Category Archives: The Features

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

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ 9:30 Club 4/5/10

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
courtesy of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rumbled into town on Monday night to subject a sold-out 9:30 Club to a shock and awesome display of rock-n-roll annihilation. Touring in support of their latest long-player, “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo“, BRMC embraced that album’s raw power style to play a set that was fast, loose, and loud. So loud that it often felt like the band was testing the audience’s commitment to BRMC’s maximum rock approach. The noise assault drove fans out in staggered waves through the set but left behind a sizable core of diehards to truly enjoy the display of sonic audacity and seemingly-effortless talent being unleashed on stage. Being a long-time BRMC fan, I was a bit shocked at the levels with which they could still manage to surprise and impress. After many years of watching Black Rebel Motorcycle Club perform, their Monday night, aural brainwashing made me feel like I was seeing the band for the first time all over again.

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Comedy in DC
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Comedy in DC: Sun? What sun?

Photo courtesy of
‘Family Hemerlein_25Mar10-1887’
courtesy of ‘sparkedheart’

It’s like spring inspires DC’s local comics to tell more jokes. I don’t know why, because the bitterness brought about by winter is better for comedy. But this weekend is kind of crammed full of comedy events. If properly motivated, you can catch four shows between Thursday and Saturday and still have Sunday to let your muscles recover from all the laughing. Screw cherry blossoms and nice weather- go sit in some of DC’s finest basement venues to get your laughter on.

Thursday night: Comedy Showcase at the Eleventh Street Lounge in Clarendon. This will feature some of the higher-quality regulars from Eleventh’s Monday night open mic. Chris Barylick tells me that it’s all-male in response to the Girls Night Out comedy showcase at Eleventh last month, but sausagefests are not at all out of the ordinary in DC comedy, so… whatever. It will feature Hampton Yount, Mike Eltringham, Tim Miller, Tyler Sonnichsen, Courtney Fearrington, Eli Sairs, and Chris Barylick and will be hosted by Lou Giglio. It’s also free. Awesome.   Continue reading →

Dupont Circle, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: In Darfur

Erika Rose in Theater J's "In Darfur," photo credit: Stan Barouh.

“Plays like this make me so grateful I was born at the time and place I was,” my friend says as we exit Theater J Saturday night. We’d just seen In Darfur by Winter Miller, and as a Western woman who’d spent the day shopping for frivolities, I felt the cold twist of shame in my stomach. But this isn’t a preachy production. Its simplicity provides the horror, and it’s truthful. These things happen. We ignore them. Then we see a simulation of a woman’s legs being cracked apart like a wishbone, and our silence feels culpable.

This is a hard sell, no denying it, but I urge you to go see In Darfur, playing now through April 18. The play is inspired by Miller’s own trip to refugee camps along the Chad-Sudan border, in the company of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times. Strangely, its flaws have to do with that prism of experience, as the two Westerners who serve as our entre to this world – an American journalist and an Argentinian aid worker – are simply not as compelling as the Africans they encounter. But I still urge you to see it, for Erika Rose’s central performance as Darfuri refugee Hawa is absolutely riveting.

The action unfolds in 2004, the aftermath of the initial atrocities committed during the conflict between the Darfur rebel groups, the Sudanese government, and the government-armed militias known as Janjaweed. Hawa, a Darfuri Muslim, has lost her entire family and been brutally raped – she is then further brutalized for being raped. Pregnant and wounded, she becomes the central pawn in hardened journalist Maryka’s (Rahaleh Nassri) quest to get Darfur on the front page, blocked by aid worker Carlos (Lucas Beck) in an ethical battle over whether endangering Hawa’s life to get the story out is worth the price she’ll pay. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Woman Watching PDA by Matt.Dunn

When the drab days of winter finally yield to the refreshing days of spring, we see a transformation in our fine city.  The gray skies turn blue, the barren trees sprout leaves and flowers, and people swap their grumpy attitudes with feelings of love.  It makes you wonder, why is spring such a catalyst for love?  Does warmer weather encourage the production of hormones?  Is it because members of the opposite sex are wearing less clothing?  Or is there just something in the air?  Whatever the answer, there seems to be an awful lot of love going on in our Flickr pool.  We have people loving their cameras behind the bushes, gorillas spooning at the zoo, people loving their pooches, couples getting it on under the cherry blossoms, people hooking up on the ice, and even people making out where they’re supposed to, in a Make Out Room.  The couple above, clearly victims of love, just can’t get enough of each other.  But if Cupid’s springtime arrow hasn’t pierced your heart just yet, as may be the case for their onlooker, I have but one piece of advice for you: find a mate, don’t hate.

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Get Shelled in Opener at Citizens Bank Park South

Photo courtesy of
‘Phillies @ Nationals (May 16, 2009) – 31’
courtesy of ‘Garyisajoke’

In my life I’ve left a baseball game early less than ten times. Today was one. The Nationals’ home opener today was an absolute disgrace on a number of fronts, but primarily on the field. The Nats put out a good first inning, with strong defense and small-ball offense putting them ahead 1-0 after 2 innings, but it was short lived. In the fourth, the Phils found John Lannan’s weaknesses and exploited them thoroughly. Ryan Howard struck with a two-run shot, followed by a string of walks and hits that just took the air out of the Nationals. Placido Polanco would strike in the top of the 7th with a grand slam to finish the deed, which ended 11-1

Thanks to the aggressive courting of traveling Phillies fans, the park was majority Phils phans, making Nationals Park into Citizens Bank Park South, in a most embarrassing show for the Nationals. I do hope that the Lerners recognize that this contributed to today’s loss and to the enjoyment of the fans. Most of the Nationals fans left Section 109 early in the game when it became clear that all we’d get to deal with was rowdy Phils fans who wanted to taunt, misbehave, and otherwise abuse our fair city’s dignity.

While the Nationals have much work to do, today’s treatment at the hands of the Phils should remind us that we need to take more pride in our teams, especially those that are the weakest. Get out and go to a game, if for no other reason than to deprive some feckless Philly thug a spot.

Downtown, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features
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National Geographic Live: April 2010

2501 Migrants: A Journey, courtesy of the filmmakers and National Geographic

The 2010 National Geographic Live series continues in April with a mix of music, movies, and food. The National Geographic Museum is offering up another two pairs of tickets for WeLoveDC readers, unless otherwise noted. Simply comment below (PLEASE use a legit email address and your first name) with what two events – in preferred order – you’d like to attend. We’ll do a random drawing on Wednesday, April 7 at 10 a.m. and get the winners set up with their first (or second, if your first choice is full) selection. Keep in mind that tickets are for single events only.

2501 Migrants: A Journey ($10)
April 7, 7 pm

This 2008 Mexican film documents Oaxacan artist Alejandro Santiago’s creative response to the impact of migration on rural Mexico. A discussion with the filmmaker, seven-time award-winning director Yolanda Cruz, will follow the film. Washington, D.C. premiere.

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Food and Drink, The DC 100, The Features
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DC Omni 100: #20 Pistachio Ice Cream

courtesy of flickr user StudioGabe

It’s time for another item on the DC Omnivore 100 list of the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives.

I’m a pistachio ice cream lover, but I haven’t always been. As a kid I was a Mint Chocolate Chip (MCC) ice cream party hack.  I subscribed to the theories that MCC had to have a vibrant green hue, was it the only green ice cream allowed, that pistachio was simply some sort of mutant flavored only eaten by weirdo adults and that I would never dare to taste pistachio ice cream because that would have been the ultimate slap in the face to MCC. I also had no idea what a pistachio nut was, because what 7 year old  has a distinguished enough palate to explore beyond peanuts–more likely peanut butter. As far as I was concerned almonds were pushing the nut frontier. However, now at the ripe age of 28, pistachio has become a regular to go at the ice cream parlor and lucky for me, it’s a regular offering at most establishments.

According to the interwebz, the creation of pistachio ice cream is attributed to James W. Parkinson of Philadelphia, who was the son of George and Eleanor Parkinson, a couple that made Philadelphia ice cream famous in  the nineteenth century. As a professionally trained chef, Mr. Parkinson was exposed to a widening variety of cooking techniques and international spices, from which he probably developed the idea to make a pistachio nut flavored ice cream.  And what a fantastic idea it was. Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: Cherry Blossoms! 4/2 – 4/4/10

Photo courtesy of
‘Parking under the cherries’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

While the peak time may have already passed for the blooms this year, it didn’t deter the crowds along the Tidal Basin. More crowded than the last few years, the blossoms were the key attraction once again as spring fully exploded all over the DC area.

Many area photographers were out and about – as evidenced by the huge number of blossom-related photos in our Flickr pool – with many participating in an early morning photowalk on Saturday. So if you missed all the touristy fun this past weekend, we here at WeLoveDC have you covered. Enjoy some blossom-themed photos from our special Cherry Blossom flashback.

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Fun & Games, People, Special Events, Sports Fix, The Features
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Washington Hosts Boston In The Nationals Dream Foundation Classic

Dream Foundation Classic
Photo by Rachel Levitin

Some of you might have noticed this increased amount of red t-shirts, caps, and jerseys on the Metro yesterday. If you didn’t, then you didn’t see what I saw. When Red Sox Nation meets NatsTown, the ride from Chinatown to the ballpark is a never ending red sea (Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston pun intended).

As Boston preps to take on the 2009 World Champion New York Yankees in Beantown for Opening Day 2010 tonight, they spent Saturday afternoon in the District playing baseball against the team with the worst record in the Major Leagues last year.

Those standings didn’t deter the ticket buying public-at-large though. A crowd of 37,312 filled the seats of Nationals Park for the final game of the 2010 spring training season to see Craig Stammen take on the veteran force that is Tim Wakefield in this year’s Nationals Dream Foundation Classic. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, WTF?!
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D.C. United Fall Short in Home Opener

United vs Revolution 01
Photo by Max Cook, special to We Love DC

Saturday’s matchup against fierce rival New England Revolution marked the home opener for D.C. United. Unfortunately for United, Kenny Mansally decided to personally rain on the opening parade. Last Saturday’s disastrous opener in Kansas City behind them, United came out of the locker room looking like a new club. In the first half, they managed to keep ahead of the usually potent New England offense with some offensive production of their own. Unlike last Saturday, United was able to keep things moving on offense, putting together some possessions that were respectable.

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News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Meet the Newest Redskin: Willie Parker, RB

Photo courtesy of
‘Willie Parker’
courtesy of ‘Jessa B.C.’

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Redskins today signed a one-year $3.1M maximum value deal to with Running Back Willie Parker, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Parker, 29, had three 1,000+ yard seasons in 2005-2007 with Pittsburgh before production dropped off over the last two seasons, in part due to Parker’s broken leg at the end of the 2007 season. Parker will be competing with Clinton Portis and newly-signed Larry Johnson for the starting spot. This should make Skins camp fairly interesting this summer.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Peep of View

Photo courtesy of
‘Peep of View’
courtesy of ‘rabid_c’

Welcome to the Friday Happy Hour, your single drink primer for the weekend.

There aren’t a ton of holiday specific drinks out there, and pretty much the only ones that do exist are Christmas drinks.  POV at the W Hotel has stepped in to remedy this with their new Easter themed cocktail, the “Peep of View.”  It’s a concoction of vodka, grapefruit juice, cranberry, and St. Germaine, topped off with champagne and garnished by a Peep.  As you can imagine, it’s sweet and fruity and drinking it was a severe test of my masculine security. As over the top as a Peep garnished cocktail sounds,  it’s an altogether pleasant drink. House squeezed juices give it a freshness that pairs perfectly with open air on the rooftop at POV. Not to mention that food and beverage director Robert Sabin wouldn’t let anything pass from his shop that wasn’t well constructed.  He even took into account how the marshmallow from Peep garnish would affect the flavor of the drink.  This weekend, consider the season.  Have your self a Peep of View at the W (but remember to get a reservation before you go).  Happy Easter!

All Politics is Local, Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine @ Ottobar 3/28 & The Black Cat 3/30

courtesy of martindd23

Jello Biafra will turn 52-years old in June but you wouldn’t know it from listening to his new album “The Audacity of Hype” or by watching his punk-as-f*ck live show. Fueled by a combination of unyielding political outrage and a bottomless reserve of poetic wit, Jello Biafra has been calling it like he sees it to anyone and everyone who will listen (and sometimes to those who refuse too) for over 30 years. Biafra’s various political platforms have included his legendary, California, punk band, The Dead Kennedys; numerous musical collaborations, several spoken word tours, and most recently his first ‘official’ band in 25 years, The Guantanamo School of Medicine.
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Adventures, Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, The District, The Great Outdoors, Tourism
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Tourism: Dumbarton Oaks

Photo courtesy of
‘Stairs’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’

If you’re looking to escape from the Cherry Blossom hoards and find your own little piece of Washington DC for a few hours, the Dumbarton Oaks house, gardens and museum have your name on it.

In 1920, U.S. Foreign Service diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Mildred Barnes Bliss purchased a large portion of land and a 1801 Federal style house in the northern most section of Georgetown. The Blisses made significant architectural renovations and additions, such as the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (DORCL) structure, which includes the 1963 Phillip Johnson designed Pre-Columbian Pavillion.  And more recently DORCL has welcomed a new library in 2005 and an extensive renovation of the house and museum was completed in 2008.

The museum houses, amongst other things, the significant art collection amassed by the the Blisses during their State Department life overseas.  This includes two fascinating collections of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art and artifacts, as well as displays of tapestries, sculptures, paintings, and furniture dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, which can be seen in the Music Room.  Continue reading →

The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: April Music Preview

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

Every band’s gotta start somewhere. Last month, we took a look at local acts at local venues. The homegrown groups got some sweet, sweet lovin’ via your attendance at their shows. April, the first full month of spring, calls for a savory new way to titillate your aesthetic sense. Here are five concerts to catch at the hometown venues you’ve learned to love with up-and-coming east coast (and Canadian!) musicians, air guitar pros, and a personal favorite of mine (aka live jazz). Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, April 3-4

Photo courtesy of
‘Patchwork’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Max: With the weather shaping up to be perfect for the weekend, there will likely be very little hibernating going on.  Friday night I’m super excited about Cherry Blast, Pink Line Project’s follow up to last year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival event.  This “creative extravaganza” will feature performance art, dance, film, fashion and more (and I’m happy that it’s only a few blocks from my house). I’ll be playing with my new camera at the United/Revolution home opener on Saturday.  And sadly, after brunch at Lauriol Plaza, I’ll be indoors on Sunday editing photos from the weekend.

Tom: Big weekend!  The best man from our wedding is in town, and it looks like we’re going to spend some time being tourists.  Friday after the cherry blossoms, we will be having one last cookout at our Arlington place before the big move into the city in two weeks.  Then Saturday it’s brunch and a birthday party for my cousin-niece Lillith in Falls Church.  Saturday is also a sports extravaganza double-header day, with the Nats finishing their pre-season against the Red Sox at Nats Park at 4pm, and then D.C. United will be opening their home season (tickets still available) against the Revolution.  That’s right: It’s DC vs Boston on Saturday!  Sunday is Easter, and that will mean the city’s restaurants will be a zoo.  Catch me at home, brunching it up with my sweetie after Church.   Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nationals Make Improvements Before Pre-Season Opener

Victory Knot Pretzel

Special to We Love DC by Hal Mangold

Let’s get one thing straight right now: The Washington Nationals probably aren’t going to be very good this year. They might be bearable, even fun, to watch, but expecting them to be anywhere other than knife-fighting in the basement of the NL East is probably too much to ask given the catastrophic 2009 season. I’m pretty sure the brass over at Nationals Park are well aware of this, and at the very least it looks like they’re trying to make sure that coming to DC’s temple of baseball has other attractions than what’s on the field. So it came to pass that on the stunning Spring day that was yesterday, the Nationals rolled out the PR red carpet (literally, as it happens) and guided a motley band of local TV, radio, print and online media around Nationals park to show off the new polish that’s been applied to the place. There’s something kind of magical about walking around a mostly empty ballpark, and the weather couldn’t have been better for it. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Five Baseball Lessons From Thomas & Billy Heywood

Billy Heywood Played Here
The HHH Metrodome, Summer 2009
Photo byRachel Levitin

Billy Heywood could be integral toward the Nationals having a better than sub-par season. Don’t know who Billy Heywood is? He’s the first and only 12-year-old baseball manager whose team lost to a guy who notched 300 wins in the 2009 season (against the Nationals at Nationals Park) aka Randy Johnson in the 1994 film, Little Big League.

Sure – Billy Heywood is a fictional character from a 90’s sports movie made for children. That is but a mere technicality. Writer Gregory K. Pincus captured what was great about baseball through a 12-year-old boy who, if he were Jim Riggleman right now, would know how to knock some sense into our Nationals before the season gets them down.

Here are five lessons the 2010 Nats could learn from Billy Heywood and his grandpa Thomas:

Lesson One: There’s 162 Games, Don’t Forget

Thomas Heywood: Okay. It’s only May. A lot can happen. [On the Twins losing record] … You’re not making excuses because the Twins are losing? You’re not front runners are you?”

The correct answer in this scenario is: “No way, I’d rather see the worst team ever than go to my grandmother’s,” according to the movie. I agree. As much as I love my grandmothers, going to a baseball game on a school night was always a can’t miss opportunity.

Anything can happen between April and October. Anything. That’s what’s great about baseball. That’s why even the team that loses the most deserves support. They’ve made it through the minors. It took most of them awhile. They deserve fans just as much as the next guy.

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Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, The Features
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Eat Like Me: March’s Best Dishes

Photo courtesy of
‘galbi’
courtesy of ‘aliciagriffin’

Spring is a lovely time in Washington – this isn’t a revelation. But it’s a perfectly pleasing time to be eating out in our city. Chefs are getting excited about spring farm produce, and menus are waking up from their brussel-sprout-and-short-rib trance. Fish makes it’s way to a more prominent place on the menu, and cherry cocktails celebrate the turn of the season. The arrival of Zaytinya’s Easter festival makes me think of sundresses, and the announcement of RAMMY nominations makes me want to strip off my tights and thrown on some open-toed heels. These events that make DC the perfect place to eat in spring, and I’m oh-so-happy to be back here again! Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Midnight Spin

MS Piano
Photo by Rachel Levitin

The Cubs came to town to play the Nationals last July. As a Chicago North Sider by birth, I refuse to miss any Cubs-Nats games played inside the Beltway. As luck would have it, I showed up at the Bullpen beer garden outside Nationals Park before game two of the Cubs-Nats series; the same night Midnight Spin happened to be the entertainment on tap.

I remember it like it was yesterday. A friend of mine and I were a few lite beers into our evening about an hour before game time when out of the loud speakers rang the opening chords to Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” à la Midnight Spin. It was love at first listen.

Beer induced love is a pure love, at least in my experience. My friend bet me that I wouldn’t remember the band’s name in the morning. That friend was wrong. Unlike a beer induced one-night stand, not only did I remember their name, but I wanted a second date. Continue reading →