Category Archives: The Features

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

The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: Glover Park

Photo courtesy of
‘Glover Park hawk’
courtesy of ‘Julie Lyn’

Welcome to another installment of Where We Live. This week we’ll look at Glover Park, a neighborhood that often gets overlooked because of its two loud neighbors: Dupont Circle and Georgetown. But there’s a lot of charm in Glover Park, and it offers residents a perfect balance: living on a quiet, tree-lined street while being just five minutes from restaurants, shops, and attractions. (And, for the record, it seems that no one is quite sure how to pronounce the name of this neighborhood, but it’s actually Glover– rhymes with lover, not clover — Park.)

History: Glover Park gets its name from Charles Carroll Glover (1846-1936), who donated much of the land that became Rock Creek Park and is responsible for the Washington National Cathedral’s construction. Glover Park started developing in the 1920s, with mostly residential rowhouses. The commercial district along Wisconsin Avenue developed in the mid-1930s, attracting corner stores and even a movie theater, while retaining the feeling of a small town. The Glover Park neighborhood was considered upscale compared to the “squalor of Georgetown” during this time, and through the years the neighborhood has preserved its residential nature and small-town character. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Room 11

"The patio at Room 11" by squidpants, on Flickr

"The patio at Room 11" by squidpants, on Flickr

I’m not precisely sure why, but something about Room 11 reminds me of New Orleans. Not the crazy raucous Bourbon Street tourist madness that immediately comes to mind, but the lazy corner bar where the locals go.

Maybe because the actual space is so tiny, just a bar with an outside patio that dwarfs the inside. Maybe because the first night I was there, the clientele was such a fascinating mix of local characters. On one side, I could eavesdrop on the brothers Brown concocting their latest cocktail bar, on the other, a courtly group of GI Generationers enjoying the vino. The next visit it was the after-work young professionals crowd, enlivened by a dandy with a dog.

A complete cross-section of the Columbia Heights neighborhood? Well, not entirely. “You enjoying that wine and cheese?” a man sneered as he passed by.

But, no social commentary today. Let’s talk about that wine and cheese instead. Continue reading →

Comedy in DC, The Daily Feed
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Comedy in DC: Updates

Photo courtesy of
‘Ben and the Microphone’
courtesy of ‘CJ Sorg’

School is back in session and that means the college audiences that fuel small local shows are also back and looking to laugh. Which is good, because there are comedians STANDING BY to tell jokes!

Tonight, the Hot Broth Comedy open mic rages on at the Comedy Spot in Ballston. This open mic is pretty much the only reason ever to go to Ballston. Free, and BYOB.  Tomorrow night, Three Chord Comedy is happening again at the Velvet Lounge. Super cheap, only $2. The open mic at the Eleventh Street Lounge in Clarendon has gone weekly rather than twice a month, which is good because the lineup was always so packed comics frequently couldn’t get more than 5 minutes. Totally lame for trying to practice a longer set. It’s a good room, too- it looks like Prince remodeled the Fight Club basement, but it’s small enough that the comics don’t actually have to use a mic to reach the whole audience (though you’ll still see some of the newbies clutching an umbrella or something like it’s a mic to steady their nerves. It’s cute, really). Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Sept 26-27

Photo courtesy of
‘Richard Peck’
courtesy of ‘ellen.w’

Carl: This weekend will be busy for me, as I need to spend some time shopping for cars, since my old one was wrecked in an accident a few weeks ago. What? You didn’t see my after-accident photo? I also plan to catch up on editing my book and editing a collection of photos I plan to show soon. I’m not one of the younger writers here so I don’t have plans to hit anything up, which to me sounds remarkably like knocking something up. I don’t have plans to do that either.

Jasmine: The single thing I am most excited about this weekend is the National Book Festival. For serious. If you’ve never been, it’s tent after tent of books for sale, free stuff (the posters are always gorgeous, so make sure to pick one up), and authors signing their books and giving talks. One NBF I went to, I stopped by this tent that seemed to have an unusual number of 12 year old girls with home made tshirts, and I eavesdropped on a then-obscure Stephenie Meyer talking about why she is drawn to vampires. So I’m pretty excited for what this year will bring. After that, I plan on dancing my cares away at the Bliss Dance Party at Black Cat and then recovering all day Sunday before another long week at work. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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NFL Films Focuses on Zorn, Campbell

Photo courtesy of
‘Jason Campbell and Clinton Portis’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

This weekend’s abysmal Redskins/Rams game at Fedex left the audience booing, the team bewildered and twittering stupidly, and everyone else going “Wait, is that score from Halftime?!” NFL Films had both QB Jason Campbell and Coach Jim Zorn wired for the game Sunday and have now released the product of the experiment, where we can see how Zorn and Campbell communicated throughout the game.

