Monthly Archives: June 2010

The Daily Feed
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Free Food Alert! Dunkin’ Turbo Visits DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Dunkin Donuts Medium Coffee’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

I don’t know about you, but I’m always in the mood for free stuff these days.  That being said, this weekend, good ole’ Dunkin’ Donuts will be on hand at Safeway’s National Capital Barbecue Battle XVIII.  Located on Pennsylvania between 9th and 14th Street, there will be a giant RV filled with free coffee samples and other goodies for you to enjoy.

The District is just one stop on the Dunkin’ Turbo Big Taste Tour, which is introducing the public to the new Dunkin’ Turbo packaged coffee.  So if you’re in the area and have a craving for some coffee, make sure you stop by!  Saturday the RV will be open from 11am-9pm, and on Sunday from 11am-7:30pm.  You can check out all of the tour stops at the website.

The Daily Feed
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goSmithsonian Scavenger Hunt Saturday

Photo courtesy of
‘Smithsonian Castle – Star Wheel – 2-16-09’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

If you’ve got an iPhone or an Android phone and feel up for some traipsing about the National Mall this Saturday, you might as well win an iPad while you’re flirting with heatstroke, no? Play the goSmithsonian Mobile Scavenger Hunt on Saturday starting at 9:30AM at the Smithsonian Castle. You download the SCVNGR app from the iPhone App store or the Android Market, and choose the goSmithsonian Trek. Then your phone will provide you with a series of challenges and questions pertaining to various Smithsonian museums for you to complete for points. Report back to the Castle at 2, where the highest scorer wins an iPad.

Sounds like fun. If I weren’t already triple-booked for Saturday, I’d see you there. Be sure to RSVP.

Entertainment, The Daily Feed
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We Love DC Does Top Chef DC: Episode 2

Photo courtesy of
‘Classic school lunch. Yum.’
courtesy of ‘Ben+Sam’

Top Chef is off and running after a lackluster premiere, in fact the lowly 1.8 million that tuned in last week was the show’s lowest premiere since the beginning of the season. When you take into account the lower than usual turnout for the Real World DC premiere, one would have to think if DC is the place where reality TV goes to die. I certainly hope not! Producers are right to think that the Washington, DC backdrop is sexy- I mean where else can you have a National monument in every B-roll shot? Also where are you going to find cool guest judges like White House chef Sam Kass?

The cook for the Obama family prepared meals for the family in Chicago and moved to DC after the election. He’s a self-starter with no formal training or experiencing running a restaurant or hotel. Instead he’s more of a working chef that continues to cook for the First Family while also advising and supporting Michelle Obama’s healthy living agenda.

I bet you didn’t know that about about Mr. Kass. The again you might have been too busy staring at him wondering if it would be possible to get trapped in an elevator with both him and Tom. In 2009 Kass was listed in People’s “100 Most Beautiful People,” yet another reason to get this White House official on camera.

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After Strasmas, D.C. Gets New Wall’s Day

Photo courtesy of
‘Arenas lets it fly’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Yesterday was a little bit of a busy sports day. Landon Donovan, an epic Wimbeldon match (to the point where “epic” doesn’t actually do it justice), Strasmas 3, and, oh yeah, Landon Donovan. Why should the fun stop now? Tonight is the 2010 NBA Draft, and your Washington Wizards carry the first pick.

All signs are pointing towards a selection of John Wall, who played one season as point guard from Kentucky. Wall would be a great boost for a team that has drifted into low relevance in a town that has moved from Redskins quarterback-shuffling to a brief Caps playoff run and along to Strasburg’s heralded debut for the Nationals. When the Wizards lucked into the number one draft pick last month, it represented a pretty banner day for District sports fans, and John Wall would stand as a worthy addition to the Mount Rushmore of prospects that have come to the DC area in the last years.

Coverage for the draft beings at 7 tonight, and you can catch it all on ESPN. The clock will start around 7:30, and Wall very likely will be a Wizard shortly after that.

Entertainment, Interviews, Media, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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DMVIFF: A Festival for Filmmakers

Tanecia Britt; photo courtesy DMVIFF

This weekend marks the start of the DMV International Film Festival, showcasing the talents of various artists in our area. (‘DMV’ stands for the District, Maryland, and Virginia, for those wondering.) By showcasing up and coming artists from around the world, the DMVIFF is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the area’s indie film market through the development and presentation of original stories for the screen. The DMVIFF hopes to educate about the business of film through workshops and panel discussions during the course of the festival. The festival – and organization – has been put together by Tanecia Britt, a DC native and a freelance director.

