The Deads
Thursday, Apr. 5 at the Velvet Lounge, $8

A band called "The Deads" is probably better suited for Good Friday, but Maundy Thursday is a good enough substitute. This noise trio's sound combines elements of punk and psych, and while they don't appear to have any videos on YouTube (although admittedly, "The Deads" isn't the easiest phrase to search for), they have made their demo available for a free download via their bandcamp page

Chickfactor 2012: For the Love of Pop
Friday, Apr. 6 and Saturday, Apr. 7 at Artisphere, $25 per show or two-day pass for $45

File these shows under "risen from the dead": East Coast zine Chickfactor is celebrating its 20th anniversary with shows including a reunion of the DC band Black Tambourine (4/7 show), a noise-pop group that hasn't performed live since 1991. Other performers include Stevie Jackson from Belle & Sebastian (4/6) and Slumberland bands the Lilys and Lorelei (4/7).

Chill and the Rabbits
Saturday, Apr. 7 at Night Cat (Easton, MD), $10

It's a far drive to Easton, Md., from DC, but we couldn't exactly ignore a band with "rabbits" in its name the night before the Easter bunny shows up. Chill and the Rabbits is a Henderson, Md., quartet that specializes in a gritty blues-rock sound.

The Rebuilt Machine and A Raven on the Rosary
Monday, Apr. 9 at Jammin' Java, $10 advance or $13 day of show

The Hail Mary isn't specific to Easter, but we have to include a show on Easter Monday with a band whose name is a Catholic reference. This Herndon band has one EP under its belt and expects to capture its a radio-friendly hard-rock sound (think Daughtry and Anberlin) in a full-length album this year.

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.

We have passes for "Titanic 3D". For your complimentary tickets to the special advance screening on February 14 at Regal Gallery Place at 7pm. Log onto www.gofobo.com/rsvp and input the following code to download your tickets: NEWS8LBYR

You can also see "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" February 16 at Regal Gallery Place at 7pm. Log onto www.gofobo.com/rsvp and input the following code to download your tickets: NEWS849XZ

You can enter to win a copy of "Lady & The Tramp" bluray/dvd and merchandise if you can correctly answer this week's trivia question which is: Actress Janina Gavankar of "True Blood" was suppose to be on tonight's show but got called away so her sister and longtime friend of the show, Sonya joined Arch in her place. Janina was in town not just for a family visit but she also made an appearance earlier this week in Arlington, Virginia. Where did Sonya say her sister spoke this week? You MUST SEND YOUR ANSWER, NAME AND ADDRESS to arch@tbd.com by Noon, February 10th to enter. ONE entry per household. If you DO NOT follow the directions, you will not be entered! Good Luck!

You can also enter to win a bluray copy of "Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary" if you correctly answer our second trivia question which is: The semi-famous actor Joe Hansard was back on the show talking about his latest project with Jason WeeMan Acuna from "Jackass". What did Joe say was the name of his lastest film? You MUST SEND YOUR ANSWER, NAME AND ADDRESS to arch@tbd.com by Noon, February 10th to enter. ONE entry per household. If you DO NOT follow the directions, you will not be entered! Good Luck!

And we also have "Big Miracle" and "Ghost Rider" movie merchandise. To enter YOU MUST SEND YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS to arch@tbd.com. ONE entry per household.

This is probably because someone named the storm after testicles. Bawbag, a Caledonian slang word for the bag of skin that holds your balls, or nads, or huevos, or love spuds, or family jewels, or whatever else you call your bro pair, would more correctly be deemed "Atlantic Mid-latitude Storm Bawbag" if meteorologists had the courage sacks to step out on a limb with their naming conventions. Sadly, though, the official name of the storm is "Friedhelm."

That's not to say that the powers that be haven't given Bawbag some verbal stroking. Scottish parliamentarian Rob Gibson uttered "bawbag" in a televised interview, although with seeming distaste as if an especially hairy one was waving in front of his face. Stirling's local government reportedly used the #hurricanebawbag hashtag. (The authorities must've scrubbed it from Twitter because the city is using #scotstorm now.) If this picture is to be believed, and it probably shouldn't be, the BBC weather team has wrapped its arms around Bawbag.

Why "bawbag"? Perhaps that's what arises naturally from the collective consciousness of a society that doesn't wear underwear under its kilts. I'm guessing that the average Scottish child, by virtue of a shorter vantage point, has seen a hundred actual yarbles by the time he turns 5. Here's an artist's rendition of what Hurricane Bawbag looks like from space... but be warned, there are balls in this picture.

