Monthly Archives: November 2010

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Caps trade Fleischmann to Colorado for defenseman Hannan

Photo courtesy of
‘Scott Hannan’
courtesy of ‘pointnshoot’

The tradewinds were swirling this weekend surrounding center Tomas Fleischmann, and today those rumors turned into hard facts as the Caps completed a trade with the Colorado Avalanche to bring strong defensive presence Scott Hannan to Washington.  Hannan would’ve lead the Caps each of the last three seasons in blocked shots.

Hannan will join the Caps in St. Louis tonight and be available tomorrow morning.  Asked about his initial reaction, Hannan said “I’m really excited to be joining a team in first place, and making a run for the Stanley Cup.” Hannan is part of a big picture problem for the Caps, building a stronger defense to match the already prolific offense.  Hannan said this afternoon that he would be ready to play tomorrow, but that whether he’d play would be at the Caps discretion. Continue reading →

Getaways
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Getaways: Centralia, Pa., is one smokin’ hot town

Photos by Erin McCann

What was it Joni Mitchell sang? “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”? Let’s just say that it took growing up and moving away from Central Pennsylvania for me to realize the true greatness of the place. Amish quilts and baked goods? Rolling hillsides? Whatever. What I’m talking about is the sort of tourist spot that only my homeland can create: an abandoned mining town that’s been on fire for nearly 50 years.

In 1962, Centralia was a small town just like any other, populated by miners and the descendants of miners. There were streets and houses and bars and churches and people. Today? Today there are streets. The houses and bars and churches and people are gone. In their place you’ll find the oppressive smell of sulfur, and steam spews from the ground constantly. It’s a post-apocalyptic wasteland that serves as a symbol of stubbornness, conspiracy and the decay of the American dream.

And it’s three and a half hours from D.C.

(And when you’re done, there’s beer.)

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen Named ACC Coach of the Year

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Jimmy Morris’

The Atlantic Coast Conference concluded regular season play last weekend, and while one regional team will be headed to Charlotte to play for the league championship (Virginia Tech), local University of Maryland earned some pre-championship honors itself. The mid-week accolade this time is being handed to Coach Ralph Friedgen, who was named ACC Coach of the Year for righting a ship that seemed doomed to sink after the 2009 season.

Friedgen’s 29 votes likely came courtesy of the six game turnaround for Terp football that he engineered. Maryland rebounded from a 2-10 year to this year’s 8-4 season that saw them just outside their first ever ACC Championship Game. A year ago, Friedgen was considered by many to be on the hot seat; after this news, the future isn’t looking as bleak.

In other announcements for the Terps, rookie quarterback Danny O’Brien was also recognized as the conference’s offensive rookie of the year.

The Daily Feed
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Your house was probably not a meth lab

Photo courtesy of
‘meth_lab’
courtesy of ‘speedypete312’

As a recent homebuyer, the story of the Bristol, PA couple who bought their first home only to discover that it had previously been a meth lab is my personal nightmare. They discovered only too late that the DEA maintains a registry of former “clandestine laboratories,” reported by local law enforcement agencies, that lists their house as a place where a lab had been found.

Tom and I weren’t too worried about our house- it had been gutted and renovated before we moved in, and our neighbors have been honest (though still respectful) about the difficulties of the previous occupant. We’re pretty certain if “she cooked meth in the basement” had been one of them, they’d have mentioned it by now, just as the Bristol couple’s neighbor did. But in the midst of home inspection, appraisal, and all the other hoops to jump through to buy a house, it had never occurred to us that this is something buyers should be concerned about. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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North Face in demand on the streets

image from the South Butt website

The DC MPD’s community outreach department has a release out stating that in the last day there’s been two separate robberies where North Face items were stolen. You might consider replacing your North Face items with stuff from the satirical South Butt company. Barring that, the MPD has collected some tips from various sources about how to keep yourself safe and prepare for the possibility of a theft.

Robbery Safety Tips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhWDZZ29FhQ
Source: Las Vegas Police Department

Wallet Inventory & Emergency Checklist:
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/lostwallet.pdf
Source: The University of Oklahoma

If your wallet is stolen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oERx7Xl_G2E
Source: USAA.com

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, The Features
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Eat Like Me: November’s Best Dishes

Photo courtesy of
‘Kushi 9225’
courtesy of ‘yospyn’

After last month’s time as a vegan, I felt this month I owed it to my grease-loving, carb-loading, over-eating side to indulge. And indulge I did. I ate more burgers and subs this month than I do in a normal calendar year, and I seriously think I’m better for it (though my cholesterol probably has something different to say about that). Two trips to Taylor Gourmet, where I learned that though I love an Italian hoagie, I am officially a cutlet hoagie girl, and a road trip full of gravy-loaded dinners made for a happy and not so healthy customer. Maybe next month will be better? Because December is such a great month for eating healthy, working out, and getting lots of sleep…or something…

Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed
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Council Hearing becomes sparring match over tax increases

Photo courtesy of
‘Luc the Boxer’
courtesy of ‘mikecogh’

This morning’s budget gap hearing (live on Channel 13, if you want to watch on TV, or watch online) has seen testimony from many different groups protesting proposed cuts to their budgets, and some heated moments from the council. As Lydia DePillis of the City Paper notes, the sides are shaping up as follows: Michael A. Brown, Jim Graham, Tommy Wells and Harry Thomas vs. Jack Evans and David Catania. At issue once again appears to be the “Millionaire’s tax” designed to add progressive tax brackets above the District’s current $40,000 upper tax bracket, and to tax those brackets aggressively. This morning’s hearing has seen heated moments as groups like Jews United for Justice and the DC Fiscal Policy Institute have advocated for a 1% increase on those households who make more than $200,000 year.

Councilmember David Catania, returning to his Republican roots, is against tax increases for just some of those taxpayers in the District, and fought significantly against the testimony of JUFJ and DCFPI and questioned specifically their finance numbers, suggesting that their numbers were flawed and wouldn’t produce the $75M that they claimed. That got Councilmember Thomas’ goat, and he was quick to lash out without specifically naming Catania, he indicated a gentleman’s agreement had been previously struck concerning not questioning the witnesses and to let them speak. Councilmember Thomas was just short of shouting at Catania with regard to perceived disrespect for the JUFJ and DCFPI, and I would say that Mr. Catania was fairly brusque and prosecutorial with his questioning of those groups’ revenue numbers.

The hearing will continue probably well into the evening, so tune in and see what the city’s looking at cutting.

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The District, The Features
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Gingertown 2010

courtesy of Timothy So

Last night, I had the extreme pleasure of participating in Gingertown, one of DC’s best kept holiday events. Begun in 2006, Gingertown is the brainchild of locally based David M. Schwarz Architects (DMSA) and brings together leading DC architects, designers, and architectural firms with other building enthusiasts (aka: the non-professionals) to create a town made of completely of gingerbread and candy goodness.

Gingertown is an entirely free event with DMSA and other event sponsors providing all the building materials, food and beverages. Teams sign up beforehand and are assigned town plots with free reign to design and construct their portion of Gingertown during the 3 hour event.

Each year, a new master plan and theme is created; this year, builders tackled the North Pole, transforming the layout into a magical town of gingerbread, jelly beans, Twizzlers, Nerds, candy canes, buttercream frosting, etc. Like previous years, the 2010 town map included communal and civic-minded centers, green spaces, city hall, a concert hall, a library, a toy store and a strong pedestrian culture. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Ovechkin Rookie Card Auctions Off at $9k

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_5116.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

So, it’s not the $100,000-plus that a rare, autographed Stephen Strasburg rookie card went for earlier this year, but still, an impressive showing for Washington’s more established superstar from the NHL, Alex Ovechkin. The hockey trading card market is likely a little smaller, so when a decently rare Ovie card recently got posted to Ebay, it’s worth noting that the piece of cardboard sold for just over $9,000 this past holiday weekend. Details on the card from the seller’s page:

When it comes to high-end Ovechkin Rookie cards, you are looking at the rarest of rare here. The Cup is Upper Deck’s premier, high-dollar hockey set released each year, and this is Ovechkin’s Black Rainbow parallel Rookie card, serial #’d 1/1! You don’t just open up a random pack and pull a card like this, it takes serious cash. Just a gorgeous card.

