Despite a show of some kind coming up, we haven’t heard much from the Borf folks or John Tsombikos in awhile. It’s probably best for young Mr. Tsombikos, since he is still not allowed to handle art supplies according to his probation. The last time we heard his name, we watched a “video communique” projected on a wall on 12th Street, in which some kids dressed like Zapatistas claimed Tsombikos was “purged.” But while Borf’s…

We wouldn’t want anyone to think that we revisit these topics in a deliberate, cynical way, but there’s no denying that certain subjects are evergreen here at DCist. Church parking, smoking bans and ticket presale passwords: we know you can’t get enough of them. Neither can we. Yet there’s one topic that towers above all the others. We’re referring, of course, to Borf, aka John Tsombikos. As you might imagine, we were fascinated to…

Everyone’s favorite (or least favorite) graffiti artist seems to be planning a comeback — lately we’ve noticed posters around U Street announcing a “video communique release and street party” on July 29. Sounds strange, and the website it directs people to, www.borfyou.com, doesn’t seem to work. Maybe it’s Borf, maybe it’s a prank, maybe it’s people who aren’t John Tsombikos, but in any case we’re curious — espectially with the “video communique” part. Are they…

With the news last week that uber-tagger Borf — born John Tsombikos of McLean, Virginia — was to serve one month in jail, it was only a matter of time before his supporters crawled back out of the woodwork to express their allegiance to him and his art. And that they have, launching their own blog called “Borf Support.” To date there really isn’t a whole lot of meat to the site, but they do…

To all those who hated Borf and his many tags across the region, your wishes may have come true — according to NBC 4, Borf was sentenced to one month in prison today. Borf, born John Tsombikos of Great Falls, Virginia, was originally sentenced to 18 months in prison, but 17 of those were suspended. After he serves his sentence, he will have to complete 200 hours of community service, pay $12,000 in restitution, and…

As has been widely publicized in 2005 year-end wrap-ups, Borf’s reign as master tagger is over. Late last month, he was charged with a felony, fined, and forbidden to enter the District, with the exception of attending classes at the Corcoran. Despite my Borf fatigue, I miss him. John Tsombikos–Borf–certainly wasn’t a unifying figure. In wallpapering D.C. with his etchings, he seemed to provoke love or loathing among people who were paying attention. Those…

Yesterday we explored the contentious issue of double-parking around area churches on Sundays. Many commenters echoed a basic question we asked: Since double-parking is against the law, why don’t police officers crack down on it, churchgoer or otherwise? Today the Washington Times has provided us with an answer. Straight from the mouth of Mary Myers, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works, which is charged with enforcing District parking regulations: I think overall there…

Borf. Perhaps you thought you’d heard the last about him when Metropolitan Police arrested John Tsombikos in July, a teen from Great Falls, Virginia, who admitted responsibility for the once-ubiquitous tags around the city. We certainly considered the matter somewhat closed when we posted our thoughts about the meaning of Borf’s work several days later. Yet the reports kept trickling in – one reader wrote to us in late August to report they had…

This DCist biked down to Dupont Circle yesterday to check out the previously mentioned Meet Borf event that was supposedly going on. This is what we saw: at least a dozen cops; a bunch of young kids giving out anarchist literature, free spray paint, and other information by the fountain; and lots of people chalking random messages or, er, interesting screeds. Talking to a few of the Borf supporters there, they told us that…

So the Nats are having a little post-All Star Game slump. In any city, fans would blame the players, the managers, the umpires, anything. Here in Washington, where the beloved Nationals have electrified a baseball-starved populace? It’s the fans, like the one at right that Justin DC snapped a pic of at Monday’s game against the Colorado Rockies. The bandwagoners, to be exact. Writes the Post: When the bandwagoners first showed up — yapping on…