Monthly Archives: February 2010

History, The Features, We Love Arts
By

We Love Arts: Drawing Toward Home

DTH_Bowen House

Bowen House, Woodstock, Connecticut, c. 1846.  Joseph C. Wells, architect.  Courtesy Historic New England.

“A major component of the American pursuit of happiness has long been a home of one’s own (the automobile is a distant second: the one a castle, the other a chariot).”   – James F. O’Gorman, lead curator for Drawing Toward Home.

When talking about art we often highlight forms such as painting, theater, sculpture, dance, and photography – just to name a few.  However, often overlooked are the artistic endeavors of both the historic and modern architectural community.  The newest exhibition at the National Building Museum, called Drawing Toward Home, highlights the intricate and often-complex domestic architectural drawing.

As a traveling exhibition organized by Historic New England in celebration of their Centennial, the 100-plus drawings featured provide a unique look into the vast history of the New England Style home.  Ranging from the Federal to the International Style and spanning over 200 years, Drawing Toward Home “reminds us that the architecture of New England is a touchstone of American Architecture”.  The exhibition is uncomplicated; simple to follow and clearly displayed.  Organized chronologically into four sections, beginning circa 1800 and ending around 1980, Drawing Toward Home is much like the foundation of the architectural drawing itself – a cohesive way to convey pure information.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
By

Environmental Film Fest on the Way

Dirt! The Movie - © Gene Rosow

Dirt! The Movie - © Gene Rosow

Break out the organic popcorn — the Environmental Film Festival is coming. From March 16-28, you can see up to 155 films from 31 countries. This year’s theme is the connection between food and the environment.

Going Green DC has a good wrapup of the festival’s global and local highlights. A Road Not Taken, which talks about the solar panels that once graced the White House roof, is another of the 13 local films.

So are Not a Distant Beast and “River of Hope”: Welcome to our City, Mr. President, which share the story of locals’ relationship with the Anacostia River.

Nora! features the founder of Restaurant Nora, the nation’s first certified organic restaurant. In Coal Country, Appalachian miners and activists tell the story of mountaintop removal coal mining, which helps to power the DC area.

This year, the festival received funds to offer additional free screenings to young and underserved audiences at libraries, museums, and theatres throughout the DC area. A launch party takes place March 10 at the Warner Theatre.

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Local Blogger Fired For Her Blog

Photo courtesy of
‘You’re Fired!’
courtesy of ‘bjornmeansbear’

Local blogger Meg of 2birds1blog was this morning dismissed from her workplace for her blog, in which she kept her identity somewhat concealed, and her employer’s identity a mystery.  Worse than that, and the worst nightmare of pretty much every blogger is that they’re threatening her with a defamation lawsuit.  What a buzzkill.  Anyhow, Meg is one of our favorites around these parts and finding out she’s getting Dooced is pretty much unacceptable to us.  

Meg’s likely to need a good lawyer in the coming months who’s willing to act on her behalf while these still-as-of-yet-unnamed employers decide to be foolish jerks and threaten her with defamation suits.  If you know anyone who fits the bill, make yourself known in the comments and we’ll try to help you out.  While we’re not lawyers here at We Love DC, and this next comment shouldn’t be construed as legal advice, posts like this one make me think she might have a good sexual harassment countersuit. Can you help?

While we’re on the subject, it’d be good for everyone both reading this blog, and especially so if they write one, to brush up on your rights at work. It’s not as clear a line as you’d think.

We Love Weekends
By

We Love Weekends, February 27-28

Photo courtesy of
‘A Place in the Sun’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Rebecca: Friday I’m celebrating a friends birthday party with some sake bombs and hibachi at Matsutake Hibachi Steak & Sushi. Then we’ll head on back to the district for some drinkypoos at Martin’s. Saturday I’m on an early morning plane ride to California, so that’s where my DC weekend plans end. :(

John: Friday, I’ll be grabbing dinner at 3 Bar and Grill and then playing with my band Juniper Lane at IOTA in Arlington. Saturday will be spent mapping out the planting schedule and cleaning out an area in the garage where I can start seedlings and then enjoying a dinner date downtown. Sunday I’ll be taking a class with NRA Instructor Tina Wilson Cohen in Herndon on hand to hand and non-operational gun fighting.   Continue reading →

Music, The Daily Feed
By

Reminder: DMB at Nationals Park on Sale Tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
‘Nationals Park in the Snow’
courtesy of ‘Rukasu1’

The perfect distraction from the passing thought of more flurries is the dream of summer in our fair district. With the Nats’ home slate and potential debut of a pitcher Rachel (and apparently team) are embracing as “Jesus,” Half Street will be a hot spot all through the dog days.

In addition to the usual baseball, as announced late last month, Dave Matthews Band will be hitting the field once graced by the Pope and Billy Joel (not simultaneously that I’m aware of) for an excellent mid-summer concert. Tickets for the July 23rd concert go on sale tomorrow morning, and with support from the increasingly popular Zac Brown Band plus the appeal of Nationals Park concert, you can be sure they will go quickly.

The link to the public sale was a little bit of a challenge to find, but this Live Nation page should be updated at 10 a.m. tomorrow when the tickets open up. With any hope, any additional snow will be gone by July, but I’ll leave that prognostication to the Capital Weather Gang.

News, The Daily Feed
By

WMATA, Google Close to a Deal for Google Transit Info

Photo courtesy of
‘metro map photo project mural in my living room’
courtesy of ‘aliciagriffin’

For the last couple years, DC’s been a bit behind the times technologically when it came to public transportation participation in online transit services like NextBus and Google Maps for Transit, but it seems that’s about to come to an end, as Greater Greater Washington is reporting that WMATA and Google are now talking legal language of the deal, which is a major victory for the region.  DDOT announced earlier this week that the Circulator would appear in Google Transit this week, and Arlington is piggybacking on the announcement as well, to add ART buses to the system.

This is just about the best news that Metro’s seen in some time, and it’s a boon for riders who want to work on new ways to get a more efficient route through the system and don’t want to rely on the buggy Ride Guide on WMATA’s site.  Bring on the Future!  Er.  The Present.

Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

Issey Miyake’s Design Principles

Photo courtesy of
‘ISSEY MIYAKE’
courtesy of ‘Ruzaini’

Attention all Fashionistas! Tonight the Textile Museum will be hosting one of their renown talks called Issey Miyake‘s Design Principles.  Miyake is a well-known Japanese fashion designer who is known for his technology-driven creations. Tonight’s lecture will be given by Amanda Mayer Stinchecum, a historian specializing in the “cloth and clothing of Ryukyu/Okinawa and mainland Japan”.

Just a lil’ fact for fun: The building which houses the Textile Museum was created by the famous-architect John Russell Pope in 1913.

The Textile Museum is located at 2320 S Street NW DC and tonight’s talk starts at 6 PM. Purchase tickets at 202.667.0441.

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
By

Team-up to “Dodge” Diabetes

medics3
courtesy of Dodging Diabetes 

On Saturday, March 20th, the 5th Annual Dodging Diabetes Charity Dodgeball Tournament will bring together 500 players and fans for a one-day competition to raise money and awareness for the fight against diabetes.

From 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Champions Fieldhouse in Rockville, teams will be ducking and diving flying balls to make a difference in our community.

To sign up as a team, click here. Team registration (before March 16) is $350.

Founded by two D.C. area locals in 2005, Dodging Diabetes has netted over $40,000 for the Joslin Diabetes Center through its annual charity dodgeball tournaments. Web site: http://www.dodgingdiabetes.org.

The “Average Joe,” too, can make a difference.

All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
By

Someone Doesn’t Like The New Parking Laws

parking sign in the C&O Canal

parking sign in the C&O Canal

Someone in Georgetown is clearly not a fan of the new parking regulations that took effect in January. And I have to admit the addition of Saturdays has been the bane of my existence, however instead of throwing signs into the historic C&O Canal, let your voice be heard by contacting Mayor Fenty, your Ward representative and/or your ANC with your complaints/comments/suggestions.

The Features
By

The Morning News

Photo courtesy of
’53/365′
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Welcome to an occasional-but-hopefully-more-frequent series where I drag myself out of bed early and read the local news so you don’t have to.

From the NTSB hearings on the June 22 Red Line Crash:

Yesterday’s testimony dealt with the crashworthiness of the 1000 series cars, and their impending replacement (if 2013 can be called “impending) with new 7000 series cars with a stainless steel body that’s more resistant to crumpling on impact. That’s old news. What came out of the hearings that was new was that the manufacturer of Metro’s signaling equipment, Alstom, warned Metro in 2004 and 2006 about the dangers of mixing third-party equipment in with their Alstom equipment. The equipment from other manufacturers has higher power requirements than the Alstom devices and may have caused the signaling failure that led to the crash. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Post To Barry: Quit Apologizing and Resign Already.

Photo courtesy of

‘At A Loss: Repeat and Rinse’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

The money quote from the Post Editorial Board is a brutal one: “Even if the council invokes the toughest sanctions available to it — and we think it should — it won’t be enough to make up for what Mr. Barry’s repeated misbehavior has cost the very people he professes to serve.”

It’s easy to kick a man when he’s down, but now, I think it’s well past time we all joined in with the kicking.  Marion Barry has had more trouble following the rules than any public official I can think of.  He’s failed to file his taxes, he’s been arrested for doing crack with a prostitute, and now he’s facing discipline for the misappropriation of funds for his own ward.  It’s time to retire, Marion.  Go on.  Git.  Let someone new try to bring respectability to Ward 8.  They probably mean business, and not just the kickbacks kind.

News, The Daily Feed
By

Bob Ryan Leaving NBC4

Photo courtesy of
‘National Weatherman’s Day’
courtesy of ‘bjornmeansbear’

His smiling face is certainly one you remember, and as of Friday night late, you may have to see it somewhere else.  Longtime NBC4 Weatherman Bob Ryan is leaving NBC4 for greener pastures.  It’s not clear if he’s headed to WJLA as was previously guessed, but it was clear he wasn’t willing to take the paycut that NBC4 wanted him to take.  Good on ya, Bob, and you’re better without those NBC jerks.  Besides, they tape delay the Olympics, how long before they do that with the weather?

Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

White House To Be Filled With Glee This Easter

Photo courtesy of
‘(137/365) GGG’
courtesy of ‘MarksandSparks’

If you thought getting tickets to last year’s White House Easter Egg Roll was hard, then imagine what’s going to happen with the addition of a performance by the cast of Fox’s Glee.

Yup, that’s right. They’ll be appearing and performing at the April 5 event, so you should start lining up for tickets today.

Apparently, Michelle, Malia and Sasha are among the shows 2038475 million fans and are super pumped. Wonder if Bo is into Glee.

The Daily Feed
By

He’s Baaaaack: Livan Hernandez Signs A Minor League Contract

Photo courtesy of
‘Liván Hernández back pitching for the Nats’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

The most wins any Nationals pitcher has under his belt is 26. That record is held by right-handed pitcher Livan Hernandez who signed a minor-league contract with the Nationals today, which includes an invitation to Spring Training.

Hernandez is back in Washington after going 9-12 with a 5.44 ERA in 31 starts last season (having split his time between DC and New York with the Mets).

Word on the street (aka MLB.com) is the Nats have been looking for a second veteran starter since they signed right-hander Jason Marquis to a two-year deal in December.

Hernandez now enters the competition to fill the final two starting spots in Riggleman’s 2010 rotation.

News, The Daily Feed
By

Finally, Someone Who Makes Rhee Look Warm, Fuzzy

Photo courtesy of
‘Columbia Alumni “Polo Team” (LOC)’
courtesy of ‘The Library of Congress’

It’s not often you find someone who makes the chilly Michelle Rhee look warm and fuzzy by comparison, but meet Central Falls, RI’s Dr. Gallo.  As part of a running dispute with the teachers and administrators at Central Falls’ high school, today she fired each and every teacher and administrator there, citing poor performance, significant social mismatch, and a 48% graduation rate.  Sadly, 48% is just about average in DC.  So.  Fire ’em all?

The Features
By

Class Review: Deer Hunting for Locavores

Deer Hunting for Locavores
‘Field Butchering’
courtesy of ‘boboroshi’

I’ve been following Jack Landers’ blog for quite a while now, enjoying his mix of politics, firearms and hunting. The last article I read that he wrote was a hunting review of flashlight, which is a special hunting device that gives the best visibility for night hunters like me. Last fall he started offering a class for locals in Charlottesville about locavore hunting: those who want to get their food locally in a sustainable manner. The ultimate in free-range, no hormone or CAFO-raised meat? Well, in this part of the country, that would be whitetail deer. And that’s what the hunting class is set up to discuss. Two jam packed days of deer history, anatomy, ecology, gun safety, field butchering, cooking and more.

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy venison or be able to handle the butchering. Could I actually take the responsibility of a start-to-finish approach to the meat that I eat? Walking into Wegmans or Whole Foods or Giant and picking up a steak is easy. It’s clean. It’s prepared. You don’t even see the old style butcher shop half cow hanging as they worked on it. Would this push me towards a closer relationship with the food I eat or turn me into a vegetarian-biased eater?

The goal was to leave Charlottesville after these two days confident that I could go out and actually harvest a deer with my new Thermo Gears and take responsibility for it at some point next hunting season. So after my gig at the 9:30 Club on Friday night, I packed up my car with my clothes, camera and Winchester Model 70 rifle and headed down to Charlottesville.

(Warning: some of the photos inside show the butchering process) Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Unleashed Restaurant Deals March 1-7

Photo courtesy of
‘Everybody should believe in something……………..’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

RAMW has announced a week of dining out specials the week of March 1-7th that they’re calling “Unleashed”. As Amanda at Metrocurean alludes to, it’s probably helpful for the restaurants to rally and bring diners in after the big snowstorm of February.

My recommendations for specials to take advantage of?

20% off Dinner sushi at Kaz Sushi Bistro
4-course dinner for $35 per person at The Melting Pot
Tuscan Tasting Menu with Chianti flight for $40 per person at Potenza
Complimentary bottle of prosecco at Urbana

The full list is in this PDF right here. Good eating, DC.

The Daily Feed
By

No Jail for Cho

Photo courtesy of
‘Coffee Fest 2007 – Matt, Nick Cho, Sean’
courtesy of ‘journeyscoffee’

Here at We Love DC we’ve avidly followed the saga of Nick Cho and Murky Coffee’s tax problems since back in the days of Dickpunchgate. So you may be interested to know that Cho will not have to serve any jail time for his failure to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in DC sales taxes. Instead, he’ll be doing 400 hours of community service and paying $190,000 in restitution, $276/month for the first year, $3,900/month thereafter until it’s all paid up.

So what happens when he’s unable to come up with nearly $4k a month next year?

The Daily Feed
By

2012 Giro d’Italia To Kick Off In DC?

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0045’
courtesy of ‘briser50’

We got a phonecall from our friends at WCSA and it seems that Velonation has jumped the gun. Tomorrow’s event is only a rally in support of DC’s bid and not an actual announcement of DC’s formal involvement. We regret the error and hope to post this story again soon.

Tomorrow, according to Velonation, Mayor Fenty, Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata and Giro d’Italia organizer Angelo Zomegnan will announce that the first stage of the 2012 race will be held in DC. This will mark the first time a Grand Tour event has ever been staged outside of Europe.

The Italian periodical, Il Sole 24 Ore, reports that the 2012 race will begin on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, by the National Archives, will then pass by the FBI building, Freedom Plaza, the Ellipse, move behind the White House, onwards to the obelisk at the Department of State, Virginia Avenue, Watergate, Rock Creek Park and back. The riders, coaches, press, staff, etc. will then get on a plane, fly to Italy, land the next morning, have the day off and then bike their little biker butts off for the rest of the race. Phew! Better start carbo-loading.

This is great news for the US, as cycling continues to increase in popularity, and for DC, as we’ve got a strong biking community and because we’re obviously a wonderful host city.

The Daily Feed
By

Look Out Cupcake, Cheesecake Is On The Prowl

Photo courtesy of
‘Cheese Cake’
courtesy of ‘slettvet’

It isn’t just about the cupcake anymore. The cupcakeries about town have a new rival – Capital City Cheesecakes.

This online Cheesecake shop (currently operating out of the Brookland Tavern) is scheduled to open its first restaurant this spring in Takoma Park (7071 Carroll Avenue to be exact). The new location will feature Capital City shopper favorites including miniature and petite-sized cheesecakes as well normal sized cakes for any and all affairs.

Cheesecake fans do have a bit more to look forward to than a new location though! Co-Owners/Sisters Caitlin and Meaghan Murphy have a selection expansion in the works, which means cheesecake won’t be the sole item on the menu. Baked goods, coffees, and an extensive breakfast list are being added as an additional way to satisfy your craving for all things sweet and tasty.