Monthly Archives: June 2009

The Daily Feed
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No gay marriage referendum

Photo courtesy of
‘Buchanan’s Boyfriend’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

The D.C. Superior Court has ruled that the Elections & Ethics board acted correctly when it refused to allow a referendum on D.C.’s recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states[pdf].

It was just over two weeks ago that the DCBOEE announced that the efforts to put forth a referendum on the matter would violate the city’s human rights act provisions. Kirk provided us with some analysis of the situation and just a few days later the referendum backers took the matter to court. Unless the backers of the referendum find some grounds to appeal this decision this might be the end of this measure.

More significantly, unless the referrendum backers get a higher court to issue an injunction staying any action till further appeal, this provision will likely take effect – and same-sex marriages performed and recognized in other states will be recognized by the District – by next Tuesday, July 6th.

The Daily Feed
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Reminder: We Love DC Party Tomorrow!

wldcparty.png

That’s right, we’re just 24 hours away from our first anniversary party at Science Club! We’ll be starting up around 7pm with drink specials ($3 Yuenglings, $4 Guinness and Amstel Light! $5 Santa Rita Carmenere and Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc! Rail drinks $4!) as well as Don’s awesome photobooth on the 3rd floor.

We’ll be collecting $5 contributions for Bread for the City at the door, as well, so come give back to your community, and hang out with everyone to help celebrate our first anniversary. What a great way to start the Holiday weekend!

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Pepco Goes Green?

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Pepco announced a green honor today  — its corporate headquarters has received the city’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification, at the Gold level. (See more about LEED and DC’s first LEED Silver office building.)

To earn the recognition, Pepco dropped the building’s energy consumption by nearly 17 percent and water use by 1.12 million gallons through retrofits and energy conservation measures. An audit and education programs increased recycling.

I applaud any efforts toward sustainability, including this one — yet feel I must point out that only about 4 percent of the energy coming over Pepco’s lines today to DC and Maryland is renewable. (Did you know you were burning that much fossil fuel?) To put your utility dollars toward green power, check out Clean Currents.

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Make a Move: Milledge, Hanrahan Traded

Photo courtesy of
‘who wants it?’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The Kastles aren’t the only ones making moves today, the Nationals traded outfielder Lastings Milledge and relief pitcher Joel “Gas Can” Hanrahan to Pittsburgh for outfielder Nyjer Morgan and reliever Sean Burnett.

Morgan’s got a pretty fair glove and middling power, while Burnett will be another arm for the bullpen, and hopefully an upgrade from less-than-predictable Hanrahan. It’ll probably be Wednesday before we see either Burnett or Morgan in a Nats jersey.

Entertainment, Music, The Features
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July Concert Preview

Photo courtesy of
‘088:365’
courtesy of ‘::FiZ::’

Here comes July! As you consider going to concerts in the dead of summer, I just want to impart a few words of wisdom: you can’t always count on the A/C at some of DC’s music venues. I’m thinking specifically of Rock and Roll Hotel, where it is nearly impossible to go to a show without being overwhelmed by how freaking hot and sweaty it gets. So dress accordingly, and maybe consider an outdoor nighttime concert with some breathing room to avoid getting a faceful of sweaty pit from that guy shouting “Woooo!” next to you. Continue reading →

Dupont Circle, The Daily Feed
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Real World Cast Arrives

Photo courtesy of
‘Clouds and Landing’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

The Twittersphere (Lord, forgive me for using that word) tells us that the cast of Real World DC is currently arriving in the city.  @RealWorldDCNewz is reporting that members of the cast are currently flying into Reagan National and that MTV film crews are there to meet them.  WLDC will have people at the RW house shortly to gather some more information and try to confirm these reports.

Follow our onsite reporter on twitter @nathanmart and check back here for updates.

