Category Archives: The Daily Feed

Crime & Punishment, Entertainment, The Daily Feed
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Spot Crime in DC

photo by spiggycat

photo by flickr user: spiggycat

If you like keeping an eye on local criminal activity, then look no further than SpotCrime’s Washington, DC Crime Map.  This handy little tracker allows you to search by crime type (Arrest, Arson, Shooting, Burglary, etc.,) by date/time, by location, and enroll for crime alerts.  It also allows you to report crimes, but usually takes about 24-48 hours for them to register, so if you search for today’s crime information, it will be limited.

Another SpotCrime feature is UCrime, which allows college students to track on-campus or near campus crime.  If you sign up for UCrime, you can receive alerts as well, which is not a bad idea given the recent rash of college/school violence.

SpotCrime offers tracking throughout the U.S. and a little over 30 international cities.

The Daily Feed
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Hit and Run on the Beltway

Photo courtesy of
‘Typical Beltway traffic’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Metro police are looking for a dark, maybe green, Honda Accord (model year somewhere between 98 and 02). The driver hit a Metro police officer on his motorcycle on the inner loop of the Beltway last night near Pennsylvania Ave. in PG county, catapulting him to the center of the road. The driver dragged the officer’s motorcyle for a while as they fled the scene.

The officer was treated for non life-threatening injuries and released.

The Daily Feed
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A Lifetime of Architecture on Film

 Photo courtesy of
‘The National Building Museum’
courtesy of ‘Pete…E’

For all you photography and architecture enthusiasts out there, DC-based architectural photographer Robert Lautman will be at the National Building Museum tonight at 6:30 pm to discuss his 60-year career–that is still going strong! If you’re a fan and can’t make it tonight, the NBM has an extensive collection of his work, some of which is on display in their exhibition Cityscapes Revealed.

Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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A Perfect Opportunity

Photo courtesy of
‘Taxation Without Representation’
courtesy of ‘Travlr’

Tom Daschle’s out at DHHS. Nancy Killefer is out at OMB. Tim Geithner is, apparently, too big to fail at Treasury. All three of them had major problems in their dealings with the IRS. In the first two weeks of President Obama’s tenure in the White House, he seems to have found a bunch of talented people who just can’t pay their taxes.

Now’s the time for DC to rise up and say, “Hey look, we pay our taxes, and we can’t get decent representation, what the hell is going on here?!”

It’d be nice if someone did, anyway.

The Daily Feed
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Unwelcome celebrity

Photo courtesy of
‘hooker brewery’
courtesy of ‘dharmabum60’
Randy Cassingham produces a weekly email column called THIS IS TRUE which focuses on the insane and inane in life. This weeks had a moment we probably could have lived without: a mention of Marc Fisher’s column drawing attention to the signs placed around town during Inauguration week that said “This area has been declared a PROSTITUTION FREE ZONE.” Cassingham is amused by Fisher’s observation that, if you are pointing out that this area is a protitution free zone, are the other areas not?

I’d post the paragraph from This is True directly, but the footer of Cassingham’s newsletter very stridently says “ALL broadcast, publication, retransmission to e-mail lists, WWW or any other copying or storage, in any medium, online or not, is STRICTLY PROHIBITED… MANUAL FORWARDING by e-mail to friends is allowed IF 1) the text is forwarded IN ITS ENTIRETY, from the “Since 1994″ line on top through the end of this paragraph.”

Don’t worry, you’re not missing much. Cassingham doesn’t link the Fisher’s article or, for that matter, even identify Marc Fisher by name.

All Politics is Local, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Barry Angling for Obama Appointment?

Picture 2.png
Marion Barry by cliff1106

The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto seems to think that Marion Barry’s latest tax woes are really part of a plot to get him into the Obama Administration. Taranto notes that the top slot at the ONDCP is currently open, and might be a good fit for Barry, but I think he’d probably do just as well as maybe the FDA, or perhaps somewhere at Health & Human Services?

