Apparently, in Washington DC, you can evade taxes for six years, rack up a quarter of a million dollars in debt to the federal government, and get off with three years probation, all the while testing positive for cocaine and marijuana. What’s worse? In the hearing, Barry quoted the Bible, citing his belief in forgiveness:

He described himself as a Christian who believes in forgiveness, and reminded the court of the verses in the Book of Matthew, chapter 18, when Paul asks how many times a person should be forgiven, and Jesus answers “70 times seven.”

I’m sorry, Marion, but this is like murdering your parents and begging for mercy because you’re an orphan.

You knew that you were violating the law when you failed to file your tax returns. You knew that you were violating the law when you smoked that weed and snorted that coke. And yet, somehow, in the Court’s perversity, the sought to grant you probation for three years. Even after flaunting the court by not bringing your documents in well before hand.

DC ought to be appalled today that instead of applying justice, we let it slide because he’s old.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of VirtualErn

I’d heard rumblings of the possibility but this is the first hard date I have read. Jason of DC Foodies buries the lead in his writing on Ray’s The Steaks and mentions towards the bottom “I’ve read that Ray’s in Arlington will be closing March 26th until further notice.” This is confirmed in the Tom Sietsema chat on WaPo where a questioner mentions the outgoing message on the Ray’s answering machine indicating that there will be no more parties over 6 seated and no new reservations, though existing ones will be honored.

I still haven’t gotten around to going so I guess I’ll have to wait for the fabled Silver Spring location to open. This is usually the point in my food blogging when Tom comes in and goes on about how wonderful the thing I have missed is….

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The hearing on the hill yesterday about taxation took a major turn for me. If it’s optional, and folks want to try out the Flat Tax option, is that so bad?

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the District, held a hearing to talk about implementing a flat tax on city residents, which would be voluntary. D.C. residents could opt to remain under the current federal tax system.”

Sure, it still makes DC an experimentation zone, but this would, at least, offer informed consent to the patients.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

A month ago I touched on the upcoming metamorphosis of Source Theater from bankrupt blight to beer hall. It appeared the deal between Source’s management and the Bedrock owners to sell the space was brokered, full stop. Then an outcry of support from the arts community to keep the space as a theater and rising questions from the city on Source’s usage of funding began to emerge.

The city has a vested interest in Source’s fate due to the considerable financial support it has given them over the years to save the theater from ruin. This is why it isn’t as simple as Source just deciding to sell the space, and sayonara baby.

This all came to a head last Thursday at the ANC 1B meeting, replete with parading protestors from the theater community (in costume, no less) and television crews. As always the ever-reliable TheaterBoy has an excellent run-down of the Source Saga. In addition, a neighborhood friend attended the meeting and gave me some scoop…

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Now while the Post gets all snarky with Metro for catering lunches, I’m non-pulsed about the $15,000 a year tab for 15 people for 50 lunches. That’s about $20 per person per day, a deal in catering-land. Just ask Tiff about Ridgewells Catering.

No, what really incenses me, and is my very key annoyance with the entire Metro Board, is encapsulated in this short last-paragraph quote:

“If they would serve that lunch somewhere outside the Beltway and tell the board members to get there by bus on their own, it would be a great expenditure of public money,” said Ben Ross, head of Action Committee for Transit. None of the board members is a regular Metrobus rider.

Ah, there is nothing like the Board of a company not using its products daily. Good luck with those kinda bosses, Dan Tangherlini. You’re We’re gonna need it!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

While, Yes, I am at Spring Training this week, I’m in Arizona and not in sunny Florida with the Nationals, the spirit of Baseball is alive and well within me today. I’m rejoicing in the new stadium deal that cements the Nationals in Washington for years to come. I’m rejoicing in the impending announcement of new ownership for the Nationals, owners that don’t have vested interests in the other teams, or pinching pennies to an absurd level, and the return of a pocketbook for the team.

Spring Training hasn’t been injury free for the Nats as Jose Guillen looks like a giant question mark due to his wrist injury which is either season ending, or he’ll be out just a couple days. One of the starting five pitchers, Brian Lawrence who was part of the trade deal with San Diego, tore his labrum pretty good, so he’ll be questionable for some time to come, possibly out the better part of the 2006 season. At this pace, we’ll have a starting lineup composed of entirely AA players. But they’ll be OUR AA/Major League team…

The Stadium design, made by master stadium architects HOK, may be unveiled as soon as next week.

Of course, this doesn’t do anyone any good unless they start to win some games…right now? They’re 1 and 6 in Spring Training games. Get to it, boys.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Walk this way!

Take a look at this crosswalk sign from in front of the International Trade Building. Note anything strange about it?

