help us save internet radio!

alright, i'd like to enlist other blogs and people out there to pay attention to an important issue: the future of internet radio.

some quick background: i listen to radio paradise every day at work. it's the soundtrack to my day, and without the quality music running in the background, each day in my cube would be enormously less interesting. i am a supporting listener of radio paradise, meaning that i've donated money to bill and rebecca goldsmith to help keep their great station running. now, bill has let all the listeners know that a new ruling from the u.s. copyright office could shut down radio paradise, as well as other internet radio stations, because the fees would be more than they could possibly handle.

currently, he's waiting to hear from some experienced attorneys to determine what the best step would be to take to ensure that some agreement can be reached that will keep internet radio from being irreparably damaged. in the meantime, read his blog post here at the saveourinternetradio.com website. i'll update my blog when something new is announced, but basically, i'm hoping you'll all take interest in this, and help with potentially lobbying the relevant members of congress if that happens to be the direction that things should go in in the near future.

thanks for you interest and attention to this. and while you're at it, give radio paradise a listen, and maybe send a few dollars to bill and rebecca. they do yeoman's work and deserve our support for their fantastic efforts.

a woman with everything wrong

eventful night. just went downtown with stephanie to see last king of scotland at e street. i've seen it, she hasn't. it was sold out, and there was nothing else that we were interested in seeing, so we decided to walk over to chinatown to grab some ice cream. that's where the fun began.

walking up 11th street, a woman asked if we could stop and answer a question. she seemed harmess enough.

big mistake

what followed was the most amazing, rapid-fire story i've ever heard. this woman (with some interestingly chipped teeth) told us that there was a crazy homeless guy who had accosted her, and that she was scared. then, in rapid succession, we heard:

- that she was diabetic
- about to have a seizure
- she was from pittsburgh
- she worked for a hospital in oakland (PA, i assume)
- she was in DC with her church
- had her bags stolen from the hotel harrington
- needed to get to new carrollton so she could catch a bus to annapolis
- had her insulin waiting for her at new carrollton
- had reported her stolen bags to the police (we could go verify if we wanted)
- had her husband and son in the marines in iraq
- was 3 months pregnant and in risk of losing her child
- she was horribly embarrassed to tell us all this (even though she said a lot of it 3 or 4 times)
- there were a few other ramblings that didn't really make sense

it was obvious this woman was disturbed, to put it gently. i tried to cut to the chase and offer to get her on the metro to new carrollton, if that was true. she started to get irritable and said she needed more money to get to annapolis, since she was broke. i told her that i didn't have enough to help her out any further than getting her a metro fare.

she got angry now, and told me that she could see, by looking into my eyes, that i didn't want to help. she said that i'd have to answer to saint peter (apparently when i die, he's not going to bother me until then). then she finally called me a 'white bitch' (she was white too, this was no racial confrontation) and starting walking off.

seemed like that was it. we went up to häagen-dazs to get ice cream, and we were eating our ice cream outside when the woman walked past. i was hoping she'd start talking to one of the zendiks who were selling their goofy t-shirts outside the verizon center. unfortunately, that didn't happen. would have been potentially exciting to watch...

some notes

well, i've done a terrible job of keeping up on things. but here are some things to check out:

1) have you checked out the plans for the washington gateway project at florida and new york avenues? this building is going to be enormous. i'm especially excited to hear about the connection to the metropolitan branch trail. now, if feds, the railroad, and everyone else who is holding up that project can just get their asses in gear.

2) there is going to be a new restaurant at the northwest corner of north capitol and p streets. there used to be a chicken place there, and it's a fine looking location. i just hope that more foot traffic and renewal can quickly move into that area, to help the business thrive. here's the press release:

In what may prove to be a significant step forward for the Eckington-Bloomingdale-Truxton Circle area, a new sit-down restaurant will be opening on North Capitol Street N.W. within the next 30 days. This will be the first such restaurant located on North Capitol Street between New York Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue.

At the Hanover Civic Association meeting Wednesday evening, Julius Bell informed me that he will be opening J. Bell's, a restaurant located at P Street N.W. and North Capitol Street. That is the location of the former New York Fried Chicken takeout (1500 North Capitol Street NW).

Mr. Bell is seeking a liquor license and approval from the 5C Advisory Neighborhood Commission. His plans also include a permit for a sidewalk cafe with 24 seats. He will be providing guests with a full menu.

Understandably, Mr. Bell is planning to leave the defensive glass presently in place for at least the next 3-4 months. I am calling upon the community to provide support to Mr. Bell and give him the confidence to remove this barrier, in accordance with the lead of the sit-down restaurant Windows Cafe (located at Rhode Island and First Street N.W.).

Mr. Bell may be contact with any questions or suggestions at jbell01@verizon.net.

3) i went to the anc5c meeting last week. let me summarize it for you: i do not intend to attend another anc meeting anytime soon. unfortunately, our neighborhood leadership needs to do some work to make their meetings really worthwhile. first of all, they need to make the meetings longer to fit in the entire agenda. there is a strong agenda written for each meeting, with time blocked off for each speaker/discussion, but it isn't followed.

for example, this last meeting was supposed to have 5 minutes for our coucilmember to speak. he wasn't able to attend at the allotted time, which is fine, because there was discussion going on at the wilson building for a bill. but, when he did arrive, mr. thomas spoke for over 20 minutes. the council chair needed to reign things in and keep the meeting moving forward, but she seemed incapable of doing so.

i don't say this to denigrate anyone, but it's obvious that they all need to work harder at running an efficient meeting. until they can display that ability, i will have better things to do with those 3 hours of my day.

