WaPo has an article on the travesty of justice ‘tranfer’ of Paris Hilton from actual jail confinement to mansion house arrest with an ankle monitor. The concluding paragraph reads

It could not be immediately determined if personalizing the bracelet with Swarovski crystals would interfere with its transmission capabilities.

While I appreciate a little assistance with laugh-lest-you-cry, I wonder at the appropriateness of this quip in a news article, even if it’s news about a person who has no reason to be newsworthy. I realize it’s under the entertainment section but would this kind of joking be well received if it was in an article about, say, one of our local institutions? Am I holding the paper to an unfair standard?

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Draw your own conclusions.

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Photo by DC Metroblogger

A question for the grammarians & sign makers: Is this store “Eatmore Fried Chicken” or “Eat More Fried Chicken”?

I would like to violate Don’s grammistic conventions and go for “EatMore” and violate my own diet to eat more fried chicken at this perfectly named store.

The next time you are driving north on Georgia Avenue in the Petworth neighbourhood, be sure to be hungry and eat more friend chicken!

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Have you heard about the Montgomery County “Monkey Woman”, Elyse Gazewitz, who is fighting to free her monkey, Armani, from county banishment?

While I don’t care if the powers at be say that Armani is illegal and seized him for extradition to an animal sanctuary “where a monkey can live as a monkey,” what strikes me as odd about this whole situation is Gazewitz’s commitment to her capuchin monkey man:

Gazewitz said she had made preparations this week for a homecoming, stocking up on Armani’s favorite bananas and apples. She has left his room — she built a $4,000 addition onto her home just for him, she said — untouched since he was seized.

Waiting for him are a little hammock, tire swings and infant toys. She also has his Huggies diapers (with holes cut out for his tail), his Osh Kosh B’Gosh outfits and baby bottles ready to go. “I have his little Tigger on my bed, and I have the little baby blanket that he loves,” Gazewitz said.

Pet owners, dog people, cat people, even guppy Dad’s, what do you think about that commitment to an animal, “wild” or not? I say its freaky-deeky.

To build a whole house addition with all the accruements mentioned, is a huge sign of addiction beyond the normal cat lady eccentrics or doggy mansion overbuilds. That says this lady is thinking monkey = child and going all gonzo over a primate.

That no matter what the Animal Matters Hearing Board says, maybe its best that Elyse Gazewitz be separated from her “little boy” and seek counseling for psycho-level anthropomorphism.

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Photo by DC Metroblogger

Tonight at Domku I saw an amazing sight: a tourist family dining out after a long day on the National Mall.

Not this family, that would be mine. The other family, the tourist one from Texas, heard about Domku from Zagat’s restaurant guide.

Domku is listed as a good Russian restaurant. Who knew? Apparently the owner does.

Talking with her, I learned that the family from Texas was not the first tourists at Domku. Californian, New Yorkers, Texans are all flocking to Petworth, Washington DC’s newest gastro-tourism destination.

When are you coming over?

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With circulation of newspapers trending downward, locak papers are forced to examine their business models and come up with methods of increasing repeat business, as well as keeping those already subscribing customers interested in what the Paper’s doing. Lately, the Post’s attempt at doing something unique and interesting with the concept of affinity program has been more widely marketed, with local TV and Radio spots, amongst other methods. If you’re a subscriber, and you sign up, you get reward points for each paper you buy.

But here’s the thing, it’s a losing proposition. If you sign up, you get around 1,000 or so points. Assume for a moment you’re an irregular reader. Each paper you buy is 5 points. The rewards tend to start around 7,000 or so points for a $25 gift certificate to a place like Williams Sonoma. Airplane tickets? A cruise? 150,000 points plus.

So, are Points the answer to keeping everyone? I’m not so sure, not with the long lead times on rewards.

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You: Didn’t stop at the stop sign or yield to oncoming traffic this morning as I tried to turn left from Arizona Ave. onto Loughboro Rd.

Me: Slamming on brakes. Honking. Giving you the finger. I assume you are always an asshole. What else am I to think?

