As I rode the bus to metro station this morning, I had a serious rumble in the pit of my stomach. Perhaps it was the 5 ravioli the new rip-off restaurant in Bethesda served me for $18 the night before, or maybe it was the 3 miles I had run this morning with no replenishment as it would not have been “free.” Probably. But metaphorically, the source of that rumble is the hunger deep in my soul for as much free food as I can possibly swindle. No, I’m not going to steal—it’s more of a Robin Hood kind of thing; you know, “Steal from the rich, give to the poor.” I have no qualms about taking ridiculous amounts of gourmet food prepared by chefs from the cordon bleu merely for the bellies of greedy corporate suits and wined-and-dined lobbyists and policy makers and redirecting it to my starved intern well-being.
As you walk to and from work in the sweltering heat this week, be glad that you’re not Andy Roddick. The tennis pro, and former boyfriend of Mandy Moore, is here in town for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic—DC’s annual professional tennis tournament. Catch up on what you missed last weekend here.
Summer is supposed to be a quiet time in professional sports. A time to spend your lazy evenings at the baseball field. A time to go for long runs in the park. A time to catch the occasional WNBA game or tennis tournament, prepare your fantasy football team, and read the occasional news story about a hot off-season move.
Not so this summer. From the grizzly Chris Benoit family murder saga, to Michael Vick’s dogfight indictments (and who could forget über-controversial Barry Bonds), the sports world has been rocked by a series of scandals. And this past Friday, as most of us were grinding out the end of a busy work week and looking forward to another fun weekend, the NBA had no choice but to drop perhaps the biggest bomb of all.
"You'se a fine motherFERCer / won't you back that gas up / call me big daddy when you back that gas up / hoe, who is you playing with, back that gas up / ...You got to steal, Big Gas, yeah."
Though Sonal gained points with her generosity to those less fortunate and her colorful descriptions of hot dogs and donuts, the clear winner in this round was the contestant who worked round the clock to schmooze, slink, and smoke his way into countless random events. We would have given money to see the look on those Zeta Phi Betas' faces.
Zach, you've definitely earned your seat in the finals and reassured the judges that finding free sirloin and snapper in DC is a breeze if you know where to look.
Coverage of the Free Food-a-thon will be suspended until the Finals on Tuesday. Check back then to see what Carnivorous Cara, Kate Monster, Ben "The Quiet Storm", Zack Attack, and "Judges' Choice" Tricky Tony, come up with!
For those of you who have been following my series of kickball posts, and for anyone who wants to be inspired, I'm pleased to share the DC area's biggest Cinderella story since GMU made it to the Final Four in 2006.
Logan's Heroes, my DCKickball team, fought through two back-to-back games last night at Walter Pierce Park as the mosquitoes swarmed and the dust put tears in our eyes. Or maybe that was the emotion.
I woke up at 7am this morning to make a Senate briefing, sponsored by the glorious CATO Institute titled, “Medicaid’s Soaring Costs: Time to Step on the Brakes”. I was sort of dreading it because, I'll be honest, I have absolutely no background knowledge on this issue nor was I looking forward to listening to Senator Judd Gregg spew his political rhetoric. I get out of Union Station, walk with the flock of Hill staffers…. And make my way into the Russell Senate Building. I scribble my name onto the sign in sheet, give a generic email address, and make my way into the room.
I enter and discretely search for the food. I’ve heard that CATO’s got the big bucks and usually have bangin’ breakfasts, lunches and dinners. My expectations were met when I placed my eyes on the baskets full of muffins (bran, lemon poppy seed, blue berry!), pastries (cheese and cherry!), donuts (glazed, chocolate, cinnamon!) and orange juice in cute little cups, oodles of coffee. But then, I notice that I see someone already by the muffins that I recognize. Athletic, attractive, dirty blonde, strong jaw line… wait, that can’t be. Oh my god, it is. Zach Marks. Get out!
He was chatting up a woman (go figure…) who ended up being an employee of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. So, I walk over… and say hello. The woman and Zach seemed to be getting really into their discussion but all I could think about was getting a taste of those gorgeously decorated pastries.
Right when I dove for a plate, the woman asked Zach and me who we were with. I hesitated but Zach said, “The Center for American Progress.” (I wanted to go disguised as a gun-tottin’ republican from Florida and he totally blew my cover) and as if he couldn’t make matters worse… he continued, “You know, definitely to the left of CATO.” She assured us that many organizations are to the left of CATO. But then… she asks if we are interested in this topic… Zach says, “Well you know, it’s great to get out of the office, attend these events, you know get some free food.”……
BUSTED!
She replies, “Well, I hope you aren’t here just for the food….”
Ha. Only if she knew.
*Before everyone hates on a sister for not caring about Medicaid… I do care about it. I wouldn’t normally attend an event on this subject but I’m glad I did.
...was thankfully addressed today by the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies when it convened a panel on "The Economics of Internet Advertising: Implications for the Google-DoubleClick Merger." I attended that panel, and this is my story.
This one was REALLY close...we had a deadlocked judging panel for a while and we wish we could have two winners. If we could give an award for most innovative idea, it would go to Tricky Tony's totally rad test-drive. But Kate Monster hit three big events yesterday, faked an accent, and fed the judges cookies with leftovers from Heritage. If there is a wild card spot for the finals, TT's the favorite.
The judges were underwhelmed with the last post...getting along is all well and good, but we want to see some blood. Also, an event at CAP? Surely, you all can do better.
We haven't yet heard from today's contestants, Devouring Dorna Mohaghegh or Ben "The Quiet Storm" Regenspan, but we hope they will be as crafty as yesterday's fearless duo.
I’ll admit it. I’m nervous about competing in the free food-a-thon tomorrow. I’ll be competing against the likes of Kate Monster, Tony the Tiger and Zach the Zinger. Ahh!!
Even though these people know what’s up when it comes to free food, I, Super Sonal had a rather incredible experience this morning that mended my fears.
I usually go straight to work (because I’m a good little intern….) but today I decided to take the scenic route and grab a delicious venti Orange Passion Iced Tea from my local Starbucks in DuPont. As expected there were tons of young business professionals in line checking out the iced latte’s and blueberry muffins… but I managed to get through the line quickly and order my refreshing drink. The nice cashier said, “Good morning! That’ll be 2 dollars and 53 cents please”… I pulled out my wallet and saw that I only had a 50 dollar bill. So I said, “Umm, I only have a 50 dollar bill, is that ok?”… I knew everyone behind me was annoyed because not only was I holding up the line, I was also gaining the sympathy of those around me… because then the cashier said, “You know what, you can come back some other time and give us the money…” I was shocked. He was so nice to me. I felt like a celebrity. But things got better! This (attractive) man in a suit next to me said, “hey I’ll get it... it’s not a big deal” I was shocked again, (he could tell by my wide open mouth)… so he said, “Its cool, its only 2 bucks!” I assured him that I will come back tomorrow and pay my two dollars and fifty three cents.
Moral of the story: People in DuPont are generous. And I’m one up on you Zach Marks.
Sports writer Dave Zirin is at the forefront of a cross-cultural phenomena: the intersection between sports and politics. He writes a weekly column on his website that is widely syndicated, and appears frequently on ESPN and other sports venues.
He will be in town tomorrow night, speaking at Politics & Prose at 7:00 p.m. Zirin will be reading selections from his newest book, Welcome to the Terrordome, about what resulted when thousands of poor African Americans had to flee their homes during Hurricane Katrina, and head for the New Orleans Superdome. I've seen Zirin speak before, and I will be there again tomorrow. Last time he spoke at Politics & Prose, it was a Saturday night and not nearly enough people came to see him/buy his books! You know you don’t have anything to do tomorrow night, and seeing someone like Dave Zirin is always a treat for those of us who love the worlds of sports and politics!
(After the jump, more links to articles by him and commentary about him…my favorites are, admittedly, biased towards my Detroit roots.)
It was a hot one last night, and I'm not just talking about the weather! As the first round playoffs of the Adams-Morgan division of DCKickball commenced, my team, Logan’s Heroes, wiped the sweat off our brows and psyched ourselves up with the gritty determination that had grown to be our trademark.
(Note: To the fans of my sports-related posts, I’m not ignoring that beat—I’m just going to be so distracted until the Pistons re-sign Billups that I’ve got to focus on other things. Bear with me, shouldn’t be more than another day or two.)
I love Nancy Drew. I read all of my mom’s old mysteries when I was younger, sometimes staying in bed for hours to finish one of the yellow-bound volumes in a single sitting! Nancy was smart, resourceful, and self-assured. She had a gorgeous boyfriend (the charming Ned Nickerson), two best friends (plump Bess and sporty George), and a seemingly infallible talent for solving crimes. I admired Nancy’s bravery, envied her independence, and generally wanted to grow up just like the stylish teenager with the “titian hair.”
This summer, Nancy’s back, in her first live-action film. I checked out a matinee yesterday at Gallery Place, and spent much of the delightful 99 minute movie in sheer nostalgic enjoyment. I also got a little scared during some of the more suspenseful moments, which should explain to my friends why I avoid going to see actual horror flicks.
