Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Daily Feed
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Burnett Implodes, Mets Beat Nats 6-3

Photo courtesy of
‘9TH’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’

At the start of Wednesday’s game between the Nationals and Mets in Washington, the Nats bullpen had a 3.29 ERA. When compared to the 2010 equivalent that posted the fifth best bullpen ERA in Major League Baseball at 3.35, that 3.29 is an improvement. But after left-handed reliever Sean Burnett’s ninth inning collapse, the Nats bullpen ERA became nothing more than a number.

The Nationals entered the ninth inning up 3-2 and went on to lose the game 6-3 to New York. Washington’s left-handed starter Tom Gorzelanny went into the contest looking for his first win of the season but was left with a no decision.  Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Looking for a Few Good Beards

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_5117.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

One of my personal favorite playoff hockey traditions is the growing of playoff beards. According to Wikipedia, the tradition of playoff beards started in the 1980s. Players grow their beards out as long as their team is still in playoff contention, leading to some epic (and not so epic beards): Karl Alzner, featured above, usually sports a great big bushy beard a few weeks into the playoffs.
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Who Will the Caps Get Next and the 4/27 Sports Ticker

Photo courtesy of
‘Rock the Red Light’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Lead Item: It has to be a nice week for the Capitals. Having locked up the series days ago, they’ve had a nice week of looking forward to who they could lace up against in the next round. Even though the Caps were tidy in taking care of New York in five games, their fellow Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls haven’t been nearly as considerate: all three of the other first round series are heading the distance for seven games. The second-seeded Flyers topped the Sabres last night to win the decider, while the third-seeded Bruins host the Canadiens and the Pens and Lightning face off in dueling game sevens this evening. For loyal fans out there, what are you waiting for? Bet on your teams now on W88.

One thing that helps make the one seed valuable in the hockey playoffs is that it isn’t a true bracket – that is to say, the Caps would not be locked into playing the winner of the 4-5, Pittsburgh/Tampa matchup. Instead, the matchups are determined by a shuffling so that the one seed is guaranteed to play the lowest-seeded team left. While it isn’t possible for the Caps to play the Bruins in the next round, all three of the other teams are eligible opponents for the boys of the Phone Booth. Let’s take a look:

Continue reading →

Comedy in DC, People, The Features
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Comedy in DC: Vijai Nathan

Vijai Nathan Photo 2

Vijai Nathan. Photo credit: Alexander Morozov.

Recently I had a fun chat with Vijai Nathan, a local comic who has performed across the planet and is the creator of the monthly comedy party “Fan-Freakin-Tastic” at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room. Vijai is a first generation Indian American and grew up in Rockville, Maryland.

How did you get into performing comedy?

I was a journalist working at the Baltimore Sun at the time, and I was engaged with someone I thought was perfect for me, my college sweetheart, and I had a great job and I was never more miserable. I just had always wanted to be a performer growing up and it was something my parents never encouraged me to do, because it’s not like Indian immigrant parents who are going to be like, “Yeah, here’s something where you are guaranteed not to make any money for the rest of your life.”

So, really what happened was I was just so stuck in my job and stuck in my relationship, and just stuck in my life and I saw this adult class to learn to be a standup comedian in two sessions. So I took that with First Class in Washington, D.C. with this guy that was funny, and when I took the class I was still a journalist during the day and just trying to do something to fill this performance dream that I had. The other people in the class were accountants and lobbyists, just kind of normal D.C. people who worked in the government. When I had my graduation class I was the funniest person there. Someone said, “Oh my God, you should be a comedian. You’re going to be the next Margaret Chang” and I was like “It’s Margaret Cho, but thanks!” Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed
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Just how fucked is Metro, exactly?

Metrofscked

I’ve always wanted a website that could tell me exactly how totally and unrepetently fucked Metro was at any given moment, and now I have my wish.  Designer Joey Brunelle built the website, and is still handtuning the application to display how fucked, or not fucked, the metro system is at any given point.  It’s a pretty amazing little web-app, it shows you how many trains are in service, where they are on the map, what the wait time is like for individual stations, and allows you to switch seamlessly between lines.

Nice job, Joey!

Of course, there’s a worksafe version for those of you who still feel the need to watch your language around your bosses.

News, The Daily Feed
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From the Nine, One: DC Elects Vincent Orange

Orange

For many 6 of DC’s 8 wards, yesterday’s lightly attended special election had just one question on the ballot: who should serve as At-Large Councilmember for the District, and offered a slate of candidates.  As was expected, the populace was fractured in their voting, and no single candidate took more than 30% of the vote.  In the end, Vincent Orange needed just 12,216 votes to capture the seat.

