Photo courtesy Play Date Austin

Speed dating, online dating, craigslist dating, when it comes to one of the biggest cities in America for singles we’ve tried it tall to find that special someone.

Well tonight there’s a new way to meet people in town. Play Date DC opens up shop with a different approach: bringing people together through “play dates” that feature all the games we loved as kids from Connect 4 to Twister. Already established in cities across the nation, Play Date organizes monthly game nights where anywhere from hundreds to thousands will come together to enjoy some drinks, food, and games. The site also boasts a social network called The Playground.

Clearly the company is working to create something to fill the void between getting dressed up for a night in a club, to sticking at home watching a movie in your PJs. I think it’s an interesting approach: the games are sure to be nostalgic and classic; the environment is perfect for singles, couples, or groups; and it makes sense when you think about how games from darts to shuffleboard make any bar that much better.

Play Date DC launches tonight at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Virginia from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. with an advance pre-sale ticket admission of $20. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be benefiting KaBOOM!

And for those that want another option for tonight, it happens to be the last night of the Strathmore Film Festival or catch tonight’s Nationals game for $1!

Eighteenth Street Lounge courtesy Flickr user dionhinchcliffe

I feel like a reality show extra just thinking about it.

I was a little excited to hear that a new reality show was going to be filmed in The District. Blonde Charity Mafia doesn’t sound like anything lasting more than a season so it would of been nice to see some random rich people frolic around DC for our amusement and ridicule while it lasted. It was also entertaining to hear that Bravo is bringing The Real Housewives franchise here as well, that to me is more of a yawn- BCM is more my age group. But now everyone is buzzing over speculation and confirmation of The Real World DC and all of a sudden it’s exciting to live in DC again. Not that living in the Capital of the United States and center of politics means anything.

While everyone is talking about it, not everybody is a fan of the future season of the show, and could care less. But that alone means something because as Brightest Young Things has written so elegantly, “DC loves to care about not caring about stuff.”

why.i.hate.dc has already made some predictions of what the next six months could hold, I started thinking if I would run into while I’m out enjoying myself.

Now I’m not one of those that are already planning stake-outs around 2000 S street NW, but with all this buzz and news I started thinking what kind of bars and clubs would the cast of The Real World visit. I don’t watch the show but still I tried to put myself into the shoes of a Producer or Location Manager and come up with the best bars for running into The Real World cast.

Even though the house is in Dupont Circle, most bars are probably fair game given that it only takes a short cab ride to get around town. But let’s say they wanted to stay close to home, where would they go? Let’s look at some options:

Bar Around The Corner: The Black Fox Lounge

Located on 1723 Connecticut Avenue, NW, The Black Fox is one of the closest nightspots to The Real World home. Not much else is known about the place, the website sports an, “Opening 2009” target. What better way to open a brand new place than to get some future D-list MTV stars to hang out there?

Gazuza courtesy of Flickr user M.V. Jantzen

Glam, Yet Chill: Gazuza

Gauzuza maybe more of a dark horse since the atmosphere is more laid back however the look is sleek, modern, and what DP would pass up a crane shot of the cast dining on the Hookah Lounge’s signature patio overlooking Connecticut Ave?

The Neighborhood Hangout: The Front Page & Lucky Bar

Front Page and Lucky Bar are neighborhood favorites for me and others, I can see these two hangouts on nights where a dance club isn’t on the docket. The clientele is young, the places always look packed, and  it’s the perfect place to dish drama from the night before where they went to…

The Dance Club: Eighteenth Street Lounge

It’s may not be the stereotypical dance club in design, but that’s exactly why I think Eighteenth Street has a chance to receive a visit from the housemates. The unique layout and atmosphere will provide a new look for the predictable night ahead: the guys get drunk and hit on beautiful women, the girls get plastered and start a cat-fight (if the guys haven’t started a brawl already.) Plus the relationship between the lounge and music label ESL Music could also help negotiate a, “random visit” one night.

If you were the Producer, where would you send cast on a night out?

Thanks to flickr user Andrew Huff for this photo of reigning Philly US Air Guitar Champ Windhammer.

If you get up on stage and fake playing a song, a la Ashlee Simpson or  Milli Vanilli and you will lose your Grammys and never sell a CD MP3 again-except ironically, of course.

But get up on stage and blatantly put on recorded music and also PRETEND to be holding an instrument-and you’ll sell a hell of a lot of tickets.

Some how air guitar has gone from being something we did to entertain ourselves in front of the mirror and transformed into something people will pay good money to see.  Somehow both more fake and more real than a guitar game like Guitar Hero (both of which take a lot less talent and effort than say, I dunno, playing the guitar for real?)-air guitar is a thing now.  With it’s own contest and governing board and everything.

And it’ll be at the 9:30 Club on Friday (at 8pm).

