Comedy in DC, Night Life, The Daily Feed

Comedy in DC: Awesome Thursdays Open Mic

Photo courtesy of
‘268|365’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’

Comedy is great for your wellbeing and you can get a healthy dose over at R.F.D., 801 Seventh St., in Chinatown where they are throwing Awseome Thursdays starting at 8:00 PM sharp. Ralph Cooper and  and Brad Ryan will host the free event and there is no drink minimum, so enjoy the cold water if you don’t have any cash. How do you have internet and no cash?

Anyway, let some comics chisel the ice off your heart and let the bar’s vast beer selection fill your tummy as you immerse yourself in some true DC culture.

We Love Weekends

We Love Weekends: January 22-23

Photo courtesy of
‘Looking Glass Lounge’
courtesy of ‘Edward Hoover’

Brittany: Thursday I am going to Virginia. Apparently, going to Virginia either means I like you lots (the boy I am meeting for lunch; the other boy I am meeting for drinks) or you are paying me (my day job, sending me to a conference in Arlington for the day). Today, it is both. What this weekend is really about, though, is Dismemberment Plan at Black Cat. Expectations are high, if slightly conflicted (Am I succumbing to early-onset nostalgia? Is it not even that early?). What happens Saturday will depend somewhat on how the show evening goes, but I would not count on me to be up too early in the morning.

Max: I’m escaping DC this weekend for the chaotic rush of NY, which unfortunately means I’ll be missing out on some cool things going on.  Friday hosts the opening of “climate, control” at Civilian Art Projects, featuring work by J. McCracken, Jan Razauskas, and Millicent Young that shows the “artists’ response to their immediate surroundings, as well as the exacting nature of their practice.”  On the music front, one of my favorite local bands, The Jones, is playing at the Rock and Roll Hotel at 8:00.  On Saturday, local art patron/collector extraordinaire, Henry Thaggert interviews Laura Elkins about her deeply personal show “White House Negligee” at The Fridge at 5PM (so bummed to be missing this).  On Sunday, lots of hipsters, snobs, and hungover people will be mopping up their sorrows at brunch with some eggs benedict at numerous restaurants near you. Continue reading

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed

Bullfeathers Bounces Back on Monday

DSCN0564

Photo Courtesy Tricia Barba

As a former Capitol Hill resident and now a proud Navy Yard dweller, let me just say that Monday’s re-opening of Bullfeathers is one that I’ve been eagerly awaiting.  And that’s an understatement.

To recap: Bullfeathers “closed” in July of last year in order to undergo a complete renovation.  The Capitol Hill mainstay is now owned and operated by the team behind the popular Tunnicliff’s Tavern, Ulah Bistro & Stoney’s. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Food Truck Tracker

Photo courtesy of
‘Sâuçá Food Truck’
courtesy of ‘justgrimes’
Today’s deal is at either of the Sauca trucks, where you’ll get an entree and a drink for $5, normally $10! A steal!
But things are not all happy and friendly in food truck land today. The popular Metro Halal Cart in Rosslyn has been forced to move after a pretty lengthy back and forth with the property owners of the building they were stationed in front of. The word is that the cart has moved to a “less popular area of N Lynn St.” but if you spot them in their new location, let us know in the comments.

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News, The Daily Feed

WTOP, WFED sold to Minnesota-based Hubbard Broadcasting

Photo courtesy of
‘Newseum WTOP Microphone’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The famous “glass-enclosed nerve center” of WTOP, and its partner WFED, were sold by Bonneville broadcasting yesterday to St. Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting as part of a 17-station deal worth $505M, according first to DCRTV and then the Business Journal’s Jeff Clabaugh.

The expansion by Hubbard is significant, as the group owns just four radio and twelve TV outlets, which means this effectively doubled the size of their footprint, station-wise, and given that they’re primarily in secondary and tertiary markets like Albuquerque, New Mexico and Duluth, Minnesota, the purchase of St. Louis, Cincinnati, DC and Chicago radio outlets is a significant move for the group.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed

David Varley of Bourbon Steak Bids Farewell to DC

Photo courtesy of
‘mmm…broiled meat…’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Next week DC will say goodbye and good luck to David Varley, the executive chef at Bourbon Steak. Varley has led the restaurant for the past two years and will leave for San Francisco where he will be the Corporate Chef in the Mina Group. Before he jets off to the west coast, I sat down and talked with Varley about his new job and his thoughts on leaving the District. Continue reading

Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill

First Look: Smith Commons

Photo Credit: Greg Powers

I have to believe that one of the worst locations to open a restaurant right now is on the south side of H St. NE. If it wasn’t hard enough to establish yourself, try doing it from behind chain link fencing and the giant crater that will hopefully be a street car track one day. I have a hard enough time figuring out where to cross the street that most of the time I just give up and end up at Sticky Rice. I was determined the other night though, so I made it through the war zone that is the construction barricades and finally found myself at Smith Commons, the newest restaurant/lounge to open on H St.

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The Daily Feed

Are We Suffering From Burger Overload?


‘Le hambourgaire’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Over the last several years, the Metropolitan area has seen a marked influx in restaurants catering exclusively to those people, such as myself, who love hamburgers.  To me, hamburgers are the perfect food, combining all the tastes, textures, and food groups I love, and conveniently edible, no less.  Although burgers have long been a bar food staple, dating back to the late 19th century in America, according to Wikipedia, these new burger shops offer a wide array of options, way overshadowing the simple origins of leftover meat stuffed between slices of bread.

Are we, perhaps, hitting a burger overload point? Continue reading

The Features

Photos: MAGfest 9

Magfest 2011

Chances are, you’ve played a video game or two in your day. Maybe you haven’t picked up a controller since Mario made his first (of many, because man she was helpless) attempts to rescue Princess Toadstool. Or maybe you’re a little tired this afternoon because you stayed up too late last night obsessively launching birds at pigs. Me, I picked up an Intellivision controller as soon as I was old enough to grip things, and I’ve been at it ever since.

Which is why I jumped at the opportunity to spend last weekend with 3,000 other people at the Hilton Mark Center in Alexandria for MAGfest 9, an annual four-day celebration of music and gaming.

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The Daily Feed

WLDC Sports Ticker – January 19

Photo courtesy of
‘JaVale McGee’ courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

I’m pretty low tech, so use your imagination: imagine that the below WLDC Sports Ticker is literally scrolling across your screen like ESPN’s Bottom Line. Two differences: we’ll focus on DC, and you know, we won’t be scrolling anything related to Brett Favre.

Alright, maybe I was quick to award Blake Griffin the dunk contest crown, and even if it made Monday’s post, JaVale McGee’s reverse throwdown of a John Wall Alley Oop is kind of a message that Griffin won’t run away with it…I promised I would never use the “We Love Arts” and “We Love Sports” tags together in congruence, but that didn’t rule out “We Love Music,” and since Nats’ mascot Screech made an appearance at 9:30 Club with local band Virginia Coalition, it’s a completely admirable use of the combination…taking one point from a game is better than zero, and I don’t know who what the records on this stat is, but the Caps have now lost their last six games that have gone beyond regulation, including last night…something worth considering that David Aldridge pointed out: the Nationals have won more recently on the road than the Wizards, who will try to get off the road schneid this evening in Milwaukee…other wheeling and dealing for the Nats: earlier this week, they signed infielder Alex Cora to a minor league deal and sent some prospects to the Cubs for Tom Gorzelanny.

That’s the quick stuff, and hopefully next week, you won’t see anything on road or overtime losing streaks.

