Been cooped up in the house all winter watching DVDs? Need an elixir for that cabin fever? What better way to enjoy the improving weather than a trip to the AFI to catch any number of their line-up of films scheduled for March and April…

Fans of Martin Scorsese might be interested in the triple feature presentation of the Infernal Affairs trilogy of Hong Kong thrillers scheduled for Friday, March 9th—the smash hit original on which The Departed was based, and for which Scorsese finally won his first Oscar last weekend. Four actually: Best Picture, Director, Editing, and Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published. March will also mark one year since Scorsese was in town for an appearance, concluding a series on his remarkable body of work. Infernal Affairs and both sequels are scheduled to play independently over the following week.

March 23rd through April 24th will feature the Fred Zinnemann Centennial Series, including such classics as The Search, Act of Violence, High Noon (Best Actor: Gary Cooper), From Here to Eternity (Best Picture), A Man For All Seasons (multiple Oscars), and Day of the Jackal. If you prefer older films, this one should be right up your alley. April 29th marks the 100th year since Fred’s birth.

Also in March and April, master craftsman of Japanese cinema, Kenji Mizoguchi, will be featured. If that isn’t enough, starting Sunday, March 18th, local ABC arts and entertainment reporter Arch Campbell will host some of his favorite picks. His first selection is one of my personal favorites. If you have never had a chance to see Being There on the big screen, then make sure to mark this one down on your calendar. These films also include an introduction and Q&A session afterwards.

And there’s more where this came from, I’ve only highlighted what I thought was most interesting. Visit the AFI Web site for more information and schedules. Enjoy those flickers!

How many of us were glued to our television screens this morning, eyes wide in incredulity, mouths open in astonishment at the scene before our eyes as an utter eejit weaved in and out of traffic? The Washington Post reported on the routine traffic stop that turned into an hour long car chase through several counties and in and out of the District.

WRC shows live video footage taken by WBAL-TV’s helicopter in relation to their coverage of the incident.

Metro was a mess yesterday, so I skipped the Orange Line and took a taxi to meet up with a friend in Arlington, but it turned out that said friend got stuck on a Blue just short of Rosslyn and eventually had to cancel because no Orange Line trains were coming. Generally, it seems that when any line outside of the Red has a major problem, the delays cascade to the other non-Reds, since Orange runs with Blue, Blue merges with Yellow, and Yellow joins with Green, so later that night it was with trepidation that I descended into the Southwest Waterfront Metro — in time to see my train pulling out of the station, with an indefinite wait for the next one. (The signs were just showing the time, no arrival info.)

So I walked home. Yeah, it was DC at 10pm, and I thought I would get mugged at least twice, but the path up to the National Mall was well lit, patrolled often by MPD, and I spotted a few other people out and about whom I wouldn’t have expected would be out. A jogger was doing jumping jacks outside the American Indian Museum. The Capitol Terrace and Grant Memorial were deserted, the Capitol Reflecting Pool thawed and populated by sleeping ducks, the normal traffic of DC quieted to a hiss, surprisingly devoid of firetruck sirens for the evening.

So thanks for FUBARing yesterday, DC Metro. I got a nice, relaxing evening walk, and I saved $1.35 which would otherwise have been spent deep underground in a station listening to over-loud Metro Transit Police security reminders while waiting for a train that could have taken longer to arrive than it took to go on foot.

What’s that, Metro? Another track fire near Farragut North and doors opening themselves mid-transit, you say? Well, maybe I’ll save another $1.35 and walk again, then.

photo courtesy of Dr Sketchy

After looking at the entry for this thursday’s media maker happy hour event I surfed a little around Upcoming and came across this entry for yesterday’s today’s Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School at Showbar. Shoot! I’ve seen Molly Crabapple‘s work linked off Warren Ellis’ site in the past – an art class presented by her would be very interesting. Plus, any excuse to go to the Palace of Wonders is a good one in my book. And maybe that whole burlesque model thing might motivate me a little too, kinda

Did any of you make it out for this event?

