I took a walk to Georgetown today, and here is what I found on about six street corners:

Courtesy of Lara Gori

Courtesy of Jim Goldston

Pepsi Max is very similar to Coke Zero. Both have no “sugar” and zero calories, though like the Diet lines they contain the artificial sugar aspartame.  It is definitely worth a try. I would call it superior to Coke Zero and the Diet sodas.

Fun fact from the all-knowing Wikipedia: “In the… Borat TV series, a Pepsi Max factory is… responsible for the decrease in Kazakhstan’s Aral Sea.” It’s nice.

There is much to be excited about next weekend. First on that list is that my mother will be in town. Naturally I want to show her the best time that the DC area can offer. I will be publishing three posts about our destinations (comedy, theater, and food). Suggestions are great, and if you see me at any of these events, be sure to say hi. So without further adieu, the comedy:

ROBIN WILLIAMS @ THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Friday, October 17, 2008 - 9:30pm

This event is sold out, and you will find that tickets are not available anywhere. You won’t even be able to find them on sites like eBay, StubHub, and Craigslist. Fortunately there are two other shows coming up in the area as part of his Weapons of Mass Destruction Tour. I highly recommend trying to get tickets to his show at the Landmark Theater in Richmond, VA on Thursday the 16th, and to his show at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, MD on Thursday the 23rd. For those of you who have not yet seen Williams stand-up, do yourself a favor and check out this Youtube clip.

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LEWIS BLACK: LET THEM EAT CAKE @ PATRIOT CENTER, FAIRFAX, VA

Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

This event is not sold out, so GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! Though Lewis is becoming increasingly well-known through his work on Comedy Central, it is important to get a sample of his work if you haven’t been exposed to him before. Try this Youtube clip… and this one. He is very political, and very angry. It’s a wildly entertaining combination. The best part is that the tickets are only $30 each- it’s a huge bargain compared to some of the other comics *cough Dane Cook cough*. It is also important to note that Lewis Black has no other events scheduled in this area well into 2009, so catch him now.

In regards to the title of this post- Gotham City was the first thing I thought of when I thought of a place with a lot of crime. Thanks to Domino’s Pizza for characterizing the city as such in those Dark Knight commercials.

Ok so any who Fritz Hahn over at the Washington Post just wrote about the rising crime in the popular night time destination. Reading the post made me connect the dots on a lot of stories I’ve heard in the local news. Fellow bloggers are also taking notice.

Hahn makes a really good point that I wanted to emphasize- it appears that a lot of the incidents are happening not on the heavily traveled 18th and Columbia streets- but the shady side streets that surround the area. It only makes sense, unless you are Pacman Jones, there probably won’t be anything happening around bouncers, secruity, and crowds of drunken people. Now I meant robberies when I write this- I’m sure lots of things are happening around drunk people, especially in Adams Morgan.

Adams Morgan has never been known for its saftey record- but I’m not saying stay away from the place as we all begin the long Columbus Day weekend. I’m just saying use your head and common sense and be safe if you do decided to walk down 18th street this weekend.

“Congratulations to the Washington Nationals for not being the first to lose 100 games this year.” Those are the paraphrased words that can be found in in my colleague Patrick’s recent season wrapup for the Nats. Now the team is faced with an important off-season during which they will have to rebuild. There are some important things I’d like to note about the coming off-season. Please feel free to weigh in.

• The Nationals MUST re-sign Odalis Perez (SP). Though he did not win as many games as was expected (7-12), he is cheap, and most importantly he wants to be here. Not many clubs in the situation of the Nationals can boast a veteran pitcher who wants to stay despite the lack of contention. His influence on young pitchers has been phenomenal. Re-sign him now!

• The Nats must let go of Aaron Boone. As a recent transplant from the New York area, I can sympathize with Boone. He gave me, along with millions of others, one of baseball’s greatest moments. But it is difficult to ignore the fact that he gets hurt an awful lot, and does not regularly make it through the season. His veteran influence will be missed, but there are others who can fill his shoes.

• First draft pick this year goes to the Washington Nationals. Think about how similar the Nats of today are to the Devil Rays of the not-so-distant past. The youth movement is alive and well in DC.

• A look at the Nationals depth chart reveals a strong set of position players, especially when you consider what guys like Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Zimmerman, and even Nick Johnson will contribute in the near future- they are headed into their prime. There are several faces that need to go, though I’m not sure it will happen in this off-season. Outfielders Willie Harris and Ryan Langerhans are heading into their thirties, and neither have made the transition to the major leagues. The Red Sox ruined Wily Mo Pena by benching him for two years, and he doesn’t fit in DC anyway. Dmitri Young is (unfortunately) locked in through next season, but Nick Johnson is the present and the future. Young’s career is in a nose-dive.

• Pitching is a much more difficult scenario. Though Perez should stay, he is not an ace. Tim Redding is washed up, and he must go. The rest of the staff is very young, and very under-prepared. It is likely that many of them would only be getting spot starts on just about any other major league team. But keep them, and keep them in the majors. They will mature as players, and some may become exceptional. In the meantime, sign two front end pitchers- not necessarily CC Sabathia type aces, but winners.

• I have faith in the Nationals bullpen. They have been shaky, but not horrible as a whole, and the combo of Chad Cordero and Joel Hanrahan promises to be impressive in years to come.

• So here’s my free-agent shopping list for the Washington Nationals this year:

1. Odalis Perez (SP): Resign him.
2. Ivan Rodriguez (C): He is not needed by the Yankees anymore since Jorge Posada will be back. Though Pudge is experiencing a downturn in career numbers, he has a tremendous talent for working with the young pitchers who make up the vast majority of the Nationals staff. He will contribute by getting on base, and he has always performed best on teams outside of the spotlight. He will also come at a bargain price after his mediocre performance in Pinstripes.
3. Adam Dunn (LF): I rarely disagree with Tim Dierkes, but I simply do not believe the Nationals are at the beginning of a “long rebuilding process.” I think that they are nearing the end of one. Nats GM Jim Bowden likes Dunn (they were both Reds at one point) and wants to inject the team with power. That is exactly what the Nationals need. Dunn will drive in a ton of runs, create the kind of adrenaline and fan involvement that only a home-run hitter can, and he will help the Nationals grow into its big market. I don’t really know what there is not to like about Dunn in DC.
4. Freddy Garcia (SP): Now is the perfect time for a club like the Nats to make a move on Garcia. He recently recovered from an injury and pitched fairly well for the Tigers in three games. He will be a major bargain given his time on the DL, but there will be teams after him, especially Detroit. If the Nationals make a bold move and outbid the bargain-hunters, promising Garcia the ace slot, he can be won. Remember, this is a guy with a world series ring who has won between 14 and 18 games five times. Go get him!
5. Oliver Perez (SP): He has not yet mastered consistency, but he is still young- young enough to live up to the tremendous potential that this 180 strikeout season represents, but also old enough to help guide the younger pitchers. Perez will thrive where he can be a leader, as well as a student. He will also have a lot to learn if the Nationals can manage to pair him up with Pudge Rodriguez.

There are very few people who are willing to watch an atrocious baseball team. The Rays, Nats, and Royals can all attest to that. But Washington DC has the potential to be a massive market, particularly with the ease of travel that the Metro system offers. All that is required is some wise money spent along with continuous nurturing of the phenomenal youth movement taking place in the Nationals organization.

And in case anyone is interested, my prediction is Red Sox vs. Dodgers, Dodgers in 6.

A year ago I was excited to see that there would be a Madame Tussauds in Washington DC, now a year later the wax museum is celebrating it’s 1-year birthday. According to the Going Out Gurus you can visit museum for only $1 (which is a whole lot cheaper than the standard $20 ticket price.)

There is a catch however- you have to sing happy birthday to the museum.

Call me spoiled from all of DC’s free museums but I am not a big fan of the expensive prices of some of the other museums here and I will definitely take advantage of this deal while it lasts (it ends Saturday.)

Now time to find someone that can actually go out during the museum’s tourist (but not local resident) friendly hours.

This past weekend (very last minute or I would have altered alerted you dear MetBlog readers) I found myself at the first ever Buffalo Battle-aka the “War of the Wings.”  The scoop?  J. Paul’s Chef Darrell “Big Wing” Hughes faced off against Old Glory’s Chef Richard “The Pit Master” Brooks in a four round cook off to see just who has the better wings.  For the price of admission spectators got two complimentary drinks and (wait for it) all the wings you could eat.  Proceeds went to the very worthy cause of the DC Central Kitchen.

As a native Western New Yorker, both hungry for wings and willing to donate to a good cause, I felt uniquely qualified to show up at this event and cast my own judgment on these so called “Buffalo Wings.”  Yes much like the native of Philly who is fond of saying ”that’s not a real cheese steak”, the Chicago transplant who says “ugh! you call this pizza?” and the New York City tourist that can’t wait to tell you just how much ”better the <fill in just about anything> is in New York”-I too become a food snob when wings are brought into the mix.   Especially when someone calls them “Buffalo Wings.”   

So on this, the alleged anniversary of the Buffalo Wing (Happy 44^th!) allow me to share my thoughts with you:

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Hey, have you gone to your local ANC meeting lately?  Everyone should go at least once, in the interest of seeing the sausage made.  DC.gov even has a handy page where you can find your local ANC meeting calendar. 

R. went to 1C last night to hear the public safety report, after the hilarious attempted armed robbery on the street renamed two and a half years ago that wasn’t in the 911 system.  (But is now.)  And he wanted find out about plans to shut down the uptick in crime the past couple of weeks, but that will be at the Public Safety meeting on Friday.  The stats passed out last night show a 3x rise in assaults and a 5x rise in robbery with a gun in the last month, just in our little PSA.  Wow.

But there were good things, too.  Public art to be installed at 18th and Columbia.  It won’t affect the Kiosk, which is apparently the third rail of 1C politics.  And–bonus–SmartBikeDC is expanding into Adams Morgan.  Groovy!

The Kiosk, surviving traffic lane construction with aplomb.

I have noticed that Rock Creek Park has recently finished some construction to repair some sections of parkway- now there’s a possibility there may also be a big crater in the middle of it.

I was watching the local news and there was a breaking news story on a suspicious package that could possibly be a grenade.

WJLA says that 16th Street between between Longfellow Street NW and Colorado Avenue is closed and police are on the scene.

You may want to avoid that area today.

UPDATE:The Washington Post reports that it the grenade, which was real, was taken care of by the military. Always helpful having those types of people around Washington DC for situations like this.

FotoWeek DC’s photo contest ends tonight 11:59 p.m. PDT, so East Coast amateur and professional photographers have until the early morning hours to submit their best images for Spirit of Washington DC, Best of Show and Gold, Silver and Honorable Mention awards in categories including commercial/advertising art, architecture, fine art, personal project, photojournalism/editorial and wedding. Prizes total $37,000 and include cash and goodies like Chrome Imaging and Penn Camera shopping sprees. Finalists will also be exhibited at FotoWeek’s central hub in Georgetown.

The city’s so-called “premier photography event of 2008″ could arguably transcend any other from any year. Featuring a slew of sponsors from the national and regional photography, art and culture scene, the November 15-22 event will feature citywide lectures, workshops, exhibitions, portfolio reviews and will end with a Saturday gala at the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Auditorium.

The DC Fotoweek Blog highlights sponsors, exhibit spaces and event news.

“Muddy” Ruel tags out a Philadelphia Athletics player at Home Plate in 1925.  These Senators went 96-55 to win the American League and make their second straight World Series.  A far cry from today’s Nats.

So in the height of Redskins football madness, you may have missed that the Washington Nationals ended their season with the same whimper of loss that could be heard through most of their games- 102 games in fact.  Along with the distinction of being this year’s worst team in baseball (not the only 100 game loser, but the only team to not break 60 wins) comes the dismal news of 6 coaches getting fired and the continued beating the team takes over having disappointing numbers in attendance and ratings.   

Everyone seems to have lost hope for the Nats-even our very own Patrick.

But not me.  Call me nutty.  Call me an optimist.  Call me completely out of touch with the real world and how baseball works.  All three do apply-but I do think there are good things to take away from this season.

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