The Texas boot is the bomb. That is the Texan flag, right?

We’ve judged this pop up before to mixed reviews. But as I was walking past it last weekend something jumped out at me. It looks like it is also wider than the adjacent homes. Is that just an optical illusion. But if it is wider, how did that happen? It doesn’t seem like to rowhomes were combined into one. Am I losing my mind or is this home also wider than the others?

You’re a bullet through my soul !, originally uploaded by A.J .. !!.

A reader found this insane request from craigslist:

“Unwanted Ammo or bullets – $1 (dcmetro)
I’ll buy your unwanted or un-needed ammo or bullets or guns. Just email. private owner.”

The reader notes:

“if it said West Virginia I’d understand, but it’s IN DC!”

Yikes.

This street art was taken by Tyrannous and titled Heart…Art.

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here.

This home is located at 4847 Illinois Ave, NW:

View Larger Map

The flier says:

“large home five brs 3 full baths basement side porch off street park”

More info but sadly no photos found here.

The reader aks:

“The house at 4847 Illinois Ave., at corner with Emerson, that has been on the market for a long time (listed in August 2007 – pre-downturn!). Corner house, nice lot, appears to have basement apartment (which may have been one of those former house-dentistry offices). 5 bed/3 bath. A couple of very nice dogwoods blooming come spring time. No major crime issues in immediate area. What gives? Listed to high? Too big for most? And by the way, what are the “Property is on Farm” and “Soil Study Available” references on Redfin all about?”

The asking price for this home is $660,000. To answer the reader’s question I’d have to say the asking price is way too high. This location is a bit too far from the Petworth metro (in my opinion) to justify that price. Maybe if it was completely renovated (with historical touches intact) but the fact that there are no photos leads me to believe the home probably needs some updating. It’s also curious that the description is so brief. I think it’s a nice home with lots of potential but it is probably $150 – 200k overpriced. This price seems like serious bubble price. I think it’s no accident it has been on the market for 582 days. What do you guys think is a more realistic price?

I have no idea what the farm reference is about. Maybe they have an ant farm…

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday.  Anything good happen this week?

Big Buck Hunter video game, originally uploaded by susansimon.

A friend came into town, and we were planning where to grab drinks.

Me: Red derby?

Him: Nah…no Big Buck Hunter there.

Me: Somewhere on H Street?

Him: I don’t think they have Big Buck Hunter around there, either.

Me: So, you only want to go to a bar where you can shoot at Bambi’s parents?

Him: Exactly.

Why has Big Buck Hunter become trendy? Personally, I wasn’t a fan, primarily because I suck at any and all video games. My Tetris pieces have died a cruel death being crushed against each other. Every time Mrs. Pac Man ventured into her maze, she was gobbled by ghosts/blobs/amoebas (whatever those gelatinous villains are). And poor Luigi always got confused and go the wrong way on his go-cart, then shamefully scooted into last place 15 minutes after everyone else. When Big Buck Hunter reemerged on the bar scene, I did not want another video game infiltrating my life, especially at a bar when I just want to shoot the shit, not deer. But, late one night I decided to give it a go, and even though the digital deer were almost as cute as the real ones, I really liked killing them. Even though my success rate was 1 deer out of every dozen, it was undeniably fun. While I still don’t understand why the hunting game has become the cool thing, I’ll defend it. I just wish I didn’t suck at it so much.

Where can you find BBH in DC? All I know is the one at the Big Hunt. The irony.

Ed. Note: I’m a huge Big Buck Hunter fan and know for sure there is one at Solly’s at 11th and U. But I’d like to add a question to this In Defense of – do you think there should be video games in bars? Or do you think the only diversion in bars should be a juke box or maybe pool table? I think of two types of bars – Solly’s and the Saloon. Both are fun but very different. Saloon has a no standing rule and certainly no video games (though they do have board games). What is your preferred bar experience?

Cody Yellow Lab with the Washington Post, originally uploaded by mbell1975.

I once asked folks where they read about local news. Well, this is kinda related. I canceled my subscription to the print edition of the Washington Post this week. Now I, like many other folks in DC, am a bit of a news junkie. I’ve been getting a print newspaper (first the New York Times then the Post when I decided DC was my home) for years. I thought they’d have to pull the print edition of the paper out of my cold dead hands. But I realized recently I was simply throwing out the newspaper without even reading it. Of course, I still read it online and as a result I found the print edition to be old news. So I finally understand that the print newspaper industry is in some serious trouble if someone like me cancels the paper (though obviously this development is not a new one). It just never sunk in with me. So the FQoTD is a simple one. Does anyone still read the print edition of the newspaper? How many years do you think the printed newspaper has left?

They’ll still have to pry the New Yorker from my cold dead hands…

On a related note I’m hearing all this buzz about the Kindle 2.0 version (where you can read books in a digital format). Does anyone think print books will go the way of the print newspaper?

I had a bunch of questions from readers looking for your help.

“I emailed some time ago regarding construction that was going on at the intersection of 13th and Taylor NW at the old autobody shop. With the help of your readers we determined that it was just removal of underground storage tanks as required by law.

Well..looks like they’re back at it again, but this time they are knocking the building down. I’d love to see if anyone can help me figure out what’s going on here since I live right across the street and have seen no permits filed.”

IMG_2006, originally uploaded by bankbryan.

“Have any other readers reported problems with the 16th street buses recently? It seems in the past week the number of buses have been cut in half. The buses are packed before they reach Spring Road it seems. My bus stop used to have one or two people boarding during rush hour, now its almost 20! My commute time has gone from 20 minutes to an hour.”

In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 529 Newton Pl NW

Original List Price: $189,000.

List Price at Contract: $189,000.

List Date: 12/03/2008

Days on Market: 59

Settled Sales Price: $165,000.

Settlement Date: 03/09/2009

Seller Subsidy: 0

Bank Owned?: YES

Type Of Financing: CASH

Recent Purchase and Re-Sale?: It’s complicated. See comments below.*

Original GDoN Post is: Here

Recent Listing:  Here. Continues after the jump. (more…)

DSCN7247, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Lots of great entries this week. Please email me directly so I can you your t-shirts.

The winner goes to jb:

“The lesson, as always, never hire a garden gnome with a drinking problem.”

Runner up from yandymung:

“His efforts at building an illuminated walkway were progressing nicely until the fireflies died.”

DSCN5547, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I think some outdoor seating will really spruce up this section (1654) of Columbia Road.

In case you missed the shawarma battles you can see them here and here.

DSCN7223, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Som Records is trying to win their crown back after this sweet cover.

DSCN7318, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I hit pay dirt on the stone borders this week.

DSCN7268, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

But what I really liked was hidden to the side.