Found in Joe’s Inn in the Fan.

Wooohooo! I saw the Ron Paul Blimp!

Here is a crappy picture.

I thought I even saw a zombie monster thing, but it was just a homeless dude.

Oh it’s just a voodoo doll that my friend stole from a Haitian cemetery.

Happy Birthday.

Last night the wife and I attend our very first public hearing. We watched for an hour and a half as members of the city’s “planning commission” made a half hearted attempt to listen to the (sometimes boring) concerns that Richmond’s citizenry has about the new Downtown Master Plan. Here are some quick thoughts.

• Do they even listen? I realize it can get boring after an hour or two but, people, this is your job. No doodling in your notebook, no slouching in your chair, don’t joke to the guy next to you, and don’t get up during someone’s impassioned speech to get some water and awkwardly hug Mark Holmberg. Serious, don’t be so rude.
• The City Council chambers are unnecessarily tall and bright.
• Scott Burger does not look like what I thought he would look like. But it was cool finally getting to put a face to a name.
• I just missed Silver speak, which is a bummer. Dude scored 18% of the vote for the Virginia Senate!
• Note to the lady in front of me with way too much plastic surgery and perfume: when you sit down please don’t throw your expensive coat on top of me like I am some sort of coat rack. Thank you.
• Bill Pantele was there all I could think about when I looked at him was Bosnia.
• As for the content of what people were saying, eh. Mostly people got up and spoke for a couple of minutes about how they agreed with the plan. There were a few people concerned with switching the one way streets (back) to two way streets. One lady who lived in public housing asked that when they redevelop Gilpin they make sure everyone has a place to go — which I thought was good. Other than that, logs.

You can read more here about the event.