Category Archives: The Daily Feed

The Daily Feed
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Dupont Snowball Fight Organizer Wants To Bring You World Cup Soccer

Photo courtesy of
‘One Big Ass Soccer Ball’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Remember that killer snowball fight in Dupont during Snowpocalypse Part I? People flung snow on every crevice of the already snow covered circle and had a jolly good time.

Now, one of the organizers of that epic snow battle has some high World Cup hopes of bringing Dupont Circle some soccer.

Michael Lipin, 32, is working with his friend Aaron DeNu, 31, according to WTOP, on obtaining National Park Service and FIFA permits to screen at least the U.S. vs England opening match on a giant screen in the circle.

The biggest obstacle besides the permits is the $20,000 needed to finance a one-day screening … that and receiving the OK from ESPN to broadcast the game, since ESPN just so happens to own the game’s broadcasting rights.

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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And now, more cute baby animals

Photo courtesy of
‘Rare White-Naped Crane Hatches National Zoo Conservation and Research Center’
courtesy of ‘Smithsonian’s National Zoo’

This morning on We Love DC it’s been all about SRS BIZNESS: Metro fares, soda taxes, streetcars, I-395 traffic patterns, etc. Which is all very important and informative, but if you need a little break, let me just point out that the National Zoo has just had some rare white-naped crane chicks hatch at their conservation center which means more cute baby animal photos for your brain break.

The Daily Feed
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Congressional Vote May Delay I-395 Migraine

Photo courtesy of
‘Stuck For Miles’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’

Virginia commuters, pay attention: Thursday may well be a good or bad day for your future commute, depending on how the House of Representatives vote on Jim Moran’s proposal. Moran is asking Congress to halt the transfer of thousands of defense workers to a new office building in Alexandria until the Pentagon can guarantee new commuting patterns won’t make what’s already a traffic headache becoming a full-blown migraine.

The Pentagon’s original plan, part of the 2005 federal base realignment, would relocate 6,400 workers to the Mark Center, located off Seminary Road near I-395. There are no immediate Metro access points to the building (it’s two miles from the closest rail station, but is serviced by a couple of bus routes), which would almost immediately spike the number of cars traveling to and from the center during rush hour. Moran’s measure aims to limit the Pentagon’s transfers to 1,000 cars, forcing the Pentagon to either delay most of the planned moves or come up with alternative carpool, bus, and/or telecommuting plans. One current solution – construction of an exit ramp off 395 that leads to the building – is currently on hold because of environmental issues. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Proposed FY11 Budget Kills Streetcars

Photo courtesy of
‘DC Streetcar Front’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Last minute changes to the 2011 District budget include the elimination of the District’s up-and-coming streetcar program. The changes, submitted to the Council by Chair Vincent Gray (D) at 2 AM last night, remove funding for the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line. Greater Greater Washington broke the news this morning, noting that Sarah Campbell, Gray’s director of capital projects had long been pushing to kill the streetcar program.

The streetcar program has faced many obstacles, including a concern over the use of overhead wires. A local advocacy group, the Committee of 100, has been an outspoken opponent of overhead wires, calling for more expensive wireless technology. Ms. Campbell has personal ties to Meg Maguire, the leader of the Committee of 100’s campaign against the streetcars. It’s unclear if that relationship had any influence on this decision.

The streetcar project aimed to help accelerate the revival of the H Street corridor. Construction has been underway on the line, and proximity to the streetcar is already being touted in real estate listings. This news has already blown up across the Internet, with many transit advocates and H Street residents showing outrage and stating they will now vote for Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) in the upcoming Democratic primary–where Vincent Gray is also a candidate.

News, The Daily Feed
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Gray revives the soda tax

Photo courtesy of
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

The soda tax is back, though this time as a extension of the District’s sales tax. Tim Craig at DC Wire reports that Council Chair Vincent Gray (D) wants all “non-alcoholic beverages with natural or artificial sweeteners” to be taxed at 6%. This tax replaces the now-dead proposal by Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) that would have added a 1-cent-per-ounce tax to sugar-based sodas. Presently all sodas are considered grocery items and are not subject to sales tax.

