this seems to be an unusually good weekend for going out (including a host of promising local music options) but sometimes you just aren’t in the mood to do the bar/club thing. in case anyone is looking for something different this weekend, here are two options to consider:

tonight and tomorrow night Colin Quinn is performing at the DC Improv. i have to admit, though i’m sure i’ll get flack for this, that i think Colin Quinn was the best SNL “Weekend Update” host in my memory. the man is just naturally funny, plus i just think there is something really sexy about him. so if you are in the mood for some funny tonight, check him out and decide for yourself.

if you are in the mood for something more highbrow, tonight at 8 pm in adams morgan the American Composers Forum presents an “informal concert” featuring visiting composer Robert Carl, including pieces for piano, voice, shakuhachi (japanese bamboo flute) and computer. a duet for japanese bamboo flute and computer, that sounds pretty intriguing, doesn’t it? and it’s a bargain for only $10 at the The Patricia M. Sitar Center for the Arts. i think this would make a perfect first date: show your date how cultured and urbane you are by taking him or her to this concert, and then after the show maybe stop by ghana cafe for some food, drinks, and dancing.

TGIF folks!

Seems kids in Northeast, forgetting that guns are banned in DC, played a modified game of Russian Roulette to the death last week. Instead of putting a revolver with a single round to their own own head, they pointed the gun at each other during turns. Inventive, yes, smart, no, as now another kid is dead with a hole in his head, allowing a DC politico to pipe up with a great comment after the fact.

In the WashPost, D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) “said the slaying and game of roulette also highlighted problems with the ‘adult supervision in the lives of these kids’ and others who are the victims of gun violence.”

Adult supervision eh? Say the kind of adult supervision found in Maryland? There 7 year-olds bring Dad’s gun to school and tag little girls.

Or maybe he meant the kind of adult supervision of firearms in Virginia, where even legislators let shots fly. Apparently, Henrico County Legislator Jack Reid (R)is so Dirty Harry, he’s willing to pop a cap into pretty much anything, including his own bullet proof vest when it got uppity yesterday.

Ah, but its not the handgun’s, fault, right? To quote the brilliant Virginia House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem :

In the DailyPress: “The truth is you’re more likely to get hurt in a car accident than by a gun, so why restrict people’s freedoms,” Griffith said. “What if we restricted cars because people die in wrecks?”

And the Roanoke Times“We’ve got six elevators” in the General Assembly Building, Griffith said. “If one of them crashes, that’s a problem. It doesn’t mean we ban elevators.”

Last week it was Carvel announcing a return to D.C., this week locally owned Gifford’s Ice Cream (est. 1938) announced it is expanding (The Wash Times). Shops in Penn Quarter and Chevy Chase are planned for initial expansion with Silver Spring (home of the original Gifford’s) and Northern Virginia coming later.

Gifford’s, which counted President Eisenhower as a customer (coffee ice cream), had overexpanded in the ’80s, but is expanding again because “it didn’t make sense, if we’re making the product ourselves, to have only one distribution outlet.”

On the Web: Gifford’s Ice Cream

Remember those early mornings in High School when Honors Physics only ever met at 7:45am? Or swim practice at 6am? They could soon be a thing of the past in DC if a local group gets their way. Of course, those of us who lived to tell about the 7:45am classes get to be a little bitter if some whiny crybaby students somehow manage to convince a school board to make their classes later so they could party more…

Wait, that’s college, isn’t it?

hey everyone! this is my first post to metroblogging DC. i’m really excited to be joining this crew. i hope everyone out there will take the time to comment on my posts. that’s my favorite thing about blogging, getting comments. so don’t be stingy!

this is also my first time trying to use movable type, so bear with me if screw things up at first.

so anyway, there was a fascinating article in the Washington Post last sunday about “the Great Zucchini,” who is sort of like the John Belushi of the upper NW/Bethesda/Great Falls toddler birthday party circuit. his presence is in such high demand in certain circles that he commands $300 per half hour performance.

of course, upon reading about the Great Zucchini and the apparent pressures of throwing a proper gala to welcome DC’s up-and-coming power brokers into their fourth year of life, who can resist a nice, hardy “in my day…” certainly not me.

ah, the birthday parties of my youth: the time was the late 70s and early 80s. the setting was the roller rink, Chuck E. Cheese, the local bowling alley. the first time i saw Star Wars was actually at a kid’s birthday party. certainly, these parties were not inexpensive in their own right, but i think we probably got more fun per dollar than the patrons of the Great Zucchini.

i haven’t had a birthday party in ages. i’m not sure why, but i think it’s partly because it never seems like an adult birthday party would live up to my memories of those golden years of birthday partying. and i think a lot of other adults have been thinking the same thing, because it seems like the hot thing this year is bowling alley parties. not fancypants parties at lucky strike or strike bethesda, although i’m sure those have their merits. i’m talking about old fashioned bowling alley parties with greasy pizza, cheap beer, stinky bowling shoes, and those crazy ball cleaner machines. in fact, i’m going to one this weekend at bowl america falls church, and i’m super excited.

of course, DC-ites often lament how we have to travel so far out into the ‘burbs to find a real old fashioned bowling alley. but at least there will be lots of free parking.

