So earlier this month I wrote about Obama’s visit to Ray’s Hell Burger. I thought it was really cool that The President ate lunch at a place down the street from me.

Now it’s clear that he’s a burger guy- while being filmed for a NBC News documentary, Barack Obama stopped by a local Five Guys (which I think is better than Hell Burger) and ordered up some lunch. He took orders from all his advisers, and Brian Williams sneaks in an order as well.

When I first wrote about his Hell Burger visit, I joked around the office that he now needs to visit Five Guys, looks like we was listening. So what other DC eateries does he need to try out?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1TxMKaYHYA[/youtube]

(thank to Politico for the video link)

Siiigghhh.   WMATA has shot down the proposal I wrote about a few weeks ago regarding vendors at Metro stations-well, food vendors anyway.  The discussion regarding dry cleaning etc. has been tabled.

Well, not really-I’ll just keep eating on Metro like I always have (carefully and cleaning up after myself).  I guess Metro just doesn’t want any of the money I spend on food and drink before I get on the train.

Oh right, they could fine me I guess-but in 7 years of living in this city and riding the train I have never even seen someone get in trouble for eating on the train-let alone been fined myself.  Metro’s very own paper bag law-as far as I can tell, as long as they don’t see it they don’t care-and that’s the way we’ll continue to play it.

This does seem to be, however, what the people want so I will keep my complaining to a minimum.  Hopefully the revised proposal without food will pass and other types of vendors will be allowed in a few of the stations.

Okay, quick caveat before I get into this: Can we get some of the Scripps kids to go down to Nationals Park and teach them how to spell?” Seriously-if some of these kids don’t have jobs by the end of the week teaching the college educated marketing people that mess this stuff up I will pul owt mah hare. Srsly.

Oh, and a refresher on where to find the letter “W” wouldn’t be a bad tip either.

Back to the story though, watch this: Note: Link and Video are same-in case one doesn’t show up.

Also-Thanks to Metblogs reader “RowdyYates” for the vid link!

Yesterday this story about a drug dealer who got busted in Florida broke. He mentioned both the Nationals and Capitals (but not the Redskins) as teams he had sold drugs too.  Or, more accurately-he had sold them to Nationals and Capitals players.  After he said this he promptly shut up and said nothing else.

This is like a stranger coming up to you and saying “uh yeah, your mom has been cheating on your father” and then walking away.  It’s shocking, provoking and, ultimately, not worth the attention it will demand from you.  The Capitals have already denied the allegations, and frankly if the Nationals are on ‘roids it would be a sad, sad thing indeed-none of which is the point.

The point is that a person with a lot of incentive to lie (no better way to string along your prosecution and set yourself up for a deal down the road then to implicate sports teams in drug use) and is not a particularly trustworthy source (ahem, drug dealer) has kinda/sorta probably made up a story.  Or, at least that’s how I’ll view it until something more comes along.

The trend with athletes seems to be going through team doctors or close family sources-not just some guy in Florida.  Further-these might be members of the farm teams of either club, or people long since traded away (this guy has been at it at least ten years now) and not regular starters we have come to know and love (and loathe).

That said-if someone on these teams needs to take the fall, I hope it’s the Nationals bullpen.  It might be the best way to get them off the team.  For now though, my diagnosis is a bunch of baloney (or bologna) and to limit your intake as much as possible.

Thanks to flickr user Andrew Huff for this photo of reigning Philly US Air Guitar Champ Windhammer.

If you get up on stage and fake playing a song, a la Ashlee Simpson or  Milli Vanilli and you will lose your Grammys and never sell a CD MP3 again-except ironically, of course.

But get up on stage and blatantly put on recorded music and also PRETEND to be holding an instrument-and you’ll sell a hell of a lot of tickets.

Some how air guitar has gone from being something we did to entertain ourselves in front of the mirror and transformed into something people will pay good money to see.  Somehow both more fake and more real than a guitar game like Guitar Hero (both of which take a lot less talent and effort than say, I dunno, playing the guitar for real?)-air guitar is a thing now.  With it’s own contest and governing board and everything.

And it’ll be at the 9:30 Club on Friday (at 8pm).

Yes, go watch (or participate!) in the Washington DC regional of the US AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIP.

Okay-so this whole fad strikes me as a bit too much hipster for my taste, but it probably is something to see at least once.  Just read that partial article on the main page for US Air featuring Air-Guitarist “Windhammer

Windhammer’s left hand was a blur. His right hand dashed up and down the invisible fretboard, furiously articulating chords in unprecedented contortions. If anyone witnessing the light-speed riff even had a chance to wonder what the hurry was, the abrupt emergence of the solo answered their question.“

And here I would have thought that the guy was just making it up.  Alas, I would have been wrong-apparently the emperor does in fact shred in his new clothes.

