Yearly Archives: 2011

The Daily Feed
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Chain Bridge closed this weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘Into DC’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

This Spring saw the renovation of the road deck on top of the Chain Bridge that joins NW DC and the far northern edge of Arlington County, and closed the bridge for a number of weekends of work. This Fall will be no different, but this time, they’ll be working up underneath the bridge. This weekend will be the first of many weekends that the bridge will be closed, with closures beginning Friday at 8p and ending on Monday at 5a.

Closures will also include the sidewalk, so cyclists and pedestrians will also need to re-route. The nearest alternatives are the Legion Bridge (495) and the Key Bridge (Route 29).

The Daily Feed
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Passport Day is Saturday

Photo courtesy of
‘US Passport’
courtesy of ‘Damian613’

There have been quite a number of articles written on the subject of Americans and Passports, and the last good figure seems to be about 1 in 3 Americans has their passport. Be it because America is so large and diverse, or because we’re insular (something I don’t buy), or because overseas airfares are so brutal, many Americans never find themselves in possession of a passport.

This Saturday is Passport Day, a program through the State Department to get more people to hold passports and explore abroad. The Passport Agency on 19th Street will be having an event for all who might like to get their passport done, and there are a bunch of other locations in DC that will also have photo services on hand to do photos on the spot. You don’t need an appointment, but you will need a birth certificate and a photo ID, and $135 for the passport (payable in two parts, $110 and $25). $30 more also gets you the passport card for ground travel to Mexico and Canada.

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends – September 16 – 18

Photo courtesy of
‘(024/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Patrick Palafox: I have trained my body to handle the awesomeness that this weekend will have and everything I know will be tested. Friday night I’m heading over to the State Theater to check out the Big “O” and Dukes show. The podcast will be recorded live and is featuring The Pietasters. Then, Saturday night I’m catching Atari Teenage Riot over at the 9:30 Club. Their digital hardcore sound will destroy the club and their anti-government rants will surely cause the Capital to rise to action to…I don’t know. Maybe make some witty signs and walk around the mall. Probably not, but still.

Rachel: I’ve been informed that on Friday night my presence is requested for a night of drinking around the Logan Circle area. My first choice would be Churchkey, however, if my friends aren’t interested in that and choose Commissary I will not be disappointed. Their hummus plate plus nachos plus drinks equals good times. I’d really like to try and make it to the Zoo Saturday for a walk since the weather is expected to be in the mid-60’s (with lows in the mid-50’s!!!!) Perhaps I’ll even bring a book too. That sounds awful relaxing, doesn’t it? On Sunday, I’ll be at Nats Park for one of the last four home games of the year. If you haven’t been to a Nats game once this season, friends, your time is running out. They’ve got three this weekend and three next weekend … and that’s it.
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The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Atari Teenage Riot @ 9:30 Club, 9/17/11

This Saturday Alec Empire brings his reconfigured and reactivated digital hardcore terror cell, Atari Teenage Riot, back to the 9:30 Club for the first time in over a decade. For old school DC-area fans like myself, this show is Alec bringing ATR back to the place where all the DHR madness began. For a whole new generation of fans, Saturday’s show is a chance to see this truly ground-breaking ultra-heavy beat attack squad for the first time.

In 1997, Atari Teenage Riot played to a painfully empty 9:30 Club. In 1999, they returned and played for a sold out club packed with FANATICAL fans. I was at both shows. From what I have seen at 9:30 Club over the years, the ATR ’99 show is unmatched in its aural intensity and audience insanity. As far as I’m concerned, Atari Teenage Riot left their mark on that place like no other band. Atari Teenage Riot returned last year with a very intimate, in-your-face show in Baltimore where they proved that the band sounds just as alien and aggressive as ever. Last year, I thought that show was a quick victory lap celebrating Alec Empire’s impact on digital music making. But then I caught ATR in London this May and they sold-out a club the size of 9:30 Club, proving (internationally at least) that their political-rant, digital-noise approach still has a strong following. I am really curious how their 10-year hiatus will affect their ability to fill the 9:30 Club this Saturday. Will it be another (almost) personal viewing like in ’97 or will it be a jam-packed, orgy of beats and violence ala ’99?

Based on the two recent ATR shows I’ve seen, one thing is certain; regardless of who does or doesn’t show-up on Saturday, Atari Teenage Riot is going to bring the noise in a way that few are capable of matching. This one is a can’t miss for fans of extreme music, electronic innovation, and good old fashioned musical catharsis.

Atari Teenage Riot
w/ Otto Von Schirach
@ 9:30 Club
6PM – $25

The Daily Feed
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Two Great New Reads

Photo courtesy of
‘Newspaper Guy, Dupont Circle’
courtesy of ‘Photos by Chip Py’

Warm up your RSS Readers, folks, there’s two new blogs that have started today that you absolutely, positively need to be reading. The first is the DC Local version of the Huffington Post, anchored by DCist founding editor and City Paper veteran Michael Grass who launches the new effort with an elegy for the City of Conversation.

Also debuting today is The Atlantic Cities, which is based in DC, but not entirely of or about DC, but given the subject matter, deeply relevant. Heading up this effort is former DCist editor, and TBD refugee Sommer Mathis, whose first column outlines the new effort as a need to comprehend the new city migration: “To understand cities is to get a handle on how most of us live, work, and play.”

I’m really looking forward to more great voices for the District, and these are certainly among them. Congratulations, Michael and Sommer!

Adventures, Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Virgin Mobile Free Fest 2011 @ Merriweather Post Pavilion, 9/10/11


all photos by Andrew Markowitz.

It was late on Wednesday afternoon when I found out that I was going be covering the 2011 Virgin Mobile FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion this past Saturday. My finger started ping-ponging down the list of the two different stage line-ups, as I began to count how many bands would be there on Saturday. Thirteen! And this didn’t count the third “Dance Forest” stage that would be hosting DJ’s all day. I knew my work was cut out for me.

The Virgin Mobile FreeFest has been held at Merriweather Post Pavilion since 2006 and this looked to be one of the strongest lineups yet.* I arrived right on time to start photographing the bands and checking out what else the FreeFest had to offer.

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The Daily Feed
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Tareq Salahi insists his wife is kidnapped

Bunny

The “news” “broke” late this morning that Tareq Salahi was quite upset with the Warren County, Virginia Sheriff’s office because he felt that they were not taking his claim that his reality TV “star” wife Michaele had been coerced against her will. Coerced to do what, exactly, remains unclear.

I’m certain that this has nothing to do with the upcoming auction of the winery.

I’m doubly certain that in no way does this story have parallels to Bunny Lebowski, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, or The Ransom of Red Chief, no matter what you say about the rug tying the whole story together.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find my lawn chair, a bucket of popcorn, and a map to the Sheriff’s office.

Update: Yeah, she’s fine. She ran off with the guitarist from Journey. Sorry Tareq. Don’t stop believing.

Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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BYT & Embassy of Spain Present YES!

This Friday, the SPAIN arts&culture series for fall/winter 2011 will kick-off with a huge party thrown in collaboration with Brightest Young Things.

When the free event became available for RSVP six weeks ago, the list filled completely within hours. Hopefully, you were lucky enough to snag a spot. If not, maybe try to find a friend who is not using their ticket because you will not want to miss this event.
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We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Heir Apparent

Floyd King as Geronte and Carson Elrod as Crispin in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Heir Apparent,
directed by Michael Kahn. Photo by Scott Suchman.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Heir Apparent is quiet and subdued for about as many seconds as you can count on your two hands. Then Crispin (Carson Elrod) comes clamoring in the window and we’re off at full tilt until intermission. The story’s initial complication revolves around the desire Eraste (Andrew Veenstra) has to marry Isabelle (Meg Chambers Steedle) while lacking the necessary financial means. We soon layer on the ambition of his manservant Crispin, Isabelle’s mother Madame Argante (Nancy Robinet) and the holder of all the money that Eraste wants to get his grubby mitts on, Geronte (Floyd King). The only person without an agenda of their own is diminutive whipping boy Scruple (Clark Middleton), the lawyer summoned and repeatedly abused in the second act.

Seriously, you thought I was going to pan a play that has that much fun abusing lawyers?

It’s a whirlwind, madcap, fourth-wall-breaking, rhyming, asiding, many-joke-gliding play that works in more jokes than you’d expect to hear in a day. Much less two hours. It’s a good, light-hearted time which rarely missteps and is filled with contretemps and eventually the rhythm gets under your skin and is hard to shake, even a few days later when you’re writing your review.

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Habit of Art

Ted van Griethuysen and Paxton Whitehead in The Habit of Art. Photo: Scott Suchman

Artistic process. Can it make for a sexy night at the theater? The grueling path to perfection through grinding repetition, as the artist develops techniques and habits that can release creativity or stifle it, sometimes makes for a great play. Sometimes not. Recently Studio Theatre explored the artistic process in Venus in Fur, where the artist must grapple with his muse in a deadly game. It was electrifying.

But not all process is sexy. Sometimes it’s downright plodding. The Habit of Art is another play-within-a-play about rehearsal and collaboration, written by British playwright Alan Bennett (perhaps best known to American audiences as the writer of The Madness of King George). It’s a dense work that might delight lovers of British theater history (Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness and Richard Eyre all have important references), taking place as it does in a rehearsal room at the National Theatre. It might also delight lovers of British culture, as the play-within-a-play details the charged reunion of former collaborators, poet W.H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten.

There are moments of hilarity interspersed with painful truths, as Bennett skewers all facets of the artistic process. There are also moments of well, boredom, just as in life. Though it features a talented cast, a thoughtful director, and a fascinating subject, often I found The Habit of Art difficult to watch because of its realism – parts drag on like an afternoon with a brilliant old don who has lost his spark. Only at the very end was I teased by a monologue that made me realize that may be Bennett’s intention, as a stage manager simply explains how the very habits of the artistic process, the act of trying repeatedly to achieve success even in the face of failure, may be the true value after all. Continue reading →

We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Stop Kiss

No Rules Theater Company’s Stop Kiss tells the story of reluctant Callie and bold Sara as they meet and change each other’s lives in late-90s New York. Callie has a level of comfortable living that lazy accidents and compromises have delivered to her, and with it the ability to take in the cat of a friend of a friend. Sara’s handing over her beloved pet to a friendly stranger as one more of many sacrifices she’s making to pursue her dreams and do what makes her happy. It’s a credit to Rachel Zampelli’s portral of Callie that we never find ourselves wondering exactly why Alyssa Wilmouth’s Sara would go through all this hassle to be with her after they meet and strike it off.

As much credit as the actors deserve for bringing the love story to us in a believable way, playwright Diana Son deserves recognition for writing these two characters with nuance. Callie isn’t purely the one who needs help capturing some strength and Sara isn’t a paragon of guts who seems like she could go anywhere and do anything. The great success in this piece is the people and their relationships.

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Special Events, We Love Arts
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2011 All Roads Film Festival at NatGeo

Photo courtesy of
‘National Archives Film Canisters’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Starting tomorrow, the National Geographic Museum hosts the 2011 All Roads Film Festival. The five-day festival showcases nearly 40 films in 24 countries, created to provide an international platform for indigenous and under-represented minority-culture artists to share cultures, stories and perspectives through the power of film and photography. This year’s theme is “Stories That Shape Our World” and National Geographic is giving WeLoveDC readers a chance to win a pair of all-access passes to the festival.

The five-day event also will include a “Global Groove: DJ Dance Party,” hosted by DJ Dave Nada and DJ Underdog, panel discussions by a number of the filmmakers and two photography exhibits. One photography exhibit will feature works from three provocative voices in the photography medium, each at different points in their careers; the second is an exclusive view into two cultures where photography by outsiders has been severely restricted. Several filmmakers will participate in two panel discussions, “Latinos in Modern Media” and “Indigenous Communities, Film and the Environment,” as well as discussions following their film screenings where they will talk about their careers and the continuing innovation of indigenous filmmaking.

If you’d like to win a pair of festival passes, simply drop a comment below (using an email address we can use to contact you). We’ll randomly select a winner at noon tomorrow (Wednesday 9/14). Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Chief Lanier defends uptick in deployment against FOP complaints

Photo courtesy of
‘Police lights’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

When Chief Cathy Lanier declared a “crime emergency” state late last week in response to the rumored threat against the DC and NYC areas, which allowed her to move officers to 12-hour shifts if necessary, as well as cancel existing leave. That can certainly be frustrating to a department’s employees, and that may why the Fraternal Order of Police’s Kris Baumann has been making some noise considering the declaration. It’s the first crime emergency declaration since 2006, and could affect the overtime pay of the officers in relation to long shifts around 9/11, according to Baumann, who blames Lanier for not scheduling better ahead of the anniversary.

Chief Lanier fired back on the MPD-3D listserv last night against Baumann, citing a long involvement in the Homeland Security community and the specificity and credibility of the threat that necessitated the change to the schedules, as well as identifying a clearly-applicable funding source for covering the costs of the overtime. Her whole statement is after the cut.

Animosity between the Chief and FOP’s Baumann has been an undercurrent of Lanier’s tenure as MPD’s top brass, with significant rows between them over the police escort of Charlie Sheen and other celebrities, and residency requirements for MPD Officers. It’s been a difficult year for MPD, with 23 officers accused of, or convicted of, crimes.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Doggy in the Window
‘Doggy in the Window’ by Mondmann

In a world where photographers are often more concerned with flashy presentation or outstanding technique, Mondmann reminds us that simplicity is key to capturing a unique moment. The photo makes me think of a 70-year-old man who has lived in the same house for 50 years, sitting to watch the world pass by, yelling at kids to get off of his lawn. The dog just looks like a curmudgeon, although I’m sure if you asked him, the dog would say, “Stop anthropomorphizing me!” Well done, Mondmann.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Imagining Madoff

Photo: C. Stanley Photography

If you want to learn about one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history, this show isn’t for you. If you want to learn more about the man that ran off with the savings of individuals, charitable organizations, and others- this show may not be for you.

Try one of the documentaries out there on the topic.

Instead of retelling history, Theater J’s Imagining Madoff focuses on a fictionalized meeting between Bernie Madoff (Rick Foucheux) and Solomon Galkin (Mike Nussbaum), one of his clients/victims. Despite the show’s fictional premise, playwright Deb Margolin creates an engaging narrative that whets our appetite as we collectively wonder who was this notorious criminal and how could he steal so much from so many.

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