Category Archives: The Features

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

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nationals, Olsen top Braves 5-3

Scott Olsen on the Mound Thursday
Photo by Cheryl Nichols Nats News Network

Scott Olsen returned to the mound for the Nationals on Thursday afternoon and pitched six solid innings of 2-run ball to notch his first win since May. Olsen had been struggling to the starting rotation after tightness in his shoulder would not abate after a start in late May. Today, none of that was evident, as the hurler would go six full, with velocity reaching the low 90s, which is impressive when you think that he came into Spring Training throwing in the low 80s. After the game, Manager Jim Riggleman would say of Olsen, “He looked good…he kept the ball down, confident with his pitches,” and that’s just what the Nationals needed when they continue to face problems in their starting five. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Green DC, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Beer that Loves DC – Part 1

Photo courtesy of
‘Jeff Hancock and Brandon Skall’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

“We’re quitting our jobs, next week,” Brandon Skall tells me. I look over at his business partner, Jeff, who smiles wryly. “From here on out, it’s all DC Brau.” Maybe it’s a crazy thing to do. Starting a business in the best of times is tough, but in this economy it’s especially risky. Still, Brandon and Jeff don’t seem worried, which inspires a certain confidence.

“How do your wives feel about it?” I ask, noticing wedding rings on their fingers.

“They’re scared shitless, but they’re excited,” Jeff Hancock replies. “That’s how I knew this was a good idea.” Both men smile, lean back in their chairs and sip their beers. It’s one of the hotter days in late June and we’re sweating it out on the back porch of Little Miss Whiskey’s, talking about their start-up brewery, DC Brau.

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We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, July 31-August 1

Photo courtesy of ‘/>
‘Tian Tian = One Relaxed Panda’
courtesy of ”

Michael: This weekend I am hitting the road. Friday, I will be in the second row at Radio City Music Hall in NYC to see one of my all time-favorite bands, Spiritualized, performing one of my all time favorite albums, “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space”, in its entirety. It’s the only stateside show where they are doing this, so I am mighty stoked. The rest of the weekend will be a blur of Jersey shore traffic as I fight my way to Cape May for a wedding. If I were in town, I would probably find a way to sneak into the sold out Deadmau5 show at the 9:30 Club on Friday. I am afraid seeing him Wednesday and Thursday just won’t be enough.

Dave L.: I, too, will be out of the District for the weekend, enjoying the nuptials of two of my closest friends from college up in sunny Chatham, New Jersey. If I were to be around, I probably would have worked my way over to Nationals Park for a game or two, or potentially even gone up to Baltimore to catch the friendly between Manchester City and Inter Milan. Continue reading →

Fun & Games, Getaways, The Features
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Getaways: Dollywood

Train
Photo by Rachel Levitin

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee doesn’t sound like a hot spot for a prime piece of amusement park real estate. The best this slice of the American life can offer besides its gorgeous location among Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains is a stretch of road right off the highway. There’s an extensive slew of “As Seen on TV” stores, mini-golf and go-kart tracks galore, and even a Titanic museum. Add some monster truck raceways and that’s pretty much Pigeon Forge, or at least that’s what I thought until being introduced to Dollywood.

Dolly Parton is one smart whippersnapper. The often outspoken, always smiling, firecracker of a performer is Country music’s sweetheart and rightfully so. Parton was born in 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tenn. to impoverished sharecroppers and lived in a cabin with 11 siblings without electricity or running water. Since then, she’s done pretty gosh darn good for herself.

