Yearly Archives: 2010

The Daily Feed
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There is no 3 condoms = prostitute law in the District.

Photo courtesy of
‘MCCALL MAGAZINE COVER, GIRL IN RAIN’
courtesy of ‘George Eastman House’

Approximately 23,746 of you have forwarded me some variation of the 3-rubbers-and-you’re-arrested-in-DC meme currently making its way around the interwebbies, with varying degrees of outrage and hysteria. Meanwhile, the article that originally mentioned the 3 condoms standard doesn’t actually provide anything more substantial than the phrase “anecdotal evidence suggests” as a source for this information, and even then only mentioned it in the context of a much larger point about the downsides of using condoms as evidence for obtaining prostitution convictions.

So let’s take a moment to filter out the outrage:

– The theoretical 3 condom standard is not DC law. DC law is silent on the topic of condoms as evidence against prostitutes.  Therefore, DC police officers are not specifically encouraged to use or forbidden from using condoms as evidence in making an arrest.

– An officer still has to have probable cause to search a person in order to discover that he or she is carrying condoms, which means the number of condoms carried would be fairly useless as a solo piece of evidence. You will not be arrested for buying a 12-pack at CVS and toting it home.   Continue reading →

The Features
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2010 Readers Survey

Photo courtesy of
‘Wisconsin Pump Station Survey Pics 005’
courtesy of ‘Sunburned Surveyor’

So, we’re coming up on our one-and-a-halfth birthday, and to celebrate, we’re giving away some awesome prizes. We’ve got dinner for two at Jackson 20 at the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, a trip to the Spy Museum for two and a nice swag pack, and a DC United T-shirt.

It’s just a quick thirteen questions, and your feedback would be absolutely invaluable. It’ll take five minutes, and we promise, we won’t sell your email address to anyone, for anything.

Take our quick survey, and leave us your email address at the end to enter the drawing for our great prizes. Click through for our privacy policy and the Rules.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, News, People, The Daily Feed
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Contestant From Richmond, VA Makes Bachelor History

Photo courtesy of
‘Da hat sich wohl jemand vergriffen…’
courtesy of ‘afroboof’

If you missed The Bachelor last night, then you missed TV history when contestant Rozlyn Papa, from Richmond VA, was kicked off the show for having an “inappropriate relationship” with one of the show’s staffers. Details on what defined an “inappropriate relationship” are unclear and Ms. Papa has since denied the accusations, but whatever happened it was heavy enough to have both parties’ relationships with the show terminated.

The disruptive incident was reported, even before the series aired, but exactly which contestant it was or what exactly they did was a secret. Up until being asked to leave by host Chris Harrison, Rozlyn had already been given a rose by pilot Jake Pavelka, and was definitely a top contender for the bachelor’s heart.

Personally, I’m not a viewer of the show, but I HAD to tune in for this. I can’t wait to see if Rozlyn is invited to the show’s reunion. That would be epic.

The Daily Feed
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Closing the barn door after Chinatown has fled

Photo courtesy of
‘Chinatown Arch #2’
courtesy of ‘Frank Hale’

While you were all waiting for the marriage equality vote, the council was giving final approval to an Office of Planning project to address the “growing concerns of area residents and business owners that Chinatown is threatened by the continual loss of Chinese businesses and residents as well as cultural and historical features.”

I’d have loved to have seen Chinatown’s character preserved, but didn’t that ship sail over a decade ago? The area I’ve been calling “Chinatown in name only” for a lot of years is already pretty well diminished. The Office of Planning’s Chinatown Cultural Development Strategy summarizes it pretty well: “Today, only 30 Chinese owned businesses and less than 300 Chinese residents remain in Chinatown.”

In fairness to the Verizon center and other business growth there, the number of residents took a nose-dive from 3,000 to about 900 in the 70s and never recovered. But the business presence and appearance of Chinatown is vastly different from the first time I saw it in the late 80s. What’s really left at this point for this project to preserve?

http://planning.dc.gov/planning/site/default.asp?planningNav=|
Dupont Circle, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Object as Subject

Wiskovksy(pf86332)

Eugen Wiškovský, "Šrouby (Bolts)" Gelatin silver print, printed c.1932. Courtesy of Kicken Berlin OHG, Berlin / Howard Greenberg Gallery, NYC

I’ve never been a particular fan of still lifes. But The Phillips Collection’s current exhibit Object as Subject: Photographs of the Czech Avant-Garde might just change my mind. It’s a small showing, highlighting some thirty photographs from the 1920’s and ’30’s. Apparently Prague was second only to Paris as a major center of surrealism, and that movement’s influence is strong in the exhibit. Heavy on striking geometric shapes, these photographs provide mini-lessons in composition and light.

Not to mention, everything looks kind of like a crazy industrial album cover. I kept thinking – I really need to visit Prague someday!
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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iPhone Metro Times app contest: The Funny Part

Photo courtesy of Me

Find a Metro DC

Thanks to the generosity of John B, the author of the Find a Metro DC [iTunes], we’ve got five application codes to give away for his iPhone app. I’ve decided to do it in three parts. The first contest will start right now and run 24 hours. At the end of it we’ll give away one code. Then we’ll do another one for another 24 hours and another code. Friday we’ll give away three more codes – one more random selection as well as the two winning story entries.

So that’s the contest? The bare minimum you have to do is post a comment here – you can just say “gimmie” if you want, just make sure you enter a valid email address for us to contact you if you win. That puts your name in the hat for the day’s random drawing as well as Friday’s random pick.

If you want a shot at the “bonus round” then just tell us your best mass transit story. You can do one in each theme.

Today’s theme is funny. What’s the most amusing thing that you’ve seen on the Metro or a bus? Circulator and Fairfax buses are fair game too.

UPDATE And we have a winner! Random.org, given a choice between 1 and 32, spat up the number 16. Congratulations Cia, I’ll be emailing you the code shortly. The additional random pick and story pick will happen Friday and be announced in their own post.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Ping Pong Dim Sum’s Happy Hour Is A Steal

PC100329

Welcome newbie-to-Chinatown Ping Pong Dim Sum announced new happy hour specials that will be sure to get me back in the door sooner rather than later. I tried out Ping Pong Dim Sum before they opened and loved the sweet creative cocktails ($5 at happy hour! A steal!) and adored the Char Sui Bun ($3 at happy hour). Ping Pong’s happy hour runs from 4-7 p.m., and then another round of after-dark specials start at 10 p.m. that include dessert.

While I’m not a huge dim sum person, I enjoyed Ping Pong’s Prawn Balls (again, $3 at happy hour!), as well as the Vietnamese Spring Rolls. In fact, almost all of my favorite things from the menu are on the happy hour menu, which means you should probably go, right now. The sleek black interior and shared tables make it the perfect date spot, co-workers happy hour or night out on the town.

Other specials available at happy hour are $4 Bottles of Import Beer (Tiger, Tsingtao and Sapporro Reserve), $3 Baked Puffs, Chicken and Black Pepper Roll, and Veggie Spring Roll. Happy hour ends at 7 p.m. and full price resumes. After 10 p.m. martinis go back down to $7, and desserts get added to the specials. $4 Chocolate Bun, Ice Cream or Sorbets, Pineapple and Mango Puff, Selection of exotic sliced fruits, pineapple and coconut spring roll. (The chocolate bun is to die for.) So, see you there at 4 p.m. I’ll be the one with the lychee martini in one hand and the Char Sui bun in the other.

Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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DC, A Foodie Town? American Way Magazine Says So.

Photo courtesy of
‘Capitol #501’
courtesy of ‘andertho’

DC is more than the political hub of America. I find that outsiders forget this and are often surprised when you prove them otherwise.

I stopped for a drink on my way back to DC from Chicago last night at O’ Hare international airport only to be assaulted by a fellow flier who had been drinking for 4 hours before I even sat down. She proceeded to asked me, “So where ya headed,” I knew I’d have to defend myself.

“DC,” I responded, only to have her ask yet another question.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Here’s Sodium Hypochlorite In Your Water

Photo courtesy of
‘Spice #4’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

According to a NewsChannel8 report, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be swapping out the chlorine gas currently used to disinfectant 180 gallons of DC water for a liquid form of chlorine called sodium hypochlorite, more commonly known as bleach.

The main reason for the switch out is that sodium hypochlorite is safer to transport, store, and use, and therefore helps avoid the release of chlorine gas by accident or potentially by acts of terrorism.

The switch, schedule to begin next month, should not effect the taste or smell of the water supply, which currently flows to 1 million DC residents.

Downtown, Fun & Games, People, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Damn, Crowded Metro Station! You Scary!

Photo courtesy of
‘not goin’ anywhere?’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Was anyone else at the Chinatown Metro station yesterday evening at around 6:15? I was, and I was pressed into the mass of humanity unsuccessfully attempting to move around the station. It all started because a red line train, which I was on, had to offload at Judiciary Square, thereby causing a delay that resulted in platforms down the line filling up. I got to Chinatown, got off the train and proceeded to work my way through a human traffic jam for 20 minutes. New trains would come in, but the platform was so crowded that passengers could barely get off and the doors would close before anyone waiting could board. This exacerbated the crowding problem and the platform just got more and more full. I’m pretty sure that no one died or anything, but I was witness to a few fights. The best part: this was just a Monday evening. Nothing special was happening.  I really do love mass transit.

(Yes, I know the picture’s not of Chinatown.)

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


DCA by brokensquare

Ah, the airport.  Is it strange that I find it to be a magical place?  It’s where people come together, some sharing the same flight, others departing to different destinations, but all part of a worldwide system that just somehow works.  You make your reservation online, pack your tiny tube of toothpaste, roll in with your luggage, wait in line to check in, take your shoes off, watch as your cigarette lighter passes right through security, get to the gate and scope out your fellow passengers, grab some food to bring on the plane with you (since the days of free meals are long gone), turn your portable electronics off so as not to interfere with the plane that was built in the 1970’s, sit back, relax, help the person next to you with their oxygen mask before placing yours firmly around your nose, resist tampering with the smoke alarm in the lavatory, read SkyMall and wonder who actually buys this stuff.  You gaze out the window and admire the polished wings, held together with rivets as they pierce through wispy clouds at speeds of over 400 miles per hour.  Oh but wait – what’s that?  Before you know it you’re placing your tray and seat back in their full upright position and the stewarde – um, flight attendant is welcoming you to Los Angeles.  It’s magic I tell you.  Without breaking a sweat, you’ve flown, through the air mind you, to the opposite side of the country.

But like most magic tricks, there’s more than meets the eye.  While you were begging for an exit row seat and anxiously waiting for the gate attendant to call Seating Area 3, the ground crew was loading your luggage, stocking those $10 boxes of airplane food, fueling the plane, de-icing the wings, pushing it away from the gate, oh, and taking photos of the spectacular sunrises that bath the runways in deep hues of purple, orange, and yellow.  Magic, I tell you.

The Daily Feed
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Big Chair Coffee is Open!

Photo courtesy of
‘72145-05Crop’
courtesy of ‘furcafe’

When a neighborhood coffee shop opens, it’s generally not that big of a deal.  But when the coffee shop is the first one in the city east of the Anacostia River, it is– residents see it as a sign that more retail growth could finally be coming to Anacostia.  So it’s great news that Big Chair Coffee opened yesterday in Anacostia.  David Garber of And Now, Anacostia is thrilled that there’s finally a “legit place to go in the neighborhood”, and he tells me that the coffee is worth a trip across the river.  Definitely stop by and check it out– you can’t miss it, since it’s across from the big chair (formerly the world’s tallest chair!) on Martin Luther King Avenue SE.

The Daily Feed
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Harriet Walters’ Handbags Up For Auction

Photo courtesy of
‘Lolo (Barcelona)’
courtesy of ‘scalleja’

Anyone out there want their own little fashionable piece of DC scandal history? Well look no further then the Harriet Walters’ online designer bag auction currently taking place and run by the U.S. Marshalls Service. Imelda collected shoes. Harriet handbags.

Besides, I totally needed that Louis Vuitton bag anyways. And so what if it happened to be evidence in a $50 million dollar embezzlement case. I’m a slave to fashion.

Auction runs until Thursday, January 22nd.

News, The Daily Feed
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30 Days Started Last Week

photo.jpg

Tomorrow, when Congress gavels itself back from recess, the 30-day clock on a number of important DC legal measures begins. If you’ve not been following along, you may need to be reminded: Every law passed by the City Council and signed by the Mayor must in turn be reviewed by Congress. Now the 30-day clock is session days, and not calendar days, but best guess would be that the bill would pass out of Congress’ authority by the end of February.

