Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks

Drinks Preview: Church & State

Photo courtesy of
‘Church and State’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

Consistency and creativity are the two elements Erik Holzherr strives for in his bars. Add to that the well-deserved cliche of infectious enthusiasm – after just a few minutes of talking to him about his newest venture at the media preview for Church & State, I swear fellow WLDC authors Ashley, Samer and I are ready to go forth and open our own bar! Strike that. We’ll just be content with spreading the cocktail gospel.

Erik already has two popular bars in DC, both serving as outposts in developing neighborhoods. Wisdom was followed by Fruit Bat, and now Church & State is open to the public. Upstairs from Fruit Bat on H Street NE, it’s got such a gothic sensibility I found myself seriously craving a clove cigarette. Next time you feel the need to don the vintage finery, this is the bar to visit. Dimly lit, with reclaimed wood, flickering altar candles, and plenty of stained glass make for a striking effect. Add in an actual confessional room that gave Ashley and I total Exorcist chills, plus a raised alcove with a majestic leather couch that will definitely be fought over, and you have a small temple to the American cocktail. Continue reading

The Daily Feed, WMATA

Sarles named Metro GM/CEO

Photo courtesy of

courtesy of ‘erin m’

Richard Sarles, who has been the Interim General Manager of Metro since the departure of John Catoe, was officially named the permanent General Manager today by Metro’s board this afternoon. He was also given the title Chief Executive Officer, signaling the board’s desire for a shift in role for Metro’s chief.

In speaking to the board after his confirmation, Sarles set a number of expectations for his tenure. Samer will have more details tomorrow in his Talkin’ Transit column, but a few highlights:

  • A “secret shopper” program to evaluate Metro services. (Anyone who has ever tried getting help from a station manager is pleased about this.)
  • A “virtual tunnel” to make transferring easier between Farragut West and Farragut North. I don’t have details on this, but I take this to mean that if you leave one Farragut Square station to transfer lines at the other, you’ll be charged as if it were a continuous trip, rather than being charged the base fare twice.
  • A commitment to implement external recommendations regarding escalators and elevators to keep them functional.

According to official Metro Twitter account @metroopensdoors*, Sarles said, “I see what is possible in the future, which is why I am here today; I could not pass up this opportunity to stay.”

*Without warning, the @metroopensdoors account shifted from being a bot that broadcast service disruptions to live-tweeting the Metro board proceedings. After months of complaining that Metro’s only Twitter presences weren’t actually staffed by humans, this is almost news in itself. No telling yet whether there’s more to come from @metroopensdoors.

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed

Capitals Re-Sign Alex Semin

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_6868.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

According to a team press release, the Washington Capitals have re-signed mercurial, talented, and currently injured winger Alex Semin to a one year deal valued at $6.7 million dollars. Currently in his sixth year with the Caps and the NHL, Semin is struggling through injuries after coming off his first 40-goal season and career high of 84 points. He has not played in the team’s last nine games.

Semin is tied for the league lead with three hat tricks this year, coming in a 35-day spurt between Oct 23 and Nov 26. For the first two months of this season, he ranked second in goals (18) and fifth in points (30). He already ranks 11th in Caps history in goals (166) and 19th in points (335).

The Russian winger’s new contract extends his time with the Capitals through the 2011-12 season and gives him a raise of $700,000 from his last contract, tying him with Nicklas Backstrom for second highest paid player on the team.  Even with this extension, according to capgeek.com, the Capitals still have over $13 million dollars of cap space left to sign 9 players who will be free agents after this season. This signing, however, may not have been without some drama.  Via Twitter, Washington Post writer Tarik El-Bashir reports that the Capitals offered Semin a multi-year deal, but the winger and his agent declined the offer in favor of the shorter deal they accepted.  The team did not mention if the deal contained a no-trade or no-movement clause. It’s very plausible the multi-year deal was rejected due to the fact that the CBA is slated to be re-addressed and possibly re-structured at the end of the 2011-2012 season.

We Love Weekends

We Love Weekends, January 29-30

Photo courtesy of
‘sweet snowflake’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Addison: If I survive Snow-tastrophe 2011, this weekend I plan on making the trek out to Tysons Corner, since I haven’t bought new work clothes in 2 years and will (hopefully) have a bunch of interviews coming up before I get my master’s in May.  Saturday night, I’m going to be hitting up Bayou in Georgetown for a friend’s birthday. Brunch on Sunday will be at Churchkey with some friends and WLDC staff where we sample the number one sandwich in the country, the Luther.  The rest of the weekend will likely be spent in a diabetic coma.

Dave: Have to say, not even a smidge of snow and the subsequent overblown reaction can dampen my spirits for hanging around DC this weekend. I’m finally here for about six weeks straight, so I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with this District of mine. Friday night will involve a night around Columbia Heights, sounds like a birthday celebration will take me to The Hub. Saturday’s big event will be a musical appearance with the rest of The Greensides at the DC chapter of Penn State alumni’s fundraiser for its Thon event. On Sunday, I’m hoping to join the WLDC Luther competition at Churchkey – even if we apparently don’t get health benefits through our authorship, according to the higher-ups. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Hot Ticket: Archivists @ Rock & Roll Hotel 1/28/11


‘Archivists’ by Betsy Quilligan.

Rock & Roll Hotel has turned over their excellent stage to some of the many outstanding local bands for several Friday night shows. Continuing this week, they present the Archivists who have a great take on the indie rock sound. Their two guitar line-up offers up everything from angular indie Americana-rock to flat out garage rockers. Also on the bill are local indie-rockers Fluorescent Sense and Southern Problems.

We are blessed with many excellent high quality bands in the Washington DC area. To be able to get three of them together on one of the nicest stages in Washington DC on a Friday night for $10? Well, that’s an affordable hot ticket that allows you to bring along a date plus buy a great dinner all for under the price of one ticket from Neil Young’s last tour. While it is unlikely that any of these bands will reach the heights of Neil Young, they will certainly be entertaining. And if one of them does reach those heights? Well, will you ever have a great story for your children!

Archivists
w/ Fluorescent Sense & Southern Problems
@ Rock & Roll Hotel
1/28/11
$10

Adventures, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed

Commute From Hell: 23 miles in 8.5 hours

YouTube Preview Image

I stumbled across this video on YouTube of tickman1’s commute home last night. It took him 8.5 hours to travel 23 miles from DC to the VA suburbs. Fortunately, the pilgrimage has been sped up and condensed for our viewing pleasure.

Warning: For those of you who braved the roads last night, this video may cause panic attacks, claustrophobia or heart attacks.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts

We Love Arts: Tynan

Philip Goodwin in Tynan at the Studio Theatre. Photo credit: Carol Pratt

Anyone who arrives at self-knowledge through desperation is the raw material for a great play.
— Kenneth Tynan

Watching Tynan reminded me that I should make sure my journals get burned at my death (oh wait, what about that online diary in the cloud? too late!). No matter how we are in life, the voice we give free rein to in our diary is by its nature egocentric. Does it make for good drama?

Richard Nelson and Colin Chambers adapted The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan into a one-man play, helmed in this special engagement by beloved DC actor Philip Goodwin at the Studio Theatre. It’s a monologue of choice (and not-so-choice) moments from the last ten years of Tynan’s life, a man many consider the greatest theater critic of the last century. There’s a heavy resignation in listening to the musings of a dying man, and this adaptation is more a conventional staged reading than anything approaching the revolutionary theater Tynan championed. Unless of course, you think it’s subversive to hear all about his fascination with canings and an anal fixation to rival the Marquis de Sade’s – there’s a lot of that to listen to in this adaptation. As the impresario behind Oh! Calcutta and the first person to drop the f-bomb on the BBC in 1965, Tynan was a famous proponent of obscenity, so it isn’t completely out of place.

If you have a theatrical background there are fun anecdotes of personalities like Olivier to keep your interest, and if you are familiar with Tynan’s work, enough of his philosophy comes through to inspire. But if you know nothing about him, I’m not sure you’ll get anything more than a sad sense of a once-brilliant man being wrung thin by sickness, debauchery and the end of life.

And where’s the relevance in that? (Tynan would’ve spanked me for asking that!) Continue reading

News, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed

The Ripple Effect, or why your commute sucked last night

Photo courtesy of
‘SNOW’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Last night’s horrific commutes ranged anywhere from 3-5 hours on the short end to 12-14 hours, we’re hearing, with most of those higher numbers west of the city.  Take a look at a couple screenies that Greater Greater Washington put up last night that show pretty much every road west of the Potomac River over capacity with no cars moving.

