Category Archives: Special Events

Special Events, The Mall, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Pride Before Fall

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“A Bird’s-Eye View of Amsterdam” (circa 1652), by Jan Micker, based on a 1538 work, courtesy Amsterdam Historical Museum

Two current exhibits at the National Gallery of Art are at first glance dissimilar. “Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age,” is a tightly restrained showcase of the grand Dutch Republic’s view of its cities and public spaces, using cartographic metaphor to show a mighty macrocosm at its seventeenth century height. “Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans“ takes on our own republic from a microcosmic perspective, capturing in lush yet depressing detail the consumerist chill of 1950’s America.

But seeing both exhibits in the same afternoon gives you the sense of how art can mirror culture – either cleaning up reality, or showing the truth beneath. 

“Pride of Place” could be marched through very quickly, your eye breezily taking in maps and cityscapes in soothing sepia tones. It’s all power and glory and civic cleanliness. But I urge you to resist this temptation to rush, and look closer. Details on these paintings are intensely human, the small smudged faces of the Dutch citizens at work. No attempt is made to sex them up – they are potato-faced plain, staunch and proud in their sensibility and commerce. Their quiet industry is matched with the republic’s burgeoning pride. But every once and a while there’s some guy goofing off in the corner! Continue reading →

Essential DC, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The District, The Features
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DCist Exposed Opens Friday

Photo courtesy of HeatherMG
DCist Exposed 2009!, courtesy of HeatherMG

It’s that time of year again, photography lovers.  The third annual DCist Exposed Photography Show opens this Friday at the Gallery at Flashpoint.  The juried show “showcases new talent as the artists reveal the city through the eyes of the people who live and work in the DC area.”  If you haven’t been to it in past years, it’s a great chance to view some amazing photographs taken by our superb group of local photographers, many of whom submit their incredible work to our very own WLDC pool.  Continue reading →

Alexandria, Fun & Games, History, Special Events, Weekend Flashback
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Photo Flashback: George Washington’s Birthday Parade

Happy Birthday, GW

Yesterday, we headed out to the “largest parade celebrating George Washington’s Birthday in the USA!” – Alexandria’s George Washington Birthday Parade. How can you beat that as the perfect homage to President’s Day? Here it is in a photo review, from clowns to horseback riders, the parade had it all. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Free Z Burgers Today

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flickr user: midstreammom

Get them while they’re hot! The Z Burger chain in Glover Park (not sure if this applies to all DC Z Burgers) is giving out free burgers tonight. These burgers seem less greasy than Five Guys and more like the homemade from your backyard barbecue type. Choose from a long list of toppings. I learned about the GP giveaway from this month’s Glover Park Gazette, which is always a fun neighborhood read.

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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RW Extender

Photo courtesy of
‘a vegan is crying…………….’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Last night kicked off one of my favorite weeks of the year, restaurant week. Places are slammed with people looking for cheap eats, and plenty of places extend their RW picks beyond just this week. WaPo’s GOG has the full list, but I’ve narrowed down my picks for you so you can make the best of the extenders.

First, I’d hit up Farrah Olivia, it’s a good deal. Jaleo is supposed to be delicious, and I will be finding out next week myself, when I head to Crystal City for the Crystal Couture event. Oya has upped the anty and is offering the $35.09 prix fixe menu through August (aka next RW) so don’t rush over any time soon, but mark it down to go for some special trendy night out on the town, cause Oya is delish.

PS7’s is one of my all-time favorite places in DC, so grab your spot now and you won’t be disappointed. Urbana and Willow are great, both fresh and tasty, though I’d do Urbana only for dinner because you can get it for much cheaper with the Urban Lunchbox deal at lunch. If you like Indian, which I don’t care for, Raskia is the place to be.

Ahh, affordable tasty eats are my favorite.

News, Special Events, Technology, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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ShmooCon Day 1 – Moose Spotting in D.C.

The Shmoo GroupYes boys and girls, it’s the annual start of the conference season for hackers, geeks, nerds and security people (and those are not mutually exclusive titles). ShmooCon, in it’s fifth year, has grown to 1500 attendees in an effort to spread the gospel about information and physical security and other novel topics that you’d be surprised to see any any con. While last years’ con had interesting neighbors (a CosPlay convention), the sheer size of this years has people scrambling to see how to make a homebrew UAV (members of HacDC), how the Srizbi BotNet was taken down (aka “The Day The Spam Stopped“), how your local Home Depot is selling you insecurity (“How To Defeat the Kwikset SmartKey“) and the keynote speaker, Matt Blaze, more famously known for helping defeat the use of the Clipper Chip and open up the government’s attempt at putting encryption backdoors into almost everything. There are some great talks planned for Saturday, which we’ll cover on “Day Two”, but if you’re in the Woodley Park area and see a lot of black t-shirted individuals crossing the street, trust me, they won’t hurt you…they just want your base. (If you want to view past conferences, the videos are located here – c’mon learn a little bit!)

Special Events, The Features
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Got a Date?

Photo courtesy of
‘Jessicart’ courtesy of ‘technotheory’

If you’re clueless about what to do for next weekend – and if you don’t know what the date is, you may want to leave your forest cabin periodically – then you may want to venture down to the DC Riverfront.

