Category Archives: The Daily Feed

All Politics is Local, News, The Daily Feed
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Wait, What? Post Endorses Vincent Orange

Photo courtesy of
‘Vincent Orange’
courtesy of ‘Daquella manera’

It was notable that the Post endorsed Adrian Fenty two weeks ago because of the date. This morning’s endorsement of former councilman Vincent Orange is remarkable because it seems their only significant issue is Kwame Brown’s personal debt. The Post praises Orange’s leadership and conviction, and his vote of “Present” on the selection of Attorney General Peter J. Nickles, but the editorial is entirely silent on the matters of policy facing the council now, or on the policy debates between Brown & Orange.

I have to say: the endorsements from the Post have not happened as I would have expected, and that perhaps their editorial board might be a bit divorced from day to day life in the District these days. I was thinking, that given the candidates in both the Mayor’s race and the Council Chair’s race, we would likely be facing a no-endorse statement, but it seems that the Post has weighed in early and peculiarly. What do you make of these endorsements?

The Daily Feed
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A Reminder of Changing Fates

Photo courtesy of
‘National Press Club #40’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

36 years ago today, Richard Nixon turned in a letter to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger resigning the Presidency. He became the first President of the United States to walk away from the office, and left in charge Vice President Gerald Ford, who proclaimed that “our long national nightmare is over.” I know someone who toured the White House the next morning, and every photo of Nixon was absent, every one of them replaced with pictures of President Ford. All traces of Nixon had been quickly, quietly and systematically eradicated.

This is a town that can turn on a dime, strike out allegiances and bury you in just 24 hours, with the help of swift, diligent and silent forces of the bureaucracy. Every once in awhile it’s a good idea to take a moment, pause, and reflect on the fate of Nixon. No one questions that Nixon made mistakes, and that his hubris, along with his cover-up attempt, were responsible for his downfall, but this is a town that will just erase you from its present.

Now, if you’ll be needing me, I’ll be over here burning some old photographs and erasing some tapes.

News, The Daily Feed
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TBD.com Launches

TBD.com, All Over Washington

For the past couple years, there’s been a dichotomy in the DC online news world.  You have, on one side, a couple serious journalistic outfits in the Washington Post, the Washington Times, WTOP and some culture specialists like the City Paper, and on the others, the wild west of cityblogging with us, DCist, and a ton of other awesome folks that we love and respect. And the rule was: ne’er the twain shall meet.

No longer.  This morning at 4:26am, they flipped the switch over at the ABC-7 building and TBD.com came to life.  The site will feature not just staff-written content that focuses on the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area, but also the work of a large community network of sites like ours.  You will see stories from We Love DC on TBD over the next few weeks, along side those of other sites in the TBD Community Network.  We got our first look late yesterday, but Aaron from DCist and Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine have great roundups from their Friday previews.

We look forward to working with them in the future. Now get some sleep, TBDers, or at a bare minimum, some more coffee.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Bagdatis/Nalbandian to Meet in Legg Mason Final


Marcos Bagdatis by Max Cook

AUGUST 7, by Paula Schumann

The weather was perfect for tennis on Saturday afternoon at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic as the first semifinal singles match got underway inside the Stadium
Court. Marco Baghdatis (CYP) faced Xavier Malisse (BEL) in a match whose
outcome seemed anyone’s guess. There was no favorite and no underdog.

The stadium was still filling up as the match began with Malisse serving. He
held his serve easily and seemed calm and confident. Baghdatis got off to a shaky start when his service game went to deuce twice before holding. But as
things progressed you could see the two styles of play establish a certain rhythm
that would prevail throughout the match. Mallise played deep from the back of
the court, confident with his seemingly effortless ground strokes, and Baghdatis
worked from inside the baseline, coming in to take points at the net.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Upsets Continue at Legg Mason


Xavier Malisse by Max Cook

AUGUST 6, by Paula Schumann

There were more upsets at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Friday in the quarter final round played during the day session.  After Thursday night’s ousting of Andy Roddick, it seemed like anything could happen, and so it went. First up was Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs Xavier Malisse (BEL), winner of Thursday night’s match against John Isner.  They split sets, Malisse taking the first 6-4, and Berdych taking the second 3-6.

