Category Archives: The Daily Feed

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Food Tweet of the Week: Toki Underground

 Photo courtesy of
‘Toki Underground dumplings’
courtesy of ‘TPWP’
So I haven’t tried the famous Toki Underground yet, but I’ve known about it forever. Why? Pretty much because its Twitter Feed.

@TokiUnderground has been talking about its opening for months, getting everyone excited for ramen and dumplings on H Street. The Washington Post described Toki as “long-discussed” and “much awaited,” and the restaurant has gotten first look reviews from pretty much every DC-based pub and blog. Not a small feat.

See the tweet I love…

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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That’s the Ticket: Win a last-minute outing to NatGeo Live tonight

If you’re scrambling trying to think of something to do this evening why not take in an event at NatGeo Live? Melissa Auf der Maur, former bassist for the Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, has a photography and video exhibit and a discussion of her work tonight at 7:30.

To win you need to do three things:

  1. Have a So What’s The Deal account- winners will have the ticket package added to their account. If you don’t already have one, go sign up with What’s The Deal. (It’s no obligation)
  2. Post a comment here and be sure to use the same email address you used with So What’s The Deal. (It’s not revealed to anyone but us and we have a firm no-harassing-you no-selling-your-identity policy.)
  3. Have your comment be one of the five winners picked by the sequence generator at random.org. (There is not actually anything you can do about this but I thought you should know)
  4. Come up with some variation on “say cheese.” (You do not actually have to do this, any commenter can win. But make administering this fun for me, huh?)

Get it done by 2:30pm when the winners will be selected! Entries after that point will be gently mocked (but with love).

The Daily Feed
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Bravo Says Adios to DC Housewives

Photo courtesy of
‘wine and trash tv’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Do you hate reality TV about DC as much as I do? Great news: looks like Housewives of DC is going the way of Blonde Charity Mafia:

Bethesda-based Half Yard Productions contacted the cast to let them know Washington’s contribution to Bravo’s hot docu-soap franchise would not be picked up for a second season.

It marks the first time in “Housewives” history that an iteration has not moved forward for a second season. The franchise got its start 2006 at the height of ABC network’s “Desperate Housewives” mania.

On a dreary, grey morning, isn’t it nice to know that someone is no longer paying a camera crew to follow one of the [REDACTED]s around?

(via TV by the Numbers)

The Daily Feed
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Man glued to toilet seat in Elkton Walmart

Photo courtesy of
‘Who would have thunk it – a Grateful Dead toilet seat!’
courtesy of ‘Alaskan Dude’

I’m pretty sure if this had happened to me, I very likely would’ve committed hari kiri rather than call the authorities.  A Maryland man decided to brave the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and called 911 to get separated from the Walmart toilet seat that he was superglued to by a cruel prankster.  The victim, thankfully not identified, was eventually separated from the toilet seat and sustained “injuries to his buttocks” according to CNN.

Is there a worse fate?

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The District
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DC Is a (Self-Imported) Beer Town


‘Den mörke härskaren’
courtesy of ‘awtyeah’

We’ve covered this ground before: DC makes it pretty easy to import alcoholic beverages legally. Tom (with my help) looked at how the law applies to individuals, and now the City Paper’s Young & Hungry blog has covered the commercial side of things. The short version of the rules as they apply to business: pay a reasonable fee, register the purchase, pay the taxes, and you’re good to go. The question is, with rules that lax, why would anybody break them?

How did this come to be? I’ve long suspected that the rules were first engineered by congressmen who wanted to be able to support the distillers, brewers, and vintners in their jurisdictions (although they’re not known for having much trouble breaking their own rules). I think since then the incentives have become all too clear. DC is a small enough market that distributors don’t have enough economy of scale to operate profitably, and the perpetually short-staffed DC government would rather make it easy to comply and pay taxes, instead of having to fund enforcement. Their budget constraints are our gain. Prosit!

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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This Week in Food

Photo courtesy of
‘(034/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’
On their way

Prince of Petworth has some good food news for us. If signs speak the truth, King of Kabob is taking over the old Bao Restaurant & Lounge at 1018 Vermont Ave. Also, if you love your seafood and need something more than a truck, PoP hears that Luke’s Lobster Shack is coming to Penn Quarter at 622 E St, NW. Luke’s currently has 4 locations in New York City. With seafood rolls and brisket (Hill Country) now available in PQ, I might have to move there.

The name reminds me a little too much of those books we all read in elementary school, but this is good news anyway! The Hill is Home updates us on BoxCar Grill (just a working name for now), which will be Xavier Cervera’s fifth (sixth if you count Pacifico) establishment on the Hill. The Hill is Home says BoxCar will be an upsale place with an in-house charcuterie, cheeses, and a large wine selection.

Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Shutdown would put UDC semester in jeopardy

Photo courtesy of
‘Part of UDC’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

When local news yesterday started to tick down a list of DC personnel who would not be working yesterday, the obvious came up: DPW won’t have trash pickup, nor will their parking enforcers be operating, DDOT’s pothole crews will stop, all staff blackberries will stop operating.

The one I hadn’t considered was the University of the District of Columbia.  With over 5,000 students, the shutdown of the University may put graduation in jeopardy for many, if the shutdown drags on for any significant length of time.  If the semester is never completed, that may leave many students forced to pay for an additional semester in order to graduate, and in the case of visa students, may have more complications.

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The Daily Feed
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Caps finish home schedule strong, anticipate playoffs

Photo courtesy of
‘The Gentleman’
courtesy of ‘Brian Isemann’

It is a Wednesday night in April. Washington, D.C. was about 65 degrees in the afternoon with a bit of a chill breeze coming from the water. The townsfolk are buzzing about cherry blossoms and how utterly bad the Nationals are going to be.

For years in D.C., this was not a time to be talking about hockey.

But, there is this red machine is like a fire in the middle of the city. People flock to it for the experience, for the cheers and the hits and the hope to see Alex Ovechkin light a lamp, hear a foghorn sound. For 101 straight regular season games, Verizon Center has been packed to the rafters with manic fans, unleashing fury and clamoring for chicken wings.

It was no different this Wednesday.

And their team didn’t disappoint.

The Caps were sloppy against the Panthers, but they certainly were the better team, claiming a 5-2 victory to finish off their home schedule (25-8-8) of the regular season. Washington is now a win away from claiming its second straight Eastern Conference regular season title and having home ice through a theoretical playoff run.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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This Ain’t Atlanta and the 4/6 Sports Ticker

YouTube Preview Image

Lead Item: Sports Ticker Wheel of Morality turn, turn, turn, tell us the lesson that this Nats fan should learn. I’m giving a pass for a poor April Fools’ joke by the fellas over at Nationals Enquirer for dragging up this clip of a Nationals Park patron making a bit of a fool of himself during opening weekend. As the scene tells us, there were a few Braves fans in town for the series, and this gentlemen clearly had had enough of their Tomahawk Chopping attitudes.

All of this has given me a bit of inspiration because even in his truncated English, this man is right: this ain’t Atlanta. In the last five seasons, the driving perception involves away fans who infiltrate the bleachers. How true is it? Not to give you the six o’clock news teaser runaround, but tune in next week for more. For now, just enjoy a screaming man.

Ah, baseball, welcome back.

Rest of the ticker after the jump.
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Wire @ Black Cat, 4/7/11

Remember when there was that early to mid-00’s wave of pop bands masquerading as post-punk revivalists? Of course you do. Well, while most of those bands have already run out of steam, first wave post-punks like Wire have been going strong for over 30 years. Kind of puts the more recent generations to shame a bit, don’t it? I mean where is their commitment? Not to mention their innovation, experimentation, and/or stamina?!

Wire are one of the holy trinity of bands that mutated punk into post-punk in the UK back in the golden age and they have been mutating their own sound going on four decades now. Four! Their latest album, “Red Barked Tree” is phenomenal. During a conversation I had at the recent Gang of Four show, I said that Wire’s latest sort of had no right to be as ridiculously good as it is. I mean, c’mon guys, you’re making the kids these days look ridiculous. Where do you get off releasing an absolutely vital recording this late in your career? Put “Red Barked Tree” up against some of Wire’s earliest and best work and it doesn’t sound like they’ve aged a day. This concert is going to be fantastic!

Wire
w/ Weekend
@ Black Cat
4/7/11 – 8pm
$20

Adventures, Crime & Punishment, Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, History, Music, Petworth, The Daily Feed
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Bethesda Row Restaurant Week: 04/11 – 04/17

Photo courtesy of

‘Bethesda Lane’ courtesy of ‘Payton Chung’

Bethesda Row’s Spring Restaurant Week kicks off this Monday, April 11 and runs through Sunday, April 17. Participating restaurants include: American Tap Room, Café Deluxe, Jaleo, Lebanese Taverna, Mamma Lucia, Mon Ami Gabi, Parker’s American Bistro, Raku, and Redwood Restaurant and Bar, who will offer two course lunches for $15 and three course dinners for $30.

Standouts in these pre-fixes include American Tap Room’s Open Faced Meatloaf Sandwich, Raku’s Green Tea Crème Brulée, Redwood’s Crispy Salt Cod Croquette and Jaleo’s Ensalada Verde con Queso Idiazábal (mixed greens with Idiazábal cheese, spanish anchovies and garlic anchovy dressing). Diners can preview the restaurant week menus before making reservations at the Bethesda Row website.

In addition to these fabulous meals offered at low prices, Bethesda Row is hosting an online contest to win a $250 dinner certificate to Redwood restaurant.
Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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For first time in three years, Wizards win a 3rd straight game

Photo courtesy of
‘John Wall | Wizards’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’

Like a lot of things, basketball works in mysterious ways. If Austin Daye’s buzzer-beating three-point shot Tuesday night had done what many thought it was going to do and rattled through the net, Washington’s 107-105 win over the Detroit Pistons would instead have gone down as one of the three most excruciating losses of a largely excruciating season (my top two being the 95-94 home loss to Miami on December 18, the day the Gilbert Arenas trade was officially announced and the Wizards blew a four-point lead with 17 seconds remaining, and the 100-99 home loss to Orlando on November 27 that was settled with a Dwight Howard baby hook).

But Daye’s shot didn’t rattle through the net. Instead, it rattled back out, leaving the Wizards players shaken by just how close a call they’d had. “I’ve never seen [a shot like that],” said John Wall after the game. “I’ve never seen one go all the way in like that before coming out.”

“We’ve lost enough tough ones,” Flip Saunders said ruefully after the game. “We deserve a little bit of luck. That last one was definitely pretty right on.” Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Bryce Harper To See Field in Hagerstown Exhibition

Photo courtesy of
‘Bryce Harper’
courtesy of ‘Scott Ableman’

The human superlative himself, aka Washington Nationals prospect Bryce Harper, will not join the short list of players who jumped right into the major leagues. After picking up seven hits, two doubles and five RBI in 18 spring training at bats, Harper was shipped down to the farm and the Nationals Single-A affiliate in Hagerstown.

The Hagerstown Suns’ regular season kicks off on Thursday against the Rome Braves in Georgia, but prior to that series in the Peach State, the Suns will have an intrafranchise, exhibition battle with the Double-A affiliate of the Nats, the Harrisburg Senators. Harper is likely to see the field in today’s exhibition at Municipal Field, and I’m sure that he has the same hope to move quickly through the minors like last year’s top Nats prospect. Can’t remember what that guy’s name was.

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Video Game Art Voting Extended!

Photo courtesy of
‘DC Meetups – 09-03-22 – Your Move’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

In response to public demand, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has extended the deadline for public voting for the video games to be featured in its upcoming exhibition, “The Art of Video Games.” The voting period, originally scheduled to end April 7, now will close at midnight, Sunday, April 17.

The website offers participants a chance to vote for 80 games from a pool of 240 proposed choices in various categories, divided by era, game type and platform. More than three million votes have been cast since the voting site launched Feb. 14. A valid e-mail address is required to vote.

The winning games will be announced publicly Thursday, May 5. Anyone who registered to vote will receive advance notification of the winning games, as well as monthly updates and special behind-the-scenes offers leading up to the exhibition opening in Washington, D.C. and throughout the run of the exhibition.

“The Art of Video Games” is the first to explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels and collector of video games and gaming systems, is the curator of the exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at the museum from March 16, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2012; it then will travel to multiple venues in the United States.

The Daily Feed
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Community coaches: Be a fitness inspiration

Photo courtesy of
‘not a mass “YMCA” singalong’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The DC Department of Health is launching a media campaign called “Live Well DC!” and they need 8 spokesmodels. But not just any run-of-the-mill, perfectly-toned, dazzling-smile spokesmodels, oh no.

DoH is looking for volunteers to serve as Community Coaches. Eight people who “represent the city’s diversity” and who want to increase their physical activity will be featured in the citywide campaign designed to inspire DC residents to get up and move with them.

The casting call says they’re looking for “all shapes and sizes,” and the profile sheet indicates that they’re pretty serious about that, so if this sounds like fun, the casting call is this Saturday from 11-3 at the Old Council Chambers near the Judiciary Square Metro.