Operation: Take Advantage of D.C.

No, I'm not talking about our überfantastik D.C. public employees. It's not that kind of taking advantage. No, today we're talking food. Good food. Ethiopian food!

Live a little: Dukem makes a mean veggie combo platter
In what I hope will be the first installment of an ongoing series, I am chronicling my adventures at lunchtime in the nation's capital. Since I work downtown at the middle of the Red line (DC Metro's main street, as it were), there is no excuse for sitting behind my desk with my food every day. With so many free (or almost free) things to see and do, literally within walking distance of my office, I'm determined to keep from living life like some schmuck stuck out in an office park in Fairfax all day.

I have already made a couple of trips down to the Smithsonian (the Hirshorn Gallery and the Holocaust Museum), but, alas, forgot my camera. I brought it today so I could share with you my Friday adventure: a trip to U. St./Cardozo and lunch at my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Dukem.

U Street NW is a funny neighborhood. It is the traditionally black entertainment district of the city, but after the 1960s riots, it went downhill fast. What brought it back up to speed was a steady influx of immigrants from Latin America and east Africa (principally Ethiopia and Eritrea). The neighborhood now is an eclectic mix of those cultures combined with African-American holdouts from the '60s and newer, loft-dwelling white couples in fancy new condos.

The neighborhood sports some great bars for live bands, like the Velvet Lounge (my old band played our first gig there), and, of course, good restaurants like Dukem and (although not my taste) the world-famous Ben's Chili Bowl.

Today I feasted on the veggie combo platter comprising spicy split lentils, yellow peas, greens, cabbage, and salad and washed it down with a rich and thick Beck's Dark. The On the TV above me was an old Germany vs. Belarus Euro 2008 qualifier that I hadn't seen. Life for lunch was indeed good today.

Satisfaction on a beautiful Friday

What I hope Sylvie will be when she grows up.

Janet Weiss is the most powerful live drummer I've ever personally seen. Her intensity is really insane. Check out this great close-in video of her with Sleater-Kinney in 1999. Power.
I hope Boo will grow up with the kind of self-confidence and positive vibes that these girls exemplify.

And I'm serious. That drumming is nuts.

I'm switching parties

Well, I'm gonna go for it and register as a Republican* like these fine folks:



*uh, no I'm not.

Rockabilly Hot Rockin'!

My good bud Andrew Ladson has just formed a new rockabilly outfit that you all should know about: The Brokedown Playboys. They are period-correct in the fancy dress department, and the musicianship is insane!

Check out the Brokedown Playboys myspace site here.

We're in lurve!

Joseph David is here!

I am cuteness, hear me roar.

We are so happy to announce that Joseph David has arrived and is doing well. He has a full head of fuzzy blond hair and is just a doll. Sylvie loves his "teeny toes." We love all of him!

Carrie and Fred: Sleaterday Night Live?

Carrie Brownstein (formerly of one of my favorite bands, Sleater-Kinney) and Fred Armisen (of SNL fame) have teamed up to make some amusing videos as ThunderAnt.

"The Perfect Song" is probably the most entertaining of the videos up there, and features a cameo of another third of Sleater-Kinney, Corin Tucker. I had the great experience of interviewing both ladies for a Guitar Player cover story a few years ago, and found them both to be utterly cool and charming. Nice to see that they seem to be doing fine post-Sleater-Kinney.

And speaking of Sleater-Kinney, at Sleater-Kinney.net, you can download live versions of every single song they ever played for free. Very cool!

Good soccer news

First, my game report:

1 goal, 2 assists. Schweet.

Now, in the Premiership, Fulham has somehow managed to win its last four out of five to stay one spot above relegation to the English second division. This means I'll get to see McBride, Dempsey, Keller, and the gang on TV next season. Yes!

Also, Sporting de Gijón, the only Asturian side in the running for promotion to la Primera in Spain, are in third place with six weeks to go...hang in there dudes!!!!

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Guy Ritchie + Soccer = Awesomeatude

Guy Ritchie, who directed a couple of my favorite movies, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, has just put out an ad for Nike Soccer that, for lack of better terminology, simply kicks ass.

Fabregas celebrates with you on your goal
The "mini-movie" is in first-person perspective and takes the viewer on a whirlwind tour of scoring for a small-time club, being signed to and playing for Arsenal, and, finally, playing in a Dutch National Team game versus Portugal.

Ibrahimović mocks your attempt at marking him after scoring on your sorry ass
What makes this commercial so compelling is the on-the-pitch action of real-life European soccer stars such as Arsenal player Cesc Fabregas, Man U. players Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, Inter Milan players Marco Materazzi and Zlatan Ibrahimović, Barça players Ronaldihno and Rafael Márquez (the Barça game is on the Internet-only longer version of the commercial) and Dutch National side players Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder, among others.

