david wogan

Amazing high-speed flash insect photography

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:38:19 -0400

Amazing high-speed flash insect photography:

chrisdctex:

Used by a UT-Austin entomology professor named John Abbott to capture some amazing shots.

Amazing!

A pic of the gang (a.k.a. The Bros in the Basement + Katie) on...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:04:15 -0400

A pic of the gang (a.k.a. The Bros in the Basement + Katie) on Katie’s last day.

We’re gonna miss ya!!

(click through to Flickr)

East Wing tour > West Wing tour The East Wing is what you...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:02:52 -0400

East Wing tour > West Wing tour

The East Wing is what you typically think of when you think of the White House. There are rooms to entertain heads of state, paintings of presidents, and other really neat things. To top it off, we saw the First Lady and Bo on the Front Lawn.

More pics on Flickr!

The White House Daily Snapshot

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0400

The White House Daily Snapshot:

Want to get the inside scoop on what’s going on at the White House delivered to your inbox each morning? The Daily Snapshot is a quick look at what’s happening each day at the White House. It includes the President and Vice President’s daily schedules, a look at what’s hot on the White House blog, the Photo of the Day and other important updates.

Signed up. I’m hoping @whitehouse will push out updates so I don’t have to subscribe via email.

Texas Athletics commits to establish Texas Longhorns Energy

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:28:52 -0400

Texas Athletics commits to establish Texas Longhorns Energy:

The secret to achieving carbon reductions is to pair it with college football. Texas leads the way!

imremembering: Ghostbusters Toys (via moonbrains) I still have...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:04:18 -0400

imremembering:

Ghostbusters Toys

(via moonbrains)

I still have my Firehouse, btw. NEVER GETTING RID OF IT!

David Brooks: The Long Strategy for Obama Democrats

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:59:03 -0400

David Brooks: The Long Strategy for Obama Democrats:

Featuring a shout out to my boss, Jason Bordoff:

Not much is going to get passed in the next two years anyway, but the president could lay the groundwork for a whopping second-term agenda: tax simplification, entitlement reform, a new wave of regional innovation clusters, a new wave of marriage-friendly tax policies. If the president is looking for a long-term growth agenda, he could read “Path to Prosperity,” co-edited by Jason Furman and Jason Bordoff, or “The Pro-Growth Progressive” written by Gene Sperling. Some of these guys already are on his staff.

Capitol at sunset. Taken with iPhone 4.

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:48:57 -0400

Capitol at sunset.

Taken with iPhone 4.

“12 Angry Men” on the National Mall. Great weather,...

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:58:33 -0400

“12 Angry Men” on the National Mall. Great weather, friends, and a classic film.

Happy Birthday, @jakemaguire! I honor the place where our honky...

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:07:00 -0400

Happy Birthday, @jakemaguire! I honor the place where our honky tonk line dancing at a country bar in Virginia then pretending to be unamused with your birthday only to surprise you at 3am after sending you on a long walk while we decorated the house with balloons and streamers shenanigans become one.

Seriously, though. Happy birthday. I’m so glad we met and have become such good friends this summer. My life is better because you’re in it!

Watch the video in HD on Vimeo or in Quicktime at my MobileMe gallery. Shot with iPhone 4.

Listen to our Metro conductor provide hilarious commentary and...

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:15:09 -0400

Listen to our Metro conductor provide hilarious commentary and instructions on our ride in Thursday morning. This guy was a hoot!

It’s easy to hate on the D.C. Metro - you know, people don’t move to the center of the trains and end up blocking the doors, or someone will jump on the tracks and delay all of the trains (your suicide attempts are really inconvenient!) - but it has its charms.

Happy Friday! garfieldminusgarfield

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:06:44 -0400

Happy Friday!

garfieldminusgarfield

I took some more photos with the iPhone today (surprise!),...

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:15:02 -0400

I took some more photos with the iPhone today (surprise!), including this one of the sunset and clouds from Busboys & Poets. More on flickr.

