By Ashley
‘HIP_300645419.993051’
courtesy of ‘iwantamonkey’
This will be the last food truck tracker for the week, almost all your favorite food trucks will be at the Curbside Cookoff tomorrow and Friday, so check them ALL out there.
And this week is the last for Rebel Heroes for the year. Catch them in Ballston today, Courthouse tomorrow and Friday in Rosslyn. Eat banh mi or forever hold your peace.
By Tom Bridge
‘Friday Night Fireworks’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’
The baseball season is over and done with. Hockey starts Friday, and Basketball in a few weeks. The beginnings of winter are incumbent upon us to respect, and the end of the baseball season is a part of that winterizing process. This was a season of growth for the Nationals in many ways, and there’s a lot to respect in terms of significant process. There’s also a lot that we’ll have to see changed in order for this to become a contending franchise in the next decade.
This is a turning point for the Nationals, and there’s a real opportunity for this club to take what it’s spent the last five years working on and put it to good use. The Nationals are not a complete franchise, right now, but in two or three years, they could be a .500+ club with a shot at the Wild Card. Will they get there? I hope so, but I fear for the worst. Losing the head of their front office will be a big test for this club that has relied upon his experience so extensively. There is, as in many cases, both crisis and opportunity in this change. The Nats finally have a solid GM in place, someone who can handle baseball operations and contract negotiations without giving away the farm, in Mike Rizzo, and the addition of Andrew Feffer as the Nats’ Chief Operating Office this past off-season gives them someone who understands the intricacies of running the ballpark operations side of things for the Nationals.
Stan Kasten is right: DC could be a baseball town. There’s an audience, yes, but they’re going to have to be shown that the product’s worth watching. This season? It was too volatile to promise to a good audience. If the Nats want to draw 2-2.5M fans each year, they’re going to have to put out there something that people want to watch. And generally speaking, those people shouldn’t just be in from out of town. Let’s take a look at the lineup this season and see how everyone did, shall we?
By Tom Bridge
‘258/365 – vince gray, dc’s next mayor (unless adrian fenty runs as a republican?!)’
courtesy of ‘dracisk’
Last night’s nearly full house at the Community Academy Public Charter School on First Street in Bloomingdale was the first of eight Town Hall events put on by the Gray Campaign to help unite the city behind the democratic party candidate for mayor. Following Gray’s campaign mantra of uniting the city, the event last night was part Q&A, part pep rally, and though it started late, it didn’t underdeliver in terms of access to the candidate.
Questions came from all sides on all issues, running the gamut from school reform to economic issues to social services to budget priorities, and there wasn’t a single question that stumped Gray. There wasn’t a single number that Gray couldn’t come up with last night, and even if a few of them were suspect (His answer on Hardy Middle School’s AYP figures was incorrect, the school has not met AYP each of its last ten years, it missed in 2003 and 2010 for Reading and 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010 in Math) the democratic candidate was quick with both statistics and analysis in his responses. At one point, he quipped, “there are glib answers [to these questions], but I refuse to give them.”
By Ashley
‘Georgetown’
courtesy of ‘citron_smurf’
This Saturday marks the 17th annual Taste of Georgetown extravaganza. Thirty of Georgetown’s restaurants will have booths at this year’s event, including personal favorites of mine like Bangkok Joe’s, Tackle Box and 1789 and newcomers like Thunder Burger and Crepe Amour. A full list of participating restaurants can be found here. In addition to the restaurant booths, there will be a wine and spirits pavilion serving wine, beer and cocktails mixed by area mixologists.
Taste of Georgetown will take place on Wisconsin Ave. between M & K Streets, on Saturday October 9th from 11am-4pm. Tickets for food are $5 for one tasting, $20 for five tastings, while tickets for drinks are $10 for four tastings.
By Rebecca
Zozo: International Walk to School Day! from Streetfilms on Vimeo.
Perhaps on your commute today you noticed an increase in the level of munchkins and parents walking around the city. That’s because today is National & International Walk Your Child to School Day.
Beginning in 1997, the Partnership for a Walkable America sponsored the first National Walk Our Children to School Day in Chicago, modeled after the United Kingdom’s lead. The event’s mission was simply a day to bring community leaders and children together to create awareness of the need for communities to be walkable.
In 2010, the event has gone completely global and it’s goals have slightly expanded: To Create Safe Routes, To Engage Kids of All Abilities, To Enhance the Health of Kids and To Improve The Environment.
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!
Up for grabs this week, we’ve got two tickets to see legendary indie-rockers Built To Spill perform at 9:30 Club on Friday, October 8th.
Built to Spill were one of the best indie-rock bands of the 90’s and their show on Friday is the latest concert in their mid-00’s reunion tour that never seems to end. Not that anyone could complain about having one of the best guitar bands ever cranking out new albums and playing hundreds of new shows. Led by Doug Martsch’s inventive and expansive guitar melodies, Built To Spill in concert is a guitar lovers dream come true.
