Monthly Archives: January 2011

Entertainment, Life in the Capital, Music, Special Events, The District, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Dismemberment Plan @ Black Cat, 1/21/11

photo courtesy of Drew McDermott via Flickr



If you interviewed for a job at the Twitter corporate headquarters some time in 2008, you were likely asked to name your “theme song” – the song that should play in the background as you walked on screen or into a room. The question was not just one of taste or tip-of-the-tongue recall, though it was those, but they also wanted to know how you wanted to project yourself and make people feel when you arrived. I had been in San Francisco for two weeks when I was asked the question a few beers in at a drafty Western Addition bar.

About ten seconds of consideration and I responded. “Dismemberment Plan. Face of the Earth.”
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Fashionable DC, News, The Daily Feed
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TheFashionMagpie: DC Readers Leery of the New “Sunday Style” Section in The Post

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

You may have noticed a change to your Washington Post this past weekend, and if you are like any of the Washingtonians that have commented on this modification, you are probably not happy about it.  The paper has split its arts and style sections, and D.C. residents will now receive a “Sunday Style” insert on Saturday mornings.  The insert will cover TV, music, fashion, and film, or as executive editor of the Post Marcus Brauchli put it in his explanation (defense?) of the new section, “the popular culture that shapes so many of our weekends.”

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Comedy in DC
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Comedy in DC: Brian Kerns

Brian Kerns Black and White 1

It was a cold Saturday evening in DC for me while Brian Kerns was chatting me up on the phone from the cozy climate in the city of Angels. This working comedian grew up in Manassas, Virginia and  has the longest commute to get to his job. Most comedians that live in the area take a trip on the metro to get to the club, but this comic hops on an airplane and goes to the comedy clubs in Los Angeles. Whenever he heads west he leaves behind his wife and spends half the year away from her. “She let me quit my day job to pursue comedy full time. If I didn’t have her belief in me and I didn’t have her behind me and saying ‘You can do this’ then there would be no way that I could be doing this right now.”

Brian is a huge fan of the comedy scene in the DMV and thinks it is a great place for comics to hone their skills, but told me that if you want to become famous, you have to put yourself where the agents are. One difference he has noticed performing in L.A. as opposed to D.C. are the people in the seats watching. He said DC has better crowds where people are there to see comedy whereas “In L.A. and N.Y. you do open mics with angry comics looking at their notebooks.” Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, The Daily Feed
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Dismemberment Plan: a weekend in tweets

Photo

When Dismemberment Plan’s “Emergency & I” was first released in 1999, “tweet” was the sound a bird made. This weekend, as they played three reunion shows in our city’s finest venues (check back at 3 for Brittany’s review!), it became an often hilarious and sometimes poignant way for some fans to experience the event. Many of you might complain that in the age of smartphones, we’ve forgotten how to kick back and just enjoy the music. But as someone who spent Friday and Saturday night’s shows following along from home, and Sunday night’s show sending photos out to friends who couldn’t make it, I’d argue that there’s some communal value in the concert tweet. There’s room for poignancy, humor and nostalgia in those 140 characters, all of which were on display by some of DC’s tweeters this weekend. Below the jump, a collection of our favorites.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Kylesa @ Black Cat Backstage, 1/20/11

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All photos by Michael Darpino

Obviously, last week in DC’s music scene was all about Dismemberment Plan. Except for on Thursday night when a hundred or so dedicated metal fans packed the backstage at Black Cat, oblivious to any legendary reunions, for one of metal’s best new bands. Kylesa brought a set full of huge metal anthems that would’ve been large enough to entertain a festival-sized crowd.

Kylesa are one of the bands at the forefront of a new style of “sludge metal” that’s emerging from the South. Sludge metal takes elements from doom metal that were once too grim and frostbitten for the average listener, and adds the styling of psychedelic rock to create something more fun and exciting. You get dark, brooding riffs cranked up loud combined with bright melodies and screaming lyrics instead of demonic growls. Also, everything is played faster – fast enough that only the truly talented can crank out the riffs with such speed. Bands like Baroness, Black Tusk, and Mastodon have been doing this for awhile, but Kylesa has perfected the craft over their ten-year career.
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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First Look: DC Empanadas Food Truck

DC Empanadas Truck
DC Empanadas Truck
Courtesy of Bonappetitfoodie

Here’s what I really love about the food truck scene: one day I can get Indian curry, the next day an all-American, New England lobster roll and the next a delicious selection of Latin American empanadas. And even within the menu at DC Empanadas there’s diversity in the fillings–fruit and cheese, beans and rice, and some good ole meatballs, marinara and mozzarella.

DC Empanadas officially started rolling in the beginning of January and is further proof that frying something will only make it more delicious. I’ve made two trips to the truck so far and have subsequently devoured every little pocket of fried dough with hot fillings that I’ve gotten my hands on. The types of empanadas they offer change daily, so I’ve happily done some of the legwork for you and tried seven of them. Yes, seven–that’s about one-third of the menu. You’re welcome. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Wall’s Last Second Shot Clinches A Shocker Over Celtics

Photo courtesy Patrick Pho

Yesterday I said the Wizards didn’t possess the perseverance to overcome a deficit in a Friday night loss to the Suns.

Last night they found it, and hung around to upset the Celtics in a thrilling 85-83 win.

There weren’t that many As to put up on the “Great Wall of Assists” (Wall had only four assists), in fact the sell-out crowd was so packed they couldn’t hang signs because there were too many standing room only patrons. John Wall ended a 16 point, 6 rebound game with a three-pointer with 57 seconds left in the game to put the Wizards on top for the first time all night. The team managed to hold on after the Celtic’s Paul Pierce tried for a last-second game winner of his own and missed.

“I felt good, got a great look- it just wasn’t my night,” the Celtics captain said post-game.

The game started with a 35-20 Boston lead in the first quarter and it started to feel like another bad night for the Wiz was in store. Washington dug deep and managed to hang around, battling their way throughout the night. After flirting within a point for most of the second half they managed to take the lead after the offense that kept Boston on top all night started to falter.

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capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Ovechkin Crushes Maple Leafs with Hat Trick

Photo courtesy of
‘Alex Ovechkin’
courtesy of ‘Dan4th’

In Canada, the big sport is ice hockey, and it doesn’t get any bigger than “Hockey Night in Canada” in Toronto. Think Monday Night Football in Dallas or Green Bay.

The Caps arrived in town to face the Maple Leafs after a couple of shaky road games and with a minor league goaltender. Alex Ovechkin, who loves a big stage – led the Caps to victory with a hat trick, and rookie goalie Braden Holtby stopped 36 shots as Washington defeated Toronto 4-1 on Saturday night.

None of Ovechkin’s goals were the type of highlight-reel material that Caps fans have come to expect from the Great 8. He scored on a tip in, a rebound, and an empty net. But the common thread was Ovi’s hustle, positioning and discipline – characteristics that are becoming the defining features of the 2011 Capitals. “It’s the only way we’re going to win,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “Grinding games out is what we’ve been doing lately. We’ll probably continue to do it. … It might not be the most exciting brand of hockey in the world, but everybody seems to like winning hockey these days, so that’s what we have to do.” Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Wiz Can’t Stop Frye In Loss To Suns

Photo courtesy John Powell

You look at the roster of the Phoenix Suns and there are a few familiar names: Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Vince Carter. Combined the three have 41 years of NBA experience. Of course there are older teams in the league (tonight the Wizards take on the Celtics) but the point is that the Wizards are a very young team and their inexperienced showed in last night’s 109-91 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

The game started off quite well for the Wizards. Washington got up 33-22 after the first quarter and John Wall already got himself nine assists. The Wizards looked dominant as the press raced to the record books to see if Wall was on a record pace in single game assists.

However the second quarter was a different story. The team was unable to keep the pace they set in the beginning and the Wizards let the Suns catch up and get ahead with the help of Channing Frye, who led the team with 25 points including a 7-11 effort at the 3-point line.

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The Daily Feed
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Tonight: Cool Dudes Hanging Out

Photo courtesy of
‘PFFFT!!!’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Tonight, the Velvet Lounge’s new comedy showcase, Cool Dudes Hanging Out, premieres featuring Jared Logan (in from NYC to headline), Jeff Maurer, Kara Klenk, Tyler Richardson, and Hillary Buckholtz, hosted by Branden Wardell. So you know, clearly this would be the unisex application of the word “dudes.” It’s billed as “a show for cool dudes,” and since you are reading We Love DC, I know you to be a cool dude. So apparently, this show is for you.

