By Wayan
So let us say you are somewhere on the Red Line north of Dupont Circle and are headed south of Pentagon City. Which is faster:
Today I went for the Yellow Line option because I wanted to see the Potomac and got a bonus: a singing trio on the Gallery Place platform.
Which choice do you make?
Prime Rib
Originally uploaded by tbridge
DC Restaurant Week is nearly upon us. For the last three of you who are not yet familiar, Restaurant Week is when many of DC’s dining establishments offer a three-course, price-fixe menu for both lunch and dinner. Since a number of higher-end restaurants participate it’s a terrific way to experience DC’s best cuisine without constantly fearing for the moment the check arrives. It’s also a great excuse to go try out a new place- chefs often love the chance to show off for a new crowd.
The best Restaurant Week coverage I’ve seen so far is from the fine team at DC Foodies. They’ve got a comprehensive list of menus, with edits being made as each restaurant publicizes their offering.
Don’t forget to make reservations. What are you most looking forward to checking out?
By Tom Bridge
So, the SWAT team broke down his door, shot his dogs, tied his family up, and it turns out it was all a giant mistake. Turns out, the Police were also missing the right kind of warrant for a no-knock execution of the search, which compounds the frustration. Two area men were arrested as part of a bizarre weed shipping ring, and over $1M in weed was confiscated by the PG County Police. While PG County Police Chief Melvin High won’t rule out the involvement of Mayor Calvo, we’ve promised we won’t rule out laughing hysterically at his name being associated with a pot scandal.
By dinghao
I work in Twinbrook, just off Rockville Pike.
Rockville Pike and its general vicinity, if you don’t know it, is about as dense as suburban sprawl can get. It is a Mecca of strip malls, shopping centers, pavement, asphalt, traffic lights, and of course, traffic.
Today at lunch, I had an errand to run over at a nearby bank, in one of the strip shopping centers. I parked my car in shopping center lot (since the bank itself only has about five spaces, which are always in use), and walked over to the bank.
Continue reading
By Wayan
Up in Petworth we are getting serious wind gusts and light hail with the dark thunder cloud headed south.
I think I just lost a few tomato plants. Be sure to secure your outside crops and effects quick-like.
By Don
No matter how well written the news story, most of us know nothing more than what’s provided us on the page. Our emotional connection is limited to our ability to empathize with people we don’t know, and based on the limited picture of their life presented to us in that one cluster of paragraphs. For most of us the Post story on the tragic death of Marisol Caceres is no different.
Jeff gives us a window into their lives before this tragedy, both with his fresh recollections of his friendship with Marisol’s brother Jose and his two-year old interview with him about his immigration reform activities. It’s a valuable reminder that the people on the page had lives before they got six inches of newsprint devoted to their current tragedy. It’s also a reminder that their burdens won’t lessen just because they disappear from our notice because something bad happened to someone else the following day.
It’s not an enjoyable feeling, this reminder, but I think it’s a valuable and human one.
Lonely Hands, courtesy of Rickydavid
By Tom Bridge
FiOS may be coming into DC soon! The first hurdle, the Office of Cable Television, has been leapt. The OCT and Verizon came to an agreement to bring FiOS service into DC. This is just the first hurdle, next comes review by AG Nickles’ office, then approval by the City Council.
Of course, that’ll mean running fibre all over town, which means years of construction!
By Tom Bridge
IMG00056
Originally uploaded by Todd Kennedy
I didn’t know what a Gin Rickey was this morning, or ever where it’d come from, until I came across the story on WTOP about the DC Craft Bartenders Guild (who desperately need a website.) who had a Gin Rickey contest this week. What was fascinating wasn’t just the Rickey itself, it was the intense debate on the Yelp listing comments on the differences between the Rickey and a Gimlet, which are largely comprised of the same ingredients (Gin & Lime juice), but the differences lie in the subtletly of creation.
Turns out, the Gin Rickey is steeped in DC tradition, going back to 19th century lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey. Once the owner of the Shoemaker Bar on Penn Ave here in DC, Rickey’s drink of choice was gin or whiskey, over ice, with the juice of half a lime, and, if he was feeling peckish, a little sugar, with soda water. The Post has the scoop on the winning entry, which is a black pepper Rickey. Read on for the video from the context.
By brownpau
“Couth, courtesy, and common sense” — iMetro’s three personal values whose deficiency makes Metro that much more unpleasant to ride. (Strictly speaking, though, “couth” is more adjective than noun, generally used as ironic foil to “uncouth.”) He follows up with a few photos demonstrating said unpleasantness. I’m especially WTF-ing at the jacket on the other side of the tracks and the rocks on the glass canopy. And next time I see someone doing chin-ups on the overhead bars I might just pull down his pants. Or at least tut-tut sternly.
More fun Metro ranting at WTFMetro.
By Tom Bridge
Not the Canadian Football League, the Consolidated Forensics Laboratory. Many thanks to DC Metrocentric who pointed out the new renderings this morning. The facility is slated to open 2010, and will house a whole host of Department of Health, MPD and other agency functions for the District. It’ll also be bringing 70 new jobs to the District, which is pretty great!
By Ben H. Rome
DCist and other news sources are reporting that there’s a power outage and water main break in Columbia Heights. The power outage is at 13th and Harvard NW; the water main at 13th and Florida NW. Keep in mind 13th is currently closed between Belmont and Florida.
There’s also been another power failure near Navy Yard, at 9th and Virginia SE. Not a lot of details I’ve seen on it (post anything new in comments!); all I can say is, with this humidity and another 90 degree day, try to stay cool somehow.
By Wayan
Clear Channel’s SmartBike program has officially started, but before you cheer, realize its not for you.
With dork bikes not even a tween would touch, and no provisions for helmets or locks, this is not a system designed for success.
This is a opening day photo op followed one lone frequent user: Pee Wee Herman.
By Don
![Photo courtesy of [phil h]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/28/67301719_8cdbbf60e3_m.jpg)
Commenter Mary pointed out a link to the Slashdot story on the CLEAR data breach over here, and I’d been pondering whether to mention it or not. It’s not really DC related, but we did just write about the program and its express lines at DCA and IAD.
As it turns out, however, there is a DC related angle I wanted to point out. Namely the WaPo coverage about this loss of the personal data of 33,000 customers of Verified Identity Pass… headlined as “Missing Laptop Keeps Firm From Registering New Fliers.” Run on the very last page of the business section.
It’s a wire story from Bloomberg, so WaPo can’t be faulted for the ho-hum reporting of VIP losing the data of over 15% of their customers, but who felt this was such a non-story that they’d bury it on the back page and give it such a misleading headline?
It’s funny – just last night over dinner I caught some flack for beating up on the Post and I said I really do like WaPo, it’s just that I expect better from them. This is a perfect example.
Lunch Specials!
Originally uploaded by busybee
When a downtown strip club has to offer lunch specials to get customers in the door, you know it’s hard times for us all. With gas and food prices rising, sometimes boobies just aren’t enough.
By Max
$2 after 2 p.m. by brownpau
You either love Starbucks or you hate it (or you’re somewhere in between like I am). Regardless, if you get your morning coffee there like I do, hold onto your receipt! According to an AP report, if you show the receipt from your morning caffeine fix, you can get any iced grande beverage for only $2 after 2 p.m. With savings like that, you may actually be able to fill up your car’s gas tank from time to time.
I haven’t given this a try yet but I see an iced grande vanilla latte with my name on it in the very near future.
By Wayan
Did you feel the earth shake at 2:15 pm today? That would be GW University expanding its real estate empire on Washington Circle.
The new mixed use building to replace the old hospital is in progress – this summer is excavation. They are headed down an additional 40 feet where they are now, and blasting through bedrock to get there.
Real ground-breaking progress.
By brownpau
Via DCist we have a Washington Post report that last week’s UMD “cougar” may actually have been a large Savannah (serval/domestic feline hybrid). So I guess all you people who couldn’t resist making cougar jokes last week all feel pretty silly now. Me, I’ll settle for saying the title of this post with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.
(Flickr photo of a yawning Savannah Cat courtesy drlisa)
By Tom Bridge
There’s a sweet new go-go song floatin’ out of over DC today, and that’s the new song from DCVote.org. They commissioned Joe L. Da Vessel to write a new piece for the organization to promote the Voting Rights effort. Check it out (MP3 link) and tell us what you think in the comments.
I think it’s pretty catchy, myself. I like the tribute to the various DC Symbols, including the flag and the city’s motto. And the keyboards are effin’ sweet.
Peaches for me!
Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge
Tom and I headed back out to Great Country Farm yesterday for this week’s farm share pickup and fruit-picking. (By the way, hello to We Love DC readers Jonathan and Katrina, who we met on the hayride back from the orchard.)
We knew we were getting some peaches in our produce box, but in previous weeks it has only been about 4 at a time and we had to ration them carefully so we could enjoy them all week. We expected to split the 4 pound bag of pick-your-own peaches with our friend we split the share with, and additional peaches were only $2/pound, so we picked some extra.
Hah. There must have been 2-3 pounds of peaches in the box. Then our friend wasn’t feeling well and didn’t participate in the picking, and didn’t take her half of the 4 pound bag. And we had picked probably another 4 pounds. (In addition to the couple of pints of blackberries.)
People, there are now at least TEN POUNDS OF PEACHES in my dining room. What the hell am I going to do with all this? I’d better start baking now… Post your peach recipes/ideas in the comments, please!
By Wayan
Walking through Rock Creek Church Cemetery, I spotted this debris cluttered headstone. David Roy Moncrieffe II, may he rest in peace.
And may all of us be so lucky to be remembered by our friends like his remember him, four years on. That debris, it was signs of a night spent remembering the good times and great days that David enjoyed before he died.
Cheers David for his love of life and his friends for their love of David.
By 
