Monthly Archives: April 2009

The Daily Feed
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Snubbed


Presidential first pitches
Originally uploaded by afagen

The Washington Times is reporting that the President will not throw out the first pitch on Monday at the Nationals’ Home Opener, breaking a decades-old tradition. I was really hoping that the President would be there on Monday, but it looks like he’s got better things to do.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can still buy four seats together for Opening Day? And those seats are just past third base? And that the President appearing before a crowd of five or six hundred people sends the wrong message?

C’mon, Mr. President, I won’t be the only one there, you can still come on out, I hear you’ve got a helluva curveball.

Essential DC, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, Night Life, The Features
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Happy Hour Food: Fried Deliciousness

Photo courtesy of
‘Fried Pickle Chips’
courtesy of ‘SauceSupreme’

IT’S FRIDAY! Aaaaaaayyy! And you know what Friday says to me? It says HAPPY HOUR! This week has had some gorgeous weather in it and I think I’ve got a full-out case of some serious spring fever. It’s time we get out there, DC, put on your game face and start practicing for summertime. I’ve planned and been invited to more happy hours in the past couple of weeks than I had been all winter long!

One of the first things I consider at my happy hours is the availability of food. Cheap food, preferably, but also delicious food. And food that goes with beer. You know what food goes best with beer? Fried food!! So click on through for a sampling of my favorite fried happy hour food and where to find it.  Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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News Flash: Lots of People Ride Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘at least we’re not outside anymore!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Did the Metro seem particularly crowded to you yesterday?  Today, word comes from Metro that yesterday was the sixth-highest weekday ridership day in the system’s history.  The combination of tourists that are still here for the cherry blossoms, spectators of the Frozen Four tournament, and regular old commuters like us led to this particularly high ridership day.  And this is coming just a few days after record-high weekend ridership related to cherry blossoms and various sporting events.

But there’s good news!  As Ben reported earlier, beginning next week WMATA is adding more rail cars during rush hour to accommodate the additional passengers on the red and green lines.  So, take heart– next week’s commute will be better, and with the Cherry Blossom Festival ending on Sunday, those cherry-blossom-loving tourists will be out of town in no time.

Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, The Features, Tourism
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Tourism: National Zoo

Pandamania!

Pandamania! by flickr user needlessspaces

The National Zoo was the second major DC tourism spot that I hit after I moved here. The first was the Washington Monument. Our Zoo is great – it’s my second favorite zoo I’ve ever been to (second only to the zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. No I’m not joking, that zoo is phenomenal.) so when my parents came into town to visit, we decided to make the journey.

It sort of feels wrong, you know? Just walking right in without paying. Put aside the guilt and it’s actually a fabulous feeling. It allows people to come back and back again, and it seems like there are people who truly take advantage. As we were walking in a runner in full workout garb jogged past – what a great run! Aside from dodging all the bumbling people and strollers, you’d have incredibly entertaining scenery and quite a steep hill workout. Envious.

As you enter the zoo you’re faced with starting your zoo tour by heading down towards the pandas on the the Asia walk, or going down the entire hill and doing everything on the way back up. I don’t have an opinion either way. But I do recommend that you print out a map before you go – available on the zoo web site, you can save yourself money by printing it out on your own. Otherwise they charge for a take-with-you map. Fair, I think, since entry is free. So off you go to meet and greet all the animals. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Calls to Stop Coal

Photo courtesy of
‘Sartell’
courtesy of ‘dno1967’

Even with all the alarming news about global warming, coal lives on. Did you know there are plans to build yet another coal-fired plant in Virginia’s Tidewater area, only about 150 miles from DC?

If you’re tired of just talking about climate change, now you can talk to help stop it.

A phone bank sponsored by Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light will take place in Clarendon on Tuesday, April 14, from 5:30 – 8 p.m. Join it and call members of the electric co-ops who are proposing the coal-burning plant. You can discuss the proposal and cleaner alternatives, and empower them to take action. For your efforts, you’ll get treats and snacks–and a coal-free stocking on Santa’s next trip.

The Daily Feed
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Corcoran Cuts and Free Saturdays

Photo courtesy of
‘corcoran gallery of art 7.19.08 – 3496’
courtesy of ‘laura padgett’

The Corcoran Gallery of Art announced yesterday that it would be laying off about 5.6% of its staff and instituting a hiring freeze in attempts to make up a $4 million deficit this year. 18 employees, both entry-level and higher-ups were effected by the layoffs.

While this is another wave of bad news in the realms of both employment and the arts, the uptick is that the museum will offer free admission on Saturdays this summer in order to boost attendance.

Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Foodie Round-Up (April 6-10th)

roasted lamb to go

Zaytinya’s Roast Lamb To-Go for Greek Easter

As everyone is gearing up for big Easter meals, the foodie world has been a bit slow with forthcoming news. But there’s still some good stuff to report on, including one piece of news that makes me green with envy, so click on through for all the news fit to eat in the District this week… Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Easter Monday at the Zoo

Photo courtesy of
‘Petting Ponies’
courtesy of ‘tiffanywashko’

This coming monday, Easter Monday, the National Zoo will host its annual event, Celebrating the African American Family from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The day’s many festivities include an appearance by the Easter Bunny, an Easter Egg Hunt and Roll, arts and crafts and various animal shows. I’m particularly interested in the “Meet a Naked Mole Rat” demonstration, I don’t know about you. There will also be food, delicious food.

The event is free and the show will go on rain or shine (although the weather looks decent; 56* and sunny). Maybe you’ll catch a glipse of the most adorable additions to the zoo, or Harrison Ford. So much zoo love this week! Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Rush Hour Relief?

Photo courtesy of
‘Bokeh Study’
courtesy of ‘Pianoman75’

Tired of jammed cars on the Red and Green lines? Well, Metro’s news that slipped out yesterday may relieve that somewhat. Beginning next week, Metro’s adding additional cars to Red and Green line trains during the always-fun weekday rush hour.

Metro has indicated that roughly twenty cars are being added to the entire fleet. This will boost half of the Red and Green rush hour runs to the maximum eight-car trains (the maximum length Metro can run due to station size), with the rest of the additional cars used to fill in gaps due to malfunctions or other problems.

The additional cars will boost Metro to 850 cars in service during weekday rush, the first in the service’s history. Will it help with the crush? It’s a matter of perspective, so you readers keep us informed, okay?

The District, The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: Brookland

Photo courtesy of
‘snowy, icy, icky’
courtesy of ‘wageslaves’

Welcome to the first installment of a new feature on We Love DC! Every two weeks, we’ll introduce you to a different neighborhood in the city. This week: Brookland! Located in Northeast, Brookland is full of small-town charm with the amenities of being in the middle of a big city.  It’s walkable, full of history, and rich in community character.

History: The neighborhood gets its name from the 1840 Brooks Mansion, home of Colonel Jehiel Brooks (a veteran of the War of 1812).  In the 1870s, the B&O Railroad opened Brooks Station adjacent to the Brooks Estate, which provided commuter rail service to Downtown DC and Silver Spring.  In 1888, the city’s first electric streetcar line opened, and the area grew quickly.  Brookland developed as a streetcar suburb, and in 1889 the Catholic University of America opened on a 70-acre tract of land near the station.   In the mid twentieth century, religious groups were encouraged to buy property in the area to support the university, and thus the area became known as “Little Rome” with a high concentration of Catholic institutions. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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The Bluebell Walk

Bluebells Near the Potomac

It seems spring has sprung in the woods around DC; the Virginia bluebells are nodding their dainty little heads. Bull Run Regional Park near Centreville has a huge crop of these soft, floppy flowers, and the blooms are predicted to peak next week.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., as they’ve done for the past 30-odd years, park naturalists and rangers will hold a special Bluebell Walk.

This sounds wonderful. I’m imagining a Disney movie, with folks wearing Easter bonnets and their Sunday best, strolling among the wildflowers and singing little melodies along with the birds. Ah, spring!

24 in DC, Fun & Games, Technology, The Features, WTF?!
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Amateur Spies (Like Us)

Photo courtesy of Don Whiteside
WLDC Stealth, courtesy of Don Whiteside

Unless this is your first time here you’re well aware that we’ve become a little obsessive over Jack Bauer’s tour through our city. We’ve got 15 17 hours worth of 24 recaps under our belt and fully intend to laugh (in order to fight off the tears) through the remaining 9 7 hours of Hollywood’s molestation of our geography. (Yes, Tiff, I suck at math.) So really, about the last thing we needed was to be further encouraged.

Enter the International Spy Museum.

The folks over at the museum’s retail store sent us some toys to play with, after having been entertained by our 24 recaps. So early in March, three items arrived in plain brown boxes by an unmarked panel truck. In the middle of the night.

After some email haggling, jovial threats and bickering, the WLDC staff managed to split up the loot gifts and proceeded to play with them: a micro-cam recorder, a ninja sword umbrella and night vision goggles. And now, we’re going to tell you all about it.

Continue reading →

Downtown, Entertainment, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Countdown to Yuri’s Night

Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, courtesy of "Out of This World Party"

Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, courtesy of "Out of This World Party"

I don’t know about you, but I am chomping at the bit for the weekend. Maybe it’s spring fever that makes me in the mood for something totally different and out of this world. So, I’ll be heading to the aptly named “Out of this World Party” at the Warehouse Saturday night for their Countdown to Yuri’s Night extravaganza. I don’t see how I can resist the call of a party celebrating man’s first space flight with crazy smart burlesque by the divine Trixie Little and Evil Hate Monkey – let alone free massages, $4 Stoli drinks, weird science fair, and an alien egg hunt.

Burlesque shows at 9pm and 11pm in the large theater, band Atomic Mosquitoes (they have a theremin!) in the smaller theater, and a gallery show with DJs upstairs til 2am. Oh, and a Celestial Costume Contest! Did I mention this sounds like a super insane night? $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Now where did I put my silver space boots?

Adventures, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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Cupcake Ramble

Photo courtesy of
‘Cupcake bike’
courtesy of ‘traviscrawford’

City Bikes is at it again with their group rides, except this time it’s pairing two of my favorite things… my gorgeous bike with CUPCAKES! Food + Bikes = yay! The bicycle-enthusiast and pastry chef for Tryst, Open City and The Diner, Sol, is partnering with City Bikes to create the Cupcake Ramble, a relaxed easy/moderate paced group ride.

The ride starts at City Bikes Adams Morgan, through the car-restricted Rock Creek Park, to City Bikes Chevy Chase. “Once there, we’ll enjoy pastries baked by Sol, before heading back to City Bikes Adams Morgan,” says the ride description.

To sign up for your guilt-free cupcake intake, head on over to the City Bikes Web site.

Alexandria, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: The Majestic

IMG00014

Earlier this winter WLDC Author Jasmine, along with another friend and I, headed out for a ladies night in Old Town. We made our way down King Street, and wound up at The Majestic where we snagged a seat at the bar and sipped some very classy cocktails.

The cocktail menu boasts, “Our cocktails are made with fresh ingredients and take a bit more time than most. Thank you for your patience. We promise they are worth the wait!” Having a front row seat to the two mixologists behind the bar, the menu isn’t joking. They bartenders pick fresh mint out of a large bundle and hand crush it carefully for the Mint Julep. Decorative twists are done one at a time, fresh for each cocktail. I was smitten, each drink is incredibly labor intensive, and the longer we sat there, the more impressed I became. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, and Son, with Happy the Hippo and a Zookeeper


"Come on get Happy"
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Via the National Zoo we behold Harrison Ford, his fiancé Calista Flockhart, and her son Liam at the National Zoo, getting a closeup view of 5000 pound Nile hippopotamus Happy. Word is that Ford was able to personally feed the hippo, whose diet, like a Nabooan shaak, consists mainly of grass.

No word on whether Mr. Ford then pulled out a whip to fend off the hippo from stampeding his future family. Anyway, ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.