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DC Part of Pilot USPS Recycling Program

Don't Do This

Because white people like to recycle, and I am white, I think this is totally awesome. Launched nearly a month ago without telling me, the “Mail Back” program allows people to mail small appliances and inkjet cartridges to be recycled rather than thrown in the dump. For free! The USPS has partnered with Clover Technologies Group to provide this service, “empowering consumers to go green”. Just stop by your local post office, pick up one of their Mail Back envelopes, stick any small electronic devices in there that you no longer need, and plop it in the nearest mailbox.

So if you have any old inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods or MP3 players, don’t put them in a blender just for fun, don’t throw them off your roof deck to see what happens, and don’t give them as gifts to your friends and say, “What? It doesn’t work? Damn, and I already threw the receipt away.” Instead, send them in. According to their press release, “If the electronic item or cartridges cannot be refurbished and resold, its component parts are reused to refurbish other items, or the parts are broken down further and the materials are recycled.”

Can I get a “Whooooaaaaah green!?”

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Trying Out

I’ve heard the Star-Spangled Banner so many ways that it takes something really quite unique to surprise me. I’ve heard six part male harmony, I’ve heard it performed by a tuba quartet. I’ve heard it sung by little kids, I’ve heard it played on an expensive and rare violin. I’ve heard renditions so good that the hairs on the back of my neck prickled with emotion, and I’ve heard renditions so bad that they offended me personally.

To say that I’m a bit of a connoisseur of the National Anthem is a bit of an understatement. But, Tom, you say, can you really complain until you’ve tried out yourself?

No. Despite my music degree, despite my years of choral and solo voice, I’ve never performed it for a live audience, save those within the sound of my voice when I sing along at baseball games and other sporting events. It’s a nerve-wracking experience standing down on the field and singing into the giant expanse of a stadium, I’m sure. But I decided it was time to buck up and give the audition a try.

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The Light of Lincoln

Lincoln's View

I haven’t written about a photo in quite some time, and while I could try to explain to you my lack of photography related posts, in the end you probably just don’t care. But as I was perusing through Flickr yesterday my eyes stopped on gattoraffa’s black and white shot of the Lincoln Memorial. The lighting on this shot is amazing and it almost looks to me as if the crowd is being sucked into a spaceship’s tractor beam for a good old fashioned alien abduction. Having spent a lot of time lately with studio lights, it’s refreshing to see photos like this that use the tried and true, ultimate source of light, Mr. Sun. One other thing to note about this shot is that you don’t need a big fancy SLR to capture an amazing photograph – this was taken with a Canon PowerShot SD1000. Great job!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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United in being ignored

DC UnitedPoor D.C. United. After weeks of seemingly endless coverage of the Nationals’ first day and the opening of the new stadium, they’ve gotten barely any coverage for their opener today.

Yes, their opener is today. In the much-maligned RFK stadium. The most prominent thing I have seen about it is in today’s post in Capital Weather, which had a weather watch block for the opener. What a difference a week makes – unlike the Nationals opening day attendees, United fans will have a temp that doesn’t drop below 55 by game’s end.

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Hi. So Where’s the Alien?

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Every week I get together with a couple of friends for dinner to try out new restaurants, talk about our personal lives, drink alcohol. You know, it’s your basic bonding night. We even try to throw in “an activity” every now and then to try to experience new things in the city and broaden our horizons a bit. Sometimes we’ll go to a gallery to view some art, listen to panel discussions, and once we decided to check out Camelot since none of us had been there before. Meh. I’ve seen better.

Well last night we decided to go in for a tour of the Church of Scientology in Dupont. We all live in the neighborhood and walk by it nearly every day, but none of us really knew what it was all about. Sure, we’d heard about the protests, how people think Tom Cruise is crazy for jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch, and how an alien is supposed to show up one day and save them all, but that’s a pretty naive way of evaluating a “religion” if you ask me, so we decided to hear all about it from the horse’s mouth.

As soon as we walked through the front door we were greeted by a friendly looking fellow who said, “Hi, would you like a tour?” Why yes, as a matter of fact we would. Coincidently enough, his name was Tom, and he was probably the nicest person I’ve met in a long time. Never at any time did he try to sit us down or sign us up for anything. He repeatedly said, “If you have any questions about anything, anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Our 30 minute tour began inside their main lobby where numerous pictures of their founder, L. Ron Hubbard, are hanging. Tom explained to us that Hubbard was an engineer and was therefore very logical and thorough in his thinking. He was a pilot, was in World War II, and had even written some movie scripts. This didn’t sound like the founder of a religion to me. One interesting fact that Tom brought up was the meaning of the word “Scientology”. He said that most people see the word and think “science”, but rather (and I quote from their website) “it comes from the Latin word ‘scio’ meaning ‘knowing in the fullest sense of the word’ and the Greek word ‘logos’ meaning ‘study of'”, in other words, “the study of truth”.

Our tour continued as we walked down into the basement. “Oh sweet,” we were thinking. “Now we get to see where they keep the alien.” Not quite. This is where they have a “cleansing room” where members of the church can go to rid their body of drugs and alcohol by sweating it out. Evidently Hubbard figured out that when one takes drugs, the toxins get trapped in the our fatty tissue, so by going into a room and exercising you can sweat out the toxins and life is good again. That sounds too simple to be true, but Tom didn’t go into much detail as to what really goes on behind that closed door. Also in the basement was what appeared to be their welcome center. This is where you can go for your “free stress test” (which we didn’t partake in) and involves using an E-meter. This device is used to measure the electrical resistance in your body and is what they use when they do something called “auditing”, a way to clear your mind of something that is blocking you from reaching your full potential. Or something. Also in this room was a table stacked high with copies of Dianetics, the bible of Scientology written by Hubbard himself. Tom recommended that we read it to understand what Scientology was all about, much like you would read the bible to understand what Christianity had to offer. Or something. He gave us all free informational DVD’s to watch and then we headed back up to the main floor.

Next up was a tour of an air conditioned room that was basically a replica of Hubbard’s office back in the day. They keep the room at a lower temperature (and what felt like a high humidity) to preserve the shrink wrapped books that are on the shelves, books that actually belonged to L. Ron Hubbard. I know this is bad, but I thought to myself, “I wonder how much one of these would fetch on eBay?” It’d probably fetch me the rest of my life in the cleansing room in the basement. No thanks. The office has a signed original copy of Battlefield Earth, a science fiction book written by Hubbard (and terribly acted out by John Travolta). It also had one of the sweetest globes I’ve ever seen and a framed photo of the Jefferson Memorial surrounded by cherry blossoms. How apropos. Tom pointed out another book which is about a quarter of the size of Dianetics and is more like a Scientology primer or Scientology for Dummies. He recommended that we buy a copy online or even go check it out at our local library. Little did he know that I only like to read photography magazines and James Patterson novels. I asked him why they didn’t just put their books online for everyone to read, but he inferred that they had to make money somehow, just as other religions pass a collection plate or hold bake sales.

At this point, my friend decided to step it up a notch by asking Tom some tougher questions involving celebrities and aliens. Tom just sort of smiled and said that a few bad apples had decided to spread rumors about the church and that none of it was true. Oh and again – read the book because it explains everything in there.

So that was it. No pressure to join, no pressure to give them money, no pressure to stay and talk, no pressure to leave, although I couldn’t help but notice that everyone inside the church kept looking at us with a cautious eye as if to say, “Why are you people in here?” or “How long do you plan to stay?” Clearly we didn’t look like we belonged there. Could it have had something to do with the fact that I was wearing a baseball cap and drinking a Red Bull? Maybe. It could have also been that they thought we were snooping around and trying to uncover the secrets of their church.

I have to say that it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in a church, although I still left with a funny feeling in the back of my mind as if maybe Tom was trained to say certain things and hold back on others. Either way, I don’t see what all of the Hubb-ub is about. Do you?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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New Convention Facility Makes People Sick?

Apparently around two dozen people who’d spent time at the new Convention Facility at the National Harbor development in Prince George’s County fell ill yesterday, complaining of serious nausea. All of those who complained had attented a medical conference at the new facility operated my the Gaylord Hotel Group Convention Center at the National Harbor. There doesn’t seem to be another connecting thread between those who complained, but the health departments in Prince George’s County, and Arlington County (the illnesses were all discovered at National Airport) will be following up with all those affected.

Very peculiar!

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Seriously?

Not cool.

Theft in and of itself isn’t cool at all, obviously. It just sucks moreso when it happens to organizations like ALIVE who are out to help the less fortunate.

Hopefully they’ll be able to replace everything they lost, and then some. If you’re interested in donating, you can go here for more information.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Tasty newsprint

YumBeating up on the Washington Post has come to be kind of a hobby for me of late, but I wanted to take a minute to give credit where credit is due. One of the highlights of my week has come to be reading the Post’s Wednesday food section. The paper is my lunchtime ritual and it goes into the recycling bin when I’m done… except for Wednesdays, where more often than not I find myself bringing home a recipe page from the Food section.

This week’s inspiration for me to bring home the section was the concoction from the picture seen here: a Strawberry, Mozzarella, and Arugula salad. Mmmmm. Not only yummy sounding but a great variation on the usual mozzarella and tomato, which my darling (but in this matter, brain damaged) girlfriend won’t eat, as someone who isn’t a fan of the tomato. I’m angling to see this on our table within the week.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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4-1 again, woo!

Tonight, by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Caps have picked up win 2 out of the 3 they need to have a reasonable shot to make it into the playoffs. If you read NHL.com with a naive eye you’d think we’re golden – the site shows us at #8. Unfortunately it’s because we’ve played 81 games vs a number of other teams who have only played 80… the Flyers included, who we have pushed (momentarily?) down to #9. With all due love to our readers with Philly heritage, I’m hoping they fail tomorrow in their game against the Devils and keep that spot, but this is scary ground to be on.  If it makes you feel any better, Flyers fans, now I have to spend out last game of the regular season cheering for the Caps to beat my home-town team, the Panthers.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Market Day

FreshFarm Markets open this week, inaugurating the farmers market season. I’ve been anticipating this for a while, as last year I became addicted to my weekly pitstop at Penn Quarter on the way home to the Metro.

Open from 3pm to 7pm every Thursday starting today (until December 18) on 8th between D & E Streets NW, the Penn Quarter market features all sorts of goodies – fruits and veg, dairy, handmade soaps, flowers – and there are more locations across town.

Now, does shopping at a farmers market qualify under my new-found parsimony? Yes. Local farms + seasonal produce + high quality = worth every penny. The salad I get at Whole Paycheck or Ghetto Giant is dead on arrival. The living head of lettuce I get at the farmers market lasts a week, fresh and crisp. No contest.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Hey – Remember Flash Mobs?

This afternoon, the DC Advocates for the Arts are putting on a flash mob as part of their 2008 advocacy day.From the DCAA:

From 12:40 to 12:45 pm we will gather as many people as we can on Freedom Plaza. Freedom Plaza is a broad plaza that stretches between E st. and Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th and 14th St.’s Northwest – two blocks from the Metro Center metro stop. 

We ask that participants wear something white or red (the district flag colors) but all are invited to participate. There will be a brief orientation at 12:30 outside the Metro Center metro stop on the corner of 12th and G st.’s NW. At 12:40 we will proceed onto the plaza.

One team member will be carrying a red bandana over their head. When the bandana drops, we are all to freeze, looking out from the middle of the plaza. You are asked to look out to represent arts work as a viewer of society. The Plaza is a large rectangle. You will have to decide for yourself which edge of the plaza you are closest to. We ask you to turn and face out toward that edge of the plaza so that can get the effect of the freeze looking out.

In addition to passersby, there are many buildings overlooking the plaza. The effect should be powerful.We will freeze (in whatever position) looking out – for five minutes. The person with the bandana will be frozen in a position where they can see their watch. After five minutes, they will move, and we ask that you visually take note of other participants, and slide into motion as you see the rest of the participants begin to move.

 

 Honestly, it seems a bit goofy and dated to me at this point. I mean, how Dean 04, right? But, if you are going to be out on your lunch hour, you might want to check it out. Certainly raising the profile of the role of arts in the community is always valuable. Snap a few pictures for us, how about? (via Hoogirl)

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Don’t Fall for that Speed Trap

Picture 1.png I got a speeding ticket in February in Arlington. It sucked, but I was definitely going what he said I was going, but there’s no way that George Mason near Columbia Pike is a 30mph zone. 4 lanes, divided, it’s just not meant for that speed. But anyhow, I got caught in a speed trap. DC’s full of speed traps, some of them electronic-and-camera, some of them flesh-blood-and-lidar.

Good thing that Trapster’s here to show us where they are. You can add traps, look for traps, even have traps sent to your cellphone via Text Message. Bad. Ass.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Coverage for All in DC?

Councilman David Catania (I – At Large) has proposed a bill to the council to require health insurance, and offer inexpensive coverage on a sliding scale to DC residents. Failure to be insured, under Catania’s plan, would result in a $250 fine. I’m not quite sure what the enforcement mechanism would be, given that you can’t just ask the insurance companies who’s covered and who’s not, as that’d violate all kinds of various HIPAA privacy regulations.

The bill would be paid for by a $2/pack sin tax on cigarettes, and would raise around $50 Million for the cost of the program. Premiums, monthly, under this new plan would range from $20 to $100 per month on a sliding scale of subsidy based on annual income. This would be in addition to the District’s safety net program, as well as Medicaid.

Is fining poor people who choose food over health insurance really a good idea? I’m not so sure, Councilman, that a $250 fine is the best idea in this case.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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DAMN!

Photo courtesy of Me

Well that’ll teach me to be productive at work. I have only now come across this posting on Charlie Stross’ webjournal, which states simply:

I’m going to be in Washington DC tomorrow, with jet-lag, not to mention my wife (also jet-lagged). In an attempt to stave off the jet-lag by staying awake until local time 10:30pm, we’ll be drinking in The Brickskeller at 1523 22nd St NW from about 7pm onwards. If you’re in Washington DC and good beer and extremely jet-lagged authors interest you, that’s the place to be on Tuesday 1st.

If you haven’t been fortunate enough to read any of Stross’ work, you’ve missed some far-future science fiction as well as some delightful stories set in the present time, albeit a present where the ancient other-worldly horrors from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu are real and there’s a supernatural cold war going on. Think occult James Bond – with a lot of humor – and you have the picture. His most current book, Halting State, is in the running for a Hugo and is waiting patiently on my nightstand for me to start it. (Thanks, Arlington library!)

So, if you had the good fortune to hoist a beer with Mr Stross last night while I was shouting myself hoarse at the Verizon Center, I hope you gave him a positive impression about our fair city. Maybe you saw him and didn’t realize it – a comment in his announcement post stated “I will be using a large green plush Cthulhu as an identification tag” so if you saw a plush and friendly gibbering horror, you sat near a famous writer.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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"This is NOT a cappuccino"

Recession, economic crisis, gotterdammerung, whatever you want to call it, when things start to get increasingly expensive, I start to expect more. And as I’m a reasonable, tolerant, terribly sweet-natured person, when I go off on a rant, please indulge me.

Working downtown for many years, I’ve been noticing the price creep of basic lunches. Yesterday it really hit me when I went to Cosi for a salad and saw with a shock that everything there is now $7+. Yikes. My morning coffee breaks have also been creeping up. Now, my love affair with caffeine, the one substance I’ve ever been directly told by a doctor to lay off, is not the same as those coffee drones who really don’t have a freaking clue what the difference is between froth and crema. In other words, I’m a snob. Well, actually, no, I’m a purist. I want things to be right. If I am going to risk painful palpitations for it, at $3.08 my cappuccino better be a cappuccino, and not a latte..

Like the slide of suburban property values, I’ve been noticing the slide of the proper cappuccino in this city for some time, but nowhere is it more prevalent than the Caribou Coffee near my office at 13th & G. This morning is yet another time that I ask (nicely, politely, I’m not a jerk about it!) the barista to remake what they hand me. Filled to the brim with barely an 1/8 of froth is NOT a cappuccino. When I explained (nicely, politely) this time the response was “so you want it dry”.

(This is all Starbucks’ fault of course – wet, dry, skinny, tall, yadda yadda yadda. No wonder they all took off recently to relearn the basics.)

So – sigh – no, no, no. I don’t want a dry cappuccino. I want a cappuccino. And in this current economic clime, everything I have to shell out for had better be made/done right.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Screw you, divisions

Photo courtesy of Fenchurch!

I started to write some quick notes about the ways the Caps could still make it into the playoffs, but the added complication of division leads automatically getting the first three seeds made it too much of a headache and I deleted it all. So lemmie try again.

The Caps are in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. Currently the Carolina Hurricanes are leasing the SE div with 90 points and we’re behind them with 88. Were we were to win 2 out of the remaining 3 games and they lose all three of theirs then we’d be tied up with 90 points.

Point ties are settled by looking at comparative games played (which would be the same), then number of wins (ditto), then.. well, let me quote the HHL page on the matter:

The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any “odd” games, shall be used to determine the standing.

Clear as mud.

Now, that’s not the only way for us to make it into the playoffs – eight total teams make it in, with the top 3 seeds being the division leads. And in fact, those three aren’t necessarily the best. Carolina, currently holding that #3 seed spot, is actually eighth in game points, behind Philly and Boston. Which is our other shot at a berth – if either of those teams loses their remaining three games (a real possibility for poor Philly, who is facing the top-ranked Penguins TWICE) while we win our next three that would tie us for game points, allowing us to bypass them on number of wins.

What a damned headache.

Annoyed, courtesy of Fenchurch!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Ditch Work: Oberon back on tap

When the weather finally decides to settle on its current state (70, sunny) then we all know it’s time for some sitting outside, and for the drinking of some tasty, tasty Bell’s Oberon. This tap was visible at the Boulevard Woodgrill in Clarendon today when I stopped in for a late lunch.

Soon enough, it’ll be time to sit outside with round after round of this summertime favorite.

Bring on the sunshine!!

Summers coming: Oberon back on tap — Originally uploaded by tbridge

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Open House at Nationals Park

If you didn’t get to go to the game on Saturday or Sunday but still want to see the new Stadium, the Nationals are hosting an open house this weekend. The park will be open Friday from 6 to 8, then Saturday for the away game against the Cardinals in St. Louis. All the concessions will be open, plus the Nationals/Cardinals game will be displayed on the monster scoreboard in center field.

The best part? Free. Totally, completely free. You just have to RSVP at Nationals.com and bring the print out of your RSVP with you to the stadium. Check out the sweet PlayStation arcade in Centerfield. Have a half-smoke all-the-way with Ben’s chili. Watch the Nats beat up on the Cards (sorry Chris) and pick up another victory.

All for free. Enjoy, DC!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Seen at Pete’s Diner

I had a great breakfast the other day at Pete’s Diner on Capitol Hill. It’s right at the intersection of 2nd St. SE and Pennsylvania Ave. and they have some darned good food at reasonable prices. Go check it out!

The best part, though, was the “cash only” sign at the register, featuring a dog crapping out $100 bills. These folks have a great sense of humor! Now all I need is to find what kind of dog does that. It certainly isn’t a golden retriever, based on what I have to step over in my brother’s yard.

Photo: A dog that shits money! Originally uploaded by carlweaver

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

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Keeping Metro Boring

If you’ve ever seen a movie in DC that used the actual DC Metro raise your hand.

Okay, that’s two of you.

Want to know why you never see the real DC Metro in the movies? Here you go. It’s a story all about the agency in DC dedicated to making sure that no rules get broken in the movies on Metro.

See, I’d be okay with this if Metro actually enforced its own rules so furiously. But they don’t. How many times have I seen a guy chowing down on a sandwich on the Metro, or some guy finishing off the last of a can of Coke, slipping the can clandestinely into the platform trash can.

With rentals at $1,000/hr for movie production, and the city cashing in to the tune of $63M a year in films, it’d be nice if movie crews didn’t have to hike it up to Baltimore and pay their transit authority to fake like they’re in Washington. Didn’t Metro just announce that they’re short cash? Wouldn’t this be a perfect way to gin up some cash for some new cars?

Think, Metro! Think! “Sure, we’ll let you do something against the rules, but if you want to break our regs it’ll cost you double.”

They want the look and feel. They don’t want to move the crew to Charm City. They’ll pay!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs