November 2007 Archives

We are not quite at the shortest day of the year, but I can feel the difference already. It's dark when I get out of work, hard to get myself to the gym or elsewhere, and I'm craving sweets. Luckily my will has been strong and I've resisted most of the late-night munchies, yet the scale's reading grows slowly. We really do burn off a lot of calories during rugby season.

It's been a difficult week at work and I don't have the motivation to write about much, but Homer's latest entry reminded me of a nice trip we took down to San Carlos in the spring of 2006. I posted some pictures to my Flickr account that I somehow missed the first time around. I think at that time I didn't have an extended account so I was being frugal.

Anyway, the bird to the left was a glamourous reddish egret who was quite the ham. Homer and I explored a mangrove estuary where there were lots of new birds to check off the list of birds seen that day. We went on a naturalist boat tour where I realized there is definitely opportunities out there for knowledgeable naturalists. She was awful and wouldn't stop talking, and I lost count the number of times she was wrong about this or that fact.



Sunshine and surf to think about these winter months.

Me in the mangroves.

From Matt (Dude in DC): Crispin Glover is pretty darn sharp.

Photos of a house collapse four blocks south of my home. This is not uncommon in DC. Even though we just went through a housing boom, there are still plenty of vacant and often derelict properties in tha 'hood that are just left to rot until they implode. There are many reasons for this - sometimes a home owner is just sitting on it and is too lazy or cheap to sell or upgrade. Sometimes the property owner doesn't want the property to be bought by 'the wrong people' which I will leave to your interpretation. Sometimes the designation of 'historic' makes a property too expensive or complicated to renovate - so instead it's better for them to rot.

But more often than not it's a matter of the city government having to get around to inspecting the property or enforcing derelict or tax laws. And in this town unless you start screaming loud enough, such properties often eventually just rot away even though there are many potential homeowners or people who would or could do something positive with such places. But far too many neighbors or government officials prefer to keep change from happening. Change is frightening and upsetting. It's too bad, because many of these places were once beautiful buildings and could be again.

Another frikken'-frakkin' newsletter draft is finished at work. It looks great, but I get little thanks or recognition for what I do. I guess it's my fault for making it look like it can be done in an hour or so. I eventually want to move away from desktop production and Internet design for many reasons. At the very least it is stressful and exhausting. Well, layout and design isn't hard for me, it's getting the information that is far more difficult than necessary, especailly in my current situation.

First you have to gather the information from overly entitled state government workers who feel insulted that you asked them for data that their office produces and should be sharing for the sake of transparency anyway. Getting a single numerical statistic or number usually takes an average of an hour, first of begging nicely, then re-explaining several times what you need, then finally screaming that it's the same number (new year) that you asked about last year, that you will ask for again next year, that the boss will ask of you anyway once I tell him that you didn't cooperate with me in the first place. Multiply this by one hundred - an hour of begging, cajoling and/or screaming times one hundred, and this is why it takes so long to produce a newsletter or annual report, and why it stresses me out. No one ever gives me this information freely, I have to ask, beg and then scream for it. Add all this to making sure all the fonts are the consistent, line spacing the same, image resolution is maximized, writing the news stories, fact checking, then dealing with a printer, then the mailhouse, delivery and distribution. I know I can't do this crap forever, it totally stresses me out and most people don't understand what is involved in this process. Again, I think because we make it look sleek and easy (which is what we're supposed to do) it does.

Today everyone is pouting and avoiding me because yesterday I was screaming at them to give me information my boss requires me to publish. I asked them nicely the first time, then I begged. I do not want to have to scream but it seems like I have to.

Just venting. But the next time your graphics designer or institution's communicator asks you for a number or statistic, just remember that glossy hard copy is not magically shot out of a monkey's ass. Please get that fucking number to them as soon as you can - and that doesn't mean in a month, and don't make sourpuss faces about it either.

Thanks.

It was a nice four-day vacation that got mellower as the weekend progressed once the holiday was over. No, I did not go shopping on Black Friday. I have better things to do, like sleeping. I guess I did do a little shopping at the new Bed, Bath and Beyond store at Gallery Place after seeing Beowulf with OMG DJ TM™. I think we'll call this one 'Bed, Bath & Beyonce', however.

Speaking of DJs, the story I mentioned last week from the Washington Blade made the top story in the print version. Was it a slow news week over there last week or something? After I read the story over again I realized how detailed it was. Kudos to the investigative reporting, but I don't think it's a cover story...did someone have an axe to grind with this guy?

