Monthly Archives: January 2010

Food and Drink, The Features
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Dude, Where’s My Taco Bell?

Photo courtesy of
’11/365 – Taco Bell is a fickle mistress.’
courtesy of ‘BLW Photography’

What DC needs is a good Taco Bell. Fellow We Love DC Author Max addressed this pressing issue in May of 2008 and somehow I find that our beloved District is still plagued by a lack of cheap taco-y goodness.

Monday night, I figured this out for myself. It was the cosmic forces that really brought this one together. I kid you not. You see — my friend’s car needed a good jumping and I chose (out of the kindness of my heart) to stand outside in the bitter cold of night for an hour. The hour passed. The man with the jumper cables showed up. He told us, “Now you gotta drive around for AT LEAST 25 minutes to make sure that battery doesn’t fail ya,” so we did.

Instead of driving aimlessly, we plugged in the good old GPS to find somewhere less random to go. But of course fate chose to get involved. We passed Cactus Cantina (on Massachusetts NW and Wisconsin NW) when thoughts of gluttony suddenly possessed me, “I want tacos,” I said.

And — ALAS — the dream to find a Taco Bell was born.

Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Redskins Sign Shanahan

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0321’
courtesy of ‘Brian J. McDermott’

The deal is done, the press conference scheduled for this afternoon, and Mike Shanahan is now the coach of the Redskins for the next five years, or until Dan Snyder gets impatient. Shanahan will also have some control over the roster under the deal, something that only Coach Gibbs was given before. The deal will pay Shanahan $7M per year.

Interviews, Sports Fix, The Features
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Capitals Hockey: Mid-Season Report Card

Photo courtesy of
‘Center Ice’
courtesy of ‘Ghost_Bear’

We’re just passed the halfway point of the 2009-10 hockey campaign for the Washington Capitals. Successful? In many ways, absolutely. Joining me on the breakdown is Adam Proteau, writer and columnist for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com, who kindly offered up some of his own analysis of the Caps season so far.

Overall, impressive. The Caps have hit 50 points faster than any other incarnation of the team before and are definitely on pace – barring a complete and total Jagr-esque breakdown – to end in one of the top four playoff seeds.

“They’re looking like a complete, versatile, dynamic team very early on in the year,” says Adam. “I thought it would take them longer into the season to fully assimilate Seymon Varlamov and some new veterans and function as an effective unit of a championship caliber, but I think they’re there already.”

Continue reading →

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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No Pants Party On The Metro Scheduled For Sunday

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0182’
courtesy of

I never saw much of a purpose to those darn plastic card holders you can hang around your neck in order to NOT lose your SmarTrip on the Metro. But now — I see the real reason behind their being invented — No Pants Metro Ride 2010!

That’s right — NO pants METRO ride! The yearly ride is scheduled for this Sunday, so start wrapping your heads around the concept now before you board Sunday morning without any forewarning.

What’s the hitch? There isn’t one. Just get on the Metro, ride around as if nothing is out of the ordinary. I mean hell, what’s better than an excuse to wear no pants and get away with it? Sure — it could be warmer — but that’d make this whole thing way less funny.

For all you locals interested in joining in on this excuse for a “No Pants” party of sorts, NBC Washington reports that people are planning to meet at the C Street park near L’Enfant Plaza at 3 p.m.

Forget that it’s winter … take off your pants and ride the Metro! You’ll thank yourself for it later.

