Category Archives: The Daily Feed

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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DC United Ladies Night Tix Winner

Photo courtesy of
‘Three points taken’
courtesy of ‘BehindTheBadge.com’

What are all those cute boys cheering about in that picture? Well, they’re all cheering for the winner of our contest, Maggie who has won two tickets to Ladies Night this Saturday to watch DC United take on Toronto FC.

We asked readers to come up with a good Barra Brava cheer to use on Saturday in exchange for the tickets, and our staff voted to determine the winner. Congrats, Maggie, I’ll be emailing you with details soon.

Maggie’s winning cheer? Glad you asked. In appropriate fashion for Ladies Night (where they are offering manicures, amongst other fun things):

Who’s your manicurist?
Who’s your manicurist?
Who’s your manicurist, referee?

Never had one, never got one,
ragged cuticled referee!


The Daily Feed
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Panda Emergency!

Photo courtesy of Me

Panda Emergency!, courtesy of Me

When I came home from five days away to discover this sight my first thought was “this is a job for Tai Shan!” If the zoo really is having trouble getting food for them, here’s a great solution: I can’t be the only person fighting this satanic plant. Bring a panda around for a day!

Alas, if they can’t convince them to get an ultrasound it seems unlikely they’re in the market for a road trip. Too bad. Those stalks were under 1 foot high when we left town Thursday morning. The tallest was over 5 feet when we returned on Tuesday afternoon. These growth spurts come after a long period of dormancy. I wonder what specifically set them off.

Any of the rest of you fighting this menace?

The Daily Feed
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A Panda Resisting Medical Tests? Unpossible!

Photo courtesy of
‘Sloppy Stick’
courtesy of ‘Peter Gene’

Apparently worthy of homepage placement at WashingtonPost.com is the news that Mei Xiang has been resisting zoo efforts to perform an ultrasound to find out whether she’s pregnant. Imagine that! Less than a week after the zoo lures Tai Shan into a corner, drugs him, and sticks a camera up his behind, Mei Xiang doesn’t particularly want to participate in medical tests. 

Yeah, I know. Animals aren’t supposed to have sophisticated memory like that. But maybe she’s smarter than she gets credit for.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Spring Food Trends

Photo courtesy of
‘sushi at sunset’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

I’ve been out and about quite a bit lately, and have started to observe some notable spring food trends in the city. So here are some of my short thoughts on the DC spring food scene and what is hot now.

The rise of octopus. Most recently at Ardeo, also spotted at Potenza, charred octopus is both delicious and surprisingly tender. Look for it on more menus in the coming months, and take a chance, it’s worth it.

Sushi 2.0. This spring has seen the rise of the unique sushi. Sticky Rice branches out a bit, but newcomer Sei uses a sushi canvas to serve up otherwise hearty food like fish and chip. Ceaser salad even makes its debut in roll form at Sei. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Metro Considering Selling Food– But You Still Can’t Eat It!

Photo courtesy of
‘chillin”
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Big news coming out of Metro today: officials are considering allowing kiosks in certain Metro stations to sell packaged food in stations!  The move is an attempt to increase revenue by adding kiosks at a number of stations (in DC: outside Anacostia, in Fort Totten, in Gallery Place-Chinatown, and in Metro Center).  Kiosks could be newsstands, dry cleaning services, and even gourmet food stores.

But no, this doesn’t mean you’d be allowed to eat what you bought at a kiosk– the Metro food and drink ban is still in effect.  About three years ago Metro solicited proposals for kiosks that would sell anything but food, beverages, and tobacco– but they didn’t get a good response and realized it wasn’t profitable to not sell food in transit stations.

This seems a little weird to me.  I think I’d be really bitter if I were starving, and got a gourmet sandwich at a Metro kiosk (probably  marked up ridiculously because of the captive audience), and had to sit there just looking at it the whole ride home.  That’s just mean, Metro.

The Daily Feed
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In Memoriam, Doug Clifton


Doug Clifton IMGP0009_1
Originally uploaded by carlweaver

A sad note reached me this morning via Patrick Pho of Metblogs, Doug Clifton, who wrote with us there for years, passed away last Tuesday. Doug was an excellent photographer and writer for Metblogs until his departure for the Chronicle of Higher Ed in 2007. He had a quick wit, an infectious laugh, and was always into something in Silver Spring.

He will be missed by all who knew him. His talent for programming, for all things electronic, was significant. We are all poorer for his departure.

I’m working to get in touch with the family, that we might offer something in his memory.

Peace, Doug. We miss you already.

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The District
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Obama Extending & Eliminating DC Vouchers

Picture 4.png
via alexashrugged and twitpic

In a day that saw a crowd of over 1,000 kids and another few hundred adults opposite the Wilson Building, including a number of students who are directly part of DC’s current voucher experiment, the White House announced that they will seek to continue the voucher program for those already in it, but will allow no further applicants to the program. The new plan is contingent on the Congress reauthorizing funding for the vouchers of those students currently in the program, which would be an uphill battle.

Seems odd to discontinue this popular program right now, but, well, what the unions want, the unions get…

The Daily Feed
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Pepco twitters… tell them what for

Photo courtesy of
‘Towers of Power at Sunrise’
courtesy of ‘macmoov’

While I mean that in a “give em hell” sense, there’s also an opportunity to tell them exactly how you’d like to see them use this new tool. Their social media lead, Andre, sent us a message which asked us to share this with y’all:

We launched an online survey to start gathering follower feedback giving folks a chance to share ways they’d like to interact with us via Twitter.

Their twitter id is PepcoConnect if you want to follow them and see how they end up using the service.

The Daily Feed
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Rocket Update

Photo courtesy of
‘Rocket Garden’
courtesy of ‘milan.boers’

Everything’s better with Rockets. Everything!

Due to weather, NASA scrubbed the launch last night, and for good measure, they decided to wait until the weather picture looks better, which is Thursday. The countdown begins again at noon tomorrow! C’mon ROCKETS!

Music, The Daily Feed
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Awesome Band Names Unite

Setting up at Rock and Roll Hotel
Setting up at Rock and Roll Hotel by dcjasmine

Choosing a great band name is just about as tough as coming up with a sitcom plot line that the Simpsons haven’t already done. But tonight, two clear winners are coming to Rock and Roll Hotel: Future Rock and Shout Out Out Out Out. Who doesn’t want to experience the future of rock and roll, and SOOOO went with capturing the vibe a la Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Apparently, the future of rock is electronica, because that’s what both these bands are. You can dance to the beat tonight at 8:30 pm for $10.

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Kids RW: Baby Foodies

Photo courtesy of
‘Orion – DSC_5880’
courtesy of ‘Dylan Parker’

I am not going to be eating out from June 13 – 21st. This is big news, since I basically live at our area restaurants.

Why, might you ask? Because it’s kids restaurant week. Now, I realize kids need to eat too. And I realize that it is great news for parents who aim to expose your children to fine dining, and in a cash-strapped economy a deal like this is excellent. I get that you tire of feeding your child hot dogs and applesauce. Good on you!  I am just of the ilk that doesn’t want your child’s whine with my wine. (Ala Samantha in the S&TC episode A Woman’s Right to Shoes).

So, with that, I’ll gracefully bow out and your kids may dine in peace (or chaos, depending) from June 13-21st when tots from around the city can take over places like Art and Soul and Juniper. Word to the wise? Try the mac and cheese at Art and Soul, ’tis divine, and will kick Kraft’s butt any day.

I’ll have more recommends next week when Cookie and Gourmet magazine, in partnership with Destination DC, announce the full participating restaurant list, as well as menus on the Web site. Adults pay $29; Kids 11 and under pay their age. Early dinner seatings are cleverly available from 5:00-7:00pm.

Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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Cafe [This Is Not That]

Photo courtesy of
‘Café Stühle’
courtesy of ‘mueritz’

The Phillips Collection is opening a new cafe tomorrow. This would be rather blase news, except this cafe is not that. Almost too-deep and meta for me to grasp (I’m having to reach back to my time at art school, here) Cafe sounds badass. Pairing actual art, with a literal eat-place, bound by the concepts in and around art, (see, told you this was deep) Cafe challenges the typical. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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Tuesday Night Escape

Cocktail at Bar Pilar

"Cocktail at Bar Pilar" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

Starting tonight, you only have three more Tuesday nights to enjoy Cocktail Sessions with mixologist Adam Bernbach at Bar Pilar, before he leaves the 14th Street digs on May 19th (GOG has the full scoop on his future plans).

I really love Pilar, love Adam’s cocktails, especially anything featuring cardamon syrup… but I can’t make it tonight. So my loss is your gain, there’ll be an extra seat, get over there!

The Daily Feed
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You Inspected What Exactly?

Scooter Gate 2 by epmd

I mentioned last week that I bought an old Vespa scooter and surprisingly I’m still alive and well.  The first thing on my list of things to do was to get it inspected – a thought that makes every DC resident shudder.  Few people have ever had a smooth experience at the inspection station in SW.  I was fully prepared to wait in line for an hour or to be turned away for some idiotic reason.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Incoming: Bliss Spa

Photo courtesy of
‘Bliss spa goodies’
courtesy of ‘SanFranAnnie’

Word around the DC fashion blogosphere (ie: Capitol Hill Barbie and Capitol Hill Style) says we’ve got an incoming bliss spa.

