Monthly Archives: October 2011

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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ChurchKey and Eat Wonky Bring You Wonky Tots

Photo courtesy of
‘wonky dog @ Eat Wonky truck- Washington, DC’
courtesy of ‘Plantains & Kimchi’

Sometimes you find yourself remembering two different dishes you’ve eaten and think to yourself, “If only there was a way to combine both of these dishes.” Wanting the flavors of two dishes to dance upon your tongue doesn’t necessarily make you greedy. So I was happy to see that two of the tasty foods I’ve eaten are coming together this week in the form of Wonky Tots.

ChurchKey’s tater tots from chef Kyle Bailey are teaming up with Eat Wonky’s squeaky cheese and gravy. It’s poutine 2.0 with tots.

You can get the wonky tots this week only from Eat Wonky, but there are just 20 orders available per lunch shift. In other words: hurry. You can stalk the truck’s location @eatwonky or @churchkeydc.

capitals hockey
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Caps Weather Hurricanes 4-3 (OT)

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_5742’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

Mike Green reclaimed his “Game Over” moniker and sent the rebound of a Dennis Wideman shot from the point trickling into the net as the Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime in front of a raucous Verizon Center crowd, the 107th consecutive sellout. The Capitals almost held on to win in regulation, but Jussi Jokinen scored for the Hurricanes with just over a minute remaining and their goalie, Brian Boucher, pulled in favor of the extra attacker.

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Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District
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DC Mourns Steve Jobs At Apple Store

If you walk by the Georgetown Apple Store, you’ll find that to left of the store’s entrance, DC Apple lovers have created an impromptu memorial to Steve Jobs filled with posters, letters, flowers and many apples. Personally, I found these tributes to be the purest and most genuine expressions of how Mr. Jobs and his company have inspired so many people and how the DC community is mourning the loss, and solidarity with the Apple community and Jobs’ family and friends. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: Blackened Gold at Toki Underground

I love Toki Underground. Super cute, great location, delicious vegan ramen, and they keep hours that suit me – which is to say, I can sit and eat a totally respectable dinner at ten on Tuesday and it is no big deal. Should you want something to drink with your ramen and dumplings (or to sip on while you wait for a seat) they have a list of sakes and unusual Asian beers – and they also mix up some interesting and tasty cocktails.
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The Daily Feed
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Mike Daisy talks about Steve Jobs’ legacy, good and bad

Photo courtesy of
‘apple cinnamon’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’

We praised The Agony and Esctacy of Steve Jobs when it played at Woolly Mammoth – Patrick saw it in March and l saw a preview when it was in development late last year. We were both fond of it.

Well, Daisey has an op-ed in the NYT today about Jobs that I suspect Jobs would respect, if not necessarily like, given his willingness to be hard-edged when the situation demands it. It’s a hard look that has a lot in common with Daisy’s show; it mixes admiration with concern and criticism, and includes some of the very pointed things about Apple’s international endeavors.

It’s a message about labor and freedom that seems very on-point this week, with the Occupy* folk showing up in DC and some of the media coverage of how prevalent Apple products are in those crowds. I encourage you to give it a read.

Sports Fix
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The Meaning or Lack Thereof of the Redskins 3-1 Start

Photo courtesy of
‘Fred Davis’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

I have spent this past week digging through so many football stats I started to dream of numbers spiraling through an immense blackness. I am filled with confusion at what all these numbers mean, what story they tell. A stat is useless unless it tells a story, contains meaning. The numbers I have looked at tell what has happened so far in the Redskins season. The numbers tell the story of a much improved team. The Redskins are a team who are controlling the game, but how much of an impact what has happened on what will happen remains a mystery.   

People smarter than me have compiled and analyzed these numbers against past history and against the strength of schedule to deduce that the Redskins have a 43.3% chance to make the playoffs. Before the season began most people would have guessed that percentage to be much closer to zero, and now it is just a bit below the odds of a coin flip. There are still those that say the Redskins have no shot at the playoffs, and this baffles me. I have never understood how some can make such declarative statements about something as unpredictable as sports. The Redskins 3-1 start is no fluke as they have outscored their opponents by a 20 point margin. Mostly on the strength of their defense.

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Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Lemonheads @ Black Cat

photo courtesy of The Lemonheads

Take a trip back to 1992 tonight  at Black Cat when The Lemonheads perform It’s A Shame About Ray in its entirety on the mainstage. To me this album was one of the handful of good memories I have during my middle school years, and played a part in the beginning of my love affair with rock music. It is a classic of the early 90s. Even if you didn’t catch it the first time around, Evan Dando’s warm, dreamy vocals, head-bopping tunes, and good looks can make a teeny-bopper out of anyone. Get in the mood with their video for It’s a Shame About Ray.

The Lemonheads

The Shining Twins

New York Rivals

$15 Mainstage/Doors at 9:00pm

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends – October 7 to 9

Photo courtesy of
‘Clowns to the Left of Me’
courtesy of ‘dc-hulls’

Started out more like OctoBRR, amirite?

*crickets*

Woo, tough crowd. Anyway, if you’re still wrestling with what to do with yourself on this weekend’s predicted warm days and cool nights… well, just cyber-stalk us whydontcha?

Alexia: This weekend is going to be a busy one! Friday night the 7th-grade-me will freak out at the Black Cat watching The Lemonheads perform It’s a Shame About Ray in its entirety! Yeah! Saturday I’m playing with my band The Torches at Desperados at 7pm, as part of the Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie Music Festival, happening all weekend in the U Street corridor. After I get off stage, I am scrambling over to Artisphere in Arlington for The 1 Party, in honor of their first birthday. Looking forward to witnessing Volta Bureau‘s first live performance there! Sunday will hopefully be a day of rest, including strolling through Eastern Market and getting some veggies from the farmer’s market there for the week.

Photo courtesy of
‘Axum112’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Dyer’

Rachel: My weekend begins tonight with a live performance at Axum Bar & Lounge (located at 1934 9th Street NW). I’ll be debuting some new material and there’s a chance I’ll preview my song of choice for my Glee Project audition (yeah, I’m auditioning for The Glee Project this November, should be fun). Show starts at 8:30 p.m. tonight and there’s no cover charge. The rest of the weekend will likely include my standard trip to Kramer’s for Saturday Brunch for a quick read and a stop at Regal Gallery Place to see 50/50. I’ll probably stop by Utrecht for some new paints. I’ve got Monday off thanks to that whole Federal Holiday thing so I’m thinking of taking a pit stop at the zoo if it’s open.

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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A with Debbi Peterson of The Bangles


courtesy of MSO PR.

The Bangles are performing at the 9:30 Club tonight so we asked our 80’s/New Wave correspondent Mickey McCarter if he’d like to have a little chat with Debbi Peterson about the band’s past, present, and future.

The Bangles, founded by sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson along with Susanna Hoffs, have returned with a new album, ‘Sweetheart of the Sun’. To borrow a phrase from their previous album, they perhaps started a “doll revolution” with a tide of girl bands that began in the early 1980s and that really took hold in the 1990s. Hitmaker Prince liked the The Bangles so much that he gave them the song “Manic Monday,” which became one of their most memorable hits in 1986.

The Bangles have been touring a lot in the past decade and now they are back at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, October 6. We Love DC chatted with the lovely drummer Debbi, who is so refreshingly bubbly and modest, about breaking up and reforming the band, making an album without bassist Michael Steele, and what’s next for The Bangles.
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Horrors @ Black Cat, 9/30


photo courtesy of The Horrors.

Our friend Ali Lieberman covered The Horrors concert at The Black Cat for us on Friday night.

It’s incredible what three years can do. In 2009, the British band The Horrors opened for the Kills at the 9:30 Club with a presence that could barely fill the stage. They had a unique, campy, goth persona with teased black hair, eyeliner, and death-driven pseudonyms. Fast forward to last Friday night at the Black Cat where they were barely recognizable as the black-clad, emo quintet they once were.

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capitals hockey
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Capitals Season Preview

Photo courtesy of
‘ovi en fuego…’
courtesy of ‘choofly’

Saturday night it all begins again: 30 teams, 1 cup. After a crushing four-games-to-none defeat in the second round of the playoffs at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning this spring, the retooled Washington Capitals return to the Verizon Center to rock the red against the Carolina Hurricanes and officially kick off their 2011-12 NHL campaign.

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Interviews, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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Juliet and the Demon Fish

Photo courtesy Juliet Eilperin and National Geographic

A first glance at the title “Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks” would probably invoke visions of bloody feeding frenzies, mouths full of razor-sharp teeth, and the sleek arrow-shaped bodies of deadly sharks. With, of course, the appropriate Jaws theme rolling around in our heads. And we couldn’t be more wrong with that impression.

Juliet Eilperin, a national environmental reporter for The Washington Post, has the spotlight this evening at the National Geographic Museum. And what she’ll be sharing with tonight’s audience will be somewhat removed from that first glimpse of her book. Despite its fearsome title, her work is more of a revelation of this sleek, deadly species that cruise the ocean’s depths (and shallows). Let’s face it: sharks have held a solid spot of fascination in our collective conscious, often as one of fear or as an image of ‘terrible beauty.’ Eilperin shines another light on sharks, however – conservation. Demon Fish strives to expose the intricacies and personalities of the shark-human relationship and reveals it’s not all about blood, teeth, and gore.

The idea bloomed after Eilperin began looking for something to write about. The oceans have had a long pull on Eilperin; they’re a subject she can fill conversations about, and for good reason. “It’s still unknown territory to humans, to a large extent, so that’s what intrigues me,” she confided. “So much of our world has been explored and documented, but when it comes to the sea, we’re still in a period of intense discovery. Also, it’s just so different from the environment in which we operate on a daily basis.” Casting about for the right angle, a colleague suggested the shark and it intrigued her enough to explore further. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar

Photo courtesy of
‘Yelp Elite Event at Sonoma, Washington, D.C.’
courtesy of ‘Yelp.com’

So I have this thing for Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar. It is the perfect place to go to on a date, out with friends, or even for alone time at the bar with a glass of wine -though the latter is easier to do when Congress is not in session.

Sonoma always amazes me with the quality of its dishes and their presentation. I went in a few weeks ago and almost didn’t want to touch the local beef dish in front of me — the picture of the shortribs after the jump just does not do it justice. I had to ask Executive Chef Michael Bonk for the recipe. So here’s how you can make Local beef short ribs with kale, sweet corn and italian pepper relish. Enjoy – it is not for beginners!
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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Lungs

Brooke Bloom and Ryan King in "Lungs" at Studio Theatre. Photo credit: Carol Pratt.

With British playwright Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs, Studio Theatre begins The Studio Lab Series – new plays produced bare bones for $20 a ticket. It’s an admirable venture that I’m excited to watch develop.

However, this first play out of the gate isn’t particularly innovative – though if the playwright’s intention is to resurrect the existential crises of the 1980’s TV series Thirtysomething for today’s thirtysomethings, then certainly he has suceeded. Or, as one woman  put it, leaving the theater in a negative huff, "white people’s problems."

It’s a pity the subject matter isn’t attacked in a more daring way, because Macmillan has a beautiful way with words. The natural cadence of the language, poetical vibrancy mixed with modern urgency, is definitely potent – but it’s at the service of the wrong plot. Lungs is jampacked with tired rom com characterizations about a young couple’s struggle to decide the future of their relationship. If it weren’t for the expressive sincerity displayed by the high professionalism of the actors and the direction, I might believe it to be an intentional (and rather cruel) satire on the "quarterlife crisis" movement. Especially as the plot can seem like hipster cliches on crack:

She’s the environmentalist PhD candidate, he’s the slacker musician! She’s a little bit psycho, he’s a little bit clueless! Wait, he’s the one who wants the baby? Insert Ikea and coffeeshop jokes! Watch out for the temp!

There’s not a single stereotypical moment in the lifeline of coupledom that isn’t explored here, the whole painful process of a paralyzed generation that supposedly thinks too much and acts too little. Continue reading →