The new measure, which is a wider tax that would include diet sodas, is expected to bring in $8 million in revenue. $6.5 million of this would fund the Healthy Schools Initiative, with the leftovers going to the city’s general fund.

The new tax, while wider in scope, would raise the price of a $1.99 soda by around 12 cents. Cheh’s tax was based on the size of a beverage, resulting in nearly a 68 cent tax on a 2-liter beverage.

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Red Line Pre-dawn Derailment Snarls Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro Spirits’
courtesy of ‘pnzr242’

The pre-dawn derailment of a WMATA construction unit, called a Petibone, has snarled the Red Line for the moment. The unit, which derailed in the direction of Glenmont, near Union Station, necessitated the single-tracking of Red Line trains between Judiciary Square and New York Avenue. Delays are currently reported at approximately one hour on the Red Line. While the unit was re-railed by 6am, the damage to the track near Union Station has just been repaired, and dual-tracking has just recommenced.

Metro says that service has “returned to normal,” but that seems like an odd farce in the recognition that nothing about Metro has been remotely normal since last June’s crash. Trains remain at slower speeds with no return to ATO in sight, minor derailments continue on a semi-regular basis, and Metro’s not talking about the improvements they’re trying to make. Some of that, sure, is their desire to keep quiet until NTSB completes their review, but the silence isn’t reassuring. Hope your commute wasn’t awful.

News, The Daily Feed
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Councilman Thomas to Tax Non-Resident DC Employees & Contractors?

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

There’s some confusion out there regarding purported commuter tax proposed by Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5).  Councilman Thomas is proposing an amendment to the budget this year that would tax non-resident employees and contractors who work for the District of Columbia, whose income is paid out of non-federal line items.

That would mean District employees whose living is made serving federally appropriated line items would not be subject to such a tax. It’s also not clear what the city would charge these individuals, but somehow they’ve come up with a total benefit to the city of $70M. They’ll do the taxation “at the source,” meaning that the city will keep a portion of the contractor/employee’s pay for themselves, as well as assessing the standard taxes for the employee/contractor’s given home state. Confused yet? Yeah, me too. All I know is that it sounds like an end-around the problems with previous commuter taxes.

Councilman Thomas can be reached via email or phone at 202.724.8028 if you’d like to give the Councilman your feedback.

When we asked one of our authors who lives outside the District, but works for the city, they said that the councilman’s plan was “some bullshitty bullshit,” and asked “Does he really want all of Arlington to move into DC? Where would we fit?”

The Daily Feed
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Bat Boy Lends Nationals Pitcher His Helmet

Photo courtesy of
‘bat boy’
courtesy of ‘a loves dc’

With certain colleagues around these parts, I have learned to “agree to disagree” during arguments about the existence of the DH in the American League. I fall into the, “I like entertaining baseball” category; some may fall into the other side of “We like when the ninth guy up bunts, it makes the game more pure. Double switches, that’s baseball!” Like I said, though, agree to disagree.

However, Drew Storen (that other major pitching prospect for the Washington Nationals not named Stephen Strasburg) may have given me some motivation to come around to the other side – an excuse to tag a post with the infamous “Natinals” monker. As Michael Tunison at the Sporting Blog passed along:

The second of the Nationals two 2009 first-round picks (who is only slightly less heralded than the first one, but still generating his share of anticipation) was looking for a batting helmet with ear flaps on each side…Starter John Lannan offered his, but the helmet wouldn’t fit Storen. As it so happened, the bat boy’s did.

No, it’s not a jersey mistake, but it’s still really quite entertaining – and that’s something we can all agree on.

