Monthly Archives: March 2009

Fun & Games, News, The Daily Feed
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I dub thee…

kibibi1

Photo credit: Mehgan Murphy/Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Well, the voting public has spoken (all 10,000 of you, apparently) and the National Zoo has dubbed the two-month old baby female gorilla Kibibi (kee-BEE-bee).

The public was invited to vote on three names for the gorilla, including Kipenzi (kee-PEHN-zee) “loved one” and Keyah (KAY-yah) “good health,” over the course of several weeks. Kibibi was born at the Zoo Jan. 10 to 26-year-old female Mandara and 16-year-old Baraka.

According to the National Zoo, “Kibibi already has four teeth, has been riding increasingly on Mandara’s back and shows an interest in her environment, especially in food given to Mandara. In the coming weeks, she is expected to begin exploring her surroundings and manipulating objects.” I went to the zoo last weekend to check her out while my parents were in town visiting, and she’s pretty cute. She was basically doing what she’s doing in the above picture, just chillin’ with her Mom. Ahh, the good life.

Life in the Capital, People, The Features
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Why I Love DC


‘Cherry Blossoms at Tidal Pool’
courtesy of ‘mtngirl9999’

Some people have affairs when they want something new and exciting. I moved to DC instead.

I’d lived most of my life in Richmond, the land of generations-old traditions and flowery dresses. But eventually I felt smothered there, and I wanted out. So I fled north, 100 miles yet worlds away, to live among what a friend’s mother called “those Virginia Yankees.”

In DC, I found room to breathe. Continue reading →

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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We the People Project

white-house-1

If you’re looking for something a little different this weekend than the Cherry Blossom Festival (which kicks off tomorrow), then maybe you should check out the We the People project this Sunday. This exhibition and performance event is from 2-5 pm at the Gallery W-16 of the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA. And it’s free.

The We the People project honors Women’s History Month and SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now) by highlighting a unique vision of America through the eyes of immigrant and American-born artists.  Continue reading →

Downtown, History, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Features, Tourism
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Tourism: Ford’s Theatre

Rehearsal, Ford's Theatre

"Rehearsal, Ford's Theatre" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

It seemed eerie and yet fitting that as I was rushing to get to Ford’s Theatre I was delayed by a major traffic jam as the President was attending an event downtown. People were lining the streets to catch a glimpse of the man who counts Lincoln as a guide, and I was on the way to see a tech rehearsal of a musical on the Civil War, in the theater where Lincoln fell. Sometimes the line between the present and the past in this town gets blurred in a truly palpable way. It’s manifest in the remarkable renovation of this living museum.

Ford’s Theatre’s reopening season continues this month with “The Civil War,” a Tony-nominated musical opening tonight and in performance through May 24. I’m very impressed by the renovated space. Last time I saw a show in this theater it was a bit clunky, and that’s being charitable. Now they are up-to-date, with all new lighting, sound and visual equipment – it’s a bit snazzy actually! And those infamously uncomfortable seats and obstructed sightlines are a thing of the past. It looks to be an admirable job updating the theater while maintaining its historical and monumental status.

With all the tourists pouring into our city this week, I hope many of them take the chance to see the renovations and catch a show. “The Civil War” sounded quite rousing musically, a little bit bluesy, with some incredible vocalists, live musicians, and moving visuals. Get some important history mixed in with your cherry blossoms. 

Ford’s Theatre
511 10th Street NW
between E and F Streets
202.347.4833
“The Civil War” performs Tuesdays thru Sundays at 7:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30pm, now thru May 24

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Life in the Capital, People, The Daily Feed
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Econopocalypse – WaPo’s Help for the Employment Forlorn

Photo courtesy of
‘Fannie Mae Stole My Job!’
courtesy of ‘sinksanctity’

The Washington Post’s employment website just launched a new feature to help those recently displaced from gainful employment with a feature “How to Survive a Layoff“. I’ve personally been reading this feature due to my recent separation from my employer. It’s a handy To-Do style list of things folks should take into account once they’ve found themselves missing the daily enriching (in both definitions of the term) routine of going to work. The chief one, and one that I had to use every day due to my job as an computer incident response professional was “Don’t Panic!”. But the other useful proverb is also “use your network”. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Passenger Buses, Train Collide in Riverdale

Photo courtesy of
‘EMD AEM-7 MARC #4902’
courtesy of ‘cliff1066’

The rainy day commute just got a lot worse if you’re on public rail. According to BNO News, a MARC train struck a passenger bus on the tracks in Hyattsville, and 40 people are being tended to after the incident. NBC 4 is on the scene, and reports it’s a pair of buses that collided, not a train and a bus.

Update 1: The accident took place at Queensbury Road and Rhode Island Ave in Riverdale Park:

picture-1

Update 2: WTOP is reporting it was a train and two passenger buses that collided, with six injuries requiring a trip to the hospital. Thankfully, no one was killed.

DC Victory Gardens, The Daily Feed, Thrifty District, We Green DC
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DIY: Garden Planters!

Photo courtesy of
‘Our Garbage Cans’
courtesy of ‘auntjojo’

I’m an unabashed free thing scavenger. If its on the curbside and in good condition, I will go out of my way to look at it. One of the best finds of late on this front, was a sizable terra cotta flower pot (thank you, 8th St. neighbor!). You know why this was super exciting? Because flower pots are expensive! And if you’re gardening with limited space/sunlight, container potting is one of the smarter ways to go. 

