this over to the game vs the Braves on the 25th…
By Tom Bridge
‘Dogfish Head Punkin Ale’
courtesy of ‘Sonnett’
While I’m still hoping to eke out the last bits of joy from summertime, I can tell each night that the days are getting shorter, and that soon I shall be suffering in the doldrums of winter, dreaming of sunny days again. Dogfish Head’s Alehouses in Falls Church, Fairfax and Gaithersburg are kicking off the fall with events tonight (in FC), tomorrow (in Gaithersburg) and Thursday (in Fairfax) surrounding the annual release of Punkin Ale. From 5-8pm they’ll have specials on their beers, a raffle for a goodie basket, and free pint glasses for your first Punkin Ale of the season. Hat tip to reader Bill Couch for the info.
Mmmmmmm pumpkin beer.
By Ben H. Rome
‘Shuttle Bus ->’
courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’
Get ready, more major Metrorail track work and station closures ahead.
Metro will be closing Archives/Navy Memorial and Waterfront-SEU stations over the Columbus Day weekend. Additionally, the Yellow and Green lines won’t be operating at L’Enfant Plaza, as Metro will be replacing four track switches.
This despite the fact that Columbus Day isn’t exactly a holiday for many in the area, unlike Labor Day. Last year saw over 410,000 rail trips on the quasi-holiday. Yesterday only saw 116,000.
At least Metro learned a lesson from this past week; they’re announcing the closures a full month in advance this time. Wonder if they notified the board yet?
By Ben H. Rome
‘Spy Museum’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’
The International Spy Museum welcomed its 5 millionth visitor over the Labor Day weekend. Loud cheers erupted and SPY balloons filled the lobby as the Stoner family from Owings Mills, MD was announced as the Museum’s 5 millionth visitors. The family received an annual SPY membership that provides them with unlimited, immediate entry into the Museum’s permanent exhibit as well as discounts in the SPY store, café, and programming.
This was not the first visit for the family. “Every time we have friends or family to visit the area we take them to the Spy Museum. This is our 4th visit!” stated Mr. Ron Stoner. “This time we have an exchange student with us from Spain.”
The Museum arrived at the 5 million mark after only seven years of operation, far exceeding initial projections of just 500,000 guests annually.
By Carl Weaver
Gators
Originally uploaded by carlweaver
As promised, I took my mother around to show her some sights during her stay in this lovely city and even took her to the aquarium under the Commerce Department building. Max didn’t care for the aquarium, as I recall, but we had a great time. The admission is now up to $7, for those keeping score.
The best part was when we were looking in the gator tank, in which some fish were swimming. “Hey Ma,” I said, “Know what kind of fish those are?” She didn’t. “They’re food fish for the gators!”
Mother Weaver laughed, Lovely Wife looked horrified and the family with their two young kids who happened to be right next to us scowled at me like I ruined their visit. Sorry, folks. Just speaking the truth here. Even Nemo gets eaten sometime, kid.
By Don
The mayor’s office has put out a press release about a deal reached with Countrywide Financial over loans in the District that are currently in trouble or about to be. It sounds like a good deal for citizens on its face:
By committing to the settlement, the Attorney General has ensured that Countrywide will not initiate or advance foreclosures against District borrowers who may be eligible for a loan modification under the National Home Ownership Retention Program until Countrywide determines whether the borrower is interested in and qualifies for a loan modification.
It’s a nice gesture and a welcome move, though how big a concession it is can be argued. Any loan with a LTV ratio of 75% or above – meaning that the owner owes more than 75% of the currently assessed value of the house – was probably made in the last five years. Does Solana live up to the hype? – Funfair has many information on cryptocurrencies.
A majority of these loans were the bad credit loans from happypenguin and other such instant loan companies. When you look at the Zillow chart above you see a value dip of about 9% for D.C. , meaning that grabbing back that property just leaves the bank with something they probably can’t recoup their cash by selling. Agreeing to hold off on foreclosure might be similar to agreeing not to reel in your fishing line while there’s nothing on the hook.
