Photo by Rachel Levitin
Over 60 members of congress assembled at Nationals Park last Thursday night to take part in a timeless American tradition – baseball. The men and women who serve our country on Capitol Hill rallied to play the 50th annual Congressional Baseball game. Politics aside, the evening played host to an informal grudge match between the Democrats and Republicans that even an independent voter could enjoy. Continue reading
By Alexia
Fans of quirky girl-Rock/Pop, cuteness, and girl-power should be in attendance at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Tuesday night for the reunion of Cibo Matto.
Formed in New York City in 1994 by Japanese ex-pats Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda, they rose to fame on the indie circuit with their album “Viva La Woman!” Their music is genre-bending, blending funky rock, trip-hop beats and jazz with vocals sometimes breathy, sometimes shouting for a truly unique and fun sound. Song titles on their first album centered around a food themes, relating to their name Cibo Matto, which is Italian for “food madness” or “crazy food.”
Their later album “Stereo Type A” leaned more towards dreamy vocals backed by downtempo electronica with some jazz/bossa-nova thrown in and departed from the food theme.
The group disbanded in 2001, and reunited earlier this year to perform in a benefit concert for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami alongside Yoko Ono, Sonic Youth and Mike Patton. That benefit performance led to their current reunion tour and a plans for a third album.
Cibo Matto
w/ Tony Castles
@Rock & Roll Hotel
7/19 – 7pm
$20
By Addison H
Photo courtesy Bridget Samuels
Saturday, several thousand red-attired Capitals fans packed the chilly confines of Kettler Iceplex to get their mid-summer hockey fix and watch the concluding scrimmage of 2011 Prospect Development Camp and participate in the FanFest activities. Although some pundits claim that DC is not a true “hockey town,” the 3000 or so estimated attendees at the event would probably dispute that point.
Continue reading
‘District of Pi Pepperoni Pizza’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Good morning and happy Monday! Kick off your week with lunch from a food truck. Find out where they are today with our strEATS-powered map.
By Tom Bridge
‘Happy Birthday, America’
courtesy of ‘afagen’
I hope you all don’t have plans on Friday.
On the Fourth of July, we celebrated our third birthday here at We Love DC, and we’ve got every reason to get our party on this Friday night at The Saloon on U Street‘s upstairs space, and we hope that you’ll come join us. Our readers have been a huge part of our success, and we hope that you’ll join us, so that we can properly toast you.
There’s no official cover, but we are soliciting a $5 donation for the DC Public Education Fund to help out the schools in our community.
Join us for birthday celebrations! Come meet your favorite authors!
‘Sunflower Field’ by katieharbath
Happy Monday, DC. Here are some of the best photos from our flickr pool from this beautiful weekend.
By Don
On the most recent episode of NPR’s excellent Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, Stephen Thompson proposed a new holiday: Appreciation Day, “on which each and every world citizen takes the time to say the nicest possible thing to each of the treasured people who surround us.” He proposes that twitter is a great place for the short & quick praise for the people we care about.
Sounds like a good plan, but I’m going to fudge a bit and go post here to say thank you to DC Central Kitchen and all the volunteers who make up the organization.
Both Fedward and I walked around the Fancy Food show; he covered Sunday and I was there Tuesday, the last day of the show. As the show floor started to wind down the DC Central Kitchen folks were convening around the corner, planning the operation that would end up collecting over 70 tons of food to use to support their mission. The above shot was taken before everyone was there; according to DCCK almost two hundred folks ended up helping the operation.
I couldn’t come down to the show floor as they started their work; any trade show breakdown is a flurry of barely controlled chaos. I took a few shots from the mezzanine above, however, as the process started.
By Brittany
It is pretty out of the way for me, but I do enjoy stopping by Againn over on New York Ave for an early evening drink. Especially if one can beat the after-work happy hour crowd and grab one of the outside tables, it makes for a nice summer sundowner.
To drink on at that sunny table, I suggest the Reddrum. Evocative of a Hemingway style daiquiri, the coral-colored mix includes grapefruit-infused rum, maraschino for a hint of sweet, lime juice, and bitters. This is the perfect fruity drink for me because it is juicy without a lot of sweetness.
Of note, on a recent visit I asked our server if I should order the Reddrum or another original drink off their list, Pineapple Express. The server was quick to say he would go Pineapple Express. When he came back to the table with the Reddrum, he apologized that they were out of an ingredient for the other drink. I guess this means I need to return soon to try that one as well – though I might need to have another Reddrum, too.
By Jenn Larsen
I’m reviewing seven plays over the course of the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival, in collaboration with DC Theatre Scene. Get your Fringe button and join me!
True experimental theater breaks down the divide of expectations between performer and audience. Extroverts usually love this. Introverts, not so much. No surprise then that the long-form improvisation Cecily and Gwendolyn’s Fantastical Capital Balloon Ride positively delighted me. It’s like a sociological seminar on human nature, challenging you (ever so subtly) to actually be interested in the people around you.
Interested in your fellow audience members instead of the actors? Outrageous! The evening I saw the performance, one woman seemed almost hostile and offended by the nontraditional premise (though she may have warmed to it by the end). As your ears pick up on the whispering of Cecily (Kelly A. Jennings) and Gwendolyn (Karen Getz), circling round the perimeters of the theater, loopily costumed in Victorian crinolines, you begin to realize – they are talking about you. Get ready. Actual interaction can’t be far behind.
Long-form improv can be an incredible art. Jennings and Getz have got the requirements in abundance – with fearless intelligence and lightning quick reactions they mold the action into an intriguing hour, making random connections between people seem like cohesive observations about life. Well, they are. Each performance will be different (though I suspect there will always be at least one person unwilling to engage), depending on the mix of audience members, their backgrounds, and their willingness to share. Continue reading
By Jenn Larsen
I’m reviewing seven plays over the course of the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival, in collaboration with DC Theatre Scene. Get your Fringe button and join me!
Every heartbreaker eventually gets their heart broken. Cosmic justice, karma, the wheel of fortune – whatever you call it, the seesaw of relationships will always go from up to down and back again. But there’s a journey there, from paradise to hell and all the shades of grey in between. As Editors put it, “even an end has a start.”
Sarah Kane’s extraordinary play Crave dives into that ebb and flow, the descent from attraction to repulsion, the rise and decline of the chemistry that drives our desires. And above all, the fact that we cannot escape our pasts, that wounds don’t ever truly heal, and that maybe, just maybe, we don’t really want them to – that pain is more compelling than fulfillment.
There’s a fascinating field about micro-expressions, the almost imperceptible facial signals we give each other. One of those is contempt. It’s said that once a couple begins to express contempt for each other, however slight, that’s the start of the end. Each character in Crave goes through that kind of journey, from micro to macro until the internal rage is externalized. It should be riveting.
Unfortunately, Avalanche Theatre Company’s production of Kane’s play fails to go on that journey – it’s all macro. Continue reading
By Rebecca
Happy Friday everyone! In celebration of the end of the week, BLT Steak and WeLoveDC are giving away two seats for this Saturday’s (aka tomorrow’s) South American Asado cooking class. The two hour plus class will be held at BLT Steak, starts at 12:30pm and features in-depth instruction from Executive Chef Victor Albisu on how to prepare exotic and delicious barbecue from South America. Oh, did I mention you also get a filling four-course lunch of the dishes demonstrated during the class? Well, yeah, you do.
BLT holds these executive cooking classes six times a year and seats generally go for $100. So for all you aspiring chefs, this is the perfect opportunity to glean some 5 star tips, tricks and creative methods of preparing foods AND fill your belly with yummy goodness.
To enter for the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address (one entry per email address, please) between 11am and 1pm today. Entrants must be able to attend the class in person, so check your schedules. If you aren’t declared the winner, you can always make your own reservations with Erica Frank at 202-689-8989 or erica@bltrestaurants.com.
‘Carnivore BBQ’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
Everybody’s workin’ for the weeeekend. Including those food trucks. So go pay them a visit today. Don’t forget that today is Truckeroo 2 down on Half and M streets SE.
By Rebecca
‘Dolcezza 6156’
courtesy of ‘yospyn’
Huzzah! DC’s very own Dolcezza will be on ABC’s “The View” today at 11am and we’ll get to see owners Robb and Violeta Duncan chumming it up with Whoopi, Sherri, Joy, Elizabeth and Babs. I can only assume they’ll be talking about: 1) Gelato–in particular their seasonal summer flavors (Peach, Pineapple Cilantro, Mojito…) and 2) Dolcezza’s focus on locally produce ingredients and their collaboration with local area farmers.
If you’re not familiar with Dolcezza, you can read about how They Make DC or visit them at their three area shops in Georgetown, Dupont Circle and Bethesda.
This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see The Glitch Mob with Phantogram & Com Truise perform at the 9:30 Club on July 20th at 7pm. This dose of digital goodness invades the District on the heels of releasing their new EP, We Can Make the World Stop. The Glitch Mob blends hip-hop and dance into its own flavor of electronic music which has enticed and enchanted audiences at Coachella and Lollapalooza.