Some of the most amazing visuals to come out of local agency NASA in the last decade have been from the Mars rover project. Now there’s a movie coming up, in IMAX no less, all about the project. Directed by George Butler who brought us “Pumping Iron,” of all things, the film looks to be fantastic. Those rover pictures were amazing on the small screen; I can only imagine what IMAX will do for them.

It’ll opens at the Air & Space museum at 6th and Constitution on Friday the 27th. Unlike the museum itself, admission to the IMAX shows isn’t free – expect to pay $8.50.

So DC has a parking problem. That isn’t news to anyone who lives here. And now Mayor Williams says he’s gonna help alleviate the parking woes by capping the number of cars allotted per household at three and raising residential parking permit fees for one permit from $15 to $25. A permit for a second car would cost $50 and the third would be $100.

Now we’re hearing all the usual bitching, most saying that the parking problem isn’t local DC residents, but out-of-area cars on the streets at night – permanent residents not registering in DC, temporary District visitors just in for the weekend, and evening commuters (bar/restaruant staff) . While that is somewhat true, you have to change local DC resident’s actions as much as those driving in.

How to do that? By getting real. Charging $25 for a parking permit is stupid cheap. If you want to effect change, you have to make it hurt to continue the current activity and feel good by changing the activity. I say charge $100 per year for an on-street permit or get a $100 tax credit if you do not have an on-street parking permit but have a DC driver’s license and $50 if you have both a license and a car, but no on-street registration. Then graduate the second and third permit prices higher – say $250 and $500. Last but not least, make most residential streets permit zoned 100% of the time.

This would have two effects:
1) People going car free DC would be rewarded the most. People with cars, but with off-street parking would be rewarded slightly. Those with on-street parking, using the most limited/expensive to the city resource would pay the most. People would change their habits accordingly.

2) People driving in on nights and weekends, if they live here or not, would be punished if they didn’t use a parking garage and tried use the limited street parking. As one who had a Florida-registered car in DC for three years before giving it to Mom the day I lost my off-street parking, I can attest to how fast unregistered cars belonging to residents would be registered or disappear. For those that come in from other areas (in the District or outside) who don’t like to pay for parking, two words: Metro, Taxi

Now if we only had a Mayor and Council members with the balls to try that…

I experienced lunch from the best burrito cart in the city the other day. My coworker insisted that we walk to the burrito guy at 15th and K instead of the one at 17th and K, closer to our office. This wasn’t a problem for me, since I had never been all that impressed by the burritos at 17th and K anyway.

Mmm, best street-burrito I’ve ever had. 15th & K Burrito Man has a broad range of tortilla options, two kinds of beans, three sizes of burrito, choice of regular or lite cheese, and an impressive hot sauce collection, complete with available tortilla chips for taste-testing.

Payment is done by honor system, with each burrito-fan making his or her own change. There’s a burrito loyalty-card program, and the burrito guy will make sure you remember to take your free peppermint patty on your way back to the office with your tasty lunch.

The story goes that a guy who had his burrito street-cart license from the city for 20 years wanted to retire and find someone to pass on his permit to. Very Willy Wonka, no? So he held a burrito cookoff, and awarded the permit to the maker of the best burrito. The winner, so the legend goes, is the guy who owns Pedro and Vinny’s now.

Of course, I didn’t get a chance to ask him about this, since I heard the story after we walked away with our burritos. (With guacamole. Mmm.)

Puerto Rico, Guam, The US Virgin Islands, they all get their own Olympic Delegation for Torino. They all have just one non voting representative in the House, just like us, here in DC. So, why not a DC Olympic Team? Sounds good by me. They’ve assembled a Curling Team to represent the District at Torino, assuming they can convince the IOC to let them in. From the FAQ comes this gem:

If someone wins a medal, what song will be played at the podium?

Good question. Since we are Americans, it would still be the “Star Spangled Banner” just like the U.S. Olympic teams do. Hoewever, we’d love to get a a go-go version of the song made by Chuck Brown.

We fully back the DCOC for IOC recognition in Torino.

The Virginia Senate today passed a bill to place on a general statewide ballot in November a ban on same sex marriage, just days after the House of Delegates did the same. The ban would come in the form of an addition to the Virginia Bill of Rights, authored by George Mason in 1776, which has not been altered in a decade. Naturally, expect a major battle in the coming months between gay rights advocates (most of whom will not be able to vote in the election, as they would be coming from out of state), and conservatives in Virginia. I fully expect there to be fireworks. This one should be interesting, indeed.