Bad news in The District:

One in 20 city residents is thought to have HIV and 1 in 50 residents to have AIDS, the advanced manifestation of the virus.

I managed to finish one chore I had been avoiding for a long time. I had been storing a bunch of boxes upstairs since there isn't a whole lot of storage space downstairs. I figured out a plan to move all that shit into the crawl space near my bed. But first I had to find a long lost CD of the soundtrack from "Once More, With Feeling" Buffy episode before I put it all away into storage. While I was going through my music collection I realized that we will look back on the late '90's and early auts and marvel at that short period of time where you could get almost any kind of music for free. It was easy to find and obtain, and I managed to get a lot of long lost tracks that I had been looking for for ages.

Today, if an obscure track doesn't make any money, it's not available to the fan. And if someone were to offer it the music companies would go after them. In the end the dedicated fan loses.

Last night we played D&D, wherein the party entered 'The Whispering Cairn' and came across a swarm of acid beetles and a mad slasher:

I am full to the point of bursting. I had two nice dinners, one at Gurl's place and the other at TJ and Rob's. The following photo documents gays undermining the fabric of moral society:

Tos would like you to know he was a VIP guest at last weekend's opening of Town.

I thought the walk home would burn some of the jellied cranberry sauce and turkey outta my tummy, but as of 9pm I'm still completely bloated.

TJ and Rob are dogsitting a very cuddly American Bulldog named Clyde:

DC is nice and deserted now, I enjoyed my walk home in a quiet city.

The writer's strike hits the Twelve Colonies: Battlestar Galactica producer Ron Moore talks about why he's striking and how that will affect the final season (delayed, of course). Until now I didn't fully understand the reason for the strike.

"Fundamentally this is about the internet, and this is about whether writers get paid for material that is made for the internet or if they're paid for material that is broadcast on the internet that was developed for TV or movies."

So some writers, producers and even actors aren't getting paid for 'webisodes,' as the executives claim that this whole Internets thing is all so new and we should just chip in without pay. I don't watch television on the 'net, but I think people should get paid for the work they do. I'm willing to wait a little longer for more BS:G knowing they're demanding pay for work. Thanks to Jack for the news.

I managed to catch tonight's episode of Heroes, and it's good to see things are finally picking up again. How many people are gonna get shot, beheaded or eviscerated and still come back to life? As far as I know only two characters have regeneration powers, but they all seem to have as many lives as a cat. Yaay: Niki/Jessica/Gina has more personalities!

This morning my senses were overloaded with a visual barrage of scruff in the morning paper. I don't follow soccer much, but the Houston Dynamo is one scruffy bunch. I loves me some Wade Barrett (nice last name):


Notes taken in class tonight about How to Eat Snacks During a Lecture or at a Meeting:

• Choose snack packaging with maximum crinkle noise;


• Take as much time as possible opening a 1/4" hole in packaging:


• Choose snack that smells like catfish bait but is crunchier than gravel;


• Chew snack bites one at a time with mouth open, lips smacking, with maximum gnashing;


• Extend consumption of 1/4 cup worth of Gravel Snax for two hours.

I guess I do have one tiny expectation from the holiday season: when presenting brand-name jellied cranberry sauce on the holiday table presentation, one must keep it can-shaped and without fancy slicing. No need to make it with organic cranberries or anything like that - just remove the lid and let it slide out onto the plate with that glorious sucking sound. Maintaining the cylindrical shape with side ridge texturing is vital.

OMG despite the opening of Town just a block away, Blowoff was still packed last night at the 9:30 Club. I predicted the Blowoff crowd would be minimal but it was only more concentrated with hairy bears or those who like them, like Josh and Wonkette. Wonkette's honey pot was on fire for some beef and fur but I'm guessing she only got some good visuals for her time walking amongst the Bears.

I think since Blowoff is only a once a month venue it will continue to attract a crowd that wants something a little different. I would like to check out Town some day but I don't want to stand in a line that goes around the block just to get in for a few cocktails. If it's open during the week I might check it out, or over the holiday weekend. Nellie's is across the street from both of the above, and will only benefit as a staging area for later-night partying. I think the 9th and U area is now definitely where it's at.

I ran with the Skwurl yesterday, far longer than I expected or believed I could go - all the way from 4th and Q down Rhode Island, through DuPont Circle and down into Rock Creek Park. We ran up the bike trail to Adam's Morgan, over the bridge and back towards home via 17th Street. Running is important for your health but it's also important to be seen being athletic in all the right places.

