Blog from the 'burbs

Magnum Photos has marvellously combined Flash's multimedia capability with the talent of some incredible photo journalists to present online essays that combine photography, video, captivating voiceover, music and a variety of interactive tools (one small example: while a video is playing, you can mouse over "Who is talking?" to see more about the person currently speaking, and then click to find out a whole bunch more information). The 55 essays currently posted include a very moving report on Guantanamo and an interesting piece on the weird secret life of the Taliban.

Today the black cartridge in our Samsung color printer finally died (after months of trying to), so we got around to trying out a place we've driven by many times on the Pike called "Refill Tech". The woman who runs it, Alice Wu, took over the business from her father, and was very helpful in looking up our printer type over the phone, quoting the price to refill it ($89, as opposed to $129 for a new one), telling me the guarantee (7,000 pages, same as a new one) and answering my questions. I was most concerned that the cartridge not leak after refilling, and Alice explained that that is a possibility if the cartridge has been refilled numerous times before but would not be a problem otherwise. We took the cartridge in and got a call in an hour that it was ready to pick up (you can also just wait there). I printed a two-sided document on it this evening and it looks great (and we're glad to finally be rid of the "refill black toner" message on the printer). Final score: Dickerson incinerator -1 cartridge, bank account +40 dollars.

I just stumbled onto Katherine K's yelp reviews of lots of Rockville (and a few other) places. They're fun to read and informative too --doubly delicious-- especially the ones for Tuesday Morning and Moti's Falafel Stand. Plus she put in a plug for Dr. Praveen Gupta, who I knew in a different lifetime as part of a group of avid racquetball players at the DoubleTree on the Pike, before it became a Hilton and before the racquetball club turned into a conference center. I miss that club!

Hooray for the Gazette, who have endorsed my two favorites for City Council, John Britton and Carl Henn (they also endorsed Piotr Gajewski and Theodric Anderson, and Susan Hoffman for Mayor). Take that, whoever stole our yard signs! This is what they said:

"Our top choice is John Britton, who has served on the city Planning Commission for five years and was part of the committee that authored the proposed citywide zoning revisions now before the council. A private practice attorney who seems to have a command of land-use and environment issues, we believe he will serve the city well as it decides how Rockville will look for the next generation. He is one of the most impressive candidates Rockville has seen in several terms.

Carl Henn also earns our endorsement for his strong commitment to keeping Rockville a community that continues to serve its residents well. Mr. Henn never sways from his commitment to the environment - most intensely on the need to become less dependent on oil - but at the heart of that ardor is his knowledge of the issues important to the city. He is a well-intentioned, hard-working man who will bring civility back to the council."

Bring on those elections! (And don't forget to come out tomorrow night, Saturday, October 27 at 7pm to UUCR to listen and ask questions if you haven't made up your mind yet).