The festival, which runs Friday through Wednesday the 30th, was the brainchild of Britt after her return from London where she obtained her Masters in Film Video and New Screen Media. “After I got back and created my first feature, School Without Walls, I had trouble entering the film in various area film festivals,” she said. “School was selected in 3 international festivals, so I was confused as to why it wasn’t accepted here in the DC area. It was then I noticed a real lack of knowledge of film festivals, so I decided to do something about it.”

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capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Ovie, Theodore Walk Away With Hardware

Photo courtesy of
‘Theodore Warms Up’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

Last night at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, the Washington Capitals did not come away empty-handed. Both winger Alex Ovechkin and goalie Jose Theodore (who won’t be back this year) nabbed individual awards, with Ovie also being elected to his fifth-straight First Team All Star honor.

Theodore won the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy, which honors the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Theodore, who lost his son Chace last year to respiratory complications, created the “Saves for Kids” charity to benefit the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s National Medical Center in DC. “Obviously, it was a tough year emotionally, but I’m really proud of the way I handled myself,” Theodore told NHL.com. “Then winning this award just brings back some tough memories or good memories, it depends, but it’s tough. With all the support I had, it was just fun to see people around me that cared for that.” He presented a check for $35,000 to Children’s at the beginning of May after pledging money for each save, win, and shutout he made during the season. The donation also included matching donations and support from the Capitals organization and fans.

Ovechkin led off the awards ceremony, winning the Ted Lindsay Award (formerly the Lester B. Pearson Award) as the players’ MVP for the third straight season. However, Ovie didn’t collect his third Hart trophy (the NHL MVP) as expected; that honor went to Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin.

Mike Green was a finalist for the James Norris Memorial Trophy (outstanding defenseman) but lost to Chicago Blackhawks Duncan Keith.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Fall to Royals, 1-0

stras.jpg
Photo by Ian Koski / Nationals Daily News

Looking for the sweep today, the Nationals brought out their ace, Stephen Strasburg, to cement a winning streak and build some momentum, going into the weekend series against Baltimore.  Sadly, the team’s offense couldn’t deliver, in a game fraught with mistakes and misplays, in some cases over-sliding bases, and in others sliding too early, and they fell without scoring, 1-0.

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News, The Daily Feed
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DC’s Baseball Academy

Photo courtesy of
‘Catcher’
courtesy of ‘bp6316 is alive’

In Fort Dupont Park, in Ward 7, there are a few beat up old baseball fields that are about to get a facelift, thanks to the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the Washington Nationals.  This afternoon, I talked to Council Chair Vince Gray at the Nationals game, and he filled me in on a few details.  The City has completed the land transfer with the Park Service, and the Nationals have committed to spending $1M on the academy to get things started and $250k/yr to run the youth academy, designed to get kids active in baseball.

Talking about the academy, it’s clear this is a project near and dear to Gray, who went on about his own time playing at Dunbar High School (he boasted a .500 average his junior and seniors years).  To Gray, getting youth active in baseball is in tandem to getting them employed in the summertime, which could do a lot to keep young people engaged in the community and out of trouble.  He’s also hoping that it might spur on the growth an adult league. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see the Council Chair out in the field some summery night in the future, bat in hand in an adult league?

The Daily Feed
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DC Crafts: Find Of The Day

courtesy of esty user Artmonger

Today’s Find Of The Day celebrates the beauty of our Capitol building in a 3D watercolor collage by hometown born Artmonger. The artwork requires a multi-step process involving gridwork, painting, computer rendering and foam mounting to give the piece it’s 3D look.  The collage is the perfect gift or decoration for a DCite or even political junkie.  It’s neat-o.

The Daily Feed
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On The Third Night Of Strasmukkah: A $100k Baseball Card

Photo courtesy of
‘100 MPH!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

In about an hour and a half, Stephen Strasburg will take the mound at Nationals Park for the third time, the fourth overall start in his debut season. Sure, it’s going to be a hot one, and people are selling off tickets en masse on StubHub.

