Monthly Archives: January 2011

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Art + Athletes = Everybody Wins

This Wednesday night you can start the new year off doing good for others by attending a benefit for Bread for the City at one of our favorite galleries here at We Love DC – Morton Fine Art. Amy Morton calls the evening a mixture of “art and good people from the neighborhood,” a night of “fun and positivity.”

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, running from 7-10pm. The event is hosted by DC United’s Ben Olsen – did you know he’s a Shaw resident and art collector who’s also a painter himself? Also on board is the Redskins’ Chris Cooley, artist Rosemary Feit Covey, and photographer Susan Burnstine.

Bread for the City has been providing social services to DC’s low-income residents since the mid-1970’s. The organization helps with such necessities as groceries and clothing, while also running medical and legal clinics. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Get Every Last Drop by Dan Dan The Binary Man

A new year is upon us, DC, and some of us couldn’t be more relieved that 2010 is dead and buried.  Whether you believe in making New Year’s resolutions or not, this is a good time to reflect on the past year, take stock of your life as it exists today, and figure out how the next chapter unfolds.  Will you maintain the status quo or will you take your life in a completely different direction?  If you love everything about your life then I commend you (and think that you might need psychiatric help), but if you feel like you’re simply going through the motions and need a little spark in your life, now, and any other day, is the perfect time for change.

We here at We Love DC look forward to seeing our city through your lenses, from your point of view, with your eyes.  We love seeing what you were up to over the weekend, what you did for the holidays, and your coverage of events here in DC.  But I challenge you to step up your game this year and start pushing the boundaries of your photography.

Buy a point and shoot or rangefinder camera and take it with you everywhere you go so you never miss ‘that shot’.  Buy a new prime lens and see how it changes your shooting style.  Stop someone on the street, ask them if you can take their picture, and tell their story.  Take a photography class, or even a painting, drawing, or dance class to get out of your comfort zone and get your creative juices flowing.  Instead of shooting anything and everything that you find interesting, focus your efforts on just a handful of subjects to hone your skills and to create a solid body of work.

This world has so much to offer so make sure you get every last drop.  You won’t regret it, and neither will we.

The Daily Feed
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So, about that Christmas tree

Photo courtesy of
‘Dead Christmas tree’
courtesy of ‘kirinqueen’

Yes, today was the first day that you could dispose of your Christmas tree, but if you didn’t get all the decorations off yesterday after a Winter Classic hangover that had you asleep on the couch, don’t fret, you’ve still got time.  Trees need to be stripped of all their ornaments and lights, but you can just take them to the treeboxes on your street any time between now and January 15th and DPW will swing through and pick up the trees and turn them into tasty mulch for your garden.

Don’t bag the trees and wreaths, though, as that will interfere with the process.  Just leave the naked tree and branches out in your tree box any day between now and January 15th. Don’t be surprised, though, if your tree isn’t picked up the next day, though, as the windows are general, it could take a day or so for your tree to be picked up. If you’re still rocking the tree come January 16th, that’s fine, you can still dispose of it on trash day depending on availability in the trash trucks.

The Daily Feed
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Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and World Fair Use Day

YouTube Preview Image

Das Racist, originators of the above song, will be appearing at World’s Fair Use Day. I share this with you with some reluctance, because my darling wife hates that song so much – almost as much as I love it – that I fear she’ll drive over to the Washington Post conference center next Thursday and attempt to taser them. Contributing to my concern is that she could make it a two-fer and go after the top dog *cough* behind The Cheezburger Network, the scourge of grammar-obsessed kitties everywhere.

Oh well. Journalism is about tough choices. I’ll visit you in jail, sweetie.

Ashok Kondabolu, Himanshu Suri and Victor Vasquez are only a few of the folks who will be spending the day discussing that nebulous and ill-defined aspect of copyright law, fair use. Their panel on fair use in hip-hop is one of the earlier items of the day, later followed with discussions about fair use in visual art, gaming, and finally humor – where Cheezeburger’s Ben Huh will be speaking.

The event is open to the public, so if you’re free during the day and interested in sampling and remixing or are a “policy wonk” – one of the options listed on the RSVP form – you can sign up to attend. I’m going to try to be there, so if you see me say hi. I’m the one with the pizza butt and taco smell.

capitals hockey, Sports Fix, The Features
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Road to the Winter Classic (Part II)

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The 2011 Winter Classic has come and gone, showcasing the best of the league in one very unique experience.

And what an experience it was.

As I’d mentioned in Part I, I was in quite a state before the game. A mix of both my fanboyism for my beloved Penguins and my more observational respect for the Capitals, the team of my home city, the entire experience was shaping up to be one of personal epic proportions.

My entire experience was not mine alone, however. I had several participants in my weekend drama, making it one of the most convoluted and awesome events I’ve ever attended. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Vincent Gray, new councilmembers sworn in yesterday

Vince Gray giving his Inaugural Speech
Untitled by Max Cook

Yesterday morning, despite the drizzle and grey of January, Vincent Gray raised his right hand at 11:58am to swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and to be the Mayor of the District of Columbia. He became the sixth person to do so since Home Rule was re-established in 1975.

