Cop Attacks (Mouthy) Cartwheeler

As a (presently) 26 year old yoga teacher, I spend a lot of time working on finding awareness in my own skin. That awareness makes me comfortable with tapping into the exploration of my body in a variety of ways. Down isn't always up, and sometimes doing a headstand between two chairs is exactly what I want to do. Frankly, 9 year old's and I have a lot in common:

• Primary Colors
• Comfort with saying "No!"
• Love of Super Heroes & Forts
• Cartwheels

If I were brazenly ticketed and beaten everytime I stood on my hands in public, we'd have to have a Free Michael Fundraiser every three months. Wait? What?

Beaten? Yes.

Okay, for the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) crowd, I've bolded the important points. He's a hottie, he's gay, and he's an actor:

Jessie On The Brink-- "Police Brutality- New York's Finest"

http://jesseonthebrink.blogspot.com/2009/10/police-brutality-new-yorks-finest.html

"We cut through the giant main room of Grand Central, and it was really empty so I did a cartwheel. The police called me over, and gave me a ticket for "disorderly conduct". A cartwheel! Are you gonna give every 9 year-old who does a cartwheel a ticket?

It was so unbelievable, and I let them know it. But when they were done issuing me the citation, I start walkinig toward my friend Stace who was waiting nearby. Facing him, not the cops, I utter an expletive about the cops, and next thing I know I'm being tackled by several policemen from behind.

...

And here's the thing about having your arms behind your back and your head being smashed repeatedly into the floor of Grand Central Station by the very people who are supposed to protect you: the only thing you can try to do is move your neck from side to side -- so that the blunt force will cause more trauma to your head, than to your face. I blacked out."

Tip Your Waitstaff

Eggs, Hashbrowns, and Firearms:

"I said what is your fuss about. I said we haven't paid for our food. She (Ward) said well you all got to leave. How you want us to leave and we ain't paid for the food yet," says Samuel.

That's when it got ugly. Samuel says she threw a waffle at the waitress. "I did actually throw some food but it didn't hit her," says Samuel. "That's when she (Ward) jumped across the counter and we got into it," says Samuel.

Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett says the altercation continued outside where he says Ward got a gun from her car and a gun magazine from her trunk.

Investigators say Ward's gun discharged during the altercation. They say a bullet fragment struck Samuel in the arm.

I've been working in the service industry since I was 16 years old. Whether it was (this is chronological) working behind a wench at the Renn Faire, singin' happy birthday over red and white striped suspenders (flair), or slinging boozey treats in a yuk-yuk dungeon, I've seen all manner of jerk.

I've never shot someone. Remarkably.

Big Brother Gets It Right

There's a new crime camera at Kalorama Rd. and Champlain Street NW, according to DCist.

My best friend used to live in like the third house up from that sketchy tunnel. Talk about close proximity! Anyway, it never really felt all that unsafe. There were always people walking around, so long as you didn't go *in* the tunnel it was well lit... it just didn't strike me as a real "trouble spot" until we were almost bike-jacked. 

One drunk guy tried to knab my bicycle as I was walking it home. He was with a group of guys that clearly wanted no part of his machismo malarkey.  I acted like an idiot and fought back, involving the group of guys who very well could have shot us, which is not an unheard of occurance at that corner. Anyway, it cost me only a busted lip, remarkably managing to keep my bike. It was one of those "you shoulda seen the other guy" moments that makes me a little proud and a little surprised at seeing my own barbarism rear its head. 

I don't know that I much like the idea of crime cameras, but I'd rather no one else have to deal with something so gratuitiously avoidable.  Frankly, I think a camera would go along way to making the not unheard of unheard. So, I dare say: Good job, Big Brother!

Ugh. I feel dirty just typing it! 

Krispy Kreme Clogs Toilets

Fairfax sues Krispy Kreme over ruined sewer system | Washington Examiner

(via City Desk)

Krispy Kreme doughnuts appear to have much the same effect on a sewer line as they do on a human artery.

When I lived in Huntington, we would drive past the Krispy Kreme on Route 1 and regularly stop, drawn not unlike fat moths, if the "HOT" sign were visible from the road. I used to adore Krispy Kreme. I still adore doughnuts. 

This all changed when they put a Krispy Kreme into Dupont Circle's seemingly unfillable little nook (it was many things, unsuccessfully, for years). With the introduction of a Blended Doughtnut drink that tipped the scales at over a thousand calories, I couldn't let myself participate in a company that allowed people to slowly kill themselves. A thousand calorie chewing-optional doughnut beverage in a plastic cup... never. I couldn't abide.

