I guess the answer is “not.” Last night I was ecstatic as I approached my home and noticed the snow plow on the next block. I could almost taste the sweetness of safe driving. However, my street was not cleared at all by this morning when I took my wife to work. All the other ones in the neighborhood are.

This is not simply because the Arlington County utility vehicles have been too tied up to get to my humble block. In fact, twice I have seen a big county truck, plow up, zoom down the street and spread sand. Granted, sand is better than nothing, but wouldn’t it be wise to use the plow first and then spread sand? I mean, if the truck is there anyway, two extra sweeps down the street would not take that much more time or effort.

So here is my official, public inquiry to Arlington County: WTF?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

How hard is the ice that covers yesterday’s snowfall in Washington DC? I know its too thick to easily make snowballs, but might the ice be strong enough to walk on?

This morning I tested the snow + ice that covers the front lawn of my apartment building on 16th Street – an ice sheet that covers snow at least four inches deep. So how hard might that ice layer be? Play the video to find out:

Yep, now that’s tough ice. Now don’t you wish it was egg-cooking hot instead?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

When I drive to work from my darling girlfriend’s house in Arlington to my office in Reston I spend a lot more time in the car than when I am coming from home in Sterling, but she’s worth it. Even if it means spending time on the highway behind people WHO ARE TOO GODDAMNED SPECIAL TO BRUSH THE F*%&ING SNOW OFF THEIR CARS, RESULTING IN HUGE PIECES PERIODICALLY BREAKING OFF AND FLYING THROUGH THE AIR AT FIFTY MILES PER HOUR TOWARDS MY WINDSHIELD, ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF PEOPLE BEHIND THEM.

*ahem*

Above is pictured two of said jerks, the one on the right apparently feeling that s/he doesn’t really need to see who might be over there in the right when changing lanes. Which I guess is not such a shock – if you don’t care if you blind them with the detritus from your roof, why would you care if you cut them off?

Any of you clowns reading this: if it’s too much of an imposition to brush off your vehicle before sharing the roadways with the rest of us, maybe it’s too much of an imposition on you to go anywhere and you should just stay the hell home.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

WAMU is reporting two people were struck and killed by a Metrobus at the corner of 7th St. NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. WJLA is confirming the story, though saying that only one of the two pedestrians was fatally injured. WMATA.com is short on details, as usual, and local news stations are also fairly devoid of information.

Yet another major tragedy involving the Metro system…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

If you told me that the world would end in either fire or ice, as Robert Frost has also pondered, I would not be surprised. Nor if you told me that the world would end with Apes becoming our masters or God showing up and telling us that the stuff we thought we knew was all wrong and that we would have to repeat it until we got it right.

What does surprise me, time and again, is that dopes like this drive around with snow on their windshield. The car appeared in the parking lot while I was having lunch out on the great tundra of Clarendon at the Silver Diner. Why wouldn’t someone take the extra five seconds to wipe off the snow instead of being a dangerous jerk to the rest of us?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Good riddance Mantis and welcome Napoleon to the corner of Columbia and Mintwood in Adams Morgan.

Occupying what was Miss Siagon back in the day, where I had a hot tryst still remembered fondly, Napoleon Birtro looks like it will host hook ups of its own.

Just check out the bar back photo!

Downstairs is a whole other sexy lounge that looks to be a love den for supermodels and those that hunt them.

Still, Napoleon is not cheap and the crowd is money so be ready to drop coin for your horny honey.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

“a dream of the theatre”
courtesy of rachel sian

I hadn’t gotten to writing on the issue since my friend told me on Monday night that Fat Pig had been completely snubbed, but I’m glad to see the Post has opined on this year’s Helen Hayes nominations and their omitting Fat Pig at all levels. Personally I’ve always found what the HH choses to laud and what it ignores a little odd, but this year’s inclusions and exclusions are flat-out whack.

