By fedward
Remember how I said I reached out to Dan Searing about a launch event for his book? I found out earlier today that launch event is tonight, at 6pm in the Warehouse Theater behind the Passenger.
I’ve already made use of the book, as you might discern from the above picture. That’s an oleo-saccharum in progress — sugar muddled with lemon peel, extracting the oil from the peel and resulting in a much more complex final product than you’d get with just lemon juice. I’ll see you tonight!
By Jenn Larsen
Rachel Beauregard in Swampoodle by Tom Swift, presented by The Performance Corporation and Solas Nua. Photo credit: Ciaran Bagnall
“Warning: Swampoodle may contain eye-popping feats, roller derby smackdowns, big-track machinery, brass band music and scenes of a spectacular nature.”
It’s been two days since I’ve seen Swampoodle, the joint production by Irish company The Performance Corporation and DC’s own Solas Nua, a site-specific piece at the historic Uline Arena. I think the warning above that appears on all the press materials needs to be revised as follows:
“Warning: the Uline Arena may contain extreme mold spores, dust mites galore, pitted concrete, peeling paint, and the olfactory remnants of its days as a trash transfer station.”
Joking aside, my allergies are still in an uproar after ninety minutes inside the Uline, and if you suffer from mold allergies, I really do think you should know that it will affect you. But as fellow WLDC author Brian noted earlier, the arena has an amazing history and Swampoodle aims to bring that to life with its promenade style theater experience. It succeeds occasionally with scenes of evocative beauty that take advantage of the arena’s haunting decay.
When the doors roll open and you enter the darkened arena, its majestic demise is both shocking and breathtaking, like a Grecian temple gone to seed. In its heyday the arena could seat some 9,000 people – just glimpses of the bleachers remain as concrete steps in the corners. No wonder it was also at one time called the Washington Coliseum. As your eyes get accustomed to the dark you notice the peeling paint on the immense vaulted ceiling above, as a man in the distance (Michael John Casey as a Greek chorus-style janitor) calls you forward, his voice echoing across the gloom. It’s an impressive sight that will stay with me for a long time.
But as the performance went on and actors raced back and forth shouting about “the show must go on!” and “it’s a wonderful show!” portraying a forced anxiety over the lack of a script, well, I started to turn away from them and look to the Uline itself, its massive decline more evocative than anything else. Perhaps that’s the point, a friend remarked as we walked away afterwards to the gleaming New York Avenue metro, new office buildings and a shining Harris Teeter sprouting up around the dying concrete cavern. Perhaps there’s no point at all. Continue reading
‘El Floridano’
courtesy of ‘Amber Wilkie Photography’
Eat at a food truck; your stomach will thank you. Check out our strEATS map to see where the food trucks are today!
By Brian Mosley
‘The Truth is Out there…..’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’
This photo isn’t so much about how the shot was taken or the quality of the photo (which, btw, is excellent). This photo is about a part of DC history that many people don’t know much about. And that is Uline Arena (AKA: Washington Coliseum). Even though it was called a “triumph of concrete” when it was constructed in 1939, it’s a pretty forgettable, if large, industrial building next to the tracks of Union Station. Though its appearance is forgettable, its history is amazing.
The Beatles performed their first U.S. concert here on February 11th 1964. Two important, and controversial, figures of the Civil Rights Movement spoke here: Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. Red Auerbach, of Boston Celtic legend, coached the Basketball Association of America’s Washington Capitols in the late 1940s, and the Arena was their home. It was also an important venue for the Go-Go music scene in the 80s. All this history under one roof!
Christopher Columbus Park, Photo by Rachel Levitin
According to a piece featured on CNN.com yesterday, the typical American worker gets two or three weeks off out of a whole year to take a vacation. Only 57% of U.S. workers use up all of the vacation days they’re entitled to.
It’s unfortunate but that’s how it goes. We’re bad at turning off our brains for a vacation due to fear of future layoffs and the fast-paced work environment. What we need to get better at is letting ourselves take just a couple of days to recharge our mental, physical and emotional batteries.
I, too, had to make the choice to take a vacation. Instead of a week or a few days, though, I took one day and made a weekend out of it.
Thanks to my gracious tax return, I took the hour flight from Reagan National to Boston Logan and found myself in Beantown for a quick 48-hour tour of what I quickly found to be one of America’s most walk-able cities. In just two days time, my tour guide of a friend took me on a whirlwind adventure of Boston by foot. Here are a few of my favorite stops from that trip: Continue reading
By Patrick Pho
All my friends must think I have some sort of problem. Then again as a blogger they must be used to the fact I am always glued to my netbook.
