By 
‘Food Truck @ Truckeroo 4’
courtesy of ‘GuidedbyTim’
Hallelujah, it’s Friday. Reward yourself with lunch from a food truck. Your belly and tastebuds will thank you.
Yearly Archives: 2011
By Redskins Preview Week Seven: The Panthers
‘Cam Newton’
courtesy of ‘PDA.POTO’
The big news this week is who will be under center for the Redskins against the Panthers. Rex Grossman got out of playing in the system and decided it was better to fling the ball to the deepest receiver instead of reading his progressions, taking what the defense gave him, and passing to the open man. To Rex Grossman the best option wasn’t who was open, but who was furthest downfield. He got out of the system and ended up making too many costly mistakes. All of this is why John Beck is going to be starting at quarterback for the Redskins when they take on the Panthers this Sunday.
It is a good week to make the change. Beck won’t be facing a good pass defense and might not even be asked to pass that much as the Panthers are second worst in the NFL having allowed over 140 yards a game rushing. Because of this they have seen the fourth fewest passing attempts against. They still rank 17th in passing yards allowed, and while it is in the bottom half of the league it is a bit deceiving as they are tied for worst in the NFL with 8.5 yards allowed per passing attempt against, and are ninth worst having allowed a 64.2% completion percentage.
By Q&A: Dan Haggis of The Wombats
courtesy of The Wombats.
The Wombats are performing at the 9:30 Club tonight, so we enlisted our music correspondent Mickey McCarter to have a chat with their drummer Dan Haggis about the group’s strong sophomore album and their biggest US tour to date.
Post-punk dancesmiths The Wombats, consisting of Matthew Murphy, Dan Haggis, and Tord Øverland-Knudsen, have mounted their first major tour of the United States and they are coming to the 9:30 Club for an early show on Friday. After inviting us to dance to Joy Division on their first album, “A Guide to Love Loss & Desperation”, The Wombats want us to dance some more on their second album, “This Modern Glitch”. The strong second album demonstrates that The Wombats are here to stay; they have grown their sound while staying true to the goal of making a great dance album.
We Love DC had a chat with drummer Dan Haggis to discuss the making of the new album, what it’s like to be a band from Liverpool, and a guilty pleasures on the dancefloor.
By Ben H. Rome
Caps Steamroll Flyers 5-2
‘Perreault Shoots’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
Many in the hockey world saw last night’s match-up between our Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers as a heavyweight showdown. In one corner, the undefeated Capitals who’ve won despite stretches of sporadic play and missing superstars. The other, a rebuilt Flyers squad looking to prove their makeover wasn’t just for show.
And then enters Alexander Ovechkin. Consistently successful against the orange-and-black, Ovie didn’t disappoint as he helped the Caps blow the game wide open and stuck the Flyers with their first regulation defeat. Continue reading
By Brittany
Lima Meets Tokyo in Zengo’s Pisco-Inspired Seasonal Menu
Photo Credit: Tina Wong, Wandering Eater
Peru and Japan have had deep cultural ties since the late 1800s, when waves of Japanese immigrants began arriving in Peru for the first time. Today, individuals of Japanese heritage are the largest minority group in the country. With this history in mind, then, it is natural that Peruvian-Japanese came to mind when Zengo wanted to create a special fusion menu.
Available for the month of October, the “Taste of Lima-Tokyo” menu is the first in a series of menus that take Zengo’s overall Latin-Asian fusion concept and narrow it down to focus on specific locations on those two continents and bring out the connections and contrasts between them, while infusing it all with a modern, cosmopolitan taste. The special menu consists of a collection of small plates and cocktails.
Last week, Zengo hosted a tasting for members of the media and food bloggers, where we were offered the opportunity to sample all the items off the food and drink menus and hear from the chef and bar director about their inspirations. Chief among them, the traditional grape brandy native to Peru, Pisco.
Hot Ticket: Drop The Lime @ U Street Music Hall – TONIGHT!!!
Well now here is something you just don’t hear everyday. NYC’s Drop The Lime has somehow managed to perfect the unlikely fusion of banging electronic beats and classic Rockabilly to create a sound that feels completely new and 100% from the heart.
During he past decade Drop The Lime has gone from clawing his way up out of the New York City DJ minor leagues, to running the highly influential dance music label and club night Trouble & Bass. He’s made a name for himself as a chameleon-like international DJ that is as comfortable remixing mainstream dance moguls like Armand Van Helden or Moby as he is dropping cutting edge originals with an seemingly endless series of EPs and 12″s.
This year however Drop The Lime has unleashed his most original creation to date; a mutant blend of 50’s rock-n-roll and twisted electronic beats. What is most impressive about this new phase of Drop The Lime’s career is that his new sound is much more than just another studio creation; he has been hitting the road hard with a full live band and working the Brian Setzer-inspired vocal duties himself. Drop The Lime brings his new sound, his full live band, and his impeccable hair-style to U Street Music Hall tonight!
Drop The Lime (LIVE)
w/ Japanese Popstars & Stereofaith
@ U Street Music Hall
9/20 – 9pm
$10
Food Truck Tracker
‘Lobster Truck’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
That’s a nice lookin’ lobster roll, isn’t it? I say you should probably go get one.
By Brittany
(Bonus) Winning Ticket: Star Slinger at U Street Music Hall
We Love DC is delighted to give one of our readers a pair of tickets to see Star Slinger at U Street Music Hall on October 25, courtesy of our friends at his label, Green Label Sound.
For anyone who missed seeing Star Slinger open for Baths back in February, the noted UK producer and remixer makes delightful music that is nostalgic for 1970’s American pop, but inflected with electronic, futuristic touches, and a bit of a Manchester sensibility. Oh, and this is going to sound amazing at U Hall, I pretty much guarantee you.
Continue reading
By Don
We Love Arts: A Bright New Boise
photo by Stan Barouh
Joshua Morgan, Company Member Emily Townley, Felipe Cabezas, Company Member Michael Russotto, and Company Member Kimberly Gilbert
Woolly Mammoth’s A Bright New Boise takes a look into the heart of those who seem excited to see the world come to an end and brings us along for the ride. Which you might think would be a huge and momentous ride, given that the end of everything might be kind of a big deal. But writer Samuel D. Hunter’s conclusion seems to be that its precisely because the day to day stakes are so low that someone might seek something so momentous. Not to mention final.
One person’s longing for judgment would make for pretty thin gruel, but Hunter’s script does what well-plotted emotional fiction should: tells a contained, interesting story that has echoes and implications far beyond what is purely on the page. The sketch is simple. Soft-spoken Will comes to town with a deliberately hidden past and gets a job at the Hobby Lobby. He works along side sharp and crass manager Pauline and three younger staff members, none of whom know what connects one of them to Will or his surprising past. Yet.
By Alexia
Q&A with Taylor Hanson of Hanson, part 2
photo courtesy of Hanson
In the midst of their US “Musical Ride” tour, Hanson‘s lead singer/keyboardist Taylor Hanson took some time to talk with WLDC’s Alexia Kauffman. You can read the first half of the interview here. In the second half of the interview Taylor talks about being in Katy Perry’s video for “Last Friday Night,” playing music with Adam Schlesinger (songwriter and bassist for Fountains of Wayne and Ivy) and how that led to forming the supergroup Tinted Windows, as well as Hanson’s charitable work and more. Continue reading
Food Truck Tracker
‘The Yards – Wonky – 09-11-10’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’
Food truck, food truck, oh where could you be? The strEATS of DC can show thee.
By The Lincoln Legacy Project at Ford’s Theatre
‘Rehearsal, Ford’s Theatre’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’
With Republican debates underway and the growth of both Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Occupy Wall Street, it appears most of America is angry, frustrated, or confused. And we’re all pretty much broke.
What better time, then, to look back on the legacy of a president who saw the country through its most traumatic era?
This month, Ford’s Theatre launches the Lincoln Legacy Project, a 5-year effort to create dialogue around the issues of tolerance, equality, and acceptance.
You read that right: it’s a 5-year project. And yes, they know that 5 years in DC time is about 2.5 generations of staffers moving in and out. By the time they’re finished, we’ll be entering primary debates again.
By Michael R
Featured Photo
Specimenlife saw an especially beautiful capture recently by the Naval Yard. Two birds decide to break free and spread their wings while the flocks rests. The tones of the photo are especially nice; black and white works beautifully with this shot.
If you have some beautiful shots from around the DC region, please contribute your photos to our Flickr Pool. You may just get featured!
