HEARING THAT trashy people are splayed about near the National Geographic building would, for most Washingtonians, conjure images of fanny pack-clad tourists. But these figures aren't ravenously searching for local attractions — they're a destination all their own.
And they're made of actual garbage. And they aren't alive.
Blogger Intangible Arts shares some thoughts on, and photographs of, "Trash People," an exhibit by German artist HA Schult in the Natty Geo courtyard.
Among the observations:
It's a fascinating thing to walk slowly between the bodies and dig the details; a crushed tin of meat here, soda-can there, computer motherboard, odd bits of glass... the detritus of humanity, molded to resemble humanity. Bitterly fascinating.The sculptures have been on display since April, but you'll want to move fast if you want to take them in for yourself. After June 8, it's garbage out.
» "Behold the Trash People" [Intangible Arts]
THERE ARE PLENTY of people across the area chowing down on leftover candy today — that's natural for Halloween. But apparently there's another traditional Halloween feast that's more meat than treat. Blogger The World Is My Oyster didn't sound that excited about it, though:
Seems like there should be something better for a dinner menu on Halloween than candy corn and corned beef. Maybe next year I will start some new tradition.That sounds like a mixture of St. Patrick's Day and Halloween. Where's the Guinness? [Snowbunny in the City; The World Is My Oyster]
» ROUGH TIMES IN FOGGY BOTTOM: Considering Wednesday's contentious meeting in which many State Department envoys were told that they would be deployed to Iraq and other hardship assignments, we wonder if there are any secret Condoleezza Rice dart boards like this one in office break rooms across the globe. [WaPo; Princess Sparkle Pony]
Continue Reading "Blog Log: Candy Corn and Corned Beef? Seriously?" »
"BACON IS MEAT CANDY." If that statement made you recoil from your computer, this story probably isn't for you. But if you find yourself suddenly craving a BLT, you're in Heather Lauer's prime demographic.
The above assertion comes from Lauer's blog, Bacon Unwrapped — a clearinghouse for news, videos, recipes and general sizzle over the aforementioned strips of fatty goodness.
Like bacon itself, Lauer's posts are often slim in size, but pack a flavorful punch. She's featured everything from gadgets like the bacon alarm clock, which wakes its owner with the smell of cooking bacon, to recipes like bacon-wrapped tater tots and bacon popcorn. She even challenged a friend to make bacon whiskey. And last week, she wrote a post about a maple bacon doughnut, which sounds strangely appetizing.
It's the warm associations people have with bacon, Lauer said, that make the site work. "It's such a nostalgic food, which is why people love it," she said.
Continue Reading "Site With Sizzle: Heather Lauer's Bacon Unwrapped" »
THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE that while you're reading these words, this writer is driving somewhere on I-70 in Maryland headed toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike and points westward for a weeklong vacation. Assuming Gerald Ford doesn't die again, it's likely we'll be on a blogging break.
Our first challenge: Get past Breezewood, that odd turnpike off-ramp junction that is the "Town of Motels" and the home of many gas stations, the Gateway Travel Plaza and the site of a closed Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, which may or may not be a Pizza Hut now. And, there's also a Breezewood blog! Sort of.
The most recent post is this. There is also a reader poll asking "What is your favorite place to go in Breezewood?" Considering the choices, we would have to go with "None." But that isn't an option. [Your Breezewood on the PA e-Turnpike]
» FEEL GOOD TIME: When friends of this writer from the Midwest come to D.C., they often comment on how people on the sidewalk aren't really the friendly, say-hello sort. Since we're headed to a friendlier land on the other side of the Appalachians, let's check in on the feel-good blogging enterprise of former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan. From her latest update, we find out that Kagan has a 17-year-old three-legged cat: "This cat might be missing his right front leg, but he sure does know how to give a big squeeze with his other one." [DarynKagan.com]
IF YOU WERE ON CAPITOL HILL on Tuesday evening and thought you saw something in a window more appropriate for Amsterdam's red-light district, your eyes weren't deceiving you. On the second floor of Sonoma, the lovely Kitty Victorian performed a brief burlesque routine for partygoers celebrating the new book by local writer Kelly DiNardo, who has written for Express every so often. DiNardo's book, "Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique," dives into the life and times of a burlesque pioneer.