Home

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:08:49 -0400

I’ve made it a point to not think about home while in D.C. I’m not here to pine over Tex-Mex, breakfast tacos, or the lake (as much as I’d like to). I’m here to live, work, experience, and soak up as much of D.C. in the three months that I’m here. And I figure that if I start thinking about home, I’ll get homesick. And really, I’m just super busy here so I don’t really have the time to think about those things.

But my time here is coming to an end sooner than I realize. My last day at work is August 13th, and before I know it I’ll be back home. As the days wind down Austin is slowly creeping back into my life; last week Reid was in town, which was great (although a little disorienting), and my family will be visiting in a few weeks. But what really threw me for a loop was reading John Kelso’s piece on Ray’s BBQ back in Austin showing up on Friday Night Lights:

She said they wanted an authentic barbecue place that would look right in East Dillon, the poor part of town depicted on the show ever since Coach got fired by those rich jerks at the hoity-toity high school. Ray’s fit the bill.

You got your worker in an apron behind the counter slicing brisket, your flat-screen TV on top of the stand-up soda cooler and a couple of cowboy hats and a UT license plate hanging on the wall.

I don’t really watch Friday Night Lights (apparently a lot of people in the Northeast do - go figure), but I thought about home in a way that I haven’t in two months. I’m realizing that in less than a month I’ll be back home in Austin, away from this amazing place with incredible food and really motivated people and back to another place with great food and equally awesome people. My place.

Anyways, that’s enough pining over Austin. A few more weeks left to have an amazing summer in D.C. Let’s do this!

The climate bill is, uhh, capped until after recess

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:39:58 -0400

The climate bill is, uhh, capped until after recess:

Not that this is really a surprise. Now we get to see how the midterms circus affects the legislation. Will the Senate man up?

Portrait of MacPaint creator Bill Atkinson made using...

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:49:58 -0400

Portrait of MacPaint creator Bill Atkinson made using MacPaint.

I’m glad to see MacPaint standing the test of time. Man, remember Kid Pix? Now that was awesome.

The big news here isn’t that the Senate Judiciary...

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:42:05 -0400

The big news here isn’t that the Senate Judiciary Committee backs the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, or that Lindsey Graham was the only Republican lawmaker to break ranks - no, it’s that John Cornyn is using an iPad.

Big John!

CAKE. I’ll be there. Tickets are on presale now.

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:11:20 -0400

CAKE.

I’ll be there. Tickets are on presale now.

"All you need in life is a horrendous sex drive and a good ego - brains don’t mean a shit."

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:06:00 -0400

“All you need in life is a horrendous sex drive and a good ego - brains don’t mean a shit.”

- Captain Tony.

There is this pub/bar near us in Eastern Market called Tune Inn, and on the wall is a picture of a guy with a pipe, presumably Captain Tony, with his quote brandished across the top. I have no idea who he is, or what he did during life, but it must have been pretty awesome.

Penn & Teller interview

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:10:13 -0400

Penn & Teller interview:

I’m a huge fan of Penn & Teller. Their magic shows are one of the unique instances where I don’t want to know how things are working behind the scenes - I just want to be wowed. I saw them in Vegas a few summers ago and had a blast (they also signed my book - huzzah!). The interview is full of great tidbits (“This is going to sound horrible, but I don’t even know how much I make in a year”) including what moving their show from New York City to Vegas has allowed them to do:

“But then you come out here and it turns out, as insane as this is, that you have more artistic freedom in Las Vegas than you have in New York. Much more. And the reason is this…” He leans forward conspiratorially and says, in a stage whisper. “In Vegas, our investors don’t give a f—- about us. The people who are our bosses see our show maybe once a year. One of them will bring their kids and come by. And they are pleasant and they love us and they sincerely enjoy the show. Then they leave and they don’t think about us.

“And because nobody’s paying attention we do exactly the show we want. As long as people come to see it nobody cares what we do. And it means that we have done wilder things and more new stuff here than we ever did in New York. The contract is 100 per cent between us and the audience. And that’s crazy.” He laughs until his eyes close into two half moons behind his spectacles; it looks as though he has three smiles on his face.

Love these guys.