Any Metblog users going/participating?  I want to hear from you-what am I missing here?  Is this like LOST or soccer where you need a little background info to know and appreciate what is going on?  Enlighten!

(and for the record, I always used a tennis racket-I never felt comfortable with just air…)

In the meantime, here is air guitar in it’s natural, moving, element…

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G F-A-L-E!

Even before an unhealthy amount of LOLCats I was an awful speller, and always a little put off by people who were good at it.  Why devote yourself to the memorization of such mundane sequences of letters and rules about which ones go where when there was spellcheck?  And even when you spell something incorrectly, you have about a 93/100 chance that the person reading what you rote knows wat you are takling about anywae.
See what I mean :)

That said, these days I’m impressed by it.   Scripps is in town folks-and I wouldn’t want to mess with any of these kids on a Scrabble (or Wordscraper or whatever) board.  The “twitchy little freaks” as Mr. Tony Kornheiser likes to call them are indeed a spectacle to behold.  The competition started Tuesday, and is on TV today, tomorrow and the finals on Friday night.

Or, if you need some lunch money, I know where you could find about 293 kids who are used to forking it over…kidding! kidding!  Don’t go beat up spellers for money!  That have very aggressive parents who won’t take kindly to you ruining what they have worked very, very hard…I mean what the KIDS have worked very, very hard to accomplish for them…the kids of course, not the parents.

In the meantime, check out the wiki page for a list of winners and words they won with.

Preparations for Artomatic are in full swing, but as you can see from the snap at left taken late Monday evening, not everyone has finished installation.  The deadline to get everything put up and nailed down is 10 pm tonight, so you can bet things will be in full swing at 55 M Street, SE all evening.

The show opens this Friday, May 29 and runs through July 5.   It couldn’t actually be more convenient; the building is right on top of the Navy Yard Metro and is just down the block from Nationals Park.  Despite the photo, things are actually mostly in place, and there is — as always — some breathtaking art interspersed with some of the craziest things you’ve ever seen.  But hey! There are four bars, four stages, and over a thousand visual artists and 600 performing artists.   And a Zombie Prom!  What could be more fun?  Artomatic will clearly be the place to see and be seen this June in DC.

Artomatic is a month-long art festival in DC that is free to the general public celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Monument Realty and the Capitol Riverfront BID have provided a brand-new 275,000 square foot building to host Artomatic, right next to the Nationals Stadium. The event features nine floors of visual and installation art, theater performances, dance and comedy, three music stages, street performances such as fire dancing and drum troupes, and a film screening theater. Workshops and seminars are held all month long and special events such as the Washington Post’s Peeps diorama finalists, Box Racing, body paint shows, and a no-holds-barred Art in Fashion Show.

Edit (I forgot the date and time-D’oh!):

Saturday, May 30th – Sunday, May 31st, 2009
11:00 am – 6:00 pm each day

Okay, so Patrick usually does these and my brain is a little fried from yesterday’s 8 hour car ride back from Bethany Beach, Delaware (hopefully you all found something a little bit better to do on your Memorial Day).  This exhaustion might explain why today’s DC Daily item is both on a weekend and in Virginia-but hey, this is what you’re going to get out of me today.

The Vintage Virginia wine festival is awesome, even if you hate wine (although, you’ll probably have less fun if you don’t like wine).  Each year what seems like nearly every winery in the Commonwealth (I counted nearly 50) comes to a big old field in Centerville and puts on a party.  There are performers, food vendors, massage therapists, artists and, oh yeah, wine.

And if you’re worried that this is some sort of stuffy wine tasting event with everyone standing around in fancy clothes eating cheese and talking about palettes and stuff-well that is sort of true, but not stuffy really.  Vintage VA definitely is more of a PARTY than a party, but not obnoxious-enough people running around to make you feel like a part of something and yet enough space to just be with your group.

And the wine is amazing.  50 some odd vendors x 4-5 bottles of wine to sample at each vendor=please have a designated driver.  It also means rock bottom prices on bottles of wine.  My usually plan of attack is to visit a bunch of vendors early, mark which ones I want and then limit myself to buying no more than a case total (I make it last most of the year, don’t worry).

Tickets are $25 in advance ($30 at the gate) and cheaper for kids, DDs and other non-parkaters of the grape.   They include a tasting glass and all the wine you can taste.

And for you “I’m scared of Virginia” folks, let me assure you that it is not nearly the drive you think it is and they leave the DC/VA gates open all weekend, so you’ll be able to get home.   So get your car group together and draw lots for who’s going to be sober-should be a great time!

Filling in for Patrick while he’s taking a well deserved vacay:

Via Deadspin-take a look at this wonderfully symbolic view of the Nationals season from last Saturday’s night game against the Phillies.  Stinking wet, heavy tarp-you run forward until you get stuck, run back, run forward and get caught by an air bubble only to finally finish a little to late to protect the field.

