So my upstairs neighbour tosses a flyer under my door today telling me he’s having a party tonight, and if he gets too loud, I should let him know.

Funny enough, this building is so old and solid, I don’t hear a thing, I didn’t know if the party was last night or this night. At 10-ish, I went upstairs to see if it was, in fact, tonight, and whaddya know – it was and it was rocking too! This fulfilled my ultimate goal for the day – to not leave my building.

Hey, as the weather service said, it was an wind advisory: gusts up to 60MPH likely. Who wants to be out in that? And why, when @ the Majestic, the party comes to you! Or in my case, a string of supermodels.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Now here’s a great way to put a face to all the names that you see posting on DC Metblogs. Instead of hunting around the site to find our own web pages, Tom made a handy, dandy electronic face check. Just click on the photo to the left and you’ll be magically transported to a full size photo where our names will appear when you do a mouse-over.

Hmm… “do a mouse-over”. I think I want that from one of my string of supermodels!

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If you’re a librarian looking for a sweet gig, the Naval Obsevatory (home to the VP’s residence, by the by) is looking for a new librarian to manage their copious number of books. They’re paying good money, too, between $77k and $100k. From the job description:

As the principal expert in astronomical information and literature for the USNO and the DoD, the incumbent must maintain an extensive knowledge of astronomical literature including USNO programs and other astronomical advances worldwide, including forthcoming major research results, information sources, current research information needs and future requirements in order to have the broad-based knowledge and judgment required to meet the astronomical research needs of the DoD in general and of the USNO in particular with this knowledge, makes acquisition decisions for books, journals (printed and electronic).

Well, that rules me out… but if you want the job, feel free to check it out.

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I just got an “emergency alert” from CNN that Rep. Bob Ney is in “talks” to leave his leadership position.

It’s never simple in this town, is it? Ever? Instead of just resigning in disgrace, you have to make a negotiated retreat after taking a shitload of cash from a K St. lobbyist in exchange for favors. How is that someone like that can be in “talks”? That suggests that in exchange for stepping down from the chairman’s position, he’ll get less time in prison, or perhaps a cushier cell at Club Fed.

Mayors-for-life get to make deals with prosecutors for Tax Evasion when if they were just some normal schmoe, they’d be thrown in prison and the key tossed into the Anacostia. Marcus Vick gets in his 9th traffic incident of the year, and instead of getting thrown in jail, he’s getting promoted to the NFL.

Nothing about this town, this life, is ever as simple as a resignation. It’s always a tactical retreat.

Technorati Tags: DC, lawyers, Marion Barry

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Earlier today I wrote a bit about the Council’s demands of the Mayor in order to get the stadium approved. Now, Chris Needham at Capitol Punishment has posted them for everyone to see. The only real stickler at this point is #4: “The commitment from baseball for local ownership of the team, and, for tax purposes, that the team will be based in the District.”

It’s not unreasonable, it’s just that Baseball hates restrictions they don’t inflict…

Technorati Tags: baseball, DC, Nationals

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The saga of the new stadium seems to be absolutely never-ending. It’s on. It’s off. It’s on, kinda. It may be on. It may be off. It is on, but only on alternating Wednesdays in months with six or fewer letters.

But for now, it’s back on again after a deal between the Council, the Mayor, and Major League Baseball. Council Chair Cropp sent a letter to the Mayor yesterday detailing 10 criteria that, if met, would lead to a council approval of the deal. Included in that deal are a cap on stadium costs at $535 million, free tickets for disadvantaged youth, and a promise for a local ownership group.

Mayor Williams also asked MLB and private developer groups to purchase a $500,000 ad buy in local radio and newspaper ads to try to convince the populace of the merits of a new stadium built with public money in Southeast.

These new developments look good for the area: the City gets a cap on stadium expenses, and still gets much of the stadium revenue, and MLB has to deal with the fact that the new owner will have to foot overruns. Not shabby.

Technorati Tags: baseball, DC, Nationals

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I had planned to write a humorous post yesterday about Wednesday night’s happy hour/liquid dinner, including a rant on RFD’s Communist Cafeteria decor (complete with insanely uncomfortable seats). Or on the continuation that night of an utterly fascinating conversation with Darpino on the nature of cities. But I find I’m completely unable to muster any type of enthusiasm. The reason being I had to leave my cat Jules at Friendship Hospital for Animals yesterday morning, where he spent the night under observation and may have to stay another night. He’s been diagnosed with feline diabetes.

I’m not one of those who regard their cats as their children. I’m fully aware that I am attached to them as relational objects, that I project an anthropomorphic relationship onto our dealings. I’m not overly sentimental about them. And yet… and yet…

It was the fall of 1995 and I was on my own in DC. I had a great apartment in Adams Morgan and I was embarking on a promising career as an actor. At last, I was able to fulfill my lifelong wish to have a cat. Off I went to the Washington Humane Society and promptly adopted a longhaired white Maine Coon, with one green eye and one blue. He turned out to be deaf, loudly vocalizing that long first night, scratching me for months and rebuffing all attempts at cuddling. But one night when I was in a drunken heap on the floor, sobbing my heart out about some ridiculous boy, he crept up and licked the tears from my eyes. Ten years later – he is my devoted cat, following me around the house, staring at me incessantly (the quickest way to a narcissist’s heart) and meowing that odd little “chirrup” sound he only uses with me. He’s pugnacious, destructive, and adorable. Now he’s sick and I’m faced with giving him two insulin shots every day for the rest of his life – if he’s easily regulated. The prospect of what happens if he’s a “brittle diabetic” and the choice I may have to make is what’s keeping me from being able to focus and concentrate on normal daily activities. I visited him last night and can’t get the image of the catheter sticking out of his leg or the way he buried his face in the crook of my arm.

So a big thanks to the folks at Friendship Hospital, who are really top-notch in the way they’re taking care of him, and helping me understand the issues of this disease. And to the Humane Society where I first got my Washingtonian cat.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I was faced with this conundrum when I got off my flight on American at BWI on the 25th. Get my bags or go to Hooters? Tough one.

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At least Richard White can be thankful that his sacking will get lost in a flurry of stories about Marion Barry’s latest shame. From the Post,Metro Drops Longtime Manager.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Okay, something is going down on my block, at the corner of 16th and Park Road to be exact. The cops have blocked off 16th street and re-routed traffic to the side streets. This makes my apartment so damn quiet when its usualy filled with street noise.

I would go down and get a closer look, but the cops even sealed off the sidewalks. Oh and there are no TV cameras around either. Whatcha think is happening? My bet – Barry is getting setup again!

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Fark, the amusing link aggregator, is hosting a Fark Party at Whitlow’s on Wilson on Friday, January 27th. I’ve never been to a Fark Party before, but I understand it involves a lot of drinking:

Time: 7pm – and it goes until question mark!

The original plan was to take over the area off to the left behind the pool tables (the “Sand Bar”), but the very nice lady I talked to at Whitlow’s informed me that it’s been reserved by another group until 8:30. Soooo….

I’m thinking we should congregate by the bar, scare off some of the normals, and hang out there, drink til we can’t feel feelings, then head back to the Sand Bar once the lamers leave and the main bar starts to get really busy. So when you get there, just walk straight back to the bar and look for a bunch of wheezy gimps.

Also, 7pm is just a general starting time, I will probably be there earlier, as will a few other Farkers. Feel free to come later, but keep in mind that around 9pm or so they’ll start charging a cover charge.

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As Wayan said, the Metroblogging DC happy hour (actually, happy FIVE hours) could totally kick the ass of whatever Drinking Liberally brings. And so that you, our dear readers, can enjoy the fun too, I present some choice quotes from our gathering last night. Quotes are presented in chronological order so that you can appreciate the cumulative effect of the alcohol consumed.

Don: I like Wegmans because you can get whatever hippie-granola-bullshit you want, but you can still get some fucking Crispix!

Wayan: Don is the manly man. He’s more manly than three of us put together.

William: How Virginian am I? I cultivated tobacco for school credit.

Tom Bridge: I got beaten up by angry Hungarian men. It was the best massage of my life.

As more and more beer was poured, conversation became increasingly…entertaining. The rest is in the extended entry for the sake of my fellow bloggers.

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

Marc Fisher has a column in the Post today that deals with Marion Barry’s sad drug addiction and his status in the community.

He’s absolutely right. We’re enablers. We’re complicit in his addiction so that we can laugh at him when he falls. We secretly hope that he’ll do something else, something gloriously stupid, something grandiosely corrupt, so we can mock him and make social profit from jokes against him, or look magnanimous when we forgive his transgressions. But it’s time to set that aside, instead, we must encourage people that has those problems to be moved here in order to change their life.

Our Drug Addiction Treatment in Florida is design for each person experiences the disease of addiction and its co-occurring mental health disorders uniquely, and that entering lasting recovery means finding the deeper purposes that empower a fulfilling life in sobriety. South Florida Rehab is dedicated to help you or a loved one live the life they deserve.I recommend visiting this rehab center in Hawaii and start confronting your addiction to get your life back on track and have a healthy lifestyle.

Opening a treatment center can be costly. Your largest investment will be into the property and the people running the center, however the return will be helping many sick people who can not bet addiction on their own. if you find yourself this is something that will bring joy to your life, here you can read a guide about how to start your rehab

I write this not as captain of Metroblogging DC, but as a private citizen upset with corruption, upset with our broken system of accountability, and upset with the DC Council for supporting his antics. Step down, Mr. Barry. Get clean. Get healthy. Become a public advocate, not this public embarrassment.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you like a little artery-clogging goodness once in a while and Five Guys is where you get it, you’ve probably gone through the less enjoyable wait. Long lines up to the register, then an even longer wait for your food. I can’t help you with the register line but the food wait you can dodge.

Check the menu ahead of time, call the store near you and place your order. When you arrive you still have to wait in the line to pay, but once you do they’ll holler over to the kitchen staff and only then do they place your fries with your order, keeping them piping hot and crispy. My wait was less than sixty seconds after I paid.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Originally uploaded by DCMetbloger.

We’re all a little slow this morning, and for that we apologize, we celebrated a year and a half of posts last night at RFD over round after round of interesting and unique beers. Unfortunately, or, perhaps, Fortunately, there was no wireless access there last night so we couldn’t liveblog the experience for everyone. Pictured here are Michael Darpino and Tom Mills, one of our veterans and one of our new folks.

I understand there’s a forthcoming post on some of the quotes of the evening, but it’s nice to get together with your fellow bloggers, even if it means a hangover or two the next day. Bear with us today and check back after 11 or so, when we’ve all sobered up and had our coffee.

If you’re interested in joining our merry band, please feel free to join us!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

While taking a quick drive out of the office to pick up some Five Guys I had the dubious pleasure of listening to Kojo talk to Marie Johns, who would like to be DC’s mayor in the future. While she was waxing poetic about setting an example for our children, Kojo asked her what seems to me like a simple question: Do you think, in light of the charges, that Marion Barry should resign from the council?

Too bad she’s too much of a spineless wuss to answer the question either way, any of the four-plus times Kojo asked her. She found time to repeat herself about setting an example and mention that Barry is a “hero in this community to many,” repeatedly. I assume the extended version of that is “a hero in the community to enough people that I won’t risk even a single vote by commenting one way or the other.” Of course she also seems to lack the spine to simply refuse to commit until more certain information is out, or even question the point of the war on some drugs.

If you’d like to torment yourself by hearing Marie Johns speak at length without ever saying anything, you can listen when the download is available in a few hours.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Warning to all the frequent fliers out there, the TSA is installing bomb-detection equipment known as “puffer machines” in airports nationwide. Both Dulles and National got their own puffers on Monday and if my experience in Miami was any guide, security lines are gonna be stupid-long.

