Monthly Archives: April 2013

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Brendan Canty of Deathfix (Catch Them at Coachella!)

deathfix

Three DC-based bands on Ian MacKaye’s Dischord Records travel to Indio, Calif., for the next two weekends to play at one of the largest and most exciting music festivals — the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Deathfix, The Make-Up and The Evens, featuring MacKaye, play the Gobi Stage. Deathfix appear on Friday at 1:10-1:40pm, The Evens on Saturday at 2:35-3:15pm and the Make-Up on Saturday at 7:05-7:55pm.

Deathfix, a relatively new band consisting of veteran musicians Brendan Canty, former drummer of Fugazi, and producer Rich Morel, recently put out their first album on Dischord. I caught up with the talented and gracious Mr. Canty to ask him about playing Coachella and what’s next for his band.

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The District
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Reasons why the umpires were late last night

Umps yostinator

The umpires did not give comment as to why they were 20 minutes late for the Nationals game last night, so we made up a few potential reasons:

1. Home plate umpire Chris Guccione was so caught up in the beauty of the cherry blossoms that he spent twenty minutes sitting at the MLK memorial rocking back and forth while crying.

2. Third base umpire Phil Cuzzi wanted to try out a U Street Taco.

3. Look anybody can miss one turn on the Southeast/Southwest Freeway and end up in the HOV lanes all the way past Springfield. It can happen to anyone. Swearsies. Don’t forget your Garmin next time, guys.

4. First Base umpire Tom Hallion was busy having it out with some Half Street bros over the legacy of Margaret Thatcher at the Fairgrounds and lost track of time.

5. Dan Snyder. It’s always Dan Snyder’s fault. Remember that.

Tip of the cap to Dave Levy for the assist.

Sports Fix
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Nationals top White Sox 5-2

White Sox vs Nationals 4-10-13 24401966@N02

Adam Kilgore is right, the ball does sound different off the bat of the 20-year old, and that sonic assault was particularly sweet last night as Bryce Harper crushed a ball into the second deck of the right field stands on Wednesday night. The solo home run in the fourth tied the game for the Nats, and they wouldn’t look back from there. Ian Desmond went 3-4 with a pair of doubles and a triple, Jordan Zimmermann cruised through seven innings on just 90 pitches, and Raphael Soriano put together his fourth save as the Nationals claimed their second series at home for the season.

Like the future, the Nationals offense just isn’t evenly distributed yet. Bryce Harper (2-4, HR), Danny Espinosa (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Ian Desmond (3-4, 2 2B, 3B, 2 R) lead the squad, while Adam LaRoche (0-4, GIDP, 2 K) Ryan Zimmerman (1-4, 2 K) and Jayson Werth (1-4, 2 K) were struggling with Gavin Floyd’s pitch selection. The plate discipline from the core of the lineup was at times on Wednesday night pretty execrable. As one columnist remarked, it wasn’t until Jordan Zimmermann batted in the 3rd that the Nats had a good plate appearance.

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Cherry Blossom Festival, Essential DC
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The Insider’s Guide: Cherry Blossom Bliss

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All photos by the author

There are a handful of great places to seek out Washington’s cherry blossoms but my favorite by far is Kenwood. The neighborhood, just around the corner from downtown Bethesda, is the insider’s paradise for a stroll through the flowers. I’d reckon that a visit on a spring day like the one I took this week could fill any hardened urbanite with suburban dreams.

Every year, a few days after their more famous siblings at the Tidal Basin start to show off, Kenwood’s cherry blossoms explode into life. With only three hundred some odd homes the densely packed twelve hundred Yoshino cherry trees blanket the neighborhood in stunning fashion. Weekend days during peak bloom can generate a crowd, but it’s nothing compared to the tidal basin’s overwhelming swell, and this is one of the best reasons to go to Kenwood. I think the place is also aesthetically more spectacular. The cherry trees in Kenwood are inescapable and encompassing, lining nearly every street and dotting nearly every front yard. They blanket the place in color, and in the neighborhood’s most magical spots the branches on each side of the road meet above your head forming tunnels of pink and white.
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Entertainment, Get Out & About, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Paint The Music at The Dunes 4/13/13

Photo Courtesy of Paint The Music

Photo Courtesy of Paint The Music

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to Paint The Music, a live art series bringing together local musicians and area painters for a showcase where visual artists paint an entirely new piece —  on stage — inspired by the first song of a singer-songwriter’s set in real-time. Paint The Music will be at The Dunes this Saturday night April 13th and features music from event creator and singer-songwriter Dan Fisk as well as Nita Chawla and Zahra Universe with artwork by Sardar, Nadia Janjua, and Margret Kroyer.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to Paint The Music at The Dunes, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 6pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 6pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at The Dunes on the day of the event. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID.

Comment away!

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Mountaintop

The Mountaintop
(Photo: Scott Suchman)

On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, less than two miles from a new monument erected in honor of the late civil rights leader, Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop opened at Arena Stage. The show is a bold imagining of the last night of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life that not only takes us inside Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel where he stayed, but into the mind, heart, and soul of the great man.

However in Hall’s vision, we do not see an infallible leader, the perfect picture of leadership and integrity that we like to bestow upon the great leaders of our time. Instead we see MLK as a man with real weaknesses, vulnerabilities, hopes, and fears.

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Entertainment, History, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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The Real Pirates of National Geographic

National Geographic - Real Pirates - 03-07-13 04 mosley.brian

There are pirates in Washington.

If you doubt, head over to the National Geographic Museum between now and September 2; the Jolly Roger flag hanging from the flagpole should convince you. If you need more persuasive evidence, head inside and wander through the museum’s latest exhibit Real Pirates.

From fore to aft, this exhibit rolls up the past, present, and future of the pirate vessel Whydah. Originally designed and used as a slave ship along the American-African slave routes, the Whydah was captured by pirate captain Sam Bellamy and used in his fleet to pillage more than fifty prizes across the Carribean. On a course for a New England harbor, the Whydah, her captain, and her crew ran into a violent nor’easter near Cape Cod and sank beneath the waves. With it went a hold full of pirate treasure and most of the men on board.

National Geographic chose to feature the Whydah exhibit for a number of reasons. According to Richard McWalters, Director of Museum Operations, the story of the Whydah crosses three seafaring trades: slavery, piracy, and recovery. Through the shipwreck’s history, visitors are exposed to the realities of the slave trade and its vessels, the life of a pirate crew during the eighteenth century, and the technology, dedication, and innovation of today’s salvage explorers. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Infrared cherry blossoms cruffo

Infrared photography, or photography using film or a sensor which is sensitive to the near-infrared part of the light spectrum, is an interesting technique for photographers to use. While not the thermal imaging most people would think, infrared photography strips out the visible spectrum (remember “ROYGBIV” from elementary school science class?) and leaves a ghostly image which is reminiscent of a dreamscape.

Let’s look at cruffo’s shot. If shot as a normal image, the picture would be nice but rather plain; how many shots of tree, even cherry blossom trees, have we seen in our lives? But using IR photography, the viewer is forced to look at the composition of the shot, and see the trees stretching every which way. As well, the coloring of the photo makes it look like this was shot in the depths of an ice age, not on a 80 degree day. A great shot; I hope to see more in the future!

Entertainment, Get Out & About, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Soundbites 2013

soundbites 2013 email flyer

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to Soundbites 2013, a benefit for DC Central Kitchen, at the 930 Club on Sunday, May 19th. This event features music from Deathfix (Brendan Canty of Fugazi, Richard Morel, Devin Ocampo of Faraquet & Mark Cisneros of Medications), DJ WIll Eastman, Batala, Kid Congo Power Hour and more. In addition to the music there will be free food tastings from dozens of area restaurants and food trucks, plus a mixologist competition.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to Soundbites 2013, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 930 Club on the day of the event. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Comment away!

Sports Fix, The Features
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Washington Squeaks By Chicago with an 8-7 Win

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courtesy of MissChatter

What started out as a game wrought with baserunning mishaps and high pitch counts ended in favor of the Washington Nationals who squeaked by the Chicago White Sox in interleague play with an 8-7 victory. The game’s starters – left-hander Gio Gonzalez for Washington and right-hander Jake Peavy – combined to throw 59 pitches in the first inning alone. That inning lasted 28 minutes and produced just one run for the White Sox.

Chicago’s early run came as a result of a balk, Gonzalez’s fourth career balk in 129 games, with the bases loaded, two out, a full-count, and White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko at the plate. Third baseman Jeff Keppinger scored on that play after snapping his 0-for-19 stretch to start the season with a single off Gonzalez.

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Entertainment, Special Events, The Features
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A 2013 Helen Hayes Awards (Drama Prom) Diary

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Yesterday I spent the night with Helen and she did not disappoint. For many in the DC theater scene, the past week was spent searching for dresses (especially those with pockets), getting manis & pedis, and making sure that hair was nothing less than perfect. It was all for the 29th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, Washington’s biggest night in theater where the arts community honors the past year of shows.

If you want a list of the winners you can find those here. Instead I offer you a tradition three years running: my complete breakdown of my day (and night) with Helen.

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Monumental
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Monumental: White House Rose Garden

Rose Garden katieharbath

This is just about the most perfect time of year in the District, when the spring weather has sprung, the sugar magnolias and cherries are mid bloom, and the tulips and daffodils are brightening the landscape. Well, at least that’s what it looks like in proper gardens, my own space is still suffering from a surfeit of prunella and the hydrangea have yet to bloom. While my own space is in trouble, the gardens at The White House, though, are in perfect shape. This weekend, they open for their annual public tour of the Rose Garden, South Lawn and Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Tickets, free of charge, are available on a first-come, first-served basis on Saturday & Sunday from 8am onward at 15th & E Streets at the Ellipse.

The Rose Garden with beautiful memorial benches (along the West Colonnade) celebrates its 100th year this year, as the original was planted in 1913 by Ellen Loise Axson Wilson after the Roosevelt remodel of the White House at the turn of the century. The original Rose Garden featured a lily pond at its center, unlike the current design, which is more in following with formal French and Italian garden styles conserved using an electric pole chainsaw, with defined lawn areas and defined beds for flowers. The 1960s revival of the White House Gardens under the direction of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and horticulturalist Rachel Lambert Mellon led to the gardens that are present today, dedicated by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in 1964.

Though the roses will likely not be blooming for a few more weeks, the large flowering saucer magnolia and Magnolia × soulangeana trees along the Colonnades should be at maximum potency this weekend, which should make for some pretty incredible photos. Be on the look for daffodil, jonquil, grape hyacinth, tulips and squill, amongst other spring blooming flower bulbs, as well as the perennials hollyhock, lavender and delphinium.

Cameras are welcome this weekend, but food and drink, as well as any large bags or suitcases are not. Obviously weapons and explosives are prohibited, as is smoking.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Mike Mangione & The Union

MMTU Live

Photo Courtesy of Mike Mangione & The Union

Mike Maginone is a traveling man in good company while out on the road making music. What started out as solo project well over a decade ago has organically evolved into the band now known as Mike Mangione & The Union. Their melodic rock has a rootsy groove and folk instrumentation gone electric. It’s a sound reminiscent of Ryan Adams and The Cardinals’ early days with an echo of Ray LaMamontagne’s songwriting style.

Mike took some time from the road to fill We Love DC in on where his been, how far he’s come, and what he loves about making music. Here’s what he had to say.

Rachel: When did you first fall in love with music/making music? What was the catalyst for your eventual career in music?

Mike Mangione: I fell in love with music when I started playing my friend’s drums in the first grade.  I always enjoyed hearing music as a little kid, but it was not until I had the authority to create noise myself that I fell in love with the freedom and possibilities it enabled.

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Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Special Events
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The 2013 Fashion for Paws Runway Show

Photo credit: Moshe Zusman

 

Cute critters, cupcakes, celebs and clothes, oh my! If you’re looking for something spectacular to do this weekend, then The 2013 Fashion For Paws runway show this Saturday, April 13, 2013 at the National Building Museum is your ticket.

E! News Now anchor and E! News correspondent Ashlan Gorse returns to host over 1,700 guests for a four hour open bar and runaway show to support the Washington Humane Society. Which, by-the-way, is where I got my adorbs orange tabby Archie.

At this year’s event, Congressmen Jim Moran (D-Virginia) and John Campbell (R-California) will be honored with the 2013 Humane Hero Award, which recognizes individuals in media, politics and entertainment who have displayed a passion for animal welfare.

So whether you’re an animal <3er or a fashion enthusiast, get your ticket now!!!

The Features
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LATINO/US Cotidiano

LATINO/US Cotidiano Spain Arts & Culture

With the Latino/a community in the United States now past the 50 million mark, the spectrum of what it means to be Latino-American has never been broader. To reflect that vast and ever-changing identity, SPAIN arts and culture has teamed up with the National Portrait Gallery to bring us LATINO/US Cotidiano.

Curator Claudi Carreras gathered work from 12 photographers of Latino descent to show a variety of viewpoints on the experience of being Latino in the US. He specifically focused on work that challenged stereotypes and depicted how Latinos interact with US culture.

The result – a book and traveling exhibition – is a glorious hodgepodge of images and ideas now on view at the former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain.

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The Features, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Almost Home

Almost Home cocktail by Katie Nelson Jenn Larsen

For this week’s edition of Friday Happy Hour, a road trip is necessary. Given how many excellent bartenders we are lucky to have here in our city, you might object, but this is for one of our own. The lovely Katie Nelson, formerly of the Columbia Room, is currently at Rappahannock Restaurant in Richmond, VA helping to establish their bar program. Having been an ardent fan of Katie’s craft in the past, I simply had to travel down south to see what she’s up to – plus she’s a wonderful friend.

You can enjoy Rappahannock’s oysters right here in DC at Union Market with a very fine drink program helmed by the talented J.P. Fetherston, also a Columbia Room alum. But if you have the time, take the train for an easy trip to see Katie at Rappahannock’s restaurant in downtown RVA. The space is industrial warehouse chic, dominated by a concrete bar, and the food is top-notch (especially a cured salmon dish which frankly I would’ve ordered twice in a row that same night).

The cocktail menu features highballs in a variety of styles – classic, Southern, Spanish (gorgeously garnished with a twiggy licorice root), and Japanese – and cocktails crafted with Katie’s mixture of botanical whimsy. The Almost Home is made with Yamazaki 12-year-old Japanese whiskey, La Gitana Manzanilla sherry, lavender honey, and grapefruit zest.

To my mind, a great cocktail invokes memory, and enjoying one is the essence of sensuality. Sipping Almost Home, I was reminded of a sunny day touring the rooftop garden of The Passenger, among the honeybees. Of all sunny summer days, relaxing on a blanket in the park with a good book. It’s a beautiful drink. The combination of the Japanese whiskey and the Manzanilla sherry is a tricky one to describe, it’s so very light – nut, floral, apple – and they are both delicately balanced against the lavender honey, which slowly mellows as you finish.

It’s worth a lazy train ride.

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Crashing Panels And Taking Names

Photo courtesy of Dan Dan The Binary Man
TGIF! From Me & Orion :)
courtesy of Dan Dan The Binary Man

This Friday just got even better since a friend of mine showed me “The Panel Crasher.”  The two day old blog documents the exploits of a former Hill staffer/Non-profit associate turned unemployed sequestration victim with a ton of time and no funds as he crashes Think Tank/Hill events, eats their food, pays no attention to their discussions and then makes fun of them on his blog.  There have only been two entries to date, but they feature a problem intern girl, Michael Jordan fashion, a Luke Perry reference and tons of other hilarity.

Week in Review
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Week In Review: 4/1-4/4

Street Photography|Washingon DC|Fast Food Theatre| Columbia Heights| streetamatic

The word is that we’re going to have a nice weekend, weather-wise. Let’s hope the predictions are correct and we can have more of the tease we had on Monday. But until tomorrow and Sunday get here, we only have the past week to keep us company. So enjoy again Opening Day, some fog, and the first signs that Spring is supposed to be about. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Drinks
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Meanwhile, in Another City

Not Grapefruit Samer Farha

While this site is about and for DC and the surrounding areas, sometimes there are worthwhile events worth traveling for, such as the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. The opening gala on May 17 takes DC’s annual Repeal Day Ball and turns the dials up to about 35:  it takes over the main branch of the New York Public Library, with space for a few thousand guests and multiple bars, bands, speakeasies, and hidden delights scattered around four floors of the building. It ain’t cheap though.  This year the organizers have announced a new Uber VIP package, which includes VIP admission to the gala, transportation from Uber, and access to the MCC’s parallel Industry Invitational event, which runs from May 18-20.

What’s the Industry Invitational? It’s an inside look at all sides of the business, with sessions on history, operations, trends, best practices, and, oh, free spirits tastings all day long.  For three days. If you’ve ever wondered what really goes into your cocktail glass – the who, the what, the how, and the how much – there’s no better way to learn than by spending three days attending professional seminars. Last year (on a press pass) I attended talks on the economics of production, the effects of filtration, the importance of ice, and a demonstration on how to use a rotovap or an iSi siphon to infuse spirits with flavors like habañero pepper or coffee.  Plus countless others I’ve forgotten, since I had a cocktail in my hand by noon every day.

The gala is worth attending (if you can afford it, that is), and the public events are a blast, but if you’re a cocktail nerd the Industry Invitational might just be worth the cost of the ticket and the trip to New York.

Disclosures: we have received no compensation for this post but the Social Chair and I attended last year’s event on a press pass, and due to a misunderstanding, inadvertently crashed the opening Gala (and were let in with VIP passes once all was said and done). I wouldn’t recommend it if we hadn’t enjoyed and learned from it.