Category Archives: The District

Fun & Games, The Daily Feed, The District
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Flash Mob Coming

Photo courtesy of
‘Dancing’
courtesy of ‘pete van vleet’

I feel like DC is on the cusp of mass pranking greatness.  Sure, we’re a few steps behind our NYC brethren, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with flash mobs and pantsless subway rides.  If you’ve yet to get in on any action of the like, you may have a chance on Feb 24th.  Steve Kemble, some fitness guru that I’ve never heard of, will be leading a dancing flash-mob in an as of yet undisclosed location in DC.  The dance moves will be posted on Youtube so that you can practice up ahead of time.  Register here.

Business and Money, Essential DC, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District
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Up Against The Wall Follows Commander Salamander

Photo courtesy of
‘Mystery man #1’
courtesy of ‘Ed Yourdon’

Exactly one week ago, I posted the sad news that long time Georgetown staple Commander Salamander would be shortly shutting its doors. The only glimmer of hope was that sister shop, Up Against The Wall, was still opened and right around the corner. Unfortunately, today’s posting by local DC-Georgetown blogger Carol Joynt, announces that Up Against The Wall will be closing as well.

No word yet on if this means the entire chain is going under.  I’m planning on swinging by the shop today and seeing if I can find out further details.

The Daily Feed, The District, WTF?!
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Former DC Judge Has A Stage 5 Clinger Situation

Photo courtesy of
‘looker – 26/365’
courtesy of ‘Diego’

D.C. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Janet Albert broke up with her girlfriend. And then her (now ex) girlfriend Taylar Nuevelle snuck into Albert’s house and hid in the attic over her bedroom with a supply of food and a bucket for a toilet. She listened to Albert’s phone calls and, according to WaPo, “is on trial on charges of burglary, unlawful entry and stalking. Prosecutors allege that she began stalking Albert and harassing with her with hundreds of phone calls, threatening e-mails and text messages after the two ended their year-long relationship in 2008. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.”

Yeah, so, that happened.

There’s more: “cellphone records show that Nuevelle called Albert 473 times between Sept. 11 and Oct. 22, 2008, including 139 times in one night.”

Oh you guys. I value a lot of virtues, but one of them I hold the highest is dignity. So I say to Taylar, GIRL, GET YOURSELF SOME AT THE DIGNITY STORE. Pick it up! You needs it. Or, you know, pick yourself up a copy of the critically acclaimed book, It’s Called A Break Up Because It’s Broken, grab yourself some Ben and Jerrys, a spoon, some tissues, and have it out. Then head to the shoe store, or to Filene’s basment, I mean… ANYWHERE. Just don’t HIDE, you know like, IN HER HOUSE, LISTENING TO HER. For real.

Talkin' Transit, The District, The Features, WMATA
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Quo Vadimus, Metro?

Photo courtesy of
‘bumpy concourse’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Thursday afternoon’s resignation of Metro’s John Catoe came as a shock. Having been in a room with Catoe not 24 hours before, I was especially surprised. Catoe did not look like a man defeated by the challenge. Instead, I felt he had likely thought of a plan of action, and stood ready to implement it.

Instead, we are here, rudderless, facing a transit system in its biggest crisis moment. Metro has four very large looming problems that need to be solved in the next calendar year:

  • Finish the Realtime Train Detection System

  • Receive the NTSB Recommendations and fix what hasn’t yet been fixed

  • Deal with a $40M shortfall this FY, and a $160M deficit for 2010-2011

  • Figure out how to fund 300+ new 1000-series cars

And that’s just the subway side of things. Add to that the (largely in good shape, but congested) bus system, and you have a job that should be roughly on par with the Augean Stables. There’s a lot to get done, resources are at a premium, and they’re likely not to expand. So, where do we go from here? Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The District
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Iron Horse Taproom Opens in Penn Quarter Tonight

Photo courtesy of
‘Seventh Street NW at Night’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The newest bar to hit 7th street opens tonight, POP reports. Brought to us by Bedrock Bars, the same folks that brought us Laughing Man Tavern, Carpool, Buffalo Billiards, Atomic and more, Iron Horse will be much in the same casual vein.

POP reports the motorcycle-themed watering hole “will feature skeeball, shuffleboard, jukebox, and big buck hunter.” Sounds a lot to me like a second location of Rocket Bar, which doesn’t mean I’m complaining, just observing.

