High Heel Race by mpr131

The High Heel Race that takes place every year on 17th street in Dupont Circle is a scene not to be missed.  The event itself is less about the race (which lasts all of 60 seconds) than it is about the costumes, the makeup, the swagger, the prancing, and the political statements being made.  The race is notorious for summoning bad weather, but last night the drag queen gods granted a reprieve by giving the crowd perfect running conditions.  As with many events in DC, nearly every spectator had a camera in hand, whether it be a DSLR, a point and shoot, an iPhone, or one of those things that shoots film.  Many thanks to our Flickr contributors for their great submissions that follow after the jump.

Continue reading →

‘Umbrella’
courtesy of ‘Amber Wilkie Photography’

Despite the current lack of rain, many food trucks are off the roads today because of the rain. Hopefully you can track down the few that didn’t preemptively cancel.

Continue reading →

As a ward 5 resident, I’ve been watching the story about the DC Attorney General’s investigation into Council Member Harry Thomas’ “Team Thomas” nonprofit corporation that doesn’t have all its paperwork in order. The one Thomas’ opponent has accused him of using as a “slush fund,” while the council member insists it’s for community projects.

Whether it’s a real case of wrongdoing or just some lost paperwork used for political purposes, AG Peter Nickles seems to be ready to take it into an actual courtroom. Nickles is threatening Thomas with a subpoena if the council member doesn’t produce documentation pertaining to Team Thomas donors and leadership immediately in response to previous request. Thomas insists he needs more time to get it together. Which COULD be construed to mean, “I need more time because the documents don’t actually exist,” or it could mean, “I need more time because I didn’t hire a professional to keep track of this stuff for me and the paperwork is lost in my house somewhere.” Or, you know, anything in between. But Nickles has a point that this is the kind of documentation nonprofits are required to keep as a matter of course, and a well-run one would be able to pull this paperwork out of a file fairly quickly.

‘I cannot resist bikes!’
courtesy of ‘(afm)’

If you were thinking about biking down to the Rally to Restore Sanity this weekend, you might want to rethink things a bit.  WABA has said to TBD that they don’t recommend bicycling down, as there will be very limited places to park and lock your bike up.  WABA had tried to get Comedy Central to hire them to run a bike valet for $3,000, but were initially rebuffed.  Parking for bicycles is pretty limited on the Mall, at least in terms of thinks you can lock your bicycle to, but perhaps if you were to get a critical mass of friends, you could lock all your bikes together which would make it hard to take just one or two.  That assumes, though, that you’re all coming and going at the same time.

Photo by Rachel Levitin

That’s right. Jim Riggleman, 57, will be back on the field with the District’s ballclub in 2011.

The Nationals announced this afternoon that Riggleman, who replaced Manny Acta as the Nationals’ interim manager on July 14, 2009, will begin his third year as the team’s manager next season.

What does this mean for Riggleman? He will continue his managerial career with the hope of one day surpassing his previous highlights as a baseball skipper. Those highlights, however, are limited to one shimmering moment in 1998 when his Chicago Cubs won the Wild Card. Other than that, Riggleman is 624-787 (.442) in 11 years as an on-and-off-again Major League manager. He also managed the San Diego Padres from 1992-94 but they never reached the playoffs.

Washingon has improved under Riggleman’s watch having gone 69-93 (.426) in 2010 compared to their dismal 59-103 record in 2009.

What does this mean for the Nationals and their fans? If anything, it doesn’t hurt to keep a familiar face around to manage a clubhouse hungry for victory. Fans and players should also be ready for that double switch. It’s pretty much Riggleman’s calling card on the field.

Photo by Megan Murphy, courtesy of Smithsonian National Zoo

If this doesn’t improve your day, I just don’t know what will. Before the National Zoo’s lion cubs can be allowed into the lion yard with their mother, they have to be able to swim in case they end up in the moat. So the 8-week-old litter of cubs, the older set, took a swim test today, with handlers placing them in the water about a foot from the edge and watching them swim back. Of course there are photos, but you know you want to see video. Be sure to watch all the way through to the fourth cub. She decides she likes the water and instead of hurrying back to the side, she tries to swim some lengths. Video after the jump. Continue reading →

The above just showed up in my twitter stream so I guess they’re warming up the GPS receivers in Wyoming, the location of the tree doomed to come adorn the Capitol. The Wyoming Trib says this is the first time Wyoming will contribute a tree, somewhat surprising since this tradition is in its 40th year and there’s really only 48 conveniently drivable states to get a tree from.

You can read more about the whole process at Capitol Christmas Tree 2010. There’s some fun tidbits in the media kit, like:

• all 5,000+ ornaments on the tree are made in Wyoming.
• The tree is fitted with a bladder to keep it hydrated during the trip and it absorbs about 65 gallons of water a day
• The tree is growing in Bridger Teton National Forest, seemingly unaware of its impending demise on November 6th.

No word on what its last meal will be. Perhaps some enterprising marketer at Evian will get in on the operation and send some bottles. No fizz, please.

‘Shoeshine, Lady?’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

One of my enduring pet peeves is the pejorative use of Washington, DC as a political metaphor. It drives me right up the wall when my home-of-choice is used as an epithet to accuse a political opponent of being out of touch, or when partisans from across the country cheer for natural disasters to befall it due to their opposition to whatever government happens to be in power at the time, apparently completely unaware that federal jobs are only a quarter of the jobs here. (Don’t believe me that this happens? Run a Twitter search for “washington” next time there’s a Snowpocalypse headed our way.)

The Onion skewers this phenomenon pretty effectively today. A quote: Continue reading →

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

As Chief Official White House photographer, Pete Souza has an entirely unique perspective on the president. Now, you can ask him what White House life looks like from behind the camera. Leave your questions in flickr’s comments section, and he’ll answer them (or at least the interesting ones) this Thursday at 7 p.m. during a live webcast on the White House website.

‘Curbside Cupcake Van’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

You know what helps bring sunshine to a cloudy day? Lunch from a food truck. Go forth and eat, my friends.

Continue reading →

‘_MG_6253’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

Entering its third season as an official bowl, Washington DC’s college football postseason game will be kicking off this December with a new name. According to the Washington Post, an announcement is expected that will change the name of the EagleBank Bowl to the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. EagleBank will remain on as a sponsor of the game, but the other news is that the USO will also be a beneficiary of the game and associated events.

This year’s contest will be held on December 29th at RFK, and it will likely feature a low ranked ACC team against a school from Conference USA.  The military tie-in to the game is also a part of the bowl’s history. Each year, the opponent an ACC school faces alternates through several conferences, but in certain upcoming seasons, Navy or Army, if bowl eligible, are automatically given bids.