By Addison H
Capitals Declaw Panthers 3-0
‘Vokoun Grabs Bouncing Puck’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
Newly acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun was rock solid against his former team, leading the Caps to a 3-0 shutout (his first of the season) over the visiting, division rival Florida Panthers behind goals from Marcuss Johansson and Alex Semin in front of a large weeknight Verizon Center crowd. The Caps remain undefeated, moving to 5-0 on the season, their best regular season start in team history.
Continue reading
Capital Chefs: Takashi Ohseki of Cork (Part 2)
‘Stuffed french toast’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’
Ah, breakfast. Some say the most important meal of the day. So why not spruce it up a bit, ditch the usual bowl of cereal and start the day off right with something a little decadent? After the jump you’ll find chef Takashi Ohseki’s recipe for ricotta-stuffed french toast that’s on the current brunch menu at Cork Wine Bar. Bring out the maple syrup and roll up your sleeves for this one.
By Jenn Larsen
We Love Arts: The Book Club Play
Tom Story as Will, Kate Eastwood Norris as Ana, Eric Messner as Rob, Ashlie Atkinson as Jen and Rachael Holmes as Lily in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of The Book Club Play. Photo by Stan Barouh.
Despite being an avid reader, I’ve somehow missed out on the whole book club phenomenon. Maybe it’s that whole Groucho Marx "I refuse to join a club that would have me as a member" thing. So when it came time to see Karen Zacarias’ The Book Club Play at Arena Stage, who better to bring along than a friend with intimate knowledge of not one but two book clubs, someone whose involvement was so consuming she once proclaimed she was "breaking up" with book club?
"Is this anything like your book clubs?" I whispered to my friend at intermission.
"No, not really" she laughed with a wicked insider smile, "but it’s funny."
That may neatly sum up the issues with The Book Club Play. It skims the pages, lightly playing with issues like the devolution of the literary canon (is Twilight really the Wuthering Heights of our day?), and the social dynamics of readers with different commitments and backgrounds. But even in its construct, it owes more to reality shows than literature.
It’s a funny reality show though, to be sure, with broadly sketched characters against a cartoon-colored set. It’s even divided into "chapters" announced across the bottom of the stage as the various books from the sacred (Moby Dick) to the profane (The DaVinci Code) are introduced, just like some sitcoms do. Continue reading
Food Truck Tracker
‘CapMac truck’
courtesy of ‘yostinator’
As colder weather comes, the food trucks have you covered with warm food. Like mac and cheese…
Continue reading
Capital Chefs: Takashi Ohseki of Cork (Part 1)
‘Chef Takashi Ohseki of Cork’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’
At first glance you might not think a scientist and a chef have much in common. Sure the two follow recipes of sorts, but one gets to be creative with food while the other has to follow some pretty rigid rules, right? For Takashi Ohseki, executive chef brunch sous chef of Cork Wine Bar, the two roles coexist in his kitchen. “When you run an assay, it’s like making a recipe,” he says. “Only here in the kitchen we can adjust things more.”
The former biological science major and researcher put down the pipettes and traded them in for a chef’s knife when he realized that a career cooking sounded better than one in the research lab. While his upbringing had taught him that college and a job in an office setting was the right path, he knew he needed a change of pace. “You have to like what you do,” he says. So Ohseki studied at L’academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg and didn’t look back.
Continue reading
By Tom Bridge
DC Firefighters Union stepping into Twitter
‘DC Fire Department’
courtesy of ‘gypsybug’
I lamented long and hard the demise of @dcfireems last week (for to call the current feed alive is an insult to everything it was once), but it seems that even if that feed is down, there’s another doing good work. The new @IAFF36 account, run by Local 36 of the International Association of Fire Fighters based here in DC, is working hard to keep up Pete Piringer’s legacy. If the brass at DCFD don’t have interest in telling the city what’s going on, it’s clear that the rank and file sure do.
Bravo, @IAFF36. Looking forward to seeing more from you! Perhaps you can get Kris Baumann and the FOP to counter the very bland @DCPoliceDept?
By Brittany
The Winning Ticket: Minus the Bear
This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Minus the Bear and The Velvet Teen perform at the 9:30 Club tomorrow, October 19th. 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 week (usually 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.