Category Archives: The Features

These are our features. They come back either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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The Choice: Give Bryce a rest, or Send Bryce to the All-Star Game

Photo courtesy of dmbosstone
Bryce Harper – Arizona at Washington – 5/1/12
courtesy of dmbosstone

The Nationals’ rookie phenom Bryce Harper is in the final four players that could be named to the All Star Game this year in Kansas City. The young outfielder has had a tremendous start, putting up a strong slash-line (.280/.354/.478) despite the fact that he’s the most pitched-around player in the National League right now.  His 23 RBI put him tied for fourth on the Nationals’ depth chart, and only Adam LaRoche has him beat for OPS.

But is he an All Star? 

If the All Star Team is about enthusiasm, yes, absolutely, Harper belongs there. There is no player in the bigs right now playing with the sheer emotion of Bryce Harper, for better or for worse. Harper’s played the game like his hair’s on fire since coming up in late April. His hustle and charge mentality is unquestioned, though it appears to require the seasoning of experience, as Harper’s been caught several times trying to add an extra base to a single or double, or getting a little too excited on the basepaths.

If the All Star Team is about production, though, Harper’s argument is far less clear cut. Atlanta’s Michael Bourn is the better outfield according to just about every major stat. Bourn is 5th in the NL in Wins Above Replacement with 3.9 (Harper has just a 1.4 WAR rating) and appears in 18 different top ten lists of NL stats. Harper, unfortunately, doesn’t make a single one of those lists, but he’s got about 20 fewer games than most of the leaders.

Perhaps Harper should get a good three days’ rest with his family back in Vegas and come charging back into the season after the break. They’re going to need Harper’s offense down the stretch, and a pause might do him some good.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with These United States

Jesse Elliott, photo by Tamara

These United States play exuberant, uplifting alt-Americana rock & roll. They formerly called Washington,DC home, but are now based in New York, and spend copious amounts of time on the road. The band recently opened for country legend Willie Nelson, and are touring now in support of their fifth studio album, the eponymous These United States. They’ll be making a stop to play Black Cat this Saturday, July 7th. This week TUS frontman Jesse Elliott offered WLDC’s Alexia Kauffman a little peek inside his mind. Check it out here.

Alexia: How did you first start playing music?

Jesse: Honestly, it was like soccer, or math club, or all these strange things we got signed up for when we were very young and couldn’t possibly know any better and they turned out to be these beautiful human endeavors that people had been doing for centuries, just a goal and a ball and a bunch of other humans to kick it all around between. 
 
Alexia: Was there any artist or album that first sparked your love of rock music?

Jesse: The Who. 
 
Alexia: You all were based in DC for a while- what was the catalyst for your move?

Jesse: We were moving around so much, it just made sense to keep moving. we had one foot on the platform, at one point, and then all of a sudden both of them were on the train, and we couldn’t say why, but even the platform looked perfect in the distance, from that far away – so why not?  Continue reading →

The Features
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Thank You, from all of We Love DC

Photo courtesy of mosley.brian
DC Brau – The Citizen – 01-28-12
courtesy of mosley.brian

This is the most marvelous of cities. It is not the tallest, nor the most tree-covered, nor the biggest, nor the trendiest, nor the richest.

Nor does it have to be to be first in our hearts today.

Gathered in congress in Philadelphia, the representatives of the people declared this to be an independent nation backed by divine providence and the sacred honor of those who lead her. Not long after this place on the Potomac was carved into being from Virginia and Maryland, and brought into existence, but not before much blood was spilled, fortunes lost, and cities and town burned and rebuilt. This city has been built and rebuilt and Kinsella’s army of bulldozers have erased and rewritten and erased this city’s past over and over again. Like a chalkboard, its shadows remain, and the whole combined picture is one of haunting beauty.

This is an incredible city, where all walks of life share small space. Where all backgrounds are represented in her government, and where even the smallest layer of civic life is infused with an incredible spirit of volunteerism and activism. Where neighborhood associations and ANCs are the lifeblood of our participation, no matter how contentious the results end up being.

Gathered on the patio of Fox & Hounds, we started We Love DC four years ago. We launched four years ago today with our declaration of love for the city, it continues on today, stronger than ever. 

Thank you for reading, and cheers!

Alexandria, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: The Grille at Morrison House

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Halibut at Kimpton’s The Grille
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Walking down King Street on a warm, early summer’s evening after a good meal, I thought to myself, “Why don’t I come to Old Town more often?” You can wander in and out of shops, there’s no shortage of places to eat and it’s a nice little escape from downtown. It’s the picture-perfect Main Street and it’s only a short (well, when Metro’s working) ride away. My reason for being in Old Town Alexandria this particular time was to check out the new menu at The Grille with their new chef, Brian McPherson.

Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of Can Wong
Unexpected Thunderstorm
courtesy of Can Wong

I know we don’t want to keep talking about Friday’s storm, but you’ll have to forgive me with this picture. I mean look at it; isn’t it just amazing? From the ominous blue color of the sky, to the lightning streaks, to the framing of the Capitol Dome; this is damn near perfect. Can Wong must have risked life and limb to get this shot, but it certainly paid off. I tip my cap to you, sir!

Before I got into photography, I always wondered how people caught shots like this. As it turns out, this is equal parts skill and luck. The actual technique is a long exposure; keeping the camera lens open for longer than a fraction of a second of a normal photograph. That way the lightning, which only last a second or two, can snake across the sky and be caught by the camera. The luck comes in with where you point the camera, and whether you have the camera exposing when the lightning strikes. Because as soon as you see the lightning, it’s already to late to get a photo. Sounds simple, but it’s not. That’s why I’m in awe of this one!

BTW: last reminder about the 4th of July Fireworks meetup tomorrow. 6:30pm meet up near the Arlington Cemetery metro stop; read the post for more info.

The Features
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Mayor Gray to Pepco: “This will keep happening”

DDOT crews clear a tree in Woodridge

DDOT crews clear debris on Monroe Street (photo by author)

Author’s Note: This story was written at 6pm tonight. It wasn’t posted until 9:48pm because we still don’t have Internet back in Brookland yet.

I got home after a long hot day in the sun working with my clients to restore their operations, as a friend said that Mayor Gray, fresh off an overnight flight from China on Sunday, would be in my neck of the woods. I walked the two blocks to 18th & Monroe St NE where a large tree had been blown into power lines on Friday. The tree wasn’t the only one down in Brookland and Woodridge, and the storm wasn’t the first to take power for an extended period of time. The previous Friday a microburst struck the neighborhood and again sent mature trees into the elevated power lines that Pepco has refused time and time again to underground.

The Mayor was a welcome sight, as his black-on-black Lincoln Navigator was also accompanied by a pair of dump trucks that are part of the Bridge & Tunnel repair team and a pair of front end loaders. About ten minutes after the mayor met with some of the affected residents, the stump of the tree – freed from Pepco wires on Saturday night late – was hauled off. 

Mayor Gray said, of the outages, that “this will continue to happen,” until Pepco can underground the lines that run through so many residential neighborhoods in the city. Pepco has resisted attempts to underground the lines citing expense, though the utility has never been able to clearly identify a cost that can be agreed upon. The city had budgeted $1-4M for the streetscape along 12th Street NE in Brookland from Rhode Island Avenue to Michigan Avenue, but then Regional VP for Pepco Vincent Orange Sr. suggested that the costs would be much higher, and the money for that undergrounding project was scuttled.

Mayor Gray in Woodridge

A DDOT front-end loader and the Mayor’s Entourage (photo by author)

The Mayor, and his Director of Communications Pedro Ribeiro were both fairly pessimistic about the chances to get Pepco to listen to the pleas of the area citizens, citing a lack of full autonomy for the council before the whims of Congress, and the heavily-connected resources that the utility wields in the public arena. Gray was also quick to say, “I’m not their best friend right now,” suggesting that the Mayor wouldn’t roll over.

Gray – and the City Council – would be wise to quickly tie any potential rate hike – Pepco is on the record asking the council for an increase in subscriber rates – to a comprehensive plan to underground the lines through major corridors over the next 5 years and increase the efforts made to prevent tree-based outages, and add a longterm plan to underground lines throughout the city.  The city has the opportunity to split the cost for this new conduit system with other providers of local wire-line services including Verizon, RCN and Comcast, all of whom are reeling from major outages throughout the city in the wake of the derecho storm on Friday night, all caused by trees and piggybacking along the same infrastructure.

The Mayor and the Council have a unique opportunity to forge a good coalition of local utilities, and create private sector jobs, while also fostering good will with the citizens throughout the city in an effort to reduce power outages.

Brookland and Woodridge have now had two three-day outages in twelve days – that’s two restocking trips to the local groceries for spoiled milk and meat. A commitment to making sure that this doesn’t happen again would go a long way with area residents to soothe irritated nerves over the loss of household budget control amid recurring storm losses.

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, Interviews, People, The Features, We Love Food
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Scott Little, Local MasterChef

Photo courtesy of bhrome
DSC_0995a
courtesy of bhrome

The latest chef to be eliminated from FOX-TV’s MasterChef series was Scott Little, a resident of Annandale, Virginia. Little found himself on the short end of a dessert challenge, failing to impress judges Gorden Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and Joe Bastianich with his strawberry shortcake. His tenure on the show was marked not with drama or emotion, but with a dedication and passion to learning more about his chosen craft from his fellow contestants and the three acclaimed culinary experts.

My wife and I had the enjoyable pleasure of talking with Scott and his wife Johanna about the experience and sampling some of his cooking. Over the course of the afternoon (which you can click here to learn all about), Little shared about the show, his passion for cooking, and his future culinary vision.

Our gathering occurred over the weekend after the massive storm that swept through the region on Friday evening. Power in several northern Virginia neighborhoods was still out; the Littles only got theirs back on that morning. Scott had to scramble through three area grocery stores to find enough ingredients for our meal. “It felt like one of those Mystery Box challenges,” he says after greeting us at his home. “I ended up pulling together an hors d’oeuvres from ingredients in my garden.” Continue reading →

The Features
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DC Reels from Friday’s Storm

Photo courtesy of Can Wong
Unexpected Thunderstorm
courtesy of Can Wong

More than a quarter of DC area households remain without power this morning in the wake of the severe storm that hit Friday. OPM and many state and local governments have placed their staffs on liberal leave and telework this morning ahead of the start of the holiday week.  At the storm’s height, more than 1.5 million power customers were without power as the 60-80mph winds tore through the area late Friday night.

Power remains out for more than 650,000 homes this morning as Pepco, BGE, Dominion Virginia and others work to repair the damage caused by falling trees and other debris on the power grid. Current restoration timelines are fairly dire at this time, with Pepco releasing a power restoration target of 90% of their customers by Friday. Dominion Virginia’s picture is a bit rosier, with 85-90% of their customers expected to have power by Tuesday, while BGE expects that their repairs will take through the upcoming weekend.

Temperatures are expected to rise into the mid and upper 90s through most of the week with high humidity which certainly looks to make for an uncomfortable week in the nation’s capital.  Cooling centers have been setup throughout the affected areas and will provide some relief for affected residents, some of them are staying open 24/7, but check with your municipality for the latest timing.

The area utilities are citing extenuating circumstances when asked to explain the long repair timelines. The storm is the third worst in area history in terms of outages, and the only non-hurricane event to make the top five list, according to the Post’s Mike Debonis. Area political figures including Montgomery County’s Chief Executive Isaiah Leggett, who said, “Having our citizens having to go through seven days without utilities is not in my opinion the kind of level of services that we should expect.” 

Pepco is currently in the process of asking for a rate hike for its subscribers in the District and Montgomery County, which should go about as well as you might imagine given the abysmal restoration timelines and the inability to draw peer workers to clean up the storm.

More than just the power, Internet access has been dramatically affected throughout the metropolitan area. RCN is citing a fiber cut for many of its outages and the inability to repair until Pepco permits them to work on their broken network. Comcast, while not citing specific issues, says that they are working closely with emergency personnel to repair the damage, but neither Comcast nor RCN would offer any kind of timeline toward restoration of services.

On a more personal note, I wanted to say how proud I was of all my DC friends, I saw a lot of good neighbors out there taking in their friends, taking in strangers even, during this storm. This is the sort of thing that builds community, through the difficulty. The outpouring of support throughout the various neighborhoods, despite variegated disputes over budget priorities and zoning and even the littlest thing. This is a town that can pull together when it matters, and that is always heartening. And we did it all with our mayor 12 timezones away in China. Not bad, DC. Not bad at all.

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 6/29-7/1

Photo courtesy of OnofreShoots
Meeting of the Minds
courtesy of OnofreShoots

Derecho. Noun. A storm that really messes up weekends and forces people to spend a hot couple of days without AC. Hopefully, by this point, you have your power, internets, and what-have-you back. If not, you have our sympathy! It’s small comfort, but check out today’s flashback (hopefully in a over air conditioned office) and relax. And remember: 4th of July week means four day week!

Speak of 4th of July, remember that we’re having a We Love DC meetup for the National Fireworks. Check out that link and it will give you all the info. Come one, come all! We’ll also do what we did last year and have a fireworks roundup Friday morning. So if you get pics of any area fireworks, be sure to upload to the pool. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features
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No Cooking Necessary Options for 4th of July

Photo courtesy of laura padgett
glover park farmers’ market 7.10.10 – 28
courtesy of laura padgett

Stop playing nose goes with your friends when trying to decide who’s going to host the cookout this Fourth of July. Instead, here are a couple of places that can supply the food platters so you can enjoy the party. So pick up some good eats, kick back, crack open a cold beer and toast to the birthday of the United States of America.

