In keeping with my minimal presence on the site, my sign-off here will be brief. I wish all our MBDC readers and friends well, and hope we will see some of you over at We Love DC.

From 12:40 to 12:45 pm we will gather as many people as we can on Freedom Plaza. Freedom Plaza is a broad plaza that stretches between E st. and Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th and 14th St.’s Northwest – two blocks from the Metro Center metro stop. 

We ask that participants wear something white or red (the district flag colors) but all are invited to participate. There will be a brief orientation at 12:30 outside the Metro Center metro stop on the corner of 12th and G st.’s NW. At 12:40 we will proceed onto the plaza.

One team member will be carrying a red bandana over their head. When the bandana drops, we are all to freeze, looking out from the middle of the plaza. You are asked to look out to represent arts work as a viewer of society. The Plaza is a large rectangle. You will have to decide for yourself which edge of the plaza you are closest to. We ask you to turn and face out toward that edge of the plaza so that can get the effect of the freeze looking out.

In addition to passersby, there are many buildings overlooking the plaza. The effect should be powerful.We will freeze (in whatever position) looking out – for five minutes. The person with the bandana will be frozen in a position where they can see their watch. After five minutes, they will move, and we ask that you visually take note of other participants, and slide into motion as you see the rest of the participants begin to move.

 Honestly, it seems a bit goofy and dated to me at this point. I mean, how Dean 04, right? But, if you are going to be out on your lunch hour, you might want to check it out. Certainly raising the profile of the role of arts in the community is always valuable. Snap a few pictures for us, how about? (via Hoogirl)

A grand opening party on April 5th should give a good first look to see how well this all comes together. The party will go from 12 to 7, with shopping, cocktails, and music, and an official ribbon-cutting at 4:00.

DEKKA 1338 U Street, NW, 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20009

My thanks to hoogrrl for the tip.

 photo by rockcreek on flickr

This has inspired me to finally launch a new series here that I have been mulling for some time.

Here is how this will work: I will take on the challenge of finding the “best in DC” – one thing at a time. Be it cupcakes, shoe stores, or dj nights, I will solicit recommendations of competitors, do some research, and then go try out those which claim to vie for title of “best”.

In other words – one girl’s highly subjective search to sift through mediocrity and mass-name-recognition (is Potbelly really the best sandwich place in town as it is consistently voted – or just the only one that a majority of the voters have been to?) to bring you what I think are the best bets around.

For this to work, I will need a lot of input from you. I want you to send me on missions that you want to read about. In the comments below, I would love to see suggestions of things you want me to review for you! I also need your suggestions of where to go. Do you think you know about the best beer selection in town? Let me know! Hopefully, other people will have different ideas, and I will try to put them all to the test.

One stipulation: I am not finding out the best fetish club. If you want to know, you will have to wait for the City Paper’s results. (Also, I reserve the right not to be sent on any missions I consider immoral or generally icky. You know.)

Also, we are going to need to think of a name. I thought about calling it “The Decider”, but that seems pretty dated at this point…

photo by erin m on flickr

“Grime! In DC!”

Shortly before midnight Sunday night, that was the Twitter my boyfriend posted. About two hours later, as we were getting ready to leave Jimmy Valentines Lonely Hearts Club, he posted again.

“My hair is full of ceiling debris shaken loose by bass.” High praise, indeed.

While grime actually comprised only a small portion of the set performed by SF/UK based dj BreakBeatBuddha (I will forgive the silly, silly name only this once) – which also included plenty of dubstep, and noisy, distorted, sometimes glitchy, party music – it was still a bit of a surprise to hear the British sub-genre played in a DC club

The Dive and Lie Wrecked night – presented as the final event in a weekend-long “mini-festival” called Forward – actually followed through on the claim that the generally enthusiastic audience would get a variety of styles, unlike many a DC club night where one can generally expect to hear 90% drum and bass, even at nights like Modern’s which puts dubstep right on the flyer.

In addition to BreakBeatBuddha, the popular Baltimore dj Joe Nice was on the bill, and was really the name that drew us up to the club in the first place. While we have never actually seen him live, he is most cited as one of the first American djs to become keen on the developments in the English scene in recent years, and bringing those styles more to the mainstream.

Credit is certainly due to the 88 DC promotion group for throwing the event. They have earned some success for their recurring and one-off events around town, and hopefully will keep putting on nights like this one.

Having been to their monthly X at BeBar initially only because a friend was performing (the whole “art happening” thing was off-putting to me, I will admit), I found myself pleasantly surprised and have gone back. It is less of a dance-oriented event, to be sure, but that is alright – and it certainly seems to be just fine with the slightly-older crowd it seems to attract, who are as interested in seeing interesting things on the walls and chatting with friends as they are in the music.

Jimmy Valentines is a delightful place in itself. No sign on the door, and on a quiet block, so it gives off just a whiff of exclusivity, even if it really is no speakeasy at all. The smallish, long room is painted and lit all in rosy red, making the faces of the patrons glow attractively.

We were pretty surprised by the quality of the system for a room of its size, which was clear and intense. It was strong enough to jostle a few chunks plaster out of the ceiling, which fell on to Craig’s head and the bar area, and for hours after leaving the club I had such a ringing in my ears that I think I may finally have lost some hearing.

Having never been there prior, I did not really know what to expect from the crowd. It was somewhat more mixed in terms of age and “style” than I might have expected, seeming to skew from collegey to late-30s, with several groups coming in suits to mingle with the heads in hood-up-hoodies and the like. I should point out, though, that Jimmy Valentines is principally a bar and was, last night at least, decidedly not all-ages. The woman working the door was clearly quite serious about ID-taking, and even scolded me for still carrying my vertical minor’s license even though I have been of age for some time (it still has a year before it expires!) because they are easier to forge.

All of the staff seemed to be girls, in fact, which was kind of intriguing, including perhaps the coolest security-type I have seen lately, with her mohawk and DC pride tattoo. She was clearly a total sweetie if you were cool, but I suspect could turn bad-ass if things got rowdy. One of the bartenders was among the prettiest I have ever seen mixing drinks, and I genuinely pitied her when some low-life in a plaid shirt was clearly putting the sleaze on her, thinking that she probably gets that a lot.

In short: I think Jimmy Valentines is now my third-favorite bar in town. Good music, super-cool space, a beer selection that, while short, still finds room for Brooklyn, Delirium, and Youngs, mixed-drinks served with bendy-straws with paper decorations, and some cool kids. Awesome.

In DC!

Georgetown Yoga is offering you the opportunity to accomplish three goals in a single Sunday afternoon: take a yoga class, make a donation to a worthwhile charity, and help someone move forward in their career. A reasonably productive hour!

The charity yoga classes offer students who are working through the Yoga Works yoga teacher training program an opportunity to work with members of the public. You get an hour-long mixed-level class at the popular Georgetown studio, for a donation of $5 or more.

Money raised from the donations will be given to a charity selected by the students, The Wendt Center for Loss & Healing and Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care. The Wendt Center says it “is a premier resource for addressing grief in adults and children. Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care works to preserve, assist and strengthen the well-being of children ages 5-18 infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in metropolitan Washington, DC.”

Charity-slash-training yoga classes will be held on Sundays, from 5:30-6:30 on February 24th, March 30th, April 27th, May 25th, June 15th, and June 29th.

For those who have been thinking about trying yoga for the first time this seems like an especially great opportunity – no commitment, and if you decide it is not for you, at least you made a difference for the student and for the charity.

In the spirt of some of our lovely Washington-area photography of late, I was excited when I saw a post on Upcoming about a DC Meetup and Photo Walk for local Flickr folks.

On January 27, the shutterbugs will assemble at 2:00 at Rocket Bar. At 4:00, they will set off on a photo walk to snap some city shots. (Tip: You are going to want some fingerless gloves to operate your camera and maintain some warmth. Trust me.)

More information can be found on the Flickr discussion board.

If you go, be sure to let us know. We would love to see your lovely photos of our lovely town!

Maybe you would like to party with and, presumably, slurp up the open bar of, AstraZeneca (at the Willard), the CTIA (Natural History Museum), or the American Farm Bureau (Capitol Hill Holiday Inn)? Now you now when – and where to email your RSVP.

[thanks to the always-fabulous BYT for the intel!]

Tonight will be a good night to do some holiday shopping at the U-CARE U Street Fundraising & Shopping Social.

The fundraiser is that 10% of proceeds brought in by the participating retailers will be donated to Sitar Arts Center which provides arts education to low-income young people in our community.

For those more interested in the shopping, 8 shops in the neighborhood are taking part, offering discounts and special promotions. Junction, the boutique stocking vintage and new clothing and goods, seems to be offering the most generous deal: 10% – 25% off your whole purchase.

Basically, this is a win-win: You get to feel good about supporting local, independant buisness people, donating a little bit to a local charity, and even save a little money in the process! The stores are even staying open until 10:00 for after-work shopping convenience.

U-CARE Shopping Social
Thursday, December 6th
6:00 – 10:00