Yes, go watch (or participate!) in the Washington DC regional of the US AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIP.

Okay-so this whole fad strikes me as a bit too much hipster for my taste, but it probably is something to see at least once.  Just read that partial article on the main page for US Air featuring Air-Guitarist “Windhammer

Windhammer’s left hand was a blur. His right hand dashed up and down the invisible fretboard, furiously articulating chords in unprecedented contortions. If anyone witnessing the light-speed riff even had a chance to wonder what the hurry was, the abrupt emergence of the solo answered their question.“

And here I would have thought that the guy was just making it up.  Alas, I would have been wrong-apparently the emperor does in fact shred in his new clothes.

Any Metblog users going/participating?  I want to hear from you-what am I missing here?  Is this like LOST or soccer where you need a little background info to know and appreciate what is going on?  Enlighten!

(and for the record, I always used a tennis racket-I never felt comfortable with just air…)

In the meantime, here is air guitar in it’s natural, moving, element…

Thanks to the phone banks with the Terry McAuliffe campaign, I heard that he and will.i.am will be down the street tonight at Clarendon Ballroom. The event is titled, “A Night with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas” and proceeds will go to McAuliffe’s gubernatorial campaign.

This is less of a political message and more of a, “if you want to see will.I.am and don’t mind throwing money at Terry McAuliffe to do it- here’s your chance!

Terry seems to know a few famous people, later this week he’s holding a rally at NOVA in Annandale with Bill Clinton. Well that makes sense since he ran Hillary’s Presenditial campaign and is a former DNC chairman.

A Night with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas

The Clarendon Ballroom
3185 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 8:00pm
$20 Admission
$500 Co-Host (includes admission to a special VIP reception with Will.I.Am at 8:00PM and recognition at the event)

Courtesy of WGA-East

Well tonight is the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, the dinner is known for more humorous moments such as Stephen Colbert ranting on the podium, and Karl Rove showing off his rapping skills. Tonight Wanda Sykes will be on the mic and I’m very interested to see how she does- I don’t think she’s holding back any punches.

The glitz and glam isn’t limited to the dinner tonight, there will be a slew of pre and post parties all weekend, just check out Politico for their party guide.

I had the opportunity of being invited to the WGA East’s “Writers Speak!” event last night at the Newseum. I checked out the party with Rachel from Rachel, Rachel I’ve been thinking. She’ll be putting up a guest post on her take of the event later next week.

The place was packed as Hollywood and Washington came together for some stand-up comedy and a panel featuring  TV writers. The panel included J.R. Havlan (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart), Bill Scheft (Late Show With David Letterman), Anthony Jeselnick (Late

Anthony Jeselnick (Late Night With Jimmy Fallon) Courtesy of WGA-East

Night With Jimmy Fallon), Matt Goldich (Best Week Ever), Tim Carvell (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart), Opus Moreschi (The Colbert Report), Tom Ruprecht (Late Show With David Letterman), and Allison Abner (The West Wing)- the night was promised as a, “A Potentially Regrettable Evening With Comedy Writers”, but it will be one I won’t be forgetting too soon.

Thanks to WaxHeaven for this “just left the club” photo of RZ.

As I write this, the Nationals are down 5-2 in top of the 6th against the Florida Marlins.  They’ve already dropped their first two to Florida and here comes Ryan Zimmerman to the plate.  That would be 1-11 (.091) Ryan Zimmerman who’s lone contribution thus far, offensively, is a double. 

The face of the franchise.   Why is he so terrible you may ask?  Perhaps you say “well it’s early in the season and he’s coming off of surgery last year-cut him a break.”

I offer exhibit A (thanks to Patrick)-Ryan Zimmerman’s favorite places to “go out.”  (WaPo)

Maybe Zim is spending a little too much time chatting up GW Undergrads at McFaddens, or a perhaps is staying out a bit too late with the recently graduated Clarendon crowd at Liberty Tavern-but if it keeps affecting his game play, I say we all show up at these places at tell him to pack it up and get some sleep because clearly he needs it. 

Yep.  I say if he doesn’t start hitting up the ball, then no more hitting up the town.  We can all go to K Street Lounge, or Town Hall and just-

oh wait, he hit another double (2-12).   Now he’s on third, thanks to a walk.  …Aaaaaaaand typical Nationals.  Bases loaded and no outs?  That’s a line out, a strike out and a pop out to end the inning. 

Now where was I?  Oh right-stalking Ryan Zimmerman.  For his own good, of course.  I mean…well…okay you know what I mean.  So…we’ll just leave it that.

Go team!

A lot of folks might laugh at the idea that DC is full of anything but selfish, self promoting, self aggrandizing people all looking out for #1-and on some level, let’s face, it they would be right to do so.

That’s just not the full story though.  As a matter of fact, because DC is a place where people come to get things done, we actually have a lot of charitable organizations and causes out to help the greater good.  So here are three ways you can help DC be “Downright Charitable” (get it??) this week.

Think of it as an easy way to buy yourself into Heaven when you die…or something:

1.  OTG helps Martha’s table: From March 23-April 9th 3rd 2009, Organic to Go, the nation’s first fast-casual retailer to be certified organic by QAI and the USDA, presents savory small soups for 99 cents with  100% of the purchase price donated to Martha’s Table, a 501 (c)3 program that provides food, clothing and education to at risk, children, youth and families in the Washington, DC area.  Enjoy a $3 savings on your next cup of delicious and organic Basil Chicken Chili, Fire Roasted Tomato or vegan Thai Vegetable Soup, while making a responsible contribution to the Washington community.

2. Don’t break a nail-Fix them (and DCPS) up! Drinks too!: Join Hands on DC (an all volunteer, non-profit organization that brings 2000 volunteers to about 30 schools a year on their work-a-thon event day and does beautification projects) and BeBar (1318 9th St. NW, Mt. Vernon Sq Metro) as we team up to host Martinis and Manicures on Friday, March 27th, 2009. Come to BeBar between 5:00 – 9:00 where $15 will get you a martini & manicure or entry into our pong tournament.  We will also be raffling off some great prizes and can’t wait to see you there.  BeBar is donating a percentage of the bar proceeds so come on out for our Friday Happy Hour and bring your friends!

3. But Teh Puppez and Kittez are so Kute!! Fashion for Paws!: Saturday, March 23 28 (sorry-clearly I was tired yesterday!) at 8pm at the Embassy of Italy, F4P benefits the Washington Humane Society and infuses the Nationals Capitol with cutting-edge high fashion, drawing an extraordinary crowd of VIPs and animal lovers alike!

Plus Val Kilmer and Luke “My Dad was Tim and we both like the Bills” Russert are going to be there.

Tom Jones @ 930

So, last night I went with a couple of friends to see Tom Jones at the 9:30 club. Yes, knickers were thrown (but not by us). It was an eclectic crowd, with everyone from 18-year-olds to retirees in the mix! Tom had a great band, and sounded pretty darn good for someone who’s 68 years old. He’s perfectly aware of his abilities and his limitations and works to stay within them to give the audience the best possible sound. (Aretha Franklin, I’m looking at you.)

He’s out supporting his new album.

The show put me in mind of a couple of other big-name, small-venue shows I’ve seen in the fifteen years I’ve lived in the DC metro:

• Tony Bennett at the old 9:30 Club (which was way, way, way smaller than the existing venue); he was playing an impromptu charity show and admission was the price of a can of food
• David Bowie at Nation (about the same size as the existing 9:30 Club)

How about you, DC? What great surprise acts have you seen around town, and where was the show?

"Eat Bar" courtesy of Fickr user voteprime

I  saw that some local bars made the Washingtonian’s Best 75 Bars list in the March issue. (Thanks to What’s Up Arlington for the news link.) While 75 is a round number for lists- why not do the top 100? Maybe there’s not 100 bars in DC but I bet there are. While I’d love to see the top of the list I’ll have to wait til the put the list online, my recession dollars won’t be going towards a hard copy anytime soon. But here are the Arlington establishments that were mentioned:

I constantly hear great things about this bar and it’s sister restaurant- and it’s only a hop, skip, jump away from where I live! However I haven’t had a chance to check it out a whole lot- has anyone else been there? I ended my night there once and really enjoyed the wine bar, I should try going out there again sometime.

I am a big fan of the Tavern, I was just there this past Monday catching up with long-lost Pho relatives. It’s a little more upscale than your regular bar but not too fancy to become a lounge. Perfect place to entertain your out of town guests, they also have great outdoor dining.

This was actually the other place my distant cousins discussed going to before we went to the tavern, I haven’t been but I hear they do tapas and they always seem full on the weekends- anybody been?

This is another place I really want to check out, however my friend Krissy had a bad experience with the obnoxious and loud crowds there so I have been hesitant to go out there.

After a late night out Saturday I decided to spent Inauguration Sunday a little more low key.

I actually was thinking about the “We Are One” Inaugural concert kickoff but I previously made plans for lunch out in Tyson’s Corner.

Driving out to Tyson’s from Arlington was surprisingly quiet, I didn’t expect traffic leaving but I thought maybe with all the road closures that there would be traffic heading into the city. But everything looked smooth as Barack Obama.

I arrived at Coastal Flats only to hear that my original plans had fallen through. Well I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy lunch anyways (this time at Gordon Biersch) and walk around the suburbia that is the Tyson’s Corner Mall. (more…)