It’s fascinating to see how technology has altered the NFL, specifically the relationships between QB and Coach, to increase team communication in stressful situations and to help evaluate flaws in execution and planning. Really quite interesting.

Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The District, The Features
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We Love Events: Big Kids Block Party

Photo courtesy of
‘The Good Stuff’
courtesy of ‘DaveFayram’

In last weekend’s Washington Post, the article “Tips on Throwing a Neighborhood Block Party,” detailed the ins and outs of how to–legally–plan, promote and execute a block party in DC.

So now, my friends, it’s time to get the block partying on!

Look no further than the Big Kids Block Party, Saturday, October 3 from 6pm to midnight at Marion and Q St NW in DC’s Shaw neighborhood.  The party is being hosted and organized by the Q Street Nehighborhood Association, is properly sanctioned by local DC authorities and, as a BIG kids block party, is for the 21+ crowd (photo ID will be required for entrance.)

Did I also mention all the local restaurants/shops that are providing provisions for the event? I’m talking 200 half-smokes from Ben’s Chili Bowl, Mr. Yogato fro-yo (and they’ve got some sort of 100 yogurt cup competition up their shelves AND gift card giveaways,) lots of tasty goodies from Julia’s Empanadas, a cotton candy machine, rice crispy treats and more. Continue reading →

Scribblings, The Features
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Scribblings: Jennet Conant

Photo courtesy of
‘willie wonka chocolate bar’
courtesy of ‘rafeejewell’

At noon this Thursday at the International Spy Museum, Jennet Conant will discuss the exploits of one of Britain’s key agents of the “Baker Street Irregulars,” a group of agents formed under the British Security Coordination. The BSC was created by Winston Churchill as the British mounted a massive, secret campaign of propaganda and political subversion to weaken isolationist sentiment in America and manipulate Washington into entering the war against Germany.

Conant will discuss at this special author’s discussion the exploits of Roald Dahl from his book The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington. Beloved now for his books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, in WWII Dahl used his dazzling imagination for espionage purposes. His dashing good looks and easy charm won him access to the ballrooms and bedrooms of America’s rich and powerful, and to the most important prize of all—intelligence.

The author took a moment to answer some questions posed by the Museum. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, The Features
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Leisurely: Bowling

Photo courtesy of
‘rental’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

With the Lebowski Fest coming to DC on September 28-29, we’re sure you have bowling on your mind. These days you can bowl on your iPhone, your Wii, and a number of other technological devices, but some days you just want to get out there and have the whole experience. Perhaps you’ve already thought of hurling a ball towards ten pins as your preferred indoor activity during the upcoming winter season, or even – Dude! – joining a bowling league.

Well, lucky for you, the DC area has a plethora of options for getting your bowl on.

Keep it casual

Maybe you’re not looking to get into a serious relationship with bowling just yet. Maybe you want to date before you marry. Lucky Strike in Chinatown and Strike Bethesda are high-end options for an occasional bowl. The pricier-than-most food and drinks accompany the bowling prices, but when all’s said and done, it’s a classy – and still affordable – affair for a great night out. On the opposite end of the spectrum, GW’s Hippodrome offers cheap, cheap, cheap – no frills – bowling. And, while not always possible, moving your bowling extravaganza out of the city and out of the way of a metro guarantees a more “authentic” experience. — See below for more details on US Bowling (VA), Bowl America (VA) and Marlow Heights Lanes (MD). Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Features
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An analysis of NTSB’s findings

Photo courtesy of
‘Negative’
courtesy of ‘lorigoldberg’

NTSB sent out letters yesterday to WMATA,  Alstom Signaling, Inc, Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration. Each letter is slightly different but they all describe what NTSB believes to be the root cause behind the June 22nd Red Line crash.