The Daily Feed, The District
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Longing For Summer

Photo courtesy of
‘Serious Air’
courtesy of ‘Cazimiro’

I’m cold. No, seriously. It’s hateful outside. I miss summer. I miss flip flops, I miss beer on the patio, I miss eating outside, I miss laying in the park, I miss the pool, I miss my sundresses, I miss ice cream. And you guys, we’re heading into the doldrums, the WORST part of the entire year, in my opinion – January through March. I friggen hate this last part of winter because there are no good holidays, (I’m a valentines day scrooge) and it’s dark pretty much all of the time. So today, when I was getting angsty about this, I did what I do when faced with these feelings – I searched our flickr pool. So if you’re in need of a warm-weather fix, I’ve got you covered. The seasons always change, right? (At least that’s what Ingrid and Sara say.) So onward, for some summer lovin’. Continue reading →

News, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Live Metro Chat on Friday

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

WMATA is hosting a live chat with John Catoe this Friday from noon-1pm. This chat will be in the wake of the Thursday board meeting, during which general cuts to service are expected to be announced.  Metro is dealing with a $40 Million deficit, which the blame largely on decreased ridership due to the economic downturn, and in the wake to the train crash in June of last year.  Expect questions on how individual routes, particularly bus routes, will be effected by service downgrade.  You can join the chat here.

The Daily Feed
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Giant getting in on the H1N1 shot trend

Photo courtesy of
‘soldiers’
courtesy of ‘featherbacon’

If you’ve somehow managed to miss all of the health service offerings but still want an H1N1 shot,well, you’re going to have the opportunity to get one along with your milk and eggs, presuming you shop at Giant. While they’ve started offering it at a few Giant pharmacy locations already, whether your particular Giant is going to have the $15 shot is apparently a secret.

Giant promises that they’ll continue to roll out to more locations in the weeks to come, but as of now offer no guidance as to which specific pharmacies have it already on their website. So either call ahead or wait till you’re going shopping anyway. Better yet, use the Google finder for your region which will also let you identify the local health departments who have it at no cost to you. Since the government – and thereby YOU – already paid for the full supply of shots why pay more on top of that to get it?

The Daily Feed
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Amtrak delays due to police activity on tracks

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0128b’
courtesy of ‘D©Bloom’

All trains out of Union Station are experiencing delays today due to the investigation of a 14 year old Maryland girl hit on the northbound tracks. The girl was struck while crossing tracks near Middle River Road and Old Orems Road. One set of northbound tracks has re-opened, but the other is still closed while the investigation is completed, which is causing delays for all trains in both directions.

Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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Happy 110th Birthday Eddye Williams!!!

Photo courtesy of
‘It’s Teddy’s birthday!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

NBC 4 reports that Northeast’s Eddye Williams turned 110 yesterday and marked the event by celebrating with family, friends and D.C. councilman Harry Thomas Junior at her home.

Williams, the oldest known DC resident, enjoys writing poetry and banging on the tambourine. Happy Birthday Eddye and rock on!

News, The Daily Feed
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AG Nickles Wants Your Old Phone Card Balance

Photo courtesy of
‘Genevieve Clark (LOC)’
courtesy of ‘The Library of Congress’

Sunday night Reuters reported that DC is suing AT&T over phone card balances. In essence, for all of those pre-paid phone cards out there in the world, some of them have balances that are never spent. DC is using a piece of law called Escheat that dates back well into feudal England. The concept is easy: If there is property, it must be owned by someone. If you abandon property long enough, it devolves back to someone after a period of time, usually the state.

Thus, as with dormant or abandoned bank accounts, AG Nickles wants to see the same done with phone cards. In specific, he’d like any card abandoned by someone with a billing address in the District, for more than three years, to devolve back to the City, and inserted into the General Fund. Sounds shady, but it turns out to have a lengthy history in the law. Got any old phone cards? Might want to use them all the way up. Call your mom, she hasn’t heard from you in a while.

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


‘1001a’
courtesy of ‘dr_kim_veis [”o ]’

I’m fascinated, endlessly so, by good portrait photography. It is but a moment in the life of a person — sometimes a stranger, others someone we know, but only through the spotlight. That moment is often telling. The individual’s character, their outlook on life, even their mood are forever immortalized in one sixtieth of a second. The portrait also reflects on the photographer, perhaps in a more subtle way. What does their use of color, light, and framing convey?

Dirk Mevis‘s portrait leapt out at me from the We <3 DC pool. His use of light to highlight not just his subject but also the tableau around her is subtle, yet eye popping. The subject is also intriguing: what’s she looking at? Is she worried? What is she waiting for? And what do those wilted flowers add to the picture? And the darkness?

A good portrait leaves the subject as much a mystery as before. Maybe even more so. This one is worth seeing large.

The Daily Feed
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Two Sports Tidbits To Close The Day

I am here to say, this is totally the best internet rap video since Remy told us about brown flip-flops. Meet The Caps Rap, above. (via DCist). ‘Guin Rabies does sound like a plausible option, but I’d rather not find out.

Also, Redskins fans, Shanahan came in on Redskins One today, and it’s expected that this is largely a formality. But, remember, Danny Snyder is involved, so it’s entirely possible he’ll throw a tantrum.

Update: You can watch his plane land on NBC 4 if you so desire.

News, The Daily Feed
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Arenas Says The Guns Were a Joke

Photo courtesy of
‘Well oiled civil rights.’
courtesy of ‘Kevitivity’

Gilbert Arenas released a statement this afternoon through his lawyer after meeting with the US Attorneys’ Office and MPD. Apparently Arenas moved the weapons as he was concerned about his children’s safety. Perhaps Mr. Arenas had not heard of gun safes before, which is entirely possible for someone trying badly to imitate Plaxico Burress.

While I’m pleased to hear the gun was not drawn in anger, that it was drawn at all suggests a lack of respect for the weapon, for his teammate, for the City of DC, and to the fans of the Wizards. While I would not like to see Mr. Arenas thrown into irons for this one, perhaps a little bit of extra community service and a hefty fine would be excellent reparations. Right after the Wizards terminate his contract.

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Arlington Resolves to Go Greener in 2010

Photo courtesy of
‘Rosslyn’
courtesy of ‘william couch’

While many folks were recovering on New Year’s Day, Arlington’s leaders were working to save the planet.

That day, right after being elected chairman of the Arlington County Board, Jay Fisette announced a task force to develop a Community Energy Plan that will set goals and find ways to reduce the county’s greenhouse gas emissions.

It will expand Fresh AIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions), which began efforts in 2007 to lower the county government’s greenhouse gas emissions. So far, the county’s investments in energy efficiency have paid a return on investment of about 20 percent per year in lower costs for government operations.

The task force will include residents, business leaders, property owners, energy and technology experts, schools, federal and state government officials, and regional authorities.

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Where Is Your Favorite Beer?

Photo courtesy of
‘Down the Bar’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

I know a lot of people who angst about beer-lovin’ favorite Fat Tire, myself included. So when I went home over break, I was thrilled to find Fat Tire in all my favorite North Carolina bars. Which begged the question, if Fat Tire has bridged the Mississippi River and come East, why hasn’t it arrived in the DMV area yet?

So I set out to ask Greg Engert, beer God over at the Neighborhood Restaurant Group all about the process of acquiring certain beers. He’s worked with both Rustico and Churchkey to procure all kinds of crazy beers, including my favorite beer of all time, Chimay Red, and my runner-up favorite Raspberry Lambic.

Greg explained: “In order to get your favorite brand into DC/ VA, there are many hoops one has to jump through. First is actually establishing if the brewer of said beer has the production capacity to ship to a new territory. Presuming production is capable, a distributor in the area has to be procured. Once a distributor has agreed, then the beer will start shipping. With imports, the brewery needs to have ample product, and then both an importer and a separate distributor need to be established as well.”

Which makes perfect sense – your favorite beer from little town in Nebraska nowhere isn’t going to have any easy time distributing to all of the District. But that’s not the only hurdle. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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A Third Crasher

Photo courtesy of
‘Police Car near White House’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The Washington Post has learned that there was a third party crasher at the State Dinner in November. The crasher, whose name has not been released, came in as part of the Indian Delegation, and it’s not clear what charges they are facing. They are, however, facing criminal charges and that’s why the privacy.

It would be a travesty if the Salahis went free and this was the dude that got arrested.