Update: We received an update from the Congresswoman’s office: The 30-day calendar actually began on January 5th with a Pro-Forma session, meaning we’re five legislative days closer than initially reported.

The Daily Feed
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Crystal Couture (and Spring) Are Coming


Cocktail
Originally uploaded by abbeyfranke

Fashion-lovers in DC, rejoice. Crystal Couture is coming back the first week of February for a full run of fashion shows called, “Jungle, Jeans, Tats and Tees.” The event will be taking over an empty storefront across from the Jaleo in Crystal City. Bring on the Springtime! (and the models…)

Photo by Malek Naz Freidouni

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The District
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Restaurant Week Begins

Photo courtesy of
‘Bangkok 54’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’

I don’t know if it is because I’m busy right now, or something, but you guys I’m going to have to admit a sin to you. I’m just not feelin’ restaurant week right now. For some unknown reason, it’s just not ringing my bell, or whatever. It’s a little close to the holidays, and it’s cold. I don’t know. Usually I’m stoked, but this time I’ve only got one reservation and I’m just kind of bored by it. BUT, I feel obligated, that if you ARE feeling it (which, good on you! for real.) that I am here for you. I just wanted to drop you a friendly reminder that it’s happening, now. If you haven’t made reservations, I’d recommend: Bibiana, Ceiba, Poste, Adour, Volt, Zentan, Willow, 1789.

Lisa over at Dining in DC put a ton of energy into creating a post all about the menus and extensions, and bless her for her enthusiasm, cause I just don’t have it. Now I think I’ll go take a nap, or something.

Adventures, Essential DC, The Daily Feed
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Case of the Key Bridge Hanging Ropes Solved

Photo courtesy of
‘Ripples’
courtesy of ‘S. Parker’

Ever been driving on the George Washington Parkway and seen those mysterious ropes dangling underneath the Key Bridge? Have you ever wondered, what crazy person is rope swinging into the Potomac? Or, perhaps someone has a secret July 4th firework viewing spot?

Well, the WaPo’s Answer Man, John Kelly, has put the mystery to rest. They’re not for bungee jumping, rather the ropes are used to help inspectors “access the inclined portions of the Key Bridge’s mighty arches.” Phew! What a relief!

The Daily Feed
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Water Main Break in Dupont


Water Main Breakage by maxedaperture

Earlier today I was alerted via Alert DC of a water main break at 17th & P Street NW in Dupont Circle.  While I didn’t see the geyser that was reported by a DCist reader earlier this morning, there is still a steady flow of water flowing onto the street as of about noon.  Streets in a one block radius are closed and DDOT crews are on the scene (as is a swarm of local media representatives).  This should make for a nice ice skating rink later tonight.  Be safe, DC.

The DC 100, The Features
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DC Omni 100: #6 Black Pudding

Photo courtesy of
‘Black Pudding with kidney – The Botanical Breakfast – The Botanical AU19.50’
courtesy of ‘avlxyz’

It’s time for another item from the DC Omnivore 100 list of the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives.

Let’s get over the squeamishness now, and call a spade a spade. Black pudding is blood sausage. Ahhhh…I said BLOOD! Now we know what we’re eating and we can directly correlate it to a real live animal,  not some amorphous substance. So now that we’ve established that, freaked out a tad and gotten over it, let’s talk about how delicious black pudding is.

In its simplest form, black pudding is a combination of onions, a few herbs, barley, bread crumbs, meat, seasonal vegetables, or heavy spices and, typically, pork or cow blood. I supposed for some it’s the incorrect assumption that the only ingredient in black pudding is blood that makes it SO unappealing. However, the best black pudding does not use too much blood, and has an even mixture of the other ingredients. It’s this perfect combination that makes the flavor of black pudding to be so rich, complex and delicious.

Traditionally, black pudding is served as part of a full English breakfast, such as the one I recently enjoyed at Ireland’s Four Courts in Arlington, VA. A full English breakfast gets you a few slices of black pudding, eggs (cooked to your liking,) baked beans, fried tomatoes, hash browns, toast, bacon, white pudding (a relative of black pudding but sans blood) and perhaps a few other odds and ends depending on the cook and restaurant you’re at. If you’re new to black pudding, the small amount provided as part of the meal will be an excellent way to sample this iron rich, savory treat. And if you don’t like it, at least you’re left with plenty of “friendly” food. Continue reading →