2009 DC Metro Accident: Originally from the AP (via Google)
District of Columbia Fire and Emergency workers remove a victim from the site of a rush-hour collision between two Metro transit trains in northeast Washington, D.C. Monday, June 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
If you're in the DC area, this news has been unavoidable the last couple of days.

If you're a commuter in the DC area who uses the Red Line of the Metro system, you're struggling through one of the worst times the system's seen. At least the worst time that's not related to tourists and security scares.

I worked from home on Tuesday so I wouldn't have to deal with the crazy problems caused by this terribly accident. Getting home Monday night, just a few hours after it happened, was a challenge. Not as much a challenge as it was for people actually on the trains involved... and far from as bad as those nine who didn't make it out alive.

That's a bunch of bad stuff right there. People dead. Transit disrupted. Expensive bit of commuter equipment destroyed.

The worst thing is that it's starting to look like this could have all been prevented.

I've held off commenting on all this until there was some small amount of actual fact coming through in the news reports. Some bit of investigation that pointed toward an actual cause. There were suppositions and insinuations of mechanical problems and driver error all over the place Monday night. People all up in arms over all sorts of things that had little basis in any facts connected with this particular DC Metro accident.

Now there are some facts and I'm rightly pissed off.

On 19 June, nearly two dozen of my classmates and I got together for a semi-informal Class of '93 reunion at Roark's Tavern in Monticello.

The above picture was a little early in the night and some people who were there, weren't when the flash went off.

Because they look damn good when they're a little evil.

That's Vail holding a nicely wrapped package with a little origami demon head on the front. Inside? A book of Charles Addams' illustrations. Appropriate, in this case.

I'm not really a music person.

My taste is, at best, eclectic. Things catch my attention because they have an interesting beat or tune or sound in general. I like things that have interesting lyrics or, depending on whether I hear it on the radio or in a club or see it on YouTube or (rarely) some television channel, an interesting look.

Danish band Aqua falls into a number of these categories.

I don't often go out to live shows. I'm not a music person (a lot of my friends are, and some of the knowledge rubs off, so I can almost hold my own in a conversation on the topic), but I do love to see what people I know create.

So, on 15 May, I made the trek down to Jaxx in Springfield to see some people I know on stage. Blind Till Now (pictured above, Video here) were on stage together for the first time. They rocked... and have been requested by numerous people to perform more/get cds or mp3s available and things like that.

Last month, I hit up my first DC Media Makers meeting, mostly thanks to the crew from Browncoats: Redemption being there to present.

I came away quite impressed by the feel and flow of the people there.

Well, Wednesday night is the next meeting and I'd love to drag some more of you out there.

Full bunch of info can be found here

Quick details are:
Wednesday, Apr 22, 2009 (6:30 PM to 8:00 PM) at National Public Radio (NPR)
635 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC

Blame Warren Ellis for pointing this out. And blame BoingBoing for being awesome.

Seriously, this is kidna cool.

Then again, how can the phrase "engineering grade bacon" not be cool? :)

I'm not at all shy about mentioning the ridiculous amount of debt I got myself into.

Mostly because that year living on couches and on credit cards was a big learning experience. And the three years that came after, where I was working a job that wasn't covering my bills, leading to even more debt, was it's own kind of adventure.

No, this isn't the most "Browncoaty" of the pics from the past two weekends, but it is indicative of the general feeling that spread among a large bunch of the extras, cast and crew as we all pulled together to lock in the first bits of something that's going to be amazing.

I'll write more about the experience of being on the set of Browncoats: Redemption after some sleep and getting actual work done.

Suffice to say, it has been a fantastic two weekends... with more to come in the future.

Online right now: the next section of Oceanus Procellarum (Book I) from Oletheros.

If you haven't been reading, go back into the archives and check this out from the beginning. If you like it, you can rest assured there's going to be more. In fact, Book II is available now. (I haven't seen it in full yet, but the little bits I have seen are at least as mind-blowing as Book I.)

And if you want to meet the guy behind it all, he'll be out and about at these venues:

• The DC Conspiracy Counter Cultural Festival (Vienna, VA) on May 24
• Heroes Con (Charlotte, NC) on June 19-21
• Small Press Expo (Bethesda, MD) on September 26-27

Speaking of out and about, if you're looking for something to do and want to support a good cause (and good music), check out Morrigan at this event:

Pre-Party & Adoption Event
Saturday, April 4th, 12-3 PM
with some very adorable WARL doggies
The Wonderland Ballroom
1101 Kenyon St., NW DC
in the outdoor courtyard
202-232-5263
All Ages, Free.

Me? I won't be around this weekend. I'm off in Ocean City being an extra in Browncoats: Redemption... that big damn fan film set in the Firefly universe that'll be raising a good bunch of money for charity.