By Don
‘Towers of Power at Sunrise’
courtesy of ‘macmoov’
While I mean that in a “give em hell” sense, there’s also an opportunity to tell them exactly how you’d like to see them use this new tool. Their social media lead, Andre, sent us a message which asked us to share this with y’all:
Their twitter id is PepcoConnect if you want to follow them and see how they end up using the service.
By Tom Bridge
‘Rocket Garden’
courtesy of ‘milan.boers’
Everything’s better with Rockets. Everything!
Due to weather, NASA scrubbed the launch last night, and for good measure, they decided to wait until the weather picture looks better, which is Thursday. The countdown begins again at noon tomorrow! C’mon ROCKETS!
‘Stand-up’
courtesy of ‘Aaron Webb’ , used with permission
So I was flitting around the interwebz, trying to come up with something to recommend to you this week in the world of local comedy, and ran into… a wasteland. A lot of the local comics I pay attention to have been touring, so are either out of town or, well, sleeping. I checked the Improv, and there’s not a single Lounge show on their calendar for the next month; even the mainstage is full of people I couldn’t get excited about until the first weekend in June. (Russell Peters. He’s hilarious.) I checked Facebook and mostly found stuff happening way out in the nether regions of Maryland.
I checked DCStandup.com, and while there wasn’t a ton listed for new shows that weren’t ALSO in the nether regions of Maryland, they did mention that open mics and the like are seeing a resurgence. With the economy in the tank, suddenly regularly-scheduled, free entertainment is seeming like a better deal to bar and restaurant owners. So since these shows are constantly passing into and out of existence, I decided it was time to update the week of free laughs:
Sunday: There’s still an open mic at the Palace of Wonders on H Street every other Sunday. Since the organizer keeps the total number of comics low, the sets are longer. That’s handy, since a 5 minute set is barely enough time to get warmed up. Continue reading
By jasmine
Setting up at Rock and Roll Hotel by dcjasmine
Choosing a great band name is just about as tough as coming up with a sitcom plot line that the Simpsons haven’t already done. But tonight, two clear winners are coming to Rock and Roll Hotel: Future Rock and Shout Out Out Out Out. Who doesn’t want to experience the future of rock and roll, and SOOOO went with capturing the vibe a la Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
Apparently, the future of rock is electronica, because that’s what both these bands are. You can dance to the beat tonight at 8:30 pm for $10.
By Katie
‘Orion – DSC_5880’
courtesy of ‘Dylan Parker’
I am not going to be eating out from June 13 – 21st. This is big news, since I basically live at our area restaurants.
Why, might you ask? Because it’s kids restaurant week. Now, I realize kids need to eat too. And I realize that it is great news for parents who aim to expose your children to fine dining, and in a cash-strapped economy a deal like this is excellent. I get that you tire of feeding your child hot dogs and applesauce. Good on you! I am just of the ilk that doesn’t want your child’s whine with my wine. (Ala Samantha in the S&TC episode A Woman’s Right to Shoes).
So, with that, I’ll gracefully bow out and your kids may dine in peace (or chaos, depending) from June 13-21st when tots from around the city can take over places like Art and Soul and Juniper. Word to the wise? Try the mac and cheese at Art and Soul, ’tis divine, and will kick Kraft’s butt any day.
I’ll have more recommends next week when Cookie and Gourmet magazine, in partnership with Destination DC, announce the full participating restaurant list, as well as menus on the Web site. Adults pay $29; Kids 11 and under pay their age. Early dinner seatings are cleverly available from 5:00-7:00pm.
By Katie
‘Café Stühle’
courtesy of ‘mueritz’
The Phillips Collection is opening a new cafe tomorrow. This would be rather blase news, except this cafe is not that. Almost too-deep and meta for me to grasp (I’m having to reach back to my time at art school, here) Cafe sounds badass. Pairing actual art, with a literal eat-place, bound by the concepts in and around art, (see, told you this was deep) Cafe challenges the typical. Continue reading
By Katie
It’s been a wild ride for Antonio Burrell, the Chef de Cuisine at CommonWealth Gastropub. Since the opening in August of 2008, the British food joint CommonWealth has fast been popular with foodies and Columbia Heights regulars. I was able to catch up with Burrell, talk through his opinions on the DC food scene, find out what he does in the city on his days off, and discuss what his ideal food day in the city would be composed of.
Katie: How long have you lived in DC?
Antonio: I moved to DC in October of 2000. I actually took two months off and took a nice vacation, stayed in North Carolina played a lot of golf and fished a lot with my Dad. For the first year and a half I lived in Alexandria, but have lived in DC since then.
Name the best part of DC, in your opinion?
I like a great many things about DC, chief among them are the people I have met and its central location to Manhattan and my extended family, who live in North Carolina. However, the best part of DC is all the great cultural things you can do. The Smithsonian Institute Museums are a great way to spend a day, topped off by a nice stroll down the Mall, taking many stops along the way, especially to dip your feet in the fountain at the Korean Memorial.
By Jenn Larsen
"Cocktail at Bar Pilar" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr
Starting tonight, you only have three more Tuesday nights to enjoy Cocktail Sessions with mixologist Adam Bernbach at Bar Pilar, before he leaves the 14th Street digs on May 19th (GOG has the full scoop on his future plans).
I really love Pilar, love Adam’s cocktails, especially anything featuring cardamon syrup… but I can’t make it tonight. So my loss is your gain, there’ll be an extra seat, get over there!
By Max
Scooter Gate 2 by epmd
I mentioned last week that I bought an old Vespa scooter and surprisingly I’m still alive and well. The first thing on my list of things to do was to get it inspected – a thought that makes every DC resident shudder. Few people have ever had a smooth experience at the inspection station in SW. I was fully prepared to wait in line for an hour or to be turned away for some idiotic reason.
By Katie
‘Bliss spa goodies’
courtesy of ‘SanFranAnnie’
Word around the DC fashion blogosphere (ie: Capitol Hill Barbie and Capitol Hill Style) says we’ve got an incoming bliss spa.
Aside from offending my sensibilities with the FatGirlSlim line of products (Really? You think you can rub that fat off with a body scrub?) I enjoy bliss. The services are affordable, and if you’re not into coming to the spa, they offer sets of products for spa-at-home DIY treatments. You can even book your services online.
So, welcome to DC bliss, we’re happy to have you! P.S. – Bliss is hiring… 30+ Bliss Spa jobs are available. CHB has the deets.
By Katie
‘Mother & Child’
courtesy of ‘nathangibbs’
I want to be my Mom. No, seriously. I do. You know when you read those things that are all like “Oh no! We are turning into our mothers!” – to that I say, YES! Can I please? This is because my Mother is phenomenal. She’s the wisest person I know, and she always knows just what to say to give me a new perspective on something, or make me feel better, and she and my Dad are the only people I can call about some problem in my life who will care as much as I do about it. She is basically just is the best person to ever exist, period.
So I can’t put together a foodie round-up for Mother’s day and not get picky. I’ve been told about a lot of brunches, practically every restaurant in the city is doing something for Mother’s day brunch, I’m not joking. I’ve been inundated with menus, options and press releases. So instead of just listing them out for you like I did for Easter, I’m going to get more selective and only tell you about the brunches that I’d take my own rockin’ Mother to. So with that, a very subjective short list of brunches worthy of Katie’s Mother, in no particular order. Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
Burger Slice
Originally uploaded by tbridge
White House reporter Mark Knoller put President Obama and Vice President Biden at lunch over in Courthouse at ever popular burger joint Ray’s Hell Burger. I’m guessing that Michael’s got a couple of big & awesome burgers waiting for them, but what do you suppose they take on their burgers?
I’m voting cheddar and bacon for Biden, and maybe guacamole for the President?
So, was it that President Bush never went out in DC at all, or is it that we’re just so obsessed with President Obama that normal lunch habits seem like good news fodder?
Update: Knoller reports, “Obama ordered a swiss mushroom burger with chili and cheese cooked medium. Paid cash.” Damn. He also ordered burgers for a few of the press that were invited along.
Update the Second: NBCWashington wants to post your cell phone video of the Prez wiping burger off his chin.
Update the Third: NBC 4 passed along this video, behind the cut:
Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
‘Space shuttle liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center: Merritt Island, Florida’
courtesy of ‘State Library and Archives of Florida’
When we were coming back from Phoenix in March, we were passing through Terminal 5 in JFK as they were doing a sunset launch of the Space Shuttle. I stopped and stared and watched as the rockets fired and the shuttle went up and up and up. I’ve never seen a shuttle launch live, or a rocket launch of any kind. Tonight, though, we may get a clear view of a rocket launch at the NASA Facility on Wallops Island. They’ll be launching a rocket tonight between 8 and 11. If the rain keeps them down, they’ll be trying again each night this week.
Wallops Island may be 120 miles to our southeast, but Wired is saying that “this particular rocket, a Minotaur I, is noteworthy for the brilliant intensity of the fire it gives off. NASA claims that, conditions permitting, the rocket could be visible up to 800 miles away” which means we should have a pretty good view, especially if thing clear up. Check out their Twitter feed for the latest details.
By AcaciaO
‘Danny Wright, cover of “Time WIndows” LP – 1986’
courtesy of ‘| El Caganer’
…But I won’t do that (see above). You don’t need to put on a tuxe to treat yourself to back-to-back 80s nights. Why? Ummm why NOT? You missed last week’s “Sunglasses at Night” installment at Polyester Wednesdays, but don’t despair, tomorrow night is “Like a Virgin” night. Raise your hand if you just started singing “…touched for the very first time in falsetto in your head.” That’s what I thought.
In case you need to work up to a full night-out 80s night, PS7’s is hosting a 1980s happy hour Thursday at 6 p.m. Break-dancing is encouraged to the solid tunes of the DJ with the creative-and-not-at-all-doofy name of Brian Billionaire. If there’s one way to win a lady’s heart, its through break-dancing, let me tell you.
By jasmine
‘Typical Beltway traffic’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’
I don’t know about you, but when I took the Beltway to work every day, I feared for my life. Those speed limit signs (most of them 50 mph) are more like suggestions than rules that people actually followed. But now, with the Variable Speed Limit System, there’s no way you speed demons are going to be able to keep up your constant 75 mph, because they’re bumping the speed limit down to 35 in some places.
The idea is to slow everyone down early before construction and the like so there aren’t sudden stops, but will this keep that jerk in the BMW from weaving and riding my bumper?
‘P1000205’
courtesy of ‘jsmjr’
So yeah, remember when DC Council voted 12-0 to recognize other states’ gay marriages last month? The final vote was today, and the Council voted 13-0 to recognize other states’ gay marriages. Which means that Marion Barry voted for it, right after he said he wouldn’t.
Except that JUST NOW, Barry rescinded his vote and asked that the bill be reconsidered because he didn’t realize what he was voting for. Thanks for your time and attention to DC governance, Councilman Barry. So now the council is debating the bill.
UPDATE: Twitter user @KevDC is livetweeting the council’s debate. Sounds like it’s getting pretty intense. Keep an eye on his feed… we are.
UPDATE 12:02 PM: The bill passed, 12-1, with Barry making a show of voting against it so it wouldn’t be unanimous. I guess he’s tired of being remembered for smoking crack and not paying taxes, and would rather be remembered for voting against equal rights for his fellow citizens.
By Max
P020109PS-0339 by The Official White House Photostream
I thought I’d take a breather from highlighting a photo from our WLDC pool today. As Tom pointed out last week, Pete Souza and the White House photography team have begun sharing some of their photos on Flickr, giving us unprecedented insight into Obama’s daily life and legitimizing his belief that “to help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative.” He was voted into office as a man of the people, as an agent of change, and by sharing these photos with us, whether they be of a stuffy cabinet meeting or a putting practice session with Joe Biden, he brings us one step closer into his world. We’ve had White House photographers for many years, but this is the first administration to understand the importance of social media.
By Tom Bridge
Just four hours left. That’s what I keep telling myself. Over and over. Four more hours until Jack Bauer and his cronies stop giving DC the business. We can do this. Stay strong.
Recap time: The container escaped! Almeida’s a traitor! Time to interrogate Hodges! Li’l Taylor loses her shit! Redheaded Evil and Tony get all hot and bothered over framing a local.
Tony and Redheaded Evil plant a bunch of crap on Innocent Local’s computer. They hang the Universal Banner of Islamic Terror and threaten IL’s brother if he doesn’t make terrorist love to the camera. Continue reading
By Katie
‘Ready, set..’
courtesy of ‘BehindTheBadge.com’
Oh hai, cute soccer boys! It’s going to be Ladies Night on Saturday, May 9 at RFK when DC United takes on Toronto FC. And we’re giving away two tickets to said Ladies Night for the best Barra Brava chant. We’re looking for the best DC United-related cheer, chant or song for the stands, which you can leave in the comments now. Writing your drum solos and illustrating your song with streamers and flags and smoke bombs is optional.
Ladies Night will be full of soccer, but also frivolity. Ladies get the chance to try a couple of beers, partake in a wine tasting, chocolate fountain, appetizers, manicures, chair dancing lessons and the chance to go field-side after the game to meet Devon McTavish and rookie Chris Pontius (and get their jersey!). Hawt. (Sidenote: Chris Pontius was recently in CosmoGirl. Seriously.)
So, let the chanting begin in the comments… the deadline for entries will be noon on May 7th, the ever-enthusiastic WLDC staff will vote on the winner, and we’ll announce it on the 8th so the winner can plan thier Saturday evening accordingly. For examples, you can check out Barra Brava’s songs and chants site. Men, you can enter too.
By shannon
‘Locomotive’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’
Calling all trainiacs! This Saturday is National Train Day, and lucky you– DC is home to one of the biggest events to celebrate it! From 10 AM to 3 PM, head over to Union Station to meet American Idol’s Randy Jackson (not sure how he’s related to trains, but that’s cool), listen to some live music, or check out some train equipment, including the train car that President Obama rode in to the inauguration. There will also be exhibits all day that explore how trains are related to economic development, the green aspects of rail travel, and photos showing the connection between the national landscape and trains. Think Joe Biden will stop by?
By 