Welcome back to the world of blog-reading, everyone. I hope you had a moderately relaxing holiday break, which is excessively long in DC as compared to most other places. Guess we'll give DC a point or two for that one... if you are lucky enough to work somewhere that gets the obscene "holiday break" (e.g. week between Christmas and New Year's) off. I'm one of those lucky bastards, and so today marks the first day back since Christmas Eve-eve. Thankfully for everyone involved I remembered to throw away any open food near my desk so there's no science experiments to come back to.Riding the Metro this morning, absolutely no one looked pleased to be going back to work. For those keeping track, the Dupont Circle station opened Work Year 2010 with no down escalator at the Q Street exit. Sadly the far left (as looking upwards) escalator is being torn up yet again, after it was rebuilt and put back in service in December. Who would have guessed?
Moving along, let me stretch my bloggin' fingers and type out some news summaries before I get too buried in all of the work that didn't get done during the aforementioned holiday break.
Jim Zorn fired, Washington Times sports section stops the presses. No one is too surprised by this news, but Zorn is out as head coach of the Washington Redskins. For two seasons, Zorn led the 'Skins to a dismal 12-20 record. The sports section presses at the Times had already stopped, when the section was discontinued at the end of 2009.
Late Night Shots founders host NYE party at National Building Museum, disaster ensues. Check out these reviews for the event over on the Washington Post. The bash was described as:
Buoyed by the success of their sold-out Halloween party at the City Museum, the guys behind Gin & Tonic Tavern and the invite-only Late Night Shots message board are taking over the National Building Museum, promising 35 bar areas, multiple DJs and live music by indie rockers U.S. Royalty and '90s cover band White Ford Bronco. VIP tickets offer extra rooms and top-shelf liquor.Here's a few choice reviews:
We were having a good time despite the weak alcohol selection, the pretentious staff, the abominable service, the mediocre music (at best), and the horrendous lines. We were even willing to overlook the lack of champagne at midnight, the drooling barbaric drunks cutting in line, the déclassé follow-up email, or the $50 consolation prize. But you lost me when I overheard the bartender refer to my friends and I as "the Mo’Ped Chicks."
I paid $120 to: wait in line for 50 minutes in the pouring rain just to find out they weren't even scanning tickets, wait 15-20 minutes every time for a drink, THE BARS RAN OUT OF ALL ALCOHOL AT 11:30, mine & my roommate's coats got STOLEN from the "coat check", and I used paper towel to wipe myself in the bathroom. To add insult to injury, the 2 guys running it blamed the failure on the catering company and gave everyone $50 gift cards to BARS THEY OWN. That's like a restaurant saying "you hate our food? here let's give you a 2nd serving." eff you Fritz & Reed.
I'd actually like to commend these uppity pricks for the demented social experiment they conducted last night on all of us. I'm assuming it began with the hypothesis 'If you make people stand outside in the rain for an hour, herd them like cattle into a big open space, refuse to give them alcohol, make them hold their coats , and have even longer lines for restrooms, will they pre-pay $100+ for the privilege?' Given the litany of posts so far I'm clearly not the first person to wonder 'What the f$*k just happened?' These clowns made me hate new years. This was almost worse than finding out there's no Santa. Frankly, I'd prefer no apology or refund, rather I hope these jerks take the proceeds and pursue new and less destructive careers.
I might look into doing more of a write-up on this whole mess. Part of me, though, thinks the people attending got exactly what they deserve
Man dies in Rock Creek Parkway accident. 22 year-old Joshua A. Kuhlman of Arlington died after driving off the parkway and into Rock Creek sometime early Sunday morning. A jogger spotted a tire floating in the ice, and called 911. Rescuers had to extract the car from the ice, which indicated that the car had been underwater for some time. Kuhlman was taken to GWU and later pronounced dead after attempts to revive him failed. The U.S. Park Police is investigating the crash, which occurred near P Street, NW.
Man in jail for throwing a lizard. The AP has picked up this story, which is really not news. But I'll use it to openly mock both the AP and the Washington Post (and WTOP for running it):
Animal cruelty isn't funny, but this really isn't news.WASHINGTON (AP) - A District of Columbia man spent a day in jail this week after police say he threw his son's pet lizard across the street, fatally injuring the animal.
Nelson Privado was in jail Wednesday after being arrested for the Oct. 9 incident, which his family reported to police. Privado is set to appear in court this month.
Privado told The Washington Post that the lizard tried to bite him and he was afraid. He says it was his 15-year-old son's pet.
Privado faces an animal cruelty charge. Police say that carries up to 180 days in jail, fines, or both if he's convicted.
I'm hoping to hear a bit more about this tweet from DC Fire and EMS:
@dcfireems:
Violent patient on PCP damages an ambulance in Georgetown?
I tried one of those NYE balls when I first arrived to this city. Never again for the same reasons as the LNS complaints. It seems to be a rite of initiation to go to a poorly organized event and wait in line for shitty drinks and stand stranded in the cold for hours afterwards waiting for a cab.
ReplyDeleteInstead you're always better off with a small group of friends at someone's home. That way at least you're less likely to step into a puddle of vomit.
Or plan in advance for a group NYE dinner at a local non-crazybusy restaurant near the subway system. Good times, good food were had at Logan Tavern or Cafe Berlin ringing in the new year. Call me an old fart but I was over the mass balls years ago. They're just no fun.