Bawbag's fury seemed to slap the heaviest against trampoline owners. A friend over there reports having seen two trampolines go by her window on Thursday night, but unfortunately she didn't make a video. These Fifers did, and their excitement is already inching toward becoming a meme, with remixes and everything (the kid allegedly caught up with the trampoline down the road):

Here's another trampoline flying by, followed by the laughter of someone who is probably not drinking:

On Twitter, the storm's bawdy name dovetailed nicely with Scots humor:

This video is mostly notable for something rarely seen in Scotland: A soccer ball traveling at high speed.

And on a final note, Bawbag is making it extraordinarily hard to pitch a tent.

Frank Batten co-founded the Weather Channel 30 years ago. According to a new book about the TV channel, Batten considered eliminating it in 1983, WAMU reports:

For in 1983, as Batten contemplated liquidating the struggling business, a call from a cable operator about the popularity of the channel changed his mind. Then he had a thought ... what if he could get the cable companies to pay subscriber fees?

Imagine life without the Weather Channel. To whom would we turn when we need to become unnecessarily alarmed about approaching storms?

You can blame it on the cloudy weather, which should block the view of sunset tonight and sunrise tomorrow. Come Monday, when the skies are expected to clear up, the sun will be slightly askew. It's time to set your clocks for March 20, 2012 — the vernal equinox, and the next D.C. Henge.

[NBC Washington]

Arlington Oak predated the cemetery, which was created in 1864, and the Arlington House, the former home of Robert E. Lee that still sits atop the hill,  the Post reports.

In the spring of 1963, officials said President John F. Kennedy visited Arlington House and remarked that the view was so magnificent that he could stay there forever. That November, the president was assassinated and his wife chose the hillside in front of Arlington House near the tree for his burial site.

The tree is now gone, along with five others, including a white oak near the memorial for Pan Am Flight 103. If only Irene were still here, so we could give her a piece of our mind.

The Ocean City Wastewater Treatment Plant was closed prior to Irene's arrival, and a statement from the town says, "There was never a sewage leak or spill in Ocean City and our beaches opened for swimming the day after the hurricane." They're demanding that all media outlets issue a correction.

While our story was headlined, "Hurricane Irene's funny videos, from streaker to Fox reporter covered in sewage," the text reads (emphasis ours):

Barnes relays what his chief meteorologist told him, "that it's some sort of organic matter — I guess plankton or something, mixed in with sand and salt." But according to MyFoxNY, "The foam is often a toxic mix of pollution and cyanobacteria.... Bubbles and foam in the ocean can be caused by several other things, including oils from decomposing animals."

It is true that we could not confirm that there was sewage in that sea foam, but, in any case, we never said that Ocean City was the source of the toxins, cyanobacteria, and oils from decomposing animals that may (or may not!) have been in the water. Our sincerest half-apologies, then.

I've known them both for a long time and called after I saw some mobile-uploaded pictures on Jim's blog about the ways they're getting by. Jim's a customer support tech for Tumblr, which has an office in Richmond, and he usually works at home. Beth works at an Apple store. "I’ve had to come into the office a little more. I’ve come in on the weekend," he says. Once in the building, he starts charging his laptop and phone. 

Eating out is getting old. The hurricane finished off the produce in their garden that July's heat failed to kill, and the Coes have an electric stove and oven (they have an electric water heater as well and are adjusting to brisk showers). "We haven’t eaten a home-cooked meal in two days," says Jim. Their fridge, pictured above, is cleaned out, and ice is nearly impossible to find -- most stores in Richmond have hand-lettered signs declaring they don't have any.

They're adjusting their rhythms, going to bed early and sleeping in a little. "I’ve kind of gained appreciation for the idea that pre-electricity, folks got a little more rest," he says.

A gadget hound, he gets digital withdrawal in waves. "I’ll be honest with you, there’s sort of points where I’ve had internal temper tantrums because I don’t have my toys anymore," he says. His tunes, vids, etc. are "collected on a networked drive which is completely inaccessible." He says the days without power have given him a deep sense of vulnerability: "I don’t have the means to trap the neighborhood rabbit."

Information from Dominion Virginia Power has been hard to come by, too. "You call the helpline, and they route you through a series of automated questions," he says. "They send you to another help area."

Once you punch in your address, Jim says, you get either a standardized message or one telling you when your power is scheduled to be restored. "I haven’t really found a way to talk to a person necessarily," he says. He's called the utility every morning since the outage.

Le-Ha Anderson, a spokesperson for Dominion, says the company aims to have power back to 99 percent of customers in Richmond by Saturday. It had a goal of restoring juice to 75 percent by today, and it bettered that, she said. The Coes, she says, should by now have a message telling them when power will be back.

Anderson says Richmond got hit a lot harder than Dominion expected. "They actually had wind gusts equal to what the wind gusts were in the eastern part of the state but for a longer time," she says. About 400,000 Richmond-area homes and businesses lost power, she says, as opposed to 178,000 in Northern Virginia. Dominion moved crews it had stationed in the east to Richmond, and they're sawing away, 7,000 people strong.