Wanna be the first in the door? According to POP Iron Horse swings ’em open tonight at 507 7th St. NW., next to TangySweet.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The District
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Restaurant Week Begins

Photo courtesy of
‘Bangkok 54’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’

I don’t know if it is because I’m busy right now, or something, but you guys I’m going to have to admit a sin to you. I’m just not feelin’ restaurant week right now. For some unknown reason, it’s just not ringing my bell, or whatever. It’s a little close to the holidays, and it’s cold. I don’t know. Usually I’m stoked, but this time I’ve only got one reservation and I’m just kind of bored by it. BUT, I feel obligated, that if you ARE feeling it (which, good on you! for real.) that I am here for you. I just wanted to drop you a friendly reminder that it’s happening, now. If you haven’t made reservations, I’d recommend: Bibiana, Ceiba, Poste, Adour, Volt, Zentan, Willow, 1789.

Lisa over at Dining in DC put a ton of energy into creating a post all about the menus and extensions, and bless her for her enthusiasm, cause I just don’t have it. Now I think I’ll go take a nap, or something.

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The District, WMATA
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Another Near Metro Disaster & Potential Price Hike

Photo courtesy of
‘It has been a long day’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

As if WMATA hasn’t been in the news enough, today comes word that on December 10, 2009, a team of independent safety inspectors were nearly struck by a metro train at the Braddock Road Station. According to the Tri-State Oversight Committee, the inspectors “were forced to quickly scramble out of the way to avoid being struck.” Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The incident occurred shortly after Metro lifted a six-month ban on monitors accessing live subway tracks, and was only one of a long list of safety violations reported by the committee.  A summary of the report by The Washington Post stated that “Metro’s safety training was inadequate and that the transit agency needed to take “immediate, short-term corrective action” to ensure worker safety.” The Post also reported that WMATA is taking action to correct the situation and will hold a safety session with multiple transit agencies.

Additionally, we hear that the Metro Board will hold public hearings (to take place before a Jan. 28 vote) on adding a 10 cent surcharge to Metro fares. The increase in fares (from March to June 2009) would be an attempt to cover a $40 million dollar shortfall and to prevent significant cuts to both metro and metrobus service. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The District
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Will You Accept This Rose, DC?

Photo courtesy of
‘Candle Light and Roses’
courtesy of ‘Jill Clardy’

My shameless guilty pleasure reality show is The Bachelor. And this season? They’re showing some heavy-hitting DC love. I’m not convinced this is the best season ever, but The Bachelor is joining the ranks of Real World and Real Housewives with the DC love they’re giving us.

I don’t LOVE this season – honestly could Jake be a little more dull? I mean, I think he’s as hot as the next girl does, but come on! Does he actually have a personality somewhere? But you know what I do love? The DC love. There’s Ashley, who dressed up in the flight attendant costume and whose Mom shops for her – she’s a teacher in Fairfax, VA. Then we have Elizabeth, who was eliminated (much to my dismay) in the first rose ceremony. I liked that girl, she seemed actually down to earth (as opposed to um, say, Rozlyn? or Gia?) and I squealed a little on the inside (okay and on the outside to my roommate) when Elizabeth posed in front of the Capitol in her bio video. Finally, we have Ashleigh, who resides in Bethesda. I basically remember nothing about this girl, but apparently she didn’t get eliminated. Maybe we’ll see more of her in the future, one can only hope. Side note: I think the fact that three out of the 25 ladies on the show are from our area just proves how impossible it is to find a man in this town!

So two out of our three ladies are still competing for Jake’s heart, and a shot to get DC on the small screen. And before you say it, snarky commenters, you have something embarrassing that you love too, so I don’t wanna hear it in the comments okay? Don’t tease me about my hobbies. I don’t tease you about being an asshole.

Business and Money, Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed, The District
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Northface Store Robbed, Handgun Involved

Photo courtesy of
‘North Face Store, Georgetown’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’

Yesterday afternoon thieves entered The Northface Clothing Store on M Street in Georgetown, stole a large amount of merchandise and held the pursuing security officer at gunpoint before making their getaway.

At around 1:45pm, five suspects entered the store, removed a significant amount of merchandise, exited the store without paying and got into an awaiting dark colored, 4 door, Mercury Marquis parked on 36th and Prospect Streets. Then, according to Lieutenant John M. Hedgecock of the MPD, “The [Northface] security officer confronted the suspects within the vehicle. At this time, the driver of the vehicle pointed a silver handgun at the security officer and stated ‘back up’.” Fortunately, the  security guard, employees and passersby were not hurt during the incident. A description of the suspects is pending further MPD updates.

The theft is interesting considering October reports by My Fox DC and DCist that undercover MPD officers would be donning Northface apparel in an attempt to nab thieves. Wonder if the two are in any way connected. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The District
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Longing For Summer

Photo courtesy of
‘Serious Air’
courtesy of ‘Cazimiro’

I’m cold. No, seriously. It’s hateful outside. I miss summer. I miss flip flops, I miss beer on the patio, I miss eating outside, I miss laying in the park, I miss the pool, I miss my sundresses, I miss ice cream. And you guys, we’re heading into the doldrums, the WORST part of the entire year, in my opinion – January through March. I friggen hate this last part of winter because there are no good holidays, (I’m a valentines day scrooge) and it’s dark pretty much all of the time. So today, when I was getting angsty about this, I did what I do when faced with these feelings – I searched our flickr pool. So if you’re in need of a warm-weather fix, I’ve got you covered. The seasons always change, right? (At least that’s what Ingrid and Sara say.) So onward, for some summer lovin’. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The District
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Updated: Wind Advisory Issued Until Sunday 6pm

Photo courtesy of
’09 Kite Festival – Free as the Wind – 3-28-09′
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for the Baltimore/Washington, DC area that will remain in effect until 3am Sunday morning. Repeated surges of arctic air could produce wind gusts of 45-50 mph and can make driving extremely difficult for ” high profile” (aka tall) vehicles. So if you plan on being out on the roads be careful.

Update @ 01/03 , 10:10am: The NWS has extended their area weather advisory until 6pm Sunday night. Winds of up to 30 mph can be expected with gusts up to 50 mph.  The wind will lower outdoor temperatures to the single digits and teens.  If you’re heading outside bundle up big time!

Fashionable DC, The District, The Features
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Fashionable DC: Stylish and Warm

IMG_0894
Photo courtesy of Kelly Collis Fredrick

Winter has arrived in D.C. and if you have lived in Washington for a while you know we are not real pros at surviving the cold and not to mention dealing with snow! I find it is more of challenge to stay stylish during the winter months.

Here are a few items that will keep you warm and looking stylish this winter.  So ditch those Uggs!

Hats and Scarfs

Anthropologie in Georgetown has a great selection of knit hats in a variety of colors and styles that range from $38-$42, they are loose fitting so it will not mess up your hair completely.  And on the flip side if you are having a bad hair day, they are super cute and you can wear them all day.

Another great item is a spin on a classic  – a ruffled scarf.  Anthropologie sells them a bunch of different colors for $98 and I have also spotted some at Bloomingdale’s in Chevy Chase for a lot less at around $40. Continue reading →

News, The District, The Features, WMATA, WTF?!
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Metro Closes Above Ground Service at 1pm

alertmap_w_legend.gif

Metro has just announced that they will discontinue above-ground rail service at 1pm today, until the snow has stopped. That will close 39 stations until the snowfall has been managed.

In addition: Metrobus and Metro Access will stop running at 1:30pm.

The reason for the closures at 8″ of snow is that if the third-rail is covered, it can no longer transmit the necessary running power for the trains, meaning you could get stranded by the snow. Once they’ve cleared up the snow, they’ll return to normal service, but I’d expect that to be tomorrow at the very earliest. You can read more about Metro’s snow policies on their site.

Steven Taubenkibel of Metro has just said that road conditions are far too treacherous to continue service. For the remainder of the day, they’ll run empty deicer trains on the above-ground tracks, so you may still see trains on the tracks, but there will be no service there. They are emphasizing safety, asking people to stay off the roads so they can be cleared for service.

News, The Daily Feed, The District
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Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, ThunderSnow!

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

(Hopefully you read that title to the theme song of the popular 80’s cartoon)

UPDATE: NWS just issued a Winter Storm Warning with up to 20″ of snowfall.

Unless you’ve been hiding for a few days, you know that our beloved city is in for a real winter storm this weekend. And by that I mean REAL. A once every three years or so kind of thing for DC with predictions of over a full foot of snow even inside the beltway. But what makes this storm even more unusual than simply the amount of snow that could fall is the fact that we could experience the meteorlogical phenomenon that is thundersnow. DUN DUN DUN. A thunderstorm with snow? What? Crazy talk? Luckily, we have Logan Johnson, a Senior Meteorologist with the National Weather Service, here to save the day.

