According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel Shumaker, who directed the 1985 Brat Pack classic, Jamie Tarses, former head of ABC's entertainment division, and actor Topher Grace have plans to modernize the story of six Georgetown grads struggling after graduation on the mean streets of Washington.  The city has obviously changed in the 24 years since the movie was released, which could make the transition from film to television more awkward than it already is. But The Tombs, the bar that inspired the movie, is still one of Georgetown's most popular watering holes, so who knows, the concept could work.

But is an update necessary?

There are two paths the show could take.  One option is that of MASH and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, shows that were initially based on movies and went on to win dozens of awards by expanding and improving on the content fo the earlier films.  The other option is the Ferris Bueller, My Big Fat Greek Life route, that thoroughly ruined their base material and were canceled weeks after premiering. Content-wise, there's always fodder for jaded twenty-somethings to talk about at a bar, so that might help push the show along.

In terms of setting, DC has played host to scripted TV series before.  The West Wing exterior shots of the Washington Monument and the Capitol steps didn't cause any damage during it's seven season run, since the actors playing politicos blended in with the actual politicos, and the same could be true for SEF. Just dress a bunch of actors in khakis and blue oxford shirts and they'll disappear in most neighborhoods.  And in all likelihood, the show will be filmed in LA, so what's the worst that could happen?

The fate of the show won't be known for a while, but in the meantime, enjoy the dulcet tones of Rob Lowe's sax solo.

• Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) held a town-hall meeting in Hillsboro, MO yesterday.  Or rather, she tried to hold a town-hall meeting and was met with so much anger about health care reform that she took to disciplining the audience.  Video of her questioning the audience's rudeness is here, but McCaskill also tweeted her feelings about this great day in America.
• At another town-hall meeting in New Hampshire, President Obama spent time addressing the concerns of citizens who are wary of the new health care plan.  Unfortunately, this guy couldn't be assuaged, so he decided to show up with a (legal) gun strapped to his leg. Chris Matthews is ready to tear William Kostric a new one but apparently the gun was more for show than actual use and according to Kostric, no one from New Hampshire was alarmed.
• With the death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver yesterday morning, newspapers are reporting that the Kennedy era is really over.  A year ago, the same newspapers reported this news when Senator Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer, which they also reported ten years ago after the death of JFK Jr. The Post attempts to clarify what is meant by the end of the Kennedy era but the more pressing question is which Kennedy will carry on the legacy.
• The staff of DCist has officially jumped on board the DC Voting Rights bus. Literally. Editor Martin Austermuhle is not a US citizen, so he can't vote anyway, but he lent his image to a new bus campaign sponsored by I-Am-DC.  Look for his poster on your favorite Metrobus and then consider joining the cause, so that maybe a person who can vote in the District can be the next spokes-model.
• And finally, after the death of John Hughes on Friday, the supposed inspiration for Ferris Beuller is coming out of the woodwork. Edward McNally went to high school with Hughes in the suburbs of Chicago and apparently caused some trouble with his friends as a teenager, but that's less important.  In this essay, McNally pays tribute to a friend and encourages everyone to live just one day as Ferris did.  Apparently, this is a tactic used by many trial attorneys.

Enjoy the day and bring an umbrella, City Deskers!

• While President Clinton's trip was described as a private humanitarian mission before he left for Pyongyang, the Washington Post is reporting that both Clintons played an integral role in planning the trip.  The State Department was reportedly negotiating with the North Koreans for weeks and Bill only left the U.S. after repeated assurances that Laura Ling and Euna Lee would be released.  Regardless, it's good news for embedded journalists.

• In worse news for journalists, MSNBC is now admitting that they erred by not revealing that former Newsweek reporter Richard Wolffe is now working as a strategist for the public affairs firm Public Strategies, Inc. Since his book Renegade, detailing the rise of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, hit the best-seller lists, MSNBC has been showing off Wolffe like a prize, having him fill in for Keith Olbermann on Countdown as recently as last Friday. However, his close ties to the Obama administration (like those private meetings with David Axelrod) and his work at Public Strategies have resulted in major conflicts of interest.  Luckily, he's already got his next Obama book all lined up.
• DC Public Schools have announced that they will extend their STD testing program to all students in the upcoming school year.  Officials hope that by expanding their pilot program, they will be able to diagnose and treat students with STDs, especially since approximately half the cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the city are among adolescents.