Why’s that?

Artomatic. From Feb 13 – 15, Artomatic and the Pink Line Project is presenting three great days of art and music. So grab a date and go!

Oh, yeah, one other thing: Artomatic 2009‘s right around the corner and they’re asking everyone to take a survey to help them prepare for this year. So you art and music lovers, head over and make your voice known!

History, Special Events
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Scribblings: Rufus Phillips

Photo courtesy of
‘The Three Servicemen Statue, sculpted by Frederick Hart’ courtesy of ‘cliff1066’

Tonight at the International Spy Museum is a visit to our nation’s past, as we look ahead to our future.

As the East and West battled for dominance in the Cold War, the fate of Vietnam was a matter of enormous importance. In the 1950s, the U.S. Saigon Military Mission (SMM) was created to respond to this situation with dual purposes: a covert CIA and an overt military aid mission. Under the command of Colonel Edward G. Lansdale, the legendary covert political action operative, the SMM was preparing stay-behind agents for both North and South Vietnam, should the North succeed. At Lansdale’s side was Rufus Phillips, an Airborne Infantry Officer detailed back to the CIA. For his role as the sole adviser to two major Vietnamese army pacification operations, Phillips was awarded the CIA’s Intelligence Medal of Merit. He later joined the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Saigon Mission to lead its counterinsurgency efforts. In this wide-ranging discussion, Phillips, the author of Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned, will describe his wartime experiences in Vietnam, how the SMM operated, the renowned Lansdale, the extraordinary North Vietnamese spy Pham Xuan An, and the real lessons of Vietnam and their applicability today.

Rufus took a few moments to answer a couple of questions about his latest book – Saigon Stories – giving you a taste of tonight’s discussion.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Restaurant Week Picks

Photo courtesy of
‘matchbox sliders’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

People who regularly follow my posts here on WLDC may be wondering why I haven’t posted on Restaurant Week yet. Well, it’s because I’m selfish.

There, at least I admitted it. I wanted to make sure my mouth got to feast on deliciousness before I made my recommendations to you, blogosphere so ya’ll wouldn’t take my reservations. Get it? I’m competitive when it comes to MY FAVORITE WEEK(S) OF THE YEAR. I live for RW. I do.

I don’t listen to the haters who say places serve nasty food or you get bad service. Sure, I’ve had my share of that, namely the blah meal I got at Bistro Bis one time, or the crap service at the late Restaurant K by Alison Swope where the waiter actually told my table to eat their greens. But when you hit gold, you REALLY hit gold with RW. You can get more bang for your buck than Spitzer at the Mayflower. So where am I dining this RW? I’ll tell you… now that I’ve got all my reservations secured. Continue reading →

Inaugupocalypse, Special Events, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: Inauguration 2009

Photo courtesy of
‘look!’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

In case you were under a rock yesterday, we had us an Inauguration yesterday. Our 44th President was sworn in on the steps of the Capitol while an estimated two million people witnessed it and the following parade.

Our prolific area photographers were out in force yesterday; many of them you’ll recognize from prior visits to the Flashback. I encourage you to check out our Flickr feed, as all but one of the following shots came from it. And for images around the world, check out a special Flickr section that features some great shots taken by photographers outside our Beltway.

Many, many thanks to our regular pool contributors; you guys made my job extremely hard today with all the great photos. Keep it up!

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Special Events, The Features, The Mall
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Inaugupocalypse: Staying Warm on the Mall

Photo courtesy of
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courtesy of ‘erin m’

Bringing you the first-hand report of how to keep warm while at Inaugural festivities is friend-of-WLDC Lisa King, local adventurer and accomplished funmonger.

Now that I’m home and warm again after the We Are One concert on the National Mall yesterday, I have a few tips to share with anyone braving other events this week – particularly if you’re planning on watching the Parade or joining the crowd on the Mall to watch the swearing in. 

While it was definitely warmer yesterday than the day before, it was by no means balmy. Here’s what I wore (layers are inside to out):
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Inaugupocalypse, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Who Is Gonna Brave This Cold?

damn-cold

So for all the Inaugural hype, let’s have a serious answer: are you really gonna brave this cold for politics?

I mean really, folks, its gonna be freezing at best. Then there are the crowds, the security lines, and after the long walk from wherever, just to stand on the mall and catch a chill, is it worth it? Yes, its historic, but so was November 4th. And January 21.

Besides, all you’re really gonna see of Barak Obama is a Jumbotron. The same you’d see from the warmth of your own home. Or what I’ll be seeing from mine.

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Wherever Will I Find a Date to the Ball?

Photo courtesy of
‘Inaugural 09 Hotel Madness…’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

So you’re smart, good-looking, well-connected, and you’ve managed to score highly-coveted tickets to an inaugural ball. But what do you do in a “plus one” situation when you find yourself dateless? Craigslist, that’s what. There are multiple postings by guys looking for a lady swanky enough to take to an inaugural ball, some even offering to pay for a dress. Talk about once in a lifetime opportunity…right, ladies?