If you’re going to stay home or at the office, enjoying the air conditioning, I have a fun game for you. It’s called: “Watch This eBay Auction for A Signed, Rare Stephen Strasburg Baseball Card.” Current total, as of 3:04 p.m. – $100,800.00. As Chris Littman notes over at The Sporting Blog, the bidders seem legit, too.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Goldfrapp @ 9:30 Club 6/21/10

Goldfrapp @ 9:30 Club 6/21/10
courtesy of Goldfrapp.

Allison Goldfrapp, the fairy godmother of electro-pop, descended from her pink-chiffon cloud to treat us mere mortals to one hell of a concert at the 9:30 Club on Monday night. The performance was one of the first dates on her U.S. tour in support of her fifth album, “Head First“, but the concert also served as a reminder to the pop-forgetful that she is the best in the biz when it comes to dreamy-vocals set to retro-chic, electro-beats. This summer is ridiculous with its schedule of electro-pop divas visiting DC. From The Golden Filter, to La Roux, to Robyn, and Dragonette each group owes a huge debt to Goldfrapp for putting the pop polish on the synth and keyboard sound that began its revival as the much harsher electro-clash in the late 90’s. Will Gregory and Allison Goldfrapp, the duo that compose Goldfrapp in the studio, have been cranking out great albums since 2000, while Allison and her live band have been putting on terrific live shows full of style and originality that will be hard to forget when seeing their electro-pop descendants perform over the next couple of months. Monday night’s Goldfrapp show took a few songs to really get going but once the band got into their groove it was pure escapist, retroactive, pseudo-futuristic bliss.

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The Daily Feed
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Shaking Buildings in Old Town, Related to Earthquake?

oldtown

Through two separate reports, we’ve heard that at least one building in Old Town experienced very noticeable shaking today right at about the same time as a relatively major earthquake hit Ottawa and Quebec in Canada. People from Toronto, Detroit, New York and Ohio have reported experiencing some effects from this quake. Is it possible it actually caused shaking in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia?

@thelastgoodnight on Twitter reported it happening at 2:00pm today. It was also reported as being experienced on S Alfred St. Did anyone else feel it?

UPDATE 2:41pm: Apparently there was also shaking felt in Greenbelt, MD. Starting to sound less like strange coincidences and more like very small ripples being felt from the quake up north.

The Daily Feed
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Our First Two Blanks Winners – And Two More To Find

Earlier this week, we held a little contest asking WLDC readers to share their favorite TV themes for a chance to go see The Blanks (from Scrubs among other things) at the Arlington Drafthouse. From the great submissions we got (and I was delighted that I am not the only one who loved the Greatest American Hero), I’m pleased to announce our first two winners, chosen by random among those who commented. Congrats to Robert Lintott and Patty, who each will get a pair of tickets to go see one of the shows. For your afternoon listening pleasure, the TV themes they chose are below.

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The Daily Feed
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Halls Of Fame @ DC Design Center

Photo courtesy of
‘Door to somewhere’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

If you have never entered the DC Design Center I would highly recommend that you remedy that, especially to check out the 2010 Halls of Fame Design House. 

Every Spring and Fall the Design Center invites local designers to showcase their work in the design house by placing their aesthetic mark on a room, and currently the Design Center is featuring an elite eight.   The eight designers featured are Frank Babb Randolph, Kelley Proxmire, Victor Shargai, David Herchik & RichardLoomin, Rita St. Clair, Nestor Santa-Cruz, Michael Roberson, and Olivia Demetriou Adamstein.

Each room is completely different, reflecting every designer’s personal style and vision.  A perfect way to find some inspiration!

The 2010 Halls of Fame Design House will be open till December 11, 2010.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: An Uphill Battle For WMATA One Year After Crash

Photo courtesy of
‘Horton #23 (26/365)’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Earlier Samer wrote about how his commute changed when he was able to drive to work, for me it has been a luxury I’ve enjoyed for most of my time here in the DC area. I called it a luxury because I had a parking space at an office .7 miles away from my home in Clarendon. With a parking space waiting for me at work I freely drove that .7 miles to and from my home every day.

Call me lazy but I grew up in a Boston suburb where you needed a car in order to get anywhere around town. For me driving was always a necessity and a habit I didn’t give up til my car had an extended stay at the mechanic. Now I have the opposite of what Samer had: I took a new job in Rosslyn, where parking wasn’t provided and I went from a daily driver to a daily Metro commuter.

