Category Archives: The Features

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

24 in DC, The Features
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24 in DC: Episode 18 (3:00 to 4:00)

Photo courtesy of
‘Jack takes a stand.’
courtesy of ‘tiffany bridge’

Jack is being treated in the back of an ambulance, being treated for his seizure and urged not to talk, as his vocal cords are in spasm. But he manages to choke out instructions to stop Tony to Freckles. Oh, Jack, hindsight is 20/20.

At this point it would be easier to talk about who’s NOT a traitor.

Tony is at a no-tell motel that appears to be off NY Ave. NE. He tells the nameless henchman that the payment has been wired to his account, and he’s able to check his balance without dialing 47 different extensions and re-entering his account number 18 times. And now the henchman is turning on Tony. It’s so hard to get good henchmen these days. Continue reading →

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 4/24 – 4/26/2009

Photo courtesy of
‘Kids in the Air’ courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

Hey! Where did Spring go??? It feels like Winter not only overstayed its welcome, it booted out Spring and let Summer in the back door.

Nonetheless, I was amazed at the sheer volume of photos our intrepid readers dumped into our Flickr pool over the weekend. Astounding! And you guys were BUSY! I guess the summer-like heat didn’t keep many indoors; I think we all needed to get outside, regardless of the surprise heatwave.

The great peeps over at Capital Weather tell us that Spring is sneaking back in and clobbering Summer starting on Wednesday, under the cover of rain. Well, I guess we’ll take what we can get, right?

Meantimes, enjoy the awesome spread of weekend happenings, captured by our awesome photo-readers. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The District, WTF?!
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DC Sweeps New York

Victory.jpg
‘Victory’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

How’s that for some sweet victory?

The Nats beat the Mets, 8-1 on the stellar pitching performance by rookie Jordan Zimmerman (now 2-0), and off the bats of Jesus Flores and Austin Kearns. The usually virile bats of the Mets were struck dumb by Zimmerman for almost 6 innings, and then kept quiet by Hinckley, Mock and Wells for the rest of the game. The Nats are still not that great at 4-13, but we’ll talk more about that tomorrow on Sports Fix.

The Caps forced game 7 against the Rangers today, which will be played on Tuesday at the Phone Booth. The Caps have won two straight against the Rangers, both routs, and they looked as good as you’d hope going into a final winner-take-all matchup. Simeon Varlamov had 29 saves, and is at 90% plus for Save Pct. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start much at all this season.

DC United edged the Red Bulls 3-2, in a real nail-biter. DC United lead 1-0 at the Half, but the Red Bulls scored two goals in the middle of the second half, and the situation looked very dire for the boys in black. It wasn’t all lost, though, as Luciano Emilio scored in the final minute of the game to tie the match at 2. I was content to think we’d pull out a tie and save the point, but Chris Pontius had other ideas, and put a right-foot shot into the upper corner of the goal with just seconds on the clock to capture the win for United.

What’s that, New York? Is that the sound of crying I hear? Perhaps gnashing of teeth for ruining your weekend? Excellent. Just what were going for.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed, The District
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DC Versus New York Tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of
‘Capitol – In Pre-Dawn Light – 3-9-09’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Tomorrow pits the best of DC sports against the best of New York sports:

  • Nationals at Mets at 1:10pm (on MASN)
  • Capitals at Rangers at 2:00pm (on NBC4)
  • DC United at Red Bulls at 3:00pm (on WTOP 1050AM & Telefutura)

So, who’s for taking down those feckless thugs in New York? Bring the spirit DC! See you at the sports bars!

The Features
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A Musical for Women, Menopausal or Not

The ladies of Menopause the Musical, courtesy of Bethesda Theatre

If you were wondering where all the baby boomer ladies were on Wednesday night, the 39-65 female demographic, I found them. They were all enjoying the shameless and entertaining “Menopause the Musical” at Bethesda Theatre, and–to my surprise–I was as well. 

Going into the play, I was curious but skeptical, as I noted in my preview piece when the performance opened last week.  Based on descriptions of the play (it changes the words to BeeGees songs to deal with hot flashes?? uhhh..), I expected hokey mom-jokes and a first-wave feminist “embrace your inner woman” sensibility. On those counts, I was absolutely wrong. In fact, after the show, I got to thinking that from a feminist perspective, this play is substantive and important. It frankly discusses issues women discussed only privately over coffee with girlfriends, injecting humor into situations that are sadly unfunny at the time they are happening. While subjects such as birth control, birth in general and abortion have come to the forefront of our cultural consciousness, menopause was something that was still relatively taboo before this show and even now. 

Continue reading →

DC Victory Gardens, The Features
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DC Victory Gardens: Planting Time!

3123029944_f90df6c70f.jpg
Seedlings by dsb_nola

If you haven’t planted your seedlings yet, this weekend’s just about the perfect time. This could also be the best time for you to call in loggers from treeserviceremoval.com and cut that branch leaning precariously over the power lines. The weather today’s going to be up in the 70s, and we’re looking at 70s and 80s for the next five days, which means good soil temperatures, excellent conditions for planting. Why does soil temp matter? The higher the soil temperature, the quicker the germination for seeds, and the quicker your existing seedlings adapt to their new environment. With days and days of sun ahead, the only think you’ve really got to worry about is keeping things from drying out. Get out your planting gear and get ready to get hands deep in some loam.

Container Gardeners

Time to hit up a Garden Store, or a garden section of a bigger store, for some planting mix. If you’ve got containers and soil left over from last year, that’ll work, too, but think about topping that off with a little mulch or mixing in some compost as part of your process. It’s easy to do this in a bucket: dump in last year’s soil, dump in some compost, and mix thoroughly, and then re-pot. Don’t forget to make sure that your containers need drainage. That’s what allows your soil to avoid getting over-watered, and it’s what help carries away some of the plant waste, as well. If yours are clogged, a good wash in the sink is good, and don’t be afraid to put a few extra holes in place. Putting your garden in a good state means you are putting your family’s sake in good too, visiting gardenfurnitureoutlet.co.uk might give you more ideas about gardens and how you could make your garden more relaxing to see for you and you family.

Find a good place in the sun for this weekend to maximize time in the light, if at all possible. Make sure to check every day that the soil isn’t drying out and caking in these warm temperatures. We’re still in the low-humidity portion of our Spring, which means that ambient moisture isn’t going to play a role in what you’re doing. Get a decent watering can, and maybe use the last of the growth accelerant that came in with your seed pod kit. Definitely won’t go amiss once your new preciouses are in the ground. Don’t forget to set up a climbing structure for those vine and creeper based crops like peas, beans and squash. Direct their growth up and off the ground where at all possible, to avoid spots for rotting.

Read on for Back Yard Gardeners and the Farm Laboratory work.

Continue reading →

Comedy in DC, Night Life, Technology, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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When Text Messages Go Bad

Photo courtesy of
‘SLVR’
courtesy of ‘Max Klingensmith’

Oh, text messaging. Sure, some people think texting is the end of society. Some others think that it’s just a gateway to ratings (Um, how many stories does Fox 5 need to do on Sexting? Is their 10pm news editor just a perv?), but really, what texting is, is comedy. Enter Texts From Last Night. Better yet, they’ve got them segregated by area code, so you can read DC’s finest hilarious texts including my favorite:

(202): And then I said “flip over. I want to show you something i learned in Afghanistan.”

Of course, there 703, 240, 301, but oddly, no 571. What, does no one text funny things from Virginia?

Essential DC, Talkin' Transit, The Features, WMATA
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Talkin’ Transit: SmarTrip Getting Smarter!

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro SmarTrip Card’ courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for the day when I’d be able to reload my SmarTrip card somewhere other than a Metro station.  For those of us who ride buses regularly, it’s really frustrating to have to go to a Metro station to add value to a card when you’re just trying to take the bus somewhere.  But there’s great news coming from Metro: later this year, we’ll be able to add value to SmarTrip cards online!

In an effort to improve customer service, Metro will create a self-service SmarTrip website, which will allow us to load value onto our SmarTrip cards electronically.  There will also be a fantastic ‘autoload’ feature that will automatically reload the card when the balance drops below a designated amount. The new website will include a way to see recent transaction data for your SmarTrip card (currently only available through a formal Public Access to Record Policy request, or by stealing a glance at the screen when the station manager scans your card in the kiosk).

Continue reading →

Downtown, Life in the Capital, Monumental, News, The Daily Feed, The Mall
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$78M for Mall Monument Renewal

Photo courtesy of
‘DC WWI Memorial Inscription’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The Post has the news this morning that the Department of the Interior will be spending almost $80M on DC-area monuments and memorials to bring them back to their former glory. I’m most pleased to see that the DC War Memorial will be picking up $7.6M for a badly-needed rejuvenation project. The last one was back in the 1980’s, so it’s about due.

Also on the list is the Seawall at the Jefferson Memorial, and Rock Creek Park’s infrastructure, as well as a bunch of money for the C&O Canal in Georgetown.

The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Coffee Culture

"espresso at m.e. swing coffee roasters" by tvol, on Flickr

“espresso at m.e. swing coffee roasters” by tvol, on Flickr

For many of us, it’s coffee, not liquor, that’s our “water of life.” I’m quite certain I could survive without alcohol. But I know I could never live without caffeine. I’ve tried really really hard to give it up, especially when I was diagnosed with a heart murmur and began to notice every jitter and flutter. I fell off that wagon so many times I have a permanent head bump. Inevitably I’ve given up giving up, rationalizing that I’m just a much better person on caffeine. If you happen to be one of my friends who visited at least once my home you’ll find that the coffee storage I got from  https://cookingplanit.com/best-coffee-storage is never empty. That is just how I start my day.

But DC has a bit of a coffee culture problem. It’s hard for little independent cafes to survive (witness the deaths of Sparky’s, 14U, Mocha Hut, Mayorga, Murky Coffee…). Sometimes it seems we’ve given over to the Great Dairy Mermaid and her bitter rival the Loose Moose (wait, it’s the mermaid’s grinds that are really bitter, but I digress) that populate every corner plying milky sugary bastardized versions of the classics.

I know, I know, you can’t give up your vanilla syrup. It’s ok. I’m not going to repeat my last rant about the decline of the perfect cappuccino. I’m not going to wax poetical about espresso in Venice or cafe au lait in Paris. Everybody has their particular coffee fixation – drip, press, etc. The uniting point is that there are some fine places to get your fix, ah, enjoy your coffee, here in DC, beyond the glut of mass market methadone. And with the news that Murky’s being reinvented in Chinatown, and a new coffeehouse called Mid-City Cafe will hit 14th Street, things could be looking up. So here’s a sampling of java joints to get your joy jitters on – and please leave your favorites in the comments.

Continue reading →

Fun & Games, Special Events, The Features
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DC Rollergirls: Kick-ass Fun

Photo courtesy of
‘Grand Slam. Washington, DC. April 2009.’
courtesy of ‘stuzehner’

The fans crowded closer to the action, whooping and applauding as the seconds ticked off. Three guys wearing backwards hats pumped their fists with their non-beer-holding hands. These two teams were competing for a shot at the championship and the crowd–raucous as almost any sports-loving group–was jacked up for the occasion. It wasn’t a Wizards game, nor was I among DC United Screaming Eagles. No, it was a bout of the much less widely followed but incredibly fun DC Roller Girls Roller Derby league. 

The  afternoon opened with an exhibition match between the DC DemonCats and visiting Breaker Babes of the Coal City Rollers league in Wilkes-Barre, P.A. It wasn’t much of a match-up — the DemonCats easily rolled over the  Breaker Babes. The initial bout provided an excellent opportunity, however, for me and other newcomers to the sport to get a better sense of what we were witnessing. 

Continue reading →

Comedy in DC
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Comedy in DC: The Awesome Boost

Comic by Jake Young
Comic by Jake Young

In case you haven’t noticed from the frantic pink-nosed gentleman at the top of this post, there’s a comedy show happening on May 1. It’s called “The Awesome Boost,” and it’s the hilarious bastard lovechild of Jake Young’s short-lived “The Awesome Room” and Eric Moberg’s “Ego Boost.” The Word According to Jake: “The goal of our show is simple, a cheap, fun, night of hilarity and hopefully to introduce DC audiences to the wealth of underground talents in their midst.” Continue reading →

Life in the Capital, News, The Features, The Hill, The Mall
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A Conversation with Eleanor Holmes Norton

IMG_2874Eleanor Holmes Norton, courtesy of Tom Bridge

This weekend, DC bloggers from DCist, Greater Greater Washington and We Love DC, amongst others, got a chance to sit down with DC’s Delegate to the Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton this past weekend and talk about DC Voting Rights, the recent support for Gay Marriage among the DC Council, and the sorry state of Park Service Parks in the District of Columbia, and about federal funding for transit in the city. Read on for the notes from our conversation with the Congresswoman1 Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

PKR_6506 by Spodie Odie

When I first saw this photo pop up in the WLDC Flickr pool, I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.  Did someone stage some miniature people and fake plastic trees on a putting green?  Did someone build a diorama of some tiny sunbathers, complete with tiny little beach towels?  I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at, and well, I liked it.  It’s refreshing when things aren’t immediately obvious.

It turns out that the photographer took this shot from high above in the National Cathedral’s tower, a place I’ve never ventured to (at least not with my camera).  Given the absolutely perfect weather we had on Saturday, I’m sure the view was pretty amazing from up there.  The sunbathers on the lawn had the right idea though.  Soak up the sun while you can, but please, don’t forget to repair your divots.

24 in DC, The Features
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24 in DC: Episode 17 (2:00am to 3:00am)

jackbauerblurry.jpg

A blonde who will henceforth be known as Redshirt for reasons that are about to become clear is cleared for the White House. Just as she’s getting ready to leave her house, she’s sprayed with something into unconsciousness by someone who LOOKS JUST LIKE HER and steals her access credentials. Awesome.

Blah blah Freckles and Janis technobabble.

Tony shoots himself to fake a confrontation. Oh, that wily Tony. Here comes the cavalry. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Food and Drink, The DC 100
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DC 100: #14 Aloo Gobi

Photo courtesy of
‘aloo gobi (cauliflower and potato)’
courtesy of ‘Geoff604’

The other weekend, my boyfriend and I found ourselves eating Indian food, a cuisine neither of us had tasted in a while.  Needless to say, the meal was a HUGE success leaving both of us craving for more. To satisfy our hunger I ventured into kitchen to try my cooking skills within the Indian cuisine realm and tackle DC 100 list item Aloo Gobi.

First and foremost was finding a cookbook to guide me in this foreign and often times complicated and time-consuming cuisine. Film actress Madhur Jaffrey has authored numerous cookbooks focusing on Indian food, great buys if you’re interested in exploring the cuisine, so at my uncle’s recommendation I turned to the book Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cookery for her recipes and guidance. Continue reading →

Downtown, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The District, The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: Logan Circle

Photo courtesy of
‘Logan rowhomes’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

This week: Logan Circle! With a great mix of housing and retail, good connections to the city’s transportation network, and proximity to downtown, Logan Circle is one of DC’s most sought-after neighborhoods. What makes it so great? Well…

History: Logan Circle was part of Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for DC, and was called Iowa Circle until 1930, when Congress renamed it to honor Civil War hero John Logan. After the Civil War, the area became home to DC’s wealthy and powerful, and by the turn of the century it was home to many black leaders, including Mary McLeod Bethune. Logan Circle, along with nearby Shaw, became the epicenter of Black Washington in the early- to mid-1900s. Continue reading →

Monumental, The Features
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Monumental: Titanic Memorial

Photo courtesy of
‘Titanic~esque’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

In 1931, Helen Herron Taft, the widow of President Taft, unveiled the grey granite statue overlooking the Potomac just about where the Kennedy Center stands today. The statue now stands down on the Washington Channel near Fort Lesley McNair in Southwest. Just to the south of the Waterfront became the home for the Titanic Memorial.

The Memorial is dedicated to the men aboard the Titanic who gave their spots in lifeboats to women and children and perished in the shipwreck in the North Atlantic. Scribed at the bottom is the dedication, the kind of thing you wouldn’t see on a modern monument, from the “Women of America.”

The monument itself is pretty well hidden down in Southwest, and I ended up driving past it a couple times, and getting lost more than once. Park at the roundabout near the Harbor Police Office on Water Street, and there’s a footpath to the south of the roundabout. Take it down two blocks past O Street down to the memorial. Looks like a great place to ride your bike down to. With the weather today being off-the-charts-for-Awesome, and better expected for the Weekend, take a bike on out to the Monument’s location in Southwest. It’s worth a trip.

Adventures, Fun & Games, Thrifty District
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Thrifty District: Reduced-Price Relaxation

Photo courtesy of
‘you need time for you’
courtesy of ‘dMap Travel Guide’

You can go ahead an insert the obligatory comments about the horrible economy plus how stressful everyone’s jobs are at the moment, and therefore make the obvious case for the increased need for stress-reducing treatments. Duh. You know my intro already. But let’s be realistic in our cost benefit analysis – is $120 for a massage going to make you feel better or worse about your financial situation? Right, you’re rolling your eyes, that’s what I thought.

But just because you can’t afford it doesn’t mean you don’t still need it. So I’m here to help you, friend, find a cheaper ticket to stress-less-ville. I’ve got a few cost-saving tips if you want to go to a professional spa, and then a few quick ideas and links if you’re up for a do it yourself spa session. Continue reading →