Monthly Archives: May 2011

Downtown, Entertainment, Special Events, We Love Arts
By

Celebrate Hawai’i at NMAI

Photo courtesy of
‘530919_Shoshone_Indians_Ft_Washakie_Wyoming_Indian_Reservation_and_
The_National_Museum_of_the_American_Indian’
courtesy of ‘whonew’

Kicking off last night at the National Museum of the American Indian is a special exhibit about our 50th state, Hawai’i. The exhibition, “This IS Hawai’i” is a collaboration between NMAI and Transformer, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit visual arts organization. Together, they present a multisite exhibition featuring new and experimental works of art that explore what it means to be Hawaiian in the 21st century. The artwork includes sculpture, action figures, drawings, an interactive website and a fictional work titled “Post-Historic Museum of the Possible Aboriginal Hawaiian.” The work of Maika’i Tubbs will be presented at Transformer, opening day Saturday, May 21, and the work of Solomon Enos and Carl F. K. Pao will be presented at the NMAI’s Sealaska Gallery, with artist Puni Kukahiko’s outdoor sculptures presented at both sites. The exhibition is presented in tandem with the museum’s annual Hawai’i Festival, which is this weekend.

There are other events planned around this exhibit through Memorial Day weekend, including the museum’s popular Dinner and a Movie, live performances, a fellowship dance, and interactive discussions. All of the events are free at the museum.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

What’s the Most Memorable Home Run in Nationals Franchise History?

Photo courtesy of
‘waiting for Adam’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

I was reading Craig Calcaterra’s piece on each franchise’s most memorable home runs, and I felt a little disappointed as he blew right through the history of the Nats and the long ball:

Nationals

Whether you include the Expos or just go with the Nats, I’m struggling to think of a single truly memorable home run by this franchise. I looked up every memorable moment in each team’s history and none of them involved home runs.  I think Jonah Keri is gonna have to help me out here.

I can think of two that at least deserve mention, but would love to open this one up to the crowds. My two votes:

  • Opening Night, 2008 – Ryan Zimmerman walks-off the Braves on the first night of the new Nationals Park on a Sunday night in front of a national audience.
  • Father’s Day, 2006 – Zimmerman, again, leads the Nats over the Yankees in a final at-bat homer at RFK.

Any other votes?

Sports Fix, The Features
By

Atlanta, Winnipeg and How It May Just Affect the Caps

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_2722.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

Could Southeast Division fans be losing one of their own members to the great white north?

In 1996, during the ‘Canadian Flight Era’ of the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets were one of several teams that crossed the border to an American professional sports market. Moving to Phoenix and becoming the Coyotes, the Manitoba city has been without an NHL team now for 15 years – but financial troubles in the last few years by the Coyotes have left Winnipeg hovering the team like someone waiting for a bar stool to open up.

The Coyotes needed to find some $25m to stay operating or a new buyer (presumably the True North group of, you guessed it, Winnipeg) could swoop in, but thanks to some idiosyncrasies of the team and the hockey-only-arena they play in out in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, the town and the NHL are sinking more money into the franchise to keep them around.

If only the same lifeline could be thrown to the Caps Southeast Division rival, the Atlanta Thrashers.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

This Week in Food

 

Waffles!

In what I find the best news of the week, Wicked Waffle tells us it’s finally opening up its McPherson Square location — sometime in June to be specific. Think made to order waffles, sandwiches (with waffles as the bread of course), and soup. Can’t wait!

Toast of the Town

Today Zoofari, tomorrow Toast of the Town. You can head to the National Building Museum on Friday for an evening of wines, spirits, beer, music, and the gourmet food. Participating restaurants include Cava Mezze, Art and Soul, Sonoma, Matchbox, and Toki Underground. Buy tickets here. Enjoy!

Seasons 52

WaPo critic Tom Sietsema headed to North Bethesda this week to check out Seasons 52. The best part of the review was actually about the piano man: “An entertainer who desperately needs voice lessons is holding forth in the piano bar the night I come for dinner, but the dining room across from White Flint mall puts me more in mind of Northern California than Northern Bethesda. (Ledgestone walls, abundant natural light and handsome wine displays help.)” Ouch.

Jack Rose

Young & Hungry takes a look at the soon to be open Jack Rose, writing “Beyond the Single Malt: At Jack Rose, Craft Beer Flows Like Scotch.” 2,700 bottles of scotch, really? Wow. You can check out the obviously still a work in process website here. Better bet, try Twitter @JackRoseinDC.

Cafe Atlantico

The easiest place in DC to score a reservation (ha!) is closing. In the saddest recap I’ve ever ready, writer Chris Shott tells us about his proposal at the restaurant. Of course, José Andrés never fails, so I bet the pop-up concept will be a hit, and I hope Atlantico comes back as well.

Happy eating!

We Love Weekends
By

We Love Weekends – May 21-22

Photo courtesy of
‘St. Elizabeths – Fallout at Hitchcock Hall – 12-13-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Mosley: Saturday morning I’m going on a DC Preservation League walking tour of St. Elizabeths.  I’ve taken the tour before, but I’m interested in seeing what’s changed with the DHS construction project.  Also, I’ll hopefully be getting better pictures than the first time around.  The Preservation League does some great tours, and I always recommend them to people.  Other than that, my weekend is fairly free, so any suggestions in the comments would be appreciated.

Marissa: Being the savvy shopper that I am, I plan on heading to the newly opened Nordstrom Rack on Saturday and expanding my wardrobe and shoe collection a bit, while shrinking my bank account at the same time. Sunday will be filled with food for me. I’m incredibly excited to be one of the judges at Lamb Jam (sorry folks, you’ll have to use the waitlist) and then heading to DCCK’s Sound Bites at the 9:30 Club. You can still get tickets for $50 and I can’t wait to check out all the good food and music while supporting a great cause.

Brittany: I recently put together that my rarely being hung-over on weekend mornings might explain my lack of enthusiasm for going to brunch – the two seem intimately related. This weekend, I intend to test that theory. This starts on Thursday with the Thrillist and Don Julio Tequila Luxury Drop party, followed by tUnE-YarDs at Red Palace. Friday brings the super-rad vitaminwater uncapped LIVE opening night with the Fatback/Tenderloin/Que Sera triple threat. Saturday brings DC Grey Market, a Positive Force benefit show (that bit being totally xstraightxedgex, obvs), and then a trip to the beautiful House of Sweden for a rooftop party to celebrate that country’s Music Doc Film Festival, probably followed by more something, somewhere. Come Sunday, I want to be able to arrive at brunch and see what all this hungover dining has going for it.

Continue reading →

History, The Daily Feed
By

Smithsonian Snapshot: Pac-Man Telephone

Pac-Man Telephone, 1982; photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution

Reportedly inspired by a pizza with one slice removed, Pac-Man was developed by Tōru Iwatani, a programmer for the Japanese company Namco. His primary motivation was to develop a nonviolent game that would appeal to male and female players alike. Unlike previous hit video games like Pong and Space Invaders, Pac-Man had a recognizable main character that allowed it to be the first video game to also be a licensing success. Pac-Man is considered today to be one of the video game classics and an icon of the 1980s.

Recognized by 94% of American consumers, Pac-Man has the highest brand awareness of any video game character ever. The character itself appears in more than 30 officially licensed game spin-offs and countless unauthorized ones. During the early 1980s, Pac-Man was everywhere. It was the first video game to spawn a marketing phenomenon, including licensed books, clocks, radios, gumball banks, a Saturday-morning cartoon and gadgets like this Pac-Man telephone.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not currently on display.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: Arctic Monkeys @ 9:30 Club, 5/17/11


courtesy of Arctic Monkeys.

And so with this review of Arctic Monkeys at 9:30 Club on Tuesday night, my time reviewing concerts on We Love DC has come full circle. On December 11, 2009 I posted my first feature review as WLDC’s new music writer. It was a glowing review of Arctic Monkeys’ 9:30 Club performance and their dedication to artistic development in the face of a relatively disinterested audience who just wanted to hear the hits.

The world was a different place then. 9:30 Club tickets were sold via Tickets.com instead of Ticketfly. Osama Bin Laden was still hiding in every shoe, belt buckle, and in-seam instead of resting in a watery grave. I had yet to experience and subsequently declare 2010 ‘the greatest year of live music ever’. And Arctic Monkeys had a huge savings account of mainstream goodwill that they hadn’t yet squandered with their somewhat anti-populist tour.

I don’t know if it is because the quality of 2010’s concerts irreversibly raised my standards or if it is because Arctic Monkeys are currently caving in to popular opinion instead of sticking to their artistic guns, but something about this week’s concert really disappointed me. How this band that has only received rave reviews from me in the past suddenly ended up boring the hell out of me is kind of mystifying. I guess the answer is a combination of both aforementioned reasons.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Hot Ticket: Modern Man @ Black Cat, 5/20/11

The Black Cat is hosting a great evening of local music on Friday night that features singer-songwriter Brandon Butler opening for Modern Man and Shortstack.