Continue reading →

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, We Love Food
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Eat Like Me: June’s Best Dishes

Photo courtesy of
‘this is generally what my life looks like at 6:30 p.m. any given day’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

People ask me all the time if they can have my job. NO! Mine. Well, you can have my day job, but you’d have to fight me to the death for my foodie blogging job. And it would be your death, not mine. Along the way, through press dinners, media previews, nights out with friends, and places I’m reviewing for our We Love Food feature, I run into some damn good dishes (for up-to-the minute reviews, follow me on Twitter). Forkful after forkful, I wind up eating some dishes that make me think back with ultimate fondness, and leave me longing for them. Last month I told you all about with them in a little piece I called Eat Like Me. It was so popular with you guys, and I enjoyed writing it so much, that I decided I’ll do it every month. Sort of like a what’s worth it of my food intake – a satoralist of food, if you will.

So. June. It was rainy, right? Ugh. But it was also chock full of food for me, my calendar was overwhelming. June is a busy month in the foodie world. New warm weather menus come hot off the presses, restaurants open their doors to hungry summer crowds, and my friends want to eat out more. It’s pretty glorious. So, click on through to see what made the cut.  Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Have You Seen Molly?

molly

This is Molly. She’s a 4 year old Vizla who was tied up outside the P Street Whole Foods last night around 6:00 PM for a few minutes. When her person came back out to pick her up, Molly was gone, apparently stolen by someone with NO CONSCIENCE AT ALL. Seriously, who steals a dog?

Molly is about 60 pounds, with reddish-brown fur, and is friendly and will respond to her name. If you have any info about her disappearance, please contact Tyler and Laurel at findmollydog@gmail.com. There’s a reward for her safe return.

(contact information updated at dog owners’ request, and because some people just HAVE to be jackasses to pet owners)

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Matthew, Cowboy. 7th and H, Chinatown, DC by Matt.Dunn

One of the things I love about photography is that there are many different genres to keep things interesting for both the photographer and the viewer.  I’ve dabbled in sports, macro, street, nature, and portrait photography and found that I enjoy something about each style.  While each genre requires honing unique skills and sometimes learning how to use specialty equipment, they all rely on a core set of fundamentals such as framing, lighting, and of course the ever so important, being in the right place at the right time.

In my opinion, the genre that separates itself from others is portrait photography due to the fact that it requires the photographer to deal with actual other living human beings, a skill that is dwindling in our society.  It’s one thing to hunt around a garden for the perfect flower, set up your tripod, and wait for a break in the breeze.  It’s another thing to sit on a sideline and fire off ten shots of a tennis player during their serve with your fast telephoto lens.  But it’s an entirely different thing to get a model, sometimes a complete stranger, to pose for you and have the resulting photograph be worth its weight in ink.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Kastles Broker Blockbuster Deal


Rennae Stubbs by sufw

They might as well give the Washington Kastles the WTT title right now.  In what appears to be an incredible trade with the Sacramento Capitals, the Kastles are sending Angela Haynes and CoCo Vandeweghe in exchange for Rennae Stubbs and Olga Puchkova.

Stubbs is ranked in the top ten in world doubles, is a former number one ranked doubles player, has won 59 career WTA titles, and was last year’s World TeamTennis MVP.

Puchkova was ranked #32 in the world in singles in 2007, and oh, she’s also a professional model represented by Elite Management.  That’s a real bummer, right guys?

So what does this mean?  The Kastles now have 36 Grand Slam titles among their five players and head coach.  This is one lean, mean, tennis machine.  I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they win this year’s WTT title, hosted right here in DC.  If you haven’t bought your tickets, now is the time!  The home opener is next Tuesday, July 7th vs Venus Williams and the Philadelphia Freedoms.

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Care for a Little Green Rock n’ Roll?

Photo courtesy of
‘zip’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

What do Zipcar and Rock n’ Roll Hotel have in common? This evening I got an e-mail from Zipcar with the subject line: You’re invited to the First Ever Zipcar Talent Show. Intrigued,  I opened it to find out that Tuesday June 30th, Zipcar will be putting on its own talent show at the “World Famous” Rock n’ Roll Hotel in the increasingly popular H St NE neighborhood of DC.

