Zeitgeist

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myopenbar

Open bar listings at myopenbar.com. in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Honolulu, and Miami. A cool weblisting site of free or discounted booze and grub. Reader-submitted, this site let's you know the places giving out complimentary food and booze in the city. You can discuss, share ratings and descriptions of the venues and even sign up for weekly e-mails that let you know where the free shit can be had.

Scout Tufankjian

The wonderful photography of Scout Tufankjian. She is a journalist that covered the Obama campaign for 27 months. Visit her site, you won't regret it! The Secret Service gallery is brilliant.

Ba-Tampte Half Sours

Best pickles ever.

Mini Burgers at Matchbox

What everybody says about Matchbox in the Penn Quarter district of Washington DC, is to try the Flat-Iron Steak Pizza and the Mini Burgers. I was in the mood for the minis, the pizza will be next time I guess. They come in quantities of 3, 6, or 9. The couple next to me ordered 9, and they looked funny and delicious, all of them sitting on that plate. I got the three and it's plenty! Little Angus beef patties with a pickle, and your choice of three cheeses on buttered brioche. Fantastic! The dill pickle adds the perfect acid, and the small portion of melted mozzarella was just enough. Top of the line Minis! The onion straws come with the meal and surprisingly they are not boring. They are delicate, crispy and sweet.

Check out the Drink List on their website, they boast award winning concoctions, along with having the reputation as one of the best martini bars in the area. Matchbox has a very hip, very cool interior, you feel like a hipster when your there, there are also different, neatly folded newspapers from around our region at every place setting at the bar - nice! And I thought the service was very friendly and laid back.

Matchbox, 713 H St. NW, Washington D.C., 202.289.1947 MAP

Julia's Empanadas

I finally made it down to one of the world famous Julia's Empanadas locations in Washington DC, it is a very well known establishment and all 3 stores are located there. An Empanada is a stuffed pastry, baked, and stuffed with various ingredients. Julia's has about 10 different kinds, the one the left is the Jamaican (ground and chopped beef, onion, potato, curry, and spices). And on the right is the Turkey w/ spring onion (cilantro, onion and jalapeno seasoned w/ tumeric). Both very good, I mean someone handing you an Empanada is like someone handing you a diamond, nothing bad can come from it, ever. I was hoping the crust was alittle more crispy and flaky but the filling more than makes up for it. It's cheap too, $3.50 apiece, and the cucumber, radish salad was fresh and only a $1.50. Julias is open till 4 am on the weekends.

2452 18th St NW, 202-328-6232 (Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan) MAP
1221 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-861-8828 (Dupont Circle) MAP
1000 Vermont Ave, NW, 202-789-1878 (McPherson Square) MAP

Frozen custard at The Dairy Godmother

It's the Wisconsin-style vanilla frozen custard from the very popular The Dairy Godmother, located in the very quaint "Main Street" section of Mt. Vernon Ave. in Alexandria Va. I'm not huge into sweets and desserts and am the furthest thing away from a frozen custard expert but, here, it tastes like a sugar, cream, and milk fat heaven, trust me on this one.

The Dairy Godmother, 2308 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va., 703.683.7767. MAP

William Claxton Oct 12, 1927 - Oct 11, 2008

Chet Baker (Piano), Hollywood, 1954. William Claxton.
William Claxton Photography

what's in your lobby?

The 22 milion dollar, 10 million pixel video wall in the lobby of the Comcast Center building in Philadelphia. 2,100 sq. ft with 4 millimeter LED lights creates an image 5 times clearer than HD TV. And in between video episodes, the screen perfectly mimics the surrounding wood paneling. A better time filler than reading last years issue of Redbook while waiting for your appointment.
Please see HD promo HERE.

