August 26th, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
Last Saturday, my good friend Steph (of Completely Irrelevant) went out to a big ice cream party in some vacant lot. It’s one of those bizarre little things that pop up in DC, in this case to announce a rebranding campaign for Union Market. Everyone got free scoops, which were mostly large (though one scrooge truck gave those little ketchup containers for servings…). Because it’s DC in 2011, there had to be plenty of social media/marketing bullshit, in this case something called ScoutMob was passing out adhesive moustaches. Steph found a better use for it:
A couple other people took advantage of the photo prop:
Despite all the awesome, free, gourmet ice cream, a lonely-looking ice cream truck was circling outside, waiting for anyone who really wanted to pay for shitty ice cream after four scoops:
Steph and I ended up having some decent scoops before getting in the ridiculous line for Sinplicity. 45 minutes later, I was eating my “chocolate chili pepper” ice cream, which was a rich chocolate mixed with chipotle and cayenne peppers. Steph got a mix of mojito sorbet and watermelon sorbet:
The mojito sorbet was really good, especially on a hot day when I’d already had two cows-worth of dairy. My chocolate was good, but the chilis were barely perceptible. The winner for me was a chocolate frozen custard with Heath crumbles. Speaking of hot, it was ridiculous out, but fortunately they were well equipped with misting fans:
But some kids were already just too cool:
Tags: fun, ice cream
July 20th, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
That’s right, they’re rebooting Spider-Man again. I know everyone else out there thinks Raimi’s was good, but I hated the mopey Spidey. He was nowhere near as annoying and chipper as the Red’n'Blue ought to be.
That said, these comments at Metafilter explain the only good direction to take the franchise now:
February 2nd, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
I’m just hoping that the next iteration of scanners will include an internal scanning wand that had to be inserted into an orifice. Until then I’ll have to keep requesting hand searches while hinting that they haven’t found the bomb “yet”.
January 24th, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
It’s like being a furry, but we’re all dinosaurs. RAWR!
January 12th, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
Takes months to conclude, no one cares by the end, and you can get in with a losing record…
January 12th, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
Some of you older nerds may recognize this:
“Oh, yes, Missile Command, that really boring game where you shoot missiles to shoot things down. Really, the epitome of ‘does what it says on the box.’ Whatever happened to that game and why are you bringing it up 30 years after it last stole a quarter from a child who wanted to play an actual video game?”
Well, you’re an idiot. It’s the source material for a new movie, though you got the title right. Half a point. Scraping the bottom of the licensing barrel, Fox is making a Missile Command movie. It will be “adapted” by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama. You don’t know who they are? Don’t worry, neither does IMDB.
Fox isn’t alone in this boondoggle, according to Variety Atari has also licensed out “Asteroids” and “Battleship.” Possible taglines include: ”The triangle is a spaceship, really” and “Stop moving your fucking ships.” On the plus side, this gives me a chance to link to my favorite McSweeney’s list of all time.
Then again, Armageddon was loosely based on Asteroids, including the totally sciencey fact that if you just shoot an asteroid, from the outside, it splits into more unmanageable pieces. (For the sticklers in the crowd, yes, I’m well aware that the second half of Armageddon was based on the Asteroids sequels Eagle Lander and Dig Dug. Stop being smartasses.)
Unrelated, it seems that Chrome’s spell-checker doesn’t recognize either “sciency” or “sciencey” as the correct spelling. Let’s just say I’m using the British spelling, then.
Finally, I know it’s from another game, I can’t help but think of this Futurama, and the classic line “Instead of shooting where I was, you should have been shooting where I was going to be!”
I really hope you watched that whole clip only to find that it cuts off before that line. Suckers.
January 11th, 2011 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
Hey look, I’m a spambot: I just found this great website! Historic Aerials!
HA is essentially google maps with historical images. Other than trying to spot Jackie O sunbathing on the south lawn, what’s it good for? I don’t know, I’m a history-ologist, but here’s an interesting example.
In our property class in law school, our professor told us about an urban rehabilitation project in southwest DC that basically demolished the entire quadrant. The government used eminent domain to condemn, seize, and vacate the mostly residential neighborhoods in favor of new development. The plan was that new development would get rid of the urban blight that plagued the area (spoiler alert: didn’t work). Now, I really didn’t care much for property class, especially anecdotes about city planning, but as with other useless things, I retained the gist. (Another example of the phenomenon: the lyrics to “Nothing Else Matters”, as roomie learned yesterday).
“But how are you going to connect historical images of the city to this story about city development,” you ask? Good question, dear reader, here’s how:
IMAGES CAN SHOW THE CHANGES!
