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WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE WASHINGTON BLADE?
Here's the latest word on attempts by the Washington Blade staff to rise from the ashes: The staff met up this morning, after spending time yesterday clearing out their offices with help from friends. A staff member who attended the meeting tells us that they do plan to put out a paper this week.
What's not clear: who's paying for it, whether the staff will be paid, and how the paper will be distributed. (NBC Washington)
PUBLIC ENEMY ON A FLATBED
Public Enemy has turned public friend #1 for their performance in the District. Tomorrow night, Long Island Music Hall of Fame inductees, rap-rock progenitors, and occasional television mugs Chuck D and Flavor Flav are playing GW's Lisner Auditorium – where you can advance to the front of the house for the price of admission plus a winter coat. If that deal's not enough, you can also catch PE playing on a flatbed truck as, starting at about 7:45 p.m., it winds its way from 18th & G Streets NW to the Lisner a few blocks away. The Post's Chris Richards notes PE's route, rendered above in glorious Googlemap. (DCist)
HIP HOP KREMLIN
Putin in da house? Da! He's tracked Siberian tigers wearing military camouflage, sat in the cockpit of a fighter jet, and shown off black-belt judo moves. Now Vladimir Putin is adding another groove to his tough guy persona: hip hop idol.
Since the Russian leader popped up last week on a music TV show surrounded by rappers, some in the Kremlin elite are following his lead. On Tuesday, lawmakers and musicians were staging a "rap battle for justice" expected to include a shout out to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. (Breitbart.com/AP)
POLICE: WOULD-BE NINJA IMPALED ON FENCE
Seattle police say a man who thought he was ninja was impaled on a metal fence when he tried to leap over it. An officer who was looking for an assault victim nearby Monday night heard the man screaming for help. Police supported him to prevent further injuries until medics arrived and took him to a hospital, where he was in serious condition in intensive care on Tuesday.
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Police spokeswoman Renee Witt wrote in a department Web site posting that officers thought the man might have been involved in the reported assault, but he insisted he was just a ninja trying to clear a 4- to 5-foot-tall fence. (MSNBC)
