Monthly Archives: March 2011

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, March 12-13

Photo courtesy of
’22/365′
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

Tiff: With Tom out of town I’m rolling single-style and already my weekend is overflowing into this week. Tonight there’s the DC Web Women <RELOAD> Happy Hour at Science Club (you see what they did there). Tomorrow, there’s DJ lil’e’s Lady Gaga vs. Madonna vs. Kylie dance party at the 9:30 Club. It’s sold out, but at e’s last sold-out 9:30 gig, they re-opened the box office as people started to trickle out later in the night, so there’s still hope. Saturday is all about me time: haircut, movies, food Tom doesn’t like… expect to see me wandering around Gallery Place, is what I’m saying. Sunday I’m going all domesticated and baking some shortbread for a friend’s tea party (the kind with actual tea, not the political kind) before putting on my finery (or what passes for it) and nibbling finger sandwiches.

Patrick Palafox: This weekend I’m thinking about heading down to Takoma Park and checking out The Electric Mayhem Comedy Hour that’s happening over at the Electric Maid at 268 Carrol St. NW. this Friday. This will be their third show and all they ask is for a $5 donation. That’s a bit steep for a comedy show, but I think I will drop down the cash, because I’m rich. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Dizzy Miss Lizzy presents Finn McCool

Laura Keena, John Robert Keena (Finn McCool) & Maria Egler Mike Kozemchak & Steve McWilliams in background)
Photos by Kip Pierson Photography

Dizzy Miss Lizzy’s Roadside Review doesn’t call Finn McCool a rock opera but I’m prepared to do so. I suspect they’ll cut me some slack since I’ll also say it’s a fun production that’s a bargain at $20 a seat and well worth your time.

This isn’t a new show – Dizzy Miss Lizzy’s Roadside Review (can I call y’all DMRR? Thanks) first put on this show in last year’s Fringe. A modern interpretation of the Irish legend of Fionn mac Cumhaill, Finn McCool imagines what you’d get if all the players in a classic hero’s journey tale were musical performers and putting on a show from beyond the grave. It works well, as do most of the modifications DMRR made, and it’s a testament to the skill of the playwright and the performers that it’s never confusing when the performance shifts from being an after-the-fact retelling and a portrayal of events supposedly occurring in the present.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Carnaval at Café Atlántico


‘Cotton Candy Mojito’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

On Tuesday I was an invited guest at Café Atlántico for the restaurant’s special Carnaval Celebration Menu. I arrived early and found myself at the bar talking to one of the bartenders about the restaurant’s cocktails, and this seemed to set the tone for the night (surprised?). I could happily have sat at the bar all night, sipping excellent cocktails and talking to the bartenders about various spirits (want to out yourself as a cocktail nerd? Ask them about that bottle of Falernum and how it compares to the one you have at home, not to mention the house-made stuff at PX).

This being a dinner and all, the Social Chair and I were eventually escorted to a table with Lisa Shapiro of Dining in DC and Rachel Tepper of The Feast, along with their guests. We ordered another round of drinks and made our selections from the special menu.   Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Comedy in DC: You, Me, Them, Everybody

Brandon Wetherbee

I thought that you all might be interested in listening to Brandon Wetherbee’s latest You, Me, Them, Everybody show, because I was the comic for the evening. Which means I am interested in you listening to it…

It was the first show that I did outside of open mics and it was super fun. I also learned about DC Bocce. It’s a game that you play with balls. What games don’t have balls? Let’s see, there is the hockey puck and the shuttle cock, (heh, shuttle). Anyway, the main musical guest was the lead singer for typefighter. Overall it is just a fun moment captured in sound. I appreciate Brandon taking a chance on me and hope that you enjoy!

The Daily Feed
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Ticket Giveaway: Round-trip Tickets to Brooklyn – This Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘Knowitexpress’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

It is Thursday morning and maybe you are starting to consider your plans for this weekend. How about ditching them all and hopping on the bus to New York?

For our lovely readers, the DC to Brooklyn bus service The Knowitexpress has offered five round-trip tickets between our fair city and our big sister to the north (specifically, to that city’s loveliest borough).

As many of you know by now, we are losing one of our own We Love DC authors, Erin McCann, to Brooklyn this very week. You may have heard her frantically asking people for Brooklyn’s answer to Peregine for weeks now. So, to ease her transition and win these tickets, post a comment below by 5:00pm today with an SAT style analogy of [Awesome Thing in DC] : DC :: [Counterpart] : New York.

Example – “Peregrine Espresso : DC :: Cafe Grumpy Greenpoint : Brooklyn” The five comments Erin and I deem most amusing and/or useful will win.

Your comment must have a valid email address, one entry per email address, please. Comments will be closed at 5pm and the five winners will be selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email by midnight or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: At Home at the Zoo

James McMenamin as Jerry and Jeff Allin as Peter in the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater production of At Home at the Zoo March 4 – April 24, 2011. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Forty-five years separate the two acts of At Home at the Zoo, though in terms of the play’s action it’s probably only an hour. The second act is The Zoo Story. Written in 1958, it’s the play that assured Edward Albee’s genius. The first act is Homelife, written in 2004 as an exploration of what happened earlier in the older play.

I wish he’d left it alone.

The chief joy of seeing At Home at the Zoo, presented at Arena Stage as part of the Edward Albee Festival, is that second act. Featuring a lightning rod performance by James McMenamin as the mysterious Jerry, it’s a speedy and dangerous duel between action and reaction as he plays off the controlled listening of Jeff Allin’s erudite Peter. The entire stage comes alive with this act, a true evocation of why Albee is still revered today as one of our greatest playwrights.

But you have to get through the first act. I recommend caffeine. If you can make it through without your eyelids drooping too much, your energy will be revived by the tension of a riveting second act. Don’t give up. It’s worth it. Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Caps Blank Oilers, 5-0

Photo courtesy of
Holtby Save on Shorthanded Cogliano Breakaway
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
The Capitals’ season-long retooling project took a strong step forward last night as an offensive explosion propelled the Caps to a 5-0 win and a shutout for rookie goalie Braden Holtby against the Edmonton Oilers at Verizon Center. The Caps rediscovered the wonders of the power play scoring two goals on the man advantage in the second period. Alex Ovechkin lead the fireworks with two goals and an assist, as Eric Fehr returned from an injury to add two more lamp-lighters.

The retooling effort that got underway in earnest in mid-November has aimed to play a style more suited to success in the post-season. This has included playing “responsible” hockey with a focus on defensive assignments and middle zone traps. After two years of ever-increasing offense firepower under coach Bruce Boudreau, the change has felt more like shock therapy. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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2011 Tequila & Mezcal Festival at Oyamel

Photo courtesy of
‘Oyamel 3’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Oyamel will be hosting their annual Tequila & Mezcal Festival from March 14th to 27th, 2011. The restaurant holds this annual event to showcase the popular spirits of Mexico and highlight their staff’s creativity in blending them with other traditional and modern flavors of the region.

On Monday night, members of the media were invited to sample from the special cocktail and food menus that will be featured during the festival and mingle with chef José Andrés of the ThinkFoodGroup which owns Oyamel and spot chef and White House senior food policy advisor Sam Kass.

On the warm-colored walls were projections of photographs of Oaxaca taken by Oyamel’s executive chef Joe Raffa on a recent food-research trip. Raffa was so taken with some of the produce he sampled that he has even convinced a local farmer here from whom he buys tomatoes to grow a special varietal for Oyamel to put on the menu this summer and this commitment to sustainable, local agriculture shows throughout the restaurant’s offerings.
Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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The chain gang: Where did the Caps’ offense go?

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_3758.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

A year ago, the Capitals were the high-flying, big scoring red machine that cut through the Eastern Conference regular season like scissors making a paper snowflake. They led the league in scoring with 313 goals and were buoyed by the best top line in the game in Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin.

This year has not been so kind.

The difference is striking, on the ice and by the numbers. Washington’s struggles on the ice have been well chronicles and denizens of the Verizon Center hope they have been remedied with the additions of another puck moving defenseman (Dennis Wideman) and a bona fide second line center (Jason Arnott) brought to D.C. at the trade deadline.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Last year the Caps scored 3.82 goals per game, more than half a goal higher than second place Vancouver at 3.27. The top line of Ovie, Backstrom and Semin tallied 3.93 points (goals and assists) per game. The top eight scorers on the team averaged 7.86 points per game. An amazing seven Caps scored more than 50 points with six of them above 20 goals.

Where has the production gone?

And why?
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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It’s Bryce Harper’s World and the 3/9 Sports Ticker

Photo courtesy of
‘The Nats drafted Bryce Harper’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Lead Item: I’ve mocked it at least once during the last few weeks of the Sports Ticker, but it’s now gotten to the point where I don’t want to ignore the Bryce Harper-Spring Training stories. Come on, a Google News search from the last month gave me nearly 1,400 results on the Nationals prospect. And now they’re just getting fun:

Harper’s most impressive hit came during his second at-bat in the eighth inning. The team had already scored six runs in the inning. With Harper at the plate, one fan in the stands yelled, “Overrated, overrated.” On the next pitch from reliever Jorge De Leon, Harper doubled near the right-field line, scoring Matt Stairs and Alex Cora.

