I guess I know what they're getting at...

i have to say that i've been really into salon's audiofile summer soundtrack contest. i'm even clicking through the ads daily to get to it. the deal is simple: you have to create a summer soundtrack mixtape type thing by selecting a bunch of awesome and uberindie mp3s - but the downloads all have to be legal and free. there's been three or four of the soundtracks posted so far, and they're all pretty good. it's like getting interesting mixtapes for free from ubercool people who'd probably spit on your music taste in real life. except we're on the internet now, and you get to download their soundtracks, and all is harmonious.

the board chair of the CTA in chicago has A BLOG. how sweet is that?

UPDATE: i just wanted to clarify why i think this is cool so everybody doesn't think i'm retarded. i mean, just imagine the board chair of the WMATA having a blog, or, like, riding the metro - you know, little things that might make a difference in communicating with the public and improving the hole of turtle dung that the metro can be.

I don't want to alarm anyone... but we have wasps. I want to stress that you should not panic. Stay in your homes and places of business, and go about your daily activities. But at this point I am going to have to elevate our wasp terror alert status to orange, or: "oh shit! wasps!"

I wouldn't say we've got an infestation, but there's definitely a cloud of a few dozen of these flying jerks hanging around the end of our deck. They're up to something, and my bet is that they're thinking about building a nest.

On the upside, mankind's anti-wasp arsenal has advanced much faster than our relatively sucky anti-ant technology. You've probably seen cans of wasp spray in the supermarket but never bought one. But did you know that these cans are regularly designed to shoot their poison in a twenty foot stream? If you did, I bet you would've bought more. Come on, that sounds like fun.

Check this stuff out. I know what you're thinking: "Green Chem? How's that supposed to kill any wasps, much less make the environment uninhabitable for future wasp generations?" Fair enough. But it's made out of something called "tetramethrin". That sure doesn't sound environmentally friendly.

Also, allow me to direct your attention to the fact that in addition to launching itself twenty feet at the slightest bidding (and sometimes without, to keep the wasps off-guard), this particular chemical has a dieletric breakdown voltage in excess of twenty-five thousand volts! That seems like a lot. Unless these wasps are unusually powerfully ionized (always possible), I don't like their chances.

The trick is going to be rescuing the jar of sun tea I have brewing underneath Wasp Central prior to the deployment of poison. Or I could just aim extra carefully. And afterward, maybe try to drink the potentially-tainted tea extra fast, so as to minimize my exposure. Yeah. Something like that.

Anyway, you can see that a plan is emerging. Don't worry about anything. Continue to shop and patronize restaurants. But if in the next few days you call us and the phone line is picked up, but all you hear is a strange buzzing... well, maybe drive by with your windows up before trying the door.

well, not really an announcement, especially for those of you who know me and have been reading my blog for a while. but anyways!

come september, i am leaving D.C. for chicago to study new media at northwestern university. it's a year-long program, and i do hope to return to the area after i graduate, but i can't be in denial any longer: i'm going to have to give up my position as Associate Editor at DCist.com. and so we're looking for a replacement.

i'm posting this on my personal blog instead of on DCist itself mainly because i want to hopefully get responses from a smaller, more select group of people. not that like my readership is of UTMOST AWESOME quality - uh, i mean, you totally are! best readers ever! - but that people who read this blog probably have a better understand of a) what i do at DCist b) the music scene in D.C. c) the blogging scene in D.C. and d) blogging and DCist style in general.

as it stands, my responsibilities at DCist aren't entirely focused, but i do the following every week, or at least try to:
-write a weekly music agenda on mondays of shows that i think will be good
-do a DCist music interview with a local band, to be published on thursdays
-write a weekend picks post on fridays, highlighting interesting events on friday, saturday, and sunday
-try to write or solicit-and-edit one or two concert reviews every week or two.

every once in a while i'll write a post on a random topic, like my Baking In post from yesterday, or various news items that interest me. you can see a list of all my posts ever here.

behind the scenes, the responsibilities are more general. for example, i've done (with kyle) most of the planning for the Unbuckled concert (to which you ARE coming), and some planning is usually involved with happy hours and editorial direction. the core staff of DCist meets, i'd guess, about once a month to talk about these things.

anyway, DCist is totally great and has been one of the most positive things i've ever been involved in. all the staff have become good friends, and they're an amazing group of motivated and talented people. i'm too sad to be leaving, but since i have to, i want to find one (or two, perhaps) really good, committed people that would be willing to cover music stuff and help DCist grow even more awesome. so if you're at all interested and would like to email/meet in person to talk about it, send me one of those email thingies, and we'll chat.

I like videogames; I dislike politicians scoring points for railing against (but not acting against) videogames in order to mollify irrational parents. To me, this Penny Arcade strip pretty well sums up the situation, at least for the foreseeable future.

But then I go and see something completely confusing and terrifying, something like this, and all I want to do is put my Xbox beneath something heavy in the closet, then go hide under the covers.

i think today should be a national holiday. two reasons: 1) it is too effing gorgeous outside to be at work today, no? 2) ted leo is playing a sold out show at the 9:30 club tonight and i'm a-going! and i'm super psyched.

ted and i have had many special times together. there was the time we locked eyes across the patio of guapo's when i was there with kriston pre-fort reno show, and i proceeded to act like a complete ass (with photographic documentation). there was a time when we had a serious spiritual connection over our love for "since u been gone." and there was...well, that's about it. but obviously, ted and i are just about as close to soul mates as you can get, so in celebration of national pretty-day-outside/ted-leo-concert day, here are some mp3s of my favorite songs of his that you should all listen to. ain't nothing nicer than listening to catchy ted leo tunes on a beautiful summer day.

-where have all the rude boys gone?
-me and mia
-biomusicology
-his cover of "since u been gone"
-under the hedge
-the high party
-timorous me