‘The first Camellia’
courtesy of ‘Roger Photos’

If you’re curious about the Rose Garden, or the White House Kitchen Garden, this weekend you get a chance to get a look. The White House Garden Tours are this weekend. Timed tickets will be distributed starting at 8AM on Saturday and Sunday, and it’s one ticket per person, so if you want to go with a friend, you both have to be there. No, you cannot bring your dog. And as with all things related to tours of government grounds, be sure to check out the prohibited items list before you go so the Secret Service doesn’t confiscate your grandfather’s heirloom pocket knife.

Mr. Monopoly taken by helpful housemate Sam Rosen-Amy

And you thought the Masters at Augusta was riveting competitive titillation! On this sopping Tax Day, roll through Union Station between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. and witness the 2009 Monopoly U.S. National Championship. Twenty-eight of the nation’s best monopoly players will face off for a chance to win $20,580 — the exact total amount of a Monopoly bank (before your brother stole those 50s, that is…).  

The winner of today’s Championship will represent the U.S. in the World Championships in October in Las Vegas. U.S. has not seen a world champion since 1974. The last World Champion, Spain’s Antonio Fernandez reigned victorious in Tokyo in 2004. 

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HacDC Electronics Bench
Originally uploaded by acaben

For the next few Thursdays (starting this Thursday) at 7:30 pm, HacDC is hosting workshops on sound hacking from the ground up. Borrowing, a couple tricks from the glitch/bender tradition and adding some new twists. If you’re interested in electronic sounds and music, this is the place to be.

This workshop series is going to involve soldering, (ab)use of digital CMOS chips for analog ends, a smidgen of electronics knowledge (provided), and enough noise to ensure that you leave with a good solid headache.Bring $5.00 to cover the cost of materials for April 16th and around 3-6 volts’ worth of batteries if you’d like to leave the space with something powered up. Two to four AA, AAA, C, or D cells will do.

National Zoo’s Baby Giant Anteater: It’s a boy!
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian’s National Zoo

The National Zoo’s baby anteater has turned out to be a boy, and the poor thing is going to be saddled with a name chosen by the voting public. Sigh.

I wouldn’t have even mentioned this, except for the awesomeness implied in this photo. No wonder anteaters always look so pleased with themselves.

‘Mornin’ Yoga’
courtesy of ‘mtngirl9999’

This is the kind of thing someone more yoga-inclined than myself could have turned into a great Thrifty District, but hey… Julee Newberger has already done the work for us. She’s got a roundup of free and cheap yoga around DC for your exercising enjoyment.

‘French ambassador’s residence’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

My brother moved a couple of years ago to a teeny, tiny town in Wyoming. When he comes to visit, he teases me about all the big city crap I put up with- traffic, crowded transit systems, sirens, tourists, etc., and asks me why I stay. “Simple,” I said once. “Last night I went to a party at the Irish embassy. I got to meet the ambassador. How many people get to do that?” “I see your point,” he said. 

One of the advantages of living in the capital of one of the worlds’ most powerful nations is that this is where other nations send their representatives to conduct the business of state with ours. Which means we get awesome stuff like Passport DC, where the embassies invite us all in to learn about the culture and arts of their respective countries. This year’s event is happening April 30-May9, so there’s lots of time to broaden your horizons.

There’s a staggering variety of cultural events– music, dance, theater, food, and art exhibitions, but if wandering around from place to place is more your speed, be sure to get the map of embassy open houses happening on Sunday, May 3.  There’s a free shuttle for the open houses, so there’s no reason not to get your culture on.

Generations
Originally uploaded by tbridge

What a day. The loss of Harry Kalas, the Phillies announcer, before the game began today was a crushing loss for the sport at large, and it put a pall over the game. The Nats performance was uneven, and ended up losing 9-8, despite another 9th inning opening day homer by Ryan Zimmerman. They continued to leave runners in scoring position, and continued to make critical defensive miscues that cost the team.

What truly marred the day, though, were the obnoxious jackholes that came down on the train Philly in our section. A pair of them got pretty much hammered and belligerent in our section and eventually were thrown out by a threesome of angry ushers in the 8th inning. Blocking the view, swearing up a storm in front of a couple young families, and generally acting disreputable. I mean, these are the guys that booed Santa Claus and throw D-cell batteries at opponents, so I shouldn’t be too surprised, but next time, Stan Kasten, please don’t invite the cretins from Philly down, okay? Pittsburgh, fine. Mets fans, fine. Hell, Red Sox fans are even welcome. But no more Philly fans, okay?