How about that the large, highlighted, first-read words are “You Must” and then “To Call For”. You must – that would be a direct order, but “to call for” what?

Any random graphic artist professional, and common sense, will tell you that you should highlight what matters, and in this case it would be: “Push Button” and “Walk Signal“, the exact words de-emphasized.

As it stands now, the emphasis is on the direct order “You Must”, not on what you must do or why. Kinda seems like the whole atmosphere of today’s government, eh? Then again, this crosswalk’s users would be government workers going between the International Trade and Department of Commerce buildings.

A non-linear bunch all, I’m sure.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I didn’t want to cook tonight, I’ve felt like chiseled spam all day long and dammit, I just wanted someone else to take care of the dishes. I cajoled Tiffany into coming with me out to one of our semi-favorite restaurants: The Boulevard Woodgrill in Clarendon. We’ve been going since they opened a few years back (it used to be a MicroCenter!) and its good tastes and good prices became our weeknight out, and frequently our Sunday brunch, to boot.

Things started going downhill about a year ago, as our favorite manager Ryan Duncan was replaced by the fairly tepid Josh. Service times went up. Waits became an ever-present part of our meals. One of our favorite servers confided in us that Josh had reduced the waitstaff causing high turnover and slow service. Then they double-booked the Fillmore Room downstairs and kicked one of our friends’ Holiday parties to the curb, despite having paid the deposit, set the menu and notified their membership. That was the last straw. We stopped going.

We had heard that the new year had brought new management, so we started to go once in a while, a Sunday here, a Wednesday there. Tonight, as we walked in, there stood Ryan Duncan, smiling and welcoming us in the door. What a sight for sore eyes! We chatted while they bussed the booth, they’re opening a new location in Old Town this summer, and he’ll be at the Clarendon location three or four days a week.

Ryan’s reappearance showed. Our food was delivered quickly, our sodas and waters never empty, and the waitress was polite and happy to be there. I love the idea of being a regular at a restaurant, where everyone knows you, where you have a relationship with the people that feed you. Since it opened, that’s been the Boulevard for us. I remember one night, we arrived with about 10 minutes left before the kitchen closed, and we walked in, Ryan almost wasn’t going to seat us, it was too late. “But we just want the key lime pie!” And sure enough, there came four delectable slices of the best key lime pie in town for us and our friends.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to have Ryan back at the helm of the Boulevard, as going to Whitlow’s on a Sunday was just killing me inside. Welcome back Ryan, we’re so very very glad to have you.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

do you know what this is?

Oddly, its called a Snorkel, not a ‘cherry picker’ which is what construction guys in the South call it.

It is living in Metro these days so maintenance can be done on the Metro roof. Without regular patching of roof leaks, groundwater would pour into the underground tunnels and we’d be swimming as much as riding to work.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

DC Photos!

Think you can capture DC in pixels? Know the rule of thirds or contrast vs. brightness? Have photos that friends ask for? Then be cool, be free, be one of us!

Add your images to the The DC Metroblogging Photo Blog!

Fame, glory, maybe even a date will come your way if you add the images you think are damn cool to our little group. Um, just be sure that they are really, totally cool or else will have to shame you, here, in this forum if you get sloppy or cheeky.

Now gawk and enjoy!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Daffodils? Tulips? Forget it! The real sign of spring is snow shovels for sale at 70% off. Oh yeah baby, I can taste that beer&lime minus ice already….

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

late night rush hour

This is not 9am or 5pm. This is 11pm and time for the late night rush. I am not here at the bus stop with office drones or government workers. I am here with the night shift.

This is when those that clean the offices or prepare the food head home. Them and night owls like me.

And this is our late night bus.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

So, let’s theorize for the moment. Assume that tomorrow, DC becomes the 51st state in Union. We’re not going to fiat who, and why, or even the hows, just that DC suddenly was granted statehood.

Who would be DC’s first congressperson? And its two senators?

Would the battle look like the mayoral race?

Here’s my bets: Eleanor Holmes Norton would take the slot as the first congresswoman from DC and Linda Cropp and (surprise!) Bill Clinton would be the first two senators from the District. Would Mayor for Life Barry run? Who knows, especially with his tax situation still in limbo.

Your thoughts?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The daunting, life-altering questions before me this past weekend:

Would Denim Bar live up to its ever-growing reputation as the place to go for high-end jeans? Would the jeans stocked there be able to lift not just my derriere but also my distaste for the idea of designer denim itself? And most importantly, would I find a pair that actually fit?

The answer to all these questions turned out to be… yes. Yes. Oh Yes!

