Yearly Archives: 2010

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Warm Fuzzies and a Party for New Orleans

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On Saturday, a fun fundraising event combines a film and a New Orleans-style party, all to help rebuild a neighborhood damaged by Hurricane Katrina as the nation’s first zero carbon community.

The film is MINE, a powerful story of the essential bond between human and beast set against the backdrop of Katrina. An award winner at the SXSW film festival, it’s at AFI Silver Theatre at 5:45 p.m. A short talk from the producer and a first-responder animal rescuer follows.

At 8 p.m., the party moves to Jackie’s Restaurant, also in Silver Spring, with music, a silent auction, and an optional $10 buffet. A $5 donation is requested at the door.

All proceeds go directly to Historic Green. For two weeks this March in New Orleans, Historic Green will gather hundreds of students and young professionals, who’ll bring energy and ideas to help the people of the Lower Ninth Ward revitalize their community. They’ll meld preservation with sustainability, creating healthier, safer, more livable communities.

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, The Features
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Eat Like Me: February’s Best Dishes

Photo courtesy of
‘Not today’
courtesy of ‘JulieLG’

The theme of February 2010 was snow. SNOW EVERYWHERE, in flurries, in blizzards, in mounds. Even I was hesitant to head out in the big storm, only making it out once when I made it over to Westend Bistro to sit at The Pass on Sunday night after Round 1 of the storm had settled. Restaurants in our area struggled to stay open, they weren’t able to get wait staff in, shipments of food weren’t making it through the snowy streets, and even if places were open, it wasn’t the same turnover they would normally get on a Friday or Saturday night. It was a tough month – places were hurting after the break, and institutions like Jose Andres’ ThinkFoodGroup ran happy hours this month to make up for it. I’d encourage you to get back out there in March and support your favorite restaurants, they’re hurting, and don’t you need to get out of the house anyways?

But that PSA isn’t what I’m here about. I’m here about all the things I ate in February that I loved. Unfortunately, when you combine being out of commission for 7 days stuck in my apartment, along with February being a short month, and I think I have broken the record for LEAST amount of places eaten in one month. I did much more cooking for myself than letting others cook for me. Luckily, this short month, when I did eat out, was full of DC classics. I was still able to hit a few of my favorites, and wound up with some delicious dishes, regardless of the time constraints. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Fenty Proposes More Recycling

Photo courtesy of
‘Bottlecap Folk Art Reflection’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Mayor Fenty is proposing additional levels of recycling for residents and businesses, requiring tenants and citizens to separate out cardboard and plastic from their trash, in addition to cans, newspaper, office paper and glass. The Examiner suspects that this will mean stepped up enforcement on DC businesses, along with stepped up fines, which will probably mean there will be an all-office memo about your trash cans again.

It’s not clear if this is a budget neutral move, but we’ve asked the DPW for more information.  Of course, we’re still not to the point yet where we’re collecting compostable material like San Francisco, so I suppose we’ve still got a ways to go before we’re super green.

Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Insert Banana Peel Joke *Here*

Photo courtesy of
‘Perfect Placement’
courtesy of ‘gadgetdude’

At around 4am last night, a truck loaded with bananas overturned on the Northbound portion of Interstate 270.  Traffic was briefly closed between the Capital Beltway and Old Georgetown Road and was  reopened in time for today’s rush hour. The southbound portion of 270 was unaffected.

If you’re driving by this section of 270, you’ll spot the truck on the shoulder, as the truck and it contents will be removed after rush hour.

The Daily Feed
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Positive Attitude Makes Marquis A Leader

Photo courtesy of
‘Jason Marquis’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’

Baseball – like any sport – is a mental game. Attitude is everything. Jason Marquis is a firm believer of that fact.

He is the projected starter for Opening Day, bringing 231 starts over 10 major league seasons, and his head is in it to win it.

“I feel like you play 162 games, to win 162 games,” Marquis told Florida Today. “You don’t put expectations like, ‘Oh, I hope we get to .500 this year.’ I hope we win 162 games.

“Now, obviously has it ever been done? No. But that’s the mentality you should take. Treat each and every day as an individual, treat each game as its own and try to win one game at a time, get an out at a time, make plays and execute, and I think it will lead to a good season.”

Marquis’ guidance and leadership as a veteran could prove to be a moral boost for a team that’s trying to carve a new, winning path this season.

The Features, Where We Live
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Where We Live: U Street

Photo courtesy of
’13th & U, NW’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

As we’re wrapping up District neighborhoods before moving on to the Maryland and Virginia ‘burbs, this week our featured neighborhood is U Street– one of DC’s greatest neighborhoods.  It has had its ups and downs, but today U Street is a vibrant urban community filled with one-of-a-kind restaurants, galleries, and bars.  Read on to find what you need to check out next time you’re in the area (including the bar where everybody knows your name), some surviving institutions from U Street’s heyday in the early twentieth century, and what makes U Street such a great neighborhood.

History: The U Street neighborhood was originally developed between 1860 and 1900, and it was filled with Victorian-era homes for the post-Civil War influx of residents. Then a streetcar came along and led to more commercial development along U Street. The U Street corridor became the most desirable area for African Americans to settle in the early 1900s, leading to the country’s largest urban African American community (until that title was claimed by Harlem in the 1920s). It was a major cultural center for the black community, and it was known as “Black Broadway”, with Lincoln Theater and Howard Theater in the area. And Duke Ellington grew up in the neighborhood too!

Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
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Metro Announces Two Safety Programs

Photo courtesy of
‘Killing Time on the Green Line’
courtesy of ‘Bogotron’

Metro this morning announced two safety programs now approved by the board: rollback protection on 5000-series cars, and door control unit repairs to 500+ cars. The former repairs should be done by this summer, but the latter will take until Spring of 2011.

Interestingly, the repairs to the DCUs suggest that it may be awhile longer until we’re back on Automated Train Operations (ATO): “Metro will repair door control units on 546 rail cars, which will enhance passenger safety once Metro resumes automatic train operations”. That suggests they’re either going to wait until we’re back on ATO to do the repairs, or that the repairs can’t be started until we’re back on ATO. Metro has given no public timeline for the return to ATO and has refused all inquiries related to that subject. Dave Stroup from Why I Hate DC yesterday called for a return to ATO sooner rather than later, suggesting that Metro’s current safety regime is more like security theater than actual security. I’m inclined to agree that if Metro wants to justify their fare hike proposals, they’re going to have to return service to something approximating normal more quickly than they had planned.

The Daily Feed
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De-Frost Fridays

Photo courtesy of
‘58.365 – History in the making.’
courtesy of ‘josh.liba’

The Phillips Collection is hosting a new event called De-Frost Fridays.  When you purchase admission to see Georgia O’Keeffe Abstraction on a Friday this winter, you will also get free cup of spicy southwestern hot chocolate by FoodArts in the Phillips Cafe.  De-Frost Fridays will continue now through March 19th between the hours of 10 AM and 4 PM. Hot chocolate, inspiring art, and a place to warm up during this frigid DC winter; I’m so there.

The Phillips Collection is located at 1600 21st. NW.

The Daily Feed
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It’s not actually a snuff film, it’s just named that way

Screen shot 2010-02-25 at 3.58.28 PM

If, like me, you have fond memories of the kind of insanity Cherry Red used to bring to local stages, you’re in luck: you’ve got 12 opportunities this weekend to reminisce. What was called Thumbsucker on stage has become SNUFF.MOV on screen and will be screened at the Warehouse Theater this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Just in case the word “snuff” didn’t tip you off – this isn’t light fare for everyone. Aside from the obvious sex and violence, writer/director Ian Allen never used to seem interested in putting something on stage unless it was going to challenge almost everyone. Clearly celluloid hasn’t change that fact – check out the trailer at the film’s website if you need proof.

Personally I’ll risk being nauseated by a small film over being bored by Dances with Smurfs’ lame storytelling anytime, but it also doesn’t hurt that there’s no showings of Avatar right next door to super-bar The Passenger. I’ll be at the 10:30 premiere on Saturday, so if you come out, say hi. I’d suggest you reserve your seat rather than take your chances at the door – the Warehouse isn’t exactly the multiplex.

News, The Daily Feed
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The Cigarette Tax That Didn’t Work

Photo courtesy of
‘This Is Gonna Kill Me (Again)’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

Buried in today’s paper was the report by Natwar Gandhi that said the District’s increase in per-pack cigarette taxes was a dismal failure, causing DC smokers to head to MD and Organic CBD Nugs’ CBD Isolate store for their nic fix, and it ended up costing DC revenue.  Of course, since political theatre is always farce, let’s take a look at the new Tobacco-Free Kids report, which suggests that DC could raise another $6.8M just by raising the cigarette tax another dollar.

Now, I’m no math whiz, but it sounds like a $0.50 hike cost the city money, and now you’re trying to tell me that we could make more money only if we taxed them even more? Sorry, Charlie, that don’t fly with me.  I think the only way that would work is if all the surrounding states were to increase taxes at the same time, an outcome that is so unlikely, the DC Lottery should consider that as a new game on which to bet.

Nice job, Tobacco-Free Kids.  Apparently you’re not much for the mathematics here.

The Daily Feed
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Riggleman Forces The Fundamentals, Nyjer Morgan Learns How To Slide Feet-First

Photo courtesy of
‘first run’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Injuries in Major League Baseball are inevitable. This year – the Nationals are trying to limit the amount of times their players take a trip to the disabled list. How? By going over base sliding fundamentals.

“I’ve always slid feet-first,” the 29-year-old Nyjer Morgan told the Associated Press. “But I guess I’m getting a little older and I’m getting a little wiser.”

Getting a little older and a little wiser? A headfirst slide is the sole reason Morgan was left sidelined after fracturing his left hand while sliding into third base last August in Chicago – less than two months after being traded from Pittsburgh to Washington.

Sure, Nyjer – it does look like you’re working harder if you slide head-first into the bases (the Nationals outfielder says he likes to get dirty while playing ball because it looks like “you’ve been playing harder”, no pun intended … please feel free to let your mind wander into gutter territory with that one), but the injuries aren’t worth it if you want to play for a team who has a winning record at the end of the 2010 season.

Riggleman’s also got the entire roster working on the feet-first approach to sliding in order to cut down on hand/finger/wrist related injuries. Good thinking.

ALSO – THIS JUST IN – there’s a new guy in town by the name of Adam Kilgore. He’ll be the voice of WaPo’s Nationals Journal/the new Nationals beat writer this season. Welcome to town, Adam!

History, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Drawing Toward Home

DTH_Bowen House

Bowen House, Woodstock, Connecticut, c. 1846.  Joseph C. Wells, architect.  Courtesy Historic New England.

“A major component of the American pursuit of happiness has long been a home of one’s own (the automobile is a distant second: the one a castle, the other a chariot).”   – James F. O’Gorman, lead curator for Drawing Toward Home.

When talking about art we often highlight forms such as painting, theater, sculpture, dance, and photography – just to name a few.  However, often overlooked are the artistic endeavors of both the historic and modern architectural community.  The newest exhibition at the National Building Museum, called Drawing Toward Home, highlights the intricate and often-complex domestic architectural drawing.

As a traveling exhibition organized by Historic New England in celebration of their Centennial, the 100-plus drawings featured provide a unique look into the vast history of the New England Style home.  Ranging from the Federal to the International Style and spanning over 200 years, Drawing Toward Home “reminds us that the architecture of New England is a touchstone of American Architecture”.  The exhibition is uncomplicated; simple to follow and clearly displayed.  Organized chronologically into four sections, beginning circa 1800 and ending around 1980, Drawing Toward Home is much like the foundation of the architectural drawing itself – a cohesive way to convey pure information.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Green DC
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Environmental Film Fest on the Way

Dirt! The Movie - © Gene Rosow

Dirt! The Movie - © Gene Rosow

Break out the organic popcorn — the Environmental Film Festival is coming. From March 16-28, you can see up to 155 films from 31 countries. This year’s theme is the connection between food and the environment.

Going Green DC has a good wrapup of the festival’s global and local highlights. A Road Not Taken, which talks about the solar panels that once graced the White House roof, is another of the 13 local films.

So are Not a Distant Beast and “River of Hope”: Welcome to our City, Mr. President, which share the story of locals’ relationship with the Anacostia River.

Nora! features the founder of Restaurant Nora, the nation’s first certified organic restaurant. In Coal Country, Appalachian miners and activists tell the story of mountaintop removal coal mining, which helps to power the DC area.

This year, the festival received funds to offer additional free screenings to young and underserved audiences at libraries, museums, and theatres throughout the DC area. A launch party takes place March 10 at the Warner Theatre.

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Local Blogger Fired For Her Blog

Photo courtesy of
‘You’re Fired!’
courtesy of ‘bjornmeansbear’

Local blogger Meg of 2birds1blog was this morning dismissed from her workplace for her blog, in which she kept her identity somewhat concealed, and her employer’s identity a mystery.  Worse than that, and the worst nightmare of pretty much every blogger is that they’re threatening her with a defamation lawsuit.  What a buzzkill.  Anyhow, Meg is one of our favorites around these parts and finding out she’s getting Dooced is pretty much unacceptable to us.  

Meg’s likely to need a good lawyer in the coming months who’s willing to act on her behalf while these still-as-of-yet-unnamed employers decide to be foolish jerks and threaten her with defamation suits.  If you know anyone who fits the bill, make yourself known in the comments and we’ll try to help you out.  While we’re not lawyers here at We Love DC, and this next comment shouldn’t be construed as legal advice, posts like this one make me think she might have a good sexual harassment countersuit. Can you help?

While we’re on the subject, it’d be good for everyone both reading this blog, and especially so if they write one, to brush up on your rights at work. It’s not as clear a line as you’d think.

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends, February 27-28

Photo courtesy of
‘A Place in the Sun’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Rebecca: Friday I’m celebrating a friends birthday party with some sake bombs and hibachi at Matsutake Hibachi Steak & Sushi. Then we’ll head on back to the district for some drinkypoos at Martin’s. Saturday I’m on an early morning plane ride to California, so that’s where my DC weekend plans end. :(

John: Friday, I’ll be grabbing dinner at 3 Bar and Grill and then playing with my band Juniper Lane at IOTA in Arlington. Saturday will be spent mapping out the planting schedule and cleaning out an area in the garage where I can start seedlings and then enjoying a dinner date downtown. Sunday I’ll be taking a class with NRA Instructor Tina Wilson Cohen in Herndon on hand to hand and non-operational gun fighting.   Continue reading →

Music, The Daily Feed
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Reminder: DMB at Nationals Park on Sale Tomorrow

Photo courtesy of
‘Nationals Park in the Snow’
courtesy of ‘Rukasu1’

The perfect distraction from the passing thought of more flurries is the dream of summer in our fair district. With the Nats’ home slate and potential debut of a pitcher Rachel (and apparently team) are embracing as “Jesus,” Half Street will be a hot spot all through the dog days.

In addition to the usual baseball, as announced late last month, Dave Matthews Band will be hitting the field once graced by the Pope and Billy Joel (not simultaneously that I’m aware of) for an excellent mid-summer concert. Tickets for the July 23rd concert go on sale tomorrow morning, and with support from the increasingly popular Zac Brown Band plus the appeal of Nationals Park concert, you can be sure they will go quickly.

The link to the public sale was a little bit of a challenge to find, but this Live Nation page should be updated at 10 a.m. tomorrow when the tickets open up. With any hope, any additional snow will be gone by July, but I’ll leave that prognostication to the Capital Weather Gang.

News, The Daily Feed
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WMATA, Google Close to a Deal for Google Transit Info

Photo courtesy of
‘metro map photo project mural in my living room’
courtesy of ‘aliciagriffin’

For the last couple years, DC’s been a bit behind the times technologically when it came to public transportation participation in online transit services like NextBus and Google Maps for Transit, but it seems that’s about to come to an end, as Greater Greater Washington is reporting that WMATA and Google are now talking legal language of the deal, which is a major victory for the region.  DDOT announced earlier this week that the Circulator would appear in Google Transit this week, and Arlington is piggybacking on the announcement as well, to add ART buses to the system.

This is just about the best news that Metro’s seen in some time, and it’s a boon for riders who want to work on new ways to get a more efficient route through the system and don’t want to rely on the buggy Ride Guide on WMATA’s site.  Bring on the Future!  Er.  The Present.

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Issey Miyake’s Design Principles

Photo courtesy of
‘ISSEY MIYAKE’
courtesy of ‘Ruzaini’

Attention all Fashionistas! Tonight the Textile Museum will be hosting one of their renown talks called Issey Miyake‘s Design Principles.  Miyake is a well-known Japanese fashion designer who is known for his technology-driven creations. Tonight’s lecture will be given by Amanda Mayer Stinchecum, a historian specializing in the “cloth and clothing of Ryukyu/Okinawa and mainland Japan”.

Just a lil’ fact for fun: The building which houses the Textile Museum was created by the famous-architect John Russell Pope in 1913.

The Textile Museum is located at 2320 S Street NW DC and tonight’s talk starts at 6 PM. Purchase tickets at 202.667.0441.

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed
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Team-up to “Dodge” Diabetes

medics3
courtesy of Dodging Diabetes 

On Saturday, March 20th, the 5th Annual Dodging Diabetes Charity Dodgeball Tournament will bring together 500 players and fans for a one-day competition to raise money and awareness for the fight against diabetes.

From 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Champions Fieldhouse in Rockville, teams will be ducking and diving flying balls to make a difference in our community.

To sign up as a team, click here. Team registration (before March 16) is $350.

Founded by two D.C. area locals in 2005, Dodging Diabetes has netted over $40,000 for the Joslin Diabetes Center through its annual charity dodgeball tournaments. Web site: http://www.dodgingdiabetes.org.

The “Average Joe,” too, can make a difference.

All Politics is Local, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed
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Someone Doesn’t Like The New Parking Laws

parking sign in the C&O Canal

parking sign in the C&O Canal

Someone in Georgetown is clearly not a fan of the new parking regulations that took effect in January. And I have to admit the addition of Saturdays has been the bane of my existence, however instead of throwing signs into the historic C&O Canal, let your voice be heard by contacting Mayor Fenty, your Ward representative and/or your ANC with your complaints/comments/suggestions.