Monthly Archives: October 2009

The Daily Feed
By

Fail to the Redskins

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

In honor of today’s abysmal game against the Chiefs, I present the Redskins new fight song, Fail to the Redskins

Fail to the Redskins! Fail, Victory!
Braves on the warpath, Suck for old D.C.!
Don’t Run or pass and score
We want a lot more
Don’t Beat ’em, swamp ’em, safety
Let the points go through the floor
Suck on, Suck on ‘Till you have lost Sons of Washington!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Fail to the Redskins! Fail, Victory!
Braves on the warpath Suck for old D.C.!

The Daily Feed
By

DC AIDS Funding Squandered, Post Reports

Photo courtesy of
‘money’
courtesy of ‘Tony.L.Wong’

The Post has just started publishing a new investigative series on gross mismanagement of funding for services and housing for District residents with HIV/AIDS. Aside from the outrage over the squandering of money meant to help the sickest and most vulnerable of our neighbors, I find this to be a really sad example of something a former boss told me once- it wasn’t worth it to bid on business from the DC government, because invariably, the official who granted the contract would end up under investigation for something, which means the contract would be investigated, and you’d end up spending so much on attorneys and staff time in dealing with the investigation that you’d end up losing more money than you made on the contract.

So you end up with a situation where honest, motivated people don’t want to deal with District funding, which leaves more of it available for charlatans and criminals who take hundreds of thousands of dollars for programs that never launch.

The series’ reporter will be doing a live chat tomorrow at 11AM, if you want to ask questions or add your comments.

The Features
By

Public Media Camp

Opening Session

What would happen if you got 300+ people involved in digital media creation and curation, public media and news reporters, and even the public at large together to talk about the future of Public Media? Organizers Andy Carvin (who works in Social Media for NPR) and Peter Corbett (from iStrategyLabs) decided to put it together and see what would happen. The result is the first of its kind Public Media Camp hosted by the Center for Social Media at American University this weekend. Content creators and producers, web and application developers, folks involved in public media in many different aspects, from APIs and tools to stories and relationships.

The unconference was kicked off by the CEO of NPR, Vivian Schiller, who discussed the changing environments of the modern media culture. Her remarks suggested that 2009 might be “the year everything changed,” suggesting that convergence between public, for-profit, and passion-driven media outlets might be closer than currently is expected. Participants ranged from NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard, to developer shops like Development Seed, to producers and developers at WAMU, to documentarists, to the Sunlight Foundation. With the charge given, the unconference divided itself into many skeins, those for programmers, those for producers and content developers, those for the more navel-gazey ethicists and the enthusiast gamer were all on the schedule. So what happened?

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
By

Pepco Starts Giving Rebates for Energy-Efficient Appliances

Photo courtesy of
‘cool iceboxes’
courtesy of ‘mikkime’

If the rainy weekend has you thinking of home repair, now might be a good time to upgrade an old appliance if you’re a Pepco customer.

Yesterday, the local AC repair contractors company announced it will give cash rebates of up to $50 to residential customers in DC and Maryland who buy ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators, room air conditioners and certain energy efficient water heaters. You can buy these babies at any area retail store. The rebates would be on top of federal tax credits and lower electric bill you could get.

The rebates are the first in a series of energy-efficieny programs set to go in place this year. In a press release, Pepco said these programs are expected to save an estimated 165,000 megawatt-hours of energy over the next three years and avoid almost 117,000 metric tons of carbon emissions, equal to taking more than 207,000 cars a year off the road.

Energy-efficiency programs also can help reduce Pepco’s electric load and lower the need to build new power plants.

The Daily Feed
By

ABBIEs Voting Now Open

Photo courtesy of
‘Vote for Burns’
courtesy of ‘laverrue’

Okay, so maybe you can’t vote yea or nea for your boss, but now you can vote for The Arlington’s Best Business Awards (ABBIEs). Nominations are in, and the slate is open.

Many of the categories feature food and drink — including best bargain restaurant, brunch, dessert, happy hour, neighborhood bar and late night spot. You can also put in a good word for your favorite boutique, nonprofit, theatre or dance studio, and more.