It’s almost the end of the work-week, but from what I can tell through my window the weather looks a little less than ideal. Here’s a thought—why not stay home tonight, rent a movie, order some pizza, and make a night of it?
Truth be told, I have been waiting all month long for the opportunity to make this relevant: ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will enjoy this exercise in listing, and feel free to add, suggest, or critique in the comments!
I’m sure that like me, many of you can recall the many moments of summers gone by, as punctuated by who your favorite basketball team drafted in the NBA Draft. For me, such highlights include 1993, when my ten-year-old self sat on my parents bed as the Detroit Pistons drafted Lindsey Hunter and Allen Houston in back-to-back first round picks (they were 10th and 11th, consecutively). Also in Detroit draft-day folklore, Joe Dumars’ auspicious 2003 pick of Darko Milicic, when he could have had Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, or Chris Bosh. But he’ll redeem himself tonight, we hope, and I’ll be watching.
Here in the greater DC area, it promises to be an exciting evening. University of Texas star Kevin Durant is almost assured of going to Seattle with the second overall pick. Why should we care about this Longhorn? Well, he happens to be a DC native, born in the district and educated in nearby Rockville, MD.
Now, I know that over the last few weeks you have all come to anticipate my thoughtful, witty articles about sports and athletics in the district. But even ESPN’s “Sports Guy” Bill Simmons changes it up from time to time to write about his favorite band (Pearl Jam). My favorite band came to town last night, so the latest sports news will have to wait.
Wilco, the alt-country-rock-blues-funk-etc. band fronted by the multi-talented and charmingly off-beat singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy, played a packed show at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD (about an hour north of the District). Even with the occasional bouts of rain and wind, the crowd could not be dissuaded from enjoying the show? And how could anyone not enjoy the highly energetic setlist that seamlessly blended Wilco’s classic hits with new songs from their recent release Sky Blue Sky.
It was the classic DC night at the ballpark—free tickets from my friend’s boss, the air a balmy 90 degrees, and the after-effects of fried happy hour appetizers from Recessions processing through my digestive system. And the defending American league champion Detroit Tigers were in town! Huzzah for the orange and blue! Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks! Everything fell into place at the old ball game.
I’m a pretty competitive person—love to play, love to talk trash, and definitely hate to lose. Here in the District, I’d imagine my kind is a dime a dozen. So, last night, I decided to host a game night among my friends—an evening when we could bicker, fight, connive, and stab each other in the backs without even leaving the comfort of my own apartment! Delivery pizza and freshly baked brownies were enjoyed by all. For an inexpensive, highly entertaining evening in, I strongly recommend you give Game Night a shot.
I set a tentative agenda of three games: Apples to Apples, Taboo, and Charades. If you don’t have any board games, they can be easily replaced by any number of options! Much to my chagrin, Charades was voted out and replaced with Mafia. Overgrown drama kid that I am, I get very upset when people rain on my charades! (Terrible, Jenny, just terrible.)
It’s possible that I am the Washington Mystics’ good luck charm. After beginning this season with an eight-game losing streak, the ladies in blue handily beat the visiting Phoenix Mercury 86-69. And yes, I was there to see it.
I’m a huge NBA fan, and I enjoy watching men’s college basketball as well. But outside of the occasional pass-by while flipping channels, I had not yet forayed into the world of women’s professional basketball, until last night. And while the WNBA has its share of skeptics, I developed a healthy admiration for the league as the night progressed.
When it comes to picking his ideal DC celebrity kickball team, Carter Rabasa is an equal opportunity offender. “Definitely not Nancy Pelosi,” he says. “But not George W. Bush either—he’s too incompetent.” James Carville is out, Dick Cheney, definitely in – “he’s ruthless.” Rabasa wants DC United’s Freddy Adu (note: Adu was actually traded to Real Salt Lake in ’06), and opts for Wizards forward Caron Butler over superstar Gilbert Arenas, because “he’s more of a team player.”
On a warm Monday night, fresh off of my team’s second big victory of the season, I sat down with Carter Rabasa, founder and president of DCK Sports, LLC. A youthful 29, Rabasa founded DC’s first independent adult kickball league back in 2005. This year, it boasts over 1600 players in five different divisions, who kick, bunt, and catch on fields from Adams Morgan to the National Mall. Managing DCKickball is Rabasa’s full-time job, one that he sees himself continuing for the next four to five years. Don’t worry though, kickballers, Rabasa wants the DCK brand to stick around long after he’s gone. “This might sound cheesy,” he tells me, “but I want DCKickball to go on forever. I hope it becomes an engrained fixture of an organization in DC, with or without me at the helm.”
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