Parton has accrued quite a lofty sum of money in her name for her wide variety of classic Country tunes (and covers of said Country tunes). It’s thanks to those tunes and quirky demeanor that she’s built a lucrative entertainment empire, part of which includes the greatest gift she could have even bestowed upon her family in the Smokies — Dollywood. Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Hudson mystifies Nationals, Braves win 3-1

IMG_7508 Peralta.jpg
Photo by Cheryl Nichols, Nationals News Network

The running gag in the postgame press conferences at Nationals Park from Manager Jim Riggleman is that he tends to say something about running into aces, and playing hard ball. Tonight the Nationals did both. They faced the Braves’ ace in Tim Hudson, who went 7 2/3 IP throwing just 96 pitches, and retired seven on strikeouts. Hudson was dominant most of the evening, brushing off the Nats offense with near impunity. The Nats did play hard tonight, but couldn’t generate any offensive action, and made some key defensive mistakes. Continue reading →

Interviews, The Features, They Shoot DC
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She Shoots DC: Michelle Farnsworth

Courtesy Michelle Farnsworth

I am truly amazed at the number of photographers who call DC home. Many of them contribute to our photo pool on a constant basis; many of the photos accompanying our articles are taken by local residents who enjoy sharing their work through the Flickr avenue. And then there are others who don’t necessarily contribute through Flickr but still wander the streets, shooting as they desire, creating visual art through images of every day life here in the capital.

Many carry their art beyond images of the DC area in pursuit of a hobby or livelihood they love. On occasion, we take a moment to highlight the greater work of our area shutterbugs and this time we managed to snag Michelle Farnsworth for a quick peek into her life as a DC resident and photographer.

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The Features
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A Look at the Expos’ Place in Nationals History

Photo courtesy of
‘my trusty, soon-to-be-retired expos hat’
courtesy of ‘permanently scatterbrained’

The Nationals announced Tuesday afternoon that the team will be honoring 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Andre “The Hawk” Dawson, who played for the franchise in Montreal with a tri-colored Expos cap atop his head from 1976-1986, on August 10 at Nationals Park.

It’s easy to fall victim to making a quick comparison between the Washington Nationals and the Washington Senators since those are the only two ball teams to play in the District, but they’re not one in the same. In fact, they’re far from it.

The Senators were an American League team. The Nationals are a National League team. The only common ground is the city in which they played.

Here’s a closer look at the Nationals’ history and how the Expos fit into that.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Deadmau5

Deadmau5 @ 930 Club

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 ticket giveaway is so hot it’s making the sun jealous! This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to the SOLD OUT Deadmau5 show at the 9:30 Club on Friday July 30th!

Deadmau5′ current tour is THE dance music event of the Summer. The man in the mau5-head has been throwing down spectacular live sessions all over the world and for the next three nights he will be taking up residence at the best club in the country! Deadmau5 has elevated his game from simply spinning beats to creating a mind-blowing audio/visual experience complete with jaw-dropping digital light-shows, a custom built DJ-booth that has to be seen to believe, and most importantly his excellent custom-blend electronic music. Missing Deadmau5 is perhaps my biggest Coachella Festival regret this year. Every report that I’ve read out of Coachella indicates that Deadmau5′ 2010 show is an unforgettable, electronic music experience. This week DC is lucky enough to get a triple-dose of Deadmau5 shows. Thanks to the techno-savvy however, all three shows are already sold out! But fear not dear readers, one of you still has a shot at catching Deadmau5′ stunning show this Friday night!

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. 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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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Noises Off

The Keegan Theatre's production of "Noises Off." Photo credit: Jim Coates Photography

British playwright Michael Frayn’s farce-within-a-farce Noises Off has become one of the most beloved and popular comedies since its original staging in 1982 – so popular that when Frayn updated it ten years ago for a National Theatre revival it caught a Tony for its famous Broadway transfer. Listening to the audience’s uproarious laughter at Keegan Theatre’s production last night, it’s not hard to see why this play is produced again and again – it’s simply guaranteed to make you laugh.

There’s an endearing quality to Keegan’s performance, with the appropriately creaky Church Street Theater making a believable setting for a play about all the awful failures a tired touring company goes through.  This may not be the most perfect production of this jewel of a farce, but the cast is giving it their all and there are crazy moments of hilarity. Playing now through August 22, it’s a very entertaining night out.

Three acts take the audience through three nights of watching as a touring company attempts a farce called Nothing On, a silly piece of froth with a Benny Hill sensibility. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Poste Roast

Photo Credit: Michael Harlan Turkell

I love throwing dinner parties. In my head, they always turn out like the cover of Bon Appetit and there’s always enough delicious food and the wine is perfect and everyone is happy. But in actuality, the food is pretty okay, it never is all ready at the same time, and I usually forget to put forks on the table. I always just assumed that the perfect dinner party was in the same category as unicorns and leprechauns, but Poste Roast proves that is not the case.

Poste Roast is a genius special event put on by the fine folks at Poste Moderne Brasserie in the Hotel Monaco. It’s part pig roast and part elegant dinner party. I admittedly didn’t really know what to expect when I forced seven of my closest friends to give over full control of their dinner and wallets to me that night, but I thought it was bound to be something memorable.

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We Love Music
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We Love Music (and Photos): Drive-By Truckers at 9:30 Club

Photo courtesy of

‘Patterson Hood’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Around 10:00 Friday night, Drive-By Truckers strolled out onto the 9:30 Club stage. Singer Patterson Hood raised his arms, puffed out his chest, and screamed: “Goddammit, I feel GOOD.” By 1 a.m., Hood and his fans were drenched in sweat twice over, the band was wrapping up a raucous cover of punk hero Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died,” and “good” had become an understatement of epic proportions for the way the night felt.

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Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Hottest Day of the Year by Matt.Dunn

Ah, DC, your perseverance never ceases to amaze me.  Just when I start thinking that you’re a bunch of wimps, you go and do something to prove me wrong.  It seems that no matter what gets thrown your way, you fight back.  You’re fighters, not lovers, and on top of that you’re rich and smart!

Is Congress still refusing to give you a vote and treating you like second class citizens?  No worries – I know you’ll find a way to get up in their grill and make yourselves heard.  Is Metro raising its fares on you during tough economic times?  Hah, you’ll show them.  Is Mother Nature churning out record temperatures and throwing storms at you that knock your power out?  Bring it!  You just take your clothes off and ride around on a diesel powered, air conditioned bus.  Is Matt Dunn shooting you with his old school cameras and lighting you up with his fill flash?  Well, it appears you have no answer for that, but it’s OK.  Really.  It’s OK.

Food and Drink, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Beer and Food Pairing at Little Miss Whiskey’s

Photo courtesy of
‘Hopeful Light’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

As a beer lover there’s something so interesting that pairings do to the way you experience beer.  You still think about the malt characteristics and the quality of the yeast as you drink, but you get the added element of how your beer is cutting or complimenting your food.  You experience whole new flavors and elements of the brew that the food enhances.  You’re continually surprised by how reality contradicts your intellectual supposition of how a certain beer with pair with a particular food. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: HEALTH @ Rock & Roll Hotel 7/24/10


courtesy of HEALTH.

As I predicted last week, Los Angeles noise outfit HEALTH smashed Rock & Roll Hotel into a million tiny pieces on Saturday night with a spectacular show of guitar and drum demolition. Constantly shifting gears between raw noise, power electronics, and their unique brand of danceable noise-pop HEALTH kept the audience gleefully off-balance for the duration. Their set was an audio killdozer, rolling over the crowd with its well-timed dual percussion, mad scientist guitar sounds, and deranged vocal manipulation. It was the most joyous and inventive celebration of controlled noise that I have seen come through DC so far this year.

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The Features
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An ANC Guide: Running for Election

Photo courtesy of
‘A packed ANC 4C meeting in DC tonight’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

This week’s political squabbles over a liquor license for a popular cafe, have brought into sharp focus the role of the District’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Dave went over the ANC’s role in our community in a previous feature, and this feature is here to tell you a bit more about how the ANC commissioners come to be elected.

ANC Commissioners are non-partisan, which means that they are selected at the general election. We don’t have to tell you that this means that they’re elected at the smaller of the two elections this fall, or that it means that many seats run unopposed. It’s a thankless job, for the most part, but it’s about being deeply involved in your own district, in your own community, and yes, it does mean meetings. But this feature is about how you get there, not what it means.
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The Features
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We Love Pop Culture: DC in Film, Wedding Crashers

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘dno1967’

Jeremy: Someday you’ll look back on all this and laugh, and say we were young and stupid.
John: We’re not that young.

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the release of one of my favorite movies of the last decade – not to mention the fact that I was nursing a hangover that was directly the cause of a reception – I popped in my DVD of Wedding Crashers and settled in for an afternoon of air conditioning and laughter a few weeks back. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t seen the movie in awhile, or the fact that I had finally lived in Washington long enough to appreciate, but I finally appreciated the fact that the film did a pretty solid job at capturing a few aspects of its D.C. setting.

It’s been a hot week, so this actually turns out to be a perfect time to wrap it up by thinking about the better things life: movies, weddings and partying. As a kicker, let’s consider a few other aspects of the movie that play well into D.C. culture.

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All Politics is Local, The Features
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Campaign Notebook, July 22, 2010

Photo courtesy of
‘DC and US Flags’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Last week the feeling was game on. This week, 53 days out from the primary, there hasn’t been any notable shift in momentum in the Mayoral race. Kwame Brown’s personal debt is still making the rounds in the Council chair race, and there’s been some rumblings in the races in Ward 1 and Ward 5. Let’s get to it, shall we? Continue reading →

The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Jason Wright

Jason Wright, Artist – Image Courtesy of Jason Wright

You normally don’t here the terms extreme sports and art in the same sentence, so I was quite intrigued when I heard about Jason Wright’s show called Take You Home – on display at Gallery Plan B. You see, Wright lives the dual-lifestyle of professional skydiver (check out the video below) and knife painter, effortlessly swooping in-and-out of each role, and drawing inspiration from these experiences in order to bring something fresh to the art scene.  In this interview, Wright talks with WLDC about his work, his passion for life, and what it is like to live in D.C. every summer.

We Love DC:  How did you get to be where you are today? Artist and professional athlete isn’t the most common title to have.

Jason Wright: I grew up in Hawaii, and Hawaii is still home for me.  While living there I was completely immersed in that culture, skateboarding and surfing all the time.  It was at this point that art fused with me and I began illustrating for skateboards.  In that kind of art culture you also get to experience things like music (I was in multiple bands) and even the culinary arts (I wanted to be a chef at one poskyint), the art world is very friendly and was a perfect fit for my free spirited type of personality.  I always followed my own path in life and let my passion lead the way.  Next, I ventured into snowboarding and becskause of injury it was taken away from me, but all of the traveling I got to do at the professional level was good for inspiration – meeting different people and attending different galleries.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Star Wars In Concert @ Verizon Center 7/17/10

Star Wars: In Conert Verizon Center 7/17/10
photo by Don Whiteside.

Earlier today you may have read my interview with David Iskra, the curator of the Star Wars: In Concert traveling props and costume exhibit. While it is not necessary to read that article, I do suggest reading it first for two reasons. One, this article is a review of the musical half of Star Wars: In Concert experience; all of our exhibit photos and most of the information about the traveling exhibit are contained in this morning’s post. Two, the prop exhibit greets the audience as they arrive for the concert and provides at least an hour of entertainment before the music even begins. To better put yourself in an attendee’s shoes, I suggest checking out our exhibit photos to get yourself ready for the adventure that lay ahead!

The original Star Wars trilogy is composed of three of the most beloved films of all time. The prequel trilogy that followed many years later is made up of three of the most divisive. Two common threads connect these six films and Star Wars: In Concert is an event designed to celebrate them. First and foremost, the event is about celebrating the brilliant music of composer John Williams; who scored all six films over a 30-year period. Even the most critical fan must acknowledge that Williams’ music is the most beautiful, artistic thing to come out of the prequel trilogy and that his themes from the original trilogy rank among the most memorable and effective film scoring of all time. Second, the event is about the lineage of characters that populate the six films and the human themes that they evoke in the viewer. Another Planet Touring created Star Wars: In Concert to celebrate John Williams’ music and to explore how it was as important in creating these characters as the writing and acting. It is a touring multimedia event unlike any other film music event I have ever attended. It was a great afternoon full of nostalgia, visual delight, and thrilling music.

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