Lunchline: Are you ready for magnetic levitation?

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter, click here to view as a Web page. Click here to view in plain text. Monday, July 16, 2012 I learned an interesting fact this weekend. At the Donovan House, the standard-issue robes for the hotel rooms are leopard print. But they aren't as comfortable as they look. That is all. Vincent Gray has been in the news a lot lately, understandably. So, to make this easier, I'll break down what all of The Washington Post's various pundits think. Courtland Milloy isn't surprised at all to see the Fenty-backers say "I told you so." Robert McCartney says that Gray needs to come up with an exit strategy, quickly. And Petula Dvorak is tired of the whole deal. But not to be forgotten is WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi, who explains how D.C. became the District of Corruption. You already know what I think. If you could get to NYC in a hour, would you go more often? What about Baltimore in 15 minutes? A company is lobbying to make both of those a potential reality by building a high-speed rail line on the East Coast. Apparently the system would use something called "magnetic levitation," which quite frankly sounds like something out of a comic book. Capital Business' Catherine Ho details exactly how this technology, colloquially known as "maglev," could change our lives. Quick, tell me your favorite video of a cat on the Internet. You probably have many. This fact alone may be reason for pause, but you are nowhere near alone. The evolution of the meme has hit the big time in Minnesota (of course), and the Walker Art Center is having an actual real-live film festival for cat videos. This could easily be the saddest concoction of people you've ever seen or an absolutely hilarious coming together of people who all get the joke. The Style Blog's Tomi Obaro reports on the glory. I learned from the movie "Hackers" that there are certain things to avoid when picking passwords. In it, the ultimate IT guy of all time makes it clear that love, sex, secret and God are the most common phrases used. But last week, when nearly 400,000 Yahoo Mail passwords were leaked, we learned how many people choose to guard their accounts. Slate's Torie Bosch takes a look at the psychology of passwords and points out that "ninja" is high on many people's lists. It was not a good night for D.C. United. The team went down to Houston and caught a hot one from Houston, who were definitely ready to play. Seventeen minutes in, goalkeeper Bill Hamid drew a red card and the resulting penalty kick pretty much turned the game upside down. It didn't get any better from there, and the Black and Red fell 4-0 to the Dynamo. The Post's Steven Goff has the gamer, but there was some fun news from the day. Ben Olsen picked Chris Pontius for the MLS All-Star team. Extra Bites • Once, when I was a kid, I was cornered in an alley by a dog. With only a plumber's wrench to defend myself, I swung away. It was pretty scary. One guy found himself in a similar situation in Arlington, and found a creative way to distract the dogs. • State slogans are fun. Take D.C.'s for example. Oh, wait. Anyway, GQ took a more truthful look at what license plates would say if they were more fun. • Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams are going to make an album together. I totally forgot they were even married. Here's how to get at me. There's Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and you can e-mail me at clinton.yates@wpost.com. Get The Washington Post, your way. Want to stay on top of the latest news, features, commentary and more? Here's how: Mobile: Alerts: Social Media: Applications Web site E-mail SMS RSS Feeds Facebook Twitter SEND TO A FRIEND UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER CENTER GET HELP Washington Post Digital E-mail Customer Care 1150 15th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20071 ©2012 The Washington Post Privacy Policy