photo courtesy of The Opus

While I’m off listening to Negativland, my darling girlfriend and a buddy will be seeing Hairspray. While I’m fond of musicals I draw the line at spending money to see whacko John Travolta offend my sense of irony. Trying to avoid indirectly supporting cults isn’t the only reason to avoid our area theaters either – there’s the whole insane level of copyright enforcement that’s come to our area as well.

In fairness to the MPAA, I normally believe that harassing us legit customers – by doing things like demonizing my cell phone because it has a camera in it – is pretty pointless, given that someone who would watch a crappy hand-held camera capture with bad sound isn’t ever going to spend $9 to see your movie in the theater anyway. However in this case we’re talking about the Transformers movie, which even in full quality is an aural assault with jerky video that’s hard to make out, so perhaps Jhannet could actually have sold that video clip. Plus, if anything would cost the industry money it’s letting people who might have spent cash to go see that in the theater know what they’d be paying to see while they can still get away.

Or maybe we should just all avoid the Ballston mall theater from now on and go somewhere that is spending more time trying to make the experience positive for us and less looking for non-existant boogeymen. Max and some of our commenters have suggestions of other possible places to see movies in the area.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s Washington DC Photos

If you are wandering around downtown today, hungry for a snack, may I suggest looking for this food vendor.

While I can’t remember her exact location, I do remember her different approach to fast food. Right next to the usual fare of chips and dogs was mangos.

Sweet juicy ripe mangos that dripped juice down my chin as I ate mine mid-walk. No better way to eat and run than with mango.

Get yours before the seasons change. Frozen mango in winter ain’t so nice.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Trogdor

Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge.

As seen at the Harris Teeter in Ballston… A little piece of geek culture.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s Washington DC Photos

Might this be you this weekend? Setting up for a catering event in Rock Creek Park?

Yes, it was a swank event, and it better be. These kids were setting up for the Susuan Gage Catering staff BBQ. And they were Susan Gage employees too.

Word is that the company though of hiring other caterers to cater their own office BBQ party, but then thought better of it. They claimed costs, but I say there’s no better way to believe in your own catering than to cater your own parties.

In technology circles it’s called “eating your own dog food” but I doubt Susan Gage would use that analogy.

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image snippet courtesy of The Atlantic

Rinaldo Nicholson from VDOT thinks you should. “I know that our bridges are safe,” he is quoted as saying in this WTOP article. Perhaps, or perhaps just not too unsafe. I spent some time yesterday digging through the federal highway system’s online information on deficient bridges but it didn’t have good breakout data on WHICH bridges those were in that chart. There’s more specific info here but I lost interest at the point where I’d have to write perl script and a google maps mashup to parse out specific locations.

Fate, thy name is Andrew Sullivan, who linked to this 1994 Atlantic article about deficient bridges. The article is a little dated but it points out that in the coming decade – ie, between now and then – a lot of WW2 era bridges would need major repairs. I’d say the odds of there being a notably positive improvement in those stats are slim.

To give you an idea what you’re looking at (click the image or view the article for a proper key) the map section I’ve cut out here shows mostly green all around us, indicating that between 5 and 18.9% of the bridges in that area are ‘structurally deficient.’ SD is a grouping that could mean something very serious or might just indicate there’s a weight restriction on a span. However the salient point, I think, is that as many as 1 in 5 of Virginia’s bridges have been flagged as worthy of concern and potential upgrade. Not sure what Nicholson’s position is on that.

Another way of looking at it is fracture-critical steel truss bridges, which FHWA yesterday called upon all the states to examine. DC doesn’t have any, Virginia has 13 and Maryland 19. I’ll save you the googling – fracture critical indicates that there’s a span which, if it fails, does not have other spans capable of supporting that span’s weight, likely resulting in collapse. Presumably a fracture critical bridge is one which has one or more such spans.

Anyone who comes across some data more clearly identifying where the SD or FCST bridges in our area are, by all means post a comment.

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photo courtesy of One/Million

I had to dash out the door to completely put the top up on the convertible (no, I don’t know why after 10 years of rag-top ownership that I still haven’t learned to check the weather report, so SHUT UP) and on the way back in… stopped. It’s easy to forget how good the cool rain feels on your face on a hot day, even if you’d been sitting in the climate-controlled office up till thirty seconds prior.

I feel bad for people who can’t let themselves enjoy being rained on a little.

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Thanks, Fairfax County, for
this disturbing picture.

Neat stuff going on in Fairfax this Saturday and Sunday from the Fairfax County web site:

Find old-fashioned country fun at Frying Pan Farm Park with games, rides and exhibits from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Watch the Fairfax County 4-H exhibitors prepare their project animals for the show. See antique equipment in fields and the barn. Get involved by trying your hand at milking a cow or goat, shelling corn or other farm chores. The fair is free for all. For information, call 703-437-9101.

