Yearly Archives: 2010

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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¡Livan! Shows He’s Still Got It

Photo courtesy of
‘Livan Hernandez back pitching for the Nats’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

It’s rare, in these days of six to seven inning starters, that someone goes all nine. It’s rarer still that they don’t give up a single run. Yesterday, MLB had two complete-game shutouts, but no one will remember Livan Hernandez’s incredible effort, except for the 18,000+ on-hand and Nats fans. The other CGSO yesterday was a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, and will be remembered longer. That’s not to say that ¡Livan!’s effort shouldn’t be lauded, oh no, his 9IP 4H 0R 112-pitch effort should absolutely be celebrated.

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capitals hockey, Downtown, Fun & Games, History, The Daily Feed
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WDGASFGAR CAPS!!! Game 2

Photo courtesy of
‘Caps/Habs (April 15, 2010) – 17’
courtesy of ‘Garyisajoke’

Game of the season?  If not it was pretty close.  The Caps came in to game two of their playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens 0-1 and in desperate need of a win.  Game one was marked by poor luck, lackluster play and minimal energy. From the horn, it was obvious that the Caps knew they hadn’t been playing up to snuff. Ovechkin went for blood, with two big hits in the opening minutes, but Washington was, perhaps, too aggressive, allowing Montreal to score on their first shot in the first minute. The Canadiens widened their lead in the 7th minute when Kostitsyn scored his first of what would be three goals. At this point, the Caps management pulled starting goalie Jose Theodore, replacing him with Semyon Varmolov. Eric Fehr finally managed to answer in the 10th minute when he scored on a breakaway off of a deflected pass. The period ended with the Caps bruised but still contending.  Speaking of bruising, Ovi had 7 hits in the first period.  As a point of reference, that’s more than anyone else had in the entire game. Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Stage Comeback Over Brewers, 5-3

Photo courtesy of
‘daylight fireworks’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Last night’s game was one that could’ve gone either way. It was either going to be one of those shake-your-head lost chances sort of games, or it was the kind that made you grin a bit on the way home. It didn’t look so good to begin with. Adam Dunn was thrown out in the bottom of the first for jawing at 3B umpire Andy Fletcher over balls and strikes, and probably will get a nice fine for tossing his helmet as part of the affair. The Nats stranded runners at third twice in the first five innings, and it looked that, despite Johnny Lannan’s first good outing, the team was in a bit of a bind.

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The Daily Feed
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Last Day for Census Forms

Photo courtesy of
‘Census #9’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Don’t drag your heels, DC. We’ve talked about why the Census is so important for DC, but today’s the day the rubber meets the road: You have until today to return your census form. DC’s participation stands at 66% via form, which is below the national average. If you know anyone who has yet to return their form, poke at ’em, offer ’em a beer in exchange for doing their civic duty, and go from there.

Don’t screw this up, DC.

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Mary Onettes @ DC9 4/20/10

The Mary Onettes new album "Islands"

Hot Ticket is a column where I occasionally highlight an excellent upcoming concert that might not ping on your sonar otherwise.

On Tuesday, April 20th, The Mary Onettes (of Sweden) will bring their perfected brand of doomed romance, indie-pop to DC9. The Mary Onettes are touring to support their excellent second album, Islands.

I have never seen The Mary Onettes perform live but have been a fan of their music for a long time. I am very excited for the chance to see them, especially at such an intimate venue. Their concerts have received rave reviews calling their live performance magical and grandiose, while applauding their subjugation and mastery of their chosen stylistic niche.

The Mary Onettes’ sound is in the vein Echo & The Bunnymen, Simple Minds, and New Order. They create emotional, sweeping, synth and guitar based tunes that hark back to the heyday of the gloomy romantic singer: a character usually seen sporting all black, walking along an anonymous cement embankment on a gray day, while lamenting how the world just won’t let him be with his lady love. It is epic, tragic, fun stuff that offers a great nostalgia vibe while providing a new millennium update on a sound that was largely absent from music in the 1990’s. At the same time, The Mary Onettes play this music with complete seriousness. There isn’t a trace of hip irony in their songs. Instead there is a refreshing honesty that lends actual emotion to their music. The Mary Onettes are a band that try to revive the lost romantic in us all.

I think this show is going to be a real stunner. The synths and guitars are going to sound great at DC9. And I can not even imagine what it is going to be like standing that close to Philip Ekström while he croons tunes that are meant to be sung across massive canyons and raging rivers to his love on the other side.

Tuesday, 4/20:
The Mary Onettes with The Finish
@ DC9
$8

The Daily Feed
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Nats Game 10: The Good And Not-So-Good News

Photo courtesy of
‘first pitch of 2010’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The Nationals open a 3-series, 10-game homestand tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers. As the first pitch of game 10 on the season approaches, here’s some good and not-so-good news.

GOOD NEWS: Besides Dave’s mention of the Nats television game day ratings going up this year, there’s more than Nielsen ratings to get excited about. The Nats current 4-5 record is second best start since the 2005 inaugural season when our home team went 5-4. For context, the other 9-game start records are as follows: 2006 (2-7), 2007 (1-8), 2008 (3-6), 2009 (1-8).

NOT-SO-GOOD-NEWS: While it’s not a reason to sound the alarm just yet, the Nats have one hell of a schedule set for their first 40 games of the season. A total 31 of those 40 games are against ballclubs coming off of winning season in 2009. That … and Zimmerman is on the DL for the time being due to a pulled hamstring. Adam Kennedy will get the start in his place.

John Lannan (1-1, 8.31) faces Yovani Gallardo (0-2, 6.75) and the Brewers at 7:05 at Nationals Park.

We Green DC
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Big Earth Day Events Blowout

Photo courtesy of
‘Tree in the puddle’
courtesy of ‘fromcaliw/love’

It’s the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and green events are springing up citywide — an amazing number and variety. Highlighted are movies, drinks and more drinks, a special dinner, a “Song of the Earth” concert, an outdoor music festival, cleanups, a fundraiser to snug up homes for low-income residents, a walk for water, and even a seminar on making paper from junk mail.

And that’s just what happens next week. Events between now and the middle of next week appear in Part 1 (just in case you missed it).

Catch a Party and a Flick: No Impact Man
Thursday, April 22
6:30 and 8:15 p.m. (screenings); 6:45 – 10 p.m. (reception)
DC / U St.
AED Globe Theater (Formerly Visions), 1927 Florida Avenue, NW
$16 (film and reception)

Come see No Impact Man and attend the reception before or after your 90-minute screening. The film tells the story of Colin Beavan, a newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no long avoid pointing the finger at himself.

He left behind his liberal complacency for a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year. No more automated transportation, electricity, non-local food, or material consumption. See the effect on him and his less-than-earth-friendly family.
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The Daily Feed
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Nats’ Opening Week Ratings Improve Over 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘Turning the double play’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Just a shade over a week into the young MLB season, and the 4-5 Nationals can point to at least one area of improvement. According to Nielsen, the Nats have doubled the average local TV rating during Opening Week in 2010 as compared to the year before.

While the overall number isn’t getting close to the league leaders (the Red Sox pulled 11 percent of their market into local broadcasts), the fact that the Nats were able to perform decently well with viewers in the midst of several day games and the Caps postseason run is notable. Room to grow, for sure, in becoming a baseball town, but doubling your audience is still doubling your audience.

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Save the Planet with PB&J

Photo courtesy of
‘Peanut Butter & Jelly’
courtesy of ‘@joefoodie’

Here’s an idea: as Earth Day approaches, check out the PB&J Campaign.

The idea is that each time you have a PB&J, you shrink your carbon footprint, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution, cut back on habitat destruction, and conserve water.

And you get grade-A comfort food to boot. Where’s the best in town? Our authors are divided on the merits of Potbelly’s. What do you think?

Food and Drink
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Chocolate: Are You Sure Your Love Is True?

DeVries and Abbatiello

Steve DeVries and Biagio Abbatiello prepare to talk chocolate

Chocolate. Most people think they love it. But is it really chocolate they love — or sugar?

That’s a question chocolate maker Steve DeVries might pose. Most chocolate is made industrially and is full of sugar. The normal ratio is two parts sugar to one part cocoa. This sweetness can obscure the delicate and complex flavors of the bean itself.

DeVries found this out firsthand years ago after he bought some cacao beans at a plantation in Mexico. With almost no direction, he brought them home, roasted them until they smelled like brownies, and ground them himself. What DeVries experienced was delicious, “a complexity of flavor I’d never tasted in chocolate before,” he said. “It was like crushing grapes and getting a fine burgundy.” The reason, he discovered, was that chocolate had been overindustrialized.

Now head of Denver-based DeVries Chocolate, he is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker. While most makers buy chocolate and form it into bars with various flavorings, he starts from scratch with the beans themselves.

Last night, DeVries explained the process of making chocolate at the National Geographic Live! event Chocolate: From Bean to Bar on April 14. In addition, Biagio Abbatiello of Biagio Fine Chocolate near Dupont Circle led a tasting of artisanal chocolates from around the world. The pair also sat down with me beforehand to answer extra questions, one of which was, “How is DC as a chocolate town?”
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The Daily Feed
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Southwest Safeway Opens Today

Photo courtesy of
‘Safeway’
courtesy of ‘christaki’

This morning at 6am, the Southwest Waterfront Safeway opened for official business and marks the first time the neighborhood has had a real grocery store in months. Residents enjoyed a “sneak preview” yesterday from 4pm-8pm and the store was packed with people, music, and samples.

The new store runs about 55,000 square feet, a whopping 20,000 square feet larger than the old Safeway. Local blog, Southwest Quadrant, got a stellar sneak preview early this month and called the new store “gorgeous, basically what you would expect from a new, modern grocery store.”

The Daily Feed
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DC Zoning Commission on 14th ST NW

Photo courtesy of
‘041’
courtesy of ‘fromcaliw/love’

According to the Washington Business Journal, the DC Zoning Commission may re-examine the current restrictions set by the Department of Consumer and Regulator Affairs, which announced last week that they will “no longer approve any new building permits in the region”.  The proposed amendment would increase the amount of ‘frontage’ in the 14th ST NW corridor from 25 percent to 50 percent, making room for a few more restaurants and bars that are currently in limbo.

As a resident of the neighborhood I give the Commission my full support.  There is only so much Whole Foods’ salad bar that one girl can take.

News, The Daily Feed
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Voting Rights to Come Next Week?

Photo courtesy of
‘Military gun salute at the crematorium, Brisbane’
courtesy of ‘State Library of Queensland, Australia’

It’s looking more and more likely by this time next week the House of Representatives will have voted, despite the provision that contains a requirement that the city give up their strict gun control laws and abide by the Federal standards. Initially, this stopped voting rights dead in its tracks, but as Democrats are getting concerned this may be their biggest majority in some time to come, they want to get this done while they can. Standing in the way, of course, are some Republicans, including Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) who don’t believe you can add to the House of Representatives by legislative fiat. So, what do you think, DC? Go for the vote? Hold out for better legislation? Or is it all just unconstitutional? Click through for the poll.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Foodie Earth Day in Old Town

Photo courtesy of
‘Christmas 2008 – Seasonal Accent – 12-19-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Grab your puppy and head to Jackson 20 in Old Town, Alexandria to celebrate Earth Day at Jackson 20. As Earth Day falls on a Thursday, guests can bring their four-legged friends and enjoy the restaurant’s popular Doggie Happy Hour. On the 22nd, the restaurant will officially unveil “J20 Eco Hour,” where an unusually large selection of canned beers and boxed wines will be available. Now this may not sound particularly classy (slap the bag anyone?) but canned beer is much more eco-friendly than glass, easier to recycle and cheaper to ship. The new beer program will feature $2 “Working Man’s Canned Beer,” with selections like Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz, Iron City Light, Yuengling, Stroh’s Light, and $5 “Craft Canned Beer” featuring Hienniewisse, Mama’s Little Yellow Pils, AVBC Pale Ale, Porkslap Pale Ale, Old Chub Scottish Ale, and Moo Thunder Stout. Boxed Bandit Cabernet or Chardonnay is available $4.

Don’t forget to wash all that beer down with some food! Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Library of Congress to Archive Public Tweets


Twestival 3/25/10 by @heylovedc

I have to admit, I don’t tweet.  In fact it makes me slightly uncomfortable to say “tweet” unless I’m doing an impression of a baby bird.  While I do have a Twitter account, I only use it to follow Andy Roddick and other tennis related people and only when I’m covering a match that they’re playing in.  But I really don’t care where you are now, or now, or even now.  I don’t care what you’re thinking about now, now, or twenty seconds from now.  I don’t care what you had for breakfast or what you’re eating for lunch, right now.  But you know who does?  The Library of Congress.

That’s right, the LOC will be acquiring all public tweets since Twitter was founded in March of 2006.  However even though I’m in the technology business, I don’t quite  understand what this means.  Is someone going to ship them terabytes of data on a hard drive?  Are they going to continue to archive tweets going forward into the future?  How will the public be able to access this data?  I’m sure they have it all figured out, and I really think it’s great that the LOC is keeping up with the times instead of being a collection of old, dusty books.  You can find them online on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr to name a few sites.  Or you can find them at 101 Independence Ave SE, now, now, and now.

Business and Money, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District, We Green DC
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DC Chef Talks Sustainable Seafood On CNN

Photo courtesy of
‘Anacostia Fish Market #34’
courtesy of ‘andertho’

Barton Seaver, executive chef at Northwest DC’s restaurant Blue Ridge appeared on CNN today to speak about the realities of seafood sustainability and ways that Americans, and the world for that matter, can make their menus more sustainable when it comes to seafood.

Seaver recommends switching out mainstream choices such as tuna, swordfish and salmon, which have been seriously over fished and over eaten, with smaller, plentiful species like mackerel, sardines, clams, catfish, oysters, and my personal favorite, anchovies. Another practical and healthy suggestion is for restaurant and home chefs to use more vegetables in their dishes. And with the DC farmers market season ready to kick into gear, it’s the perfect time to incorporate produce from local sources into our cooking.

These simple and implementable cooking choices, according to Seaver, can have a measurable impact on depleted fish populations and can help in comprehensive efforts of seafood sustainability.

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Wait, How Are We Paying for that Contract, Superintendent Rhee?

Photo courtesy of
‘WTFCU?’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

The new WFT Contract came with some sizable increases in teacher salaries, and though the contract came with some sizable outside grants from august associations like the Broad Foundation, it looks like there’s going to be some controversy over how it gets paid for.

First, you remember way back when the DCPS said they were running a $40M+ shortfall for the year? And you remember that they RIFfed a number of teachers because of that shortfall, upsetting a number of people? How about that part when Michelle Rhee said they RIFfed those teachers to get rid of a few bad apples, and that ruffled some feathers? Okay, so now we’re up to the point where it was revealed that really they miscalculated that RIF, and instead were operating with a $35M+ surplus. And Rhee said the other day that the city would use that surplus not to rehire the teachers they RIF’d, but rather to pay for part of the new WTU contract.

Okay, now you’re all caught up on the drama. Here’s where it gets good: DC CFO Natwar Gandhi says there is no surplus. The money that was saved by RIFfing those teachers will just about cover the extra expenditures by the DCPS Central Office in FY09. So. Now. How exactly will this surplus-that-isn’t cover any part of the new WTU contract? Good question. We’ll find out, I’m sure.

The Features
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Why I Love DC: Dave Levy

Photo courtesy of
‘morning light’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

It’s the assignment that I knew was coming. “Why do you love, D.C.?” That’s the requirement for writing here at We Love D.C. (loving D.C., that is, not prose, but I digress), so I’m happy to oblige.

One role I pride myself upon is that of storyteller, and that’s how I plan to approach this. My M.O. for the next 700 words or so is as follows: I’m starting with Henry David Thoreau, I’m ending with a fairy tale, and I’m including at least one piece of live music.

In Walden (and then heavily alluded in 1989’s Dead Poets Society), HDT writes of his time alone while living in the backwoods of Massachusetts:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived.

And that’s where I am: D.C.’s my forest. And I’m here to live deliberately. Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Ovie, Caps Denied Game 1

Photo courtesy of
‘Alex Ovechkin’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Nobody said it would be easy.

The Montreal Canadiens did what they set out to do last night in a capacity-filled Verizon Center – steal a win in the Washington Capitals home building. Oh, and they shut down some guy named Ovechkin, too.

Tomas Plekanec silenced the crowd just over 13 minutes into the first overtime, corralling a bobbling puck and sending it end-for-end over Caps goalie Jose Theodore’s left shoulder. “We were screwing around with [the puck] instead of taking it back and setting it up and coming out,” said Coach Bruce Boudreau after the game. “They came up and our defense was caught in transition so they backed up so Plekanec got a chance to walk into the top of the circle and he had a perfect shot.”

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