Yearly Archives: 2010

The Features
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The Morning News

Photo courtesy of
’53/365′
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Welcome to an occasional-but-hopefully-more-frequent series where I drag myself out of bed early and read the local news so you don’t have to.

From the NTSB hearings on the June 22 Red Line Crash:

Yesterday’s testimony dealt with the crashworthiness of the 1000 series cars, and their impending replacement (if 2013 can be called “impending) with new 7000 series cars with a stainless steel body that’s more resistant to crumpling on impact. That’s old news. What came out of the hearings that was new was that the manufacturer of Metro’s signaling equipment, Alstom, warned Metro in 2004 and 2006 about the dangers of mixing third-party equipment in with their Alstom equipment. The equipment from other manufacturers has higher power requirements than the Alstom devices and may have caused the signaling failure that led to the crash. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Post To Barry: Quit Apologizing and Resign Already.

Photo courtesy of

‘At A Loss: Repeat and Rinse’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

The money quote from the Post Editorial Board is a brutal one: “Even if the council invokes the toughest sanctions available to it — and we think it should — it won’t be enough to make up for what Mr. Barry’s repeated misbehavior has cost the very people he professes to serve.”

It’s easy to kick a man when he’s down, but now, I think it’s well past time we all joined in with the kicking.  Marion Barry has had more trouble following the rules than any public official I can think of.  He’s failed to file his taxes, he’s been arrested for doing crack with a prostitute, and now he’s facing discipline for the misappropriation of funds for his own ward.  It’s time to retire, Marion.  Go on.  Git.  Let someone new try to bring respectability to Ward 8.  They probably mean business, and not just the kickbacks kind.

News, The Daily Feed
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Bob Ryan Leaving NBC4

Photo courtesy of
‘National Weatherman’s Day’
courtesy of ‘bjornmeansbear’

His smiling face is certainly one you remember, and as of Friday night late, you may have to see it somewhere else.  Longtime NBC4 Weatherman Bob Ryan is leaving NBC4 for greener pastures.  It’s not clear if he’s headed to WJLA as was previously guessed, but it was clear he wasn’t willing to take the paycut that NBC4 wanted him to take.  Good on ya, Bob, and you’re better without those NBC jerks.  Besides, they tape delay the Olympics, how long before they do that with the weather?

Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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White House To Be Filled With Glee This Easter

Photo courtesy of
‘(137/365) GGG’
courtesy of ‘MarksandSparks’

If you thought getting tickets to last year’s White House Easter Egg Roll was hard, then imagine what’s going to happen with the addition of a performance by the cast of Fox’s Glee.

Yup, that’s right. They’ll be appearing and performing at the April 5 event, so you should start lining up for tickets today.

Apparently, Michelle, Malia and Sasha are among the shows 2038475 million fans and are super pumped. Wonder if Bo is into Glee.

The Daily Feed
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He’s Baaaaack: Livan Hernandez Signs A Minor League Contract

Photo courtesy of
‘Liván Hernández back pitching for the Nats’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

The most wins any Nationals pitcher has under his belt is 26. That record is held by right-handed pitcher Livan Hernandez who signed a minor-league contract with the Nationals today, which includes an invitation to Spring Training.

Hernandez is back in Washington after going 9-12 with a 5.44 ERA in 31 starts last season (having split his time between DC and New York with the Mets).

Word on the street (aka MLB.com) is the Nats have been looking for a second veteran starter since they signed right-hander Jason Marquis to a two-year deal in December.

Hernandez now enters the competition to fill the final two starting spots in Riggleman’s 2010 rotation.

News, The Daily Feed
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Finally, Someone Who Makes Rhee Look Warm, Fuzzy

Photo courtesy of
‘Columbia Alumni “Polo Team” (LOC)’
courtesy of ‘The Library of Congress’

It’s not often you find someone who makes the chilly Michelle Rhee look warm and fuzzy by comparison, but meet Central Falls, RI’s Dr. Gallo.  As part of a running dispute with the teachers and administrators at Central Falls’ high school, today she fired each and every teacher and administrator there, citing poor performance, significant social mismatch, and a 48% graduation rate.  Sadly, 48% is just about average in DC.  So.  Fire ’em all?

The Features
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Class Review: Deer Hunting for Locavores

Deer Hunting for Locavores
‘Field Butchering’
courtesy of ‘boboroshi’

I’ve been following Jack Landers’ blog for quite a while now, enjoying his mix of politics, firearms and hunting. The last article I read that he wrote was a hunting review of flashlight, which is a special hunting device that gives the best visibility for night hunters like me. Last fall he started offering a class for locals in Charlottesville about locavore hunting: those who want to get their food locally in a sustainable manner. The ultimate in free-range, no hormone or CAFO-raised meat? Well, in this part of the country, that would be whitetail deer. And that’s what the hunting class is set up to discuss. Two jam packed days of deer history, anatomy, ecology, gun safety, field butchering, cooking and more.

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy venison or be able to handle the butchering. Could I actually take the responsibility of a start-to-finish approach to the meat that I eat? Walking into Wegmans or Whole Foods or Giant and picking up a steak is easy. It’s clean. It’s prepared. You don’t even see the old style butcher shop half cow hanging as they worked on it. Would this push me towards a closer relationship with the food I eat or turn me into a vegetarian-biased eater?

The goal was to leave Charlottesville after these two days confident that I could go out and actually harvest a deer with my new Thermo Gears and take responsibility for it at some point next hunting season. So after my gig at the 9:30 Club on Friday night, I packed up my car with my clothes, camera and Winchester Model 70 rifle and headed down to Charlottesville.

(Warning: some of the photos inside show the butchering process) Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Unleashed Restaurant Deals March 1-7

Photo courtesy of
‘Everybody should believe in something……………..’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

RAMW has announced a week of dining out specials the week of March 1-7th that they’re calling “Unleashed”. As Amanda at Metrocurean alludes to, it’s probably helpful for the restaurants to rally and bring diners in after the big snowstorm of February.

My recommendations for specials to take advantage of?

20% off Dinner sushi at Kaz Sushi Bistro
4-course dinner for $35 per person at The Melting Pot
Tuscan Tasting Menu with Chianti flight for $40 per person at Potenza
Complimentary bottle of prosecco at Urbana

The full list is in this PDF right here. Good eating, DC.

The Daily Feed
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No Jail for Cho

Photo courtesy of
‘Coffee Fest 2007 – Matt, Nick Cho, Sean’
courtesy of ‘journeyscoffee’

Here at We Love DC we’ve avidly followed the saga of Nick Cho and Murky Coffee’s tax problems since back in the days of Dickpunchgate. So you may be interested to know that Cho will not have to serve any jail time for his failure to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in DC sales taxes. Instead, he’ll be doing 400 hours of community service and paying $190,000 in restitution, $276/month for the first year, $3,900/month thereafter until it’s all paid up.

So what happens when he’s unable to come up with nearly $4k a month next year?

The Daily Feed
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2012 Giro d’Italia To Kick Off In DC?

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0045’
courtesy of ‘briser50’

We got a phonecall from our friends at WCSA and it seems that Velonation has jumped the gun. Tomorrow’s event is only a rally in support of DC’s bid and not an actual announcement of DC’s formal involvement. We regret the error and hope to post this story again soon.

Tomorrow, according to Velonation, Mayor Fenty, Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata and Giro d’Italia organizer Angelo Zomegnan will announce that the first stage of the 2012 race will be held in DC. This will mark the first time a Grand Tour event has ever been staged outside of Europe.

The Italian periodical, Il Sole 24 Ore, reports that the 2012 race will begin on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, by the National Archives, will then pass by the FBI building, Freedom Plaza, the Ellipse, move behind the White House, onwards to the obelisk at the Department of State, Virginia Avenue, Watergate, Rock Creek Park and back. The riders, coaches, press, staff, etc. will then get on a plane, fly to Italy, land the next morning, have the day off and then bike their little biker butts off for the rest of the race. Phew! Better start carbo-loading.

This is great news for the US, as cycling continues to increase in popularity, and for DC, as we’ve got a strong biking community and because we’re obviously a wonderful host city.

The Daily Feed
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Look Out Cupcake, Cheesecake Is On The Prowl

Photo courtesy of
‘Cheese Cake’
courtesy of ‘slettvet’

It isn’t just about the cupcake anymore. The cupcakeries about town have a new rival – Capital City Cheesecakes.

