By Ashley
‘Lunch from El Floridano’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Since yesterday’s was so hugely popular, we’re making this a daily feed feature here at We Love DC, click through for today’s map of all the food trucks we know about and their haunts for today! As always, check their twitter feeds to make sure they haven’t moved before venturing out, and let us know about any we’re not watching!
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‘PRE’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’
Congratulations are in order for the Nationals lone All-Star Matt Capps and the rest of the National League All-Star team who ended a 13 year drought last night, securing home field advantage for the National League in the World Series for the first time since 1996.
Capps was sent into the game to face the Red Sox clutch left-handed slugger and 2010 Home Run Derby Champion David “Big Papi” Ortiz in the bottom of the sixth while the National League was down 1-0. He threw five pitches, catching Ortiz with a two-seam fastball inside for a called third strike.
Capps was named the game-winning pitcher but not before the National League came out swinging in the seventh.
Braves catcher Brian McCann, who was named the All-Star Game’s MVP, crushed a bases-clearing three-run double to the right field corner off White Sox lefty Matt Thornton after a pair of singles from the Reds third baseman Scott Rolen and the Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday to secure a 3-1 victory over a dominant American League line up of the game’s strongest hitters.
Well done, Matt. Your father would be proud.
By Erin McCann
‘Screen on the Green’
courtesy of ‘erin m’
Much as Fort Reno signifies something essential about summer for me, Screen on the Green is another one of those annual traditions that makes me happy to be living in DC. We’ve come close to losing twice it in recent years, but through the tireless effort of Jesse Rauch and his Save Screen On The Green campaigns, the free outdoor movie screenings are once again back to serve as your annual excuse to picnic on the Mall. Monday’s screening of “Goldfinger” ended early because of rain, but you’ve still got three more weeks to pack up your blankets, make a sandwich, and pour some illicit wine into a water bottle. (Personally, I’m most excited about “Bonnie & Clyde.) Below, photos from Monday’s festivities, featuring adorable puppies. Continue reading
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 Chromeo perform at the 9:30 Club on Monday, July 26th.
You wouldn’t think a couple of guys called P-Thugg and Dave 1 would be Hall & Oates reincarnate, but that is exactly how the men who are Chromeo have been described in the press. To embrace this comparison, Chromeo went so far as to do a full set with Daryl Hall at Bonaroo recently! These electro-funk Lotharios hail from the sexy Great White North and are spreading their unique brand of synth seduction across America with fellow electrolytes Holy Ghost and Telephoned in tow.
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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‘Peep of View’
courtesy of ‘rabid_c’
Now that the frigid cold has passed and the whole DC-area is heat stricken, The Phillips Collection has decided to bring back the wildly popular winter promotion, De-Frost Fridays with a much “cooler” look.
Refresh Fridays began last week and will continue through August 27th. Head over to The Phillips Collection on a Friday to enjoy a FREE Arnold Palmer by FoodArts in the Phillips café with the purchase of admission to see the Ryman or Pousette-Dart exhibition.
The Phillips Collection café is open from 10 to 4.
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courtesy of ‘Hoffmann’
The Textile Museum once again is hosting another fantastic collaborative event.
Interwoven will host two evenings of “performance, film, and conversation” at The Textile Museum, July 23rd and July 24th.
On July 23rd, New York-based fashion collective, threeASFOUR will collaborate on an performance highlighting their “sculptural approach” to to textile design; while on July 24th, the program will feature the first American appearance by Copenhagen based duo Henrik Vibskov and Andreas Emenius — check out their website, they are truly incredible. Moreover, following each performance, author and artist, Sabrina Gschwandtner of KnitKnit magazine will moderate open discussions about the performances.
And while you are there, don’t forget to check out the current exhibition, “Art by the Yard: Woman Design Mid-Century Britain”!
Tickets are $20 per evening and can be purchased at interwovenarts.com.
By Tom Bridge
’01-29-08′
courtesy of ‘Fort Worth Squatch’
DCPS today released their annual test results with some disappointing findings for elementary education. DCPS elementary students tested 4% worse in both reading and mathematics as compared to last year, while DCPS middle school students tested 4% better in both reading and mathematics. One step forward, one step back. Surely not the news that embattled Chancellor Michelle Rhee wanted to hear, nor something that Fenty wanted either. DCPS is quick to point out that the three year trends since Chancellor Rhee came on are still impressive, and they’re right: Since 2007, students scoring proficient in math and reading, in middle school, are up 14%, and in elementary school, are up 7% for reading and 14% for math. That’s a gain you can really see.
There’s going to be some variation from year to year in how the tests turn out. Are 4% drops good? No, they’re not. But it’s hard to ignore the longterm trend that’s going on right now.
By Jenn Larsen
‘DC Fringe Festival Button, 2010’
courtesy of ‘[F]oxymoron’
I’ve seen five plays over the first weekend of the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival. It’s my first time completely diving in to what’s on tap with the festival – in years past I just went to a show or two – and the results have been theatrical overdose. What’s crazy to me is that I ran into people who said they’d seen twenty shows already. That’s dedication to Fringe immersion!
Normally with my theater reviews, I see a performance, let thoughts sift in my mind for a few days, and then write. But because Fringe shows have very limited runs, for this experience I’m posting as soon as I can and being as brief as possible. It’s definitely a challenge! With over one hundred productions to choose from and a rather chaotic schedule, Fringe can be overwhelming.
So let’s recap what I’ve seen so far, what I’m seeing next, and my recommendations for enjoying yourself.
By Ashley
‘Spanish Wines’
courtesy of ‘biskuit’
In case you’re upset now that the World Cup celebrations are coming to an end and the running of the bulls is over–don’t worry. The Spain-a-palooza continues with the grand opening of a new Spanish restaurant in Logan Circle tonight. From the folks behind Proof comes Estadio, which will focus on modern interpretations of Northern Spanish cuisine. The menu will predominately be filled with small plates and tapas, with some small entrees thrown in for those of us looking for something with a little more to it.
A great meal is not built on food alone, and luckily Estadio is serious about their booze. Not only is the vast majority of their wine list sourced from Spain, Estadio’s bar menu features the wildly intriguing “slushito“. Conceptualized by bar manager and uber-mixologist Adam Bernbach, they are in fact, frozen alcoholic slushees. 7-11 won’t know what hit ’em.
The restaurant also has a cool, old school vibe. I half expect to see Frank Sinatra lounging at the bar. And with the 19th-century Spanish tiles, Spanish marble and reclaimed timber I think he would feel right at home. On the walls they’ve got murals of flamenco dancers and bullfighters to make sure all who dine know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a Spanish restaurant.
Estadio is currently only open for dinner, but hopes to be open for weekend brunch by the fall.
By Dave Levy
‘Fantastic’
courtesy of ‘dcbprime’
Since launching last year, location-based social network foursquare has encouraged Facebook and Twitter users to use locations as context for their status updates. Over time, as it increased to more than two million global users, the data around where users check-in can actually give a cool sense of the landscape of where . There are also some cool search tools that plug into the network, and Nick Barron over at Examiner pulled in the data to identify the most popular venues around the District. The top 15 places he found in and around the D.C. area (excluding transportation stations):
I am a bit of a data geek, so I love looking at stuff like this to see what can be gathered. I see some interesting trends in here, specifically involving tourist locations, sports venues, and then a bulk of check-ins around the U. St. area (a more plugged in demographic, maybe?). Nothing overly surprising – and if I was a guessing person, every Strasburg start will only help Nationals Park increase its lead.
By Ashley
‘Market Lunch’
courtesy of ‘katmere’
Whenever I mention Market Lunch to people, and I do often, I always get the same response: “Oh, I’ve heard that place is so great–but I’ve never been.” I don’t know if it’s the lines that scare folks away, or the Soup Nazi-esque ordering system, but don’t be afraid! It’s a quintessential Washington experience that no one should miss, and a great meal to boot. My trips to Eastern Market are almost always wrapped around meal time to make sure I can take advantage of all that Market Lunch has to offer. Continue reading
‘Nats, Yanks fight for my love’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’
There’s no doubt that the Yankees late owner George Steinbrenner, 80, who died early Tuesday morning after suffering from a heart attack last night in his Tampa, Fl. home will go down in baseball history as a ruthless, hard-nosed owner dedicated to one sole cause — winning.
He will be remembered in New York for numerous reasons whether it’s his treatment of Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra in 1985 after revoking his role as team manager for going 6-10 to open the season or the 11 pennants and 7 World Championships he brought to a franchise who was struggling to stay afloat when he purchased the Yanks from CBS in 1973.
“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,” Steinbrenner was fond of saying. “Breathing first, winning next.”
But what did this man so concerned with winning have to do with baseball in D.C.? Continue reading
By Dave Stroup
‘Blah Entrance’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
The “Secret” Safeway, also known as Townhouse Safeway, will be closing for good on August 7. The store, located at 1800 20th St. NW was tucked away and unknown to many. The “Town House” branding was a trial concept by Safeway to target apartment dwellers in urban areas. It’s unknown at this point what will replace the grocer.
Yelp reviews on the 20th Street location were mixed, reviewers noting that prices were often higher that at other Safeway stores. The “Soviet” Safeway at 17th and Corcoran, NW remains open.
