Photo courtesy of DC Metromix

Tip of my hat to my blogger friend f.B. for informing me of DC’s new mafia. Blonde Charity Mafia that is.

Everybody is buzzing about the new DC-based CW “Docu-series” that will debut this summer. For those that haven’t watched Laguna Beach, The Hills, or The City; the Docu in Docu-series stands for fake. Fishbowl DC has excerpts of the shooting script.

My thoughts on the show can be summarized with this chat I just had with Meggie Poo:

Me: I’m not going to lie though- I might watch it just so I can make fun of it.
Thus, the show will be a hit. It’s like the Snuggie- it’ll be so bad it’s good!
Meggie Poo: Oh i’m totally gonna watch it, it’s a trainwreck.
Me: I mean, it’s not like we didn’t know we had rich, snooty people here before…BUT NOW they have names and faces and we can hate them directly!

If DCists are something- we are vain about our city, I think a few people will be like me to tune in so we can say, “I’ve been to Third Edition before!” and, “Oh my god I need to friend that person on Late Night Shots now!”

So CW, you have another potential hit on your hands… or another six episode disaster that will go the way of K-Street.

For those that are now interested in the show like I am should read the Blonde Charity Mafia blog for their fix til the show airs.

Photo courtesy of Politico

Emily: this is how I think a work day will go for Kumar….Outlook Calendar block 1.5 hours–> work on political brief —- Outlook Calendar block 2 hours–> discuss political initiatives—-Outlook Calendar block 4.5 hours–> GO TO WHITE CASTLE BIOTCH!!!!!!

Those are the words of my fantastic friend Emily while we discussed the recent news of Kal Penn leaving Hollywood for Washington DC. In an exclusive EW interview Penn reveals that he’s been thinking about politics for awhile:

“I’ve been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn’t love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service. I went to a performing arts high school, but I still took a bunch of those dorky political science classes. It’s probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more. And in ’06 I started this international studies program at Stanford, where they actually let you do most of the course work online. So it was something I could do while I was acting. And I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else.”

I think that it’s great that he’s taking a chance to work for the people- will he become a DC celebrity like freshman congressmen or the Blonde Charity Mafia? How many more White Castle jokes will be in our future? Is he on his way to becoming the next big actor turned politician?

So many questions- but in time we will soon see how Kunter fares in The District.

Thanks to WaxHeaven for this “just left the club” photo of RZ.

As I write this, the Nationals are down 5-2 in top of the 6th against the Florida Marlins.  They’ve already dropped their first two to Florida and here comes Ryan Zimmerman to the plate.  That would be 1-11 (.091) Ryan Zimmerman who’s lone contribution thus far, offensively, is a double. 

The face of the franchise.   Why is he so terrible you may ask?  Perhaps you say “well it’s early in the season and he’s coming off of surgery last year-cut him a break.”

I offer exhibit A (thanks to Patrick)-Ryan Zimmerman’s favorite places to “go out.”  (WaPo)

Maybe Zim is spending a little too much time chatting up GW Undergrads at McFaddens, or a perhaps is staying out a bit too late with the recently graduated Clarendon crowd at Liberty Tavern-but if it keeps affecting his game play, I say we all show up at these places at tell him to pack it up and get some sleep because clearly he needs it. 

Yep.  I say if he doesn’t start hitting up the ball, then no more hitting up the town.  We can all go to K Street Lounge, or Town Hall and just-

oh wait, he hit another double (2-12).   Now he’s on third, thanks to a walk.  …Aaaaaaaand typical Nationals.  Bases loaded and no outs?  That’s a line out, a strike out and a pop out to end the inning. 

Now where was I?  Oh right-stalking Ryan Zimmerman.  For his own good, of course.  I mean…well…okay you know what I mean.  So…we’ll just leave it that.

Go team!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1_gxAG84Rg[/youtube]

I’ll admit it:  I’m a big old geek.  I’m not particularly good at it, but I think science is cool, fascinating stuff.  So, when I heard about Yuri’s Night — a worldwide collection of parties and celebrations, commemorating Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s April 12, 1961 launch as the first man in space — I thought it might be interesting.  Plus, as a former student of the Soviet Union, I was particularly interested in celebrating a cosmonaut.  Then, I saw the key, deciding factor:  the party’s web site stated that “Sci-Fi Attire is encouraged”.  So, on Saturday night, I went to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to join the Yuri’s Night celebration.  It was a geek-fest of epic proportions!