In the third set, Berdych showed some signs of coming unglued when he
challenged an in call on a shot by Malisse, which was confirmed in by shot spot.
He continued to argue that the shot spot was clearly wrong.  I heard others from
the crowd voicing the same opinion.  But shot spot rules, so play continued.  He
then regained his composure to serve a 129 mph ace.  Malisse seemed the
calmer of the two despite the occasional double fault and unforced error.  He
wasn’t letting it get under his skin or at least he wasn’t showing it.  He went on
to get an early break and then held his serve.  At 4-1, Berdych held his serve
when the game ended by Malisse mishitting a ball that flew into the upper stands.
Malisse still remained stoic, head down and onto the next game.  Berdych lost
another challenge on his serve, which just seemed to further unravel him.  On
match point he came to the net but his volley went long and Malisse took the set,
6-2, and the match.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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More LEGO Fun This Weekend

Segway, courtesy of BrickFair

In addition to the great exhibit over at the National Building Museum, LEGO enthusiasts have another weekend event to attend: BrickFair 2010.  This annual event, held at the Dulles Expo Center, includes LEGO seminars, LEGO activities, and LEGO displays all weekend.  Events range from something called “Drunk Speed Build” to an interactive play area, so BrickFair is sure to satisfy visitors of all ages.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for kids, and the event is open to the public between 11 AM and 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday.

The Daily Feed
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Norman Scribner retires from Choral Arts Society

choral.jpg

Maestro Norman Scribner, founding director of Choral Arts Society of Washington, this afternoon announced his retirement after 45 years with the group.  Scribner will set down his baton for the last time on August 31st, 2012, ending a 47 year tenure with the organization as its artistic director.  Scribner’s career in DC has been nothing short of outstanding, and he has lead the 180-voice volunteer chorus to many heights.

Choral Arts will work over the next two years to identify a succeeding artistic director (for one cannot merely replace Maestro Scribner) to lead the organization, based on a process that was approved by their board in 2007.  We will miss the Maestro greatly, and wish him well in his retirement.

The Daily Feed
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The Saloon Pausing to Build Schools

Photo courtesy of
‘Saloon’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

You may have walked by The Saloon on U Street, you may have noticed the yellow painted names on their red brick. These are people that have donated more than $150 to their associated charity schools-building project, The Kamal Foundation. The Saloon and The Kamal Foundation builds schools in Africa, Southeast Asia and in other underserved parts of the world with the money they collect. Starting Sunday, they’ll be closed until September 2nd while they head over to Uganda and Ethiopia to build a pair of schools, so if you want one last fix of a great bar before they go dark for four weeks, get yourself there before the weekend.

And think about buying a brick while you’re there. This is the kind of stuff I’d love to see more of.

The Daily Feed
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It’s National Root Beer Float Day!

Photo Credit: Mary Park

Nothing screams summer like a nice frothy mug of root beer and ice cream. Something about the chemical reaction and all those bubbles brings me right back to the summer before 7th grade. Luckily, the restaurants of greater Washington are making sure that on this, the holiest of holidays, we don’t have to forget that summer. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Storm Takes Out US Players


Xavier Malisse by Max Cook

AUGUST 5, by Paula Schumann

The skies broke open and the rain came lashing down just as the third round
matches were about to get under way on Thursday afternoon at the Legg Mason
Tennis Classic.  Despite the severe storm, play was able to proceed with the use of
large blowers to dry off the courts.  By around 8 pm, the action got started on
the Stadium Court with John Isner (USA) facing Xavier Mallise (BEL).  Shortly
after, the side courts were dry and it was a night that made choosing where to
be quite difficult.  I took the opportunity to spend some time on the side courts.
Because the rain had thinned out the crowds a bit, it was easy to get up close
and personal.  If you’ve always thought that the only way to see a match is on a
center stadium court, I highly recommend the smaller side courts for witnessing
the intensity and level of exertion of the pros.  I ran into a fellow tennis enthusiast
at one point who said she only likes to sit in the aptly named “sweaty seats”.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Whole Foods Coming to Foggy Bottom

Photo courtesy of
‘Whole Foods Market on P Street’
courtesy of ‘Maryland Route 5’

Good news for anyone caught in between Georgetown and Shaw who has a hankering for an olive bar. Prince of Petworth caught wind that the large vacancy at 2200 Pennsylvania Ave will be the future home of another District location for Whole Foods. On the southeast side of Washington Circle, the location will likely attract quite a crowd both on weekends and mid-day from George Washington students and K Street professionals.

The downtown location would be the fifth Whole Foods within the District, and that doesn’t even consider other nearby locations in Clarendon, Old Town and Maryland.

News, The Daily Feed
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Individual School Test Results Out

Photo courtesy of
’01-29-08′
courtesy of ‘Fort Worth Squatch’

Individual school test results are now out for DC Public Schools and Charter Schools, so if you want to go check your neighborhood school’s results, you can. Just a warning, they’re not all rosy. The elementary school two blocks up from my house (Burroughs) was static in reading proficiency and saw an 18 percentage point drop in math proficiency, which kinda scares the crap out of me.