Red Apron Butchery – Fourth of July Packs
Feed the whole family with Red Apron’s swine-tastic pack. For $50 ($52 if you opt for the bacon bangers sausages), you get a rack of spice-rubbed baby back ribs, a pound of sandwich-ready smoked brisket, 1 package of five all pork hot dogs, four fresh sausages (choice of bratwurst, Italian or bacon bangers) and a pint of house-made Coca-Cola BBQ sauce. And it’s all nicely tucked into an insulated Red Apron bag, so you can just show up on a friend’s door step ready to commandeer their grill. Place your order online and pick it up at the DuPont Farmer’s Market on Sunday, July 1 from 10 AM to 1 PM.

Cork Market & Tasting Room – Patriotic Picnic Baskets
Pick a pic-a-nic basket, boo boo. The first option, the sandwich basket, has options such as sopressata with roasted peppers and tapenade on house-made focaccia or smoked ham with Nancy’s camembert and pickled onions. Or go with the second option, the chicken basket which has either a Peruvian grilled chicken or the garlic-herb marinated fried chicken. Both baskets come with side salads; either a farro salad with wild mushrooms, spring onions, preserved lemons or a Mediterranean cous cous salad and Italian sweet wines. The sandwich basket is $25 ($35 if you add in wine) and the chicken basket is $40 ($55 if you add in wine). To get your picnic basket, call 202-265-2674 or email info@CorkDC.com.
Continue reading →

capitals hockey, Sports Fix, The Features
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Capital Upgrade: Summer 2012 Edition

Photo courtesy of bhrome
2012Draft031
courtesy of bhrome
Typically, the period between the NHL Awards night and Unrestricted Free Agent day – known to non-hockey fans as July 1 – can be one of tumult, surprise, or downright boredom. It’s when the front office of every team takes the spotlight, working last-minute contract deals, shuffling trades for salary cap space, and executing the yearly NHL Draft. Year to year, it can be hot, cold, or lukewarm for any organization.

This year, the Washington Capitals have been hot. How hot? Enough that I’ve had to morph this article from a NHL Draft day summary into one that encompasses several changes from the Caps’ front office over the last few days. And the initial prognosis – such as these can be in the off season – is that the Caps may have finally found the last pieces of their playoff enigma.

A fast recap: in the last week, we have 10 new draft selections, a new coach, a new second-line center, and sayonara to two players (with a third possibly on the horizon). Shall we dive into the changes? Continue reading →

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Jun 29 – Jul 1

Photo courtesy of philliefan99
soaked duckling
courtesy of philliefan99

It’s weekends time, when your humble managing editor whips pleads with the We Love DC authors to submit their list of trouble they’ll be up to over the weekend. Addison, sadly, was overcome at the prospect of the impending 100 degree heat and only sent in “ERMAHGERD HEATWAVE!”

YouTube Preview Image
(Probably said in the voice from the video above)

We presume he’ll be in the news shortly after his arrest for trying to move into one of those coolers full of ice in front of a 7-11. Everyone else put down their super-soakers long enough to turn in the following.

Photo courtesy of ekelly80
rainbow umbrella
courtesy of ekelly80

Marissa: I’m kicking off my weekend with a show at the 9:30 Club Friday night. One of my favorite (and not just cause they’re also GWU alums) bands, Jukebox the Ghost is playing and I’ve been listening to their new album, Safe Travels, on repeat for the past two weeks in anticipation. Saturday it’s time to pack up the car and hit the road to Harper’s Ferry Adventure Center where some friends and I are going to go tubing. Can’t wait to kick back and enjoy the lazy river before we head back to DC and grill up a ton of food. Sunday will be spent catching up on errands and maybe I’ll take a trip out to the Baltimore Farmer’s Market, since I’ve heard some good things about the vendors in Charm City.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Jesse Malin

photo by Danny Clinch

New York rocker Jesse Malin has been playing in rock bands since the tender age of twelve, starting out onstage at New York’s legendary CBGBs, he went on to front the glam-punk band D Generation for years, touring with Green Day and others. He has performed as a solo artist for years now, as well as with his band St. Mark’s Social, and has released three solo records. He’s currently on a small solo tour, and is making a stop in DC this Saturday, June 30th, at The Hamilton. We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman got the chance to chat with Jesse recently, and here’s what he had to say.

