It’s rainy season right now, so I thought I’d just say please, please, please use your headlights while driving in the rain in this area. It’s the law, it’s common sense, and it’s just plain smart. It’s especially smart on the Beltway, with so many people around. Also, wear your seatbelt, use your turn signals, and eat your vegetables.

How lucky are we? DC is one of the few select cities to be treated with a reunion show by one of the 80’s most innovative acts, Tackhead.
The show at the Black Cat tonight is one of eight exclusive reunion dates that are finding the band in top form and having a great time playing together again.
For the uninitiated, Tackhead is the brainchild of 80’s underground uber-producer Adrian Sherwood. He created the band as an outlet where he and his hand-picked guests could create a fusion of styles Sherwood was known for producing. The result is a blend of Jamaican Dub, Soul, Hip-hop, Industrial, Techno and good old Rock-N-Roll. Sure in theory it sounds messy, but in practice the band created some of the best music of the decade. In the past guests performers have included no less than Mick Jagger and Melle Mel.
I am very excited about this show. For those of us who were too young to catch the band in their heyday, this is a once in a lifetime treat.
$20 @ The Black Cat

DC traffic sucks. That’s the findings of a study done every year by some outfit called the Texas Transportation Institute. According to them, DC drivers spend 67 hours a year in traffic, and all that sitting around costs an average of $600 per driver, annually. WaPo article, complete with bar graphs. Now, it’s neat to know the numbers, and I’m sure local officials need them, but really, do we need some out-of-town folks to come in and tell us our roads and highways are constantly gridlocked?
Now, if only Captain Obvious could tell us how wet the rain is…

Someday, I want to have a house with a yard, if for no other reason than so that I too can have an 18-foot, bare-breasted, wooden mermaid in my yard.
I need to go see this. And I need to take my camera.

Metro is now training selected riders to help their fellow passengers pick their way through Metro tunnels, while avoiding the high-voltage railing, in case of a Metro emergency.
It sounds lovely and all, but I’m curious about how many of these Metro riders are actually going to carry their backpack of Metro-supplied safety equipment handy?

Terrorism, metro failure, politicians, tourons. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about in DC, now we also have to worry about rabid bats.
Sigh.

So, we’re coming up on election season here in the DC area, and that means all manner of wacky stuff is about to befall us all. However, if you want to profit from it, do a good deed for your community, and help sponsor democracy and free elections, there’s a good opportunity to help: Be a Poll Worker on Election Day.
It’s pretty easy, here’s more information:
The District (pays $100)
Arlington County (pays $130)
Fairfax County (pays $100)
Montgomery County (payment not listed)
PG County (pays $125)
So go out, register to be a poll judge, you get money, you foster democracy. Everyone wins.

Ok, I don’t proclaim to know where Essex, Maryland is, but if you do, and you like old-style drive-in movies, Bengies is showing drive-in features Fridays, Saturday and Sunday nights.
The cost is around $7-8 a person, complete with a movie, concessions (popcorn, candy, pizza, ice cream, etc.), and the sound is piped through your car radio.
This Labor Day weekend, they are hosting a dusk ’til dawn special with movies all night long, including “Without a Paddle,” “Spiderman II,” and “The Notebook.”