If there was one “Interim” we could take out of a DC title, it would’ve been Dan Tangherlini at Metro, not Jim Bowden of the Washington Nationals, who is pretty much the mental midget of the baseball GMs out there. Kasten, according to the Post, said:

“Jim is very smart,” Kasten said last night at RFK Stadium. “By smart, I mean analytical.”

If by analytical, you mean doesn’t know the odds on driving drunk and getting caught, or can’t pick a team that’ll win more than half their games, or maybe even doesn’t bother to talk to Soriano about switching positions before trading for him and announcing the change.

Oy. Are we really stuck with this guy?

Are you tired of Wet Washington? Might you be like me, doubly douced after a week in Typhoon Taipei? Are you scared to look at Accuweather’s DC forecast, for fear of finding another weekend washed away?

Well, let me ease your mind, and give you reason to celebrate. Look at the great vision below. Nice eh?

Now be quick, and head to the Bling Bling Giant for the needed margarita mix, its gonna be a long pool party weekend!

For the sixth year in a row, the Republicans beat the Democrats in the Congressional Baseball Game. Last night’s final score was 12-1. Roll Call has the game story (subscription required). Team Wonkette was as well.

Check out The House’s Office of the Clerk’s feature for more about the history of the game.

So you’re broke. And you’re hitchhiking from who-knows-where to who-knows-where. What can help you in DC but to be at least a little creative with your pan-handling? Nothing.

I’d say, if you can give this guy a job, do it. He’s creative and he knows a news hook when he sees one, and he might just be a tad bit funny too…

Photo by DC Metroblogger

The DC hazmat team has just shut down Vermont between L street and Scott Circle.

No word on why, I got a curt “hazmat” when I asked and all the buildings on the block are in lock down.

Anyone know more?

photo by maxedaperture

Snooping around the DC Metblogs Flickr Pool, I came across this interesting photo of the week’s flooding. Now I wonder – how did she loose lose her knickers?

Was she aroused by the downpours, lightening exciting her with flashes illuminating her lover in the night? Was it a need to skinny dip with poor clothes-stash planning? Or did a laundry basket float out of a flooded basement?

What’s your theory?

Tomorrow is a big day for the Smithsonian as one building and two museums open. After six years of renovation (it seemed a lot longer), the former Old Patent Office Building, home to the National Portrait Gallery and The American Art Museum, opens its doors again. The old-and-improved building is now known as Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. The NPG Web site had this to say about changes:

In 2000, a six-year renovation of the building began, restoring the Greek Revival building (located between Seventh and Ninth Streets and between F and G Streets) to its original glory and making it a centerpiece of the revitalized downtown district. The completed structure will take full advantage of the building’s many exceptional architectural features, including its porticoes, colonnades, vaulted galleries, and curving double staircase. Upon the building’s reopening in July 2006, visitors will notice some new features as well, including a 346-seat underground auditorium; a conservation lab and art-storage area, both visible to the public; a café; a shared museum store; and a shared main entrance for both museums on F Street.

Today’s Post has more on the reopening as well.

This intermingling of spaces, with the division of real estate based on what looks best where, and not an arbitrary slice down the middle of the cake, is part of a newfound spirit of cooperation between the two museums, whose relationship has not always been harmonious. Shared spaces include the 346-seat Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium and the Lunder Conservation Center, a new, one-of-a-kind facility that will allow the public to watch conservators do their jobs preserving art behind the windows of state-of-the-art, glassed-in workshops. (Like the Isaac Mizrahi-designed aprons? They’re available in the first-floor gift shop, another shared space.) Eventually, the museums will also have joint use of the enclosed Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, a year-round gathering spot scheduled to open in late 2007, once the undulating canopy by architect Norman Foster is finished being installed.

The museums will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., giving Verizon Center patrons a chance to peak inside before 7:05 games and concerts.

The American Art Museum also has a blog, Eye Level up and running.

Special feature from The Post: Renyolds Center

Photo by DC Metroblogger

This is the newest member of the DC Metblog crew. Please give a hearty welcome to Trudi.

She is a little shy but a few (dozen) beers will let her loose on us and soon, you.

Now give her a moment and read her Improv post.

Take a close look at this photo. Note how that’s a freshly made curb cut, the concrente is still gleaming white. Now note the big-ass Jersey barriers sitting on it.

Just what series of events led to that odd juxtaposition?

Was it a homeowner, impatient with the slow curb-cut process jumping ahead with construction, only to be stopped by the city? Or was it a city action where one department didn’t tell the other what it was doing?

Either way, this curb cut, a few feet from the corner of 17th and P Streets NW will not be in use anytime soon.

Johnny Rockets

Its lunchtime. Are you hungry? Might you want to enjoy

“a place where [you] can escape today’s complicated world and experience the food, fun and friendliness reminiscent of feel-good Americana”?

If so, you will so be in luck. Johnny Rockets is about to open on Connecticut Avenue, just above Dupont Circle, in the old Burrito Brothers space (what ever happened to BB anyway?).

How might Johnny Rockets be different from any other burger joint and earn its title of “the Original Hamburger.” How about this claim off its website:

Johnny Rockets’ hamburgers can be made more than 1 million different ways. Favorite toppings include Tillamook Cheddar cheese, crisp onion rings, grilled onions and all-meat chili.

Hmm.. More than 1 million ways? I think I taste a great lawsuit from a very bored and hungry summer intern.