The Features

Easter in the District: So Much To Eat, So Little Time!

Photo courtesy of
‘Green Egg’
courtesy of ‘oparrish’

So when I was younger, it was all about getting dressed up for church, painting eggs, Easter dinner, and this magical fuzzy bunny, which quite frankly, can be a tad-bit scary for little kids.  Now that I’m a little older, it’s a little less Easter bunny, but the dinner part never really gets old. If you’re out and about for Easter this year, and looking for brunch or dinner, there are tons of restaurants that are offering specials for you and your loved ones.

First up is Redwood of Bethesda.  From 10:30 am to 3:30 pm, there will be a traditional menu with everything from Flaked Salt Cod Salad with leeks, baby frisee, fingerling potatoes and beet vinaigrette to Miguel’s Virginia Ham with sweet potato puree, wilted Brussels sprout leaves and red eye gravy.  The menu is a la carte, and dishes will range between $9 and $22.  To top it off, for 15 bucks, you can enjoy bottomless mimosas (and you just can’t go wrong with bottomless mimosas).  Get your reservations in today! Continue reading

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed

Post Writes Phillies a Mash Note

Photo courtesy of
‘Washington Post’
courtesy of ‘DC Public Library Commons’

Look, it’s an open secret that Post wants to be a national newspaper only. Their downsizing of the Metro section, elimination of the Business section, and move to online-only for any good coverage of the locality. But really, I thought Sports was one area where the concept of local reigned supreme. Today’s Dave Sheinin piece on the front page of the Sports section is the paean usually reserved for local teams of note, but instead…we get a mash note to the Phillies?

I know things don’t look great for the Nationals, but I would’ve much rather read a hard-hitting analysis of the faults of the bullpen, or even the nighttime proclivities of Ron Villone’s mustache, than a love note to the team who has the worst fans in Baseball. Couldn’t you write about the Orioles, even?

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District

FEMA To Redraw DC Flood Maps

Photo courtesy of
‘Potomac River Floods Washington Harbour’
courtesy of ‘brownpau’

Yesterday, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced , they’d be revising flood maps for Washington, D.C. over the next six months.  Per FEMA’s flood map database, the most recent DC flood maps are from 1985, so I’d say DC is in good need of some updating.

The maps help local officials and residents identify known flood risks, and assist in making insurance and development decisions. Maps are updated, per Congressional guidance and direction, to provide communities with solid information on how to mitigate and insure against the risks posed by floods.

DC home and business owners who purchase flood insurance should talk with their local insurance agent to discuss how revised flood maps may affect their options and rates. More information on flood insurance is available at www.floodsmart.gov.

Dupont Circle, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District, The Great Outdoors, We Green DC

Clean-up Rock Creek Park

Photo courtesy of
‘Artistic Trash – Unheeded Words – 03-27-10’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Looking for a trashy way to spend your weekend? We’ve got a suggestion.

WeLoveDC is partnering with Trail Voice in two weeks (April 10th) to host a cleanup site in conjunction with the annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup event hosted by the Alice Ferguson Foundation. Our cleanup site is at the P Street bridge over Rock Creek – about 4 blocks west of Dupont Circle. 

Register on Trail Voice’s site to volunteer your time.  We encourage you to participate in this event to help spruce up a well-used portion of our inner-city landscape.

The trash clean-up should last from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon, but we’re teaming up with a few local vendors who have offered everything from morning yoga stretching to baked goods to help make this environmental sweep a little more fun.

Clean-up site is just west of Dupont Circle in Rock Creek Park from 9:00 a.m. – 12 noon on Saturday, April 10. There is no cost for you to participate. It is recommended that you bring your own work gloves, although some will be available on-site.

