By 
‘Pickle and B&W Cookie’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Thursday, which is almost as good as Friday. Almost. Make it a little better with lunch from a food truck.
Yearly Archives: 2011
By Ben H. Rome
National Geographic Live: November 2011
Photo courtesy National Geographic
For November, the folks at the National Geographic Museum have put together some great programs before the holidays, including photographers, authors, and speakers. If you’d like to win a pair of tickets to an November program, simply list the two events you’d like to attend in comments before 2pm Friday, October 28. Make sure you use a legitimate email address and your first name. We’ll contact two winners (as determined by random.org) Friday afternoon.
If you’re interested in attending one of these events, visit NatGeo’s website or their box office (800-647-5463), located at 17th and M Street, NW. Keep in mind that parking in NatGeo’s underground lot is free for any programs beginning after 6 pm.
Lost Gold of the Dark Ages: The Mystery of the Saxon Hoard ($20)
Nov 1, 7:30 pm
In July 2009, amateur treasure hunters searching with metal detectors on a Staffordshire farm made an amazing discovery: hundreds of precious gold and silver objects from the seventh century. The trove of treasures and battlefield items remains England’s most important Anglo-Saxon archaeological find—a time capsule revealing new stories from when Germanic invaders were laying modern England’s ethnic foundations. Join us for a screening of the New National Geographic Channel film Secrets of the Lost Gold, followed by a panel discussion including Caroline Alexander, author of the new Nat Geo book and magazine article about the discovery, David Symons from the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, and Deb Klemperer from the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.
By Jenn Larsen
We Love Arts: Arms and the Man
Amy Quiggins and Michael John Casey in Constellation Theatre Company's production of Arms and the Man. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.
A play about the hypocrisy of war and romantic illusions set against the lunacy of class warfare seems like a perfect win for our Operation New Dawn, Occupy Wall Street days. No doubt G. Bernard Shaw, a playwright and critic of scathing intelligence, would’ve had something to say about these times of ours. As the International Shaw Society puts it, he was a "jesting juggler of ideas in a world of nothing but spin." Shaw (despite some wacky ideas about grammar) was devoted to the possibilities of changing society for the better, through the power of words. What would he have said about our own spin culture?
Constellation Theatre Company’s production of Arms and the Man plays up the funny frolic aspect of the satire, with bright costumes and a clever set, while missing the bitter pill hidden in the "chocolate-cream soldier" dream of its lead character. That isn’t to say it isn’t delightful, it just needs more Shavian snap.
But it does make for a charming night, in no small part due to the pairing of Amy Quiggins’ adorable Raina and Michael John Casey’s forthright Captain Bluntschli, characters whose unlikely love is guided with delicacy by director Allison Arkell Stockman. Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
Snow Saturday?
‘Snowy Trunk’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’
While we’re still on the edge of the solid forecasting period, Capital Weather Gang is suggesting that it’s possible the DC area will see snow on Saturday. While there are still a lot of uncertainties at play here, if the coastal system that’s slotted for the weekend brings moisture at the right time, we might see some light flurries on Friday night late as the temperatures dip into the 30s.
I know there are some winter-lovers out there in our readership, but I can’t say that I look forward to snow, as a summer child.
Food Truck Tracker
‘DC Empanadas!’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’
Ready, set, go! What are you waiting for?! Go grab lunch from a food truck!
By Tom Bridge
Metro’s terrible, awful, no good, very bad day.
‘at least we’re not outside anymore!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
If you took the train to work this morning, most likely you had an awful time of it. Metro had a power interruption on the Eastern end of the Orange and Blue lines, thanks to commercial power failure due to PEPCO between Potomac Avenue and Cheverly/Benning Road. That meant that Metro had to operate at lower speeds to backfill their power supply up the line through the area that was underserved. In addition, that meant no 8-car trains on the Orange line throughout the system.
Add to that a sick passenger on the Red Line at White Flint, which required single-tracking from Twinbrook and Grosvenor, and another one at Dupont Circle, which caused a short delay between Farragut North and Dupont, and also reports of a deer on the metro platform at Arlington Cemetery, and you’ve got a pretty bad morning. Metro is reporting that power should be restored today at the broken site, but it’s not clear right now if that’s enough time to return 8-car trains to service this evening before rush.
By Brittany
The Winning Ticket: MIYAVI
This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Japanese pop/rock star MIYAVI at the 9:30 Club on November 2nd. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly or at the 9:30 Club box office.
