Monthly Archives: February 2010

Entertainment, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Richard II

RCHRDII_531_resized

Michael Hayden as King Richard II in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Richard II, directed by Michael Kahn. Photo by Scott Suchman.

I don’t normally write the kind of review that I’m writing today. But to be blunt, I’ve had enough. What is going on at Shakespeare Theatre Company? Inconsistent vocality, acting styles ranging all over from natural to downright hammy, condescending directorial choices, flubbed lines. With so much talent at its disposal, I can only attribute it to growing pains with the Harman Center. But even that excuse is not going to last much longer with me. I love theater and I love Shakespeare. I want everyone to succeed. But if you don’t start bringing it, STC, I’m going to lose faith.

My first hint something was not right with Richard II, now playing in repertory with Henry V as part of an exploration on leadership themes, was in reading Michael Kahn’s directorial notes. He had decided to add a prologue from an anonymously penned Elizabethean play called Thomas of Woodstock because “I’ve always been aware of how mystified the audience is for the first four scenes.” Um, what? The audience has to piece together what happens at the first scene of Hamlet too, but I don’t see anyone advocating giving the ghost’s secret away right off the bat. So this is a choice to enlighten the audience? Why, we’re too dumb to catch up on our own? The patched together prologue is interminable and unnecessary, giving us our first glimpse of Richard’s neurosis and paranoia far too soon, not to mention solidifying in my mind –

Ok, deep breaths. Let’s jump back for a minute. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Photo courtesy of
‘Weihenstephaner’
courtesy of ‘yto’

Welcome to the Friday Happy Hour, your single drink primer for the weekend.

I’ve been trying to come up with some sort of seasonal or circumstantial justification for recommending the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, but I really can’t.  The best thing I can think of is that you might die tomorrow and it would be a real shame if you went to your grave without trying this beer. The Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is a wheat beer hailing from the Weihenstephan brewery of Bavaria (supposedly the oldest in the world). It’s consistently rated as the best hefewizen in the world and packs an enormous amount of complexity and flavor.  It bears notes of lemon and clove with strong overtones of banana from the acids produced by the particular style of yeast used during the fermentation process.  It’s sweet and refreshing, with a medium body and lingering finish.  Typically, you’d drink this style of beer during warmer weather, but it’s definitely worth having today.  You can find it at Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar on H St., or at Total Wine and More.

The Daily Feed
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FREE FOOD ALERT: Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

Photo courtesy of
‘Auntie Anne’s pretzels’
courtesy of ‘roboppy’

JUST IN, FREE FOOD ALERT via the lovely and adorable Missy Frederick from the Washington Business Journal, Auntie Anne’s everywhere will be giving away free pretzels tomorrow.

“Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. you can get a free regular or cinnamon sugar pretzel at any Auntie Anne’s location. There’s a limit of one per customer. More details here.”

I have a weak spot for Auntie Anne’s greasy delicious pretzels as my favorite shopping and airport snack. I’m going to make it a point to hunt one down tomorrow.

The Daily Feed, Tourism
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Curling Expo At Hilton Garden Inn All Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘Dave Levy Curls’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

The drama of Curling is gripping the nation, as it is wont to do during the Winter Olympics. Some clever minds over at the Hilton Garden Inn in McPherson Square saw the opportunity to tap into the adopted cult sports quadrennial success around the games and throw some support towards USA Curling. With four modified-length sheets and an array of stones, the basement ballrooms of the 14th St facility are ripe for you throw around all the fantastic curling terminology you’d like.

Tom Bridge captured the moment via some outstanding photographs, and I’m proud to say that I took a 1-0 victory over DCist in the first ever, unofficial, DC Blog Bonspiel.

This is just the start of our curling coverage this weekend, as we’ll be heading out to Potomac Curling Club tomorrow for their open house. However, if you find yourself with your family downtown this weekend, the ice here at the Hilton Garden Inn is open for the public to take their hand at an end. It will be open starting at 6 p.m. this evening until 9 p.m., as well as tomorrow and Sunday.

Need to brush up on your Curling lingo? I posted a little bit of a primer over on my own blog last weekend.

Dave Levy, among other things, is We Love DC’s Senior Curling Correspondent (yes, We Love DC now has a Senior Curling Correspondent). He usually writes about media and journalism over at State of the Fourth Estate.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Tortoise @ The Black Cat 2/16/10

a_3
courtesy of Tortoise

Indie-rock elder statesmen Tortoise played the Black Cat on Tuesday night and treated the modest-sized crowd to a set that was representative of their career modus operandi. Somehow their set managed to be simultaneously laid-back and intense in a way that was as mind-boggling as it was enjoyable. Covering the lion’s share of their latest album “Beacons Of Ancestorship” Tortoise once again displayed their utter mastery of genre collision and band member inter-play.

A lot of articles online hail Tortoise as the “godfathers of Post-Rock” and while I don’t particularly agree* I do recognize and enjoy the sea-change impact that they had on indie rock in the mid-1990’s. No one on the indie landscape does quite what Tortoise does in practice or in sound. They are the ultimate instrument playing genre colliders. Tortoise does with instruments what DJs can only dream of doing with an arsenal of samplers; Tortoise swallows difficult genres (Jazz, Krautrock, Prog-Rock, Dub, Punk, the list goes on…) and reconstitutes them into insane progressive mash-ups that evoke their influences in brilliant, discordant, and challenging ways. The fact that they can do all that and still lay down a deeply enjoyable jam is Tortoise’s own special brand of genius.
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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The New Wave of Website Awesomeness?

Photo courtesy of
‘lunar freedom’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Seems there’s a new entry in Georgetown.edu’s website redesign…and that left side looks kinda familiar. Apparently, this new entry is considered “cutting edge,” “innovative,” and “aggressive.” Um, well duh. Considering we pretty much set that look when we launched almost two years ago…

So. Honest mistake? Homage to our glorious site? Or simply because we’re Just That Awesome, so everyone wants to be like us?

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Drinks. Wisdom. Tuesday.

WeLoveDCDrinks

This upcoming Tuesday, February 23, from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., WeLoveDC is hosting its first event of the year at Wisdom Cocktail Parlour.

Join your favorite WeLoveDC authors and Wisdom owner/bartender Erik Holzherr for a craft cocktail experience at a happy (two) hour(s) you will leave all the wiser.

Tickets, which include your first craft cocktail, are $15 ahead of time or $20 at the door (space permitting). Food and happy hour specials will also be available.

Get your ticket and come hang with us.

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Green Office Challenge Coming to Arlington

Photo courtesy of
‘Plenty of Plants!’
courtesy of ‘mscaprikell’

Those Arlington greenies are at it again. They spent New Year’s dreaming up a community energy plan, and now they’ve been chosen as one of four local governments nationwide to receive assistance for a Green Office Challenge program.

This friendly competition will encourage property managers and office tenants to save money, energy and water in their buildings and to reduce waste.

The ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, which developed the challenge with Chicago last year, will give the county guidance and technical support. Charleston, Nashville and San Diego also will take the challenge.

Luckily, there will be no competition from Dunder Mifflin’s “As Green As We Have To Be” initiative and “one cup per day” water cooler plan.

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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WMATA + FEMA = OK?

Photo courtesy of

‘EHN @ Artomatic’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

With the word out that Metro is short another $18M due to lost fares and extra expenses during the Snopocalypse and Snowmaggeddon, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has requested some additional funds from FEMA to offset the loss.  Her letter to FEMA director Craig Fugate highlights unique challenges to Metro, including its status as a multi-state agency.  She wrote, “I understand that if the president declares Major Disasters or Emergencies that Metro likely will receive assistance separately through each of the states in which they operate.   However, considering how unusual it is to be faced with a tri-state local entity under the Stafford Act, I would ask that FEMA provide the greatest flexibility in its administrative requirements so as not to unnecessarily add to the operational burdens that Metro faces.”

It would be nice to see FEMA come through with some emergency funding for our beleaguered transit agency, especially with WMATA facing a $189M shortfall for next year, with likely service cuts on the block.  Isn’t a great time to ride Metro?

Monumental, The District, The Features
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Monumental: Mount St. Fenty

Photo courtesy of
‘glacial dome’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Rising high above the streets of DC, seen here with a height on par with the Capitol Building, is Mount St. Fenty.  The monument, in which is carved the sorrow of all District residents, was erected in the early part of 2010 by the District’s Department of Transportation on the orders of the Mayor.  While the initial monument was created as part of what should have been the art installation equivalent of a flash mob, on orders of the Mayor, the monument would stand for months to come as testament to the powers of the mother nature.

The ad-hoc architectural construction of Mount St. Fenty is a bold statement in contravention to traditional artforms, favoring chaos and confusion over structure and focus.  The confusing form has been the topic of much discussion over the past few days, and the Mayor himself has expressed incredulity at its reception.  If the avant garde nature of Mount St. Fenty is its most obvious feature, the Kafkaesque drama that it carries with it as undercurrent is its most long-lasting.  The neighborhoods are rife with frustration as the Mount is causing all manner of parking difficulty throughout the city, leaving residents with flat tires, flared tempers and a sharp increase in the alcoholism rate.

Plans to move the monument at this time are quite sketchy, as the Mayor has said that the weather will have to do the job itself, and that city funds are stretched to the limit to move the monument to its final location. The delay, though, will prove to be a campaign issue for the Mayor in this fall’s primaries.  Well, should anyone decide to run against Mayor Fenty.

The Daily Feed
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Ignite DC Continues Good Run

Ignite 3 Audience

The concept behind Ignite DC is a simple one: 5 minutes, 20 slides, tell us a good story.  The realities of the presentation are vastly more complicated.  Stories can be about the revolutionary nature of motherhood, or about building an iPhone app that takes pictures and puts them on Twitter. As serious as exotic animal trade or the future of education, or as whimsical as the need for Recess in our daily lives, or how the fonts you use gets you judged.  The packed house at Town Danceboutique on a Thursday night wasn’t for clubbing, but rather for a set of great lectures from 15 different area speakers.

Ignite’s concept is interesting, but it may begin to suffer from the same problem that Merlin Mann pointed out about Lifehacker and other productivity sites: are we cultivating experts, or are we cultivating something else?  It’s hard to tell, and Ignite’s a bit too young to tell for sure, but the gimmick might be eclipsing what could be an excellent conversation about Expertise and Skill and Modernity.  What will it become?  Time shall tell.

The Daily Feed
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Snowmaggedon Cost Metro $18 Million

A frontloader clears snow at the Rhode Island Ave - Brentwood Metro station (courtesy Larry Levine/WMATA)

A frontloader clears snow at the Rhode Island Ave - Brentwood Metro station (courtesy Larry Levine/WMATA)

Metro is reporting that the huge February snowfall has cost them almost $18 million dollars. The bulk of that, $9.7 million, is due to reduced ridership because the system was barely operational and only underground during the double blast of snow.

Metro is working with area governments to try and recoup the costs through federal disaster aid, said Carol Kissal, Metro’s Chief Financial Officer.

In addition to the almost $10 million in lost revenue, snow removal and overtime cost the agency $8 million. And revenue losses continue to mount from unusable parking spaces that are still unplowed.

The December snow storm cost Metro $2.7 million, and had already pushed the system beyond it’s annual snow removal budget of $2.5 million.

The Daily Feed
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MD Delegate Seeks Ban on Marriages…Between First Cousins


‘glowing’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’
Maryland Delegate Henry Heller, D-Montgomery County, is putting his foot down and saying no more to marriages between first cousins, unless the parties involved are either over the age of 65 or one person is unable to reproduce (because then it’s ok, right? *insert side eye*).

Heller claims that when first cousins marry, they are “playing genetic roulette,” increasing the chance of birth defects in their children.

If Maryland bans first-cousin marriages, they will be the 25th state to do so. You just can’t make this stuff up. You can see the bill for yourself.

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Mason Neck May Close to Public

Photo courtesy of
‘surprise eagle’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Mason Neck State Park, known as a good place to see bald eagles, is one of five state parks that may close this summer due to budget cuts. Set along the Potomac in Fairfax County, Mason Neck is also a heron rookery and home to ducks and tundra swans. It has several miles of trails in the woods and near wetlands.

There are other more-serious cuts proposed too, including furloughs for state workers and slashes to education and health and human services, reports The Post in local news. But if you’re a fan of Mason Neck, pay a visit soon, as the park may close as early as this spring.

Food and Drink, Interviews, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Chantal Tseng

Chantal Tseng at Tabard Inn. Photo courtesy Chantal Tseng/Tabard Inn.

Chantal Tseng at Tabard Inn. Photo courtesy Chantal Tseng/Tabard Inn.

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

It’s no secret that one of my favorite bars in the city is Tabard Inn. The creaky lounge – a Victorian Medievalist’s fantasy, with its eccentric patrons circling the fireplace – seems somehow out of time and place, a bit dreamy really. Thankfully its mixologist’s first reaction to the bar’s collection of quirky old ingredients wasn’t to throw them all away, but to find a way to incorporate and celebrate them. It makes perfect sense.

Because Chantal Tseng sees stories everywhere. Stories for cocktails, that is.

As she describes for me her foray into the great old stock of the hotel, I have a vision of her browsing through dusty bottles in search of new worlds to uncover – like some cocktail archeologist. “Wait, what’s that? Don’t get rid of it, that could be fun to play with…” Her enthusiasm pulls me along, for mixing drinks is obviously Chantal’s love, an artistic outlet fueled by the history behind a drink and the stories it weaves afterwards.

Take the tale she spins for Odette’s Curse. It begins with her standing in front of a painting of a man ice-skating. “In a silly pose,” she says, “like a dandy on ice.” Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Oh No You Just Did Not. We INVENTED The Cupcake, Bitch.

Photo courtesy of
‘9:30 Cupcake’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

“When we come into the market, people are going to realize what a real cupcake is all about,” said Crumbs bakery owner Jason Bauer.  See, they’re coming down here from Noo Yawk to tell us just how the kids in the big city eat their cupcakes.

The outrage is pretty palpable right now:

David Hagedorn: “Hey, you Crumbs, nothin’ DCers like more than ferners comin’ here to show us rubes what’s what. Keep your cupcakes & hire some (local) PR.”

Jenna Huntsberger: “”We weren’t impressed w/ anybody’s product” in ANY DC cupcake stores? So arrogant. Nice way 2 introduce yrself 2 DC community”

Nichole : “[A]nd with that, they can be sure I’ll never know. Is being an ass the new way to get people to buy your stuff?”

We could give a rat’s ass how you make cupcakes up north.  Here in DC, we practically invented the rebirth of the Cupcake.  Cake Love, Hello Cupcake, Georgetown Cupcake, Red Velvet, Baked & Wired, and that’s just what I can think of without working very hard.

Does New York have its own cupcake bakery reality show? I don’t think so.  So, really, I know you think you’re going to come in an own the market, but I know one place that I’d rather go hungry than visit: Crumbs.  Take your cupcake and shove it in your Yankee piehole, Bauer, we don’t need your filthy third-rate foreign cupcakes.

Besides, I’m betting they’re crumby.

The Daily Feed
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Architecture Beat – Francis Gregory Library in SE

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Credit: Exterior Rendering by Adjaye Associates

Having the ‘coolest’ library in the neighborhood is not far fetched for those living in SE. Just released are a few renderings by Adjaye Associates, whom, in collaboration with Wiencek Associates, have developed quite an interesting design for the Francis Gregory Library. Libraries seem to be all the rage when it comes to design lately (check out the Agave Library in Phoenix) so it’s quite nice to see DC sharing some of the attention.  I am pretty sure though that not everyone will be pleased with this addition to the DC architectural scene. What do you think?

See more renderings thanks to DC Metrocentric.

Food and Drink, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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DC Holds Our Own in James Beard Award Nominees

HIGH minibar-large-dzagar
Minibar by Maxwell MacKenzie

DC cleaned UP in the James Beard Award nominations this year with some great restaurants being recognized. I don’t agree with every single nomination, but when does that happen with awards? Winners will be announced at the highly-anticipated James Beard Foundation Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception, taking place on Monday, May 3, 2010 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. Here’s who you’re rooting for, DC:

OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR:
Ashok Bajaj, 701, Ardeo, Bardeo, Bibiana Osteria-Entoteca, The Bombay Club, The Oval Room, and Rasika, Washington, D.C.

OUTSTANDING CHEF:
Jose Andres (Minibar, Washington, D.C.)

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT:
Vidalia, Washington, D.C.

RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR:
Johnny Monis, Komi, Washington, D.C.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT:
Trummer’s on Main, Clifton, VA
Eventide, Arlington, VA
J & G Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

OUTSTANDING PASTRY CHEF:
Amanda Cook, CityZen at Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C.

OUTSTANDING WINE AND SPIRITS PROFESSIONAL:
Derek Brown, The Passenger, Washington, D.C.

OUTSTANDING SERVICE:
Marcel’s, Washington, D.C.

BEST CHEF MID-ATLANTIC:
Cathal Armstrong, Restaurant Eve, Alexandria, VA
Tony Conte, The Oval Room, Washington, D.C.
Peter Pastan, Obelisk, Washington, D.C.
Vikram Sunderam, Rasika, Washington, D.C.

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, February 20-21

Photo courtesy of
‘China Town Arch’
courtesy of ‘rgb48’

Kirk: I’m leaving for the Olympics on Saturday, but I’m going to try to cram some weekend goodness in early, before I get out of town.  Tonight, I’m going to SOVA for some bluegrass, a bi-weekly, Thursday tradition that a friend introduced me to, recently.  Tomorrow, I’ll likely treat myself to a beer at the Saloon after work before finally going to Wisdom for the first time ever (I’m behind the times). Then it’s early to bed so I can be up for my 4am drive to BWI.

John: Friday night I’ll be sitting in early with No Second Troy at the 9:30 club for the Hotspur show. Then I promptly get in my car and trek down to Charlottesville for the “Hunting for Locavores” class all weekend. I’ll come back with new skills, a belly full of venison, and some great photos and experiences to share with you all.   Continue reading →