Category Archives: The Hill

The District, The Hill
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The New Capitol Visitors Center

CRW_0739
CRW_0739 by tbridge

The new Capitol Visitors Center is due to open in another three weeks or so, but we got a sneak peek yesterday at the brand new CVC and Emancipation Hall. The new Visitors Center began its project life as an extended above-ground addition to the Capitol, but over its design process, changed into a subterranean addition to the Eastern side of the Capitol. The 580,000 square foot addition to the Capitol is quite a site to behold. The interior construction is mostly sandstone, to match the rest of the Capitol, but it hasn’t yet been imbued with the same sense of character and gravitas as the rest of the building. I suspect that with another 50 or so years, it may begin to feel like the Capitol, instead of a shiny new convention center.

Set your calendars for Friday. That’s when the new Visit the Capitol website goes live. Once it’s up, you’ll be able to schedule your own tour of the Capitol, either through your member’s office (and yes, I understand this also includes Delegate Norton) or just on your own. While the site wasn’t previewed for us yesterday, we’re assured in a lovely glossy flyer that it’s going to rock. So, plan on visiting their site once Friday hits, and schedule yourself a tour of the new space.

The CVC will be the new point of entry for all tourism-related visitors to the Capitol, containing a full security screening area, and staging for the tours. The screening area opens upon the football-field-sized Emancipation Hall. The beautiful view from the skylights that you’ve seen everywhere is from the north and south sides of Emancipation Hall. I think we may get to see some incredible weather shots once it opens this Winter. Can you imagine the shot of a guy shoveling snow from there? Or hailstones piling up? Or the video of a downpour? Yeah, expect to see this one everywhere. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Now That’s Gotta Be a View

Now that's gotta be a view

Especially right now with all of DC’s amazing arbor turning gold and red, the view from the Dome of the Capitol Rotunda must be pretty much amazing. I caught these folks the other day getting a tour from their Member of Congress. See, that’s how you get up to the very tippy top of the Capitol to get to look out. So, if you want to get up there, write in to your representative, and see if you can’t finagle a Dome Tour.

The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Summer House Being Renovated?

Summer House Renovation

My favorite feature of the US Capitol Grounds, The Summer House, is currently fenced off and filled with scaffolding, plywood, and other construction paraphernalia. It appears a restoration or renovation is in progress, probably in tandem with other preparations on the grounds for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. Here’s hoping it’s open again by next summer; it’s a wonderful spot to relax and get a bit wet, if you know what I mean.*

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The Hill
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The last major face-off!

Image courtesy of www.politickeraz.com

Image courtesy of www.politickeraz.com

In case you live under a rock, the last of the presidential debates airs tonight at 9 p.m. EDT on all major networks. Tune in to watch the change-mavericks hack it out over domestic policy.  

In preparation, I’d suggest that you head on over to the Web site Palin as President and try and find all the hidden “easter eggs” in Palin’s oval office. The site is updated daily until November 4th.

If you’re like me and already did early voting, you have permission to tune into the REAL face-off happening tonight between Korto, Kenley and Leanne. The Project Runway finale airs tonight on Bravo at 9 p.m.

May the best fashonista… ahem… politico, win!

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Stabbing on Capitol Hill

The Hill East and MPD-1D mailing lists are abuzz with the alarming news from Capitol Hill of a woman sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times by a burglar late Monday night.

According to the account of a neighbor who came to help, the victim came home to an intruder in her house, and ran into a bathroom to call 911. He attempted to rape her, she fought back with punches, and he stabbed her 17 times before fleeing. The woman managed to crawl outside where neighbors helped her and called police. While all this was happening, the victim’s housemates were asleep upstairs. The intruder may have gotten in through an unlocked kitchen window.

According to MPD First District Commander David Kamperin, “the investigation is still ongoing, and the victim is recovering in a local hospital. The only lookout we have at this time is for a black male wearing light colored pants and a black hooded sweatshirt. Anyone who may have seen an individual fitting this description is encouraged to call our tip line 888-919-CRIME or text to 50-411.”

A friend tells me the victim suffered kidney damage and collapse of both lungs, but is recovering.

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Senate Passes the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007

Lincoln Memorial - Lincoln & His Right Hand - 9-30-08
Lincoln Memorial – Lincoln & His Right Hand – 9-30-08
by brian.mosley

Better known as the Bailout. That’s right, folks, it’s really just a Senate Amendment to HR 1424, whose purpose is: “To amend section 712 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act, section 9812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require equity in the provision of mental health and substance-related disorder benefits under group health plans, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment, and for other purposes.”

Get all that?

Yeah, me neither

But really, it’s the bailout bill.

Or something.

Entertainment, The Hill, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Romeo & Juliet, Redux

Taffety Punk's Romeo & Juliet, photo by Teresa Castracane

Rahaleh Nassri (Romeo) and Kelsey Grouge (Juliet), photo by Teresa Castracane

Taffety Punk Theatre Company sure has guts. The marketing for their all-female “answer” to Shakespeare Theatre Company’s all-male production of Romeo & Juliet had me instantly intrigued: “An hour shorter, a fraction of the cost, and 100% more women. We will totally crush them!” Really, with that kind of chutzpah shown by director Lise Bruneau, how could I not go? And only $10 bucks!

I wasn’t disappointed.

