Yearly Archives: 2009

Media, The Daily Feed, The District
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DC a “Bargain”?

Photo courtesy of
‘It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine…’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

According to a new list put out by Forbes.com, Washington, DC is the third-best ‘bargain’ city, behind Phoenix, AZ and Austin, TX. The list is a look at the country’s 50 largest metro areas among four data points: average salary for workers with a college degree, annual unemployment statistics, cost of living and the Housing Opportunity Index (a measure of the number of homes sold in an area that would be affordable to an average income family of that region).

While DC ranked low on the COL scale (38 out of 50) and average on the HOI (21 out of 50), our area’s lower unemployment rate (2 out of 50) and average salary (4 out of 50) were near the top.

I have to admit, I never once thought living here was a bargain. And I’ll be curious to know how the more recent unemployment numbers would skew the results the next time they compile their list…

Entertainment, Sports Fix, The Features
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Caps Hockey – DC’s Newest Bandwagon

Photo courtesy of
‘090127 Alex Ovechkin’ courtesy of ‘Dan4th’

So Wednesday night saw the end of what could arguably be the best Caps season in recent history. Despite the letdown of Game 7, Caps fans – diehards and bandwagoners alike – can walk away with heads held high.

Should I remind you why?

1. Alexander Ovechkin. Every year, he gets better. From his exuberant celebrations (Don Cherry be damned) to his wide, gap-toothed smile, to his on- and off-ice passion, he is Mr. Caps Hockey. Does he still have more to learn? Honestly, yes. But he’s young, he’s talented, and he’s willing. It’s only going to get better from here, so settle in and enjoy the ride.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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Eastern Market to Re-Open June 26th

Photo courtesy of
‘Eastern Market!!’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

The fire at Eastern Market two years ago was a horrifying event. It took from us one of DC’s best places. Renovations at the Eastern Market building are almost complete and a re-opening date has been set for June 26th. Vendors will start to move back into the beautiful brick South Hall on June 14th getting ready for the Friday opening on the 26th.

This is absolutely marvelous news, and just 10 weeks away! Many thanks to Claudia from Brunch and the City for passing on the awesome news! Read on for the full email from the Mayor: Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Terra Cotta Warrior at Union Station

Warrior Outside Union Station
Originally uploaded by brownpau

If you pass through the Union Station 1st St NE entrance this afternoon, you might see this guy made up and posing as a living statue under the arches beside a chalk drawing on the floor.

Looks like a promo for an upcoming National Geographic Museum exhibit, Terra Cotta Warriors. I didn’t wait to see if he changed poses, but if anyone else gives him a poke, please do report back as to the results.

Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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Bobby Lew’s, Bossa Lounge, Now Without Liquor

Photo courtesy of
‘The Argonaut Bar’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

The Going Out Gurus reported that Bobby Lew’s Saloon and Bossa Lounge had their liquor licenses revoked yesterday for low food sales. Sad for those of you in Adams Morgan who pretty much just drink there, surprise, surprise.

Molly Gannon from the WaPo shared with us that Adams Morgan ANC Commissioner Bryan Weaver says there are 16 other establishments that aren’t complying with the food sale levels, and four others may also have their licenses revoked by the board in coming weeks.

Which begs the question, would Adams Morgan even exist if there were no liquor there?

Business and Money, Media, Technology
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The Newspaper Roundup

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

If the doomsayers are to be believed, the above picture is the only way people are going to be experiencing print-based newspapers in the near future: as a museum piece. The future’s not quite that simple, nor is the current situation in the news reporting world as cut and dried as you might think.

You’d have good reason to think it’s pretty simple, even after the massive amount of discussion about it in our town last week. Maybe because of the discussion last week. If you somehow managed to miss it all, we had radio shows and Senate hearings and, of course, the various kibitzing in the print media itself. Somehow, through it all, everyone managed to say things that were mostly true but the picture didn’t add up to what they claim it did.

Let’s do a little walk through what was done and said, supplement it with what’s come from others, and try to apply a slightly critical eye to it all, shall we? Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Backyard Chicken, Not on the Grill

Photo courtesy of
‘chicks-4 weeks’
courtesy of ‘goosegrease’

With all of the gardening, CSA vegetable-picking, and farmers’ market scouting we’ve been doing, our friends have started half-jokingly suggesting that we raise livestock. More and more of my extended social circle have been raving about keeping chickens in their backyard for egg-laying purposes. I looked into it (because fresh eggs from cage-free chickens are pretty much the best thing ever) and while it seems that cats are not especially interested in attacking chickens (my first objection), we definitely do not have enough space for a properly-sized chicken coop and run if we wanted to retain use of our back yard.  And really, what good is raising your own poultry if you don’t have room for a grill?

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try if you’ve got a yard. The Post has a good article today on local urban poultry farmers. Technically, the District doesn’t permit backyard chickens, and I would neeeeever encourage you to do anything illegal, but other local jurisdictions’ laws vary, and it seems to me that a nosy neighbor can possibly be mollified with the occasional basket of very fresh eggs.  *Ahem.*

The Daily Feed
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New Bike Racks Everywhere!

Photo courtesy of
‘Stumptown Coffee Bike Parking’
courtesy of ‘The Lebers’

Bike to Work Day (that’s tomorrow, in case you’ve been living under a rock) is not only good for the environment for a day, it’s great for DC permanently. Everyone’s freaking out about how to accomodate all those bikers, so all across the city different groups have been installing new bike racks in various locations.

WMATA says they’ve installed “hundreds,” the Office of the Architect of the Capitol put a bunch on the East Front of the Capitol, and most fun of all is that the Swiss Embassy has donated 10 racks that are painted in various “Swiss” themes– including cow.

The Daily Feed
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Make a run up to Baltimore for this burger (then waddle back)

mothers
image courtesy of Mother’s Federal Hill Grille

I think I’m going to have to make a road (or, more likely, commuter train tracks) trip up to Baltimore to give Mother’s “heart attack on a plate” a try. I’ve been intrigued by the idea of the battered and deep-fried burger since I saw one on the Food network show “Guy’s Big Bite.”

That eatery was Joe’s Gizzard City in Michigan though, and I prefer my heart disease to be locally created. Mother’s is just a hop, skip and a jump away though, and conveniently located near Johns Hopkins’ cardiac ward.

News, The Daily Feed
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Thousands of Nerds Cried Out…

Photo courtesy of
‘Google Business Card’
courtesy of ‘TwisterMc’

…and then as one, were silenced.

It seems Google is down in spots up and down the Eastern Seaboard, with our agents in the West reporting no difficulty, while DC suffers without Gmail, Google Talk, and even Google Searches. People, I am going into withdrawal here, I’m actually having to figure stuff out on my own. This is just simply unacceptable!

Are you jonesin’ for a fix? Or are you being productive today without the distractions of yore?

The Daily Feed
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Oh No! Google!


Thomas Trueman Gaff Monument
Originally uploaded by kimberlyfaye

There seems to be some sort of regional Google outage happening right now- anecdotal evidence from Twitter and Facebook indicates that it’s mostly Greater DC users who can’t use teh googlez and mostly non-DC people who can. (Though we do have some locals reporting that they’re having no problems.)

So now is a time for web nerds like me, cut off from our Gmail, our Google Analytics, our Google Reader, our Google Calendar, to ponder just how it’s possible that ONE company could get its hooks this deep into our daily activities.

(And if you’re having trouble loading We Love DC, it’s because the Google Analytics javascript isn’t loading. Sorry.)

Downtown, Entertainment, News, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Fierce Fashion

Photo courtesy of
‘Christian Siriano in person’
courtesy of ‘sue blue’

It is physically hurting me that I will be missing seeing Christian Siriano in Bethesda on Friday, I almost cried when I had to turn down my invitation to his fashion show at Redwood.

The Project Runway star is coming to town as part of The Front Row, a three-day, five-block fashion event including runway previews, in-store style and beauty events, designer appearances, trunk shows and more at the fabulously fashionable retailers and restaurants at Bethesda Row.

But even if I won’t be there, you can go and make me jealous. For a full list of events happening this weekend at The Front Row, click on through to the event listing (PDF).

Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors
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Help Kids by Enjoying a Day on the Links

Golf
(4/365) :: Golf Thursdays by chispita_666
I just got an email about a golf tournament to support the Kena Shrine Transportation Fund, which provides free transportation for kids to get to the Shriner’s Hospital in Philadelphia. The wife/husband doesn’t like you playing golf? Just say it’s for the kids. How can they say no to the kids?

Read on:

The 15th Annual Kena Shrine Club Golf Tournament will be conducted next Tuesday, May 19th at Penderbrook Golf Course in Fairfax. This annual fund raiser golf outing will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., with a four man/ woman format playing Captain’s Choice/Best Ball. Plan to arrive not later than 8:00 a.m., pay fee in snack bar, get cart assignments and hole numbers.

After a continental breakfast in the club house and 18 holes of golf, we will enjoy a buffet lunch, award single and group prizes and a 50/50. The outing is all inclusive for a $50.00 fee per golfer. If you wish to play in the tournament at Penderbrook, let me know as soon as possible.

And, no, you don’t have to be a Mason or Shriner to play, although I am sure lots of folks will be happy to answer your questions about these organizations.

Thrifty District
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Thrifty District: Salad Bar Shopping

Photo courtesy of Me

IMG_0374
courtesy of Me

When the Murky Coffee Kerfuffle erupted last year one of the funniest comments I saw was over on Metafilter and wasn’t so much about the conflict as it was terminology. The writer took issue with the term “ghetto latte,” where a customer buys a cheaper espresso-only drink and dumps in the no-charge milk at the condiment bar.  “‘Latte arbitrage’ is a much better description, since if their pricing was consistent this type of operation would not be profitable.” You’ve got to be a little bit of a finance geek to be amused by this use of the word arbitrage, but I’ve spent enough time listening to Marketplace to be tickled by the statement.

The salad bar at your local grocery is another place where you can practice some consumer arbitrage, though there’s also advantage to be had in not buying things that spoil before you use them all. There’s also some things there that are pure and simple sucker items which you shouldn’t be buying in any quantity if you own a can opener. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Cast A Sphenisciformes Spell

Photo courtesy of
‘socks =P’
courtesy of ‘unknown flickr user’

Earlier this week we sent good joo-joo-bees to the Caps for their game six match against Pittsburgh, and while I’m not going to take credit for the win, I am going to continue sending DC good karma by offering up some Penguin-relative meal options for tonight’s game.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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A Treasure Map, For Beer

Photo courtesy of
‘Maryland Game’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART, while I introduce to you the best thing I’ve seen in a long while: The DC Beer Map. I just spotted this glorious thing on Young & Hungry and could not contain myself.

Let’s review: It is a map. Of beer. With color coding, and ratings. Ah! It is beer-loving type-A heaven.

The incredibly useful map notes area brewery’s, bars, beer stores, and even homebrew stores all marked on a google map of our fine city. Click on a marker, and the map will tell you what it is, the address, the phone number, show you a picture, and let you read reviews. Oh mai gawd, I just can’t handle the happiness this is causing me. It also works in reverse, click the name of the bar you want to know more about, and the map will zoom to show you the location and profile. It’s like Yelp, but drunk. And I’m in love.

The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Lebowskifest DC is Coming

Lebowski.png

Lebowskifest 2009 will be September 28th & 29th, so mark your calendars, Little Lebowski Urban Achievers. Tickets go on sale on Friday for the DC version of the festival, which will be a movie party on the 28th at 9:30 club, followed by a bowling excursion at Strike Bethesda on the 29th. I think I could probably rock the Walter look, but I think the brush cut wouldn’t look good on me. Who would you go as?

The Daily Feed
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The Post Hunt approaches

2009posthunt
image courtesy of The Washington Post

The second ever Post Hunt will happen this Sunday, rain or shine, and Hunt creators and planners Dave Barry, Tom Schroder and Gene Weingarten had an online chat earlier today to discuss it. The Hunt is obviously an involved and complicated event, and one questioner wondered about how extensive preparations are.

Arlington, VA: Just how long have you been planning this event?

Dave Barry: We have a meeting planned for Friday.

If you’re planning on participating – any why wouldn’t you? – you could do worse than to look at my old cow orker’s site, TropicHunt.com, and read up about some previous Tropic Hunts. He’ll be in town and we, along with a few others, will be participating.

See you there.