This is very cute

Viking cats:

http://users.wolfcrews.com/toys/vikings

One of My Favorite Things

I love when I'm walking down the street, and out of nowhere, I see a cop on a horse. It always seems like such a funny juxstaposition - a horse on a city street - but really, where else would it be effective to have a cop on a horse?

September 5, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"I love to talk some shit."
-Logan Circle

August 31, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"Well times have fucking changed, let me tell you that."
-N. 2nd Street at Pine Street, Harrisburg, PA

Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time

This is just sick and/or weird. http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Top/experiments.
Here's the list - you've gotta go read it for yourself to get the details.
#1: Elephants on Acid
#2: Obedience
#3: Demikhov’s Two-Headed Dogs
#4: The Initiation of Heterosexual Behavior in a Homosexual Male
#5: The Isolated Head of a Dog [poor dogs!]
#6: Human-Ape Hybrid
#7: The Stanford Prison Experiment
#8: Facial expressions while decapitating a rat
#9: The Vomit-Drinking Doctor
#10: Beneficial Brainwashing
#11: Monkey-Head Transplant
#12: The Remote-Controlled Bull
#13: The Ape and the Child
#14: “My Fingernails Taste Terribly Bitter”
#15: The Electrification of Human Corpses
#16: Seeing Through Cat’s Eyes
#17: Stimuli Eliciting Sexual Behavior in Turkeys
#18: “Would You Go To Bed With Me Tonight?”
#19: Shock the Puppy
#20: Heartbeat At Death

Thankfully, we now have the internet to keep us occupied, so we don't have to come up with strange and horrific experiments (though I'm sure it still happens all the time).

August 18, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"I mean, you could train a dog to go pick up a slipper."
"A little pain is alllll good."
-8th Street SE, between E and G Streets SE

July 29, 2007 - Heard on the Street

OK, it was on a beach...

"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."
-Chatham Bar and Inn Beach, Chatham, MA

July 26, 2006 - Seen on the Street

P Street at Logan Circle - Umm, isn't the flatbed for the disabled vehicle?!

Today I witnessed an oddity that inspired me to start a new version of "on the Street." I was returning to work after lunching at home, and I saw a flatbed tow truck come down the street. On the bed of the truck was not a vehicle, as one might expect, but 12-15 people in business casual attire. People!! A few were standing, and the rest were sitting. I couldn't help but think, "That looks phenomenally dangerous!" (Seriously, those exact words.) Funny, I always thought those flatbeds were to put the broken down car (or bus as it may have been in this case) on, not the people who wind up stranded. You learn something new everyday!

July 23, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"I got women on lay away, on will call..."
-Logan Circle

July 20, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"You ever ridden the bus? Mood's not gonna get much better."
-Reagan National Airport, Gate 35A

[If you've ever flown US Airways Express out of DC, you know exactly what this means.]

Newsflash: Minority Does Not Equal Poor

For work today, I spent the day at a forum held by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services, on marketing and childhood obesity. It's been well established that there are higher rates of childhood obesity in minority communities such as Hispanics and African Americans. Toward the end of the forum, during a question and answer session, and audience member asked what will be done to address this disparity. Great question. So one panelist (from a somewhat radical organization that I tend to disagree with, which shall remain nameless) in her response immediately started to talk about "blacks and low income communities." What? The question didn't ask about low income communities. It asked about minorities. Why did she feel it was OK to make that leap, or to equate the two? This is not new...I've heard it done, unfortunately, many times before in political debates and talks of policy. It's really sad, in my opinion. Since when are all minorities poor, and all poor people minorities?

Crispy Cones

The sponsored links at the top of Gmail continue to send me to odd things that I never thought existed. Today I discovered Crispy Cones. It's regular food, put into a cone. Very odd. Here are some examples:

The Geekiest Thing Ever?

I came across this website today - http://www.madewithmolecules.com/. They make jewelry, cards, and shirts using the graphic representation of molecules such as serotonin and dopamine. For example, this is caffeine:

The concept is interesting, but can you think of anything more geeky?