Dominion, she says, prioritizes restoration on three things: public safety, critical infrastructure, and largest number of customers. Northern Virginia, she confirms, has the largest number of customers in the state. Power there was all restored by 7 p.m. yesterday, she says.

Jim says it's still not as bad as during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, when they were without power for a week. "This is an improvement," he says, remembering driving around trying to get enough juice into their phones. "We have workplaces we can charge at."

The result of all this was a complete shutdown of the nation’s capital: flights were cancelled; schools were closed; and the federal government sent workers home, where they were stuck for several days, because the region was ill-equipped to deal with so much snow. Even the Office of Personnel Management closed all federal agencies in the Washington, D.C., area for several days. In addition, Amtrak stopped most trains headed south from Washington, affecting fans going to the Super Bowl in Miami.

That we might be weather wimps is nothing new, and what do these Mainers know about us, anyway? Two years ago, they predicted a hurricane would hit the Mid-Atlantic coast sometime between Sept. 1 – 3. They were off by five whole days!

[WUSA]

You can watch today’s show in its entirety here:

Tuesday at 10am: Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.)

So how did the Galas make out? No official word yet. Kuhn says tireless picking Friday and Saturday and less rain than expected helped spare her orchard’s Galas. “So far we haven’t seen a lot of cracking,” she says. She hears less good news from her neighbors, some of whom saw more than half of their Gala stems cracked by Irene’s waters.

No more firm news from the U.S. Apple Association. Director of communications Mark Gedris says he’s solicited reports from major apple-producing states in the storm’s path, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. “Haven’t heard anything back too negative and serious yet,” Gedris says, though he has yet to get much response out of upstate New York.

“We are monitoring it very carefully,” Gedris says. “According to our projections, we’re looking at a pretty decent crop this year. We don’t want to lose any of that momentum that we’ve grown.” He promises updates as the fate of this season's Galas becomes more clear.

Then we discussed the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King. Joining us: professors Christopher Metzler of Georgetown and Gregory Carr of Howard University.

Full video after the jump...

If you missed any of today’s show, you can view our interviews here:

A few apple varieties begin to ripen in our region in late June, but early-season types like Transparant and Lodi tend to be too tart for eating. The snackable (and valuable) apple season starts now, as farmers round up their Honeycrisps, Macintoshes, Gingergolds, and Galas, and the timing couldn’t be worse. While most varieties weather moist conditions just fine, the Gala, a huge moneymaker for many orchards, is highly vulnerable to heavy rain.

It’s a blow to farmers who stake much of their crop on Galas, a popular grocery store apple. Though they’re mainstream, Sidney Kuhn of Kuhn Orchards in Pennsylvania says Gala “has some problems,” mostly that the stem cracks.

“If you there’s too much moisture before you pick them, they’ll crack right along the stem,” Kuhn explains. “Everyone is super concerned about this hurricane.”

Kuhn and her staff have already begun picking one strain of Gala, and tomorrow they’ll start picking the rest. The picking process doesn’t lend itself to weather emergencies—Kuhn says apples are spot-picked, meaning the staff sweeps the orchard and only picks apples at the proper stage of ripeness, repeating the process every three or four days. Apples not ripe enough for picking will almost certainly absorb too much water for the stems to handle and will crack.

“Minor showers won’t do that,” Kuhn adds. “It’s when you get half an inch to an inch.” Should Irene follow its projected model, the region could get 6-12 inches.

Kuhn says her orchard is lucky this season not to make its living off Galas, as some orchards do, but any crop loss is significant. If the stem of a Gala cracks, it can’t be sold for retail. “We’d make cider out of them or take them to the factory where they’d make juice of them,” she says. Having to send apples to the factory represents a “massive loss.” Kuhn, who sells at farmers markets around Washington, makes $2.39-2.59 per pound on whole apples; the factory pays around 50 cents a pound.

“In the fruit growing world right now, in New York, wherever they grow Galas, they’re worried,” she says.

July 16, 2010: Germantown, Md., at 5:04 a.m.

Magnitude: 3.4.

Although it shocked people in the early morning hours, this quake did no real damage.

Dec. 9, 2003: Northwest of Richmond, Va.

Magnitude: 4.5.

No real damage, but shakes were felt from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

Sept. 29, 1997: Manassas, Va., at 1:45 p.m.

Magnitude: 2.5.

Jan. 3, 1990: Reisterstown, Maryland, at 8:47 p.m.

Magnitude: 2.6

May 31, 1897: Giles County, Va., at 1:58 p.m.

Magnitude: 5.9.

February 21, 1774: Petersburg, Va.

Magnitude: 4.5 (est.)