Over the holiday break I want to see Beowulf at the Imax, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake and Seann Willam Scott in Southland Tales:

The holiday marketing ads began the day after Halloween this year. Stores are already setting up Christmas displays and the music piped in to stores downtown is flooded with sonic cheer.

And again, I just can't get into it.

I think it's the weight of expectations of all the things you should be doing this time of year. You should be shopping, you should start sending out your holiday cards after Thanksgiving. You should go home and be with your family. All of these expectations add more to an already busy schedule, and it stresses me out. I don't even like shopping for myself, and I hate being told to be cheerful. Cheer will come as it will, don't tell me I have to be cheerful, dammit.

So I usually end up doing none of the above, and generally have a good time as a result. It's frikkin' cold back home in Wisconsin in November and December, and holiday travel is a hellish experience these days. Even though it rained the whole time I was home in August, I had a much better time and there was much more to do while I was there. And the family is more relaxed without holiday expectations.

And nothing beats an evacuated District of Columbia during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Almost everyone goes elsewhere these times of year, the streets are quiet and there's no expectation for anything. I like that.

And how many more months are left of this suicidal administration? I swear the monkey-creature is just itching for more war. Hey, now that our military is stretched too thin and we're in billions of dollars in debt, let's start picking fights with more countries! Bush and his ilk will not have to account for any of this. As with the last Repbulicans in office, they leave an enormous debt and bad international relations in the wake of their terms. Gen-X is whiney because we have to clean up Baby Boomer shit all the time on almost every level.

They were showing re-runs of The Day After on the Sci-Fi channel this weekend. Despite the cheesy 80s special effects before the advent of CGI, the scenes depicting the initial explosions and the physical and social fallout after that still scare the shit out of me, even 25 years later. Why is this administration so excited to hasten such an event, whether it's here or somewhere overseas?

Jessica* from Expat With Elephants wonders:

"So I have to ask -- where is the line between killing rats and killing feral cats? I too think killing the cats is a bit over-the-top (people, keep your cats inside for their own health if nothing else), but you posted this immediately after murdering a rat."

Hmm...good question. I have had cherished cats in my home and I'm aware that they have individual personalities, and arguably a soul (albeit an evil one). Nevertheless thier populations can get out of control, such as in a 'barn cat' situation in rural areas, or with a collecting 'cat person' household. And both Jessica and I lived in a household where a pet white rat was kept. The rat was named 'Fyedya' and lived a simple life on the cushion of a chair in the kitchen, and never left it. But Fyedya's shit didn't stink either, so I didn't want to kill him. And there weren't dozens of Fyedyas all over the place either. For some reason feral rat holes and rat shit stinks something awful. There are warrens off of our rugby practice pitch and I can smell it. I know cat shit stinks but not the same as rat shit. And rats don't purr and give attitude either - that's why we love them. So I guess my answer is that I could live with a cat but I don't want to live with a rat, and the rat was sharing my space without permission and was making a mess so he had to be eliminated. Plus, rats are far more likely to carry disease than cats are.

Well, most cats anyway. I'll be sure to avoid performing autopsies on dead mountain lions in the near and distant future.

Radical Gingerist Extremist uprising in London.

MetroRail / WMATA has a lost and found. I'm not expecting to get my big giant umbrella back, but it's worth a try after absentmindedly leaving it in the rail car last night. Last month, a railcar driver who was moving through the cars to get to the other end saw my coat that I left after disembarking, connected the coat with me, and hand-delivered it to me before leaving the station. That's the kind of public service I'd like to see every day in this town.

* Jessica was the next Peace Corps volunteer to live with my host family back in like 1995 or so. She is now living in Sri Lanka doing sustainable development work in the community, pursuing photography, and is almost if not more opinionated and blunt as I am. I suspect she may be Scandinavian...

Goddammit, Chris. Another blog comes to an end. Pretty soon the only personal journal blogs left in the world will be fake blogs and those who rail against them. These days most of the blogs are political punditry or Hollywood gossip, or those random articles in the Washington Post that the editors claim are blogs.

Totally hot photo of Chris.

Jeez, doesn't anyone know the golden rule of blog burnout? When in doubt, or if you run out of things to write, just post random pics of hot guys.

Genetically gifted soap star Cameron Mathison, who just got booted off of 'Dancing With The Stars':

I know they've been around for a while, but I haven't gotten around to adding them until recently: Herb of DC and Hot Mountain Biking Mike. Start writing more entries, bitches.