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well, that's it for now. it's raining out, and i didn't go to my usual karaoke tonight, which is disappointing. guess it's time for bed.

fire on seaton?

brief post here. been busy, going skiing in PA tomorrow. there are three fire engines outside right now on the unit block of seaton place nw. they've got the hoses out and everything. not sure what's going on, but i hope it's just a false alarm. post here if you hear anything about what happened.

UPDATE: there was no fire. not sure what happened, but it was an impressive display of readiness, at least.

hobby horse: noma

stories have been posted on many websites about noma, the fictional neighborhood name given to the area that roughly lies in the couple of blocks west of the rail line running north of union station up to eckington. the map of this area that i've posted here can be found at nomacorridor.com, a website touting the area as a new business destination for dc's growing need for office space.

whenever i get a chance, i rail against this name ad nauseam. it's an obviously focus-grouped attempt to get people unfamiliar with the area to remember the name. which, i will admit, can be a good thing. no one is going to forget that a place called "north of massachusetts" is...well...north of massachusetts.

i've advocated in comments on many of these websites trying to get those writing to acknowledge the history of the area by finding another way to refer to it. the southernmost part of the area was historically known as swampoodle, partially in reference to the fact that it was a low-lying area where tiber creek flowed through, before it was channeled underground. today, i made reference in a dcist comment thread to the fact that local bloggers led the effort to get the public to refer to the juvenile panda at the national zoo as "butterstick", and that we should do the same for noma. apparently, the writer of the article that referenced noma is willing to consider alternate names for the area. i'm all for a reinstituting of swampoodle, so i think the time has come to start pushing harder for that name to be daylighted.

though swampoodle didn't cover the entire area that is now unfortunately referred to as noma, i believe it would be a fine start to get this name a little more prominence. if anyone has more background to share on the historical neighborhood names given to this area, please include them in the comments, and i'll discuss some of them in a future update.

truxton circle is the name for the area at the northwest edge of 'noma'. it's a name that seems to be enjoying a bit of a revitalization lately, with more attention focused on this area's history. the area to the northeast of 'noma' is eckington. my biggest fear is that 'noma' keeps creeping so far afield that the name is starting to lay claim to parts of eckington.

i've rambled on far enough about this. anyone out there have any thoughts?

heller's

this was only talked about in the comments over at sean hennessey's blog, but it needs to have wider exposure. apparently, heller's has confirmed to two somebodies (commenters named anonymous and lizz) that it still will be coming to the corner of 1st and rhode island, on the corner next to the t street market.

i'm excited to hear that they're still planning to come to bloomingdale. once those donuts are available a couple doors down the street from me, i may actually start putting on that weight that everyone says i'm going to gain since i'm close to 30. :)

rock and roll hotel

went to the rock and roll hotel up on h street ne last night for a show (ours). it was the first time i'd been to the place, and it was really nice. i'd really recommend checking it out. there is a bar downstairs near the stage, but it doesn't open until there is an act on stage. the nice space is upstairs, where there is a larger bar, as well as couches, a pool table, and individual lounge rooms. guitars with wings hang from the ceiling, and a few mannequins with interesting head (read: animal skulls) hang above the bar. everyone there was really friendly (struck up a conversation about computers and photography with the barkeep), and the greatest thing....no smoke. first show i've gone to since the smoking ban went into effect. it was amazing to come home and just hang my sweater back up in the closet and not need to take it straight to the cleaners... :)

UPDATE: i see that dcist has a review of the show up here. looks like the reviewer was of a split mind on the show.

the house search begins

met with a realtor tonight. a friend at work recommended him, and he seems pretty personable, knowledgeable, and laid-back. time to find a nice house in this city now that someone with a piddly income can afford. anyone out there willing to donate a few hundred thousand towards the purchase of a beautiful victorian rowhouse?

ah, the lord works in mysterious ways!

so, i just got home from the kennedy center. what was i doing there, you might ask? remember 9 days ago when i went to try to get tickets? well, my friend sarah (who is my personal hero now) came through in the clutch and got tickets for myself, nolan (my roommate), and steph (my girlfriend). it was amazing. gorgeous. spectacular. wonderful. (insert multiple adjectives here.) i'm sure there are going to be write-ups galore in the express and dcist, etc. tomorrow, so let me just add my voice to the chorus. it was awesome to just hear the word "saginaw" name-checked at the show!

number 1 in tha hood, g

boy oh boy, you talk about a bunch of people getting their knickers in a bunch over absolutely nothing. if you're savvy enough to be on the internet, you've probably heard about the advertising kerfuffle up in boston. the mayor, the governor, and just about anyone else in a position of authority is CERTAIN that everyone involved in this should be arrested, tried, and sentenced to a lifetime in prison for domestic terrorism, or maybe something worse.

well, i could rant on for hours about how absolutely stupid, inane, idiotic, and just plain dumb this whole thing is, but here's my basic point: click on that link above and look at the picture. it's a MAGNETIC LITE-BRITE people! seriously, it looks like a kid's toy. how many "terrorists" are going to make a bomb, or series of bombs, that are so damn visible and in-your-face obvious? the authorities overreacted here, plain and simple. all the people who are gnashing their teeth and saying, "how can you do something like this given the days we live in" or some other stupid meme are just asking to be ridiculed.

as far as advertising campaigns go, this one ought to go into the record books. could adult swim have possibly gotten this much attention for the show and its upcoming movie via regular channels? i'd argue HELL NO. kudos to the press for hyping up a non-event. you can file this away with everything related to jon-benet ramsey, runaway brides, and shark attacks that the press has ever covered.