By Tom Bridge
‘work zone’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’
It’s amazing to me that as the owner now of a house instead of a condo, how many trips to Home Depot I’m making. I swear in the last two months, I’ve been there at least once a week. It’s not that our house has problems, it’s just that the little things stack up. I tell you, though, there’s no better feeling than coming out of a hardware store with a project to accomplish. You just feel, holding the pipe wrench, teflon tape and float valve kit, like you could construct an entire bathroom with nothing but sweat, tools and expertise. It’s a totally beguiling process, wherein you decide that if Joe the Plumber can make a living doing this, you could totally do it yourself, but keep in mind that a plumbing service is essential in any home. You can visit https://kellieplumbing.com/plumbing/ for more information.
This Saturday, DCRA’s here to help with a four-hour workshop for homeowners on working on your home. Looking to make things a bit more energy efficient? This one’s for you. “The event will include clinics offering practical tips and demonstrations to homeowners on how to make their dwellings more weather-proof and how to complete some projects without having to call a professional.” Adding rain barrels, solar panels, and doing weatherstripping and sealing will be covered, and the event is free of charge. It’ll be at the Home Depot on Rhode Island Avenue this Saturday from 9am to 1pm. DPW will have compost for your garden, and DDOE will have winterization kits for District residents. See you there!
By Ashley
‘Setting up Shop’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
We’re trying something new today, and we’ll be turning this into a page here on We Love DC in short order, but click through for today’s Food Truck Tracker Map!
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By Tom Bridge
‘DSCN0179 – Privacy in Digital Public Spaces’
courtesy of ‘Planetrussell’
This morning’s piece by Michael Neibauer in the Business Journal pores over the report to the Council on OCTO, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer for the District. OCTO is a wide-reaching organization that handle’s the city’s IT infrastructure in both the schools and in the DC Government. The report suggests that a high reliance (50-70% of the department!) on contracting organizations to do the work has lead to fraud and abuse being built into the culture, including awarding of contracts to local businesses that are underprepared to do the work. According to Neibauer, OCTO agrees with much of the findings and has said that most of the recommended remedies are already in place or soon to be in place.
The report also contains allegations that the local businesses that are not certified to sell certain solutions to the District are using gray market solutions for District offices, meaning that they’re selling solutions they cannot necessarily support. Working in the technology field, I’m not sure that I buy the hullaballoo over the grey market solutions. Some vendors make it extraordinarily difficult to join their partner programs, or require such high premiums on the businesses that unless you’re going to sell a large number of the very expensive devices, it doesn’t make sense to join. So yes, this happens all the time in the technology field, but it doesn’t mean that the vendors are incompetent, merely that they don’t want to pay for either a certification or for a partner program that will cost them money instead of making them money.
Full Disclosure: my business has one client that interacts with OCTO for technology support, but I do not speak for my business or my clients in this case.
By Erin McCann
Screen on the Green came back last night! I was there for a while with a camera, and I know a bunch of you were too, despite the wacky weather. I’d love it if you’d share your photos from the party with the We Love DC Flickr pool, so I can collect the bestest, wackiest, funnest, summeriest of them all and share them with our readers. Get ’em in there by the end of today, and check back tomorrow to see everyone’s great work.
By Erin McCann
‘DC Police’
courtesy of ‘Chris DiGiamo’
We told you this weekend about the DC photographer who says he was detained by MPD officers while shooting a traffic stop in Georgetown. My initial complaint about the account was that the photographer, Jerome Vorus, hadn’t gotten names of the officers who stopped him or apparently followed up with a complaint to the MPD. Turns out, I was wrong. Continue reading
By Max
They’re growing pink toenails by MudflapDC
There are hundreds of things that I’d like to do and places I’d like to see in the surrounding area, but I always seem to forget about them or put them off for another day, another year. Well, you know how the rest of that story goes. Soon another year has passed and my list has gotten even longer.
One place on my list is the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Maryland. Known for the sea of sunflowers that bloom every year, it’s a photographer’s dream. However like other photogenic scenes, the sunflower fields have been shot to death which makes it challenging to come up with a unique view. Despite the lack of sunflowers in this photo, the addition of (shut up, brain) shiny pink toenails moves this place even higher on my list of places to visit.
A unique view? I’d say MudflapDC has succeeded here.
By brownpau
DC Fire/EMS on Twitter reports smoke at the Q Street NW entrance to Dupont Circle Metro on the Red Line — also site of this morning’s Escalator Fail. That entrance to the station is now closed and emergency responders are on the scene.
Update: Update from DC Fire/EMS: Dupont Circle Metro – Metro Mechanics on scene – situation under control – Station Open – DC F&EMS clearing scene – no injuries
In the attached video, courtesy Twitterer jaredev (view it larger after the jump) we have people being evacuated from the south station entrance, vaulting over the handrail due to a barricade in the way.
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