“Dear PoP,
Saw the strangest thing this morning on my walk to work, 2 mummified looking catfish/lizards (?) on the corner of Harvard and Sherman Ave, NW. They were just sitting around a beer bottle.
Has anyone else seen anything like this?”
Well this is fits in nicely with insane week here at PoP.
Any ideas of how this happened? Somebody just tossed two full (live?) catfish on the sidewalk? Or did the catfish get drunk and… Crap, I shoulda saved this for a caption contest.
I’ll admit I’m not the toughest of toughs but there is something slightly unsettling about seeing a door underneath a bridge slightly ajar whilst walking through the park approaching dusk.
Anyway, where the helen of troy does that door lead to and/or what purpose does the room serve? There wasn’t a chance in hell I was about to investigate it on my own…
“Dear PoP,
There are metal tracks at 9th and L. Sorry that I don’t have pictures. (check this out: http://www.shorpy.com/node/5130 – but numbers suggest this is closer to 9th and D)
My guess (after a google) is that the metal tracks are a remnant and not part of any future plan…from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_Washington,_D.C.): On July 1, 1864, a second streetcar company, the Metropolitan Railroad, was incorporated. It opened lines from the Capitol to the War Department along H Street NW. In 1872, it built a line on 9th Street NW and purchased the Union Railroad (chartered on January 19, 1872)
The issue is that when biking down 9th there’s some kind of construction barricade that has been there for as long as I remember in the right lane so bikers are in essence forced onto these metal tracks. I got caught in the tracks two weeks ago at the same corner on my bike and got away with just a few scratches. Last night a biker got caught, fell, and I suspect that she broke her arm. When the ambulance arrived one of the drivers when I told him what happened suggested I call the mayor. I think the implication was that this happens a lot right there.
Anyway, wondering if others have also got caught in the tracks and if there’s a plan for future track use there or maybe something a little cement might be able to fix – or an explicit bike lane.
Until then, I’ll avoid biking down 9th”
I headed down to take some pictures and noticed these metal areas at 9th and L and 9th and Mass. But I think this are rather new and somehow affiliated with the new convention center. But I can see how bike wheels can stuck in them. But maybe there is another metal section that I missed? Anyone know what these things are? Any other bikers having trouble here?
This is pretty bizarre, I can’t tell if it was originally a carriage house, garage or what? Was it a small building with a garage added later? It’s from Capitol Hill but I forget which street. And what’s up with the chimney in the middle why is it so huge?
I was admiring this building from the Old Soldiers Home (by Rock Creek Church Rd and Webster St, NW) when I couldn’t figure out what was up with the watch tower up top. So first – is that a watch tower up top or some sort of gigantic chimney? Does it look like it was added at a later time to the structure? Any speculation on why something like that was added?
I still think it’s a pretty sweet building.
Couple more shots including a closeup after the jump. (more…)
This is from Park Road, NW in the middle of Mt. Pleasant. I assume it is to measure how many cars are using the road. But to what end? To decide whether or not to put in a stop light (there are already stop signs)? Any guesses?
The McMillan Reservoir is located by Howard University and this building is at 5th St, NW near Howard Pl. Anyone know why the building was built so tall? What the function is?
I’m also still not sure ‘what the helen of troy’ the structure below in the reservoir is supposed to do:
Clearly this is mulch right? But I thought mulch was used in the spring? Are you supposed to mulch areas in the fall as well? If so, what areas are you supposed to mulch in the fall?
“Dear PoP,
I don’t know that this necessarily qualifies as one of your Helen of Troy but it definitely surprised me when I saw it. The attached pictures are of a wooden sculpture directly across from Sixth and I Synagogue (on I Street) in a parking lot. These were taken yesterday, but I have no idea if it is still there or how long it will be there for or even why it was there. Figured it might interest you though.”
Nice, this is one of the few I (think) I know the answer to. The tip is the last line in the description below – Sukkah City.
It seems to be an artistic interpretation of a sukkah. From Wikipedia:
“A sukkah (Hebrew: סוכה, plural, סוכות, sukkot; sukkoth, often translated as “booth”) is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes. The Book of Vayyiqra (Leviticus) describes it as a symbolic wilderness shelter, commemorating the time God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness they inhabited after they were freed from slavery in Egypt.[1] It is common for Jews to eat, sleep and otherwise spend time in the sukkah. In Judaism, Sukkot is considered a joyous occasion and is referred to in Hebrew as Yom Simchateinu (the day of our rejoicing) or Z’man Simchateinu (the time of our rejoicing), but the sukkah itself symbolizes the frailty and transience of life and its dependence on God.”
I can’t remember if we’ve ever spoken about this wild sight. It is not one of those paper things but is actually built into the concrete. It’s located in what’s now a parking lot across from the Convention Center. Presumably this was some sort of club back in the day? Anyone know for sure?
Whenever this lot is developed, it’d be cool if they were able to preserve the vestige from a previous era.
