Yearly Archives: 2009

The Daily Feed
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Hey Virginians, today’s voter registration deadline day

Photo courtesy of
‘November 4th.’
courtesy of ‘dharmabumx’

After last year’s voterpalooza it’s hard to believe there might be anyone motivated to vote who hasn’t already signed up, but who knows. Maybe you turned 18 since then or arguments about thesiss thesis-es? theesees? the papers one writes to get your doctorate. Regardless, today’s your deadline to get registered in time for November’s election if you’re not already good to go. You can get the PDF for the Virginia voter’s registration form to print out and as long as it’s postmarked today you’re golden. The USPS finder will tell you where the closest place is to get the envelope hand-canceled with today’s date.

The Daily Feed
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Express’ Best Of

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Everyone’s got an opinion here in DC. We’ve got opinions about politics, about news, about sports, and about pretty much anything we do. It’s great, because everywhere you go, you get people’s passionate side. It also means that pretty much everyone has a “Best Of” list, from the City Paper’s massive Best Of, to the Washingtonian, to even the Arlington County Business Asssocation. Enter the Post Express, which opened their Best Of this weekend.

Somehow we got left off the best blog list, so go right ahead and write us on in!

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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All DC Dogs Instantly Become Calm, Submissive

Courtesy of National Geographic

Courtesy of National Geographic

Cesar Millan: the man, the myth, the Dog Whisperer, will be in DC today during lunchtime! National Geographic (1600 M St NW) is showing a sneak peek of the new season at 12pm and then Cesar will be signing copies of his new book, How to Raise the Perfect Dog, at 1pm. Tickets are free and on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 11am in the Grosvenor Auditorium lobby. I wonder if he’ll use the shh! noise and bite motion on me if I get too excited…

The Daily Feed
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City Paper Brings Crafty Bastards Back

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If you’re looking for something to do this weekend that’s homemade and unique, check out Crafty Bastards on Saturday from 10 to 5 at The Marie Reed Learning Center in Adams Morgan. Don’t take a cab, though, as the cab strike may be going on Saturday, so plan to use Metro and a bus, or park somewhere a good distance away and walk over. It’s always kinda fun to see what the crafting community is up to, and remember: homemade is in this holiday season.

Media, The Daily Feed
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DC Gets an Urban Daddy

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I know, chances are you don’t need another email newsletter in your life, but this one’s interesting enough to consider. UrbanDaddy.com, aimed at the guys who watch a bunch of Entourage, is starting up a DC-specific daily email, designed to point you at the hotspots before they’re hot. I think these tend to be good bellwethers to use to find out what’s going to be crowded this weekend so you can head someplace else. But give it a look.

The Daily Feed
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Warren Brown’s Face All Over the Place

Warren Brown in the Dell ad

Cakelove founder, former Food Network personality, and DC entrepreneur Warren Brown has been all over the place lately. I spotted him today in this Dell ad on washingtonpost.com, and last week in a TV spot for American Express’ small business products.

I suppose that large companies are lining up to beg small entrepreneurs for their business could be an indicator that the economy is on its way back. In any case, it’s nice to know Brown’s getting some endorsement love what with all the sudden bakery competition in DC. No comment on that weird scarf thing he’s wearing, though.

We Green DC
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Making Bethesda Green

Cutting the vine

When most organizations celebrate an opening, they cut a ribbon. The folks at nonprofit Bethesda Green, which launched its new Education Center and Green Business Incubator yesterday morning, had a different idea. Shiny ribbons made from petroleum aren’t good for the planet, so they strung an invasive vine across the building’s entrance and chopped it up with giant shears.

In doing so, they opened Maryland’s first green business incubator, which will provide offices and support to entrepreneurs and create green jobs for the community. So far eight start-ups are involved, focusing on everything from rain barrels to sustainable food to charging stations for electric cars.

In addition, the new center will be a hub for people like you and me who may like to volunteer for planet-friendly projects. It’s off to a great start. Since forming just last year, this group has led a variety of projects, including adding 15 recycling bins to downtown Bethesda, hosting a local farms tour, researching ways to turn local restaurants’ used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel, collecting 180,000 pounds of used electronics, recycling toner cartridges for businesses and even reusing crayons for kids.

The celebration continues through Saturday, with an open house from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. focusing on sustainability in the community.
Continue reading →

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Locovore Events At Ronald Reagan Building

Photo courtesy of
‘cherry tomatoes in blue boxes’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center handed out fliers today announcing Capital Harvest, a new foodie event in the heart of the city. On Friday, October 16 and Friday, November 13 Penn Quarter residents and workers will be able to stop by the plaza for local produce vendors and chef demonstrations by Chef Todd Gray of Equinox (one of my favorites!) and others.

More than 18 local growers will be offering a wide variety of freshly picked fruits, vegetables and cut flowers, as well as meat products and seafood. Stop by the plaza from 12:30 to 5 p.m. those Fridays in October and November to partake.

Comedy in DC, The Features
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Funniest Celeb in Washington Recap

Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson throws out the “Ceremonial First Joke” by Corinne Whiting

Sometimes DC and its power players are unintentionally hilarious. This past Wednesday evening, however, at the 16th Annual Funniest Celebrity in Washington Contest, politicos, media folk and other local “celebs” took to the stage to be purposefully funny. Some jokes triumphed, filling Connecticut Avenue’s cozy, underground Improv lounge with delighted laughter. Other jokes (and/or their delivery) flat-out bombed, instead filling the room with uncomfortable silences and forcing squirming spectators to squeeze their seatmate’s arm while slinking deeper into the darkness.

But alas, not everyone’s a born comedian, and I give those brave souls credit for stepping out into the Improv spotlight in this notoriously straight-laced town. In any case, the gathering under one roof of such an odd cast of characters—from “Joe the Plumber” to Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist—provided superb if surreal people watching. Only in DC. And despite recent accusations to the contrary, event organizers claim proceeds (individual ticket sales started at $200) go to a good cause (we hope so anyway, we really do). This year’s fundraiser is said to benefit the charity StandUp For Kids, and show producer Richard Siegel, likely none-too-pleased with recent press, did remind us umpteen times that this event was “for the kids.” Our fingers are crossed.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Something new for parents to worry about

Photo courtesy of
‘runningtracks01_f5’
courtesy of ‘Shi Yali’

Today’s Metro Connection on WAMU is going to be discussing the subject of “crumb rubber,” a sort of mulch made from old tires that’s been the up and coming material. Sometimes it’s put out in chunks, sometimes surfaces are made out of it, like running tracks or the flooring in the playground area out at the national zoo.

Apparently a memo has been leaked from the Environmental Protection Agency that indicates some concerns with the use of crumb rubber. I can’t find a copy of it at the moment so it’s unclear whether this is a general issue or just in regards to childhood exposure. Presumably these are questions that will be answered on Metro Connection. Right before a thousand other questions are raise and not answered.

Listen live or look for a recording to be available online sometime this afternoon.

We Love Arts
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Edward Burtynsky: Oil

Highway #1, Intersection 105 & 110, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2003. Chromogenic color print. Photograph © Edward Burtynsky

Highway #1, Intersection 105 & 110, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2003. Chromogenic color print. Photograph © Edward Burtynsky

Thankfully for those of us in D.C. who love art, especially those with a particular fondness for photography, we have Paul Roth and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  Over the past couple of years they’ve had an amazing lineup of photography exhibits, showcasing a dream team of photographers including Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Ansel Adams, and William Eggleston.  All known for completely different styles of photography (although it has been argued that Leibovitz is “copycatting Avedon“), there’s been a genre on display for everyone.  Continuing their record of hosting world class and historically important photography exhibits, the Corcoran opens Edward Burtynsky: Oil on Saturday.

I don’t read art magazines.  I don’t read art blogs or subscribe to their RSS feeds.  I don’t have a degree in art history and I’ve never taken a photography class.  I prefer to learn about art by experiencing it first hand, by learning about it from others, or by pure coincidence.  About a year ago I was adding movies to my Netflix queue when I came across a documentary called Manufactured Landscapes.  I had never heard of Edward Burtynsky but was enticed by the description of this film about “an examination of industrialization and globalization”, a concept that has always been interesting to me as I tend to look at things from a 10,000 foot point of view.  Needless to say that when I watched this documentary I was immediately a fan of Burtynsky’s, not necessarily for his photographic abilities, but for what he was interested in showing his audience.  Leibovitz can show you glamorous photos of Angelina Jolie with perfect lighting and makeup, but no matter how impressive they may be, you are only left with feelings of lust or admiration.  On the other hand, when you see Burtynsky’s photo of three Bangladeshi men standing barefoot in a pool of oil, you are left with feelings of wonder, with sorrow, with relief that you have a desk job.  Burtynsky’s photos are not only beautifully executed pieces of art, but they make you think and want to know more, which takes his photography to the next level.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Rhinos with Glue-on Shoes?

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_3464’
courtesy of ‘randystoreyphotography’

Mere days after Happy the Hippo left the National Zoo to go live with a harem — or as We Love DC author Carl suggests, pushed out by gentrification, the arrival of the elephants — comes the promise of more fun stories of zoo animals.

On Monday night at Shirlington’s Signature Theatre, former National Zoo Director Lucy Spelman will give a talk about her book, The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes and other surprising true stories of zoo vets and their patients. In addition to up-close-and-personal accounts of the zoo’s residents, she’ll talk about the special bonds between human and (very large) beast.

The Daily Feed
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Fringe Does DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Federal Center SW Metro Stop’
courtesy of ‘KrS-NrY’

If you caught last night’s episode of Fringe, you might’ve noticed that it was set in DC. But, like much of 24, it wasn’t actually here. They had the station interior supposed to be more like that of Union Station, with train announcements and track assignments. So, Fringe Producers, in case you were curious: This is what the inside of Federal Center SW’s Metro actually looks like. See how it’s dark and foreboding, sort of like your show? And not exactly like a train station in any way shape or form?

I was, at least, pleased to see that they got some of the details of the metro system right, with signs referring to Blue line trains, and that one of the signs in the background seemed to resemble one of the System Advisory notes, so I’ll give you a pass, but please, come check out DC, you won’t regret it.

Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Measure for Measure

Taffety Punk's Measure for Measure: Esther Williamson as Isabella, and Kimberly Gilbert as Angelo

Esther Williamson as Isabella, and Kimberly Gilbert as Angelo
Photo by Kristin Holodak

“Measure for Measure” could be described in simplest terms as a “he said, she said” kind of play. When fellow author Don shared his thoughts on Taffety Punk’s current production with me, it fascinated me that we had two disparate views. So why not mimic the play’s conceit and split the review?

Before we go into it, plot please? The leader of the free world gives it all up temporarily for some meditation practice, leaving a stuck-up prig in charge as a test. The prig goes to town cleaning up the junkies and whores, jailing a reprobate with a hot virgin as a sister. Virgin begs for her brother’s life, prig will give it if she sleeps with him. All hell breaks loose with the leader working the marionette strings behind the scenes.

At least, that was how my professor described it.

So here goes, our little gender joint review experiment… Continue reading →

Adventures, News, The Daily Feed
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Accident at Georgetown Whole Foods

Fire trucks arrive

Fire trucks arrive

At around 7pm last night, an elderly driver crashed into the underground garage entrance of the Whole Foods at 2323 Wisconsin Avenue NW.  Details are still emerging as to what caused the accident, but The Examiner reports that the elderly woman driving the car had minor injuries, there were no other injuries reported and that the building structure suffered minor damages.

According to an eyewitness report, who was in the Whole Foods by the meat counter, there was a loud collision-like noise and a rumble from the impact.  Immediately, a Whole Foods employee came running up the garage stairwell, yelling for the entire store to clear out and customers began heading (in a somewhat civil manner) to the Wisconsin Avenue exit.

When I interviewed a Whole Foods’ employee, who was a witness to the accident, they  said the elderly driver had been coming down the garage entrance and had sped directly into the wall. The employee speculated that perhaps the driver had stepped on the gas instead of the brake.  From the picture I took from the top of the garage ramp (which is as good as I could get from my pauper cell phone,) the entire front of the driver’s car was smashed in, indicating to me, that the car was going very fast at the time of impact. That no one was seriously injured in the accident is a great fortuity considering the amount of Whole Foods’ employees and customers present at this high volume shopping time. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Stand Up and Be Counted!

Photo courtesy of
‘Immigration March I’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

The Washington Post just ran an article about a campaign to spread the word that everyone living in America should complete a Census form.  With the 2010 Census kicking off in a few short months, efforts are underway to educate minority populations (particularly Latinos who may be here illegally) that completing a Census form does not put one at risk of being deported.  Census workers take a vow of confidentiality and will not report people living here illegally to immigration officials.

Filling out a Census form is very important– it’s the one time every ten years that the government gets an accurate idea of the population of the country, and it can affect everything from congressional representation to state funding allocations.  So consider this a public service announcement: when you get your form next April, fill it out and send it back, regardless of your legal status.  The more DC residents that respond, the more funding the city will get for community services and facilities that we all use.