Matt Stempeck

Blog

  • Oh yeah, I have a blog..

    Three things I’ve been up to lately:

    1. Watching every minute of the playoffs (and yet somehow missing Manny’s walk-off). In the meantime, I’ve come across a pretty solid directory of Red Sox- and Patriots-friendly bars in DC:

    Red Sox bars (most pretty Pats-friendly too, especially Irish Times)

    Pour House, 319 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Washington DC http://www.pourhouse-dc.com

    Kelly’s Irish Times, 14 F St. NW, Washington, DC (Union Station Metro) (and Kelly is single on MySpace)

    The Rhino Bar and Pumphouse, 3295 M St. NW (Georgetown hates the Metro) http://www.rhinobardc.com

    Patriots bars:

    Murphy’s Irish Pub, 713 King St Alexandria (King St. Metro) http://www.murphyspub.com/ (if you want your Brady jersey to smell like smoke)

    2. Seeing Into the Wild and Tick..Tick…Boom!, a movie and a play, both of which make you want to go live on a lake somewhere.

    (original soundtrack by Eddie Vedder…I like this video better than the trailer)

    3. Hosting a monthly NetSquared DC Meetup in Adams Morgan. We bring together “social changemakers and technological forerunners” to meet and crowdsource a featured nonprofit’s online strategy. We affectionately call this “Pimp My Nonprofit”.

     

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    who knew there were Photoshop tutorials on copying the “Pimp My Ride” logo?

    …and generally exploring DC to my heart’s content. Except this weekend I’ll be home in Boston with Meghan for the Head of the Charles Regatta, which I’ve somehow never been to, and, as long as Beckett continues carrying the Sox, some hometown ALCS action.

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    the glorified rowboats that lure countless undergrads to Boston

  • Make Way for Ridiculous

    cross-posted from EchoDitto.com:

    I wasn’t sure how New Yorkers were going to react to 50+ costumed bicyclists navigating weekend traffic in Manhattan, but it turns out that New York has a good sense of humor. Children looked on in awe, traffic cops smiled and waved us through intersections, and even when we inevitably drifted out of our lane, the people in cars were concerned about only one thing: What the heck were we?

    The suits we wore were intentionally amorphous, but that didn’t stop people from hazarding guesses and in the process, projecting a little bit of their own personality in a sort of fast-moving Rorschach test. The safe-for-work category of guesses included bunnies, marshmallows, angels, and teeth (a guerilla marketing campaign by Colgate, perhaps?).

    The majesty of the Aeolian Ride through Brooklyn and over the Williamsburg Bridge was tempered only by the fact that my neck was serving as masthead for what was essentially a sail. My chiropractor and spin instructor would have been appalled by my form, but it was still an unforgettable experience in mob art.

    The ride ended at the beginning of the Deitch Art Parade, where we barely stood out at all. We got to lead the parade and then spent the remainder of the time riding in circles around some truly enduring hoola hoopers.

    More photos of the ride and parade.

  • Riders in a Swarm

    Harish has given me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to ride a bike through Brooklyn and Manhattan in a wind-inflated bunny suit with 51 others in a similarly ridiculous state of dress. The Aeolian Ride:

    INSPIRED BY A LOVE FOR BIKES, CITY CRUISING, CRITICAL MASS, COSTUMES, SILLYNESS + THINGS THAT INFLATE, I DECIDED TO MAKE A FREE, MASS PARTICIPATORY EVENT WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR. IT EXCITES THOSE RIDING AS WELL AS DELIGHTS THOSE WATCHING, ALL THE WHILE TRANSFORMING THE LANDSCAPE INTO A PLAYGROUND OF WINDFILLED SHAPES.

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    Now in its third year, the ride begins in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn and ends in SoHo at the beginning of the Deitch Art Parade, where we will meet up with people far freakier than costumed cyclists. Needless to say, there will be pictures. I didn’t want to run for office anyway.And for anyone looking to make the DC<->NY journey on the cheap, I’ve found a bus line that’s $5 more than Fung Wah but includes wireless Internet, a bottle of water, a reserved seat (!), and probably fewer explosions: DC2NY.com.

  • Nothing like advertising to a captive audience

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    Nothing like advertising to a captive audience

  • Make your own peanut butter

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    Make your own peanut butter

    At yes! Organics…talk about no additives

  • RIP Lucky Hat

    img_7665.jpgNot to interrupt the ghosts haunting this blog, but in the vein of Tom’s tribute to his late coffeepot, I had to note the loss of my own valued posession, my lucky Red Sox hat. Sure, it was slightly pre-faded when I bought it, but years of literally blood, sweat, and tears (mostly sweat) not to mention sunlight had faded its dark blue to purpled tan.

    Somehow it survived years of whipping against tables during losses and spinning above heads during wins, but could not make a short flight from Knoxville, TN to Washington, DC. My only hope is that whoever finds it at that Ruby Tuesday’s gives it a proper burial. I can’t bear the thought of the emblem that attempted to cover my large head through the dark years and the glory years laid to waste in a dumpster with the rotting remains of the salad bar.

  • The truth behind advertising

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    The truth behind advertising

  • St. Dominics SW

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    St. Dominics SW

  • Screen on the Green

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    Screen on the Green, originally uploaded by mstempics.

    Movies on the Mall

  • JP at his computer terminal

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    JP at his computer terminal

    Circa 1975

  • Give America the Real Cadbury

    Last night I got into a discussion with some friends about the benefits of living abroad, even for a short period of time, compared to an otherwise homogeneous American experience. The conversation followed a predictable path, and my experiences in downtown London didn’t exactly trigger life-changing culture shock, but it was well-timed given this morning’s top emailed New York Time piece on The World’s Best Candy Bars.

    Babel it isn’t, but there are plenty of good nuggets in this article. I never get cavities, but eating a Cadbury’s every time I rode the Tube sent me home to a painful dental visit (I suppose the cider may have also had something to do with it). It was worth it though. I’ve been in love with the Crunchie since my friend came home with them from Ireland in third grade:

    With its crisp honeycomb interior, it’s what a Butterfinger might be if it went to finishing school and married up.

    There are a lot of things you miss about America when you go to Europe. Water pressure and peanut butter come quickly to mind. But the selection, price, and quality of candy bars in the UK easily surpasses our crop, even if they only sell Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in ex-pat shops.

    cadburyontube.jpg And when I got home, I soon realized that buying the overpriced Cadbury bar from the grocery store wasn’t going to do it: Hershey just licensed the name to charge a premium on their bland attempt at chocolate.

    Mr. Smart, who has lived in the United States for 25 years, learned early on in his life here that British and American chocolate bars are different, even if they share a name and a look.

    “One day I was eating a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk and I thought, this has absolutely no flavor,” he said. “I looked at the label and saw it was made by Hershey. I was outraged.”

    They’re cheap, too. You would think American candy companies would have realized the competitive advantages of subsidizing candy bars by now. I’m generally a pretty nutritionally-minded eater, but I felt nothing but awe when my friend bought 100 (British) Milky Ways for 17 pounds.

    Anyway, if you find yourself in the UK or Ireland any time soon, I’ll pay you back the 50p.

    Although I’ll probably crack and order some here.

  • Sounds in the square

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    Sounds in the square

    Free concerts thursdays 5-7pm in farragut square park