As a follow up to my previous post about the lack of iPhone frenzy in Northern Virginia, I noticed that as of 8am this morning there were 10-20 people waiting on line at the Apple store here in Clarendon. So if you are still hoping to get one today you’d better hurry on down. I’m not sure what makes someone so excited about a phone that they are willing to miss a whole day’s worth of work to wait in line for one. But on the other hand, here I am being late for work so I can write a blog entry about these people. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

Former Metroblogger Erin mentioned in the comments of this story that the saga of the pot-growing man with the contentious ladder had come to a sad end, with the alleged horticulturist apparently losing it, setting fire to his home, shooting at police and finally attempting to take his own life. It’s a sad end to a weird tale, but I take some small comfort from the fact that nobody was hurt other than the man himself.

I figured you needed a sign. You needed a big neon sign to remember this weekend’s Metroblogging DC 3rd Anniversary BBQ.

On Sunday we will be celebrating three years of Metroblogging DC in the best way possible: going all piñata Jedi on some poor paper mache pig, while eating his well-cooked cousin.

The question is: will you be there? Are you brave enough to reveal yourselves to those you mock? And will you be taking photos?

You know you want to…

I went to the Apple Store in Clarendon this evening. Looks like, as of 11pm tonight, no one is waiting on line to buy the iPhone. There was this one lonely chair on the sidewalk, but it didn’t look like anybody was sitting there. I suppose there’s no real reason to wait around until there is someone else waiting in line behind you.

As you may remember from a few posts back this iPhone is supposed to be generating long lines of fans all around the country, desperate to plunk down their $599 so they don’t have to carry around a phone and an iPod. Maybe DC is more of a Microsoft town…

So, anyone tune into WETA for the All-American at Howard? Wonkette live-blogged it: part 1, part 2 (Content warning: some unwholesome words, adult situations).

Just to be clear, Barack Obama wants you to know that he got tested with his wife, and not with Joe Biden. Also, Mike Gravel is really against the war on drugs. And Hillary thinks Tavis Smiley is funny.

But I have to say, Mike Gravel is definitely it. Don’t believe me? Watch him on YouTube. That’s the video that will rocket him to the White House. Note emphasis on ROCK. Seriously. He will rock the vote. Mike Gravel rocks. Gravel is like the Ron Paul of the Democrats. In 2006, I’m voting Mike Gravel!* I’m just wondering, was that pond in DC? If so, where in DC?

* Disclaimer: I’m not voting Mike Gravel.

I recently sent an update about the photo tour I am leading this Saturday evening and my good friend Andy Carvin sent me this link for the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. I don’t know about you, but I am going to go spend Saturday over in the Mekong area eating larb and papaya salad, trying to recall more stuff to put in the book I am writing.

I am sure a few hot chilies will jog my memory of Thailand and will be the perfect thing to have under my belt, so to speak, when the tour starts around 8:30. Having some fire in you makes you sweat and cool off in the heat of the day, making a person nice and sebaceous when nightfall comes.

Culture is the perfect mid-day date for your sensitive, intellectually curious sweetheart before you go out and sweat away the night at a club or behind the lens. Are you going? If not, what have you found to do this weekend?

“Storm’s Comin’. Be here soon,” he said, his basso voice scratchy from a pack a day habit. He’d finish his smoke, flick the butt into the street and head back inside once the first drops had fallen.

He was never wrong.

His name was John, and he sat in front of our office at Thomas Circle most afternoons. He was worn down by life, a grey beard against a dark face. He looked prophetic, his eyes intense and driven, his appearance looked like he’d been without sleep for some time dealing with some level with the angels and demons that haunt us all. But he was never wrong. Without fail, the drops would fall, heavy and menacing, on the pavement.

I didn’t see John again after we moved our offices down to 13th Street. But I remember his words on afternoons like these.

Storm’s comin’. Gonna be a good one, too.

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Last night, we prepared for the Downtown Silver Spring Photo Walk in Silver Spring, at Adega Wine Cellars and Café, and I was really impressed.

When I heard that we were meeting at a “wine bar”, I was expecting some white tablecloth wine snobbery, but Adega is anything but. First off, the food and wine is a good value – proprietor Walter Rhee even sells wine bottles at retail, not restaurant prices.

Then the staff is very approachable, I watched them spend 20 minutes working with a couple on an odd Sangria wine search with patience and care. They also put up with our raucous debate on photographers rights and Petersons Companies.

Adega even puts out recycle bins to catch glass bottles before they are thrown in the trash and of course, allows photography. That’s Walter patiently posing after a long day’s work.

The City of Falls Church has posted a number of tips on how to avoid mosquitoes and West Nile Virus. I will be discussing them in a six-part series.

According to the Falls Church site, mosquitoes only need two tablespoons of water to breed. Me, I need something like a 40 of malt liquor to make that happen. And two straws.

What this means is that any standing water in your yard is the mosquito equivalent of putting on a Barry White album and bathing in Drakkar Noir. You know some boot-knocking is going down at that point, and mosquitoes don’t “suit up” the way respectable humans on E Street do.

That’s bad, I tell you.

Go look in your yard and see where the water is standing or could stand if this humidity ever turns into a downpour. Me, I will be busy throwing all my old tires in the neighbor’s yard in the middle of the night. Don’t expect me to look well rested tomorrow at work.

Check in tomorrow to read about Tip #3: You Are Not Alone.

Say you are driving north on Warder Street, which becomes 7th Street. You are coming up to the intersection with Shepherd and New Hampshire. You see this big arrow in the road:

What might you think the proper course of action to be?

1. Make a right turn onto Shepherd
2. Drive forward, and not turn right
3. Turn right onto New Hampshire, not Shepherd

If you answered #3, you would be right, as Shepherd is a one-way going to the left, but you wouldn’t know that with the big-ass arrow in the road.

I sure didn’t and almost went the wrong way down Shepherd when driving in my own hood. Gee thanks for the confusing arrow, DC DOT!