This online Cheesecake shop (currently operating out of the Brookland Tavern) is scheduled to open its first restaurant this spring in Takoma Park (7071 Carroll Avenue to be exact). The new location will feature Capital City shopper favorites including miniature and petite-sized cheesecakes as well normal sized cakes for any and all affairs.

Cheesecake fans do have a bit more to look forward to than a new location though! Co-Owners/Sisters Caitlin and Meaghan Murphy have a selection expansion in the works, which means cheesecake won’t be the sole item on the menu. Baked goods, coffees, and an extensive breakfast list are being added as an additional way to satisfy your craving for all things sweet and tasty.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Editors @ 9:30 Club 2/21/10

EDITORS_BWPrint5web_medium
courtesy of Editors

Editors made a glorious return to the 9:30 Club on Sunday night playing to a sold-out house of enthusiastic fans and soon-to-be converts. These dark, Brit-pop masters treated the crowd to a set mixing their passion-fueled back-catalog with their synth-focused latest, “In This Light and On This Evening“. The transitions between the new and old songs were not always the smoothest, but the sheer power and presence of one of the best performing bands around was more than enough to carry the crowd and the evening.

I have seen Editors on every tour and was particularly taken with their debut opening stint for Stellastarr* back in 2006. Since then Editors have put out a second great album of passion-pop, seen a ground-swell in popularity, and most recently embraced a dramatic stylistic shift on their new album. I don’t think anyone was expecting their hard left-turn into synth territory but it does not feel entirely out-of-place either. Tom Smith’s deep vocal style and the band’s over-all darker tone adjusts pretty easily from their trademark guitar to the new album’s near Gothic synth. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t skeptical going into Sunday’s concert. In fact I was not really sold on this synth-shift based on my album-play-through and I was hoping for this concert to provide me a final verdict on how I really felt about it.
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Strasburg Scheduled To Start March 9th

Photo courtesy of
‘Stephen Strasburg’
courtesy of ‘jpangan3’

It looks like Jesus will be taking the mound pretty soon. It’s been put in ink, so it must be true — Stephen Strasburg will be making his first start with the Nationals at Spring Training on March 9 against the Detroit Tigers.

At this point, he’s expected to pitch a couple innings.

“This will be my first chance to see him face hitters. Everybody is really excited,” Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty told MLB.com. “We’ll see how it goes. Who knows what’s going to happen after that. We are just going to go and see how it’s going to works out. We are going to have a rain day every once in a while, so everything is always done in pencil.”

Entertainment, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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DC Commission On The Arts And Humanities Want YOU To Promote The DC Art Scene

Photo courtesy of
‘Televised War’
courtesy of ‘Karon’

Ever been bitten by the art bug? Need a way to scratch that itch? The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is starting a new one hour television show called Art(202) and they need your help!

Aid in the effort of DC arts promotion  by submitting a video feature idea to the commission for airtime. What are they looking for? Info-mercials about your respective arts organizations, artistic interpretations of any of your work, documentaries, animations, music videos, slides of visual art, and anything else your creative brain can throw together.

All you have to do is make sure your content is 100% DC related.

If you plan on submitting an idea for a feature to run on Art(202) there are a few guidelines you’re going to have to follow. They include: making sure your video is between 30 seconds to 5 minutes long, is burned to a data DVD with either a quick time or .mov, a link for online screening purposes (if available), all the contact information of the producer & organization being promoted, and a video release form.

Art(202) will be airing on Friday nights at 9 p.m. and Saturday nights at 11 p.m. on the Mayor’s Network (Channel 16).

Food and Drink, The Features
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WeLoveDC DRINKS: Fresh Squeezed Wisdom

Photo courtesy of
‘Wisdom #51’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

In the calm before the storm (what? there’s another blizzard coming?), we were able to take a breather and have a little fun out of the house on a day when the brown/green grass was just starting to show itself again.

Good times were had last night at Wisdom Cocktail Parlour in SE DC. Guests who arrived with an ingrained hatred for the taste of gin were quick and surprising converts to the smooth and simple pairing of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.

Cocktails in hand, the near-sellout crowd was buzzing with the talk of juices and liquors — with occasional pleas for another educational happy hour mixed-in. It was a moment of true concentration on and excitement for the subject at hand, with no fear or discussion of impending snow.   Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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The Road To Legalization: Will Congress Lay Down The Law?

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

The legalization of medical marijuana in DC continues to be an issue for those supporting the cause. According to the Washington Post, “Nine out of 13 council members are co-sponsoring the bill that would make the city the 15th jurisdiction in the country to offer the option to the chronically ill.”

There are two problems that need to find resolution before the District can take the fight for medical marijuana any further — logistics and Congress.

The amendment to Initiative 59 states that the legalization of medical marijuana in DC would require five dispensaries city-wide. Each dispensary would supply a months worth of marijuana to registered patients as prescribed by their respective physicians and insurance for dispensaries will also be made available.

But — no matter the logistical dilemmas or support weighing in on both the pro and con side of the bill — Congress will have the final word on the matter. WaPo says that advocates appear to be the most concerned about getting the bill passed and untouched by Congress.

This wouldn’t be the first time Congress put their foot down. Back in 1998, voters approved the initiative. It was Congress who blocked it.

Comedy in DC
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Comedy in DC: Flooded Basement Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘Drafthouse at dusk’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’

I love it when all the pent-up Snowpocalypse comedic frustration is unleashed upon an unsuspecting region. There’s a lot going on, but here are my picks for the week:

Thursday night is BrightestYoungThings’ “Family Hemerlein Variety Show,” featuring music and comedy, MC’d by Seaton Smith (for whom my fandom is well-known) and headlined by Ben Kronberg (who has appeared on both Jimmy Kimmel’s and Carson Daly’s show, which means you’ve never seen him). It’s at the Arts Club of Washington, located in the James Monroe House, and tickets are $15.

Friday night there are shows for the geographically choosy. At the Velvet Lounge on U Street is 3 Chord Comedy, featuring Eli Sairs, Jeff Maurer, Justin Schlegel, and headlined by Dave Hill (HBO, Adult Swim.) Only $4! Show starts at 7.

At the Arlington Drafthouse at 9:45, Will Hessler and Hampton will be bringing back their “There Will Be Laughter” show, hosted by Jeff Maurer. Yeah, Maurer’s a busy bee that night, and if he can get to both shows, so can you. Tickets are $8, so it ends up being a whole lot of comedy in one night for $12.

If you prefer an open mic environment, the weekly Sabores Lounge show in Cleveland Park will also be happening.

On Saturday night, it’s local comic-turned-touring-headliner Rob Cantrell at the Arlington Drafthouse. The show starts at 9:45 and tickets are $18.

On Monday night at Eleventh Street Lounge, the regular Monday open mic is going to be given over to the ladies- Girls’ Night Out will feature Lisa Fine, Aparna Nancherla, Anupama Pillalamarri, Jessica Brodkin, Hillary Buckholtz, Sarah Donnelly, and Julie Fox. I’m excited about this one, since most open mics are pretty much sausagefests, and how many “my girlfriend so crazy” jokes can you really hear in one night and still laugh? The last time I performed at Eleventh, I was the only woman in the lineup for like, weeks. So it’ll be fun to see some new faces.

The Daily Feed
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Yeah, We’re Sorry Too.

Photo courtesy of
‘Looks Like We Have a Winner!’
courtesy of ‘chardeenly’

It would be great if I could believe Marion Barry when he said anything.  Today’s apology is no different.  If all Hizzoner can come up with is, “I should have known better,” when what he’s accused of doing is accepting what amounts to a bribe and a kickback, then really, what the hell DO you know?  How can you not recognize that this sort of behavior is frowned upon, and more importantly illegal?  And all you say is I should have known better?!

Oh Mr. Barry.  This is all a big joke, and you’re going to apologize for real sometime soon, right?

The Daily Feed
By

Kigali Gets a Root Canal

Kigali and her Dentist

I have no earthy idea how you give a gorilla a root canal, but fortunately, the National Zoo sure does.  Veterinarians at the Zoo discovered recently that Kigali, a 15-year old lowlands gorilla, had a fracture in a tooth, and they handled the dental work, as well as a heart checkup, in a procedure today.

Kigali should return to her habitat in the coming days.  In the meantime, it would be highly unwise to make fun of her inability to drink soup without spilling, okay?  It’s just not polite.