So, what to do? (Besides scavenge, that is.) Make your own! This is something my grandmother, a master gardener, advised me to do early on: make flower pots out of old coffee cans (either tin or plastic, doesn’t matter). Then, I saw this article in The Guardian.

All it takes is a quick pass through the recycling bin (your own, or.. if you’re adventurous, that of others) to find some really sweet-looking tin cans. Puncture holes in the bottoms and you’re ready to go. You just saved precious dollars that can be spent on more seeds!

The Daily Feed
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Ripley Garden Fighting to Come Back


Purple and Blue
Originally uploaded by kimberlyfaye

The Post has a rather sad story today about the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, maintained by the Smithsonian, and trampled beyond recognition on Inauguration Day. Crowds removed the temporary fencing that had been installed to protect it and used it as a route to get into the Mall to view the ceremony. As a result, when horticulturist Janet Draper arrived the next day, she found that the mulch had been destroyed, plants were missing or flattened, and that some of the larger shrubs had been mangled by the crush of people.

The garden seems to be recovering, though- the damage to the soil isn’t extensive, the bulbs are growing normally, and some of the perennials have started to come back, ragged, but sturdy. So if you visit the garden this spring, keep in mind that it’ll take a while to restore it to its former grandeur.

The Daily Feed
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Under 35 pays $10

Photo courtesy of
‘Money’
courtesy of ‘AMagill’

If you’re under 35 and looking for something to do tonight, today’s Daily Candy claims that you can go see Ion [our Ion review is here] at the Shakespeare Theater Company’s Harman hall this evening for just $10. STC’s normal $10 program offers tickets for the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday performances but this seems to be something different. Daily Candy says there is a “post-show cocktail party” but I couldn’t tell you if that means there’s going to be post-show free booze or if they’ll say “Green Turtle’s across the street” or something in between.

I can tell you that Ion is well worth $10, so if you’re marginally less old and decrepit than me you may want to call them at 202-547-1122 and see if there’s still seats left.

Downtown, Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: SEI

"Silver Samurai" cocktail at SEI

"'Silver Samurai' cocktail at SEI" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

Oh, SEI! How I wanted to be seduced by your mod opulence, so Versailles by way of Anime. Your pristine white and gold decor, your flirty little lounge, all punctuated by red coral. What a tease you are. For these are not the times to enjoy $11 cocktails smothered in ice (what are those cubes hiding, I wonder? about 4 ounces of liquor), no matter how lusciously they roll over the tongue, or $12 plates of tiny cubes of tuna, no matter how perfectly they quiver before melting in my mouth…

Damn.

Honestly, going to a lounge like SEI at a time when everyday I hear of someone else losing their job, makes me feel dirty. I admit to a certain hypocrisy. But, really? Who are these people lining the bar? These spray-tanned wallet vampires in go-go boots? Of course, one can’t control clientele, and SEI’s decor (“New York? Miami? Where are they trying to be?” my friend sighed in confusion) is going to inspire people to dress a certain way. I just wish that the women of this city who still have disposable income would PLEASE learn that classy can still be sexy. It just isn’t seemly to see that much of your browned  (I meant) hyper-tanned crackling cleavage during a recession…

Ahem. Ok, sorry to get all social commentary on you. Back to drinks. 

The good news is that those ridiculously small cocktails are surprisingly good. I had the “Silver Samurai” first, a mixture of shochu, cucumber and vanilla syrup topped with cracked black pepper. I just had to try it, given the combination of cucumber and vanilla which to me sounded more like a bath gel than a drink. However, it was addictive, fresh and smart. “I could definitely take a bath in this,” I smiled to my friend, who was happily enjoying a mocktail concocted just for her. We never did find out its ingredients, because we could barely hear our lovely server over the electronica pumping through the place.

Next, I nervously ordered “Liquid Wasabi.” Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Round One: Posturing

Photo courtesy of
‘DC United at RFK – Now and Forever -5858’
courtesy of ‘Joe Tresh’

There was a time in my life when I might actually have been naive enough to be reassured by this story about the PG County General Assembly committee voting 5-0 to oppose the proposed stadium development. In particular I would have noted the quote “Council member Eric Olson (D-College Park) said he is not convinced that the stadium, slated to cost $180 million to $195 million, will become the economic engine for the county that its backers describe,” given my personal belief that nobody has ever produced a quality study demonstrating a tangible economic return from a publically financed stadium.

I’ve been through this dance enough times by now, however, to know that this is almost certainly just the first step for the local politicians. Once they’ve beat their chest a few times to set up their fiscal responsibility credibility they’ll use this faux reluctance to garner some campaign contributions and trivial consessions from the team managment. Then before you know it everyone’s a booster. Continue reading →

Business and Money, Media, News, Technology, The Features
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Geek Corner: The Kindle and Local Newspapers

Photo courtesy of
‘Kindle 2 Homepage’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

I fell in love the Amazon Kindle 2 when I visited my folks in Arizona this Spring. Reading a book on the svelte device was remarkably similar to grabbing a nice paperback, and settling in on the beach. I didn’t think that it would be so easy to read a book in any other format, but the Kindle’s proved me wrong. In addition to being a book reader, though, it’s also a portable terminal for a number of newspapers and magazines. The issues are delivered silently overnight via Whispernet, the cell network attached to the Kindle, which never fails to deliver an issue, never drops it in a puddle or forgets to the tie the bag shut, and always remembers where you live. So, what’s available for your average DC person?
Continue reading →