Never a Dull Moment

We had some excitement around the corner yesterday evening. A tourist trolley started on fire and was engulfed in flames. The streets were blocked off and there were three firetrucks and who knows how many police cars. Fortunately, only the driver was on the trolley, and he got off safely. The trolley was totally destroyed - it looked like there was nothing left inside. Here's a picture from the news:














And another from Isaac's iPhone:
Ironically, Isaac's brother Marc was parked not 20 minutes earlier in the very spot where the trolley pulled over to burn. I saw his car there as I walked home, and told him that he should move it because that side of the street has no parking for rush hour, and he could get towed. Even more ironically, it appears that our car was also parked there earlier, but had in fact been towed to a spot two streets over. We discovered it this morning when we realized that we hadn't seen the car in a while. Phew! Two car fires averted!

July 6, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"I don't talk about shit I don't know about."
-R Street NW and 17th Street

"...scratch my ass..."
-Townhouse Tavern, R Street NW

The Ubiquitous iPhone

Well, I'm sure we all knew it would happen sooner or later. Frankly, I'm quite proud of him for waiting a week. Today, Isaac got an iPhone. At first I thought he was crazy, but after playing with it for a couple of minutes, I have to admit - it's pretty freakin' cool. If I were so inclined to spend $500 on something other than new clothes, shoes, or glasses (yes, eyeglasses), I'd totally get one just to use for everything it does besides the phone. I'd never switch over to AT&T for it, but I would use it to play music, store and look at photos, go on the web, write e-mail, and use for the calendar and calculator. Basically everything else it does that you don't need phone service for. The touch screen is really cool (though I forsee women with long fingernails having big problems with it - you need to use your actual fingertip), and the way you can slide through stuff is awesome. Using it is very intuitive, just like any good Apple product. It's also a lot thinner and smaller than I expected. Based on my initial observations, I give it a resounding A+. Oh wait, make that an A- for the price. Although, it would be cheaper to get an iPhone than to get a whole new computer, now that my logic board has died again. Hmmm...

July 4, 2007 - Heard on the Street

The Fourth of July provided a wealth of gems...

"Oh my gawd, it's beautiful!!!" [Think Jersey accent.]
-Rooftop, Beacon Bar and Grill, Rhode Island Avenue NW at 17th Street

"It's like a Prince song...you never know when it's going to end."
-Rooftop, Beacon Bar and Grill, Rhode Island Avenue NW at 17th Street

"I'm having fun with him." "Like you're having fun with me?"
-P Street NW between 14th and 15th Streets

July 3, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"I mean, I want my woman to be a Christian."
-1115 U Street NW

A Couple of Pictures of Kaitlyn and her Big Sister Julia

A couple of my favorites so far:

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!!

June 28, 2007 - Earlier today, Joe and Sharon welcomed another little girl to the clan. Kaitlyn [middle name to be determined] Bastone, 7 pounds 10 ounces, 20 inches, was born at 12:23 pm. Preliminary reports suggest that Julia is not happy with the addition to the family just yet, as she was seen scowling through the window as her father touched Kaitlyn's hand. Only time will tell if she'll come around. Congratulations Joe and Sharon, and welcome Kaitlyn!!

June 27, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"I ain't got no woman. Know what I'm hittin' instead?"
-P Street NW at 14th Street

[Oh, the possibilities are endless...]

Trash the Dress

This would be really fun to do. The dress doesn't necessarily get literally trashed. It would be cool to get some pictures other than the traditional (boring) poses. What else would you do with it anyway?

June 26, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"The sweat is running down my forehead...I'm gonna untuck my shirt."
-16th Street NW at P Street

Congratulations to Isaac!

Isaac received two very good pieces of news in the last week or so. First, his first paper submission to a conference has been accepted. The conference is held by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and more info on it can be found here. This is a big step for him, and will surely help in his bid for tenure.

Second, he is the recipient of the University of Maryland Welcome Fellowship. The fellowship is given to new full-time faculty, and only one is given on each of Maryland's campuses. Isaac is on the University's flagship campus, which is also the largest and presumably the most competitive. To award the fellowship, the president of the University personally selects and recommends an applicant to the Chancellors, so it's a pretty big deal. Along with the prestige of being a fellow, and the FIRST architecture faculty member to receive the award (I'd be willing to bet probably one of the youngest also), he gets money to conduct research over the next three years. Go Isaac!

Elba, Italy

Isaac and I recently returned from Rome. While there, we took a weekend trip out to Elba, where Napoleon was exiled. In addition to lying on the (rocky) beach and riding scooters around the island, we pondered the thought: "Why did he ever leave?"

June 23, 2007 - Heard on the Street

"...it's gotta be out of the kindness of your motherfuckin' heart."
-P Street NW at 14th Street