So, The Post says Metro is suspending SmarTrip sales. Apparently, they didn’t order more cards when they switched to the new “you need a SmarTrip card or you’re hosed” parking system this past month. And now they’re running very low.
Better yet, instead of accepting cash for parking until the crisis is over, they’re making people buy farecards for the appropriate amount and collecting those.
Good Lord.
Who the hell works for Metro anyway? Former occupants of the now-defunct DC General Psych Ward?

If you’re looking for concerts with really cheap tickets, check out Live on Penn. All summer, Z104 is sponsoring outdoor concerts on Penn Ave. (near the National Gallery of Art) and tickets are $5 in advance, $7 at the gate. Tomorrow’s concert is They Might Be Giants and Fountains of Wayne.

If you love Red Hook Beers, thursday night is the night for you at Dupont Circle’s best bar, The Big Hunt. Every thursday all Red Hook beers are half-price, all night long.
Heck even if you aren’t a fan of Red Hook, thursday is still a great night to check the place out it’s usually packed with people, there for the special, who get pretty friendly when they’re tipsy. I’d be there myself tonight, but alas night-classes call.
Big Hunt is at 1345 Connecticut Ave. NW. There is no cover.

Tonight marks the second installment of the Movies in Shirlington, with Seabiscuit going live on the screen along about 8:30 tonight. C’mon down to Shirlington for some Prohibition Porter, some awesome Indian food, some incredible Tapas, and stay for the free movie. They’re doing a Lord of the Rings flick next Thursday night, as well. Definitely good stuff. See you in Shirlington!

Just a few words about the Buckethead concert at the 930 club last night. After about 90 million beers at the Big Hunt with the guys, I made my way down to the 930 to meet my girlfriend. While some would say 90 million beers would skew one’s perception, I say it merely readied my brain for one of the most mind-altering guitar performances ever in history. Buckethead and his bandmates played a solid 2-hour set demonstrating some of the fastest, tightest, most precise playing of instruments I’ve ever seen. Without a doubt Buckethead is the best precision guitar player living today. Show highlights were Buckethead taking Zepplin, Sabbath, Aerosmith and Hendrix to task by imitating then besting them. Also watching his hands turn to blurs as he worked the frets of his guitar neck faster than a hummingbird. Buckthead was accompanied by Brain, the drummer, Butthouse, the bassist, a talking zombie head, 2 stuffed chickens and of course his ever-present nun-chucks.
The show was a one of a kind treat, especially for DC-er’s since it was sans openers and therefore an hour longer than anywhere else.

Counting Crows played Merriweather Post Pavilion tonight, performing for a packed, screaming crowd in the humid, sticky weather this evening. Didn’t stop them from rocking out like it was their job, or from inviting the crowd to scream like crazed high school groupies. Adam Duritz’s voice has held up amazingly well this tour, and he was in fine form tonight. Their mix of Raining in Baltimore and Rain King (now to be known henceforth as Rain King in Baltimore) was incredible, and Holiday in Spain for the second encore had the whole place blown away.
Merriweather is this incredible gem just outside DC, an amazing venue to take in a concert, a gorgeous groomed lawn, seats down front, plenty of good food, plenty of good scenery. We got a chance to sneak into the HQ and meet some of the people there as well, this place is a real treat, straight down to the staff that work there. Did I mention they allow cameras for certain shows? This is more than I can say for Pier 6 in Baltimore.
This weekend is They Might Be Giants and Fountains of Wayne down at Live on Penn. Tickets are $7 at the door. See you there!

The Washington Wizards, formerly known as the Washington Bullets, won their only NBA title in 1978, when Jimmy Carter was the president of the USA. The D.C. United won three MLS titles, in 1996, 1997 and 1999, when another Democrat, Bill Clinton, was in the White House. The Washington Redskins also won three titles, but their NFL championships were all achieved when a Republican was the president, Ronald Reagan in 1983 and 1988, George H.W. Bush 1992. The Washington Capitals never won an NHL title. Perhaps they are waiting for a Green Party president?

A report came out from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, about the growing divide between the haves and have-nots. The income difference is the largest of any US city, with the those in the top 20% (aka those rich folks living in million dollar condos) making about 31 times as much money as those in the bottom 20% do. WaPo report (Note: invasive registration may be required)
This is painfully obvious to anyone who’s lived in the area. For younger people like me, finding a nice apartment in a decent area that you can afford is really difficult if you’re not loaded, at least if you don’t want roommates. Many people I work with (at a government agency) have two jobs: one that provides health insurance and one that helps pay for bills. Middle-class people are moving further away from the district in order to have a nice home: one of my co-workers bought a house a year or so ago, and she and her husband had to move far away from the city to get the kind of house she and her husband wanted and could afford. They commute nearly 2 hours one way to the city for their jobs. This trend is growing, with areas of Southern Maryland and Loudon County, VA, and other formerly rural areas becoming more developed.
And then there are those who can’t afford houses at all…

I’m not usually an advocate of year-round school, but if it’ll give the teenagers who keep stealing cars something to do during the summer, maybe I’ll change my mind.

DC is a place of order and courtesy, civilized people leading civilized lives. Then come the Tourons. Touron is short for Tourist Moron. Take the Metro for instance like 700,000 of us do every day. Quiet, clean and orderly until the Tourons arrive and then it is children swinging from the poles screaming. Escalators have a simple rule stand to the right and walk to the left. I have never seen it posted but it is just something everyone knows, everyone except the Tourons. DC is one of the most livable cities in the world because most of us follow the unwritten rules.
Still we love them since without the Tourons and all they come to see we would be boring, that and they spend like crazy. After 911 they stopped coming for awhile and this town suffered. So what can I say but, “ Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses and let them drive us crazy here in civilization.”