And we thought it was interesting that the auctions for our newspaper chain and Mother Harriette’s house in the Virgin Islands were announced the same week. Now it turns out the Watergate is on the block. Another coinkidink: The famous hotel is $40 million in the hole, which is roughly the same as Creative Loafing’s debt after it bought the City Paper and the Chicago Reader. So Weird!

And speaking of City Paper, it’s fresh in the box today, with another kickass cover starring Marion Barry. Unfortunately it does not star the phrase “You put me out in Denver ’cause I wouldn’t suck your dick,” but that would be overkill, doncha think? Read Mike DeBonis‘ ongoing scoop, complete with reax from the bossman himself.

Also new in the dead-tree: Tim Carman tells you were to get good bar food and valet parking, Dave McKenna‘s wondering whither the Nats? in the new D.C. sports talk, Amanda Hess details why Eckington hates battered women and their children, Aaron Leitko uncharacteristically writes the phrase “a burst of happiness,” plus Fringe Fest, movies, and more!

Elsewhere in the D.C. Blogoworld:

The dog park is almost done! The dog park is almost done!

Somebody hates riding the “herky-jerky” bus but still sees the glass half-full, believing the SmartBike program is going to be something other than a funny joke.

We, too, wonder why D.C. doesn’t have a llama farm. But we do NOT think the pandas are stupid.

We also wonder if the banh mi at Pho 14 in Columbia Heights are any good. Capital Spice ate like a virgin in an effort to let us know.

Still looking for the world-famous Stikman? Here’s one in Dupont Circle.

Red-line rider put out by crowds “so intimately located near my personal space I feel compelled to forgo foreplay and skip right to the proposal portion of the the rail ride.”

Why.i.hate.dc loses its edge, writes a post about 14th Street’s “wine and furniture” district that could appear on Borderstan. Sigh.