Harper acknowledged that he heard the heckling from the fan.

Yes, I made fun of news services for writing about the 8th-inning at bats for young rookies and draft picks. That was when he was going 0-for-1 and just the subject of early March baseball fluff pieces. This is now turning into a fun news story to watch, at least for the spring. I know that there isn’t exactly high hopes for the Nationals this season, especially with Strasmas not coming this year, so the Will-they-promote-Bryce-Harper storyline is bound to get annoying. That’s a reason to really enjoy these stories right now, because as long as it’s coming out of the Grapefruit League, it’s welcome and optimistic.

The rest of the ticker after the jump.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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UDC Basketball: $17,000 per win for head coach Jeff Ruland

Photo courtesy of
‘Part of UDC’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

The UDC Firebirds finished their basketball season last month with a 11-17 final record, well out of contention for the D-II March Madness tournament, not that they were allowed to go even if they’d steamrolled the season.  In 2008, the NCAA suspended the school’s athletics programs from championship eligibility until 2013, citing the “single most egregious lack of institutional control ever seen by the committee.” They refer, of course, to UDC’s total inability to keep records about its student athletes, and allowing 248 student athletes to practice and compete while in violation of its rules.

Recently, as UDC University President Sessoms has come under scrutiny for records surrounding his travel for the institution, so too have other officials at the school.  Head Basketball Coach Jeff Ruland, a former NBA player with the Bullets, has had his $187,000 salary revealed. That makes Ruland one of the most well-paid coaches in Division II, earning more than triple the Division II average from 2005.

Ruland’s tenure with UDC has gone slightly better than his 2006-7 season with Iona College, in which his team won just 2 games, and when you think that he can’t host recruits, and has a diminished number of scholarships, 11-17 might well be a triumph, but do we need to pay a basketball coach $187,000?

There’s no question that Ruland has a hard job.  Recruiting students is difficult when your school is in rough straits both with the NCAA, its board, and its own student body.  But is $187k the right pay for a rebuilding basketball program in D-II?

Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: Performance Fares

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

Most of us work in jobs where our performance matters. Every year, your boss sits you down and tells you what you did right or wrong, and if you’re good, the rights outnumber the wrongs and you get a raise. For some, the raise doesn’t come, and for others, you get fired. Companies like to pay based on performance because it motivates people.

If you go to a nice restaurant, and you order your meal, and as they’re bringing everyone else’s food out, they explain to you that they screwed up your order. Maybe they dropped it on the floor, maybe they realized they sold the last rabbit too late for your order, or maybe the waiter forgot to enter it. No matter, really. They usually apologize and, more often than not, they will take the hit and not charge you for your meal. Better restaurants go a little further and offer you a discount on your next visit, or a free dessert.

Both situations have one thing in common: the income is related to the performance. You get paid more if you do well. You have to lose money in order to correct a mistake. I think Metro could learn a thing or two in the realm of customer service and performance.
Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Kaya Henderson named Chancellor of DCPS

KayaHenderson
Photo courtesy of DCPS

This morning it was announced that DCPS’ Interim Chancellor would lose her interim status and retain the chancellory of DCPS in the new Gray administration. Rumors have been swirling for the last few days that Henderson would stay on, with yesterday’s audience at the Metropolitan Club being the first to hear it from the Mayor.

Henderson has been acting at Chancellor since October when it was announced that Michelle Rhee was departing in the wake of the September primary loss by her patron, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty. There are some questions as to the results of the reforms started by Chancellor Rhee, with some standardized tests not showing the same gains as the initial results.

Henderson was responsible for enacting a number of Rhee’s priorities while serving as Deputy Chancellor, including negotiating the contract with WTU last year. In a statement released via email, Henderson said, “I am very excited that Mayor Gray has offered me the opportunity to be Chancellor of DC Public Schools. I have devoted the past 13 years to working to improve educational opportunities for students in this city. I am honored and humbled to be afforded the opportunity to continue this work in the role of Chancellor.”

We had a chance to interview Chancellor Henderson in October, and the long-time DC resident is clearly dedicated to her craft, and I wish her well in her new position.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A with Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

omd1
all photos courtesy of The Musebox.

When it turned out that I would be unavailable to conduct this interview myself, the first person who came to my mind as the perfect pinch hitter for the gig was Mickey McCarter. By day, Mickey is a professional journalist, covering homeland security and military affairs for Homeland Security Today and Fox News. On nights and weekends, he is one of DC’s foremost experts on the New Wave and synthpop genres.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, founded by UK songwriters Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, led a synthpop revolution from the ‘80s through today in the United Kingdom, consistently charting in the UK top 30 with each of their 11 studio albums, including their very latest History of Modern. McCluskey alone kept the band’s name alive throughout the ‘90s until he and Paul Humphreys reunited for a successful return-to-form last year.

Now the band returns to the United States for the first time in more than 20 years, playing the 9:30 Club on Thursday, March 10. We Love DC caught up with synthpop virtuoso McCluskey recently to talk about Pretty in Pink, the new generation of synthpop musicians, and the sound of the future.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Loretta Lynn

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!

“She was born a coal miner’s daughter, but she has become a Country Music legend, Ms. Loretta Lynn!” That introduction I borrowed from Johnny Cash just about says it all doesn’t it? Win these tickets and join Loretta Lynn as she celebrates her 50th year as an entertainer with a special show at 9:30 Club on Thursday, March 17th.

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. 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. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

(left to right) Ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Directed by Pam MacKinnon. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

We’ve all had those nights we don’t want to end, when the party moves down the street into the afterhours, only to sputter out around dawn when guests blearily enter back into reality. Sometimes those parties are wildly beautiful, other times they are the stuff of nightmares. Friendships implode, relationships fracture – the whole evening becomes a nuclear bomb which leaves you shaking at the end, repeating to the empty space, “What the hell just happened?”

You could say I’m familiar with those kinds of nights. Which is why I spent most of the three hours at George and Martha’s afterhours alternately laughing and crying in recognition of the ultimate power struggle party. Since its Broadway premiere in 1962, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf has continued to shatter audiences with the ugly truth – we’re all capable of total war in relationships. Some of us may even relish it.

Presented by Chicago’s brilliant Steppenwolf Theatre Company as part of Arena Stage’s Edward Albee Festival, this production is simply not to be missed. There’s a complete dedication to the realism of Albee’s script that makes everything passionately alive, from Todd Rosenthal’s tired living room set, crowded with books and booze, to the acting master class delivered by Tracy Letts and Amy Morton. That dedication sucks the audience in and makes us all culpable. You’ll feel dirty afterwards, like a host surveying the piles of empty bottles and broken glass.

Don’t let that stop you from joining this party. From “Hump the Hostess” to “Get the Guests,” it may be a night in a Machiavellian mine field, but it’s also hilarious.  Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Free Lunch Day at Roti on Thursday

roti

Picture Courtesy Roti

What’s better than a free meal? A free meal for a good cause.

If you live/work in NoMa, or if you’re lucky enough to take lunch away from your “work neighborhood,” you should head out to Roti Mediterranean Grill this Thursday. The newly opened Roti will sponsor a Free Lunch Day from 11am to 1:30pm, where all customers will receive a free sandwich, salad or Mediterranean plate, and be able to make a voluntary donation to DC Cental Kitchen.

This year marks DC Central Kitchen’s 22nd year fighting hunger.  DCCK works to provide low-income individuals and families with nutritious food, assist local farmers, help chronically unemployed men and women and reach out to people living on the streets.

Seems like Roti is quite the do-gooder. The restaurant’s first DC location also partnered up with DCCK for Free Lunch Day just last year. Thumbs up. Oh, and look for Roti to keep expanding in DC. So head out, eat, give and enjoy!

Roti Mediterranean Grill is located at 1275 First Street NE. The closest metro station is New York Avenue (Red Line). For more information call 202-618-6969.

Five Favorites
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Five Favorites: Reasons to Bike to Work

Photo courtesy of
’15th St bike lane in use’
courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’

Bike to Work Day registration is now open, so mark your calendar for Friday, May 20!  This awesome event, sponsored by WABA, is a great way to get your feet wet riding your bike around the city. At last year’s event, when I had just started out commuting by bike, I won a raffle for a fantastic messenger bag, got all sorts of great bike gear, and enjoyed free food all before 10 AM– all things that made it a bit easier to integrate biking into my daily commute. And no matter where you live or work you’ll probably be close to one pit stop, where you can pick up your free t-shirt and other bike-related goodies.  And best of all, it’s free!

If you need more reasons to dust off that bike and ride it to work, I’ve got ’em.  The past year of riding my bike to work has been fantastic, so here are my five favorite reasons to bike to work:

Continue reading →