This video doesn’t make the day any warmer, but at least we can remember what warm sunshine is like. It’s on the way, for sure, but in the meantime, enjoy this video shot at Meridian Hill Park by Giganova. This is the type of thing that makes DC great.

Those of you who know me and my drive to make Friday officially pants-optional may be surprised that I will not mention it this week because instead we have panda-optional Friday. I just opted in. Join me by watching what is possibly the cutest panda video ever. Many thanks to DC-based social media (and everything else) expert Andy Carvin for linking to this video.

Incidentally, this is the first video on the NPR YouTube channel. Keep your eyes peeled as they add new videos. It is a contribution by David Gilkey to the Chengdu Diary series. Read Gilkey’s notes here.

For those who do keep their finger on the world pulse, tomorrow is World Malaria Day (April 25th), sponsored by the World Health Organization. While Spring is here, and the standing water from the heavy rains a few days ago will sure spawn our favorite Summer pest, the mosquito, it’s good to remember, that here, in the US, we’re lucky enough not to have the scourge of malaria, one of the largest killers of people, young and old, worldwide. So, as a reminder, since we do get other mosquito borne illness here, notably the West Nile Virus, if you have standing water pooling on your property, in buckets, plastic sheeting, or other places that seem innocuous, tip it out and drain it. (Remember, D.C. used to be a swamp, so it makes sense…)

On the upside, Senegalese singer, Youssou N’Dour is performing at the World Bank in the atrium at 2pm. I’m not sure if it’s fully open to the public, but you can try, given that it’s supposed to raise awareness…it’d be dumb to restrict access.

Perennial promoter of the art as well as the business of standup comedy, the DC Improv is announcing a monthly “Pay What You Can” night, in which tickets at the door cost… what you can pay for them. The first “Pay What You Can” night is one week from tonight, April 30th, and will feature Marc Maron. Tickets purchased in advance will still be regular price, but you can show up the night of and score a deal if there are any seats left. Additionally, the Improv will not be enforcing its usual 2-item minimum, making it an excellent opportunity to see professional standup in a great club on a budget. It’s a nice break from the $70 including fees you can expect to pay to see Lewis Black at the Warner next month. (Though, who am I kidding, I bought tickets to that too.)

Of course, while the Improv is a high-quality venue with professional, touring comics, that’s certainly not the only way to see great comedy on the cheap in DC. The Improv rents out its smaller lounge area to local comics and improv troupes, and you can check out the lineup right from the Improv’s ticketing system. And need I remind you of the many fine opportunities to see comedy in and around DC, ranging from free for most open mics to $10 for some of the locally-booked shows. Tonight, for example, you can catch some of my favorite local comics at The Awesome Room at McGinty’s in Silver Spring ($4 cover), and tomorrow head over to the Hotel Topaz on N Street for the no-cover open mic night there.

So the Capitals are sliding behind the playoff 8-ball. Hammered last night in Philly by a final score of 6-3, where Brière has lit a fire somewhere and Biron’s thrown up a Berlin-esque wall, the hometown hockey heroes has looked more like the ice-capades on a road trip.

Seriously.

Where’s the fire that exploded from this team in the third period of Game One? Watching Sunday’s game was like watching the Caps back in October, when the team was terrible and looking to beat Columbus down the standings.

Last night was marginally better, but only just.

The Caps got behind early on Sunday and never recovered; Ovechkin was double-teamed and his support cast was nowhere to be found. That’s not how you win playoff hockey - it’s how you give the opposing goalie a shutout. Guess what happened?

I’ll give Washington credit, they did try to stage another late rally, closing the gap to 4-3 on Laich’s goal at 4:34 remaining. But Philly rallied quick, with Mike Richards zinging Huet on a penalty shot less than two minutes later. Nail? Meet hammer.

Biron could’ve taken naps in his goal - the Caps had a total of 16 shots on the evening. Compare that to the final games of the regular season, when Caps opponents were seeing flurries of 30 and 40 shots.

