I’ve heard the Star-Spangled Banner so many ways that it takes something really quite unique to surprise me. I’ve heard six part male harmony, I’ve heard it performed by a tuba quartet. I’ve heard it sung by little kids, I’ve heard it played on an expensive and rare violin. I’ve heard renditions so good that the hairs on the back of my neck prickled with emotion, and I’ve heard renditions so bad that they offended me personally.

To say that I’m a bit of a connoisseur of the National Anthem is a bit of an understatement. But, Tom, you say, can you really complain until you’ve tried out yourself?

No. Despite my music degree, despite my years of choral and solo voice, I’ve never performed it for a live audience, save those within the sound of my voice when I sing along at baseball games and other sporting events. It’s a nerve-wracking experience standing down on the field and singing into the giant expanse of a stadium, I’m sure. But I decided it was time to buck up and give the audition a try.

Read on to find out about the audition

I couldn’t help but think, as Ryan Zimmerman rounded first, his fist triumphantly thrust in the air, that I would not have written the ending quite as well as it had come out. With the remaining crowd on their feet and cheering, despite the bitter cold and wind, the new ballpark became the Nationals new Home.

I arrived at the Stadium in 40 minutes today, some hour and twenty minutes more quickly than our Saturday debacle, and after making it through a thorough, yet friendly, search of my person and camera bag, it was onward into the stadium. The Braves were taking batting practice. The concourse was full of Nats Pack handing out game booklets and stadium information, as well as a number of photographers taking fan photos and capturing the new ballpark.

I settled into Section 108 to watch the Braves put on a hitting show. The ball was carrying well into the outfield, and several lucky fans got souvenirs to take home. Around 6, I headed up to get a Kielbasa and a Coke from the stand at the top of our section. There was a bit of a line, but 15 minutes later I had dinner and was a happy guy again. Tiff went for sodas around 6:30 and had a bit of a wait, but everything was happy for the most part. My frustration came at 7:15 when I waited 40 minutes for a Half-smoke All-the-way from the Nats Dogs concession. While the Ben’s Chili Bowl line was horrendous, the other hotdog stands still carry the signature half-smoke with Ben’s Chili, but the line was bad. It moved, sure, but sporadically, and it seemed that concession workers were still getting a feel for their roles, as I saw many people bumping into each other. The only thing they seemed to be short on was popcorn. Tasty as the half-smoke was, it wasn’t worth a 40 minute wait.

I hear the other lines were pretty long as well, but I suspect much will get better as we get further into the season.

The Nationals, despite a solid first inning of offense, went 24 batters out in a row, between their last hit in the 1st and Zimmerman’s homer with 2 outs in the 9th. I was hoping for a bit more offense out of the club. But, the pitching held true, and kept the Braves from doing little to catch up to the 2-0 lead. Lo Duca’s passed ball in the 9th was a real heartbreaker, and at least one guy in our row wondered what Rauch was doing on the mound instead of the Chief. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Part of me wondered, as my friend Ben said to me later, if we weren’t all in some shared hallucination, seeing what our minds wanted to happen, instead of some sadder truth. I’m thankful it was real.

Read on for a status report on the ballpark
(more…)

It’s that time of year again. Our area’s arguably largest tourist pull, the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Yes, yes, everyone’s covering it, from Express to DCist. I won’t bore you with a rehash.

Actually, I come with a few questions.

My lovely wife and I have been down every year since we relocated here and frankly, I love it not so much for the blossoms (they’re gorgeous), but moreso to watch and photograph the people. I pick up a lot of great observation vignettes for my own writing; it’s like hitting the writer’s lotto.

This year, we’ve got a couple of good friends headed down from New York City. They’ve never been to the District and will only be here the first weekend of April. So naturally, I got them all excited about the Festival. It helps they’re both photogs, too, so if you see four people (three girls ignoring the one guy with them) wandering around with extensive camera gear, that’d be us. Picture-taking is pretty much a given. So is taking Metro.