Another bohunk, a personal trainer named Jim Romagna:

Cat-killing birdwatcher on trial. While feral cats do make a serious impact on sensitive bird populations, I can't condone his John Wayne approach to controlling the problem. He shoulda called animal control instead of taking it into his own hands.

Negative Nancy Thought of the Day: all the gay punditry blogs are chattering about the recent trans-exclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that passed the House last week. While I understand that it is a landmark event and it would be nice if the law passed, I'm results-oriented so my elation is less than most people's. Doesn't it still have to pass in the Senate, and then get by a potential veto by our gay-hating monkey-creature? In other words, it's unlikely to pass, trans-inclusive or not, right?

This was a juvenile rat, probably trying to make a home before winter sets in. He was feeding on birdseed and from trashcans that didn't have a lid on them. These issues will be addressed with the household, since he started digging his tunnels (and shitting stinky rat shit) near my front door.

Uma Thurman picks her dead foe up from the earth, and removes the golden arrow. Then with the rat in her hand, she looks up to her teacher.

PAI MEI: "How does victory taste?"

THE BRIDE: "Bitter."

It's not a Chronic Problem yet, and I probably cut off the colony leader before he had a chance to establish a warren, but here are a few tips in preventing or stopping a rat infestation in the city:

• A single pair of rats can multiply more than 15,000 descendants in 1 year;
• Garbage-fed city rats are considerably larger than their rural cousins;
• Rats can survive for 14 days without food;
• Rats love cracked corn and can easily hop into an unsealed trash can;
• If you like birds, try planting sunflowers, which attract goldfinches but not house sparrows and rats in the fall;
• Rats have poor eyesight and rely heavily on their whiskers to feel their way around. Set traps near walls or known pathways;
• Pack size can range from 15 to 220 individuals;
• One dominant male rat lives with a harem of several female rats;
• 5 to 25% of all unknown-cause fires are caused by rats;
• A rat can gain entrance through any hole larger than a half-inch in diameter.

On Friday I got a sneak peek screening of Battlestar Galactica: Razor, which premieres on Nov. 24. Teasers are available during Friday's snoozetastic Flash Gordon and on the scifi.com website. The two-hour special is supposed to serve as a backdrop for the events of season four, but also provides a few insights into what shaped Admiral Cain into such a meanie. Some spoilers are after the break.

Sunday was cold and cloudy, and after a refreshing sleep-in, me and Michael went to a few museums down on the mall.

Video Flag by Nam June Paik at the Hirshhorn Museum.

Islamic Calligraphy at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

When we took the wrong turn at the galleries of Asian art, we ended up in Mexico, but were blessed to come across Selena's Leather Outfit at the National Museum of American History Kenneth E. Behring Center.

It's the Spice Girls Makeover Friday!

Baby Spice wants to let you know she's sensitive to your feelings:


Ginger Spice wants you to know that she's proud of her John Basedow abs:


Posh Spice looks more like a blow-up doll every day:


Scary Spice is hiding Eddie Murphy's baby:


Sporty Spice is workin' the Admiral Cain bowlcut:

Thanks to Phillip in the U.K. for the pics!

Last night we celebrated Skwurl's return from months of masc/musc/mil training by going to a very nice Korean restaurant called Mandu near where Lauriol Plaza used to be, across from the gas station at 18th and R, NW. The host/chef/bartender looked like a smaller version of Matthew Fox, replete with nice scruff and tatts. I am currently scheduled for a pit duel with Seanshow over the ultimate right to flirt with this employee of Mandu. I had a yummy rice bowl and ate lots of kimchi, which made my pee smell bad and gave me gas.

On that note, I recently learned that there is a new drug on the streets called 'Jenkem', also known as Winnie, Shit, Runners, Leroy Jenkems, Might, Butthash, and Waste. It is made from poop and pee and is becoming popular in the U.S. When I first heard about it I couldn't believe people were doing hits of poop, but it's true.

The introduction of Jenkem into the 'hood might solve a lot of problems in Shaw. First off, people would probably start collecting the bags of poop that dog-walkers leave in my garbage cans that I really don't want to deal with*. Please stop leaving bags of poop in my garbage can, thanks. Anyway, the gang problem would decrease because the demand for their product would drop since people can make Jenkem at home. And poop is a renewable resource, so people would be going Green! Or yellow and brown in this instance.

But I think Shaw is more high-class than that. Around these parts do PCP, heroin and of course crack, which as Whitney said is for poor people. But I don't think we do hits of poop here in Shaw. We're made of prouder stuff.

Anyway, back to squirrels and other varmints: the other night I saw an opossum in somebody's back yard. When you first see a possum from behind, it's naked tail makes you think it's a gigantic grey rat, which causes a bit of a fright. But it was a young possum and stared at me. Squirrels are eating my pumpkin. There is a very good urban varmint infographic guide in the Home section of today's Washington Post.

In my hometown some little kid found a wooly mammoth tooth. It is the second time the same kid has found a wooly mammoth tooth, this time while he was "...chasing squirrels ". COINCIDENCE?! I think not.

*Dear presumptive dog-walkers: I love dogs, I really do, and I commend you for walking your dog, but don't leave your goddamn poop in my garbage can. Throw it away in a public trash receptacle, not in my garbage can, thanks.

Happy 2000th* blog entry to me. I have been thinking alot about to what to write. Should I post the Mother-of-all-Rants? Write a long tear-jerking blogicide entry? A reflective set of flashback links or silly photos? I think what is most appropriate to celebrate the anniversary of a blog often described as a 'potpourri' is to post the Mother-of-all-Attention-Deficit-Disorder entries, starting with an anti cell phone rant:

I received a text message at approximately 6:49am today. Of course the message was unnecessary and not important, more like something you would read on a crucial Twitter page. People have proven that they can't control their cell phone behavior in any way, and therefore I must enforce justice where appropriate - and that pretty much means everywhere. That's why I'm wishing for a portable cell phone jammer for Christmas. Considering my iPod just died and I would probably use a cell phone jammer more than an iPod, I think I'll spend my money on the latter. For those of you who would argue for the necessity of cell phones in 'emergency' situations, remember the time back in the olden days, when we had to wait until we got home to use the phone? And really, there was always a phone nearby when there really was an emergency.

Conversely, when I leave a message for someone saying "It is important that you call me back. Time is of the essence," and they don't call back, you can see that our new culture of immediacy has diluted the value of truly important things. People just don't know what is truly important these days. Every instant, every call, is percieved as important, when 99.95% of the time it probably isn't. The bombardment of messages from so many interfaces has created a cacophony of messages where the reciever cannot adequately distinguish between significant and the mundane.

So no, I do not need to login to OMGomgOMG.com, thank you.

Powerpig: hot bearded Star Wars and Pokemon fan. No blog post of mine dedicated to A.D.D. shall be without mention of scruff or geekery, and handsome devil Chris meets both criteria.

The other day OMG DJ TM™ went for a hike in the Shenendoahs, and mentioned he spoke to an ent in the forest. I asked him, "Did it speak Fey or Sylvan?" To which he responded: "Neither. It barked at me. " HAAAAAHAAAHAHHAHAA!

Speaking of jam, Jimmy Jam was recently named Chairman of the Board of The Recording Academy, the people who bring you The GRAMMY Awards. He celebrated the honor with members of the Recording Academy at a party at a private residence in Malibu, CA on September 12th. Basically this means he will be reading that one boring speech during the GRAMMY Awards where you go and refil your glass.

What was disturbing about this was when I mentioned the news in mixed company, including some 20-something young'uns who didn't know who The Time was nor had ever seen Purple Rain. When I dropped both of those names, it was met by a blank stare from the young gayling. That made me sad.

Jimmy Jam, along with Terry Lewis, helped produce many of Janet's hit albums. But Janet's latest album is without their help this time around.

Speaking of nipples, BrettCajun will be visting DC with his eShrew in early December and all he wants to do is run around shirtless and pinch everyone's nipples. TJ and I said that was OK and that we would help him do that as long as he didn't wear flip-flops in the White House or Crocs on K Street. Sadly, Blowoff will be in NYC that weekend, but GWAR will be performing on December 6th and I thought I would show him some local (Richmond!) talent. I think he'll like GWAR.

Zod in 2008!

Jody Miller is Queen of the House.

Homos are not welcome at local government meetings. Wow. In this day and age. I guess our 'movement' is not as far along as we had hoped. Back to the basics, folks.

Fierce Diva Kitty Judges You:

In conclusion and reflection as to whether or not to continue this blog, I must recant the words of My People's goddess and savior, Madonna:

I think Ill find another way
Theres so much more to know
I guess Ill die another day
Its not my time to go

Jimbo.info: ad-free and guaranteed A.D.D. since 1999*.

*There would be entries dating back to 1999 or so but for a tragic server accident where many old entries were lost.

