Monthly Archives: August 2009

Technology, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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I, For One, Welcome Our New Robot Rap Battle Overlords.

How often do you see a robot challenge a Redskin? Especially one that looks like it really couldn’t take a hit? But, there we are. Via the Redskins Blog, Clicky the Robot has challenged Chris Cooley to a rap battle, apparently because Cooley thought Clicky was Gumby.

Now, Personally? I’d say if you’re a minor-league figure in internet safety, and Cooley called you anything at all? That’s a plus. But Gumby? Gumby’s a hero, man, an out and out cultural cult icon. Take the compliment for what it is and go with it. Hopefully, he’ll respond on his blog, and keep his pants on this time.

Interviews, People, The Features
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He Loves DC: Alex Capece

Studio shot

You know how there are people whose enthusiasm for things is contagious? Alex Capece is one of those people. We Love DC’s Editor man, Tom, stumbled across Alex’s blog, Raising Ladders, a detailed account of his experience as an EMT/firefighter in the DC Fire Department. His eye for photography, paired with his knack for great storytelling makes for a compelling blog read, but also exposes a side of DC that most are unfamiliar with. We sat down at Commonwealth recently, and I grilled him all about his job, his love of DC, and his favorite places to take photographs.

Katie: What’s your favorite place in DC?

Alex: The National Portrait Gallery. The first time I went, I was lost for six hours – it was the first time I had been out on my own exploring the city.

What would you change about DC if you could? Don’t say traffic. Everyone says traffic.

Traffic. No, the humidity. There are days here where you feel like you’re stuck to the sidewalk.

So you write all about your experiences as a rookie firefighter. What do you enjoy about blogging?

When I first started Raising Ladders, I was writing it for friends and family, just so I could tell them about what I was doing. Now it’s more of a challenge to come up with interesting things. I try to write a post for every shift. I never really thought it would be so popular, now I try and think of what people would want to read. It’s like my dad says, if you do good work, someone will notice. I’m always impressed when people email me now, mostly asking about the DCFD. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Sen. Cardin Faces Town Hall

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com/video.

Senator Cardin (D-MD) had the first of several town hall events yesterday at Towson University, and, as expected, it was a bit rowdy. While no one got arrested, and no one was beaten by an SEIU member, it doesn’t appear that anything actually happened. I suspect no one was actually convinced of anything, and that the Senator didn’t change his mind on any of this.

So, the question remains: why have these at all? Is it just for cathartic shouting?

The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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The 10 Car Train

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro Train in Motion’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

It seems that drugs are behind WMATA’s latest innovation: the 10 car train.  During rush hour on July 31st, a Green Line train operator was alerted by a passenger that his train was trailing two extra cars.  Metro platforms are only designed to accommodate 8 car trains, so the additional carriages were never made it into the stations and remained unused.  The train made it from Greenbelt to Georgia Ave before being noticed, after which it was taken out of service.  The support personnel responsible for staging the train were subjected to drug tests, and one individual tested positive.  WMATA is still investigating and has yet to take any disciplinary action.  Hooray, Metro!

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Kora Opens Thursday (For Real?)

Photo courtesy of
‘kora, coming this summer’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

So it’s been a bit of a spotty mess (I’ve heard at least three opening dates), but Morou finally announced that Kora will be opening to the public this Thursday the 13th. Kora, the most recent concept from Morou (of Farrah Olivia), features “New Italian cuisine in a modern and contemporary setting. The bar and lounge showcases over 20 unique Italian wines by the glass as well as an innovative international cocktail menu.”

Kora is also now on OpenTable, and will accept reservations starting on Thursday. Check out the tasty-looking gallery on the Kora Web site.

The Features
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Getting hitched in the area, vacuus templum

Photo courtesy of
‘Congdon wedding’
courtesy of ‘nha.library’

When my darling then-fiancée and I finally settled on Ocean City, MD as our location for getting hitched, we had to confront the same challenge as a lot of our fellow heathens: who’s going to perform the wedding? Say what you want against tithing or organized religion, but it provides an infrastructure that can be a pain to duplicate.

Or not, if you believe the Washington Times’ article about people turning to mail-order ordainment so they’ll have an officiant for their wedding. A hop, click and a few bucks gets one of your friends or family members a certification as a minister, freeing them to perform your ceremony under the laws of Maryland.

Did you notice that I specified Maryland?

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Backpack countdown

Photo courtesy of Me

The Safe Shores backpacks

The deadline has passed, but I’m gonna give you one last shot to get on the charity train – I’m taking the backpacks for Safe Shores over to their offices this afternoon and I’ll let you squeak in for the next few hours. I don’t know what you all donated directly to Safe Shores, but readers F.S. and Scott each used PayPal to send me money to buy two backpacks each on their behalf. If you’d like to get in on this action you can use the button in the original post and claim one. If you’d rather donate directly to Safe Shores they certainly can use the funds.

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Update on Cell Phone Bus Driver

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro on the Move’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

Everyone remember the uproar back on July 30 when UnsuckDCMetro posted the story and photo about the 63 bus with the driver who was chatting on her cell phone, even getting off the bus to do so?

Seems it may have been a legitimate call after all.

According to another blog – Maryland Politics Watch – the driver was actually on the phone with WMATA’s Central control, reporting a mechanical difficulty (malfunctioning destination sign) and minor injuries from falling up the bus stairs as she re-boarded. While the investigation isn’t final yet, it seems this time the operator was in the ‘right’ though she apparently was not very communicative with the riders as to what was going on.

While it’s nice to know what the truth is with the situation, it’s disheartening yet again to see Catoe mishandle yet another situation. I’m sure the stress sucks in the wake of the June 22 accident, but really – one would expect the “top public transportation manager” in the country to handle these things better.

The Daily Feed
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Patronage Alive and Well in DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Catedral de Petrópolis’
courtesy of ‘Rodrigo_Soldon’

Some call it patronage, others call it working with people you know, either way, the practice is alive and well in DC. Once, patronage was so alive and well in the federal city, it dominated the political debate the way Healthcare, er sorry, just got the memo, Health Insurance Reform does right now. The corruption endemic to a system in which every player was installed by an elected official is a difficult thing to combat. Despite the reforms of the Williams administration, and early attempts by the Fenty administration, we’re still left with situations like that of Councilman Barry and his girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt.

So, is Patronage the right of the Politician? The reward for election? Or is it the Scourge of a healthy bureaucracy?

The Daily Feed
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Calling All Would-Be Zombies…

Photo courtesy of
” courtesy of ‘erin m’

I know it’s not October yet, but Six Flags America needs your help. They’re prepping for their annual Fright Fest and will be holding auditions on Wednesday, August 26 and Thursday, August 27 from 4 to 9 p.m.

The theme park is looking for people to perform in their Halloween-themed song and dance revues, to perform in the park’s haunted walk-through attractions, and to fill spooky roles as in-park monsters, zombies, and other assorted creatures of the night. All candidates must pre-register by calling the Six Flags America Entertainment Hotline at (301) 249-1500 ext. 5092. Candidates should bring a recent headshot and resume, be prepared to move, sing and act, and show a sense of humor. Halloween costumes are not permitted at auditions.

Actual werewolves must show proof of recent rabies vaccination.

Adventures, Entertainment, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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Whoa! This Event Looks Intense

Photo courtesy of
‘devil or angel?’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

I was just cruising around Yahoo Events, when I came upon the uber-intense looking SMB-XII DC’s 13th Annual Summer Masquerade Ball.  Seriously, I’m kinda freaked out/intrigued by the “Angels & Demons” theme, the creepy airbrushed images and the idea of spending part of my evening in one of the themed section called “Hell” that features freak show performers and fire spinners in a secret chamber. Better lay off the absinthe filled, smoking goblets.

Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town this Friday on a long ago scheduled vacation, and unable to attend, but I’d love to hear all about it.  Have you been to the 12! other balls?  If so, what were their themes?  What kind of people attend?

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Drinkist by andertho

With the weather finally qualifying as “disgusting”, we could all use a drink couldn’t we?  Of course beer, chilled martinis, or Pimm’s always hit the spot, but with dangerous temperatures and heat indexes like we’ve had over the past few days, water is your best option to stay hydrated.  Hah!  I had you going there for a while didn’t I?  My recipe for cooling off is to head to my favorite neighborhood (air conditioned) bar and crack open a cool one, or you know, slurp down a swirly, tequila-flavored one as the case may be.

That’s not to say that this beautiful shot by andertho doesn’t make me want to drink gallons and gallons of pure H2O.  His choice of black and white is perfect here and I like the way the black and gray background splits the frame roughly into thirds.  Some effort and planning may have gone into this shot, but more than likely this sort of thing comes naturally for Mr. Anderson who has been shooting for years.  I can imagine the movement of the water as it splashes and spirals around on the bone dry stainless steel pan.  You want to take a drink but you can’t help but remember that countless little kids have slobbered all over the spout, only to be cleaned up by the night crew’s chemicals.

Wait, it is just me or does anyone else wish this was a beer fountain?

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Jordan Zimmermann to Miss 18 Months

Photo courtesy of
‘Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Even when things are good, it’s hard to be a National. Pitcher Jordan Zimmermann will missing approximately 18 months with what looks, to the dismay of everyone, like a ligament tear in his elbow. The Nationals will seek a third opinion, but if that confirms the diagnosis, it’s likely he will have Tommy John Surgery, where they remove a ligament from somewhere else on your body (usually a foot, forearm or leg) and replace the torn ligament in your elbow.

It’s not a death sentence, but any stretch of the imagination, as more than 83 percent of athletes recover to their previous strength, but it’s still a huge blow for the Nationals to lose one of their best pitchers this early in his career.

The worst of this is the timing. Not just for the Nats in the middle of an 8-game winning stretch, but because there are just five days left before the deadline to sign Stephen Strasburg before the window closes for a year and it’s likely he heads to Japan. This could go either way: Either Boras has the Nats right where he wants them, and is able to get $50M, or the Nats say to Boras, “We just saw one of our best prospects tear a ligament randomly. You get $18M and you like it, or you take your chances with Japan.”

We’ll see how the Lerners play it in a few days.

The Daily Feed
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Legg Mason Final Report


Tennis Fans by Max Cook

Contributed by Paula Schumann

In Friday’s quarterfinals we saw Gonzales beat Hass, and then came the news that the Soldering vs Del Potro match was canceled because Soderling withdrew, due to a sore elbow.  I had seen him playing earlier in the week and he looked to be in good form.  I noticed that his choice of outfit was trimmed in gold, as if to anoint himself the new prince of the tour.  When asked about his withdrawal, he said he woke up with the sore arm and his plan was to get an MRI and then to get healthy for the US Open.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Eat Ice Cream Every Day? YES PLZ.

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_4522’
courtesy of ‘rekphoto’
Gifford’s Ice Cream just tweeted in need of a marketing intern for the fall, saying “know anyone wants to eat ice cream every day as their internship?”

I’m sorry, WHAT? Did you just say there was a job available in the DC area where I could eat MY FAVORITE FOOD EVERY DAY!? Diet be damned! There is a job, that pays actual money for that? AM I IN THE WRONG PROFESSION OR SOMETHING?!

Gotta go, resignation letter drafting…

Fun & Games, Media, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors, The Mall
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Last Screen on the Green of the Summer

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

Well, Screen on the Green is set to retire for another season.  Let’s hope that it comes back again next year.  Tonight’s showing will be the James Dean classic “Rebel Without a Cause.” If you haven’t been out to SCOTG yet, definitely brave the balmy evening and join the cool kids on the mall.  In my opinion, “On the Waterfront” was this year’s best cinematic offering from our friends at HBO and WB, but “Rebel Without a Cause” is a close second. Get there.

The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: La Bohème

La Boheme, Wolf Trap Opera 8-7-09

It’s not quite Rent, but its certainly not your grandmother’s Puccini, either. Wolf Trap Opera Company‘s one-night staging of La bohème fell somewhere inbetween classical and modern — with the occasional wink at the post-modern — with its multi-media presentation of the opera set in Brooklyn, NY. Director Kevin Newbury’s treatment of Puccini’s immensely popular work was supported by the once-again impressive cast of Filene Young Artists.

La bohème is an opera of character more so than plot — most of its action takes place in the hearts of its bohemian protagonists as they fumble through their relationships with one another. What is striking is just how easily the lyrics of the Italian libretto translates to 2009. All the qualities which, when modernised, become idiosyncratic can be easily explained away by Williamsburg hipster irony. Marcello, the artist, is painting a picture of the Red Sea? But of course. Mimi embroiders silk flowers? Totally. Their apartment is heated by a small stove? Clearly. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Up to 40% Off Last Minute Virginia Travel Deals


‘Decisions’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

Now’s your chance to escape to Assateague, Virginia Beach, or Luray Caverns without worrying about any large, gaping (and growing) hole in your wallet. Plan a last minute trip and steal a deal on logding, dining and attractions at nearly 200 participating partners statewide.

In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of “Virginia is for Lovers”, the Virginia Tourism Corporation is offering three major ways to save on last minute Virginia summer travel: $40 off, 40% off or Buy 3 Get 1 Free.

There’s something for everyone. Go to www.Virginia.org/40Off to browse all the possibilities. Some of them are just across the bridge.

Food and Drink, The DC 100
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DC Omnivore 100: #65, Durian

Durian by Perantau Sepi Lodge

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.

I am guessing that probably 95% of you have never tried durian. Widely known as the king of fruits, this rare delicacy originated in Malaysia and is grown in many varieties in Southeast Asia. The real king of the king of fruits, however, is the montong variety, which is grown in Thailand and whose name is Thai for “golden pillow” –  a wonderful description for how the flesh of the fruit looks.

If you have not tasted durian, you owe it to yourself to try it, at least once. Forget the Omni 100 list and what other people say about necessary life experiences. It’s all poppycock when held for inspection next to the durian.

To be honest about it, not many Americans love the fruit but on the other hand, I am rather certain nobody feels midway about it. The relationship is a dramatic one of love or hate. I fall into the love category. My lovely wife, on the other hand, falls on the opposite side of the fence. This is where marital harmony pumps its lovely little handcart to hell.
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Should Mayor Fenty Be Driving?

Photo courtesy of
‘Fenty Oops’
courtesy of ‘Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com’

It’s very rare for the mayor of a major city to be doing their own driving. Mayor Fenty is provided with a driver to get him from place to place and be able to maintain his hectic and packed schedule, but he decided as of two years ago to take the wheel himself.

WaPo talks about the dilemma here. The mayor was just recently involved in a crash, while driving his city-issued Navigator, in Chevy Chase and conflicting information surrounded the police report and the statement issued by the mayor’s office. A few months back, he collected a speeding ticket and was caught illegally allowing a friend to use his city vehicle.

Continue reading →