By Karl Johnson
‘super pollo!’
courtesy of ‘tornatore’
Friends and readers, it is with a very heavy heart that I sit down to write this post. I could spend all day poetically waxing about the feelings that have overcome me on this surprisingly sunny yet very dark, dark day. But instead I will just go ahead and put it out there. The Super Pollo in Ballston has closed. Gonezo. Done. No mas. Somehow, someway, we will find a way to go on. But right now, I cannot see that way for I am horrified over this closure.
‘Nuff said!’
courtesy of ‘jimbotfuzz’
Prince George’s County Sheriff Michael Jackson is running to become chief executive of PG County. I don’t live in PG County and thus don’t want to presume to tell the fine citizens of PG what to do with their vote, but I will point out this Reason article that points out the botched raids carried out in the wrong houses, the commonplace shootings of family pets during such raids, and other such examples of how the Sheriff’s department has been terrorizing innocent PG County citizens during Jackson’s tenure. No, Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo’s case was not a fluke.
I hope Prince George’s County citizens consider carefully whether they want to reward this kind of contempt for their rights, safety, liberty, and property.
By Donna C.
‘Falling Water’
courtesy of ‘photo_secessionist’
Perhaps you had enough of water over the weekend? If not, get thee to the DOME in Rosslyn at 7 p.m. tonight for a screening of Liquid Assets (see the trailer).
This third film in a green series sponsored by Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment promises to share the true importance of systems of water, wastewater, and stormwater treatment that we often take for granted.
I understand — at first glance it sounds a bit dry, no pun intended, but it can be fascinating to find out how things work. How does that water get from the river to your faucet anyway?
This film talks about what goes on far below our feet — and how to keep that clean water flowing.
By Rebecca
‘Sea Urchin’
courtesy of ‘aslives’
It’s that time of week when WeLoveDC brings you another edition to our ever growing list of DC Omnivore 100. For this entry, let’s push the envelope and go beyond personal food comfort levels by trying Sea Urchin.
If you’ve watched any Jacques Cousteau-esque nature shows, you know what a sea urchin looks like–a purplish-black, spiked, baseball sized creature attached to the ocean bottom or coral. And you know that stepping on them is a definite no-no. It’s also one of those peculiar food items, like lobster or snails, where some human was SO hungry and that he/she had no other option than taking on the time-consuming task of figuring out how/what parts of this creature they should/could eat.
Given the spiny, hard appearance of the sea urchin, it’s of no surprise that only a small portion of the creature, its roe (aka: gonads, ovaries, milt or eggs,) is edible. “Uni,” as the Japanese call the eatable part of the sea urchin, is considered a culinary delicacy in many parts of the world. Sea urchins are often eaten raw, with a squeeze of lemon or used to flavor omelets, soups and sauces, or used instead of butter. Continue reading
By jasmine
‘Grammy, embarassed by a gift mixup’
courtesy of ‘ragesoss’
If you like cringe-worthy comedy a la The Office (times 10) or take delight in others’ misery, Mortified is coming back to DC this Wednesday. For the uninitiated, Mortified is basically people sharing their most embarrassing teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, and locker notes for the whole world to enjoy. You might have seen the book, which I cringed all the way through.
The live event is Wednesday, October 21 at 8pm for ages 21 and up only. You can buy your $10 advance tickets here, or pay $15 at the door (if it’s not sold out!). It’s at Town, which is at 2009 8th St NW (U Street Metro).
By shannon
‘Just Another Sight’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
The Crystal City Business Improvement District just announced a new program coming in the Spring of 2010: a 100-bike Commuter Hub, which will offer bike rentals to commuters, tourists, or residents. The Commuter Hub will be located at 220 Twentieth Street, a new LEED-certified apartment building in Crystal City. Revolution Cycles will manage the retail and rental business, which will also offer repairs and bike accessories.
Bike rental establishments in our region typically cater to tourists, who can bike around the monuments and parks while sightseeing. But the Commuter Hub is marketing itself differently– by capitalizing on its location near area trails and bike routes, it offers nearby office workers a chance to rent a bike and explore the trails during lunch. I’m all for opening up bike options to more area residents, and think that this could be a great option for people interested in trying out biking around town without a huge commitment.
Full press release after the jump. Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
If you missed a copy of the print edition of the Washington Post this morning, you might want to go grab one to see the difference. It’s a pretty significant re-design of the front page, as well as the organization of the paper at large. They have a PDF Guide to the Redesign up on the web today as well. I’m not if I adhere to the “any redesign that needs a lengthy explanation is a bad one” theory of information architecture, but it’s certainly amazing to see what they’re trying to accomplish.
Editor Marcus Brauchli will be answering questions live in 15 minutes about the re-design of the print edition. Don’t miss it!
By Kirk
‘Looking Up’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’
On your way into work this morning, you might have noticed a giant blue expanse and a shining orb in the place of the gray ceiling that you had grown accustomed to. This is called “clear sky” and it should be the norm for the rest of the week. Warm temperatures and dry air are finally returning to the DC area and it is good to see them back. Unfortunately, we do have some more rain in our forecast, just in time for next weekend. Let’s hope the weatherman is lying.
By Ben H. Rome
‘bloop’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Dried out yet? Fortunately, fall returns after flirting with winter over the weekend – at least for a few days. While the weekend wasn’t the rosiest, weather-wise, it still beats dragging into work on a Monday. So we offer our weekly morning break from the return to tedium by offering you visions of the weekend past.
By Ben H. Rome
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’
Mark Segraves and Adam Tuss over at WTOP.com filed a report this morning covering the fact that since 2004, Metro bus and train operators have been cited over 4,000 times for endangering the lives of their passengers. Most of the incidents involve illegal behavior including speeding in residential neighborhoods, running red lights and hitting cars, people, bicycles and wheelchairs. (Update: WTOP has informed me that this will be a week-long series with reports from both Mark and Adam through Thursday.)
Shocking? To most of us, probably not. Metro downplays the numbers, citing that on an average day, 1,200 buses cover 1,500 square miles and provide 20 hours of service. I can forgive the bad eggs that happen along; it’s a sad fact of life that no service or system is perfect. It’s hardly surprising to anyone that one of the more common complaints in the report is rude and discourteous behavior by Metro employees to customers, including profanity and grabbing people.
What is incredible about the report is some of the infractions that operators have been cited for. Slewing the bus around corners hard enough to tip wheelchairs over? Leaving passengers in bus lots or trains after closing? Urinating inside the bus?
Seriously, WMATA, WTF?
By Tom Bridge
‘Georgetown University’
courtesy of ‘citron_smurf’
Georgetown first-year student Alex Thiele, recently arrived from La Jolla, California’s Bishop’s High School was arrested this morning at 12:30am for possession of an unlicensed firearm, according to Georgetown’s Vox Populi blog, who have a copy of the original police report. It seems that the firearm was taken off a US Park Police officer during the Midnight Madness event at McDonough Gymnasium, and was discharged, with a toilet in the Men’s bathroom destroyed as a result. We’ve contacted the Park Police, and hope to have comment as to whether or not Officer Clanton was on or off duty, and how her service weapon came to be in the hands of Mr. Thiele.
By Tom Bridge
”
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.!
‘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.
By Tom Bridge
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?
By Donna C.
‘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.
By Donna C.
‘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!
By Ben H. Rome
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.”
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…
By Corinne
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.
By Cathy
‘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
By 