Talking Head

Musician, artist and bike enthusiast David Byrne of Talking Heads in partnership with NYC Dept of Transportation and art gallery PaceWildenstein, recently designed and installed these nine bike racks in various locations around the city of New York. Please see here for more info. http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/bike_racks/index.php

The names and locations of the nine racks follow:

• The Jersey: Northwest corner of Ninth Avenue and 39th Street, near the Lincoln Tunnel
• The MoMA: South side of West 54th Street, east of the Avenue of the Americas
• The Ladies’ Mile: West side of Fifth Avenue, north of 57th Street (in front of Bergdorf’s)
• The Chelsea: In front of 530 West 25th Street, east of 11th Avenue (in front of PaceWildenstein Gallery)
• The Hipster: West side of Bedford Avenue, near North Sixth Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
• The Olde Times Square: South side of West 44th Street, west of Seventh Avenue
• The Villager: In front of 536 La Guardia Place, between West Third and Bleecker Streets
• The Wall Street: North side of 82 Wall Street, west of Water Street
• The Coffee Cup: West side of Amsterdam Avenue, between West 110th and 111th Streets

Arepas at La Caraquena

This was my grilled Venezuelan cornmeal bread stuffed with Reina Pepeada (lightly seasoned avocado with baked chicken), It's a type of stuffed arepas. The cornmeal can come either fried or grilled, my guy on the inside said to get grilled, "...it always makes the cornmeal softer..."

It's from La Caraquena, a tiny Latin American restaurant in Falls Church, Va. They serve over 11 types of arepas there along with beef, chicken, and seafood entrees.

This is the most flavorful thing I've had in this area, and I'm not kidding, the avocado and chicken is subtly deeelish, but here the basic taste of the grains in the white cornmeal instantly took me back to a one woman run roadside bread meal I had in the middle of nowhere in the Baja Peninsula. The salsa (pictured) rocked out too, it's got a bite and it's hot. Also the arepas was grilled with a tasty light oil that remains at the bottom of it. This is my new and lasting favorite thing to eat in this town.

La Caraquena, 300 W. Broad St., Falls Church, Va. 703.533.0076 MAP

Pork & Fries at Earl's

My Pork & Fries, roasted pork loin, roasted green peppers, sweet pickles, chopped onion, chipotle mayo and french fries between a toasted ciabatta. Very tasty, served very quick.. Earl's Sandwiches in Arlington roasts their own pork, turkey, and beef, fresh daily. Soups from scratch. Super nice owner (Stephen Dugan) and staff. I hear it's a key part of the Clarendon lunch rotation.

Earl's Sandwiches, 2605 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va., 703.248.0150 MAP

Hippie Rolls at Joe's Place

They are the best quality sausage shipped in from New York, sauteed green peppers and onion, wrapped in thin, hand rolled dough. They are Hippie Rolls from Joe's Place, Woodbridge Va. It's made fresh every morning and they come in spicy or mild sausage. Crispy outside, piping hot inside. It's common for loyal customers to travel 100 plus miles to get these, they buy a bunch and freeze them when they get home.

These rolls are the most delicious things. It's the mild, sweet, soft sausage that's different from almost anything sold in these parts. You will flip for these things.

Joes Place, 13710 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Woodbridge, Va. 703.494.9689 MAP

Ray's Hell Burger

Your not going to find any french fries here, " ..no fries, ever.." says owner Michael Lundrum. They don't serve them, just corn, watermelon and a few light sides. Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington Va., is got the buzz as the best burger's in our entire area, at least for now. A very large 10oz. patty, cooked 1. "warm red center" 2. "pink" or 3. "cooked throughout" I had the pink, and it was still deliciously bloody. 3 months training is required for the cooks. The apprenticeship at Lundrums Ray's the Steaks a few doors down.

The burger I had was $6.95 plus $1 for the Smoked Mozzarella, two half ears of corn and a giant iced tea, all for $10 bucks. Great price! and they have more expensive, specialty burgers too. The choice of luxurious cheeses for the price is the kicker here, all on top of a home ground, perfectly cooked monster. The brioche bun is lacking, and it quickly disintegrates under the juicy steak, but who cares. Warning, the place is small and IT PACKS OUT, all day, every day.

Ray's Hell Burger (Butcher Burgers), 1713 Wilson Blvd.; 703.841.0001. Open Monday thru Thurs at 5pm, Friday, Saturday and Sunday noon to "whenever". MAP

Wacky Packages, The Book!

I just came across this Wacky Packages coffee table book! If you loved Wacky Pack stickers as much as I did, this book is definitely for us.

