Dear Senator Casey,

It’s touching that you have decided to rail against the Nationals new policy of selling to the home market first for games against the Phillies. Really, it is.

It’s not like unemployment is a problem, or there are massive deficits in the federal budgets, or heavy duty partisan bickering sessions over things that matter to Americans everywhere, like the new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, or things of those natures. No, clearly Philly fans being told to wait their turn on tickets for a series three months from now rises to a level of concern for you.

Here’s something you should recognize about the District: we don’t tend to like it when out of town senators and congress critters try to influence city policy.

Take a hike.

The Phillies may have some of the best fans of the world, but they’ve also got some of the worst. Need I remind you of the projectile vomiting fan? He’s one of yours. I’m sure this little old lady is, too.

Please, do your country and your constituents a favor and get back to working on issues that matter.

Love,

Tom Bridge, Editor, We Love DC

PS -

We’re in the home stretch of the week, folks. Go get some food truck goodness.

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Whoopie Wednesday. Go. Get. It. Girl.

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One of Pennsylvania Avenue’s three most recognizable facades is that of the Old Post Office, located at 12th and Pennsylvania, and sporting DC’s third highest pinnacle at 329 feet. Yesterday, the General Services Administration selected the Trump Hotel Collection to refurbish the historic building and turn it into a 250-room luxury hotel including a fancy spa.

The name that the Trump group will give the hotel is similarly jarring: “Trump International Hotel, Old Post Office, Washington, D.C.” Is it just me, or does that sound like a bad Europhone translation of what we’re seeing here? I know that like a dog in the park, Trump likes to mark his territory, but wouldn’t just calling it the Old Post Hotel be a lot more “Washington” and a lot less “Jesus Christ, That’s Opulent”?

Ah well, it’s going to take a while before the bedraggled food court is ousted, and the new hotel goes in, with construction not beginning for two more years, and a 2016 date is posited for opening.

Photo: Stephen Elliot / mudproductions.com for Crystal Couture

Tonight marks the first public night of the annual Crystal Couture event in Crystal City.

For five nights, a host of local boutiques and lines will gather for a massive trunk show (some offering discounts up to 50%) and to present their wares in a series of runway shows. Pretty People Vintage, Toucan Boutique, and Stella & Dot are among the participating vendors. There will also be hair and make-up consultations and services available for shoppers needing a bit of a refresher.

For those who do not often get a chance to run all over the metro area scoping out all the small local shops and designers, this seems like a great one-stop shop to find something new for spring.

Supposed to be kinda nice outside today. You should go take advantage of that…

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You may have noticed the signs posted in the front windows of Tryst, Local 16, Solly’s, or maybe even Hello Cupcake. But in case you didn’t , here’s the low down. For the past four months, there’s been a monthly “DC Local Music Day” (FYI: It’s February 8 this month).

What is DC Local Music Day? It is the day in which the aforementioned shops (and others) stream music created by local artists from open to close. This is all thanks to Listen Local First.

If you haven’t heard of it yet, LLF is a new local music initiative in town. LLF is devoted to building awareness and creating opportunities for local musicians and venues in order to raise the profile of DC’s local music scene. All things considered, they’ve been doing a pretty good job so far. They’ve got a growing list of local business partnerships and show no sign of slowing down.

LLF is the brain child of co-founders Chris Naoum and Rene Moffatt and their next goal for the project is bringing the DC music scene to SXSW this March.

“We have some very talented very serious musicians in this town. Many of them will be heading down to Austin. What can we do to bring extra attention to these artists while they are in Austin and when they come back home,” Naoum said. “The Mobile Music Venue is all about exposure.”

Want to get involved and support the Mobile Music Venue campaign? It’s easy. Visit the Listen Local First Kickstarter page to learn how.

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It was a bad weekend for Washington sports. However while some are bummed over the Caps loss to the Bruins yesterday, at least they are hovering above .500 with a 27-21 record. It would take a miracle for the Washington Wizards to achieve such a feat.

This past weekend the Wizards lost to the Clippers in a 87-107 blowout. At 4-20, you would think that the funk of defeat couldn’t penetrate any deeper. This game however struck me as a moment where everything that happened just felt apropos. Much like how the entire season can be viewed while listening to the Benny Hill theme song.

The game started on a high note. Blake Griffin put up a dunk to which Nick Young rebutted with a dunk of his own. DeAndre Jordan then caught a rebound for a dunk and John Wall took the ball to the other end and throw up a lob for JaVale McGee to slam home.

Perhaps the game would at least be entertaining if not competitive? It turned out the game would be neither. The rest of the night just went down hill from there.

By halftime the Clippers led 34-58, the boos were coming in not for Andray Blatche (still out with a calf injury) but for the poor play of the Washington Professional Basketball Team. Any time Chris Paul and Griffin raced down the court on a fast break, you could hear the “oh no’s” in the crowd. It was an odd mixture of excitement for another Lob City highlight dunk and a realization of futility that the Wizards would never really be in this game.

Little things off the court started to feel right in line with the play on the court. A Wizards fan who played the shuffle game on the jumbo-tron failed to pick the shell that had G-Wiz was hiding under. During a time-out there was a trike race sponsored by the Washington Post that failed to end on-time, causing a hasty retreat from the court as the players walked on.

When play resumed things weren’t looking good for the Wizards, who only added to the long list of video lowlights. Like this one:

Capital City isn’t Lob City.

With 8:00 left in the game the Clippers had the follower players out on the court:

• Ryan Gomes
• Randy Foye
• Trey Thompkins
• Brian Cook
• Travis Leslie

Blake Griffin was already in sweats sitting back and relaxing after putting up 21 points and a billion gazillion dunks. Late in the forth quarter the crowd cameras were put up on the screen to find the “Fan of the Game”.

At that moment the crowd was already getting up and heading for the exits with about five minutes left to play.

After the game a tired and perhaps shell-shocked Randy Wittman sat down and just stared at the box score of the game, trying to make sense of it all.

“We got dominated again in every category,” Coach Wittman managed to say after a moment of silence reading the box score and admitted that he didn’t know how to fix what just happened.

“I don’t know I’m still searching too.”

Tonight the Wizards play the Raptors in a game that should be less David and Goliath than Saturday, however the two played each other this past Friday and Toronto blew them out 89-106.

While the Capitals lost on the scoreboard to the Bruins yesterday afternoon, the bigger loss might have been in the locker room. Versatile forward Brooks Laich was helped off the ice after a hard check into the board and did not return for the remainder of the game. Laich was seen leaving Verizon Center in a leg brace and on crutches, leading to speculation about his return, and is currently listed as “day-to-day” by coach Dale Hunter. If this was the beginning of the season, there would not be much to worry about. Hockey is a rough sport and players are often injured. However, right now we are entering the thick of the playoff race and the games are all looking like they are “must win.”

Laich, who is currently sixth on the team in points (10 goals, 18 assists), joins Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green on the list of highly-paid, important Caps personnel who are unable to assist the team as it attempts to claw its way into the playoffs from its present position in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The three players represent about $16.5, or 25%, of the team’s total payroll.

When Laich went down and was helped to the dressing room, many fans on Twitter were remarking that it might be the nail in the coffin for the Caps chances at the Stanley Cup or even the playoffs at all. With the NHL trade deadline looming in only three weeks, and clear knowledge that some sort of changes must be made, the Capitals are faced with the decision to either fish or cut bait.

Since arguing with yourself is not the most productive (or sane) of pastimes, Kevin Klein (follow him on Twitter @sickunbelievabl) of the new and highly recommended Capitals blog Sick, Unbelievable has provided one (probably more popular) option for the Caps: be buyers over the next month and make a hard run at the playoffs and Cup.

Kevin argues that acquiring one good piece could vault the Caps into the mix of things, especially since the Eastern Conference is so tight this season:

The trade deadline looms at the end of a shortened month, and the Capitals’ needs are painfully evident. Washington is a team that is built to win now, not later, and a failure to secure a playoff berth would mark one of the biggest disappointments in the franchise’s 38 season history. Their best players are entering the primes of their careers, and the team has now experienced four consecutive postseasons with the same core of players. But always there has been a missing element. Thus, it makes sense that the Capitals will be buyers, not sellers.

Though general managers are a clandestine bunch when it comes to the status of their players, a few names have emerged as trade-deadline candidates around the league. At center— a position at which the Caps currently resemble a one armed man clinging to a piece of sodden flotsam­­­­— the following options have been bandied about: Derek Roy, Ryan Getzlaf, Sam Gagner, and Jeff Carter.

The assumption was that one of these players, upon acquisition, could center the team’s second line, thereby bolstering the offense in both even strength and powerplay scenarios. But now, with Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich’s health hanging in the balance, a trade target’s responsibilities within his hypothetical new team could be even greater.