Republican Pat Mara had a very strong showing, surprising many, with 11,096 votes.  Interim At-Large Councilmember Sekou Biddle disappointed many with just 8,842 votes.  Bryan Weaver rounded out the top four candidates with 5,665 votes.

Full election results are available from the DCBOEE.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Balkan Beat Box

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!

Today we’re giving away a pair of tickets to a late night party with Balkan Beat Box at 9:30 Club on Friday, April 29th (NOTE: Doors for this show are 11pm).

When some of your founding members served time with gypsy-rock phenoms Gogol Bordello and 90’s indie-rock princes Firewater, your band is guaranteed to combine global influences for an explosive good time. Balkan Beat Box specialize in an unclassifiable blend of classic Balkan and Mediterranean instrumentals, hip-hop, gypsy rock, and punk. Their live shows are pure insanity fueled by their volatile mix of diaspora sounds and high energy showmanship.

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 →

The Daily Feed
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Ramos hits a couple dingers but Nats dropped by Mets 6-4

Photo courtesy of
‘2ND’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’

There is only so much that Wilson Ramos can do for the Nats. He catches pitches, he does not pitch. He has one bat, not eight. His glove is made for catching fastballs, not tracking down dying quails in the outfield.

Yet, he did what he could on Tuesday night for the Nats in a 6-4 losing effort to the Mets in the first of a three-game set at Nationals Park. He hit two home runs, had an RBI single and fielded his position well when New York went small ball bunting. His 3-4 night raised his average to .378 and the dingers were his first two of the year along with the first multi-home run game of his young career.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Smithsonian Snapshot: Strawberry Dart Frog

Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution

Vibrant but toxic, poison arrow frogs range from less than 1 inch to 2.5 inches in body length. Poison arrow frogs live in the rainforests of Central and South America and on a few Hawaiian Islands.

It is said that poison arrow frogs, also called poison dart frogs, received their name because some Amerindian tribes used their skin secretions to poison their darts. Arrow frogs are not poisonous in captivity. Scientists believe that these frogs gain their poison from specific insects they eat in the wild.

Strawberry dart frogs are one of more than 100 species of poison dart frog. The strawberry dart frog’s reproductive process starts in thick foliage close to the ground, where the female lays about six eggs—each no bigger than a pea—in a moist place after mating. For about the next 10 days, the frogs protect and water the clutch by urinating on it. Continue reading →

Downtown, Food and Drink, The Features
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Sneak Preview of PAUL

Photo courtesy of
‘PAUL Bakery’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

Ask a Washingtonian if there’s a good place to get bread in the city and you’ll get an earful. I’m not about to debate our city’s carbohydrate merits. Rather, I want to talk about the opening of PAUL, a new bread shop and bakery that might be the one to raise the bar for bread in DC.

PAUL already has more than 450 bakeries elsewhere in the world (mostly in Europe), and so at first I was a little nervous about a “chain” bakery opening their first U.S. store in DC. What I found though was a bakery with a rich history, dedicated people behind it and quite frankly, fantastic bread.
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Submarines @ Black Cat, 4/28/11

submarines_love_notes_letter_bombs_album_art_cover1

This Thursday at the Black Cat, one of my biggest guilty-pleasure bands is playing the Backstage. The Submarines craft cheery indie-pop, with catchy lyrics, bright acoustic guitars, and airy synths. It’s a testament to their songwriting abilities that even a jaded dude like me can’t help but get into them.

The story behind The Submarines is adorable; the duo met while playing in other bands in Boston, then joined forces, but broke up after they each moved to LA in 2004. They continued writing songs though; songs that were obviously about how much they missed each other. Then they got back together and kept the band going! (I was pretty sure that sort of thing could never happen, but hey, maybe I’m just writing the wrong kind of breakup songs?)

Their debut album “Honeysuckle Weeks” was a product of this breakup. These cheery songs made it into episodes of “Gossip Girl”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and even an iPhone commercial. God, that album was good – It’s so infectious that I’ve had “You Me & the Bourgeoisie” stuck in my head all day, even though I haven’t heard it in months. Their new album is just as solid. I’m declaring it now – “Love Notes / Letter Bombs” is the soundtrack to my summer.

The Submarines
w/ Pepper Rabbit
Black Cat Backstage
Thursday, April 28
$10

Entertainment
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A 2011 Helen Hayes Awards (Drama Prom) Diary

Earlier I joked about Helen Hayes being like Theatre Prom.