• An extension of the Cash for Clunkers program is looking more and more definite. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have confirmed that the second round of funding will pass through the Senate before it recesses on Friday. The $2 billion extension is estimated to last through Labor Day.

• And finally, a new ad for the Child Nutrition Act has dragged Malia and Sasha Obama back into the spotlight. The new poster campaign, sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, shows eight-year-old Jasmine Messiah asking "President Obama's daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don't I?" Messiah has also written an open letter to the first daughters asking for their support in reforming public school lunches.  Here's an answer to your question, young Jasmine - $30,000 a year in tuition at Sidwell will buy a lot of healthy vegetables. Public schools are struggling to keep their textbooks up to date. Be happy you've got lunch.

And that's the news.  Happy Hump Day!

The evening kicks off at 5 pm at THEARC on Mississippi Ave. SE, with live performances by Tabi Bonney and Tanya Blount, along with the DC Youth Poetry Slammers and African Heritage Dancers and Drummers.  After that, each Police Service Area will sponsor their own activities, from meet-and-greets with police officers to cook outs and ice cream socials around the city.  Highlights include a MPD/community member basketball tournament at Mary's Center on Ontario Rd. NW and the Fort Davis Recreation Center, and car and bike registration in the 5700 block of Connecticut Ave. NW.

The best NNO venue is probably Dupont Circle, where, from 6-8 pm, the MPD Horse Mount Unit will join officers and residents for a cookout catered by Circa, with free hot dogs, hamburgers, and sodas for all.  Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier might even stop by for the festivities.  For the full list of National Night Out events in DC, check the MPD website here.

Image courtesy of Flickr user DC9T, Creative Commons Attribution License.

• Alexandria Police Chief David P. Baker announced his retirement yesterday afternoon, ending a 40-year career in law enforcement.  This comes in the aftermath of his arrest on DUI charges Saturday night, following an accident that sent another driver to the hospital.  The best part about retiring now is that Baker gets to retain his full benefits, regardless of the outcome of today's court hearing in Arlington.

• Sonia Sotomayor is one step closer to joining the Supreme Court.  The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to endorse the candidate, sending her nomination to a full Senate vote next week.  She's expected to be confirmed with little struggle, but as usual, party affiliations are limiting unanimous support.
• Bruce Johnson is wondering why so many businesses are leaving Cleveland Park.  If major corporations like Starbucks and McDonalds decide to leave the neighborhood and their space can't be filled for upwards of five years, there just might be a problem.

• Borderstan is busy reporting local crimes, some occurring in broad daylight.  Highlights include a car break-in at 9:30 am and a foiled rooftop burglar on Church Street NW.

• It's no longer news that President Obama and the Democratic leadership are determined to push through their first attempt at health-care reform before the August recess.  When Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) announced to his constituency that he would vote for the health-care bill, they were upset.  So upset, in fact, that they hung him in effigy during a rally in Salisbury.  Perhaps Kratovil should spend the recess in Washington so as to avoid some of these more fanatic citizens.

• The Democrats' honeymoon is over.  After six months of working together in supposed harmony, it's back to name calling and back room deals.  So says Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who's blaming the obstruction of the Blue Dogs on Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  Apparently he recruited them to run while still serving in Congress and has since failed to get them on board with the President's grand plans for reform.  Politics as usual, it's how the federal government runs.

"A six-car Red Line train headed toward Shady Grove was pulling into the station around 12:30 p.m. when witnesses report the man intentionally placed himself on the tracks.   Emergency crews responded to the scene and removed the man from underneath the first rail car of the train. The man was transported to a local hospital."

Single-tracking is in affect between Friendship Heights and Cleveland Park so expect to wait for trains.  Nothing like a delayed Metro to kick off the weekend rush-hour!

Tour highlights include the steps where The Exorcist was filmed and the mall where True Lies and No Way Out were filmed.  The Exorcist stairs are one of DC's claims to movie fame, but the mall in Georgetown where Jamie Lee Curtis walked around?  Not so exciting, even if Nicole Richie does shop there.  And for other movies, the DC locations are the monuments and other places along the Mall, which are tourist-havens even without their movie connections.  Take the Reflecting Pool, for example. Martin Luther King and Marian Anderson inspired thousands of people there.  Oh, and Forrest Gump and Jenny reunited in the same location, hence the significance.

As for TV shows, the tour visits shooting locations from 24 and The West Wing, supposedly while singing the theme songs.  So they drive in a bus past the White House and look at the street where Jack Bauer and Jed Bartlett supposedly walked?  And, by the way, the theme songs have no words to sing along to.  It's all in good fun, but why not scenes from real DC movies like All the President's Men? The Watergate's good fun for all!

For movie buffs, seeing the Hollywood side of "Hollywood for Ugly People" offers a different insight into the city, but there's more to see than the stomping grounds of pretend politicians.  We've got the real stuff and we like to show it off.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user bog_king,  Creative Commons Attribution License.)

• In honor of Chef Art Smith's appearance on Top Chef Masters tonight, his Art and Soul restaurant is hosting a viewing party in the ArtBar from 8-11 pm.  Complimentary hor d'oeuvers representing classic Smith dishes are promised but who knows how long they'll last. (Art and Soul, 415 New Jersey Ave. NW)

• The penultimate movie of NoMa Summer Screen 2009 will play at 7 pm.  Tonight's feature is Scratch, a 2001 documentary about the birth of hip-hop DJing and turntablism, with interviews from the Beastie Boys and Jurassic 5.  (NoMa Summer Screen, L Street between 2nd and 3rd NE)

• For those who enjoy bowling and dudes, a "dive-in" screening of The Big Lebowski is being held on the roof of the Capitol Skyline Hotel for the 21+ crowd.  Games, water bowling, and a costume contest will also be part of the festivities.  Tickets are $12 and include one White Russian cocktail.  (Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 I Street SW)

• Asylum screens The Royal Tenenbaums as part of their Wes Anderson festival.  No cover charge, the movie starts at 8. (Asylum, 2471 18th St. NW)

• Oh, and there's the presidential press conference about health care reform tonight  Just don't try to watch it on Fox, since the network decided to air So You Think You Dance instead.  Pretty much every other network will show President Obama's comments starting at 8.

• Yesterday afternoon, City Desk posted the latest WaPo article about the Metro crash, which basically announced that circuits on four of the five lines have failed to detect the presence of trains.  The 6 pm newscasts featured commentary from a variety of concerned commuters and so to quell their concerns, Metro GM John Catoe and Councilman Jim Graham held a press conference announcing that the Post got the story wrong.  The system is safe, says Catoe, and the article is a gross misstatement of facts.  Watch WUSA's interview with Catoe - he could be a dreidel with the way he's spinning this new information.

Swine flu, social networks, and the Secret Service after the jump.  Plus, a new alternative to saving the Nats!

• Swine flu isn't going anywhere soon.  Yet another group of local students from the District and Maryland are quarantined in Beijing after testing positive for H1N1.  Although it sucks that their trip is on hiatus, at least they have access to their Facebook accounts.
• Speaking of social networks, Facebook and Twitter are now too accessible to the general public, so Congress had to make its own. 3121, named after the extension of the Capitol Hill switchboard, will premiere in September and hopes to make communication among staffers more efficient.  Really, it's just a more localized version of any other site, so that you can stalk the hottie in Rep. Whatever's office and make awkward eye contact with your new "friends."
• President Obama granted Dick Cheney's request for a six-month extension of his Secret Service protection.  Apparently he has been concerned with his security and privacy in recent years, and plans on asking for another extension when this one expires.  Because when the federal government is hemorrhaging money, cashing in on a former Vice President's security detail is really an investment in the future.
• And finally, the Nationals might seem like a better team if they had better media coverage.  And who better to help them with their image than Ari Fleisher of Ari Fleisher Sports Communications!  Yep, Bush 2's first press secretary has launched a business to train athletes and teams on how to deal with the media.  He's currently busy promoting the Olympics but maybe he can help our fledgling batters in the future.