Ever since my department store denim wrangle I’d been planning a trip to Denim Bar, looking for a date with designer jeans that might possibly turn out to be that One Perfect Pair for a voluptuous yet long-torso’d girl like me. So last Saturday I visited the blue temple located at Pentagon Row, armed with a friend whose honesty is legendary.

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

Pimp + Ho Zones

While Three 6 Mafia sang their Oscar winning tune last night about how pimping ain’t easy:

“It’s hard out here for a pimp, when you tryin’ to get the money for the rent, with the Cadillac and gas money spent, you got a whole lot of bitches jumpin’ ship.”

Here in DC, hardworking pimps were singing another tune, specifically “Daddy”, Jaron R. Brice. Last week he was convicted of sex trafficking of a minor, transporting prostitutes across state lines, pandering and child sexual abuse, in other words, of being one bad-ass pimp.

In reading the WashPost article, while its very sad, the passage discussing how Daddy Brice taught the girls how to be prostitutes struck me odd:

Over the next day or so, the new girls were outfitted with short shorts and revealing tops and taught to apply heavy make-up. They sat in the back seat of Brice’s purple Chevrolet Caprice to watch a video that laid out the rules and jargon of what she and the others learned to call “The Game”: Call your pimp “Daddy.” Walk behind him, keeping your gaze down. Never speak to or look at another pimp. Get the money in advance. Obey your pimp’s “bottom” — the prostitute he trusts most. She and the other prostitutes who work for your pimp are your “sisters.” All of you make up a “stable.” Along with the pimp, you are a “family.”

“Watch a video that laid out the rules and jargon”?? Um and what video would that be? Pimp & ‘ho glamorizing Pretty Woman or Risky Business? Or the real and gritty American Pimp? One thing’s for sure, they weren’t getting I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka on the backseat screen. Not from a guy who enforced $500 quotas on 14 year olds and 10 minute time limits for Johns.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Service Date: 2008

…to Dulles one day. Or so says this big poster in one of the airport hallways. Yes, the creaky old people-movers will one day be only a memory. Replaced by Jetsons-like pods that whisk us along, circa, oh 1985 in any other modern airport.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I moved up here from Miami about four years ago and of late I’m having very unpleasant deja vu. Both the IHOP shooting and a Sunday Post article about a sexual misconduct incident have me remembering things I’d have been happy to have left behind in South Florida.

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I’m sure it was a great idea when they thought of it. I’m sure he means well. I’m sure he thinks he’s doing his part in the Capitol, working hard for his constituents. But really, is making DC into a tax testbed a good idea? That’s what Sen. Sam Brownback aims to do this week in hearings on The Hill. We’ve weighed in before on this subject, but this time it seems to actually be coming before Congress in a meaningful way.

You can email Senator Brownback if you have particularly strong opinions, one way or the other, but he’s really only accountable to his own constituents, highlighting one of the more bizarre dichotomies of DC. Sure, Congress makes decisions that affect DC, but no one who actually lives there can vote on the subject. If you’re interested in seeing the hearing, it’s being held at 2pm on Wednesday in “SD-124” which I would interpret as the Senate Dirksen office building, room 124. If I’m decoding that wrong, do let me know.

The problem here, according to many, is that the differing scales are unfair to District residents, and treating the Federal City as a guinea pig. I’m of the opinion that it will be cheaper and more effective to just do a test case with a full state’s income tax returns under a flat tax system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the idea behind the new system, rather than an actual case which might cost District residents a bunch more money, and cause mass confusion the likes of which even H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt might have trouble untangling.

But that could just be me. What do you make of the DC Flat Tax idea?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I’m so excited that Fogo de Chao has come to DC. Our vegetarian readers can stop reading at this point and just scroll to the next post. For the rest of us carnivores, however…

If you haven’t had churrasco, Brazilian barbecue, before, you’re in for quite an experience. Twenty or so men with moderate command of the English language, walking around with swords and pikes, asking if you’d like more meat.

Mmm, meat.

Fogo de Chao is a chain which started in Brazil before making its way to the States, and the gauchos with the pikes are also the chefs. Flip the round card on your table to green to start the meat parade, and flip it back to red when you need a break. And then stop by my table to say hello.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

No mailboxes here…

Dragging after a red-eye back from San Fran, all I wanted to do was grab my mail to read while I soaked in the tub. Then I opened my apartment lobby door and was greeted by this mess.

That big hole – that’s where the mailboxes used to be. A quick search did not reveal the alternate mail location, which makes me wonder: Where is my mail?

Seeing that I followed the mailman tip guide, I’m not too worried that it’s lost, my mailman takes care of me, but it’d be nice to know where the mail went.

Any ideas?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs