Monthly Archives: May 2009

The Daily Feed
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Guess Who Didn’t Vote for Obama

P050909PS-0024 by The Official Whitehouse Photostream

“Hey, honey, are you ready to go to the White House to meet with the president?  No seriously.”

I like being comfortable as much as the next guy.  In fact if I could wear my Adidas running pants or shorts and a t-shirt every day I would.  But if I ever get invited to the White House, the Oval Office no less, I can assure you I’ll be wearing my best suit, not some purple top and khaki pants from 1995.  While I admire the courage and strength of Richard Phillips, his wife’s attire is just downright disrespectful.

Life in the Capital, Penn Quarter, Petworth, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Spotted in DC: Jen Lancaster

Photo courtesy of
‘Jen Lancaster NYC 5/7/09’
courtesy of ‘Rooskygirl’

I was killing time last night before a dinner in Penn Quarter and decided to take the hike to Barnes and Noble on E st. I walked in, and the security guard turned to me and said, “Are you here for the book signing with Jen Lancaster?”

My world stopped – not being over dramatic. WHAT? JEN LANCASTER IS GOING TO BE IN THE SAME BUILDING AS I AM RIGHT NOW? Jen Lancaster, as in my author-idol? As in, Jen? The biggest influence on my narrative voice as a blogger? As in the woman who invented the well-placed question mark and who taught me how to squee? Jen Lancaster, as in the author of the books that I read and re-read that can get me through even my darkest hours by making my cry laughing? WHAT? Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, Tourism
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White House Cans Air Force One Aide

Photo courtesy of
‘AF1 over Liberty’
courtesy of ‘Life @ f2.8’

It was big news when the White House, without telling the public, sent Air Force One and a squadron of fighter aircraft to fly over New York City at low altitude. Many folks screamed to the high heavens that it was too soon after 9/11 to do it, and many others still called 911 suggesting another attack was underway. Today, we hear that the White House has fired the head of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, who authorized and oversaw the photoshoot.

While it might’ve been a cool idea, it goes to show that even cool ideas when poorly executed become the least possible cool. Via Mark Knoller on Twitter, the photo that cost Caldera his job:

af1ny.jpg

A second photoshoot was planned over DC, but scrapped after the furor.

Technology, The Daily Feed
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No Really, There’s Gonna Be a Rocket

I feel like we’ve been teasing you all week, and I’m totally sorry, but there’s finally some good news on the rocket front. NASA has re-re-re-rescheduled the launch tonight for 7:35. So, turn to the southeast right around then, and watch the Minotaur rocket take TacSat-3 into orbit. The Minotaur’s got a bright-burning rocket motor, so it should be visible despite the fact that sunset’s not til 8:08pm.

The Daily Feed
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More pizza? Really?

Photo courtesy of
‘Oh no! Pizza the Hutt!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

DCist mentioned this a few days ago, but I did notice one interesting aspect in SeriousEats’ mention of Spike’s plan to open a pizza joint in D.C.

I love my pizza. I’m opening a pizzeria in D.C. in the next three or four months. I just took over the building the other day.

Emphasis mine. So, where is it? Anyone want to go stalk the D.C. building license office looking for applications? Or I suppose you could just follow Spike around. My bet is on the Eastern Market area.

Essential DC, Foggy Bottom, Life in the Capital, The District, The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: West End

Photo courtesy of
‘Schneider Triangle’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Welcome to another installation of Where We Live. This time we’re focusing on the area between Dupont and Georgetown. Some call it Foggy Bottom, others call it GW, but the neighborhood most recently has been calling itself West End.  Read on to hear why this area is among the city’s oldest, but also one of the most rapidly changing, neighborhoods.

History: The area is known as West End because it literally was the west end of Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for Washington.  It was also known as Foggy Bottom because of the marshy, humid conditions and the concentration of smoke-emitting businesses in the area along the waterfront (so really, it’s more like Smoggy Bottom).  The rowhouses in the neighborhood housed these industrial workers, so the area was home to many Irish and German immigrants back in the 1850s, along with their breweries.

Then the area started changing rapidly.  Columbian College (what we now know as George Washington University) was established near Meridian Hill in 1821, moved to the Foggy Bottom area in 1912, and expanded significantly in the 1920s and 1930s.  The decline of river-oriented industries led to the closing of many waterfront employers, and the area lost a lot of ethnic diversity as industrial workers left the neighborhood.   By the mid-twentieth century, rowhouses were being torn down in favor of high-density apartment buildings, and much of the character of the neighborhood was lost.  We can thank the Foggy Bottom Restoration Association and the DC Restoration Office for preserving the rowhouses that still exist in the area today.  (If you’re interested in more history of the neighborhood, check out this PDF brochure put out by the DC Office of Planning.)

