Category Archives: The Features

These are our features. They come back either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: James

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week’s giveaway contest is so good, I’d enter it myself if they would let me! Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Brit-pop legends, James perform at 9:30 Club on Monday, September 27th.

Not only is it incredibly rare to catch James live stateside (even though DC is lucky enough to get them twice in two years) but their new album “The Morning After The Night Before” is also their best work in years. I have been listening to the new one non-stop since it dropped last week and I am stunned at how “peak of their powers” James sounds after all these years. Everyone knows James from their big early 90’s hit “Laid”, but I’m here to tell you that as great as that song is, James have produced a deep catalog of even more stunning music over the years. Tim Booth and the band are without a doubt some of the best live Brit-pop performers I’ve ever seen and this concert is one of my most anticipated of 2010.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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People, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Laurel Hausler

Laurel Hausler. Photo credit: Tory Pugliese

The ghosts of the past are always with us, brushing past in layers of time, like veils in a dance being pulled away. They haunt us with both pain and humor, and to reveal their presence takes honesty and sensitivity as an artist. Not to mention, a bit of detective work.

Every so often an artist’s work hits me with a visceral force, and I knew when I saw a few pieces by Laurel Hausler at the Small Works on Paper exhibit at Morton Fine Art that I needed to see more. Luckily, you can too. Hausler has a full exhibit at MFA showing now through October 14, and I highly recommend a visit to view these wickedly beautiful oil paintings. Heavily layered both by paint and meaning, alternately revealing and concealing, the exhibit is titled Debutantes & Feral Children.

Aren’t we all a bit of both?

Hausler, a native of the DC area now based here as well, paints with a subtractive process – in other words, she begins by covering canvas or paper with many layers of paint which she then removes to reveal the subject. Actually, she first begins with research. Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Comet Ping Pong

Photo courtesy of
‘Outdoor Ping Pong’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
Over the last couple of years, I’ve eaten in a lot of nice restaurants. And after the foie gras, the caviar, the course-upon-course of decadent food, what have I learned? I’ve learned I love pizza. I really love pizza. I love it in all its forms – artisan Neopolitan right down to the new crust at Dominos. But if I have to pick one incarnation, it’s always going to be the personal pizza with the funky toppings. That leaves me with 2 Amys, 7th Hill, and my personal favorite, Comet Ping Pong.

The first time I tried Comet, I had high hopes for the pizza. The food didn’t disappoint, but I was most impressed with the feeling of the place. It left me a little bummed that I wasn’t, ahem…a few years younger and that I couldn’t turn this restaurant into my high school hang out. My Peach Pit, if you will.

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Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Music Marathon Overload! @ 2010 Sonic Circuits Festival

IMG_4270
“Fuse Ensemble” – all photos by author.

With the 2010 Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music and Beyond quietly raging across our region this week, I felt compelled to sample at least one of their outsider music showcases. On Sunday, I found myself in the Old Town Hall of Fairfax, a brilliantly restored old building, watching a variety of acts representing the wide range of styles Sonic Circuits covers. Sunday’s Music Marathon Overload! featured about 15 bands for $15 and ran from 11am to 11pm – a mind-melting 12-hour block of experimental music that only those of the strongest constitution could really survive. In the interest of mental self-preservation, I decided to partake of the second half of the Overload and sat in on the evening’s programming. It was an evening full of inspiring music made by people, toys, and furniture-come-to-life that I won’t soon forget.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘DC Streets’
courtesy of ‘pnzr242’

The few elements of this photo that shine out from the darkness tell us everything we need to know: a man,  a train station, a grim expression, head bowed. We’ve all been there, isolated as we trudge from the Metro to the office or back again.

Photography is a game of precision timing and people and light. The people who wander the city’s streets with cameras in hand thrive on the rare moments when all three come together at the exact same instant the shutter clicks. You can get high on the feeling of success in those moments; in them you fall in love with your city, your commute, your camera, everything, all over again. Sure, absolute success is a little about luck, but it’s also about having an eye for the small moments that add up to great pictures. It’s about seeing great light and a great scene and lying in wait for the right subject to come along. Flickr user PNZR242 relied on skill and a little bit of luck to catch such a moment at a Metro station last week.

