Category Archives: The Daily Feed

Downtown, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Traffic Grows Worse

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

I will preface this by saying: it’s possible I’m imagining this. But, in the last two days, I’ve sat in more interminable traffic than I do in the worst moments I’ve lived in DC. Yesterday’s trek into the city, even though I was just coming from inner Arlington, was some of the worst I’ve had ever. Poor Tiff was caught up in the foofaraw around the water main break yesterday, as her office is at 15th and L.

Is it Inauguration making the day-to-day grind of moving around all the worse? Or is it merely a seasonal increase after the largely-easy traffic of the Winter Holidays? Either way, I can’t wait for Thursday next week, after everyone’s gone again.

The Daily Feed
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Gtown to Apple: You’re Ugly

photo courtesy of ping ping

Apple, known for its sleek, modern designs, has failed to impress the city of Georgetown with its architectural plans for their store.  Apple’s architectural firm, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, had plans for “an all-glass front at street level, topped by a slab of masonry with an Apple logo cut through it”.

“The design was too much like a billboard,” said Thomas Luebke, secretary of the commission appointed by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.  It seems to me that other stores in Georgetown have a pretty modern design (e.g. Puma and Adidas), but the all-glass storefront seems to be the sticking point. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Greening Metro – So Possible.


foggy-metro
Originally uploaded by frozenchipmunk

Inspiration DC author Rebecca ponders if Tokyo’s use of energy technology that utilizes metro foot traffic could work for DC. The system works by harnessing energy created from footsteps of the people passing through the ticket turnstiles, turning footsteps into energy for metro displays and ticket gates.

Rebecca says, “This new piezoelectric energy generating floor has a wide range of applications and I can’t help but start fantasizing about the possibilities.”

Of course it could! And how smart. Oh, Tokyo, I’m jealous of your smart, creative metro system. I bet you even have revenue generating ads, you know, on more places than just the walls. Sigh. Jealous. Oh wait, except of the crazy people-pushers. Those I am not jealous of.

Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Grand Welcome-Home Moment from a DC Metro Rider!

IMG_1324

Four days ago, on a crowded Tokyo Metro train:
<mild jostling>
Me: Sumimasen.
Jostler: Gomen nasai.
<We then trade shallow bows.>

This morning, while exiting a crowded Red Line train delayed by mechanical difficulties at Judiciary Square:
<jostler attempts to overtake between me and my wife>
Me: Excuse me, can I stay with my wife, please?
Jostler: You can’t always get what you want.
<Jostler then attempts to keep pushing way in, fails, then tries to walk-race me and my wife through the crowd to the Metro Center escalators.>

It’s good to be home!

The Daily Feed
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Obama Smokes Up @ Ben’s

Ben’s Chili Bowl by dbking

President-elect Barack Obama chowed down with Mayor Fenty at Ben’s Chili Bowl this afternoon.  Since the owners recently changed their “eat for free” policy to include Bill Cosby and Obama, I’m guessing he didn’t have to pay much for that half smoke.  Asked if this was his first time at Ben’s he replied, “It is, actually, and it was terrific.”

There’s no word on whether or not Obama and Fenty were out boozin’ it up prior to their trip to Ben’s – a right of passage here in DC.

The Daily Feed
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Water Taxis for the Inauguration


Woodrow Wilson Bridge at night
Originally uploaded by Pianoman75

I know that you’re probably to the point where if you hear one more piece of Inauguration news, you’ll probably explode, or vomit, or both. It just seems to be all anyone can talk about. We’ll hopefully be doing more counter-programming next week as things ramp up to a fever pitch. But, until then…

They’re going to be doing an Inaugural Water Taxi Service between Alexandria’s Harbor at Union and Cameron, to the SW Waterfront at Pier 4. You can ride in between 6am and 9:15am and then back out after 6pm until 11pm. It’ll set you back $50 for a one-way and $90 for a round-trip, but I suppose that’s a heckuva lot better than trying to get downtown other ways?

They’re putting up a website for launch on Monday morning at InauguralWaterTaxi.com, but unfortunately, it’s just a dead domain until then.

The Daily Feed
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A Beastie Inauguration

This just came in my email:

Monday, January 19
9:30 Club in Washington DC
Full sets by Beastie Boys and Sheryl Crow with Citizen Cope and other friends rounding out the bill.
Tickets will be on sale 10 a.m. Saturday, January 10th
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=3595&pid=6424993 or 800.955.5566.
All tickets will be will call only
Valid photo ID must be presented to claim tickets
There is a 4 ticket limit per customer.
All Ages show
Doors at 8p
Show at 9p
Net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Rock The Vote

The Daily Feed
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Yuck

image by Ivonne Thein

image by Ivonne Thein

I really should have a more articulate subject line than that, but it’s my gut reaction when looking at the pictures from Ivonne Thein’s exhibit currently at the Goethe-Institut in Penn quarter. I somehow missed the Washington Post’s article yesterday on the “Thirty-two Kilos” but noticed Salon’s piece. Both articles repeat disturbing quotes from some of the pro-anorexia crowd about how lovely they find the (digitally altered) models.

