By Tom Bridge
Traffic Jam
Originally uploaded by winged photography
There’s “Police activity” according to WTOP traffic on I Street between 20th and 21st that has the whole block shutdown. BreakingNewsOn is reporting a Bomb Scare at 2099 Penn, which means rush hour in the downtown core is going to double suck tonight. So, if you’re still in the office, go for a snack and a drink before you head home, you’ll be happier.
If you’ve got details about the scare/closure, drop them in the comments!
By Don
Newspaper article, courtesy of mezzoblue
WaPo is running another 350,000 special editions today that’ll show up in stores tomorrow. If you’re willing to pay a $8.50 markup so you don’t have to go out you can grab one in their CafePress store.
If you’re buying this so you can show your kids in a decade, however, you’re still not done. At least not if you want it to hold up till your toddler is in 9th grade History class. Modern newsprint isn’t as acidic as some older stuff, but it still will degenerate in a very unattractive way. The Minnesota Historical Society has a good PDF on preserving newspaper. Here’s their advice in a nutshell:
If you’re a little put off by this, reader nakeva suggested simply buying the archival-quality front-page reprint from WaPo here for $60.
UPDATE: And that’ll teach me not to search Lifehacker before I post! They just ran a how-to preserve a newspaper, though they mention the bad choice of lamination.
By Tom Bridge
Paul Strauss
Originally uploaded by KCIvey
There’s been a lot of discussion of Paul Strauss in the local blogs lately, going back to his arrest for DUI back on 1 October. The City Paper has news of his hearing this morning, and Anthony Marenna at Metblogs wants his head on a plate.
He’s just been re-elected to serve a third term as DC’s Shadow Senator, by a pretty secure margin.
200 cups
Originally uploaded by Pianoman75
…staple a bunch of translucent Solo cups together. Oh yeah.
This looks like what my election hangover felt like, by the way.
By Katie
My love of all things wine is well-documented at this point. I’m turning into a regular at Eat Bar and Matt and my’s wine collection is growing by the day. So I was thrilled this morning to open up my DC Daily Candy and see that a new coffee and wine place is opening in Alexandria.
Grape + Bean is located in Old Town on South Royal Street. They sell coffees and wines by the glass at the new tasting bar. With a “focus is on high quality and small production wines, single-origin eco-friendly whole bean coffees, and custom brewed coffee.” I’m excited to try it. According to the Washingtonian, they brew one cup at a time, so it leans towards the pricey side of all things coffee. So this might not be a great place for your regular coffee stop, but I’m itching to check it out, regardless.
Have you been there? Where is your favorite coffee shop? What about your favorite wine bar?
By Don
Max told us about his experience getting his hands on a commerative WaPo edition about Obama’s win, and Tom mentioned yesterday that the Newseum had an assortment of the papers from around the world. So I’ll take a moment to shamelessly mine both posts for my own.
If you couldn’t get a paper, you can console yourself with the fact that the Newseum not only has a rotating collection of today’s front pages from around the world, but they also keep an archive of front pages from earlier significant days. The most recent, of course, is Voters Elect America’s First Black President, so you’ll be able to go back and look at them whenever you like. Including our home town paper’s front page from that day.
I’m sure the WaPo lawyers would say printing this out and framing it violates their copyright. I’m sure there’s also plenty of folk who would insist this falls under fair use. I’m merely saying that from a practical matter, there’s plenty of places where you can do a nice color print that will look the other way or – if they’re like the Kinkos I go to – will studiously ignore you in favor of chatting amongst themselves.
Or just screen grab the sucker and make it your computer wallpaper. Who needs paper anyway?
By brownpau
DC Metro Station 1978 — Not yet open for business !
Originally uploaded by eljoh1
I was randomly clicking through photos of metro stations when I spotted this odd one which lacked rails or people. Then I looked at the “taken on” date: September, 1978.
This is L’Enfant Plaza Station, back when only the lower Blue/Orange Line level was in operation. The upper Green/Yellow Line platform and rails would not open until April, 1983. Doesn’t that look awesomely surreal?