A quick visit to RnR Hotel’s online calendar reveals that Zipcar has held 3 auditions in June at its DC offices for “performers, singers, dancers, comedians, magicians, ventriloquists, contortionists, etc.” The most impressive acts as decided by zipjudges will perform tomorrow night. Doors open at 6pm and entry is free for Zipcar members, $5 for non-members. Supposedly going to have free food and drink for all. Might be worth checkin’ out! Only question I have is why Zipcar only gave 24 hrs of notice…..that doesn’t make much sense.

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Passenger Struck, Killed at Forest Glen Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘unusual destination’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Metro is single-tracking around a fatal incident at the Forest Glen station this evening. The incident, which happened just after 4pm today, has resulted in the death of the individual who was struck by the 8-car Shady Grove-bound train. On top of the other delays (which WMATA advises may add 30 minutes to your transit time) this will add significant time to your Red Line commute this evening.

No word on details of the incident yet, but we’ll update this story as we hear more.

Update 1 5:10pm Metro spokeswoman Angela Gates is now saying that the person who was struck was on the tracks deliberately. Metro Transit Police is very interested in talking with anyone who saw the incident today, please call them at 202.962.1792.

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The District
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33 Car Lots Lose License in DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Untitled’
courtesy of ‘s.carlson’

Mayor Fenty announced this afternoon that 33 auto dealers lost their licenses to operate in the district. By revoking their licenses, these lots fall under the vacant properties provisions of recent tax bills, which means they can be taxed at a rate of $5 per $100 of assessed value, instead of the normal rate.

DCRA will be enforcing more restrictions starting tomorrow against area businesses that might be considered blights on their community. The Post article cites one requirement in specific that may be at the root of some of these revocations: a $100,000 bond is required for used car dealers in the District and many area banks are balking at backing used car dealers, even in this market. But, this will perhaps encourage some area businesses to play by the rules, or abandon their property. Either way, we’ll see some regulatory effects here in the short term.

The Daily Feed
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Poet Night at CAFÉ [This is Not That]

Photo courtesy of
‘Phillips First Thursdays’
courtesy of ‘christaki’

KatieT called it: I am intrigued by the POET night at The Phillips Collection. And wordies, poets, bibliophiles — read: my brethren — will also be intrigued. According to The Phillips, “Poets sit, read, eavesdrop, write, or hide in CAFÉ” and “There will be plenty of poets and opportunities to be poetic.” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I feel like if I brought my 1943 Royal Typewriter and plunked down in the middle of the cafe and started sounding my barbaric yawp, I would somehow not be out of place. While CAFÉ is open Tuesday through Saturday during the day (10 a.m. – 5 p.m.), it has late Thursday nights for First Thursday events such as POET night, July 2.

Cafe is located in, around, and outside of the Phillips Collection at 1600 21st St. NW in Dupont/West End. There will be green eggs and ham.

Sports Fix, The Features
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Capital Drafting: 2009 Draft Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_0844 Russia-USA, Whatever it Takes’ courtesy of ‘Ezio Armando’

Thought hockey was over? Think again. For many, the NHL Draft is one of the three most important days in the NHL’s season, next to the trading deadline in Feb/Mar and the July 1st Unrestricted Free Agent date. It’s on this day that the future of franchises can be seen and debated, based on what prospects are selected – and sometimes, what deals can be wheedled from competitors.

The Capitals were pretty silent on the trade front, something altogether expected. The core of the team is pretty solid and there was little speculation that GM George McPhee would deal away anyone to move up in the draft. There was practically no chance the Caps could get their skates on anyone in the Top Ten so unless an offer got dropped on their desk, nothing major was going to happen. The only trade really of note involved the Caps and Coyotes, a deal for a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft for defenseman Sami Lepisto, who only played seven games this season.

Defense is the one area the team looks to shore up. While Karl Alzner is sitting in Hershey ready to move up, the team needs to decide its future with restricted free agents Shaone Morrisonn, Jeff Schultz and Milan Jurcina. With Fedorov and Kozlov departing for Russia, some room on the cap is open and gives the team some breathing room, so expect McPhee to make a play for a more high-profile defenseman at the July 1 UFA deadline. Regardless, the Caps did draft with a more defensive mindset this year, possibly with an eye on the more high-powered multi-pronged offenses being built up in the Eastern Conference, such as Boston, New Jersey, Carolina and Pittsburgh.

The Caps had picks 24, 55, 85, 115, 145, 175 and 205 across the seven-round draft. Overall a solid collection of talent, though most of these players won’t be seen wearing a Caps jersey in the next year or so.

So let’s look over the Caps new and upcoming talent, shall we?

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The DC 100, The Features
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DC Omnivore 100: #92, Soft Shell Crab

Soft Shell Crab, Al Crostino

"Soft Shell Crab, Al Crostino" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

It’s time for another edition of the DC Omnivore 100, where we explore the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives…

“Blue Crab Molting Season.” Could there be a sweeter phrase to the foodie ears of our region? Really, it’s one of the best parts of living near the Chesapeake Bay. And for those of us who can’t be bothered with the hacking and slashing to get to the meat out of the crab while in its hard shell, it’s especially sweet.

It seems every restaurant currently has a soft shell crab special on the menu, and that’s no coincedence. From roughly May through June, our local blue crabs are casting aside their old shells, like giggling girls getting beach-ready. It takes about four days for their new shells to harden, so before they become bitter and jaded (ok, I know I’m milking a bad metaphor, I just can’t resist, it’s like a disease) snap them up.

A perfect soft shell crab dish has that signature play with texture – the crisp shell giving way to succulent crabmeat with a little burst of the sea. But I know this particular texture is not initially to everyone’s liking. My gateway dish was soft shell crab roll, often called “Spider” roll. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The Mall
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Hirshhorn After Hours Tickets Available!

Photo courtesy of
‘Hirshhorn Museum’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

Don’t miss out! $18 gets you in to Hirshhorn After Hours, with a cash bar, guided tours, awesome DJs, and of course, the Museum’s extensive modern art and sculpture collection. This is one of DC’s hottest tickets and it always, always, always sells out, so mark your calendar for July 24th from 8pm to midnight, and get your ticket. Thanks much to DC Concierge for reminding us of this one over Twitter.

The Daily Feed
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“Meter Panic” starts in 3…2…1…

Photo courtesy of
‘wheat pennies bw’
courtesy of ‘christaki’

Are you ready for some frothing? Get set, but put your thinking caps on before you consume the media insanity that’s going to surround this.

Specifically, today’s story from WTOP about how much money the District’s parking enforcement group brings in: 25 times what is collected in Fairfax County, and a per-resident rate that’s ten times what Los Angeles brings in. Other breakdowns in the article include fine revenue by parking space and comparison of the number of spaces in D.C. vs Montomery County.

Omitted is any mention of the fact that the number of people in the District doubles during the workday, a fact that makes the comparison to L.A. or Fairfax a little questionable. It also calls into question how you can talk about the number of meters in D.C. versus MoCo without mentioning the fact that MoCo has 6.5 times the total land area as the District.

An article with not enough math is just as bad as an article with incorrect math. Be a skeptical news consumer.

Dupont Circle, Entertainment, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Real World Update 2

Photo courtesy of
‘House’
courtesy of ‘squidpants’

A week after the original projection for the RW cast move in date, there’s still no sign of them.  The house looks like it’s more or less ready to go.  I stopped by on Saturday and there was some minor construction happening inside, but the exterior of the house looked to be in ship-shape; there was even a grill and patio set out on the porch.  There hasn’t been any official word on when the cast will arrive, but I suspect that it’ll be some time this week.  I’m betting that MTV wants to have them in before the 4th so that they can get some nice, iconic shots of fireworks over the monuments.  We’ll have to wait and see, though.