I don't find it surprising that a company that has no problem gently killing its customers also has zero issue with congenially killing a city infrastructure. Yes, this is now a company that dumps grease, fat, and yeast into the local sewer system, destroying it. Poor Lorton, VA. As if being in Virginia weren't bad enough. Oh, and the planet! Lets not forget that "the excessive quantities of highly corrosive wastes" could potentially reach our tributaries, destroying god knows what. What out for obese goslings. 

Swami Sivananda teaches us that one of the tenants, the principals in fact, of yoga is a proper diet.  That doesn't mean no doughnuts ever... but it sure does mean stay the hell away from Krispy Kreme. 

An Expert in His Field

Police Investigate Whether Former Calvert Cemetery Owner Faked His Death - washingtonpost.com: 

"Former Calvert County cemetery owner Larry Deffenbaugh was convicted last year of pocketing nearly a million dollars that customers thought would pay for coffins, headstones and grave markers. Now, police are investigating the possibility that he's moved on to a more elaborate scheme: faking his death."

If every there was a gentlemen that could fake an elaborate death, it'd be a cemetary owner, I reckon.  Now, this story, from start to finish, is pretty darn awful. 

This gets into some serious yama territory! No stealing! No coveting! No lying! Moral Discipline!  But, alas and anon, this guy really pulled a major yama-fleecing. And to use someone's lost loved ones... how terrible. 

If he did fake his own death, is he still running around somewhere, pretending to haunt an old library? Should we call in a big green van with a dog?

Universal Gear (aka Universal Queer) Robbed

Universal Gear has been in its new location for a minute now, having relocated from 17th Street to 14th Street, visible from my house. I can't shop there... you end up wearing the same outfit as someone else everytime you buy pretty much anything in there. That said, looks like the hoodlums have decided they want to queer up their wardrobe a bit.

The video triggers the bad person in me: I find it amusing.

via PoP

Follow Up: Brazil Convicted in Tattoo Fisticuffs

Ex-D.C. Council Member Harold Brazil Convicted of Assaulting Tattoo Shop Manager - washingtonpost.com: 

"During the altercation, Brazil urinated on himself, which prosecutors said was a sign of his drunkenness."

Obviously.

Protesters Come To Me

Vandalism Arrests Amid IMF and World Bank Meetings- washingtonpost.com

“An off-duty D.C. police officer working security at a drug store this morning spotted the six breaking windows of a Wachovia Bank branch and a PNC bank branch in the 1400 block of P St NW, Crane said. The officer arrested two of the suspects."

If I were a protester (and occasionally I am), I'd be sure to target my message for effect. The six would-be Guerra's who ruined the view from my window (by smashing someone else's) seem to have missed a few points:

Firstly, the PNC isn't a megabank like Citibank, and thusly probably didn't really deserve to have all of its windows smashed in. 

Secondly, the poor bastards whose cars were trashed with spray probably didn't deserve to have to head over to Maaco this afternoon. 

All I can think is that stupid freakin' overprivledged children need to move the fuck along. Its like the girl who was flipping out at the cashier for giving her a brown bag when she said she didn't want one: you're issues needn't be taken out on undeserving folk, no matter how much stock you put in your "cause."

As for the girl yelling at the cashier, I quickly silenced her with a "who do you think you, are acting like this in public?" kind of rebuke. The cashier's eyes said thank you, the girl's said "I make more money than her I can do what I want." 

She did sheepishly apologize. Its good that the other folks were apprehended with immediacy, maybe the repairs for the cars and windows won't come out of pocket. 

One good thing: the local economy got a little nudge, as I saw people working on a Saturday, towin' and fixin'!

Overprivlidged Councilman Pisses on Working Class (Literally)

Harold Brazil Alleges Racist Epithet Preceded His Pissing on Shop Floor - City Desk - Washington City Paper: 

"In an October confrontation at a Georgetown tattoo parlor, former D.C. Councilmember Harold Brazil pissed on the shop floor, according to testimony this morning in his trial on misdemeanor assault charges at D.C. Superior Court. His attorney argues that he was provoked in the most vile manner possible."

When I got tattooed this week, the only kerfuffle was whether or not I took sugar in my coffee (I don't) and exactly where Ganesh's fire-flowers were going to go. 

I love DC. With respect to other notorious incidents from our elected officials, I suspect that Mr. Brazil won't be as fortuitous as our Mayor4Life: I don't see reelection in this guys future.