Category Archives: The Daily Feed

The Daily Feed
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Truth Truck Hits DC!


Truth Truck
Originally uploaded by woofiegrrl

I’ve seen it a few times before, but today was the first time I saw the (rather arrogantly named) “Truth Truck” during the new presidential administration. To be honest, I’m surprised it took so long.

This photo doesn’t depict the specific messages I saw on the truck, but I wasn’t able to grab my own photo. Apparently, the truck’s message panels are designed to be interchangeable- they appear to be made of plywood and hand-painted. You can see it in its Terri Schiavo phase, but in order to fully appreciate the ingenuity of this modular design, you simply must view the Truth Truck’s photo album, featuring it all decked out for all kinds of issues- abortion, terrorism, homosexuality, public education, etc. The Truth Truck seems to go where the action is, and when I saw it today it was covered in messages blaming gay people for God’s judgment on America in the form of 9/11, so I’m guessing it has something to do with the DC Council vote from earlier this week. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Snubbed


Presidential first pitches
Originally uploaded by afagen

The Washington Times is reporting that the President will not throw out the first pitch on Monday at the Nationals’ Home Opener, breaking a decades-old tradition. I was really hoping that the President would be there on Monday, but it looks like he’s got better things to do.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can still buy four seats together for Opening Day? And those seats are just past third base? And that the President appearing before a crowd of five or six hundred people sends the wrong message?

C’mon, Mr. President, I won’t be the only one there, you can still come on out, I hear you’ve got a helluva curveball.

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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News Flash: Lots of People Ride Metro

Photo courtesy of
‘at least we’re not outside anymore!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Did the Metro seem particularly crowded to you yesterday?  Today, word comes from Metro that yesterday was the sixth-highest weekday ridership day in the system’s history.  The combination of tourists that are still here for the cherry blossoms, spectators of the Frozen Four tournament, and regular old commuters like us led to this particularly high ridership day.  And this is coming just a few days after record-high weekend ridership related to cherry blossoms and various sporting events.

But there’s good news!  As Ben reported earlier, beginning next week WMATA is adding more rail cars during rush hour to accommodate the additional passengers on the red and green lines.  So, take heart– next week’s commute will be better, and with the Cherry Blossom Festival ending on Sunday, those cherry-blossom-loving tourists will be out of town in no time.

The Daily Feed
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Calls to Stop Coal

Photo courtesy of
‘Sartell’
courtesy of ‘dno1967’

Even with all the alarming news about global warming, coal lives on. Did you know there are plans to build yet another coal-fired plant in Virginia’s Tidewater area, only about 150 miles from DC?

If you’re tired of just talking about climate change, now you can talk to help stop it.

A phone bank sponsored by Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light will take place in Clarendon on Tuesday, April 14, from 5:30 – 8 p.m. Join it and call members of the electric co-ops who are proposing the coal-burning plant. You can discuss the proposal and cleaner alternatives, and empower them to take action. For your efforts, you’ll get treats and snacks–and a coal-free stocking on Santa’s next trip.

The Daily Feed
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Corcoran Cuts and Free Saturdays

Photo courtesy of
‘corcoran gallery of art 7.19.08 – 3496’
courtesy of ‘laura padgett’

The Corcoran Gallery of Art announced yesterday that it would be laying off about 5.6% of its staff and instituting a hiring freeze in attempts to make up a $4 million deficit this year. 18 employees, both entry-level and higher-ups were effected by the layoffs.

While this is another wave of bad news in the realms of both employment and the arts, the uptick is that the museum will offer free admission on Saturdays this summer in order to boost attendance.

Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Foodie Round-Up (April 6-10th)

roasted lamb to go

Zaytinya’s Roast Lamb To-Go for Greek Easter

As everyone is gearing up for big Easter meals, the foodie world has been a bit slow with forthcoming news. But there’s still some good stuff to report on, including one piece of news that makes me green with envy, so click on through for all the news fit to eat in the District this week… Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Easter Monday at the Zoo

Photo courtesy of
‘Petting Ponies’
courtesy of ‘tiffanywashko’

This coming monday, Easter Monday, the National Zoo will host its annual event, Celebrating the African American Family from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The day’s many festivities include an appearance by the Easter Bunny, an Easter Egg Hunt and Roll, arts and crafts and various animal shows. I’m particularly interested in the “Meet a Naked Mole Rat” demonstration, I don’t know about you. There will also be food, delicious food.

The event is free and the show will go on rain or shine (although the weather looks decent; 56* and sunny). Maybe you’ll catch a glipse of the most adorable additions to the zoo, or Harrison Ford. So much zoo love this week! Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Rush Hour Relief?

Photo courtesy of
‘Bokeh Study’
courtesy of ‘Pianoman75’

Tired of jammed cars on the Red and Green lines? Well, Metro’s news that slipped out yesterday may relieve that somewhat. Beginning next week, Metro’s adding additional cars to Red and Green line trains during the always-fun weekday rush hour.

Metro has indicated that roughly twenty cars are being added to the entire fleet. This will boost half of the Red and Green rush hour runs to the maximum eight-car trains (the maximum length Metro can run due to station size), with the rest of the additional cars used to fill in gaps due to malfunctions or other problems.

The additional cars will boost Metro to 850 cars in service during weekday rush, the first in the service’s history. Will it help with the crush? It’s a matter of perspective, so you readers keep us informed, okay?

