Chocolate Crumble Cake Bread Pudding

Memo to anyone who bought the Double Chocolate Crumble Cake from Whole Foods this weekend.  If you were as disappointed as we were with this, consider following this Paula Deen recipe and transform it into yummela bread pudding!

The unseasonably warm weather has almost put me off baking and soup-making, both traditional activities for me this time of year.  I’m looking forward to a drop in temperature next week — and more baking adventures.

"Lincoln Memorial (Washington DC)" by Flickr user ~MVI~

Obama will continue following the example of Abraham Lincoln; the two may be very different in terms of policy, but they match up pretty evenly in style. January 17th will feature a railway trip for the Obamas that will begin in Philadelphia and end in Washington DC. Like Lincoln, Obama will make stops for speeches and events in Philadelphia and Baltimore before arriving in the Capitol to begin Inaugural Festivities. One kick is that Obama will break from Lincolnian tradition by stopping in Wilmington, Deleware, to pick up Vice-President-Elect Joe Biden and family.

The Washington Post reports that the Obamas have not yet announced specific plans in any of the cities en route, but that city officials were making preparations for large crowds. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Jackson could call upon M&T Stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, or Fort McHenry as potential locations for speeches by President-Elect Obama.

Once in DC Obama is expected to hold a major event on the National Mall, where he will appear in person on January 18th.

Taken, on Iphone, between Crystal City and the Airport.  Yellow Line to Huntington, Doors Closing.

I hope you’ll forgive the Moulin Rouge inspired title, but it fits.

How do I know tomorrow is a holiday?  I mean other than getting the day off and, you know, being passingly familiar with a calendar?  Well-

Most workday mornings involve me getting on Metro at the Crystal City stop and “reverse commuting” to Old Town.  This ensures not only an empty seat, but usually enough room to lay down and play scrabble against someone else on the floor.  Not that I would. 

This morning?   The height of travel frenzy (at almost 10am by the way!) as those using the Ronald Reagan/Washington National Airport were making their way (bags and all) to stand in line to get on a plane and fly home. 

I actually had to stand on the way to work.  If I wanted to do that, I would work in the District!  :-P

All of this by way of saying-safe travels and happy holidays from me (and probably all of the DC Metblog crew).

In three days the National Museum of American History reopens to the general public. I was fortunate to tour the renovated building yesterday.

The first thing I notice as I step through the Mall entrance of the American History Museum is how light it is. A skylight brightens the three story atrium and the artifacts, like a home computer circa 1985, that line the walls in 10 ft. cases. A grand staircase constructed of metal and glass connects the first and second floors.

As I walk into the Selin Welcome Center, videos preview some of the events and special exhibits on the four flat screens as helpful volunteers provide maps and membership information.

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Mike Huckabee has begun a countrywide bus tour to promote his new book, Do The Right Thing: Inside The Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back To America. The tour will stop at the Costco in Pentagon City on Wednesday from 12pm-1pm. According to Huckabee’s website:

Do The Right Thing is his amazing story, in his own words-from making commercials with Chuck Norris to meeting a Michigan woman who insisted on donating her wedding ring. But this is more than just a campaign memoir. It’s a vision for a smarter, fairer type of politics–”vertical politics”–that focuses on common-sense solutions for education, health care, the economy, and many other issues. It’s not about right versus left; it’s about taking America up rather than down.

Huckabee also shows how the Republican Party can heal its divisions-between social and fiscal conservatives, the wealthy and the middle class, the religious and the secular-and become a true majority party again.

There are also additional stops in Virginia, which you can find on the tour information page. Let me know if you plan on stopping down. You might just see me there too.

According to the Examiner our National Zoo is due for a 20 year makeover that will cost anywhere between $900 million and $1.1 billion. They will be focusing mainly on patron experience, which was certainly not amazing last time I was there. Here’s what they’ll be addressing:

• THERE’S NOT NEARLY ENOUGH PARKING: The 20 year plan calls for a parking garage with 1,128 spaces. This will allow the zoo to transform the current 868 spaces of surface parking into new exhibits. 12 acres made up of seven new exhibits in fact.
• GETTING AROUND THE ZOO IS VERY DIFFICULT: Zoo Executive Director John Berry compares it to “walking the stairs of a 16-story office building.” The park will be adding an aerial tram that will stretch the entire length of the park and feature three stops.
• IT’S DIFFICULT TO FIND BENCHES, WATER, FOOD, AND RESTROOMS: This also contributes to the difficulties some people have getting around the park because it makes it tough to take a break. Park officials recognize that amenities are clustered and that the park is overall out of date. They will be building new plazas and making amenities available throughout the zoo under the new plan.

One footnote on the plan is that it will depend entirely on private donations.

I’ve written before about crime around DC and now it appears that there will be a new way of getting the latest alerts and information on your cell phone. Head on over to 72hours.dc.gov and you can sign up to receive text messages and e-mails informing you of breaking news crime alerts in The District.

Other nearby towns and counties have similar alert systems that inform users about traffic and weather but the “D.C. Police Alert” will also include summaries of recent crimes and suspects. Beats reading Police Log in the paper.

I read an article on this new technology in the Washington Post and I have to say that I’m rather impressed with the level of communication the Police are taking with the community. I think it’s a step in the right direction as they work on making the District a safer place. What really caught my eye is that this system was done not through a lawmaker’s bill or internal recommendation- but through Georgetown business owner Ed Solomon who was a victim of a robbery and decided to push the town into distributing information faster. Solomon’s efforts is a real example of what one person can do to contribute to the greater good.

What else does DC need to do to address the crime problem? Technologies like D.C. Police Alert will certainly be helpful but what other steps need to be taken to make our home a safer place?

Stand-Up Comedy hit its boom in the 80’s.  Shows like SNL were bringing sketch comedy to American TVs for a good number of years, and big name acts like  Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, Sam Kinison, and Billy Crystal were both touring to clubs-and thanks to HBO, had specials in constant circulation on TV.

Everyone wanted to be a comedian.  So in the 1990s (when admittedly some great comedy was still happening) there was just…too many.  Cities like DC which had several big name comedy clubs saw demand drizzle and drip-folks weren’t flocking to live shows anymore because, frankly, there was a bit too much exposure and a bit too many people to see.  Now DC has one club, the fabulous Improv which is where I learned how to do some stand up( strong language btw ) and-apart from the occasional appearance at Warner Theater for a mega act like George Carlin-is the only place to see a real headliner in town.

The strange thing is that even though there aren’t a lot of places to play there are a ton of comics in this town-a lot of them very good.  Where are they all you ask?  Well the circuit here in DC is mostly relegated to coffee houses or backrooms in bars once a week.  Open Mic-which is where a schlep like me has to go to learn how to be a good comic-is kind of hard to come by.  Here is a list of the shows available now-you’ll notice a lot of them aren’t in the beltway or even metro accessible making opportunities for a  PT comic such as myself very limited.

Most of the reason I don’t do stand-up anymore is the hassle-Even the guys who do treat you right can only put you on once-tops twice-a month if you are a green like I am:  You’re not filling in the seats with your following yet and its lame to have the same comic come up and do the same thing week in and week out.  Just a few places to play on any given night and an incredible number of comics (one promoter once told me he gets a 150 emails a day looking to get time) makes for long open mic sets (I’ve seen 17 comics do 5-10 minutes each in one night.  Yikes!) and not a lot of opportunity.  No opportunity means no growth as a comic.   No growth as a comic means less and less for you, the audience to see.  So its a problem.

All of this is by way of setting the stage for the punchline-if you will.  John Xereas is Riot Act Entertainment and I’ve always found him to be a pretty good guy.  No longer at HR-57, John has been looking for a new place to open up not just a once a week show-but a full on, 7 nights a week, comedy club. Unfortunately a big box corporation furniture company is also bidding on the place and he fears it isn’t going to go his way.

Now look-I know this is a strange post and some of you might be reading it as “feel bad for my buddy who wants to open a comedy club” but it is a bit more than that.  If you are a person who enjoys comedy, who would like to see more comedy take place or just have a competitor to the Improv in town (and I think this is a situation where competition would help both parties by the way) then I encourage you to read the letter John sent below (after the jump) and help act.  If not-hey, no worries.  I don’t know if it will do any good, but if you would like to give a try, as I am, then I invite you to do so.

Thanks and Happy Halloween everybody!

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Sarah Palin and Barack Obama will each be making appearances in Virginia this week intent on winning the battleground state for their respective tickets. My prediction is that Obama takes it, but feel free to disagree.

• Sarah Palin will be at Salem Football Stadium today. Tickets can be had by following the procedure here. The stadium seats 20,000.
• Barack Obama will be at two rallies tomorrow. One will be held at Harbor Park in Norfolk, VA (ticket info), and the other will be held at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA (open to public, details here).

In other words, get your rally on.