Yearly Archives: 2011

capitals hockey
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Stars Shine, Caps Fall 5-2

Photo courtesy of
Neuvirth Makes a Save On a Tricky Puck
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’

They typically only face each other once a season, so a match-up between the Dallas Stars and the Washington Capitals is not one of the marquee rivalries in the NHL. Not like the salad days of the great Redskins and Cowboys teams over in the NFL. But coming into last night’s game, these two teams sported the best records in the league. Unfortunately, what promised to be fireworks turned to fizzle as the the Caps came undone in the third period. The Stars simply out-worked the Caps en route to a 5-2 victory in Washington. Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Fall 2011 Comings and Goings of DC Chefs

Photo courtesy of
‘Grafiatto’
courtesy of ‘Plantains & Kimchi’

A lot has been happening in the DC chef community in the last month or so. Here’s a recap on the comings and goings of local chefs across the city.

First up, after 12 years Equinox’s chef and owner Todd Gray is passing the torch on to a new chef. Karen Nicolas, Equinox’s new executive chef, recently came from Simon Pearce restaurant in Philadelphia and Soul restaurant in Chicago. Nicolas also had a stint as executive sous chef at Tom Colicchio’s Gramercy Tavern in New York City. While Gray said in a press release that he will continue to work with Nicolas on dishes at Equinox, he added that her “culinary vision will be reflected in the menu.”
Continue reading →

Adventures, Business and Money, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Special Events, Technology, The Daily Feed
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ESPN Zone Arcade Game Auction

Photo courtesy of
‘ESPN Zone’
courtesy of ‘darkensiva’

Via Thrillist this morning, the now-closed ESPN Zone is auctioning off pretty much all of their arcade games and the going prices aren’t bad. Knowing the WeLoveDC audience, I figured there would be some of you out there interested in getting your gaming hands on some of these classics. Aside from the games, the auction includes lighting, furniture and industrial kitchen equipment from the Zone, so if you’re in need of an ice cream machine or a heavy duty deep fryer this is your auction.

If I lived in a group house, I would totally be ALL over my housemates to chip in and buy one of these beauties. Personally, I’m partial to the Trophy Hunting (Bear & Moose) and the Super Shot games, but I’m sure the Slapshot Hockey and Washington Redskins Football Throwing game will be big fan favorites as well.

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

David Wax Museum- 930 Club- 9/14/11
David Wax Museum- 930 Club by sightlyworn
As a guy who has photographed many musicians, I know the challenge in capturing the intensity and energy of a live show. Slightlyworn nailed it with this photo. The motion blur is what really makes this photo, because you can just see the guitarist moving and howling into the mic, pouring his heart into every verse. It’s a strong composition; he didn’t focus too closely on the musician, which left plenty of room for the purple and blue divide caused by the stage lights, which is one of the most important features of the photo. Adding a second singer to the frame and including part of the drum kit definitely frames the context of a musical machine working together. Well done, sightlyworn.

Remember to contribute your best shots of DC to our flickr pool. You may just get noticed for our featured photo or weekend flashback.

Life in the Capital
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Insert congressional/presidential rollover joke here

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A car overturned on Connecticut ave today; Mike Riggs has a picture over here. As DCist’s Aaron Morrissey points out we’ve had them in the area during dry weather before – on the same ave, even.

If you’re less interested in this specific incident than the “how the hell do you manage that anyway” question then How Stuff Works has the writeup for you on how rollovers occur and why some vehicles are more prone to them. It’s interesting how little it can take to flip a vehicle if the angle and weight profile is right; you can see it on the above video that a small dip and sufficient speed will to it. I’d wager that the access road divider on Conn played a role here.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Food & Friends Annual Slice of Life Pie Sale

Photo courtesy of
‘cherry pie’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

Rather than stress over dessert this Thanksgiving, you can leave the pie baking to someone else and help a good cause.

