My friend Phil Attey will have a cow if you don’t do your part to contact your representative by phone, message or in person this week about the need for an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and to cosponsor legislation ending the ridiculous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.
ENDA will help protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination, and the National Center for Transgender Equality is one of the organizations pushing for it. And the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has been a strong opponent against DADT for a long time. Follow the directions on the website links above to contact your representative and let them know how you feel about it, and what you think they should do for you.
Not everyone is a politics nerd, and if you’re not sure who your representative is, go here and plug in your state and zip code. Once you figure that out you can write or call them. The phone number for the Hill is (202) 224-3121. Going through the organization website links above will walk you through the process if you’d rather write.
They take phone calls and messages seriously, and they need to know how you feel on these topics. Call/write for ENDA on March 14-16, and do the same against DADT on Thursday.
If you can make it in person, you can join Kathy Griffin on Thursday from Noon to 1:30pm at Freedom Plaza, Between 13th and 14th St. NW and Pennsylvania and E Streets NW., in Washington DC.
‘Tis the season for gingers. I didn’t partake in any St. Patty’s Day [observed] events this weekend other than going out to the Green Lantern for a few. But I was out and about on the Orange Line on Saturday and saw lots of drunk people going to and from the Shamrock Festival over at RFK Stadum. It was clear that straight people have circuit parties too, there’s just less shirtlessness and more beer consumption at the hetero version of the circuit party.
I was quoted in a Miami news blog about the conjunction of Avatar and gay dance parties. Sadly we haven’t had a Na’vi-themed dance party here in DC yet.
From Don, a view of the ultimate D&D gaming room, which includes a complete archive of D&D books from previous game versions. For the record my gaming group plays using 4th edition rules. I must also note that we have a bearded leprechaun in our gaming group. Woof.
This Friday at National Geographic Live! here in DC Expedition Wild, woofy bearcub naturalist Casey Anderson will speak about his experience getting knee-deep in grizzly life on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, where he teaches Brutus, an 800-pound grizzly bear, the ways of his wild relatives. I hope he doesn’t get eaten like that other guy.
Speaking of delicious treats, Easter is still a ways off but you can celebrate our favorite marshmallow delights at Peeps Happy Hour on March 23 from 6-8pm at The WaPo HQ 1150 15th St NW DC. Admission $20.
I wonder if you could just float a marshmallow Peep on top of a Cosmopolitan and call it a Peeptini? Would Mad Men’s woofy Jon Hamm (NSFW naughty title, put the pics are G-rated) try it on the show? Rumor has it he has to shave twice a day on set to maintain that stylish look for the show. According to those in the know, he has to shave twice a day on the set because “Jon Hamm can grow a beard in two hours. … He doesn’t get a five o’clock shadow, he gets a five o’clock beard.”
The emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that can kill yer trees, has been detected in Southwest Wisconsin and near Minneapolis. It turns out my hometown is under surveillance for the pest, and my mom’s favorite ash tree in the backyard is in peril. She likes it for the shade and cicadas that hang out near it, which are not as harmful to the tree as the borer is.
From Joe, the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” track copied almost shot-for-shot to Battlestar Galactica footage. I didn’t realize the genius behind the video until Joe pointed it out.
Mental health break: scenic spring photos from San Diego Dan.
Chris Cooley of the Washington Redskins is pretty funny in addition to being kinda woofy.
He’s also a prolific blogger who has experienced a few unique faux pas’ in his time. He’s both a favorite of sports reporters and has served time as a reporter himself. It turns out he’s also a potter in his spare time too.
There don’t seem to be many Washington Nationals baseball players who fit the bill as ‘woofy’ this year, with the possible exception of an off-season-bearded Adam Dunn. I still haven’t been to a game yet but I need to some time soon.
Jayson Werth of the Philadelphia Phillies is definitely woofy:
A house centipede waiting to drop on my head in the bathroom. I named it Maggie Gallagher.
Generally harmless to humans, they are a species originally from the Mediterranean region.
The reconstruction of this here blog is still in progress. Don’t have a cow if your blog hasn’t shown up on the right-hand sidebar. My former blogroll list was so frikkin’ humongous that I haven’t had the time to paste all of them into the new system. Granted, Wordpress has been a lovely content management system to work with, but I have a lot of crap to move too.
Anyway, every few weeks I order my groceries to be delivered through Peapod. Recently I’ve noticed they’ve been late on a frequent basis. I’ve ordered from them for years, usually reserving the 6-8am slot, but ever since I moved a mere 6 blocks north of my former address the deliveries have been consistently late. One exception was during the Snopocalypse and they somehow got my groceries to my house on time.
Anyway this morning they were an hour late, and I just can’t be that late for work anymore, so I wrote a nastygram and got a very fast response from their customer service reps. It turns out they can see when the vans come and go via GPS tech and she did note that my deliveries have been consistently late. She promised that would be fixed with a comped delivery thrown in. Nice! Since I kind of depend on them I really just want them to fix whatever is making the deliveries late. Hauling home groceries on the bike is a drag, and so is going to our local grocery stores with such endearing surliness at the checkout counters.
On the other hand, last year when I filed a formal complaint through the Metro website when I saw raccoons running around near the station manager’s booth at the Fort Totten station I got no response. Apparently no one has made the connection between passenger safety and critters with a high potential for rabies infection. So keep feeding those cute kitties!
Meanwhile, Opossums are taking over Brooklyn! Thanks to Joe for the tip.
Congratulations to couples in DC who have filed for marriage this week. When I initially Tweeted “Congrats to recently married couples in DC!” or something this week a number of super-smarty pants technical gays immediately corrected me. Whatever. My point is they went to the courthouse and registered for marriage just like everybody else. And for that we should be glad. Like the smoking ban, a year from now no one will notice and we’ll look back and wonder what the big deal was. I wonder what group the haters will choose to torment next?
And so far a chasm hasn’t opened up and swallowed the city either, nor has a giant meteor struck the Chesapeake bay. Maybe we paid ahead with our multiple Snopocalypses this winter. However, experts predict a grasshopper plague will hit some western states this summer.
Having worked and taken classes at the University of Maryland, I’m not allowed to like anything having to do with Duke, but occasionally I have moments of weakness. Like Duke basketball Senior Center #55 Brian Zoubek 7′1″ 260#:
Oh and Maryland beat Duke (again) and the students rioted near my favorite bubble tea joint (again). Damn kids…there will be hell to pay if you damage my bubble tea joint.
In other beardy news, I’m currently enjoying some NSFW images from photographer Greg, and a few other photos on tumblr. And here’s some YouTube silliness based on the classic ‘Beastmaster’ movie:
Giant Inflatable Beavers are now for sale.
NORWEGIAN CURLING TEAM PANTS:
Haavard Vad Petersson of the Norwegian curling team gets set to deliver the stone during practice at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) #
The above image is from the awesome photo galleries (parts one and two) in Boston.com. The galleries are well worth a visit even though they don’t feature any images of GIANT INFLATABLE BEAVERS.
And don’t miss the images of Figure Skaters Who Look Like Monsters.
Jerry Seinfeld, you have earned my eternal enmity for interrupting the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with your new pedestrian show. Do you really think you’re more important than an international sports event, on the day of an awesome, nail-biting grudge match hockey game? Clearly you do, but actually you are not that awesome and your show will fail. I place my Evil Eye upon The Marriage Ref for your crime of hubris.
I really look forward to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic events, and I try to catch up on whatever sports I can in between. This year curling was very convenient to watch, and NBC knew where their bread was being buttered as the Canada matches always seemed to have plenty of closeups of John Morris’ intense, scruffy face. ’sigh’. That shit never got old.
Yaay, previously mentioned and previously gold medal bearded hottie Seth Wescott won the gold in the Men’s Snowboard Cross.
But despite the rude Seinfeld interruption, the closing ceremonies were kind of a trainwreck anyway. Perhaps it was a mercy cut away from the horror. The clown* repairing the malfunctioning torch was clever, but those kids with snowboards went on far too long. Then there was the Russia 2014 Sochi cultural torture segment that also went on for far too long. Canadian comedians/actors doing standup = awkward. It just wasn’t the right venue for stand-up. And either the sound was off or Michael Buble can’t lip synch worth a damn. Then came the giant inflatable mounties, moose and BEAVER with stand-up cut-out hockey players. WTF?!? All of that may have congealed into something that made sense but then the importance of Jerry Seinfeld cut in before the ceremonies were done. Fuck you Jerry Seinfeld, you ruined the 2010 Winter Olympics for everyone. Great job, I’m sure your show is going to be a big hit.
Here’s me last month in Pennsylvania trying out for the snowboard cross finals:
I went to see Shutter Island with TJ and Rob yesterday. It was a well-made movie, but kinda depressing.
* Any time a clown outshines other forms of entertainment it’s a bad sign.
A few weeks ago I heard a cardinal singing it’s spring song. They’re usually the first to announce the arrival of spring. Last week house finches arrived and I may have heard a red-winged blackbird too – but it could have been a starling doing a r-wbb impersonation. On Tuesday kildeer had arrived to roost on the roof of Cardozo High School in DC. So despite the ridiculous weather, some critters have announced that spring is really here. Aslan is on the move…
Random woofiness courtesy of boobob: