Yearly Archives: 2011

The Daily Feed
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More live Glee at Verizon Center this summer

If you’re a Glee watcher – it’s okay to admit it, I am – then you might be interested to know they’ll be bringing a live stage show around the country. We got a press release from Verizon Center about it, offering us an opportunity to paraphrase it and run a calendar announcement disguised as a story, but I figure I’ll just let it speak for itself.

Washington, D.C. – On the heels of blockbuster ratings for the post-Super Bowl episode, Twentieth Century Fox Television and “Glee” co-creator Ryan Murphy are pleased to announce that the critically acclaimed “Glee Live! In Concert!,” starring 13 members of the television show’s cast, will return to North American concert stages this spring.

“The cast and I were so moved by the love and enthusiasm of our fans at last year’s concerts that we knew we had to do it again,” said Murphy. “Plus, with the ad market in the tank and everyone with disposable incomes using Hulu or DVRs and skipping commercials we have to face the reality that our days of snorting coke off a stripper’s ass – and all those other shenanigans I used to love to show in NIP/TUCK – might be a thing of the past for us if we don’t find a way to make other money off our television properties.”

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The Daily Feed
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Clinton Portis Released By Redskins

Photo courtesy of
‘Portis on Jumbo Tron’
courtesy of ‘littlerottenrobin’

With the trade deadline for the Caps, not to mention that whole Mike Bibby buy-out, today is apparently all about “players who used to play for DC teams.” One more to add to that list: the Redskins announced that they are releasing running back Clinton Portis. From the team’s announcement:

In his seven seasons (2004-10) with the Redskins, Portis played in 84 games with 83 starts. He ranks second in franchise history in rushing yards (6,824), rushing attempts (1,667) and rushing touchdowns (46).

“Clinton provided excitement from the very first time he touched the ball as a Redskin and we were lucky to witness every ounce of energy, effort and passion he has given ever since,” Redskins Owner [REDACTED] said. “We have been through a lot both on and off of the field and we would like to wish him and his family the very best. He will always be a Redskin and go down as one of the franchise’s all-time greats.”

Portis started all five games he played in 2010, finishing with 227 rushing yards on 54 carries (4.2 avg.) and two rushing touchdowns.

Chris over at Mr. Irrelevant ranked Portis as his favorite Redskin of the [REDACTED] era. Any grievances with that ranking, folks?

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Kyle Bailey & Tiffany MacIsaac (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of
‘Birch & Barley’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

I’m practically drooling at the thought of this pasta dish. Had I been dining in the privacy of my own home, I would have picked up the bowl and proceeded to slurp down the sauce that was on it. And it was heartwarming to see Kyle and Tiffany make this dish together, each executing the part of the dish that they knew best.

Below you’ll find the recipe for homemade ricotta cavatelli with slow-roasted pork, broccoli rabe and pine nuts. Before you go running for the hills, screaming, “Make pasta from scratch?! I caaaan’t!” let me assure you that it’s really easy, will only take about 15 minutes, and will taste far better than the pre-packaged, chemical-laden crap at your local grocery store. I have faith in you, dear reader. And if you’re here, you’re probably not the type of person looking up Rachael Ray recipes for burgers with hotdog bits in them (yes, folks, that happened). Put in a little effort, and you will be rewarded with a savory, memorably delicious meal.

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The Daily Feed
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Bye Bye Bibby: Wizards Buy Out Mike Bibby’s Contract After 30 Minutes On Team

Photo courtesy of
‘Mike Bibby and Jordan Crawford’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

Well that was quick.

After playing in 14:41 minutes   (correction that was his per game average) 29 minutes 21 seconds over two games for the Wizards, the team has bought out the contract of Mike Bibby, who was recently acquired last week from the Atlanta Hawks in a five player deal including Kurt Hinrich. The news was first reported by Dan Hellie over at NBC Washington.

Exact terms of the buyout are unknown at this time.

Bibby and the team have been in talks about a contract buyout and it was expected that Bibby’s days as a Wiz were numbered. He was surprised to hear about his trade last week and after nine years of playoff appearances, he most likely wanted to end up with a contender again this year. Among the teams interested in acquiring Bibby include Boston, Miami, Portland, and Denver.

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Entertainment, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District
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An Evening with Fred Armisen @ The Black Cat

The show was sold out.  A packed mainstage concert room  full of hipsters, preppies, middle age couples and the like mixed it up, awaiting Fred Armisen of SNL and more recently, Portlandia, fame to take the stage. Taking place at the Black Cat, and heavily promoted by Brightest Young Things, the show was simply described as “An Evening With Fred Armisen,” and the event details were simply two YouTube clips of Armisen’s sketch work.

Given the billing and the performer, the audience was primed for a comedic show that would likely (and I say likely, because given the vagueness of the event’s details, we were all unsure of the performance’s format) include stand up comedy, skits, impersonations and, with Armisen’s background, some form of comedic musical accompaniment.

Unfortunately, when Armisen took the stage, the vast majority — if not the entirety — of his show was uninspired, lacked creativity and did not live up to his billing.   Continue reading →

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink
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Capital Chefs: Kyle Bailey and Tiffany MacIsaac (Part 1)

Photo courtesy of
‘Birch & Barley’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

It’s rare to find one person who is doing exactly what they want in life, let alone two. But chefs Kyle Bailey and Tiffany MacIsaac are doing just that: cooking food they love in a restaurant geared towards their tastes and styles. They’re all about serving homemade food, no pretensions and you can tell neither one of them is the type to cut corners in the kitchen.

The married pair came to DC in 2009 after working at the now closed, Allen & Delancey in New York City. Michael Babin, one of the co-owners of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, approached Bailey about coming to work at Birch & Barley. “He said he wanted to open a beer restaurant, and he was like, ‘I hope that’s not going to be a problem for you.’ Are you kidding? That’s like my dream,” says Bailey. “It wasn’t about dumping Miller Lite on fish. I wanted to cook my food and prepare dishes with awesome beers. I take the long way home every time. It’s about quality and cooking from scratch.”

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nationals Announce New Radio Partner, Spring Schedule

Photo courtesy of
‘Radio AM/FM/Short Wave, Datsun Cedric’
courtesy of ‘johnrobertshepherd’

The Nationals this morning announced an agreement with WJFK 106.7 “The Fan” to broadcast Nationals Games on the station, as well as on 1500AM, WFED.  The Fan will operate a studio behind (natch) Section 106 during home games, as well as a spot in the Nationals’ Shirley Povich Media Center high atop the Park. The team’s broadcasters, Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler, will be returning to their microphones for the Nationals as the voice of the team. Below the break are the first spring training games and their respective outlets.

The move to add an FM station as flagship will significantly bolster the service radius for the Nationals broadcast, as WFED’s broadcast range isn’t nearly as broad as WJFK’s broadcast range. The spring schedule indicates that they’ll be running daytime games (after the WJFK debut on March 6th) on 1580AM WHFS, which has a slightly different broadcast range.

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capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Caps Making Moves on NHL Trade Deadline

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_6434.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

UPDATE 3:00 pm: Looks like Jason Arnott is indeed coming to Washington. Preliminary reports have Arnott coming in, and Dave Steckel going out, along with a 2nd round draft pick. We’ll have a complete rundown of these two trades and what it may mean for the Caps tomorrow.

Today’s NHL Trade Deadline day and as in year’s past, I’m glued to various hockey sources for trade news. Many suspected the Caps to be busy, and it looks like they’ve busted out a trade today. We’ll update as news hits, and look for a feature tomorrow with an in-depth recap of today’s moves.

As of 11:50, Mike Vogel broke the news that Washington has traded with division rival Florida, sending minor leaguer Jake Hauswirth and their 2011 third-round pick in exchange for defenseman Dennis Wideman. The puck-moving d-man has 9 goals and 33 points this season, but also sports a whopping minus-26.

We Love Music
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We Love Music: Darkest Hour @ 9:30 Club, 2/25/11

Atticus Tour @ 9:30 Club
All photos by Erin McCann

How was your weekend? Mine started off with a bang – as soon as I got off work, I headed straight for the 9:30 Club to check out a handful of metal bands on the Atticus Metal Tour. This was an early show, running only until 9pm, since rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson had a later that night. So who shows up for a metal show at 5pm? High school kids. Drunk people. And me. I got my dose of metal that left me pumped for the rest of the weekend.

DC’s own Darkest Hour headlined this tour, along with younger metalcore groups Born of Osiris, As Blood Runs Black, and The Human Abstract. Four bands in four hours meant the show moved at a brisk pace – it felt like every band could’ve played a few more tracks, especially the headliners. I enjoyed all of these bands, but with 15 years of experience under their belt, Darkest Hour stole the show.
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All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Report: Kwame Brown’s SUV is illegal, along with 41 others

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_4631’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

The Committee on Public Works and Transportation, chaired by Council Member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), has completed the initial investigation into the District’s fleet management practices, launched as a response to the controversy surrounding Council Chair Kwame Brown’s city-provided, “fully loaded” Lincoln Navigator.

In 2002, the District passed a law forbidding the procurement of SUVs or any vehicle rated at less than 22 miles per gallon, unless it’s for emergency, security, rescue, or an armored vehicle. Since that time, the District has obtained 42 such prohibited vehicles, including the two involved in Navigatorgate.

The report, released this morning, also calls for additional investigation into who is driving these vehicles. Under District law, only the Mayor may have an on-staff driver, and any other assignment of District employees to act as chauffeurs must be approved in writing either by the Mayor or by the appropriate agency head, depending on the situation.

I encourage you to read the report for yourself; it’s only a few pages long, and is pretty hair-raising stuff when it gets to the part about how many vehicles remain unaccounted for.

News, The Daily Feed
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Have Pancakes, Fight Cancer

Photo courtesy of
‘iEat iHop’
courtesy of ‘christaki’

Tomorrow is Free Pancake Day at area IHOPs. Well, sorta. IHOP has partnered locally with the Leukemia and Lymphona Society to help raise funds for the organization, and will give out free short stacks of pancakes, with the *wink wink nudge nudge* expectation that you drop some cash in the box for LLS.  Both DC locations (DCUSA & Alabama Ave) will be participating, so drop in for some delicious pancakes, and know that your donations will be used for fighting cancer that affects a broad spectrum of Americans.

Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District
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Tornado Alert Issued For Arlington County

Photo courtesy of
‘206/365: Stormfront’
courtesy of ‘Amber Wilkie Photography’

Effective immediately The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for Arlington County lasting until 4:00 pm this afternoon. It’s reported that severe storms have formed west of Arlington and the atmospheric conditions are favorable for tornadic development.

The NWS advises resident to be prepared as tornadoes can form from severe thunderstorms with little or no advanced warning. Know your safe room in your home, at school, and at work.  If driving and a tornado is spotted, leave your car immediately and move to shelter or a low lying area. Do not use highway overpasses as shelters.

The Daily Feed
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Win NatGeoLive Tickets Today!

Courtesy of Carol Black, used with permission by National Geographic

Just a quick reminder: you still have time to register for our ticket giveaway to a March National Geographic Live event! We’ll be closing the entry window at 1 pm today and selecting two winners this afternoon. Winners will receive a pair of tickets to a NatGeoLive event of their choice – so make sure you check out the list of programs and sign up this morning!

Education, Music, People, The Features
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A Look From The Inside: Duke Ellington School for the Arts

Photo courtesy of


‘Clouds rise from Duke Ellington School’
courtesy of ‘randomduck’

The Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington, D.C. boasts a 98 percent graduation rate in a public school district that only graduates 56 percent of its students on time. It is also the only dual curriculum program on the public high school level that attracts students from the entire D.C. metro area.

The school, founded in 1974, provides professional arts training and college preparation to talented D.C. public school students. Each student takes a full academic course-load and, additionally, majors in one of eight arts disciplines (Dance, Literary Media, Museum Studies, Instrumental or Vocal Music, Theater, Technical Design and Production, and Visual Arts), according to its website.

