Category Archives: The Daily Feed

The Daily Feed
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Go Mayor Adrian Fenty, Go!

washington dc
Photo by khr110

This is reason #427 why I love our Mayor, Adrian Fenty: his tireless energy.

Here he is, running 10 Km in the Nation’s Triathlon, after suffering a nasty spill in training this summer. No to mention the 1.5 Km swim and 40 Km bike he endured before this photo.

That he has the drive and ambition to train and compete in triathlons while in office shows his stamina. And if you look up his race times, you too will be humbled by the quickness of this 38 year old man.

I know I was impressed when I saw him on at the Rock Creek Parkway turnaround. Yeah, Adrian, that was me cheering you on – your biggest ex-triathlete fan.

Arlington, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors
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Unwed Mother Mantis

Praying Mantis = good luck!

This praying mantis was sitting on the railing of my deck as I was coming in from picking peppers in my garden. What a nice surprise, I thought. I have always associated mantids with good fortune. As I looked closer, I noticed that this one had an engorged abdomen and appeared to be ready to birth a giant-ass egg sack.

I can’t wait until next spring, when the little ones appear and eat all the other insects and spiders. Maybe that’s weird for a vegetarian to admit, but it’s true. This is one of those things that gives me hope about the coming autumn and winter.

Even though things wither and die as the days grow colder, like the poor little unwed mother praying mantis, I know that in that egg sack little critters are quietly awaiting the spring and will slowly mature until they burst forth to eat all the darned spiders, who are probably just as fertile and ready to lay eggs right now.

Whatever gives us the hope it takes to push through the cold weather and emerge on the other side of the cold is worth latching onto. For me, it’s the arrival of mantis season and the hope of no spiders.

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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That’s one whacky crop circle

A WTOP story led me to this link : Cows N Corn is the website of the Leonard Family Dairy, who do a differently laid-out corn maze every year. This year’s is a reproduction of the Virginia is For Lovers logo. At an hour west south-west from DC, it’s not a bad drive. It that’s too far for you to go solely to wander around in a field you could wait till the 20th and hit their Barn Dance and Dinner. A corn maze, all you can eat, and square dancing? What more could you want?

All Politics is Local, Fun & Games, Technology, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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So, How Long Til This Reaches Law & Order or 24?

osctoavs2.jpg

Apparently, some folks at the Pentagon, unable to make “terrorists might use alternative communication methods and code words” sound sexy to their supervisors, they decided to stage an attack on the White House……in World of Warcraft.

Never mind that there IS no White House in Azeroth, and the closest you could come is setting off goblin grenades in front of Thrall, this is I suppose, a plausible way to have off-the-grid communication between two computers. But really? To blame it on a game?

Are you guys High?!

Food and Drink, Getaways, The Daily Feed
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Quattro Goombas Winery

Wine Bottles IMGP0221

My father was in town this past weekend so we took him on a short tour of the Virginia wine country in Aldie and Middleburg. Actually, we visited one winery and drove by two or three others along the way.

Quattro Goombas Winery is on Rt. 15 about a mile north of Rt. 50 in Aldie, VA. I have visited quite a number of wineries in my time and can tell you that I had an experience there that I have only had one other time. I liked every single wine I tasted. Often these things are hit and miss but this tasting hit like a Slant Six, each wine delicious, with its own characteristics and each one smooth.

If you have an afternoon free, go see these folks. It’s only an hour west of DC and you are sure to enjoy it. They will treat you right and at the end of the tasting you will feel like an honorary goomba yourself.

Foggy Bottom, The Daily Feed, The District
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And GWU is Going Deeper Still

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Remember the construction-related blasting of July that shook the Foggy Bottom area? It seems the contractors digging the foundation for the new GWU building are still going deeper.

While a shortcut to China is still far off, there drill rigs say more china will rattle in the near future.

Here is thanks to the contractors for letting us see the show. And no thanks to the busy-body cop who threatened jaywalking when I went to take this photo.

Technology, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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WTF Truck?


WTF Truck?
Originally uploaded by tbridge

Not exactly sure what this modified Dodge Sprinter van was doing in Clarendon with its array of ten cameras on a tall stalk that extended a good 18″ above the top of the vehicle. On the rear of the van was a high-resolution GPS antenna for maximum signal strength in a dense urban area. I was wondering if it was Google Street View for the Maps, but their cars are mostly Chevy Cobalt sedans, or the occasional VW Beetle. The license plate was a Missouri plate, which was interesting. Know anything about these?

The Daily Feed
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Harriette to Plead Guilty


Crime & Punishment Museum
Originally uploaded by angela n.

With a name like Harriette, I go immediately to the Antoinette “Let Them Eat Cake” lines, but today I’ll put that on hold. Harriette Walters will plead guilty to stealing $48 million or so in DC Revenue over a period of years. Major kudos to the DC Examiner for their work on breaking the story. Terms of the deal haven’t been announced yet, but I’m hoping they’ll keep her in a box at the Crime & Punishment Museum…

The Daily Feed
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Zoo Wins 5-year Accreditation


National Zoo – Hot Pink – 9-1-08
Originally uploaded by mosley.brian

All those sighs of relief you hear today are coming from the National Zoo which won a 5-year accreditation for the Zoo in Northwest, as well as their Front Royal, VA facility for research. The Zoo has made $100M in upgrades since their last application in 2003, and should debut several new exhibits and habitats before their next application in 2013.

The Daily Feed
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Nation’s Triathalon Today

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Check out the speed on the second leg of the Nation’s Triathalon: the bike course on the E Street Expressway.

Speed so fast that riders are just a blur. And when they fall, like one just did, a blur of pain.

