Yearly Archives: 2010

The Daily Feed
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Our First Two Blanks Winners – And Two More To Find

Earlier this week, we held a little contest asking WLDC readers to share their favorite TV themes for a chance to go see The Blanks (from Scrubs among other things) at the Arlington Drafthouse. From the great submissions we got (and I was delighted that I am not the only one who loved the Greatest American Hero), I’m pleased to announce our first two winners, chosen by random among those who commented. Congrats to Robert Lintott and Patty, who each will get a pair of tickets to go see one of the shows. For your afternoon listening pleasure, the TV themes they chose are below.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Halls Of Fame @ DC Design Center

Photo courtesy of
‘Door to somewhere’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

If you have never entered the DC Design Center I would highly recommend that you remedy that, especially to check out the 2010 Halls of Fame Design House. 

Every Spring and Fall the Design Center invites local designers to showcase their work in the design house by placing their aesthetic mark on a room, and currently the Design Center is featuring an elite eight.   The eight designers featured are Frank Babb Randolph, Kelley Proxmire, Victor Shargai, David Herchik & RichardLoomin, Rita St. Clair, Nestor Santa-Cruz, Michael Roberson, and Olivia Demetriou Adamstein.

Each room is completely different, reflecting every designer’s personal style and vision.  A perfect way to find some inspiration!

The 2010 Halls of Fame Design House will be open till December 11, 2010.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Talkin' Transit
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Talkin’ Transit: An Uphill Battle For WMATA One Year After Crash

Photo courtesy of
‘Horton #23 (26/365)’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Earlier Samer wrote about how his commute changed when he was able to drive to work, for me it has been a luxury I’ve enjoyed for most of my time here in the DC area. I called it a luxury because I had a parking space at an office .7 miles away from my home in Clarendon. With a parking space waiting for me at work I freely drove that .7 miles to and from my home every day.

Call me lazy but I grew up in a Boston suburb where you needed a car in order to get anywhere around town. For me driving was always a necessity and a habit I didn’t give up til my car had an extended stay at the mechanic. Now I have the opposite of what Samer had: I took a new job in Rosslyn, where parking wasn’t provided and I went from a daily driver to a daily Metro commuter.

Even before I became a daily Metro customer I’ve been a big fan of the Metrorail system. When asked to compared Washington, DC with my hometown of Boston it is the Metro and the public transportation system that leads my argument for why I love DC a little bit more than beantown. Sure Boston has their legendary T system but WMATA did things that the MBTA never had.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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New Arts Middle School Draws Fancy Pants Names

Photo courtesy of
‘Rockstar’
courtesy of ‘Abhisek Sarda’

A star-studded Blue Ribbon Commission has been appointed to help plan DCPS’s new arts middle school. Set to open in fall 2011, the school will serve grades six through eight, and aims to follow in the prestigious tradition of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, DC’s selective arts high school.

So far, DCPS has done a pretty good job with the prestige part. The new planning commission includes arts glitterati such as jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, Septime Wembre, Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet, and Fred Bollerer, COO of the Corcoran College of Art and Design. More than a dozen others are on board as well, each doing their part to ensure the school turns heads…and teaches kids too.

The Daily Feed
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Folk Life Festival starts tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of
‘Folk Life Festival 09 – Clay Hand – 7-3-09’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

You guys, the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival starts tomorrow. I KNOW, it crept up on me too, usually because that’s usually about when DC gets really hot and nasty and we’ve already been dealing with that for weeks.

This year’s Festival focuses on the cultures of Mexico, and Asian/Pacific Americans, as well on the actual work done by staff of the Smithsonian to preserve cultural and natural treasures. There will also be some special events focusing on Haiti and the Apollo Theater.

My favorite part of the Festival is always the performances, so this year is going to combine some of my favorite things- mariachi, martial arts demonstrations, and Asian/Pacific dance. I’ll be there with my camera, and hope you all will share your photos with us in the Flickr pool.

Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Quick Survey: World Cup

Photo courtesy of
‘American and English fans react as they watch World Cup match at Ireland’s Four Courts Pub’
courtesy of ‘TDLphoto’

Today is do or die for the US World Cup team.  If we can beat Algeria, we move on to the next group and get one step closer to the finals.  I’m guessing that work places are finding themselves slightly under staffed today and so I thought I’d do a quick poll.  Who took off or is taking off to watch the match today? Me, I’ve got my ESPN3 steaming as we speak and I’m definitely taking an early lunch to watch the second half.

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Delta Spirit

The Delta Spirit @ 9:30 Club 7/3/10

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Delta Spirit perform at the 9:30 Club on Saturday, July 3rd.

Delta Spirit are a tight group of multi-instrumentalists crafting up-tempo, Americana-inspired, indie-rock fronted by a spectacular vocalist. Delta Spirit somehow manage to sound very traditional while also bringing a unique instrumental approach to each and every song. Their music sounds timeless, as if it could have just as easily been produced in the 60’s or 00’s. In a way they make me think of Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. Delta Spirit make pretty straight-forward soulful rockers but put just enough of a left-of-center spin on them to make for a sound that could be huge for fans of the WHFS-spirited, alternative music radio. Delta Spirit’s secret weapon is their lead singer, Matthew Vasquez. He has a great, unique voice that lends just the right amount of emotion and fun to their songs to keep the listener completely engaged. His crystal clear, articulate, vocal delivery makes for terrific sing-along potential; of which I am sure there will be plenty at the concert this weekend.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Ciccarelli Going to Hall of Fame

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_2775’
courtesy of ‘Uncleweed’

The NHL announced its Hall of Fame inductees yesterday and former Capitals player Dino Ciccarelli will be the fifth Capitals player inducted into the NHL’s shrine of hockey history. Ciccarelli joins women hockey players Cammi Granato and Angela James in the player category.

Ciccarelli played four seasons with the Caps, from March 1989 when he joined the team near the trade deadline thru 1992. During his Caps career, Ciccarelli knocked in 112 goals and 209 points across 223 career games. All four seasons with the team, Ciccarelli and the Caps made the playoffs where Dino was among the top two playoff goal or point scorers every year. “This is a tremendous honor that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” Ciccarelli told ESPN. “I really appreciate the support of my coaches, the fans and mostly importantly my family throughout my 19-year career.” Dino’s 19 year NHL career was with four other teams after the Caps: the Minnesota North Stars, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Florida. Over his career, he recorded 608 goals and 592 assists in 1,232 games.

With the inclusion of Ciccarelli, the Capitals now have five members of the Hall who played on the team, joining Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, Larry Murphy, and Scott Stevens.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats With Bats Revive Stats

A humid Washington evening in the early days of summer is a bit of a difficult environment for baseball.  You never know when a storm will break out.  Tonight, the Royals were the recipients of a pair of storms: one from the Nationals’ bats, and the other from Mother Nature herself.  A 49-minute rain delay couldn’t shake Luis Atilano, who picked up his sixth win of the season in 5 1/3 innings.  Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps would do their eponymous routine on Clipp & Save T-shirt night here at Nats Park.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Explosion at Farragut West


(DC DDOT webcam capture from nearby 18th and I Streets NW)

Getting some buzz about a possible explosion at Farragut West. Latest from DC Fire EMS Twitter:

manhole fire – heavy smoke – 18th & I St NW -PEPCO needed – expect some traffic issues

Manhole explosions are not an unknown phenomenon for summer time in DC.

Latest update from DC Fire EMS:

update- elec feeder line (underground on fire and smoking ) Metro NOT affected, but near a Metro station I st closed btwn 17th & 18th St NW

Traffic is pretty bad around the affected area so if you’re driving, plan accordingly. Or take a break and wait it out.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Courage

The cast of "Courage," a dog and pony dc production. Photo credit: C. Stanley Photography

The cast of "Courage," a dog & pony dc production. Photo credit: C. Stanley Photography

Entering the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop black box theater for a performance of Courage: A Political Theatre Revival is a bit like crashing your neighbor’s weekend-long house party. The place is a mess, you don’t know anyone, but everyone seems to be having crazy fun so you jump right in, why not? If you aren’t the sort who likes the fourth wall being broken repeatedly as actors address you directly and encourage you to participate, this isn’t the production for you. But if you love party-crashing, you’ll get along.

