Monthly Archives: July 2009

News, The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Commuter Connections Expands Services

Photo courtesy of
‘the crossing’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Ever been pressed between to sweaty guys on a Green Line train after a Nats game because you didn’t want to pony up $20 for parking? Well, Commuter Connections may have a solution. The carpooling agency has extending its services beyond the work week.  Now, instead of just coordinating rides to and from work, Commuter Connections offers ride matching to major events like concerts, games, and parades.  Ideally, this will reduce congestion and improve the overall air quality of our city.  With 30,000 commuters already participating in the 9-5 program, events are a welcome addition to Commuter Connections’ services.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Council to Probe Barry’s Contracts

Photo courtesy of
‘Roosevelt at campaign contributions investigation (LOC)’
courtesy of ‘The Library of Congress’

Council Chair Vincent Gray has announced that the City Council will be investigating the contract given to Donna Watts-Brighthaupt by Marion Barry in the amount of $60,000, as to whether it was properly awarded. This is a bit of a backtrack for the council, as Gray had earlier said he wasn’t sure if the council had the authority to investigate Barry’s contract. The council will be retaining an outside law firm to conduct the investigation and make recommendations to the council regarding the status of the contract.

I was talking with a friend last night, and both of us were wondering if this would finally be the scandal to sink Marion Barry. Each of us wondered if there wasn’t a trail of these kinds of contracts through the last decade or so of Barry’s public service, and that this might be the final nail in the coffin. I think that, for as long as Marion Barry’s been around, he might get a slap on the wrist, because you don’t have such a long career here without knowing just how to play something like this. My friend made a valid point that it seems that a number of Republican governors could learn from Marion Barry’s scandal-handling techniques. I couldn’t agree more, the guy is a master at scandal operations.

Photo from LOC, because who doesn’t think that Teddy Roosevelt wouldn’t be an awesome investigator in this case?

Downtown, History, Monumental, The Features
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Monumental: Pershing Park

Photo courtesy of
‘Film! – Canon A-1 – Pershing in Focus -11-7-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Few people think much of Pershing Park. I’d wager that most walk by without noticing it. In spite of Pershing Park being DC’s largest World War I memorial, it serves primarily as a napping place for the homeless and a thoroughfare for tourists walking from Federal Triangle station to the White House. You never see people stopping to take pictures or reading the inscriptions on statue pedestals, and the space is a bit disordered and poorly maintained. In and of itself, the park is hardly worth writing about, but it does serve as a disheartening case study of Americans’ indifference towards our nation’s participation in the Great War.

Pershing Park is located on 15th and Pennsylvania, between the Willard and the Commerce building. It was constructed in 1981 by the Pennsylvania Ave. Development Commission in honor of Gen. John J. Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces. In case you’re a little hazy on your history, Gen. Pershing was one of America’s greatest military minds and “General of the Armies,” the highest rank ever held by any American officer aside from George Washington (although, Washington received this distinction posthumously). Pershing commanded the Expeditionary Forces during World War I and his over all strategy has been credited by many as a deciding factor in the Allied victory of World War I. In the course of a year and a half of combat, his armies suffered over 300,000 casualties, but succeeded in dislodging the Germans from many key locations in Europe.

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Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Reefer Madness

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Nessa Land’
In a recent survey the District of Columbia ranks 6 out of 51 in Marijuana Usage by State, with 13.81% of D.C. residents using the drug in the past year.  Northeastern states (Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusettes) round off the top 2-5, with Alaska taking the top spot with 15.83%.  Surprisingly, Maryjane seems to be somewhat more acceptable in the Land of the Midnight Sun than cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol usage.

Adventures, Entertainment, Food and Drink, We Love Arts, We Love Food
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Eat Like A Kid Again; A Tactile Dining Experience

Digging In

Remember when your mother used to tell you not to eat with your hands and how unnatural it felt? And now, you’re all grown up and what feels unnatural is actually eating WITH your hands. Funny how that works, eh? Well if you want to take a trip back to your childhood, minus the nagging parents trying to instill manners on you, then the Tactile Dinner Experience might be just the thing for you. As part of this years Capital Fringe Festival, inter-disciplinary theatre company, Banished Productions, is putting on a 7-course theatrical “dinner” (I use quotation marks because if you show up hungry, you’ll leave that way) to mark the 100th Anniversary of Futurism, a movement from 1920s Italy basically rejecting all things conventional or antiquated. Or something or other. I was just there to eat with my hands and act like a kid again… Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Now We Are Four


Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Giant Panda Turns Four!
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian’s National Zoo

The National Zoo never fails to amuse me with their party celebrations for the various animals in their care. St. Patrick’s Day with the apes, birthday parties for the panda… Tai Shan turns four today, and keepers made him a “birthday cake” out of beets and fruit, and presenting it to him with singing.

I’m not sure if I should be weirded out by all the anthropomorphizing of the animals, or relieved that the keepers entertain themselves in this way.

Downtown, Entertainment, Media, News, The Daily Feed
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Robin Williams Filming at DAR

Photo courtesy of
‘DAR Constitution Hall’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

Robin Williams is coming to DC and HBO is going to film him here. Williams’ national comedy tour, “Weapons of Self Destruction,” will make a stop at DAR Constitution Hall in November. THR.com reports that HBO plans to tape his performance there and air it as a prime-time special at some point December. If you’re hoping to get tickets to the show, good luck. The “Self-Destruction” tour is completely sold out. I guess that means that Robin Williams actually is funny?

The Features, We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: July 11-12

Photo courtesy of
‘Patriotic photo for D-Day’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

The weather this weekend looks to be pretty good, with some chance of a popup thunderstorm both days. What are our authors up to? Here’s the account…

Ben R: We’ll be celebrating my newfound return to the land of employment with a nice dinner over in Penn Quarter, probably either Zaytinya, Jaleo, Matchbox or Poste. If the weather holds well, we’ll probably be taking our cameras out down to Mount Vernon; they’ve got their National Treasure tour still going on, but more awesomely, the wheat harvest has begun and they’ll be doing demonstrations throughout the summer. If the weather tanks, then it’ll most likely be a “Washington DC movie night,” where we’ll pick a few movies out that were filmed / set in DC and proceed to either identify locations or snark them for poor representation.

Jenn: Who cares if the forecast is calling for evening rain this weekend? The W Hotel Washington is open, you should hit the POV rooftop bar (there is an enclosed section that’s superswank) and relax while the thunder rolls. Or check out H Street’s newest bar, Little Miss Whiskey’s, which finally opens after last week’s liquor license snafu. Hit a few crazy plays at the Capital Fringe Festival. Me? I finally bought a bike! I’m hitting the trails! So if you see a girl with a bike that’s way cooler than she is, constantly falling off and cursing, that would be me. Get out of the way before I get hurt.

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The Features, We Love Arts
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Colors and Shapes: An Interview with Harry Potter Illustrator Mary GrandPré

Photo courtesy of
‘Harry Potter’
courtesy of ‘KitAy’

Harry Potter fans, close your eyes and think of “The Half-Blood Prince” — the sixth book in the series, the movie of which will open in just a few short days. What image do you see? What color? Chances are, the answer is an amalgum of green and yellows, with the faces of Harry and Dumbledore as imagined and drawn by the hand of Mary GrandPré, the American illustrator of the series.

While GrandPré is best known for her work on the series, she has an extensive body of work beyond the realm of Hogwarts and Horcruxes, including many children’s story books. She will be discussing her career at the Corcoran Museum on Monday, July 13 in a talk entitled “Creating Characters: An Illustrative Evening.” WeLoveDC’s Acacia O’Connor had the opportunity to chat with GrandPré about “King Harry” and what inspires her.

WeLoveDC: Tell me a little bit about the upcoming lecture and presentation.

Mary GrandPré: Well, most people know me as the Harry Potter illustrator, so I’m going to show some slides on the work I’ve done on that, and some of the work behind the scenes that people don’t see.  Also a new collection of pieces that are editorial and other works. I’ve been an illustrator for 25 years now so I have quite a variety of things to show.

So you’ve been to DC before? What were your impressions?

I really enjoyed (DC). I know it’s changed now but it seemed like it’s really efficient, it’s beautiful, good food, good art. I just thought it was a great town, I think it still is.

When you get a cover assignment – where do you begin?

I go through the manuscript at least 2 or 3 times, I read it with a fine-toothed comb. I actually have this system where I highlight characters in one color descriptions and events in another color, I’ll highlight little descriptions that are important — anything thats a clue for me to making a complete cover. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Peeps Store to open at National Harbor

Photo courtesy of
‘sugar overload’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Peep Jousting and Peep Dioramas are about to become year-round activities in DC. Just Born, Inc., makers of the famous technicolor marshmallow candies, have announced that they’re opening their first-ever retail location at the National Harbor development in PG County this fall. In addition to the squishy art supplies (because really, who actually eats those things?) they’ll sell a variety of peep-related swag, including china, some of which is apparentlymade by Lenox. Who knew Peeps gear could be so fancy?

The store will be in the vicinity of the Awakening statue, which to me seems like an invitation for some pretty hilarious photo ops. I expect to see your “Awakening…with a Peeps Moustache” photos in the Flickr pool by the end of the year. You are on notice.

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Metro’s New Zero Tolerance Policy: No Phones

Photo courtesy of
‘Pink Croc & Subway Rail’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

If you’re working for Metro, you’d best leave your cellphone in your locker. Starting Monday, if you get caught doing anything with your phone while operating a train, you will be fired, with prejudice. While Metro used to have a three strikes policy, with the uproar in the community after a driver was caught texting this week, the previous 5-day and 10-day suspensions are now gone, and have been replaced with simple termination.

No word yet if this applies to drivers who fall asleep while driving the train.

The Daily Feed
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Kastles Remain Winless


Olga Puchkova by Max Cook

Despite a strong start in mixed doubles and a big women’s singles win by Olga Puchkova, the Washington Kastles were defeated last night by the St Louis Aces.  The Aces may have actually benefited from the loss of their marquee player, Anna Kournikova, who is out for the season with a wrist injury.  While she was once ranked eighth in the world in singles and first in doubles, her tennis career has been seriously curtailed in recent years due to injuries.  She still draws quite a crowd and finds time to do charity work including yesterday’s Bloomberg Kids Tennis Clinic.

While the Kastles remain winless at 0-4, there is still hope.  If Puchkova works on her doubles game with Rennae Stubbs and the team reduces their double faults and improves their break point conversions, they stand a good chance of winning.  The players need to get fired up and start living up their motto, “refuse to lose”.

The Kastles play again at home on Sunday against the New York Buzz, so buy a ticket and hope for a win!

Getaways, The Features
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Getaways: Tangier Island

Photo courtesy of
‘tangier local riding in his little boat to his crab shack.’
courtesy of ‘mrtobo’

Nestled 12 miles west of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, lies Tangier. The island of Tangier was officially settled in 1686 by John Crockett, whose descendants still reside on this 0.2 square mile cluster of small islands and marshes.  Despite its size, Tangier is a fascinating and wonderful summer trip for those looking to getaway.

Getting to Tangier requires visitors to board a ferry from various points on both the Maryland and Virginia Eastern shores.  However, don’t expect to take your car, as the only methods of transportation allowed on Tangier are bicycles and golf carts.  Don’t worry the island is flat and totally walkable. Tangier also has a small municipal airport, but the vast majority of flights in are personal aircraft.

Once there, you’ll be transported back in time, and I’m serious.  For starters the locals, and there are only 605 of them, speak in a unique Elizabethan dialect of American English.  Some linguists hypothesize that this dialect or “accent” has not changed since the occupation of English colonists.  It’s like having Thomas Cromwell or Shakespeare talking to you.

I recommend your first stop off the ferry be the Tangier History Museum.  There you can learn about the island’s settlement, crabbing and oystering history, it’s role in the War of 1812, and much, much more.

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The Daily Feed
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I-395 Meltdown

Photo courtesy of
‘Motorway Madness’
courtesy of ‘DavidHBolton’

If anyone is planning on heading south on I-395 this evening, I’m afraid that you are SOL.  AlertDC reports that there is a major accident on the southbound side of the highway that has all lanes closed.  The official report:

“Arlington: Accident on I-395 South prior exit 7 all lanes closed in addition the right HOV lane is closed: 4 vehicles with overturned.

HOV is lifted to southbound traffic between D.C. and Edsall Road; lanes expected to be closed for estimated 1 hour.

Delays 5 miles into D.C.”

update [5:14]

It appears that VDOT worked more quickly than expected to clear the wreck.  All lanes appear to be moving, althought backups remain, particularly around exits. Both HOV lanes are open and moving freely.

News, The Daily Feed
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Marion Barry Sex Tapes?

Photo courtesy of
‘Marion Barry and Mr. Grumpy Pants’
courtesy of ‘ricepeter’

Okay, that’s misleading. And wrong. And oh-god-please-never-ever-ever-for-real. But the City Paper does indeed have a bunch of voicemails between Marion Barry and his ex-girlfriend-now-stalking-victim Donna Watts-Brighthaupt. Mike DeBonis of the City Paper has done some extraordinary work making sure that the voicemails get out and that the story from Ms. Watts-Brighthaupt’s point of view is out there, as well as that of Mr. Barry.

I have a feeling that this is one of those “fractally weird” stories, where any one part of the story is just as weird as the entirety of the case. It’s hard to guess where the Soap Opera that is the life of Marion Barry will go from here, but we’ll find out tomorrow when he appears in court to either be formally charged by the United States Attorney, or have the incident be dropped like a hot potato. Either way, this one’s not nearly done with yet.

The Daily Feed
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Breaktime Assistance

Photo courtesy of
‘Breaktime’ courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

If you’re a follower on my Twitter, you’ll know about my employment situation that has happily changed this afternoon. Starting tomorrow, I will once again be working in downtown DC – something I absolutely love – and in a new area of the city. Which means two things I need help with, so why not ask you guys?

I need a nice morning coffee-imbibing place to visit and I need some lunchtime suggestions for some quick bites. Fast service, good food, and not the usual fast-food garbage either. My new employer is located near McPherson Square Metro. So, readers, help me out! Where would you suggest I go for morning caffeine and lunchtime nibbles? Who knows, maybe I’ll see you around!

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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The Simpsons at the Postal Museum

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

Fox and the US Postal Service have collaborated on a new set of stamps featuring The Simpsons. The stamps were designed by Matt Groening himself, which is kind of cool, considering the enormous commercial enterprise built around these characters.

Anyway, the National Postal Museum is dedicating Saturday, July 18th to the Simpsons. The first 1,000 visitors to the museum that day will recieve a first day cover, with the stamps canceled on their first day of issue. (View a sample.)

The Features
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We Need Your Help to Save Jonathan’s Life

Jonathan Haupt, courtesy of TeamHaupt.org

Jonathan Haupt, pictured above, is a 32-year-old DC native, and he is battling acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer.  Chemotherapy has not worked for Jonathan, and his only hope for a cure now is to find a bone marrow match for a transplant.  Jonathan’s wife Courtney and the rest of Team Haupt are asking for your help in joining the National Bone Marrow Registry, because there’s no good match in his family or on the registry yet.  It’s so easy to join— fill out a form, swab the inside of your cheek, and you’re on the registry.

By signing up for the National Bone Marrow Registry, you’re not only potentially helping Jonathan, you’re helping everyone.  Too often, the friends and family members of a patient needing a bone marrow transplant aren’t a match, and that patient has to rely on the kindness of strangers who have added themselves to the registry.  Imagine if your husband or wife, child, or friend needed a bone marrow transplant and you weren’t a match?  Knowing that only 3 in 10 patients will receive the transplant that could save their lives, you’d probably encourage everyone you could reach to join the registry to find a match.  The National Registry needs people from all backgrounds (in Jonathan’s case, European Jewish heritage) to make sure they have a wide selection of matches out there, so if you’re African American, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or multiple races, please strongly consider joining because they need you the most.

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