After their performance at last month’s Sweetlife Festival, Modern Man is something of a We Love DC staff favorite these days. After the fest, our own Tom Bridge declared, “(Modern Man) really wailed!” When discussing Modern Man in his review of the festival, Andrew Markowitz described their sound as “similar to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s harder songs with a hint of outlaw country-rock sound,” and said that out of the many DC local bands Modern Man is one he would be happy to pay a cover to see again. Thumbs up from my WLDC colleagues is enough to convince me these guys are worth checking out.

If their endorsement ain’t enough for ya, consider these two tracks Modern Man kindly gave us permission to share with you:

My Annoying Tendencies
1957

Did I mention this show is only $10 yet? Can’t really go wrong with this one folks!

Shortstack
w/ Modern Man & Brandon Butler
@ Black Cat
5/20/11 – 9pm
$10

Food and Drink
By

First Look: Senart’s Oyster & Chop House

S 002
If you’re looking for some of the best oysters in DC, just head over to the ever-busy Barracks Row and walk into Senart’s Oyster & Chop House. It would have been easy money to bet that restaurateur Xavier Cervera’s new gem on 8th Street SE would be a smashing success, yet every time I walk into Senart’s I’m amazed by the fact that it is constantly packed.

Let’s start with the exterior, which was great to see being renovated during the construction period. The Senart family resided in the building between 1913 and 1939, and lived of the second floor while serving bar fare and fresh oysters on the first. Seventy years later, the place is updated and back. You can even see the restored mural on one side of the building – classy.

Walk inside and the oyster bar is narrow, but it just keeps going and going back. (I almost thought I would never actually make it to the bathroom.) It is just beautiful – marble and 50 ft. long. Personally, I’d rather sit outside on the patio under the patio umbrella very similar to the one on PatioPro, but as you can imagine, that’s hot property during the spring and summer.
Continue reading →

Comedy in DC
By

Comedy in DC: Sheng Wang

Sheng Wang Pro

I got to know Sheng Wang over the phone recently and found out who he is and what to expect when he headlines the Cool Dudes Hanging Out Show happening at the Velvet Lounge this Friday from 7 to 10 PM. I don’t like to give excuses, but want to let you know that my trusty I-Pod that I use to record my conversations failed to record and I do not have a lot of quotes. What I do promise you though is that I can tell you his story using the very ephemeral storage space in my brain. In fact I am scrambling to disseminate as much information as possible right now so that the story is fresh in my mind. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011) and the 5/18 Sports Ticker

Photo courtesy of
‘Harmon Killebrew’
courtesy of ‘librarygrrrl’

The Lead Item: Yesterday, Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew lost his battle to cancer, passing away at age 74. This isn’t a stretch by any means to put into context for Washington baseball fans and history. As you can see above, Killebrew is topped by a Twins cap on his plaque up in Cooperstown, but he also is among the best to ever wear a jersey for the Washington Senators.

While spending much of the mid-50s going back and forth between Washington minor league affiliates, Killebrew made a more regular move to the Show in 1959, the penultimate season of the squad before it moved to Minneapolis. Mind you, Killebrew didn’t have a huge impact while the team was in Washington (in his two seasons playing full-time with the franchise before it packed up to go north, the Senators finished 8th and 5th in the 8-team AL), but at least we can tell the story that the legend of ‘The Killer’ Killebrew began here in DC. Sports Illustrated‘s Joe Posnaski passed on this story of the not-really-overnight, overnight success story of the youngster from Idaho: Continue reading →

Mythbusting DC
By

Mythbusting: The Internet was invented in Arlington?

Photo courtesy of
‘IMP Control Panel’
courtesy of ‘Erik Pitti’

This past week, just about every DC-based news outlet has picked up the Associated Press story that Arlington County is dedicating a plaque at 1400 Wilson Boulevard to commemorate the birthplace of the Internet-predecessor, the ARPANET. While there’s no question that DARPA, namesake of the network, was deeply and inextricably involved in the development of the network, can you really say that Arlington was its birthplace?

Part of this question is deeply philosophical: what exactly does it mean to invent something that spanned a continent, and then a globe? Are the wires the network? The machines that connect them?  The people that wrote the software that the machines run? There’s not going to be as clean cut an answer here as you’d like, but let’s take the opportunity to explore the region’s involvement in the creation of the second greatest technical achievement of the 1960s, shall we?

Continue reading →

Adventures, All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, People, The Daily Feed, The District
By

Help Find Lost Dog Sassafras

YouTube Preview Image
It’s been 6 weeks since beagle-jack russell mix and kill shelter rescue, Sassafras, escaped from her daytime caretaker in the AdMo area. Since then, her family and dedicated volunteers have hung 2000+ posters, received 4500 phone calls, created a “Find Lost Beagle Sassafras” blog, posted numerous tweets, facebook entries and listserv entries, brought in two professional trackers, and united the DC dog community to help find Sassafras. As a result, there have been numerous reported sightings of Sass with the latest at Rock Creek Cemetery on May 11, but she has yet to be reunited with her family.

In their search to find Sass, the owners have uncovered both the positive and negative facts of recovering their dog, including the need of having the pet doors locked at night.

1) The city department charged with disposing of dead animals, does not notify pet owners even if the dead animal has tags and other easy identification.

2) While many area shelters post pictures of animals brought to their shelters online, the DC shelter does not, even though they have the capability. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Red Hook Lobster Pound Gets a Second Truck

Photo courtesy of
‘it’s here!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The lobsters have outgrown their shells and are getting a second truck. That’s right, hungry food truck stalkers–double your lobster, double your fun. Red Hook Lobster Pound’s second truck has actually been rolling around the streets unofficially for a while now, and is having its official launch this week.

I talked to Doug Povich and Leland Morris from the Lobster Truck and asked them a few questions about the second truck. Read what they had to say after the jump.
Continue reading →

Sports Fix
By

The Road Trip: New York, Baltimore and Milwaukee

Photo courtesy of
‘Route 16’
courtesy of ‘Kevin.Jack’

The Nationals got a nice present from Mother Nature yesterday: a rainout. A day off at home is about as rare a commodity as you’ll find during the Major League Baseball season.  The Nationals leave in the morning for a quick two-game jaunt in New York before three games of interleague play in Baltimore, and then three games in Milwaukee.

With a 20-21 record, the Nationals go into their road trip with a 6-4 record over their last ten games.  Their trip to New York will see them play the last place New York Mets, who are also sporting a 6-4 record over their last ten games, mostly at the hands of Houston and Los Angeles, who’ve not had strong starts, but also against Colorado, who lead the West.  Tom Gorzelanny (2-3) and Livan Hernandez (3-5) will start in New York, with Jordan Zimmermann losing his start due to the rain yesterday.  Given that the Nats are trying to limit the returning hurler’s innings this season, a saved start is a wise choice for the club.  They’ll likely face Dillon Gee (2-0) and R.A. Dickey (1-5).  A split would be the bare minimum, but I’d say it’s possible we’ll see a short sweep.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Sound Bites

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!

Last week we gave you music and a horse race; this week we’re offering music and food from some of DC’s best eats. Enter to win two tickets to the Sound Bites event at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, May 22. Sound Bites combines free food samples from area restaurants with performances by area bands to benefit D.C. Central Kitchen, whose programs help the area’s homeless and underprivileged via meals, outreach, and counseling services. This edition of Sound Bites features music from go-go legends Trouble Funk and area ska godfathers The Pietasters to name a few of the acts that will help you dance off all those tapas, oysters, and empenadas.

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 event are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

The Daily Feed
By

Civic Associations, Letters of Support, and Local Business

Photo courtesy of
‘Former Engine No. 12’
courtesy of ‘parkview dc’

If you follow the food scene as closely as so many do in this town, you’re probably well aware of the circumstances surrounding Firehouse 12.  The space on North Capitol and Quincy Place in Bloomingdale that was once the home of DC FEMS Engine 12 has been bought and is being developed into a restaurant named after the former occupants, Engine Company 12.

This past Friday, the General Manager Stephen May Jr. of Engine Company 12 wrote an open letter to lambast the local civic association for dragging its feet in supporting the restaurant publicly with a letter of support, which would help them through the process of obtaining an ABRA license that would allow them to serve alcoholic beverages. On Sunday, the Civic Association responded.  Late yesterday, Curbed published another response from Mr. May.

Continue reading →

History, People, Scribblings, Special Events, The Features
By

Scribblings: Annie Jacobsen & the Notorious Area 51

Photo courtesy of
‘2010_08_06_rno-phx-bos_071’
courtesy of ‘dsearls’

Tomorrow, secrets of Area 51 will be revealed.

Okay, not quite all. But more than you’d expect. The International Spy Museum is hosting a special (and free!) documentary screening and author discussion tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. in conjunction with the National Geographic Channel. Annie Jacobsen is a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine and an investigative reporter whose work has also appeared in the National Review and the Dallas Morning News. Her two-part series “The Road to Area 51” in the Los Angeles Times Magazine broke online reader records and remained the “most popular/most emailed” story for ten consecutive days. Her findings resulted in both a new book, AREA 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, and a companion National Geographic special, Area 51 Declassified.

Jacobsen has been busy prepping for her book tour, which kicks off at the Spy Museum, but managed to squeeze off a few answers to WeLoveDC regarding Area 51, its purpose, and what really went on at America’s most well known Top Secret facility.

Continue reading →