Today was the last match of the season, thank Zod. My lower back has had about enough rugby for the year. Time for my Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays free again.

Photo by OMG DJ TM™. I got to play 40 minutes as flanker today, and learned a few more things about the position.

Here is another taste of this winter's fashion lineup: chamois-lined CROCS! (Please don't hate the woofy model - he's really nice)

Crocs are only appropriate for those in coastal or wetland-related biological research, as sampling and research is conducted during warm weather near such wetlands. And even the most geeky of coastal wetland biologists shouldn't wear Crocs to the office.

What should we call this obscene Ugg/Croc hybrid? Cruggs?

And yet, prepare to see them on K Street on the slushiest of winter days, even though they're not really waterproof. We're educated like that around here. You should see how many wear heels in several inches of snow. But then again maybe it won't ever snow again in The District until the next Ice Age.

Lots of action around the 'hood this weekend, starting with some kinda bust at P & New Jersey on Friday night, with helicopters all around. I hear tell a gun was found amongst the group that was busted. Then two quiet incidents at the end of the block with unmarked cop cars zooming in, counting heads and taking names on both Friday and Saturday night. I don't know what exactly was being busted, but I'm guessing it had something to do with the All Hands On Deck effort by the DCMPD this weekend.

I saw something really unusual at Titan's RAMROD last night: a container of free condoms. It was unusual because I haven't seen that sort of thing offered since like the late '90s. Back inna day, it was a frequent phenomenon in gay bars in the early 90's when I came out - when people seemed to give a shit about prevention rather than putting all our eggs in the cure/meds basket as we do these days. In the past 5-10 years I've actually had to go out and BUY condoms.

It's not that I'm against a cure, but the reality is at this moment there is no cure, and meds are no cakewalk either. So in the mean time you can do well to keep from getting HIV.

So I am glad to see the return of the condom - because from what I see around me today young and old gays alike seem to have given up on simply trying to avoid HIV infection. It seems like it's been far easier for the community as a whole to just throw up their hands and take the infection - and the pharmecutical companies appreciate that attitude by the way. "Barebacking is cool! I'm not giving up barebacking!" Remember: certain industries like it when they can get us to buy more meds. So if you don't want Tha Man to get even richer, stay Negative if possible.

I don't know what happened to the funds or the will to continue promoting HIV prevention, but it has decreased in the past decade. Perhaps conservative or liberal politics may be part of the problem, I don't know. Krazy Konservative Kristians (KKK) don't want to talk about buttsex, and extreme liberals in San Francisco would rather insist it's a person's RIGHT to get infected - after a healing drum circle of course.

In other HIV/AIDS news, I was surprised to read about the Patient Zero story about the infected flight attendant from San Francisco is wrong, and that HIV may have entered the country far earlier than previously thought.

And then there's this plague on humanity - some evil geneticist crossbred Crocs with Uggs for the new fall fashion lineup. When will the madness stop? Believe me - people will be wearing them on K Street during a snowstorm this winter, even though the holes let the slush through to your toes.

Not a whole lot of trick-or-treaters last night, but some kinda bust at the end of the block had the lost boys all riled up. Then there was apparently a taxicab strike going on yesterday but I didn't see a lot of lost souls waiting on the corners for cabs like you would on New Year's Eve. The cab drivers need to stop whining - if they wouldn't try to cheat the passengers by taking advantage of a confusing zone map, this wouldn't be happening. Lawlessness leads to intervention by the government, and they've been bad boys for a long time. Buck it up, cab drivers.

In a discussion about pumpkin security with my neighbor, we wondered why pumpkins rarely get smashed in DC. Back home in Wisconsin or out in the suburbs, your jack-o-lantern has a lifespan of under 24 hours at best. Neighbor proposed that in the city, pumpkin smashing is beneath the notice of common street thugs - they have more important things to do like mugging or dealing, whereas in the 'burbs pumpkin smashing is the height of rebellion for pampered kids.

After having a lovely dinner with a woofy flanker last night, we came across this scene on the corner of 17th and P, NW DC:

The dancers were well-practiced, and it looked like some kind of deliberate performance, possibly a Wiccan ceremony? A wild group of trick-or-treating kids joined in the fun, which was welcomed by the dancers. Except one kid was chanting along with the finger cymbal rhythm singing "Shake dat ass! Shake dat ass!" which I found hilarious.

Here's my neighbor gleefuly tormenting his cat:

Wicca kitty is not amused.