Food & Friends is hosting their annual Slice of Life pie sale to help feed their clients throughout the city. Food & Friends is a nonprofit organization in DC that provides meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to individuals living with life-challenging illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. Buy one pie and you’ll be providing a full day of meals to a Food & Friends client.

This year’s five flavors include pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, apple crumb pie and a US Airways sky pie (a chocolate-covered cheesecake). All pies are $25, with the exception of the US Airways pie which is $40. And if you’re curious about how the pies taste, you can stop by downtown Silver Spring on November 9th from 11:30 AM til 1:30 PM or at Friendship Heights on November 12th from 12 PM til 2 PM to try free samples.

You can place your pie order any time before midnight on November 17th. You can pick up your pies from 26 different locations from 11 AM til 8 PM on November 22nd.

News, The Daily Feed
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Occupy DC calling press conference over weekend incident

Photo courtesy of
‘TAKEOVR’
courtesy of ‘jasonepowell’

This past Friday evening, four pedestrian protestors were struck in the street near the convention center by a driver trying to leave the area that had been surrounded by the protest.  Three of them were issued citations for blocking the roadway, one of which was served at the hospital.

Yesterday, a hastily called press conference was delayed when Chief Greene was late to arrive, and under-informed concerning the situation.

Today at 12:15pm at the Convention Center Skywalk (between 7th and 9th on Mount Vernon Place) the Occupy DC protestors will hold a press conference concerning the incident and will demand a full investigation into the incident. I would bet good money on a march to depart from McPherson Square around 11:30 or so, on foot to the Convention Center.  If you’re intending to drive through the area at that time, 1) DO NOT hit the protestors with your car. Your hurry isn’t that important, or you’d have a motorcade, 2) Plan on roving road closures in the area.

Overall, MPD has largely kept a respectful distance from the protests, not behaving as, say the Oakland PD (who’ve sent protestors to the hospital), or the NYPD (who are reported to have directed misbehaving vagrants to Zuccotti Park), but Friday’s incident was certainly a case where they don’t seem to have given the protestors a degree of respect they deserved. The MPD owe an explanation in full to the city for what happened, and why the driver was allowed to leave the scene uncited. You can’t just run into people, even if they’re in the street you need to cross.

Sports Fix
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49ers defeat Redskins 19-11

Photo courtesy of
‘Frank Gore’
courtesy of ‘dkaz’

Sunday’s loss against the 49ers was another standard issue Redskins loss as the offense couldn’t sustain drives or hold onto the football. Three drives came to an end because of turnovers and one other ended because of a dumb unnecessary roughness penalty by Trent Williams. At the time that the penalty against Williams happened the 49ers held a 3-0 lead and John Beck had just completed a 10 yard pass to Jabar Gaffney to move the Redskins into 49ers territory. 

It was a strange play all around as it began with the 49ers jumping offsides, realizing they did it, and then looking like they stopped playing as John Beck completed his pass to Jabar Gaffney. If the play were allowed to stand the Redskins would have had first and ten at the San Francisco 41, but as soon as the play ended Trent Williams pushed a 49ers defender to the ground which instead gave the Redskins a third and 23 at their own 34 yard line. This play as much as the two lost fumbles and the interception should count as a turnover for the Redskins offense. That is what the end result was. The Redskins had momentum and were driving, but all of that was lost when Trent Williams couldn’t keep his cool.

Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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High-Pressure Gas Leak in Dupont

Photo courtesy of
‘fire truck’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

The twitter account of the Firefighters Union, @IAFF36, is reporting this morning that there is a high-pressure gas leak at 2121 Massachusetts Avenue this morning in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, with hazmat trucks in response.  The buildings in the surrounding area have been evacuated as a precaution.

The area near the address includes at least three embassies (India, Estonia, and Mali) and is near the Phillips Collection art museum. 2121 Massachusetts Avenue is home to the Cosmos Club, a private social club.