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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The Bluebell Walk

Bluebells Near the Potomac

It seems spring has sprung in the woods around DC; the Virginia bluebells are nodding their dainty little heads. Bull Run Regional Park near Centreville has a huge crop of these soft, floppy flowers, and the blooms are predicted to peak next week.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., as they’ve done for the past 30-odd years, park naturalists and rangers will hold a special Bluebell Walk.

This sounds wonderful. I’m imagining a Disney movie, with folks wearing Easter bonnets and their Sunday best, strolling among the wildflowers and singing little melodies along with the birds. Ah, spring!

Downtown, Entertainment, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Countdown to Yuri’s Night

Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, courtesy of "Out of This World Party"

Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, courtesy of "Out of This World Party"

I don’t know about you, but I am chomping at the bit for the weekend. Maybe it’s spring fever that makes me in the mood for something totally different and out of this world. So, I’ll be heading to the aptly named “Out of this World Party” at the Warehouse Saturday night for their Countdown to Yuri’s Night extravaganza. I don’t see how I can resist the call of a party celebrating man’s first space flight with crazy smart burlesque by the divine Trixie Little and Evil Hate Monkey – let alone free massages, $4 Stoli drinks, weird science fair, and an alien egg hunt.

Burlesque shows at 9pm and 11pm in the large theater, band Atomic Mosquitoes (they have a theremin!) in the smaller theater, and a gallery show with DJs upstairs til 2am. Oh, and a Celestial Costume Contest! Did I mention this sounds like a super insane night? $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Now where did I put my silver space boots?

Adventures, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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Cupcake Ramble

Photo courtesy of
‘Cupcake bike’
courtesy of ‘traviscrawford’

City Bikes is at it again with their group rides, except this time it’s pairing two of my favorite things… my gorgeous bike with CUPCAKES! Food + Bikes = yay! The bicycle-enthusiast and pastry chef for Tryst, Open City and The Diner, Sol, is partnering with City Bikes to create the Cupcake Ramble, a relaxed easy/moderate paced group ride.

The ride starts at City Bikes Adams Morgan, through the car-restricted Rock Creek Park, to City Bikes Chevy Chase. “Once there, we’ll enjoy pastries baked by Sol, before heading back to City Bikes Adams Morgan,” says the ride description.

To sign up for your guilt-free cupcake intake, head on over to the City Bikes Web site.

The Daily Feed
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Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, and Son, with Happy the Hippo and a Zookeeper


"Come on get Happy"
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Via the National Zoo we behold Harrison Ford, his fiancé Calista Flockhart, and her son Liam at the National Zoo, getting a closeup view of 5000 pound Nile hippopotamus Happy. Word is that Ford was able to personally feed the hippo, whose diet, like a Nabooan shaak, consists mainly of grass.

No word on whether Mr. Ford then pulled out a whip to fend off the hippo from stampeding his future family. Anyway, ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

The Daily Feed
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DCKickball: Resistance is Futile

Photo courtesy of
‘D.C. Kickball’
courtesy of ‘starbuck77’

I have a confession to make: I am now a member of a DCKickball team. Further disclosure: It’s actually really fun. Even so, reservations remain when it comes to participating in this particular DC ritual, stereotyped as a perennial  pastime for shameless district yuppies/drunkards/bros. I imagined the league would be a fratastic bro-fest and signed up steeled with my shield of pseudo-hipster irony. (So it goes.)

DCKickball’s Constitution Division Scrimmages marked our team’s first foray into the sport since the playground days. Back in those days, I used to jack the ball up against the convent walls across from my elementary school, so as usual when it comes to sporty things, I was feeling over-confident.  Turns out that playing kickball now takes some practice. Also, the regulation ball is roughly the size of a large beach ball and extremely difficult to field/catch. Continue reading →

Music, The Daily Feed
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Best Bet for Music Tonight

Photo courtesy of
‘Setting up at Rock and Roll Hotel’
courtesy of ‘dcjasmine’

If you’re itching for a concert tonight, head over to the Rock & Roll Hotel for three bands, plus local DJs Garutachi, all for only $10. I would probably skip opener Seas, whose super mellow sound doesn’t seem to match the rest of the lineup, but make it there by 9:30 pm to catch Lissy Tullie and then indie rockers U.S. Royalty.

The Daily Feed, The District
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Time for a Tune-up

Photo courtesy of
‘My Suede By Giant Shimano Coasting Bike lookin mighty fine.’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

This past weekend, I rode my bike for the first time since winter — down to the Washington Monument for my first-ever experience with DC Kickball (more on that later). It was glorious. Well, the trip down was glorious, the ride back — not so amazing, because it is clear that my bike, a Ross road bike from god-knows-how-long-ago, needs a tune-up, stat.

Living on the hill, my nearest and best resource for all things bike-related seems to be Capitol Hill Bikes, on 8th St. SE across from the Marine Barracks. Cap Hill Bikes has a beautiful showroom and store with all the gadgets and legit bike additions that are too professional for my joy-riding biking needs, as well as an adjacent servicing outfit with replacement parts and all that jazz. Their website also boasts some sweet mapping tools for riding around town. 

It’s so great to see commuters back on their bikes and saving energy (while expending a little of their own). What great bike resources do you utilize in and around DC? Do you bike to work? Favorite places to bike?