Even before I became a daily Metro customer I’ve been a big fan of the Metrorail system. When asked to compared Washington, DC with my hometown of Boston it is the Metro and the public transportation system that leads my argument for why I love DC a little bit more than beantown. Sure Boston has their legendary T system but WMATA did things that the MBTA never had.

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New Arts Middle School Draws Fancy Pants Names

Photo courtesy of
‘Rockstar’
courtesy of ‘Abhisek Sarda’

A star-studded Blue Ribbon Commission has been appointed to help plan DCPS’s new arts middle school. Set to open in fall 2011, the school will serve grades six through eight, and aims to follow in the prestigious tradition of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, DC’s selective arts high school.

So far, DCPS has done a pretty good job with the prestige part. The new planning commission includes arts glitterati such as jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, Septime Wembre, Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet, and Fred Bollerer, COO of the Corcoran College of Art and Design. More than a dozen others are on board as well, each doing their part to ensure the school turns heads…and teaches kids too.

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Folk Life Festival starts tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of
‘Folk Life Festival 09 – Clay Hand – 7-3-09’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

You guys, the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival starts tomorrow. I KNOW, it crept up on me too, usually because that’s usually about when DC gets really hot and nasty and we’ve already been dealing with that for weeks.

This year’s Festival focuses on the cultures of Mexico, and Asian/Pacific Americans, as well on the actual work done by staff of the Smithsonian to preserve cultural and natural treasures. There will also be some special events focusing on Haiti and the Apollo Theater.

My favorite part of the Festival is always the performances, so this year is going to combine some of my favorite things- mariachi, martial arts demonstrations, and Asian/Pacific dance. I’ll be there with my camera, and hope you all will share your photos with us in the Flickr pool.

Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Quick Survey: World Cup

Photo courtesy of
‘American and English fans react as they watch World Cup match at Ireland’s Four Courts Pub’
courtesy of ‘TDLphoto’

Today is do or die for the US World Cup team.  If we can beat Algeria, we move on to the next group and get one step closer to the finals.  I’m guessing that work places are finding themselves slightly under staffed today and so I thought I’d do a quick poll.  Who took off or is taking off to watch the match today? Me, I’ve got my ESPN3 steaming as we speak and I’m definitely taking an early lunch to watch the second half.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Delta Spirit

The Delta Spirit @ 9:30 Club 7/3/10

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Delta Spirit perform at the 9:30 Club on Saturday, July 3rd.

Delta Spirit are a tight group of multi-instrumentalists crafting up-tempo, Americana-inspired, indie-rock fronted by a spectacular vocalist. Delta Spirit somehow manage to sound very traditional while also bringing a unique instrumental approach to each and every song. Their music sounds timeless, as if it could have just as easily been produced in the 60’s or 00’s. In a way they make me think of Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. Delta Spirit make pretty straight-forward soulful rockers but put just enough of a left-of-center spin on them to make for a sound that could be huge for fans of the WHFS-spirited, alternative music radio. Delta Spirit’s secret weapon is their lead singer, Matthew Vasquez. He has a great, unique voice that lends just the right amount of emotion and fun to their songs to keep the listener completely engaged. His crystal clear, articulate, vocal delivery makes for terrific sing-along potential; of which I am sure there will be plenty at the concert this weekend.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Ciccarelli Going to Hall of Fame

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_2775’
courtesy of ‘Uncleweed’

The NHL announced its Hall of Fame inductees yesterday and former Capitals player Dino Ciccarelli will be the fifth Capitals player inducted into the NHL’s shrine of hockey history. Ciccarelli joins women hockey players Cammi Granato and Angela James in the player category.

Ciccarelli played four seasons with the Caps, from March 1989 when he joined the team near the trade deadline thru 1992. During his Caps career, Ciccarelli knocked in 112 goals and 209 points across 223 career games. All four seasons with the team, Ciccarelli and the Caps made the playoffs where Dino was among the top two playoff goal or point scorers every year. “This is a tremendous honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” Ciccarelli told ESPN. “I really appreciate the support of my coaches, the fans and mostly importantly my family throughout my 19-year career.” Dino’s 19 year NHL career was with four other teams after the Caps: the Minnesota North Stars, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Florida. Over his career, he recorded 608 goals and 592 assists in 1,232 games.

With the inclusion of Ciccarelli, the Capitals now have five members of the Hall who played on the team, joining Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, Larry Murphy, and Scott Stevens.