You can see the snowfall trends in the storm thanks to the Capital Weather Gang’s Submit-a-Report map, and it seems to have aligned a few trends that made things massively difficult for everyone to get around.  Read on for all the details.

Continue reading

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed

Pavelec, Thrashers Deny Capitals

Photo courtesy of
‘Pavelec Stops Fehr’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’

One would think that Ovechkin’s hat trick against Toronto the other night was the spark that would re-ignite the Capitals offense. Last night’s game against the Thrashers was eagerly anticipated by many with expectations of seeing the old Caps offense of the early season just explode right before the weekend All Star break.

Alas, no. The Caps lost to a streaky Atlanta team 1-0, with Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec shutting the Caps down once again. Quite a difference for the Atlanta netminder, who started the season by fainting to the ice in the first period against the Caps. With the win, the Thrashers take the season series with a 4-1-1 record against the Capitals.

It’s not without effort on the Caps part, however. They have been trying like crazy to make something work; witness the onslaught against hapless Toronto. But the offense just isn’t clicking in the right way and goals aren’t coming in the bunches everyone is used to seeing over the last three years. The Caps threw 36 shots on Pavelec last night; Ovechkin accounted for 8 and Brooks Laich for 7. The Caps have scored more than three goals only once in the last 15 games.

Continue reading

Adventures, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed

Kill The Tow Truck: Avoid Snow Emergency Routes & Rush Hour Parking

Photo courtesy of
‘Tow Truck in the post blizzard mayhem on Ft. Hamilton Pkwy.’
courtesy of ’emilydickinsonridesabmx’

During last night’s commute home, I saw plenty of drivers pull their  cars off to the side of the road, get out and start walking home.  This was a fantastic idea, especially for those headed north up steep, steep Wisconsin Avenue NW. Lots of spinning tires going nowhere. Sigh.

However, now that the snow has stopped cars parked on major roadways need to be moved so plows can get our thoroughfares up in fully running. And although DC didn’t declare a Snow Emergency, emails have gone out to DC neighborhood listservs stating that cars may be towed from Snow Emergency Routes for the tune of $375 in fines, and that cars parked along Rush Hour Routes could be fined $100 between the hours 7-9:30am and 4-6:30pm.

I’m not sure how the Snow Emergency fines can be leeved considering there wasn’t a snow emergency, but personally I wouldn’t risk it. So if you’re unsure if you left your car on a Snow Emergency Route, look into it. Your wallet will be happy that you did.

If your car has been towed, you can call: 202-541-6083 or visit http://app.dpw.dc.gov/DPW/services/towing/locator.asp to find where it’s been towed to.

Adventures, News, The Daily Feed, The District

Buses Operating On Snow Emergency Routes

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro in the snow’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

After last night show dumping, Metrobuses began the Thursday morning commute operating on snow emergency routes. What that means to us Metrobus commuters is that your bus will likely be operating on a revised or even limited route, because side streets have not been plowed enough for complete bus route service. You’re best bet is to hoof it to one of the snow emergency routes, where you may find your regular bus or another bus that can take you to further transportation options.

WMATA plans to return to normal routes as roads are plowed and conditions improve to the point that it is safe to travel.

Metro constantly updates local news media of Metro service changes. Information is also available at www.metroopensdoors.com on the left side of the home page or by calling Metro at 202-637-7000.

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Arts

We Love Arts: STOMP at Warner Theatre

Not one word was uttered on stage during Tuesday’s debut performance of STOMP at D.C.’s Warner Theatre. That’s when I realized STOMP is a communication tool. This unique blend of musical theatre stage presence combined with choreographed percussion, movement and physical comedy is more expressive than a singular conversation.

What started as a street performance in the UK has grown into one of the biggest international performance sensations of the last two decades, selling out shows in over 350 cities and 36 countries. STOMP takes all of the fun stuff that annoyed your parents when you were a kid and makes it socially acceptable. Why is it socially acceptable? Because it’s art!