Materazzi gives you the one-handed definition of "man marking"
The action scenes are very well-done and give you a good sense of how brutal it must be to play at that level. When Materazzi stiff-arms "you" in the face (see photo above), you can almost feel it, and when "you" score the pick-up pass in front of goal from Fabregas, the exhilaration is undeniable. The killer soundtrack from the Eagles of Death Metal propels the action perfectly.

Sneijder intones one last word of encouragement prior to your free kick
This type of commercial should be incredibly cheesy, I understand that. And maybe if you are not a soccer addict you will get a eau d'fromage. But for me (and I suspect legions of die-hard fans just like me), it really resonates. And it works—I had to hit up the Nikesoccer web site to watch it again (and, I confess, again and again).

Great visit from a dear friend

On Tuesday, one of my good friends, Helen, came to visit us. She's in DC for a convention and gamely made the trek all the way up the Red Line from Ballston to have dinner with Jenny, Sylvia, and me. I met Helen when I was studying abroad in Salamanca, way back in 1991. Who would figure that a West Virginia kid and a California girl would have so much in common?


Since that time, we have stayed in touch via letters, much too infrequent visits, and, these days, email. Regardless of the geographic distance between us, we have remained close friends. She now works for the Lance Armstrong Foundation in Austin, doing some immensely important work (work that includes hobnobbing with Lance and Hillary Clinton), is happy married to a great guy, and is as fantastic to be around as ever.

She has surmounted some seriously daunting obstacles in her life, and even survived a near plane-crash a year ago. Still, she always beams with enthusiasm and zest for living. I can honestly say that she's one of the most inspirational people I've been lucky enough to know. (Plus, Sylvia thought she was super cool from the minute she walked in the door—the killer Austin tee-shirt Helen brought her was a great icebreaker!)

We were all sad that she wasn't able to spend more time with us, and hope to make a trip to Austin when the baby gets ready to travel.

Why Americans Are Overweight

Here's a perfect example of the kind of food logic rife in America:



From The Consumerist.

Soccer is teh cool

I am obsessed with soccer, I think. It's pretty much all I watch on TV lately (other than Good Eats), thanks to a DVR and massive helpings of GolTV, Fox Soccer Channel, ESPN2, and, occasionally, ABC.

I also play every Sunday with a bunch of other soccer-obsessed over-30s in a pickup game on small goals. I usually score a couple times per game (I'm a winger/forward), and this week I scored my team's only two goals: one was a sweet knee-in from a high cross into the box, the other was a simple pickup on a breakaway pass that got through the defense.

When I get home from a game, Sylvie always asks how many goals I scored. If the answer is two, she says "you forgot one." She's my number one coach and motivator, as you can tell....

I'm working on my self-confidence on the ball and trying (in vain, as of yet) to make myself drive to the goal instead of shooting from too far out. It's difficult to keep your composure with defenders trying to catch up to you, as you can imagine, but I'm convinced that I can do it.

I used to only play defense, but decided a few years back to quit pussy-footing around and take charge of my game. Since then, I've only played up front and am now a terrible defender. :-)

There is no real point to this post, other than the fact that I love soccer and wanted to brag about scoring goals. Yes, I am lame. Sue me.

Wow! Can you believe a customer-driven corp.?

In my inbox:

"April 23, 2008

Dear Bolt Customers:

When we began service last month with free WiFi service, many of you (particularly Mac users) had just one request--remove the security key login requirement! Well, we're happy to announce that the key is no longer required on board.

Boltbus remains committed to provide service that is responsive to the needs of its customers, and we hope everyone will now be able to enjoy free WiFi service en route.

Boltbus Customer Service"

It's nice to see a company being run by a team that actually listens to its customers!

BoltBus...the only way to fly.

My Boo

I lurve her.
Photo by Mommy

Clinton...Obama....meh.

Try as I may, I just cannot get jazzed about this election cycle.

I personally don't like either of the Democratic candidates. Both are substantially unpalatable to a significant portion of the electorate, and to call either of them a slam dunk would be laughable.

It is no small feat that the Democrats have successfully found two candidates that have a serious chance of losing to a Republican after eight horrible, truly disastrous years of Republican rule in the White House. This election was un-losable. Yet, we've found a way to make it interesting. Our party is a collective freaking basket-case.

Hillbilly

This weekend, while in NYC with Jason and Dabney, Dabney and I were comparing our rural upbrings (I'm from West Virginia, she's from Arkansas) when the subject of strip mining came up. I related to her and to Jason my belief that the country simply would not tolerate the wholesale destruction occurring in Appalachia were it being subjected upon New England.

Can you imagine the uproar if the headlines read "Vermont forests dynamited for coal baron profit" or "Annual N.E. foliage pilgrimage threatened by mining destruction"? The press would go, in a word, batshit.

So why doesn't anyone take notice of the 700,000 acres of Appalachian mountains that have been literally rendered to dust by this barbaric practice? The answer, I believe, is because it's happening not to upper-middle class New Englanders, but to dumb ol' hillbillies.

The term "hillbilly" has been used for centuries to debase and dehumanize rural mountain people, the the great benefit of those who would make a handsome profit from the region's natural resources. Dismissive and offensive, the term connotes a subhuman class of people who are simply undeserving of sympathy or human dignity. Images of Snuffy Smith and the Beverly Hillbillies or my [irony]favorite movie[/irony], Deliverance, reinforce an outdated and unfair stereotype that outsiders are unfortunately all too eager to believe.

I can't tell you the countless "West Virginia jokes" I've endured since moving from my home state. While no one would have the audacity to walk up to an African-American and start spouting "Uncle Remus" jokes, it seems to be perfectly acceptable in our society to ask a West Virginian if he married his sister or has all of his natural teeth. It's especially prevalent in Appalachian border states like Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas, but I heard them all too frequently during my time in California as well.

But the real problem with the general acceptance of the hillbilly stereotype is not the obviously offensiveness of the term, but that it gives people a perceived moral "out" in terms of being able to look away while a small, but inordinately powerful, industry systematically obliterates the lives and quality of life of an entire class of people.

After all, it's just the dumb ol' hillbillies' ground water being fouled by toxic sludge.

It's just the dumb ol' hillbillies' towns being flooded by deforestation and valley fills.

It's just the dumb ol' hillbillies' livelihoods being taken away.

It's just the hillbillies. Who cares?

The Big Apple: Bitten.

Well, the trip to NYC went fabu. I boarded the BoltBus at the curb outside the Metro Center Metro station, took up my Uker-like front row seat, and instantly connected to the Internet to begin my trip. The bus was brand new and very shiny. The bathroom had a non-smelly chemtoilet, so you could pee en route. The bus left seven minutes late, but took exactly four hours (as planned) to get to NYC, where we disembarked around the corner from Penn Station. For $20 roundtrip, you can't beat it!

I then hoofed it about eight blocks to Chelsea where Jason and his lovely girlfriend Dabney (see photo below) were waiting at Jason's subleased apartment. It was a typical NYC studio apartment, which meant that it was...cozy. But it was also very convenient! Chelsea is a neighborhood I hadn't visited on my prior trips to the city, and it was really eclectic and cute, kind of what you like to think the Village used to be like.


We first went down to the New Museum ("Hell Yes!"), which is an architectural novelty, even in NY, as it is shaped like six boxes stacked one atop the others and clad in expanded aluminum. We got in free, since Dabney is a curator for a well-known New England women's college, which is nice. The artwork was suitably weird and cool.

After the museum, we went out to eat at the Mercer Kitchen (Yum! Pork chops...goooood.).

Later we headed down to the Lower East Side (my new favorite 'hood in NYC) and were deemed cool enough to be admitted by the leatherclad bouncer to The Back Room. In an "only in New York" moment, we approached the unmarked gate to the unmarked, hidden tunnel leading to the unmarked, hidden entrance to the unmarked, hidden bar and were stopped by a mean-looking bouncer who needed to scope out our coolness quotient before letting us inside. A guy next to us was judged unfit due to his use of flip-flops, but we made the cut. We're so cool.

After The Back Room, we went in search of live music, and found it at one of my NY haunts, The Living Room. This place is great because the crowd is over 30, the bands are always eclectic and good (we caught an improv band doing cover tunes with a Siberian throat singer...crazy!), and there is no cover charge to enter.

The next morning we groggily made it down to Washington Square Park and my my good friend Jane for breakfast down in Alphabet City. After some eggs, French toast, and plenty of coffee, Jane updated us on her new passion: kickball league (which started later that day).

The last leg of my whirlwind tour took the whole gang down to see a gallery that Dabney knew about where back in 1977 an artist named Walter De Maria filled an entire 3,600 square-foot flat with soil. Weird, yet strangely calming (see how calm we were afterwards in the photo below). That said, Jason and I also had an overwhelming urge to grab the fire hose and some seeds to perform some "performance art" of our own. :-)


I reluctantly trudged down to Chinatown, where my return leg BoltBus was patiently waiting to take me back to D.C. I was sad to be leaving my friends yet also very excited about seeing my Boo and Jenny (+S.T.B.®) again. It was only a day away but I really miss them!


The trip back to Washington was just as comfy as the ride up to NYC, but I (nor any other Mac users) could log on to the Internet due to a WEP 128 password problem (the router on the first leg of the trip was not pw protected). I hope that BoltBus either gets rid of the password altogether (why even have it on a moving bus?) or can figure out a Mac friendly solution before my next trip.

