Pass the Political Mic

Ahh, recess. The perfect time to troll the Interwebz for catchy campaign ditties and political parodies.

Team HOH has seized upon not one, but two (we’ll be billing overtime this week) amateur melody-makers hoping to capture the electorate’s imagination with their musical stylings. Full story

Separated at Birth?

The Danbury, Conn., NewsTimes might have a bit of a hiccup with their graphics today — or else they have a pretty killer sense of humor.

On their “The Campaign” blog, the April 2012 picture of the Connecticut U.S. Senate candidates look less like Republican hopefuls former Rep. Chris Shays and the 2010 nominee Linda McMahon and more like Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, whose political comedy, “The Campaign,” opens today.

Screenshot of the NewsTimes.com website

Food Court: H &Pizza

Welcome to Food Court, a new, semi-regular peek at noteworthy restaurants in the Capitol Hill dining-verse.

First up on the docket: fledgling Atlas District pie-slinger H &Pizza.

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

The nearly month-old restaurant specializes in flatbread-style productions layered with a mix of house-made (spicy Italian sausage, stringy mozzarella, tangy preserved red onions) and meticulously sourced ingredients (San Marzano tomato-based sauce imported from the Campagna region in Italy, eggs from farms in Virginia’s Northern Neck region, Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon).

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D.C. Gets Buzzed and Fed

The buzzing noise you heard Wednesday night was coming from U Street.

The BuzzFeed kids invaded D.C. to toast their new Washington bureau, and their Washington political journalism brethren heeded that siren call of free booze, piles of cheese and sliders, flocking to the Brixton.

Manning the helm was our old Bama of a co-worker, John Stanton, now BuzzFeed’s D.C. bureau chief, and standing beside him was BuzzFeed’s political editor, Ben Smith. Full story

The Annals of the Marrieds

Everything comes in threes (at least until Saturday — more on that later), including Congressional weddings.

In early July, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Jim Ready did their nuptials, complete with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) breaking it down on the dance floor.

In a ceremony on July 21, Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) tied the knot with Pamela Cole in Ferndale, Mich. The couple held a larger celebration Aug. 6 at the Levin home in Martha’s Vineyard. The Congressman’s immediate family, including his four children and 10 grandchildren, were in attendance, as was his younger brother, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

Full story

Taylor Gourmet’s Sub Mission

Have you got what it takes to tackle 5 feet of Taylor Gourmet deliciousness?

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

Then bring your hungry pants to this year’s H Street Festival.

Co-founder Casey Patten said the homegrown hoagie haven had considered staging a contest last year, but things didn’t quite fall into place. This time he’s ready.

The rules are simple enough: The first person to successfully devour 10, 6-inch 9th Street Italian subs in less than 20 minutes walks (or maybe waddles) away with $200 in cash and the nascent “Taylor Gourmet Champion Belt.” All the other contestants — Patten is hoping to accommodate as many as 10 contenders — will be rewarded with TG gift cards.

Full story

In Defense of Congress

It’s officially recess. Which means the hustle and bustle of Congressional life has now slowed to a blissfully non-productive crawl.

Or as one Quora commenter sees it: business as usual.

The purported ex-Hill staffer threw the entire legislative body under the bus on the members-only discussion forum, sharing a rather damning account of life inside a House Republican’s office.

Full story

Adult Bookstore Owner/Political Talking Point Speaks Out

“We have employees. We pay taxes. We follow the same rules as everybody else,” Tia Loya, owner of an adult bookstore that found itself in the Congressional Record, tells HOH

When the media found out that small-business champ Stan’s Two, an adult bookstore from Rowland Heights, Calif., was (accidently) name-checked on the House floor last week, the political world giggled.

Full story

Pants, Less Ready to Predict Than Previously Thought

Pants public service announcement!

Last week, HOH brought you the tale of Bonobos presidential pants and the online predictor.

This week, we must inform those who hope to look to their critter pants to predict which candidate will win that the party-pants online tracking feature is still being worked out.

The ability to track sales of these party trousers might actually be as hard as political soothsaying. Who knew?

Jason Howell’s Personal Beer Summit

Why wait until you’re in the Oval Office to knock back a few cold ones with the little guy(s)?

Motivational speaker and Congressional candidate Jason Howell is showing that type of initiative tonight at Bailey’s Pub & Grill in Crystal City, Va., where he’ll be hosting a “Happy Hour Town Hall” replete with free grub, cut-rate suds and an unfiltered Q&A.

Full story

For ‘The Commish,’ Softball Is Serious Business

The teams in the Senate Softball League’s Division 5 are one big disappointment to Bill Christian, the division’s softball commissioner, who signs off as “The Commish aka Major Payne.”

The series of intensely capitalized emails began back in May, when the Commish just wanted to get the softball schedule nailed down. It all began normally enough.

“Dear D5 Teams,” wrote the Commish. “First of all, please accept my apologies for the delay in reaching out to y’all. As you know (from the rules), we’re already a little  behind on getting all of the Teams’ schedules in — this is a  necessary step so that you can then report your own wins without having to count on me to do it.

“Secondly, I’m granting a bit of a reprieve,” he continued. “Since I’ll be out of  the country until Monday, May 21st, you have a bit more time to get those schedules in to me. BUT, I really must have those by the time I return.” Full story

Following the First Belly

Team HOH continues its public service feature, HOH DMV-Q, which seeks to answer the question: Are the barbecue joints serving smoked meats to elected officials making the grade?

Up for the latest installment is Texas Ribs and BBQ in Clinton, Md., located at 7701 Old Branch Ave.
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Refuge From the Conventions

Pity the poor office worker in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte N.C., as the Republican and Democratic political conventions approach.

In the dog days of August, commutes in your typical city get shorter and the overall busy vibe mellows. But not this time for those two Southern cities, which are bracing for an influx of as many as 35,000 political and media visitors for each convention.
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He/She Said

One idealist wants to preserve the lesser-known pearls of wisdom dropped by American lawmakers in, “Political Encomium,” a prospective collection of uplifting politispeak.

Angel Tucker, one half of the Baltimore-based graphic design firm RNA Projects, tells HOH the coffee-table-style book is the brainchild of her partner, Rashaund Savage.
Full story

Honoring the Dead by Cold-Calling the Living

One would hope ex-Obama for America campaign staffer Alex Okrent is resting in peace after his untimely death last month.

Campaign staff, however, refuse to let his spirit go, organizing a “day of action” Saturday set to include canvassing the neighboring Northern Virginia suburbs.

Okrent inexplicably collapsed at President Barack Obama’s Chicago headquarters in mid-July. According to media reports, the Illinois-native had supported 44 dating back to his initial Senate run in 2004.

Knocking on doors in a battleground state doesn’t sound like a particularly moving tribute to us. Then again, politics is only our livelihood, not our entire lives.