Alstrom Signaling acquired General Railway Signal, the company that manufactured the WEE-Z bonds used in the metro system and installed in the 1970s at the Ft. Totten section of the red line. These are the devices used to sense and signal the presence of trains on the line and what have been suspected to be the root cause of the June collision.

The letter states “the investigation is ongoing” but confirms that these WEE-Z bonds, and the train sensing signal, continue to be the prime suspect. Immediately after that disclaimer NTSB says the following:

[P]ostaccident testing showed that the track circuit at the accident site lost detection of train 214 when it stopped at the location where the collision occurred. Because the automatic train protection (ATP) system was not detecting train 214’s location, the following train (train 112) did not receive a command to slow or stop in order to maintain train separation.

After that point we get into some pretty hard-core geek speak, but if you’re interested I’ll do a little translation.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, History, Special Events, The Features, The Great Outdoors, The Mall, We Green DC
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Host a National Park Premiere Party

photo courtesy of pbs.org

photo courtesy of pbs.org

This Sunday evening, September 27 at 8pm, the long awaited Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea premieres on PBS. The documentary stories the inspiring individuals who dedicated themselves to establishing our National Park System and to protecting America’s cultural, natural and historic heritage.  The series will air a new episode every night next week with the concluding episode on Friday, October 2.

To spread the word about this awesome documentary and get park lovers to share their parks stories with friends and family, the DC-based non-profit, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is organizing nation-wide viewing parties for the Sunday premiere, and they’ve made it super easy to host your own get-together with customized evites, your own personalized party page, helpful party tips and innovative ways to share this documentary with people around the country.  “Our goal is to inspire all Americans to dedicate themselves to protecting and preserving our national parks,” says Tom Kiernan, NPCA President, “so that the parks can be enjoyed, explored, and cherished by our children, our grandchildren, and by all future generations.”

Register to host a (private or public) party, and you’ll be entered in a raffle to win 1 of 5 signed copies of award-winning, conservation photographer Ian Shive‘s The National Parks: Our American Landscape.  This new, visually stunning photo journey highlights the beauty and majesty of our national parks from Alaska’s Denali to Florida’s Everglades.  RSVP’ed guests will also be entered in the drawing, and you, as the host, will get a bonus entry for every guest.  Woot! Continue reading →

Where We Live
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When did housing turn into Freddie Kreuger?

Photo courtesy of
‘Foreclosed House 3-21-08 IMG_7996’
courtesy of ‘stevendepolo’

Actually, the housing market may be more Jekyll & Hyde than straight-up slasher villain, given the way it’s seemed to flip between everyone’s financial salvation and the eventual ruin of our economy. Unfortunately the odds are that if I’m writing about it here it’s for frightening reasons, not happy ones. Even more unfortunate, it seems that we’re getting little of this news in the mid-Atlantic region because the big scare lines specify areas far from here. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to impact us, though.

The big scary news hasn’t hit the Washington Post yet, though a lot of west coast papers have been running it. The tip of this iceburg is named “option ARMs” and is about a type of loan that let people pick how much they’d repay. Not surprisingly, many opted to make the smallest possible payment – an amount that, in many cases, didn’t even cover the interest being applied to the loan. The result being that the total amount of the loan grew rather than shrank over time, which would be troubling enough even if home prices rose. Which, as we all know, they didn’t.

Presumably our region is not getting the same amount of coverage on this issue as the west because of the big quote out of the reporting agency, Fitch. “75% percent of Option ARM loans are secured by properties located in California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona” seems to be the info line that journalists are noticing and using as a reason to write this up, or possibly not. You’ll find fresh entries on option ARMs on SFGate but not in the WaPo.

Which is too bad, because this is going to bite us in the ass too.

Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


Nathan Kelly by MikaAltskan

Local photographer Mika Altskan appears to have unprecedented access to a gravity defying group of athletes (or super heroes).  Whether they’re pulling an E.T. move on their bike or skating horizontally through the air, he’s there to capture their raw talent with his camera.  Aside from the great stop action in the shot above, the color, the low point of view, and the timeless, carefree emotions that are portrayed make this shot a winner.  The icing on the cake for me is the lens flare, something that is sometimes accidental but adds a unique touch of cinematic beauty to the shot, a photographic snowflake if you will.  This photo makes me want to play hooky so I can practice my own skull cracking stunts in the final days of warm weather, but who am I kidding?  I’m only a daredevil when I’m in or on something motorized, preferably with an airbag.  I’ll leave the bone breaking activities to our youth.

Interviews, The Features
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She Loves DC: Kate Michael

Photo courtesy of
‘Kate Michael, K Street Kate’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’

Last week I sat down with Kate Michael, also known as K Street Kate and forever known as former Miss DC, at a new, local coffee shop and chatted about why she loves DC. The self-made model, philanthropist, and expert on all things DC (a combination which she perhaps rightfully claims is only possible in the city we all love) hosts or makes appearances at at least three local events and openings a night, where her biggest concern is picking out an outfit that works for all three. Between media appearances, runway fittings, and fundraisers, she wakes up early to blog about her experiences on her website, K Street Kate.

In our chat, the breast cancer and literacy advocate dispelled rumors about DC’s lack of fashion and divulged the fashion brand that DC would be – if it could be one. She told me what name DC should go by – if it could go by any other name, and most interestingly, the limelight-loving, fashionable media queen shared why she picked K Street, aside from the obvious alliteration.

DC hired her once, to represent the city as Miss DC in the Miss America franchise, again to work for the city’s green employment, and she’ll tell us why they should hire her for real as the most qualified pavement-pounding spokesperson around. Continue reading →

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed
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Go Car-Free Tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of
‘SmartBikes have arrived!’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

As a native of the Western United States, I grew up with the belief that roads and cars were not just the way to get around, they were a birth-right not entirely unlike the right to vote. Silly, I know, but when you’re 30 miles from the nearest decent place to get a pair of jeans and Amazon.com hasn’t been invented yet, it’s not hard to figure out why they’re necessary. In much of DC, though, it’s easy to get around by Metrorail (that is when the trains are running) or Metrobus (when they’re not hitting people) so if you only occasionally give up your car for public transit, consider going car-free tomorrow.

There’s going to be a big Car-Free party at 7th & F Street in Penn Quarter, with all kinds of events. In addition, the Fojol Brothers, the Spy Cafe Cart and On-The-Fly will be selling tasty lunch options, and there’s going to be a ton of giveaways. Give it a look.

Food and Drink, The DC 100, The Features
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DC Omnivore 100: #98, Polenta

Polenta

"Polenta" by Jenn Larsen, on Flickr

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

There’s something so comforting about polenta. Maybe it’s the mushiness. Last night, fighting off a fever, I had an intense craving for this cornmeal goo, so I dragged myself off to the store to rustle up a plate.

Polenta is one of the staple dishes of Northern Italy, though it also can be found throughout Eastern Europe and Turkey. Honestly, there’s not much to it – boiled cornmeal using either the yellow or white varieties, fine or coarse grained. But it’s a bit labor-intensive. Like risotto, it requires constant stirring as the cornmeal grain’s starch slowly gelatinizes. But once it does – oh happy day. You get a soft, creamy mixture, and that’s before adding any other delicious ingredients like butter or cheese! It’s also extremely economical, filling peasant food that can be prepared in so many ways, from breakfast to dinner.

If you see polenta on Italian restaurant menus around DC, chances are it’ll be paired with sausage – this is a pretty traditional mix of mild and spicy. Tosca takes it to another level, matching it with sea urchin ragu and caviar (for lunch!). But polenta doesn’t have to be served straight from the pot – you can also cool it and fry it up. Fried polenta has a more complex flavor than when just boiled – the taste of corn is more pronounced. I was inspired by the grilled polenta I recently tried at Vegetate to make an attempt at this style myself. Continue reading →

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 9/18 – 9/20/09

Photo courtesy of
‘Zooming around H Street’
courtesy of ‘mediaslave’

Zooma-zoom-zoom and a boom-boom!

Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

Hope your weekend was as fantastic as our weather was. Technically the last weekend before fall, I think summer finally went out with some panache. Now we get to look forward to fall colors, football disappointments and holidays galore! In the meantime, hold on to the last hours of summer by checking out some great photos from our area readers, taken over the last few days.
Continue reading →

People, The District, The Features
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Arrivederci, DC: Bucket List

IMG_0327

Driving back into the city after a week of being in Upstate New York, I soak in that familiar feeling of relief. Ah, back in the District and thank goodness. No other city can quite shake its tail-feathers like DC at night. You look down the avenues and spy the Capitol Dome illuminated as if to say, “Why would you ever leave this?” Yet DC has a reputation as a city of transience– young people here for their twenties before settling down elsewhere, money changing hands, the powerful commuting back and forth to their districts. There is a cycle of departure. And yours truly, for all I love this city, is no exception it appears. Before leaving for a 9-month adventure in teaching in the Campania region of Italy, I utilized my free time to take care of some unfinished business, what we’re calling the DC Bucket List.

You live here, so why would you spend time waiting in line with Mr. Fannypack and Mrs. Un-ironic White Tennis Sneakers? Well, suck up your pride (yes, we know you work for Rep. So-and-So, you’re very busy and important) and hit some of the hot spots now that the tour tide has died down. If not now, when? Continue reading →

Adams Morgan, Food and Drink, Interviews, Life in the Capital, People, The Features
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He Loves DC: Ben Eisendrath

Ben Eisendrath of Grillworks, Inc

Ben Eisendrath (image courtesy of Grillworks, Inc.)

“If you want high-rise, get on the train.”

Tucked away on an Adams Morgan side street, off the alley entrance and past the Harley, lies a secret patio that just happens to be the headquarters of a foodie subculture – Grillworks, Inc.

Local entrepreneur Ben Eisendrath had been introducing friends to the glory of South American-style wood grilling for years before he chucked the daily grind to re-launch his father’s invention and transform it into a viable business. From “grubby greasy shop drawings” to 3D CAD renderings, Ben translated his father’s elegant design for the modern world. Shops in Michigan and Virginia now produce what’s known as the “Maserati of Grills.”

I’ve known Ben for over a decade, and in the majority of those years the highly coveted grill party invites have seen quite the menu range. From regular ol’ burgers to caribou sausage, from butterflied salmon on a bed of dill to goat leg – and those are just the protein options!  The simple beauty of the grill’s design enables it to weather all seasons, and it’s slowly expanded from just a quiet secret amongst locals to celebrity chefs and newscasters. And honestly – there’s just nothing like the hypnotic dance of the wood burning flames as they light the night.

Ben could easily pick up and move to another city. A Michigan native, he came to DC in 1993; his grandparents have lived here for a long time, and it seemed a manageable starter city for someone who’d never lived in a metropolis before. But somehow, as with so many of us, the city sucked him in. Ben’s a Washingtonian now. I asked him to talk about why he loves DC, the challenges of being a local entrepreneur, and where he goes to get his grub. Continue reading →

Monumental
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Monumental: Theodore Roosevelt Island

Photo courtesy of
‘Teddy waves from on high’
courtesy of ‘snapzdc’

Theodore Roosevelt Island may not have sandy beaches and palm trees, but this little island definitely has secrets.

First, you have to know it’s there. From the frenzied lane-changing above on the Roosevelt bridge, you’d never know that a nature preserve nearly 90 acres large lies below.

Scores of people zip past it daily in their cars on the George Washington Parkway, too, or on bike or foot on the Mount Vernon trail–only a single footbridge lets people across from near Rosslyn.

And when you do find and wander onto the island, all you see at first is trees. It’s a bit of a surprise when you come upon the hidden plaza, with a moat, fountains, and a 17’ statue of Teddy Roosevelt towering overhead.
Continue reading →

Downtown, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, We Love Food, WMATA
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White House Farmers’ Market Opens

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Hoffmann’

Today, the White House Famers’ Market opened for business.  The Market features about 20 stalls staffed by area farmers and various, agriculture related government offices. It will occur on every Thursday until  October 29 on Vermont Ave., between H St. and I St.  It seems that market has some security issues to work through.  This afternoon, there were only two metal detectors to accommodate the several hundred individuals that gathered for the markets’ inauguration. As such, there were far more would-be patrons attempting to enter than there were individuals actually shopping the stalls. Even so, the market attracted notable DC personalities like Jose Andrés and several local media figures.  Until the famers’ market closes for the season, Metro will be diverting its southbound L2 route so that it swings by Vermont Ave. Get there.