All in all, it was a fantastic day and a half trip. A big thanks to Jason and Dabney for putting me up and showing me the town and also to Jane for dragging herself all the way down Manhattan to come play with us! You all are awesome!

NYC weekend TK

I'm going up to NYC this weekend to visit my buddy, Jason (see photo on right), and meet his girlfriend. Looking forward to telling her every embarrassing story that I can recollect on the bus trip up there.

Jason and I met while studying in Spain back in '91, and have been BFFs since then...OMGWTFLOL. We lived together on Capitol Hill back in '93-95 and I followed him to San Francisco when I returned from Spain (different trip) in '96. It's been a while since we've been able to hang out, so I'm looking forward to seeing him.

The bus I'm taking is pretty cool. It's a Greyhound offshoot called BoltBus that operates between DC--->NYC--->Boston and is dirt cheap. My ticket came to $20 roundtrip (I think they are doing $1 trips, too, but I couldn't score one of those), which is pretty cool, considering that the bus has free Wi-Fi access and outlets for your computer so you can surf the Net on the road. I'll report back on Monday with my review.

Hope to meet up with my S.F.-turned-NYC galpal Jane, too (see photo on right).We're going to get breakfast on Sunday morning if all goes to plan. Jane and I worked together in San Francisco and wine-partied together in Oakland. It will also be great to hang out with her again! Looks to be a good trip....

New facelift for the blog!

We needed some graphically designed logo goodness, so here it is! (Look up, silly, it's right there!)

You can also now subscribe to feeds so you'll know when we post updates. Just click on the RSS feeds to the right---------->

Bed drama and, finally, success!

Hard to believe, but Sylvie is now officially a "big girl" who sleeps in her very own real bed. Since we knew that the crib would be needed by the S.T.B.® (sibling to be), we thought it better to get Boo into her new digs sooner rather than later.

We didn't want to get her a toddler bed and have to outfit it with a bunch of sheets that would become obsolete all too soon, so we opted for a twin that she can grow into. Being the IKEA freakazoids that we are, we picked out what looked to be a trés cool, über-modern design that we knew she liked from a quick romp at the store and both Jenny and I dug, design-wise. So I lugged it home and put it together, with all the trials and tribulations that putting anything from IKEA together entails.

And it looked, as the California kids say, "hella cool." Turns out though that, in person, it was also "hella sharp." Like, box-o'-steak-knives sharp. Here it is:


See, very cool. But...every single edge was seemingly lying in wait for the smooth skin of our baby's noggin to come crashing in for impact. Crap. Took it apart. Lugged it back. Gahhhhhh!

Undaunted by lower back pain and mental distress, we picked out a nicer, gentler, more rounded and less deadly bed for our Boo. I give you—Tromsö:


So far, only one busted lip from the railing (knock on wood). She likes it so much she's already sleeping through the night without getting up! (KNOCK ON WOOD KNOCK ON WOOD X infinity)

Getting ready for baby #2

Wow! I can't believe we're about to be parents again. We're getting really excited and the little jumping bean is really doing somersaults in there. Elbows and knees and buttbones are all readily visable through Jenny's sweaters now. It's straight out of the Alien movies!

I hope this baby is as sweet and good as Sylvie Boo. She is really coming into her own personality, and aside from the occasional 2 year-old tantrum, she's really a sweet and loving child. We are so proud of her!

Sirens in D.C.

I work within spitting distance of the White House (I've tested it often), so whenever I hear air-raid type sirens I get a little "edgy." What with maniacs flying shit into buildings and all. One is going off right now. Gulp.

My Grandpa's Senior Photo

I posted my cheesy senior photo a few days ago. Here's my grandfather's (his name was also Joe V.):




He graduated class of 1936 from Moundsville High School in Moundsville, WV. It's a good thing his parents had immigrated from Spain in the earlier part of the century, as the Spanish Civil War began in 1936. He was the perfect fighting age to participate in that terrible conflict, but instead went door-to-door with his uncle collecting donations for the Republican government in the Spanish areas of West Virginia (which were quite substantial at the time).

He went on to Bliss Electrical Academy in Takoma, MD and returned to WV where he worked as an electrician in coal mines in southern West Virginia, which is where he met my grandmother.

In 1945 he shipped off to Japan and helped rebuild the electrical infrastructure in Yokahama until his early release from the Army due to my grandmother having a terrible car accident back home.

He spent most of his later years as the head of the electrical apprentice program for the West Virginia branch of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Every time I pass the IBEW offices here in D.C. I think of him with pride. He was truly dedicated to the Union cause.

I loved my grandpa very much, and I think he was pleased that I learned to speak Spanish and kept in touch with our family there. I still dream about him often.

Happy Easter People!