Wacky Packages (Abrams; June 2008; $19.95; 240 pages, 233 color illustrations), is the first-ever collection of Series One through Series Seven (from 1973 and 1974) and showcases images of all 223 rare and hard-to-find stickers. Celebrating Wacky Packages’ 35th anniversary, the book also includes a bonus pack of four rare and previously unreleased stickers, an introduction by Art Spiegelman (one of the original creators), and an afterword by Jay Lynch (a long-time Wacky Packages collaborator). Also included are 3 never before seen "Lost Wackys" (actual stickers) available only with this book, and a version of Muller Beer not seen since 1967.

To order click here. For more pics of the book see here.

The awesome bi-annual art show is here again, SUNDAY SEPT. 28 at the MARIE REED LEARNING CENTER - 18th St. & Wyoming NW DC. (Adams Morgan). One of a kind, unique, handmade stuff, great food, and a proper music stage with some really good small bands. See HERE for the City Papers website, and HERE for the vendors.

hulu is a pretty good site to at the very least get your somewhat hard to find SNL clips including the commercial skits and the SNL Digital Shorts. It's all free, but ad supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from Fox, NBC and a bunch of other networks and studios. And Flash gives you a higher resolution and size than YouTube. It gives you over a 100 motion pictures to choose too,.. full length features, clips and trailers. It seems to be worth the exploring, just the SNL stuff alone was keeping me pretty happy.

Pentagon Memorial

Please click here for more pics of my visit today.

Take Metro to Pentagon, but if you would like to drive, it's easy, park at the Pentagon City Mall parking structure ( $2 for 2 to 3 hours ) then walk directly across the street to the tunnel clearly marked Pentagon Memorial, and it will take you there.

My Margherita at Pupatella

Hand-rolled pizza pie from a food cart? Say what? It's the little red food cart that can. Pupatella on the corner of 9th and N. Stuart St, Ballston Common, Arlington Va., next to the Ballston Metro. I heard whispers of this place hanging out at the Kettler Iceplex around the corner. And you know when people whisper, it's gotta be good. Culinary school friends Anastasiya Laufenberg and Enzo Algarme are both slinging it, in Neopolitan style, and flavor, for cheap. Working with tiny 650 degree ovens, they peddle way above average street fare.

My Margherita was 6 bucks, thin, light, really fresh tasting mozzarella, and of course San-Marzano tomatoes. The Margherita is the easiest thing on the menu so I got it in about 8 min. Their bringing it to us, so check them out. Washingtonian Magazine also says they got the best sausage and grilled onion sandwich this side of Philadelphia! Will have to try next time.

Hill Rag is a very competent monthly community newspaper owned by Capitol Community News. I try never leave home without it. If you want to know the haps on everything on Capitol Hill, Southwest, H St Northeast, and Navy Yard, pick up an issue ....free of charge, at Metros, street corners and fine establishments across the city.

News, community periodicals, food, the arts, finance, bulletin board, homes, classifieds, Eastern Market Watch, it's got it all. Also see the great online version at capitolcomunitynews/hillrag, .pdf's of every relevant page from the monthly. Not to be confused by The Hill. Also see DC North and East Of The River.

maria bamford

the very funny maria bamford from the comedians of comedy.

A large build up of Imperial activity in San Francisco...

Wouldn't they have more room in Fresno? I would hate to see Polk street after that Death Star is fully operational.

Katie was cleaning her paws and just before I snapped this pic I asked her about her thoughts on this up coming election.

The Bridge

...people suffer largely unnoticed while the rest of the world goes about its business. This is a documentary exploration of the mythic beauty....

Filmaker Eric Steel tricked the Golden Gate Bridge committee into allowing him to film the bridge for a period of a year to: "to capture the powerful, spectacular intersection of monument and nature that takes place every day at the Golden Gate Bridge"

His main purpose was to visually capture the numerous suicides that take place at the bridge every year, this is his film.