DiNardo is one of the few people around — maybe the only one — to regularly blog about burlesque, which has seen a revival in recent years. DiNardo will be speaking about her book at the Dupont Circle location of Olsson's on Thursday at 7 p.m.
As Yeas & Neas has noted, DiNardo's book party shared the second floor with a Democratic fundraiser hosted by Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle, where there were a few of other congressmen present. This writer was stationed by the stairwell during Victorian's routine, and we can confirm that there wasn't any inappropriate hanky-panky. But one official-looking type who was leaving the fundraiser glanced over just in time to see Victorian's black fan routine. "Looks like I'm at the wrong party," he said. [Candy Pitch/Kelly DiNardo; Y&N/Examiner]
» WORTHWHILE PROTESTS? So whose protest in the end will be more effective? Hypocrisy hippos following Sen. John McCain down T Street NW or World Bank/IMF protesters decrying neoliberalism on M Street NW? [DCist; Free Ride/Express]
Continue Reading "Blog Log: No Hanky Panky at 'Gilded Lili' Party" »
DOGS ARE EASY TO LOVE, but it's dog parks that have stirred up emotions in recent months, causing canine owners, D.C. officials and neighborhood curmudgeons to clash.
A revised master plan for dog parks in the District is up for public comment through Nov. 10. As The Current reports this week, the plan thus far is getting much better reviews than when the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation first proposed guidelines for dog parks. Still, it'll take some time for new dog-specific facilities to pop up around town.
In the meantime, dog owners have to do a lot of exploration to find a good place to let Fido run free.
Local blog Intangible Arts recently set out to tour local dog parks, and was slightly confused when searching for Glover Park's "dog park," which is an open field in the Whitehaven Trail greenbelt near 39th and W streets NW. They came across a man sitting on a bench next to his golden retriever and asked him where the park was:
He returned none of our pleasantness, evidently sensing that we were from the nastier side of town. This is the park, he spat. We carried on like happy humans, saying that we were looking for a caged, leash-free dog park for our bouncy lovely happy boxer ...This writer used to live right near there and we know the bench and field in question very well. Intangible Arts also visited Congressional Cemetery and other dog parks on Capitol Hill, among other spots. [D.C. Parks and Rec; Intangible Arts]
AS D.C. CAB DRIVERS and riders anxiously await D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's decision on whether to bring time-and-distance meters to the city's taxi fleet, there are indications that the mayor will select a third option: Keep the decades-old zone system but install global positioning devices to aid in more accurate fare calculations. This hybrid option has its supporters, and as The Post's Marc Fisher noted, Fenty is testing out a hybrid zone-meter cab today, according to his official schedule.
If Fenty indeed announces the move to adapt zone-meters, the move wouldn't be surprising. Both sides of the issue would be happy, or at least not unhappy. (Although Fisher's commenters continue to rail against the columnist for his defense of the zone system.)
Nonetheless, cab drivers have long been suspicious of moves to install anything that records trips into taxis. Why? Blogger Notions Capital cites institutionalized corruption:
The reason many cabbies oppose meters is simple. They do not seek to confuse and fleece riders with the complicated zone system of fares. It is this: the taxicab business is a cash business. It is difficult to hide profits from IRS and the District Treasurer if a meter records every transaction.And that is something that many zone critics would find easily plausible. [Raw Fisher/WaPo; Notions Capital]
» DON'T FORGET THE CAB DISPATCHER! Here's a reminder that dealing with drunk Arlingtonians wanting to get to Georgetown is a pretty hateful existence. [Blank Top Chronicles]
» IT'S OK, WE GET LOTS OF HITS FROM USPTO.GOV, TOO: Analyzing traffic statistics on your blog will reveal reasons why the federal bureaucracy moves along at a sluggish pace. [D.C. Tri Girl]
Continue Reading "Blog Log: A Win-Win in the D.C. Cab Debate?" »
NO MORE PANDA AVATARS! So today, DCist fully did away with anonymous commenting in a move that's angering those who have been used to a free-wheeling environment to throw out ideas and commentary. To comment at the locally focused multi-contributor blog, you must now register, create a profile and join the now tightly knit commenting community.
As longtime readers of this blog know, this writer started DCist back in 2004 and it was the commenting dynamic that helped drive the blog's popularity. So we'll see how the dynamic develops over time. The new registration allows commenters to have an avatar, which helps build identity in the community. But the default avatar is of a baby panda, which is a tad overplayed. If only the real life panda population could replicate as fast as panda avatars on DCist.
