WONKETTE is a gal on the move.
The acid-tongued blog is leaving its corporate home, the New York City-based Gawker Media empire, and will strike out on its own, under the management of managing editor Ken Layne and the Blogads ad network.
The site was made famous by its original editor, Ana Marie Cox, who's now a mainstay at Time magazine, and then shepherded by a series of editors, many of them head-scratchingly male.
Writes Layne:
What will change? Well, no more ordering hookers and blow off Gizmodo's profits, for one thing. Otherwise, your Wonkette will remain your Wonkette.Thank God. Wonkette's like that aunt who gets bombed at every family function. And has Tourette's. What would D.C. media be without it?
» "Yes We Can: Wonkette Goes Solo" [Wonkette]
Stadium workers installed grass on the infield at the new Nationals stadium in November. The ballpark is set to host its first game in March. Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post
AS 2007 DRAWS TO A CLOSE, D.C.-area residents can look back with a deeply exhaled breath on the news that garnered big local headlines: the beginning of District Mayor Adrian Fenty's term, the approaching completion of the Nationals' new stadium, the fires that gutted Eastern Market and the Georgetown Public Library, the death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor, the continuing growth of hot spots like Columbia Heights, Rosslyn, Anacostia and Silver Spring.
Which stories will be on our minds in the coming year? Nobody knows for sure, of course — the future is, as Donald Rumsfeld might say, a known unknown. But we asked for educated guesses from people who watch these things very closely: neighborhood bloggers.
Neighborhood evolution was the topic that topped their lists.
"I've got my eye on continued economic development in Silver Spring," said Jennifer Deseo, editor of The Silver Spring Penguin. "Each new business has the ability to destroy or define a neighborhood, depending on who you ask."
The team of five writers behind Penn Quarter Living, which covers the burgeoning area downtown near the Verizon Center, also said development was on their minds. Among their spots to watch:
» The old Convention Center site: "Will the MLK Library be supplanted by a new library? Will this development be the third (final?) leg of a downtown revival (Penn Quarter and Mt. Vernon Triangle being the two other legs)?"They said they'll also turn their collective focus on museums — a safe bet for a neighborhood that's seeing an influx of new ones, such as the Textile Museum (scheduled to open in the fall), the Museum of Crime and Punishment (set to debut in the spring) and the Newseum (opening sometime next year).
» Mt. Vernon Triangle: "How will the influx of new residents impact city life (new retail, new grocery store at 5th and K and demand for city services)?"
» Penn Quarter: "Will 7th and H become the Times Square of D.C.?"
Continue Reading "2008 in Waiting: Local Bloggers Look Ahead" »
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?" »
SOMETIMES, annual events lose their luster, but it's hard to believe that could happen to something as flashy as the Dupont Circle High Heel Race down 17th Street NW, which is traditionally held on the night before Halloween.
For one contributor at D.C. Metblogs, the race is usually a must-do, but this year "[i]nstead of cheering for the Bubble Wrap Queen or even Princess Diana, I was off at work, then working on my house, even sober at that." If you were MIA last night, too, you can see what you missed here. [D.C. Metblogs; Free Ride/Express]
» ANOTHER ABSENCE: The D.C. Sidewalk Blog also didn't catch the race, but did attend Tuesday night's Ryan Adams/Cardinals concert at DAR Constitution Hall. The blogger says the show was "in its own way, more peculiar than sprinting drag queens." Oh really? [D.C. Sidewalk Blog]
» OH, JUST FORGET IT ... Jacking kids up on sugar isn't as fun as it used to be. [Red Nose]
» IN NON-HALLOWEEN NEWS: In March, around St. Patrick's Day, a bunch of people nationwide shave their heads to benefit children with cancer as part of St. Baldrick's Day. In November, there is Movember, the month of the moustache. And local blogger ArJewTino, who says his Latin Jewish DNA doesn't do much "to create dermis that could push hair out of my face in droves," is participating with a number of cohorts. He says he'll sport some sort of upper lip feature by the end of the month, all in the name of prostate cancer research. Here's a challenge: Why not just keep on growing until March and make it a Movember/St. Baldrick's charity combo? [St. Baldrick's; WSJ; Movember; ArJewTino]
File photo by Kevin Clark/The Washington Post
"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" »
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
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