Downtown, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Navy Memorial Offers Restrooms, Food for Inauguration

Photo courtesy of
‘_SWP6526’
courtesy of ‘moworld’

Just got word that the Navy Memorial’s Naval Heritage Center will televise Inauguration Day activities live in its stadium-seating theatre, featuring a 46′ x 16′ HD screen. Registered guests get in-and-out access all day with clean, indoor restrooms. Food? No problem! A catered box lunch is included in the ticket price. All members of the public are welcome – IF they’ve got a $30 ticket and a reserved spot.

The Navy Memorial is on the Inauguration Parade route, halfway between the Capitol and the White House. Limited seating, so give them a call at 202.380.0733 or visit the memorial’s website.

Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Trains Not an Inauguration Option?


Photo by Nostri-Imago

I have a friend trying to make it into DC for the Inauguration scene, and I looked to see if he could take Amtrak or Marc to avoid the traffic jams. Seems neither may be an option.

Amtrak is almost all sold out from Monday through Wednesday. MARC is sold out January 20th, but has first come-first go policy for Monday and Wednesday.

I think this means trains are no longer an Inauguration transportation option, as even if he could get a seat, the inevitable delays may be longer than just driving down from Baltimore.

Or just walking.

History, Special Events, The Features
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Scribbling: Thomas D. Schoonover

Photo courtesy of Ya-Bing
The Unwavering Night Watch, courtesy of Ya-Bing

Thomas D. Schoonover, professor emeritus in history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will share his impressive research into the Nazi spy story of Heinz August Lüning, discussing how he separated fact from fiction from this story that inspired Graham Greene’s 1958 book, Our Man in Havana. He took a moment to answer some questions about his research and the book; you can meet and discuss Shoonover’s work at noon tomorrow at the International Spy Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

At the beginning of World War II, Heinz August Lüning, posing as a Jewish refugee, was sent to Cuba to spy for the Third Reich. Lüning’s assignment was to collect information about the United States and its allies and report back to the Abwehr, the German military intelligence agency. His Caribbean post was an important vantage point for observing shipping patterns and ship deployments, but things went badly wrong for the bumbling Lüning who was ultimately captured and executed for espionage.

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People, Special Events, The Features
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We Love Resolutions

Fortune Cookie.jpg
fortune cookie: look within by coolmel

Happy 2009, everyone! While I usually don’t get down with the Resolutions for every new year, 2008 was such a spectacular disaster in many ways, I’m glad to try to right the boat from the very beginning. Resolutions work best if you have people to help keep you honest, so we decided as a group to post some of ours here, below the cut. Got a good resolution? Post it in the comments! Continue reading →

Special Events, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 12/19 – 12/21

Photo courtesy of erinhime
courtesy of Erin Hime

There’s a little over ten days left in our first Holiday Photo Contest; have you submitted an entry yet? I’ve seen several great photos – but I have to say that if you want your photo to be eligible you have to follow all the rules, not just putting in the “WLDC holiday 2008” tags. We’d hate to disqualify someone’s photo simply because it didn’t follow all the guidelines. And believe me, there are some great shots so far. I know you have some as well, so why not enter?

It’s a free entry, you can submit up to five, and the prizes are top-notch. What are you waiting for?

Meanwhile, here’s a taste of what everyone did this past weekend. Are we ready for the holidays yet?

Continue reading →

Special Events
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Swept up in the yuletide

Photo courtesy of M.V. Jantzen
As Long As You’re Here
courtesy of M.V. Jantzen

I have a soft spot in my heart for Santarchy because of how I first encountered it. The very first December I lived in the area, I was sitting in a Starbucks off Dupont Circle and I noticed someone in a Santa suit go by. Then another. Then a few more. By the time a stream of them were stumbling by, one stepped into the shop and said…. something. It could have been the quadratic formula, to be honest – I was still a little surprised. A friend later reminded me of The Tick crying “it’s a yuletide!” in the face of a flood of Santas.

That was my first glimpse into Santarchy, and I still regret not immediately standing up and joining the crowd. I should have had a little more Santa in my heart that day and a little less Elvis (though everyone has a little Elvis in them (except the anti-Elvis)). I finally went back in 2006, and it was far more fun that I could have anticipated.

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Special Events, WTF?!
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The Office Holiday Party

BYT Holiday Party 2K7, by Flickr user pjarrettphoto

BYT Holiday Party 2K7, by Flickr user pjarrettphoto

Today is ordinarily the day when I tell you about some comedic happening in DC, why you should go see it, and when some malcontent starts snarking in the comments about whether or not the comedian in question is funny.  But not today.  Why?

It’s December, and the back and upstairs rooms of bars and restaurants that house the semi-pro comedy scene in DC are largely booked up for that most dangerous of winter distractions: The Office Holiday Party.

The Office Holiday Party is a sneaky beast, with the volatile mixture of alcohol and coworkers, holiday spirit and people you would not otherwise choose to socialize with. For couples, there’s often double the holiday party peril, with the added landmine of introducing a spouse or partner to that geechy dude in Accounting. I’ve got some advice for you on how to get through the most common hazards of the season with your dignity- and your paycheck- intact.
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