There is already an entire industry built around cryptocurrencies and it’s held by institutions dedicated to supervising all the digital coin exchanges taking place throughout the world. The rate at which the cryptocurrency industry is growing is earth-shattering and this can be confirmed by early adopters that became rich overnight and found opportunities to grow financially, if you want to try your luck with cryptocurrencies, you might want to check this crypto com app review. Bitcoin, the most famous of these cryptocurrencies, has already permitted many people and companies to develop and flourish, while many also rely on trading as their source of income. The economy is slowly shifting to adapt to these needs and cryptocurrencies have a great potential in satisfying them. Additionally, blockchain developers are looking to build a blockchain on substrate framework because of its flexibility.
More problematic, though, is the clause “Modifications are also subject to affordability criteria and investor approval as per the Bitcoins kaufen mit Paypal option.” With so many investing opportunities people are now learning How to buy bitcoin for chance to give their finances a little boost.
By Donna C.
‘126/365 pulled out by the roots’
courtesy of ‘Gibsonclaire’
Apparently there are some violent greenies in Arlington. On two Saturdays and two Sundays every month, people meet in various county spots to take out their frustrations by ripping plants out of the ground. Who knew?
Whether these folks are frustrated by a long work week or by invasive plants taking over the area is for only them to know. But the invasives certainly get the raw end of the deal. And once they’re gone and native plants grow in their place, harmony returns, and the local birds and bees and box turtles have something good to eat again.
You can join RIP (Remove Invasive Plants) the second and third weekends of the month – and be like this smiling volunteer, who explains why squelching the invaders makes him so happy.
By Ben H. Rome
‘Road Work Ahead on New Hampshire Avenue’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’
Now that summertime fun is over, time for the orange barrels to come out of hiding:
Starting this Thursday, the new bridge at I-66W over the Beltway is having steel beams put in place. I-495 will see total lane closures from 9:30 pm to 5 am Monday through Thursday nights for the next two weeks.
DDOT is closing a portion of the 1300 block of Park Road, NW. The section east of 14th Street will be shut to traffic from 7 am to 7 pm from today through Saturday.
MDOT will be shifting traffic on New Hampshire Ave near Bonifant Road / Good Hope Road for bridge construction tomorrow and Thursday.
I-270 has its share of issues, too. Resurfacing begins on a four-mile stretch between Middlebrook and Muddy Branch roads. This will force single lane closures between 9 am and 3 pm M-F and double lane closings overnights Sunday – Thursday between 7 pm and 4:30 am.
By Don
‘Smoke, Farragut Park Washington DC’
courtesy of ‘Photos by Chip Py’
The D.C. Council has scheduled a public hearing on bill 18-124, the “Single Sale of Cigar Products Prohibition Amendment Act of 2009.” Although the bill description says it’s designed to “ban the sale of individual cigars or 32 cigar products intended or designed for use in ingesting, inhaling or otherwise 33 introducing marijuana in to the human body,” the text only expands the section of the DC Code (§48-1101) in a fairly generic way.
“an individual cigar, cigar leaf wrapper, flavored or non-flavored cigar that is referred to as a blunt, blunt wrap, or any other tobacco product that may be used in the ingesting, inhaling, or introduction of marijuana to the human body.”
It’s hard to imagine how that could be more open-ended, but I’m sure you can expect selective enforcement to target convenience stores and low-income areas over tobacconists selling Macanudos.
If you think that the war on some drugs isn’t a good enough reason to impede the purchases of perfectly legal, products you can go to the hearing and speak on September 29th at 10am in the John A. Wilson building. Supporters and other wrong people can go speak too.
By Tom Bridge
Congratulations to three local developers who won a $10,000 prize for their Facebook/iPhone application that hooks natively into DC’s 311 reporting structure. Using your iPhone, you can now report potholes or street markings that are missing, ask about trash collection, and report other things to the District that need a hand. Congrats to Victor, Andrey and Roman on their well deserved win!
By Cathy
‘From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’
The National Mall may soon be getting a nice, new concrete facelift. As of Thursday, plans are in the final stages to rehabilitate and to integrate security elements into certain areas of the National Park around the Lincoln Memorial.
The Reflecting Pool will be rehabilitated to include concreate pathways on both sides. Elm Walks, the elm-lined pedestrian walkways and bike paths running along the north and south sides of the Reflecting Pool, would be refurbished with new lighting, benches, and trash receptacles. And the famous stairs up to the Lincoln Memorial will be kept in tact while there will be two new ADA accessible curved paths on either side connecting the Lincoln Memorial Circle with the Reflecting Pool.
A little extra walking room for all sounds like a good plan.
Read the full story on the National Capital Planning Commission’s site.