The Day the Music Died

Today, Feb 3, marks 50 years since that a sudden plane crash took the lives of 3 Rock n Roll up-and-comers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper. Don McClean's "American Pie" goes on that this was the day the 'music died' and how it influenced an entire generation.

Well, there's a great article here about how the music didn't die, but instead Holly's influence lives on.

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In other news, those of you paying attention know that Skank, SHEAm, and I routinely ride the 42/43 bus line for our morning/evening commute. Well, apparently we're in somewhat famous company. MSNBC reported yesterday (yes, from that plump pumpkin of a commentator, Keith Olberman. I know, I don't usually like him either...) that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld attempted to board a crowded 42 last week, just north of Dupont Circle. Instead of boarding he was booed by passengers and told that the bus was too crowded to accommodate him. He reportedly walked instead.

I have personally seen Rummy on 3 occasions in the past few months, sometimes in the Dupont area and sometimes in the Golden Triange south of Dupont. Have you seen Rummy recently??
We are going to start a Rum-Sighting series here on Connetiquette. Email or post anytime you see Rummy!!

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In Cabinet news, the Senate voted and we now have an Attorney General (whoo hooo!) who doesn't promise to not prosecute the war criminals from the last administrations. Thank God.

Similarly, Republican Judd Gregg was announced today for Commerce Secretary. Though this came at the price of Democratic New Hampshire Governor John Lynch promising to appoint a Republican in Gregg's place, so as to not change the balance of power in the Senate. If the Dems get one more seat they'll have a 60-person supermajority that will be able to withstand a filibuster. As it stands now, on most issues there are one or two moderate senators who can be picked off and convinced to join the majority. But it's still an interesting little dance they're doing.

Finally, HHS nominee Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader, has withdrawn his name from consideratino. He's gotten a lot of flak over the past few days on some tax issues (seriously- this is the 3rd Cabinet nomination to have this prolem. Was nobody looking into this?!). While I personally think Tom Daschle is a great man and would do wonders for this country in the realm of healthcare (especially leading a task force on universal care), I have to agree that these issues are a best a distraction from everything. I just hope that he's still around for a non-cabinet appointment to work on healthcare reform. It would be a waste to not put his experience and relationships with Congress to good use...

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Finally, just a small note on this weekend. What a game! I'm still surprised it went from snooze-fest to a really exciting, edge-of-your-seat game. I've already commented on my pride in the Steelers and the Steel City, but there were also some great ads. In lieu of posting my own recap of each ad, I'm actually going to defer to fellow blogger-extrordinaire Cocktail and his commentary. I fully agree (be sure to check out his upcoming post on the Emerald City). Some of the best were the movie previews. I'm absolutely obsessed with the fact that this summer so many great movies are coming. We have Transformers 2, GI JOE (so pumped), STAR TREK (even more pumped), and the newest Harry Potter flik (which has been uber delayed). I can't wait. There will be posts on all of this very soon.

That's all for now folks

The 43!!

So, I'm sure you're all familiar with Tim's scoop about the new 43 bus some weeks ago that was carried on a few other area blogs. Well both yesterday and this morning I had the pleasure of riding the new 'express' route on the 43 and... it was a good experience! I don't really have a usual time that I begin or end my commute. Some mornings I head in early, some I barely make it by 9:30 (I'm supposed to be at work by 9...), and my evening schedule is even less predictable. The one benefit this has is that I get a nice sampling of the bus at different hours.

Yesterday morning I was feeling ambitious and refreshed from my 2 week hiatus from the working world. I decided to go in early and I caught the bus at about 7:50 am. To my surprise, the first bus to come was the new 43! My usual commute time is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20+ minutes, down to Connecticut south of Dupont Circle. I'm pleased to report that my commute was cut in half!

Still, maybe that could be attributed to the early hour and limited traffic. Today I didn't leave until a bit later. When I got on the bus (43!) this morning I decided to time it. I got on at 8:34am and stepped off the bus at 8:50! This is during what I would consider peak rush hour traffic time.

All in all: good job Metro! Though this is a simple and seemingly obvious solution to the Dupont Circle traffic issue, I'm pleasantly surprised that WMATA took the initiative and resolved this issue.

Metrobus Route 43 to ...

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

There is a new Metrobus route that Metro hasn't announced!

BREAKING NEWS -- YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

Hmmmm ... Where to start.

On most days, I bus to work - usually taking the 42 (or if I am lucky the H1) because both of them literally stop right outside my door.  Hence why this article is of particular importance to me - and anyone else who rides the 42.  Yesterday, I happened to notice a Metro truck sitting outside one of the 42's stops in Adams Morgan.  Since it was nowhere near an actual Metrorail station, I figured they must be doing something at the stop, perhaps preparing for the installation of a shelter, or something else excited - but I honestly did not think much of it.

Last night, since it was so nice out - I decided to walk home.  Normally on my walk home I don't follow the route of the 42, since it goes slightly out of the way of the convenient way home for me.  But last night was special, I needed to pick up something on 18th Street in AdMo - so for the rest of my walk home I followed the 42 bus route, which runs along Columbia Road.  I was walking on the North side of the street and happened to look up at the Metrobus stop sign ... and noticed something a little off.  The usual suspects were up there - the 42 and the H1, but something new was between them ... the 43.

What -- the 43??  I know!   I immediately wanted to know what it was and what it meant.  I got home and headed right to the *NEW* WMATA website (sidebar: I kind of liked when metroopensdoors.com sent you to the little graphic of the train doors opening and then redirected to wmata.com) to search for the new 43 route.  You know what ... this article is a waste of time, just go read about the bus on the website.   OH WAIT!  You can't!

That's right - the signage is up, the changes have been put in motion - but nothing on Metro's website.  The route isn't mentioned on the maps or in the timetables, and there isn't even a press release about it.  Shocking.  So I made a call to WMATA's Office of Media Relations in order to get the deets ... surprisingly they actually had them, yet had just decided not to let the public know about this upcoming change.

Route 43 will go into effect on Sunday, December 28th.  It will be a weekday rush hour only service, between 750am and 915am (meaning it will only run Southbound).  About 1/2 of the buses currently designated as 42s will henceforth be badged as 43s.  It will run between Mount Pleasant and Farragut Square.  It seems to me that the 43 will just be the 42 buses that currently run between MtP and FSq - so there will be no service increases or reductions.  

So this really wasn't the "extra, extra!" that was advertised ... no real changes - but it is exciting that there is a new bus in the neighborhood.

Tim.