Monthly Archives: April 2009

Adventures, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Night Life, The DC 100
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DC Omnivore 100: #78 Snails

Photo courtesy of
‘Brasserie Beck’
courtesy of ‘webjedi’
Originally, this Omnivore update was for another topic, which was “Beer above 8%” (and will show up soon), but after taking a look at the menu at Brasserie Beck, the Belgian-styled gastropub downtown, I figured I’d better shift focus.

So you ask, “snails?”, what is the most joked about cuisine when you’re trying to gross-out friends doing as a willing entry here rather than on a dare. I have to honestly admit, if it weren’t for my wife, there would be a lot of things, cuisine-wise, I’d never have tried, and snails (not to be confused with their brethren, “escargot”) would not have been the highest on my list. But, figuring this is a top notch establishment, and an unlimited supply of good beer to wash everything down, I said “what the heck!”. For goodness sake, the meal and establishment share most of name (Gastropod vs. Gastropub).

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The Daily Feed
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DC Sex math

Photo courtesy of
‘Suggestive by composition’
courtesy of ‘primplan’

I’m a fan of XKCD and the other day he ran a comic based on a calculation of the likelyhood someone is having sex within X distance of you. I couldn’t resist, and ran the numbers for D.C. With a population of 591,833 (as of 7/1/08 according to the census bureau) and a size of 61.4 square miles of land, that’s 9232 people per square mile. Punching that into Randall’s formula and letting Google handle the units works out like this:

sqrt(2/(pi*(9232/mi^2)*(80/year)(30 minutes))) = someone is gettin busy within
197.836832 meters of you right now.

Of course that’s just residency numbers. There’s over a million people in the city during the workday, so you might not want to look to see what that noise is in the next cubicle.

Okay it just changes the result to 152m, but that was funny, dammit!

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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Baltimore: A Heartbeat Away from Being As Awesome As DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Opening Day Tickets’
courtesy of ‘charmcitygavin’

One of the cool things about DC is that it’s relatively easy to get the President of the United States to swing by and throw out the first pitch of your team’s baseball season. I happen to think it’s cool no matter what I think of the person occupying the office at the time. 

And it’s one of the things that gives me a little case of DC-superiority; the Nationals will have President Obama throwing out their first pitch a week from today at their home opener. The Baltimore Orioles’ home opener today, and they’ll be settling for Vice President Biden. So the guy in this picture will go through just as much security today as I will next week, but he’ll see the person whose Constitutional role consists of little more than, “That Other Guy on the Ticket.”  But it’s still a big deal- VP Biden will be the first sitting vice president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch (edited to add) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Thanks for catching that one, mysterious anonymous commenter.)

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Opening Day!

Row of Seats

I wait for this day, every year. Baseball sleeps deep in me each winter, and its return is one I celebrate like a friend who’s come home after a long sojourn. Today marks Opening Day, and I’ll spare you long speeches (but, if you want one, you can read mine) about the game, or its teams. The O’s and Nats both start their seasons today. The Nats play on the road at 4:10pm, today, against the Marlins in Florida, and The Orioles play their home opener (weather permitting…) against the Yankees at Camden at 4:05pm.

Welcome back, Baseball, glad you’re here.

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 4/3 – 4/5/09

Photo courtesy of base10
Macro Blossoms II/Washington DC, courtesy of base10

Did you get out to see the blossoms, like seemingly everyone else around here and along the East Coast? A gorgeous weekend – even with high wind bursts on Saturday – couldn’t damper the Cherry Blossom Festival and many blooms remained attached to their branches. Which meant they were still in place for area and tourist photographers to capture.

If you’re still hankering for more, check out the WeLoveDC flickr pool, as many of our “regular” contributors’ photos can be seen there. Just watch out – you might get so engrossed you may lose track of time like I did…

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Alexandria, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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The Butcher’s Block Opens

Photo courtesy of
‘The Captain’
courtesy of ‘EssG’

The two foodie trends of Spring ’09 I’ve noticed? Brunch and raw meat. Not necessarily together, thank goodness, but still – breakfast and meat-eries are going strong this year. Adding to the line of new butchers/charcuterie places is The Butcher’s Block, a Market by RW, located at 1600 King Street, next door to sister restaurants BRABO Tasting Room and BRABO.

The Butcher’s Block is “a chef-driven market with a wide selection of value wines, international beers, artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, prime cut meats, desserts, dry goods and home cooking accessories”. In addition to the charcuterie, pates, sausages and terrines, The Butcher’s Block sells prime cuts of rib-eye, fillet, lamb tenderloin, veal chops, pork loin, rabbit and chicken. Chef Wiedmaier sources much of his meat from the region, and he offers braised lamb shank, pork and beef carbonnade that can be purchased with his signature sauces to be heated and served at home.

On your way to a picnic along the Alexandria waterfront or off to Mount Vernon? Customers can schedule to pick up crusty baguettes still warm from the oven, and purchase freshly made sandwiches and seasonal salads for a grab-and-go picnic. Sandwiches come with choice of beverage and potato chips or fruit for $12. Perfect for your next lazy weekend afternoon – a nice thought to get you through the Monday doldrums.

The Daily Feed
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Congrats Champs!

Photo courtesy of
‘Ovechkin and Green Celebrate Again’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’

Even though the Caps lost tonight against the still-alive Nashville Predators Buffalo Sabres, the loss came in overtime, which gave the Caps a much-needed point. That point clinched the Southeast Division for them; for the second year in a row, you can call the Caps “Division Champs.”

Congrats to Coach Bruce Boudreau and the entire squad for an amazing ride this year. Having garnered over 100 points in the standings and strongly holding the second playoff seed with a week remaining in regular season, the Capitals are gathering momentum at just the right time. Let’s just hope they keep lighting the lamp and push farther into the playoffs than last year.

Take a bow, boys. You deserve it.

Business and Money, Life in the Capital, Media, The Daily Feed
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The Post and Tech Crunch

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_3957’
courtesy of ‘nrkbeta’

There’s some consternation going on about TechCrunch, and their reporting style, and Jon Gruber has a pretty interesting response: “The Washington Post must be so proud to have such high-quality bullshit running under its name.”

I had forgotten, The Post does rebrand Tech Crunch, which makes it’s the Post’s problem, too, when Michael Arrington goes out on a limb and the branch snaps off. How’s that got to feel over on 15th street when one of the people that’s not under their control wrecks a story like that?

DC Victory Gardens, The Features, We Green DC
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DC Victory Gardens: Planting

Seeds!

When last we left our intrepid gardeners, we were all on the path toward clearing up the land and getting ready for garden season. We’ve had some positive developments out at the farm, getting all the soil tilled and turned for planting, and some setbacks at the quarter acre, related to a section of land that turned out to be horrifically root-bound, and so we’ve had to move the garden. But before we go any further, this is a follow-up on the last post about using seeds. It’s time to get planting (truth be told, it was probably time to plant a week or two, but we’ve all been so busy, it’s been hard to write!) and we can worry about land-use later. This work could not be done without  The ArborLift™ by Environmental Design Inc. has revolutionized large tree transplanting.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Rabies in Fairfax County

Photo courtesy of
‘Some rabies sign from the 1950’s?’
courtesy of ‘smalltownguy22’

Fairfax County authorities are alerting residents to several incidents of rabid animals around the county.  So if you’re out that way, please check to ensure that your pets are up-to-date on their vaccinations (required by law for all dogs and cats almost everywhere, including Fairfax County). Make sure you have documentation of the vaccination handy as well- dogs who bite humans are often put down on the assumption of rabies if the victim doesn’t want to get vaccinated himself, so be sure you can prove your animals are rabies-free.  

Finally, be aware of your own safety- aggression is a telltale sign of rabies. A wild animal will almost always prefer to avoid you rather than attack you, unless it’s rabid. So if that racoon is running toward you, run away and call Animal Control; it’s not trying to make friends.

Interviews, People, The Features
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I Love DC: An Ode

Frame 10

As is the task of all the We Love DC bloggers, I set down to put what I love about this place into words. However, as I’m the upteenth member of the team, I had a feeling that much of what I could contribute would have been well-tred soil. So, instead, I have composed an Ode in three parts.

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The Daily Feed
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Ritz Camera closeouts start tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
‘Day 60: Going Out of Business’
courtesy of ‘quinn.anya’

I spent several years of my young life working in Uncle Chuck’s Camera Emporium Wolf Camera, so on my priority list going into a Ritz Camera ranks somewhere between… swapping hankerchiefs with SARS carriers and stabbing myself in the face.

However, Dealmac reveals that the closeout sales start tomorrow. They’re closing almost half their stores as part of their chapter 11 restructuring and apparently will be discounting items to get them off the shelves. Personally I’m not optimistic the deals will be that great or include many worthwhile things; I imagine that anything that can be moved will likely be shuffled out to more profitable stores – they still have about 400 that will continue to do business. However it should not be a repeat of the Circuit City nonsense where a 3rd party liquidator peddles things at list prices that are above what you’d pay anywhere – these sales are still through Ritz themselves as they try to reorg.

If you want to give it a shot I’ve culled all the closing stores from our surrounding area from the (annoyingly not-sorted-by-state list) PDF linked in the Dealmac article. It looks like all the ones in our area are closing, but check the list below the jump before you head out just to be sure. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Bitter sweet&soggy

Photo courtesy of
‘Hold onto your hats!’
courtesy of ‘lorigoldberg’

We’re getting much-needed rain today. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows our region as being in moderate drought conditions, so this rainfall is good news. It’s not a one-shot fix, though – Capitol Weather pointed out at the end of last month that we were a full five inches below normal, something you can’t correct in one hit. While it would be nice to get more dry days to enjoy the warming weather, we really need to be hoping for some more consistent rainfall over the next few months.

The downside to today’s catch-up is that you might be done with blossom-peeping whether or not you’ve gone out to do it. National Weather Service says we’re looking at a wind around 15mpg and gusts that could go up to 28mph. Tonight’s just going to get windier, to the point where there might be a wind advisory. As I recall, last year it was some windy spring weather that took us from beautiful to bare trees in no time at all.

So batten down your hatches, such as they are, and if you didn’t get to the basin, well, you can enjoy Ben’s shots,the great shots in the We Love DC pool or some of the over 300,000 pictures in Flickr marked with “Cherry Blossoms.”

Essential DC, Monumental, The Features, The Great Outdoors
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Monumental: Cherry Blossoms

DSC_2489

On March 26, 1912, probably the most famous ‘monument’ in the Washington DC area arrived from Japan: 3,020 cherry trees.

Year after year, these trees bloom in a beautiful display that gives us a sure-fire sign that spring is upon us. It’s also the time of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival and probably brings the biggest influx of tourists for the year.

And, by far, the blooms give the city a photogenic quality that never gets old.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Talking Trash in the River

Photo courtesy of
‘Cleaning Up the Potomac’
courtesy of ‘mtngirl9999’
We love the Potomac, but let’s face it: the river has issues. This Saturday, you can make it better! The 21st Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup takes place at more than 400 sites throughout the area from 9 a.m. to noon.

Can’t come this weekend? You have until the beginning of May to join the Trash-A-Thon and raise money for the river while you clean. So get out your gloves and giant leaf bags and flex your biceps.

After all, it’s our drinking water out there. What are you, scared?

The Daily Feed
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The Real World DC??

Photo courtesy of
‘the politico’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

ZOMG yes please. Now, before you get as excited as me, this intel source is a Gawker poll trying to project the site of the 23rd season of MTV’s The Real World. In the voting, however, DC is listed in second place… right behind “A watery grave” (27%). 

The current season takes place in Brooklyn. Should the show move to DC next, it will confirm my long-held belief that DC = the new NYC. You could get a great mix here: the hill intern, the green/human rights non-profit worker, the junior lobbyist, the yoga instructor… 

Question remains: Where would Real Worlders reside in DC. WLDC author KatieT says U Street would be the place for MTV dramz. Maybe. Based on the “Brooklyn” season, however, which put the cast about as far out as you can get in BK and actually still claim its BK, I’m apt to vote for something like Capitol Heights. Thoughts? Where would Real World: DC be staged?

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Pillow Fight Saturday

courtesy of flickr user Nivad

courtesy of flickr user Nivad

Left wondering what to do with those old, deflated pillows?

Problem solved: At 2PM on the National Mall in front of the Smithsonian Castle or at 3PM in Dupont Circle, show up with a CONCEALED SOFT pillow – in a bag, backpack or something similar and act completely nonchalant.  Wait for the crowd to gather and when you hear the signal it’s on!

Hooray! It’s International Pillow Fight Day, part of The Urban Playground Movement, whose goal is to organize free, fun, all age appropriate, non-commercial public events all over the world. DC’s pillow fights are being “organized” by DC Defenestrators.

Pillow fighting etiquette dictates:

-Soft pillows only! I don’t like to use a simple pillow, my favorite to play are Beckham Hotel Collection Pillows.

-Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once.

-Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras.

-Remove glasses beforehand!

-The event is free and appropriate for all ages.

-Wait until the signal to begin.

-The event is more fun with feathers. I logged onto the DC Defenestrators facebook page for the event and they’ve updated their last pillow fight rule: + *CHANGE* you are responsible for your own feathers! – California had a pillow fight that required $10,000 to clean up from the city. If you leak any feathers, you are responsible for cleaning them up. We want this to be fun for everyone, don’t be d**ks that make a mess and leave.

All Politics is Local, Special Events, The Features
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Premiere: Inside Guantanamo

Photo courtesy of
‘Obama: Shut Down Guantanamo’
courtesy of ‘mike.benedetti’

Mentioning Guantanamo Bay incites different reactions in different people, but almost everyone has a passionate take on the issue. One of President Obama’s first actions when he took office was to sign a bill to close Guantanamo within a year, so this couldn’t have been a better time for National Geographic’s Explorer: Inside Guantanamo. I went to the world premiere screening of the film and panel discussion this past Tuesday, which was very exciting and informative– it’s events like this that make me glad to be in DC.

The event started with a huge reception with lots of food, drink, and mingling. According to one of the people I talked to, that kind of thing is very unusual for National Geographic’s screenings, but they must have pulled out all the stops for high-level guests from Congress, the administration, the military, and even Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace, who moderated the panel. Continue reading →