How’d your elementary or middle school do this year?

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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$10 Off at Silver Diner

Silver Diner

When you think about diner food, “fresh” and “local” probably don’t spring to mind. But the fine folks at the Silver Diner are out to change all that – and to let you try some of their new dishes for free.

Starting today, if you “like” Silver Diner on Facebook and enter your e-mail on their form, they’ll send you a coupon for $10 off once they reach 5,000 fans.

Their new Fresh & Local choices mean if you order a salad topped with local blueberries and goat cheese, it’ll taste great.

And you can still order a burger – they’ll just hold the hormones and the long truck ride for your beef, and stack on extra juicy flavor.

News, The Daily Feed
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Storm, Train Derailment Snarl Commute

Photo courtesy of
‘derailed traffic’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

A horrific line of storms has done significant damage to trees and power lines along the GW Parkway in Alexandria, and a coal train derailing on the CSX tracks near Quantico have brought two major avenues out of DC to a screeching halt. Downed trees and crushed cars on the GW Parkway have closed the thoroughfare, in both directions, from 395 down past Slaters Lane. The area near there has no power, though, and most of the traffic lights are out throughout Old Town Alexandria. Just a PSA: A traffic signal with no power is a four way stop. Dominion reports that almost 20,000 customers are without power in that immediate area, and that they are working on the situation.

More serious is the overturned coal train on the CSX tracks near Quantico, VA. VRE has suspended all southbound trains at Crystal City and will be busing customers from there to their final destinations. There will not be recovery equipment available until after 10pm tonight, so if you’re planning to come in on the train tomorrow morning, you’re going to want to spend time on VRE’s website to check to see what the current situation is.

Be careful out there, as there’s still one more line of storms due to hit the area before nightfall.

Entertainment, Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Wrapping Up the Rickey

Alex Bookless wins the Rickey Contest. Photo: Scott Wolfson.

The Third Annual Rickey Month Celebration was Monday night, and I’m only now getting around to recap it after being honored to participate in the final judging. That should give you a better idea of what kind of wild fun party it was than anything I could possibly write, but…

The five final contestants presented a quintet of Rickey riffs highlighting the enormous talent we have on hand here in DC mixology. None were derivative, all were inventive, and it was a very tough call. That’s the sign of an excellent field of contestants – congratulations to the DC Craft Bartenders Guild!

But there has to be a winner, and it was Alex Bookless (The Passenger) with her The Root of All Rickey, a complex mix of both event sponsors Woodford Reserve Bourbon and Hendrick’s Gin. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Beer, Music & Art

Photo courtesy of
‘The Phillips Collection’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Phillips After 5 tonight will feature ChurchKey’s Greg Engert, who will be pouring up some delicious white beers, and DJ Danny Harris, likely to be spinning tunes from the Beatles’ White Album.  And of course, you can enjoy all of this while also taking in The Phillips Collection’s incredible exhibits.

If you have never been to this fun D.C. event, I recommend you battle the severe thunderstorms and kick off the weekend right!

The Daily Feed
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Where You Live

Photo courtesy of
‘Dupont Circle Storefronts’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Love where you live?  We want to hear about it!  After a year and a half and 32 neighborhoods, our Where We Live feature is nearing retirement.  But before it goes we want to make sure we’ve covered all the neighborhoods in the DC region that meet the following criteria:

  1. have both a commercial and residential component (what makes it worth a visit, and why is it a great place to live?),
  2. are within the Metro-served area of DC/MD/VA and/or inside the Beltway, and
  3. have someone that would like to talk to us about what it’s like to live there.

We’ve profiled 21 District neighborhoods, 7 Virginia neighborhoods, and 4 Maryland neighborhoods already, so check out what we’ve covered so far.  If your neighborhood hasn’t been covered and you want to talk to me about where you live, leave a comment here and I’ll get in touch with you.  Thanks!

The Daily Feed
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Lack of Consistency Plagues the Nats

Photo courtesy of
‘6TH’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’

There are two merry-go-rounds currently circulating in NatsTown: the starting rotation and the outfield player selection. This of course has been a theme throughout the season dating back to Spring Training.

Any time either of these run-around situations appears to be settling, it flares up again like bone chips in Jason Marquis’ elbow.

The outfield conundrum is one issue that is a little easier to settle since there are less chips being played. Let’s start with who’s in the field. Continue reading →