UPDATE: Whoops! When I didn’t see it on the Dr Sketchy schedule of upcoming events listing my brain decided it must have already passed and today is Wednesday. Unfortunately I can’t make it tonight – anyone going and want to give us a review?

This morning I woke up to an eerie sound outside the bedroom window.

“Twit-twooo-wooo-hooo”

Upon closer investigation, I was staring into the sad little eye of a dove, preening on the windowsill. Completely oblivious to my presence, it called and called, fluffing up its feathers, bowing.

My cat started to go wild, meowing and winding around my legs.

And then suddenly a second dove appeared, and the two did the most intricate dance of bobbing heads as if they were kissing each others’ cheeks. From my windowsill to the neighbors and back again, the courtship continued long after I finally had to break away and get ready for work.

I often wonder about wildlife in the city. I remember my junior year at CUA an eagle made a nest in the eaves of the Hartke Theatre. The doves are now making a home for themselves on my roof and windowsills. Maybe they’ll even make a nest outside my bedroom window. My home, their home.

One thing is for certain. Spring is coming…

Have you every wondered how many online dating profiles are there in Washington DC? Back in my single days, it was a great guessing game that my crew and I would debate when not hunting.

Now that the clock-stopping hottie has my heart, I’m no longer in the game, but I do know exactly how many people are using Salon Personal Ads to look for love in the District of Columbia.

Thanks to their profile sorting system, we now know there are exactly 9,555 online profiles registered as DC residents.

Better yet, Salon Personals will even break them down into groups. There are the usual men seeking women or couples seeking a woman, but the stats get interesting as the kink factor increases.

Do you want to know exactly how many:

• Couples (2 women) seeking Men
• Couples (2 men) seeking Women
• Women seeking Couples (man and woman)

then take the jump to see the full list of who is seeking who in DC online personal ads.
(more…)

At Shirlington Library

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

I pulled off 395 heading for the house the other night when I ran into the nigh-blinding glow of the blue light tower that’s attached to the new Shirlington Library. Even from the distance of a tenth of a mile or so, the glow coming off the light tower is just blinding. It dominates the entire Shirlington village, even drowning out the white lights in the naked trees.

What’s it for? What’s it supposed to be? Damned if I know. But, as it gently throbs, I’m calling it the Blue Cylon Tower until someone tells me its real name.

A good portion of Georgetown (or at least the eastern section of it) has no power whatsoever. The street lights are out, the traffic lights are out, the fire engines are going and all manner of havoc is going on downtown today. Between this, the Metro being all fucked up, this is going to be a nasty, nasty commute home.

What the hell happened, DC?!

Last Sunday, I read an article in the Washington Post entitled What D.C. Means to You: A Survey, Not an Essay. Coincidentially, Rebecca Pawlowski of the Washington, DC Convention and Tourism Corporation contacted D.C. Metblogs on 1 February with information the aforementioned article covered.

“…also connecting that with what residents see and feel every day. It’s whether you want to be a tourist or a traveler and how someone would want to experience a city. You either get the veneer or you get the rich mahogany.”

Share Your D.C. is devoted to finding out what exactly its residents and fequent visitors love about D.C. and why we stay or keep coming back. What makes D.C. sparkle in our eyes? Where are our favourite places? What are our favourite things to do? When out-of-towners come to visit, where do we take ’em?

Take a minute or two to complete the survey and tell someone like me, who’s still relatively new to D.C., what’s so great about this City.

The Metro appears to be broken, yet again. There’s a major service disruption between Smithsonian and Federal Triangle, essentially cutting the Orange and Blue lines in half. According to the Metro Delays site: “Station closed and bus shuttle service requested due to an emergency situation.. “ No idea yet if this will wreck your rush hour commute, but I’m guessing Metro’s gonna suck tonight.