What makes this igcse tuition centre a success is its ability to fulfill the school’s proposed mission, to “give an artistic and academic opportunity to students who otherwise wouldn’t have this kind of unique opportunity.”

An Ellington education is no easy feat. Students have longer school days than the average D.C.P.S. student. Ellington holds classes until 5 p.m. every day. Ellington has two staffs: arts and academics. The respective faculties engage Ellington’s creative students with a curriculum that requires 34 percent more credits than other D.C. high schools.

If you want that your facilities look like this you should look for furniture for schools that will help them to be comfortable while they are in classes.

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The Daily Feed
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Wizards Hold Tight But Can’t Beat Dallas

Photo courtesy of
‘Wizards’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Saturday night’s NBA match-up at the Verizon Center was never really in Washington’s hands. The odds were stacked against them. The Dallas Mavericks are a good basketball team. They’re quick across the court, powerful in the key, and stonewall-solid on the defensive end. They’re sporting a starting five with Tyson Chandler. They’re record (41-16) eclipses the Wizards’ (15-42).

Long story short: It wasn’t looking good for Washington. Then John Wall took the ball to the bucket 24 times, cutting straight down the paint to the hoop like Speedy Gonzalez. He also picked up five assists, though he did miss some of those free throws. Wall will freely admit that his free throws need work though. He wasn’t ashamed to say so.

“We all stepped up and just played hard and played with confidence. We competed,” Wall said after the game. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Living the Dream … Singing the Dream: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Song

Photo courtesy of
‘Martin Luther King Memorial – The Eyes – 12-04-10’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

It took 22 years of celebratory performances in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. before the grandest of vocal collaborations took place, but it was well worth the wait. This year’s Living the Dream … Singing the Dream took place on February 20 at the Kennedy Center and was the first-ever on-stage collaboration between the Washington Performing Arts Men, Women and Children of the Gospel Choir and The Choral Arts Society of Washington Choir.

Choral Arts has produced this annual musical tribute to Dr. King for over two decades with The Choral Arts Society Choir as the main attraction.

“It is a joyful and inspiring experience each year to celebrate [King’s] legacy with the great songs that were so central to his timeless message of peace and love among all peoples,” Choral Arts Founder and Artistic Director Norman Scribner said.

“We are especially happy this year to be joining with the Washington Performing Arts Society and their outstanding chorus of Men, Women and Children of the Gospel for an unforgettable remembrance of all that has been accomplished so far, and a re-dedication to an even brighter future for us all.” Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Glee Live In Concert Comes To Washington

Photo courtesy of
‘Glee Second Season’
courtesy of ‘John Ashbrook’

D.C. area Gleeks were snubbed the first time Glee decided to do a live tour aka last year. A Gleek’s only hope was once a long-shot chance of scoring an Easter Egg Roll ticket for a trip to the White House. Until this morning, that was the same case for D.C. Gleeks in 2011, unless they scored tickets to the shows in Philadelphia or New York City.

Good news, Gleeks. Glee live in concert is coming to the Verizon Center Thursday, June 9!

The second season main cast including Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn), Amber Riley (Mercedes), Chris Colfer (Kurt), Kevin McHale (Artie), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina), Mark Salling (Puck), Dianna Agron (Quinn), Naya Rivera (Santana), Heather Morris (Brittany), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike), Chord Overstreet (Sam) and Darren Criss (Blaine) are scheduled to perform. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Rangers demoralize the Caps … again

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_2006.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

It has been a while since the fans at Verizon Center have seen a good show.

Well, that is if you weren’t at Lady Gaga Thursday night.

More specifically, Capitals fans have not seen a good show at Verizon in quite some time. Before the 6-0 shelling at the hands of the Rangers on Friday, the Capitals had lost their previous two home games by a combined score of 6-1 to the Kings and Sharks. The team then went on the road for much of the month of February, cruising the West Coast, New York and Pennsylvania for five games with varying results before returning home to lay an egg against New York.

The last time the red-clad denizens of Verizon Center got to celebrate a win was against rival Pittsburgh Feb. 6. A home win over the Penguins, because they are so hated in D.C., makes everything all right, doesn’t it?

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