Yearly Archives: 2010

Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
By

A Streetcar Named “Why All The Wires?”

Photo courtesy of
‘HOVMHTM810550a’
courtesy of ‘Charles HTM’

“Why are the tourists entitled to a better view than we are?” Monte Edwards of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society told the Washington Post. “I like to look up and see the sky and trees. They’re as important to me as a resident as the tourist’s views of our monuments.”

Edwards is one of many who are tangled “in the wires” when it comes to the reemergence of streetcars in the District.

Streetcars ran on the streets of Washington from 1862 until 1962 and was a backbone of the District’s transportation until Congress called for a bus replacement when the auto industry took off in the 1950s. Now, city planners awaiting the realization of their $1.5 billion vision will have to fight the battle guardians of the federal city before connecting the city’s widespread neighborhoods.

What are they fighting about? The proposed overhead electrical wires taking up valuable DC airspace and hindering the illustrious, open sky view we’ve been able to maintain during the city’s 200(plus) year history.

According to The National Park Service’s spokesman Bill Line, the Service “does not want and does not approve of” overhead wires in the city. No matter which side of the tracks you find yourself on in this debate, I suggest becoming vocal … and soon. That’s the only way to either put a halt to the project or get the those wires hung.

The Daily Feed
By

Win Antiques Roadshow Tickets From WETA

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC04727’
courtesy of ‘Matt Lancashire’

Antiques Roadshow is a guilty pleasure of mine. People unearth their random junk, take it on down and hope to God it turns out to be a missing Picasso, or a rare piece of Revere silver or something along those lines. Get out your junk, folks, because they’re coming to the Convention Center this summer. You can register to win tickets from WETA now, and hope that you’ve got some sweet antiques. We’ll see you there.

Featured Photo
By

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.

The Daily Feed
By

Late April Fools From Washington Post?

Washington Post Time WarpYesterday afternoon, visitors to washingtonpost.com got a little surprise: the homepage and all articles were from December 31, 2009.  There were holiday shopping tips, a decade in review feature, and a couple newsworthy articles on ‘current’ events.  The technical snafu lasted a half hour or so before the Post fixed the glitch, bringing back news of the Nats huge loss and Tiger’s press conference.

Maybe the Post forgot that April Fools Day is April 1 rather than April 5?  Or maybe the warm weather caused some sort of ‘Lost’ alternate universe set in a different time.  After the jump, see a full size screenshot of yesterday’s page. Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
By

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.

The Daily Feed
By

‘Skins Really Want You To Know To Pre-Order Your McNabb Jersey

Photo courtesy of
‘The Newest Redskin’
courtesy of ‘Kevin A. Koski’

A public service post this afternoon in case you need a timeline of the events regarding the Redskins newest quarterback, Donovan McNabb.

8:15 p.m., Sunday, April 4: Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Philadelphia Eagles would be sending their 2009 starting QB to Washington for draft picks in 2010 and 2011.

Noon, Monday, April 5: The Redskins announce their new quarterback at a press conference at Redskins Park Auditorium.

4 p.m., Monday, April 5: Redskins marketing goes into full effect, launching an e-mail to registered members to let them know that they already have the opportunity to reserve a #5 jersey in Burgundy.

Sure, maybe you think that the Redskins have a deeper rotation under center than the Nats as of this afternoon and should have focused more on Offensive Line issues. But at least you can have that thought will forking over $71.99 for a new piece of McNabb swag.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
By

Sports Cartoon Offers The Nats Some Pitching Advice

Opening-Day-With-Obama

He might’ve thrown the ceremonial first pitch wide and high for a left handed hitter on Opening Day at Nats Park, but after today’s clobbering of the Nationals by the Phillies (I’ll put it to you this way, the score is 11-1 at the end of seven innings) this cartoon originally posted by sports comic site nbspn.com might be something for Riggleman to consider.

See an enlarged version of the cartoon after the page break. Continue reading →

Essential DC, Fun & Games, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

Obama’s Slew of Social Activities

Photo courtesy of
‘Scary Bunny’
courtesy of ‘shbaker99’

President Obama had quite the social schedule to tend to today. Granted, he played to the occasion and appears to be having the time of life. He even snuck a White Sox cap onto the diamond before taking the mound clad in his Nationals jacket to wear atop his head during the ceremonial first pitch.

But before there was afternoon baseball, there was the Easter Egg Roll. Sadly, I was not selected for Egg Roll tickets in this year’s ticket lottery. As a result I was unable to attend or get any photos of the cute kiddies on the White House lawn with the cast of Glee or the Easter Bunny (sad, I know).

NBC4, on the other hand, got some great shots of the event in case you’re interested in recapping it for yourself. Click here for their photo reel.

Downtown, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features
By

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.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
By

Want To Stalk Top Chef DC? Now You Can, Thanks To Twitter.

Photo courtesy of
‘live shot’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

We all know how excited you are that Top Chef is FINALLY giving DC the foodie lovin’ it deserves. With that said, you can get in on all the Top Chef DC happenings (shooting is now in progress) with a click of a button.

Want to find out where the cast and crew is at any given moment? Thanks to the unofficial account maintained by a Top Chef fan, you can now follow “topchefdcnews” on Twitter for all the latest updates.

The Daily Feed
By

Thousands Outside Nationals Park During First Pitch

Photo courtesy of Pat D.
Camera phone photo courtesy of Pat D., click to enlarge

It’s official: right now, the Nationals 2010 campaign is under way here in Washington. The start of a new season – especially to those who worship at the altar of baseball – is always exciting, and bringing President Obama down to the Navy Yard to throw the first pitch just raised the level of excitement for District fans.

With Obama present at the Park, you had to imagine security was going to be tight, and the Nats opened the gates a little earlier than usual this morning to try and accommodate. Well, it doesn’t look like it was enough. The photo above (click to enlarge) was taken by a fan stuck in the line – timestamp is 1:13, or just right around the moment of the first pitch. A few thousand people look to be stranded outside the park waiting to get through security.

Hopefully they can get all those folks in there in time to see some of the action, especially on such a beautiful afternoon. The season has to get better from here…

The Daily Feed
By

Being Green at Phillips

Photo courtesy of
‘Mural’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

In honor of Earth Day, coming up right around the corner (I just love April), the Phillips Collection Food Arts is hosting “Green Hours at the Phillips” now through April 22nd. Every Thursday, the museum café will offer organic wines and local beers, with one dollar from each drink going towards Earth Day Network.

Furthermore, on Earth Day the Phillips Collection will be hosting a panel discussion about local food and the landscape, in partnership with FreshFarm.  The panel will be featuring Maryland winemaker Robert Lyons, chef Nora Pouillon of Restaurant Nora, and PA farmer Mark Toigo of Toigo Orchards.

The Phillips Collection is located at 1600 21st St.

Register for the Earth Day Panel Discussion here.

Food and Drink, The DC 100, The Features
By

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 →

The Daily Feed
By

Funeral Services Scheduled For 2 of 4 Southeast Shooting Victims

Photo courtesy of
‘Rest in Peace’
courtesy of ‘andycoan’

Funeral services are now scheduled for two of the four victims from last week’s shooting in southeast.

Services for 17-year-old Tavon Nelson are set for Tuesday at the Tenth Street Baptist Church and services for 18-year-old Devaughn Boyd are set for Wednesday at a funeral home in Maryland.

No official word has been reported regarding the status of 19-year-old William Jones III and 16-year-old Brishell Jones’ funerals.

The Daily Feed, WMATA
By

WMATA Has Record-Setting Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro Fail’
courtesy of ‘Karon’

Metro can thank the tourists and the major league sporting teams in town for setting the second and fourth highest ridership days in WMATA history this weekend. This is after last week’s record-setting ridership of 877,890 trips set on Thursday.

As a rider myself, I say a hat tip is in order since delays were minimal. But, with ridership up, you sure did feel like a sardine in a can with no hope of escape.

The numbers on the weekend are:

891,240 trips on Friday due to the blossoms, tourism in general, and the Wizards game.

674,173 trips on Saturday thanks to the blossoms (of course), the Nationals exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox, and Wale performing at RFK at the D.C. United home opener.

Today’s count won’t be in until later, but with the Nationals Opening Day game I expect the numbers to soar once more.

The Daily Feed
By

Free Food Alert: Morton’s Shopper Appreciation!

Photo courtesy of
‘Morton’s Steakhouse’
courtesy of ‘ashleyt’

As if shopping in Georgetown isn’t already one of your favorite pasttimes, Morton’s Steakhouse and Georgetown BID are giving you one more reason to shop till’ you drop.  This week select retailers will be distributing invitations to Morton’s Shopper Appreciation Event on April 10th.

So, it’s pretty simple.  This is how it works:  you shop at one of the stores, and in return get an invitation to the event.  On Saturday afternoon betwen 2-5pm you can stroll on over to Morton’s patio where you will enjoy FREE miniature prime cheeseburgers and an extra-special cocktail menu in honor of spring and all the shopping goodness that comes along with it.

Some of the stores participating include Betsey Johnson, CUSP, and Urban Chic just to name a few.  For a complete list, you can go to www.mortons.com/georgetown and click on “Special Events.”

The Daily Feed
By

WaPo Launches New Visual Art Contest

Photo courtesy of
‘artist at work’
courtesy of ‘soulfotography’

Artists! Go get your creativity on ASAP! The Washington Post has launched a new platform to get your work strewn about for all the city’s eyes to see via an online virtual gallery.

The project is called “Real Art D.C.” and starts the first week of May, extending through the summer months. WaPo’s art critics will pick ten artists from the Real Art D.C. upload pool before making it to the next round of this online head-to-head art challenge. The ten finalists will get a studio write-up online before the last finalist is announced in early October.

Online voting is the means by which the final-artist-standing will be selected for a prize of being interviewed and profiled in print and online by The Washington Post.

For all information pertaining to Real Art D.C., visit their website.

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

Greek Easter Lambwiches at Zaytinya

Photo courtesy of
‘Zaytinya’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’

Oh man, it’s that time again – the Greek Easter Festival at Zaytinya. Last year, during the festival Top Chef contestant Mike Isabella served up lamb pita sandwiches with tzatziki out of a street cart on the corner of 9th and G street during lunchtime and it was crazy popular.

This year he does it again, but they’re adding picnic tables so you can enjoy your lambwich on-site. The festival runs from April 5-16th, so take a long lunch break, call in sick, do whatever you need to do to get yourself a pita. Plus, you’ll be able to rub elbows with cutie Chef Isabella, who promises to help his sous chefs man the cart.

Zaytinya is located on the corner of 9th and G streets NW, right across from the 9th street exit of the Chinatown Metro Station.

Weekend Flashback
By

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.

Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
By

Caps Claim President’s Trophy

Photo courtesy of
‘Rock the Red’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Big weekend for the Capitals! First, the team notched its 51st win of the season against Columbus on Saturday. The league also announced a two game suspension on Atlanta’s Colby Armstrong for his elbow-to-the-head hit on Mathieu Perrault. However, the biggest news came last night, on an evening the Caps weren’t even playing.

The Colorado Avalanche, fighting for their own playoff berth, defeated the San Jose Sharks in overtime last night – giving the Washington Capitals their first-ever President’s Trophy. The team has 114 points with four games remaining in the season. The award gives the Caps home-ice all through the Stanley Cup playoffs, a distinct advantage for a team with a 28-5-5 record this season at home.

Congratulations to owner Ted Leonsis, GM George McPhee, and the rest of the Caps organization for the achievement! Now let’s just hope the alleged “President’s Trophy Curse” doesn’t come calling – only 7 previous winners of the Trophy have gone on to win the Stanley Cup since the award’s inception in the 1985-86 season.

Caps are home tonight against Boston; game starts at 7 p.m.