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Foodie Round-Up (May 4th – 8th)

Photo courtesy of
‘indigo landing at dusk’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’
It’s Friday already? Twas a fast week, at least in my world. Again, a shorter-than-ususal roundup, but some worthy bites of info. Twitter, the takeover of the National Gallery’s cafe, and summer beers round out all the news fit to eat in the District this week. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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PEN Award Given to Author Whose Book is Being Read By Me, No-one Else Important

Photo courtesy of
‘Little Black Dress Book Collection’
courtesy of ‘scholastica ees’

The literati will descend upon DC this weekend, having just wrapped up the PEN World Voices festival in New York City. We of course don’t get the week-long celebration of international literature in culture, we get the fancy one-night-only $80 ticket presentation of the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award. (Okay, maybe I’m just a little put out that I’m going to be out of town.) Past winnersnt include Philip Roth, John Updike, Annie Proulx, Tobias Wolf and Don Delillo. Joseph O’Neill, author of the post-9/11 novel Netherland will received the award at the ceremony to be held tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the Folger Shakespeare Library. Oh, hey, did you hear that Obama is reading his book? Joseph O’Neill’s book is being read by Obama, you know.

Adventures, Getaways, The Features
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Getaways: Virginia Beach, Part 2

Photo courtesy of
’40Off Blue Team Pics’
courtesy of ‘visitvirginia’

I won a mystery trip to somewhere in Virginia last month, and Katie told you all about day one already. The adventure continues…

The day before, our trip organizers had announced that we would be going kayaking on day two of our all-expenses-paid exploration of Virginia Beach. Everyone was pretty excited about this at first, but as the day wore on, the weather reports kept getting gloomier and gloomier. Cold, rainy kayaking? No, thanks.

Luckily, our fabulous guides were flexible (key when traveling with a group!) and let us know that we would be playing it safe and heading indoors to the Virginia Aquarium. I’m a huge fan of aquariums, so I was pretty excited to check out this one, since I had never been before. Plus, we got to sleep in an extra hour with the change of plans! Bonus. Continue reading →

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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DC United Ladies Night Tix Winner

Photo courtesy of
‘Three points taken’
courtesy of ‘BehindTheBadge.com’

What are all those cute boys cheering about in that picture? Well, they’re all cheering for the winner of our contest, Maggie who has won two tickets to Ladies Night this Saturday to watch DC United take on Toronto FC.

We asked readers to come up with a good Barra Brava cheer to use on Saturday in exchange for the tickets, and our staff voted to determine the winner. Congrats, Maggie, I’ll be emailing you with details soon.

Maggie’s winning cheer? Glad you asked. In appropriate fashion for Ladies Night (where they are offering manicures, amongst other fun things):

Who’s your manicurist?
Who’s your manicurist?
Who’s your manicurist, referee?

Never had one, never got one,
ragged cuticled referee!


The Daily Feed
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Panda Emergency!

Photo courtesy of Me

Panda Emergency!, courtesy of Me

When I came home from five days away to discover this sight my first thought was “this is a job for Tai Shan!” If the zoo really is having trouble getting food for them, here’s a great solution: I can’t be the only person fighting this satanic plant. Bring a panda around for a day!

Alas, if they can’t convince them to get an ultrasound it seems unlikely they’re in the market for a road trip. Too bad. Those stalks were under 1 foot high when we left town Thursday morning. The tallest was over 5 feet when we returned on Tuesday afternoon. These growth spurts come after a long period of dormancy. I wonder what specifically set them off.

Any of the rest of you fighting this menace?

Fun & Games, Getaways, Special Events
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Getaways: Virginia Beach (Part I)

Live the Life

This is a special edition of Getaways, which will be broken into two parts. Since Jasmine and I were both lucky enough to head to Virginia Beach, we’re tag teaming the trip for your reading pleasure.

Jasmine: Like many of you, after reading Katie’s post last month on Virginia Tourism Corporation’s mystery vacation giveaway, I put my name on the list. The temptation of an all-expenses-paid trip plus the mystery of not knowing where I would be going was just too much to handle. And a few weeks ago, after a particularly terrible day, I got the call: I had won! After extensive squealing and jumping up and down in the street, I immediately called diligent informer of awesome vacations and excellent travel companion Katie to invite her along with me. VA Tourism packed so much into our two days, we’re going to have to split this one up, with each of us taking a day. And so, without further adieu, here’s Katie to tell you all about that first crazy day. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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A Panda Resisting Medical Tests? Unpossible!

Photo courtesy of
‘Sloppy Stick’
courtesy of ‘Peter Gene’

Apparently worthy of homepage placement at WashingtonPost.com is the news that Mei Xiang has been resisting zoo efforts to perform an ultrasound to find out whether she’s pregnant. Imagine that! Less than a week after the zoo lures Tai Shan into a corner, drugs him, and sticks a camera up his behind, Mei Xiang doesn’t particularly want to participate in medical tests. 

Yeah, I know. Animals aren’t supposed to have sophisticated memory like that. But maybe she’s smarter than she gets credit for.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Spring Food Trends

Photo courtesy of
‘sushi at sunset’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

I’ve been out and about quite a bit lately, and have started to observe some notable spring food trends in the city. So here are some of my short thoughts on the DC spring food scene and what is hot now.

The rise of octopus. Most recently at Ardeo, also spotted at Potenza, charred octopus is both delicious and surprisingly tender. Look for it on more menus in the coming months, and take a chance, it’s worth it.

Sushi 2.0. This spring has seen the rise of the unique sushi. Sticky Rice branches out a bit, but newcomer Sei uses a sushi canvas to serve up otherwise hearty food like fish and chip. Ceaser salad even makes its debut in roll form at Sei. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Metro Considering Selling Food– But You Still Can’t Eat It!

Photo courtesy of
‘chillin”
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Big news coming out of Metro today: officials are considering allowing kiosks in certain Metro stations to sell packaged food in stations!  The move is an attempt to increase revenue by adding kiosks at a number of stations (in DC: outside Anacostia, in Fort Totten, in Gallery Place-Chinatown, and in Metro Center).  Kiosks could be newsstands, dry cleaning services, and even gourmet food stores.

But no, this doesn’t mean you’d be allowed to eat what you bought at a kiosk– the Metro food and drink ban is still in effect.  About three years ago Metro solicited proposals for kiosks that would sell anything but food, beverages, and tobacco– but they didn’t get a good response and realized it wasn’t profitable to not sell food in transit stations.

This seems a little weird to me.  I think I’d be really bitter if I were starving, and got a gourmet sandwich at a Metro kiosk (probably  marked up ridiculously because of the captive audience), and had to sit there just looking at it the whole ride home.  That’s just mean, Metro.

Food and Drink, Night Life, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Ben’s Next Door

Citrus District, Ben's Next Door

"Citrus District, Ben's Next Door" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

Catching up with friends who’ve been away from DC for a while is always interesting. You want to take them someplace that’s different, that shows the changes of the city over the past five years or more, but also you require a vibe which allows you to actually hear each other. I had this challenge recently with a friend who’d returned to DC from living in London, so naturally I wasn’t going to kill myself trying to impress her, I just wanted to find a place that simply said “Welcome Back to Washington.”

We found it at the bar at Ben’s Next Door. What could be more Washingtonian than the new bar and restaurant opened by the Ali family of Ben’s Chili Bowl fame? I mean, have you seen the crazy lines of tourists outside Ben’s lately? I had to show her how the legend of U Street continues to grow. 

Funnily enough, we made it just before the news of chef Rock Harper’s departure. I’m really glad we both had the instant instinct to stick to the bar. It’s a looooong one (53 feet, to be exact), which always makes me a bit nervous about service, but there was no need to worry. We spent several hours catching up under the careful eye of bartender Anthony, who made sure we never wanted for anything. 

It was a real locals crowd that night, U Street denizens cheering on the Caps against the Pens, but it never got too loud and there was a happy buzz to the place. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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In Memoriam, Doug Clifton


Doug Clifton IMGP0009_1
Originally uploaded by carlweaver

A sad note reached me this morning via Patrick Pho of Metblogs, Doug Clifton, who wrote with us there for years, passed away last Tuesday. Doug was an excellent photographer and writer for Metblogs until his departure for the Chronicle of Higher Ed in 2007. He had a quick wit, an infectious laugh, and was always into something in Silver Spring.

He will be missed by all who knew him. His talent for programming, for all things electronic, was significant. We are all poorer for his departure.

I’m working to get in touch with the family, that we might offer something in his memory.

Peace, Doug. We miss you already.

The Features, We Love Arts
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Art Spiegelman: Comics From Mickey Mouse to Manga

def: comic

On a large screen behind legendary comic artist Art Spiegelman is an image of a page from the dictionary. A fat red loop lassoes the definition of “comic strip.” “comic strip. A narrative series of cartoons.” The comic strip, Spiegelman explains is an inherently narrative form and their story-telling capability puts them at the heart of our culture. “And any definition of comic strip that is illustrated by Nancy is getting something right,” he joked of the marginal picture.

This was “Comix 101,” or, as Spiegelman retitled the Corcoran’s Argentina Copello Dudley Lecture, “What the %@~*!! happened to Comics?” It was a walk through the halls of the museum of comics and culture, the walls lined with panels of characters both familiar today and obscure: Little Nemo, Donald Duck, Little LuLu, Charlie Brown, and – of course – those poster boys of the comic book – Batman and Superman. Spiegelman, winner of a Pulitzer-prize for his Holocaust narrative Maus, traced the graphic evolution and influence of comics as well as underlined the politics of the genre. Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The District
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Obama Extending & Eliminating DC Vouchers

Picture 4.png
via alexashrugged and twitpic

In a day that saw a crowd of over 1,000 kids and another few hundred adults opposite the Wilson Building, including a number of students who are directly part of DC’s current voucher experiment, the White House announced that they will seek to continue the voucher program for those already in it, but will allow no further applicants to the program. The new plan is contingent on the Congress reauthorizing funding for the vouchers of those students currently in the program, which would be an uphill battle.

Seems odd to discontinue this popular program right now, but, well, what the unions want, the unions get…