Where have the Caps disappeared to?

Now, not all is lost. The series is only 2-1 in the Flyers’ favor. But they face another rough game ahead in Philadelphia before coming back to the Verizon Center. Which could be the Caps’ swan song…or not. Honestly, it’s really up to the rest of the team.

You can’t hang all the pressure on Ovechkin - though ineffective since his game-winning goal in Game One, he’s hardly at fault. The Flyers defense has been tightly focused on shutting him down (even after losing Timonen), and they’ve done so with frightening ease. In times like this, it’s dependant upon the superstar’s supporting cast to step up and make a difference. We know they can - we saw ample evidence of it in the last month of the regular season. Semin, Kozlov, Federov, Backstrom - pretty much non-existent forces on the ice right now. I’ll give a pass to Mike Green - his sniper shots are still scary as heck, as we saw last night.

So don’t despair quite yet, Caps fans. If the Flyers dominate to another win on Thursday, however…

Maybe the Pope could swing by the Verizon Center on his out-and-about birthday tour and toss out a few blessings…

IMG_5190 copy, courtesy of island_explorer

One down, three more wins to go.

In case you missed it, your Washington Capitals came from behind and stole Game 1 from the Philadelphia Flyers. They stole it like Ovechkin stole the puck in the waning minutes for his first playoff goal. Seriously - it’s a gorgeous move and great goal. You’ve got to see it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

It’s not going to be a cakewalk, though. The Flyers came out gunning, hopping up to a 4-2 lead before the Caps finally got their jitters behind them and surged to a tie. Mike Green netted two, and Ovie had 43 hits - 43! - on the night. Think he’s a tad excited?

Now that they’ve got the return-to-playoff jitters behind them, they’d better settle into a groove on Sunday for the rematch and not fall behind often. It’s not a good pattern to get into.

So hit the Verizon Center on Sunday and wear your red. I won’t be there, though - my preferred team has some more Senator-smacking to do, so I’ll be watching that demolition from the comfort of my living room.

Go Caps! (because I hate the Flyers!)

So they did it - with some help from a faltering Carolina team - and here the Caps are, at the brink of what looks to be a very exciting NHL playoff season in the run to Lord Stanley’s Cup.

The Caps haven’t faced the Flyers in the playoffs since 1989, and have split this season with them: Caps went 2-2-0, with 14 goals scored; the Flyers pulled a 2-1-1 record while scoring 15 goals. So does either team have an edge going into Friday’s Game One here at the Verizon Center?

Possibly.

Don’t look to the special teams to win it, though. The bruising Flyers have the second-highest power play success rate - but you have to counter that with wunderkind Ovechkin’s whopping 22 PP goals. And both penalty-killing lines enter the dance on a roll.

So what about offense?

Even. The Flyers bring to the ice a balanced but gritty line of experienced players that, at times, can be an oppressive force, wearing down opponents in the corners. The Caps’ offense is largely inexperienced in playoff hockey, but they’ve got some dynamic players in Ovechkin, Semin, and Koslov. More importantly, however, the Caps can score goals when needed during crunch time - provided Biron’s not standing tall in net for the Flyers.

Defense is also a push. Both sides of the blue line have some big bodies to bruise with, but the Flyer’s experience can be negated with solid two-way play from Mike Green.

Goaltending? About equal. Biron’s inexperience in the playoffs is balanced by his current hot streak - he pulled out two amazing shutouts in a row and seems to have hit his stride just in time to keep the Flyers from sinking. Huet’s posted solid numbers for the Caps and has a GAA under two in his last thirteen.

Coaching? John Stevens and Bruce Boudreau are both NHL playoff rookies that have done astonishing things with their teams this year.