Pandas and the -ist family have a long history. Jen Chung, the founding editor of Gothamist in New York, is a panda fanatic. And it was DCist contributors Tom Lee and Catherine Andrews, now of Washingtonian, who are credited with fanning the popularity of the name Butterstick for the National Zoo's baby panda, which is officially known as Tai Shan. [DCist; Reliable Source/WaPo]
» WATER MUSIC: This guy is sort of hokey but sort of cool. [Updates, Live]
» NON-STOP ENTERTAINMENT: One of the more entertaining local blog reads in recent weeks has been the anonymous blog of someone living inside the Whitman condo building in Shaw. And that someone has been making it made loud and clear what's wrong with the place. From praise for the trash room air fresheners to "the most interesting, annoying, or ornery person in attendance at the condo board meeting," to now, a cameraphone photo of the security guard playing solitaire when he should be watching the security camera:
His solitaire game was actually COVERING a number of the camera feeds he was supposed to be watching.Management must just love the power of the Internet. [Whitman D.C. Condo Blog]
» SCABIES SPREAD: See, you don't have to spend a night at the President Inn on New York Avenue to get scabies. Going to Harvard will give it to you too. [Ivy Gate via Gawker]
IN THE DEBATE OVER whether to get rid of Metrorail's cushy seats in favor of benches made of more durable materials, let's not forget that Washington is not the only city in the world with soft-covered seat cushions in its train cars. London has them on some Underground trains. We know Metro is strapped by a tight budget, but Tube authorities across the pond have a new way of making its priority seating more visible while still being comfortable. From Annie Mole's Going Underground blog:
... [I]f I saw a jaundiced looking man with a seat growing out of his leg and a woman with a young child attached to his arm, I'd move out if his way pretty sharpish.Indeed. [Going Underground]
» YOUTH CULTURE: A sign of the times: Aung San Suu Kyi Who? [Valleywag]
» THIS WEEK'S WACKY WEATHER: This writer hasn't done proper surveillance, but we can only imagine that certain fashionistas at the Quebec House in Cleveland Park began the week wearing flip-flops and will end the week wearing these. [I Hate Flip Flops; Rantings of a Creole Princess]
» QUICKLY QUOTED: Another proud graduate of George Washington University: "Anyway, on the show TJ plays Marmaduke, the lazy/dumb son of Fred Goss and Faith Ford's characters, who sits around all day in his underwear. He actually never wears pants on the first episode." [Squidpants]
Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images
SO METRORAIL'S NAVY YARD station is probably going to see some sort of name change to better brand the Green Line stop as the home of the Washington Nationals, as WTOP has reported. 
Otherwise, those unfamiliar with the transit system might end up at the Stadium-Armory station, where RFK Stadium is located. DCist on Tuesday polled its readers in a post titled "Should We Rename the Navy Yard Metro Stop?" Well, DCist should know it doesn't have the authority to rename Metrorail stations, but beyond that jurisdictional matter, the blog's commenters have offered up some worthy suggestions. Our favorite is a reference to Near Southeast's ousted adult entertainment venues: "Something like Navy Yard/Nationals Stadium/Historic Gay Bathhouse District," commenter Monkeyrotica suggests.
Another commenter notes something important: "On that note, we must change Stadium-Armory to RFK Stadium-Armory. We must prevent clueless tourists from their own incompetence."
Good point. First things first. Shouldn't there first be a name for the new stadium before the Navy Yard station is renamed? Oh, details. [WTOP; DCist]
» HERE WE GO AGAIN: There's another petition to get a high-end grocery store in the Gallery Place-Chinatown-Verizonville-Penn Quarter neighborhood. 
This time, the people — and Douglas Development — want a Whole Foods. Good luck with that. [PQ Living]
» OVERPLAYED: The good folks over at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell are trying to lure new young lawyers not only with big fat bonuses, but also, oddly, with bonsai trees. The evidence is here. Why not a big credenza to stash loot in? [Above the Law; Law Blog/WSJ]
» QUICKLY QUOTED: Ahhh, this situation must have been awkward: "In that brief moment of eye contact I tried to say 'I am a student of history, not a pseudo-scientific Victorian eugenicist! Horrible misunderstanding!'" [EJ Takes Life]
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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