Both of us: Benefited from the anonymity of traffic and the security afforded us by knowing we would never see each other again.

Was it you? Want to respond to the charge of being a dangerous public nitwit?

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Photo by DC Metroblogger

Just look at that smooth wet cement. Unblemished by name or print.

You know it calls out for a name, a mark, a permanent identification of presence. Some way to show that you were here today.

If it does call to just you, be sure to be quick and discrete on the fresh concrete. And no matter what you might think, don’t drive in it.

A simple “you ♥ someone” will do.

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WFY’s discussion about his gin & tonic preferences reminded me of an excellent article on sangria in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal[non-free subscription may be required]. The most interesting thing about it is the discussion of the canyon-wide gap between the two styles they discuss. Check out the sample recipes:

Personally I feel like it’s not sangria without chunks of fruit to scoop out and chew on, but there’s something to be said for simplicity. I don’t feel like I’ve had really good sangria since I visited Puerto Rico about a year and a half ago. Jaleo’s, which is made with cava (Spanish sparkling wine), is not bad, but it doesn’t thrill me. I think when I try making the above recipe I’ll sub cava for the 7-up, though. I recall Tapeo‘s being pleasant, but not exceptional.

Have you had any stellar sangria experiences in DC?

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Photo by DC Metroblogger

Have you tried to buy razor blades at CVS recently?

Needing to shave, I went into a CVS in my new hood to buy my Mach 3 razor blades and faced this plastic menace.

Designed by people who forgot that to buy a product, I have to be able to get it first, it took me a full five minutes of wrestling with the plastic bin, including bloodying my knuckles to get the damn package out.

Oddly enough this is just this CVS store’s razor blade menace. My old CVS at 15th and K had a pull & lever system I would watch others fight with and the one at 14th and Irving has a third system I care not to re-visit.

Might there be a more humane and efficient way for CVS to stock razor blades?

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vapiano

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

When my friend Jonathan told me about Vapiano, I wasn’t sold til I heard about the gimmick. I mean, I like Italian food, who doesn’t, but it’s got to have a hook to make it worth my while as part of the repertoire of places that I go for delicious foodstuffs. See, Vapiano’s really just a glorified cafeteria. You walk in, you order your food from a small menu at pasta and pizza stations, and they made it while you wait and watch, then you grab a table with your friends and sit down.

The gimmick is this: when you walk in, you get a Chipcard. That chipcard is your bill, that you take with you everywhere in the place. Bring in two people, or two dozen and everyone gets Chipcards, so settling up the tab is as simple as checking out at the counter, no need to worry about who sucks at math, who always undertips, etc. That much is certainly worth it.

The food itself? It’s good but not great. The fusilli carbonara was rich and cheesy, but missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on, and the ravioli was fresh, but just off its game. They do make the pasta fresh in the restaurant, which I appreciated, but the various preps for the types of pasta seems…too prepared in advance. Either give me the illusion you’re making it from scratch, or don’t present me with the ugly truth.

The other matter is drinks. $2 for an 8oz. bottle of Coke? You’re kidding, right? In this town of free refills? Charlatans. The Peroni on tap? Nice touch. But seriously, no fountain sodas?

Vapiano’s got two locations in the DC area, one in Ballston on Wilson at Glebe Road, and just open, at 1800 M St. NW in DC, and a third location in Chinatown, come August. It’s worth a trip, just to see how they operate.

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Last night when I came home, there was a discarded sign thrown into my yard. It was a posterboard emphatically proclaiming, “THIS TREE IS NOT A TRASH CAN.”

Further investigation proved that the sign had been screwed into the tree that straddles the sidewalk in front of both my neighbor’s and my houses. It’s a rather wild tree, always needing pruning, its roots coming up through the sidewalk and into our yards in angry defiance of urbanity. Whatever treebox it may have once had is all hard root and broken brick now. There’s always trash discarded around it – usually the droppings of kids on their way home from school, candy wrappers and crumpled chip bags. Sometimes an empty 40 or two. When I get home I pick up the trash, all part of the routine.

Someone on my block is sick of it, so angry about the waste that they’ve taken the time to construct a sign and screw it into the tree trunk. But will it change the pschology of the people who litter?

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Oh what a surprise that the Congressman with $90,000 in his freezer might actually get indicted for Bribery and Racketeering! Of course, when the FBI searched his home and offices, all of Congress was in an uproar that those places were searched, Jefferson being a sitting Congressman and subject to all manner of extra protection from being investigated. There are 16 counts on the indictment, and I figure his trial will be one for the books.

The real question is, if he’s found guilty, will Congress actually kick him out of the House?

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Photo by DC Metroblogger

Tonight Mom is enjoying Lalibela Restaurant at 14th and P Streets NW. This is my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Washington DC, but is it yours?

Which of our many tasty East African chiefs tempts your tummy with the taste of injera and wat?

Points given for spice and honey wine. Best if they do not run out of Harar beer mid-meal and are actually in the District.

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Larry Flynt, no matter what you think of him, is in some regards brilliant. In yesterday’s Washington Post, he ran a fairly large ad which offered $1 million in exchange for your exclusive tale about matters prurient with a congressperson, a senator, or other prominent officeholder. No word yet if Flynt’s on a fishing expedition like he was when he made the offer ten years ago, or if he has a person already in mind.

But, now’s your chance to cash in if you can prove you’ve nailed someone in power. Better yet, interns, want to make a mil and retire before you enter the workforce? Here’s your chance. Seduce your boss, make a Mil, leave Washington happy.

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photo courtesy of Wolf Trap

My roommie just noticed last night that there’s still lawn seats for Tony Bennett tonight at Wolf Trap. Radar looks good at the moment and the weather is nice – why not go sit under the stars for $25 and enjoy the show?

If you’re paranoid about thunderstorms there’s single tickets available in the boxes but no two together.

I am still waffling on going, but maybe I’ll see you there.

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Today’s WaPo has an article on local news blogging. The following sites were spotlighted.

The Buckingham Herald Tribblog.
Laurel Connections
Just Up The Pike
Stop, Blog & Roll

Congrats on the attention, folks!

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The woman charged with driving her car through Unifest in Southeast on Saturday afternoon was high on crack when it happened, and had been smoking crack all day prior to the crash. Furthering her Mother of the Year campaign, she brought her daughter along for the ride. Weirder still, she may have been a temporary employee of Councilmember Marion Barry:

D.C. Council member Marion Barry said his chief of staff is trying to determine whether Bell works as a temporary employee for Barry’s council office. Barry (D-Ward 8) said someone named Tonya Bell has worked in the office for several weeks. “Whether it is the same person or not, I am trying to check it out,” Barry said last night. “I’ve asked my chief of staff to try and find out if this Miss Bell is one of several administrative aides we use from temporary agencies.”

This whole thing gets weirder and weirder.

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Most people don’t think of the needs of their helper gadgets. Not so this Wegman’s shopper – s/he clearly felt bad for that poor, poor rear windshield wiper having to be out in the rain, so they covered it up with this little wiper raincoat.

I didn’t walk around to check to see if the front wipers got the same treatment, though I can say for sure there were no little rain booties on the tires.

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An Oxon Hill woman driving a grey Volvo station wagon careened into Unifest in Southeast DC this evening injuring more than 30 people, at least 7 critically. Unifest, held in Anacostia along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is a huge street faire, with many streets That didn’t stop the Volvo from wreaking havoc as it slammed into people, causing significant tumult and injury.

Apparently, the woman driving the car was being pursued through Southeast DC at the time, and she was apprehended shortly thereafter. This marks the second major police-chase-turned-to-injury in the DC area in a week, after a multiple fatality crash on the Beltway earlier this week. No word yet what touched off this particular chase, but there are some questions that come to mind:

What are the policies governing in-city high-speed chases? Why weren’t there more barriers placed on MLK Drive? I know that many places when they close off roads, even just temporarily, set up large blocks that would significantly slow a vehicle attempting to traverse them. We’ll see more about this in the coming day or two, I’m sure.

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