Archive for December, 2007

Classic Despair

On the way to work this morning, Big 100.3 started playing Jackson Browne's "Boulevard." Reflexively, I switched to 94.7, the Globe. But IT WAS PLAYING THE SAME SONG! "Boulevard" is one of those songs I'm pretty sure nobody actually likes; it just wormed its way into the classic rock canon by dint of Browne's association [...]

(Some) TV Writers Writing Again

Reuters is reporting that David Letterman's "Late Show" and Craig Ferguson's "Late, Late Show" will be coming back on Jan. 2...with actual TV writers. Whoah! This agreement is the first one struck by the WGA with a studio since the strike began. Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien of NBC and Jimmy Kimmel of ABC [...]

Back Seat Heat

On Dec. 20, Marcus Butler was cruising along Georgia Avenue in his blue Cadillac with tinted windows when he was stopped for a fairly routine violation: expired plates. When officers discovered he didn’t have a valid driver’s license, Butler, 21, was arrested. But the more startling finding was yet to come.
Upon searching the car, [...]

Hot Plate

The dish: N'oreo cookie
The location: Sticky Fingers Bakery, 1370 Park Road NW, (202) 299-9700.
The price: $1.75
The skinny: The other day I was eating some serious humble pie. It came in the form of a cookie—the Liz Lovely Cowboy Cookie, which I bought at my favorite patchouli patch of self-righteousness, the natural food co-op in Takoma [...]

Registered to Nowhere

All David Lippe, 44, wanted to do was re-register his 2005 Volkswagen Jetta. But when he tried in mid-November to take care of that routine business online with the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, he repeatedly got an error message.
He went through the steps about six times before finally reaching the DMV’s IT department. [...]

Quitting Time

It's the end of the year, so these commercials are showing up a lot more often:
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Like a lot of ex-smokers, I tried a lot of different methods of quitting smoking before something finally took about four years ago. Patches never did much for me, [...]

Arms Deal For You

Tired of that old gun? Think you could use a little cash in your pocket instead? Well, the Metropolitan Police Department has just the thing for you! But you got to act fast–this deal is only available for a limited time.
This Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm, MPD will be taking your guns and, [...]

Roundup Misses Prostitution Bust

I forgot to mention this item. It was all over the local news last night. A house of prostitution was busted in Glover Park. WTOP reports it here. The Post has a stronger take with actual interviews. Police say the Venus Spa was just a front for a brothel. Money paragraph from the Post: [...]

Our Morning Roundup

Prince of Petworth posts a picture of a sweet porch sofa.
The Post reports that Fenty and Co. plan to hold 23 public hearings at the same time on January 17. Each meeting will address a school slated for closure.
Hitchens writes the most honest assessment of Bhutto (at least that I've seen). You can [...]

The Best of the Bests

Closing the book on 2007 for good, here are my top ten favorite best-of-the-year lists, culled from the list of lists at Filmoculous.
1. Top Reality TV Whores (Reality Blurred)
2. Ten Worst Toys (Progressive Boink)
3. Software Superlatives (Lifehacker)
4. Top Ten Skiing Resorts (Skiing)
5. Top Ten Reputations in Crisis (Reputation Doctor)
6. Top Ten Cryptozoology Stories (Cryptomundo)
7. Dumbest [...]

Jews! Rednecks! Jimmy Carter! Michael Jordan! Abe Pollin?

Jimmy Carter Has Always Hated Jews!
Michael Jordan Called Abe Pollin a Lying Redneck Bastard!
Those are the money shots from All About Abe, the straight-to-party-favors-bags documentary about Abe Pollin that was recently produced.
The only release the film has had so far came when DVDs were given away at a party celebrating Pollin's 84th birthday and [...]

City Paper Edit Staff Not Terribly Professional

There'll no alcohol allowed in the Cincinnati Post newsroom on New Year's Eve. Editor Mike Philipps has requested the paper's staff "go out like professionals" on the Post's last day of publication.
Post-layoffs, the City Paper newsroom sure feels like a place that's going out of business, especially with two employees out sick. But nobody [...]

Dead Dog Debate

Spend a few months in this career, and you quickly learn an enduring truth about the American public: it cares way more about animals than people. Quadruple murder, who gives a shit? Bodies on the sidewalk...meh, keep walking. But, if a dog ever dies–with even the slightest hint of foul play–people go ballistic. Debates ensue. [...]

Severe Lack of Christmas Spirit

Recap of soon-to-be national news from our neighbors in Annapolis Junction: A probably well-meaning Salvation Army volunteer calls his boss to find out the policy on giving change for a donation. The boss doesn't answer, so the volunteer breaks his own five dollar bill and gets the donation. Then the boss calls back and scolds [...]

The Bucks Stopped There

What are kids in America to do with their $1 bills, now that the children of Afghanistan don't need 'em?
While recently mulling how I never do anything nice for anybody, I thought back to that speech President Bush made a few weeks after 9/11, when he asked all our nation's children to send a dollar [...]