Emotional quotient? Definitely in the Capital’s favor. They’ve pulled out a stunning drive after the trade deadline, stealing the Southeast Division title from the Hurricanes and riding some stellar play from Ovechikin, Laich and Huet. The Flyers all but managed to keep their free-fall from kicking them out of the playoffs, so the edge really goes to the high-flying Caps. Add in Ovechkin’s first run in the playoffs, and you’re looking at one supercharged emotional team right now.

The question really comes down to this: can the rest of the Capital’s bench step up and score when Ovechkin’s buried under orange and black sweaters? Because the key to a Flyer’s victory here is going to be stifling the Cap’s superstar every way they can.

If the rest of the team can step it up and crack Biron’s wall (and avoid multiple Flyer bruises), look for the Caps to take it in six.

FlyersCapsPr2 102, FlyersCapsPr2 060 courtesy of Cruel Britannia

I love playoff hockey.

Yes, yes, I know. It’s not quite yet time for the Cup race to begin - but this last week of the regular season might as well be the start of the playoffs.

It’s been a while since the NHL’s had such a tight race down to the wire, and the local boys have just as much at stake right now as any of the other five teams also fighting for their playoff lives - and the extra money those games bring into team coffers.

Carolina, Ottawa, New York (Rangers), Boston and Philadelphia can all see their playoff races end in success or failure alongside the Washington Capitals in these final days. And it may well come down to the final minutes of the final games this weekend before the playoff picture is settled once and for all.

The Capitals have been spectacular of late. Arguably, since the trade deadline. Since George McPhee pulled some magic out of the hat and snagged Huet, Federov, and Cooke for a fantastic end-season run, including a brilliant 5-1 series of games away from the Verizon Center, the Caps have looked 180 degrees different than the start of the season.

Scoreboard watching is about as interesting at Caps games as it is watching Huet stone opponents with spectacular saves.

I’ve got to hand it to Ovechkin - not only has the “Big O” pretty much nabbed the goal scoring and points titles, he’s led a remarkably mediocore team from the start of the year to a surging and dynamic playoff hopeful.

Now it is true I’m not a huge Caps fan, simply because of my (still strong) allegiance to the team of my youth. But I love great hockey above all else, and with a smorgasboard of games this week - many with playoff hopes on the line - I will be watching with interest the Caps final run of the season. Yes, they have to win all three home games against Carolina, Tampa and Florida PLUS see one of the five still in contention somehow implode in order to make it to Lord Stanley’s dance…. But I have to say, I’m fairly optimistic the Caps will see a return to the playoffs this year.

I’ll be attending Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay and looking forward to the thrill of playoff hockey. Even if just a taste of it.

It’s been too long, Washington. Let’s hope this year is the one that welcomes you back into the frozen elite.

OS Test 23, courtesy of YoLoPey

Anybody who has picked up today’s Washington City Paper has probably seen the ballot for “Best of D.C.: Celebrating the Classics 2008″. They are getting in the game with The Washington Post and The Washingtonian, asking readers to vote on what places, things, and cute bartenders make life in DC special and fun.

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

If there was a house band at the gates of hell, The Pogues would probably be who you’d hear playing…. and you’d like it! I have to say, I wasn’t a big Pogues fan, but I do have a musicological interest in the origins of modern music. To that avail, I had the pleasure of taking in the Pogues on Monday front row center at the 9:30 Club to a knock down drag out drunken musical joyfest which DC has yet to equal. If the opener, the macabre Urban Voodoo Machine didn’t get the place started, Shane and Co. put the place into over drive in a frenzied selection of 25 songs (albeit, the setlist was repeated from Sunday). While few of the members (Shane included) looked a bit worse for wear, they delivered what the audience so needed to hear. I was wondering if I’d leave with a boot impression to the chest or head, but the crowd was into it, and the fans, given the shows have been sold out for months, held true to their desire to see, what according to Q Magazine, is one of the “50 Bands to See Before You Die”… the entire evening did not disappoint. Lets hope they come ’round again for an encore or two!

Shaaaaaaane!

Originally uploaded by webjedi