Lunchtime protests

On my lunch hour I went down to McPherson Sq. (15th and K, NW) to check out the protests going on there. It's a little disheartening to see the kinds of people down there. Mostly young students (which is good), freaks with purple mohawks (bad), old hippies (very bad), and WTO-style bandits bent on getting the cops to beat their asses on camera for the Internet (very, very bad).

At one point the whole group was staging in the middle of K St. (without a permit), so the cops came to move everyone to the sidewalk (see photos below). The cops, I must say, were very professional and businesslike, not taking the bait to kick the living shit out of the idiots in the front of the group trying their best to provoke them. Instead, the officers simply formed a line, and with a higher ranking officer in back of them shouting instructions to the crowd, gently pushed back the throngs. Nobody got hurt, the crowd moved back, and the protest continued.

During the crowd control maneuver, some Internet reporter wannabe runs up with her HD cameraman, yelling at him to "get them pushing the protesters!" I turned to her and told her my thoughts on her kind of biased "journalism": basically, her kind of b.s. reporting is what gives the protesters (and the protest) a bad name with the rank-and-file Americans out there and provides fodder for the right to use against the anti-war movement. It's one thing to report on police brutality, which, as we know, happens all too often in the U.S.A., but she was attempting to spin the D.C. cops as brutalizing the protesters, which was not true at all. I think my photos of the incident prove that:

Here's the crowd in the middle of K St.:

The cops ask people to move back to the sidewalk:


The police form a line and start gently shoving the protesters back:

All the while, a lame-ass Rage Against the Machine cover band drones on (I kid you not: the singer had dreads and everything, it was comical):

I really wish the anti-war movement could rid itself of the freaks and provocateurs so that it would have a chance of attracting normal Americans who are sick to death of the war but don't want to be associated with the idiot fringe. It's one of the big reasons the right could care less about the movement: nobody takes these people seriously.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...business as usual.

Five wasted years in Iraq

I work right downtown, one block off K Street, NW—the heart of big-time lobbying in D.C. Here's what I saw when I got in this morning:




As the last two pictures show, the cops were arresting protesters and putting them in the paddy wagon to be booked. I couldn't help but think the real people they need to be arresting live a few blocks south at the White House.

End this stupid, disgusting war now and put the resources toward fighting our real enemies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia!!!!

Curlers on the Metro

Seen on my way to work this morning, I give you the following:



I've seen this lady on the Metro several times now rocking the curlers all the way downtown. Here's the thing I can't answer: She obviously cares enough about her appearance to curl her hair, so why is she totally unembarrassed to come out in public without bothering to remove the curlers, thus branding herself slovenly and lazy? Such are the mysteries of the world.

One for the ladies

Vintage Joe, circa 1987. Damn that suit was fine. Sorry girls, I'm taken.

Where in the World is Xose the Destroyer?

I like to think of myself as world-aware, and although I traveled a fair amount through my early 30s, when I actually map it out, it seems that I haven't really seen too much of the world firsthand. I've spent a bunch of time in Spain, of course, but I've never made it into much of Africa or any of Asia. Maybe someday I'll get on the stick and fill some more countries in orange.

Indoctrinate the kids

This is a toy that will not be in our house anytime soon. I wonder if it comes with two screeners that alternate between talking to each other about what color to paint their nails and screaming at grandmas to take their orthopedic shoes off?

Lawrence Welk Anomalies, Part XVII

Now for a "modern spiritual performed by Gail and Dale." Sweet Jesus indeed.

Ready, oh so ready, for the weekend

Man, is it just me, or do 4-day workweeks seem longer than the regular 5 days we normally slog through? I was preparing a meeting packet this week, and that's always brutal, but for some reason, it really kicked my culu this time.

We're going to brave the ice storm and go to our friends' house on Capitol Hill tonight for dinner. I need some conversation, vino, and good food like a mofo, let me tell you.

In other news, the baby is moving around inside Jenny all the time now, and we're trying to figure out whether it's playing soccer or dancing or both. I always put my mouth next to Jenny's belly and yell "What are you DOING in there?!?" :-) Jenny thinks it's weird, but it worked for Boo Boo when she was in there, and it will work for this one: they come out ready to rock! :-)

I've been getting together with my old bassist from MyLOH to play some new music. We are having my friend Etienne come over to play drums tomorrow and see it that clicks musically. Stay tuned for new music in the short term!

Gah! Will 5pm NEVER GET HERE?!?!?!?!?!

Colds in Md.

Jenny, Boo, and I are all sick with colds. Blah!

Our schools are seriously broken

Okay, it's official. Our educational system is totally effed, as far as I can tell.

This morning I had to get up at 5am to go stand in line to register my 2 year old daughter for preschool. Turns out that finding a secular, decent preschool not housed in the dingy basement of a rec hall is tougher than it would be thought.

We got in, but what a freaking hassle. The folks in the front of the line had been there since 7pm LAST NIGHT. Whoa.