It’s $5 to get in, and the show starts at 7PM.

The Velvet Lounge is at 915 U St. NW. There will be drink specials, oh yes, there will.

Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: West Islayer

West Islayer (photo by author)

It’s time for Friday Happy Hour, highlighting a drink we’ve recently enjoyed, every Friday at 4pm! Please share your favorites as well.

One of my besties, Heidi, wanted celebrate her birthday with a low-key, grown-up sort of celebration in which a group of us went out for a nice dinner and cocktails at a nicer sort of restaurant. Our group, though, is all vegetarians or vegans, so the choices for fancy spots can feel limited. She picked Rasika for the ample offerings of both veg fare and original cocktails.

Jason Stritch was behind the bar that night and we enjoyed a number of his creations. He told me he spends about thirty hours a week just prepping ingredients – creating his own syrups, growing herbs, and brewing his own cider (which was the best cider I have ever tasted – though I am not much of a cider fan). The first thing he whipped up for me was a Scotch-based cocktail called the “West Islayer.”

Scotch can be a challenging base for a cocktail – most Scotch-tails I have tasted leave me wishing I just ordered a tumbler of the stuff without mixers – but the campfire smokiness of a Laphroaig Scotch is so appealing this time of year that I gave the drink a chance. It won me over immediately.

To the smoky Laphroaig, the drink adds spiced honey and allspice dram. The sweetness and hint of spice add a wonderful walking-on-damp-leaves-in-autumn quality. Everyone who sampled my drink – and, with an aroma like the West Islayer has, everyone around wants to sample it – enjoyed it, be they regular Scotch drinkers or the person who claims they do not like to drink “anything brown.”

Food and Drink
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All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings To Look Forward To (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of
‘Funny fro-zen-yo Signage’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Yesterday we previewed half of the upcoming restaurants of 2011. Here’s the second half.

District Commons and Burger, Tap & Shake

Don’t you just love the whole restaurant within a restaurant idea? Well, whether you do or not, Passion Food Hospitality (Acadiana and DC Coast) will soon open their sixth and I guess also 7th location. Chef Jeff Tunks along with David Wizenberg and Gus DiMillo will serve up American cuisine at District Commons, plus burgers, double fried fries and adult milkshakes at the counter-service BT & S. Both Foggy Bottom restaurants will share a beer menu featuring 20 American small batch beers.

2200 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Expected Arrival: Spring 2011 Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Magician @ U Street Music Hall, 1/19/11


courtesy of The Magician.

On Wednesday night Belgian DJ, Stephen Fasano a/k/a The Magician made a southern swing on his “Magical Winter Tour in America” to spin at U Street Music Hall. What could have been a sleepy, mid-week party on a freezing cold night was instead the hottest place in town as body temperatures warmed the packed dance-floor and Fasano’s DJ sorcery gave the audience a preview of the aural tricks he has in store for the world now that he has gone solo.

Leading up to this show, Stephen Fasano was being billed as “(formerly of Aeroplane)”; I suppose in an attempt to draw in fans of Fasano’s former project. Fasano left the group and his DJ partner of seven years late last year to pursue his solo work. While Aeroplane continues under the command of his former partner, Vito DeLuca, I felt that billing Fasano in this way was also sort of hand-cuffing him to his former group. Perhaps to distance himself from Aeroplane after his departure, Fasano has crafted a musical persona for himself called The Magician. It is an identity born out of the Belgian’s rich sense of humor; complete with a costume, a gimmick, and custom dance mixes that proved to be truly magical. I think everyone in attendance at Wednesday night’s set at U-Hall would agree that Fasano can drop the “(formerly of Aeroplane)” from his marketing scheme. The Magician is a new, unique presence on the international DJ scene that will soon be a big draw in his own right.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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First Look: Big Cheese Truck

Photo courtesy of
‘347/365’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

Food on wheels has been (and I’m thinking it will be continue to be) all the rage in DC. And with each new truck’s appearance, I get giddy about the prospects of expanding my lunch horizons. Big Cheese Truck launched in mid-December and I finally caught up with them to give them a try. It was a cold, blustery day and I thought a hot grilled cheese and warm tomato soup would be just the thing to get me through the workday. Unfortunately, I’ll be honest and say that I was disappointed.

The tomato soup was chunky and had a strong basil flavor. While I could have handled the basil, the salsa-esque consistency threw me off. Something about warm, chunky salsa under the pseudonym of tomato soup just didn’t do it for me. The grilled cheese with cheddar on sourdough should have had more cheese and definitely could have been melted more to reach the point of gooey-deliciousness. The cheese from the local Cowgirl Creamery was a good pairing with the tangy sourdough bread. However, for a sandwich coming from a truck named “big cheese,” I was expecting huge, gooey gobs of cheese, not a thin, apparently shredded, layer of the stuff.

I know the initial launch for a food truck (or any restaurant, for that matter) can be rough, and there’s some level of trial and error on the menu. So I’m hoping that the Big Cheese Truck will improve with time and deliver a bigger and better lunchtime favorite to the hungry cheese-eatin’ people of DC.

The Daily Feed
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Hawk in the LoC

The Library of Congress Main Reading Room has been invaded by a Cooper’s Hawk! First noticed Wednesday afternoon, the bird has been flapping about the dome of the Reading Room, and seems to be unable to locate an exit. LoC staff tried getting its attention with a hawk call from a bird-identifying app, to no avail, and they’ve called in Fish and Wildlife to help get the bird out, hopefully unharmed.

Anyone at LoC got updates on the bird situation? And a name?

(Thanks to Abby Brack at LoC for the photos)

The Daily Feed
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Ted’s Bulletin Eyes Bethesda

Photo Courtesy Ted's Bulletin

A while ago, I heard that the owners of Ted’s Bulletin were scouting for locations in Virginia — Tysons Corner to be exact. WRONG…unless you count that they recently signed a lease for a fourth DC-area Matchbox at Lee Highway and Gallows Road in Virginia.

But I’ve come to realize that there’s always a bit of truth to everything you hear. Curious, I called Ty Neal, one of the four friends behind the whole Matchbox, Ted’s Bulletin, and now DC-3 operation.  He told me that there are plans for expanding Ted’s Bulletin already, hopefully with one location in Bethesda and another one in the District.  If all goes as planned, leases could be signed this year.

I asked him what neighborhoods he was looking at in DC, but Neal said he was going to keep that to himself for now, though he does have a few places in mind. (Looks like I still have a while to convince him to come to Navy Yard.)

Neal adds that the Hill’s Ted’s only has 80 seats, and that future locations will have 120 to 150 seats depending on the available square footage.

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Five Favorites
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Five Favorites: Tools for Getting Around DC

Photo courtesy of
‘He matches the bus!!!’
courtesy of ‘fromcaliw/love’

We’ve come a long way from the days of highlighting a route on a paper map to get from Point A to Point B. And in a big city like Washington, there are so many ways to get around: walking, biking (your own or a shared bike), taking transit, driving, Segway-ing, etc.  But with so many options, it’s often difficult to figure out what the shortest/fastest/easiest way to get somewhere is.  Lucky for us, there are lots of great tools out there that make it a whole lot easier to get around the city.  Here are our picks for our favorite tools for getting around the District!

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The Daily Feed
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Get your violent discourse fix tonight

walmartbullseye.jpg
image excerpted from Anti-Walmart flyer as seen on RedState

If you think that we should still be using crosshairs and targets on promotional materials for rallies, and think that threats of violence and intimidation make good community activism, then join the folks outside Dick Knapp’s house tonight in Woodley Park.  Knapp works with Foulger Pratt Development, which is developing the site on Georgia Avenue that has been said to be one of the spaces that Walmart is occupying.

While one can argue against Walmart’s business practices, and do so successfully in terms of what they do to wages and prices, arguing in front of a developer’s house isn’t okay. Doubly so when you put a crosshairs on the flyer. And, while we’re thinking about, go over at read Alex Baca’s excellent explanation of why Walmart isn’t the end of the world for DC.

So, argue against Walmart, but don’t do it through practices of personal intimidation and threats, alright?