“Thundersnow is a rare weather phenomenon, which is basically a thunderstorm that forms in weather that is cold enough for the precipitation to fall in the form of snow instead of rain. Thundersnow is rare because normally thunderstorms need warm and moist air to form. Cold and drier air, like what occurs during the wintertime, is not very conducive to the development of thunderstorms. The two things that are necessary for thundersnow are the presence of unstable air and a force that will push this unstable air upwards. This force of rising air is provided by strong low pressure. The low pressure will push the unstable air upwards, allow for clouds and thunderstorms to form, and provided that the atmosphere is cold enough, it is thundersnow,” writes Logan. His full detailed and exclusive forecast just for WeLoveDC, including a complete explanation, is after the jump.

Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Business and Money, Food and Drink, Night Life, The District
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May We Have Separate Checks, Please?

Photo courtesy of
‘I take the fifth’
courtesy of ‘Lars Plougmann’

It has happened to everyone at some point or another. You’re sitting with a group of your friends at the end of the meal, and the waiter drops off the check. Some of you had drinks, you split an appetizer, and your one just-laid off friend only had dessert. This is going to be one heck of a check to try and divvy up. Finally, after some awkward shifty looks, someone brave picks it up, you dig around in your purse for a pen and the person of your left busts out the cell phone calculator. You pass the check around, and inevitably someone forgot to bring cash. You flip over the check, write dollar amounts next to your last names, and yet the bill doesn’t add up in the end. Someone gets shafted, someone else insists they paid what they owe when the obviously didn’t, and your friend that is the notoriously bad-tipper left 50 cents on a $25 bill. It’s just generally awkward all around and someone in the group winds up taking a big hit to the wallet. It’s an awful way to end a meal. Last week, after one terribly frustrating experience at dinner with a huffy waitress and paying in way more than what I owed, I finally had it. I decided that this issue of splitting checks in DC needed to be investigated, so I set about doing just that.

To begin, let me explain to you what I’m used to. In North Carolina, where I come from, individual checks are the norm. Generally you don’t even have to ask for them, but when you do ask for them, the waiter or waitress doesn’t blink an eye, and an itemized list appears with what you owe. Then you can tip on your total, and pay how you please – cash or credit. Unlike in DC, you don’t get a huffy waiter, and you definitley don’t have to scramble for pens or pound away on the cell phone calculator to divide the tax. Individual checks are just the way of the world down there – and maybe that’s not everywhere, but I’ve talked to so many people in DC that think it’s frustrating, annoying and unlike where they come from that I just HAD to investigate and write about it.

So I interviewed a bunch of people – customers, wait staff from some of the area’s most popular restaurants, managers and also the king of power dining in DC, Ashok Bajaj – and have finally come up with some answers. You may not like them, but at least next time you go out on the town with six of your closest friends, you’ll be armed with better information. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, The District
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Restaurant Week Announced

Photo courtesy of
‘Dining is………….’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Winter Restaurant Week will be Jan. 11-17 this year, with $20.10 (lunch) and $35.10 (dinner). Go forth and reserve!

I’ll be back soon with recommendations – but if you’re competitive and looking for some best bets/favorites from food writers in the area (including yours truly!) check out BrightestYoungThing’s The Best and Worst Things We Put In Our Mouth round up.

News, The Daily Feed, The District
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DC Ranks #1 In Student Debt

Photo courtesy of
‘Money’
courtesy of ‘bredgur’

It wasn’t enough to name Georgetown University #7 on the list of top 10 colleges and universities with the priciest dorms. Nope, not by a long shot.

Apparently almost half of the students attending secondary education institutions in DC graduate with debt. Not only that, but they have the highest debt in the country.

Washington Business Journal announced today that the average debt upon graduation from a DC institution in 2008 was $29,793. When compared to the national average ($23,200), there appears to be quite a discrepancy in price.

American University topped the list with an average of $34,213, with George Washington University in second, and Georgetown in third. Visit Jeff Clabaugh’s article at the business journal for more on the numbers.

News, The Daily Feed, The District
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Sen. Corker’s Daughter Carjacked Near Verizon Center

Photo courtesy of
‘Slow Down’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker’s oldest daughter Julia, 22, got carjacked last night at the corner of D and 7th Streets NW (near the Verizon Center) by two attackers. One of the men stopped to ask Corker where Gallery Place was while the other opened her driver’s side door, pulled her out of the vehicle, choked her, and threw her to the ground where she then lost consciousness.

She awoke from her brief stint of a black out only to find the attackers driving away in her SUV. Lucky for Corker, her SUV was equipped with OnStar and police were able to track the men down and arrest them.

Corker was not seroiusly injured in the attack.