Category Archives: Special Events

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Win A Date With Very Eligible We Love DC Author

Photo courtesy of
‘Five Dollars’
courtesy of ‘rychlepozicky.com’

I know with a headline like that I’m going  to get all the ladies of DC.

Of course if I had that ability I wouldn’t be selling myself off to the highest bidder tonight. At least it’s for a good cause.

Tonight Social Media Club DC is holding a date auction to benefit #CitizenGulf National Day of Action, where events are being held nationwide to benefit Catholic Charities of New Orleans to help fishing families find a new, more sustainable future by providing an educational program for their children.

The DC benefit sponsored by SMCDC will be held at Busboys and Poets on 5th & K tonight starting at 6:30 and includes a date auction featuring several DC bloggers including me.

So if you think there’s nothing sexier than a DC blogger please bring your five dollars (yes that all it takes to win a date with me) and head on downtown.

Downtown, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, People, Special Events, The District, The Features, The Mall
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DC: We Are More Than What Others Say We Are

Fire and Ice
‘Fire and Ice’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

To the Tea Party tourists visiting this weekend:

We’d like to welcome you to the nation’s capital.

Please note that despite some serious misunderstanding and outrageous assumptions made beyond the Beltway, DC really is a safe city to visit. We do recommend, however, that you just avoid Baltimore completely. Think of it as our certifiably insane sibling to the north, with delusions of class. (And yes, I am kidding. We DCites do have a sense of humor, especially at Baltimore’s expense. And Philadelphia’s.)

Despite some ramblings of various cantankerous individuals, the District does have a lot to offer you on your visit. We bust a lot of myths about our fair city here on this site; please take a moment to see if we’ve answered any of the ones you’ve heard. We also showcase a lot of amazing arts, theater, restaurants, individuals, and other great things about the DC area here; I invite you to check out what else lies beyond the Mall and maybe sample some of our wares. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Theater J Ticket Discount

Image courtesy of Theater J.

If you enjoyed my theater profile of director Eleanor Holdridge and are intrigued to see a play exploring the fine line between ardent activism and violent radicalism, Theater J is making it easier with $15 tickets to six select performances of Willy Holtzman’s Something You Did.

Just use the special discount code DCBLOGGER when you purchase tickets to the following shows on their website: 8/28, 9/2, 9/4, 9/5 (both matinee and evening performances) and 9/6.

Something You Did looks at what happens when a former anti-war activist attempts to mend the consequences of her radical actions, and based on my interview with the director I think it’s bound to be highly impassioned and thought-provoking. Watch for Don’s review following the official opening on August 31.

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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BRABO’s Secret Terrace

Tonight launches a new happy hour in Alexandria, on the rooftop terrace of the Lorien Hotel & Spa. Up til now mainly used for private events off the Presidential Suite, this intimate outdoor lounge with a view of Old Town will now be open on Fridays from 6pm-9pm. The happy hour will include unlimited sangria, charcuterie and cheese, all from BRABO by Robert Wiedmaier, for $25 a person. 

Outside of the $25 ticket, guests can also purchase bottles of wine from the Butcher’s Block to bring up and enjoy if they prefer, in addition to a cash bar as well. Tickets are available in advance or that day, with check-in at the Butcher’s Block at 1600 King Street.

The charcuterie sounds pretty tempting, as I’ve always drooled over the selection of meats and marmalade on display at the Butcher’s Block. And it may be hard to believe but our rooftop happy hour days are numbered! So I’d advise you to sink into a couch, enjoy the sunset, and sip some sangria. Or, a lot of sangria…

Dupont Circle, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Night Life, Special Events, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Beer Week

Photo courtesy of
‘Partay!’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

DC Beer week is upon us and beer lovers are presented with a plethora of excellent events to attend.  While nearly every single one is appealing, you’re only one person and can only attend so many.  Hence, I’ve created a handy guide to help you choose what to do and where to go. My guide  is by no means exhaustive and I’d encourage you to check out the full list of events before you decide where to go.  There are some really great options, and all that really matters is that you go to at least one of them. But, should you choose to heed my advice, I’ve got three rules to make this Beer Week perfect: attend a beer dinner, find the values, sample the rare goods. I’ve selected a few events to coincide with each rule to help you decide what to attend.

Continue reading →

Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Mod Madness Tonight at the Textile Museum

Has the rain got you down?  Do you just want to curl up on the couch in your sweats and watch Mad Men reruns?  Well don’t, because only boring people get bored.  Tonight is your chance to show off your own mod style as the Textile Museum hosts its second “PM @ the TM” with a tribute to textile designs and fashion from the 50’s and 60’s.  It will be complete and utter Mod Madness:

“Step into the museum’s garden for cool drinks, noshes and jazz by the Pete Muldoon Quartet.  Escape the heat with gallery tours led by WE ARE SCIENCE and music by DJ Jahsonic in the exhibition Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain and enter to win prizes from area businesses and restaurants.  Silk screen your own t-shirt or bag to take home with the Washington Printmakers Gallery and Kristina Bilonick.  D.C.’s most fashionable will be on hand to nominate the “best mid-century dressed”  so show us your best fedoras, swing skirts and mod shifts!”

Worried about getting your skinny tie wet?  Don’t be, they’ve rented a giant tent.  While all advanced tickets are sold out (i.e. lots of fun people will  be there), tickets will be for sale at the door for $10 and includes two drink tickets for members, one drink ticket for non-members.  Don’t be a square – be there.

Food and Drink, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Southampton Beer Dinner

Photo courtesy of
‘Southampton Cuvée des Fleurs’
courtesy of ‘Bernt Rostad’

I’m a sucker for beer dinners.  Call me a fan boy, but I’m a genuine believer that beer and food were made to be paired.  That’s why I pass on to you, dear reader, any scoop I get on one that’s happening in the near future.  I happen to have such a scoop, now. Commonwealth Gastropub in Columbia Heights is hosting a dinner highlighting the beers of New York based Southampton Publik House. Southampton is a fairly recent addition to the DC beer scene and makes a wide variety of regional styles.  Commonwealth is featuring their IPA, Double White, Altbier and Cuvee de Fleurs.  I’m particularly excited about the Double White, a Belgian Wit, that is supposed to be one of Southampton’s best offerings.  Along with the beer, Commonwealth is offering a four course meal to compliment each beer.  The menu includes a red grapefruit salad, mussels, grilled pork, and ricotta in honey.  The event is tomorrow at 6:30 and will run you $45.

Adventures, History, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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August 12, 2010: The Day The Rainpocalypse Came

Photo courtesy of
‘when cars and trees collide’
courtesy of ‘rebeccaejohnson’

Well that was one hell of a wake up call.

Around 8am this morning the entire DC area experience what we at WeLoveDC are calling “The Rainpocalypse.” The thunderstorm swept through the city and surrounding vicinity leaving streets covered in small and, as shown above, large tree branches. It also caused the temporary closure of three Metro stations (Silver Spring, Forest Glen and Cleveland Park). The storm is also the cause of “tens of thousands of outages” according to Pepco’s website.

The Capital Weather Gang’s radar map shows the storm entering DC at around  7:30am and quickly exiting into PG country around 8:30am. If  you somehow slept through the rainpocalyspe that happened in and around 8am this morning, frankly I’m gobsmacked.

Update, 9:29am: We’re also getting multiple reports and photos of flash floods at 15th & Constitution and other locations in the city.

Special Events, The Features
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The Nationals Honor Their Heritage


Pictured: Andre Dawson waving and Gary Carter (on the right).  Photo by Ian Koski / Nationals Daily News

Gary Carter showed up at Nationals Park Tuesday to help the Washington Nationals honor his former teammate. Much to his surprise, the Nationals hadn’t reserved all of the night’s festivities for 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Andre Dawson – he too would be recognized.

The Hall of Fame Ring of Honor is a display of player’s names atop the Lexus President’s Club seats behind home plate. It was installed this week as a reminder of baseball days gone by and a step toward ensuring that Nationals fans of the future know where their beloved team came from. Dawson and Carter are just two of the names inscribed inside that ring.

“Anytime someone extends that effort and pays homage to your career it’s very gratifying,” Dawson said after seeing the ring in person. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that I had to play for the organization. I never played here, but I understand the history and the connection and I’m most grateful.” Continue reading →

Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
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Shakespeare free-for-all adds online ticketing

Images courtesy the Shakespeare Theater Company

Images courtesy of the Shakespeare Theater Company

Shakespeare Theater Company’s annual free production is adding an online lottery for tickets this year. Or more accurately – and perhaps unfortunately – almost completely replacing the in-person pursuit of tickets. That’s a big winner for everyone who gets to enter the online lottery rather than wait in record-setting temperatures, but maybe not the most accessible to the area’s disadvantaged.