Aside from offending my sensibilities with the FatGirlSlim line of products (Really? You think you can rub that fat off with a body scrub?) I enjoy bliss. The services are affordable, and if you’re not into coming to the spa, they offer sets of products for spa-at-home DIY treatments. You can even book your services online.

So, welcome to DC bliss, we’re happy to have you! P.S. – Bliss is hiring… 30+ Bliss Spa jobs are available. CHB has the deets.

The Daily Feed
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Obama and Biden Hit Ray’s Hellburger


Burger Slice
Originally uploaded by tbridge

White House reporter Mark Knoller put President Obama and Vice President Biden at lunch over in Courthouse at ever popular burger joint Ray’s Hell Burger. I’m guessing that Michael’s got a couple of big & awesome burgers waiting for them, but what do you suppose they take on their burgers?

I’m voting cheddar and bacon for Biden, and maybe guacamole for the President?

So, was it that President Bush never went out in DC at all, or is it that we’re just so obsessed with President Obama that normal lunch habits seem like good news fodder?

Update: Knoller reports, “Obama ordered a swiss mushroom burger with chili and cheese cooked medium. Paid cash.” Damn. He also ordered burgers for a few of the press that were invited along.

Update the Second: NBCWashington wants to post your cell phone video of the Prez wiping burger off his chin.

Update the Third: NBC 4 passed along this video, behind the cut:
Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors
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Rocket Launch in Virginia Tonight!

Photo courtesy of
‘Space shuttle liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center: Merritt Island, Florida’
courtesy of ‘State Library and Archives of Florida’

When we were coming back from Phoenix in March, we were passing through Terminal 5 in JFK as they were doing a sunset launch of the Space Shuttle. I stopped and stared and watched as the rockets fired and the shuttle went up and up and up. I’ve never seen a shuttle launch live, or a rocket launch of any kind. Tonight, though, we may get a clear view of a rocket launch at the NASA Facility on Wallops Island. They’ll be launching a rocket tonight between 8 and 11. If the rain keeps them down, they’ll be trying again each night this week.

Wallops Island may be 120 miles to our southeast, but Wired is saying that “this particular rocket, a Minotaur I, is noteworthy for the brilliant intensity of the fire it gives off. NASA claims that, conditions permitting, the rocket could be visible up to 800 miles away” which means we should have a pretty good view, especially if thing clear up. Check out their Twitter feed for the latest details.

The Daily Feed
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I Would Do Anything For 80s

Photo courtesy of
‘Danny Wright, cover of “Time WIndows” LP – 1986’
courtesy of ‘| El Caganer’

…But I won’t do that (see above). You don’t need to put on a tuxe to treat yourself to back-to-back 80s nights. Why? Ummm why NOT? You missed last week’s “Sunglasses at Night” installment at Polyester Wednesdays, but don’t despair, tomorrow night is “Like a Virgin” night. Raise your hand if you just started singing “…touched for the very first time in falsetto in your head.”  That’s what I thought. 

In case you need to work up to a full night-out 80s night, PS7’s is hosting a 1980s happy hour Thursday at 6 p.m. Break-dancing is encouraged to the solid tunes of the DJ with the creative-and-not-at-all-doofy name of Brian Billionaire. If there’s one way to win a lady’s heart, its through break-dancing, let me tell you.

The Daily Feed
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35 mph on the Beltway?

Photo courtesy of
‘Typical Beltway traffic’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

I don’t know about you, but when I took the Beltway to work every day, I feared for my life. Those speed limit signs (most of them 50 mph) are more like suggestions than rules that people actually followed. But now, with the Variable Speed Limit System, there’s no way you speed demons are going to be able to keep up your constant 75 mph, because they’re bumping the speed limit down to 35 in some places.

The idea is to slow everyone down early before construction and the like so there aren’t sudden stops, but will this keep that jerk in the BMW from weaving and riding my bumper?

The Daily Feed
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Breaking: DC Council Circus on Other States’ Gay Marriages

Photo courtesy of
‘P1000205’
courtesy of ‘jsmjr’

So yeah, remember when DC Council voted 12-0 to recognize other states’ gay marriages last month? The final vote was today, and the Council voted 13-0 to recognize other states’ gay marriages.  Which means that Marion Barry voted for it, right after he said he wouldn’t. 

Except that JUST NOW, Barry rescinded his vote and asked that the bill be reconsidered because he didn’t realize what he was voting for. Thanks for your time and attention to DC governance, Councilman Barry. So now the council is debating the bill.

UPDATE: Twitter user @KevDC is livetweeting the council’s debate. Sounds like it’s getting pretty intense.  Keep an eye on his feed… we are.

UPDATE 12:02 PM: The bill passed, 12-1, with Barry making a show of voting against it so it wouldn’t be unanimous. I guess he’s tired of being remembered for smoking crack and not paying taxes, and would rather be remembered for voting against equal rights for his fellow citizens.