Blacknell.net

Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: DC Page 6 of 26

Thomas Jefferson on Originalism

By

On October 4, 2009

In DC, Law, Personal, Politics, Society

Stopped by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial last night with a friend, and was reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

– Letter from Thomas Jefferson to to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1810

A somewhat interesting aside – in the process of looking up and confirming that quote, I discovered that many of the quotes on the Jefferson Memorial are “quotes.”)

Epic Troll

By

On September 21, 2009

In DC, Politics

What this fellow did is, in the scheme of things, kinda pointless.  But it still made me smile:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q7XH8lfGMc[/youtube]

Gunboats on the Potomac

By

On September 11, 2009

In DC

From this morning’s apparent training exercise.  That’s the Memorial Bridge leading to Arlington Cemetery, with Rosslyn in the background.  The Pentagon is off frame, to the left.  Click the photo for a larger view.

I Won’t Be Renewing My SmartBike DC Membership

By

On September 4, 2009

In Cycling, DC

Just received a solicitation from SmartBike DC/DDOT to continue supporting its bike-sharing efforts by renewing my membership. I will not be renewing. While I very much support the concepts behind SmartBike DC (indeed, I bought a membership despite having more bikes than one person ought to), the extraordinarily poor customer service has soured me greatly on the implementation. While the occasional malfunctioning rack is understandable on a pilot project, the complete lack of any response to my multiple calls and emails about an improperly returned bike, the suspension of my account, and the sharing of SmartBike DC’s customer’s emails on the Internet is unacceptable. These failures weren’t the occasional mistake, but a continuous absence of any sort of customer service. And this doesn’t even touch on SmartBike DC’s ridiculous decisions to occasionally shut down its operations when people need it most (snow days, Inauguration). I hope that DDOT will take this story into account when selecting future vendors and (hopefully) redesigning its customer service standards.  Bike-sharing is an important part of the transportation puzzle, but there’s no need to accept such dismal performance.

The email from SmartBike DC/DDOT is on the flip.

Read More

Yay, DC!

By

On July 7, 2009

In DC, Law, Personal, Society

As of the midnight that just passed, DC recognizes the equality of all marriages performed outside of DC (still working on those performed inside).

Friday Notes: Bits Edition

By

On June 26, 2009

In DC, Distribution, Policy

In William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition, there’s an online community formed around mysteriously found video (the Footage), which was being released in bits and pieces online.  I always wondered if there were real world examples of that – and it turns out, yes:

If there is no known footage of [early 20th century dancer Vaslav Nijinsky], where was this archival footage coming from? From the New Yorker article:

“Because it turns out, these aren’t films. They are computer-generated artifacts, made by Christian Comte, a French artist who has a studio in Cannes.

~

You’ve seen this, right?  Fox sure does “accidentally” turn a lot of Republicans into Democrats at the most opportune times.

~

Best movie review I’ve read in a long time.  Ever, perhaps.

~

Astana’s Chris Horner won’t be at the Tour de France this year, and he plainly explains why.

~

Few quicker ways to piss off a cop (and find yourself in manufactured trouble) than to ask for his badge number.  Funny, that.

~

I understand why they blurred out “fucktaco”, but “ballsack”?  Really?  In any event, I must be 12, because I found the whole thing quite amusing.

~

Health insurers defrauding their clients?  Well I never . . .

DC Could Use a Bit of This

By

On June 20, 2009

In DC

The only time I’ve ever seen something close to this in DC was when they lit up the National Cathedral a couple of years ago – and people came out in droves. I’d love to see some artists make a go of it, here. We’re not exactly lacking in suitable surfaces . . .

2009 Clarendon Cup Kids Ride and Crystal Ride Photos

By

On June 1, 2009

In Cycling, DC, Virginia

In the course of shooting the Clarendon Cup and the Air Force Cycling Classic, I also ended up with a fair number of shots from the Clarendon Cup Kids Ride and Crystal Ride. As with last year, I’m aiming at getting these photos up in a raw stream sometime in the next day or two.

Swinging DC

By

On May 26, 2009

In DC, Personal

Always end up watching these folks whenever I’m in Baltimore.  Glad DC could steal them away:

Baltimore’s well-loved trapeze school is moving to D.C. after failing to find a permanent home in Charm City.

Will have to sign up.  One day.

The Clarendon Cup Returns to Arlington This Weekend

By

On May 26, 2009

In Cycling, DC, Virginia

This coming Saturday, the Air Force Cycling Classic Clarendon Cup (previously CSC Invitational) will see its 12th edition take place in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington. It’s a great race.  In fact, this tight and twisty circuit is what got me into pro cycling in the first place (having stumbled onto it, one summer afternoon in 1998).  The DC area is very lucky to have a race like this, I think (see this previous post for a preview of the 2008 edition), and even luckier that it has survived.  So lets get out and support it, yes?  Racing starts at 8:15am, and is scheduled to run as follows:

If you’re not that into cycling, and just want to see what the fuss is about, I suggest just dropping by for the men’s pro race at 12:15.   Finally, I’m hosting friends and fans with some drinks and munchies at my place (just a few blocks away) immediately after the men’s pro podium presentation.  Any and all are welcome – I just ask for a brief note (to clarendoncup@blacknell.net) so I can get you details and plan appropriately.

Page 6 of 26

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén