Category Archives: The Daily Feed

The Daily Feed, The District
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Odd Office Habits

Photo courtesy of
‘porch seedlings’
courtesy of ‘HDC Photography’

My friend, who will remain nameless, works in a DC office that will also remain nameless. She works at said office, and shares cube space with a guy who grows an herb garden on his desk. Using one of those gardens only seen in in-flight catalogs, he grows mint, basil and other assorted herbs right in his cube.

Said friend has shared with me that the area surrounding their desk space smells like Panera Bread, and that people will walk by their desk space and sniff the air, making comments about salads and pasta. In fact, my friend goes home smelling of basil. Now, to some this would be wonderful, and fun. To others this would be annoying and quirky. I personally think it is hilarious.

This desk-herb garden is certainly the weirdest DC office habit I’ve heard of so far.  But it makes me wonder – what is the weirdest co-habitation workplace situation you’ve ever heard of, or experienced?

The Daily Feed
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Be in a MASN Nats Commercial


PRE_2117
Originally uploaded by MissChatter

Have you seen those spots running on MASN where some random Nats fan waxes poetic about some memorable moment at a game? (My personal favorite is the one where the guy talks about a player getting “a walk-off walk.” Seriously. His most memorable Nats moment was when the Nats won a game by the other team’s crap pitching.)

MASN is holding a casting call for a new round of spots- head to the game on May 23rd early, because the auditions will start about 90 minutes before the first pitch.

Oh, and try to come up with a better story than the one about getting walked. Gawd.

Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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See Rare NASA Footage Tomorrow

NASA Moon and Earth
Courtesy of NASA.

HacDC announces the return of Nerd Movie Night tomorrow with a showing of rare NASA footage from the Apollo years. The 16mm film snippets, part of a collection from one of our members, feature all sorts of archived NASA footage rarely seen, including clips from moon landings and other Apollo missions.

If you’re interested in space, tomorrow’s movie night starts at 8. You can find HacDC in Columbia Heights at 1525 Newton Street NW, at the intersection of 16th Street and Newton.

The Daily Feed
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New Farmers’ Market Opens Today in Crystal City

Photo courtesy of
‘_’
courtesy of ‘Roebot’
I always love shopping the farmers’ markets, seeing the colorful veggies and the plump fruits that hours before were sunning in fields, sampling the wares and roaming around while someone plays the guitar. And then there’s biting into those juicy berries and crisp cucumbers. Yum.

This afternoon, a brand new farmers’ market opens at Crystal City. It’ll be held every Tuesday from 3-7 p.m. from now through October, along Crystal Drive between 18th and 20th streets.

Come and take your pick from more than 20 vendors selling fruits and vegetables, cheese, flowers and potted herbs, meats, eggs, baked goods, specialty foods and more. Eat local, eat fresh and eat mmm, mmm good.

News, The Daily Feed
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HBO’s Screen on the Green cancelled for 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘Screen on the Green – Movies Under the Sky – 7-14-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

HBO has cancelled the long-running Screen on the Green program for 2009, according to a representative from HBO’s consumer affairs department.

Reader TJ tipped us that we should look into this; someone at the National Mall permits desk told him HBO was no longer sponsoring the event. A call to the hotline at 877-262-5866 still yielded the old 2008 schedule, but if you stay on the line all the way through you can get connected to consumer affairs. Representative Melana confirmed for me that the program had been cancelled. No word on if it will return.

UPDATE: If you’re looking for a replacement outdoor screening option Katie wrote about two happening just across the river in Crystal City and Rosslyn, both metro-accessible.

Essential DC, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Jinx The Penguins, Cook A Bird

Photo courtesy of
‘Tux, what happened to you?’
courtesy of ‘scjody’

In an effort to 1) jinx the Penguins tonight, 2) give the Caps some extra karma and 3) fill our bellies with deliciousness, I hereby decree Monday, May 11 as Cook A Bird, Save The Caps Day.  While yes, a chicken is not the same as a penguin, it’s the closest avian relative that we DCers have access to, so it will have to suffice.  Suggestions for commemorating this day after the jump. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Cupcakes that will put you over the moon

Photo courtesy of
‘Lavender Moon Cupcakes’
courtesy of ‘dcjasmine’

Cupcakes are all the rage these days, but this weekend I stumbled upon a new one to me: the Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Old Town Alexandria. I’m not usually a food blogger, but I do know my baked goods, and these were pretty freaking fantastic. That chocolate-dipped coconut one (on the right) is the stuff of food dreams, with a super-light frosting the consistency of marshmallow, and the flourless chocolate one was like a combo brownie-cupcake. Yum.

Lavender Moon Cupcakery
116 S. Royal St.
Alexandria, VA

Life in the Capital, Media, News, The Daily Feed
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Scary Landings At National Airport

Photo courtesy of
‘Gravelly Point – Competing Transportation – 12-29-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Travel + Leisure Magazine recently named the runway at Regan National Airport the third scariest in the world. Calling our airspace “fraught with peril” and taking-off “a white-knuckle event”, Travel + Leisure apparently shudders at flying into and out of DC. I too have heard people express fright at our airport, I’ve even heard a pilot call the landing at DCA one of the toughest, “makes sure you’re awake” he said.

But the third scariest? I was terrified flying into Charleston, West Virginia in heavy winds on a prop plane earlier this year, and would call that much more scary than the decent into NoVa.  I’ve also had a crazy landing on a dirt runway at the airport in the Bahamas, and my boss tells a story about an airport in the South Pacific that had a wrecked plane wing as the rain shelter, with a cow pasture serving as the runway.