Many thanks to Flickr user eljoh1 for the DC 1978 photoset where I found this.
By Tom Bridge
Sotheby’s
Originally uploaded by kerrygutknecht
How Obama Crazy is this town? Last night on NBC 4 at 11pm, they had an interview with his DC realtor at Tutt, Taylor & Rankin. No, he didn’t know what the Obamas were doing for housing yet, but he wanted to talk all about what their options could be.
Look, I like the guy, too, but do we have to be so stalkery? I mean, are you really going to go searching for his new DC digs so you wait in the bushes and watch the First-Family-in-Waiting play with their new puppy?
Okay, you do. I do. Everyone does. But really, let’s not give them the stalkery vibe right yet, okay?
By Max
Get Your Own Piece of History!! by chip py the photo guy
So were you able to pick up your super special election edition of the Washington Post last night? You know, the one that was supposed to be available at 3:00 and then showed up at 7:00? The one that cost $1.50 instead of $1?
I went down to my local 7 Eleven at 5:00 and saw that the newspaper stands were empty. I asked the clerk if they’d already sold out and he said to come back between 6:30 and 7:00. When I arrived at 7, everyone in line had several copies and there were no more left. “Oh well,” I thought. I really didn’t know why I wanted one anyway. What was I going to do with a newspaper? Save it until I’m 100 years old and give it to my grandkids?
Just then I saw a line of people on the corner and a guy with stacks and stacks of newspapers in the back of his SUV. It was like he was selling hot DVD players or something. I got in line and a few minutes later purchased four newspapers, one for me and several copies for my friends. Score!
How long did you wait in line? How many copies did you buy? What are you going to do with yours?
By Tom Bridge
Anchorage history
Originally uploaded by afagen
The news is hard to miss, and the headlines have been block print and bold. A special edition of the Washington Post went on sale at 3pm today (grab one at your CVS, 7-11, Giant, Harris Teeter, Safeway or Shoppers instead of the really long ling at the Post’s offices on 15th), and it will be featured, along with the front pages of the world’s newspapers at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Ave. If you’re burned out on the day, might want to walk over and check out the headlines. It’s good for the soul.
By Katie
Originally uploaded by Hoffmann
Open Table, the online reservation system, has introduced the Appetite Stimulus Plan. Also known as, DC Restaurant Week, but not. I think times are getting a little desperate out there…
From November 17-21, you’ll be able to dine at some of my favorite area restaurants for a prix fixe menu (just like our beloved RW) of $24 for a 3-course lunch, and $35 for a 3-course dinner. You also get double Open Table points, a bonus for those of us who are counting our way towards a free gift certificate.
There are some great places on the list – Corduroy, Olives, Ceiba, Firefly, Oyamel, and TenPehn. During RW, I usually sort the list by price, and go where I can get the best deals, so it’s worth my while. I recommend you do that for this too, since this is basically faux-RW.
Now go forth and reserve!
By Tom Bridge
Election Night U Street Washington, DC
Originally uploaded by wumpiewoo
Party on the Bus Shelter!
It’s going to be a slow morning here, and throughout DC, as we all get some breakfast and some serious advil and let the effects of last night of subside a bit. This shot from wumpiewoo on Flickr is pretty damned awesome, though.
By brownpau
Originally uploaded by MatthewBradley
Via Matthew Bradley, here’s the scene at 16th St and Penn Ave NW outside the White House tonight following the news networks calling Obama’s electoral victory. Quite a party!
I’ve got people yelling ecstatically and blowing their horns here downtown, Twittered reports of street parties and gunfire/fireworks in Columbia Heights, celebrations in Adams Morgan and Georgetown… what kind of spontaneous parties are breaking out in your neighborhood?
THE ULTIMATE NO PARKING SIGN, 1969 RICHARD NIXON PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION, NO PARKING SIGN, January 20, 1969
Originally uploaded by woody1778a
The ballots have been cast and counted, the electors, er, elected. Senator Barack Obama is President-elect of the United States.
This being DC, it’s time to start figuring out your plans for the Inauguration. If you want to get close enough to see the swearing-in, start watching the websites of your members of Congress- all tickets are distributed via members of Congress to their constituents. I expect that Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will get a share as well.
If you plan to run like hell to get away from the crowds, we have a fine list of Getaways that will let you get far enough out of the city to not be disturbed for a few days.
If you’re planning to have guests in from out of town that weekend, make sure you pick up an air mattress or something- hotels will likely be booked solid.
By Tom Bridge
I Voted In Arlington by christaki
I’ve been waiting and watching the Arlington Voter Results all night, and I’ve seen the format of the page change a dozen times, but not even a single vote has been recorded on the page yet. With Virginia still in play (last time I looked it was just 12,000 votes margin between McCain and Obama) it’s absolutely amazing to me that we’re not seeing any numbers out of Arlington at all.
C’mon guys, let’s get it going.
By Carl Weaver
Just not on election day. It’s a fine day for the list of sandwiches for people in line to go flying out of your coworker’s hand, isn’t it? It’s not enough that you had to spend your lunch hour(s) in long lines, but on top of it the person who made the food run screwed the pooch.
Did you actually get proper sustenance today or were you stuck in line with a bunch of other grumpy, hungry people?
Regardless, at least you did your civic duty. For that I thank you.
By Tom Bridge
Many thanks to Rob Pegararo of the Post for tweeting about the appearance of Street View for Google Maps here in DC, finally, after long last. This shot, taken on H St NW just north of the White House, is an example of Street View. What’s so utterly cool about it, though, is that the image is draggable, like moving the orientation of the camera. So you get a sweet panorama of your neighborhood.
I looked at my place, and saw both our cars, and the photos looked fairly recent, taken in Fall at any rate. I’ve seen some shots of Clarendon after a snow, and some other spots in different seasons. Spot anything cool? Let us know in the comments.
By Tom Bridge
peninsular dysfunction
Originally uploaded by sillydog
Someone thought it would be hilarious to hack into GMU’s listserves last night to send this message to students, after several Get Out The Vote efforts by the University:
—– Message from Office of the Provost
To: ANNOUNCE04-L@mail04.gmu.edu
Subject: Election Day Update
To the Mason Community:Please note that election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Peter N. Stearns Provost
Of course, the message is a steaming pile, and in no way accurate. Frankly, while I may think these messages weed out morons who probably shouldn’t vote anyway, it’s a better world in which more people exercise their franchise and vote. The Provost of GMU sent this out this morning in response:
—- Message from Office of the Provost
To: PROVOSTOFFICE-L@mail04.gmu.edu
Subject: Urgent Voting Information
Dear Colleagues,
It has come to my attention early this morning that a message was hacked into the system fraudulently stating that election day has been moved. I am sure everybody realizes this is a hoax, it is also a serious offense and we are looking into it. Please be reminded that election day is today, November 4th.
Peter N. Stearns
Provost
So, recognize there are jerks out there, and stick by your guns.
By Tom Bridge
Log Off and Vote!
Originally uploaded by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
From NotionsCapital‘s Mike Licht comes this report:
At 11:45AM there was no waiting at Precinct 86 (Eliot Jr. High School). Earlier, voters started lining up at 5AM, so the wait was as long as two hours, with the morning average about 90 minutes.
So, log off & go vote if you haven’t already!!
By Tom Bridge
Originally uploaded by erin m
Don Whiteside’s acting as an election official in Arlington’s 12th precinct in South Fairlington, and reports that as of noontime today, of the 2800 on their books, 1215 had shown to vote, 440 more were listed as absentee voters, leaving just 1185 left to vote. Their longest reported wait time was an hour and ten minutes, currently sporting not much of a wait at all. They’d done the first 700 voters by 8:45 or so.
Want to tell us your voting story? Either tweet at us (we’re @welovedc), or use the Suggest a Story form to tell us!
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