Just remember – if you are milking anything, be sure it’s an animal with more than one udder. Otherwise it’s not milking; it’s a hand job. Seriously, get on out this weekend, cross the river into VA and get all Eddie Albert in Fairfax County.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s Washington DC Photos

Have you been to the aptly titled “Greek Deli” on M Street NW? The one with a perpetual line outside?

I’ve found it to be my perfect go-to for a filling lunch, gyros being my preference. Cheap, with good and sizeable portions, you will be happy and full for around $6.

Happier still if you let the secretary keep the change from a $10-spot to stand in that line for you. Maybe that’s why she’s now permanently out to lunch.

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Speaking of lining up in Trader Joe’s, I’m really wondering what’s up with this laminated printout stapled to their “Artisan Breads” sign, where people in line can read it as they shuffle down the queue. It’s the full text of a New York Times article entitled A Long Line for a Shorter Wait at the Supermarket, praising Whole Foods stores in Manhattan for their single-queue system, and at the same time disparaging Trader Joe’s.

Now, here in DC we know that the Foggy Bottom TJ’s uses the single-queue system, and last I checked, the Whole Foods stores in Tenleytown and Clarendon do not, so why post this competition-lauding story for TJ’s customers to read? Is it there to prove the author Michael Barbaro wrong? Or just to prove that the single queue system is superior regardless of what store it’s applied in? Or to highlight some kind of contrast between Trader Joe’s stores in DC and NYC? Or did some disgruntled shopper pin it to the back of the sign where the cashiers wouldn’t notice it?

Someone ask the cashiers at TJ’s about that, because I forgot to yesterday.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s DC Photos

Hoping to head a stop west on the Orange Line right now I ran into this chaos at Farragut West.

On the left is the line just to get onto the platform towards Vienna. On the right, people coming from NoVA moaning about the craziness there.

Not shown is me headed back up to street level. I would rather sweat and walk than wait in WMATA chaos.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The cover art from one of their most
commercially successful albums

I’m sorry to see Warehouse go away – as it exists now, anyway – but I’m pretty excited by this Sunday’s final show: Negativland. An acquired taste, to be sure, and I have not a clue what a live show from them will be like. If you’re a geek copyfighter, however, you should probably know who they are even if you don’t enjoy their music. They’ve been the focal point for a number of interesting events, including the one around their U2: Special Edit Radio Mix, available here. Worth a listen to hear Casey Kasem lose his shit, if nothing else.

Their website indicates that this tour “is an effort to bring our 25-years-on-the-air Over The Edge radio show to the live stage for the first time. No puppets, no film projectors, no bells and whistles… just “theater of the mind”” I don’t have the slightest damned idea what that means but I’m looking forward to finding out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Over in Fairlington, I ended up with a 54, but I know some neighborhoods in DC, like that of the White House, or Wayan’s favorite Petworth, can score well into the 80s. Check out your Walk Score and see how you do. I was surprised my current neighborhood is so low, and that my older, potentially less-walkable neighborhood was a much higher 65. How’s your place fare?

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Josh Speerstra as Plucky the ghost elf, Baughman as Jesus the narrator, Jen Tonon as Rhonda

What the hell, I’ve got the knives out and sharpened, let’s get yank this bandaid all the way off so I can start talking about things that didn’t suck. My second-worst Fringe experience this year was Carrie Potter and the Half-Blood Prom. I think what’s worth mentioning here is that dissapointing an audience who’s walked into what is obviously going to be a gag on Harry Potter and the movie Carrie takes some work. None of us walked in the door expecting genius-level writing, brilliant songs, or flawless staging. Instead what we got was the dream made reality for anyone who ever went to see a Cherry Red show and thought to themselves “this would be way better if the staging wasn’t so precise, the story so tight, the acting so regal, the costumes so elaborate, and the cast so awake.”

I honestly feel dirty comparing this show to anything Cherry Red ever offered up. While both groups set out to make something silly and fun, I never once was made to feel in a CR show that they flat out didn’t give a crap how well they did anything. The actors in Carrie Potter wander about, make flubs that stink of a lack of rehearsal, and just overall fail to entertain. Unlike Butter, where you kind of feel bad for the apparent lack of awareness of what’s not good and not working, this show just gave you the sense that they didn’t care.

There’s some funny stuff in here, though it’s over-used in a tedious way. “Transitional song” is probably the best example of this, a piece that Baughman and the band do several times in between scenes. It made me snicker the first time and then was pulled back out again with no improvement or elaboration. Before the show begins Geeky Kid, played by Ally Jenkins, comes out in character and demands all the audience members take a post-it and write a phrase on it that will be read at some point in the show. “Because,” we’re told, “the script isn’t very good.” Could have been funny, but again, done in a half-assed manner. Five minutes into the show Carrie Potter, played by Jennifer Berg, picks one up on the stage floor, where they’ve been scattered, and realizes they’d read that one already. Obviously nobody has considered what to do with the notes once they’re read or if there’s a dupe. Instead it just hits a flat note and we move on.

I came to this show expecting nothing more than goofs and laughs… and that the performers wanted to have fun with us and cared if we had fun. There wasn’t the slightest indication that they gave a rat’s ass, or at least not enough of one to make more than the most minimal of efforts. The next time you take my $15 I’d appreciate a little interest and energy.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

…some of tonight’s NSO patrons, apparently.

The National Symphony Orchestra and Wolftrap have produced a podcast to accompany tonight’s program, called “Fantastic Planet: A Symphonic Video Spectacular.”

The program features video footage of assorted geological wonders from around the world, accompanied by ecologically-themed classical selections played by the orchestra. Patrons choosing to add the podcast to their experience will hear conductor Emile de Cou in one ear, providing notes and commentary on the pieces he is conducting.

Not being much of an expert on music, I would probably find this kind of option really helpful and educational, and I know some music geeks who would probably be interested in it as well. In any case, it’s an unexpected way to extend the concert-going experience for those who enjoy a more guided approach to classical music without spoiling it for those who don’t- just remember to keep the volume low enough that no one around you can hear it.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who tries this out- report back and let us know what you think!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Under other circumstances I might be tempted to come up with some quip here about artery-clogging and the name of this show, or something in that vein. Even five days later, however, the suckitude of this event, start to finish, continues to lay on me like a smothering blanket. My darling girlfriend and I only had two unpleasant experiences at Fringe this year and this one won the race to the bottom. By about a mile. Or twelve.

Part of me feels bad pulling out the knives for this. Butter: A Love Story is, after all, the creation of a person who signed up to present at Fringe because she had something to say and a passion to perform, and a big part of the Fringe mission is providing such people with a venue they wouldn’t otherwise have. The problem is that while Cantwell’s creation had a somewhat interesting idea and story, she’s clearly got no awareness of that fact that she’s just flat-out bad and there’s apparently a lot of people failing to give her anything resembling constructive guidance. The show she put on could have been somewhat fun and interesting – if not fantastic – if it was done with the awareness that her singing and acting are, to say the least, rough.

The concept of the show is that Sandy Patti has, though pluck and determination, managed to get herself a cooking show despite the fact that she isn’t much of a cook. “Almost home cooking,” she calls it, this assembling of pre-made food into something more for the sake of entertaining. The fact that she’s out of her depth and not quite up to the challenge that she’s set herself up for would be a fine way to make Cantwell’s weaknesses work for her. It wouldn’t even contradict the empowerment message that she’s woven into the show. If it might be a little to winking and ironic, well, that’s almost a requirement at Fringe anyway.

Instead it’s sad and painful, as both Cantwell and her creation Sandy Patti cause you to wince your way through an hour as she’s flat, fails to hit notes, hams it up in all the wrong ways, and just generally make you wish someone would take her aside and say “you are completely failing in what you’re setting out to do.” Somehow I doubt it’s going to happen – the program for Butter included not only thanks to her voice instructor but an ad from him as well. Seeing this show isn’t an enticement to hire him, it’s a warning. The best thing Cantwell could do is realize that if he’s telling her she’s sufficiently competent to do these shows at her current level then he’s pretty clearly unable to accurately asses her and her skill.

Barring that, the rest of us need to just stay away from his teaching and her performing.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I guess they didn’t specify which 24 hours.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

It’s not local but it’s important: the I-35W bridge across the upper Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed today, right in the middle of the Wednesday rush while a Twins-Royals game was going on at the nearby stadium. Erica on our sibling site Metroblogging Minneapolis has 35W Bridge Collapse updates and an open thread right now. Flickr user Adamwolf has photos from on the scene.

Update: Greg has snagged security camera footage catching the bridge collapse, and I’ve made an animated GIF. Just keep following Minneapolis Metroblogging for updates.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Bumper rails

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

DC’s probably one of the top three geekiest metros in the US (under SF Bay Area and Seattle), thanks to the large tech presence in the area. So, if you can get a laugh out of this bumper sticker, or understand the general premise why Rails might be a good platform for your next web 2.0 project, or know how to change the WPA key on your home wireless network, or have set up a blog, or manage to do geeky things, thank a geek.

Seriously, while the Post writes on the resurgence of geek culture as if it’s a quaint phenomenon (awwwwww, look at the geek fit in! So cuuute!) and not a revolution in social systems, geeks have become mainstream. Jokes about Rails, or YouTube (built by a geek, powered by geeks) or 37 Signals (the prototypical geek-run company), or even Google, the big pieces that run our digital economy are built on the backs of geeks all over DC. Thank them, they rock.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs