GT3 RS spotted today

I saw this Porsche GT3 RS parked on the street in DC today. It weighs 3,031lbs and tops out at 193 mph. It is my favorite car ever. Well not really but it's in the top 5. As mentioned I don't need a $500,000 car. This $125,000 one would do fine. It's not exactly my ideal choice for the streets of DC but I understand why one would not want to compromise. 

Ratdog

Last night I went to the Ratdog show with Kari and Lee. Lee had gone the night before and the setlist looked pretty sweet. Our seats were in the same row as our Widespread seats which are quite nice being the first row in the main balcony. The price was outrageous at $45 ($55 after taxes and fees). Neither night sold out. I haven't seen Ragdog in many many years so I thought I'd give it another go. 

Lee drove and we parked in the garage under the venue which was convenient and allowed us to avoid the front line. It was a good jam but playing so many Grateful Dead songs it just made me miss the Dead. Mark Karan on guitar played some good lead here and there but on some songs I didn't think he was all that. And Bob's guitar had some high pitched feed-back sounding loud tone to it that bothered me. It didn't sound right. And to top it off they ran out of their one decent beer and I had to drink a Miller Lite. That tasted like crap in the end. The hippies have gotten old because unlike most shows I was on the younger side. Overall it wasn't that bad; just over-priced and of course nothing near what the Dead used to be.

Warner Theatre setlists...

Wednesday which I didn't attend:

I: Jam > Dancin in the Street > Shakedown Street > Maggie's Farm > She Belongs to Me > Money for Gasoline, She Says > Liberty, Foolish Heart

II: Deep Elem Blues, El Paso, Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Stuff > Morning Dew > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider

E: U.S. Blues

And last night:

I: Jam > Here Comes Sunshine > Brown-Eyed Women > Loser > Lucky Enough > Cream Puff War > Quinn the Eskimo, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl > Ashes and Glass

II: Me and My Uncle, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Mississippi Half-Step > The Wheel > Lady with a Fan > Terrapin > Stuff, Black Peter > Throwing Stones

E: At a Siding > Terrapin Flyer

scheiße!

I left my red jacket on a railing in the Rosslyn metro while waiting for a train. Of course it was not there 25 minutes later. Scheiße! I liked that jacket. Had it for a long time. Got it at some ski expo for cheap. I was one of the first cool people with a MP3 pocket yo. I was in the market for a new one but that old one was still kickin' strong. Now I need to find one somewhere somehow. And soon.

keeping me warm in the Alps on 2-26-2004

UPDATE: And then I discovered Arc'teryx

National x-mas tree comes from the Bitterroot

The National Christmas Tree is coming from the Bitterroot National Forest. Not familiar with the Bitterroot you say? The Rockie Mountains go through western Montana and I spend some time there on occasion for my client the Forest Service. A bit ago they identified the National Christmas Tree and apparently it's a short walk from a coworker's house. I asked him to carve my initials but it's been under 24 hr surveillance since it was made known. They cut it last Saturday and it's making a tour across the nation to DC.

news stories...

Great Falls Tribune

KPAX (w/ pics)

DC celebrates B-Rock!

Once the election was called people started pouring in to the streets of DC. I was at U and 14th where there was a planned gathering and drum circle. A few thousand people were also there. Fireworks were going off. The whole intersection was taken over and people were climbing on trees, bus stations, newspaper machines, and everything else. The cops didn't interfere at all and did a little traffic management being that no one was getting through the intersection.  Lots of cars and buses had to do U turns.  Everyone was in quite the happy mood dancing in the streets. Even the cars that were stuck were having a good time.

The cops did get control of the intersection once but then lost it when more people came from Adams Morgan, the 9:30 Club, and their homes after the 11:00 news.  At some point people start yelling to head to the White House.  Apparently another large crowd was down there.  They should have walked on to the White House lawn.  What would a few secret service guys do if 5000 people started walking up to knock on the door?

I took pics with my phone but being that I've never really used the camera before and it was dark out they aren't exactly high quality shots.

The Washington Post also did a story.

UPDATE: videos

throwin' paint

A couple people from work organized a paintball outing.  It was back in the hills of Virginia near Leesburg at AG Paintball Games. A good time was had by all. And most will feel it tomorrow. I'm a bit sore and have a few bruises from jumping over logs and boulders in the woods while dodging paintballs flying 290 feet per second.

There were 20 in the group; seven of us from the office and the rest friends.  A few professionals showed up with their own gear.  We battled on 3 different playing fields which were all very unique and fun.  The first one was in thick woods with a few places of artificial cover such as piled logs or wooden pallets scattered around.  On one side of the playing field were small wooden structures.  We switched up a few times on each field.  The next one was also quite wooded on a decent grade with a bunker in the middle.  At the start of each game teams would go running for control of the bunker.  And the last one was very large with a decent stream and a slight clearing running down it length-wise. Teams would start on opposite sides of the stream.  Some crossings were deeper than others.  There were some fun battles and interesting terrain on that last field.

I was taken out early in the first games probably for being a little too aggressive.  I got caught in a cross fire in the middle of the field on the first game.  The rental gun wasn't the most accurate or powerful.  A few times my goggles fogged up and I was worthless.  It's not fun sitting in a battle, trying to take cover behind a tree, and not see the enemy who is rapidly closing in.  I learned to control my breathing and to move around when the fogging started (which is not easy when people are shooting at you). I'd probably get my own decent goggles before I'd invest in a gun.  

My team consisted of most of the "professional" friends who came yet somehow we managed to lose the first couple games.  By the end we came around and showed our deadly force. I have quite a few half inch red dots on my body that will be black and blue tomorrow.  Check out the last picture to see how my last game ended...

paintball pics

The Capitals, sickness, The Pietasters, and Matt & Casey

On Tuesday I went with Kevin and Nick to a Capitals game. We picked up nice tickets on the club level off the internet. I forgot how nice the club level is with carpeted floors near the concessions and a bar/restaurant overlooking the arena. The lines for food/beer and the bathroom are quite short as well. Unfortunately only corporate clients get such good treatment as the fans don't have access and the whole tier is almost always more than half empty. Of course we all know it's about money not the fans. The game was good, it went in to over time and then penalty shots. The Caps pulled off the win.  

The next morning at about 6am I woke not feeling too well. I proceeded to empty all contents of my bowels and belly. After that I didn't feel all that bad and assumed I'd go in to work later in the day which I did. I was back home by lunch. Things were not feeling right. I couldn't eat and was feeling a bit nauseous. The next day I tried to go in the office again without success. By Friday I just felt like I had a glob in my stomach that wouldn't go away. I still wasn't eating much and had little energy.

I did make it out to the Pietasters show though on Friday night. It was Halloween and they had a costume contest at the 9:30 Club with the winner getting free tickets to all of the shows for the rest of the year. Kirby, choosing from the few empowered unibrow women of the world, went as Frieda Kahlo. Amy was there feeling quite good with some drinks in her. The band threw down as usual and I found out I can still have fun at 2am on a Friday night while sober.

On Saturday I met up with Matt and Casey while they were between shows at the 9:30 Club. They saw some comedian at 7:00 and then Lotus was playing later that night. We met at a nice restaurant on U Street and that was the first time I felt like I might be able to really eat. Good thing too as I need my energy today to shoot my coworkers with paintballs.