Perhaps that’s a non-issue; I don’t have any statistics on who goes to free-for-all and it might be that the less internet-soaked among us are mostly served by the STC’s excellent Students for Shakespeare program. Anyone else can still line up thirty minutes before the show to pick up unclaimed will-call seats, a number that I suspect will be larger than it was when folks had to stand outside and sweat for their spot.

The rest of us can go to the lottery page anytime between midnight and 1pm before the next showing (or the prior day for matinees) and enter for our shot. Winning gets you 2 tickets which you need to grab at least a half hour before showtime.

I highly encourage you to go – I really enjoyed this production during the regular season and expect this re-staging to be equally good.

Entertainment, Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Wrapping Up the Rickey

Alex Bookless wins the Rickey Contest. Photo: Scott Wolfson.

The Third Annual Rickey Month Celebration was Monday night, and I’m only now getting around to recap it after being honored to participate in the final judging. That should give you a better idea of what kind of wild fun party it was than anything I could possibly write, but…

The five final contestants presented a quintet of Rickey riffs highlighting the enormous talent we have on hand here in DC mixology. None were derivative, all were inventive, and it was a very tough call. That’s the sign of an excellent field of contestants – congratulations to the DC Craft Bartenders Guild!

But there has to be a winner, and it was Alex Bookless (The Passenger) with her The Root of All Rickey, a complex mix of both event sponsors Woodford Reserve Bourbon and Hendrick’s Gin. Continue reading →

Adventures, Downtown, Entertainment, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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August at Smithsonian American Art Museum

American Craft Masterpieces – Kim Schmahmann, Bureau of Bureaucracy, 1993-1999, courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

August promises to be chock full of events at many museums around town as the summer heat continues to build. Check out what’s going on down at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) during the dog days of August; all programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. The SAAM is located over in Penn Quarter at 8th and F Streets, NW.

Conservation Clinic (Aug 4; by appointment only)
Questions about the condition of a painting, frame, drawing, print, or sculpture? American Art conservators are available by appointment for consultation about the preservation of privately-owned art. To request an appointment or to learn more, email DWRCLunder@si.edu and specify CLINIC in the subject line.

Book Talk & Signing: “Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera” (Aug 5, 6:30pm)
Many of Rockwell’s most memorable characters were friends and neighbors who served as amateur models. Author Ron Schick discusses how Rockwell acted as director — carefully orchestrating models, selecting props, and choosing locations for the photographs that served as the basis of his iconic images. Book signing follows. (This is a part of the SAAM’s comprehensive Rockwell & the Movies exhibition.)

Continue reading →

Adventures, Business and Money, Entertainment, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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National Cheesecake Day: Get Your Forks Out

Photo courtesy of
‘The Cheesecake Factory’
courtesy of ‘Bitman’

In honor of National Cheesecake Day, all Cheesecake Factories have slashed prices on all their cheesecakes by 50%.  They’re also debuting their latest addition, Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake, which looks ultra yummy good. So stop in your local Cheesecake Factory, and treat yourself you a slice.

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, News, Special Events, The District, WMATA
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NTSB Finds Systemic WMATA Safety Issues From Red Line Crash Investigations

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Today in a five hour long hearing, (not including a one hour long lunch break) the NTSB released their findings on the 2009 Red Line crash. Chairwoman Hersman kick off the hearing with opening remarks that highlighted the thoroughness of the report, the importance of its findings and immediate need for WMATA to take action to rectify what Hersman called “WMATA’s anemic safety culture.”

As Tom pointed out earlier today, many of the findings had already been unearthed. NTSB Engineer Payan spent a good length of time both describing and fielding questions about the failures of the Automated Train Operation (ATO) system and the WEE-Z bond sensors that caused the first train to essentially disappear from the track circuitry sensors and made the second train speed up and, tragically, slam into the first train. Prior to the crash, circuit failures like this were happening so often that WMATA employees became desensitized to the alerts and would ignore them. More shocking is that since the crash, WMATA has identified about 290 track circuits capable of this same failure and has not replaced them. No word on if WMATA is currently paying more attention to the alerts. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Beer and Food Pairing at Little Miss Whiskey’s

Photo courtesy of
‘Hopeful Light’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

As a beer lover there’s something so interesting that pairings do to the way you experience beer.  You still think about the malt characteristics and the quality of the yeast as you drink, but you get the added element of how your beer is cutting or complimenting your food.  You experience whole new flavors and elements of the brew that the food enhances.  You’re continually surprised by how reality contradicts your intellectual supposition of how a certain beer with pair with a particular food. Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Ben’s Chili Bowl At Six Flags America!

Photo courtesy of
‘ka’
courtesy of ‘CstrzRock’

If you enjoy all the roller coasters, water rides, shows, family attractions for all ages, funnel cake, cotton candy, etc. already available at Six Flags America! then as of today you’ll be able to add chili and half-smokes to your list.

Our favorite chili and half-smokes from historic Ben’s Chili Bowl will be served at two locations: Hurricane Hot Dog in Hurricane Harbor water park and Colonial Cheesesteaks in the theme park. This endeavor will be Ben’s first theme park location and only the fifth place in the Washington, DC area where guests can dine on these famous DC eats.

News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Elton John Brings Star-Studded Tennis Benefit To AU

Photo courtesy of
‘Elton John, Live at Liseberg 8/7 1971’
courtesy of ‘yabosid’

Elton John is bringing his World Tennis Team Smash Hits charity event to D.C. this November, so get ready for a good cause complete with a legendary pop star here on our home turf.

The 18th annual event will take place on November 15 at American University’s Bender Arena with tennis greats such as Andre Agassi, Anna Kournikova and Stefanie Graf all making an appearance on the court. If we’re lucky, Sir Elton might just take a few serves as well seeing as he has a private tennis trainer who travels on tour with him (so says Politico).

All funds raised through the event will benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation and local Washingon, D.C. Area AIDS charities.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, People, Special Events, We Love Music
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An Interview with David Iskra, Star Wars: In Concert Exhibit Curator

Star Wars: In Concert
photo by Don Whiteside.

Star Wars invaded Washington DC last Saturday when George Lucas and Another Planet Touring brought their phenomenal multimedia road-show, Star Wars: In Concert, to the Verizon Center for two very special concerts. The concerts featured a massive orchestra and choir performing selections from John Williams’ historic run as score composer of the six Star Wars films.

Another major element of this event is a traveling exhibit of original props and costumes from all six Star Wars films. The exhibit filled the hallways of the Verizon center with exotic costumes and strange creatures from a galaxy far, far, away. My review of the concert portion of this event will go live later this afternoon. But first, here is a transcript of an interview I conducted with David Iskra, the curator of the Star Wars: In Concert traveling exhibit.

Continue reading →

Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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The African Diaspora Film Festival at National Geographic

Freedom Riders, courtesy the filmmaker and the National Geographic Society

Beginning tomorrow, the fifth annual African Diaspora Film Festival kicks off at the National Geographic headquarters here in Washington, DC. Showcasing a selection of independent films from around the world, the festival runs through Sunday and is presented in collaboration with the National Geographic All Roads Film Project and TransAfrica Forum. The festival will exhibit 10 films, eight of which are premiering in the DC area.

The ADFF presents to Washingtonians an eclectic mix of foreign, independent, classic, and urban films representing the global Black experience through an extraordinary range of subjects and artistic approaches. Created in 1993 in New York City, ADFF has long been delighting audiences with U.S. and world premieres of independent films, including features, documentaries, animation, and shorts.

The opening film, Freedom Riders, is the first feature-length film about the civil rights activists who risked their lives to bring the American people and government face-to-face with the civil rights inequalities that plagued our nation. The film was a Sundance Film Festival 2010 Official Selection made by Stanley Nelson. Gaining impressive access to influential figures on both sides of the issue, Nelson chronicles a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth and what can result from the incredible combination of personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Fringe 2010: The Rave Scenes

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Imagine a group of friends (and some hangers-on) sitting around one night talking about the club scene they used to frequent. No matter the particular scene, if you were a crazy clubkid you’ve had the post-scene breakdown, the nostalgia and the arguments about what it really meant. AWoL Productions’ The Rave Scenes is exactly like one of those nights, except the friends have an audience they are trying to educate about the scene long gone.

All the usual suspects are represented (the dealer, the dancer, the wannabe) and are helpfully nametagged as if it’s a support group meeting. In a way it is. Each personality (they aren’t really characters) is dealing with the loss of the scene and what it meant to them. Each one tries to convince the audience their version is the authentic version, and most want you to discount the drug element, which became the media and political bugbear that eventually brought the original scene down.  Continue reading →