A brief analysis of each: Gagner, already labeled a bust by some at age 22, spent the week in the record books after reeling off points in 11 consecutive Edmonton goals over a span of 3 periods. But Gagner is unproven, and this streak may have made him pricier than he’s worth. Getzlaf is a proven, big bodied center with a scoring touch. In a perfect world he’d end the season wearing a Caps sweater. Getzlaf’s con however, is his cap hit of $5.3m— a trait he shares with Jeff Carter, who also boasts an enormous 11 year contract. As Getzlaf has only one year left on his contract, it makes him a much lower-risk option.

Derek Roy, perhaps the quintessential fit for Washington’s roster needs and salary allowances, is another veteran top-2 center, under contract through next season, with a cap hit of only $4m. Any of these players, though, would greatly improve the Caps’ chances at a sustained playoff run.

There is still much to be learned between now and February 27th— Backstrom, Laich, and Mike Green’s health paramount among them— but one thing is certain: February will not be a quiet month for George McPhee.

However, there is also the possibility that the inverse is true in this situation. That is, what the Capitals can pick up at the trade deadline is not enough to help them achieve postseason success. There are two important aspects that must be considered when examining the Caps’ personnel situation: the present and the future. I think that a serious argument could be made that it would be in the best interests of the Capitals in both the short-term and long-term to sell, sell, sell as the trade deadline approaches.

In the short term, there is the question of just how much talent would have to be acquired in order for the Capitals to be successful. Mike Green, arguably the team’s number one defenseman, is out for at least a few more weeks recovering from a groin injury (which are notoriously hard to recover from) and abdominal surgery for a sports hernia. Nicklas Backstrom is still experiencing concussion-like symptoms from a Rene Bourque cheap shot, similar to Sidney Crosby, who has been benched almost the entire 2011-12 season after sustaining a similar injury last year, and Marc Savard, who hasn’t played since a concussion in the 2009-10 season. If Brooks Laich is also sidelined with an injury for an extended period of time, there might not be enough quality players available for the Caps to sign or trade for to be successful this season, or the cost of acquiring such replacement players might be ruinous to the Capitals’ future chances.

Thinking long-term also leads to the same conclusion. After the Caps fired coach Bruce Boudreau early in the season, not only did it soon become abundantly clear that the previous coach was not the problem, but also that the team believed that new coach Dale Hunter figured prominently in their long-term plans. According to GM George McPhee, the team had “talked consistently over 12 years [to Hunter], and was always hoping that one day Dale could coach this team.”

Hunter will be the coach next season. As constructed, however, the team is not set up to succeed under Hunter’s system, evidenced by its lackluster performance since November. It is obvious that Hunter can coach: he was the fastest Ontario Hockey League coach to record 400 wins (although his success remains to be proven at the NHL level). The solution, then, is to give Hunter players with which he can implement his system and win hockey games. In order to get those players, the Capitals will need to give up assets of their own and give the players time (read: an offseason of practice) to gel and become a cohesive unit.

Next year’s Caps team will probably look much different than it now appears. Mike Knuble is aging and will likely retire. Enigmatic Russian winger Alex Semin will likely not be re-signed due to both the disconnect between his whopping salary ($6.7 million) and mediocre performance (currently 112th in the NHL in points) and the advent of prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov next season. Goalie Tomas Vokoun has been solid in net for Washington, but only signed a one-year deal, one in which he was disappointed and that convinced him to fire his agent, which invites speculation that he might be looking for a bigger payday with the Caps or elsewhere this offseason.

In addition to those players, the Capitals will also have to re-sign or replace Mike Green ($5.25 million), Dennis Wideman ($3.93 million), and John Carlson, who will be due a raise from his rookie contract. In order to make some or all of these deals, salary will need to be shed. Why not move some players now to a contending team and stockpile draft picks and prospects with which to make moves over the summer, instead of letting them leave in free agency for nothing. That way, the Capitals will have the cap space and the incentives with which to get Dale Hunter exactly the players he wants for next season’s campaign. A well-constructed team with a plan and on the same page as its coach has a much higher chance of success than one cobbled together at the trade deadline, such as Washington has tried the past few seasons.

In my opinion, it is worth going through a rebuild (although not a complete fire sale) and missing the playoffs for a few seasons and then winning the Cup as opposed to barely making the playoffs every season and getting quickly eliminated. For these reasons I think the Caps will be sellers as we approach the trade deadline in a few weeks.

In either case, as Kevin mentioned, February will not be a quiet month for the Capitals.

The United States Park Police did on Saturday morning what they had been threatening to do for a week, and cleared out the tents and violating equipment from McPherson Square Park. The four-month occupation of the park by a group of protestors discussing varied issues from income inequality to college loan debt to the war in Afghanistan. Eight were arrested, and one officer was hurt when he was hit in the head by a brick, but otherwise the action was without violence. For a more personal view of the action, I highly encourage you to read Dave Stroup’s take on Saturday’s actions, which speak to the ephemeral community of Occupy K Street.

The photos from the morning after are a sad coda to the state of the park, which had just undergone a refurbishment by the Park Service, with new sod and landscaping both destroyed by the four-month long protest. You can’t do the math on an event like this, though, and expect to get a proper sum. In the end, their issues are on the lips of many District residents, both to discuss, and to mock.

I was very glad to see this pass without significant violence, and without a high arrest total. The Tent of Dreams, pictured above, might have been Occupy DC’s finest hour, but it could only last so long.

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On a sunny February afternoon, it’s a wonderful thing to think about baseball and dream of the balmy summer evenings, the smell of the half smokes on the grill, the hum of an AM radio wafting on the breeze, and the thrill of the grass in front of you.

It’s a lot less fun to think about the drunk from Philly who’s two rows down in front of you throwing batteries at Jayson Werth.

The Nationals have opened up tickets for DC area residents ahead of anywhere else for DC metro area residents through an online pre-sale. This won’t keep the Philly fans out of Nats Park, but it will mean there are fewer of them. Go out and do your duty and cheer on the (drastically improved) Nationals this May.

Food truck friday? FOOD TRUCK FRIDAY! Check out that strEATS-powered map!

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Last weekend the National Gallery of Art reopened the Nineteenth-Century French Galleries, which contain works by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Modigliani and Picasso.

The gallery now organizes the paintings thematically and provides textual panels to help visitors understand the reasoning behind the new groupings. In addition, thirteen of the paintings have been restored.

I went last Saturday and was blown away by both the beauty on display and the enthusiasm of the visitors around me. In fact, I was so amazed by the Cézanne pieces that I ran out of time and missed Monet. However that shouldn’t be a problem: the NGA’s price tag (always free) and nearness to Metro mean I can always…Gauguin. Yes, that’s a little Post-Impressionist humor for your Friday.

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While others have taken on the Primary election financial data, I spent yesterday combing through the financials of those Ward 5 Council candidates who have declared their intent to run. I’ve compiled my initial data into a read-only spreadsheet that you can use to dissect the race, and I welcome corrections either in the comments or via email. Using the campaign filings with the Office of Campaign Finance, I have examined closely the filings of the 12 candidates who returned the forms to OCF.  I’m surprised that there are at least eight who have taken out petitions who have yet to return file with the OCF, but there are provisions that would allow a candidate not to return forms right away.

There are four campaigns that have made efforts to fundraise in the first reporting period, representing approximately 20 days of fundraising time.  Delano Hunter leads the pack with just over $20,000 across 119 donors, followed by Kenyan McDuffie with just under $17,000 across 76 donors.  Frank Wilds made a $10,000 loan to his own campaign, but tracked no donations. Bloomingdale ANC Commissioner John Salatti was fourth with $7,600 or so.  No other candidate raised more than $550.

Looking at the data in detail, it was surprising to see so much of Delano Hunter’s contributions come from outside of the District, with more than half his donors coming from zip codes outside of DC, despite some clerical errors in his filing that lists DC state marks for many addresses in Colorado, Georgia, Maryland and other states. More than 55% of the money for Hunter came from outside of DC.  Kenyan McDuffie showed similarly strong fundraising capability, bringing in over $10,000 in online donations during the three days before the filing. In addition, McDuffie lead the candidates for donations coming from both DC residents and Ward 5 residents in both donor numbers and total dollars raised. McDuffie did receive approximately 40% of his funding from outside of the District, to the tune of nearly $7,000.

Coming in fourth, John Salatti saw donations from primarily his base in Bloomingdale, with few donations coming from outside the reach of the 20001 zip code that contains Bloomingdale.

When it came to corporate money in the race, Hunter lead the pack, accepting 10 corporate donations totaling over $4,000, including bundled donations from the owners of the controversial Stadium Club gentleman’s club, and former Prince George’s County Executive Wayne Curry and his Consulting practice.  John Salatti was tied for second in corporate donations, which included a pair of bundled donations from a construction management firm and its owners, and a Development firm and its owner. McDuffie’s campaign said in a press release that they will not accept bundled donations in this race.

Full Disclosure: I am a volunteer for the Kenyan McDuffie Campaign, and a financial contributor to the campaign. No information not given to the public is available in this article.

Happy groundhog day! Pop out of your cubicle burrow and head into the daylight to grab some food truck grub.

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Welcome to February, food truckers. Hit the streets and get some food truck grub. Check out our strEATS-powered map to see where they are today.

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Say farewell to January and hello to February. See where the trucks are roaming on the last day of the month.

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Reigning MVP Derrick Rose was in a mood.

Sunday night he blamed himself for a loss against the Miami Heat that left him angry, emotional, and determined to make it up in the next game he’d play.

Unfortunately for the Washington Wizards they were that next game. Rose looked like a madman on the court in a 35 point performance as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Wizards 98-88.

The Wizards tried everything they could to stop Rose and the Bulls but it was to no avail. The loss left Wizards coach Randy Wittman a little testy, transferring his frustration to the press after the game. When asked about the team’s Pick and Roll strategy against Rose he answered to the reporter asking the question , “Did you of that question all day? If you have a new strategy, call my office tomorrow. We tried four different things. The way he played tonight, I don’t know if there’s anything we would have thrown out there that could have of. So did he dice it up? Yea, is that what you want me to say?”

I hope Wittman doesn’t read the column I wrote about him.

Rose’s play on the floor opened up opportunities for the rest of the Bulls. Kyle Korver went 5-12 outside the arc and ended the night with 17 points. Carlos Boozer (18 pts) and Joakim Noah (14 pts) also filled up the stat sheet. The Wizards ran up and down the floor in an attempt to stop Chicago, who led the game all four quarters. Iced knees were spotted in the Wizards locker room after the game.

“They’re one exhausted bunch of guys right now- that left it on the floor,” Wittman said.

The young Wizards squad tried everything they could to stop Rose but were left staring at a talent that is among the NBA’s best.

“Some of the shots he hit- they were unbelievable,” Trevor Booker said after the game, ”I watch him on TV but in person, it’s different. It’s way different. To see some of the things he did- it’s crazy.”

John Wall led the Wizards with 20 points and Nick Young racked up 17, but in the end they were left stung by Rose’s thorn.

“When you are making floaters over seven foot and tough shots like that- nothing you can do but credit a great talent like that,” Wall said.

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There’s a great video (after the jump) of Gabe Horchler of Cheverly MD. Mr. Horchler (the father of one of my friends from Cheverly) has been commuting to work on the Anacostia River for the past 14 years. The video is full of breath taking shots of the river and a great narrative by Gabe. It definitely makes you think about the river and what it means to our city.

I can attest to how amazing the Anacostia is. Back in 2009 I spent a lot of time kayaking along the river, launching out of Bladensburg Waterfront Park. Unlike the Potomac, few people are on the river; this allows a small sanctuary for wildlife to thrive. I’ve seen Great Blue Herons, beavers, snakes, Ospreys, Egrets, and even a Bald Eagle. It can be an amazing experience; I highly recommend going out if you can.

Check out the video after the jump along with a bunch of photos taken along the River.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Anacostia River Beaver
courtesy of Mr. T in DC

Wild DC – Look Into My Eyes – 5-30-09
courtesy of mosley.brian

Wild DC – Immature Bald Eagle – 6-27-09
courtesy of mosley.brian

Crud-Locked
courtesy of Tony DeFilippo

Wild DC – In the Thick of It – 6-7-09
courtesy of mosley.brian

beaver butt
courtesy of philliefan99

landing
courtesy of philliefan99

Timeless
courtesy of sally henny penny

Wild DC – River Runner – 5-30-09
courtesy of mosley.brian

If you use the South Entrance of the Dupont Circle Metro Station, well, I hope you like walking. You’ll be doing more of it, soon. Starting Wednesday, the South Entrance will be closed for 9 months while WMATA replaces the 185-foot spans that rise 85 feet to street level. The company that makes the particular escalators used in that entrance have been out of business for some time, which has made finding parts of the escalators difficult. Given that the spans are some of WMATA’s least reliable, that’s a combo that means replacement and not repair.

WMATA will be putting standard escalators in place and widening the current entrance space to handle these new, wider escalator bays, and the entrance will be closed until November of this year.  Farragut North’s northern entrance is just 0.5mi to the south, and the North Entrance of Dupont Circle will remain open during the work. In the case of emergency, Metro will leave one exit escalator span in place during the work for emergency egress, along with a new spiral staircase. The North Entrance of the station will have additional on-call escalator techs in case of failure.