This is a very stripped down production that manages within limited budget and extremely tight space constraints to hit most of the passion points of the play. It’s like watching “The Outsiders” do Shakespeare, using very contemporary speech patterns and body language that help to freshly illuminate the text.

Two outstanding performances in this vein are Rahaleh Nassri as Romeo and Kimberly Gilbert as Mercutio. I swear every time Nassri came on, I thought I heard Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Possess Your Heart” – so perfectly did she embody that particular style of hipster boy the girls have a crush on. Oh, he may start out as a bit of a player, but once he’s hooked he’s yours forever. It’s a brilliant bit of naturalistic acting and she’s completely believable as a lovestruck teen. Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Technology, The Daily Feed, The District, The Hill
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Sneak Peek: The Sant Ocean Hall at NMNH

Sant Ocean Hall

Wow, what a morning. I spent the morning walking through the new Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History on the Mall. We got an introduction from the direct of the museum, and a great tour through the 23,000 square-foot space. We’ll have a full review up on Friday as part of our Tourism column.

However, there was one bit that was way too cool to wait for Friday to share: Science on a Sphere®. The Smithsonian’s new exhibit features this cool technology from NOAA which involves multiple projectors and a suspended gray sphere. It’s based on four desktop computers running Linux and some multiple projectors. It’s just amazing. Click on for the full size video.

Continue reading →

Monumental, The Hill
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Monumental: Lincoln Park

Nameplate

Lincoln Park on East Capitol Street between 11th and 13th is an idyllic little piece of real estate. Surrounded by old victorian rowhouses, the two-block wide park has plenty of grass and some lovely walking paths, and two monuments that I found fascinating. I decided not to choose which one, but rather share them both: the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, and the Emancipation Memorial.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors, The Hill
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Drained Capitol Reflecting Pool

Heads-up to those of you who were hoping for a nice, relaxing wade in the cool, green, avian botulism-infected waters of the Capitol Reflecting Pool: the National Park Service has drained the Pool till Aug 29th. NPS had considered draining as a quick, immediate protective measure to wildlife — cheaper and faster than installing a water circulation and filtering system, but not quite as aesthetically pleasing. It looks like they went ahead with the draining plan, or perhaps it coincided with what the sign on the fence says is a “routine cleansing.” It’s ugly, but less so, I guess, than piles of duck corpses.

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Interviews, People, The District, The Hill, The Mall
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Tourists Love DC: Diane from NYC

Di from NYC

Have you ever wondered what might be going through the mind of a tourist to our fair area? We see them all around every day, from all corners of the globe – wandering museums, walking the Mall, riding transit. So what if we took a moment to find out what it is they’re thinking as they visit what we see every day?

This is the first in a periodic series of interviews of tourists to our area. Call us curious, but I’m sure all of us at one time or another want to know what these out-of-towners really think about Washington, DC.

So let’s introduce a recent visitor. Meet Diane, from New York City. She actually was in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival; I had enjoyed talking with her then and felt she’d be a great start to this unique series here on WeLoveDC.

Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed, The Hill, WTF?!
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Uncle Ted Pleads Not Guilty

Senator “Uncle” Ted Stevens has plead not guilty to charges of taking bribes. Of course, this has Alaska all nervous as he’s been great for funding Alaska’s economy, but perhaps bad for the Internet (it’s a series of Tubes. Not a truck.) and now he’s facing serious corruption charges.

I hate to see members of our government, and guests in our town, flaunt so badly the laws that govern the ethics of the body. Oh well, right?

All Politics is Local, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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The Hill Hotness?

Never forget that we’re a crowd that can turn on a dime, here in Washington. Today’s example? The Highlights of the Hill Hotties. We could talk a lot about policy in this town, we could talk at length about legislative achievements, but instead we’re going to talk about fortunate genetic results. I love how this town just goes straight back to junior high when it feels a need for a solid dose of “Oh God, Look at the SHINY!”

[Edit] One quick edit here: I’m complaining here about the lameness of the Hill, not of DCeiver’s commentary, which is hysterically awesome, and probably how we should react when serious journalists go all beauty contest on us.

Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The Hill, The Mall
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Hill Staffer Hate

Via DC Blogs, we have a WhatLizSaid rant on hill staffers: “This is what your Harvard education has gotten you. Rule your coffee getting domain with an iron fist! “ She’s nice enough to qualify that there are nice, normal staffers, and then there are those staffers, so puffed up by proximity to political power and prestige that they must try to vocally and bodily exert an imagined sense of superiority over DC’s lowly Capite Censi.

Honestly, I can’t recall any runs-in with such brutes, despite living right on the Hill, but then I don’t work in government or play softball/kickball on the Mall, nor do I frequent local bars much. Are the stories true? Is there really such a high population of boorish hill staffers?

Crime & Punishment, History, News, The Daily Feed, The Hill
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Stolen Shakespeare First Folio Recovered

December, 1998: “I shall steal this priceless edition of Shakespeare’s First Folio from a Durham University exhibition! The perfect historical literary crime! Ha ha!”

July, 2008: “I wonder if this First Folio I stole is authentic? I shall bring this to the Folger Shakespeare Library and leave it with them for analysis. No way they can tell if it was the stolen one, and what will they do if they can? Call the FBI who in turn will alert Scotland Yard? I think not! Ha ha!”

(The suspected thief was apprehended by authorities back in the UK — in the town of Washington, of all places — then questioned at Durham and released on bail.)