The man and the moment may seem stern, but in timing them just so perfectly, the photographer managed to raise the bar a little bit for everyone who lifts a camera to their eye and hopes to capture some magic.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats take night off against Houston, drop game 8-2

Livan Hernandez looks disgusted with himself
Photo by Cheryl Nichols/Nats News Network

The Nationals appeared to have left their collective team heart elsewhere Monday night when playing the Houston Astros in Washington. It’s painfully obvious at this point in September that whatever underdog grit this team had after going 20-15 to start the season is long gone.

Livan Hernandez looked sharp on the mound retiring all six of the first batters he faced, but that two inning no-hitter took a turn for the worst with some deplorable defensive plays in the fifth. The worst of it all is that the Nationals scored two runs in the top of the first. They were winning to start things off but couldn’t hold on for dear life.

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We Love Food
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First Look: Carmine’s

Wine

When I first started with We Love DC, we had 11 authors. (I also hiked to school uphill both ways.) Now, we have a food and drink team of seven writers, and more fabulous authors than I can name in a sitting. We’ve grown into a big family, and so we were invited to Carmine’s for a dinner for eight, it was only fitting that we go together as a team, and make it a faux-thanksgiving feast.

Carmine’s is, as you’ve heard I’m sure, the largest restaurant in DC right now. So inviting a raucous gaggle of WLDC writers meant only one thing: we’d be loud. Luckily, Carmine’s is built for loud, large groups, and so we feasted on pasta, pasta, wine, pasta and a cannoli or two or five. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: No Age w/ Holy Fuck @ Black Cat 9/17/10

courtesy of No Age.

While most of DC’s indie-music listeners were reliving past glories watching Superchunk over at 9:30 Club on Friday night, a decent-sized and enthusiastic crowd were dancing the night away to the two of indie-rock’s new breed: junk-techno technicians Holy Fuck and noise-pop purveyors No Age. This show was one of the more interesting stylistic pairings in recent memory with both bands offering radically different sounds while occupying the same altitude of on-the-rise status.

Both Holy Fuck and No Age are touring in support of their third albums, which technically makes them both indie upper class-men, but their noise aesthetic and DIY approach to everything has possibly held them back from tapping the meteoric-rise success model that is being employed by their more pop-oriented peers. In other words, No Age and Holy Fuck are relying less on internet buzz and more on old fashioned word-of-mouth to garner a fan base. Something that No Age should be receiving in spades if they continue to perform at the level they did on Friday night.

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Sports Fix, The Features
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Week 2 Recap: Skins vs. Texans

Photo courtesy of
‘Our seats in the upper deck’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

One thing is certain about the Redskins: they are rarely boring to watch. After giving up a 17-point lead in the second half and nearly 500 yards passing, the Skins fell to the Texans 30-27 in overtime. Both teams played very well for the most part but a few mistakes cost the Skins a victory. The blocked field goal in the 4th quarter, the holding penalty on Stephon Heyer after a critical 23-yard catch by Santana Moss, and the offsides call on Chris Horton were among the biggest blunders. Two key injuries also affected the game as Laron Landry and Trent Williams tweaked their left wrist and knee respectively. The overtime itself was torture for Skins fans as the team went for a 52-yard field goal, which Graham Gano made, but Texans’ coach Gary Kubiak called a timeout just before the snap. Gano’s second attempt was way off the mark. When the Texans got possession of the ball, they moved it to the 18-yard line and Neil Rackers hit a 35-yard field goal giving Houston a victory after 71 ½ minutes of football. There is no question that the Skins gave a full effort in this game. It’s just a matter of holding a lead and finishing plays late in the game that they need to improve upon.

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Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Circle Mirror Transformation

Jeff Talbott, MacKenzie Meehan, Kathleen McElfresh, Jennifer Mendenhall and Harry A. Winter in Circle Mirror Transformation at The Studio Theatre. (Photo: Carol Pratt)

Finding humor in the mundane lives of others has been one of the key reasons why shows like The Office and Community are hits. A show about the 9-5 of a workplace is something we can all relate to. Community created a small-town, village feel within the student body of a community college. Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation plays along similar lines except for one key difference: characters.

While Steve Carrell and Joel McHale play larger than life characters on their respective shows, the ensemble cast of Circle Mirror Transformation wouldn’t draw a glance if they were next to you on a Metro car or in line with you at Safeway.

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Music, We Love Music
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2010 Sonic Circuits Festival Of Experimental Music & Beyond

It may come as a surprise to some that Washington DC is in the vanguard of the global experimental music scene. There is a plethora of locally-based acts creating noise and atmospheric improvisational music, turning found sound into symphonies and traditionally non-musical objects into instruments. Every time I check it out, this DC-based scene seems to get larger, as the existing groups inspire new musicians and amateurs to let their freak-flags fly and their musical imagination run wild. As the DC scene begets new acts locally, the global noise/improv scene looks to DC as a friendly enclave for their outsider music thanks to the large, open-minded fan-base that lives here.

Sonic Circuits is a group, backed by the non-profit organization Improv Arts Inc., that serves as the primary promotion engine for the thriving DC experimental music scene. They organize and host shows year-round in the DC Metro area that showcase some of our areas best, brightest, and weirdest musical acts. Since 2001, Sonic Circuits has hosted a yearly, week-long festival in Washington combining the best local acts from this underground scene with some of its most interesting artists and groups from around the world. The 2010 Sonic Circuits Festival Of Experimental Music & Beyond begins this Saturday, September 18th. There are activities planned for every night of this week-long festival. The festival concerts take place at multiple venues in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Full festival schedule, venue, and ticket information can be found here.

Find my Hot Ticket picks for the 2010 Sonic Circuits Festival after the jump.

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The Features
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The Rundown: September Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘Airborne’
courtesy of ‘theqspeaks’

As America’s fittest city, the District is home to a high concentration of athletes, and it seems like every week brings another road race or triathlon to town.  With everything from 5Ks to marathons coming up in the next couple months, fall is a busy time for road races in the DC area.

If you’ve always wanted to start running, now’s the time to start– the weather can’t be beat, and a Couch Potato to 5K training program will have you ready for your first 5K in just 2 months!  Don’t believe you can do it?  Well, 2 years ago I couldn’t run more than two blocks without stopping, but I followed the training program, got bitten by the running bug, and now I’ve got countless 5Ks and 10Ks under my belt, along with a handful of half-marathons and triathlons.

Ready to race?  Here’s what’s going on in the running world over the next month.

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Food and Drink, Night Life, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Biergarten Haus

Photo courtesy of
‘people watching soccer’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Biergarten Haus is on the defensive.  They’re still sore from the reaming Tom Sietsema gave them in the Post (having your food described as “a lethal weapon” always hurts), and there’s a certain measure of bitterness amongst the staff against the Yelpers for their similarly worded reviews criticizing, amongst other things, the service. To me, Biergarten Haus isn’t about the food or the waiters, it’s about the beer. And how is the beer?  Well, it’s better than the food or the waiters. It’s not the best, but it’s good enough.

Biergarten Haus is the latest and greatest nightlife phenomena in DC.  It seems like one comes along every year or so, and Washingtonians pack the place out and make it impossible to find a seat on the weekends.  Last year it was Churchkey, this year it’s Biergarten. It’s a blessing and a curse.  The broader neighborhood benefits from the patronage that is turned away at the door for lack of space.  The patrons themselves face the frustration of massive crowds, slow service and lack of seating.

The beer garden was hyped and highly anticipated before it even opened its doors.  After a series of delays and extended soft openings, the DC citizenry was practically clamoring to get inside to experience the Biergarten for themselves.  When the establishment finally did open in June, it was rough, to say the least. If you came after 6, there were no seats.  If you happened to get a table, you where crammed in with literally hundreds of other people.  The staff was too small, the service was too slow and people generally left disenchanted. Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, September 18-19

Photo courtesy of
‘Numbers, bikers’
courtesy of ‘martha_jean’

Dave L.: Since I have no crazy, 22-hour trips to Boston planned and my alma mater is on its bye week, I’m going to take advantage of plenty of things around the city before ducking out of dodge for vacation. Friday evening seems like a great time to go find a patio bar since the weather is looking exceptional. Maybe somewhere on the Hill? Saturday stands to be a little more planned, at least as much as chaos can be organized, with an End of Skeeson party on tap for another successful season of United Skeeball down at Rosslyn’s Continental. Team name for everyone who loves puns: Snakes on A Lane 3 – the Skeelogy.

Michael: Big music weekend in DC! Thursday night, I’ll be mixing it up from the DJ booth in the Industrial/Electronica room at REVOLUTION at FUR. Friday night, I’ll finally be seeing No Age in concert along with their impressive openers Holy Fuck. This is an awesome double bill! Then the DC Sonic Circuits Festival kicks off on Saturday night with an ultra-rare performance by Magma. On Sunday the experimental music fest continues down in Fairfax, where I’ll be trying to survive 12-straight hours of improv noise-jams. Wish me luck! Continue reading →

Interviews, The Features
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He Loves DC: Clint Khoury

Photo by Rachel Levitin

You know him as Clint the Nats In-Game Host at Nationals Park. When he’s not at a ball game, Clint’s just another District area resident appreciating this city for all it has to offer.

Rain or shine, you can find Clint exploring the nation’s capital from the seat of his bicycle or by foot year-round. Clint can’t imagine being anywhere else than the District. Here’s why: Continue reading →

The Features
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Behind the Design: Westend Bistro

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

“When I came on board with the project, the design aspect was quite well advanced, however I participated towards the end in making sure we created a concept that was casual, friendly, warm and high energy, keeping in mind we were building a neighborhood bistro.”   – Eric Ripert on the design of Westend Bistro, exclusively for We Love DC

Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert, opened in 2007 at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C., is not your typical, often lackluster hotel restaurant.  Apart from the exceptional service – synonymous with the Ritz-Carlton brand, one would never guess that they were dining amongst hotel guests and visitors.  Westend Bistro feels like that friendly, neighborhood spot.  The place you know you can always count on – with phenomenal food and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. 

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Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: News Wrap

Photo courtesy of
‘escalator’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

August was slow, and September isn’t getting much news on the transit front (lots on other subjects, though). I’m going to take a look back on some Metro news you might have missed this month (but not this, as you’ve all seen it by now).

Summer is almost done, so let’s talk snow, shall we? As you’re probably aware, I’ve got a thing about snow and the amount of money that the Federal government, Metro, and local businesses lost during the storm-plagued winter. Metro tells us that they are still recouping some of the $12.7 million that it cost them to clear the snow (forget about the monies lost while the system was shut down). FEMA has agreed to reimburse Metro another $1.76 on top of the million they’ve already granted them. Only $10 million to go…
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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Billy Bragg

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week’s prize is two tickets to catch legendary, political singer/songwriter Billy Bragg in concert at 9:30 Club on Sunday September 19th.

Billy Bragg needs little introduction. His 30-year career writing and performing punk-tinged alt-rock and folk music full of conscience-challenging political observations and honest love songs has made him a legend in the UK and an underground hero in the United States. Known in the UK for his far-left political leanings and never one to censor himself when discussing his take on the current state of world politics, Bragg’s shows in the nation’s capital have a reputation for stirring the audience’s political passions as much as they entertain.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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The Features
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De Facto DC Election Night Party Post

Photo courtesy of
‘dc election day’
courtesy of ‘Paige Weaver’

As of 1:25am, it appears that Vince Gray has won handily over Adrian Fenty for Mayor, Kwame Brown has defeated Vincent Orange for Council Chair, and Phil Mendelson has held onto his seat against challenger Michael Brown. However, because of the introduction of early voting and same-day registration this year, even with 128/143 precincts counted, there are still literally tens of thousands of votes that have yet to be counted. Early votes aren’t counted until after election day votes have all been counted, so that process hasn’t started yet, and there are theories that a lot of Fenty’s votes are hiding in with the early ones (1:40am: DCist’s Martin Austermuhle reports from BOEE HQ reports that even with early votes, Gray leads Fenty 59,000 votes to 50,000). Same-day registrations are given provisional ballots, where the voter’s address has to be verified by postal mail within 10 days. So there is still wiggle room in these numbers. Meanwhile, because all the counting procedures are new this year, it’s taking much longer than usual to get the numbers done.

BOEE has had trouble importing data to post to the DCBOEE results page, so they’re posting essentially a printout from their system to get the information out.

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