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.
For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 5pm today. One entry per email address, please. Comments will be closed at 5pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within two 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 they are under 18 years old.
By Brittany
We Love Drinks: Wine Riot Comes to DC
Big wine tasting events can have a couple of types of bad reputations. There are ones that are stuffy, pretentious, and full of sweater-around-the-shoulders snobs tooling around Napa Valley in their German convertibles. There are others where cackling middle-aged book-club members seem to arrive by the Range Rover load to get sauced in the mid-day sun. We can agree that those are all terrible.
Continue reading
Food Truck Tracker
‘Fojol Bros Shark B&W’
courtesy of ‘mediaslave’
Add a little variety into your lunch routine. Go out and find a food truck this afternoon.
By Brian Mosley
Featured Photo
‘The Confederate Advance’
courtesy of ‘Rob Shenk’
Let’s go back 150 years. DC, or the Federal City if you will, is under siege; and not that happy go lucky, Steven Seagal Under Siege. An up-start new country materializes across the Potomac; and the newly elected president, one Abraham Lincoln, isn’t going to let them leave the Union without a fight. This disagreement quickly escalates into the American Civil War. There’s a quick, but brutal, battle at a place called Bull Run. Not much else happened in 1861, except for the Battle of Ball’s Bluff.
Wait, we don’t have to imagine what happened at Ball’s Bluff. Rob Shenk beautifully captures the reenactment. Looking at his pictures, wonderfully smoke filled that they are, takes you back to October 21st 1861. Musket flashes; a rainbow of woolen uniforms; the Stars and Stripes and the Stars and Bars competing for the field. It is as if you could hear the Rebel Yell and the Battle Hymn of the Republic on the wind. Simply put: excellent photographs.
By Brittany
We Love Parties: Corcoran’s NOW At Night
On October 21st, the Corcoran Gallery of Art opened its doors for the second annual NOW At Night. Organized by the museum’s Contemporaries committee to support emerging and mid-career contemporary artists, many of the most bold-face names of Washington’s art and culture worlds were in attendance.
Continue reading
Food Truck Tracker
‘it’s here!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Fall is in the air! Might I suggest some nice hot cider and clam chowder from @LobstertruckDC? They were just named favorite food truck from The Express after all…
By We Love Music: Drop The Lime @ U Street Music Hall, 10/20/11
courtesy of Drop The Lime.
On Thursday night, I descended into U Street Music Hall to catch the choice underground double bill of The Japanese Popstars and Drop The Lime. Both were billed as performing live so with The J-Popstars being hailed as the best new live electronica act from Ireland and Drop The Lime finally unveiling his rockabilly-meets-electro project I was expecting a pretty great time. The Japanese Popstars however failed to perform live at all; instead they delivered the weakest DJ set I have personally experienced at U Street Music Hall. Rumor has it they refused to perform live because the crowd was too small. This was a major disappointment but the night was ultimately salvaged thanks to the combination of Drop The Lime ripping the roof off of the place and local spinner DJ Stereofaith closing out the night with a strong electro set.
By Brian Mosley
Weekend Flashback: 10/21-10/23
‘2011 Occupy DC 6316’
courtesy of ‘tedeytan’
The theme for this weekend’s flashback seems to be occupations and liberations. Not only the obvious ones, like Occupy DC and the local Libyan populations celebrations of the liberation of their homeland; but also some liberations from conventional forms of photography and our city’s ongoing occupation with enjoying this wonderful weather…yes, that last one is a stretch but please just go with it. Enjoy the Autumn bounty of wonderful photos. Get lost and enjoy yourself for a few minutes! Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
A request for DC’s Occupiers
”
courtesy of ‘Max Cook’
Whether you agree with the protestors occupying McPherson Square or not, you have to admit their staying power is impressive. Since the encampment began a few weeks ago, a 24/7 presence has been run in the park in the heart of downtown DC, a park that just underwent about half a million dollars in work, including about $200,000 in new sod for the park. The protestors are vowing to continue on through the winter.
The conditions with the rain and the occupation have gone downhill a bit, and it has been reported that later today the Park Service will be handing out flyers concerning the longterm future of the protests and the park. I have to hope that there is some kernel of care among the DC occupiers that will germinate in a plan to self-police the park and rotate the tent city at least a bit to prevent the destruction of hundreds of thousands of dollars of recent work to the park. Or, at a bare minimum, some commitment to cleaning up the park on the conclusion of the protest.