Traffic is shutdown in the area, so if you’re heading to Dupont by car today, consider adding some time to your schedule.

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 11/4-11/6

Photo courtesy of
‘past peek’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

We have officially fallen back. Now it’s the long, dark road to the Winter Solstice. But along the way is turkey day, seeing old Saint Nick, and an out of nowhere day off called Veterans Day (well, not all of us get Veterans Day off). And let’s not forget that this Friday is also Nigel Tufnel Day; because it goes to eleven (11/11/11). So though we lose some light, we gain some fun things to do; it all evens out. Check out below for what people did with the last light of Daylight saving time. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: Old Gold

The other night, when it was particularly chilly, I demanded to swing by Big Bear Cafe for a hot toddy. It was, in fact, pretty much the thing around which I organized my whole evening. There are plenty of places that will make you a very good hot toddy, but ever since they featured their Jamaican version a few weeks ago, I have been hooked on getting them from Big Bear.

The thing about hot toddies is, though, no matter how hard you try to photograph them, they just look like tea. Also, I have not yet precisely isolated what I like so much about Big Bear’s, so I do not have much to report. What I can report on, however, is the other cocktail I sipped that night – one of the originals off their current cocktail menu – the Old Gold.
Continue reading →

Special Events
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FotoWeek DC Returns This Week

FotoWeek DC--See you next year!
FotoWeek DC by Hoffmann

FotoWeek DC will return to the District this week for a series of exhibits celebrating the art of photography. The festival features over 150 photography-related workshops, lectures and exhibitions, as well as portfolio reviews by a specialized panel at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. It all starts with a launch party scheduled for this Friday, and a schedule of events can be found below. The festivities run from November 5th – 12th. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Redskins Week Nine: The 49ers

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_8421’
courtesy of ‘Monica’s Dad’

Here is something to consider when people talk about the Redskins getting better at the quarterback position. Alex Smith was drafted in 2005 and struggled early on as the 49ers QB, but this season he has completed 63.2% of his passes for 1267 yards and has thrown 9 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. In order for the Redskins to be a good football team they are going to have to get better at multiple positions including the quarterback, but this is no quick fix. Simply getting a top pick and using it on a quarterback is only the first step. The Redskins have to be willing to give the player the time to development and not rush to judgment.

The 49ers are the toughest team the Redskins have played in awhile. Unlike the Bills, Panthers, and Eagles the 49ers are not an unbalanced team. In fact the 49ers defense is tops in the NFL having allowed only 15.3 points a game. They do rank 21st against the pass having allowed 255.7 yards a game, but John Beck and the Redskins receiving core pose a threat to no one.

Continue reading →

Technology, The Daily Feed
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Recycle those old hazards this weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘Car Bumper in Recycling Bin’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

If you’ve been holding on to some hazardous waste, or just have some old electronics that you don’t want to just put in the landfill, this is your weekend. DC DPW is accepting household hazardous waste and e-cycling materials for free this Saturday from 8 until 3 at the Fort Totten Transfer Station (not the metro station, but nearby).

Recyclables don’t have to be dishwasher clean. Empty them out, give it a quick rinse, shake off the water and voila! A quick swish or rinse with cold water will usually do the trick. After you rinse it out, shake off the water so other items won’t get wet and throw them in your bin. According to the home cleaning services dublin, It is NOT mandatory for you to remove each label before chucking the can, bottle, or jar into the recycling bin. Luckily, the recycling process includes a heating process where any labels and excess glue are burned away.

 

Here’s what you can bring:

Acceptable household hazardous waste items include acids, aerosols, antifreeze, batteries, cleaning chemicals, fluorescent light bulbs, stains, varnish, fertilizer, pesticides, automobile fluids, and lighter fluid.  Acceptable e-cyclables include audio/visual equipment, CD Rom drives and CDs/DVDs, cell phones, computers and monitors, fax and copy machines, pagers, power supplies, printers, TVs, VCRs and tapes, and video games and software.