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Find Your New Fare

Photo courtesy of
‘Arithmetic machine’
courtesy of ‘marc kjerland’

If the proposed changes to the WMATA fare structure take effect as planned, how much more are you looking at in daily fees to ride the rails on our aging transport system? The Post’s Kat Downs and Jacqueline Kazil have built a calculator to help you figure it out.  I ran a few of my favorite routes through the calculator, and here’s what I found:

Van Dorn Street to Farragut West (my first commute)
Options: Peak of the Peak, Parking, 10 trips/wk
Per Week Increase: $12.50
Per Year Increase: $650.00
Per Week Parking Increase: $2.50
Per Year Parking Increase: $130.00

Total Yearly Increase: $780.00

Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, Night Life, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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An Evening with Samurai: No Ninjas Allowed

Photo courtesy of
‘ã��Edo Wonderlandã�� Bad Ass Samurai’
courtesy of ‘-ratamahatta-‘

Tonight, courtesy of the Japanese Embassy, you can catch some Bushi-Do, a mix of traditional swordplay, beautiful choreography, comedy and drama. Simply put it’s sword fighting with a contemporary twist. The event titled “An Evening With Samurai” starts at 6:30pm at the Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan 1155 21st Street NW, Lafayette Centre III. Admission is free.

The show is part of  Samurai Week which celebrates the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the U.S. 150 years ago, in which seventy-seven samurai crossed the ocean to secure the ratification of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation. During their visit, the samurai captivated the American people with their traditional clothing, top‐knot hairstyle, and prominent samurai swords. Oh yeah, they also developed the beginnings of a strong relationship between Japan and the U.S. No biggie.

The celebration continues through the end of the week with the Samurai Film Fest showing famous Japanese films by Akira Kurosawa, Yoji Yamada and Hatsuki Tsuji. The showings take place at the Japan Information & Culture Center and are free, however reservations are required.

Entertainment, Food and Drink, News, The Daily Feed
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Free Whiskey at Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar

Photo courtesy of
‘Johnnie Walker’
courtesy of ‘Suraj Baadkar’

It’s the last Tuesday of the month. What does that mean? Usually nothing. But today, that changes.

As a whiskey (and scotch … and bourbon) fan, I must admit I’m ashamed I haven’t heard of this before now, but Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar hosts a free whiskey tasting on the last Tuesday of every month.

Tonight, George Concannon is scheduled to make a presentation about the history of Johnnie Walker and serve up samples of the Black, Green, Gold and Blue label luxuries in a bottle.

The tasting starts at 7:30. Little Miss Whiskey’s is located at 1104 H Street NE.

Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed
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Violent Crime in DC Down Significantly in 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘Crime Solvers’
courtesy of ‘Marcellina.’

The FBI has released their annual summary of crime data for the nation, and the good news is: Violent and Non-violent crime in DC is down markedly over 2008 at a decrease of 7.2%.  2009 saw major decreases in the murder rate (down 30%!), the forcible rape rate (down 24%!) and car theft (down 17%!) and moderate decreases in overall violent crime (7%), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and larceny-theft.  Arson was up slightly to a total of 55 in 2009 over 51 in 2008.

Much credit to MPD and Chief Cathy Lanier for their outreach and enforcement efforts to bring overall crime in the District down!

Looking at the regional data, DC decreased at faster than the regional average of 6.6%, and may have accounted for some of the drop in the murder rate for the Southern Region, and a portion of the drop in forcible rape for the region. Better still DC is now out of the top ten cities for the per capita murder rate, dropping down to #14. Things are looking up!

News, The Daily Feed
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Strasburg Baseball Card Hot Seller in Ebay Auction

Photo By Ebay Seller dunksb_sz10
Photo By Ebay Seller dunksb_sz10

Stephen Strasburg hasn’t been called up to the majors yet and somehow he has one of  hottest selling baseball card’s via Ebay Auction at the moment. The card in question is one of kind, according to Sports by Brooks, making it special among the hordes of Strasburg memorabilia … should he proceed to have the career he is said to have one day.

The initial asking price for the Bowman Chrome Superfractor Stephen Strasburg baseball card was set at $20,000 or best offer. Now, it’s way past that point. A total of 31 offers were turned down and the card was later relisted as a reserve-auction.

And all of this for a young man who hasn’t even pitched one at-bat in major league play.

Entertainment, Music, News, The Daily Feed
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HFStival Tickets On Sale Friday

Photo courtesy of
‘SOUNDWAVE ’10 SYDNEY. Gallows crowd.’
courtesy of ‘SarahB-‘

Senior Vice President and Marketing Manager of CBS Radio Washington Sam Rogers, better known in this case as the former general manager of WHFS admitted a little something to The Washington City Paper recently:

“Nobody wants to admit they’re old and classic.”

In vain of that, it is necessary to announce that tickets for the area’s famed HFStival go on sale this Friday and the line-up is full of a few alt-rock classics in their own right.

Acts on the main stage include 90’s classics like: Third Eye Blind, Billy Idol, Everclear, Ed Kowalczyk from Live, Presidents Of the United States of America, Fuel, Lit, and Marcy Playground.

Ticket prices aren’t out of line and are moderately priced at $25-$40.

Of course, there will also be a local stage featuring the best the DMV has to offer.

HFStival will take place on September 18 at Merriweather Post Pavillion.

I mean come on! A chance to hear Marcy Playground sing “Sex and Candy” is one you really don’t want to miss.

Adventures, Entertainment, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Local Hottie Husbands

Photo courtesy of
‘House O’ Weenies’
courtesy of ‘Karon’

Two local hotties made Redbook’s “America’s Hottest Husbands” contest finals, but unfortunately did not secure the top honor. Michael Kennedy of Frederick, MD and John McGaha of New Market, MD were selected to the 20 finalists and although they didn’t win the coveted title, they did make the top 5 runners up.

More than 15,000 people voted in the online contest with Ray Sorensen of Greenfield, Iowa winning the title of “America’s Hottest Husband.”

I’m not gonna lie, I definitely spent some time ogling the finalists this AM. Personally speaking, McGaha’s picture is smoking. He’s my winner. I know hands off, hands off.

The Daily Feed
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Flash mob gets completely unlikely crowd to dance Bollywood style

YouTube Preview Image

Of course I wasn’t going to let today go by without posting video of Saturday’s Bollywood Flash Mob. This video was taken from down at the front and focuses mainly on the Dhoonya Dance performers leading the crowd.  They’re professionals, so of course they look great and know the steps.

But for a little bit more of the flash mob experience, here’s a video Tom took from the back of the crowd (while I was participating, of course) showing the wide variety of skill level and choreography memorization present:

YouTube Preview Image

My favorite is the guy in maroon and his girlfriend who gave up and moved out of the crowd in the middle of the first chorus.

News, The Daily Feed
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Miss DC 2009 Defends Herself At Georgetown Bar

miss-dc-jen-corey021by Patrick G. Ryan
Photo By Patrick G. Ryan

Miss DC 2009 had quite the weekend here in the town that issued her the crown. First, a Saturday stint at Nationals Park to sing the National Anthem at the Battle of the Beltways series and then … things got a little less fun.

Jennifer Corey sent a line to The Washington Examiner early Sunday to explain the happenings of her Saturday night fiasco at a Georgetown bar involving her slamming a guy copping a feel up against the wall.

She told the Examiner that she was spanked by some “spoiled rich preppy kids who think that they are better than you because their dad makes a lot of money.” According to Corey, she was pushed or slapped three times by thee different men in Georgetown bars between Friday and Saturday night, hence her reaction of slamming guy number three up against the wall for protection.

“I just had so much rage against him … that I slammed him up against the wall,” Corey told the Examiner.

Rightfully so. No woman, whether they’re a pageant winner or not, should have to take being accosted by anyone without protecting themselves.

The Daily Feed
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Coming soon: more signs

Photo courtesy of
‘What the Heck?’
courtesy of ‘Ardyiii’

One of my friends in Boston once told me he thought the road projects there tended to fall into two categories. The first was legitimately needed fixes and changes. The second was “my cousin needs a job.” This sure seems more like the second.

Proposed resolution PR18-878 would approve new rules under the alcohol board that would cover retailers who sell alcohol in the district. They’d have to post a conspicuous sign that covered these three topics:

  • Drinking and driving is dangerous
  • Drinking alcohol during pregnancy has risks
  • The legal drinking age and the need to present ID

I suspect this will come in handy when Marty McFly steps out of a DeLorean from the early 80s since he’s the only person not aware of this at this point. It’ll also probably be a boon to sign manufacturers.