Monthly Archives: October 2010

The Daily Feed
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The John Wall Impact: People Will Notice

Photo courtesy of
‘#11 – John Wall (Kentucky Wildcats)’
courtesy of ‘rubendn’

DC has suddenly become a very crowded sports town in the last six months. Even without what some would call “winning” franchises, the national spotlight has constantly swirled in the direction of the District throughout the fall. Most interestingly, that focus may have finally grown to include a team that has generally been under the radar for a few seasons (at least for its on court performance): the Washington Wizards. The center of the attention is the lucky draw of a lifetime, the #1 pick from the University of Kentucky, guard John Wall.

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The Daily Feed
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Photographers get a win

Via our neighbors up in New York City, some good news for all you DC photographers: The Department of Homeland Security is, once again, being forced to admit that you have the right to take pictures of federal buildings. As part of a settlement brokered by the New York Civil Liberties Union, DHS –and specifically the Federal Protective Service, those guys who run the security for almost every federal office building around the country, including those in DC–has “agreed to provide federal officers written instructions emphasizing the public’s right to photograph and record outside federal courthouses,” the NYCLU says. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Green DC, We Love Food
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We Love Vegan: Part 1

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Over an especially gluttonous meal one night, filled with lamb chops and veal, we had a thought: What would life be like without all this meaty goodness? But not only without meat, what about life without this cheesy, eggy goodness? That crazy night (after maybe a few too many glasses of wine) the idea of Vegan Week was born. We, your loyal food writers here at We Love DC, decided to tried are very best to eat completely, 100% vegan for one week.

Well…one work week. Ashley ate most of her meals out of the house, for no other reason than everything she knew how to cook had bacon in it, while Katie had to make her decidedly unveg work location work for her. What follows is the sometimes humorous, sometimes surprising, sometimes depressing account of Vegan Week 2010. (For more on our decision to go vegan, check back here Thursday at 11 a.m. for the wrap-up post in this series, We Love Vegan: The Question and Answer Session.)

Dun-duh-duuuuuuuh.

A disclaimer: Through plenty of Plant Alternative research and polling our friends who know a little bit about living a meat-free lifestyle, we came to our conclusions about how to attack Vegan Week. We tried, to the best of our abilities to eat vegan, and to our knowledge we did. If we screwed something up along the way, it was on account of our own stupidity more than anything else. We are not vegans, not even vegetarians, but we tried our best. Also, just a reminder, we here at We Love DC respect all lifestyles, from the meatful to the plantful, and expect that you do too. Take your haterade elsewhere, thanks. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Free Pie This Week

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

If you, like me, have an irrational love of free samples, then write this down: Food & Friends is offering free samples of pumpkin pie this week to promote their annual fundraiser Slice of Life. You can stop by any of the locations below from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to snag a bite or two of autumn goodness. On Friday, the fundraiser will officially kick off with a happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Logan Tavern. That too will have free pie, as well as hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and prizes.

Food & Friends delivers meals to DC area residents living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other debilitating illnesses. Slice of Life, which sells pre-made pies during the holiday season, typically raises over $215,000 for the organization.

Tuesday: Outside the Washington Marriott at Metro Center (12th and H NW)

Wednesday: Outside the CVS at Dupont Circle

Thursday: Ellsworth Drive in downtown Silver Spring (near Potbelly’s)

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Get Naked

Photo courtesy of
‘Nude 2’
courtesy of ‘Peter Alfred Hess’

Tomorrow night, you can go bare in Dupont Circle – at the launch of Herban Lifestyle’s Naked ™ beauty and skin care line, that is. Come check out the new body butter, mineral soak, facial masque and more. They have only minimally processed natural, organic and fair trade ingredients and no harsh chemicals.

Chief Herban Developer Mary Kearns will be debuting them at One Restaurant and Lounge, at 1606 20th St. NW. Even if she were not a friend of mine, I’d still suggest you go; her products are great, and they’re very green.

Prices range from $5 for lip balm to $35 for bath tea. Fifteen percent of tomorrow night’s proceeds will be donated to Miriam’s Kitchen.

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo


DSC_0013 by mediaslave

Despite our best efforts, it’s hard to pick a favorite time of year.  Some say it’s the spring when the weather starts warming up and the cherry blossoms burst onto the scene.  Not long after we’re given an 80 degree day and are drinking margaritas on a patio which could easily contend for my favorite time of the year.  Yet somewhere deep down in my twisted psyche, the month of October will always hold a special place.

Perhaps it’s my memory of wearing vampire teeth with fake blood on them and running door to door with my friends to fill our pillowcases full of candy.  After a few years of practice, we knew which houses gave out caramel apples, which gave out toothbrushes, and which geriatric neighbors had the ability to scare the crap out of us regardless of what they were giving out.  As Seinfeld once said, the main objective of a kid is to, “Get candy, get candy, get candy,” and get candy we did.  Unfortunately, most houses gave out miniature versions of the real thing, from boxes of Nerds, to Dots, to Snickers.  It brought us great joy when our rich neighbors down the street plopped full size candy bars into our bags.  The weight of them as they hit the bottoms of our bags caused our tiny little arms to strain, but brought big smiles to our faces.  We then scurried off through the crisp October air, or snow as Denver would often have, to the next lit doorway in our sweaty little costumes.  We were on an important mission, a mission to get candy.

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The Daily Feed
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I Never Had a Motorcade for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Photo courtesy of
‘Presidential Motorcade’
courtesy of ‘jasonippolito’

Motorcades are one of those distinctly DC things that make morning traffic through the District even more fun. This morning, if you were on the Maryland side of things, you may have had a little extra company as President Obama and the First Lady took off from the White House early this morning to visit with Sasha and Malia’s teachers at Sidwell. West Wing Reports on Twitter indicated that they left fairly early (around 7:15 a.m.), and, as the Associated Press added, the couple stopped by Sasha’s elementary school before meeting with Malia’s educators.

Given the era in which we live, some cable talking heads will argue that this is just the President trying to push more of his current education platform through example, but the timing is more convenient than political. The Obamas have consistently attended their daughters’ conferences as long as 44 has been in office, including earlier this year in the spring semester.

Arlington, The Daily Feed
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Crystal City adds roadway tramp-stamp

Crystal City Road Tattoo: "Labor Line"

Last year, Vermont Avenue because the first street in DC to sport a fancy asphalt tramp stamp, and now Crystal City’s 18th Street in Arlington is joining the club, with a Steed Taylor-created “Labor Line”, as pictured above.  The design appears to be an evolution of an earlier Taylor piece called Evelyn’s Knot.

Personally, I’m not sure I understand the value of the road tattoos, and the coloring of the asphalt, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

The Daily Feed
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District breaks 100-homicide mark

Photo courtesy of
‘Crime Solvers’
courtesy of ‘Marcellina.’

The Washington Examiner reports that as of today, the District’s homicide tally for 2010 has gone over 100, to 103. The 100 homicide mark has frequently been cited by police chief Cathy Lanier as a benchmark number that she wants to hold the city under, but has not yet been able to achieve. It’s worth noting (as the Examiner does), that the District took an extra month to reach 100 this year, and that homicides are down 5.5% in comparison to last year. As of October 18th, 2009, there had been 109 District homicides in that year.

The Features
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Giveaway: Worn Magazine is Back!

All Photographs by Max Cook for We Love DC.

People say that bigger does not always mean better.   However, in the case of Worn Magazine’s second issue – this statement could not be any less true.  With 52 pages of glossy, DC-centric fashion, 60-plus original photographs, and the introduction of contributing writers, Worn magazine is bigger, better, and, most definitely, brighter than ever.

With the success of the inaugural issue, Worn Magazine has continued to deliver on their promise – “to bring greater awareness of local fashion and art to the District and to the nation” – by making the focus of their fall/winter 2010/2011 issue to be on the artists who are trying to make it in DC.   Nicole Aguirre, Worn’s Editor-in-Chief explains it best in her editor’s letter.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Agnostic Front @ DC9 10/14/10

IMG_4899
all photos by author.

Last Thursday night at DC9, hours before tragedy occurred outside of the club, New York Hardcore legends Agnostic Front performed that sub-genre’s definitive document, their debut album “Victim In Pain”, in full. The show was part of a tour celebrating the album’s 25th anniversary re-issue and by default NYHC’s unique stamp on American Hardcore punk music.

It is an unfortunate coincidence that the tragic event which occurred on 9th street on Thursday night happened after this fantastic concert. There have always been a lot of misconceptions and assumptions about the Hardcore punk scene and I am concerned that the violence on 9th will somehow be connected to this concert.* I can attest that the concert and the crowd attending it were focused on unity and the celebration of Agnostic Front’s music; there was much more singing arm-in-arm camaraderie than fists flying. It was in fact a riotous celebration of how much the Hardcore scene has evolved; far from its brutal roots in the 1980’s to become one of the most positive, all-inclusive, underground music scenes around.

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The Daily Feed
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Bethesda Row Restaurant Week Starts Today

Photo courtesy of
‘Bethesda Row Dining on Street’
courtesy of ‘faceless b’
As a Montgomery County native who spent much of her misspent youth hanging out at the seedy Barnes & Noble in Bethesda late on summer nights getting in to all kinds of suburban trouble*, I have a special place in my heart for Bethesda Row Restaurant Week.

It starts today and runs through Sunday, October 24th with twelve restaurants participating this year. For $15, you will get a three course meal at lunch while $30 will get you three courses at dinner. Participating restaurants include new Bethesda spots American Tap Room and Taylor Gourmet, and old favorites like Jaleo, Redwood, Raku and Mon Ami Gabi. Details and a list of participating restaurants can be found here.

* By “seedy” I mean totally non-threatening, by “late” I mean 10:30pm, and by “suburban trouble” I mean lots of gossiping. My revisionist history of my suburban upbringing is what makes me so mysterious, so just go with it.

News, The Daily Feed
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What The Tweet DC: Crying Over Spilt Beer Edition

(WTOP Photo/Kristi King)

Nothing like a beer story to welcome you back from the weekend right?

Trending on Twitter right now is news about a tractor trailer accident on I-495 near between the left exit for Interstate 270 and Old Georgetown Road. An overturned trailer spilled Sam Adams beer all over the beltway resulting in a shutdown of the loop during today’s rush hour. Beer jokes aside, the accident has resulted in the death of the trailer driver and another driver is in critical condition.

But still we can also cry over the beer right?

Also trending locally on Twitter: Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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DC 9 Update: 5 released under supervision

Photo courtesy of
‘Courthouse’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

This weekend saw the arraignment of five employees of DC9, all charged with aggravated assault in the death of Ali Muhammad.  They were arraigned on Saturday on the lesser charge pending the findings of the medical examiner.  The ME’s report is expected sometime this week, and should the cause of death be determined to be homicide, the charges of murder could be reinstated.  The story is gradually being told, the information gradually coming to light, but progress is slow.  We’ll get there, though.

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 10/15 – 10/17/10

Photo courtesy of
‘Rock Creek Park Cattails’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

October around here is the best time of year, in my opinion. The leaves change, the air is crisp, and everything is in transition for the upcoming winter. It actually reminds me of a passage from “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty”:

The day becomes more solemn and serene
When noon is past–there is a harmony
In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!
– Percy Bysshe Shelley

Hope you had a great weekend! Here’s to a great week, one and all.
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The Daily Feed
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Redskins Cheat Sheet: Week 6 vs. Indianapolis

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_8690’
courtesy of ‘mdl70’

Sunday Night Football here in the District against the defending AFC champions? Sounds exciting. But also sounds like something that goes way past bedtime at the end of the weekend. Before you face the football chatter head on, here’s the Redskins Cheat Sheet to make it look like you managed to stay awake.

Here’s the clear thing with the 2010 ‘Skins: Mike Shanahan and his crew seem completely intent on keeping things interesting. Take last night’s loss to one of the top tier AFC teams, the Indianapolis Colts. Even though Peyton Manning was able to throw the ball all the live long day, the Colts only triumphed by 3 points mainly because the defense stepped up in the second half to bend, but not break, against Indy’s offense.

A few quick points to throw around the water cooler today after the jump.

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The Daily Feed
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Daily Deal Aggregator

Photo courtesy of
‘two hundred two-bits’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Dear lord, I’ve been waiting for this.

Finally, a daily deal aggregator that takes all my group coupon emails and puts them into one: Dealery.

They compile DC deal sites like Living Social, Groupon, Tippr, Buy With Me and lesser known sites like kgb deals, and puts all the relevant coupons into one place for you.

‘Bout damn time. Know of other deal aggregators that are as awesome? Leave them in the comments.