Maybe you shouldn’t trust my opinion, after all, I was handed a beer shortly upon arrival. It’s a new strategy, getting your reviewer tipsy, but everyone else was doing it too (so yes, I caved to peer pressure). In addition to free beer, you’ll be recruited into the army with a hilarious questionnaire. This raucous atmosphere before the show even begins puts you both at ease and on edge at the same time – the perfect mood for a work that’s actually based on Bertolt Brecht’s classic anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children.

This production by dog & pony dc uses the very colloquial David Hare version as a starting point, accented by a live band with original music by John Milosich and directed (or rather, “radically re-imagined”) by Rachel Grossman, who describes the action as “NASCAR punk political theatre mosh-pit.” Apt. It closes June 26, so race on over – performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30pm.

Now that you’re prepared for the preamble, what about the production itself? Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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DC Crafts: Find Of The Day

courtesy of etsy user PinkyCrafts

Get pumped DC!!! The US Men’s Soccer Team takes on Algeria tomorrow morning needs our good karma and mojo. For the Wednesday 10am game bring your camera to the pub, snap some pictures and capture some memories, of what will hopefully (please God!) be a epic win, in this awesomely cute and patriotic Red, White and Blue America Scrapbook page.  The creative, hard-stock based page can be used in either scrapbooks, photo albums or as a background to a photo frame.  Perhaps throw in a cutout soccer ball and you’re all set.

The Daily Feed
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Madeleine Albright’s Jewelry

 Photo courtesy of
‘Smithsonian Castle 2’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

When I heard about the new exhibit at the Smithsonian Castle I wasn’t quite sure what to think.  A collection entirely dedicated to Madeleine Albright’s personal jewelry? Really? 

Anyway, boy was I wrong.  Based on this behind-the-scenes video where the former U.S. Secretary of State talks candidly about five of her featured pins, I have decided that this may actually be some pretty interesting stuff.  What do you think?

YouTube Preview Image

Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection will be on view through October 11th at the Smithsonian Castle. 

Smithsonian Castle is located at 1000 Jefferson Drive SW.

The Daily Feed
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Obama Takes Stand Against Wave By Sitting


Image originally appeared at Power Line

I hate the wave. I’m going to come right out and say it. I may or may not have yelled at the section next to me during Strasmas 1 when they attempted to start it. I was quite lucky that my section approved of my view against the monotony of this Hokey Pokey, Stand-Up-Sit-Down version of crowd participation.

I do not stand (sit?) alone. Last Friday, while taking in the opening game between the Nationals and his hometown team, the Chicago White Sox, an opportunistic photographer caught President Obama passing as the wave passed right on by. Did he really refuse to participate? I’d like to think so.

via Deadspin

Mythbusting DC, The Features
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DC Mythbusting: Highway to Heaven

Photo courtesy of
‘Three Churches, One Corner, Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.’
courtesy of ‘adcristal’

I love that after several years of living here, I keep finding out new things about the District. Just last week while on a run with a friend along 16th Street, she told me that she had heard that 16th Street was known as the Highway to Heaven because of the concentration of churches, synagogues, and mosques along it. I had never heard of that, but it sounded like an interesting myth to investigate. Does 16th Street really have more religious institutions than any other corridor in the city? And is it called the Highway to Heaven?

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Parenting.com Gives DC the Shaft

Photo courtesy of
‘3/365: The Sky is Falling 1/3/10’
courtesy of ‘@heylovedc’

I can’t explain this one.  Parenting Magazine put Arlington at #1, while dropping the District to #71. For Arlington, they cited the prevalence of local historic markers, sprawling parklands, and many diverse activities, as well as low crime and “very few registered sex offenders.”   For the District, they cited…local historic markers, sprawling parklands and many diverse activities.

P.J. Orvetti tackled it yesterday, Sara Libby tackled it today, and looking at the incredible similarity of the raw data for Arlington and the District, I can’t quite wrap my heads around why they might put Arlington at the top of the list, and DC down in the bottom quartile.  Libby thinks it might be latent racism on the part of Parenting Magazine, while I tend to ascribe this more with an image problem that DC Schools has.  Arlington was praised for its 14.9 student to teacher ratio, but DC got no credit for its 13.2 student to teacher ratio. DC has a higher per-capita number of Blue Ribbon schools, and seven times the number of pre-schools on per-capita basis.

DC gets slammed for its lack of open spaces, which means I guess they missed the Mall, Rock Creek Park, the parks along both our rivers, Hains Point, the National Arboretum, Fort Dupont Park and all of the little parks that dot our squares and circles.  In the meanwhile, Arlington likely gets credit for the wealth of museums and art installations, and I’m fairly sure they don’t mean the Navy League’s paltry gallery in their new building.  They mean the Smithsonian collected museums and the Newseum and the Spy Museum.

I don’t mean to bag on Arlington here, it’s definitely a great place to live, but it’s a great place to live because of its proximity to DC.  I’d say having now lived in both DC and Arlington, there’s no way at all that Arlington is #1 while DC is #70.  Something’s deeply broken here, and I’d love to know what.  I won’t come out and accuse Parenting of anything short of faulty math and bad writing.  At least, not until they return my email.

The Daily Feed
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NORAD Air Exercises Today

Photo courtesy of
‘deadly Raptor’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be conducting exercise flights over the region’s skies this afternoon. Flights are expected to range as far north as Baltimore and as far south as Richmond. The flights are being conducted to test air threat response times and situations.

There will be multiple exercise flights throughout the afternoon today and will include fighter aircraft and general aviation aircraft under contract by the Department of Defense. If you manage to get some photos of the event in progress, why not drop them into our Flickr pool?

The Daily Feed
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Tangysweet Says: Free Yogurt!

Photo courtesy of
‘tangysweet frozen yogurt’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The news comes via Twitter today that Tangysweet is giving away free small yogurts from 4-6pm today at both their locations, with free unlimited toppings. It’s supposed to be hotter than Hades today, and that means you know you want some free yogurts. Go early, go often.

Tangysweet – Dupont
2029 P St NW
Washington DC 20036

Tangysweet – Penn Quarter
675 E St NW
Washington DC 20004

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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Region remembers last year’s deadly Metro crash

Photo courtesy of
‘metro’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

One year ago, two Red Line trains collided near the Fort Totten station, killing nine and injuring dozens. In the months that followed, serious questions were raised about safety within Metro. While the National Transportation Safety Board has yet to issue a final report on the crash, the safety agency has indicated there are significant deficiencies with Metro’s culture of safety. Presently there are four open NTSB investigations regarding Metro. In today’s Washington Post, Ann Scott Tyson gives a review of the fallout from the accident.

In the year since the crash, Metro has been plagued with further safety lapses. A spat of track worker deaths and collisions in rail yards further tarnished Metro’s reputation. In January, John Catoe announced his resignation from the transit agency, noting the public’s loss in faith in Metro’s management was becoming too much of a distraction. In April, former NJ PATH manager Richard Sarles took over as Metro’s interim General Manager. This spring Metro also announced a leadership change in the safety department. Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of
‘a summer romance’ by ‘Blinkofanaye’

At 5:00 on any given Friday afternoon in the summer, Jazz in the  Garden is just getting started, and space quickly becomes scarce as hundreds of worker bees flock for a little wine, maybe a pitcher of (surprisingly potent for what you pay) sangria, a picnic and some tunes. It’s a grand way to spend an evening, even if by hour two you’re hot, sticky and a little closer than you’d like to be to the sweaty stranger who drank too much of that sangria.

Or you could do what this couple did: carve out a nice, cool space for themselves where the crowd couldn’t get to them. Sure, the police will come along eventually and escort you away (to the boos of the crowd), but in this moment, for these two people, none of that matters. All they feel is that cool, forbidden water on their feet, and all they see is each other. It takes a certain kind of guts to walk into a fountain and, ahem, dance like nobody’s watching. That’s the kind of guts we could all use more of.

We’re lucky Flickr user Blinkofaneye caught the moment so perfectly, with the fountain water glistening and half the crowd in the background oblivious to the scene unfolding right in front of them. He also caught the pair a moment later, hands entwined, proud smiles on their faces, and really, can you blame them? (Hat tip to Tracy Clayton, who tweeted the incident as it happened and also captured it and posted a play-by-play of their dance.)