Games of the XXIX Olympiad

Why is there suddenly smog inside my apartment? Anyway the opening ceremonies on a 86 hour delay will be broadcast tonight at 7:30, NBC added an half hour, because apparently they were so knocked out by the rehearsals they wanted to cover it all. The closing ceremoies will be Sunday the 24th. I will be donning the official one piece, full body, Team USA cycling leotard for the 2 plus weeks. Some Olympics Blogs of note:

Rings - The New York Times Olympics Blog
Heavy Medal - Washington Post Reporters Blog
Ticket To Beijing: Daily Dispatches On The Olympic Games - L.A. Times Olympics Blog
Blogging Beijing - The Seattle Times

Fan Nation - Beijing Olympics Blog - SI.com & CNN Digital

NBC Olympics - Destination Beijing
The Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog
China Digital Times

Beijing Olympics Blog
Beijing Olympics Fan!

Mid City-Dog Days Of Summer Sidewalk Sale

Get your cheap on, this weekend at the 9th annual Dog Days Of Summer Sidewalk Sale in Mid City, (14th and U St NW). Aug 2nd and 3rd, smack in the middle of DC's eclectic art/shops district. They'll be tons of participating retailers selling hand-made clothes, accessories from local independent designers, off the wall unique shoe stores, and all kinds of funky shops selling things like magnets to one of a kind items.
There will also be a Saturday Farmers Market that supports local growers. Eat, drink and shop at discount prices. Also this weekend is DC's Tax Free Holiday!!

For a complete list of participating shops, restaurants, bars, galleries and events go to midcitylife.com. For the official Dog Days map, click here.

MOJO HD

If your one of the 30% of American households with a high-definition television, and your receiving those glorious HD channels, you should be familiar with MOJO. A free, dedicated HD channel that blasts out mostly original, unscripted programming, all content in high definition 1080i format and 5.1 audio! More so than any other channel, their content is jaw-dropping in clarity and definition. One of the great reasons to consider the switch to the HD way of life.

a bus stop poster promoting the upcoming broadcast of the movies on Spike TV.

Oyster Po' Boy at Bread Line

If your from D.C. and you haven't heard of Bread Line, it's like being from Orlando and not have heard of Mickey. Usually packed by White House staffers, they've been flat-out called the best sandwich makers in Washington D.C., oh, and their small industrial-like bread factory cranks out some pretty good bread too. Sandwiches like soft shell crab, the Cuban on Thursdays are the talk of the place, and from what I've read, EVERYONES favorite egg salad sandwich.

Today for me, the Oyster Po' Boy. Six huge pieces of fried oysters, very good, two were a little soggy,..I don't know what that means,..the other four or so, crispy. A very tasty, spicy remoulade, a little too heavy on the Bermuda onion. All sitting on a layer of seasoned, vinegar marinated cabbage. It was good they carved out the middle of the bun, or were looking at me falling out of my chair and collapsing, leaving me with food in my mouth and convulsing. This Po' Boy was tasty but seemed a little over complicated with flavors taking away from the prize, the oysters. I'm not daunted though, they're know for great sandwiches and am looking forward to trying them all.

Bread Line • 1751 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington DC a202.822.8900

Banh Mi at Song Que

My pork meatball Banh Mi sandwich at Song Que in Eden Center, Falls Church Va. There are plenty of shops in there selling these signature Vietnamese sandwiches, but everyone knows that "The Song" is the place for the best. And yes, it does beat out a very good sandwich at Banh Mi DC (3103-C Graham Rd., Falls Church). Here the baguette and the crisp veggies are fresh but are a standard. But the pork meatball filling was so delicate and sweet, along with the light, creamy pate dressing made it the best Banh Mi I've had,..really. The mouth was definitely happy here. Their wide variety of frozen Bubble Tea's are also very popular, did not see anyone there without one, I had the melon and it kicked ass.

The owner also told me I missed chef Anthony Bourdain by a couple of days, he and his No Reservations crew stopped in exclusively for sandwiches, and taped a segment that will feature the restaurant for an episode airing in about 3 months.

Song Que • 6773 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church, Va a703.536.7900

FLYING RODENT

Ha ha ha ha ha ha haha haHa haHa ha Ha Ha
Just saw it, I thought Heath Ledgers Joker in The Dark Knight was more than I expected. His version of the Joker is the meanest, coolest, clearly the freshest comic book movie villain I've ever seen. Watching him, I was going back and forth thinking about what would of been, or the accolades he would of experienced from this. It's a bittersweet feeling, no doubt.

we've all seen him a hundred times. he's my guy on the internet, he's crashed.
he has broken through the level of content not known by us homo sapiens.
he is "passed-out corgi".

Gustav Klimt

" Klimt became one of the founding members and president of the Wiener Sezession in 1897. The group's goals were to provide exhibitions for unconventional young artists, to bring the best foreign artists works to Vienna, and to publish its own magazine to showcase members' work. The group declared no manifesto and did not set out to encourage any particular style - Naturalists, Realists, and Symbolists all coexisted. "

The innovative and timeless turn-of the century art of painter Gustav Klimt.

"Tree Of Life", Stoclet Frieze, c. 1909

iklimt
capitol of culture -bbc

HippieFest 2008

The second annual rock-revival HippieFest '08 will be making a stop here at Wolf Trap on July 30, 2008. So go on down and become a hippie for the day. Some of the line-up will be The Turtles, Country Joe McDonald, Badfinger, Iron Butterfly, Eric Burden, Melanie... The line-up will vary from stop to stop. They'll be a full line of flower power paraphernalia available for sale such as tie-dye T-shirts, caps, skirts, caps, bags, stickers and posters.

Wolf Trap Center For The Performing Arts aPURCHASE TICKETS

If someone asks you "give me one good reason I should watch the LPGA" you can say Natalie Gulbis.

Good Stuff Eatery

Spike Mendelsohn cracked the top 5 on the brilliant Top Chef on Bravo. I've watched the last two seasons religiously, and happen to think it's the most purposeful show on all of television. So it was pretty cool to see him slinging the grub today at his Good Stuff Eatery. With local ties and with his family, he's opened a burger joint in Capitol Hill. He's also our newest Caps fan.

Their beef is organic, he uses Vermont cheddar, Ruby tomatoes, dairy fresh cheese, home-made ice cream and shakes, and salads are on the menu served with cornbread. With the new restaurant buzz, I waited 45 min. to order my burger, I was gonna get something light but I said screw it, I waited all this time I needed satisfaction, the "Spikes 5 Napkin" (Vermont cheddar, Applewood bacon, egg, on toasted Brioche), with onion rings, (pictured in the cup), with various dipping sauces that are available. The entire meal with drink, $13.

The burger was rich, lovin the egg, not as greasy as it looks in the pic, the patty was alittle undercooked, the seasoned bacon and cheese helped it along, with the light Brioche. The Vidalia onion rings,..more like petals, were crispy in parts and soggy and undone in others,..it means well but it needs work,...or the resaturant needs time to recover from the massive lines resulting in backed up orders in the kitchen. They have interesting specialty burgers on the menu, one with Daikon and carrots, will have to try another time,..like in two months when the lines are gone.

The place is clean, cool, trendy, distressed wood along with chrome features, the music is cranked, looking forward to going back when it's not so hurried for the customers and their crew.

Good Stuff Eatery • 303 Pennsylvania Ave. SE., D.C. a202.543.8222

Taqueria Nacionale

James Beard Award winner Ann Cashion's Taqueria Nacionale in Capitol Hill. A strictly carry-out joint, tough to find, (sits next to her upscale Johnny's Half Shell). Here I tried two out of her four signature tacos, the beef carnita and the fish taco. Simple flavors and good! Very similar in prep and taste of all the roadside taco stands I've visited in southern California and Rosarita and Ensenada Mexico.

The beef taco, grilled steak, chopped onion, cilantro, done. The fish taco, Alaskan pollack, cabbage and a light creme salsa. I've read complaints about the "2 thick tortillas" it comes on but every authentic taco I've had out west have them this way. These tacos are alittle over 2 bucks apiece, not bad. I had two but three would of completely satisfied me. You can also take as many small containers of their 3 killer homemade salsa's as you like. Didn't try their horchata (a very common almondy milk drink) but I did have one of their aguas frescas drinks, I chose the watermelon over the sweet mango and orange. Open Monday through Friday for breakfast and lunch.

Taqueria Nacionale • 400 N. Capitol St., NW D.C. a202.737.7070

Baked & Wired vs. Georgetown Cupcake

Baked & Wired

Georgetown Cupcake

The two D.C. heavyweights. No hype or build up, for what it's worth let's just taste the things and pick a winner.

B&W: pictured clockwise • Carrot Cake - a super miniature version, a very, very fluffy semi-sweet icing, moist cake • Coconut - a very rich icing, light coconut flavor, super moist cake • Chocolate - great creamy milk chocolate icing, flavorful but crumbly cake

GC: • Key Lime - Best of the 6, perfect sweet to tart icing, fluffy cake • Red Velvet - icing is a sophisticated cream cheese/buttery flavor, a somewhat dry cake • Chocolate Ganache - a deep dark chocolate flavor, thin layer of ganache, semi-moist cake

I'm not really big on sweets but first I have to say all 6 of these cupcakes were OUT OF THIS WORLD. I was ready to like Baked & Wired because of so many positive reviews but I have to be honest and in my completely novice opinion, on this day I gotta go with Georgetown Cupcake. The Key Lime destroyed. Look at it, so smug.

Baked & Wired •1052 Thomas Jefferson St., NW D.C. a202.333.2500
Georgetown Cupcake •1209 Potomac St., NW D.C. a202.333.8448

Capitol Hill Books

Morton "Jim" Toole: "....so do you think you got it? The most important thing to do is.... not to panic. If you need to make a decision,....make it. Now I'm going to lunch." he barks out, turning over the reigns of his store to a wide-eyed staffer. Then a quick friendly wink at a customer and he's out the door in his lime green Bermuda shorts.

He is the elderly owner of Capitol Hill Books, near Eastern Market in Washington DC, a brownstone turned new and used book store. If you're not into a book store with very tight quarters or mounds and mounds of books that teeter and looks as if there about to fall on you, this isn't the place for you.

Every city would love and cherish a store like this, a maze of books stacked to the ceiling with corridors often two feet wide. The foreign language section is in the bathroom, autobiography's fill a closet and spill out into the hall. There are bare bulbs to chandeliers to light the way, and classical music is piped in from every corner of the place. They sell novels to encyclopedias to trade publications to first editions and rare books. Every nook and cranny of the property has stacks of books, often eliciting snickers from customers because of it's fantastically organized clutter. Worth a visit. And they have free wine and cheese on the second Saturday of the month starting at 4pm.

Capitol Hill Books. 657 C St. SE • Washington DC • a202.544.1621

Mandu

Mandu (Korean for dumpling) is a Korean restaurant on 18th St. NW D.C. This is my second visit, and again it does a great job. Located in the trendy district of Dupont Circle, and just south of Adams Morgan. The streets are pretty busy, theres always a hungry crowd here and I heard they can pack it in for dinner. Long-time Virginia native & owner-chef Yesoon Lee and her son seeks to introduce casual/upscale Korean fare to downtown.
I've tried the Bi-Bim-Bap, a traditional Korean dish that incorporates fresh vegetables with rice. Here it's a winner. This dish can always be used to gage the freshness of a multitude of the restaurants ingredients, because it contains just that. This time around I ducked in for a quick beer and some apps. I had the pork and beef Mandu $5, and the DooBu (pan-seared tofu with egg) $4. (my meal today pictured above for 9 bucks.) I have to tell you, very delish, very good portions, the sesame/scallion soy dipping sauce tasted very genuine, it hit the spot with a cold Sapporo. I grew up weened on these dishes and everything I taste will be compared to my mothers brilliant cooking, and I have to admit, I can strongly recommend the flavors here in the three dishes I've tried. But next time I'll try the Bulgoki, and if it's not up to par??, I'll burn this pompous Kimchi stand to the ground. Mandu has a very small menu, which I think is a good thing here, and the waiters I've had are very young, laid back and very, very knowledgeable of the dishes. The place is small, it's fun/chic, and the prices are great for the District.

,$$$$$ ,20 min lunch wait
Mandu. 1085 18th St. NW • Washington DC • a202.588.1540