Comedy in DC, Entertainment, Night Life, Petworth

Comedy in DC: Wayne Manigo

Wayne Manigo

Two huge speakers were blasting at me and Wayne Manigo as we chatted at the bar in Ras Restaurant on Tuesday evening while the snow started sticking to the streets. It was Wayne Man’s Comedy open mic night at the restaurant and it did not seem like anyone was going to make it.  This DC comic was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and has been a Washingtonian for nine years. He was your every day working man until  he was laid off one day, which was not funny, but the  job loss helped him to discover comedy. At the time he was plotting his next move he said to himself, “This is the perfect opportunity to see if I can be funny.” Wayne worked with a friend that was already doing stand up to write some jokes and performed for the first time at the Palace of Wonders, Red Palace now, on H Street. He said to me that after his performance people said, “Hey, you don’t suck.” He has been stepping into the spotlight for two years strong since he found his ability to make people’s abdominal muscles contract. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Hot Ticket: Kylesa @ Black Cat Backstage 1/20/11

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

As a huge metal fan, I’m always looking out for the rare “crossover” show that I know I’ll love, and will appeal to someone who’s not versed in metal will also enjoy. Tomorrow night, Kylesa are bringing their Southern blend of sludge metal to the Black Cat Backstage – a rare chance to see these guys in a small, intimate venue. Honestly, their sound is so huge that they need two drummers, so I don’t know how the Backstage is supposed to contain them.

“Sludge metal” lies somewhere on the spectrum between psychedelic rock and doom metal. This means on Thursday you can expect some huge, looping riffs played on fuzzy guitars combined with the kind of bass you can feel in your bones. The vocals are angry and loud, but not gothic or growly like most doom metal. If you’re a fan of any other Southern sludge metal groups like Baroness, Black Tusk, Torche, or (dare I say?) Mastodon, you probably already know that you belong at this show. For a taste of what’s in store, be sure to check out my favorite track “Running Red” on their myspace page.

Fellow Georgians Zoroaster and New Jersey’s Fight Amp round off the bill for what should be an epic show. Both these bands are really solid, so I’m looking forward to catching them. Don’t miss it!

Kylesa
w/ Fight Amp, Zoroaster
Black Cat Backstage
Thursday Jan 20th
$13

News, The District, The Features

All About Voting Centers

Photo courtesy of
‘VOTE’
courtesy of ‘nevermindtheend’

The news came out about a week ago, that DC was considering moving to voting centers for the special election in April.  Since then, there’s been a lot to say on both sides of the issue, and some excellent points made by both sides about what it would mean to cut the budget for elections in the city.

Some have said that cutting back on voting is cutting back on government legitimacy.  If this new plan to move to voting centers dramatically alters the turnout of an election, or if the placement of the polls is such that prevents people from attending, I might agree with that contention.  Instead, it seems to be a way to increase turnout while also lowering costs.

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News, The Daily Feed

Two new candidates for At-Large City Council: Pat Mara and Bryan Weaver

Photo courtesy of
‘Nats DC Baseball Cap’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The special election this April to replace Kwame Brown’s At-Large seat, currently held by Sekou Biddle, just got a lot more interesting.  A 6am announcement on YouTube by brand new Ward 1 State Board of Education member Pat Mara, and a 10am announcement on TBD News Talk by Ward 1 community activist Bryan Weaver, add two more hats to the ring.

For those keeping score, that’s now 18 candidates who have taken out papers, or announced intentions to do so, to run for Kwame Brown’s seat in the April 26th citywide election.

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The Daily Feed

New D.C. CSA Starts Today

Photo courtesy of
‘Spiral Path CSA’
courtesy of ‘afagen’
I love the idea of a CSA, not only because of the intrinsic value of eating locally and seasonally, but because I relish the challenge of trying to figure out how to use three pounds of beets before they go bad. It’s like that show Chopped, but not quite as bad since I don’t have to figure out a delicious way to prepare salmon with whipped cream and edible flowers. If you’ve never experienced the thrill of opening a mystery box of vegetables, a CSA (or community-supported agriculture) is a great way to get fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables and a new one has just popped up in D.C.

Technically a USA (urban-supported agriculture), Farm to Family is beginning service in our nation’s capital starting today. Already established as a CSA and stand-alone store in Richmond, they are still accepting new members for their service, which will drop off weekly in Northwest Washington and Capitol Hill. The drops will be on Wednesday evening from 5pm-7pm, in Northwest at the Maret School (lower lot) and starting next Wednesday, Capitol Hill in the public parking lot at Eastern Market.

They are currently in their winter cycle, but members are welcome to join any time and they will pro-rate the cost of the membership. They have six payment options depending on the amount of food you get, but it goes anywhere from $250 for eight weeks for a complete share (meat, dairy, bread and vegetables/dry goods) to $85 for just vegetables and dry goods. Though the contents of your share will differ depending on which package you order, you can expect things like yogurt, cheese and milk from Mt. View Farm, meats from Polyface Farm, shellfish from Rappahannock River Oyster Co., as well as veggies like squash, greens and lettuce and dry goods such as BBQ sauce, jam, syrup and handmade soap.

For more information and to sign up for membership, visit their website.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music

The Winning Ticket: Dr. Dog

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away two pairs of tickets which means we will be picking two winners! Philadelphia psych-rockers Dr. Dog are setting up for a two night residency at 9:30 Club on Friday, January 28th and Saturday, January 29th. We are giving away one pair of tickets for each night.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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capitals hockey, The Daily Feed

Flyers Hold Off Caps 3-2

Photo courtesy of
‘bring on the caps’
courtesy of ‘Melody Kramer’

Last night’s game in Philadelphia started out in what seems to be typical Caps fashion this season: get behind by a couple goals, then remember there’s a game going on, play the comeback card, and hope for the best.

It’s a very risky strategy (if you want to spin it that way) and the problem is, doesn’t always work. Especially against teams like the Flyers, who currently sit atop the Eastern Conference. After last night’s 3-2 overtime win, the Flyers are now 8 points ahead of the once-leading Capitals.

Jeff Carter scored 91 seconds in on a wrap-around goal to put the Flyers up 1-0. Claude Giroux wristed one in the second, and the Flyers were looking pretty dominant. And suddenly, the Caps were in the final frame in a very familiar position: behind.
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed

The Queen Vic on H St. Is Almost Here

Courtesy Ryan Gordon
photo courtesy Ryan Gordon

Cornish pasties will soon make an appearance on the ever-changing H St.

If you’ve been anxiously awaiting the beef and potato pie since you heard first of the British gastropub, The Queen Vic, you only have about one month left to go.

The Queen Vic owner Ryan Gordon tells me that the pub, which is named after a “Public House” in the soap EastEnders, will open its doors sometime between February 15th and 25th.  The British menu will not be static, but change constantly.  So expect a regular menu with the traditional fish & chips and curries, but many extras on an additional blackboard menu.

The name Ryan Gordon might be a familiar one to DC foodies or H Street residents. That’s because he’s also associated with The Pug, the low-key, neighborhood spot. Gordon says he chose H Street for The Queen Vic’s location because as an H Street resident he has witnessed the neighborhood’s transformation first-hand.

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Dupont Circle, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts

We Love Arts: Return to Haifa

Raida Adon and Rozina Kambos in The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv's "Return to Haifa" at Theater J. Photo credit: Stan Barouh.

Two women are arguing about their son. One gave birth to him, the other raised him. The adoptive mother makes a cutting comment about the son being more likely to listen to her than his birth mother. Many in the audience laugh. It’s a grim laugh, low and knowing.

A women next to me says out loud in frustration and disbelief, “Why is that funny?”

It was a strange preview night at Theater J, watching the production of Return to Haifa performed by the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv in Hebrew and Arabic. Uncomfortable for some, painful for others, odd for me in my role as critic – as the talkback session afterwards becomes a bit of theater unto itself, worth investigating just as much as reviewing the play. I didn’t know what to make of the whole thing when I left. I still don’t.

Two mothers. One Jewish, one Muslim. One Israeli, one Palestinian. And their son, all of the above, or none of any of it. Questions arose at the talkback with Anton Goodman, Jewish Agency Shaliach, and Ari Roth, artistic director of Theater J, that still whirl in my head: Is it a play appropriating a beloved piece of Palestinian literature, as one member of the talkback accused? Is it a play attempting to own a dual narrative, to both celebrate and mourn at the same time, as Goodman believed? A play that makes soldiers unable to be strong for their country, as a mother in the audience feared?

What I can tell you about Return to Haifa… is that you will leave with many questions. Continue reading