In addition, there will be free shredding services available for up to 5 20″x14″x14″ boxes of personal documents. Business documents are a no-go.

Fort Totten Transfer Station
4900 John McCormack Drive Northeast
Washington D.C., District of Columbia 20011

All Politics is Local
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Occupy McConnell

Photo courtesy of
‘takeovr’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

This is Our DC reports that they, as well as some folks from OccupyDC, are camped out in Senator McConnell’s office looking to petition him on the Rebuild America Act. They’re for it and identify it as something that would bring almost 400 million in infrastructure spending to the area.

Whether you’re on their side of this or not it’s a pretty interesting event. Anyone with an opinion on the bill who lives in the 50 states has two numbers they can call and indicate how they’d like their senator to vote. DC residents have none.

Or do they have 100? @OurDC is using their time in McDonnell’s office to phone bank and call other senators. As District residents they didn’t get to vote for any of them but many have felt they should weigh in on how the District conducts its day to day operations. Maybe they should start expecting to hear more from DC’s citizens if they don’t want to provide them with representation of their own to call…

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed
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Metro Board authorizes new Station Names for map

Photo courtesy of
‘DC Metro Spiral (Names)’
courtesy of ‘thisisbossi’

The Metro board today met to consider some station names and changes to be made ahead of the next redesign of the map and authorized a number of changes to stations you may know and love. Here’s the skinny, straight from Metro:

  • Navy Yard becomes Navy Yard-Ballpark.
  • King Street becomes King St-Old Town.
  • Waterfront-SEU will drop SEU, because the university no longer exists.
  • Forest Glen will be shown on the map with the universal “H” symbol to indicate the location of Holy Cross Hospital.
  • Foggy Bottom and Medical Center will also be shown with “H” symbols reflecting proximity of hospitals.
  • New York Ave-Florida Ave-Gallaudet U will be renamed “NoMa-Gallaudet U.” “New York Ave” will be shown as a secondary name for one-year to assist customers during the transition.

Four stations were unaltered, due to public familiarity with their names, despite their length:

  • Grosvenor-Strathmore
  • Georgia Ave-Petworth
  • Franconia-Springfield
  • Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

The new names will take effect next year when the June 2012 Metro Map hits the streets.  The cost to rename the stations is estimated to be approximately $400,000, though no formal figure is available.

Weekend Flashback
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We Love Weekends: Nov 4-6

Photo courtesy of
‘028096-30Crop’
courtesy of ‘furcafe’

Well, the chill is in the air for good, it seems, though we’re still feeling it a lot more at night than during the day. But we’re not going to let that stop us from enjoying those delightful 48 hours between quittin’ time Friday till the sad moments Monday morning when we return to our punishment jobs.

Marissa: This weekend is promising to be a busy one. Friday night I’m heading to 9th and U street to see my friends’ band, Level 7, headline at Axum DC. On Saturday, I’m heading out to the second annual Vices of Virginia for bourbon, cigars, oysters, a photobooth and a ton of food all on a scenic farm. Me and my tastebuds are beyond excited. Hopefully Sunday morning I’ll mosey over to Eastern Market, grab some brunch, read the paper and settle into the idea of Monday.

Mosley: Interesting Saturday for me.  I recently went to see the Anglo-Saxon Gold Hoard exhibit at the National Geographic Museum (review coming soon); put very simply, well worth seeing.  But in addition to the exhibit, Nat Geo is doing some workshops in connection with the exhibit.  This Saturday is one about Anglo-Saxon poetry and language, using Beowulf as the example.  It sounds fascinating.  In addition to that, this weekend kicks off FotoWeek DC.  I might be the only photographer in the city not thrilled with this festival, but there are some intriguing events.  For example, Saturday night is Night Visions; basically an all night (8pm to 4am) photo party.  I’m equally interested in the staying up all night and the night photography.  And bonus: extra hour as we Fall back!
Continue reading →