Safeway Exterior Renovation

Before, During After. Can't really speak on the interior renovations, still haven't been in.

Video: Dupont Boombox Experiment

Last week's neat and arty music experiment was an apparent success. The fellows from Bluebrain put on an audience participation project in which anyone who wished brought a boombox to Dupont Circle. Each participant got one track of a 30 track original composition. Playing in sync, the group wound its way around Dupont, boomboxes on shoulders.

Well, here is the video to prove it. Thanks to everyone who participated and thanks to Ryan for the video. This is great. Sadly, I was not there. Of course one of the coolest events of the year and I have a rather pressing previous engagement. C'est la vie. Next time.

Oh, if you want to check out the brains behind Bluebrain, they are performing at an all ages free event in Maryland this weekend. Friday actually. See here for details.

Bluebrain's Cakeblood : Boombox Event in Dupont Cirlce from Ryan Holladay on Vimeo.

Fiesta DC 2009

Add me to the voices that wouldn't mind seeing Fiesta DC actually move to Columbia Heights next year. I love the fest. I love the music. I love the food (although, there was little vegan food). I guess I love that everyone else loves the food. I love the dancing. I love the parade. I love the attention that Mount Pleasant gets. Our businesses get a little boost. And I love that everyone who comes to Fiesta DC really enjoys seeing traditional singing, dancing, eats and gets the chance to buy all manner of products emblazoned with the country flag of their choice.

But the size of this Fiesta may have outgrown the venue. When 14th Street reconstruction is complete and the paperwork is in order, there should be a real effort to move this event to a proper place. Mount Pleasant may be symbolically the best place to run the festival, but 14th Street is a great alternative that should get heavy reconsideration. Give the dancers and performers the space they deserve. Give the thousands attempting to see the parade an actual chance to see it. Yesterday's crowd was massive and I gave up on the chance to see the entire parade. This party screamed for more space. Even the rain didn't thin the crowds. I want to go again next year. Hopefully it will be a bigger and better party on 14th Street; ten blocks long and a whole 14th Street wide. Accessible by Metro and on the way to becoming the best produced and possibly largest festival in DC.

Mount Pleasant Movie in the Park and Sidewalk Sale

Mount Pleasant Movies in the Park returns this Saturday. Mount Pleasant Main Street will screen the recent indie flick King Corn. It's a documentary about two fellows who literally grow a plot of corn and track the plant's journey through food-dom right up until human consumption.

Can a film about one of the most ubiquitous American plant foods be interesting? Most of my friends say so. And I'm inclined to agree. The film touches on other issues like the federal farm bill, genetically modified foods, nutrition and agribusiness. As they say, you'll never think of corn the same again.

But that's not all! Also happening before the movie starts: live music in the park and an urban gardening demo by the Neighborhood Farm Initiative. Businesses along Mount Pleasant Street will also hold sidewalk sales throughout the day on Saturday.

Where: Lamont Park (Lamont and Mount Pleasant Sts NW)
When: This Saturday September 26th. 6:00pm.
Who: Presented by Mount Pleasant Main Street

Photos: H Street Festival

H Street NE/Atlas District. Last weekend. Hope it happens again in two thousand ten.

NCAA Tourney Returning to Verizon Center

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is returning to the Verizon Center in 2011. We've been awarded the 1st and 2nd rounds of March Madness. During the first two rounds of the tourney the field is narrowed from 64 to just 16 teams.

The dates of the the 2011 first and second round games at Verizon are March 17 and March 19. A total of three games will be played.

Verizon was host to the 2006 drama of George Mason University's unexpected romp to the Final Four, as well as the West Region first round games in 2008. The venue also hosted the Frozen Four earlier this year. The Frozen Four is NCAA hockey's version of basketball's Final Four.

In Reversal, Fiesta DC Back in Mount Pleasant

Fiesta DC is returning to Mount Pleasant this weekend. The 38th iteration of Fiesta DC had temporarily moved to Columbia Heights, along 14th Street. But alas, it will be held exactly where it was last year, along Mount Pleasant Street NW from Park Rd to Harvard Rd/Argonne Pl. Last year's fest was just packed, with hardly any room to move among the crowds on Mount Pleasant Street during the parade. Otherwise, it was a great day with lots of food, sales and performances, much like the other lively DC street festivals. However, this one does really seem to belong to Mount Pleasant. I am one who is happy to have it back in Mount P. I would have supported it over on 14th Street as well, but all the same, I think it'll be more pleasant here, pun intended. Photos from last year's fest here.

The event will be held IN MOUNT PLEASANT, on September 27th 11:00am-7:00pm. That's this Sunday.

A map of the festival is below. Here is a link to the traffic plan (PDF); very important if you park in or drive through Mount Pleasant.

Here's a rough time line (courtesy the Fiesta DC website):
11:00 AM – 1:00PM: Welcoming and Performers on Stages
1:30 PM – 3:30PM: Parade of Nations along Mount Pleasant Street, traveling from Park Road to Argonne Pl. Folkloric and traditional dancers from Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean.
3:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Musical / Folkloric performances throughout the day.

Be the Band: Dupont Performance Art This Thursday

Here's a chance to be a part of art instead of just observing it. This Thursday some DC residents want you to help them help you liven up the last week of summer with a neat music experiment.

All you will need is a boombox. The imagination part has been taken care of by Bluebrain, a musical group comprised of two DC based brothers. They've written an instrumental song comprised of 30 separate tracks. The idea is that each boombox will get one of the tracks on a cassette. And when the cassettes are played together --in synchronicity-- the entire composition will be brought to life by the multiple boomboxes.

The boombox carrying mass will then travel the streets of DC until the the various tracks begin to diverge and an even more interesting effect is achieved. They hope. Bluebrain is not the first to try this. According to the duo, this type of performance has been done before, including by one of my all time favorite bands, the Flaming Lips.

The more boomboxes the better. Everyone will have a role! And this is just the type of event I love to see going on in the District. See, we can be creative, too! We may never shake the stuffy-no-life label, but let's try dammit. Here are the details:

Where: Dupont Circle (Metro stop --duh-- Dupont Circle; bus, uhm... the 42)
When: Thursday September 24, 7:30 pm SHARP
Who: Not required, but if you're sure you're coming RSVP at bluebrainmusic@gmail.com
Why: But is it art...? Yes! And you're making it!

(photo above by Dan C. courtesy of Victoria)

Friday Fun Post: Star Wars Edition

I was going to write a long winded political opinion piece, but it's Friday and I thought this was funnier. I will never get over how cool the Stormtrooper outfits are. And how funny they become when the guys in them are just talking at a bar having drinks. Anyway, if you like Star Wars, you'll like this.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

H Street Festival is Tomorrow

P Street Sunset

Keeping Tabs: Another Mt P Street Vacancy and New Farmer's Market

**Another Mount Pleasant Street business is gone. The Mount Pleasant Deli closed earlier this summer. It was at the bottom of the street, at 3068 Mount Pleasant Street NW, between Mayflower and Ercilia's. I wasn't a frequent visitor, but I often saw customers inside. They served sandwiches and other prepared other hot food as well as acted as a small convenience store.

**Rockville, New York... DC? Rockville, MD just passed a fairly restrictive no-smoking ban. Previously you were not allowed to smoke outside while at Rockville city facilities like dog parks and pools. The new measure amends the current policy to include playgrounds as well. Smoking was already banned inside hotels, bars and restaurants. New York City officials are also considering a similar law, banning smoking in its city parks and on its beaches. Rockville, NYC, why not DC. Let's do it.

**The "White House Farmer's Market" was just approved. Rather the street closures upon which it was predicated were approved. The market will be less than a block from the 42 bus route on Vermont Avenue NW between H and I Streets. Every Thursday 3pm-7pm beginning this Thursday September 17th.

**A handful of conservative bloggers (and others) got punked into publishing a fake photo of the anti-Obama gatherings in DC last weekend. Somehow a photo of a previous protest on the mall was circulated and captioned as last weekend's protest. Too bad the photo was taken years ago; the National Museum of the American Indian isn't in it, as it was not yet built. Common sense people. Use common sense. Easy. Not hard. Clowns.

It's Always Sunny in Adams Morgan: 31st Annual Festival a Blast

Eighty degrees and sunny. That was the forecast for Sunday's Adams Morgan Day, one of the largest neighborhood fests in DC. That forecast pretty much held, without a drop of rain all day. This fest tends to bring out all of Washington's types and you got a good change to see a bit of every kind of person who lives in this town. There was a little bit for everyone, and since the festival is free, you could have gotten away without spending a dime. But where's the fun in that!

If you've been here for a while, you know this is the last gasp of summer type festival. The air was smokey with grilled foods and loud with sounds of karaoke, live bands and children (mostly adult aged children mind you). Always faced with choices; go inside my favorite bar to drink and miss the great weather, or stay out enjoying the great weather and miss the drink. Go early and get food + free stuff, or come late to enjoy the cooler weather. For sports fans, miss NFL's opening weekend, or forget it for a few hours. Choices, choices.

A rare instance of having a car-free 18th Street. Not that it's easier to navigate. Generally the street was packed with slow walkers (me), socializers (me), eaters (me), dogs (not me), and pushed baby carriages (not me). Once again Madam's Organ decided not to participate. They even displayed a written, rather long winded, explanation, which I attempted to read, but trailed off after the second paragraph.

Other highlights included:

Some pols were on-site, of course. Mayor Adrian Fenty was there, fresh off of finishing the Nation's Triathlon yesterday morning. So was Ward One's Jim Graham. By the way, Fenty, aged 39, finished in the top 5% of triathlon participants with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes. It was an Olympic distance tri.

Dan's Cafe got a paint job! The outside at least.

A band of younger people (they looked about 14 and under) ROCKED the stage including closing with Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train.

Karaoke returned with some entertaining, if not talented singers. Always a can't miss at AM Day.

A friend explained to me, in detail, the differences between Portuguese, Brazilian and Angolan capoeira. Then I immediately watched some capoeira and couldn't identify which style was being presented. Sort of like failing an open book quiz.

Something about this year's set-up was different. The crowed flowed much better. And from my very loose estimate, there were a few thousand less people in attendance. Just according to the naked eye.

Same fried rice, lo mein and barbecued skewer street food offerings. Nothing special. Many restaurants open serving regular fare though.

Good chance to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a while, but knew would be at the festival. Hope you enjoyed it as well and here's to number 32 next year.

Apartment Houses: The Wyoming

This is actually a condominium now. It's had a handful of famous and semi famous personalities living in including the Eisenhowers (yes, those Eisenhowers), ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and feminist author and activist Betty Friedan. It's a huge building with over 100 units and backs right up to the Washington Hilton in Dupont. The Wyoming is in the Kalorama neighborhood and is directly served by both a north and southbound 42 bus stop. Beautiful building that I could barely fit into the viewfinder. The Wyoming is located at 2022 Columbia Rd NW.

Gen. George B. McClellan

This statue is over 100 years old. Overlooks Dupont and much of Northwest from a high perch at the corner of Columbia Rd and Connecticut Ave NW. Was just involved in a rather extensive renovation and cleaning. Looking good (and very green) now.

Arts on Foot Starts Thursday

The fall festival season is upon us! Arts on Foot is one of my recent favorites because it happens during the week and over several days. May be a little more accessible than the all-in, one day neighborhood festivals. And this one is centrally located around the intersection of 7h and F Streets NW. Even the name of the festival invokes the visual of people walking from an activity to performance piece to wine tasting.

Arts on Foot happens downtown starting tomorrow, Thursday September 9. This art show is juried. 50 artist will hold down the fort on Thursday and Friday and there will be over 90 artists on Saturday. Some artists overlap, showing on one, two or all three days. Countless activities and attractions are promised. The list goes on, but just for starters:

• Cooking as Art: DC's star chefs cooking and demonstrating their skills in edible art forms.
• Outdoor dance and music performances
• Hands on activities for kids; and adults, too
• Wine tasting
• Restaurant samplings from venues such as: Poste, Asia Nine, Clydes, The Source, Teaism , Co Co Sala, La Tasca, Zengo and many more.

Thursday and Friday, the festival artist will be located on the sidewalk in front of the National Portrait Gallery, F Street side between 7th and 9th Streets. Saturday's festival will stretch all along F St from 6th to 9th and down 8th Street from E St to F St. There are many activities I failed to cover, so check out the official site here. (photo provided by AOF)

Paradiso Still the Best, Even at New Location

Over 100 years ago, the first pizzeria opened in the United States. Way back in 1905, in New York City, opened by Italian immigrants. Pizza became really popular all cross the U.S. after World War II, when soldiers came back from Europe excited and hungry for this old Italian dish. Now you can get it cheap and by the slice, deep dish, thin crust, with cheese, no cheese, crazy toppings or plain as a tomato pie.

New York and Chicago are the recognized pizza meccas of the U.S., but we aren't doing so bad here in the District. At the top of that list for me is Pizzeria Paradiso. They've been around since 1991 and the original location on P Street just closed and relocated a few blocks east. The new location is at 2003 P Street NW, about a block from the nearest 42 bus stop.

All of the old menu is there with the same wood burned pizza from the stone oven. Slightly charred crust and fresh, fresh vegetables. Vegan friendly and the new Dupont location is now beer friendly. Between draft and bottled, there are over 180 beers. Pilsner to stout and beyond. An amazing list.

The atmosphere is very different from the original P Street shop, and in some ways, more similar to Georgetown. The space is actually pretty narrow, but opens up in the rear of the restaurant near the kitchen. Like the original P Street, there are bar seats that look over the kitchen. And like Georgetown, there are actual real bar seats. A long 15+ seat bar brings the total seating in 2003 P Street close to 100. I didn't do a full head count, but I estimate 90-100 seas in the new location. That's similar to the Georgetown location. Get ready for outside seating, which will raise the capacity even higher. The outside seating area is just to the west of the building, near the front door of a newly constructed office building next door.

P Street has gotten a major face lift (with public and private investment) over the last 5 years and is entering a new revitalization period. Thanks to these businesses, especially locally owned like Paradiso, for keeping Dupont fresh and a destination neighborhood for DC residents and others.

Don Juan Debuts Outdoor Seating

This was the first time I've seen Don Juan Restaurant offer outdoor seating. The restaurant is located across from Lamont Part at 1660 Lamont St NW. They had sidewalk seating (about 20 chairs) on Saturday and Sunday. Not sure if this a weekend thing, or it will happen every night they're open. Time will tell. I totally support more outdoor/sidewalk seating in this neighborhood. The problem is that most of the restaurants are on Mount Pleasant Street and the sidewalks aren't really that wide. But Lamont Street sidewalk is particularly wide in front of Don Juan so I say go bananas.

Yesterday there was a mini-festival which was not on my calender for some reason. The Latino Association of Mount Pleasant had speakers, music and some food across the street from Don Juan. I stuck around as long as I could and heard some danceable music, a few speeches and a long line for the one operating grill. If you have other details of the event, please elaborate.

Enjoy Labor Day.

Colombia Reaching Out With Hearts

You've probably seen these 8 foot tall hearts all over town. There are 40 placed throughout DC, many along the 42 bus route. The intersection of 18th St and Columbia Rd has two of the hearts. Turns out they are a promotional item for the county of Colombia. Discover Colombia Through Its Heart is a 10 day push coordinated by the country's DC based Embassy to familiarize Americans, at least those of us in DC, with the country. This is an effort to increase tourism and investment from abroad.

Most of the events happen at Union station over the next 10 days until September 15. You can meet the "real" Juan Valdez. Who knew it wasn't marketing after all? You can get free coffee. You can listen to Colombian music at free concerts. You can get some free cut flowers. Did you know that 70% of cut flowers imported into the U.S. come from Colombia? No? Its true. And Colombia is the worlds third largest producer of bananas. That's bananas.

Well, if you haven't seen, below are two of the hearts from downtown. And here's the full schedule of events happening at Union Station and other spots all over the city. I may have to get in on the free coffee. And meeting the real Mr. Valdez.

Smoothie King Actually Open Now. Really.

The Penn Quarter Smoothie King was open. Then it wasn't. Shortly after I published this post about the new addition to the Gallery Place complex, it opened for one day. Then it abruptly closed and has just now reopened earlier this week. Apparently, the franchise owner had a miscommunication with the corporate parent and wasn't supposed to open quite so soon. No loss though. Its open now and the smoothies are pretty much what you'd expect if you've ever been to one of these chain stores before. Will probably give Camille's a run for my smoothie money.

The address is 703 7th Street NW, across from Sushi Go-Round and Clyde's on the Walk.