Mythbusting DC, The Features

DC Mythbusting: White House Flag

Photo courtesy of
‘The White House – The Dream Home of Many Children’
courtesy of ‘adcristal’

There are all sorts of rules and regulations about the proper display of the American flag– when it can be displayed, where it can be displayed, and how it should be regarded.  For example, apparently it’s a violation of the Flag Code to display the flag horizontally on a football field, as is a common practice in games across the country. Whoops!  But what about the White House?  There’s a legend out there that the US flag is only flown over the White House when the President is in the District.  If he’s not in DC, no flag is flown.  With all the specifications and regulations in the Flag Code, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one was true– but is it?

Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Someone forgot to make an important phone call

See this flyer? It advertises a D.L. Hughley appearance at Zanzibar this past weekend. Hughley was indeed in town, performing at the Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro. He says he was never booked for Zanzibar and asked them to stop using his name and likeness to promote the club. They didn’t. So now his agent is getting phone calls asking why Hughley flaked, and predictably, he’s suing the owners of Zanzibar for rather a lot of money, alleging all kinds of things, including misappropriation of name and likeness.

Hey guys? This is generally why the concept of the “signed contract” was invented.

Business and Money, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District, We Green DC

DC Bag Tax Nets $150,000 For Anacostia River Clean Up

Photo courtesy of
‘Reusable Giant Bags’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The District’s 5-cent bag tax, which started in January 2010,  netted approximately $150,000 during its first month of enactment. According to the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue, only 3 million bags were issued in the month of January compared to 2009’s 22.5 million bags per month average, and it appears that the new law DC shoppers has been successful in altering  shopping bag habits faster than was expected.

Prior to enactment, the new tax was estimated to generate $10 million in revenue over the next four years and would fund the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund. Given January’s results it appears that consumer behavior has changed so rapidly that this revenue may fall short of its original projection.

The Daily Feed

Scoreboard Inspiration

Photo courtesy of
‘Nationals vs Braves – Run Teddy! – 7-4-09’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

See that scoreboard? That’s a typical outcome for DC’s most-loved and most-lost mascot. THIS is why we need you to come rally in support of Teddy Roosevelt, his big, fluffy head, and his poor technique. We’ll also drink some beers and generally have a good time.

LetTeddyWin! Join many of your favorite WeLoveDC authors and the founder of LetTeddyWin.com next month for our night at National’s Park.  

Tickets are now on sale for the event taking place Wednesday, April 21 starting at 5:30 with a behind-the-scenes stadium tour at Nationals Park, followed by “Let Teddy Win” related events, and the Nats vs. the Rockies at 7:05.

Dupont Circle, Fun & Games, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The Mall

International Pillow Fight Day

Photo courtesy of

courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

I guess that early spring is the time international activity days.  Last week we had Kite Day, which was awesome, and this week we have Pillow Fight Day, which will probably be more awesome, I recommend buy amazon pillows, are the best option for this event. If you struggle with getting your mind to shut off when you’re trying to get comfy and cozy under the sheets, hugging an amazon body pillow may be just what you need. Capitol Improv is organizing a massive gathering on the mall on Saturday to observe pillow fight day.  Thus far, over 1600 people have responded to the Facebook invite. The plan is to gather on the WWII Memorial side of the Washington Monument around noon, at which time a few Capitol Improv folks will engage in a shouting match that will quickly devolve into a pillow fight.  At this point, the general public is welcomed to join in.  After a little while, the fight will be moved to Dupont Circle, where it will continue until everyone gets tired of it.  I missed last years pillow fight which had over 400 participants.  I’m not making the same mistake this year.

News, The Daily Feed

DC Fire/EMS/Police Communications Down For Five Hours

Photo courtesy of
‘red white and blue’
courtesy of ‘willmeyer’

An electrical problem at the city’s Office of Unified Communications brought DC’s primary radio system for emergency responders to a halt on Monday night around 7:15pm. According to NBC4, system went down for about five hours, causing DC Fire/EMS and MPD to default back to their backup radios.

DC operates a trunked radio system for emergency responders, meaning that there is one master control facility for all the radio communications for the city. There are several transmission facilities, but it’s all routed through the computers near the big antenna cluster by McMillan Reservoir. The whole system went down due to a power problem, forcing responders to their backup radios. While there was confusion for a short while, the city’s policies for maintaining backup radio channels with Arlington and Montgomery County on the 800Mhz band allowed for an easy switch back to working communications centers. DC Fire/EMS set up a temporary command center at 6th and F St NW to coordinate extra assistance during the five hour outage.

Featured Photo

Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘Stranger 100 – Jacob’
courtesy of ‘jim_darling’

Taking portraits isn’t easy. Taking portraits of strangers is even more difficult. Doing that one hundred times seems like a Sisyphean task: finding just the right subject; working up the courage; approaching them; getting rejected; trying with another; getting them comfortable; taking the shot, then another. Endless and repetitive. Many people start projects like the 100 Strangers to try and get some inspiration. Some do it without much thought, as if the mere act of getting the shot is enough to make them good. Some become bored and abandon their projects midway. But a few think (and over think) their project, and they learn from it as they go. The latter is exactly why I’m featuring Jim Darling‘s 100th stranger.

It’s not about the shot itself, which is a good portrait. It’s about the journey and the entire work taken as a whole. If you’ve got some time, go and take a look at the slideshow of all 100 portraits. You can see Jim’s style evolve as he wandered DC and other locales to get the next stranger.

“At #22 I discovered that this project could really be something,” Jim wrote. “And by #44 I was finding that I really cared about the art of the portrait. Granted they weren’t all winners, and sometimes when I thought a location or event would garner something inspiring, it just didn’t quite make it.”

As he shot these strangers’ portraits, Jim also got to be a part of their lives. Sometimes, only for those few minutes that it takes to get the shot, but sometimes he’s become friends with his strangers. Maybe tonight, on your way home or at the bar, you might consider having a brief conversation with a stranger. You never know where it will lead.

Special Events, The Daily Feed

Bender Arena To Host Wheelchair Basketball Game Supporting Veterns

PUSHFLYER3

American University, USOC Paralympic Military Program, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity have joined forces to host the Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball game at Bender Arena on April 1 at 6 p.m. The game features Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s “Wounded Warriors” as they take on the San Antonio’s Brooke Army Medical Center team.

All proceeds from this event benefit the Wounded Warrior Project and Push America, an organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities.

University President, Neil Kerwin, will be attending and speaking at the event in addition to wounded veteran and Wounded Warrior Project representative Ryan Kules.

Can’t make the event? The Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity – Theta Eta chapter from American University, the game’s organizers, encourage you to make a donation to the cause online. Again, all proceeds go to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project and people with disabilities.

For more information on the event, the benefiting organizations, and general inquiries, visit the event’s website.

The Daily Feed

Commemorate Lincoln’s assassination with… free mediterranian food?

Photo courtesy of
’70A #6′
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Okay, these two things have nothing to do with each other beyond a bizarre bit of press release coincidence. Stacked one right after the other in my email today were announcements from Roti about their grand opening and Ford’s Theater about their annual commemoration, both happening on April 14th.

Proving that the evil that men do lives after them while the good is oft interred with their bones, the Lincoln “festivities” will happen again on the 15th while the free food is a one-time thing. Which is good, really, since the two locations are pretty far apart if you’re inclined to go for both. And you can justify both to yourself – while the Lincoln event gets you some culture the Roti free-for-all involves collecting tonations for DC Central Kitchen.

DC Victory Gardens, Farm Fresh

Getting Started with Community Supported Agriculture

Photo courtesy of 'boboroshi'
"Bull Run Farm Greenhouse"
courtesy of "boboroshi"

Making your own Victory Garden isn’t for everyone. It may be that you live in an apartment or you simply don’t have time to do your own gardening, or perhaps you are a serial killer of plants from the garden center. Regardless, this does not prohibit you from joining the local food revolution. A simple creation by small farmers has spread all over the country and you can now join CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs, or farm shares, and get fresh produce every week from a local farmer delivered to you.
Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Keeping the Lights on During Earth Hour

Photo courtesy of
‘(275/365) [Explored!]’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

As cities around the world turned the lights off on Saturday to mark Earth Hour, some of our most famous DC landmarks kept the lights on.  Earth Hour was  an international show of commitment to action on climate change, and over 4,000 cities participated.  Here in the District, the Wilson Building, the Reeves Center, the National Cathedral, and the Smithsonian Castle all went dark, but the federal monuments continued to glow.

Check out the amazing before-and-after shots of cities during Earth Hour over at The Big Picture.  Here’s hoping the monuments turn off the lights next year, as I’d love to see how different the Mall would look without the lights shining on the monuments and memorials at night.

The Daily Feed

Million Militia Man March Probably Not Pushing Through

Via The Washington Independent, we have news of the arrest of nine militiamen for conspiracy to overthrow the government. Among the arrested: Kris “Pale Horse” Sickles, who about a year ago posted — and then quickly pulled — a YouTube video calling for a “Million Militia Man March” on Washington, in which large numbers of Second Amendment advocates would march on the National Mall openly carrying firearms, but doing nothing violent.

Sadly, with the arrest of Pale Horse, it looks like the Million Militia Man March may never come to pass. And that’s how America died and the Illuminazi Muslim Communist New World Order took away everyone’s guns and replaced them with healthcare death panels. Forever.

More from TPMmuckraker.

The Daily Feed

Complaining about your job at a bar? Unheard of!

Photo courtesy of
‘the worst job in DC?’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Workplace vent site IHateMy9to5.com (think FML for the gainfully employed) is hosting a storytelling happy hour/vent session this Thursday night at Wonderland Ballroom. Comedian Vijai Nathan is hosting, and Speakeasy DC Artistic Executive Director Amy Saidman will be judging vent quality.

There will be drink and food specials, plus a whole lot of people whose job is probably worse than yours. Or at least, more entertaining. The fun starts at 6:30 and the storytelling goes until 7:30, so don’t be late. Or a written warning will be placed in your personnel file.

Sports Fix

Sports Fix: Season Opener Edition

DC United
3/27/10 D.C. United vs. Kansas City Wizards
courtesy of dcunited

D.C. United
Record: 0-1-0
Last Two Weeks: 0-1-0

Beginnings are hard. They’re the start of new stories, new relationships, and new adventures, and they require a lot of work. It showed, Saturday night in Kansas City, that United didn’t do enough of that in their spring training. On a cold and rainy evening in front of a sell-out crowd, United faltered repeatedly to open their season with a 4-0 loss to the Wizards. It wasn’t what anyone with United wanted. Curt Onalfo, new coach for D.C. United, wanted to beat his old team. Keeper Troy Perkins wanted to show his stripes as a veteran keeper worth the loss of Fred. But it wasn’t to be.

Instead, the Wizards wiped the floor with DC, pressing hard against a weak defense, and forcing mistake after mistake. Most frustrating seem to come on the right side of the backfield, where it seemed like no one was playing. Several times, Perkins would make a huge save, only to be beaten badly when the rebound couldn’t be cleared. It looked like the midfield was playing in quicksand. In short: United’s debut looked like a training match. Let’s hope they figure out their communications problems before Saturday’s home opener. Continue reading

News, The Daily Feed

Loose Lips: Vincent Gray to Challenge Fenty

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_8607’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

Mike “Loose Lips” Debonis of the City Paper has a big scoop this morning: Mayor Fenty will have a real challenger in Council Chairman Vincent Gray, starting tomorrow, when Gray files to be a candidate for the September Mayoral Primary.

The big question is: can Gray raise enough money fast enough to offset the over $2M already in the Fenty war-chest, and can he run a campaign based on the Mayor’s executive behavior in his first term and be successful? Gray was listed as competitive with the Mayor in a recent poll this winter listing potential challengers. Another question remains: will At-Large councilman Kwame Brown throw his hat in the ring, either for Gray’s old job as Council Chair, or to try a three-way battle for Mayor. We shall soon see.