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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McPherson Square Metro Closed Temporarily

Photo courtesy of
‘Camera moves more than train’
courtesy of ‘Mllerustad’

The McPherson Square Metro station is currently closed due to a burned out cable that caused significant smoke in the station. The Blue and Orange line are currently severed between McPherson Square and Metro Center, so be aware that this will definitely impact getting around the core of the city on the Metro today. Metro’s operating a shuttle between the two stations, but there’s a 40 minute delay expected on the system right now. Ouch!

Update: Metro has reopened McPherson Square, but trains are single-tracking through the station at this time. Expect delays.

The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors, WTF?!
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Feckless Rodent Thug Holds Spring Hostage

Photo courtesy of
‘Marmota monax’
courtesy of ‘Gilles Gonthier’

A feckless rodent thug, similar to the one pictured above, going by the name of “Punxatawny Phil” is holding Spring hostage in Central Pennsylvania. He declared his verdict in the middle of the town square, with a henchman dressed as a Victorian Era Dandy working as his interpreter. It’s not clear immediately what “P-Phil” wants, or what his minimum offer for the release of Spring will be, but I’m hoping Jack Bauer will take a break from defiling DC Geography to get on this case, immediately.

The Daily Feed
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Local Super Bowl Snacks?

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Your roster’s filled with cheesy dips, spicy wings, loaded poppers, savory snack mixes and more. These Super Bowl snacks will be the MVP of your game-day spread, so go ahead, do your best celebration dance.

We love the Super Bowl. And while it can be fun seeing men tackle one another on television or watching whatever pop star the NFL was able to conjure up during halftime, we throw football-themed bashes for one thing and one thing alone: the junk food we won’t apologize for loving. To get snacks to share at home, check the Vending machines perth.

Ahead of this year’s big game, we polled The Daily Meal staff to see what Super Bowl party essentials are their absolute must-haves. The result is our definitive ranking of Super Bowl dishes. However, it should be noted that most Super Bowl party foods are good.

While my wife suggests that chicken wings are a Super Bowl snack food requirement, she is not a true Washingtonian. And while Don is trying to eat my daughter, who is a Washingtonian, I am wondering if there is a specific District-based snack food we should be consuming in celebration of America’s grand sport.

Downtown, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Truly Thrifty

Urbana Interior

Recently, I had lunch in Dupont Circle with my work BFF. We chose Urbana as our spot because of the “Urban Lunchbox” deal they have going on – a full three course meal (+ coffee) for 11.95, with a dollar of that going to Arc of DC. (The Arc is a great organization that aims to improve the quality of life of all persons with developmental disabilities and their families.)

At Urbana, diners get a choice of the salad or soup of the day, plus any of the sandwiches or personal pizzas on the menu, and they’ll finish you up with a cookie for dessert. I LOVED it. The portions were very generous, and the fare healthy and well done. Urbana is chic, the service was impeccable and the deal was a complete steal. Normally, my pizza alone would have cost $13, but with the lunchbox I got salad, said pizza, dessert and coffee for that price.

Plus, I have a crush on every Kimpton Hotel, and Urbana is located in the Hotel Palomar on P street so I even got a peek at the stylish hotel lobby. Everything in that hotel is designed immaculately. Even the plates and dishware were trendy. Click through for a peek at my super-sleek coffee cup. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Evidence of Germaphobe Designers

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

I wonder who in the Newseum bathroom design committee was the germaphobe that insisted they needed door wipes in the men’s room.

As a man who always washes his hands but notes the number of men that do not, I like the door wipe idea, but have a better one: electro-shock therapy for those that go urinal to door.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Ethnic Dining Guide

Hotdogs and Rice with Broccoli.

Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide for the DC area has been updated for 2009. He starts off with a plug for his book, Discover Your Inner Economist, offers some rules of thumb for choosing ethnic food restaurants in general, lists some “must-eat” places, then launches into a grand, culturally-alphabetized list of restaurants of every regional and stylistic variety, with addresses and capsule reviews. The guide is huge and tirelessly comprehensive, definitely worth a scan if you’re hankering for an exotic dine-out this weekend.

(Link via Kottke. Pictured above: a traditional Filipino meal.)

The Daily Feed
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Didn’t They Forget Something?

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Look closely at this photo. Isn’t that hole missing something? Like a way out for the earth movers down at the bottom? How are they going to get that equipment out? Or will they convert engines into boilers like that childhood picture book that I remember but forgot the name of.

Inaugupocalypse, The Daily Feed
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An Elephant Named Barack?

Barack.png

He’s just twelve hours older than the presidency he’s named after, but the Ringling Brothers’ newest Elephant calf is named Barack. While the President might rather have a few donkeys named after him rather than the traditional mascot of the Republican Party, it’s nice to see another endangered species add some numbers to their herd.

I suppose you could make some sort of joke about similarities in parentage, as currently, the Elephant Center isn’t sure which of their donors was the father just yet.

But that would be in poor taste. So we won’t make that joke.

Fun & Games, History, Inaugupocalypse, The Daily Feed
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Best Inauguration Picture Yet

Photo courtesy of
‘Ready for history’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Click through this link for the most amazing full-screen high resolution picture of the inauguration. It’s incredibly entertaining, plus you can play fun games like  “find Beyonce” and “I didn’t know W had a side table!”. Plus, if you were lucky enough to have a seat up close, you’ll be able to play the most fun game of all – “find me!”

The Daily Feed
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A convoluted headline

Huh?

I was on WJLA.com looking to see if there were any more details on the shooting and hostage situation in Alexandria when I saw this. I read it several times and couldn’t quite figure out what that meant. He was mad she was defending his son? Is she a lawyer? Turns out he shot her after she interfered in his beating on HER son. I guess “crazed PG county jackass sent to prison” isn’t enough detail for the average news reader.

The Daily Feed
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Is This Your Snow Car?

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

I love the days after a snow storm. You quickly learn who drives to work and who does not. This car, like mine is still snow covered from Tuesday. I wonder if they are waiting for nature’s cleaning plan too: spring.

The Daily Feed
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Worried about ice? You should be!

Watch Your Step - by Mr. Ducke (Creative Commons)

Watch Your Step - Mr. Ducke (Creative Commons)

As I walked to the metro this morning, I realized that I saw a lot of sidewalks in my area that still had the awful combination of snow and ice all over them.  The first thing I thought is “why haven’t they shoveled”?  But I felt better when I realized that Arlington would quickly come down on those who didn’t shovel…

… I shouldn’t have been that hasty.  It turns out that Arlington, like many other counties and cities in the area, don’t require homeowners or businesses to shovel their sidewalks.  So although the streets are clear, the pedestrians are out of luck.

I don’t know about you – but I think that’s just ridiculous.  This isn’t a rural community with no sidewalks.  Plenty of people in the DC metro area have been convinced to give up commuting by car and walk to a bus stop, metro station, or to work.  So why don’t they require business and homeowners to clear their own sidewalks?

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Frozen Pool


Frozen Pool
Originally uploaded by M.V. Jantzen

How bad’s the cold been this winter? Well, check out these guys standing on the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol. I’m not sure it’s frozen all the way through, but certainly enough to hold up a couple dudes on the Ice.

Downtown, Entertainment, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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And So Begin the Exemptions

Photo courtesy of
‘Cigar’
courtesy of ‘J$’

It’s gotta be nice to have a councilman in your organization; so that he’ll take on the first exemption to the smoking ban so you can have a cigar on St. Paddy’s Day. That’s right, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick (and their circa 1998 website) have convinced Councilman Jack Evans (Ward 2) to put legislation before the council that would exempt the fraternal organization on St. Paddy’s day so they can have celebratory cigars with their celebratory whiskey.

This one seems crappy to me. I know, holiday, but if we do one exemption, it’s going to be a dozen of them. Better would be to write an exemption process and let people petition a committee of the council for it, instead of going the legislative route. It seems that Evans took this on of his own volition, but it seems to be an inefficient way to try to do this on a regular basis, if we want to do that at all.