For the last several hours the crew has been filming the outside of the house just for kicks it appears as there’s no cast outside. Here’s a lovely pic of a cop that is standing in the street making sure traffic doesn’t hit the crew that is in the middle of the street. Assuming the production company didn’t pay for the cop, this is a great use of tax dollars – esp. in a recession.

Now yes there might be another Ericka planning on moving on Friday who lives in a 40 foot radius from the Real World house but my money is on this being the first cast member to move out.  If it’s true, I’m wondering what happened to warrant such a quick departure from the show.  Catfight or racist remark?  We’ll find out when MTV edits it.  The sign is posted below.

“To apply, please submit your resume, a cover letter, and write an essay explaining what you would do to get on the Real World, D.C.”

— The last line of a job listing looking for a L.A. in Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite’s (R-Fla.) office.

What if the way I would get on RWDC was to be gay, and not want to lose my job because I’m gay, and then same-sex marry my boyfriend? Oh right…Rep. Brown-Waite isn’t down for that.

Anywho, I wonder what issues this LA will be handling? Here’s my guesses:

• International Beer Pong Tournaments
• Reality TV
• Inter- & Intra-office Drama
• U.S. Dept. of Skanky Clothes
• Backstabbing
• Sorority Houses and Their Zoning Laws
• Interfraternity Bromance Accords
• Organizing town hall mobs where people just yell and scream and contribute nothing. Like the “Real World” itself.

Other thoughts?

However, I did last night for the amateur drag queen competition to see a friend, Lady Gabanna/Grandma Wrinkles, perform in her very first show. The performances ranged from the guy not in drag wearing a prison jumpsuit to Mary Poppins and her spoonful of sugar. Grandma Wrinkles came in second and all rejoiced.

Yet throughout the whole performance, I got this feeling that this is not a bar that the RWDC would go to….even if a friend was performing. Not sure if it is because Omega isn’t “hip/cool” like Town or Halo, or if it is just off the beaten path, or if they’d just be shocked, but the vibe was still there.

I hope they do go to the amateur drag competition and stay for the whole thing. In the meantime, I wonder what other secret treasures they are missing in DC simply because they aren’t for MTV’s current viewing audience.

Last Friday, ARWDC contributor and District resident Berg was interviewed by Washingtonian Magazine alongside another blogger who hails from über-hip Woodbridge, VA.

Despite being “anti-Real World”, I think that the contributors of this blog have more than proven that they know the real DC better than our competition. I think Berg gave a compelling answer as to why the RWDC house should have been on C St. SE. After all, our city is a congessional fiefdom and what better place to experience the real DC than to live amongst the fiefs themselves? Snark aside, we have been consistently pointing out issues of real importance, such as non-profits doing good things for the community, community outreach, and how to stand up for your constitutional rights.

Bottom line, we report on real issues. We were against the Real World being in DC, and have no desire to stalk the cast members and get on camera. I was at Halo last Sunday after filming had ended, and some of the cast members were still there. I did not, nor had any desire to talk to them. I just went about my business. That’s what living in the real world is all about.

This isn’t a fact–merely speculation from a friend who has run events at Halo before. Good thing my Sundays consist of pool time.

Thanks to DoubleChocolateStout for the tip

And, truly, Berg showed his versatility as there were not one, not two, but three shots of him playing with his iPhone. Amazing job, Berg. Bold, really.

Catch friend of the blog, Chris Wiggins, in the piece as well.

Parker The Dog, Esquire

Friends, humans, pandas,

To begin, let me say that I am somewhat new to these “weblogs,” as they are known, so I apologize if I do not use the parlance or rules that have arisen in this nouvelle medium.

That said, I was invited to speak on the topic of these young pups that are being filmed for a show known as “The Real World.” I live across the street and have to put up with the tomfoolery they and their stalkers/devotees/disciples bring to my neighborhood. And let me tell you…I am NOT pleased!

Does a dog not have a right to her territory? I have lived in this neighborhood for 3 years and peed on this “Real World” house multiple times. Using the precedence of Fido v. Queen Victoria, any residence that a dog has peed on for over 1 year becomes wholly or partially property of said dog. As a homeowner, I had no say whether these fiends would move into my property! Worse, I can no longer relieve myself on this house due to gentlemen who threaten to call the super-villain known as Dog-Catcher.

Furthermore, when I take my human slaves outside to exercise them, where is a respectable lady like myself supposed to walk when these humans take up all the street being videotaped and recorded??? I do respect these “Real World”-ers for having human slaves like myself but my goodness! Have some control over your human slaves!

Last, there is a panda that lives in that house. Now, I know many fine Pandas–not just the Pandas that live in the palatial estate on Connecticut, but also the Pandas that are currently plotting to become the new royalty in Myanmar. However, this “panda” seems to be some kind of manimal–possibly the kind that prostitute-loving Senator David Vitter has recently warned the animals about. He seems somewhat poorly bathed and does not eat bamboo at all. This panda may have Stockholm Syndrome. My brethren and I shall keep you updated on his status.

I will not lie…I shall miss the folk across the street. Because for all of their faults, they do have one redeeming quality that myself and many other dogs do enjoy–their shit does stink.

Barkingly Yours,

Parker The Dog

Last week, the DC blogosphere and Twitterverse saw some tit-for-tat action in regard to coverage of The Real World DC.  Without rehashing exactly what went on (for that, you can just hop over to our friends at Vevmo.com and check out the Washington DC thread) let’s address the issue at hand: sourcing.

Much of last week’s the debate stemmed from several interlaced issues. One of these issues was the responsibility of proper sourcing in “vigilante journalism” versus “paid blogging.”  A Virginia-dwelling stalker blogger was hired as a paid blogger for a media outlet in the District and reposted some information that obviously originated from other sources.  The blogger, however, didn’t cite the information on the for-profit site.  A back-and-forth began when the blogger was called out on the offense by more than one of the sources. After several days of finger pointing, name calling, denial, and retorts, the issue was resolved (sort of) and the problem corrected (much to the chagrin of the offending blogger).

Ultimately, it’s clear that improper sourcing had occurred (the blogger’s bosses at the for-profit site conceded this fact.

During the publicly discussed “scandal” many people commented on this issue by saying that this wasn’t serious news and that the entire situation had become out of hand or altogether didn’t matter.  While this was obviously not a typical D.C. issue, you’ve got to ask yourself one question:  At what point did we decide that standards would be thrown out the window?

That is to say, who should and who should not be held accountable for the information posted in the various forms of new and social media available to anybody with a computer or a smart phone?

In a perfect world, every blogger, tweeter, facebooker and so on would attribute every piece of unoriginal information, per AP Style guidelines. Unfortunately, that’s just unrealistic.  But, any time a contributor receives pay for publishing information; it becomes not only an issue of best practices but also a legal one.  Plagiarism is intellectual theft and getting paid to use stolen information comes with the risk of legal repercussions.

So on the issue of who had what information and who posted it (as in the case of last week’s Real World DC quarrel) the bottom line is this:  If you are getting paid to blog, and you borrow information that is not part of the public domain, you must cite it.  Plain and simple.  Plus, it’s just plain common courtesy to do so.  Anything less (whether you’re paid or not) is just as douchy as some of the stuff that goes on in and around 2000 S Street, NW.