I leave it as an exercise to you to determine if my ‘yuck’ is about the pictures, pro-ana folks, or both.

Several more of the shots can be seen linked from the Salon piece or on Thein’s website under ‘artwork.’

The Daily Feed
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Gamer in Chief in just 11 Days!


Wii Bowling Lies to You
Originally uploaded by ToastyKen

Joystiq has a neat piece today about the First Family-to-be’s Wii New at Christmas for the Obama was a brand new Wii that the girls, and their father, have been playing with. So, Mr. President-Elect, if you ever need someone to play video games with, you feel free to call on us, because we can help you out there. Fallout 3’s a little bit creepy, but it is set here in town, so you can probably use that to get familiar with the layout of town. And of course, there’s always Little Big Planet, but for that, you’re going to…wait. I mean, the girls are going to need a PS3. Maybe work that into the Bailout?

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Trains Not an Inauguration Option?


Photo by Nostri-Imago

I have a friend trying to make it into DC for the Inauguration scene, and I looked to see if he could take Amtrak or Marc to avoid the traffic jams. Seems neither may be an option.

Amtrak is almost all sold out from Monday through Wednesday. MARC is sold out January 20th, but has first come-first go policy for Monday and Wednesday.

I think this means trains are no longer an Inauguration transportation option, as even if he could get a seat, the inevitable delays may be longer than just driving down from Baltimore.

Or just walking.

The Daily Feed
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What to wear to the Ball?


Black wedding dress
Originally uploaded by Lukasz Dunikowski

My co-workers and I were offered tickets to an Inaugural Ball and have been in a dress-finding and accessorizing frenzy all week. I’ve been taking informal polls of what to wear to our ball, especially since Obama isn’t going to show up, and it’s not a state-sponsored ball.

Most of my friends think tea length should be fine, and so I’m going with it. But then I found a very genius site – DressRegistry.com, where you can register your dress. BRILLIANT for checking out the competition (and seeing if your old prom dress will be in our out!). The site is chock full of Inaugural Balls, and people have registered quite the collection of dresses.

So, for all of you ladies out there looking for some guidance, it’s a lifesaver! (And don’t be lazy, register your dress! Share and share alike.)

The Daily Feed, The District, WMATA
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Inauguration Information from WMATA

Dupont Circle Metro in Washington, D.C. by NDinDC

If you are going to be in the area for inauguration, and (gasp!) you might venture from your home that day, you might want to head over to Metro’s Inauguration website and sign up for Metro’s inauguration updates service.  They are planning on sending out messages regarding delays or other problems on Metro.

No idea if the information will be current (or if your phone will be able to receive messages) but it might help.

The Daily Feed
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Had enough Inaguration news yet? HAH!


Did It Ever Look So Nice?
Originally uploaded by Thruhike98

If, despite the best efforts of the Virginia State Police, the Secret Service, the Park Police, and MPD, you actually DO manage to get to the Mall for the Inauguration, you should probably not rely on your cell phone to be your only means of contacting your companions. According to The Root, all the major carriers are planning temporary capacity increases for DC on Inauguration day, but you really shouldn’t count on being able to use your phone that much. There’s only so much the carriers can do, and there’s bound to be overflow issues.

So make your meetup plans the old-fashioned way, just in case.

The Daily Feed
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Freedom and Inauguration


Freedom and Inauguration
Originally uploaded by tbridge

I stood at the Grant Memorial today, and watched the crews working on the scaffolds on the Western Steps of the Capitol, and imagined standing this close, or closer, on Inauguration Day. We won’t go this year, as they’ve closed all the bridges across the Potomac, but for pedestrian and bus traffic, and even I-66 and I-395 will be closed.

I got to thinking, as often I do, about Armèd Freedom that stands on top the tholos of the Capitol. She stands 19′ 6″ tall, cast in five pieces of solid bronze, armed with the sword and shield of Liberty and Freedom. She stands for everything that makes this nation great, and I found it odd that they would choose the Western Steps for the Inauguration. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Newseum: DC’s Largest Elevator

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Have you seen the shiny new elevator for the Newseum’s conference center? Oh my, it is huge!With enough room for 20 to 30 people, I think it may be larger than some apartments. It is definitely the largest people moving (vs. freight) elevator I have seen in DC. Hell, it may be the largest I’ve seen anywhere.