Good luck to everyone. May you all finish even if you have to hobble across the line, like I did once.

The Daily Feed
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Another Downtown Building: Gone!

washington dc by wayan
Photo by Wayan

Did anyone else notice that we have another gap in the downtown skyline? 800 17th Street NW is no longer.

I remember a Riggs Bank, back when we had Riggs Banks, and a luggage store on the 17th Street side. Do you have memories of what is now gone?

Looking forward, what might be the new building? A twin of the glass and steel replacement now on the far side of 17th? Or something with a little more soul?

The Daily Feed
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The icing on the cake

Photo courtesy of maxedaperture

Go Ahead…, courtesy of maxedaperture

If the never ending-escalator problems, line closings on busy weekends, and service delays weren’t enough for you, here’s another Metro gem for you: if the current trend continues through December, “serious” crime on the metro will be up 15% for 2008 says the DC Examiner.

It’s not as bad as it might seem; once you get past the Examiner’s numbers on robbery (+35%) and larceny (+14%) they reveal that the overall rate is low. They don’t spell it out for the math-impaired, but that means a 15% jump doesn’t translate into a tremendously large number of additional people being victimized.  For the 1.2M rider a day – that’s distinct route trips, not individuals – there’s 3 reported crimes. That works out to 1095 in the year, and if we figure that number before a 15% increase (1095 * (100/115)) that means last year’s numbers were about 952. So we’re getting one “extra” crime every 2 and a half days.

I guess saying that your risk had gone from 1 in 460,000 to 1 in 400,000 wasn’t very sexy.

So watch your posessions before the doors close – snatch and grab is what you’re most likely to be victim of – and try not to increase your total amount of worrying more than twice extra a week.

The Daily Feed
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Bloomingdale’s is coming to Georgetown

DC Metrocentric reports that a new Bloomingdale’s department store will be taking up residence in the Shops at Georgetown Park. That should make for a nice addition to the mall, fitting right in with the Georgetown shopping crowd (as opposed to my preferred upscale fashion scenes: A.J. Wright at Rhode Island Ave, Marshall’s at Pentagon City, and Ross at Silver Spring). Slated to open in 2011, this will give you more of a reason to go down there than just for Benihana and the DMV.

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Red and Orange Line Delays

Crowded Metro Platform

If you’re riding the Red or Orange Line today, prepare for delays. The following service disruption alerts are currently up:

Orange Line: Trains are sharing the same track between Federal Center and Eastern Market due to a train experiencing mechanical difficulties at Eastern Market station. Expect delays in both directions.

Red Line: Trains are sharing the same track between Rhode Island Avenue and Fort Totten due to police activity at Brookland station. Expect delays in both directions. Expected duration 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Update: Alerts have been cleared.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
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Pearson determined to be disbarred

Photo courtesy of Ghost_Bear

WJLA news reports that Roy Pearson has – somehow – convinced the DC Appellate court to hear his appeal on the now-infamous 54 million dollar pants lawsuit. WJLA was also nice enough to film the amused/aghast reaction of the Chung family as they informed them that this had happened.

The fact that Pearson appealed wouldn’t shock anyone who had heard anything about the case, but it’s somewhat surprising that review was granted. Pearson’s appeal contends that the ruling was inappropriate because it simply substituted a qualified guarantee for an absolute one. OnPointNews hosts the PDF version of the appeal here and it’s surpringly cogent. It also includes a demand for $450,000 in attorney’s fees. For Pearson.

Here’s hoping this has a speedy and permanent resolution.

Marbled Justice, courtesy of Ghost_Bear

The Daily Feed
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We Love Our Readers: Optional User Registration


Beware of troll
Originally uploaded by mamamusings

Every once in a while, I like to take a minute to remind you, our cherished readers, about some of the non-blog features here at We Love DC. So today, we’re going to talk about user registration.

Although certainly not required, readers are able to register for a user account here at We Love DC. There are a couple of important benefits to this.
Continue reading →

Business and Money, Special Events, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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DC Adds EagleBank Bowl

RFK Panorama 2
RFK Panorama by busybee

DC will have the honor of the first College Football Bowl Game of the year on December 20th, with the EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium. This year’s game will feature the Navy Midshipmen against the #9 team from the ACC, provided that both teams come up with six wins this season.

EagleBank has signed a four-year sponsorship deal for the new Bowl Game targeted at the military service academies, with parts of the proceeds from each year’s game going to charities that support Veterans. Tickets will run from $45 to $135 a game, or, mostly cheaper than a ticket to the Nationals.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Eat at Yum’s, food from a Bum!

Photo courtesy of christaki

I’m a regular reader of BarfBlog, which is as unappetizing as you think but also quite excellent: it’s actually a blog run by food safety expert Doug Powell that talks about food safety, in theory and in practice. The kind of behind-the-scenes information they ran about the recent tomato/salmonella scare, for example, was great.

I opened the blog a minute ago to look at the most recent entries and at the top was a submitted report from one of our fellow citizens describing a disturbing event at a Yum’s location here in DC. Personally I think if you eat at Yum’s you deserve anything you get, but if you still eat at Yum’s after reading this…. well, draw your own conclusion.

The not-clean-man had placed three large, bloody styrofoam Safeway containers of some kind of raw meat on the counter. The old Chinese lady behind the counter was saying “Ten dolla! I give you ten dolla!” and the improperly-sanitized-guy said that was fine. The hipsters and I exchanged wide-eyed glances as it dawned on us that this dude was *selling* meat to the restaurant, meat that he had somehow obtained from Safeway…

Szechuan Beef Proper, courtesy of christaki