Continue reading

The Daily Feed

WMATA pulls buses at 9:30pm

Photo courtesy of
‘what else is new?’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Due to snow and icy conditions, WMATA has announced that they will pull their buses from the roads at 9:30pm tonight.  According to WMATA, they will be the last buses running.  The release states:

Most other local bus services are planning to start to pull their buses off the streets at 9 p.m. tonight, including Alexandria’s DASH, Arlington’s ART, Fairfax Connector, DC Circulator, PRTC, Fairfax City CUE, and Montgomery County’s RIDE ON.

Be careful out there, it’s tough going.  It’s better to leave your car somewhere than get in a wreck.

The Daily Feed

DC grinds to halt under snow

Holy Crap that's a lot of red

It’s a pretty ugly evening out there for traffic. Worse, the bus system is apparently overwhelmed, judging by the pictures we’re seeing on Twitter for the bus bay at West Falls Church Metro. Metro got caught flatfooted by the storm, and hadn’t moved the bus schedule up to match the early release from OPM.

Looking at Google Maps, though, the roads aren’t any better.  There’s a whole lot of extra red and black on the roads, so go slow, turn on your goddamned headlights, and drive carefully. Full map after the cut.

Continue reading

News, The Daily Feed

Hardy Middle School to get new principal

Photo courtesy of
‘Dent Capitol Hill Day School’
courtesy of ‘Tony DeFilippo’

Hardy Middle School has been something of a political football for DCPS over the last year, starting with the ouster of principal Patrick Pope, continuing through the Mayor’s race, where it was a campaign issue, and has continued this year as the campus was realigned to join with Hyde Elementary.

Today, Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced that Dana Nerenberg, who has been principal of the combined campus, will return to being the principal of Hyde Elementary, and Hardy will receive its own fulltime principal, ending the experiment.

Henderson spoke supportively of Nerenberg today, saying in a letter to parents and the public, “I want to underscore the fact that our decision for Principal Nerenberg to resume her full-time duties at Hyde is not a reflection on her leadership. She enthusiastically and ably assumed leadership of the cluster last spring and both schools are better because of her work.”

The Chancellor’s office will meet with representatives of the parent community at Hardy on Monday to help guide her selection.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed

Nuggets Get On Top Of Wizards In A Chinatown Shoot-Out

Photo courtesy of
‘Rashard Lewis and Carmelo Anthony’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

What happened to the defensive stops that the Wizards displayed in their surprise victory over Boston? After following that up with a high scoring loss against the New York Knicks, the Wizards return to the Verizon Center with another high scoring shoot-out defeat against the Denver Nuggets.

The Wizards, who typically shoot 44% from the floor, drained 51% of their shots in the 120-109 loss. Per usual Nick Young led the night with 26 points and Andray Blatche had a great game with 25 points, 15 of them in the first quarter alone. John Wall facilitated the offense with 13 assists.

Sounds like a great night offensively for the Wizards- where did we go wrong?

Denver had a better night.

Continue reading

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features

Capital Chefs: Allison Sosna of DC Central Kitchen (Part 2)

Lunch at WJA
A healthy lunch: Local apples, whole wheat pasta and a meatball and a white bean salad. Photo by author.

Sosna firmly says “cooking is not elitist,” and that she’s working to turn around this misconception. When you hear her talk about simple dishes, using local ingredients and just getting the most out of what you eat, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could think cooking is elitist. What she likes about food remains simple: how food can heal, how it can make you happy. “Food is the centerpiece of life,” Sosna says. Ah, such an easy message we can all relate to.
Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Pitiful Lawsuits: Kucinich Suing House Cafeteria Affiliates For Unpitted Olive Sandwich

Photo courtesy of
‘Rep Dennis Kucinich’
courtesy of ‘scriptingnews’

Let that pun in the headline sink in. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Washington City Paper passes on word that Rep. Dennis Kucinich really couldn’t get rid of the bad memory of a wrap from three years ago that had unpitted olives, so he’s filed a complaint with the DC Superior Court to recover some $150,000 for this “unfit and unwholesome sandwich” he consumed. WCP points back to Gawker’s excerpt with the details from the complaint:

As a result of consuming said unfit and unwholesome food, plaintiff sustained serious and permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures and has sustained other damages as well, including significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment.

That’s right, not pitting your olives can lead to loss of enjoyment by the right honorable leprechaun from Ohio. Be warned.