Yearly Archives: 2009

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Serious Eats on the Half Smoke

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My good friend Craig pointed out Serious Eats’ article on the Beloved Half Smoke, which includes a fine history of this excellent regional delicacy. True fact: for the first year I lived in DC, I couldn’t believe that the street hotdog carts sold half-packs of cigarettes. I had no idea just how clueless & stupid when a friend of mine introduced me to the real deal. Craig was also quick to point out that you can even get half smokes shipped anywhere in the US via the ever-awesome Ben’s Chili Bowl.

The Daily Feed
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Fall = Chilly = Chili = Cook-off, right?

Photo courtesy of
‘Mark Ein’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Miriam’s Kitchen‘s is hosting its first ever Chili Cook-Off. You can participate in one of several ways: show off your momma’s best recipe, judge the chili entries, or simply fill your belly with tasty samplings and enjoy the fun. But pick your role soon, because there are only 15 chefs, 10 judges and 40 tasters allowed.

The competition throws down on Thursday, October 22 from 7-10 pm at a private home in Columbia Heights. Click here to sign up.

Not that helping out a local food kitchen while having a little fun isn’t good enough, but to sweeten deal, We Love DC’s very own, Kirk, will be whipping up a pot of goodness just for you, Dear Reader.

The Daily Feed
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Columbus Day Metro Closures Announced

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

Metro has announced station closures and train detours for Columbus Day weekend (which extends through Monday, a federal holiday that not everyone gets to take off) while they replace large pieces of track and inspect and maintain others. They provide a tiny and poorly-compressed map of the closures that might be helpful if you’re willing to squint and compare it to the regular map. (Metro! I do this for a living! Help me help you!)

The short version is, the Yellow and Green lines will be a nightmare, and you should avoid them if you need to take them through the eastern part of the city.

The two ends of the Green line will be operating, but the segment in the middle, between Navy Yard and Gallery Place/Chinatown, will not operate AT ALL. So if you’re someone dependent on the Green Line to get into the city from the Branch Avenue end… you’re screwed, because there are no transfer stations along any part of that segment. If you’re using the other end of the Green Line, you’ll still be able to switch lines at Gallery Place to get around.

Since the Yellow Line’s bridge over the Potomac is part of theInstead of heading toward Fort Totten from L’Enfant, the Yellow Line will basically be doubling a portion of the Blue Line route until Stadium/Armory instead of coming over the river from the Pentagon, and will come into L’Enfant on the lower platform with the Blue/Orange lines. So you’ll still be able to get around if you’re dependent on the Yellow Line, but with some hopping around and transferring multiple times if you want to get to Fort Totten.

The Daily Feed
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Galileo one step closer to re-opening

Photo courtesy of
‘Galileos Teleskop’
courtesy of ‘karsten.planz’

If you’re a fan of Roberto Donna and have been missing his food – assuming you’re not going to cooking classes in his home – you should be excited to hear that we’re getting closer to a firm re-opening date. In late November the alcohol board will hear a petition for a liquor license for what’s named as “Gallileo III” at 600 NW 14th St.

That part’s no surprise; we’ve known for quite a while that Donna would be opening a restaurant in the old Butterfield 9 spot, but here’s an interesting tidbit on the petition: operating days and hours are listed as “11:30am – 2am” Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 through 3am on Friday and Saturday.

Is that a CYA move in case of future choices or does Mr Donna intend to expand operating hours beyond what Galileo used to offer? I know I speak for several of WLDC’s authors in hoping for the return of the lunch offerings, but this may go beyond that: not only are those the listed operating hours but they also are the hours being sought for alcohol vending, suggesting more full service than what used to be offered.

Regardless of final operating hours this is a likely sign we’re not going to see the restaurant open before Thanksgiving. You could run a restaurant without alcohol but it’s where the big money is. Besides, who’s going to eat pasta without a glass of red?

The Daily Feed
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Bike to Work on the Metropolitan Branch Trail!

Photo courtesy of
‘cruisin”
courtesy of ‘m hoek’

Now that it really feels like fall here in DC, it’s the perfect time to start riding your bike to work.  But doing so can be a little intimidating for a first-timer having to negotiate potentially bike-unfriendly roads alone. If you live in Silver Spring, Takoma, Brightwood, Brookland, Fort Totten, Edgewood, or Eckington, you’re in luck– the Metropolitan Branch Trail is a great way to bike right to downtown DC.

