Sunset from the U.S. Capitol. August 1, 2011. (HDR Photo using Lightroom and Photomatix Pro) Photo by @BryantA

NPR’s legendary newscaster Carl Kasell recently explained the debt ceiling in his very own rap. [Look out Remy] [listen here] Here’s a little lesson, Sit back for just a bit Here’s how we make a dollar out of 60 cents It started years ago, In 1917 Congress set a limit …

Giffords warms hearts on Capitol Hill [humanizing] Carl ’60 Cent’ Kasell And the debt ceiling rap [strange] Twitter followers are important [ask Newt] Wizard Girl tryouts [pics]

An inning of baseball in 59 seconds. Shot this weekend by DASmart

A great piece about Tom Williams, one of Capitol Hill’s hardest working photogs. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy h/t Jim B

Last week there were a lot of interesting protest signs floating around Capitol Hill, but none as clever as this one spotted by Luke Russert. h/t @mkhammer via @dmataconis

Part One of NBC’s Inside Congress special. Check the rest of the segments out here. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

James Kotecki (@jameskotecki) and his wife, Emily Kotecki (@emilykotecki) sing us the hard truth about social media. FamousDC emailed Mr. Kotecki for comment and he gave us the following: “When I make music, I try to listen to the deepest regions of my soul and pour out its secret melodies onto my keyboard. …

A good lesson in speeting. [speed tweeting]. h/t RTHowell

Last night, in the middle of another great happy hour with Roll Call’s Heard on the Hill, Michaele and Tareq Salahi stormed into Cava and crashed the party.  Considering the recent debt talks, it didn’t surprise party goers that the Salahis would show up looking for free drinks. FamousDC and Roll …

FamousDC party crashed by the Salahis [they love free drinks] Staff trash talk [Twitter throw down] More butt slashing [camera] Everybody loves Cathy [police chief] Photo credit: Rebecca Gale

The scene: Speaker Boehner’s press conference in the CVC Studio A. According to photographer Ryan Howell, it was easily one of the best attended press events in terms of still photographers. Lots of Canon guys shooting the famous 70-200 f/2.8. Not pictured: Roll Call’s Bill Clark [He was camped out …

If you don’t follow the White House Twitter chats, you should.  They’re amazing. A recent question: @Nathan_Evans: @whitehouse What’s the deal with airline food? #WHchat Answer: @WhiteHouse: .@Nathan_Evans GREAT question. Unfortunately I don’t know the answer #WHChat h/t @dasmart

Denis Leary, who would make an amazing political science professor, enjoys following Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Twitter.  Leary likes Cantor so much, he suggested a fun recess activity for him: Leary tweeted: 4 words: Eric Cantor Dunk Tank. #death2thedebt Cantor replied: I’m Honored. We bet Leary wasn’t expecting that …

Rick Sanchez has a new job [play by play announcer] Goodbye Al [traded to Pats] Marijuana licenses not ready, yet [puff, puff, hold] We love Tourmobiles [never-ending]