Yearly Archives: 2011

The Daily Feed
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Local Act Alex Vans Live at Velvet Lounge

Photo courtesy of
‘Acoustic’
courtesy of ‘C.Davenby’

Sometimes, when they’re not too busy hosting/organizing a showcase of DMV-area talent* , local musicians like Alex Vans get a chance to perform solo at one of DC’s better-known music halls. Tuesday night, Vans will take the stage at the Velvet Lounge (915 U Street NW) at 8 p.m.

Vans is a self-proclaimed troubadour with a deep voice, simple lyrics and confident stage-presence. He lets the music speak for itself and doesn’t try to dominant a live performance with too much talk, akin to the likes of a young Bob Dylan.

For a sample of Vans’ work, check the video after the page break. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Hipster Infographic Picks on DC Favorite Stereotype


Image by Katie Gillett posted at the Rumpus

The always reliable, “here’s what an infographic said about DC this time” post. This time, it’s the “Post-Grad Hipster’s Guide to Inhabitable U.S. Cities,” and while the cities you’d expect to get skewered get their day, the District gets the notch for being the home of the pre-law-school transition period.

Obviously, good natured fun at the expense of whatever hipsters are perceived to be these days. In my opinion, this just as easily could be a general satire of where any liberal arts major ends up, and nothing in the wheelhouse of other hipster stereotypes beyond the Park Slope/Williamsburg jokes. The full infographic is available here, and I’ve got a bigger version after the jump that includes all the locations.

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Getaways
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Iceland: A Cool Weekend Getaway

courtesy of Samer Farha
‘Battered’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

With Icelandair starting service out of Dulles tomorrow night, and having just returned from Iceland, I thought it would be a good excuse to show off some of my photos and convince you that you should book a nice long weekend in Reykjavik.

It’s really not the hard to convince people, especially after telling them it isn’t that cold. It is beautiful though, and has kept me entertained and coming back for over ten years now. It doesn’t hurt that because of their economic problems, Iceland has become much more affordable than a few years ago.

The lighthouse above is over a hundred years old, and disused, but oh, so photogenic.
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Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 5/13-5/15

Photo courtesy of
‘rock creek cemetery_0036’
courtesy of ‘christaki’

Considering the dire predictions of massive, weekend-destroying rain, the days ended up being quite nice. Agree or disagree, we have some great flashback photos to show that at least some people found great things to do. Click on the link below and see for yourself….though stay away from the Vegemite sandwiches in the last photo. I’ve had the stuff; not the best thing to come from the Land Down Under.

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Interviews, People, The Features
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She Loves DC Sports: Pam Chvotkin


Pictured: Ted Leonsis and Pam Chovtkin. Photo courtesy of Pam Chovtkin.

Pam Chvotkin loves sports. She loves taking pictures of live games. She loves talking or writing about a team and their efforts. There’s a glimmer in her eye when she watches a team progress, not only as a reporter, but as an on-looker.

After graduating from the University of Tennessee and spending some time in Knoxville, Tenn., Chvotkin moved and now currently resides in the greater-DC area.

For the moment, Chvotkin is freelancing for ESPN while serving as an active member of the DC sports media for several sports organizations. She also keeps a blog called Break In The Action.

Chvotkin took a few minutes to sit down and tell We Love DC what it is that gets here so enthusiastic about Washington sports. The following interview speaks to that.

Rachel: What is it about sports that got you thinking “Maybe I could write about this stuff” – was there a moment you just realized it was something you had a passion for?

Pam Chvotkin: I live in a family with sports fanatics, a father in sports broadcasting and two older brothers that were deeply involved with sports in high school, college, and professionally. At a very young age, it became a passion of mine as well, and followed suit. At some point, probably in middle school, I realized that I had something to contribute and I had a voice. Interestingly enough, people listened.

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Sports Fix
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Nats flash bats, beat Fish 8-4

Shark and Pudge at the plate

Photo by Anthony Amobi

After two games where the Nationals could barely get the bats off their shoulders, they came out hammering in the first against struggling hurler Javier Vazquez.  Every National made it to the plate in the first, putting seven aboard, and scoring six.  Even pitcher Jason Marquis got in on the fun, ripping a double to the left field corner before being gunned down at third trying to stretch it into a triple.

Roger Bernadina lead the game off with a bunt single, just beating out a throw from Greg Dobbs.  Jayson Werth would take first on a grounder to the left side that Hanley Ramirez wasn’t able to handle cleanly, and the Nats found themselves with runners on first and second with just one out.  This homestand had, so far, been filled with disappointment for runners on base, but the Nats just kept delivering on Sunday afternoon.  Laynce Nix stroked a single to shallow left, followed by a walk to Adam LaRoche, and a 2-RBI single by Pudge Rodriguez.

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The Daily Feed
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Nats Can’t Score, Marlins Win 1-0

Photo courtesy of
‘Livan 3’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

The Nationals needed a hero in the bottom of the ninth to secure a victory against the Florida Marlins Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, no heroics came to fruition and Washington dropped the contest 1-0.

Marlins right-handed pitcher Leo Nunez walked Jayson Werth to lead off the ninth inning and gave up a single to Laynce Nix to follow. With men on base, it looked like the Nats could pull off a late rally. Adam LaRoche, who has been struggling along with a .192 batting average, reached first after going 0-for-3 to start the day. That hit moved Werth to third and forced Nix out at second.

The next two Nats batters, Wilson Ramos and Jerry Hairston, Jr., popped out, stranding Werth and pinch runner Brian Bixler on the corners to end it. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: Lazy Bear

Thursday night, the monthly latte art competition-slash-excuse for a party Thursday Night Throwdown (TNT) was hosted by Big Bear Cafe. Hosting rotates each month among various coffeeshops in the area, but with Big Bear’s roomy space and patio, convenient location, and burgeoning beer and cocktail program many attendees noted this was one of the highest turn-outs for a TNT in a long time.

Any cute kid who makes your latte anywhere in the DC area was there, probably with bits of espresso grounds under their fingernails. My hair smelled like coffee by the time I left. However, this will not be a column about coffee. Because, like everyone else in attendance, I was not there to actually drink coffee – I just came for the booze. (Even the competition’s judges just look at the drinks.)
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Business and Money, Special Events, Thrifty District
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We Love Madness: The Running of the Brides Part B

Running of the Brides 2011 7
All photos by Don Feduardo

We now present the thrilling conclusion of the Social Chair’s first-hand gonzo journalistic effort in the trenches, er, basement.

After recharging briefly at home, I met up with three friends: my maid of honor, Darling Wedding Planner, and the self-proclaimed “Muscle” of our operation. We had a lovely, leisurely lunch and got to Filene’s Basement around 2:30. All the dresses were back on the racks, though not arranged by size. There are simply too many dresses to try to maintain any semblance of order.

Many of the employees I’d met earlier were still there, eagerly helping customers and quickly getting rejects back on the racks. Additionally, an industrious local alteration company had set up a table and could give you spur of the moment advice. I discarded some dresses after I found the alteration would cost more than the dress itself.

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The Daily Feed
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Food Tweet of the Week: Sonoma

Photo courtesy of
‘Yelp Elite Event at Sonoma, Washington, D.C.’
courtesy of ‘Yelp.com’
If you’re a Capitol Hill staffer, chances are Sonoma is probably one of your go-to places (this does not apply to unpaid interns!).

The Pennsylvania Ave. restaurant & wine bar boasts, “We use the Mid-Atlantic’s best naturally-raised and local ingredients to make great Italian food & pair the creations with the best American and Italian wines.” As big fan of their pastas (double portion, please), I can tell you that everything tastes fresh and delightful.

Not only does the restaurant have a blog, it’s also starting to tweet like crazy. So far, it has a small 240 followers and actually follows more than 400, but I expect that to change soon. The account just has so much personality, and who on Capitol Hill doesn’t love that?

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Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: My Chemical Romance @ 9:30 Club, 5/10/11

All photos by Aminta S. Nieves-Candamo.

Guest reviewer Alexia Kauffman of The Torches was at the show for We Love DC:

My Chemical Romance brought their own special brand of supercharged power-punk-goth-pop to DC’s 9:30 Club on Tuesday night. In the middle of their World Contamination Tour, they were joined by fellow New Jersey rockers Thursday, and Kansas City, Missouri’s Architects.

When I arrived at the 9:30 club on Tuesday night, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was about fifteen minutes until the 7pm door time, and the line was outrageous! It looked to be at least four people wide or more, and stretched almost three full blocks! When I joined the end of the massive line I began to feel a little bit out of place. From a glance it seemed that, oh, maybe 90% of the people in line were teens or tweens. And most of the rest looked to be the parents of said teens. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. The thing is I’d never been to a My Chemical Romance show before, though I’ve been listening to them (and ok I admit it loving them- does this count as a guilty pleasure?) since the release of their second album “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” in 2004. Anyway, once the massive line snaked its way inside the club the darkness helped equalize everyone, so it didn’t matter if I was one of the few adults without kids in tow. (More to come later about the pros & cons of a teen audience.*) Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Food Experiment’s DC Taco Cookoff

Photo courtesy of
‘Yummy lunch at Surfside’
courtesy of ‘Joe in DC’

Sunday afternoon the smell of tacos will be wafting down H st. NE. The Food Experiment, a national cooking competition for amateur cooks, is hosting it’s first competition in DC.

Twenty-six teams of local amateur cooks will be making enough tacos for 300 people in the hopes of earning culinary glory and going on to compete in the finals in Brooklyn. The competition was started a few years ago by Theo Peck and Nick Suarez, both accomplished cook-off pros. This year’s Food Experiment spans five cities with five different challenges.

The DC leg of the tour is at the Rock and Roll Hotel from 12-3 PM, and tickets are $10. For the sake of full disclosure, I am competing in the challenge, so come on by and grab a taco and say hello!

We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: On the Town With Dale DeGroff

Dale DeGroff 1
All photos by the author

Monday I attended a talk by noted (some might say legendary, and they might not be wrong) bartender Dale DeGroff. Arranged by and benefitting the Museum of the American Cocktail (also behind the Hotel Cocktail seminar Jenn attended), the talk had the simple title On the Town with Dale DeGroff and an equally simple, but delightful, construction.

The fact that you probably already know what a Cosmopolitan cocktail is, and most likely even have a mental picture of the sort of person you imagine would drink it, owes its existence to King Cocktail. Widely credited as the bartender who made it popular (if not ubiquitous) from behind the bar at the Rainbow Room in the 1980s, DeGroff has a long history both with his leg up in front of the bar and as the all-seeing, all-hearing master of ceremonies behind it. The “On the Town” seminar is a chance for him to tell a sample of the stories he has collected – or been a part of – since he moved to New York four decades ago.

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Business and Money, Special Events, Thrifty District
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We Love Madness: The Running of the Brides Part 1

Running of the Brides 2011 20
All photos by Don Feduardo

The following is a guest entry by the Social Chair, who is far more qualified than I am to discuss this particular subject matter.

At the end of February, Fedward asked me to marry him and become Social Chair For Life. Within five minutes of my saying yes, we agreed that we wanted “a short, non-religious ceremony with a really great party” and that it would be in DC (after all, we love DC) or metro accessible Maryland or Virginia. Our only other requirement? Great cocktails. Obviously.

Trying to plan a reasonably priced wedding in DC is much like trying to find a reasonably priced apartment: it’s not impossible, but it takes some work. I was chatting with Jenn about the most recent sticker shock I had seen: $25k for 100 people for a cocktail reception (I looked carefully and saw no mention of monkey butlers, which might have made the price palatable). She suggested an occasional post about planning a local wedding, and I knew the perfect way to start the series: by talking about April 29.

I bet you think I’m talking about that fancy shindig across the pond. Yes, I watched; I love me some pomp and circumstance. I cannot wait for my own procession to the ceremony with thousands of people waving at me (that happens for all brides, right?). However, Kate and Wills were merely the opening act for a much bigger event: Filene’s Basement’s Running of the Brides.

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Comedy in DC, The Daily Feed
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Comedy. Tsunami relief. Underwear?

Photo courtesy of
‘yeah! we’re crazy!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The comics who regularly appear at the Eleventh Street Lounge open mic night in Clarendon (from this point known collectively as “the Lizards”) are having another comedy-for-relief event tonight. This time, it’s for tsunami relief in Japan, and the gimmick is that all the 10+ comics will be performing in their underwear.

The show starts at 8:30 and admission is $5. Five bucks for comedy, a good cause, and for the comics’ total willingness to sacrifice their dignity for your entertainment. Cheap at twice the price!

The Daily Feed
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This Week in Food

photo2
So it’s been quite a lackluster week in food. Ha!

Congratulations

As everyone knows by now (but I will repeat anyway), DC took home two James Beard Foundation Awards this week. You can call them the Academy Awards of food.

The ubiquitous Chef José Andrés won for Outstanding Chef and The Washington Post’s Tim Carman (previously with the City Paper) won for Food-Related Columns and Commentary. Read more from WeLoveDC’s Marissa.

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We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends – May 14-15

Photo courtesy of
‘Breaux Vineyard’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

Addison: Friday, I am heading to one of my all time favorite spring events: the Mount Vernon Spring Wine Festival and Sunset Tour. In an effort to channel my inner NASCAR driver, some buddies and I are heading out to WV’s Summit Point Kart for a few laps. Saturday night, a friend’s birthday is the perfect excuse to partake in some Dupont Circle nightlife. And, as usual, Sunday I will be out front of the Capitol playing kickball.

Mosley: I get to see one of my cousins graduate from Catholic on Saturday (Congrats Jillian!), so that day/night isn’t exactly free for me.  But if I had that day to myself, you’d find me at Cheverly Day!  Cheverly is my hometown, and I look forward to Cheverly Day for the same reason I look forward to the Fourth of July: the awesome fireworks.  Sunday I’m taking it easy for most of the day, but in the afternoon I’m going to a DC Social Flickr meetup at Malcolm X Park.  Photo nerds will abound, and all are welcome, regardless of your photo experience.  If you’ve ever wanted to talk photography with a bunch of camera enthusiasts, this is the event to go to.

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