According to the craigslist event, this will not be a traditional protest with signs and banners.  Rather, participants have received emails telling them where and when to show up and what to do.  They'll either stand still or have a silent dance party, when a large group gathers to dance to tunes from their portable music devices.  And of course they'll be wearing green.

We Love DC has posted the locations of the different flash mobs.  Each one will last 1-2 hours at 5 locations throughout Northwest.  They are expected to assemble quickly so keep an eye out for mobs of emerald-clad activists this afternoon.

But enough about rule-makers.  All the rule-breakers, in DC and beyond, are after the jump.

• As countless politicians have proven, adultery is not an excuse to give up your elected office.  John Ensign agrees, regardless of his parents' $96,000 payoff of his mistress - he plans to seek reelection when his term runs out in 2012.  Could he still be holding out for the White House?  Only time will tell.

• The judge hearing the Banita Jacks case was treated to an earful during the second day of listening to her eight-hour police interrogation.  During the recording, Jacks admitted that she believed her three daughters were possessed by demons but would rise from the dead when the demons left their bodies.  She also contends that all four of her daughters died in their sleep, as a result of the demons, a fact that is inconsistent with the evidence gathered at the crime scene.

• A House panel investigating the Red Line crash heard testimony yesterday, with the majority of witnesses asking for money to fix the flawed transit system.  John Catoe, Metro's General Manager detailed the precautions he has taken since the crash but admits he still does not know what to do about the malfunctioning circuit between Takoma and Fort Totten that presumably caused the collision.

• Violent crimes are being reported with more frequency, in what are thought to be safe areas of the city.  The Borderstan blog reports an armed assault and a robbery in the 1400 blocks of Corcoran and S Streets NW, respectively, in addition to the armed robbery and several burglaries that occurred in the first week of July.  Meanwhile, in Georgetown, a young woman was sexually assaulted in her home, less than two blocks from the main gates of the university.  Neighbors and students are concerned, not only for their safety, but because very few people have been informed about the attack.

So keep your eyes and ears open, City Desk readers.  Rules and laws are for following, not breaking.

First up is The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), a 2008 Silverdocs selection.  It's the story of Thavi Phrasavath, a Laotian refugee who struggles to support his family and himself after they leave their native country following the US bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War.  Director Ellen Kuras met Phrasavath in 1986, when she was seeking language lesson and their relationship culminated in the production of this documentary.  Kuras followed Thavi for the next 23 years, through gang wars and death threats, and captures the ultimate betrayals within and outside the family.

Two of the short films from the 2009 festival and one from 2008 will air in an evening of award-winning short documentaries.  Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall focuses on a new mall built in China's Guangzhou province that is supposed to lure visitors to the rural area but instead remains a ghost town.  Nutkin's Last Stand tells the story of a group of squirrel enthusiasts in Britain who want to protect the diminishing population of red squirrels, so they resort to killing the American gray squirrels who have been descimating the population.  And City of Cranes focuses on a group of crane operators in London, who narrate the documentary while the cranes appear as a graceful addition to the city.

Later in the summer, This Way Up, the story of residents at a Catholic-run nursing home in East Jerusalem.  A wall of concrete slabs run past the door of the nursing home, dividing the city.  Unfortunately for the Palestinian residents of the home, they become separated from their families when the wall that zig-zags through the West Bank places the nursing home on the Israeli side.  Told from the point of view of Jad, one of the male residents, the documentary shows the variety of ways the residents learn to cope with their new separation.

Finally, sometime in September is the TV premiere of Bronx Princess, the story of Rocky Otoo, the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants who grew up in the Bronx.  Chronicalling her last months before beginning college, the film shows Rocky breaking free of her parents' traditions while trying to define her values.  The crew follows her from graduation to her father's village in Ghana to her new home at Dickinson College and all the while, Rocky provides her own commentary about her life, and nobody else's.

Air times vary depending on which PBS station you watch, so check listings before tuning in.