If you are a peoples’ movement, and I do believe that you are, have the decency to treat our public space with kindness when you’re done. We told the Tea Party the same thing.
By Panthers defeat Redskins 33-20
‘Steve Smith’
courtesy of ‘PDA.POTO’
Every flaw the Redskins had coming into this season was on full display in their 33-20 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The 3-4 defense was unable to stop the run, a banged up secondary wasn’t able to stop the pass, and the offense was hurt by its total lack of skill players.
Coming into the season these issues were known and if the Redskins were going to win games it was going to have to be by controlling the clock, running the ball, and getting pressure on the quarterback. Cam Newton and the Panthers offensive line made it hard for the Redskins to get any constant pressure and when they did Newton would either escape the pocket and create a play or stand tall in the pocket and deliever a sharp pass down field.
The Redskins secondary is suddenly banged up and the lack of depth is all but too apparent. Steve Smith found himself in man on man coverage, due to the Redskins need to blitz, and had no problem beating whoever the Redskins put on him. Newton showed no fear of the pass rush and was more than willing to take a hit in order to get a pass off. The Redskins were able to hold the Panthers to three field goals in the first half, but the Panthers constant running attack wore down the defense and turned them from bend to don’t break into a sieve.
By Addison H
Capitals Clip Red Wings, 7-1
‘Washington Capitals Mike Green’
courtesy of ‘a digital cure’
Saturday night’s marquee NHL matchup featured the last two remaining undefeated teams in the league: the Capitals and the Detroit Redwings. After sixty minutes on the Verizon Center ice, the Caps emerged as the lone remaining undefeated team, posting a convincing 7-1 victory in an early-season statement game.
Continue reading
By Brittany
Friday Happy Hour: Poet’s Dream
Last Sunday was my birthday. The official celebration involved some of my best friends packed into a small room at my favorite bar and lots of fun, tasty cocktails, shots of whisky with the bar’s charming owner, and at least one half-gallon sized jug of beer (which was, to be clear, shared by a couple of people – or at least I hope it was). Fun, silly, very casual.
That birthday began very differently, though. At midnight on Saturday night, I was wearing a fancy dress, perched in The Gibson with its elegant, quiet vibe. To go with that grown-up setting, I was sipping the Poet’s Dream.
Clear, dry, and elegant, Poet’s Dream is simply Plymouth gin, dry vermouth, Benedictine, and orange bitters. The Benedictine gives it an herbal note, but overall, the composition is bracing but subtle. Lots of orange aromatics, but very little real sweetness.
Even though I am another year older, I am still far from actually being a mature, responsible adult. Perhaps, as my first drink of this new year, something as serious and respectable as the Poet’s Dream will set me off on the right direction.
By Alexia
We Love Music: Hanson @ State Theater, 10/19/2011
All photos by Aminta S. Nieves-Candamo
Hanson were born to perform. Their talent, energy and charisma shone brilliantly onstage at the State Theater Wednesday night, as they played two hours worth of their catalogue, old and new, to a packed house. Over halfway through their US “Musical Ride” tour, Hanson did what they have been doing best for over 14 years now- delivered a slice of sunshine to their fans through their positively upbeat, catchy pop tunes and energetic stage show. Continue reading
By Don
We Love Weekends – Oct 21 through 23
image courtesy of Alvesgaspar from the WikiMedia project
Moses: Friday night group dinner at Cedar for some prodigal DCers coming back to the big city from Kansas. Will enjoy some cocktails, but not too too many, since I’m shooting skeet (not skeeters) for the first time in my life Saturday at Prince George’s Trap & Skeet. Those clay pigeons won’t know what hit (or missed) them! Follow that up with some BBQ, college football and World Series all night and I’m definitely getting my Y chromosome on! After that nearly perfect day with perfect weather, I hit the “honey-do” list by winterizing my deck with the Thompson’s Water Seal and taking too much credit for too little work (shh, don’t tell my wife how easy it is). All that rain’s taken the stains from my planes!
Patrick Palafox: Hillary Buckholts and Brandon Wardell are throwing their comedy showcase Cool Dudes Hanging Out this Friday over at the Velvet Lounge and will feature Sean Patton. The headliner is coming down from New York and has performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham.” This is a great chance to catch a rising star and discover D.C.’s comics Adrien Rodney Ahmed Huidobro, and Lafayette Wright. The show starts at 7PM and only costs five dollars.