Right now I am soaking up the rays in a lounge chair poolside at a lovely beach house on Hateras Island. It’s an annual trip that 20 of my friends and I take every year. It’s a nice week with friends, sun and surf hundreads of miles away from our normal lives.
The setting of Theater J’s The Moscows of Nantucket is much like the trip I am on right now. Set in a summer beach home on the New England get-away of Nantucket, set designer Robbie Hayes captures the picturesque and the kitsch one would find if they were vacationing on the Outer Banks or Nantucket.
Benjamin (James Flanagan) and Michael (Michael Glenn) Moscow look for a temporary escape from their current troubles by joining their parents at the family summer home in Nantucket. Their stay is a double-edged sword, offering an escape from the outside world but in return they find themselves in an isolated environment with a much more disrupting force: the family. The premise reads “dysfunctional family conflict” and the show certainly doesn’t shy away from it.
By Tom Bridge
‘Changing of the Guard, Heel Clicking’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’
If you happen to hear the crack of rifles tomorrow morning coming from Arlington Cemetery, it’s not a zombie invasion, nor is it the first part of Red Dawn. The Old Guard will be practicing firing drills from 7a to 8a in the morning tomorrow, part of the rituals that mark the final honors rendered to our fallen. Don’t panic.
By Don
DC’s public intoxication statute doesn’t set hard blood alcohol content (BAC) numbers the way driving under the influence laws do – in fact DC ST § 24-601* opens with a statement that the law is about minimizing harm.
In order to accomplish this purpose and alleviate intoxication and chronic alcoholism, all public officials in the District of Columbia shall take cognizance of the fact that public intoxication shall be handled as a public health problem rather than as a criminal offense, and that a chronic alcoholic is a sick person who needs, is entitled to, and shall be provided appropriate medical, psychiatric, institutional, advisory, and rehabilitative treatment services of the highest caliber for his illness.
This matters because we’re seeing a video blaze around the Internet today of a police encounter with a man in a motorized wheelchair-type device (often called by a trade name, Rascal). I’d be somewhat surprised if you haven’t seen it already, but it’s at the top of this article. We’re also seeing some poorly chosen words in describing the incident.
I don’t mean talking about the use of force. The question of how this really played out is now certain to become a subject of interest and we can be sure that review boards will be involved. I’d contend that’s how it should be in any case where the amount of violence used by law enforcement seems at all excessive.
The problem I’m talking about is that we’re seeing a description of how inebriated the man was by talking about “the legal limit.” but there’s the thing: In a case like this there is no legal limit.
By Addison H
Photo courtesy Julien Blarel
The St. Albans’ crew team’s men’s first varsity eight brought home the prestigious Edward T. Stotesbury Cup from their trip to Philadelphia over the weekend for the 2011 Stotesbury Cup Regatta, one of the largest and oldest high school crew events in the country.
Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
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courtesy of ‘Make Lemons’
With the Walter Reed Army Medical Center slated to be realigned as part of BRAC, the expansive campus is ripe for redevelopment. This weekend, DC got a peek at what could be coming to that site, and it thrills me to my toes to think that DC might get a Wegmans on that site. The Examiner’s Freeman Klopott and Liz Farmer are reporting that Wegmans and the Mayor and Council are meeting at a retail development conference in Vegas this week.
The idea of continuing to shop at Wegmans, and the District getting my sales tax revenue instead of Prince George’s County is pretty exciting to me.
By Tom Bridge
‘Bridging ward boundaries’
courtesy of ‘Payton Chung’
This morning Councilman Harry Thomas released a timeline of events for the coming redistricting of the eight wards, with the first votes coming as early as Thursday. The 2010 Census revealed an imbalance in the size of wards 2, 7 and 8 that will need to be corrected to comply with the city’s charter. Ward 2 will need to shave off approximately 1,000 residents, while Wards 7 and 8 will need to grow by approximately the same amount.
The City Paper’s Lydia DePillis took on the contentious issue a few weeks back, and this shapes up to be one of the more difficult processes that the city faces, especially in the wake of the Mayor’s successful “One City” slogan. The logical expansion targets for Wards 7 and 8 are in prosperous Ward 6, and some of the residents there aren’t at all thrilled at the idea of being represented by Councilmembers Marion Barry (D-8) or Yvette Alexander (D-7).
The schedule released today is after the cut.
‘Fojol Bros Trucks’
courtesy of ‘mediaslave’
Gonna be a great week, my fellow food truckers. Start it off right and check out our strEATS map to see where the food trucks are today!
By Tom Bridge
‘2010:117’
courtesy of ‘::FiZ::’
With the Silver Line tracks growing longer every day, WMATA’s board is looking to refine the station naming policy that has given us such beauties as “Woodley Park-Zoo-Adams Morgan” and “New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet,” ahead of the new maps that will be necessary. While renaming a station isn’t cheap (it’s said to be around $100,000 for all the new maps and signs), the Silver Line’s budget has new maps and signage already included, which gives the agency a chance to rethink the names of the 15 stations that violate the long-standing 19-character guideline for good station names.
The policy change also puts the onus of paying for any name change after this set on the person requesting the change.
By Rebecca
This little cutie was found Sunday afternoon in an alley near 16th NE. His rescuers describe him as “ridiculously sweet, trusting, quiet, and well-behaved” and as much as they’re enjoying his companionship, they’re hoping to reunite the pup with his family ASAP. If you recognize him, please email founddogdc@gmail.com.
By Brian Mosley
‘you kids play nice!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Here we are, again. I don’t know about the rest of you, but there was a small part of me hoping, against all logic, to be kicking it in heaven instead of being at work this week. I’m taking this as a sign that I’ve been chosen to teach you all how to be good people. So, do unto others as you would have them do unto you; share and share alike; be sure to tip your waiters and waitresses; and, for God’s sake, please use your turn signals! Now, go fourth and preach the word…but first, check out the sights of the weekend. Continue reading
By Brittany
This 2011 American Craft Beer Week has been marked with many events around the DC area – some of which will carry on in the craft beer spirit all though SAVOR next month. While I appreciate the concept, I generally prefer to keep Craft Beer Week in my heart year round and avoided most of the official events. That did not mean, however, that I avoided drinking some truly lovely beer.
Baltimore-based but globally-travelling, Stillwater Ales has been making some of my favorite new beers recently. Jaded, brewed at De Struise Brouwers is the third edition in Stillwater’s “Import Series” and is, in a word, lovely.
Continue reading
By Tricia Barba
‘Good Stuff’
courtesy of ‘lorigoldberg’
On a roll like always is the ubiquitous Spike Mendelsohn. Despite what was perhaps a bad choice of words earlier this month, Mendelsohn’s first food truck lunched today without a glitch in sights.
Sixth & Rye has been popular before the deli truck even first hit the streets. You can think of it as DC’s First Kosher Deli on Wheels with Sixth & I, Chef Spike and Chef Malcolm Mitchell behind the venture. It even has 1,755 followers on Twitter already, where the truck goes by @SixthandRye.
‘Food’
courtesy of ‘MichaelTRuhl’
It’s easy to be intimidated by the prospect of cooking Indian food. Will it turn out right? Will my kitchen smell like curry for days? Am I better off ordering from a restaurant in town that actually knows what they’re doing? But take my word for it: making Indian food, really good Indian food, doesn’t have to be that hard. Save your pennies on having someone else make you chicken tikka masala; you can do this.
After the jump you’ll find Kaz Kazmi’s recipe for pakoras, a traditional Indian fried vegetable fritter. They’re flavorful and spicy and taste so good that before you know it the entire batch you made will be gone.
Continue reading
‘PB whoopie from Wonky’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
Happy Friday! Check out thestrEATS map to see where the food trucks are rollin’ today.
‘Owner Qaiser Kazmi’
courtesy of ‘MichaelTRuhl’
There’s a phrase that comes to mind after talking to Qaiser (Kaz) Kazmi: “go big or go home.” The father of three and entrepreneur gave up the corporate life working in IT and set his sights on creating an Indian-inspired concept back in 2005. Today, he’s working on perfecting the first Merzi restaurant in Penn Quarter/Chinatown and looking to expand across the city, and eventually across the country.
Merzi, which means “choice” in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, came about after Kaz found himself becoming less and less connected with his career and more and more invested in his passion for food. But for someone who wasn’t classically trained as a chef, there were a few bumps in the road. “In 2002, we were having some people over, and I said to my wife: ‘If these kabobs I make are delicious, then I’m ready for a restaurant,'” said Kaz, laughing a bit. As the story goes and as we’ve all experienced before in the kitchen, Kaz’s attempt to look for a sign from God or the stove ended in what he referred to as “terrible kabobs.”
But a few years of research and taste testing later, Kaz created a concept to bring Indian food to a level that is comfortable and not intimidating for Americans.
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