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March 28, 2011

Thanks to a reader for sending a heads up that the fire engine red has been painted over.

Below is what it looked like a few weeks ago (I can’t find our previous post):

March 19, 2011

And here’s what it looked like in Nov. ’10:

November 19, 2010

I’m not even a particularly big car person but I thought this one was about as good as it gets. Anyone know what year it is?

From an email:

This weekend, we’re having a big shindig at Community Forklift, the nonprofit thrift store for home improvement. You (and your pet) are invited to show off your best garden party style. Below are all the details about the food, the live music, the FREE seeds, and the Garden Attire Awards!

Lots more info on their Website here. Directions available here.

We spoke about Community Forklift here.

The Washington Post’s Tim Carman reported yesterday:

Earlier today business partners Gillian Clark and Robin Smith dropped this bomb on the General Store’s Facebook page:

“It’s with heavy hearts we’re announcing that The General Store is closed. For the entire 4+ years we’ve been involved with this building we have been bullied by the landlords. The landlord has not paid his back taxes and the county is taking back the building. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being more than just customers. We consider all of you friends.”

Tim wonders if it will have any affect on her Kitchen on K St (in NoMa) plans. WBJ’s Missy Frederick has some details on the closing. Though, I also wondered if it would affect her Petworth plans.

I was able to email with Chef Clark and she assured me that both the NoMa and Petworth projects are moving forward. Here is exactly what she said, “We are full steam ahead on other projects. No worries.” Additionally I’m told funding is in place, a contractor has been selected and plans are with DCRA. So hopefully good news soon! Though we are likely to see the NoMa space open first.

Stay tuned for more updates on both spaces.

This fence from Mt. Pleasant makes me smile every time I pass it. I’m fairly certain the dragon fly is a new addition (if not I don’t how I’ve missed it before):

I just thought the contrast of these two was striking. From 14th and Taylor St, NW. Looks like the beat up one is for sale so hopefully it looks like its sibling next door relatively soon.

Photo by PoPville flickr user lmno.p

I swear I’m not being ironic with this post – this sort of behavior is completely unacceptable and I’m glad this person was arrested. I’m sure it’s hard enough to work at a fast food restaurant without having to deal with crap like this, from MPD 5D listserv:

Dear Commander Solberg, please provide further details on the Assault with a Deadly Weapon in the 400 Block of Rhode Island Ave NE.

Cmdr Solberg responds:

A woman unsatisfied with her order at McDonalds threw a can at a cashier, for which she was arrested.

Though, it is interesting that the charge is assault with deadly weapon.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. He launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. You can follow People’s District on Twitter @PeoplesDistrict, and can read his previous columns here.

“Man, everything done changes. Don’t matter if you are talking about neighborhoods or hair, ain’t nothing stays the same. I have been in the game of cutting hair for 2o plus years. I done seen the Caesar, the pompadour, the jheri curl, the S curl, the fade, the bald look, and now, the dread locks. In the neighborhood, I done seen things change from the hood to high living. Everything changes. Things come and go. I can get into most things, but no matter what happens, you will never find me in no skinny jeans!

“At the barber shop. I keep up with the style by taking things one day at a time. I look at different trends and get ready for what’s coming. Here, we don’t discriminate. If you got something, we’ll cut it. Don’t matter if it is hair, finger nails, or toe nails! My father and uncle were the same way. My father spent 30 years in the game. My uncle got 45 years in the game. They started cutting hair on T Street and then moved to 13th and Florida. Now, we are on 12th and V. Spott’s got 40 plus years in the game of cutting hair.

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Sunsets at the Mall

This time of the year presents us with some interesting opportunities for photography, Allow me to go back to an older column and explain this a little bit better since I think you’ll find this knowledge useful.

Go to www.timeanddate.com, write Washington, DC on the “search for city” space and then look at the “sun and moon” tab. Make sure the information shown is about the sun (body) and the columns shown are rise/set time/azimuth. If you change any of the parameters, then hit “show” since it doesn’t change automatically.

Don’t be turned away by the word “azimuth”, the following information will help you understand what this is. Look for the information about March 19 (this Saturday!), the azimuth for the sunrise and the sunset are 90 degrees and 270 degrees respectively. Now imagine you are standing at the Washington Monument at 7:14 am this Saturday. North is zero degrees, The Capitol Building (East) is 90 degrees and the Lincoln Memorial (West) is 270 degrees.

All this is to explain that you’ll see the Sun rising behind The Capitol building at 7:14 and setting behind the Lincoln Memorial at 7:19 pm. There is an interesting optical illusion that the sun is bigger as it comes or shows next to the horizon and the buildings.

There are different techniques that can be used to photograph the sunrise or sunset. You may want to meter close to the sun to get some interesting silhouettes or maybe use software like Photomatix to create HDR or fuse images. The last one is what I’ve been using recently in order to show the sun but also the details of buildings, trees, etc. I have never used a graded ND filter for this kind of photography, I guess it can also be used, but the good ones are more expensive than HDR software so for now I’ll stick to the software.

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