There I stepped into what looks like a little plastic closet with a glass door at one end, the other open. A puff of air shot up from below (can you say Seven Year Itch?) and then a few seconds later, the chime sounded and the doors opened. Nice and easy yes, fast, um, not at all. Add in the slow-pokes always in front of you and line waits will easily double on busy flight days.

Good luck frequent flyers, its gonna be a long wait.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Washington Post is reporting that Mayor for Life Marion Barry tested positive for cocaine and is now in some serious legal jeopardy for violating his probationary conditions and now risks spending a year and a half in jail because of it.

Thanks, Marion. You may DC looks Oh So Very Good. Politicians like you running the city might be some of the reason DC lacks things like representation in Congress.

Technorati Tags: DC, Marion Barry

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

As we all know, traffic sucks in DC. A direct result is that we all have those days when we’re stuck in unexplained traffic jams for some ridiculous amount of time. We’re annoyed, because all we want to do is get home, see our families, and have a little dinner, no? As a service to our local community, allow me to present a few of Metroblogging DC’s tips for surviving a traffic-heavy commmute.

– If you happen to be in a heavy traffic jam and happen to tap the rear bumper of the car in front of you, it’s a sign. It means you should try leaving an extra foot or two between your car and that one, because you were clearly following too closely before. It is NOT the signal to crawl even FURTHER up my tailpipe and hit me AGAIN three blocks later, YOU STUPID BITCH.

– If you happen to be the aforementioned driver who hits the same car twice in a three block space due to following TOO DAMN CLOSELY, the polite thing to do is look appropriately contrite, not start gesticulating in your rear view mirror as if it was MY car that REACHED OUT AND GRABBED YOURS, DUMBASS.

– At 19th and E Streets NW, the two right lanes are the only lanes that may turn right onto E street. TWO. Not THREE. If you try to turn right from the second lane to the left, while TALKING ON YOUR CELL PHONE, you are an ASSHOLE, and you deserve not only all the angry honking you get from the cars you’re preventing from continuing through the intersection, but you also totally deserve it when all the drivers who are following the rules refuse to let your dumb ass into the lane in front of them.

– It is the height of inconsideration to block an entire lane of traffic behind you, with plenty of empty, clear lane in front of you, so you can try to force your way into the other lane that’s not moving.

– Bonus Parking Garage Tip, directed at the idiot in the green Jaguar from Annapolis: I know, you got to work late like I did, and you had to park in one of those little half-spaces with the big pillar in one end of it. But that’s no excuse to park so close to my wee little car that I can’t even open the door. I shouldn’t have to crawl into the driver’s seat from the FUCKING PASSENGER DOOR when I am parked fully inside the lines because you park like a retard. Further, I shouldn’t have to do the little wiggly-reverse dance just to avoid taking your mirror off by hitting it with mine. I notice that you left yourself MORE than ample room to get in and out of your car. It is only my respect for the laws of a civil society that prevented me from KEYING THE EVER-LOVING FUCK out of your pretty green paint job. Asshat.

By following these few simple tips, you can greatly improve the quality of your commute. Because I won’t get out of my car and FUCKING BEAT YOUR ASS.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I’ve just returned from the Washington premiere of Terrence Malick’s “The New World” at the AFI Silver. The actual opening won’t be until Friday the 20th, but one of the great benefits of membership at AFI is advance screenings, so I got to soak up this incredible tone poem of a film a week early. The sold-out house seemed mesmerized during and dazed afterwards. It’s beautiful and elegiac scenes will haunt me for a long time.

I know several of us at DC Metblogs talk about how great AFI’s programs are, and I’d like to take this moment to hawk them again (even though they didn’t hire me last year, grrr… that’s ok, I’m still a member). AFI Silver rocks. I urge everyone to take advantage of the privilege of having the branch of such an institution in the DC area. Upcoming programs include a complete David Cronenberg retrospective (yes, even “The Brood”!) and a centennial celebration of the great Otto Preminger’s films.

Fantastic stuff, and not only for film buffs.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs