I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s a wealth of opportunity waiting for you and your camera at the National Zoo should you be up for the challenge. Granted, going to the zoo can be a little depressing when you start to think about how Mr. & Mrs. Lion would rather be gutting their prey in the Serengeti, but hey, at least they know what time dinner is coming to them every day. I feel really bad for the primates since they’re supposedly intelligent and most likely have a better grasp on just how much their lives suck.

But I digress. This shot of an American Eagle by Flickrite Tiger Empress is (like the bird) a thing of beauty. This is about as sharp as you can get, thanks to her trusty 400mm lens and Nikon D70. You feel like you could reach out and slice your finger open on that beak. My only criticism is that the background is a little distracting, and I would prefer a little more contrast and color saturation, but overall I think this shot is amazing.

If you have a point and shoot camera, you probably won’t be getting up close and personal with the animals, and by all means, leave your camera phones at home. But unless you have a worldwide animal photography trip planned, a trip to the zoo is as good as it gets.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Guess who this is…

Yes, the day of ghouls and goblins is fast approaching, and I’m looking for costume ideas now – the first party is this Saturday!

What would crazy Wayan wear? I’m always in for a thinking man’s costume, one that takes a moment to figure out. Say a black shirt covered with Easter peeps = a chick magnet. Or a lumberjack outfit with a milk carton sporting a “Where’s my blue ox?” ad = Paul Bunyan.

Yet, I don’t like costumes that require hours of prep or makeup. Mummies and zombies are way too annoying three hours or six drinks into the night. Also, supermodels like costumes that make a man look good – or at least fun.

So, whaddya say DC – what should Wayan be? If I pick your idea to wear, a Metroblogging DC t-shirt will go your way.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

RCN offers fat pipe

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

That’s a lot of data transfer, folks. Right now, most DSL lines in the DC area top out at 1.5mbps. Cable modem for the most part, from Comcast and others is around 10mbps. Fios is around around 15 Mbps. RCN, though, who we’ve talked about several times before here, seems to be topping out the bandwidth scale with their new 20Mbps service.

How fast is that?

It’s an iTunes Movie Store purchase in roughly 20 minutes.

That’s pretty flippin’ fast.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of Google

Rumor is that the Gallaudet protest brigade has gotten necessary permission to march to the Capitol on Friday, so be prepared for some traffic snafus along the New York Avenue route, assuming that’s their path. It could be a big-ish bunch considering that about 60% of the Gallaudet faculty expressed no confidence in Fernandes and said she should step down or be removed. Mind you, I’m not terribly impressed by this incredibly courageous move of stepping up to make a statement after other people have done so for you for several weeks, but still – that’s a big semi-official public endorsement of support for the protesters.

Anyone with information on the route, if it’s been decided, please share.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Inn @ Dupont Circle

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Wait, a bed and breakfast right in the middle of downtown? Sure enough, there is, right in the heart of Dupont, and with nightly rates better than most of hotels, perhaps your next guests might prefer to stay in a sweet little B&B instead of a giant hotel, give these guys a ring. They’re right on 19th St, just south of the circle. Check ’em out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you are reading this, you know what a blog is. If you are a blogger yourself, then you know who Anil Dash is (or you should). And Thursday will be your chance to meet Anil and get some serious Six Apart blog boost.

Anil will be in town for a half-day blogging seminar to discuss the benefits, challenges, and best practices of business blogging.

Better yet, I’ll also be there, so expect a dozen or so cell phone photos of me mugging with Blogebrity as I pretend to be one.

Best of all, you can join me if you pony up the $150 and get the afternoon off from work.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

With the impending Gay Marriage Ban well thought of in the rest of Virginia, and many other issues significantly disparate between the Tidewater and Northern Virginia, perhaps it’s time that Arlington, Fairfax and Alexandria severed ties with the rest of the state that uses it only for tax revenue. Perhaps it’s time that these three districts join with the District at large to form a 51st state. With 5 million people in the greater DC area, this new state would be larger than Wyoming, Alabama, North Dakota and other states in population, and, due to DC and Northern Virginia’s unique position in the economy as the seat of government, the site of a significant number of beltway bandit contractors, and several large international commerce hubs, the state could have an economy to rival the largest state economies.

So, with this final straw potentially upsetting the creative class in Northern Virginia, and encouraging them to be elsewhere, perhaps it’s time to fight back a bit?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Hey Ms. United States Park Police Woman, that’s a great parking space for police car number 170. Right up there in Dupont Circle, and I do mean in the Circle too.

So, um, why did you drive your police cruiser right up on the sidewalk? Are you checking up on things? Doesn’t look like it, sitting in your car talking on your cell phone.

Might you be just that lazy or arrogant, driving your police car through the park like you’re on a bicycle or on foot?

And where is your supervisor? If you were DC MPD parked in front of a fire hydrant, I wouldn’t have to end this post in such a negative way.

Yo, fuzz, get the f~^k off the park! Don’t you have a dog to shoot somewhere?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

My housemate and I are clean guys, much cleaner than other guys, and even cleaner than a lot of Washington women. We like to keep our place tidy, with regular dusting, moping, and washing. Well, when we have the time.

Lately, neither of us have the time, and while our place is still sterile by other’s judgment, we’re thinking of getting a maid service: someone to clean the common areas – kitchen, living room, bathroom – with a good scrubbing once a month.

My housemate and I can clean our own dishes, and our own rooms, and we’d be happy to buy cleaning supplies. The question is: who to hire?

Do you have a cleaning service you can recommend? One that will not charge us more, thinking we’re keg-party dirty. One that we might trust with keys, so they can clean when we’re not home?

Recommendations are welcome, and as my housemate is fluent in Spanish and I in Spanglish, language isn’t a problem. Nor is looks, the cleaner not need to be a French maid, though, a male sissy maid (borderline safe for work link) might be a strech.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I am capable of a great deal of snobbery about my food. That’s not to say that you won’t ever see me catching a bit at a Quizno’s, it’s just to say that details do matter to me when I’m choosing my lunch location. On days when I want someone to care as much about the details of my sandwich as I do, I go to the Atrium Cafe in the Washington Square building at Connecticut & L.

There are rather a lot of little delis and whatnot all over the city, often run by immigrant families catering to the hungry lunchtime hordes of downtown. They vary wildly in quality, but the Atrium almost always makes me happy. Why? Because when I ask them for a roast beef sandwich, I watch them slice the beef off the roast, arrange it carefully in the shape of the bread I’ve selected, and coordinate a two-person process to ensure that it lands where it belongs with a minimum of mess and waste. They don’t skimp on it, either. They don’t just slather on the mayo, they spread it carefully and remove the excess. They have cranberry sauce for your turkey sandwich (also sliced off the roasted turkey breast in front of you). They make suggestions about what types of condiments you might want on your sandwich, rather than sullenly waiting for your request. They slice the sandwich in half BEFORE putting it on the paper (don’t know why this is so uncommon, honestly, seems like a no-brainer).

They’re not the best sandwiches I’ve ever had, but they’re really pretty good. And some days, when everything is going to shit and clients are demanding that I spend my precious weekend time firing someone because they’re too chicken to let me do it while the person is on site, I just want someone to care about my damn sandwich. And those Atrium people? The most detail-oriented sandwich professionals I’ve ever seen in a lunch counter environment.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Day one of the 2006 ACLU member conference kicked off today and I made it there in time to catch “A Conversation About Civil Liberties, part 2” between Tucker Carlson and Rachel Maddow… and Anthony Romero, really, who was supposed to be moderating but couldn’t resist participating in the discussion. I’d have rather been at the pre-dinner event with Antonin Scalia and ACLU President Nadine Strossen, though I overheard some folk claiming this one was better.

Dare I say – perish the thought.

While I’ve got no love for the standard talk tv of two people yelling past each other, it’s not much fun to listen to two folk more or less agree with each other either. Which you might not expect, but with DC resident Carlson viewing himself more or less as a small-l libertarian there wasn’t a huge amount of conflict. On most things he and Maddow essentially wanted the same house, location and paint color and were just haggling over the choice of doorknobs. On the few things they didn’t agree on – the ACLU’s recent efforts on 10 Commandments displays, abortion rights – they simply were in such different spaces that all they could do was talk past each other.

The real excitement this evening at the convention was the event that I’d rolled my eyes at when I saw it in the program – the “Slam for Civil Liberties featuring spoken word performers Steve Connell and Sekou (tha misfit) plus hip-hop ballet troupe Decadance” My reaction was “oh please.”

In reality it was amazing.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading →

Friday night, a lover’s quarrel turned tragic according to Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Kraig Troxell.

Allegedly, Alexander Enrique Rivera-Moreno, 22, of Sterling shot Claudia Vanessa Ayala-Duron, 22, also of Sterling, and Christopher Lee Beech, 24, of Ashburn, in a parking lot outside the Safeway at Sterling Plaza on South Sterling Boulevard, before shooting himself.

Would Candace Rondeaux, the Washington Post reporter assigned to the incident, just go with the facts, like WTOP? Or would she follow the lead of Leesburg Today and see this as an isolated incident?

Loudoun Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said the incident appears to be an isolated one and there isn’t “a threat to the community.”

Or maybe get crazy and go into a little, logical conjecture, like NBC 4 did?

The shooting appears to be an isolated incident and at this time there does not appear to be a threat to the community. Detectives say it was most likely a domestic-related murder-suicide that claimed the three lives. Family members of the woman killed said she was divorced and was killed here along with her new boyfriend.

No, not Candace “Cyclist Killers on W&OD Trail” Rondeaux. Ms. Rondeaux went right crime hype with her “Three Killings Shatter Calm That Loudoun Usually Enjoys” article. Starting off with the sinister tag line of “Double Slaying-Suicide Leaves Many Questions”, in less than 300 words she quickly moves from the reality, the sad tale of domestic violence, and jumps right into gang warfare.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading →

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Be careful if you are out driving today, this is a student driver learning how to navigate DC’s mean streets.

Before you rush to judgment, this isn’t some crazy teenager – both people in the front seat could’ve easily been a dad.

Might this really be a learner or could it be a speed camera penalty?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

If you are headed to Dupont Circle today be sure too look for Big Panda here.

Out promoting the new panda park at the National Zoo, he is giving out free disposable cameras.

Too bad the cameras are film-based. I passed, being all digital these days but do not let that stop you – free is still free.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Maybe I just noticed this, but isn’t that train time sign handy?

Looking at it as I entered the Dupont Circle Station, I knew exactly how many minutes I had left to make it to the track.

For those in a rush, or quick on their toes, you can just make an “Arriving” train, but you’ll need to push past any slow-pokes.

Be quicker – insert your favorite movie-based escalator dash scene now!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

El Guapo in DC tells us the real reason Storehouse is going under.

(If you aren’t reading El Guapo already, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Washington Post has an interesting story today about which neighborhoods have the highest robbery rates in the city.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that muggings in Adams Morgan, U Street, and Columbia Heights spike wildly on Friday and Saturday nights, but the sheer frequency of them startled me. The presence of large numbers of drunk yuppies, I suppose, makes a big difference.

Be sure to check out the graphic, which includes not only a map with the data on it, but also some tips from the Metropolitan PD about how to avoid being mugged, and what to do if you’re being mugged. It all kind of boils down to… don’t be a moron, and remember what your mother used to tell you.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

In a stunning upset, the Los Angles Metropolitan Transportation Authority beat out WMATA to be the best transit agency in North America, winning American Public Transportation Association’s 2006 Outstanding Public Transportation System Award!

I know what you are thinking: LA has a subway?! Or, there is a transit nonprofit association in DC?! Yes, to both. LA’s MTA won this year with an amazing mix of increased ridership – 16% over 2005, and yet a record low number of complaints.

LA’s Metro was so ecstatic they claim the award “is considered the Publitzer Prize of the transit industry.” Now I don’t know what a “Publitzer Prize” is, but if they meant “Pulitzer Prize” I am amazed they can link a national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions to mass transit.

Even more amazingly, the “Over 30 million annual Ridership” category which MTA won has more than just NYC, DC, Chicago, and San Francisco. There are 50+ other public transport systems that size in the USA. Can you name any? Before you try, check out this map of North American rail systems. Cool, eh?

What’s even cooler is that WMATA won the Outstanding Public Transportation System Award in 1987 and 1997, which means we should win again in 2007. Until then, we can take solace in our new 6000 series Metrorail cars.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

In front of the Southern Railroad Building today was a small but very vocal protest.

A handful of earnest kids were screaming out puppy killer insults at the 15th Street entrance of the building trying to get GlaxoSmithKline’s attention.

Inside HLS is pissed that GlaxoSmithKline contracts with Huntingdon Life Sciences to test out new pharmaceuticals. HLS isn’t known for its pro-animal stance, and these kids are taking their protest to its business partners.

Commitment might be an issue for the protesters though. At the end of the lunch hour, horse hoarse and winded, they walked off quietly.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Much as students from Gallaudet are about to learn of the consequences of speech, so too is Marc Fisher, Post Columnist. While Turkey has banned insulting turkishness, and France is trying to ban denying an Armenian genocide at the hands of Turkey, we have our own crisis of viewpoint here in DC. Check out this recent Marc Fisher column on Culpeper, VA, and about several of the residents who are struggling with the large influx of hispanic immigrants:

Jenkins realizes that the moneyed arrivals from the north are not going anywhere. But maybe, he says, just maybe, something can be done about those from the south. “It’s a much easier issue, because it’s black and white,” he says. “I don’t get it when people say immigration is a gray issue. You’re either legal, or you’re not. We need to help them be legal. I’m not for anything harsh. If they’re willing to come forward and go through a process, we have an obligation to assist them in every way. But I’m about rules.”

This article absolutely infuriated restauranteur Michael Landrum, owner of Ray’s the Steaks and Ray’s the Classics, who wrote in to Fisher…

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