If you managed to catch the moon coming up last night, you may have noticed the rather fetching shade of pale orange in which it was cloaked. If you didn't, luckily Flickr user Synapped was there to capture the just-past-full moon as it rose above the trees. EXIF.

Have you made it out to Fort Reno yet this summer? Only six more shows remain in the season's line-up, but Flickr user stgermh made it out to last Thursday's performance to see Scanner Freaks, who loved this photo so much they asked stgermh if they could use them on their MySpace page. We particularly love the contrast of the serene summer sunset with the silhouettes doing some serious rocking out. Stop by Fort Reno tonight, if the weather holds up, to see Garland of Hours, The Aerialist, and Lady in the Radiator. EXIF.

We love the high contrast black and white and near vanishing point in this shot by Flickr user akkleis. This pergola shades a walk in the ten acres of gardens at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, which also houses a museum with rare book, music, and art collections. The museum itself is closed for renovations until 2008, but the gardens are open for an $8 admission fee. EXIF.

A reminder for our photographers and everyone else who's spent quality time at Warehouse -- their bar & cafe, as well as the music venue, closes for good this weekend. No doubt much of the DCist staff will drop by to toast with a cold one and tip the barkeeps properly for doing their best to keep our glasses full even when we descended in droves. If you stop by, be sure to check out the quirky, daring, and eye-popping pieces in the Art in Heat exhibit before the upstairs gallery closes for their summer break.

..."but it is what's deep down that counts," is the title that Flickr user Dottibobottie suggested for p2wy's arresting photo. Do you think you could come up with a better one? Have at it in the comments. Taken with a yellow filter, we think this photo captures the oppressiveness of the wickedly hot weather outside. EXIF.

Flickr user yospyn took this photo of a ladybug's butt at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Va. The severe depth of field makes for some lovely bokeh that turns this nature photo into a bit of a dreamy landscape.

Now that's a pretty Metro stop. Our DCist photogs always impress us with their eye for the underground architecture, but this one of the otherwise bland King Street marker by Flickr user guenno is particularly impressive. EXIF.

This shot by LaTur looks like another one of those old Library of Congress photos of D.C., with the old car, trolley tracks, faded quality, and general lack of new things, but the EXIF data shows it was actually taken March 7, 2007. The starkness and the car being half-covered gives the shot a bit of an eerie, deserted quality too.

Despite being a recent shot, the photo gives a great idea of how Washington (and Georgetown in particular) used to be, when streetcars ran up and down the streets. And there's been some talk of bringing trolleys back to Georgetown, the H Street Corridor, and elsewhere.

Also, anybody know what kind of car this is?

My jumpings. Let me show you them.

This biggie sized lolcat comes to us from animal lover zenfrisbee, who appears to have spent some quality time at the National Zoo recently. This photo caught our eye for several reasons, the most striking being the string of water drops from this tiger's tail. We also like the cat's facial expression and paw position, which makes him look like your everyday house cat, ready to pounce on one of his toys. Check out zenfisbee's photostream (or even the DCist Photo Pool) for more shots of the tigers lounging in the water. EXIF.

Is it today's heat that's making you feel delirious, or does this photo just look that way? An ethereal, infrared look at the Potomac just below Great Falls caught my eye today. The 13-second exposure succeeds to catch the current of the river, which makes it look like it's bulging above its banks. At any rate, it looks pretty inviting; maybe they can move the triathlon swim a few miles upstream.

JW Landis has a few more of these in his photostream, so be sure to check them out. EXIF.

D.C. United's wide open style of play came back to bite them on Saturday when they gave up three goals in the second half. In doing so they snatched a draw from the jaws of victory, earning themselves a 3-3 tie on an otherwise lovely night at RFK. After scoring early in the first half and adding another goal just before the halftime whistle, United looked fully in control after another score by Luciano Emilio in the 47th minute, but instead, that's where the night started going downhill.

Eight minutes after Emilio's second half strike, Jaime Moreno was subbed out for Guy-Roland Kpene after sustaining a hamstring injury. It's worth noting that it wasn't until after Moreno left the game that Dallas started threatening United's goal. Poor defensive positioning and out-and-out bad play from the back line lead to two Dallas goals. Juan Toja's game-tying goal in the 81st minute seemed more anti-climactic than anything. To United's credit, they quickly regrouped and put the pressure back on Dallas, trying everything they could for the game winner, but it was not to be.

Moreno, for his part, looked like a man 10-years younger during the first half, roaming all over the field and controlling the play wherever he went. It's a shame he wasn't able to finish what he started. Though Troy Perkins' gaffes led directly to two of the Dallas goals, Greg Vanney continued his poor play along the back line, continuously committing the types of errors Facundo Erpen was regularly vilified for. Brian Carroll wasn't much better. Is it to early to declare 2007 an off year for him?

So where does this leave United? With plenty of questions at the MLS All-Star break. Their next match isn't until July 22nd in New Jersey against the Red Bulls. The schedule doesn't get any easier from there, with three Super Liga games (including one against Houston) in the span of eight days before a trip to New England.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

Happy Monday, D.C. Today's POTD comes to us from pixlesie, who captured an image illustrating nature's resiliency and persistence despite the barriers humankind puts in its way. Well, it shows how well a tree can do in a pot on the sunny roof of the Air and Space Museum, at least. I like the lighting in this photo as well, which appears to be the product of the morning sun (the description says it's the south side of the building). Alas, no EXIF data to confirm my suspicions.

It does have me thinking about good roof decks, however. Who has the goods on the best landscaped aeries in town? Hit up the comments and let us know.

I don't know about you folks, but this writer is getting the heck out of dodge to spend a nice 90 degree day on the sandy shores tomorrow. Even if you're not interested in putting a suit on, a short drive over to the Bay holds a wealth of treasures in the form of delicious, fresh crustaceans and frothy beer waiting for you. Flickr user Oblivious Dude took this shot of a perfectly relaxing summer scene. You might want to follow his lead soon and pick up a few soft shell Blue crabs, since the season is nearing its end already. Mmm...anyone else getting hungry? EXIF.

Flickr user F1.4 has turned this sad little broken fire hydrant into a 1940s black and white Hollywood tragedy. Can't you hear the music crescendo as the camera slowly tilts down onto this scene? Then a pause as we reflect on the symbolism before ... the credits silently begin to roll. EXIF.

If you saw the Morning Roundup, you'll notice that we love this rain series from maxedaperture. He took advantage of a day off work to sit safe and dry under an awning while watching D.C. folks get caught in that massive downpour yesterday. This poor guy looks like he got the brunt of the entire storm, vainly trying to hurry across the street to outrun the wetness, and the black and white makes the scene look that much more ominous. See the rest of them here.

This is one of those "scroll down" photos, where you're not quite sure what you're looking at until you make it all the way to the bottom. The unusual composition, as well as the aquamarine sky and the hazy borders, make for a wonderfully abstract photo of this electrical pole on the corner of Euclid and Fairmont by Flickr user krisetya. EXIF.

As most of the Flickr commenters already noted, this is a wonderfully composed shot by christaki. No doubt many of you took advantage of the weekend to get out on the water and pray for river breezes to cool you off from the monstrously hot weather. So, for all you waterbugs, where's the best place to rent a kayak or a canoe around here? EXIF.

One more fireworks photo should round out the week nicely. With so many it's tough for a single shot to make you go, "ooooooooooooo," but this one definitely succeeded. Flickr user Andrei took this colorful reflection from across the Tidal Basin. EXIF.

One of the things we love best about the DCist Flickr Group is its ability to give us viewpoints from so many different people all at once -- no single news outlet in the world likely had as many photographers taking great shots of the fireworks display in D.C. last night as we did. We put together a short slideshow to share some of the images you were all kind enough to send in to the photo pool. Be sure to visit DCist Photos on Flickr to find out who took which shot, since we couldn't include credits for each one in the slideshow. Enjoy!

Let the fireworks photos begin! There are so many great shots in the pool, we'll be bringing you a fun compilation of them later today, but we particularly liked this silhouette by Flickr user cyaneyed. Where did you end up watching the fireworks this year? EXIF.

In times when security fears, whether justified or not, begin to creep over our lives, it's important to remember that the tiny chipping away of legitimate rights can be a slippery slope to unwarranted governmental authority over our lives. We wrote in June about photographer Chip Py's experience in downtown Silver Spring, as well as Kate Mereand's similar confrontations all over D.C., and their subsequent formation of DC Photo Rights, a Flickr group dedicated to assuring rights of photographers when security detail claim they have none. Since then, numerous news outlets have picked up the story, including Marc Fisher at the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun.

The folks at DC Metblogs took a particular interest in the story and decided it was time to protest. They set up a web site, Free Our Streets, and have provided some interesting research about the Peterson Company, the developer that claimed Py had no right to photograph on Ellsworth Drive. The lease signed by the county to the developers contains an easement "for public access," though it allows the private company to "enforce reasonable rules and regulations." Both of these statements seem pretty obvious: photography is allowed on Ellsworth Drive. Non-commercial photography of the area in downtown Silver Spring is not only reasonable, but it constitutes part of "public access," just like walking down Constitution Avenue.

The Peterson Company has issued a laughable statement in reaction to the recent publicity over this issue, and has somehow deemed itself the authority to "give" these rights to photographers, stating in a press release, "We permit all [photography, videography and other filming at our Center]." The developer is sort of like your boyfriend who decides to "let" you go out with your girl friends one night. They're doling out rights that already exist, intending to "keep" the authority to stamp them out when they choose (as the statement continues, "We reserve the right to modify this and other policies").

Py, Mereand and other local photogs aren't buying it, and will hold their protest as planned tomorrow -- on Independence Day, naturally -- at noon (and will arrive to a banner saying "Welcome Photographers" hung by the developer). If you'd like to join them, bring a camera and meet them at the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street.

Photo of approaching security guard outside the Department of Agriculture by Eye Captain.

Just like when you woke up this morning realizing Tuesday is the new Friday, this photo should also make you grin like a little kid. Flickr user sally henny penny succeeded in this tough challenge -- taking a unique photo of a bunch of flowers. She found these bouquets at Eastern Market, and we may just have to send the intern down there this weekend to sunny up the DCist offices with a few of these. EXIF.

There are so many bright and sunny summer pics in the pool today, it makes us glad we do this every day so just maybe we'll have enough space to feature them all. Today we have this photo by Flickr user cowbellemoo, who got some really amazing colors here with the use of a polarizer and a little oomph on the contrast levels. We can't wait to see how colorful it gets on Wednesday. EXIF.