via Darren Rovell

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


new morning ritual by ekelly80

Last night I had a dream about a series of iPhone apps that would manage all of my day to day duties, organize my thoughts into coherent text messages and e-mails, add events to my calendar as soon as my eyes saw them online, and create to-do lists on the fly: do laundry, breathe deeply, blink.  In the dream my brain stem had an iPhone dock surgically attached to it, allowing me to become one with my beloved device and freeing my mind from doing anything useful whatsoever.  My phone knew exactly what I was thinking, suggested alternative thoughts related to my own, and maintained a database of my activity in its flash memory.  As time went on, the app learned what I liked and disliked, what my daily schedule consisted of, what kind of food I generally ate, and eventually took over all brain function.  Thanks to the newly added multitasking feature of the operating system my phone could do many things at once, like set my DVR to record Dancing With the Stars, Twitter about how much of an idiot Sarah Palin is, and order ice cream from Peapod.   It was all encompassing, essentially living my life for me.  Of course the competition was working around the clock to introduce the same surgical procedure and an identical app for the Droid, and it was likely that in a few years Microsoft would introduce something very similar with a clever marketing campaign.

As I awoke from my dream I laughed at how silly it was, as if a device could completely rule my world.  I reached across the bed and found a warm empty space where my wife normally was.  That’s strange, where could she be?  I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and sent her a text: “where r u?”  She replied, “need buzz – latte?”  Just then the calendar on my phone chirped: “9:00 AM – morning w/ wife @ sbux.”  I texted back, “o rite.  b rite there.”  We both grabbed our iPads and headed out the door, checking our e-mail and TweetDeck as we walked down the street.  My wife mumbled, “Did you see @ABC_DWTS’s tweet about Bristol Palin?”  “I know, she totally should have won, unlike her stupid mom in ’08,” I said.  We grabbed our pumpkin lattes and sat down across from each other.  “Did you remember to buy ice cream?”

The Daily Feed
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Get an early start on your cold weather freakout

Photo courtesy of
‘Coffeeshop Googly Eyes’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

December starts this week, which means it’s time for the area to begin its annual ritual of freaking the heck out about the weather. This Capital Weather Gang forecast contains a low-confidence prediction that there could possibly be a little bit of snow this Sunday. How was it linked from the Post’s local section page? “Forecast: Did someone say snow?”

So in honor of this little bit of hype that is still too much about a small amount of snow that might not even happen, let me just encourage you to make a plan to hit the grocery store sometime this week. Buy things that you need to have in your house anyway, which may or may not include bread, milk, and toilet paper, depending on how well-stocked you are on such things already.

But seriously, with the rain we’re about to get, it very likely will be colder than normal this week, so I wouldn’t judge you if you ran out for some hot chocolate supplies, or apple cider, or whatever it is that you like to drink while sitting under a blanket. In our house, that’s bourbon.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Kaskade @ Fur Nightclub 11/27/10


courtesy of MSO.

Guest reviewer Patrick Palafox attended the Kaskade show at Fur on Saturday. Here are some of his thoughts about it.*

I discovered why Kaskade calls himself that. His set was an endless shower of sound that poured with the strength of Niagara Falls. Before heading to the show, I did some intense research to find out which country each DJ on DJ Magazine’s Top 100 DJs of 2010 list is from. I found that only seven of the DJs are from the US. Kaskade, ranked number 35 out of 100 for the world, but is number one among DJs representing the home of the brave. At first I thought that this DJ list was about as useful as T-Rex arms, but then I discovered that this information is actually something you can use should you find yourself in a group conversation about DJs. You might hook up, because your knowledge is so vast. You’re welcome for that tip; now onto Kaskade’s set.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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D.C. Chef Falls in a Crudite Showdown

Photo courtesy of
‘red bell peppers’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’
So how did Chef RJ Cooper and his buddy sous chef David Guas do on last night’s season premiere of Iron Chef America? Er…not so good. They competed against the newest Iron Chef Marc Forginone in his first competition, and lost the battle 54-45. And what battle was that? Battle Bell Pepper. Dunt-dunt-dunnnnn.

Not exactly the most exciting secret ingredient (who remembers all the crazy things on the original Iron Chef?) and it seemed like Cooper was at a real disadvantage since he referred to bell peppers as what he “used to scrape off the salad’s [his] mother used to make.” And the judges probably weren’t the greatest for this particular occasion either since Adam Richman (the Man v. Food guy) is more used to eating a thousand pounds of pizza in one sitting, and Nigella Lawson at one point referred to green peppers as “an abomination.”

But in the end, poor secret ingredient or not, Cooper lost points for not featuring the peppers prominently in his dishes. Should we expect a special bell pepper tasting menu at Cooper’s soon-to-be-open Rogue 24? Methinks no.

The Daily Feed
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Simmer down about the Arboretum azaleas, already

Photo courtesy of
‘What’s around the bend?’
courtesy of ‘katieharbath’

Our friends at DCist join in the handwringing today that I thought was confined to the hysterical tones of neighborhood listserves- Yes, everyone. The National Arboretum is planning to take out several (up to 10,000) mature azalea shrubs due to the loss of some grant money used to maintain them. Oh, the humanity!

I like azaleas too, but what everyone seems to be missing is that 10,000 plants is still less than 20% of the entire azalea collection at the Arboretum. That means that even after they’re removed, there will still be over 40,000 azaleas for us to ooh and ahh over each spring. Really.

Meanwhile, the azaleas being removed are ones for which there are no records that would aid the facility’s plant breeders, which, you may recall, is the purpose of the Arboretum: it holds the plants the Agricultural Research Service is using to develop new hybrids. Continue reading →

Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Every Tongue Confess


Phylicia Rashad as Mother Sister and Jonathan Peck as Blacksmith. Photo by Joan Marcus.

It was like I was on a pilgrimage.

As I walked up the long, winding ramp that leads into the new Kogod Cradle at Arena Stage I couldn’t help but wonder if the journey to our seats was part of the overall experience of seeing a show there.

The 200 seat / 3,400 sq. ft. space was designed for “building the canon of American work and cultivating the next generation of writers.” The woven walls, oval shape, and intimate dimensions of the space make it worthy of being called a “cradle.” When you are inside it, you don’t feel like you are inside a stage but inside an egg or womb, watching a piece of art grow before your eyes.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Week 11 Recap – Skins vs. Vikings

Photo courtesy of
‘120306 021’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

On the first drive of the game, the Redskins offense looked great. They traveled 83 yards in nearly 8 minutes and capped it off with a touchdown catch by Fred Davis. After that, the offense looked mediocre. A combination of costly drops and penalties led to a 17-13 victory by the Vikings. Donovan McNabb had another solid game, throwing for 211 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked 4 times and was not helped by an anemic rushing attack. For the Vikings, Brett Favre managed the game well and did not throw an interception for only the second time this season. Despite an injury to star running back Adrian Peterson, the Vikings also ran for 137 yards and controlled the clock late in the game to seal the win. The Skins are now 5-6 with a critical game against the Giants upcoming. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Find The Perfect Bubbly For Your Holiday

Photo courtesy of
‘Champagne Cocktail’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The holidays are a time for sparkle: a festive sequined blouse, the lovely glow of the yule log. But it’s also time for the sparkler of my choice: booze.

EatBar is hosting their annual Sparkler Tasting and Sale on Dec. 11, a great time for you to sample all things bubbly and buy your favorites for the holidays. You’ll have your standard champagne, but Wine Director Juliana Santos (one of the most adorable sommiliers around) will serve up other sparkling wines made from Chenin Blanc and Malbec, as well as Moscato D’Asti and Prosecco from Italy, and Cava from Spain.

Not only will you go boozing, Executive Chef Barry Koslow will prepare small plates to accompany the drinks, including House-smoked salmon served on a savory waffle, Country pate with stone mustard, caramelized onion and anchovy flat bread with olives, and Dragon Creek Oyster chowder shooters. Tickets are $36, and you can buy them online, or by calling 703.778.9951.