At least we didn't have to interview for a spot or get asked to list our daughter's "qualifications" like some other preschools in the area require. QUALIFICATIONS?????? SHE'S FREAKING 2 YEARS OLD, YOU A-HOLES!

Gahhh!!!!!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family and family friends out in cyberland.

We are sure to have an eventful 2008, and anxiously await the opportunities that come with expanding our family by one, getting more education, and living life to the fullest!

J,J,S

Hello everyone!

I hope everybody is having as much fun this holiday season as I am!

Fun Chicago Trip!

This weekend I went to Chi-town for a SNAP conference and got to see two of my good friends from college, Mariangela and Punky. It had been too long! We all went to grab some killer Thai food, drank some wine and martinis, and Punk and I went on to see a some random band play live. Great times!

No more band

I'm bandless again. I had to quit after a very torturous attempt at finding a practice time that wasn't in the middle of the two hours I play soccer every weekend. Apparently, those were the only two hours in the entire weekend that would work for the band. Not wanting to be unreasonable, I quit. Which sucks.

I really enjoyed playing our music. I enjoyed my bandmates, most of the time. And the music was fun. But that's the way it goes I guess.

I am now back to solo project mode. ¡Coño! is my band now, and you can find me on the InterWebs here: www.myspace.com/conocono

Good pre-Halloween weekend

Boo Boo and I had a fun weekend doing pre-Halloween activities like going pumpkin picking, attending the neighborhood Octoberfest party, and even making a construction-paper witch hat and broom.


Jenny and I have always loved Halloween, and I hope that Sylvie also does (so far, it's a big hit. Sylvie loves to play dress up with a million different hats and stuff, so Halloween isn't a big stretch. Can't wait to go trick or treating!


Also, my good friend Jane came to visit from NYC. We used to work and wine together out in Oakland/S.F., and it was really nice to see her again. Come back soon, Jane!

Grandparents in/Boo in hog heaven

Sylvie's grandma and papa are in town for the week and she couldn't be more excited about it. Also, mommy and I might as well not exist anymore... :-)

Me: "Where are you going?"
Boo: "Outside with grandma and papa."
Me: "Can I come too?"
Boo: "Daddy no come with us. Stay inside."

Well, at least I know where I am in the pecking order! :-)

Ain't that a kick in the head?

Ouch. Got fouled hard on the pitch this Sunday and took a knee to the side of the noggin. That freaking hurt. Goose egg ensued. :-(

Scored a freaking awesome goal with my left foot, though, so that made everything all right. :-)

Boo Boo and I made a bird house this weekend, which was exciting and fun for both of us. Mommy got time off for good behavior this weekend. :-)

Yes! Take that, oxymoronic Patriot Act!

Federal Judge, and American Hero, Ann Aiken struck down as unconstitutional a large part of the Patriot Act yesterday in Seattle. Finally, the courts are doing the job the Congress is too terrified to do: protecting the 1st amendment rights of Americans from the Bush-led tyranny machine.

In her decision, Hon. Judge Aiken wrote the following wise words:

"For over 200 years, this Nation has adhered to the rule of law - with unparalleled success. A shift to a Nation based on extra-constitutional authority is prohibited, as well as ill- advised. In this regard, the Supreme Court has cautioned:

'The price of lawful public dissent must not be a dread of subjection to an unchecked surveillance power. Nor must the fear of unauthorized official eavesdropping deter vigorous citizen dissent and discussion of Government action in private conversation. For private dissent, no less than open public discourse, is essential to our free society.'"

You go, girl!

Awesome vacation in Wild, Wonderful WV

We went down to our place on the Greenbrier river in WV for a whole week last week...what a blast!

My folks were there with us, which means that Sylvie Boo was in heaven bossing grandma and papa around the place: "Papa do it!" was the common refrain of the week.

Boo Boo caught her first fish ever, a tiny bluegill barely bigger than the lure itself, and when my mom asked her if she caught a fish she yelled, "YES! BIG ONE!" :-)

I did indeed catch a big 17" smallmouth bass on the last day, which is always a thrill. I was by myself in the canoe, a long way down the river from the camp, and didn't have a net with me. As I was de-hooking the fish with my thumb in its mouth I had a sudden image of the fish squirming and impaling my thumb on the treble hook in its mouth. All I could think was, "how the hell am I gonna paddle home with a fish stuck to my hand?"

Luckily, I successfully got the lure unhooked and returned the monster to the depths to breed other 17" fish.

Jenny and I had a date at the Greenbrier resort, which was fantastic. We had lunch by the infinity pool and then did a tour of the secret, underground bunker where Congress would hide in case of a nuclear attack. That was really cool. If you think that the X-Files type secret government stuff only happens on TV, you're mistaken. Crazy stuff.

It was really hard to come home and go back to work. What a great week!