THE GLITCH MOB : BEYOND MONDAY from BEMO | Brandon Hirzel on Vimeo.
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…
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 in 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.
By Jenn Larsen
Rabindranath Tagore's Sanyasi is performed by Namayesh Productions as part of the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival.
I’m reviewing seven plays over the course of the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival, in collaboration with DC Theatre Scene. Get your Fringe button and join me!
Can you ever truly detach from the world? From emotions, like heartache, greed, love? From the mundane, the pettiness of every day existence? Is this truly liberation, or is renunciation of the world a different kind of bondage?
The Hindu tradition of the sanyasi could be described in the simplest terms as a man who chooses to live an austere life, his actions detached from emotion and desire, as the final stage towards achieving moksha – liberation. It’s far more complex than just that, of course, layered with different meanings explored from the Bhagavad Gita onward. Performed by Namayesh Productions, Rabindranath Tagore’s play Sanyasi is an achingly beautiful work examining whether the spiritual desire for liberation and the essential need for love can co-exist.
Tagore was a profound Bengali poet/writer/scholar (the first non-Westerner to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, in 1913) and the words of Sanyasi have a haunting power. Continue reading
By Brittany
West Elm has come back. Both in that they are back in the city, opening their first new store in the District since closing an underperforming Metro Center location in 2009, but also in terms of really reinvigorating the design and style of the homewares chain.
The Williams-Sonoma Inc subsidiary debuted in 2002 to considerable excitement. They were positioned as a bridge” brand for those who wanted something more upscale than IKEA, but not as expensive or “mature” as their sister store Pottery Barn. Everything came in the then-essential espresso wood finishes and blocky shapes which would go on to define so many apartments across the country.
However, at some point a few years ago – around the time they opened the Tysons Corner retail location – it seemed like the brand had lost a bit of its way. Designs had leaned hard to the faux-ethnic and zebra-print and too many core pieces from shuttered Williams-Sonoma brand Hold Everything were awkwardly folded in to the West Elm range.
Continue reading
‘DC Slices Food Truck’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’
What an incredibly gorgeous day it is outside! Get out there for you lunch break and see where the food trucks are today.
By Ben H. Rome
Dumbo Flying Elephant Car; Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
On July 17, 1955, Disneyland, the first Disney theme park and the only one created under the direction of Walt Disney, was opened to the public in Anaheim, Calif. The Dumbo car, pictured above, was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on June 9, 2005, on the occasion of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary.
The Dumbo Flying Elephant ride is an original Disneyland attraction and one of the most popular rides in the park. It features music and exciting aerial views, as well as fiberglass “elephant” cars as seen in this picture. The cars include an interactive lever that allows riders to control how high they fly. Remodeled in the 1980s, the ride was inspired by Disney’s 1941 movie, Dumbo.
The storyline of the film Dumbo is based on a 1939 children’s book written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Perl. Animated by Bill Tytla, the movie follows the young elephant as he is separated from his mother at the circus, only to be taunted by the other animals.
Interesting little factoid: When former President Truman visited Disneyland in 1957, he chose not to ride the Dumbo Flying Elephants, as the elephant is a symbol for the Republican party.
‘Times Square 4’
courtesy of ‘photographerglen’
If you’re looking for a typical night out to the theater then Chris D’Arienzo’s Rock of Ages is not for you. The musical isn’t your standard Broadway affair. The characters aren’t complex. There’s little emotional depth. If there were original songs then I missed that memo.
What’s great about Rock of Ages is that it isn’t a Sondheim musical. It’s what it claims itself to be: an evening of poop jokes and White Snake songs. Continue reading
By Brittany
Columbia Heights art gallery and event space The Dunes has been hosting interesting events just about all the time lately. They host the Open Hours happy hour series (launching last night), there will be a Girls Rock DC fundraiser dance night next month, and local menswear label Derringer Friday are taking over Derringer Saturdays.
Add to all that another reason to stop by: The next pop-up vintage bazaar put together by Quarter Life. While Lisa, the blogger and thrifter-extraordinaire behind the Quarter Life project, is known for her fabulous finds, for this event she is calling in extra reinforcements. Peddling along with her will be Pretty People Vintage, offering selections from their newly-opened Old Town Alexandria boutique. The very same boutique just named “Best New Vintage Store” by Washingtonian.
There will be music, summery rum cocktails, and credit cards will be accepted – just in case the rum lubricates the purchasing of more vintage frocks than you have cash to buy.
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