Alexia: So you’ve been playing in bands since you were a kid, right?

Jesse: Yeah, I started when I was twelve years old, we did the audition night at CBGBs. Monday nights were the audition nights, and me and all my friends from Queens, New York drove in and piled up in cabs and cars and we did the audition showcase. We ended up starting a band called Heart Attack, doing a few records til I was sixteen, doing some touring, that kind of stuff. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Vince Scheuerman

all photos courtesy of Vince Scheuerman

Vince Scheuerman has been a hard-working musician in the DC area for years. Not always part of the “scene”, he fronted the successful power-pop-rock band Army of Me for many years, riding a rocky road of successes and pitfalls, before starting the band River James in 2010. This spring after touring extensively with Nashville-based band Canon Blue, alongside MUTEMATH and The Boxer Rebellion, Vince decided to move to Nashville. He’ll be returning home on Saturday, June 30th to play a solo acoustic set at The Hamilton, opening for New York rocker Jesse Malin.

We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman got the very busy Vince on the phone for a chat, and he talked about how he got started, the rough road of an artist on the rise, his plans for a new album, and more! Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Young Magic, Quilt, & The Tender Thrill @ Comet Ping Pong

Poster via Lindsay Johnson www.theLAjohnson.com

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Young Magic, Quilt & The Tender Thrill at Comet Ping Pong, Friday, June 29th!

Young Magic played at Black Cat a few months ago, opening for Korallreven. Their performance was enthusiastic and energizing. The trio, currently based in New York City is comprised of Australian ex-pats Isaac Emmanuel, Michael Italia, and Indonesian-born Melati Malay. They mixed dreamy vocals and ambient guitar with tribal-sounding rhythyms and hypnotic, thumping beats.

The Tender Thrill are classic americana rock & roll, and their debut LP is out now on Cricket Cemetery.

Quilt are art school duo pop. Their self-titled debut LP is out now on Mexican Summer.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9:00am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email in 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

The winner will be on the guest list at Comet Ping Pong. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. This is an all-ages show!

Sasha Lord and Micah Greenberg Present…
Friday June 29th, Quilt, The Tender Thrill & Young Magic
$10, 10pm and All Ages at Comet Ping Pong

Food and Drink, The Features
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2012 RAMMY Awards Recap

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Jeff and Barbara Black at the RAMMYs
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Sunday night some of the city’s big names and key players in the restaurant industry got glammed up and gathered for the 2012 RAMMY awards. After the jump, you’ll find the full list of winners, as well as a little recap and commentary from yours truly.
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Entertainment, Media, Night Life, The Features
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The Winning Ticket: Pauly Shore @ 930 Club, 6/30/2012

photo courtesy of Pauly Shore

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to Pauly Shore‘s Pauly-tics, at 930 Club on Saturday, June 30th!

Pauly-tics is a Showtime special that will air in the fall, that stars Pauly Shore in a live stand-up performance with other political comedians and celebrities. The show will include a live DJ, Shore, & other comics performing political comedy.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. 

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email in 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Photo courtesy of pablo.raw
Thirsty
courtesy of pablo.raw

Oh, look at the cute little baby! Seriously for a moment, look at the baby. Particularly his face. One of the best ways to have a dramatic picture of a person is to have a close up of their face. Pablo shows this to great effect. He does have the added assist of taking a picture of a cute baby; but even then he get the kid’s big eyes and a sense of contentment in his expression. In many ways this reminds me of a video essay I came across a few months ago which deconstructs the “Spielberg Face.” While Pablo doesn’t quite get to the level of Spielberg, he does show the technique very well.

We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Merry Wives of Windsor

Caralyn Kozlowski as Alice Ford, Michael Mastro as Ford, Kurt Rhoads as Page and Veanne Cox as Margaret Page in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Stephen Rayne. Photo by Scott Suchman.

I’ve been putting off my review of Shakespeare Theater Company’s The Merry Wives of Windsor because there’s nothing less joyful than writing a mediocre review. But Director Stephen Rayne and the other folks involved clearly invested a full 20 or 30 minutes of thought into the production so I owe them as much of my time writing about it.

Snark aside, that’s the more generous reason I can come up with for this production, which opens dull and plods through the conflict between the men in the first half. By the time we get to the better second half and the actors seem engaged with the material – rather than feeling like they’re reciting it phonetically – we’re conditioned to be bored. Which in a frothy piece like Merry Wives is almost criminal. But to think this is the best efforts of everyone involved is even more depressing than thinking it was phoned in.

Continue reading →