Category Archives: Special Events

Entertainment, Essential DC, Music, Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Music
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Support Underground Music In DC

Flickr Video

Gradually, over the last decade, Washington DC has evolved into one of the foremost cities in the world when it comes to experimental, avant-garde, noise, and improvisational music. There is a thriving underground of DC-based noise and improv acts boiling just under the surface of our fair city. Every year this scene is in the spotlight for one week when they invite fellow noise-mongers and sound-scape artists from around the world to come to DC and jam with them. This wonderfully creative week of far-out sounds is called the Sonic Circuits Festival. This year marks the 10th anniversary for the Sonic Circuits Festival and they need some financial support to finalize their plans for this year’s ambitious schedule. With a little help they will be bringing in musicians from as far away as Ukraine, Japan, and France. If you can spare a few (tax-deductible) dollars to help this unique, home-grown scene plan their festival, please pledge. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, Media, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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DMVIFF: A Festival for Filmmakers

Tanecia Britt; photo courtesy DMVIFF

This weekend marks the start of the DMV International Film Festival, showcasing the talents of various artists in our area. (‘DMV’ stands for the District, Maryland, and Virginia, for those wondering.) By showcasing up and coming artists from around the world, the DMVIFF is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the area’s indie film market through the development and presentation of original stories for the screen. The DMVIFF hopes to educate about the business of film through workshops and panel discussions during the course of the festival. The festival – and organization – has been put together by Tanecia Britt, a DC native and a freelance director.

The festival, which runs Friday through Wednesday the 30th, was the brainchild of Britt after her return from London where she obtained her Masters in Film Video and New Screen Media. “After I got back and created my first feature, School Without Walls, I had trouble entering the film in various area film festivals,” she said. “School was selected in 3 international festivals, so I was confused as to why it wasn’t accepted here in the DC area. It was then I noticed a real lack of knowledge of film festivals, so I decided to do something about it.”

Continue reading →

Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Quick Survey: World Cup

Photo courtesy of
‘American and English fans react as they watch World Cup match at Ireland’s Four Courts Pub’
courtesy of ‘TDLphoto’

Today is do or die for the US World Cup team.  If we can beat Algeria, we move on to the next group and get one step closer to the finals.  I’m guessing that work places are finding themselves slightly under staffed today and so I thought I’d do a quick poll.  Who took off or is taking off to watch the match today? Me, I’ve got my ESPN3 steaming as we speak and I’m definitely taking an early lunch to watch the second half.

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Get Ready to Fringe

Photo courtesy of
‘Frankie Goes to Washington…………’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

The 2010 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is live, and as always it’s jam-packed with a rich mix of the serious and the seriously messed-up. Now in its fifth year, the festival is an incredible opportunity for artists to present work not normally seen on DC mainstream stages, and a chance for you to indulge in watching (and sometimes participating in!) some crazy theatrical risk-taking.

Tickets are on sale starting today, and the festival itself runs July 8-25 with about 130 different performances to choose from. Payment options range from tickets to individual shows ($15 each) or packages to multiple shows ($50 for four tickets, $75 for six, $110 for ten and $300 for all) – note you will also need the $5 Fringe Button to enter any Fringe venue. Show venues are mainly in the Mount Vernon Square area, with Fort Fringe & The Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar set up at 607 New York Avenue NW.

I’ve only ever made it to a show or two in Fringes past, but this year I’m intending to be more ambitious and see as many shows as I can for you! Watch for timely (within 24 hours of first night, yikes) reviews here as part of our collaboration with DC Theatre Scene.

So get ready for some fast furious theatrical fun!

Downtown, History, Special Events, We Love Arts
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NatGeo Opens Up Da Vinci’s Mind

DSC_6845

If I say the name “Leonardo da Vinci,” what’s the first thing to pop into your mind? Most likely, thoughts of paintings such as the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper, or perhaps illustrations of his flying machine concepts. Maybe in some cases, the idea of a “Renaissance Man.” And you’d be right with all of those answers – but you’d also only be scratching the surface.

The National Geographic Museum’s latest exhibit, “Da Vinci-The Genius,” attempts to broaden that answer for you. This comprehensive traveling exhibition details the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci and will be on display from June 18 through September 12, 2010 and is made available by Grande Exhibitions, Fondazione Anthropos of Italy, and the French engineer Pascal Cotte.

“We have all heard of Leonardo da Vinci; most people think of him as the artist that painted the Mona Lisa, or maybe they heard he did flying machine drawings,” said National Geographic Museum Director Susan Norton. “But here, you can come to see full-sized models of what he designed in the 15th Century to address what he thought of as challenges, issues, and problems, and I think people will be fascinated when they come.”

She’s not wrong. Continue reading →

Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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mmm…brainzzzz

Photo courtesy of
‘This Is Gonna Kill Me (Again)’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

Update: Citing the need for more brains, the Zombies have postponed to next weekend.

The undead wars are upon us, folks. “True Blood” brought vampires back to your teevee last week, and the latest “Twilight” mind-killer is scheduled to attack you on the theater front at the end of the month. Not to be outdone by those blood-suckers, the zombies are planning to fight back en masse on the National Mall on Saturday.

Continue reading →

Adventures, All Politics is Local, Entertainment, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, News, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District, The Hill
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Recap: 2nd Annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game

2nd Annual Congressional Softball Game

Yesterday at Guy Mason Park in Glover Park, female members of the media took on female members of Congress in the 2nd annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game to benefit Young Survival Coalition.

Both teams were stacked with a who’s who list of Washington pols and reporters, including Captains Dana Bash of CNN and Shailagh Murray of the WaPo, and Captains Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a principal organizer of the event, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years at the age of 41. MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced the game and kept the friendly banter going.Very entertaining.

Off the field, it was a politico convention. DC’s First Lady Michelle Fenty kicked off the game was the first pitch. Supreme Court Justice, and Yankee’s fan, Sonia Sotomayor hungout in the Congressional dugout and Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in the second inning. Also spotted at the event were Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Minority Leader John Boehner, Majority Whip Eric Cantor, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, etc. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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N Street Village Night Sessions Comin’ Atcha

Photo courtesy of
‘Setting up at Rock and Roll Hotel’
courtesy of ‘dcjasmine’

There’s a new night-life music event call N Street Village Night Sessions taking the stage at the Rock & Roll Hotel next week. Here’s the run down on the situation:

  • Who: N Street Village, a nonprofit organization in DC that offers a safe, empowering community for homeless women to gain stability.
  • What: Food, drink, live music, and mingling while supporting an important cause for the DC community.  Tickets are just $35 for open bar, food and live music from three local artists: Evan Bliss, Tom McBride and Ro Sham Bo.
  • When: Thursday, June 24, 2010, 7:30 p.m. – midnight.
  • Where: Rock & Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street, NE, Washington DC 20002.
  • Cost: $35, order online at EventBrite.

Here’s “why” you should even attend:

  1. Live music
  2. It helps people
  3. The Rock & Roll Hotel rules
  4. Did I mention live music, helping people, and the fact that the Rock & Roll Hotel is always awesome?
Adventures, Business and Money, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
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Wonji Juice Comes To DC

Photo courtesy of
‘Juicing Apples’
courtesy of ‘tiffanywashko’

After Saturday night’s bender, my body and mind were begging me to consume something, anything really, that was nutrient-rich and healthy. With a frozen pizza and some left over chips my only pantry option, I dragged myself off to the nearby Whole Foods to fill my cart with leafy greens and organic goods.

When I arrived at the Georgetown temple of all things gluten and pesticide-free, I espied a new, and at that moment, perfect cure for my lingering hangover, a juice bar. Wonji Juice, the Annapolis started and based juice bar company, offers delicious and super-nutritious fruit, vegetable and superfood concoctions that address any therapeutic need (hangover, stress relief, skin health, etc.) that may be ailing you.

My cure was the Green River, which according to Wonji is a  “Vitamin and mineral dense greens for a nutritious blast! High in chlorophyll to improve blood quality and folate to help produce and maintain new cells.” I definitely picked the right juice for the occasion, and while I can’t say it immediately made my hangover go away, I could definitely tell that my body was thankful for the vitamin rich sustenance.

Entertainment, Music, People, Special Events, We Love Music
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We Love Music & Comedy: Conan O’Brien – The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour

Conan O'Brien Legally Prohibited Tour

Tuesday night had me back at DAR Constitution Hall to witness the madcap hilarity of the Conan O’Brien Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour. I don’t think I need to recap how Conan lost his Tonight Show gig to its former host, other than to mention how that extremely public NBC scheduling conflict resulted in one of the oddest forms of comedic revenge I have ever witnessed. The whole point of Conan O’Brien taking his variety show on the road is to keep America laughing while exacting sweet revenge on the ratings dead-weight that replaced him on air. For two months now, Conan O’Brien, his writers, and his band have been criss-crossing America delivering knock-out evenings of comedy and music. Tuesday night’s stop in DC was no different and provided the sold-out Team CoCo crowd with a non-stop night of comedic genius.

Continue reading →

Adventures, All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Entertainment, Essential DC, History, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Oh You Embassy Folk! You’re So Funny!

Photo courtesy of
‘The Last Lion’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

As the USA v. England World Cup match up fast approaches, the American and British embassy folk have begun the typical trash talking/friendly betting that normally occurs when two nations/cities play each other.

The email stream between both ambassadors has leaked on to the internet exposing the wager and now the details of their little bet are fully known.  If the US wins, then the US Ambassador gets a pub dinner on the crown. If the English win, then the English Ambassador gets a steak dinner on the colonies.

Personally, I think the wager is somewhat of a win-win situation for the British Ambassador.  He gets either the win and a steak, or if he loses some “home-cooked” food from his favorite pub. Whereas, if the USA wins, our Ambassador merely gets some fish n’ chips, and if we lose, he has to fork out for a steak dinner, and you know the British Ambassador isn’t gonna settle for a Tasty Diner steak. We’re talking Charlie Palmer’s here.

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Heart’s Delight at the Passenger

Photo courtesy of
‘The Passenger 8’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Charity is a good thing.  Charity plus drinking is an even better thing.  This is one of the reasons that Heart’s Delight is one of my favorite non-profits, because they consistently host charitable events that feature fine selections of alcohol, and their next event will be no different.  Heart’s Delight will be hosting a membership drive at the Passenger on Monday, June 14. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the organization and to join up.  10% of all sales will go to the American Heart Association.  I highly recommend that you check it out.

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, Music, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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2010 Ibero-American Guitar Festival

Photo courtesy of
‘2010:53’
courtesy of ‘::FiZ::’

This evening the 2010 Ibero-American Guitar Festival kicks off at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. The festival showcases classical guitarists from the Iberia peninsula, Latin America and South America. You can grab a little taste of what’s in store with the beautiful strumming of Berta Rojas.

Shopping for your first instrument should be the initial step in a lifelong journey of learning and inspiration. It can also be confusing because all musical instruments come in so many different makes and models. If you’re buying your first guitar, you’ll face choices like what size guitar to buy, deciding between an acoustic or electric, or whether to invest in a new or used instrument. While there are many variables that might affect your decision, the most important thing is to find a guitar that sounds good, looks good, and feels good to play, check the next online website, they did a great review of Yamaha c40.

This year’s festival is dedicated to Manuel M. Ponce, the Mexican composer who passed away in 1948, but whose guitar compositions continue to inspire the world of international guitar. Tonight, the Manuel M. Ponce Quartet will give a talk/performance illustrating the influence Ponce has had over three centuries of music and the artist’s relationship with the great Andalusian guitarist Andres Segovia. Saturday at 2pm Leonora Saavedora talks about Ponce’s effect on Mexican traditional song.

If you can’t make it out to the festival, there’s also a live webcast of the events/performance that’s definitely worth tuning into.

Entertainment, Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, Music, News, People, Special Events, The District, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The 9:30 Club 30th Anniversary Concert

Bob Mould performing at the 9:30 Club 30th Anniversary concert
“Bob Mould” photo taken by author.

“The reason this is the best club in America is the people that work here. Trust me, most nightclubs are terrible places. You don’t want to go there.” – Neill Fallon of Clutch.

“I can not imagine a DC without the 9:30 Club. It is unimaginable. It’s just unimaginable” – Mark Noone of The Slickee Boys.

“I love the fact that I’m from DC!” – Henry Rollins

“Let’s kick on the way back machine and get this thing over with.” – Bob Mould.

One of the truly singular music events I have ever attended took place on Monday night at the 9:30 Club. It was a special free concert held in celebration of this legendary club’s 30th anniversary. The night was also a celebration of the people who work (and have worked) there, the icons who got their start there, and the wonderful music that has been played there over the last 30 years. The night was full of anecdotes and music from 13 bands and artists that have strong ties to both the old and new 9:30 Club locations. For some the evening was a living, breathing, crash course in DC music history; for others it was a fun and at times even emotional trip down memory lane.

The 9:30 Club (original location) is the nightclub I cut my teeth on when I moved here in 1993. Within a few days of arriving I was catching my first show there (British twee-band Heavenly); and in the months and years after many, many more shows followed. I once took a date there to see The Boredoms and she left with a black-eye. My little brother did his first stage dive when I took him there to see Helmet. I was completely enthralled with industrial music after hearing Einstruzende Neubauten on the PA before the melodramatic, dynamite-strapped Sheep on Drugs brought the house down with their industrial-dance mayhem. And I was seduced along with everyone else in the crowd by Toni Halliday and the sounds of Curve. The old club opened my mind to most of the music that I still passionately love today.

The V st. location is without a doubt the best club-venue in the country. I’ve been to concert halls all over the U.S.A. and it always comes back to the 9:30 Club’s awesome sound-system (which I have written/gushed about at length over the years). Seeing a concert at the 9:30 Club is a sublime experience for a die-hard music fan. Perhaps none more-so than the amazing show that club-owner Seth Hurwitz treated dedicated DC music fans to on Monday night.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Jonas Brothers (Pop)Rock The Warner Theatre at 7 This Morning

JoBrosLiveDC Photo By Ashley Danchuck
Photo By Ashley Danchuk

Early yesterday afternoon hordes of teenage girls and entry level ladies lined-up outside Warner Theatre, according to the Washington Post, to receive free wristbands to a randomly announced Jonas Brothers show that took place this morning.

Getting into the show was an easy feat if you got in line early enough. Just stand outside the theater and wait for a wristband when the theater box office opened at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Sounds simple for the kiddies who are off of school, but what about those 20-somethings who have no shame in loving the adorable (yeah I went there, feel free to mock me, I can take it) pop trio?

24-year-old Ashley Danchuk, a self-proclaimed Jonas die-hard (she has a tattoo to prove it) and member of Team Jonas (The official Jonas Brothers Fan Club, who received word of the show on Monday night via e-mail), couldn’t skip out on her 9 to 5 to get the wristbands for the show so she had a friend go for her. It resulted in great success. Continue reading →

Adventures, Business and Money, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Lax Bros/Gurls Are Taking Over

Photo courtesy of
‘Lax.com’
courtesy of ‘teamstickergiant’

This past weekend Maryland hosted both the Men’s and Women’s NCAA lacrosse semifinals and championships. The women’s Division I championship game at Towson University, saw Maryland take home the national title against Northwestern and, according to the Baltimore Sun, the match drew 9,782 people — the most ever to see a women’s lacrosse game in the US.

The mens’ games started on Saturday at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, continued through Sunday and culminated with the DI Championship game between Notre Dame and Duke on a scorching Memorial Day. Although attendance for the final game was low, a mere 37,126, the entire weekend’s turnout was 116,289, up from last year’s 102,601 turnout at Foxborough, MA. The games stay in Baltimore for 2011, go to Foxborough for 2012, and 2013 and 2014 are up for grabs.

While the increases in attendance are good reasons to keep both championships in the MD area, in recent years lacrosse has begun to grow beyond its traditional East Coast/Prep School roots. The game’s popularity on the West Coast, Colorado and the South has  been growing like gangbusters, with many footballers taking up sport in the off-season for fitness maintenance. The same is true for female athletes who need to stay in shape for fall season sports like soccer and field hockey.

The sport is also seeing a growth in popularity among the non-prep schoolers, as demonstrated in “City Lax” playing Thursday at Silver Spring’s AFI Silver. This documentary follows a sixth grade, inner-city Colorado lax team as they learn how to play the Native American team sport and take on the prep school crowd.

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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DC’s Best Highschool Baseball Players Hit Nationals Park

Photo courtesy of
‘Take me out to the Ballgame.’
courtesy of ‘Paul Frederiksen’

This Saturday’s Congressional Bank Classic brings out D.C.’s premier highschool baseball players and team in a day long celebration of America’s game at Nationals ballpark. Featured events include a St. Albans v. Maret School match up, the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) Championship game between Wilson v. McKinley Tech, a citywide all-star game and the main Championship game between the two earlier game winners.

The event starts at 9:30am and goes until 8:30pm.  Admission and parking are free.

Interviews, People, Scribblings, Special Events, The Features
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Scribblings: Charlie Higson

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

This Saturday, Charlie Higson will be signing copies of his latest work in the Young James Bond series, By Royal Command. Higson collaborated with Ian Fleming (creator of the British superspy James Bond) to plant the seeds of how James went from being a regular schoolboy to the world-renown Agent 007 of Britain’s secret service.

Higson is a prolific British actor, comedian, and author. His television credits range from writing and performing in BBC comedies such as The Fast Show, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), and Swiss Toni. Before tackling the young Bond series, Higson wrote four other novels in the early to mid 1990s: King of the Ants, Happy Now, Full Whack, and Getting Rid of Mister Kitchen.

The Young Bond novels are aimed at younger readers, concentrating on James’ school days at Eton. There are currently five in the series; Silver Fin was released in the U.S. in April 2005, followed by Blood Fever, Double or Die, and Hurricane Gold. His latest, By Your Command, was released in hardcover in the U.K. in late 2008 and only recently arrived in the U.S. through Hyperion Press. He has since written The Enemy, a young adult horror novel, currently released in the U.K.

The International Spy Museum is hosting Charlie Higson for an author signing this Saturday from 2 – 4 p.m. The museum shared with WeLoveDC a recent interview they had with Higson about his latest Bond novel. Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, Life in the Capital, Night Life, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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An Evening with Samurai: No Ninjas Allowed

Photo courtesy of
‘ã��Edo Wonderlandã�� Bad Ass Samurai’
courtesy of ‘-ratamahatta-‘

Tonight, courtesy of the Japanese Embassy, you can catch some Bushi-Do, a mix of traditional swordplay, beautiful choreography, comedy and drama. Simply put it’s sword fighting with a contemporary twist. The event titled “An Evening With Samurai” starts at 6:30pm at the Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan 1155 21st Street NW, Lafayette Centre III. Admission is free.

The show is part of  Samurai Week which celebrates the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the U.S. 150 years ago, in which seventy-seven samurai crossed the ocean to secure the ratification of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation. During their visit, the samurai captivated the American people with their traditional clothing, top‐knot hairstyle, and prominent samurai swords. Oh yeah, they also developed the beginnings of a strong relationship between Japan and the U.S. No biggie.

The celebration continues through the end of the week with the Samurai Film Fest showing famous Japanese films by Akira Kurosawa, Yoji Yamada and Hatsuki Tsuji. The showings take place at the Japan Information & Culture Center and are free, however reservations are required.