The Daily Feed

Washington Defeats Oakland 24-14

Washington did not get off to the start they needed in the season or in this game. After going three and out on their second possession of the game Sav Rocca lined up for the punt. The only problem is the punt couldn’t get off his foot before it was blocked by Rashad Jennings and recovered in the end zone by Jeremy Stewart to give Oakland the early seven point lead, and they didn’t stop there. Washington would get one first down on their next offensive series but it still only last four plays before Rocca had to line-up for another punt. This one he got off but Matt Flynn and Oakland were able to drive down the field on ten plays for a 14-0 lead.

Then the game turned. Washington looked dead. The defense once again couldn’t stop anyone and the offense couldn’t get anything going. The response to Oakland’s second touchdown was a drive that started off promising enough but then stalled in the red zone on an intentional grounding penalty by Robert Griffin III. They settled for a field goal, and then they got life from their defense. On the sixth play of Oakland’s next possession rookie David Amerson made the first interception of his career and returned it for a touchdown.

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Entertainment, Music, People, The Daily Feed, The Features, We Love Music

We Love Music: Pink Jams Under:40 Music Marathon at the Hard Rock Cafe DC 9/27-9/29

Photo Courtesy of Pink Jams

When Pink Jams! Founder and President Christa Floresca lost a 35-year-old friend to breast cancer in 2007, she learned the hard way that the disease does not discriminate based on gender, race, or age.  That realization is what inspired Floresca to find a creative way to raise money and awareness of breast cancer’s effects on people under age 40.

“Jen was the first person I had ever met that was around my age that had been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Floresca said, “I always thought that was something that you worried about as you got older.”

Founded in 2009, just two years after Jen’s passing, Pink Jams is currently doing all it can as an organization to raise funds and engage in community discussion about breast cancer affecting people under age 40. “It’s not really about the money,” Floresca said. “It’s about the awareness. It’s about reaching thousands and thousands of people,” and that’s what the 2nd Annual Under:40 Music Marathon at the Hard Rock Café this coming weekend will help to do.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed, The District

Hot Ticket: Walk The Moon @9:30 Club 09/26-27

Walk The Moon

From a ticket perspective, the upcoming Thursday and Friday night Walk The Moon shows at the 9:30 Club are the definition of a “hot ticket” as both are sold out. But don’t be dejected about the ticket situation because this “hot ticket” goes WAY beyond mere paper tickets.

If you’re unfamiliar with Walk The Moon, it’s likely you’ve heard their most popular track “Anna Sun” which spent a good while on top of the charts in 2012 and was featured in an HBO Go Campaign. You may have also seen the viral YouTube music video. YouTube Preview Image Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Nats Beat Marlins 5-4 in Game Two of the Doubleheader with a Walk-off

Nats vs. Marlins-0763
Nats vs. Marlins-0763
courtesy of MudflapDC

There weren’t quite as many bodies in the stands as there were hours earlier for game one of the split day-night doubleheader against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park, but the Washington Nationals managed to wrap the day with a walk-off to beat Miami 5-4 in game two.

Manager Davey Johnson was quick to acknowledge the fact that the night’s right-handed starter Stephen Strasburg didn’t pitch a good game. Strasburg threw six innings and gave up three runs (one homerun) on 109 pitches (71 strikes) and walked two batters while striking out six. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Haren Struggles Early, Nats Fall 4-2 to Miami in Game One of the Doubleheader

Nats Park
Nats Park
courtesy of Rukasu1

The Miami Marlins took an early lead against the Washington Nationals during game one of a split day-night doubleheader in DC on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, it was a lead the Nats couldn’t overcome. Washington fell 4-2 against Miami after a weak performance from right-handed starter Dan Haren in his last home start this season.

Haren threw 99 pitches and 64 strikes in six innings of work and gave up eight hits and three runs (two homeruns) while walking a batter and striking out five. Haren was charged with the loss and is now 9-14 for 2013.

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The Daily Feed

Washington Falls to 0-3 with 27-20 loss to Detroit

All Eyes Alone
All Eyes Alone
courtesy of Mylar Bono

Washington was hyped up to be better than last season. They had a secondary this season and any secondary was thought to be better than what they had in 2012, but there is a learning curve to the NFL. The secondary hasn’t improved and a defensive front seven that was so good two seasons ago has aged quickly. Washington’s defense has been the biggest negative as the team has failed to win in its first three tries. Matthew Stafford joins Aaron Rodgers and Michael Vick as quarterbacks who have torn about Washington this season as he threw for 385 yards with 25 completions on 42 attempts, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The biggest area of concern for the defense isn’t the schemes or the coverage. Often times the defender is in the right position and most of those times they miss a tackle or the tackle is broken. Poor tackling by Washington has doomed their defense and it was no different this week. Detroit got touchdowns on there first two possessions as Calvin Johnson and Joique Bell shook off Washington defenders like flies. It was quick and it was merciless but it is what Washington fans have seen a lot of early in the season.

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The Daily Feed

Jordan Zimmermann Throws a Complete Game Shutout, Nats Win 8-0 Versus Miami

Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman
Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman
courtesy of afagen

Jordan Zimmermann became the first pitcher in the National League to reach 19 wins this season on Friday night as he led the Washington Nationals to a 8-0 complete game shutout victory over the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park. Zimmermann was as strong as he’s been all season and threw 107 pitches and 79 strikes. He gave up two hits, walked a batter, and struck out nine.

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The Daily Feed, The Features, We Love Arts

In the House with dog & pony dc

Rachel Grossman and Jon Reynolds of dog & pony dc

Rachel Grossman and Jon Reynolds of dog & pony dc

In the House is a feature interview series about the theater-makers that keep our most precious institutions up and running. We want to know what artistic and executive directors love about their jobs, how they see their work affecting the city’s theater culture, and what they hope for the future of the craft.

Rachel Grossman, Jon Reynolds, and Lorraine Ressegger-Slone are the Ring Leaders of dog & pony dc, an ensemble of artists who devise innovative performances that incorporate new ways for audiences to experience theatre.

I sat down with Rachel and Jon to talk about their company’s unique production process and what it takes to integrate audiences in original and effective ways.

Joanna Castle Miller: How do you decide what shows to include in a season? 

Rachel Grossman: Well the first step is we don’t, because we don’t have a season, which is not to be dismissive. Twice a year we have what’s called a future projects meeting – the equivalent of a season planning meeting – with the entire ensemble.

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The Daily Feed

Nats Fall to Braves 5-2

Photo courtesy of MudflapDC
04.03.11 – Nats v Braves-6
courtesy of MudflapDC

It started off well for the Nationals. Ross Ohlendorf was perfect through three innings and had faced the minimum heading into the sixth, and that is where thing unraveled. First the Nats would take a two run lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Jayson Werth bases loaded walk that ignited a few fireworks. Alex Wood upset that a borderline call didn’t go his way marched off the mound towards umpire, CB Bucknor. Fredi Gonzalez would come out to make sure his pitcher stayed in the game and Gonzalez was indeed ejected instead.

Alex Wood still wouldn’t make it out of the inning. After the Werth walk Bryce Harper laced a sac fly to center that scored Denard Span. That would be all the Nationals would get. They could turn seven hits and three walks into no more than two runs. It has become a common theme for the Nationals and although the offense has been much improved in the second half these types of games still creep in, and the reason the Nats struggled to score is easy to deduce. All of their hits were singles. Not a single extra base hit was had to move runners around the bases more quickly, and that has been one of the key differences between the Nats and Braves when they play this season.

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The Daily Feed

Ramos is A Hit Machine, Nats Beat Phillies 11-2

DSC_5681
DSC_5681
courtesy of MudflapDC

By the ninth inning of Sunday afternoon’s 11-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Washington Nationals fielded eight players who spend time at Triple-A Syracuse this season. It was a day where most everything went right for Washington, allowing Manager Davey Johnson to give some of the call-up kids a little playing time.

Right-handed starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven strong innings and gave up seven hits and two runs while walking two, striking out seven and hitting a batter on 102 pitches (65 strikes).

For as solid as Zimmermann once he got into a groove, the player of the game was catcher Wilson Ramos who made his 23rd consecutive start behind the dish. Ramos went four-for-four with three singles and a homerun. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Washington Loses to Green Bay 38-20

283/365
283/365
courtesy of BrianMKA

Being 26/40 with 320 yards and three touchdowns and one interception look like good numbers, but it was once again the tale of two halves for RGIII and Washington. All that has to be known about the first half is that Washington trailed 24-0. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t pass, and they couldn’t keep Green Bay from running or passing. In total Aaron Rodgers ended up with 480 yards passing and James Starks 132 yards rushing, and it is hard to win football games giving up that type of yardage, but the defense can almost be excused, almost. Green Bay ended up leading the time of position battle by 32:29 to 27:27 but it was much worse than that in the first half.

Washington cannot continue getting down big and trying to comeback. They have to put two good halves together in order to win. The biggest negative early in the season is that the running game can’t get going. That could be because they aren’t yet able to run the read option with a limited RGIII or it could be that teams have figured out Alfred Morris. It is probably the former. Last season defenses never knew who was going to have the ball and that helped Morris. This season they know when it is a run it is going to be Morris and Washington’s offensive line just isn’t good enough for a traditional running attack.

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The Daily Feed

Washington Drops Opener 33-27 to Philadelphia

The opener of Washington’s defense of their 2012 division title was a study in frustration. It started off with Philadelphia driving down the field and looking like they were going to score easily. It did not look like the Washington defense knew what to expect or how to defend Chip Kelly’s fast paced offense. After nine plays Philadelphia was on the Washington four yard line and then Vick attempted a backwards pass and DeAngelo Hall returned it all the way for the first touchdown of the game. It felt like not only the bullet had been dodged but it had been turned back on the one who followed it.

But it got no better. The Philadelphia offense continued to ram the ball down Washington’s throat eventually jumping out to a 33-7 lead. Washington had no offensive points until Alfred Morris ran up the middle for a five yard touchdown run with eleven seconds left in the third quarter.

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Entertainment, Music, The Daily Feed

Hot Ticket: Volcano Choir @9:30 Club – 9/12/13

Volcano Choir

It’s been almost four years since Volcano Choir released its first album, but – praise baby jesus (yes, that’s a Talladega Nights reference) – just last week, they released their second album Repave and will be performing this Thursday at the 9:30 Club.

Time span between albums isn’t surprising asmany of the group’s members have been actively involved in other music exploits, most notably John Vernon, the leader singer of Bon Iver, and their freshman album Unmap evolved from years of mail-based – yes, USPS – communications consisting of letters, notes, audio clips and other explorations of musical ideas.

It’s this avant-garde, collaborative exploration of the limits and bounds of music that make Volcano Choir’s music truly beautiful and pure, and those aren’t some kitschy, word vomit adjectives, I mean them. Continue reading

Essential DC, Fun & Games, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed, The District

STRFKR @9:30 Club – 9/4/13

Last night, STRFKR, the absurdly named and spelled Portland-based electronica group, put on an energy-filled show at the 9:30 Club.

You knew the night was gonna get weird – in a funny/ridiculous way – when the lead singer Joshua Hodges (aka Sexton Blake) walked out wearing what can only be described as the dress Norman Bates wore in Psycho; in fairness, Sexton’s frock was prettier. Continue reading

Entertainment, Life in the Capital, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed

We Love Music: Empire Of The Sun @ 9:30 Club – 9/1/13

To begin, if you’re reading this article before 9pm on Monday, go immediately over to the 9:30 Club and somehow get yourself a ticket to tonight’s sold out Empire of the Sun show. Don’t worry if you have to pay above face value, it will be worth it, trust me.

I’d been listening to the Empire of the Sun 2008 freshman album Walking On A Dream for about a year, having been introduced to them via my Ladyhawke – another Aussie music up-and-comer, Pandora channel recommendation. The strongly drum and synthesizer driven tracks combine effortlessly with lead singer Luke Steele’s brilliant, bordering on nasally, vocals. As a child of the 80s, I’m a junkie for electronic music and their 10 track album has become a staple in my music arsenal. Fortunately, I only had to wait until June for their next album Ice On The Dune and then until yesterday to catch them live.

Going into the show, while I was familiar with the group, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a live show. Their album covers feature the duo in elaborate costumery and David Bowie-esque make up, surrounded by landscapes and creatures straight out of Dune or the Ursula K. Le Guin novel The Left Hand of Darkness; the covers could easily be Labirynth or Legend or The Dark Crystal movie poster rejects, and their music videos continue this motif, especially their latest track “Alive.” All of this plus pictures of their U.S. tour, which just kicked off, had me definitely expecting a fair amount of pagentry, but as soon as the lights went down, it was clear that Empire of the Sun was going to go far beyond. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Nats Avoid Sweep, Pull Back to 6.5 Behind Reds

One more win!
One more win!
courtesy of oddlittlebird.

That was exciting. That is all the analysis I have. The entire game I was planning this post around another disappointing Nats lose, a lose they couldn’t afford. I was ready to write about how this was yet another game the Nats let slip away although they were never really in it. Ohlendorf started off poorly and ended up allowing four runs on nine hits with no walks and no strikeouts. It was a tough game to watch and one that had many fans switching to Breaking Bad.

The Nats were able to pull within one in the fourth inning before Ohlendorf allowed his fourth run in the fifth and then their lead expanded to three runs when Krol allowed a run on a single to Eric Young, intentional walk to Satin, and single to Lucas Duda before being pulled for Mattheus in the top of the seventh. Down three runs the Nats were able to get one of them back immediately with a Desmond two out single followed by two wild pitches and a Ramos single to score him from third.

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The Daily Feed

Nats Crumble Versus Mets in an 11-3 Loss

A little class never hurt anyone
courtesy of Jano Silva DC

Starting pitcher right-hander Dan Haren had an incredibly rough night on Saturday when the Washington Nationals lost to the New York Mets 11-3. Haren lasted 2 and 2/3 innings and threw 57 pitches (41 strikes). The Mets managed nine hits and seven runs off Haren and struck out three times.

Despite a turnaround from his performance earlier this season, Haren seems to have struggled in his past two starts. But the loss isn’t in Haren’s hands entirely. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Nats Can’t Grit Out Win Versus Mets

Photo courtesy of MudflapDC
DSC_5496
courtesy of MudflapDC

There are some things in baseball that make perfect sense. Cliff Lee for example owns a 2.87 ERA for his career against the Washington Nationals. That makes perfect sense. Cliff Lee is very good. He has a career 3.54 ERA and a 2.91 ERA as a Phillie. So, it makes perfect sense that the Nats struggle against him. Dillon Gee isn’t Cliff Lee. He has a career 3.94 ERA, and after 7 2/3 innings of two run ball against the Nats now has a 2.80 ERA against them. That is right Dillon Gee has pitched better against the Nats than Cliff Lee. I doubt anyone could find a single person on the planet that would take Dillon Gee over Cliff Lee on a real life or fantasy team.

This is baseball. It doesn’t always make sense. It doesn’t have to make sense. It is entropy. It verges towards chaos and yet enough of it makes sense that we expect all of it to make sense. The Nats averaging 4.92 runs a game in August and Jayson Werth hitting over .400 for the month came into this game red hot, and couldn’t get it done. Werth went 0-4 and the Nats scored two runs, both on solo homers from the seven and nine spots in the order.

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The Daily Feed

Nats Blank Miami 9-0 for the Sweep

long drive home
long drive home
courtesy of philliefan99

Baseball’s season may be starting to wrap up with just a few weeks left to play but, despite their place in the standings, the Washington Nationals managed a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins after securing a 9-0 victory on Wednesday night.

Left-handed starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez got off to a rocky start for the first two innings, which is reminiscent of his performances earlier on with the team, before settling in come the third. Gonzalez threw seven innings and gave up three hits while walking three and striking out eight on 108 pitches (74 strikes).

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The Daily Feed

Ohlendorf Loses Steam But Nats Beat Marlins 2-1

Ryan Zimmerman swing
Ryan Zimmerman swing
courtesy of BrianMKA

Tuesday night’s game at Nationals Park was far from being a marquee match-up. The fifth place Miami Marlins came to town to face the second place Nats and played in front of the smallest crowd of 2013 since April 10.

24,616 in paid attendance occupied the ballpark while the Nats secured a 2-1 victory over the Marlins, nudging themselves back over .500 by a game. Right-handed starter Ross Ohlendorf pitched five innings plus one batter, struck out three, intentionally walked one, and gave up three hits and a run (on a homerun) on 78 pitches (50 strikes).

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