In the speech that followed, Gray was largely positive about the people that make up the District, but generally vague about the future of his administration. Beyond some firebrand’s words about representation, the speech was largely devoid of content except to play to the continued theme that Gray has revolved around since his September primary victory: that DC, despite all of its numerous divisions, could become One City under the leadership of the Mayor. Continue reading →

Interviews, People, Scribblings, The Features
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She Loves DC: Rachel Machacek

welovedc

I met Rachel a while back at a media preview at a local restaurant. At this point, many moons later, I don’t even remember which one, but we became fast friends and I began my raging obsession with this wonderful woman. Rachel writes about restaurants for Washington Flyer, but as we got to know each other, our conversations would always go back to one thing: boys. We’d talk about her love life, she’d give me solid, calm advice on mine, and I quickly learned she was writing a book on her experience dating.

I even got a sneak peek at the manuscript, and so when she finally got a publish date for her book, The Science of Single: One Woman’s Grand Experiment in Modern Dating, Creating Chemistry, and Finding Love, I was thrilled. So now that the release date of her book is TOMORROW, I thought I’d finally share one of my favorite people with you all. Continue reading →

Arlington, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Rustico Ballston Adds Brunchytimes

Photo courtesy of
‘6.21.10’
courtesy of ‘Paige Weaver’

Ballston is popping these days with some of my favorite restaurants. Since the new Sweetgreen location started dishing up salads, and Buzz promises to open thier doors soon, what I once considered a foodie dead spot (minus Willow) is now on my radar. Especially with the news that the Ballston location of Rustico has launched Sunday brunch, which they began serving on Jan. 2. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Week 16 Recap – Skins vs. Giants

Photo courtesy of
’89 ;-) Santana Moss’
courtesy of ‘littlerottenrobin’

The Giants needed a win over the Redskins and a Packers loss to make the playoffs. They got the win but so did Green Bay. At least New York will be watching the post-season just like the Skins who had plenty of chances but also 4 turnovers in the 17-14 loss. Rex Grossman was pressured all day, but again looked solid with 336 yards and 2 touchdowns. This game may have earned Grossman the starting job next season for Mike Shanahan. Unfortunately, they couldn’t protect the ball and that’s what ultimately cost them a victory. The Skins finish the 2011 season with a 6-10 record and plenty of work to do this off-season. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Would You Buy Frank Kameny a Drink?

Photo courtesy of
‘Frank Kameny’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

At 85, Frank Kameny has solidified his place in history as a leading figure in the country’s gay rights movement. When he was fired from the Army Map Service in 1957 because of his homosexuality, he became the first American to bring a civil rights case based on sexual orientation to court. Proudly, openly gay in a largely closeted era, the former astronomer quickly became an outspoken activist for LGBT rights. He co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington in 1961, one of the nation’s earliest gay rights groups, picketed the White House, and became the first openly gay Congressional candidate when he ran for DC’s House seat in 1971.

Continue reading →

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback 12/31/10 – 1/2/11

Happy New Year
Happy New Year by M.V. Jantzen

Good morning and welcome to 2011 on We Love DC.  I’m sorry this is a little late, between iPhone alarm problems and just plain wanting to stay in bed a little longer this morning, we’re just getting this moving now.  It was an amazing weekend, one full of year-endings and year-beginnings, and even better, full of awesome photographs. Grab your cup of coffee and zen out for just three minutes and the rest of your day will be as a zen koan

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Redskins Cheat Sheet: Week 17 vs NY Giants

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

The Redskins Cheat Sheet takes its final voyage of the 2010 season in these first days of January. Thanks for sticking with us throughout the season, and hopefully we’ve made talking about the ‘skins just a little bit more bearable for your office conversations every Monday throughout the last few months.

I swear the above photo was tagged in our Flickr pool for the Redskins. Seriously.

With last night’s 17-14 loss to the Giants, the season came to its merciful end in potentially the most poetic moment ever: backup quarterback Rex Grossman setting back on 4th down, effing it, and going deep downfield – to a completely wide open patch of the RFK turf where no receiver was standing.

What else do you need to know to survive the last conversation about this year’s ‘skins? After the jump, come along now. Continue reading →

capitals hockey, Sports Fix, The Features
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Caps Overcome Rain, Penguins in Winter Classic

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In a Winter Classic between the NHL’s top two greatest players, neither had a hand in the game that unfolded before the 68,111 people at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field or the national audience viewing on NBC. The Capitals, who grabbed two points in a tight Eastern Conference race with a 3-1 win, saw Eric Fehr and Semyon Varlamov show up as the heroes for the evening.

Despite the uncooperative weather, the Caps managed to even the score from the last time the two teams met. The game, originally scheduled to start at 1 pm, had been moved to 8 pm due to a rainy cold front that rolled through the area. As the game unfolded, light rain fell in spots, making the ice less than optimal but still playable; it didn’t hinder either team from plowing full force into the other.

Bottom line, however, was that no one left the game last night unsatisfied. The Winter Classic, much hyped over the last month, lived up to its billing for fans, coaches, and players of both teams. “It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. “I can’t imagine football players play every game like this. It’s unbelievable. It’s the kind of thing you want to do all the time, go out and play like this.” Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Paul teaches Wall a few lessons, Hornets dump Wizards

Photo courtesy of
‘John Wall’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

One good thing to say about the Wizards is that they are competitive.

Well, for stretches.

They hung with the high-flying Heat a couple weeks ago before blowing it at the end. They gave the Bulls a good game a couple of days later prompting Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau to praise the young team. Against the Hornets on Saturday, at one point they held a 13-point second quarter lead. Then Chris Paul, Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor asserted their will in the second half of the contest to claim a New Orleans victory, 92-81 at Verizon Center. Continue reading →