Aliens Always Welcome

DC’s party happened at the Goddard Visitor’s center, which usually plays host to schoolkids, with occasional visiting dignitaries (on Queen Elizabeth II’s most recent visit to the US, she stopped by for a few hours).  Saturday night, however, the place was filled with Jedi knights, cosmonauts and astronauts, Sith Lords, Anime babes, a giant Hubble-shaped cake, and NASA staffers wearing “I am a Scientist!” pins who wandered around the Center’s museum space answering questions and flirting.

Indeed, as soon as my friend and I pulled in to the parking lot, I knew it would be a great night.  There was a fully-armored Endor Storm Trooper waiting for the shuttle bus!  The Star Wars geek in me squealed with joy, but was sort of sad that I’d left my light saber at home (it didn’t fit in my purse).  When we got off said bus, more Storm Troopers were waiting with silent greetings, along with some Jedi knights and Darth Vader.  Once we got in to the building, we heard (over DJ Scientific’s spins from the dance floor and Middle Distance Runner rocking another room) the Lost In Space ROBOT warning Will Robinson.  Fantastic!

We wandered around, had some cake, and found our way into the Goddard’s theatre, where “Science on a Sphere” was projecting the Earth in all its blue glory.  This cool piece of tech consists of a carbon composite sphere on which four projectors around the room can display images of all kinds.  We got to see different satellite images of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and Mars, and the stars.  Outside, a few folks had set up their telescopes to share the real thing with anyone who wanted to see.  One of these kind astronomers let me have a look, and I got up close and personal with the man on the moon.

I highly recommend giving the place a visit.  And I hope to see you at next year’s Yuri’s Night celebration!

Photo courtesy Aveda Institute DC

Class Photo Day when I was in 1st grade was quite the experience.

I made the bold decision to go with a “mad scientist” hairstyle that was the result of seeing how long I could go without getting a haircut. It goes without saying that after that class photo I made it a mission to get regular haircuts. Trust me it’s good for the world that my hair doesn’t reach those levels ever again.

When I moved down to these parts I experimented with different chains before settling on a couple of Hair Cuttery locations that I usually visit at the top of every month. The results would range from good to bleh. So when my roommate recommended a visit to the Aveda Institute DC over at Gallery Place I was open to try out the school of cosmetology for a high risk/reward experience.

Even though the thought of actually making an appointment to get a haircut seem somewhat daunting and metrosexual like, my roommate reassured me that many males interested in well grooming do it. I made the call and scheduled an appointment for Saturday morning. The time slot worked well since I wanted to get up early to shop at H&M nearby. Maybe I’m more metrosexual than I thought.

I arrived early at Gallery Place promptly at 8:30, the storefront that sat between The Loft and City Sports already had a line going out the door. I thought I was lucky that I made an appointment til I realized that the entire line had appointments for the same timeslot and were all being pushed upstairs to the salon/studio area.

The upstairs portion of the institute appeared to take up the entire second floor of the commercial building. The sight look like it was pulled straight of a Bravo network reality show. Bright lights, modern style, and the low drone of techno music filled the space. Rows upon rows of styling stations were homes to an army of cosmetology students. They all donned black clothes and aprons but each had appropriate pieces of flair that told me that they were creative, ambitious and ready to win Project Runway cut my hair.

As we went upstairs we lined up at a reception desk where each of us confirmed our appointments for a second time while signing legal waivers. I was getting my haircut by a student, not a master- so they probably didn’t want me suing them if I were to lose all my friends, my job, and any chance of meeting ladies because of a bad haircut. I eagerly signed- anxious to become somebody’s guinea pig.

They lined us up against the wall as I checked out the soldiers of style gulping down coffee and gossiping before getting their assignments from a teacher. I took a look at the group and realized I was one of two guys that were getting haircuts. So much for not feeling emasculated. Each of the stylists were handed slips of paper and proceeded to call out names. I heard my name called over the music of my iPod and I walked over to a girl who looked like MIA. Her name was Isabel and she had long dark hair and wasn’t wearing pants- she was donning that leggings and a really long sweater look that told me she was trendy and “with it.” She wore a black scarf around her neck and had a pair of brown leather boots then stopped at her kneecaps.  Yes I was checking my stylist out and I have to say it was the first time I’ve done that. Usually the nice Asian ladies at the Hair Cuttery don’t get that kind of reaction from me.

She walked me across the room and sat me down. We then had a short discussion about my hair that was more in-depth than the usual two sentences I give my usual stylist. She was took notes of what I said and tossed a couple ideas out that she shared with a supervisor. It was funny being a visual aid for the student who opened with, “Patrick likes to wear his hair short. He usually doesn’t do a lot to his hair on a daily basis so today we’re going to…” Now I definitely felt like I was on a reality show.

The supervisor listened, agreed, and signed her sheet. She then asked if I wanted  scalp massage. “It’s part of the Aveda experience,” she replied when she saw my quizzical reaction. Of course I agreed and she presented a sample of oils and got to work. Scissors have yet to touch my hair and I was already liking what I saw.

After the rub down she shampooed my hair with some kind of exfoliating shampoo that she was excited to try, “I haven’t gotten to use this one yet so I’m excited to see how it works.”

We then got to business of actual hair cutting. She opened a black case that looked suitable for a fine cigar or a 9mm. It held a pair of scissors that she used to attack my hair.

Unlike my usual haircuts which are often a mindless speed through of chopping different lengths of hair, Isabel’s work resembled an artist attacking a canvas. Her cuts were calculated as I saw her work on my hair carefully and delicately. “We are all perfectionists here,” she told me while pulling strands of hair and measuring them up, “some people think they can come here and get a cut in an hour but we want to do a good job and we pay attention to detail.”

The cut lasted two hours but it feel like two hours. I was fascinated to see the transformation of my hair that was occurring at a slower pace than my past cuts. It gave me lots of chances to give feedback and hear my stylist arrive at all the same conclusions I usually hear when I get my haircut. “Wow your hair grows in fast,” she replied while trying to navigate my scalp.

After the cut was done a supervisor came over to inspect the results and answer a couple of questions she had about approaching different parts of my head. The supervisor showed her a couple of tips while finishing up the back of my head. Isabel and I then proceeded downstairs where I paid and parted ways. The cost of the cut wasn’t too much more than what I would pay at Hair Cuttery- and I felt it had higher upside to have an aspiring student get all creative with my head. Of course I did risk getting a bad cut from a beauty school dropout, but that was kind of adventure I was up for this month.

I was pretty happy with my cut and I would definitely recommend Aveda for anyone looking for a Salon experience at a discount- and is willing to gamble a little bit.

Aveda Institute
713 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 824-1690

I noticed this week that the Washington City Paper recently came out with their “Best of DC 2009” list. Some of the categories were pretty typical (Best Burger, Best Singles Bar); others appeared invented to allow the paper to give someone an award (Best Book Festival- is there really a lot of competition there?)

Here are a couple of the items featured in this year’s list:

• Best Burger: Five Guys (Readers Choice)/Ray’s Hell Burger (Staff Pick) – I feel a little bit better seeing that Five Guys gets is the people’s choice in DC. While I did enjoy my recent Hell Burger experience I still am on the fence.
• Best Book Festival: National Book Festival – No surprise to me here, and like I just wrote, is there that many book festivals out there? Well the paper did take a minute to recognize GMU’s Fall for the book festival as a close second place finisher.
• Best Adult Novelty Shop: Pleasure Place (Reader’s Choice) – Now here’s something I’ve been wondering for awhile, where’s the best place to get my kinky sex toys. While I’ve actually never heard of Pleasure Place, I’m kinda intrigued that it’s actually a chain with multiple locations. I guess sex does sell.
• Best Congressional Vending Machine: Hot dog vending machine below Cannon HOB – Now this is just a silly category but I did find it funny that our lawmakers are able to get a dog at all hours, you have to keep them fueled during a long legislative session after all.
• Best D.C. Safeway: Chevy Chase – Thank goodness that they recognized that the words best and Safeway aren’t usually in the same sentence. But hey at least it’s not Food Lion.
• Best Caps Player: Alex Ovechkin (Reader’s Choice) – Really? Was there any doubt?
• Best Place To Smoke Weed: Home - I don’t know if I can stop laughing to write anything about this category.
• Best Place To Relieve Yourself: Your own bathroom – Aw man after I looked at the previous category… I do have to say the bathrooms at Mie and Yu are really nice…
• Best Local Twitterer: Ana Marie Cox – The founder of Wonkette is still popular on the interwebs in Twitter form. I would of loved to see best politician Twitterer, because I think Claire McCaskill would win hands down.
• Best Local Blog: Jim Newell, Wonkette – Two very classy outlets and they are very entertaining blogs. There’s no way I would ever tell you we were the best, but I do have fun writing anyways!

SS-20 at NASM*

The three most popular museums on the Mall are now open from 10:00 AM through 7:30 PM daily (except when there’s a special event scheduled).  Hours apply at the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History, and the National Museum of Natural History until Labor day!  If you, like me, have still not been to visit the newfangled Star-Spangled Banner exhibit, or the Einstein Planetarium, or the new Ocean Hall, because you’re just too tired after a hard week’s work to fight the crowds on the weekend – now is your chance!

I have taken full advantage of the later hours (11:30 AM – 7:00 PM daily) at the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum on 8th Street.  It’s thisclose to my Metro stop, Gallery Place, so I visit quite often in the winter when I commute on the bus and train.  In the summer, I bike commute, and my ride takes me down the Mall past the three biggies each workday.  Now, when I’m overcome by the urge to visit the SS20 missile at the Air and Space Museum, I’ll be able to stop in on the way home.

So, DC, take advantage of your free museums, and if you’ve got any touristy visitors coming this summer, be sure to let them know!

*photo by flickr user ptufts, used under a Creative Commons license

So what’s the best metaphor for how Jason Campbell must be feeling right now?

Is he a guy who got fired only to have the company call him back and say whoops-we wanted to fire you, but we can’t?

Is he the guy who’s girlfriend tried to date a better guy only to come back and say “actually, you’re as good as I can do.”  ?

How does it feel to know that your team pursued a trade with a team for a different Quarterback, didn’t get him and then said “uh…sorry.”

After both failing to get Jay Cutler and letting the whole world know they wanted Jay Cutler, the Redskins have been caught with their pants down in front of their young, developing Quarterback.  The brass might have met with Campbell to “mend the fences” but that still can’t sit well with the player.  The Redskins have time and time again chased the prettiest free agents on the market and in this case let the entire team know-anyone can be traded.  Sure that might be motivating, but how much can you believe it when they say “Jason’s our guy.  We’re happy with Jason.”  Not much, I’m sure.

To Campbell’s credit he isn’t pulling a Cutler-he’s “motivated” and “ready to play”-but let’s be serious here.  He’s got a lot of upside, but no actual resume to speak of.  Quite frankly, he isn’t Cutler-not at all.  I think it’s doubtful that anyone would take him-He’s not proven to be “that much better” than any other decent quarterbacks-so why take the risk?  Any teams with bad Quarterbacks at this point would likely rather just draft their own than take a chance on a guy who hasn’t panned out (so far).

Which isn’t to say he’s a bad quarterback, or has no upside-he just hasn’t proven anything yet.

Of course-he’s got plenty of opportunity to prove it now.

So if you haven’t heard, Murky Coffee is closing.

As a nearby resident, I’m sad to hear the news- I’ve had it on my list of possible third places to spend my time, however it was always crowded much to the benefit of Murky.

So what’s going up in it’s place? The Going Out Gurus have the latest on that, it looks like the ownership of nearby Liberty Tavern is teaming up with pastry chef Davis Guas to turn the space into a bakery called Bayou Bakery. The shop will have a southern theme in decor and offerings.  So who’s this Guas person? Well Guas runs a culinary consulting group that’s played a role into the cuisines at local eateries such as  Ceiba and DC Coast. He also has a new cookbook coming out called, DamGoodSweet.

He also knows how to show Kathie Lee and Hoda how to cook a mean Zuchinni pound cake.

In an effort to keep Murky’s coffee crowd, Gaus plans to hire a Batista manager to work on a “coffee program.”

I couldn’t avoid the crowds as I tried to make my way to a Heat/Wizards game over at the Verizon Center. These were the crowds I had to put up with at Metro Center.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74zpnMwHxM[/youtube]

Now this is why I stay away from the Cherry Blossoms.