I miss mountains.

Ok, so it's been raining in DC for about a week now.

It's also raining in Utah.

But you know what happens when it rains in Utah???

YOU GET SNOW OUT OF IT.

We get nothing but more rain and the occasional puddle to drive through.

Me, Spike and a Mini Moo

Picture it, Good Stuff Eatery, friday lunch... The line is out the door.

I walk in and order my Farmhouse burger, village snack fry and chocolate mini moo. I wait outside with my friend with my buzzer. The buzzer goes off and I walk in, but forget my receipt with the order number.

And then...

Me: (Internal dialogue) "well that is random, Spike is at the end of the line expediting burgers."
Me: (Aloud to Spike handing him my buzzer) "er, I forgot my receipt and order number."
Spike: "Um, it's ok, I know everything around here" followed by a saucy grin.
Me: (Trying not to sound like a complete idiot and handing over my buzzer) "Right..."

And so went lunch.

Lincoln's Cottage

There is so much history in DC and you miss it unless you really pay attention. So on Saturday I went up to Lincoln's Cottage. I had no idea Lincoln even had a cottage. I thought he just hung out at the White House and saved the union.

Apparently not.


"During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his family resided seasonally (June – November 1862-64) at the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, DC. Founded in 1851 as a home for retired and disabled veterans of American wars, the Soldiers’ Home stood on 250 acres atop the third highest area in the District of Columbia. Like President Buchanan before him, Lincoln enjoyed the cool breezes and refreshing peace of the Soldiers’ Home just over three miles north of downtown. But unlike his predecessor, Lincoln could not escape the Civil War and his burden of leadership even at this seasonal retreat."

They wouldn't let me take pictures inside the cottage because clearly it is very old and flash photography isn't so good for whatever. Honestly, there wasn't much furniture in the cottage. They don't have very good records about the furnishings and they wanted to be factually accurate, thus they left it pretty much empty. So the pictures wouldn't be very interesting anyway.

Taking OLD to a new level

I staffed my boss at the Homeland Security Appropriations Conference Committee this week. I've never staffed a conference committee before, none of my bills have ever made it that far. We've always been stuck in an omnibus or a long term CR or other such nonsense.

But I digress...

So the Homeland Approps Conference was in a super cool old Brumidi room in the Capitol. My boss and the House conferees were all on one side of the table and about half of the Senators who were supposed to be there were on the other side of the table. (Apparently conference isn't such a big deal if you are a senator). AND, then it go really good... they wheeled in ROBERT BYRD to chair the meeting.

Senator Byrd has been in the Senate since 1959. He is an institution. Whatever you think about his politics, the man has a (RULE in the US Senate named after him.

Add to that the man is a bagizillion years old and has been in the hospital lately, when they wheeled him into the room, the entire room went silent. I mean no one uttered even so much as a peep. So they wheeled him in and he sits there for a while so people start whispering to each other how cool and historic it is to have him chair the committee (because bets are, he's not going to be chairing many more hearings) and all the sudden WACK!!! The venerable Senator from West Virginia gaveled down the start of the meeting.

It was by far the coolest thing I did all week.

In case you don't believe me how wicked awesome Sen. Byrd is in action... here is a clip of him speaking on the Senate floor about dog fighting and Michael Vick.

Ooh, it really makes me wonder

Did you know that after 9/11 there was a 'Do Not Playlist' for radio DJs?

I know! RIGHT??? Crazy.

Come on, Stairway to Heaven???

Artist
Song title

3 Doors Down
"Duck and Run"

311
"Down"

AC/DC
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
"Hells Bells"
"Highway to Hell"
"Safe in New York City"
"Shoot to Thrill"
"Shot Down in Flames"
"T.N.T."

The Ad Libs
"The Boy from New York City"

Afro Celt Sound System featuring Peter Gabrielb
"When You're Falling"

Alice in Chains
"Down in a Hole"
"Rooster"
"Sea of Sorrow"
"Them Bones"

Alien Ant Farm
"Smooth Criminal"

The Animals
"We Gotta Get Out of This Place"

Louis Armstrong
"What a Wonderful World"

The Bangles
"Walk Like an Egyptian"

Barenaked Ladies
"Falling for the First Time"

Fontella Bass
"Rescue Me"

Beastie Boys
"Sabotage"
"Sure Shot"

The Beatles
"A Day in the Life"
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
"Ticket to Ride"

Pat Benatar
"Hit Me with Your Best Shot"
"Love Is a Battlefield"

Black Sabbath
"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
"War Pigs"

Blood, Sweat and Tears
"And When I Die"

Blue Öyster Cult
"Burnin' for You"

Boston
"Smokin'"

David Bowie and Mick Jagger
"Dancing in the Street"

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
"Fire"

Jackson Browne
"Doctor My Eyes"

Buddy Holly and the Crickets
"That'll Be the Day"

Bush
"The People That We Love"a

The Chi-Lites
"Have You Seen Her"

Petula Clark
"A Sign of the Times"

The Clash
"Rock the Casbah"

Phil Collins
"In the Air Tonight"

Sam Cooke
"Wonderful World"

Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Travelin' Band"

The Cult
"Fire Woman"

Bobby Darin
"Mack the Knife"

The Dave Clark Five
"Bits and Pieces"

Dave Matthews Band
"Crash into Me"

Skeeter Davis
"The End of the World"

Neil Diamond
"America"

Dio
"Holy Diver"

The Doors
"The End"

The Drifters
"On Broadway"

Drowning Pool
"Bodies"

Bob Dylan
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"

Everclear
"Santa Monica"

Shelley Fabares
"Johnny Angel"

Filter
"Hey Man, Nice Shot"

Foo Fighters
"Learn to Fly"

Fuel
"Bad Day"

The Gap Band
"You Dropped a Bomb on Me"

Godsmack
"Bad Religion"

Green Day
"Brain Stew"

Norman Greenbaum
"Spirit in the Sky"

Guns N' Roses
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"

The Happenings
"See You in September"

The Jimi Hendrix Experience
"Hey Joe"

Herman's Hermits
"Wonderful World"

The Hollies
"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"

Jan and Dean
"Dead Man's Curve"

Billy Joel
"Only the Good Die Young"

Elton John
"Bennie and the Jets"
"Daniel"
"Rocket Man"

Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge
"The Worst That Could Happen"

Judas Priest
"Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"

Kansas
"Dust in the Wind"

Carole King
"I Feel the Earth Move"

Korn
"Falling Away from Me"

Lenny Kravitz
"Fly Away"

Led Zeppelin
"Stairway to Heaven"

John Lennon
"Imagine"

Jerry Lee Lewis
"Great Balls of Fire"

Limp Bizkit
"Break Stuff"

Local H
"Bound for the Floor"

Los Bravos
"Black Is Black"

Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Tuesday's Gone"

Martha and the Vandellas
"Nowhere to Run"
"Dancing in the Street"

Paul McCartney & Wings
"Live and Let Die"

MC Hammer
"Have You Seen Her"

Barry McGuire
"Eve of Destruction"

Don McLean
"American Pie"

Megadeth
"Dread and the Fugitive Mind"
"Sweating Bullets"

John Mellencamp
"Crumblin' Down"
"Paper in Fire"

Metallica
"Enter Sandman"
"Fade to Black"
"Harvester of Sorrow"
"Seek & Destroy"

Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
"Devil with a Blue Dress On"

Alanis Morissette
"Ironic"

Mudvayne
"Death Blooms"

Ricky Nelson
"Travelin' Man"

Nena
"99 Luftballons"

Nine Inch Nails
"Head Like a Hole"

Oingo Boingo
"Dead Man's Party"

Ozzy Osbourne
"Suicide Solution"

Paper Lace
"The Night Chicago Died"

John Parr
"St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)"

Peter and Gordon
"I Go to Pieces"
"A World Without Love"

Peter, Paul and Mary
"Blowin' in the Wind"
"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Tom Petty
"Free Fallin'"

Pink Floyd
"Mother"
"Run Like Hell"

P.O.D.
"Boom"

Elvis Presley
"(You're the) Devil in Disguise"

The Pretenders
"My City Was Gone"

Queen
"Another One Bites the Dust"
"Killer Queen"

Rage Against the Machine
All songs by Rage Against the Machine

Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Aeroplane"
"Under the Bridge"

R.E.M.
"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

The Rolling Stones
"Ruby Tuesday"

Saliva
"Click Click Boom"

Santana
"Evil Ways"

Savage Garden
"Crash and Burn"

Simon & Garfunkel
"Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Frank Sinatra
"New York, New York"

Slipknot
"Left Behind"
"Wait and Bleed"

The Smashing Pumpkins
"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"

Soundgarden
"Black Hole Sun"
"Blow Up the Outside World"
"Fell on Black Days"

Bruce Springsteen
"I'm Goin' Down"
"I'm on Fire"
"War"

Edwin Starr
"War"

Steam
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"

Steve Miller Band
"Jet Airliner"

Cat Stevens
"Morning Has Broken"
"Peace Train"

Stone Temple Pilots
"Big Bang Baby"

"Dead & Bloated"

Sugar Ray
"Fly"

The Surfaris
"Wipeout"

System of a Down
"Chop Suey!"

Talking Heads
"Burning Down the House"

James Taylor
"Fire and Rain"

Temple of the Dog
"Say Hello 2 Heaven"

Third Eye Blind
"Jumper"

The Three Degrees
"When Will I See You Again"

Tool
"Intolerance"

The Trammps
"Disco Inferno"

U2
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"

Van Halen
"Jump"
"Dancing in the Street"

J. Frank Wilson
"Last Kiss"

Yngwie Malmsteen
"Black Star"

The Youngbloods
"Get Together"

Zager and Evans
"In the Year 2525"

The Zombies
"She's Not There"

Cookies.

Conundrum

Most historians consider Truman one of the greatest U.S. Presidents - anyone know why?

He seemed like a good president, beating Dewey and all....