If you’d like to brave the possibility of rain, the “Beltway Series” (I honestly can’t believe this merits a wikipedia page) is currently underway against the equally unimpressive (but our city is better than theirs) Baltimore Bore-ioles at Nationals Park.

Jaclyn Young, Katie McManus, Kat Brais, and John P. Loughney

It’s only fitting I sit here with my wife-beater on as I write this.

Coincidentally it was the same outfit I had on when I trekked up to Kensington to check out Kensington Arts Theatre‘s production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical. I thought it would be fun to dress up and enjoy a show that sounded like it was going to be… quite trashy. I mean with a title like that, you aren’t expecting suspenseful drama.

I was happy to see I wasn’t the only one in costume as I walked in.

KAT truly transformed their space to fit the atmosphere of the show, from the beer cans and beach chairs scattered about to the hour dourves (Pringles and spray can cheese) that was served by the Choreographer (Catherine Oh) who was in bathrobe and curlers.

It was trailer park class I could belive in.

I noticed other audience members were in costume as the show got underway, creating a fun environment to enjoy the show. A show which I was already enjoying well into their first number, “This Side of the Tracks.”

Director Evan Hoffmann brought out all the cliches, stereotypes, and redneck jokes that makes Trailer Park such an entertaining show. The whole performance is a well executed, fast paced romp that is sure to keep you laughing all night. Be sure to keep your ears open, the show is full of clever lines and entendres that makes Trailer Park such a well written piece.

Malinda Ellerman as Jeannie Garstecki

Malinda Ellerman as Jeannie Garstecki is absolutely adorable and performs with energy and passion as the agoraphobic wife of Norbert Garstecki (Patrick McMahan.) In usual white trash fashion, Norbert is caught between his panic stricken wife and his new neighbor, Pippi (Jennifer Lambert), a sultry stripper who is on the run from her crazy ex-boyfriend Duke (John P. Loughney.) The show goes through so many twists and turns you’ll feel like you are on an episode of Jerry Springer… which the show quickly points out in the number “The Great American TV Show.”

The entire tale is told through a trio of storytellers (Kat Brais, Katie McManus,  and Jaclyn Young) who also get their moment to shine through impressions, side jokes, and solos. The three almost steal the show with their antics and reminded me of a redneck version of The Supremes.

Rounding out the ensemble are Darnell Morris and Mark Hidalgo who play rather silent, but by no means unforgettable roles. Pay special attention to them towards the end of the show.

Besides serving the hour dourves,  Catherine Oh has also done a fine job with the Choreography- making creative usage of toilet brushes in the Flushed Down the Pipes number. (A choreography side note, I was personally delighted to see a brief homage to Beyonce during one of the numbers. You’ll have to go watch to see what I’m talking about.)

If you need something to do this weekend I highly endorse escaping the city life of DC and checking out The Great American Trailer Park Musical, it will be a performance you are going to walk out loving.

The Great American Trailer Park Musical
Kensington Arts Theatre
3710 Mitchell Street
Kensington, MD 20895
May 21, 22, 23 (8 PM show)
Adult $20/Students & Seniors $17/Children & Residents $13
http://www.katonline.org/

DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM??!

Tony Kornheiser, Washington D.C. resident and national sports writing talking icon, has lost one of his two jobs. 

And yeah, yeah it’s sad and all that Mr. Tony will no longer be in the Monday Night Football booth, replaced by former Bucs coach John “Thank you for the Super Bowl team Mr. Dungy” Gruden.  But that’s not the story.  That’s not the thing to be excited about.

The thing to be exited about DC, the real reason this merits a blog post is the likely (please I hope to God, seriously this needs to happen) return of The Tony Kornheiser Show to radio.  Dozens upon dozens of radio listeners are rejoicing at the idea that this news might herald the return of the single greatest radio show the Washington D.C. are has ever heard.  Ever.

Mr. Tony is an old man (or at least he says so) and the prospect of doing a radio show, PTI and MNF was too much-particularly since his fear of flying meant travel by bus across the country.  It was just too much on his orange headed body to do it all, so the TKS (the job that paid the least) had to go.  

TKS had this kind of Eggnog quality to it:  Delicious, can’t get enough-but only available for a limited time.  Each January we would tune in and each May/June we’d plead with our radios for Tony not to go.  The promise was one day MNF would “wise up” and replace him in the booth with someone who knew football and he would come back and do the radio show. 

So we watched the skies, looking for signs that the prophecy would be fulfilled-and now that day seems to have come.   The most recent “Talking Points” both Wilbon and Kornheiser (May 18th and 19th episodes) seem to indicate that this is a “fo sho.” 

More about the show after the jump, if you’re interested.

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