Category Archives: People

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features
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We Love Music: Getting to Know Flo Anito

Photo courtesy of Flo Anito

Flo Anito‘s got a step-up when compared to her fellow singer-songwriters in the District. She has an official music video for her song “Uh Oh,” which is already getting press in the LA Examiner and DC’s On Tap Magazine. The video, shot in-town at the Capital City Diner, is just one of many bragging rights this girl’s got on her musical resume.

After a live audition, Anito was selected for the 2010 Artist Roster at the world renowned Strathmore Music Hall. “Uh Oh” was also one of five finalists in Cosmo Radio’s Breaking the Band Contest, which won Anito an on-air interview and a song spin on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Her new album, “No Dustbunnies,” features Chris Keup (O.A.R., Erin McKeown), Stewart Meyers (Lifehouse), and Brian Jones (Dave Matthews Band, Mandy Moore). It is also a best seller on both CD Baby and Digstation and is getting radio play in New York, Connecticut, and the DC metro area.

Anito is an established name in a vocal community of District performance artists. She encourages her musical counterparts and took the time to share her stories and experiences with the We Love DC audience.

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Food and Drink, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Andy Duffy

Photo courtesy of
‘Duffy’s’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

Up to this point in our profile series, we’ve mainly focused on the craft of bartending, a profession that’s finally getting its due. We’ve also talked to a few beverage program and bar managers, the people who design menus and run operations. But what about doing all that and more? What does it take to own your own bar?

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of owning a pub, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that idea. To get behind the dream to the reality, I sat down with Andy Duffy on a Saturday afternoon while hockey fans cheered in the background. As I spoke with him about Duffy’s, the Irish tavern that bears his name on Vermont Avenue near the 9:30 Club, it struck me that its one of those “third places” in my life. I’ve had friends work there, close friends are regulars, and hardly a week goes by without someone saying, “I’m heading to Duffy’s tonight.” There have been hockey game viewings, dart league matches, birthday parties and New Year’s. Duffy’s is my neighborhood pub.

Andy Duffy is most definitely the reason why we keep returning. But like the best publicans, he shies away from self-aggrandizement. There isn’t even a picture of him in this profile, at his request, because he believes the bar should be front and center. For him, the primary motivation to have his own place is the people factor. His low key pub is the “living room” for this intersection that used to be marked only by being a rough and tumble wasteland, now occupied by condos, the nearby Howard Plaza Towers, and newer bars like American Ice Company. More development is coming soon, but it’s still a bit rough in a different sense – Duffy’s has restrictions on its hours and is unable to stay open after midnight on weekdays, meaning when concerts let out he loses those potential customers. That’s a financial impediment to a pub’s success, and hopefully the results of a recent hearing will help change that in the future.

He took a serious risk opening his own bar. The five year anniversary is May 11. I wanted to know, has it been worth it? Continue reading →

Entertainment, People, The Features, We Love Arts
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The P Street Fairey

Heading west from the 14th Street corner of P Street, as jarring as a fence or brick wall, you’ll crash into a young Cambodian soldier, a machine gun hanging off his shoulder, a brilliant red flower pinned to his beret. The alley wall ends, but his steadfast gaze does not; and whatever his destination, it seems to lie far beyond the world of Whole Foods shoppers and restaurant patrons that cross his path.

Instinctively, the work represents thoughtful propaganda: a bold color scheme; simple, stylized shapes; and a gash of scarlet that draws the eye along the line of the machine gun…. When for the past decade the American public has consumed a war of desert operations and afghan uniforms, the brooding child fighter surely serves as a loud reminder that our war is not exceptional—others have preceded it, as equally horrendous and powerful in public memory. Titled “Duality of Humanity 2,” it could also mean just that— like his arm that carries a weapon while bearing a peace sign patch, how ironic is it that we fight wars to forge peace.

Or, in another twisted layer of irony, the whole thing could mean nothing at all.
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Comedy in DC, People, The Features
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Comedy in DC: Vijai Nathan

Vijai Nathan Photo 2

Vijai Nathan. Photo credit: Alexander Morozov.

Recently I had a fun chat with Vijai Nathan, a local comic who has performed across the planet and is the creator of the monthly comedy party “Fan-Freakin-Tastic” at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room. Vijai is a first generation Indian American and grew up in Rockville, Maryland.

How did you get into performing comedy?

I was a journalist working at the Baltimore Sun at the time, and I was engaged with someone I thought was perfect for me, my college sweetheart, and I had a great job and I was never more miserable. I just had always wanted to be a performer growing up and it was something my parents never encouraged me to do, because it’s not like Indian immigrant parents who are going to be like, “Yeah, here’s something where you are guaranteed not to make any money for the rest of your life.”

So, really what happened was I was just so stuck in my job and stuck in my relationship, and just stuck in my life and I saw this adult class to learn to be a standup comedian in two sessions. So I took that with First Class in Washington, D.C. with this guy that was funny, and when I took the class I was still a journalist during the day and just trying to do something to fill this performance dream that I had. The other people in the class were accountants and lobbyists, just kind of normal D.C. people who worked in the government. When I had my graduation class I was the funniest person there. Someone said, “Oh my God, you should be a comedian. You’re going to be the next Margaret Chang” and I was like “It’s Margaret Cho, but thanks!” Continue reading →

Adams Morgan, Essential DC, Fun & Games, Interviews, Night Life, People, The District
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He Loves DC: A Q&A with Christian Hunt

Photo courtesy of Christian Hunt

Once a month, on Saturday nights, Christian Hunt can’t be missed. He’s the guy in the bright red suit hosting the Capital City Showcase at the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan. Hunt is a District native. He was born at Georgetown Hospital and raised in Glover Park.

“It’s funny because there are so many transients here that I’m like a white squirrel, because I was born and raised in DC, still live in DC, and root for all the DC sports teams, though I pretend the Redskins don’t exist. As cheesy as it sounds, DC is my home and it always will be,” Hunt said.

Hunt took a few minutes to give We Love DC the low-down on why he thinks his hometown is “the most beautiful city in the world.” He might have lived in Boston during his college years but according to Hunt, the District is far from being a tourist trap.

Rachel: So tell me about this Capital City Showcase. It’s an evening that showcases a variety of local performance artists. How did the project get started?

Christian: I’ve been performing since I was 10 years old. Whether it was doing plays, playing piano, or singing in chorus, I was always on stage. At the end of college, I started dabbling in stand-up comedy, but when I started working I put it all on the shelf. So after years of not performing at all, I started to get the itch again. I remember being up late and watching infomercials for The Midnight Special, which was a variety show from the 1970’s that featured the best acts of the time. And I thought to myself “Why doesn’t something like this exist anymore?”

I also grew up watching the old DC20 channel, which featured local programming, like all of the kids shows hosted by Captain 20 (if you grew up here you know what I’m talking about). And again I thought “Why is there no real local programming anymore?” So I figured it would be really cool to fill both of those voids with a live variety show that featured all of talent that DC has to offer. And The Capital City Showcase was born.

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People, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Anthony Horowitz Signing at ISM Saturday

Photo courtesy of
‘(055/365)’
courtesy of ‘kimberlyfaye’

Those of you who have teenaged spy thriller fans may want to take note that acclaimed author Anthony Horowitz will be at the International Spy Museum store tomorrow at 1 pm. He’ll be signing copies of his latest Alex Rider adventure (and also the last), Scorpia Rising, and talking with fans.

Anthony Horowitz is the creator and writer of the television series Foyle’s War, Midsomer Murders, and Collison. He has also adapted many of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels for the ITV series. He’s also known for his string of bestselling children’s books, including the Alex Rider, The Power of Five and The Diamond Brother series. The ninth and final Alex Rider book, Scorpia Rising, just released at the beginning of April.

For more information, contact the International Spy Museum at 202-393-7798.

News, People, Special Events, The Features
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We Love Sports: The U.S. Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game

Photo by Rachel Levitin

Billy Demby travels to Walter Reed Medical Center to coach their wheelchair basketball team two times a week for two hours at a time. Demby, a Vietnam veteran and bilateral amputee himself, coached the All-Marine wheelchair basketball team to win gold in the 2010 Inaugural Warrior Games before starting with Walter Reed a couple years back.

The 2011 Walter Reed wheelchair basketball team is one of many participating in the Wounded Worrier Project. The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 dedicated to honoring and empowering wounded warriors. Walter Reed’s team is also one of three teams who have participated in the U.S. Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game two times since the game’s inaugural event last year.

This year’s U.S. Armed Forces Wheelchair Basketball Game was played Thursday, March 31 at American University’s Bender Arena and Demby’s Walter Reed players took the court against the National Rehabilitation Hospital Ambassadors.

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Downtown, Entertainment, Essential DC, Interviews, People, Special Events, The Features, They Make DC
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As Blossoms Arrive, a Moment with Diana Mayhew

DSC_2585

The National Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off tomorrow, commemorating Japan’s gift of 3,000 Yoshino cherry trees to the city 99 years ago. The Festival is a grand two-week affair that draws over a million people annually, with a diverse range of events all across the District.

Key to the success of this yearly event for the last decade has been NCBF President Diana Mayhew, who took over the helm in 2000 as Executive Director and then in 2007 as President. When she arrived, the Festival was an all-volunteer organization (begun in 1927) and its vision was to ensure that there was year-round, consistent staffing to ensure the growth, quality, and consistency of events. “We also help show the world that Washington, DC is synonymous with spring,” Mayhew told me. “There was a need to provide consistent services to residents and visitors interested in attending Festival events and there was no central communication.” The Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) donated the salary of an Executive Director for three years until the Festival got up on its feet, implementing fundraising and sponsorships to support itself and the cost of programming, which is offered free to the public.

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Food and Drink, People, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Jeff Faile

Jeff Garnishes
All photos by the author

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

“You could just write a short little paragraph: ‘Jeff hates vodka.’ That would sum it up perfectly.”

On a recent afternoon I sat down with Jeff Faile, until next Thursday the bar manager at Palena, and soon to be the bar manager (part of an excellent team) at Fabio Trabocchi’s return to DC, Fiola.

An army brat born in Rhode Island, he has a history degree from Clemson. Previously a manager at Tower Records in Philadelphia who moonlighted as a bartender, he moved to DC about five years ago and began bartending full-time. In November he got married, became bar manager at Palena, and was invited to join the DC Craft Bartenders Guild. And he owes at least part of his success to Twitter, of all things.

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Essential DC, History, Life in the Capital, Monumental, People, The Features
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Monumental: The National Mall & Memories

Photo by Rachel Levitin

My first physical encounter with the ivory American tower that is the Lincoln Memorial was at the age of 12. When I graduated from my four-year stint at American University at age 22, I maintained and continued to proclaim that the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite place to “sit and do nothing” in D.C.

Its hallowed marble grounds and view of the Reflecting Pool is a unique visual shot only available in D.C. Thousands of visitors flood the site daily. It’s a nice stop for a group photo and the corner stone of an essential plot point in Wedding Crashers but at the age of 23 I have no idea why I still call the Lincoln Memorial my favorite place to “sit and do nothing” in D.C.

When you live in Washington for long enough, the tourist appeal loses its initial flare. Often times, those of us who announce residency for longer than a Presidential term are left to visit historical sites, memorials, landmarks, and museums when family or friends are here from out of town … or we’ve guilt tripped ourselves into venturing out into the District’s finest attraction – the National Mall. Continue reading →

Education, Music, People, The Features
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A Look From The Inside: Duke Ellington School for the Arts

Photo courtesy of


‘Clouds rise from Duke Ellington School’
courtesy of ‘randomduck’

The Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington, D.C. boasts a 98 percent graduation rate in a public school district that only graduates 56 percent of its students on time. It is also the only dual curriculum program on the public high school level that attracts students from the entire D.C. metro area.

The school, founded in 1974, provides professional arts training and college preparation to talented D.C. public school students. Each student takes a full academic course-load and, additionally, majors in one of eight arts disciplines (Dance, Literary Media, Museum Studies, Instrumental or Vocal Music, Theater, Technical Design and Production, and Visual Arts), according to its website.

What makes this igcse tuition centre a success is its ability to fulfill the school’s proposed mission, to “give an artistic and academic opportunity to students who otherwise wouldn’t have this kind of unique opportunity.”

An Ellington education is no easy feat. Students have longer school days than the average D.C.P.S. student. Ellington holds classes until 5 p.m. every day. Ellington has two staffs: arts and academics. The respective faculties engage Ellington’s creative students with a curriculum that requires 34 percent more credits than other D.C. high schools.

If you want that your facilities look like this you should look for furniture for schools that will help them to be comfortable while they are in classes.

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Entertainment, People, The Daily Feed
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Oscar Watch: Talking Oscars With West-End Cinema (Part I)

Photos courtesy Madeline Marshall

Near the corner of 23rd & M St. in DC’s West End is a new movie theatre that has a true personal touch. You cannot enter or leave the West End Cinema without a personal greeting/goodbye from the theatre’s General Manager Josh Levin. Despite the lofty title, Levin and his business partner Jamie Shor are very visible in the day-to-day operations. When I visited the cinema this past weekend Levin was busy typing away on a Macbook in the front lobby. From his makeshift “office” he can answer e-mails while also serving concessions and talk with patrons on what they thought of the films they saw.

Levin and Shor are no strangers to the film industry, Levin is a local bar owner and works in the film distribution scene while Levin is the President of PR Collaborative, a local film PR/Marketing firm. They opened up West End Cinema four months ago because they wanted to see more screens in the city for Independent/Arthouse film.

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Food and Drink, Interviews, People, We Love Drinks
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A Round With … Katie Nelson

Katie Nelson
Katie Nelson
Photo by the author.

The drinks team decided that this concept from the Flickr blog would be a fun way to get to know some local bartenders. So we stole it. We’re passionate about spotlighting D.C.’s finest behind the bar. Our first round is with Katie Nelson from the Columbia Room.

1. Introduce yourself. What’s your current position and how’d you get where you are today?

Katie Nelson, Service Manager and Bartender at the Columbia Room, a 10-seat private bar within the Passenger.

In a literal sense, I got my current job because I had been a regular at the Gibson, which was my neighborhood bar and, of course, where my boss, Derek Brown, worked for over a year. I was in the right place at the right time when he asked me to take a job working for him, and I’m a lucky lady. Beyond that, though, I come from a family that relishes food and unique experiences. I grew up mostly in North Carolina, but I’d also lived overseas in Saudi Arabia and traveled from a young age, which I reckon helped me to develop a wider palate. After college, I took on a bartending position in a restaurant where I’d worked as a server, and I loved taking care of the customers and making drinks, but I was under the impression at the time that the job wasn’t meant to be a permanent position. I moved to D.C., worked a few different jobs and moved around a bit more before coming back finally to the beverage/hospitality industry. I’d noticed that all of the things I’d liked about all of my previous jobs had in some way to do with aspects of this field, and considered culinary school, but realized that the immediacy of working in a bar — crafting drinks in addition to being able to personally serve and talk to the customers — made bartending a more ideal position for me. My Southern-ness comes out — I really enjoy making people feel happy, so it’s a natural fit. My particular role at the Columbia Room brings my joys to the forefront: constantly experimenting with flavor, learning from the cocktail greats of the past and present, educating my palate and passing on information to others when I can, and helping to create a hospitable experience for our guests.

2. What’s the first drink you remember learning to make (or the first drink you remember drinking)?

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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, People
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Q&A with Henry Rollins


courtesy of Henry Rollins.

At this point does Henry Rollins really require an introduction? Since the hardcore punk era Rollins has been a jack-of-all-trades entertainer and thought-provoker with his bands, books, acting gigs, radio shows, spoken word tours, stand-up comedy, and most recently two National Geographic television specials about ‘the warrior gene’ and about snakes! Rollins grew-up in DC and to celebrate his 50th birthday on Sunday (50th!? We’re getting old!) he is coming home to put on two sold out shows at National Geographic’s Grosvenor Auditorium. I recently caught up with the notoriously tight-lipped Rollins and wrestled a few answers out of him.

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People, The Features
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Why I Love DC: Patrick Palafox

Me and Charles
My first D.C. roommate.

I drove from El Paso to D.C., 1,962 miles, in the Spring of 2009, because my former editor, Charlie Ericksen from Hispanic Link News Service, invited me to crash at his house and use his free parking spot to find a job here. I was one of his reporter interns during the summer of 2008 and one day he called me out of the blue while I was a recent college graduate to see what I was doing. He assumed I was up to no good when actually I was registering for an online dating site and watching T.V. at my parents’ house. He was right. Things were not looking good.

I was reluctant to return to Washington, but when I thought about my experience that summer, I recalled that I met tons of great people, always had something to do, and felt good about myself. I had a lot of reasons to return and now have even more reasons to stay.
D.C is an important city where major decisions are made all the time. Politicians can make us a little jaded about the political system, but when you stop and stare at the Capitol you realize that this is a place where winners are. That may sound lame, but all of the presidents of school clubs, top notch students, and worldly people are here doing what they can to make a difference in the world. Sure the news may make us believe otherwise, but hey, there is a demand for negativity so I don’t blame them for supplying the fix to those bad news junkies. Anyway, you can pry my viewpoint from my warm fuzzy hands. I stole that from a poster at the Rally for Sanity. I thought that was so cute. Continue reading →

Entertainment, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Let Me Down Easy

Anna Deavere Smith in Second Stage's production of Let Me Down Easy, directed by Leonard Foglia. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Twenty voices culled from three hundred interviews over three continents, all brought to life by one woman.

Baltimore native, MacArthur Award recipient, and something of a brilliant medium – Anna Deavere Smith has launched the national tour of Second Stage’s production Let Me Down Easy. Playing now through February 13 at Arena Stage, it’s a powerful exploration of the difficulties American culture has with death and disease, how we define strength, and the current inequality of our healthcare system. Its power doesn’t come from a slap, however. As a friend who came with me to press night aptly commented, “sometimes a gentle nudge to wake you up is more appreciated than a harsh shake.”

