This morning a very small faction of possible IMF/World Bank Protesters--six jerks--vandalized two banks on P Street. A drive through downtown and in the surrounding area shows that the protesters did not hit any other banks or symbols of crass yuppiedom/corporate greed. The biggest crowds were the ones gathering at a street food cart. The biggest police/fire department scene concerned a man passed out on 16th Street just below Columbia Road.

If the protesters really wanted to do harm to District residents, disrupt their Saturday brunch rituals, they screwed up. Two takeaways from this incident: The protesters don't know anything about D.C, and city residents showed serious courage by not staying indoors on this beautiful day. Here's a rundown of safe activities that residents are currently enjoying.

ACKC: Still a hot spot:

You are free to shop at Pulp and Home Rule:

Miss Pixie's gets the City Desk all-clear sign:

Feel free to drink at Saint Ex:

You can enjoy fast food:

Big Oil is safe:

You can sit outside and drink coffee at 15th and U:

You can even leave your bike unattended for a few seconds on Hobart Street NW:

Despite speculation over at DCist, Nick Cho says it's not an April Fool's joke: He's closing Murky Coffee in Arlington and moving back to the District. He and, he says, most of his remaining staff will move over to a new spot, Wrecking Ball Coffee , at 475 H St. NW.

"We just couldn't make the business model work in Arlington," says the barista made quasi-famous for wanting to punch someone on his dick after he was made quasi-famous for not paying his D.C. taxes. The  new shop will have a new owner, thus avoiding that whole lien problem. (DCist says it'll be Cho's girlfriend, Trish Rothgeb Skeie.) Cho says he will collect a salary and keep far away from the money end.  "There are some things I'm good at and some things I'm not,"  he says. "This frees me up to do what I'm good at." Like run for president?

Cho's public announcement, posted to his site, after the jump:

Dear valued customer,

It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.

The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.

In the coming months, I hope that you'll join us in welcoming a new coffee shop here, brought by the talented folks at the renown "Liberty Tavern" just up the street. They'll be bringing their years of experience, a full renovation of the building, and top-quality service. We are proud to call them our friends, and plan to support them in setting up their coffee program. That said, we ask that you'll join us in welcoming and supporting them.

Our new home (at 5th & H Streets NW, two blocks east of the Chinatown Gate) will be a brand-new shop (called "Wrecking Ball Coffee") in a new neighborhood. While we're excited at new possibilities, leaving Clarendon isn't going to be easy. We've made many friends here, and we're very sad to leave. All of us here at murky are heartbroken about this move, so please be sensitive to our feelings during the transition.

We've been honored to be a place for you to visit over the last four years--especially our regular customers, but also those who we see less frequently.

Thanks for your friendship, love, and patronage. In so many ways, our customers have inspired us to work harder at providing you the best coffee experience we can, and for that, we cannot than you enough.

We hope that you'll be sure to visit us at our upcoming location. Dates for this move are yet to be specifically determined, but renovations will begin soon, starting with the upstairs.

I welcome your questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Nick

Flickr photo by cerbuside.

DCist is reporting that Mocha Hut has closed. We agree with the bloggers that its brunch was super awesome and relatively cheap. It literally was one of two decent options in the corridor. It was always Mocha Hut or Busboys and Poets for brunch. This will surely mean the lines at Busboys will be that much longer.  I wonder why they went out of business considering that the U Street coffee shop always seemed busy (at least on weekends). DCist writes:

"A notice posted on the door this morning reads simply, "Mocha Hut is closed. We sincerely thank you for all of our support," and is ironically posted only a few feet away from a plea for votes in the Washington City Paper's Best of D.C. awards."

Sad.

The Washington Business Journal reports that another coffee shop will be taking Mocha Hut's place. But what are the odds that its egg specials will be as tasty and as cheap?

New Columbia Heights reports that a new coffee shop has opened at 786 Harvard. It also sells hot tea and cheap sandwiches. Prince of Petworth recently spotted a new coffee shop on Georgia Avenue. The shop is called Fresh Off The Roast.

And Now, Anacostia declares that DHCD is finally moving to Anacostia Gateway: "You may have noticed all the work being done on the interior of Anacostia Gateway recently: walls are up, cubicles are in, and bright accent walls are painted. Even though their entrance is coming six months later than originally planned, the Department of Housing and Community Development will finally move into their space next weekend, and will be open for business on the morning of February 2."

Bloomingdale (for now) reports on the scuttlebutt over a complaint filed against an ANC Commissioner. The complaint stems from the commissioner publishing a newsletter. It's a must read (and too complicated to go into here).

River East Idealist writes perhaps the only inauguration-themed post that targets panhandling. He She watches a panhandler in Dupont Circle before attending a ball:

"Over a span of 30 minutes, he managed to collect a nice sum of cash.  The problem is that he never got on a train.  Finally, after discrete inspection of his eyes, lips, and twittering arms, I concluded that the young man was a junkie in training.  At first, I was angry. I was angry with him for ruining this glorious night. Then, I was angry that he was such a horrible representative of African American males on a day where African American's seemed to be vindicated from centuries of negative stereotypes. I was angry that he was using drugs.  Most of all, I was angry that there was nothing I could do to help him"

On a side note, some of the best inauguration photos I've seen have come from Prince of Petworth's photo contest. (Our own contest's winner will be announced soon). You can see more of the blog's entries here and here.

JDLand runs down the many changes coming to the Nats Stadium. No word yet on the Nats acquiring a few decent pitchers or a star slugger.

Penn Quarter Living spots some portable toilets being removed during a recent rush hour. But these are not the toilets from the Mall.

Intangible Arts reports that districtofnoise.org has launched for all you local experimental music geeks: "The site is a group effort from the local experimental music culture, and pulls together gig listings from across the scene. It's a one-stop-shopping deal, which includes Sonic Circuits, Electric Possible, Lighthouse, Velvet Lounge, and other events as they arise. All mashed together in a gory digital hellhole for you to enjoy." You can check out the noise site. Meanwhile our own music blog has the rundown on the latest leaked songs.

Chicago Tribune has an interview with Palin. The Veep nominee says this: "If people only knew how frugal we are."

New Columbia Heights asks: Know any brothels in the Hood?

And Now, Anacostia reports that Big Chair Coffee is close to opening its doors. This is just one more bit of good news coming out of Anacostia--stuff this blogger is always on top of! And they have the perfect line among all the pictures: "it's just nice seeing the word restaurant."

Metrocurean has a confession: It loves ginger. This means a piece on a new ginger-flavored booze: "Of my absolute favorite flavors, ginger ranks right near the top. So I was eager to learn more about Domaine de Canton, a new ginger liqueur, at its DC launch dinner at Central this week."

D.C. Foodies has some fightin' words: "Yeah, Mr. Smarty McHealthypants! There is nothing wrong with high fructose corn syrup; its made from F@$#ing CORN for Christ's sake! All natural and all American! What you got to say to that? Yeah, that's what I thought... Eat your popsicle, commie. But seriously, what the hell?" Yeah. Seriously.

WTOP is reporting that someone painted "Scam" on a road in front of a speed camera in MOCO:

There have been at least two other instances where the words 'GREEDY SCAM' and 'GOV. SCAM' have been written in large letters on Montgomery County roads, directly in front of fixed speed cameras.

Speed cameras have been in use in the county since May 2007. If a driver goes more than 10 miles per hour over the posted the speed limit, a picture of the license plate is taken and a $40 fine is sent in the mail.

The Montgomery County police department maintains it is not trying to catch drivers off guard, just slow them down."

Pop Cesspool is feelin' angry too: "Dear Tampa Bay Rays fans: Your stadium is shit. We Philly fans know all about shit stadiums. Yours is one. We don't have one anymore. I hate looking at the roof of your stadium, but I can't stop thinking about it, either." Awesome collage if you click on the link.

TPM notes a former Bush Spokesperson says he is now voting for Obama.

*photo from Mingering story.