Yearly Archives: 2011

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Volta Bureau

 
 
 

Photo by Josh Sisk

Volta Bureau is the new electro/house/dance collaboration of DC’s movers & shakers of the electronic music scene Will Eastman, Micah Vellian (Miguel Lacsamana) and Outputmessage (Bernard Farley). I have known Will and Miguel for several years, initially through my old band Soft Complex. Miguel (then under the moniker Person) did a remix for our 2006 EP, and we had the pleasure of performing a live set at Will’s Bliss Pop dance party at the 930 club in 2007. I was super excited to hear they had come together to form this new group, along with Bernard Farley- they all have talent, drive and style in spades. I have a feeling this trinity is one to watch!

This week I had a chance to chat with Miguel, aka Micah Vellian, and ask him a few questions about Volta Bureau. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Homestand Preview: The last long one

Photo courtesy of
‘crazy eyes’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The dog days of August are done, and we’re into the last month of baseball season. The Nationals, while still better than previous years, are a long way from the playoff hunt. That does not mean, however that you can’t see some good things at Nationals Park. This homestand brings with it the return of Stephen Strasburg, the debut of a new rookie in the starting rotation, a free concert, and the start of Fan Appreciation Month.

There are a lot of reasons to find yourself down at Nationals Park for an early Fall game, and there just aren’t that many left to go before we head into the dark of winter. Capture the light while it’s still present, folks, and see the Nationals play some solid baseball in the meantime.

Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: September 2nd – 5th

Photo courtesy of
‘Four Friends’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’

Fedward: The social chair returns tonight from a week at the beach (they left DC Sunday night after the storm had passed), and goes straight into the Page to Stage Festival at the Kennedy Center. I’ll use my spare time on Saturday to drop off a couple more decommissioned computers at the District’s monthly Household Hazardous Waste collection (if you can’t go Saturday, there’s also a special preview day today). Saturday night we’re planning a visit to our friends at Eventide Restaurant for some cocktails, dinner, and pretzels (seriously, have you had those pretzels?). Sunday night you’ll be able to find us at the hangover brunch at the Passenger. As usual.

Continue reading →

Downtown, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks Special: Bibiana’s Aged Cocktails

Photo courtesy of


‘Ready to Mix’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

You’re probably familiar with the fact that wine and whiskey are aged in barrels. But cocktails? It may seem like a trend, popping up in bars in London, Portland and New York for the past year or so, but it’s actually a much older revival – aging cocktail ingredients in oak barrels was a popular technique back at the turn of the last century. But for Bibiana‘s general manager Francesco Amodeo, it’s not a matter of trend. It’s practical.

“I was talking to my mother about their cellar at home,” he tells me, referring to the family home on the Amalfi Coast, “what to do with all the barrels?” His grandfather makes wine, and his mother was looking to get rid of the excess refuse. Francesco jumped at the chance to put them to another use. Starting with two sizes, 1 and 5 liter barrels, he’s crafted two cocktails for Bibiana that were just uncorked for the first time Tuesday evening after three months of aging.

Try out the best cocktails as if you were a professional, visit https://www.gattertopdrinks.com/ to find tips and recommendations for the preparation of the cocktails.

As they’re produced in small quantities (at least until Francesco’s grandfather finishes crafting a 250 liter barrel for him) they’ll go fast, so get over to taste them. Aging cocktails gives the liquor a beautiful toasty quality, rounding out the flavor. Let’s take a closer look at Francesco’s two drinks and the process.

Continue reading →
Music, Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Metro’s Music Man

Jason Mendelson: Photo Credit - Maryanne Drury

Photo Credit: Maryanne Drury

The same love felt in Billy Strayhorn’s ode to the of the rails of New York City in the jazz standard “Take the ‘A’ Train” is still alive and well today a few hundred miles south here in Washington.  While the Duke Ellington orchestra is no longer around to send their musical echoes into the night, recent Tampa transplant and current Alexandria resident Jason Mendelson aims to commemorate DC’s own transportation network with his very own collection of songs for each (and eventually) every Metro station.

Embarking last November on his epic Metro musical mission, Mendelson has already released the first volume of Metro songs with the second already in the works, which you can listen to here.  While the flashing red lights along the edge of the Metro platform will likely never double for footlights, WeLoveDC had a chance to recently talk to the man behind the music himself.
Eat Like Me, History, The Daily Feed
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Smithsonian Snapshot: The Ubiquitous Lunch Box

Lunch Box collection; Image courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Beginning in the 1950s, television transformed the lunch box from an ordinary food conveyor into a storyteller. The screen-like sides of the lunch box offered kids a new form of self-expression. Since then, the lunch containers carted to and from offices and school classrooms have reflected American culture. Certainly, no meal received more cultural “attention” than lunch.

Box makers paid for the right to use TV shows to promote lunch box sales. The studios used boxes to gain market exposure. And children acquired a new statement of their power and influence in the emerging world of mass-marketed consumer goods.

This selection of boxes and their drink containers from the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History explores that colorful heritage. And to spice up what may be a loooong day at the office, share with us what your favorite lunch box was while growing up!

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Self-Portrait in the metro
Self-Portrait in the metro by pablo.raw

Self portraiture is a challenge at times, but to capture both the self and the environment creatively takes a clever mind. Enter pablo.raw. His photo from the metro isn’t about the subway tunnel on which he’s focusing, but about his act of taking a picture. Placing himself out of the focused area emphasizes his role in the product, and is a truer portrait of him as an individual – he’s doing the photographer’s job. It’s creative and masterfully executed – a portrait of a creative mind at work.

The Daily Feed
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Bar Code: Unclear on the Concept

Barcode flier

Oh Bar Code.

I know you’re excited about the celebration for the end of Ramadan, and that you want nothing more than to offer awesome celebrations to those partying it up for Eid al-Fitr, but you maybe want to do something other than offer free jello shots and a free bottle of Belvedere for groups of six ladies.

Do you also have a bacon and pulled pork bar for guests to frequent? Or maybe a “Draw the Prophet” contest planned?

Well, at least there wasn’t a scantily clad girl on the flier? Thanks much to Elahe Izadi of WAMU for pointing this out.

Special Events
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Fashion Goes Out in Georgetown on September 8th

Photo courtesy of
‘Fashion Week’
courtesy of ‘kineyas’

Fashion’s Night Out, the global retail and fashion event now it its third year, is what a “Hands Across America” might be if it were more Blahnik than Birkenstocks. On the same night around the world, shops stay open late and host parties, feature designers, and generally contribute to getting people out on their city’s local high streets to shop in person, particularly supporting local retail and independent design.

In the DC area, there are some FNO events taking place at Tysons Corner and Union Station, but the greatest concentration of activity will be around Georgetown.

Last year, the businesses in Georgetown decided to host the first FNO in DC – and they found that the event was so successful that they are doing even more this year. Georgetown’s FNO has an official website which lists each of the events and participating venues. There are over 90 shops, restaurants, and businesses already signed up to participate with more joining on as the date draws more nigh.
Continue reading →

We Love Food
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We Love Food: Santa Fe Cafe

Kip Laramie
Santa Fe Cafe Owner Kipp Laramie by MichaelTRuhl

In the heart of hilly Rosslyn amid the skyscrapers and the steel, the Santa Fe Cafe is an oasis for spicy food lovers. Offering authentic New Mexican food, the restaurant has maintained a presence in Arlington for over 20 years on Wilson Boulevard two blocks from the Rosslyn Metro station. Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 8/26-8/28

Photo courtesy of
‘(239/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Hurricane Irene: She came; she rained; she left. While not the harbinger of the End of Days, as every weatherman led us to believe, I do think it hit us with the strength of a “Category Nuisance” storm. So enough to mess up plans and make a bummer of a weekend. But we got through it and that’s what counts. From everyone in the We Love DC family, we hope you have power at your home and no tree in/on your car. And though you probably don’t want to, here’s a look at what some people saw this weekend. Continue reading →

News, The Features
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Crowdmapping Irene

Hurricane Irene radar profile at 5pm Saturday

As we get into the stronger part of the storm, news gets more and more important about what’s closed and what’s not, what’s been damaged and what’s fine, and the state of things. We’re working with some friends who are using crowd sourcing reports to build maps of the DC area outages.

If you want to make a report, you can tweet it with #dcirene2011 or emailing dcirene2011@gmail.com, or by submitting a form with the report.  They’re also using Ushahidi in the App Store and Android Market to work with your mobile phone, as well as the crowd map.

While Metro’s doing better than expected, there are still quite a lot of power outages in the area. Let us know how you’re faring!  We’ve got a few more instructions for mobile participation below the cut.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Things that Win the Internet

John Wilkes Booth on Yelp

The day before yesterday, I ran across a hilarious review of Ford’s Theater courtesy of one “Abe L.” who gave Ford’s a 1-star review back on the 10th of August. This afternoon I went looking for the original and spotted instead a 5-star review courtesy of one “John B” that made my afternoon:

Listen notte to the imposters which have so frequently left a commentary here!  They are frauds and charalatans, and ah demand JUSTICE.  In the meanwhile, as the judicial system rolls about and persecutes the charade which those before me have so delicately tried to balance themselves within, ah thinke ah wille leave a brieffe description upon this place’s experience with me.

Sometimes, I just love the Internet.

The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: New Belgium Clutch

Local beer nerds have been atwitter for months over the long-anticipated arrival of beers from New Belgium Brewing in the DC market. In particular, there seemed to be a lot of curioristy about two newer beers in the brewery’s Lips of Faith big-bottle series, Clutch and Kick.

I like a lot of the beers I have tried from the Lips of Faith series and when I was at ChurchKey on Wednesday wanted to try one I had never had. They had the dark sour ale Clutch available which sounded very interesting, and so I gave it a try. The beer surprised me immediately by being more chocolately and less sour than I was expecting. There is a sour element which makes the beer brighter than many traditional American stouts, but it is very approachable even to those who do not consider themselves fans of more Flemish sour styles. As the beer warmed a little, I found it opened up and became a bit richer and more nuanced, so if you order it in a bar you might want to hold it in your hands for a bit before drinking.

Ultimately, Clutch is not my favorite of the New Belgium beers I have tried. I prefer the La Folie and the Le Fleur Misseur of the ones currently in production. Clutch is solid, but when I want a sour beer (and, really, I usually do) I want the sour quality to be more defining. I look forward to tasting the Kick sometime soon, but that cranberry-pumpkin beer in a bottle with jack o’ lanterns on the front feels a little more autumn than I am ready for right now while I squeeze the last bit out of summer. Ask me about Kick again in October and I will probably love it.

There will be a release party for the Clutch beer on Monday at Red Palace, notable because it will feature the Maryland-based band Clutch who collaborated on the creation of the beer. The New Belgium beers are available at a number of bars now and will be showing up on more menus and store shelves within the coming days. Currently, most places only have 22oz bottles, but smaller bottles and draft kegs will be their way over the fall.

Monumental
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Monumental: Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial

Photo courtesy of
‘The ultimate measure of a man…………’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

On Sunday (UPDATE: now sometime in September or October), the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial will be dedicated. As this will be the first major memorial dedicated in the Mall area since the National World War II Memorial in 2004, I thought it would be interesting to review the monument and solicit our readers’ views. For those interested in going to the dedication, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation has a FAQ page on the dedication ceremony and a handy walking directions pamphlet.

To quickly sum up my opinion: excellent, and long overdue, idea for a memorial, but it is poorly executed. Let me explain. I’ll be slightly kinder than Courtland Milloy but not by much and in some areas less (BTW: props to you, sir, on the Star Wars reference! Makings of a Millennial this one has.). Continue reading →