Drew McDermott

Badger Loves Fox

Steve and V sitting outside the Kozy Shack.

The Former Route

Old Columbia Pike, after it had been cleared of snow.

Welcome to Basic Cable, Chachi

Last night, while channel surfing during a commercial break, I caught a few minutes of Dennis Miller's new show on CNBC. I saw his newslet segment, which was really just a continuation of what he did on SNL and HBO. Using his time-tested formula, he ran through a bunch of recent stories, and dropped a snarky, one-liner loaded with an obscure reference for each one. The problem was that not a single line produced a real laugh from my roomates.

The style of his comments didn't seem too different, but his delivery was incredibly flat. It didn't matter whether his comments were clever or funny on paper, because with that leaden presentation, he wasn't getting any laughs from our house. His delivery during the news segment was worse than Colin Quinn. Let me say that again, worse than Colin Quinn.

Oh, the Wind and Snow

The gas station at the corner of Columbia Pike and Lincolnia Road after last year's blizzard.

I Hate Shoveling

The long driveway of my old place in Annandale, which I no longer have to shovel.

Lomo Action Sampler

The Cyclone rollercoaster at Coney Island.

Although I usually use a Nikon, I do have a thing for toy cameras, including the Lomo Action Sampler. I wouldn't use one for anything important, but they are fun to play with. Here's a small gallery of pictures taken with my Action Sampler.

Orkut

Over the past weekend, when I haven't been patronizing one of Arlington's many fine drinking establishments, I spent a little time fooling around with Orkut. Orkut is a social network coded by Orkut Buyukkokten, an engineer at Google. I'd never used Friendster* or Tribes before, but in the interest of killing some time, I gave Orkut a try.

It wasn't long until the beta nature of the site became evident. Friends of mine began disappearing from the system, users reported that posts were being deleted as well, and people began finding holes in the design of the site. A few hours ago, Orkut took his eponymous site down for some rework. I'm not sold on the social networking thing yet, since I seem to be just connecting with people I already now, but I suppose I'll give Orkut another try when it is back up.

*For a point of comparison, I logged onto Friendster for the first time this afternoon. I didn't spend much time on Friendster because of the long load times that made the site practically unusable, and I doubt I'll be going back there again.

Update: Here's some more information on Orkut, Google plus some reactions to it.

A Dreary Day in Ireland

If I had a caption for this, it would be here.

The Fedora and the Fox

Claxton and V.

Two Lushes

Steve and Skot drinking the evening away at the Kozy Shack.

In the Scrum

A rugby match in Pittsburgh.

I know one team was from Carnegie Mellon, which is my alma mater, but I can't recall who they were playing. It was pouring rain throughout the game, and the field quickly became a mud pit.

Yeoman is a Funny Word

A Beefeater leading a tour of the Tower of London.

The Sound Waves, Reversing

Coco (left) and Starcrunch (right) of Man or Astroman?, performing in Pittsburgh.

Somewhere in the Countryside

Some ruins, somewhere in Ireland.

I can't recall the name of these particular ruins. I visited a bunch of them during a few day trips into the countryside, but that was way back in 1998, and I seem to have forgotten the name of everything I visited, except for New Grange. Let me know if you know where this is, because I don't know anymore.

So Sad About Us

Kate and John on a street corner in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Rukert Terminals Corp.

Another sign painted on a building in Fells Point, Baltimore.

Our Poor Disenfranchised Rats

Yesterday, D.C. had its meaningless primary, which Dean won handily, although he really didn't have much competition, since Lieberman, Clark, Kerry, Gephardt and Edwards all decided to pass on D.C., which isn't surprising, since all of its delegates are awarded during the D.C. Democratic Caucus, which happens on February 14. I was a little disapointed in the showing by Vermin Supreme, who I figured would have been able to garner a little more of the rodent vote in a city that is overrun by them. Not too suprisingly, Paris Hilton failed to garner any votes, since she just began her campaign yesterday.

Chong Li Would Have Kicked My Ass

I visited Tiny Factory to check out their t-shirts, and instantly fell in love with their bright red Kumite t-shirt. Unfortunately, that shirt only comes in medium, which means I would probably tear it trying to get it on, unless their medium runs in a largish direction. Think of your audience of potential buyers who skew towards the larger sizes, guys! [via Gothamist]

On a side note, visiting the Tiny Factory site gave me Small Factory's Valentine as an earworm.

Vote Against Prohibition

A faded ad on the side of a building in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore.

Outside for a Smoke

Skot and Mark enjoying some nicotine after a lovely dinner prepared by the Hungry Tiger aka Redfox aka V.

I've grown tired of the D.C. photos, which means you are most likely bored out of your mind. In the interest of moving on, the next week or so will probably be a pretty random bunch of photos, after which I may settle down into a theme again. Or not.

Repairing the Obelisk

The Washington Monument during its renovation.

During the renovation, I liked the way that Michael Graves' scaffolding made it look like the monument was made out of blocks of lucite.

Paper Obscura

• Check out this pinhole camera that you can assemble from a couple sheets of thick paper. I'd like to make one, but I know that I am lazy enough that I most likely will never get around to it. [via Boing Boing]
• A moment ago, I was informed that Keanu Reeves will be playing John Constantine in the Hellblazer movie. Excuse me for a moment while I retrieve my jaw from the floor. What the hell were they thinking?
• I only got to see a little bit of last night's debut of The Apprentice, but I did get to see Trump's apartment, which is an amazing confluence of limitless money and a complete lack of taste. The entire apartment seemed to be constructed from marble and gold foil. It's pretty much what you expect from someone who is best known for constructing a massive casino. Despite the apartment, I'll forgive you Donald, at least as long as the Taj continues to have one of the the only active poker rooms in Atlantic City.

That's When It All Gets Blown Away

Mission of Burma. Photo by Diane Bergamasco.

• Mission of Burma, who reunited a few years ago, have signed with Matador Records and will release a new album this May. I got to see the reunited Burma a year ago at the 9:30 Club, and it was a great show. See them if you have a chance!
• Unless you have been chained up in a dungeon, you probably know that Joe Gibbs has returned to D.C. Despite myself, I cannot help but be excited.
• Congratulations, Pete! After all the recent developments, I hope you never get back into baseball.

Through Early Morning Fog I See

The Korean War Memorial on the National Mall.

Elevate Me

K Street, underneath the Whitehurst Freeway in Georgetown.

The View From This Tower

Here's a panorama of the view from the Kennedy Center's balcony looking towards the city. Because it is 1500 pixels wide, I'm just linking it rather than posting it to the site. It's stitched together from 13 seperate images, and yes, I really do need a fourteenth one on the right, but it's a little late for that.

Detra Battle Sparrow

Detra Battle Sparrow performing at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage.

Hirshorn Pt. 2

Steve and Hart looking out the windows into the central courtyard at the Hirshorn.

Like the earlier pictures at the Hirshorn, this is from a summer day a few years ago that we went into D.C. to see the Open City exhibition. Yes, in this photo, Hart is wearing an ancient Powell Peralta t-shirt that he has been wearing since he was in middle school.

I'm From Hell, Open a Windle

• Do yourself a favor, and check out the live bootlegs of Oxes and Don Caballero over at Brett Wilm's site. [via Don Fanallero]
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not happy about their pink stadium.
• Just like the played out tradition of standing ovations, I think that encores really need to go away. Just play a decent length set, and then get off the damn stage. Don't make us clap in order to get you to play a full set! It's just tired.

A Little Fall

Eric, just after falling while rollerblading in Cleveland Park.

Sorry about the lack of posting over the past few days, but my network at home hasn't been working properly.