Obviously I think the complete snub of Fat Pig is insane, but other bits of whackyness stand out too. There’s a single non-resident Supporting Performer nomination for someone in a show other than Spamalot. Really? One show? You managed to come up with five non-Resident Productions to nominate, yet none of those other three yielded supporting players that stand out?

My understanding is that the nomination process got revamped around 2003. Maybe they need to take another look at it.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Well, it’s time to go shovel the driveway. I don’t want my 60-year-old neighbor next door, 14 years my senior, to outdo me in his physical prowess. In case I get stuck or bored, I asked my wife to call up the ASPCA and have them send out one of those whiskey-toting St. Bernards like they have in cold places. Wayan must have seen these guys all over Zurich when he was there. A little liquid courage can go a long way in clearing my driveway or maybe just making me not care whether it’s cleared. Either way, problem solved.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Today should be a snow day in Washington DC. The Federal Government should join with every school district in the region and declare this a full snow emergency closure – a day off so we can dig out.

Yes, I know, for those from Buffalo, this isn’t even a dusting. Well then, go back to Buffalo and dig them out. Here, this snow has stopped local transportation cold.

The snowplow you see here – that’s 10:45am. K Street may be open to traffic but no side streets are. I watched a taxi skid down Mt. Pleasant Avenue this morning, narrowly missing pedestrians and parked cars.

And yet the Federalies say the government is open on a liberal leave policy. Um, thanks. That means the rest of DC economy, which all follows the Federal Government in snow rules, is trying to be open for business.

And failing miserably.

Are you at work? Can you get anything done? I think not. And yet here we sit in the office while we could be helping neighbours & ourselves prepare for a productive Thursday.

Today should be a snow day.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wanna show your clock-stopping hottie that you’re in tune with women on Valentines Day? That you understand and appreciate how she can be both feminine and breadwinning?

Then check out Films on the Hill showing of Annie Oakley, the 1935 tale of the sharpshooter from the Ozarks who joins Buffalo Bill’s legendary wild west show, becoming its main attraction.

If she questions the suggestion, recite this quote from Barbara Stanwyck, who starred as Ms. Okaley:

“Modern women could learn a great deal from Annie Oakley. She was a woman of all ages, deeply feminine in spite of her shooting ability–which she developed to support her family.”

Annie Oakley
7:00 pm @ Films on the Hill
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
545 7th Street SE

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Making wine from Juicy Juice. It’s a redneck talent passed down from father to son or from inmate to inmate, depending on where you learn it. My driveway is frozen and this is what is keeping me from getting cabin fever and becoming a cannibal.

Yes, the airlocks on those bottles are what you think they are.

I hope you all are faring better. Stay indoors and get some of those around-the-house projects done. It’s better than busting ass on the ice and then wishing you had made the redneck wine to take the edge off the pain.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Are you wondering when the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the lead agency for snow removal in DC, will clear snow and ice from District roadways and bridges?

And we’re not talking major roads, commuter thoroughfares and designated Snow Emergency Routes? No, we’re talking the 1,100 roadway miles of streets that matter – yours.

Then check out the handy new interactive Snowplow tracker where you can watch DDOT’s snow removal process in almost real time.

Checking on the map this morning, I say it’s already a little out of date. Not a single road is marked plowed, yet I heard snow plows grinding down 16th Street all night long.

No matter. Another cheer for the DC Gov website for using technology to increase public interaction with government!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

With a soft top you can prod a bit from the inside of the car and break up what’s frozen on top. That’s what fell & froze between when I got home at around 4:30 and when I did this experiment at 9:00.

Be interesting to see what it’ll be like tomorrow morning.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Look at 16th street outbound. A endless parking lot stretching north as far as camera or eye can see.

Traffic is so slow that I abandoned the warmth of the over packed bus for a mile walk home in the ice and snow.

Along the way, I’ve given the bad news to bus stops filled with expectant passengers: the buses are rare in number and already over capacity.

And now I do not walk home in snow alone.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Have you seen the WMATA Metrorial tunnel advertisements? The ones for cars and TV shows no one cares about?

Wouldn’t you rather have a fun video to look at? One that you’d look forward to seeing on your daily commute? Maybe something like this Swiss Love tunnel ad I saw in the Zurich airport:

Awww, yeah. Now don’t you wish the DC Visitors and Convention Center Bureau could put up a tunnel advertisement like this in the Blue Line tunnel leading to/from DCA? Say local supermodels teasing riders to visit the Capitol?

That would be real subway tunnel love.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

For us old “fuddy duddies” on DC Metblogs, some of us are more akin to liking some older musical acts than the current crop of bands. However, if one remembers correctly, if it weren’t for some of these bands, what you have on the radio now, would have never existed. I no longer listen to R.E.M. due to Michael Stipe’s disparaging comment about The Beatles (not noting ANY influence whatsoever – noting it was “elevator music”).

At least one of the bands that introduced a “sound” that has influenced multiple generation of garage band dreamers, The Police, have just announced they ARE going on tour. What’s absent from the tour list (at least for the first leg) is ANYTHING near DC. They play two shows up in NYC and one in Boston, but outside of St. Louis and Bonnaroo in Tennessee, nothing near by that isn’t sponsored by a summer road trip.

Speaking of influences, The 9:30 Clubhas a soft sale for the latest “supagroup” from Blur/Gorrilaz front-man, Damon Albarn, “The Good, The Bad, and the Queen” on March 14th. The band is made up of a venerable cavalcade of stars with a pedigree to impress, including Albarn himself, Clash bassist Paul Simonon, former Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen (the album was produced by former “Demon Days” producer and half of Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse). WOWZERS!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of The Dime Museum

If you’re a BoingBoing reader you might have seen the entry about the impending auction of the Baltimore Dime Museum’s holdings. Color me confused – I’d thought this was a done deal back at the end of 2005 and that much of their stuff had ended up at Palace of Wonders. I guess I’m almost one of the people that the Baltimore Sun article mentions who “have grown accustomed to word that the dusty space was closing — only to find out that wasn’t so much true.”

Minus the finding out that it’s not true.

It’s too bad, and an interesting lesson on how we hear news of finality and close the book, mentally. It never occurred to me to look into the matter after the late 2005 news articles on the closing and verify that, yes, it closed. I couldn’t make it there in time for the supposed last day at the end of 2005 but I’m pretty sure I could have found a day given almost a full year.

If you want to look through the lots of stuff that are going to be for sale you can check it out on the web here. Or go to the preview on the 23rd, 24th, or 25th. On the 26th you can bid, in person or on eBay Live, at 5pm.

The American Dime Museum
1808 Maryland Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21210

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Hard Times Cafe

Originally uploaded by spencerb.

Many thanks to Fred Parker who gave me a status update on the Hard Times Truck:

“The transmission grease is too thick for the cold weather and is being changed before the GW Parade next Monday. Thanks for asking.”

Glad to hear the truck will soon return!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by Brownpau

Reading WMATA’s preparations for snow today as a die-hard transit foamer, I was captivated by the Metrorail de-icing equipment:

Passengers will see the de-icing equipment inside those 12 trains. It is neither dangerous nor flammable, and passengers should not be concerned that it is aboard their train. If they prefer not to be in a rail car with the equipment, they can move to another rail car.

Now why would anyone want to move to another car? It would be fascinating to check out Metrorail’s deicing equipment up close & personal.

I am only slightly disappointed to say that the experience was already shared by “StandingClearoftheDoors” in his I rode the Zamboni post. There, he shares his observations, the last of which might make you more apt to move to another car:

A curiosity: A yellow airline cargo net surrounds the tank and is secured to the top bar with two black shockcords. Those tanks must weigh 2000 lbs half empty, so I have no idea what the netting, shockcords or the attachment to the hand assist bars was for. If that tank wanted to start moving, the car’s bulkhead *might* slow it down.

Now if only a quick Metroblogging DC reader would take a photo of the equipment…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs