Archive: June 2006
Feeding at Folklife
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is up and running! As we strolled along the grounds today, it was hard to believe that rain had pelted the Mall just a few days before. The sun was shining and a good lunchtime crowd...
By Julia Beizer | June 30, 2006; 03:45 PM ET | Email a Comment
Museum Closings Update
Friday Update: The National Museum of American History reopens tomorrow, July 1! Archives is still closed and expects damages will cost $2 million to repair. **** The National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Castle Information Center are back...
By Julia Beizer | June 29, 2006; 03:32 PM ET | Email a Comment
Ladies! Drink! Free!
Ladies, if you're short on cash and looking to to party, tonight is your night. Bar and club promoters realized a long time ago that the easiest way to draw large numbers of men to a club was to make...
By Fritz Hahn | June 29, 2006; 11:35 AM ET | Comments (2)
Arts Revival Downtown
It's a good weekend for the arts community in Chinatown. The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery reopen this Saturday after a six-and-a-half-year renovation. But before it opens, you can look inside the museums' revamped home --...
By Julia Beizer | June 29, 2006; 09:48 AM ET | Email a Comment
Rainy Day Blues for Mall Museums
Well the last few days have been a bloody disaster, eh? The rain has been torrential, the traffic's been horrendous and the downtown museums were just one of the many spots that this storm system has sacked. We've got the...
By Julia Beizer | June 27, 2006; 03:58 PM ET | Email a Comment
Truth, Justice: The Bryan Singer Way
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's the movie vying for blockbuster status this July 4th weekend! That's right, tomorrow Superman officially "Returns" in one of the most highly anticipated movies of the...
By Jen Chaney | June 27, 2006; 12:14 PM ET | Comments (1)
Rocking Out With Restaurants
Last night was the 2006 RAMMY Awards Gala presented by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. It was a rock star-style black-tie affair recognizing favorites in the local restaurant scene. As I reported in March when the nominees were announced,...
By Erin | June 26, 2006; 01:04 PM ET | Comments (4)
That's Just Ducky
Round these transient parts, it's a standard query to ask where people are from. And now you can play the same cocktail party game with your dining companion's meal. At the Blue Duck Tavern, the restaurant opening tonight in the...
By Erin | June 23, 2006; 03:08 PM ET | Email a Comment
Sunshine From a Bottle
With the forecast calling for rain, you could whine about your weekend plans, but if you hit the Omni Shoreham Hotel you could wine instead. Though it's no bargain, the seventh annual Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival will...
By Erin | June 22, 2006; 06:06 PM ET | Email a Comment
Thrilled with Chills
Summer officially begins today and with it the search for ways to beat the heat. Some of my surefire ways include kicking back with tropical cocktails, small light meals (no paella for me this summer), maximum time outside and plenty...
By Erin | June 21, 2006; 12:46 PM ET | Email a Comment
Unlikely Sites for Outdoor Music
Everyone knows the usual spots to hear live music -- your clubs in the city, pavilions out in the 'burbs and arenas downtown. But during the summer that list of spots expands, and this weekend is a perfect chance to...
By David Malitz | June 21, 2006; 11:29 AM ET | Comments (3)
Tiki Tumble
When did Clarendon turn into Arlington-by-the-Sea? You've got the flip-flop-covered-walls of Clare and Don's Beach Shack, Dewey favorites Love Seed Mama Jump and Kristin and the Noise performing regularly at the Clarendon Ballroom, and now Mama Quan's Tiki Hut, which...
By Erin | June 16, 2006; 12:19 PM ET | Comments (25)
Scorsese on Stage and a Last 'Word'
It's very rare that Martin Scorsese comes to Montgomery County, Md. Actually, I don't think it's ever happened ... unless you count the time he scouted downtown Rockville as a potential location for the "Goodfellas" shoot. Yes, I'm joking about...
By Jen Chaney | June 16, 2006; 10:37 AM ET | Email a Comment
Music of the Weird and 'Waltz'
You really haven't lived until you've seen a guy playing guitar while dressed up as a tree. That's just one of the offbeat images peppered throughout "Danielson: A Family Movie," a documentary that screens Friday night at 5 p.m. as...
By Jen Chaney | June 15, 2006; 10:42 AM ET | Email a Comment
Sweet Summer "Nothing"
For some, summertime means warm nights, fireflies, picnics and baseball. At Olney Theatre, it means Summer Shakespeare. This year, Olney hopes that summer revelers will find something to love about their production of "Much Ado About Nothing." Lasting two weeks,...
By Erin | June 14, 2006; 02:47 PM ET | Email a Comment
Home Runs and Hard Rock
Did you see a guy in a penguin suit waddling down Colesville Road last night? If so, you weren't hallucinating. That was just one of several costumed characters who attended the opening night of Silverdocs, which featured a screening of...
By Jen Chaney | June 14, 2006; 12:55 PM ET | Email a Comment
Rock on Screen
Thursday is already shaping up to be one of the busiest music nights of the year. You've got plenty of big names in town -- Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint at Wolf Trap, Sonic Youth at the 9:30 Club, Marshall...
By David Malitz | June 14, 2006; 12:05 PM ET | Comments (1)
Freaks Come Out on H Street
Ladies and Gentlemen! Step right up to see the remains of the last living unicorn, an amazing beast that traveled the world with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus! Gaze with wonder at the bull with two faces!...
By Fritz Hahn | June 13, 2006; 12:40 PM ET | Comments (3)
Silverdocs: It's Movie Time in the City (Well, Silver Spring)
The documentaries have arrived. Silverdocs, an international film festival devoted to the documentary genre, gets underway tonight in downtown Silver Spring. The opening night feature is "Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters," a look at why some Hollywood films succeed and...
By Jen Chaney | June 13, 2006; 11:02 AM ET | Email a Comment
Finally: Fort Reno
The long-awaited Fort Reno schedule has finally been posted on the organizers' Web site, fortreno.com. It's obviously still a work in progress -- 22 of the 57 slots are TBA -- but the fleshed-out calendar features a number of bands...
By Fritz Hahn | June 12, 2006; 12:59 PM ET | Email a Comment
Git Along Cowgirl
Just in time for picnic season, Cowgirl Creamery will open its doors in the Chinatown area tomorrow with its sumptuous signature cheeses and a variety of gourmet food goods....
By Erin | June 12, 2006; 12:21 PM ET | Comments (2)
Starting a Rumberos
Like girls who got gussied up for the school dance and then spent the night sitting on the sidelines, Julia and I had a huge letdown at dinner last evening. We boogied over to Rumberos, a brand new restaurant in...
By Erin | June 9, 2006; 03:51 PM ET | Comments (9)
What They Do is Stupid
David and I both paused when we received the latest Black Cat schedule. Saturday, August 5, the club hosts the Germs. As in the notoriously volatile L.A. punk band known for "Lexicon Devil," "Sex Boy" and "Shut Down (Annihilation Man)."...
By Fritz Hahn | June 9, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
The Truth About Carpool
Contrary to reports in other local media outlets this week, Carpool is not being driven out of Ballston. Yes, says Curt Large, the chief operating officer of parent company Bedrock Management, Carpool has entered into a contract with Donohoe Development...
By Fritz Hahn | June 8, 2006; 02:33 PM ET | Comments (7)
A Merry Dish of "Spamalot"
I was laughing from the moment I settled into "Monty Python's Spamalot" at National Theatre last night. Before the curtain is even lifted, attentive audience members will be amused with the Playbill and even the cell phone announcement. I will...
By Erin | June 8, 2006; 09:51 AM ET | Email a Comment
Nearly Ready to Farm
After months and months of speculation and waiting, Agraria, the restaurant owned in part by the North Dakota Farmers Union, has opened its doors at Georgetown's Washington Harbour. Situated among Nick's Riverside Grill, Cabanas and Sequoia, this will be the...
By Erin | June 6, 2006; 05:24 PM ET | Email a Comment
An Exhibit to Bank On
Nothing frustrates me more about the D.C. gallery scene than the hours. While many of the spaces have nighttime receptions, regular hours at most galleries directly coincide with my 9-5. The Cultural Center Gallery at the Inter-American Development Bank is...
By Julia Beizer | June 1, 2006; 05:34 PM ET | Comments (1)
The Full 90
With the World Cup just over a week away, every soccer fan's looking for a place to watch. Adams Morgan residents are fortunate to have a new prime venue: Earlier this spring, they welcomed the 90 Min Cafe, which hopes...
By Fritz Hahn | June 1, 2006; 03:09 PM ET | Comments (4)