And even better, Rails to Trails is organizing Monday Morning Commute Convoys on the Metropolitan Branch Trail every Monday morning in October (except for Columbus Day).  Rails to Trails folks will lead bike convoys from designated locations along the Metropolitan Branch Trail and head off to Dupont/Shaw, NoMa/Judiciary Square, and Chinatown/L’Enfant Plaza.  It’s a great way to ease into bike commuting and see how well the trail connects these DC neighborhoods with downtown.  If you’re interested in joining the convoy, sign up here (registration is required).  And even if you can’t join the convoy, check out the Metropolitan Branch Trail sometime– even though it’s not yet 100% complete, it already offers a great link through some of DC’s beautiful historic neighborhoods.

Music, The Features
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October Concert Preview

Photo courtesy of
‘Colbie Caillat’
courtesy of ‘Martijn vdS’

Oh my, does October bring delightful things. It feels like fall, and that means not only that the leaves are changing color but that we’re in the magical yet short time where the temperature is just chilly enough at night to cool off some of those tiny concert venues a bit but not too cold to have to bring a giant coat.

Check out my completely subjective roundup of all the concerts I’m excited about in October, including The Bravery, Pinback, Colbie Caillat, and even Hanson and KISS after the jump. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Things looking poor for Graham

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

The Washington City Paper has a piece on Councilman Graham and his employee Ted Loza. In case you’re thawing out of a long sleep: Loza stands accused of accepting bribes and Graham denies any knowledge or involvement.

While no evidence has been offered up that Graham was tied in to any corruption, some of WCP’s findings are not going to do any favors for his credibility. WTOP quotes Graham as stating that Loza had no ethical problems but WCP’s article provides compelling evidence that Graham knew about a number of Loza’s past problems with others, including an incident where he got into a bar fight and threatened the bar owners with liquor license trouble.

The article goes a little off topic when it delves at length into a description of Loza’s problems with the mother of one of his children. While it’s not a description that makes him sound like a real class act, the article does not give any indication that Graham is or is not aware of most of the described situation.

This looks likely to dog Graham for quite some time and may possibly tarnish his credibility for the remainder of his career.

The Daily Feed
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The post-suicide pain & suffering

Photo courtesy of
‘MEDFLAG 2009 – Mass Casualty Scenario – United States Army Africa – 090806-F-8133W155’
courtesy of ‘US Army Africa’

A few weeks ago I wrote about a recent suicide on the Metro tracks. A few commenters took me to task for being pretty harsh in my suggestion that if someone does not get help and is determined to kill themselves that they take another approach. As I said then, I think the harm they do to witnesses and the train driver – who are unwilling participants in their demise – is near unforgivable. While they’re clearly not thinking clearly I wish they’d think of others if they cannot think of themselves.

WaPo has an article today about the trauma these drivers deal with after someone uses them as a weapon against themselves and it’s heart-wrenching. Both in the descriptions from the drivers of the moments they’ll never forget and the descriptions of how they went back to work – or tried to – after long periods of adjustment.

After several weeks of office duty, she made her first attempt to operate a train, a daytime run on the Red Line. A training instructor drove through the Rockville Station. Then Lee took over. She was fine until they went underground. “As soon as I hit the tunnel, I screamed,” Lee said. “I was seeing that vision of someone walking toward me.”

Lee was out on workmen’s comp for five years, seeing a string of psychologists.

The Daily Feed
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Cabs to be scarce in Adams Morgan this weekend

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

So Councilman Graham is pulling his bill that would establish a medallion system and overhaul the cab industry in DC. He insists that it has nothing to do with the mess going on in his office involving bribery over cab-related legislation (suuuuure, we believe you), but is because cab drivers are in such an uproar over it. The Post article covers arguments about too many cabs in the city, the nature of the investigation of Graham’s office, blah blah blah yadda yadda, but here’s what you need to know:

Some cab drivers are planning to just not pick anyone up in Adams Morgan after the bars close this weekend. Usually cab strikes in DC are tempests in teapots because DC cabbies are logistically hard to organize and it’s hard to get every independent cab driver to give up his livelihood for a night, but this action seems very intelligently targeted. The nightlife scene in Adams Morgan combined with challenging public transportation access AND street crime means that cabs are a particularly integral part of peoples’ weekend plans. Meanwhile, the cabbies will still be out picking up fares and making money, just elsewhere in the city, making it easier for a critical mass of cabbies to participate.

So you might actually notice this cab strike. If you’re going to Adams Morgan this weekend, suck it up and designate a driver.

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: October 3-4

Photo courtesy of
‘Fall is here’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Paulo: We’re still unpacking from our recent move to NoVA, but all Saturday I’m going to be at First Baptist DC’s Fall Book and Bake Sale, giving out free cupcakes — and later donating blood. Hopefully I won’t keel over right then and there because we’ll be visiting Old Town that evening for a friend’s housewarming, and en route I want to check out the Washington Masonic Memorial.

Kirk:  This will be my first weekend in the city for the past few weeks, so I’ve got to pack in all the DCness that I can.  On Friday I’ll be catching up with an old buddy from Texas at the Vienna Inn, in VA.  The Vienna Inn is one of the last, true sports dives in the DC area and is a quintessential part of life in Vienna.  On Saturday I’ll be having a guys’ night out with some old roommates.  To facilitate responsible drinking (probably taking place at the likes of Gibson and Wisdom) a friend has used some expiring hotel points to book us a room at the Willard, something I’m terribly excited about. Sunday will be spent recovering from said guys’ night.

Katie: A good chunk of my weekend will be spent at the Ritz on M street getting to know Westend Bistro’s Chef de Cuisine Joe Palma. Cathy and I will be researching another one of our Capital Chef features by heading to the Alexandria farmers market with Chef Palma and cooking up a storm in Westend’s kitchen. I also plan to visit the Russian Bazaar at some point and maybe spend more time in Old Town hanging out at Art on the Avenue street festival. I can’t turn down a good pie baking contest. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Hello Francophiles: Celtic Harp Concert Tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
Cécile Corbel
courtesy of the Alliance Francaise

Celtic. French. (Middle-Eastern?). Harp. Tomorrow night.  8:00 p.m. The Celtic sounds of French harpist and singer Cécile Corbel will resonate from Grace Episcopal Church (1041 Wisconsin Ave NW). Cécile Corbel was awarded the 2005 Paris Jeunes Talents Musique prize (translation = “The Young, Hot, French Musicians Award,” yes?).

Cécile’s musical repertoire spans from traditional Celtic (Breton, Irish, Scottish) to Middle-Eastern (Turkish, Israeli, and Sephardic). Her harp and solo talents are said to “border on poetry and melancholy.”

With the eternal vibrations that pass through her work, her strong sense of her culture, and a good dose of charisma, she is a beguiling chanteuse, and the harp becomes a wizard composed of a lovely kind of music that is at once pointed and accessible.

The concert is hosted by the Alliance Francaise (that’s the “All-e-ance Frahn-sez” for the non-francophones) which brings a good number of cultural gatherings and celebrations to our fair city throughout the year. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Slapshot on Price Is Right

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In case you missed it, Caps mascot Slapshot was on the Price Is Right yesterday, helping to promote the start of the NHL 2009-10 season. He was one of four mascots invited onto the show, shilling a prize package for the showcase at the end. Out of the four, he easily showed off the best dance moves.

I admit though, the clip would’ve been better if he’d just bum-rushed the Panther’s mascot. I mean, the NHL wants division rivalries, right? What better way to begin the season?

The Daily Feed
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October is Virginia Wine Month

Photo courtesy of
‘Breaux Vineyard’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

I love crisp fall afternoons spent with cheese and wine out in Virginia’s county. It’s always nice to gather up a group of friends and relax on the porch of a vineyard. Handy, isn’t it, that October is Virginia Wine Month! With more than 140 wineries, wine trails, wine festivals and wine packages, there’s no excuse NOT to visit Virginia’s wine country this month. For those of you looking to make a weekend out of it, there are packages as cheap as $125. But DC is perfectly situated for a day trip, so those are equally as easy and good for those of us who sport a blackberry ball and chain and are tethered to the whims of Congress.

Personally? I love Breaux Vineyards, they have a gorgeous set-up and some of my favorite Virginia wines. WLDC Author Donna recommends Barrel Oak Winery. I did a write-up last fall of Linden and Naked Mountain. What are your favorites?

The Daily Feed
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WaPo’s Dan Zak abides with the Dude

Photo courtesy of
‘the big lebowski’
courtesy of ‘F.A.Q.U.I.N.’

Dan Zak’s writeup of the Lebowskifest is in today’s Style section and it’s a good read for both Abiders and those of you who just don’t get it. (Which I figure makes you nihilists but you probably wouldn’t get that either) It’s a fun piece, and if you skipped it thinking you’d go next year, well, bad news, buddy.

Unfortunately, Washington, the second-to-last stop on an eight-city tour this year, will not be on next year’s scaled-down docket, says fest co-founder Will Russell. He says he’s pleased with Lebowski Fest D.C., though other frequent festgoers say the 100 people who came to bowl Tuesday night can’t compare with the intense turnouts in other cities (thousands converge on Louisville from all points of the globe).

There’s a few more pictures in the photo gallery for the online article than there was in the print edition, including one in particular think should have made it. It really would have brought the article together, man.

The Daily Feed
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Catania to Introduce Gay Marriage Bill

Photo courtesy of
‘Marriage Is a Civil Right’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

Get ready for the fireworks, everyone. Council Member David Catania is set to introduce a bill to legalize gay marriage on Tuesday. It’s not hard to anticipate what will happen: Lots of people who don’t live in DC will hold rallies against it. It will pass 11-1, with Marion “A Politician Who Is Moral” Barry the lone vote against. Then Congress will take a crack at it, and more people who don’t live in DC will fall all over themselves trying to “hold the line” against the encroachment of the gay banditos (SFW if you have headphones) threatening the American family. I’m a pessimist and think Congress probably won’t let the law stand (“home rule” what?), but I welcome the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised.

Media, The Daily Feed
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Post Updates Its Local Directory

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With technology evolving constantly, and with newsmaking under significant pressure to adapt, the Post is trying something new with their “Local Beta” homepage, which is a massive change from their regular page. Focused solely on local content, with no national news, the new Local page also features content drawn from other local sources, which will one day hopefully include ours. Here’s to innovation!

So, what do you think of the new local page?

The Daily Feed
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ANC vacancy in Cleveland Park

Photo courtesy of
‘when politicians get stoned.’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Complaining about ANC members is sort of a pro-am sport in DC. If any of you live in the right spot and want to light a candle rather than curse the darkness, there’s a vacancy in 3C04, the small area in Cleveland Park east of Connecticut Ave. You can punch up the exact boundaries over here, but if you want to go out for the job don’t dawdle too long: the petition circulation period started Tuesday and closes on October 19th. You only need 25 signatures from qualified voters – surely there’s 25 people in your neighborhood that don’t know you well enough to hate you.

Or hate you enough to want to see you get a job that often irks people in exchange for the big annual salary of $0.00.

The Features, Thrifty District
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Thrifty District: New Clothes from Old

"sewing window" by jGregor, on Flickr

"sewing window" by jGregor, on Flickr

Transitional weather can be a real drag on one’s style, especially when money’s tight. Faced with a chilly night and a quick wardrobe decision, I pulled out my trusty dressmaker shears and did a little operation on a long black dress. A few slashes and voila! A short black jersey dress complete with a scarf to drape around one’s neck. Add textured tights and problem solved. 

Luckily for you, dear reader, you need no sewing skills whatsoever to make new clothes from old. We’re seeing all sorts of “Depression Era” skills making a comeback (like canning), but to do really serious dressmaking you need a sewing machine and a dressform. Looking at that kind of financial commitment may be too much, not to mention classes for you absolute beginners! Though I highly recommend learning some basic skills like how to replace a button, fix a hem and mend a tear, I understand if you balk at even that level of commitment. 

So here you are, two easy ways to do a little fall wardrobe cleaning, and a third more complex for those of you vintage mavens like me. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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One Last Hurrah

Photo courtesy of
‘Nats Park at Night’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

Tonight was why I still love the Nationals.

They’ve been horrid this season, with occasional bright spots, and tonight was one. John Lannan went 6 full with good control in front of spotty and dicey defense, and then, when it counted, Justin Maxwell planted one just over the left field wall. Bang, Zoom went the fireworks, and the crowd went absolutely wild.

Thanks for a good time tonight, Nationals. Now, go out and get better this off-season and give us something we can be proud of more often than not.