‘Verizon Center – Chinatown’
courtesy of ‘BAR Photography’

You know, for a building nicknamed “the Phone Booth” thanks to the sponsor name on the side of it, you’d think that there would already be a pretty good wireless network inside of it. I was at least a little surprised to find out there hadn’t been one for the greater public, but as just announced, the building will now have a free WiFi network for patrons. In a post to his blog, Capitals, Wizards, Mystics and Verizon Center owner Ted Leonsis shared the news:

We have installed free, unrestricted wireless Internet access at Verizon Center, and it’s currently available for Mystics games and will be available for the upcoming Capitals and Wizards seasons. Our new FanAccess Wi-Fi network allows fans with wireless devises the ability to connect to the web from their seats.

This guy continues to be one of my favorite owners in all of sports.

‘da bomb’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Anyone with an appetite is well aware that Restaurant Week starts on Monday. But this year, H Street is battling against the big boys with its own week of dining specials.

H Street Eats will take place from August 16th through 22nd, offering fixed-price meals for $20.10. If you, like me, earn billions and billions of dollars as a writer, then $20.10 for dinner sounds a lot more appetizing than Restaurant Week’s standard $35.10. Further defying conventional wisdom, a few establishments are taking their own approach to the traditional three-course formula. At Capital City Diner, you can get two dinners or two breakfasts for $20.10, and at Sticky Rice, two of your “courses” include tots and a PBR. Dangerously Delicious Pies is offering two slices of savory pie, two slices of sweet pie and two drinks as their menu, while Argonaut is serving up your choice of two sandwiches and two drafts. Delicious.

Other participating restaurants include Biergarten Haus, Ethiopic, Granville Moore’s, H Street Country Club, Liberty Tree, Star and Shamrock, and Taylor Gourmet.

‘National Press Club #27’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Craigslist is a great place to find a missed connection or an up-and-coming Switchfoot cover band. For the Associated Press, that’s also one way they’ll be seeking out a new DC Bureau Chief. Think you have what it takes to run a wire satellite office? The requirements: Continue reading →

‘Curbside Cupcakes’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’
Well, folks, save your lobster bibs for another day, it looks like D.C.’s first lobster truck will not be opening today. The rain was just too much I guess (don’t lobsters live in the ocean?) but they expect to be open by Monday. Not to worry, there are some more water-resistant trucks out today.

Continue reading →

‘Double rainbow over Glover Park’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

It’s not a big thing. It’s a pretty small thing. But it’s still a thing, so I’m going to ask nice. Can we not have any big nasty news stories today, like shootings or fires or political candidates getting huffy and bitchy? I need a heavy dose of fluffy kittens, lobster trucks, double freaking rainbows, or maybe yet another story on local grocery stores by Sommer Mathis at TBD. Can you help me out, DC? Can you? Please?

Or is it just going to be one of those weeks where every day has another suspicious package or two? Or a world-ending power-wrecking tree-carnage-causing storm? Or a baseball team whose primary skill against the Marlins appears to be looking good in a uniform? Or a football team whose pre-season stinks of a 5-11 effort in the regular season? Or a local mayoral race where we can’t seem to stay focused on the issues long enough to talk policy?

Sigh. DC, I need your help. Bring me the good stuff.

‘Lobster’
courtesy of ‘Mafue’

Oyez! Oyez! Mark your calendars folks, this is a day that will go down in history. The much anticipated Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck (that’s a mouthful) is finally here. It’ll roll out today after months of Internet chatter about just when, how and what would come to pass from something so perfect sounding as a lobster roll truck.

An offshoot of a restaurant and truck of the same name in Brooklyn, the owners are bringing their brand of heaven on a roll to their native Washington. At $15 a piece (or $18 with a drink and chips), the rolls aren’t exactly cheap, but they are packed to the gills with real deal, lip-smacking, knuckle and claw Maine lobster. You can get it with the traditional lemon-mayo dressing (my style) or the “Connecticut style” with lobster tossed with butter. Really, you can’t go wrong with either. And they’ll be serving up homemade Whoopie Pies to top off the meal, but in my honest opinion, there’s no better way to top off a lobster roll than with another lobster roll.

They’ll be tweeting their locations daily (and will of course show up on the Food Truck Tracker), and welcome suggestions of where to land while they get their bearings in a new town. I’ve already anonymously tweeted for them to park outside my apartment thirty or forty times today. Well, I guess not that anonymously.

‘Smoke at 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW’
courtesy of Danielle Witt
Fire alarms sounded in the office complex at 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW this afternoon at around 1:15 PM. The fire, believed to have started in underground electrical equipment spewed thick black smoke visible throughout Dupont and surrounding neighborhoods. DC Fire and EMS reports the electrical fire did spread to the office building, and as of 2:55 PM the fire continued to burn but has been contained.

Traffic is still impacted in the area with Connecticut Avenue closed northbound at Florida Avenue, and T Street closed between Connecticut and Florida.

Witnesses report hearing several loud explosions, which fire department officials say were exploding transformers. The Universal North and South office complexes have been evacuated, and are presently without power. The complex also houses the Washington Sports Club gym, the Buca di Beppo restaurant, and a Rite Aid.

Smoke was seen coming from sidewalk grates along T Street, across the street from the Washington Hilton. Witnesses also reported smoke coming from the parking garage.

Smoke is still visible in the area. After what happened, the company has been remorseful to all affected buildings and homes and promise to hire one of the most popular Electricians in Collier Hills to fix their wiring.

‘alone in the river’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Well that was a tough commute, eh? However you got to work, treat yourself with a food truck delicacy today. Continue reading →