For Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to find his inner zen, it apparently takes consultation with a higher power — his BlackBerry. An HOH tipster spotted the Illinois Democrat at Bikram Yoga Dupont on Tuesday afternoon having trouble leaving the office behind. During the 90-minute class, which takes place in a heated room, the seven-term Congressman cut an impressive figure, the tipster dishes. [IMGCAP(1)]

Dropping his regular office attire, Jackson was dressing to flex in black Capri yoga pants and a white sleeveless workout shirt, all the better to move with him as he went through the yoga poses. And although he might have traded in his usual coat and tie, Jackson couldn’t apparently let go of one key workaday accessory — his trusty BlackBerry.

As the students in the class entered their final relaxation pose — a moment that is supposed to be the culmination of the session — the tipster’s own zen moment was broken when she was rattled back to earth by an all-too-familiar clicking sound.

Looking up, she saw Jackson scrolling on the handheld device, as others focused on their poses, before the class was dismissed.

Fit for a Prince. Robert Novak is a prince, all right, and every member of royalty needs a chariot befitting his title. That must be why the right-leaning columnist and author of “Prince of Darkness” was spotted pulling up to the Capitol on Friday in his sleek (and slightly menacing-looking) black Corvette convertible.

Novak was headed to a luncheon hosted by the Republican Communications Association, where he rallied the GOP troops with a speech and signed copies of his book — which happens to detail his love for Corvettes. Novak has driven the sporty luxury autos since the 1960s, when he was just a cub reporter.

Spotless Speech. Rep. Brad Miller has an innovative metaphor for innovation. Not content to fall back on dusty old metaphors like putting a man on the moon or curing polio, the North Carolina Democrat on Thursday praised that most crucial emblem of man’s progress: the stain-resistant necktie. In trying to knock down the idea that risky mortgages are “innovative” financial products during the House debate over home-lending legislation, Miller sought to put a finer point on what exactly progress means.

“Mr. Chairman, this necktie is an innovation,” Miller announced on the House floor, motioning to his own tie. “Ten years ago, you could not buy a silk necktie that was stain-resistant. And for those folks like me who tend to miss their mouth from time to time, the cost in new neckties in any given year was hundreds of dollars. But this tie has a nanotechnology process that causes liquids to bead up and roll off rather than soak in and stain. This necktie is an important innovation to me.”

Wow, non-technology that allows messy guys to keep their ties spotless. And still, no run-free pantyhose? Now that’s what HOH would call innovation.

Ahead of the Numbers. Numbers are notoriously tricky things to get right. Just ask Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who took to the Senate floor last week with a bold sign denoting the number of Republican filibusters in the chamber. On Wednesday, the sign read, in giant font size, “52.” And less than 24 hours later, she was back on the floor, with the numbers (thanks to the miracle of their Velcro backing) now reading “55.” Trouble is, there weren’t three more filibusters overnight.

A Stabenow spokesman tells HOH that using the figure of 55 was intended to encompass three additional cloture motions the Senator expected Republicans to file — not just those that already had happened — before the chamber adjourned for Thanksgiving recess.

Family Feud. Things got a little worse for State Department Inspector General Howard “Cookie” Krongard on Friday after his brother, Alvin “Buzzy” Krongard, came forward to House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) with a different story about his brother’s knowledge of his Blackwater involvement.

Buzzy, who watched from home as Cookie told the committee on Wednesday he didn’t know that his brother was involved with Blackwater’s board, says he told Cookie that he was going on the board nearly six weeks ago. His response to Cookie’s testimony: “You could have blown me over,” according to a press release sent out by Waxman’s office on Friday highlighting the conflicting stories.

The apparent brotherly miscommunication came to a halt during the hearing when Buzzy told Cookie on the phone that indeed he was a member of Blackwater’s board. It looks like the brothers will have a couple of weeks to get their story straight — maybe over turkey. Waxman plans on calling a hearing after the Thanksgiving break in order to get both brothers in the same room.

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