Of course I’d never play favorites and tell you who I voted for, but am happy to see the new Lost Dog Cafe keeps cropping up as an option.

Vote away!

Essential DC, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
By

The Strange Comfort of Brian Jungen

People's Flag

Opening today at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is a new exhibition that will run through August 8, 2010. Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort is a major exhibit showcasing the critically acclaimed works of the Canadian-based artist and is his first exhibition organized by a Native American museum. Jungen’s work has been on display around the world, including the Casey Kaplan Gallery in New York, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in Quebec, and the Witte de With in the Netherlands.

The NMAI’s first solo exhibition since its opening in 2004, Strange Comfort is exactly that. The stunning “Crux” is your first view of Jungen’s work – recognizable from the crocodile piece show in the recent ads around town – and only continues to intrigue and inspire when you visit the main gallery on the third floor.

Jungen, of Dunne-za First Nations and Swiss-Canadian ancestry, explores several themes through his art. The use of every-day objects to create Indian cultural icons is something very different, born from Native ingenuity of crafting one object out of another, a common practice with many First Nation people. Jungen commented in the NMAI’s press release that he grew up watching his Dunne-za relatives recycle everything from car parts to shoe boxes. “It was a kind of salvaging born out of practical and economic necessity, and it greatly influenced how I see the world as an artist.”

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Get your bolly on November 7th

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

The Dhoonya Dance Performance Company’s annual Bolly B!end Showcase will be happening on November 7th at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Performing Arts Center. The theme for this year’s event is “A Night at the Bollywood Film Awards,” so the program will feature an awards show theme, as well as some guest performers, including the Washington Improv Theater.

Because of the red carpet event theme of the show, guests are encouraged to wear formalwear, or, “Bollywood finery” as they may have it. When I asked my dance teacher if I really was supposed to go get a formal dress to attend, she recommended that I wear my ferociously pink recital costume. So, you’ll know how to recognize me there…

Getaways, The Features
By

Getaways: Philadelphia

City Hall
City Hall by Corinne Whiting

The mention of Philly conjures different associations for different people. Some instantly envision mounds of steaming cheesesteak (“Get the whiz or they’ll mock you!” Philadelphians warn). Others think of the Founding Fathers, the Eagles and their die-hard fans, that famously cracked bell, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or of a fist-pumping Rocky racing up the art museum steps. (Some others I know love to bring up this ridiculous survey. I’m reluctant to make any cracks here when DC doesn’t always fare so well itself…)

For me Philly now means frequent visits with a dear friend whom I met in Scotland (go figure) and hours of aimless wandering around this fascinating city. Each time I marvel at how a place so physically close can sometimes feel so very far away. As a child I traveled once or twice to this historically-rich town (the nation’s temporary capital from 1790 to 1800) to stand on the very spots where the country’s Founding Fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. As school kids here we learned about Renaissance man Benjamin Franklin, famed not only for his revolutionary electricity experiment, but also for creating the country’s first insurance company and the city’s first public library and fire department. We ogled at the Liberty Bell, rung to announce the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1828 in Great Britain, hopped back on our bus, and trekked home to the nation’s newer capital.

These days I make the two-and-a-half to four-hour “dragon bus” journey (I’d recommend the speedier/pricier Amtrak option if unpredictable budget shuttles aren’t your thing) when craving an urban change of scene. When DC is feeling just a little too rigid or pristine or orderly, and New York feels too far away, I head north to the “City of Brotherly Love.” Franklin deemed Philadelphia the “new Athens,” but to me, it feels suspiciously reminiscent of Glasgow, Scotland, perhaps for its mix of historic charm—cobblestone streets and narrow row houses in European-esque Old City—splashed with modern blocks of gray concrete and urban grit. In any case, the place is full of character and refreshingly down to earth.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Sound off: Best Neighborhood Chinese DELIVERY

Photo courtesy of
‘NOODLE DUDE!’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

If you’ve lived in DC for a while, you’ve probably noticed a dearth of Chinese food delivery options. Back in my hometown, I grew accostomed to cheap Americanized Chinese food being delivered at least once a month. But since moving to DC, and even relocating to Chinatown, I find there’s a lack of good options. And your options change when you move around, based on the restaurant’s delivery area.

Living in Chinatown, I love Chinatown Express. It’s the freshest of all that I have tried, and I even went so far as to sample the barbecued ducks in the window, which are surprisingly delicious compared to how terrifying and stomach-unsettling they look. It’s my preferred neighborhood spot. Unfortunately, they don’t deliver!

A WeLoveDC reader wrote in yesterday to remind us of this problem and to ask for our suggestions. Well, we would like to pass the torch to you, dear reader. Tell us, WHERE can we call for DC’s best neighborhood Chinese food delivery? And why? Is it their high quality food? Their quick delivery time? Continue reading →

Downtown, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
By

Petroleum Lobbyists Stop Watching Jon Stewart

Photo courtesy of
‘Still Texting’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

Ug. How did I not know John Oliver, from The Daily Show, was doing stand-up at the DC Improv!?! I need to pay more attention. We apparently missed a pretty entertaining show too. But not because of his routine, which I’m sure was great. But because of the interactions and jokes that came at the expense of a frustrated guy in the audience who would not stop texting on his phone throughout the show.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Go Paperless: Recognize Gay Marriage

Photo courtesy of
‘Traditional Japanese Wedding’
courtesy of ‘gwaar’

The most recent DC Register includes proposed law changes regarding what other regions that DC is establishing domestic partnership reciprocity with and man, it’s a doozy of a list. If you’ve registered a non-marriage union in any of these 10 US states or 16 countries it’ll be recognized in the District.

The amusing thing is, if Congress manages to not meddle in the District’s self-rule then DC will stop registering new domestic partnerships themselves next year after same-sex marriage has been in place for a while.

If you’re interested in the full list I’ve pasted the text of the proposed law change after the jump. Worth a look just to see what other non-English-speaking countries call domestic partnerships. As usual, the Germans manage to do it all in one word: Lebenspartnerschaft.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Where Should Google Street View Go Next?

Photo courtesy of
‘Google Maps Car’
courtesy of ‘Yzukerman’

I’m a big fan of Google Street View, and I love checking out parts of the city that I’ve never visited.  DC has been on Street View for about a year now, but there are still some missing links that just aren’t accessible with Google’s camera car. Luckily, they’ve developed a Street View Trike that can now reach previously inaccessible places like pedestrian malls, universities, theme parks, and trails.

Where would you like to see the Street View Trike?  Google is asking for your submissions through October 28th, and then the public will vote for the top locations.  We’ve got a number of strong contenders in the area: the grounds of the White House, the National Mall, Arlington National Cemetery, the Zoo, etc.  So speak up and tell Google what you’d like to see on Street View!

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
By

Skins Face Sixth Straight Winless Team

Photo courtesy of
‘Teddy’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

The 2-3 Redskins face the 0-5 Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, making them unique in one way this season: Every team they’ve played thus far this season hasn’t had a win. They faced the 0-0 Giants, the 0-1 Rams, the 0-2 Lions, the 0-3 Bucs and the 0-4 Panthers. Sure, some teams like the Giants, were unlikely to have lost to the Skins. If you take out the Giants’ record, the Skins went 2-2 against teams with a current 2-17 record. Yikes.

So, with Zorn’s job on the line this weekend, will the Skins deliver?

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

No, MPD, the Constitution Still Applies in Trinidad

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

That’s the word from the US Circuit Court, which refused to hear the case en banc, with seven of the eight judges voting that the three judge panel ruled correctly that MPD’s attempt to cordon off Trinidad from all but the residents of the neighborhood was unconstitutional.

There’s just one avenue of appeal left: The Supreme Court, just up the street. AG Nickles might have a receptive audience there, given the makeup of the court, but I wouldn’t bet on the District just yet.

The Daily Feed
By

Your iPhone Works on Metro Now (Sorta)

Photo courtesy of
‘Berry’
courtesy of ‘lorigoldberg’

It’s hard to know whether to leap with joy because my iPhone will now be more than just an iPod touch underground, or to wince, knowing this will double or triple the number of ringing phones in the Metro. But, as of today as part of a multi-year improvement plan, phones from Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T will now work in 20 of the Metro Stations. The list is:

Orange/Blue: Ballston, Crystal City, Farragut West, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom-GWU, L’Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, Metro Center, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Rosslyn, Smithsonian

Red: Bethesda, Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Friendship Heights, Gallery Pl-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, Metro Center, Union Station

Yellow/Green: Columbia Heights, L’Enfant Plaza

It looks like the Orange & Blue line riders will get the most benefit, followed by the Red line riders, with the Yellow and Green riders mostly getting the shaft for now. The rest of the stations will come online in the next three years. No formal word yet on what service is like in the tunnels, but folks are saying no joy under the Potomac, already, so I’d expect it’s station-or-nothing for the moment.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

Just What I Needed, An Opera Costume

Photo courtesy of
‘Turandot Costume’
courtesy of ‘Roberat’

I don’t know about you guys but I’ve had an opera costume on my “must have” outfits list for a while, and this Saturday and Sunday (from 10am-5pm) I’ll finally have the opportunity to get one at the Washington National Opera’s Costume Sale. Ok, well maybe a 20 pound, girdled, Mikado kimono has not been on my mind, but if you’re looking for an awesome Halloween costume, this is your event.

Prices for full costumes range from $10-$200 with accessories priced at $2 or more.  The sale is taking place at the WNO Studio in Takoma Park (6925 Willow St, N.W., Washington, D.C.)

The Features, We Love Food
By

First Look: Restaurant 3’s Bacon Week

Photo courtesy of
‘pigs in a row’
courtesy of ‘specialkrb’

Books have been written about it. Love songs. Poems. It’s salty. It’s crispy. It’s fatty. It’s bacon.

And Restaurant 3 knows about the beauty of the food, and the Clarendon neighborhood restaurant is celebrating the “Week of Bacon” from October 21-27, 2009. Each day for the duration of the week of bacon, the restaurant will offer a daily Bacon Happy Hour, where bar guests can feast on bacon bites such as bacon on a stick & bacon-wrapped shrimp and wash it all down with $3 craft beer draft specials. Not only can you stop by for bacon and beer, but Restaurant 3 is offering a Bacon Tasting Menu priced at $30 per person. I was lucky enough to preview a few of the Bacon Week specials, and let me tell you. It’s impressive. Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed
By

Jack Evans for Council Chair?

Photo courtesy of
‘Jack and Adrian’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

DC Wire had the news late yesterday: Jack Evans may be running for the Council Chair. With the Mayor’s Race in all manner of confusion in front of next fall’s primary, there’s a lot of ifs, ands and buts in the situation, but Evans has said he’d run for Council Chair if current Chairman Vincent Gray runs for mayor. Will Gray challenge Fenty? He hasn’t been committal, and there’s still a lot of questions as to who may challenge Mayor Fenty, with names like Kwame Brown and Michael Brown on the lips of many. I think we’re in for an exciting primary, once the players are in the open.

The Daily Feed
By

Siestsema’s 10th Dining Guide

Photo courtesy of
‘The art of dining well is no slight art…………..’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Sietsema’s 2009 Fall Dining Guide is out today online (will hit print on Sunday) and it’s looking pretty good. Tom and I don’t always agree, but his current picks are pretty much in line with mine. CityZen, Inn at Little Washington, Komi, Rasika and Restaurant Eve’s Tasting Room all received four stars (highest). Not a bit shocking.

“With some 4,000 meals under my belt, the 10th Annual Dining Guide is my attempt to share a short list of favorites I might recommend to a friend,” said Tom Sietsema. “I’m happy to share my personal favorites, and I hope readers will be inspired to try new places.”

Some of my personal favorites landed 2.5 and 3 stars (Ray’s the Steaks, Zaytinya, Westend Bistro, Obelisk, Central and Eventide), and I’m eager to check out some of the 2 star places listed that I’ve never been to.