Birthday awsomeness weekend

What a great weekend! My b-day and Labor Day festivities usually coincide and this year was no different. Our long weekend was chock full of fun stuff, including the following:

• A Syrah-themed wine party on Saturday night

• Playing soccer on Sunday morning (scored a b-day goal and Jenny and Boo came to watch!)

• Band practice on Monday (using my spankin' new Squier Affinity Telecaster I got from my folks for my b-day--thanks!)

• About six hours' worth of soccer watching (Let's Go, Fulham! Let's Go, Fulham! Let's Go, Fulham!)

• Watched "Little Miss Sunshine," which was charming and funny and cute and really, just downright nice and awesome. Watch it!

Hope you all had a great one, too!

Let kids be kids! PLEASE!

What is this country coming to? Seriously. A school in Co. has banned the game "tag" on its playgrounds.

The reason? "...some children complained they were harassed or chased against their will. "It causes a lot of conflict on the playground," said Cindy Fesgen, assistant principal...."

For god's sake! Maybe a sane person would take the opportunity to just teach the teasing children why it's not polite to tease and the teased children how to stand up for themselves. But that's not the new, lazy, fear-ridden American way. We'll just ban something else. Asinine to the nth degree.

Other playground casualties of the new FearUSA® school systems:

• Monkey bars
• See-saws
• Fun of any kind that isn't sponsored by Disney, Elmo, or some other TV shite.

Blech weather

Things are grey grey grey right now in the Capital city, although the heat has abated, which is nice. It's supposed to get back up there this weekend, though. Maybe a trip to the pool will be in order!

This is how I feel.

From the fine folks at DieselSweeties.com. Apparently, Indie Rock Pete and I have more in common than good looks.

Happy B-Day to my sweetie!

Someone special's b-day is just about here! I love you honey!

What the hell is going on here?

This insane, illegal war in Iraq has left our soldiers and Marines resulting to SS- and Gestapo-style operational tactics. It is truly horrifying and disgusting to read in The Nation first-hand accounts of the brutal tactics we are employing in Iraq.

From the article:

Once they were in front of the home, troops, some wearing Kevlar helmets and flak vests with grenade launchers mounted on their weapons, kicked the door in, according to Sergeant Bruhns, who dispassionately described the procedure:

"You run in. And if there's lights, you turn them on--if the lights are working. If not, you've got flashlights.... You leave one rifle team outside while one rifle team goes inside. Each rifle team leader has a headset on with an earpiece and a microphone where he can communicate with the other rifle team leader that's outside.

"You go up the stairs. You grab the man of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him up against the wall. You have junior-level troops, PFCs [privates first class], specialists will run into the other rooms and grab the family, and you'll group them all together. Then you go into a room and you tear the room to shreds and you make sure there's no weapons or anything that they can use to attack us.

"You get the interpreter and you get the man of the home, and you have him at gunpoint, and you'll ask the interpreter to ask him: 'Do you have any weapons? Do you have any anti-US propaganda, anything at all--anything--anything in here that would lead us to believe that you are somehow involved in insurgent activity or anti-coalition forces activity?'

"Normally they'll say no, because that's normally the truth," Sergeant Bruhns said. "So what you'll do is you'll take his sofa cushions and you'll dump them. If he has a couch, you'll turn the couch upside down. You'll go into the fridge, if he has a fridge, and you'll throw everything on the floor, and you'll take his drawers and you'll dump them.... You'll open up his closet and you'll throw all the clothes on the floor and basically leave his house looking like a hurricane just hit it.

"And if you find something, then you'll detain him. If not, you'll say, 'Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice evening.' So you've just humiliated this man in front of his entire family and terrorized his entire family and you've destroyed his home. And then you go right next door and you do the same thing in a hundred homes."

Our troops must look a hell of a lot like the Nazis looked to the German-occupied areas of WWII. We are the world's boogieman now. We used to be its beacon of freedom. Unreal.

Hace mucho calor...demasiado calor.

Damn it's hot. And muggy. Ugh.

Better than trudging through snow any day of the week, though!

Pool and the City

Yesterday Sylvia and I finally went to the pool again.
We had a great time other than the evil children incident.

I got my first taste of kids who are already "mean girls."
One child shoved another child into the baby pool and the parent justified the shove saying, "well your daughter touched my daughter's house she was building..." OK. That freaked me out.
When did parents stop parenting? Also note that these were not "big kids," they were only a bit older than Sylvia. It's amazing how the personalities are already formed. These same girls also kept taking toys from Sylvia and not sharing and one even would tease Sylvia and act like she was going to give her a toy and then would yank it away as Sylvia grabbed at it. Needless to say, I promptly removed her from the situation and got her away from the girls. At least I know who to avoid next time we're there.