Thing is, I’m trying to figure out what else to do on that Saturday before we head over to Old Towne for dinner and staking out a nice patch of marina rail for the fireworks. There’s the photo safaris, but those cost money and we’re decent photo people. So I think that’s out.

I was also considering the Edo Master’s collection at the Sackler. Or possibly the Japanese Cultural Fair, which promises a tea ceremony, origami and calligraphy demonstrations.

So what should I do? Any readers attended these in years prior? Or should I shy away from other Festival events and take them to the standard DC sites we always funnel tourists to? If so, what would you suggest?

Frankly, I’m stumped. It’s the first time we’ve had friends visit who could only stay two days; normally, we have practically a week to show them around or point them somewhere - this is a bit harder.

Oh, and even worse? They’re amateur foodies, like us. So figuring out good spots to eat is also on tap - suggestions for lunch would be appreciated, since none of the ladies have my appreciating taste for the curbside vendors and their cuisine. Dinner’s already planned, so fortunately I don’t look like a total incompetant to our jet-setting New York socialites.

So, anyone have some great suggestions to help a guy out?

Tidal Cherries, uploaded by bhrome

Ok, so it’s been a couple of weeks since my last entry on house-hunting. I’d mentioned then we’d be scouring the I-95 corridor…

Well, nix that idea. Every time I think of commuting up that nightmare stretch of road, I get the shakes and want to vomit. Spending nearly a quarter of my day stuck in a metal cocoon (even if it is a SUV) with other hapless souls just sucks a bit more life out of me.

So I put my foot down. We’re gonna pass. Even the allure of half-price housing just doesn’t do it for me. The fuel cost alone would even out the mortgage savings.

That issue settled, we instead spent some time looking along the Fairfax County Parkway corridor (aka “Rt 7100″ for you locals who think it’s a speedway).

Yes, yes, we’ll look at DC at some point, it’s on the list (looks at Wayan).

We’ve found nothing but depressing sites (save one corner lot). My question is to these faceless foreclosed souls is a simple one, really. Were you THAT greedy a few years back that you bought well above your means to the point that you had to play landlord for a bit? And did you ever hear about “tenant screening”? Using Craigslist doesn’t count, period. My God, these homes looked so abused and malformed… If they were children, I would’ve sworn we were in a Third World country.

I know that if you are trying to short sale, you think it excuses you from cleaning up the place. It doesn’t. It only makes me want to smack you and dissuades me from even considering your house as a viable purchase to save you from the bank. My sympathy turns from your hard-luck case to the sad state of your former home.

And I don’t have the extra $$$ to spend on cleaning up and re-fixing the house.

Good thing we have time to be picky. I’d hate to be doing this with only a month or two to find something.

What about you? Are you more inclined to consider a place that’s at least clean (or attempted as such)? Or is there something worse that turns you off a potential home sale?

For Sale, courtesy of PhotoDu.de

Anybody who has picked up today’s Washington City Paper has probably seen the ballot for “Best of D.C.: Celebrating the Classics 2008″. They are getting in the game with The Washington Post and The Washingtonian, asking readers to vote on what places, things, and cute bartenders make life in DC special and fun.

This has inspired me to finally launch a new series here that I have been mulling for some time.

Here is how this will work: I will take on the challenge of finding the “best in DC” - one thing at a time. Be it cupcakes, shoe stores, or dj nights, I will solicit recommendations of competitors, do some research, and then go try out those which claim to vie for title of “best”.

In other words - one girl’s highly subjective search to sift through mediocrity and mass-name-recognition (is Potbelly really the best sandwich place in town as it is consistently voted - or just the only one that a majority of the voters have been to?) to bring you what I think are the best bets around.

For this to work, I will need a lot of input from you. I want you to send me on missions that you want to read about. In the comments below, I would love to see suggestions of things you want me to review for you! I also need your suggestions of where to go. Do you think you know about the best beer selection in town? Let me know! Hopefully, other people will have different ideas, and I will try to put them all to the test.

One stipulation: I am not finding out the best fetish club. If you want to know, you will have to wait for the City Paper’s results. (Also, I reserve the right not to be sent on any missions I consider immoral or generally icky. You know.)

Also, we are going to need to think of a name. I thought about calling it “The Decider”, but that seems pretty dated at this point…

photo by erin m on flickr

So Sunday was the highly-anticipated Pens-Caps showdown, at least for my household. We managed to secure some last-minute seats thanks to a timely cancellation and firmly planted our Penguin-bedecked selves squarely in Section 428.

Penguin fan central.

Though our section was admittedly more tame than that of 423-425 - sections we’ve sat in previous times we’ve journeyed to these intense rivalry games - it was still wonderful to behold.

See, Penguin fans since time began - ok, since our continual playoff clashes in the ’90s - have always made it a point to flood the MCI/Verizon Center to support our flightless birds of black-n-gold. Sunday was no exception. The idea of making the rival arena our ‘temporary home’ is always appealing. We’re like a virus, after all. Albeit a black-n-gold one.

Though I will admit, the playoff possibilities have energized Cap fans to actually, you know, show up for these games now. No longer do our “Let’s Go Pens!” chants dominate the arena. Still, from where we sat, it was like being at the Mellon Arena all over again….though decidedly more updated, with a nicer scoreboard and bigger sightlines and…

Ok, fine. I’m jealous. Until the ‘guins get their new arena, that is.

Still, I’ve always loved Pens/Caps games. The energy both sides bring to the game is just phenomenal. And wonderfully respectful. I mean, there are grumpy drunks on both sides of the fence, but at least the attacks on each other remain in the verbal realm. No need for either of us to mimic Philly fans, after all. (No offense, Philly readers. But, well, you know.)

The game was electric. Ovechkin, Semin, Crosby and Malkin were all spectacular. And for it to be decided by Backstrom’s errant shot…well, that’s the breaks in hockey. I was, at least, looking forward to an intense OT period and hopefully, a successful shootout afterwards. Though I can live with the actual outcome, too.

Needless to say, though, I do hope the Capitals can pull it together for the playoffs this year. Their trades at the deadline were magnificent, Ovie’s in top form… Yeah, I can honestly say I’d love to see the Caps get into the second round at least.

Because then they’ll face the Penguins. And oh, what a series THAT will be. So never fear, Cap fans - I’ll be rooting for you for the final three games I have tickets for (Atlanta, Boston, Tampa).

Selfish? Of course! After all, I *am* a Penguins fan.

(photo by bcostin)

So as previously mentioned, my wife and I had determined now was the right time for us to look for a home in Northern Virginia. (Considering my decades-long “dislike” of Maryland, it was automatically disqualified.)

This past weekend was our first outing with our Realtor to see what the area had to offer. We stuck to Springfield this weekend; no need to rush hither and yon right out of the gate.

We saw about 8 houses over the course of the last two days. Four were flat-out clunkers, two were ‘ok’, and two were outstanding! So much so we were hard-pressed during a late dinner at Mike’s American Restaurant to decide between the two - supposing we would place an offer so quickly from the start.

Needless to say, I’m amazed - and appalled - at the selection, even within a small five mile radius. Certain neighborhoods seemed to have ‘foreclosure’ or ‘for sale’ signs up nearly every other house. Others, you’d have a hard time finding even one.

A couple of the homes we visited were what I call “tired.” Scuffed walls, small holes, beaten appliances. Lived hard, then left vacant. Homes like that, I assign about $20K of additional “fix-up” money in my head - I’m no handyman, I’m gonna pay some guy to do it for me.

One home in particular you could tell was “rooms rented” - every door had a separate key, the carpet was beat to hell, and it LOOKED like a flophouse on the inside. You’d never know on the outside, though. We ‘passed’ on that one.

There was one place we went to that was still occupied, sorta. The house was a disaster; the two lower rooms were being ‘rented’, and it was just a sad testimony to the overeagerness of some people who bought over their heads and couldn’t keep above water.

Though I will pass on advice to this homeowner(s) - if you’re going to try selling your house, it would *probably* help if you, you know, CLEANED IT UP first. I know you’re supposed to look at the house and not the stuff, but geez! Nothing says “no way in hell” like old food along the baseboards, dirty clothes everywhere, and piles of junk “hidden” in the garage.

Bottom line? This first outing I’d give a B+. Two great possibilities, 4 disappointments. Prospects are looking good, though. I am really encouraged regarding the homes available for our projected price range.

Next week: the I-95 corridor (unless plans change).

This is Thomas. He is getting married soon so tonight is his bachelor party.

In his hand is the Force Cup. A sexy toy I bought for Tom in a NoVA CVS.

Do note that the night is still young and Tom is still sober. Later, expect Tom to be much more compromised and the photos to be quite blurry.

I took one look at my car this morning and flashed back to the awful traffic I sat in for 90 minutes trying to go to class last night. It wasn’t pretty. There was screaming. But the roads are better today, and with the Feds on a 2 hour delay, and a bunch of schools doing the same, I think we’re in for a peculiar commuting day. Especially when the rain turns to snow for evening rush.

Two Local Reps Unseated in Primary

For many of us, there was only one ballot option yesterday: President. However, for at least one congressional district in Maryland, there were also primary challenges against their incumbent representative, and two of the incumbents were sent packing: 8-term Congressman Albert Wynn and 9-term Congressman Wayne Gilchrest.

Why not? We already have a bunch of crazy sports figures, what’s one more?

Sure, Chad Johnson is certifiable. But then again, so is Dan Snyder, so why not bring his chocolate to our peanut butter and make a great big ol’ crazy sandwich? Just what this town needs is a guy who’s more flash than bang. It’ll work out great! Right?

Right?

Why are you staring at me like that?

400 Student Flu Outbreak at College Park

I’ve got a feeling that if you work at UMD or attend there, you might want to stock up on surgical masks to avoid all the sick folks around you. Or just don’t go to class. That’d work, too.

Tractor Man Remains Free!

Yeah, Tractor Man predates this blog, which is honestly a shame, because it’s probably one of the funniest things I’ve seen happen in DC. He drove a giant tractor onto the Mall to protest tobacco policy, and claimed to have a bomb on board the tractor, which allowed him to raise hell and wreak havoc for 48 hours while the police freaked out, and the rest of us laughed at him.

But, he’ll remain a free man despite what prosecutors considered to be an overly short sentence. That’s fine, though, he may have been crazy, but he’s the kind of crazy this town needs.

I was flipping around area websites, looking for possibilities for the weekend (even though it’s supposed to be rather frigid, it’s nothing compared to my winters in Chicago) and stumbled upon this tidbit of info.

Seems that Mount Vernon has been capitalizing on the success of the recent Nicky Cage movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets. If you’re not familiar with the movie, there’s a scene where our intrepid puzzle-solving hero (Cage) decides he needs to kidnap the President of the United States (played by Bruce Greenwood) and does so at a garden party at Mount Vernon. And it revolves around a ‘hidden passageway’ in one of the estate’s basement rooms.

When I first saw the movie, I do remember commenting to my wife afterwards that in all likelihood, we’ll see several D.C. sites jump on the ‘free’ marketing bandwagon and promote themselves along with the movie. And lo and behold, Mount Vernon did indeed.

This weekend is the last available date you can go visit the site for the scene. There’s no additional cost - it’s included in the regular admission and you can only visit that space on the weekend. General admission to Mount Vernon is around $13 for adults and is well worth the cost - it’s a beautiful estate right on the Potomac.

It’s interesting - as usual - how movies portray things that are out of context with the real world. The room used in the movie, according to the website, was actually “designated as the ‘Cellar Kitchen’ on a plan prepared by George Washington at the time he planned additions to both ends of the building in 1774. This space appears to have been used as a kitchen for the slaves assigned to serve the Washington household.”

No mention of a secret passage, however. And I would suggest if you go check it out, don’t try - I’ve a sneaking suspicion that Hollywood made it all up…