‘Tucker’
courtesy of ‘borman818’

A double-item for the folks in College Park, today. I wish it was good news. It’s not.

The University of Maryland has many notable alumni, ranging from Jim Henson through Nobel Laureates. In the sports side of things, there are pro athletes like Vernon Davis and Darius Heyward-Bey; potentially even more well-known as a proud Terp is ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt. Right now, though, SVP isn’t that psyched about the lack of support the students in College Park have shown for a basketball team that still has a (slim) chance of making the tournament. He took his complaint to ESPN 980 after a Twitter rant earlier this week, commenting that he understands that students have classes, but “part of the college experience is living a little bit, outside I have to do my econ homework.”

The second part is the so-called, “punishment,” although it isn’t even close to related to the crime at hand. Testudo Times pointed out what could very well be new football uniforms for the Terrapins this fall. Yikes:

The beat-driven, piano-pounding sounds of White Rabbits will be coming to Rock & Roll Hotel this Sunday, Feb. 27th. This is sure to be an energetic (and very rhythmic) show.

White Rabbits follow the post-punk aesthetic of fellow Brooklynites Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah! as well as The French Kicks. However, they approach this style with two percussionists, two guitars, and a piano while mixing in bits of ska, calypso, and African rhythms to form a unique yet catchy sound. Although the band formed in 2004 while at college in Missouri, they’ve been a fixture of the Brooklyn music scene since moving to the neighborhood in 2005. Their first album, Fort Nightly, was released in 2007 and received instant praise from Pitchfork calling it “…a great debut for a band with an impressive, distinctive sound”. After playing Lollapalooza and gathering some buzz for their kinetic live shows in which the members often switch instruments during the set, they returned to the studio and released It’s Frightening in 2009. This album, produced by Britt Daniel of Spoon, featured a cleaner, stripped-down sound without changing the band’s approach (as evidenced by the excellent single, “Percussion Gun”).

The White Rabbits are currently taking a break from recording a new album to play a few northeast shows this week, the last stop being our fair city. If you’re looking to avoid the Oscars and enjoy some good music, check them out this Sunday.

White Rabbits
w/ Caveman
@ Rock & Roll Hotel
Sun. 2/27 – 8:30 pm
$16

This one is for the fans of the New Orlean jazz-jam band super-group Galactic, fans of New Orleans, fans of free stuff, and fans of alcohol.

Tonight at the 9:30 Club’s basement bar a/k/a The Backbar (entrance on the 9th St. side of the club) they are starting the party early with a special happy hour before Galactic’s concert. The happy hour will run from 6 to 7 o’clock and is open to anyone (not just ticket holders). Anyone attending the Galactic show who goes to the happy hour gets first entry to the show itself; so you can get sloshed and then grab your favorite spot to watch the show before the front doors open. The happy hour will have food and drink specials, including a $6 special on Hurricanes; raffles for free swag, like tix to future shows; and rumor has it a visit from members of the band!

For me, getting take-out for dinner seems a bit like admitting defeat. I know how to cook and hate to pay for food, but sometimes I’m just lazy. To add insult to injury, I usually don’t feel fulfilled by my take-out. Lukewarm pad thai, greasy pizza and mistaken orders usually get me pretty cranky. But HOLD THE PHONE, my take-out dreams are finally coming true. Central, Michel Richard’s bistro downtown, is doing take-out. You read that right, folks, you can walk down Pennsylvania Avenue with your Michel Richard-approved bucket of chicken.

Richard has always done cheeky cuisine well (the man uses more winky quotation marks in his menu than anyone I’ve ever seen) and it’s about time he got down and dirty with some fabulous take-out. It won’t be the entire menu, but you’ll be able to pick up the fabulous lobster burger, the ridiculous mac ‘n cheese and the piece de resistance, the bucket of the truly amazing Central fried chicken. For $29.99, you’ll get three breasts, three thighs, ten chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and honey-dijon sauce. Watch out Colonel, Michel is coming for ya!

Carry out is available Monday through Friday for lunch, and Monday through Saturday for dinner. Nothing will make your coworkers jealous quite like a lobster burger. Definitely better than their lame Lean Cuisine.

Darkest Hour should be familiar to anyone following the hardcore scene in DC. Having played as a band for 15 years now, these guys have perfected their blend of metalcore, combining hardcore singing and screaming with fiery death metal riffs. To celebrate the release of their new album, The Human Romance, they put together a huge metal tour that’s kicking off at the 9:30 Club this Friday.

The show is part of the 3rd annual Atticus Metal tour, featuring a slew of metalcore bands from around the country – The Human Abstract and As Blood Runs Black from LA, and Born of Osiris from Chicago. These are some of the top bands in the metalcore scene these days, if that’s your sort of thing. And you know what? It’s my sort of thing, because I love huge riffs. I love headbanging. Sometimes I have to headbang next to a bunch of Myspace kids, but I can deal. Of these, I’m most excited for The Human Abstract, the most metal, least ‘scene’ of these bands – their sound borrows from progressive metal groups like Opeth or Between the Buried and Me.

Friday night will really be all about Darkest Hour, though. The local kids go CRAZY for this band! If you like moshing, hardcore dancing, or just headbanging in the back, I’ll see you there.

Atticus Metal Tour
Darkest Hour
w/ Born of Osiris, The Human Abstract, As Blood Runs Black
9:30 Club
$15

‘News Stand in HDR’
courtesy of ‘JPott’

After yesterday, today seemed like a good day for good news in local journalism. The American Prospect announced this morning they are bringing 30-year journalism veteran Kit Rachlis to helm the publication. From the release:

Rachlis’ career in journalism spans almost 30 years, during which time he has been an editor at The Village Voice, the LA Weekly, the Los Angeles Times and most recently at Los Angeles magazine.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kit Rachlis to The Prospect,” said Rapoport, who is also President of Demos (www.demos.org), The American Prospect’s publishing partner. “He is a superb editor and journalist, and brings the perfect blend of skills and experience to this position.

‘Trevor Booker, Tony Parker and Kirk Hinrich’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

Last night, the Wizards pulled the trigger on another “building for the future” trade, sending Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans, Jordan Crawford and a first-round pick. Not only does Crawford have good upside, Bibby brings a savings of about $2m to the club’s books for the 2011-2012 season – and who knows if he stays put or gets flipped again to clear more space.

For fun, here’s the Wizards opening day roster (starters in bold, players in italics no longer with team as of last night):

PG          Gilbert Arenas

C             Hilton Armstrong

PF           Andray Blatche

C             Trevor Booker

G             Kirk Hinrich

SF           Josh Howard

G             Lester Hudson

GF          Cartier Martin

C             JaVale McGee

C             Hamady N’Diaye

F              Kevin Seraphin

SF           Al Thornton

PG          John Wall

PF           Yi Jianlian

SG          Nick Young

‘IMG_8775.jpg’
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

In a move widely hailed as both smart and thrifty, the Washington Capitals announced today that they have re-signed forward Matt Hendricks to a two year contract. The contract brings Hendricks back to Washington at $800,000 per year, for a total cap hit of $1.6 million. So far this year, the 29 year old, third-year pro has put up solid numbers with the Caps, tallying 7 goals and 12 assists while splitting time on the third and fourth lines. The signing brings the Capitals to 16 players signed for the 2011-12 season, with just under $14 million remaining, according to CapGeek.com.

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