Today we went into DC and visited the bookstore, Politics and Prose. I bought her a new book, "Polar Bear, Polar Bear what do you hear?" She's already off reading it! :O)

Feast of Stephen Reunion Now Live on the Web!

It's finally here! The Radio Free Charleston documentary on the Feast of Stephen reunion is now live and on the Web! Special thanks to Rudy Panucci, the brains behind RFC; Jerry Fugate, our intrepid cameraman and great friend; Brian Young, who ran the mixing board; and especially the other guys in the band: Tommy, Rad, Dan, Bob, and Fred, you guys are my musical brothers forever!

Surf, don't walk, over to Radio Free Charleston right now to watch this great show. You can see out-takes from the rehearsal the night before (which include our biggest hit, "Gomec") on the Feast of Stephen Website (look to the left-hand side of the screen under the band info). And Rudy gives the background on the show on his Myspace blog.

This was a fantastic experience for me and the guys, and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. This is Stephen. Witness His Feast.

Butterflies are free

Yesterday Syl and I had a nice day:
Dropped Daddy off at Metro, then drove to the ATM, then went to the post office, then we went to Brookside Gardens (home of my 2010 Art Show) to see the butterfly exhibit.
We met my friend from my old job and her new baby.
It was really a beautiful morning...we walked around the gardens first, looked at the roses and then the wisteria and Syl was obsessed with the fountains. If there is water, she will go to it.
The butterfly exhibit is amazing. There were these HUGE blue and brown butterflies and foot long (wing span) rainbow moths. Really incredible and located 10 min from our house.

Today, alas, was not so fun. We were stuck in the house all morning waiting for the washer repair people. They finally came and then asked to use OUR WD-40. Crazy. And I think the WD-40 might have done the trick. But I will test for the weird noise again tomorrow.
I need to find a better repair person, pronto.

Still likin' those cheap Chinese imports, America?

• Poisoned pet food (that killed my dad's dog, btw)
• Poisoned tooth paste
• Poisoned cough syrup
• Lead paint used on children's toys

And now this lovely chemical burn-inducing flip-flop disaster. Gross!

Also, check out this huge timeline of dangerous Chinese crap blithly imported onto our shores.

Free trade isn't feeling so free these days.

Creative Cutie

Today we met some of my friends and their kids at the Smithsonian for a performance of "Dance Africa!" Well, there was no dancing (at least at the beginning) so poor Sylvia freaked out and we had to punt. She had been prepping in the car on the way down. Dancing, wiggling her shoulders and getting ready to boogie. All her friends were fidgety and I think that it also why she wanted to leave...sorta a monkey see, monkey do situation. I have to admit that she did follow the directions of performer really well, but I think the performance was better for bigger kids.
SO, after we left, we headed to a farmer's market on the Mall with our friends and Syl picked out three beautiful tomatoes and a cantaloupe. YUM.
Then we rode the carousel. Then we walked to the Hirshorn Museum.
Then we came home. Breathe IN, breathe out!

We actually went to the Hirshorn earlier this week and the carousel and the Hirshorn's Scultpure Garden but she wanted to go again today. We went to the 2nd floor today of the museum. Tuesday we went to the 3rd floor. Next week we'll try the National Gallery of Art.


We had a lot of adventures this week that I will blog about later but I am too tired to type more tonight.

I'll take the back seat, please

According to a new study by Popular Mechanics magazine, you are WAY more likely to survive an airplane crash if you are behind the wings. Here's the diagram:



Photo by PopularMechanics.com

New look for an old blog

We've updated the Googleiffic back-end templates for the blog and since we were doing that anyway, we figured, what the hell, some new colors couldn't hurt! Whatchuthinkaboutdat?

Full Summer Mode

We've been in FSM lately: Barbequeing every night or just about every night, hitting the pools (both backyard and cement variety) with the Boo, and sipping on nectar and ice. The weather here in the DC Metro has been hot and dry, with less humidity than we normally get swamped with this time of year.

The skeeters have been held at bay a bit by the lack of rain, which has been a godsend. We've actually been able to let Sylvie play in the yard this summer! Crazy!!!!

Hope all of our friends and family are having as good a summer as we are!

A whole month with no blog! WTF?

Man, have we been slacking. Sorry folks.

We've been super busy lately with a bunch of family in town for the Boo's b-day, and things aren't settling down too much even now between various board committments, work, soccer, playdates, blah blah blah! Whew. I'm tired even typing it!

I'm really enjoying playing soccer again. My touch still isn't back to my EBOT glory days, but it's getting there. I did get my big toe stomped though, and it's having a hard time healing properly. Oh well, the price of futbol.

Bada boom, bada b

And that was that.

I was blown away by the Soprano's ending last night. It was a perfect way to do it. After all, this show has always been about the "normal" life as a Mob boss, not Goodfellas inspired shootouts. Well done.