Monthly Archives: January 2009

Entertainment, Music, The Features
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Concert: Tiger City/Bear Hands/Statehood

Bear Hands by faithdesired  Bear Hands by faithdesired 

I would not normally list the two opener bands when reviewing a concert, but Saturday’s show at the Rock and Roll Hotel was no normal concert. The woman at the box office was keeping track of how many people were there to see each band, and at the end of the night all three were neck and neck. For good reason.

First up was Brooklyn band Tiger City. To be honest, my friend and I were more than a little skeptical about these guys. They came on stage dressed like some ragtag team of time travelers, with frontman Bill Gillim rocking a very bohemian shirt and a massive (though tidy) beard. But once they started playing, it became an entirely different story. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

New Years Resolution by Pete…E

2008 has come and gone, bringing us a brand new year to start afresh.  Many of us make resolutions, like joining a gym, traveling more, and the ever popular “quitting smoking”.  Others refuse to partake in such foolish things because they know they don’t have the will power to follow through.  I myself don’t see any reason to make life changes on a particular day since there are 364 other days that will work just as well.

When I first started shooting, my passion was in macro photography.  I love seeing intricate details in things, whether it be a flower or a cigarette, that you may have never noticed.  The pack of smokes above actually looks beautiful in a way, an army of cigarettes packed tightly into a crisp, mass produced box.  The sepia treatment adds a little bit of sex to the shot, but don’t be tempted – you’re quitting remember?

If you’d like to try your hand at macro photography you’ll likely want to buy a macro lens (if I could marry my 180mm I would), a tripod, and a shutter release cable to keep the movement of your camera to a minimum.  Also, experiment with different apertures to put more or less of your subject in focus.  And as always, make sure to post your results in our Flickr pool.

24 in DC, Entertainment, The Features, WTF?!
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24 in DC: Episode Two (10:00 – 12:00)

JackBauer2.jpg
Jack Bauer II by browserd

When last we left our intrepid hero, he had found the mysterious gang of quasi-Juman terrorists lead by Tony Almeida somewhere along the DC waterfront. The terrorists were in possession of some magical device that lets them into the Air Traffic Control systems, but they handed that off to The Big Bad Guy, who’s leaving threatening messages on the State Department’s Voicemail like an intern who’s had a bit too much Busch Light on a weeknight.

Sorry for the late start everyone, Happy Hour at Science Club ran long.

10:06am

We begin tonight’s episode in the White House, where President Taylor is dealing with the consequences of the compromised firewall. She’s hoping that the FBI will quickly break Almeida, which means it’s off to the FBI Bureau again. Which has a helipad. In DC? Really guys? I don’t think so. Again with the skyscrapers in the distance here. 12 stories and a penthouse is the rule in DC. No one breaks it, not even the Feds.

And suddenly there’s an open air parking garage adjacent to the helipad in DC? Yikes. Not so much, guys. Not so much. We’re going to take this out on Tony Almeida, I can just tell.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Gtown to Apple: You’re Ugly

photo courtesy of ping ping

Apple, known for its sleek, modern designs, has failed to impress the city of Georgetown with its architectural plans for their store.  Apple’s architectural firm, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, had plans for “an all-glass front at street level, topped by a slab of masonry with an Apple logo cut through it”.

“The design was too much like a billboard,” said Thomas Luebke, secretary of the commission appointed by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.  It seems to me that other stores in Georgetown have a pretty modern design (e.g. Puma and Adidas), but the all-glass storefront seems to be the sticking point. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Greening Metro – So Possible.


foggy-metro
Originally uploaded by frozenchipmunk

Inspiration DC author Rebecca ponders if Tokyo’s use of energy technology that utilizes metro foot traffic could work for DC. The system works by harnessing energy created from footsteps of the people passing through the ticket turnstiles, turning footsteps into energy for metro displays and ticket gates.

Rebecca says, “This new piezoelectric energy generating floor has a wide range of applications and I can’t help but start fantasizing about the possibilities.”

Of course it could! And how smart. Oh, Tokyo, I’m jealous of your smart, creative metro system. I bet you even have revenue generating ads, you know, on more places than just the walls. Sigh. Jealous. Oh wait, except of the crazy people-pushers. Those I am not jealous of.

Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Grand Welcome-Home Moment from a DC Metro Rider!

IMG_1324

Four days ago, on a crowded Tokyo Metro train:
<mild jostling>
Me: Sumimasen.
Jostler: Gomen nasai.
<We then trade shallow bows.>

This morning, while exiting a crowded Red Line train delayed by mechanical difficulties at Judiciary Square:
<jostler attempts to overtake between me and my wife>
Me: Excuse me, can I stay with my wife, please?
Jostler: You can’t always get what you want.
<Jostler then attempts to keep pushing way in, fails, then tries to walk-race me and my wife through the crowd to the Metro Center escalators.>

It’s good to be home!

The DC 100
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DC Omnivore 100: #62, Sweetbreads

 

Vidalia's coddled duck egg with crispy sweetbreads, by Kitchen Wench on Flickr

Vidalia's coddled duck egg with crispy sweetbreads, by Kitchen Wench on Flickr

Our continuing quest to try all 100 foods a DC Omnivore must experience checks out sweetbreads.

There are a few items on the Omnivore 100 list that will elicit a very strong reaction. Sweetbreads certainly has to be one of them. I think there’s no middle ground here, as with, say, sea urchin, you either love it or you hate it.

To the uninitiated, sweetbreads are classified as offal, and are the thymus gland of veal, beef, lamb, or pork. Most of the sweetbreads I’ve been served are veal or lamb, and indeed according to the venerable Fannie Farmer, only veal sweetbreads should rightly be considered (and in the 1918 edition, actually recommended for the “convalescent,” so as I’m sitting here wasting away from flu, a plate of sweetbreads is sounding pretty delicious…). 

It’s hard to adequately describe the taste, but I’ll give it a whirl – properly prepared, veal sweetbreads are slightly firm giving way to a creamy, almost gelatinous succulence. Velvety also comes to mind. I’ve found veal has a more delicate flavor than lamb. 

My very first experience with sweetbreads was about two years ago at PS7… Continue reading →

24 in DC, Entertainment, The Features, WTF?!
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24 in DC: Episode One (8:00 to 10:00)

JackBauer.jpg
24:00:00 by TCM Hitchhiker

With the return of everyone’s favorite vigilante/law-enforcer Jack Bauer, and the show’s move from Los Angeles to here in DC, I thought it might be a good time to track 24’s progress through our streets and see how we fare. This’ll be a live-blog tonight, and if it works well, we’ll bring it back next week.

8:00am.

Cellphone in the driver’s compartment? That’s a ticketing. Good thing he got plowed by a nearby truck. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Obama Smokes Up @ Ben’s

Ben’s Chili Bowl by dbking

President-elect Barack Obama chowed down with Mayor Fenty at Ben’s Chili Bowl this afternoon.  Since the owners recently changed their “eat for free” policy to include Bill Cosby and Obama, I’m guessing he didn’t have to pay much for that half smoke.  Asked if this was his first time at Ben’s he replied, “It is, actually, and it was terrific.”

There’s no word on whether or not Obama and Fenty were out boozin’ it up prior to their trip to Ben’s – a right of passage here in DC.

The Daily Feed
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Water Taxis for the Inauguration


Woodrow Wilson Bridge at night
Originally uploaded by Pianoman75

I know that you’re probably to the point where if you hear one more piece of Inauguration news, you’ll probably explode, or vomit, or both. It just seems to be all anyone can talk about. We’ll hopefully be doing more counter-programming next week as things ramp up to a fever pitch. But, until then…

They’re going to be doing an Inaugural Water Taxi Service between Alexandria’s Harbor at Union and Cameron, to the SW Waterfront at Pier 4. You can ride in between 6am and 9:15am and then back out after 6pm until 11pm. It’ll set you back $50 for a one-way and $90 for a round-trip, but I suppose that’s a heckuva lot better than trying to get downtown other ways?

They’re putting up a website for launch on Monday morning at InauguralWaterTaxi.com, but unfortunately, it’s just a dead domain until then.

The Daily Feed
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A Beastie Inauguration

This just came in my email:

Monday, January 19
9:30 Club in Washington DC
Full sets by Beastie Boys and Sheryl Crow with Citizen Cope and other friends rounding out the bill.
Tickets will be on sale 10 a.m. Saturday, January 10th
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=3595&pid=6424993 or 800.955.5566.
All tickets will be will call only
Valid photo ID must be presented to claim tickets
There is a 4 ticket limit per customer.
All Ages show
Doors at 8p
Show at 9p
Net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Rock The Vote

The Daily Feed
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Yuck

image by Ivonne Thein

image by Ivonne Thein

I really should have a more articulate subject line than that, but it’s my gut reaction when looking at the pictures from Ivonne Thein’s exhibit currently at the Goethe-Institut in Penn quarter. I somehow missed the Washington Post’s article yesterday on the “Thirty-two Kilos” but noticed Salon’s piece. Both articles repeat disturbing quotes from some of the pro-anorexia crowd about how lovely they find the (digitally altered) models.

I leave it as an exercise to you to determine if my ‘yuck’ is about the pictures, pro-ana folks, or both.

Several more of the shots can be seen linked from the Salon piece or on Thein’s website under ‘artwork.’

Talkin' Transit, The Features
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Interview: Mariana Gerzanych, EnviroRide.net

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We Love DC did a Twitter Interview with Mariana Gerzanych of EnviroRide.net on Tuesday and Wednesday, talking about the EnviroRide and the rise of the hybrid cab in DC. We figured in homage to her new effort to dispatch cabs via Twitter, instead of just via phone or web, we’d do the whole interview in 140 character bytes.

wldc.png welovedc: Where did the idea for @taxinow come from?

marina.jpg taxinow: It came from a need to simplify things. I’m in transportation & i think about it all the time. To be different i need to provide value.

wldc.pngwelovedc: Have you had any takers on a taxi arranged via Twitter?

marina.jpg taxinow: Corbett3000 just tried it.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Gamer in Chief in just 11 Days!


Wii Bowling Lies to You
Originally uploaded by ToastyKen

Joystiq has a neat piece today about the First Family-to-be’s Wii New at Christmas for the Obama was a brand new Wii that the girls, and their father, have been playing with. So, Mr. President-Elect, if you ever need someone to play video games with, you feel free to call on us, because we can help you out there. Fallout 3’s a little bit creepy, but it is set here in town, so you can probably use that to get familiar with the layout of town. And of course, there’s always Little Big Planet, but for that, you’re going to…wait. I mean, the girls are going to need a PS3. Maybe work that into the Bailout?

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Trains Not an Inauguration Option?


Photo by Nostri-Imago

I have a friend trying to make it into DC for the Inauguration scene, and I looked to see if he could take Amtrak or Marc to avoid the traffic jams. Seems neither may be an option.

Amtrak is almost all sold out from Monday through Wednesday. MARC is sold out January 20th, but has first come-first go policy for Monday and Wednesday.

I think this means trains are no longer an Inauguration transportation option, as even if he could get a seat, the inevitable delays may be longer than just driving down from Baltimore.

Or just walking.