Monthly Archives: January 2011

The Daily Feed
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Comedy showcase and fire relief fundraiser

Chris Barylick’s Comedy in Clarendon is throwing the “Help Brad Ryan’s Family Showcase” at the Eleventh Street Lounge this Thursday from 8:30 to 11:30 to help out a fellow comic.

Brad Ryan’s house recently caught fire, which is not funny, but we can all laugh about the fun times we had raising money for the guy by checking out the show and making a monetary donation. Date idea: This is the perfect opportunity to show your loved one that you enjoy the arts and also give to the needy. I want to kiss you just thinking about it.

Comics include Reggie Melbrough, Emily Ruskowski, Mike Finazzo and Martin Plant.

Entertainment, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Let Me Down Easy

Anna Deavere Smith in Second Stage's production of Let Me Down Easy, directed by Leonard Foglia. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Twenty voices culled from three hundred interviews over three continents, all brought to life by one woman.

Baltimore native, MacArthur Award recipient, and something of a brilliant medium – Anna Deavere Smith has launched the national tour of Second Stage’s production Let Me Down Easy. Playing now through February 13 at Arena Stage, it’s a powerful exploration of the difficulties American culture has with death and disease, how we define strength, and the current inequality of our healthcare system. Its power doesn’t come from a slap, however. As a friend who came with me to press night aptly commented, “sometimes a gentle nudge to wake you up is more appreciated than a harsh shake.”

That doesn’t mean the piece doesn’t pack a punch. Embodying twenty individuals whose words are directly taken from their interviews, Smith weaves both the sadness and the hilarity of the human condition into a tone poem on what it means to face the end of life. From Eve Ensler’s uproarious theory of “who’s in their vagina?” to Joel Siegel’s dropping his clown mask as he faces cancer, it’s an experience of fascinating observations and appalling truths. Smith doesn’t hit the audience over the head with strident political activism or calls to action – it’s simply the stories that weave the message, and it’s for you to hear and be affected as you will. I find that to be very brave, and left with a feeling of being both uplifted and released at the same time.

Let me down easy? Yes. That’s how I’d like to go. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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GQ Shines a Bright Light on Washington

GQ's Washington DC

Ah, there’s nothing like a good joke at the expense of politicians, is there?  GQ would agree and has this lovely map which features delightful names for places we all know and love.  Like calling K Street the “Grass-Roots Funding Avenue,” and the Verizon Center “where white and black people come together”.

There’s nothing quite like New Yorkers telling us what we should call our city, is there? It would’ve been nice if they’d at least given the map some local color, but apparently like all New Yorkers, the only part of DC that matters to GQ is the federal part. Next time, GQ, maybe take a look at the rest of the city?

Mythbusting DC
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DC Mythbusting: Museums

Photo courtesy of
‘Postal Museum — Washington, DC’
courtesy of ‘K’s Clicks’

One of the greatest things about living in DC is the proximity of so many great museums.  Always wanted to be a spy? Fascinated by textiles?  Love American military medicine?  DC is your place.  And while you might not be fighting the crowds at every museum (I don’t see huge lines at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, for example), some museums are huge tourist attractions.  Ever wondered what the most popular museums in the city are? And how many objects, art, and specimens the Smithsonian Institution has? Or when the best time to visit a museum is?

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The Daily Feed
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A Message From Janet Jackson

As you may have heard by now, Washington DC has been voted by fans as one of thirty-five cities around the planet to play host to an intimate concert by Janet Jackson. On March 22nd at DAR Constitution Hall Janet will perform all of the songs from her singles collection, “Number Ones”. For Janet Jackson fans this will be the concert of a lifetime. Even my old school “Rhythm Nation”-loving self is getting pretty excited!

What you may not have heard about yet is Ms. Jackson’s invitation to nominate 20 young leaders from the DC area to receive the VIP treatment at the show as a reward for their contributions to the community. I think I’ll let Janet explain it herself:

“In each city I want to meet 20 young leaders who are changing their communities for the better. Please contact janetjackson.com so that I will know who is making a major difference in your city. I’m asking my fans and their friends, Parents, relatives, neighbors and teachers to nominate five people to qualify as one of the 20 under 20 in each place I will perform. At each concert the 20 people chosen and the person who nominated them will be VIP guests at my show. I will invite the 20 sponsors and the 20 winners to the concert and backstage. There are many young people changing the world and I want them to be recognized during my tour. I want them to be my guest at my show and they will come backstage as I learn from them how young people are changing the world. You all know someone who is making a difference, so get in touch. I love you all and I can’t wait to be back on stage, I’ve missed you,” –Janet

Wait, the sponsor gets to go too? Does anyone have a spare over-achieving nephew, niece, son, or daughter that I can borrow on March 22nd?

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Pietasters @ 9:30 Club 1/8/11

IMG_5418.jpg
All photos by the author.

Growing up in Northern Virginia and going to high school in DC from ’95-’99, The Pietasters‘ name was definitely well known to me. I wasn’t a particularly huge fan, but I remember classmates always talking about them and their music would always be on mix-tapes playing in our darkroom during photography class. A few of my friends would go to their concerts and rave about what a good live act they were, but I never got a chance to see them. While I was in college in North Carolina, one of my friends was a big fan so their songs like “One Dollar Bill”, “Maggie Mae”, and “Movin’ On Up” became staples of our car rides back to Northern VA.

I appreciate ska music but it’s never really been in my constant rotation and since college The Pietasters have drifted off my radar. But when I was picking and choosing what bands to cover for WLDC a couple weeks ago and saw that they were playing a hometown show at the 9:30 Club on January 8th, I knew it was an opportunity for a fun night.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, Ward 5
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Dispatches from Ward 5: McMansion Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘From Brookland with Love’
courtesy of ‘mediaslave’

The big excitement this week (aside from all the posturing around the At-Large interim council appointment) was on the Brookland list,  and started to spill over to the Ward 5 list. Two separate properties were identified by neighbors as “McMansions” (though I think that’s only a fair epithet for one of them- the other one is more “bad faux Victorian”), and a veritable tidal wave of accusations of zoning/permitting violations, damage to neighbors properties, etc. was poured out onto the list. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘drink at front page’
courtesy of ‘maria jpeg’

Last week, Max challenged you to go out and take pictures, tell stories, get out of your comfort zone. Today, I’m highlighting one way someone can challenge themselves: create a theme project.

In this case, Maria Izaurralde seems to have decided on a life-size Barbie theme, and the execution is brilliant. You have to look twice, sometimes more, before it finally occurs to you what it is that makes the picture so strange.

Your first take is “something’s not right with her.” The stiff stance and “fake” smile on the woman’s face leaves you wondering what is going on, until, finally, it clicks. That’s Barbie, brought to life.

Check out Maria’s Tumblr for more.

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Ghost Of A Sabertooth Tiger @ IOTA Cafe 1/11/11

Preview by guest writer Alexia Kauffman.

The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger is the latest musical project of Sean Lennon, this time collaborating with his model girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Those of you acquainted with Lennon’s solo work will find him in familiar territory, still playing in the psychedelic daydream world, but with lovely vocal harmonies and eye candy provided by Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Listening to their single Jardin du Luxembourg one gets the feeling of being at a picnic in the Paris park, with parasols and a penny-farthing bicycle in tow.

Julianna Barwick will be opening for the super-duo at IOTA this Tuesday. Barwick provides ethereal, ghostly experimental vocal music. On her recordings you’ll find lots of layered vocal tracks, heavy with reverb and echoes. Live there will be a lot of looping involved. To imagine her sound, think of a solo, girl version of Sigur Ros. She may be from Brooklyn, not Reykjavik, but listening to the music you could be standing on a foggy, cold Scandinavian pier, watching through the haze for the fishing boats to come in.

The Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger
w/ Julianna Barwick
@ IOTA Club & Café
1/11/11 – 8:30pm
$15

The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Light Snow Expected Tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
‘big step’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Expect the grocery stores to be packed to the gills tonight and the dairy and bread cases empty. Why? Well, the powers that be in the Weather world are predicting 1-4″ of snow.  While those of us who’ve been here more than just a couple minutes know this isn’t the end of the world, that won’t prevent us from acting like we don’t need more toilet paper tonight.  But, here’s what the weather gurus we like and trust are saying:

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Comedy in DC, Night Life, Petworth
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Comedy in DC: You, Me, Them, Everybody with Brandon Wetherbee


Image courtesy Brandon Wetherbee

I spent my sixth day of 2011 at the Looking Glass Lounge in Petworth, sitting in a foldy chair in front of Brandon Wetherbee, 28, the host and creator of the You, Me, Them, Everybody Talk Show, a live-recorded podcast. Brandon is from Chicago, and has lived in DC for two months. The show is like watching a late night talk show with the ability to grab a drink.

Wetherbee was set up at the back of the bar and his station consisted of a mini laptop computer on top of a table with a switchboard and microphone. Before the show, Brandon made sure to let the patrons know what is in store at the back of the room, by walking to each table and introducing himself. His guests sat next to his left  with their own device to speak into. An old rolling suitcase sitting at Weatherbee’s feet looked like a suspicious package, but was actually what Wetherbee used to transport his gear. The setting was very intimate, but even so, it was a bit difficult to hear his guests speak. You really can’t tell the bar is loud when you hear the podcast, but I sat in the front and had to lean in to drown out the conversation happening right behind me. Continue reading →

Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Yola: Yogurt Parfait Bar Opens

Photo courtesy of
‘Chalkboard detail, Yola’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

We all know about the proliferation of frozen yogurt spots in DC over the past few years, and frankly I’ve gotten bored with them – especially now in the winter when my chattering teeth can’t take it. So I was intrigued when invited to a media preview of a new yogurt place that serves up it fresh instead.

Yola is a “fresh yogurt parfait bar” in Dupont Circle started up by Laura Smith, Owner and Food Director, and her father David Smith, as a way of highlighting the fresh yogurt and smoothie bars Laura had enjoyed in Europe. Though at first glance it looks like any frozen yogurt bar, with the usual bins of fresh fruit and crunchy toppings, the yogurt selections are all made fresh by two local family farms – Blue Ridge Dairy in Leesburg, VA and Trickling Springs Creamery in Chambersburg, PA. Blue Ridge supplies Yola with both thick Greek-style yogurt and regular low-fat yogurts like honey and vanilla, while Trickling Springs goes for flavors such as maple or the old-reliable chocolate.

I felt instantly Yola was going to become a favorite breakfast haunt of mine. It just has a cute, friendly vibe.

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Life in the Capital, People, The Features
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Why I Love DC: Martin


‘Rock Creek Parkway at Night’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

Why do I love DC?  Because I HATE DRIVING.

I guess I’ve changed a whole lot since I was 17 years old, when I kind of loved my summer job delivering food for Wing Zone around the suburbs of Atlanta. I met plenty of characters, sure, and getting tips for the first time felt like playing a slot machine! But the best part to me was driving around all day, blasting music for just me and the wings in the backseat. To me, this was freedom; no bosses watching over me every second and complete control over my playlist.

These days when I contemplate driving, pleasant memories of deliveries, road trips, and burning donuts in parking lots don’t come to me immediately. Mostly I think about how I got a $100 parking ticket* within a week of moving here, then got harassed for not having DC plates. Or I think about that time someone threw a brick through my side window just days before Christmas, while my car was parked in front of a church, in order to steal nothing more than a couple awesome CDs like Smashing Pumpkins’ “Zeitgeist” and a sweet mix I made called “Maximum Chillaximum”.  
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The Daily Feed, Ward 6, WMATA, WTF?!
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A difficult morning on Capitol Hill

Photo courtesy of
‘good morning’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

If you can avoid Capitol Hill for the next few hours, you probably should.

A woman was found dead inside a burning car on the 800 block of A Street SE in the 5:00 hour this morning. The car was fully engulfed when DC Fire & EMS arrived, and it was only after the fire was put out that the woman’s body was found. It seems like the car may have crashed into the garage at a low speed to start the fire. The investigation is ongoing.

A suspicious package was found outside the Capitol South metro station this morning. Metro trains are passing through the station without stopping.

So if you can adjust your business this morning to not include Capitol Hill, I recommend that you do it. Stay out of the way while police do their jobs and save yourself the frustration of navigating around them while they do it.

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 1/7 – 1/9/11

Photo courtesy of
‘8/365’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

A quiet weekend around town, something we’re sure most of us needed. Still, several of our area contributors snapped reflections of life in our fair city – including the most peculiar and humorous of signs (after the jump). Check out the best of our Flickr pool offerings for the weekend and if you can resolve that sign conundrum, make sure to let us in on it as well, okay?

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Capitals grind away Panthers, win 3-2

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_6428.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

The Capitals are not playing pretty hockey.

But, when it comes to end results, it has been effective hockey.

The first period against the Panthers on Saturday night at Verizon Center was atrocious. Washington played a cute but ultimately inefficient style of hockey for the first 20 minutes before grinding through the final two periods to seal a 3-2 victory over Florida.

For most of the night actually, the Capitals were almost laughably bad. Drop passes turned into self-zone clears. Back passes turned into partial Panther breaks and rushes. Giveaways were rampant (12 on the night against the Panthers three) and play was overall sloppy. It was not one of the beautiful games.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Coach Saunders Uses Viral Video To Inspire Wizards In Victory Over Nets

Andray Blatche’s new haircut (photo Patrick Pho)

Earlier this week we said that Andray Blatche was growing malcontent. He’s slumping, the center of trade rumors, and hasn’t been winning fans over.

He didn’t act like that during warm-ups last night.

Sporting his crazy new ‘do he warmed up today all smiles. He laughed with players and in a moment of playfulness gave his basketball to a girl on the sidelines and asked her to inbound it back to him. The energy appeared to be infectious amongst the team as the Wizards trounced all over the New Jersey Nets 97-77.

Where did this newfound energy come from? Would you believe a viral video?

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Fool’s Warmth

"Fool's Warmth" cocktail, Proof

Yay, we’re resuscitating our Friday Happy Hour, highlighting a drink we’ve recently enjoyed, every Friday at 4pm! Please share your favorites as well.

Is it really just a week since New Year’s Eve? Sigh. 2011 is upon us and most of DC is back at work hard. It’s cold and snow may be on the way. Does this mean no more bubbly? Hell, no!

I’ve got a mania for champagne cocktails, and over at Proof you can try a very wintery combination by Adam Bernbach, poetically named Fool’s Warmth. Though you might think it’s a hot toddy, both from the title and some of the ingredients – honey syrup and lemon juice – it’s actually a cold sparkler with a base of Champagne and Calvados apple brandy, plus the classic champagne cocktail component of Angostura bitters. Just the right balance of mellow sweet and tart, it was perfect on a chilly winter’s night (especially after having my system shocked by seeing Black Swan).

A golden, fizzy apple love. That warms me up.