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…
Continue reading
By Patrick Pho
Happy NBA 2K11 day basketball fans! While you maybe lining up to get the latest 2K b-ball title, excited to play as Michael Jordan (before he joined the Wizards,) let’s not forget that the real-life Washington Wizards can still be as electric as any video game franchise.
Thanks to John Wall.
Just take a look at this clip of John Wall from the Fan Fest scrimmage:
Can the 2K11 version of Wall do this? Maybe, but it’s way more fun to see it in real life.
[h/t Wizards Extreme]
‘Morgan Fairchild to Speak at DAP on World AIDS Day’
courtesy of ‘Jayel Aheram’
Free HIV testing rolled out today at an unlikely location: the Department of Motor Vehicles. For the next year, the DMV’s Penn Branch office will offer free oral swab HIV tests, as well as $15 off DMV services for all individuals who opt to test. The program, which The Washington Post reports is the “first of its kind,” will be managed by Family Medical and Counseling, Inc., a non-profit based in Southeast.
It is estimated that up to 3,000 people will take advantage of testing before the year is through. Will this make a dent in DC’s own AIDS epidemic? Well, it certainly can’t hurt. According to the Whitman-Walker Clinic, DC has the highest rate of new AIDS cases per 100,000 population— that’s 12 times the national average. More than 15,000 individuals in the area are infected, and thousands more are estimated to unknowingly carry the virus.
As you may have guessed from our many posts on the topic, we’re suckers for DC-themed art around here. So when the submit-a-story email came through about Big Nickel Graphics’ DC Metro posters printed on metallic paper, I bought two, before even sharing the info with you, our readers. How’s that for selfish?
Kyle Smallegan, CEO of Big Nickel Graphics, attended George Washington University and took the Metro everywhere he went while living here (9 years, including the time at GW). He says, “Waiting for the trains…as you always have to do… gave me plenty of time to stare at the Metro map and I always thought it would make a really cool poster that I could sell (and a better piece of modern art) if you took all of the “crap” off it and just had the colored lines.”
Big Nickel had some success on Etsy, but now they’re trying to make it successful enough to quit their day jobs. To that end, they’ll be introducing some new lines in the coming months, including a series which will feature a city’s flag design, formed out of various nicknames for that city. Which means in a couple of months I will be sending Smallegan and his partner, graphic designer Justin Duimstra, yet more money.
The posters come in a variety of color schemes and city maps. In addition to the standard colors used on the city’s actual transit map on a pearlescent white paper, more abstract designs featuring single color map markings on a vibrant color of paper are available as well. You can get them as regular posters, mounted on café board, or on gallery-wrapped canvas.
By Ashley
‘159/365’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’
Just back from Munich? Well not to worry because the party continues in Glover Park. With Blue Ridge’s new interest in the sudsier side of alcohol, they are putting together their first Octoberfest celebration this year. Running next week from October 12th-18th, they will be running nightly events to celebrate the oh-so Bavarian holiday with some good ol’ fashioned American craft beers.
Each night’s events are highlighted on their site, but Glover Park locals should look no further than Tuesday, October 12th when the restaurant will host their neighbors from 6-7:30pm for free food and beer (all Glover Park and Georgetown zip codes get you free stuff). Even if you aren’t part of the chosen Wisconsin Ave. residents, you can get free stuff in the form of glasses and tastings the rest of the week. A breakdown of all the week’s events can be found here.
By Patrick Pho
With an original debut in 1967, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown wowed audiences long before it became fashionable to bring successful franchises of any kind onto the stage (Harry Potter: The Musical anyone?) Ever since it’s original production, Charlie Brown has become one of the great classic musicals that have been put up time and time again with numerous revivals, regional productions, and tours under it’s belt. The District now can get a taste of CB, Snoopy, Lucy, and the gang over at H-Street Playhouse where the show opens the second season of the No Rules Theatre Company.
The Peanuts franchise has become an American institution thanks to comic series with over 17,000 strips and a series of television specials that still run every holiday season. In fact any minute now we should be expecting It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to fill the airwaves on ABC.
By Dave Levy
‘Summer Event on the South Lawn – White House’
courtesy of ‘R2DC’
As has gone in the fall and spring in the past, garden tours of the White House will be held next weekend, October 16-17. Sure, it’s a little touristy, but it could be a fun way to spend a weekend afternoon if the weather stays in control. It is the White House, though, and FishbowlDC was kind enough to pass on the reminder on banned items on the grounds (emphasis theirs to make sure you leave all balloons at home):
The List of Forbidden Objects
Aerosols of any kind
Animals (except guide dogs)
Backpacks (oversized)
Balloons
Beverages of any kind
Chewing gum
Duffle bags/suitcases
Any pointed object
Electric stun guns
Fireworks/firecrackers
Food of any kind
Guns/ammunition
Knives of any kind
Mace
Smoking
If you leave all those things at home and want to check it out, be sure to get to the Visitor Pavillion at 15th and E early next weekend. NPS will hand out tickets for free starting at 8 a.m. – one per person and first come first serve.
‘the washington post’
courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’
The big news that has all the local media in a tizzy today is the Howard Kurtz has announced his departure from The Washington Post to go to.. The Daily Beast, an online-only news site. As the Post‘s columnist on media itself (a metacolumnist?) and host of CNN’s Reliable Sources, Kurtz is one of the most recognizable Post figures to local bloggers and other media-nerd types.
Jim Brady, head of TBD.com* and former Post colleague of Kurtz, tweeted, “When I was at WP.com, Howie was among the most open to new ideas and new ways of reaching his audience. So should not be shocked. But I am.”
(*Disclosure: We Love DC is a member of the TBD network. But you knew that from the big honkin’ banner in our right column, right?)
By Ashley
‘Black Market Bistro’
courtesy of ‘ImaginaryGirl’
OK, I know what you’re thinking and I can already see the look on your face. But trust me, Rockville isn’t that far away. And I know you’re saying, “hey, isn’t this called We Love DC?” Yes, it’s true, but it’s also called We Love Food, and if you do, you’ll love Black Market Bistro.
By Dave Levy
‘White House from South Lawn’
courtesy of ‘eschweik’
Earlier today, Donald Trump appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and the conversation turned to some random polling numbers in New Hampshire that indicated the Trumpster could actually have a chance in the 2012 Presidential election if he decided to run. Finally, in response to a question from Mika Brzezinski, Trump admitted he is “absolutely thinking about” a run for the White House.
Ok, so that’s a little wishy washy in terms of whether or not he’s throwing his hat into the ring. While it may be not much more that a look-at-me moment, we’ll give his comments some Web ink just because it’s mildly entertaining to think about him walking up to a Senator to drop a “You’re Fired!” in their face.
By Ashley
‘Cupcake Truck’
courtesy of ‘Somewhat Frank’
It may be cold out, but I’m sure you still don’t want to eat from your office cafeteria. Or worse, from the Tupperware of mystery you put together in your kitchen this morning. Food trucks are here to help.
And Friendship Heights folks–your special appearance from eatWonky is today! Get out to Wisconsin and Jennifer St. and have some poutine (or grilled cheese…yum).
By Tom Bridge
Ben’s Chili Bowl: Veggie Dog Take One! from BensBigBlog on Vimeo.
Here’s my man Mo, manager of Ben’s Chili Bowl, snackin’ down on a new menu item at Ben’s Chili Bowl: A veggie dog with veggie chili. That’s right, my vegetarian friends, it is now possible to get a half-smoke all the way at Ben’s Chili Bowl, meaning that your veggie-lovin’ friends can now know the true delight of the proper Ben’s experience, complete with acid-reflux. Look here later this week for a side-by-side comparison of a veggie dog with chili, and a proper half-smoke with chili.
By Tom Bridge
‘Back to school’
courtesy of ‘ECU Digital Collections’
For each of the previous 39 years, enrollment in the DC Public Schools has declined. That stopped in 2010. DCPS announced an enrollment increase this morning in a press conference with Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee. 73 of the 168 123 schools (see comments for alteration) in the District are showing an increase in enrollment, and 14 of those have had to add waitlists for the first time in recent memory.
One of the interesting schools that saw an increase in enrollment of 12% was Coolidge High, which is featured on today’s WAMU morning news, along with Dunbar High, for being one of the District’s turnaround projects. The ventures, conducted along side the Federal Government and private partners, have boosted test scores at the two high schools by 10-20% depending on the test involved.
481 additional pre-K students enrolled this year are a part of the overall percentage increase, which has yet to be released. DCPS is adamant, though, that K-12 enrollment remains increased over the 2009-2010 school year.
Is this the economy taking effect? Are parents who’ve lost jobs faced with the prospect of bigger and bigger loans necessary for private education taking their children to the resurgent DCPS? Perhaps. We’re not sure what else, beyond improved conditions, represents the shift toward the boost in DCPS.
By Tom Bridge
‘Adams Morgan Harris Teeter’
courtesy of ‘jacquesofalltrades’
With Fall officially here two weeks already, and the brisk mornings of early October back as of this morning, that means we’re close to an opening of the Harris Teeter at Constitution Square near Union Station, right?
Well, yes and no.
We did hear back from Harris Teeter this morning, and they’ve set the calendar date for the opening of the new 50,000 sqft grocery store for December 7th, 2010 at 5pm. This will be my new grocery store starting at about 5:01pm on December 7th. It’s great to see another grocery store go into Northeast DC, along with the Aldi’s that will open in Starburst Plaza in Early 2011.
By Ashley
Photo Courtesy of eatWonky
After the success of last month’s collaboration happy hour with the D.C. Lobster Truck, Chinatown Coffee will once again team up with a mobile food unit tonight with their “Wonky Happy Hour.” Featuring poutine delicacies, the eatWonky truck will be stationed outside Chinatown Coffee from 6:30pm to 8:30pm tonight.
The shop will run specials on Dan’s Pale Ale ($3), Victory Prima Pilsner ($4) and Victory Hop Devil ($4) to go along with your Wonky fries and “Squeeky Cheese.”
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