The renovations to the system will cost $177 million (only $80 million more than anticipated last summer!) and will take upwards of 4 years to complete, beginning in early 2010.  Among the important tasks of the renovation are:

• New escalators at the south entrance of Dupont Circle - Please, slow down this exit even more.  And give me an opportunity to walk up and down that ridiculously long escalator when it's not running.
• Upgrades to the air conditioning and ventilation - Does the Metro really need to be colder?  Maybe when the trains are filled to capacity, which will only worsen when the Red Line starts single-tracking to solve this issue.
• Rehabilitation of the Rockville and Shady Grove platforms - What does that even mean?  Re-grouting the tiles?  Adding a few benches?
• New staircases, escalators, and a canopy at Foggy Bottom - A canopy?  Really?  Get an umbrella.

The other planned maintenance seems more on track, if you'll forgive the pun.  Like an upgrade to the automatic train controls and track maintenance and fixing the tunnel ventilation and fire equipment.  Maybe those should be the primary focus.  Because it's always better to prevent train collisions than to prevent getting wet while entering the station.

Anyone with an interest in writing and an annual income of less than $25,000 is welcome to apply for the fellowship, which will allow the winner to attend up to eight workshops at the center, between September 2009 and June 2010, for no charge.  All the applicants need to submit is a cover letter stating that they meet the eligibility requirements, two references, and a work sample in one genre.  Samples should be limited to 8 pages of poetry, 10 pages of fiction or nonfiction, or 15 pages of a script or screenplay.

The idea for the fellowship came about because the Center is attempting to reach out to populations that may be extremely talented but unable to afford workshops, which often cost around $200.  Applicants will be judged on the strength of their references and writing by Writer's Center staff, members, and workshop leaders in September.

The ultimate goal of the fellowship is for the winner to make progress towards completing a manuscript of publishable work by the beginning of next summer.  Other than that, the style, genre, and length of the work are up to the winner, so the final product could be anything from a history of chewing gum to poems about the Middle Ages.  The winner will also speak to high school students in June 2010 about the craft of writing and what they learned in the workshops.

The Writer's Center believes that all backgrounds and experiences should participate in writing and hope that the introduction of this fellowship will draw even more people to their resources.  More information is available on the Center's website, www.writer.org, or by calling (301) 654-8664.

Apparently, watching the funeral online was an important part of yesterday's Congressional schedule.  Politico posts this message from the head of the House's tech operations.

"The Michael Jackson event is causing even more inbound Internet BW usage.
We are monitoring both Internet connections and they are maxed out at 155 Mbps inbound."

More District news, plus Obamas in Russia after the jump.

• A Metro driver was suspended without pay for 5 days after a video of him texting someone surfaced on YouTube, according to WJLA.  Whatever the message was, it probably could not have waited for a minute until the train pulled into a station.  Metro officials want everyone to know that this video was taken 2 and a half weeks before the fatal crash at Fort Totten, so he obviously did not injure anyone by looking down when he was supposed to be, you know, DRIVING THE TRAIN.

• The City Council is discussing changes to the stalking laws that got Marion Barry into trouble this weekend.  Unfortunately for Barry, their plans will amend the current law to include cyber-stalking and other forms of Internet predation, so he's not off the hook.  In other incriminating news, City Desk reported yesterday that Barry's alleged stalking victim received $20,000 in city funds for "consulting services."  What sort of consulting services was she providing?

• Although he was in Moscow meeting with Prime Minister Putin, President Obama spent most of yesterday explaining what his Vice President and Chief of Staff meant when they started babbling incessantly about the economy and health care.  After Joe Biden announced on Sunday that the administration had grossly misread the economy, Obama clarified the economic situation with NBC's Chuck Todd.  Apparently, they did not "misread" the economy, they just had insufficient information.  The same went for Rahm Emanuel, who announced that the White House would be comfortable with a health care policy "triggered" by worsening economic developments, since the path to universal coverage is "negotiable."  Obama vaguely reiterated the need for a "public option" in comments today.  Well, when the cat's away, the mice will play.  Or just stop thinking about what they're saying.