I was right. In so many ways.

But instead of writing a plain ol’ review of this year’s Helen Hayes Awards- I thought I would just present to you my Helen Hayes day, blow-by-blow ala one of many Bill Simmons’ running diaries.

If you want a complete list of the winners you can read them here, but if you want to know what Helen Hayes was really like, read on.

8:12 AM

“Patrick, I’m about to cry. I just woke up with pink eye. Fml. Ok I am crying.”

I had it all set for the night’s #DramaProm. Monday I bought the perfect suit with Brittany and I learned how to tie a bow-tie. I even took the day off of work so I could focus all my energy on getting prepared for the big night. There wasn’t anything that could go wrong.

But then it did.

My date woke up and discovered she has suffered the same fate as Vinny: Conjunctivitis. She says she can get some drops for it- but I tell her to get an official diagnosis from a doctor, knowing that something as contagious as Pinkeye would rule her out for tonight.

I tweet out a message of frustration and cross my fingers- maybe she’ll be alright.

11:00 AM

We Love Arts: The Real Inspector Hound

I put the potential date emergency out of my mind as spend the morning writing a review for the show I saw this past weekend. I begin to wonder why didn’t I write this Sunday night and I remember I spent last night looking up British succession on Wikipedia after getting caught up in Royal Wedding fever. Did you know that the King of Norway is 68th in line for the British throne?

12:06 PM

After calling my date, I find out that the Pinkeye status has been confirmed and she’ll have to bow out of the night’s festivities. I manage to find a replacement to take her ticket. I continue on with the day’s preparations.

Continue reading →

Featured Photo
By

Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro – Red – 4.7.11’
courtesy of ‘rpmaxwell’

When people see the behemoths of cameras that I carry around, their normal reaction is something along the lines of “I bet you get great pictures with those!”  Before I really got into photography, I would have probably said the same thing.  Now, a few years and tens of thousands of pictures later, I know it’s not the camera that makes a good picture, it’s the photographer behind the camera that is key.  The camera is just a tool, and a person can take a great picture with a comparatively inferior tool, if they have the skill.

Ryan demonstrates this point with his phenomenal street shot of a federal employee on the Metro.  Using a camera, which millions of people have and use everyday (an iPhone), he’s able to take a great candid in a hectic and photo adverse environment.  That’s skill!

By the way, you’ve probably noticed I’m a new author.  Though I’ve been trolling the site for years as a reader, the powers that be thought I would make a good contributor.  Thus, here I am!  My beat will be mostly photography, so keep the shots coming into the group.  I will tell you now, I’m a sucker for good wildlife and long exposure photography.  So, keep reading, and, just so that you know, all well placed Star Wars and 80s movie references are welcome in the comments.

The Daily Feed
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The Polls are Open, DC!

Photo courtesy of
‘11.2.10’
courtesy of ‘Paige Weaver’

NOW GO VOTE.

Today is Tuesday, April 26th, and that means that it’s Special Election day.  Up for grabs today are At-Large Council seat (citywide) and State Board of Education (two seats, Wards 4 & 8), so voting will take all of about 5 minutes.

Not sure where to vote? There’s a polling place finder so you can get to the right place.

Not registered? DC allows for same-day registration with proof of residency (must have been here at least 30 days), so you can fill out a few forms at the precinct and get your vote on right away.

If you’re looking for who to vote for, We Love DC is not endorsing a candidate, but you can read my personal thoughts on the At-Large race (recognizing they do not constitute a site-wide endorsement).

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks Special: Spring Cocktails at Saint-Ex

Photo courtesy of
‘Whipping up A Sour Thyme cocktail’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

With any luck, every once and a while I attend a drinks tasting where cocktails and setting perfectly align to create a rather magical experience. Ok, maybe the magic is all due to the haze of booze, but there are worse ways to spend an sun-soaked spring twilight than sitting outside at Saint-Ex’s patio with a few fellow drinks lovers and be catered to by the gentlemanly charms of bar manager Jonathan Fain. Al fresco gets me every time; start me off with a champagne cocktail and you definitely have my attention.

Cafe Saint-Ex is something of a Logan Circle/U Street institution now, weathering the changes to the neighborhood and its clientele while still maintaining its credo to feature local sustainable ingredients in a relaxed bistro environment. Do I grumble about its popularity denying me space at the bar? Sure, but I still value it after the eight years it’s been open. And after trying six of Jonathan’s spring cocktails last week, I will definitely be rotating up to that bar on a more regular basis.

First up in that marathon of spring sips was their famous Champagneson. Jonathan explained that you could improve the taste of cheap bubbly by adding whiskey (in this case, Jameson). It makes sense upon reflection, as the oakiness of a good whiskey will elevate the sparkling wine to a more vintage taste. It certainly worked for me, and as I’ve got loads of whiskey at home I intend to blind taste test this on guests very soon. Garnished with a lemon twist, this was a seriously refreshing drink and far sexier than you might think.

Next up, A Sour Thyme. Jonathan pulled out a sheaf of pressed gelatin, some eggs, and got to work making foam. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Daily Feed
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The DC Theatre Community Gears Up For Theatre Prom 2K11!

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_2063’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

My pal Brieahn J. DeMeo calls it Theatre Prom.

I call it the fanciest event I ever had to get dressed for.

Sure I’ve been to weddings, but it’s easy when you know you just have to rent a tux and you are all set. For this one I had to call in the big guns- I rang up Brittany and she set me straight.

I’m talking about the Helen Hayes awards, the annual night where the local theatre community honors the outstanding plays and musicals of the past year. It’s kind of like the Tony’s- but for stuff that happens at Kennedy Center and Arena Stage. 26 awards will be presented tonight as well as three special awards to Ford’s Theatre (Innovative Leadership in the Theatre Community), Factory 449 and No Rules Theatre Company (Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company), and stage legend Tommy Tune will be honored with the he Helen Hayes Tribute.

Tonight also marks the debut of a Helen Hayes commemorative stamp issued by the United States Postal Service.

Continue reading →

Entertainment
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Won’t this make my dog feel like an under-achiever?

If your life has been lacking enough skateboarding dog then the Nationals have an event for you: “Pups In the Park” will be happening on Saturday, May 14th and followed up with two more in the following months. It’s a promotional event, sponsored by the good folks up at My Pet Needs That, and was adumbrated to target dog owners who can’t think of anything they’d rather do than try to get their pooch to hold still through a three hour game involving men throwing around a ball their dog isn’t allowed to go chase. Participants may don their dog with the gear that they can get from https://dog-gear.com and take part in this fun three-hour activity. And if your furry friend is always feeling anxious around other dogs or people, cbd for dogs might make him calm down.

Think how different that baseball game would be if they were, though. Oh yeah, I’d be down with that.

It wouldn’t be a special event without a famous guest, so for the first event they’ll have Tillman the skateboarding dog. No word on where they’re putting the half-pipe so Tillman can do some ollies.

Subsequent PitP events will happen sans canine Tony Hawk and will be on Saturday, July 9 vs. the Rockies and Saturday September 24 vs. the Braves.

And before you ask, yes: one of the best things about this gig is often the absolutely hysterical press releases we get sent.

Joking aside, Tillman is pretty amazing. You can sooth your appetite till the 14th with a huge selection of videos of him kicking it on a skateboard and a skimboard and a snowboard.

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Atmosphere @ 9:30 Club, 4/27/11

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Atmosphere has been part of the underground hip hop scene for over a decade. With such albums as “Seven’s Travels,” and “God Loves Ugly,” that posse introspective lyrics and clever rhymes, lead rapper Slug has cemented himself as one of the “must hear” rappers to have come out of the mid-west. The bands lineup has changed over the years, but the new lineup consists of Slug and DJ Ant alongside keyboardist Erick Anderson and Nate Collis. The band is touring on their 2011 release “The Family Sign,” which debuted at #13 on the Billboard 200.

Also on the hip-hop heavy bill are Blueprint, Grieves with Budo, Sab the Artist and DJ Abilities. Doors open early at 5PM so don’t be late!

Atmosphere
@ 9:30 Club
4/27 – doors 5pm
$25

Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Real Inspector Hound

Photo by Michael Bailey

I am not a Theatre Critic.

I don’t have an MFA, my grades in English were that of the C+ variety, and I don’t claim to have an extensive knowledge of theatre history.

That doesn’t mean I am without credibility. I have been involved with theatre for over 10 years and in my latest reincarnation I am a stage manager. I am also a blogger that’s been blogging before they called it blogging. I hope that my experience behind, on, and in front of the stage lends a unique perspective in my theatre posts for We Love DC.

It is also because I am not a critic (but kinda am) that I was able to laugh throughout MetroStage’s production of The Real Inspector Hound. From the title you might assume that the show is a hokey whodunit- and in part it is. At its core however, the show is a farce that shamelessly pokes fun at the profession of theatre criticism and culminates into a collision of critics and actors that is very reminiscent of Durang’s The Actor’s Nightmare.

Continue reading →