Take a moment, process that, and we’ll continue.
Now, here’s a section of southwest DC in 1954:
As you can see, it’s mostly residential area, a couple large buildings but lots of blocks with houses and trees and so on. This is 1951, around the time that the rehabilitation plan was first conceived. There was at least one lawsuit to stop the plan, resulting in the case of Berman v. Parker. The District Court decision was penned by Judge Prettyman, whose name now graces the District Court here. The suit was brought by the owners of a department store in the region, who argued that their property was private property, wasn’t residential, wasn’t blighted, and couldn’t simply be seized by the government for their planning whims. Judge Prettyman held that the government had the power to seize these buildings, though he had issues with the scope of the rehabilitation act if read broadly. The case made it to the Supreme Court, where Justice Douglas, writing for a unanimous court, held:
The District Court indicated grave doubts concerning the Agency’s right to take full title to the land as distinguished from the objectionable buildings located on it. … We do not share those doubts. If the Agency considers it necessary in carrying out the redevelopment project to take full title to the real property involved, it may do so. It is not for the courts to determine whether it is necessary for successful consummation of the project that unsafe, unsightly, or insanitary buildings alone be taken or whether title to the land be included, any more than it is the function of the courts to sort and choose among the various parcels selected for condemnation.
The rights of these property owners are satisfied when they receive that just compensation which the Fifth Amendment exacts as the price of the taking.
Damn. Well, long story short, as long as the government gives you some cheddar for your house, you’re SOL. The end result, here’s the same region shown above, but this time in 1963:
Holy post-apocalyptic wasteland! First thing you’ll notice is probably that big white building north of the “elbow” where Maryland Ave. and Virginia Ave. meet, that’s the FAA. Just south of it is another building, currently housing part of the Department of Homeland Security, formerly part of the GSA, and probably something else at the time this photo was taken (the GSA was brand new at this point, so maybe this was the first tenant). Second, you’ll notice the brand new Francis Case Memorial Bridge, part of the then-in-progress Southwest Freeway. Third, you may note that the image quality in 1963 has remained roughly unchanged.
Oh, and also, all the houses are gone. Damn.
Fast forward a few years to 1979, and the area is pretty much built:
Now you can see a lot of the new buildings, most of which are still around today. The )( shaped building near the center is Housing and Urban Development. The circular building at the top is the Hirschorn Gallery. Check it out on Google Maps, the landmarks are easy to find.
How about the department store that was the subject of the lawsuit?
1951:
(The department store is southeast of the roundabout in the center)
1957:
(The building’s already gone)
1963:
(Rebuilt)
Wikipedia, of course, has some great info about the architects of the new quarter.
Meanwhile, eminent domain is very much still alive, and the Berman case was the foundation of the controversial Kelo v. New London, in which the Supreme Court held that the government could also go ahead and seize property that wasn’t part of urban blight. And the DC rehabilitation act is still around, too.
December 23rd, 2010 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
In a news release that will surely lead to some great Fox and Friends guffawing, climate scientists found that the recently extra-cold European winters are actually explained by global warming. According to models:
1. Global warming reduces ice cover on the arctic ocean
2. Reduced ice cover allows more of the sun’s heat into the ocean
3. Hotter ocean produces warm, moist air over the pole
4. Warm air is a high pressure system that forces the colder polar air south, into Europe.
Just for the record, climate science really needs to stop being so…you know…right. It’s making me more terrified than normal.
I’ll keep an eye out for the global warming denier party line on this study, I honestly haven’t studied the crazies long enough to predict how they’d react to any particular study.
December 22nd, 2010 › Uncategorized › Nick › no comments ›
“After ‘Don’t Ask” Repeal, Obama Mulls Same-Sex Marriage”
I’m hoping he picks Ricky Martin. They’d have such cute chinese babies!
I am very happy with the votes taken this week, and if this is how progress happens, I’m happy to give up the house every four years as long as we take it back in between. Republicans’ advantage was always that they were willing to sacrifice the good of the country to achieve the goals of their corporate masters. Apparently the Democrats’ advantage is that they’re willing to work up until 3 days before Christmas. I’m sure God will damn them for not taking the full 12 days of christmas like the song requires, but at least we passed meaningful legislation.
As for Obama mulling same sex marriage…seems pretty meaningless; there’s obviously no way that happens in the next congress.
Despite all the awesome, free, gourmet ice cream, a lonely-looking ice cream truck was circling outside, waiting for anyone who really wanted to pay for shitty ice cream after four scoops:
But some kids were already just too cool:
