Monthly Archives: August 2009

The Daily Feed
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Sustainable Campus rankings

Photo courtesy of
‘how do you “recycle” wind?’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The Sierra Club has put out their third annual sustainable campus listing & grades and the GW Hatchet is happy to report that their campus has crawled out of the basement. 81st in a field of 135 isn’t going to land you that plum job and a short road to partner, but hey – you know what they call the person who graduated last in their class in med school, right? Doctor. Snark aside, moving from an F to a C is a worthy improvement. Congrats, GW.

Our area’s top winner was University of Maryland in 67th place. George Mason is a fellow C student to GW at 89. There’s no indication Georgetown, Marymount, or Howard were examined.

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The District
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Focus on River East on Kojo Today

Photo courtesy of
‘Frederick Douglass Bridge @ night’
courtesy of ‘Tony DeFilippo’

Today’s Kojo Nnamdi Show spent its first hour talking with three great local blogs on Southeast DC (River East), and they’re all worth reading. If you get the chance, listen to the whole hour on Kojo with guest host Marc Fisher, and with bloggers David Garber (of And Now Anacostia), Susan Kennedy (of Barry Farm (Re)Mixed) and Nikki Peele (of Congress Heights on the Rise) as they talk about their neighborhood, its development, its politics, and life in the part of the city often left off the list. Very worth listening to, in no small part because of the efforts of these excellent DC bloggers.

Crime & Punishment, Downtown, The Daily Feed
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Holocaust Shooter to be Arraigned

Photo courtesy of
‘Holocaust Museum’
courtesy of ‘Andrea Christman’

WUSA 9 reports that James von Brunn, white supremacist and Holocaust Museum shooter, is scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday.  Von Brunn has been indicted on seven counts, including first degree murder, for killing a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in June.  Four of his charges carry the possibility of a death sentence.

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: The Hunt Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘Head Hung Low (Nyjer Morgan)’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Nationals
Record: 46-85
Last Two Weeks: 3-10
Place: Last in MLB

The Nats returned to their old ways this week, and were dealt a couple of setbacks that may have some negative repercussions for the rest of the season. First of all, if you love sports betting, you might want to check betfred promo code new customer, you will surely get a huge amount of bonus from this website. Nyjer Morgan ended his season this week with a broken hand sliding into 2nd, which is sad on many levels, but might be the best thing to protect him for next year. Ronnie “Sugartits” Belliard got traded to the Dodgers this afternoon for a Class A pitcher Luis Garcia. This means that Justin Maxwell will start to see some play with the Nats for the rest of the season, which brings us to the important points:

1. It looks like the Nats have a decent shot at doing better than their last year’s record. The Nats would need to finish 14-17 in their last 31 games to pick up a better record, and if they play Jekyll and Hyde like they have been, that’s a fair bet.

2. But let’s not hope too hard. If the Nats finish last in MLB this year, they’ll have a good shot at Bryce Harper in the 2010 Amateur Draft. He hit the longest home run in Tropicana Field’s history at 502 feet. He did it at age 16. And he’ll most likely be in the draft this coming year, which means the Nats would have a shot at the kind of hitter you only see once or twice in a generation. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Restaurant Week Party Continues

Photo courtesy of
‘We’re Cooking’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Cheap food lovers, don’t mourn the end of Restaurant Week quite yet! There’s still some eating to be done for $35.09 as local eat places extend RW deals through this week and some through September. (Tangent: Has anyone else noticed the trend of calling restaurants “restos” lately? I solemnly swear to you, dear reader, to not do that to you. Ever. Even when I’m desperately struggling for synonyms for restaurant.)

Some of my favorite eateries are extending Restaurant Week – DC Foodies has the complete list, but here are my top 5 picks out of the extension list. Go forth and reserve!

1) PS 7’s
2) Cafe Atlantico
3) Dino
4) SEI
5) Tie: Occidental or Art and Soul

Arlington, Downtown, Foggy Bottom, Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Free Food Alert: TACOS!

Photo courtesy of
‘Volcano Taco’
courtesy of ‘brunorepublic’

It’s a full out taco-fest today in DC as the Taco Bell Truck swings through our fair city, making a stop in Foggy Bottom for lunch, and another in Rosslyn for a late afternoon snack.

Today from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. the TBT will be parked outside George Washington University Student Center handing out free tacos.  After that, the TBT will head to Rosslyn near N Moore & 19th st. for a Taco Drop Off around 4:30, but make sure you’re there right at 4:30 as the truck can’t stay much longer in the area than it takes to make the tacos and hand them out.

Kicking off it’s second week of the East Coast tour, the Taco Bell Truck serves up Volcano & Crunchy tacos to the DC area (1 per person).  After DC, its off to NY, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Ghost Bike Memorial Removed

Photo courtesy of
‘Alice Swanson Memorial’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

The Ghost Bike memorial to Alice Swanson was removed by the Mayor’s Office over the weekend from its home near Dupont Circle at Connecticut and R, the spot where cyclist Swanson was killed on her commute to work. It’s not clear why the Mayor’s Office removed the memorial without so much as an explanation, and attempts by local outlets to reach the Mayor’s office for comment have gone unanswered. DCist has photos of the replacement memorial put up by community members yesterday.

So, WTF Mayor Fenty? What’s up with removing the ghost bike memorial?

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 8/28 – 8/30/09

Photo courtesy of
‘In Memoriam’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

So would this be considered the last official week of summer here in the District? Or are we all resigned to trudging back to work a week early, since Labor Day is late this year?

Regardless of how you see it, the weekend tempted us with almost-fall-like weather, promising its charms but holding back to make us yearn that much more. Too much, I think. Fall is such a tease.

As you get back to your routine, take a gander at the weekend seen by your fellow residents and visitors. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Video: Capitol Crowds Wave Goodbye to Sen. Kennedy

Here’s some shaky video of Sen. Edward Kennedy’s hearse and procession leaving the Capitol to go down Constitution Ave. to Arlington Cemetery. Hundreds of people lined the lawn and sidewalk, with Kennedy’s staff and colleagues on the Senate steps. As the hearse left the driveway a wave of cheering and applause swept through the crowd, with some waving a final goodbye.

There’s a Flickr group for shots of Kennedy’s funeral.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Ted Kennedy schedule and map

tedkennedy

The website of Ted Kennedy has been updated to include information and a map on today’s events. Specific times are a little thin but they promise to update the twitter stream throughout the day. If you’ll be out and about near the mall you should keep an eye on it.

If you’d like to pay your respects, the website invites everyone to come gather on the east lawn of the Senate at 4p.

The Daily Feed
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DC Public Library Cards Wiped Out

Photo courtesy of
‘Law Books’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Have a DC Public Library card? Are you sure? According to John Kelly’s Post chat today, in recent system cleanup, the library cards of everyone who did not currently have a book checked out were wiped out. (Scroll down about a third of the way, or do a CTRL-F for “DCPL.”) As someone whose job depends on the functioning of a well-ordered database, I can think of lots of reasons to wipe out/archive old, inactive cards, but I can’t think of any reason to do so without a date cutoff to preserve people who just, you know, went on vacation. In the summer.

So if you were thinking about dropping by the library, you may want to check the status of your card.

The Daily Feed
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An easier way into the majors, though more expensive

Photo courtesy of
‘Nationals Park Layer Cake’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Washington Business Journal has an article about the powers that be at Nationals Park trying to book more private events.

They mention, but don’t link to the information about booking the park. It’s all here, including some pretty fun panoramas like this one of the clubhouse. Yep, you can rent the clubhouse in the off season. However that’s only good for 60 folks. For that same five grand you could  have the Stars & Stripes club at first base and accommodate 600.

Me, I think it sounds like a dream wedding for the well-off baseball-loving bride and groom. (Or bride and bride or groom and groom, depending on how D.C. law shakes out in the coming year).  Drop the extra $20,000 and you can take folks out on the field for three hours of batting practice. If you’re really interested you can find the rate information here.

The Daily Feed
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Last Chance for Free Admission to the Corcoran

Photo courtesy of
‘Corcoran Gallery of Art’
courtesy of ‘dcjasmine’

Just a reminder that tomorrow is your last chance to take advantage of free summer Saturdays at the Corcoran Gallery of Art! On display now are the William Eggleston photography exhibition, Nature as Nation, and other displays of their permanent collection. Besides the exhibitions, there’s a family workshop at 10:30 am, docent tours at 12 pm and 3 pm, and a class on how to take cool photos inside museums at 2 pm.

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, The Features
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Eat Like Me: August’s Best Dishes

July Foodie Blogger Damage.

August. Dead month, right? Not in the foodie world, at least not in DC. Yes, things may be slower than usual, but I was still pretty busy shoving food into my mouth. I was lucky enough to preview upcoming Masa 14 and meet Kaz of Kaz Sushi Bistro, I headed out on the town with Donna for a locovore dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak, and I returned to some all-time favorites. Mostly I’ve been eating sushi and steak, seems to be the reoccurring theme this month. At least they balance each other out in the health department, right?

So here are the best of the best dishes I’ve eaten all month. I’ll give you a list of where I’ve been (also known as what we’re working with) and then give you a look at the best of the best. Can you handle all the tasty? Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Free WiFi All Over Arlington

Photo courtesy of
‘Got my netbook. Got my coffee. This is my office. I’m happy’
courtesy of ‘Ed Yourdon’

Let’s see a show of hands as to how many of you love free wifi? Now keep those hands up if you knew that Arlington provides free wifi in most of the busy, populated outdoor areas of the county! What? Nobody knew? Well now you do! While wifi coverage for Shirlington village was just added this summer, the busy outdoor areas from Court House to Clarendon on Wilson and Clarendon Blvds have been covered for a number of years now. Most large Arlington libraries, as well as the Walter Reed Community Center, also provide free service. I just can’t believe most people don’t know about this! (Which included myself until recently.)  Details from Arlington County are here. For a post on where to find free wifi all over, check here.

The Daily Feed
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FiOS Finally Coming to DC

Photo courtesy of
‘049.’
courtesy of ‘Englishmuffins’

Verizon has announced a ribbon cutting on September 1st to kickoff the installation of an all fiber optic network in the District. What does this mean to you? DC residents will finally be able to get the services of FiOS Internet and tv provider starting later this year! DC officials, including the mayor, will be joining Verizon for this event to celebrate the launch of the project. Workers are starting the laying of the fiber in SE, although specifics of where the cable tv services will be available when have not been announced. A few years ago, this would have been really, REALLY cool.

But I am glad to hear that this is finally happening and that DC residents will have a solid choice in the near future. Near is a relative term though – service to the entire District could take up to 9 years. see here

With an aerial installation, Verizon or any other local provider you can  see here, will install the fiber optic line from a telephone pole to the side of your home. Later, an ONT will be installed inside the home. Fios is a 100% fiber-based network and is the 2nd largest residential fiber provider whereas Xfinity is the leading provider of cable internet.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Ray’s Hell Burger Coming to Adams Morgan

Photo courtesy of
‘The Lady’s Brunch Burger – Side View’
courtesy of ‘Marshall Astor – Food Pornographer’

Rejoice, Adams Morgan! In addition to your Jumbo Slice, and your Amsterdam Falafel, will be Ray’s Hell Burger in the space once occupied by Ghana Cafe, which has not renewed its lease. It’s going to be a battle between the second Hell Burger location in AdMo and Ray’s The Heat in Northeast to see which is Michael Landrum’s first DC eatery. The Heat is just two phonecalls from opening, according to Ray, but it looks like build out is only just beginning at the second Hell Burger location.

Update, 2:50pm: Sadly, Washington Business Journal jumped the gun.  City Paper’s Young and Hungry says Not So Fast after a discussion with Ray’s proprietor Michael Landrum, who’s not convinced Adams Morgan is well enough policed, or that the community there would be welcoming.  I suspect that the community would love a chance at the tax revenues from a DC Ray’s Hell Burger, but can’t vouch for the policing issue.