So, what do you think? Is DC really the third scariest runway in the world, or is Travel + Leisure just being a drama queen?

The Daily Feed
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Don’t Panic About the Helicopters

Photo courtesy of
‘farewell to a president’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

According to AlertDC, there will be a flyover of 8 helicopters belonging to local law enforcement agencies today between 11:15 and 12:00. The flight is part of the 2009 Washington Area Fallen Officers Memorial Ceremony.

It’s National Police Week, so expect to see a large number of squad cars and motorcycles belonging to non-local police jurisdictions hanging around. There will be a Candlelight Vigil on Wednesday evening at Judiciary Square that is open to the public.

With any luck, the visiting officers will behave themselves afterwards, rather than acting like jackasses out of a sense of entitlement. (Yeah yeah, I know, it’s not ALL, or even MOST visiting officers who behave badly, but guess what? A drunken jackass in a police uniform on a Segway in the middle of the street is a lot more visible than a police officer quietly having a few drinks in his hotel with some friends.)

The Daily Feed
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Guess Who Didn’t Vote for Obama

P050909PS-0024 by The Official Whitehouse Photostream

“Hey, honey, are you ready to go to the White House to meet with the president?  No seriously.”

I like being comfortable as much as the next guy.  In fact if I could wear my Adidas running pants or shorts and a t-shirt every day I would.  But if I ever get invited to the White House, the Oval Office no less, I can assure you I’ll be wearing my best suit, not some purple top and khaki pants from 1995.  While I admire the courage and strength of Richard Phillips, his wife’s attire is just downright disrespectful.

Life in the Capital, Penn Quarter, Petworth, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Spotted in DC: Jen Lancaster

Photo courtesy of
‘Jen Lancaster NYC 5/7/09’
courtesy of ‘Rooskygirl’

I was killing time last night before a dinner in Penn Quarter and decided to take the hike to Barnes and Noble on E st. I walked in, and the security guard turned to me and said, “Are you here for the book signing with Jen Lancaster?”

My world stopped – not being over dramatic. WHAT? JEN LANCASTER IS GOING TO BE IN THE SAME BUILDING AS I AM RIGHT NOW? Jen Lancaster, as in my author-idol? As in, Jen? The biggest influence on my narrative voice as a blogger? As in the woman who invented the well-placed question mark and who taught me how to squee? Jen Lancaster, as in the author of the books that I read and re-read that can get me through even my darkest hours by making my cry laughing? WHAT? Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, Tourism
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White House Cans Air Force One Aide

Photo courtesy of
‘AF1 over Liberty’
courtesy of ‘Life @ f2.8’

It was big news when the White House, without telling the public, sent Air Force One and a squadron of fighter aircraft to fly over New York City at low altitude. Many folks screamed to the high heavens that it was too soon after 9/11 to do it, and many others still called 911 suggesting another attack was underway. Today, we hear that the White House has fired the head of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, who authorized and oversaw the photoshoot.

While it might’ve been a cool idea, it goes to show that even cool ideas when poorly executed become the least possible cool. Via Mark Knoller on Twitter, the photo that cost Caldera his job:

af1ny.jpg

A second photoshoot was planned over DC, but scrapped after the furor.

Technology, The Daily Feed
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No Really, There’s Gonna Be a Rocket

I feel like we’ve been teasing you all week, and I’m totally sorry, but there’s finally some good news on the rocket front. NASA has re-re-re-rescheduled the launch tonight for 7:35. So, turn to the southeast right around then, and watch the Minotaur rocket take TacSat-3 into orbit. The Minotaur’s got a bright-burning rocket motor, so it should be visible despite the fact that sunset’s not til 8:08pm.

The Daily Feed
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More pizza? Really?

Photo courtesy of
‘Oh no! Pizza the Hutt!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

DCist mentioned this a few days ago, but I did notice one interesting aspect in SeriousEats’ mention of Spike’s plan to open a pizza joint in D.C.

I love my pizza. I’m opening a pizzeria in D.C. in the next three or four months. I just took over the building the other day.

Emphasis mine. So, where is it? Anyone want to go stalk the D.C. building license office looking for applications? Or I suppose you could just follow Spike around. My bet is on the Eastern Market area.

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Foodie Round-Up (May 4th – 8th)

Photo courtesy of
‘indigo landing at dusk’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’
It’s Friday already? Twas a fast week, at least in my world. Again, a shorter-than-ususal roundup, but some worthy bites of info. Twitter, the takeover of the National Gallery’s cafe, and summer beers round out all the news fit to eat in the District this week. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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PEN Award Given to Author Whose Book is Being Read By Me, No-one Else Important

Photo courtesy of
‘Little Black Dress Book Collection’
courtesy of ‘scholastica ees’

The literati will descend upon DC this weekend, having just wrapped up the PEN World Voices festival in New York City. We of course don’t get the week-long celebration of international literature in culture, we get the fancy one-night-only $80 ticket presentation of the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award. (Okay, maybe I’m just a little put out that I’m going to be out of town.) Past winnersnt include Philip Roth, John Updike, Annie Proulx, Tobias Wolf and Don Delillo. Joseph O’Neill, author of the post-9/11 novel Netherland will received the award at the ceremony to be held tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the Folger Shakespeare Library. Oh, hey, did you hear that Obama is reading his book? Joseph O’Neill’s book is being read by Obama, you know.