Monthly Archives: August 2009

The DC 100
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DC Omnivore 100: #18, Fruit Wine

Photo courtesy of
‘Bluemont Dessert Wines’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

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.

“Fruit wine made with something other than grapes,” to be precise. Tom and I were kicking around which part of the Omnivore 100 list we wanted to try, and remembered that our CSA farm, Great Country Farms, has an affiliated vineyard run by the same family just across the street. We remembered seeing on their tasting list some wines made with fruit from the farm. And since we’re out there picking up our CSA share every week, it would be pretty easy to just drop by and grab a couple of bottles to try.

So we did. We picked up “The Peach,” a 50/50 blend of peach wine and vidal blanc, and “The Strawberry,” a sweet dessert wine made with 90% strawberry wine and 10% red wine. We brought them along on our trip out of town this weekend so that we could share them around with family. You know, in the name of Science™. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Edgewood Graffiti Project Unveiled

Photo courtesy of
‘Mural Jam No. 12 (In Technicolor)’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

My love of graffiti as an art form goes way back to my high school senior paper on the subject, and now DC is getting on board. As the Post wrote about last week, city officials are encouraging graffiti artists to leave their art on approved mural walls (like a 1,000 foot wall in Edgewood) instead of illegal tagging.

Today, come celebrate the completion of the Edgewood mural at 4:30 pm at 540 Rhode Island Ave, behind the shopping center. Rumor is that Fenty will make an appearance, plus other fun activities will abound.

The Daily Feed
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Caps Help Beautify DCPS

Photo courtesy of
‘Washington Capitals Hat’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Can’t say the Capitals aren’t using their summer downtime wisely.

This past Saturday, Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau and D-man Brian Pothier participated in the annual DC Public Schools Beautification Day. Several members from the Caps’ front office also assisted in projects at Emery Education Campus in NE and King Elementary School in SE. At King, the volunteers were joined by DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee for a short time.

The Caps and several fan volunteers planted flowers, landscaped, painted, cleaned out old books and put together goody-bags for the incoming students.

The Daily Feed
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O HAI, Free Cupcakes!

Photo courtesy of
‘Hello, Prima Donna! (94/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Newsflash: My personal favorite cupcakery, Hello Cupcake is turning 1 tomorrow, and celebrating by giving out free cupcakes. Get yours on Tuesday, August 25th at the Dupont Circle shop. One free cupcake per customer. My favorite ‘cake at Hello is You Tart! – a lemon cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. NOMZ. Hello Cupcake is located right off of Dupont Circle on Connecticut Ave across from Krispy Kreme.

The Daily Feed
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WaPo echos the $2.25 number

Photo courtesy of
‘Capitalism’
courtesy of ‘Lorri37’

When Ben commented on Maryland’s loss of 19,000 EZ-Pass customers he included mention of the most stunning number in the article: the claim that the state actually still loses money because the accounts supposedly cost the state $2.25 per month. In the comments we hashed this out a bit. I expressed disbelief that the Examiner got this right because that figure, across all of Maryland’s half-million EZ-Pass customers, would total up at over 13 Million a year, about one-third of what the state pays for all transit salary and engineering expenses.

Apparently I under-estimated the ability for the state to ink a bad deal with a contractor. The Washington Post covered this issue on Sunday and had a more complete description of how Maryland manages to spend $2.25 per account per month.

The fee was announced in January as part of a revenue initiative spurred by the struggling economy, skyrocketing material prices, and declining traffic and income. It is intended to help offset the $2.25 per month per account that the agency pays Affiliated Computer Services, the contractor that oversees E-ZPass, for maintenance.

This may still represent an over-simplification, or represent all the costs of running electronic tolls divided by the number of customers. My faith in the WaPo article plunged somewhat when it made the rather large error of claiming that Virginia customers don’t have to pay a deposit for their electronic pass if they choose “to have the account automatically replenished each month.”

If Maryland’s deal requires them to pay on a non-sliding scale for pass-holders that’s a pretty awful deal; the cost of installing and maintaining the sensors at the toll booths doesn’t increase every time a new customer comes on board. Collecting on and tracking 500,000 accounts costs about the same as doing it for 500,900 accounts. If this number is simply a shorthand for communicating the total costs of the program then that’s just misleading: it doesn’t credit the books with the saved money on salaries for toll collectors required for drivers who pay cash.

Perhaps Ben assessed it best. “It’s Maryland.”

The Daily Feed
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Beautification day is tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
‘Painting’
courtesy of ‘dahowlett’

Not for you – you already look great. DC’s schools, however, are about to open and could use some sprucing up. There’ll be a big community effort tomorrow to do last-minute work on the schools and- somewhat amazingly – you can still sign up. Work starts promptly at 8a (no word on if you’ll get detention if you’re tardy) and you’re out at 1p.

If you go, they list these things you might be called upon to do:

  • sweeping/washing the sidewalk
  • painting exterior doors
  • picking-up trash
  • planting flowers
  • trimming bushes
  • pulling weeds
  • laying mulch, etc.

More details are here.

People
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In Memorium: Sgt. William John Cahir

Photo courtesy of Democracy in Action
Sgt. Bill Cahir, courtesy of Bill Cahir Memorial Fund

On August 13, US Marine Sergeant William Cahir was killed while serving our country in Afghanistan. Before moving to the Washington, DC area, Bill was from the same small town in Central Pennsylvania where I grew up. Although I didn’t know him personally, we shared several friends. He was an inspiration to everyone around him, and I donated to his campaign when he ran for Congress last year. Selfless and committed, service was not a goal but the rule. Service to family, community and country were not a question but a given.

Out of college he went to Capitol Hill to try and make a difference. Frustrated by partisanship, he became a journalist to better inform the public. The September 11, 2001 attacks drove Bill off the sidelines. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps at age 34 to personally take up the fight. Bill served two tours in Iraq. In 2008, Bill’s belief in service and country led him to resign his job as a journalist to run for Congress in his home community. He wanted to influence how the Iraq/Afghanistan wars were being fought. In the spring of 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan.

Bill left behind his loving wife and two expected children. If you’d like to help out his family during their time of loss and need, please visit the Bill Cahir Memorial Fund website and follow the links to donate.

The Features
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Why I Love DC: Cathy

Photo courtesy of
‘Shadow on the Mall’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’

Because, because, because… Why I love DC is always changing. I don’t know if it’s me growing or if it’s the city that’s actually changing. I can’t tell anymore. But I do know, that I didn’t love DC for a long time. I wanted to move to someplace more exciting: Paris, London, LA, San Francisco, Chicago! But I’m still here, so what’s keeping me here?

My first day in DC was when I moved into Georgetown. My dad was following me around with a camera the entire day, so that even when I’m not smiling, I can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was my first day in DC. I loved living in Georgetown. I loved that I could wander on to M Street for lunch and probably come back with bags and bags of new things from any number of stores. I loved that being in the middle of a large city gave me incredible part time job opportunities that other campuses didn’t have. But Georgetown is a bubble. Its quaint European-style streets and stores suck you in, and you have no reason to leave. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Where to WiFi in DC

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

One of my new favorite blogs, Free in DC, posted a list today of some sweet places with free WiFi around our fair city. Some of them I knew about, like Busboys and Poets and Caribou, but others were a nice surprise– who knew the Kogod Courtyard between the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery was blogger-friendly? Find others (free and paid) with the Hotspotr tool we wrote about a little while back.

The Daily Feed
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Could There Be a Wal-Mart In DC?

Photo courtesy of
‘Wal Mart: Salt Lake City’
courtesy of ‘Kenneth Hynek’

Wal-Mart wants a store right here in the District and is trying to get its ducks in a row to make it happen. According to the Washington Business Journal, Wal-Mart is “moving aggressively to work out a deal”. The top potential spot for the store right now is along Howard Road SE by the Poplar Point development. Wal-Mart wants to get into more urban areas and sees now as the time to do it, given the relative cheapness of land prices.

The article also goes on to discuss the fact that Wal-Mart will probably want a public partnership on this to help fund the land purchase because their stores bring foot traffic and tax revenue. Hmm, I’m not a complete self-proclaimed Wal-Mart hater like many, but I definitely do see the negative sides of bringing in a ginormous retailer to a neighborhood. Wal-Mart succeeds at capitalism at its finest and that’s the reason many people think it’s wrong for local government to stop them from being built. It’s the free market economy! So Wal-Mart, since you are such a capitalistic purist and have gotten filthy, filthy rich off of consumers, you get NO help from the government here. It’s the free market economy! Read: You can have your cake, but ain’t no chance you get to eat that shiz.

But even if they get no public funding for this effort, do you support Wal-Mart plopping down in DC? (get ready for comments from people who don’t live anywhere near the proposed site!)

The Daily Feed
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Maryland Loses 19,000 E-ZPass Accounts

Photo courtesy of
‘Toll Ahead (JFK Highway, Maryland)’
courtesy of ‘MPD01605’

The Maryland Transport Authority has reported that 19,000 users requested to close their E-ZPass accounts last month as the new $1.50/month fee went into effect on July 1. The MTA has had over 40,000 requests since January, when the fee was announced.

Officials at MTA insist the dropped accounts are a small fraction of the nearly 560,000 passes still out there, responding to the Examiner by saying the canceled accounts were from infrequent users. They claim the losses are somewhat offset by new accounts, but declined to say how many new ones they’ve received. They were quick to point out, however, that there are still over 70,000 accounts that haven’t been used in over a year. Those inactive accounts cost the state $2.25 each to maintain.

No word on how many of the drivers who canceled went over to states that don’t charge a fee.

The Daily Feed
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Newseum Half Price in August


Newseum WTOP Microphone by Mr. T in DC

Sorry we’re a bit late in reporting this, but thanks to WTOP, you can visit the Newseum for half price during the month of August.  Half price!  Seeing as how tickets normally run you a whopping $20, this is a great opportunity to save some cash and see all the museum has to offer.  In order to get the discount you simply have to mention “WTOP” at the ticket desk or you can purchase them online here.  With the weather being as gross as it’s been lately, this is a perfect indoor activity to keep your clothes from becoming drenched in sweat.

Is the Newseum worth $20?  Eh, not really in my opinion.  Is it worth $10?  Totally.  Go check it out.  Thanks, WTOP!

The Daily Feed
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Will D.C. host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup?

Photo courtesy of
‘Ft Slocum Soccer Ball’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

The Washington Business Journal reports that we’ve survived the first round of cuts in the competition to be a World Cup site. Don’t pull out the party hats just yet – this first round only trims the candidates down to 27 host cities, based on sweeping generalizations like traffic and accommodations. The next round of narrowing will happen in December and the final contenders will be bundled into the proposal submitted to FIFA in mid-2010.

There’s no guarantee at that point that FIFA will select the USA Bid Committee’s proposal, mind you. Ten other countries – alone and in cahoots with each other – have made official declarations of their intent to bid on the 2018 and/or 2022 Cup. If you’d like to keep up with the process more fully the US committee has a website and blog.

The Daily Feed
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Condolences to Jose Theodore and Family

Photo courtesy of
‘Theodore, Presented by Slapshot’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’

Our sincerest condolences to Washington Capitals goalie Jose Theodore and his family; we got word this morning that Jose and Stephanie’s two-month-old son has died.

There are no other details at this time, not that we need them. Everyone here at WeLoveDC sends the Theodore family our sympathies and condolences during this difficult time.

History, Monumental, The Features
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Monumental: Robert Emmet

Dublin Emmit Statue
Emmet statue in DC by Corinne Whiting

On a recent return trip to Dublin, Ireland, I happily killed some time strolling through the city oasis of St. Stephen’s Green. On my way out of the lush park, I meandered past a statue so familiar it brought me to a screeching halt. There stood a petticoat waistcoat-clad Robert Emmett (1778-1803)–bold jaw, foot forward, ready for battle. Now where I had seen this Irish patriot before?

But, of course. Where else but in DC, where memorials and monuments are so ubiquitous that many get passed without so much as a second glance. I too had been guilty of repeatedly strolling by this mystery man who reigns over a cozy triangular park near Massachusetts Avenue and 24th Street NW, having never stopped to learn his story. I vowed to visit him next time I found myself on embassy-lined Mass Ave.

Nestled beneath the branches of a Yoshino cherry tree, the DC Emmet stands on a granite pedestal just a few blocks from the Irish Embassy. This “boy martyr of Erin” appears mid-speech, one hand open in rhetorical gesture, the other somewhat clenched to display his “revolutionary spirit.” Emett’s father instilled in his sons a passion for Irish independence at a time when men and women-Catholic and Protestant-fought for freedom from Britain. Trinity College expelled the young Robert for his involvement in the 1798 rebellion and, in 1802, Emmet traveled to France as a member of the United Irishmen’s Party. Here he unsuccessfully appealed for French aid from Napoleon and Talleyrand. The following summer Emmet led an uprising outside of Dublin that British troops swiftly crushed. Emmet was executed (either hung or beheaded, accounts vary) on September 20, 1803 at the ripe age of 25.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Lunch? Don’t Care. You decide.

Photo courtesy of
‘Yummy Lunch!’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

We Love DC editor man Tom just sent me this link, and now my life is complete. You see, I have lunch angst. I do! I can never figure out where to get my lunch, and I always forget about all my options. So this Wheel of Lunch is brilliant! I’m in love. Input your zip code, and take the wheel for a spin and let it decide what you’re going to eat today. If wheels aren’t your thing, check out the UrbanSpoon slot machine widget.