That doesn’t mean the piece doesn’t pack a punch. Embodying twenty individuals whose words are directly taken from their interviews, Smith weaves both the sadness and the hilarity of the human condition into a tone poem on what it means to face the end of life. From Eve Ensler’s uproarious theory of “who’s in their vagina?” to Joel Siegel’s dropping his clown mask as he faces cancer, it’s an experience of fascinating observations and appalling truths. Smith doesn’t hit the audience over the head with strident political activism or calls to action – it’s simply the stories that weave the message, and it’s for you to hear and be affected as you will. I find that to be very brave, and left with a feeling of being both uplifted and released at the same time.

Let me down easy? Yes. That’s how I’d like to go. Continue reading →

Life in the Capital, People, The Features
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Why I Love DC: Martin


‘Rock Creek Parkway at Night’
courtesy of ‘ianseanlivingston’

Why do I love DC?  Because I HATE DRIVING.

I guess I’ve changed a whole lot since I was 17 years old, when I kind of loved my summer job delivering food for Wing Zone around the suburbs of Atlanta. I met plenty of characters, sure, and getting tips for the first time felt like playing a slot machine! But the best part to me was driving around all day, blasting music for just me and the wings in the backseat. To me, this was freedom; no bosses watching over me every second and complete control over my playlist.

These days when I contemplate driving, pleasant memories of deliveries, road trips, and burning donuts in parking lots don’t come to me immediately. Mostly I think about how I got a $100 parking ticket* within a week of moving here, then got harassed for not having DC plates. Or I think about that time someone threw a brick through my side window just days before Christmas, while my car was parked in front of a church, in order to steal nothing more than a couple awesome CDs like Smashing Pumpkins’ “Zeitgeist” and a sweet mix I made called “Maximum Chillaximum”.  
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Adams Morgan, Entertainment, People, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Dana Ellyn’s “The Art of Dating”

You can also find horny sex contacts online very easily as there are many women using adult dating.

Elephant(s) in the Room. 20″x24″ acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of Dana Ellyn.

What can be better than gaming and porn together? However, many of them are irrelevant, yet there are a few erotic games at lovedignity that can make the difference.

Read More: https://www.lovedignity.com/top-10-best-adult-games-sex-games/

Jose lays the check directly between us. He couldn’t have have centered it more accurately if he’d held a ruler. The Pilot and I glance at the pleather billfold like it’s the elephant in the room it’s about to become.
– from Rachel Machacek’s The Science of Single

Earlier this week Katie interviewed one of her favorite writers Rachel Machacek on her new book, The Science of Single. Tonight one of my favorite artists, Dana Ellyn, unveils several paintings inspired by the book at a happy hour at Tryst from 7-9pm. It’s a fun coincidence bringing all our worlds together. Coyly titled “The Art of Dating,” Dana’s work is directly inspired by quotes from Rachel’s book, as well as her own ongoing investigations into the challenging aspects of being a woman and the conflicting expectations modern society places on us (and those we place on ourselves).

“Rachel attended my painting classes a few years back while she was in the midst of researching/writing/editing her book,” Dana explains. After randomly seeing Rachel’s Facebook status about her book being completed this past September, Dana sent her a congratulatory note, to which Rachel responded with an offer of a preview copy – “The only caveat is that you have to tell lots of people :)”

Of course Dana went one better. “Would you be interested in me doing a series of paintings and/or drawings inspired by your book and we could do a joint event with art and book launch sort of thing?” she asked. And Rachel’s response? “I. Love. Your. Idea. LOVE IT.” In a way that kind of literary inspiration mirrored Dana’s banned books series. After brainstorming sessions and the involvement of Danielle Lanteigne from Tryst, the exhibit was born.

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Interviews, People, Scribblings, The Features
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She Loves DC: Rachel Machacek

welovedc

I met Rachel a while back at a media preview at a local restaurant. At this point, many moons later, I don’t even remember which one, but we became fast friends and I began my raging obsession with this wonderful woman. Rachel writes about restaurants for Washington Flyer, but as we got to know each other, our conversations would always go back to one thing: boys. We’d talk about her love life, she’d give me solid, calm advice on mine, and I quickly learned she was writing a book on her experience dating.

I even got a sneak peek at the manuscript, and so when she finally got a publish date for her book, The Science of Single: One Woman’s Grand Experiment in Modern Dating, Creating Chemistry, and Finding Love, I was thrilled. So now that the release date of her book is TOMORROW, I thought I’d finally share one of my favorite people with you all. Continue reading →