Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) was the first of the crowd to put a not-so-anonymous hold on the DC School Takeover Bill, and today, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was the second to do so. Sen. Landrieu has put a hold on the bill at the behest of the President of the DC Board of Ed President Robert Bobb.

Ah, DC. Just because a bill passes the council, twice, gets signed by the mayor, that doesn’t make it law.

This is DC. Bills that pass the council and the mayor, also have to pass through the Congress, meaning that there are 535 other people who can stop the bill at any point through the Legislature. And so, today, the chair of the Board of Ed ran an end around.

What’s next? Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) asking for a hold so that she can hold the District hostage over some other point? Sen. Brownback (R-KS) doing the same so that he can hold the District hostage over yet another point? This is just ludicrous that those elected by a wholly separate group of Americans, not even geographically or culturally close to the makeup of the District get to choose what happens here.

It’s honestly embarassing to me.

I’m heading off to Ireland this Wednesday, for a jaunt through the West Country. So it seemed fitting that before I step into the the mystical land of dolmens, bogs, and Yeats, I experience a dose of modern Irish reality. Saturday night I went to see a play about a city one associates not with green but with grim grit – Belfast.

Solas Nua is performing Owen McCafferty’s complex montage “Scenes from the Big Picture” at my alma mater Catholic University’s Callan Theater through June 24. It’s part of the Rediscover Northern Ireland initiative that’s currently taking place as a build-up to Northern Ireland’s inclusion in the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival. Peter Marks gives it a rousing review in today’s Post.

The play weaves myriad characters of questionable likability – apathetic teens, drug dealers, cheating husbands, estranged families – in a quickening gyre of urban life. There’s no sunny blarney here, only the fierce determination of living under difficult and dangerous conditions. But at the end one is left with a strong sense of the tenacity of hope against despair, with a beautiful final image of an old man removing his cap, paying homage to his dead wife as a magical meteor shower bathes him in light.

Be sure to check out the Rediscover Northern Ireland site for a fresh look at an area that’s suffered more than its share of grief, and raise a pint to the Irish spirit.

I have no idea how I missed this when it happened, but WTOP News sold the naming rights to their glass-enclosed nerve center, to Ledo Pizza, of all people. News reports from WTOP now come from the Ledo Pizza Glass-Enclosed Nerve Center.

Me? I just can’t wait for the Prada Presents the Washington Post Style Section, or maybe it’s something like Verizon’s Pennsylvania Avenue or Sprint/Nextel U St.

What else are we going to see the naming rights sold for?

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Today our office takes up residence at 1900 M Street NW and the lunch options overwhelm.

Shopping, dry cleaning, CVS or Rite Aid too, I am at a loss for all the usual office worker services and I need your help.

If you work nearby, if you have advice or guidance, do share. Metroblogging is all about local knowledge and I need some.

When I first heard about elite security lanes at Dulles Airport, I loved the idea, thinking that I could avail myself of them, or they would at least help speed up the IAD security theatre.

But now that I’ve confronted this vision in reality, I am not so loving. There is something odd about “premium passengers” vs. “security checkpoint”

Doesn’t that segregation sound a little discriminatory? As if those who get the special status of “premium” need not pass through security? That their assumed wealth or status excludes them from suspicion?

Yes, I agree that the odds of a frequent flyer being a plane bomber is very low. None of the September 11th hijackers were “Premier Executives” but they were in Business Class before going all Atta on New York and Washington DC.

And while even “premium passengers” have to go through the same no-sandal line, I’m still feeling that this Dulles demarcation ain’t right.

Not Wise on an MC

Originally uploaded by webjedi
.

While I didn’t drag my ass out of bed early enough to consider doing the “National Bike to Work Day“, but besides the now plethora of pedaling folks on the streets and along the parkways, the motoring type of cyclists are now out in force.

Now I know, a lot of them, pedal or non, do do things the right way, a number, the ones that stick in our minds, are those who don’t. The picture to the right here, demonstrates everything you shouldn’t be doing on your motorcycle accoring to the Maryland MVA saftety course, which includes, riding with you helmet up (but points for having one), no hand protection, and, of all things, smoking a cigarette.

So all you walkers and drivers, be aware of those who choose two wheels over four, or rotating rubberized motion enahancers over walking there.

Brunch Setup 2

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Is there a better meal than Brunch? Really? You get the comfort food of breakfast, mixed with the tasty lunch fare. Eggs Benedict. With fries. This town has no shortage of great spots for brunch, from the big fancy spots like Georgia Browns (with their incredible southern comfort food) and Whitlows (for the bloody mary bar, in specific).

This town loves to sleep late on Sunday and hit the brunch scene. Whitlows, the Boulevard Woodgrill, the Overwood, Ireland’s Four Courts, these are just a few of the names, but of course there’s Peacock in Georgetown, or Four P’s in Falls Church, and heck, there’s a whole website dedicated to brunch in DC. DC is the town of Brunch, with its variations on eggs benedict legion, its bloody maries spicy, and the coffee hot.

Viva la brunch!

Congratulations, Mr. or Mrs. Snack Bar Manager of the RedGate Golf Course in Maryland. You sure have come a long way from smoothing out sand traps, emptying trash bins at each hole, and driving the snack cart around the course. Look at you now! You’re the Snack Bar Manager with your very own dedicated parking space, even closer to the clubhouse than the golf pro’s parking space! I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your hard work and dedication over the years. Without you, who would I buy my Gatorade and peanuts from? Keep up the good work!

While Don may be ducking down with shyness, I’m almost immobile with anticipation. Starting at 7pm tonight will be my premier on 60 Minutes.

Famed reporter Lesley Stahl will be covering MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte’s progress with One Laptop Per Child, his dream of one-to-one computing as an educational boost, and I’ll be featured as an expert on OLPC.

You can even see a split-second of me at the end of this trailer:

And yeah, I am nervous!

I know you think we’ve just been being lazy since Friday (and I have to ask, Wayan – was the post time just a coincidence or are you trying to tell us something about that tech get-together?) but that’s not it – we’re just all feeling very shy and reluctant this weekend. Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon.

If you really miss us you can just watch Wayan tonight on 60 minutes.