35th street between Prospect and M is reminiscent of the famed hills of San Fransisco. For one thing, it’s incredibly picturesque, so much so that Hollywood filmmakers frequently use it in their films (such as the upcoming Burn After Reading). For another, it’s dangerously steep—I’d put it in the ballpark of 40 degrees.
Unfortunately, the driver of this giant hulk of a bus (see above) didn’t fully appreciate this second fact. Around one o’clock, he made the imprudent decision to navigate his bus down the hill. It’s been stuck ever since. According to one of the cops on the scene, they’re going to have to get an oversized tow crane to drag it off the incline. Until then, I’d try to avoid driving by the area—apart from the congestion, I saw one of the cops hand out two tickets to cars driving by in as many minutes.
Runner-up headline: This is why we don’t have nice things.
Patrick Ewing Sr. may have led the Hoyas to a national championship and dominated the NBA for 17 years. As of today, though, Patrick Ewing Jr. has surpassed his father in at least one area: YouTube stardom. Ewing Jr.’s ludicrous behind-the-back dunk in the 2008 NCAA Dunk Contest wasn’t enough to win the contest, but it has received over 1,200,000 hits in just over a day, making it today’s most viewed video on YouTube. It’d be nicer to see the entire Hoya squad down in San Antonio, but I guess Hoya fans will have to accept the video as a small consolation prize as they wait for Greg “the Doctrine” Monroe and Co. to arrive next year.
Star-studded murder flick State of Play is being filmed in Georgetown right now. Literally right now. If you’re willing to brave April’s cruel rain, head down to Wisconsin and Prospect-ish to check it out. If you’re lucky (really lucky), you might catch a glimpse of Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, or Jason Bateman, to name of few of the film’s stars. It’s easily possible to spend hours watching outside the police barrier and not see anyone recognizable, but you never know. When I passed by, Rachel McAdams tried to wave me over, but I was getting real wet so I just kept walking. Maybe next time, Rachel.
And the winner is … D.C. Schools! Man, they just can’t seem to catch a break. First the school closings, now this.
For those who haven’t been obsessively following the B.W., in response to Chipotle’s free burrito day on Monday, Qdoba extended their half-price Mondays to Wednesday as well, which, if I’m doing my math right, cuts the profits of this fundraiser in half. I guess DCPS just have to wait until next year for a makeover (because there’s no way we’re asking the for a bail-out).
Why become a scalper? “It’s better to sell tickets than to sell crack!” How does scalping tickets worth? “Economics! Economics!” Tim Fernholz hangs out with D.C.’s friendly Verizon Center/Nationals Park scalpers and asks them these, among many other hard-hitting, questions in this week’s cover.
Controversy: Grade A, Size D. Juliana Brint has the scoop over in News while Voices lets both GUGS and the Grilling Action Society tell their side of the story.
Eliott Grover reviews Run, Fat Boy, Run, David Schwimmer’s directorial debut. You know—Ross from Friends.
They may not have the best defensive field-goal percentage in the country, but they are ranked fifth. Justin Hunter Scott reports that men’s lax is taking off.
I’ve grumbled about Aramark’s efforts to go green in the past (it’s nothing personal, I just like my milkshakes), but I’ve got nothing but praise for these stylish new Grab & Go bags. These customized Georgetown bags, made by EcoAction in conjunction with Aramark, are a great way to lessen the waste generated by plastic Grab & Go bags that are thrown out once you polish off your bland turkey sandwich, under-ripe banana and Lays potato chips. Not only that, but they can be folded up and stored in that little pouch on the front of the bag! Convenient, too!
Make sure you pick one up in Red Square this week. EcoAction will be selling them for $4 from Tuesday to Friday, 11 am to 2 pm.
When the new Qdoba at M and 33rd began offering half-price entrées to Georgetown students on Mondays, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Chipotle down the street would be forced to respond. But week after week went by and as Qdoba got busier and busier each Monday, Chipotle seemed to be acting under the premise that if they ignored this little annoyance, it would go away.
Well, not anymore. According to the employee who answered the phone when I called Chipotle to confirm earlier this evening, Chipotle will be giving out free burritos to Georgetown students and faculty all day tomorrow. In other words, it is so on.
Far from merely firing a warning shot across Qdoba’s bow, Chipotle seems to be looking to reassert its dominance in a big way. I’m not sure how the Burrito War is going to end—if these promotions will die out once the two restaurants reach a state of equilibrium or if there really isn’t room for the two of them on M St.—but nothing but good can come from such cutthroat competition. With the ball squarely in Qdoba’s court, I can’t wait to find out what’s coming next. Until then, I’ll see you all at Chipotle tomorrow.
Update 3/21 2:52 pm: Is there anything better than a free Chipotle burrito? How about a free Chipotle burrito along with a $5 Qdoba gift card? That’s right, Qdoba has stationed an employee handing out free gift cards on the corner of 33rd and M, presumably to deter people from making it further down the block to the competition. He gave me a card as I was walking to Chipotle and a dirty look as I was walking back with my Chipotle bag.
The Cinderella ad featuring JT III may have been tempting fate, but at least it doesn’t make me feel a little uncomfortable. That’s more than this Sheraton ad, specifically the Georgetown/Syracuse section (0:23-0:29), can say. I can’t imagine what the Sheraton executives were thinking when the approved this. Putting aside the bizarre nature of having someone you just met wipe away dressing from the side of your mouth, the Georgetown fan’s whole face was covered with dressing, so it’s not like there was any real purpose to the ‘Cuse fan’s tender action. Vaguely homoerotic, 100% disturbing, this ad never fails to give me the creeps when it comes on during timeouts in the NCAA tourney. Georgetown needs to do a better job of controlling how its image is used, specifically when it comes to ads like this one.
In our cover story, Anna Bank writes about a college in D.C. that counts Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and outgoing Dean of Georgetown College Jane McAuliffe among its alums. And you’ve probably never even heard of it. Take a look inside Trinity Washington College.
DPS officers are going to be packing a little more of a punch in a few days, Juliana Brint reports, and by punch, I mean mace and batons. (Whoever can guess what the Ed Board thinks about this wins a big shiny penny.)
In teenage relationships, the average time that the relationship lasts after sex is introduced is two weeks. Or at least, that’s what Miss Wisconsin told Molly Redden during her Catholic high school’s abstinence-only sex ed.
Their “bats are coming alive“: Hoya softball knocked off two on Tuesday and Wednesday, Tony Francavilla reports.
The Ed Board gives GUSA Pres Pat Dowd and VP James Kelly a tip of the hat and a wag of the finger, all in the same ed! And they said it couldn’t be done!
For those looking to get their hallucinations on, the recently reopened Dixie Liquor is hosting an absinthe demonstration/tasting tomorrow from 4-7 p.m. As far as I can tell, or at least according to the New York Times, the absinthe they’ll be serving, Lucid, sounds pretty legit. The makers of Lucid managed to get around the U.S.’s ban on absinthe by omitting thujone, a chemical in modern absinthe, the Times says, which Lucid’s absinthe chemist claims wasn’t even a big part of old-school absinthe. From the Times:
Mr. Breaux knew that removing thujone entirely might harm the taste. “I had to get a handle on the whole thujone issue without compromising the character and the flavor of the drink,” he said. To accomplish this, Mr. Breaux blended the grand wormwood with green anise and sweet fennel from Europe, instead of using more-affordable imports from East Asia. Using herbs from Europe, absinthe’s native continent, he said, gives the drink an earthier essence.
Mr. Breaux also had to keep the American palate in mind while developing Lucid. “In the U.S., anise is a sort of a strange flavor,” he said. “We don’t get a lot of exposure to it.” So Mr. Breaux made sure that Lucid had a slightly cleaner, crisper taste than its European peers.
I’m not much for the flavor of anise, but if I were (and if I were 21), I’d probably be hitting this up tomorrow. Hallucinations aside, Lucid is 62% alcohol, so if you do end up going, watch out for yourself.
Vox Populi is the staff blog of the Georgetown Voice, Georgetown University's preeminent newsmagazine since 1969. The opinions expressed in Vox Populi are those of their authors unless specifically stated.
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