What's That You Say?
Afternoon, fellow commentarians. There was a virtual explosion of comments this week which deserved special recognition, but, we can only include so many of them -- read on, if you will.
Speaking of explosions, there was a filmed one this week on the Potomac, which for some reason was incredibly big news. (Hey, if obsessing over large balls of flames is wrong, we don't want to be right.) stmove, though, didn't seem too interested in the show that the fire was filmed for, a CBS pilot called Washington Field:
Finally! Another show about an imaginary elite group of government workers and 'exciting' things like explosions happening in cities in which they never actually happen. Just when we were running low.
They said that the endearing portrait of the FBI which I submitted last year (the script centered around a bunch of guys on leave from not catching murderers on Indian reservations eating at Chipotle in NoVa with their earpieces still in) would not be that interesting, but I think people would watch just for the witty banter.
Why don't they ever shoot these shows in places where things actually get blown up? It would save a lot of money, and reduce the amount of TV producers. I hear Kabul and Bogota have mad discounts on cinematic explosives.
stmove, I'd definitely watch your show, for what it's worth.
After the jump, Jim Graham gets 007ized, who needs voting rights when you can just take other states' rights away, and how not to sloganize D.C.
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We'd be utterly remiss if we failed to mention these totally awesome Graham-tastic riffs on James Bond theme songs.
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Wayna got the shakedown from the Houston airport cops -- charges which were eventually dropped -- but if this the standard of "weapons" we're holding to, all grannys better watch out, as Moose points out:
Heaven help you if you carry knitting needles into Texas, then.
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This Week In Guns and Votes: Monday, Tuesday.
(I'll keep running these threads like this until we get some semblance of resolve on the issue. Which will probably be never. Of course, if you're checking out these threads, you know what you're getting into. Have at it.)
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jamie, with another even-keeled response to Mayor Fenty's latest secret travel:
When I leave the office, I need to let my boss know where I am going. That does not include going to the can. It does include going to Dubai or Philadelphia. As you may recall, we are Adrian Fenty's bosses.
The other side of this is that we voted for Fenty because he represented a break from the Barry days. This is the guy who criticized Tony Williams for his frequent trips. Tony, at least, disclosed everything he did. Fenty seems to think "fuck you" is an acceptable response to questions about his schedule and ethics. Fenty's administration is about as transparent as the sky in LA on a code red day.
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Kwame Brown's proposition to criminalize interstate travel for the purpose of soliciting sex might be a simple jab at Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, but we actually kinda like yamonit's idea to foster support for D.C. voting rights:
I think we should take the idea one step further -
Why not choose a different Congressional district every year that will be governed by Congress for that year?
That way citizens from all across the US could experience just how vested Congressmen from other districts are in local matters. We could even strip away voting powers for their delegation for that time just to make it official.
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Easter Egg Roll-gate! Breaking news: popular events involving a large government bureaucracy will likely have a convoluted ticketing process, sell out quickly, and spawn a highly inflated secondary market. Color me shocked.
Also: next time, we'll just remember your call for sloppy reporting. I'm sure that no one will be upset about that.
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This week in the Magical World of Monkeyrotica, we were going to use this tome, but found that we wouldn't be able to fit any other comments from anyone else in the rest of this post. Instead, here's a zinger about leopard cubs. Enjoy!
Since the name "Butterstick" is already taken, I dub thee, "Parkay Margarine Tub Unsalted" and "Sweet Cream."
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DCist Commenting 101 -- someone should really be teaching this stuff in a lecture hall. A post about a new, uh, diner, I guess, begins with legitimate commentary, then slowly devolves into an orgy of Simpsons quotes, booze, and comparisons to New York.
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Look, ClevelandRocks, if you can think of a better use of Nic Cage's time other than movie scenes with explosions on the Potomac, well, we'd like to hear it:
OK, so this scene is obviously for another Nic "Craptacular" Cage movie. In this movie he is Jackie Blaze, a white-cap wearin' Georgetown crew dude who makes a deal with the devil to become Hell's Estruarial Enforcer: Ghost Rower.
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Who is this Wonkette that you speak of?
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cactus jack, probably not a favorite in any contest to design a new slogan for the District:
Good god, man, it's always something with you, isn't it? "Express buses don't move fast." "Children throw rocks at me." "The water is poisonous." Boo f'ing hoo. Where did you grow up, Fantasia? Just because a place isn't perfect is no reason to complain. I mean, c'mon, it's been, what, like a year since children's services has acted so negligently that anyone died because of it. That's gotta count for something.
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Kev29, shooting the barrel fish of governmental promises:
They're going to be ready for the next once in a lifetime Presidential Inauguration. Maybe!
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Krisa brings up an a good point from our special posts on the preservation of "historic" buildings in Washington:
Half the problem is the term 'historic'. What are the criteria for being historic? Hell, my tennis shoes from 1988 are historic in that they represent a time gone by. These preservation groups need to be operating at a macro level, but too often they get swept into the details of particular properties and become too heavily involved in the owner's decision making abilities. We should have clear, precise guidelines that are legally interpretable and binding, not throwing every little decision to the court of public opinion. Otherwise what is the point of ownership besides control. And if I am going to become an owner in something, I want to know up front what my rights are. Under the current system there is no way of knowing how these boards will react, and may even react differently at different time periods. This is not a good solution to the problem.
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Award Time!
This week's Avatar Award for Achievement in the Field of Avatars goes to Joewithay, whose avatar of a the University of Wisconsin's badger mascot carrying a beaker full of red stuff can mean only one thing -- all Wisconsin graduates are vampire chemists. There, I said it.
And our Username of the Week goes to DreadPirateRoberts, for a solid reference to The Princess Bride. You know, he never leaves captives alive.