DAVID REES was perhaps the first popular Web cartoonist to realize that you don't need to be able to draw to be a popular Web cartoonist.
While some Web artists resort to stick figures, Rees turns instead to clip art to accompany his political satire. His strip is so popular that it's been made into a play — and Rees will be speaking about his contribution to political discourse at the new Busboys and Poets space on Sunday.
» Busboys and Poets, 1025 5th St. NW; Sun., Nov. 23, 6 p.m., free; 202-789-2227. (Mt. Vernon Square)
Photo courtesy Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
THE ECONOMY IS NOT WORKING OUT so well these days, but you might be, considering the number of gyms sprouting up (two — a new Vida and Results — opened just last week). Top-of-the-line equipment should help take your mind off financial crises. And if you invest your membership money wisely, you're sure to get a solid return no matter what happens on Wall Street.
» Vida Fitness Metropole
"It's not just a gym," clarifies David von Storch, owner of Vida, indicating Bang Salon and Aura Spa. Located on the entrance level of the 28,000-square-foot space in Logan Circle, that's where folks can get blown out and body-wrapped before descending into the three floors of fitness downstairs. Sound cavernous? An open design means huge windows on the street level are visible from two floors (and 50 feet) below. "It feels urban and sexy without feeling sexual," von Storch says.
It starts with a cardio area, featuring a D.C. exclusive: Real Ryder stationary bikes that shift from side to side to create more of a core workout. TVs are mounted on virtually every piece of equipment, but the real show may be downstairs, where the weights and machines are; they're divided by body part rather than grouped into circuits. Locker rooms lead to the Zen Spa, with two endless pools and a steam room.
1515 15th St. NW, 202-588-5559, Vidafitness.com.
» Results Gym Mount Vernon
There isn't a pool here, but there is pool. It's just the kind with an eight ball. A pingpong table completes the quirky game room that greets all visitors to Results' digs at City Vista, which were designed to maximize natural light. Think wraparound, floor-to-ceiling, southern exposure windows -- providing quite a view of the developing neighborhood.
But there's plenty to see inside, too. The abs area has TVs loaded with class content, so you can be guided through a core workout. Peek through an aquarium to spy on the co-ed Jacuzzi. A disco ball winks from the ceiling of the cycling studio. And there's a low-tech but clever innovation: "express" lockers on the fitness floor for people who want to lock something up quickly but have no need to change or shower. Owner Doug Jeffries seems almost giddy about the new Hoist line of weight equipment, which makes you move your own body in addition to the traditional weights. "It's more fun because the body rocks. Anyone who does this has a smile on their face," he says.
445 K St. NW, 202-234-5678, Resultsthegym.com.
Continue Reading "You Can Find Me in the Club: D.C.'s Newest Gyms" »
HAS THE WORLD recovered from its China fever? That's a definitive no, because though the Olympics are over, Long View Gallery has its exhibit "Made in China" on display.
The show features drawings, paintings and video by Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow based on a lengthy trip to the country. Sports, art, what's next? Oh yeah — world domination.
» Long View Gallery, 1302 9th St. NW; through Sept. 20, free; 202-232-4788. (Mt. Vernon Square)
Photo courtesy of Long View Gallery
"THE WORLD'S BECOME completely unpredictable on a large scale," says writer Bernard Welt.
He says that pollutants and man-made alterations have rendered our rock-steady notions of Earth as stable algorithm totally obsolete, and while he would love for this to be manifested as "a rain of frogs," we'll just have to settle for ice caps melting, winters becoming intemperately warm and other subtle indications of irreconcilable climate change.
He says all of these things when summarizing the message of a seminal piece of environmental literature: Bill McKibben's 1989 book "End of Nature," which helped plant the idea of global warming into the lives of everyday Americans.
Welt, along with fellow writers Judith McCombs and Nan Fry, will be tackling McKibben's ideas in a poetry reading on April 19 at the Warehouse Gallery, in conjunction with the art exhibition "The End of Nature."
Continue Reading "Natural Poetry: Bernard Welt, Judith McCombs & Nan Fry" »
THE CONSTELLATION OF MASON JARS in the window, each a brightly colored gem, is how the Gallery at Warehouse's "End of Nature" exhibition starts. Dozens, maybe hundreds, line the window in claustrophobic closeness.
Renee Shaw filled the jars, collectively titled "Preserved," with Americana. One sample contains flag toothpicks, birthday candles, fishing lures, blue glop, a Ken-like figurine. They are captivating and chilling.
In the exhibit, 30-plus artists address what they would miss most from nature if it were to disappear "in the globally overheated future," the gallery's Web site says. The works include sculptures, paintings, wallpaper, video and bumper stickers.
Continue Reading "Left Behind: Warehouse Gallery's 'End of Nature'" »
"WHAT'S GOING ON? I came for the party, but I don't see a lot of people."
— Ward 4 resident Bessie Crosson, who sat alone "at a table for 10 in one of several sparsely populated areas roped off for senior citizens" at D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's 37th birthday party on Thursday night.» "Mayor's Birthday Bash Short On Splash" [WaPo]The Post's David Nakamura described the event has having "all the atmosphere of a bad high school dance." Organizers had reserved a 5,000-person ballroom at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, secured go-go legend Chuck Brown as entertainment and invited 10,000 D.C. residents, but because of bad weather and a Redskins game, the party filled less than one-fifth of the place.
File photo of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty by Rich Lipski/The Washington Post
IT'S HARD TO BUILD a business district from scratch. That's what the champions of NoMa — a developing area that's north of Massachusetts Avenue (hence the name) and surrounded by Union Station, Mount Vernon Triangle and the New York-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University Metrorail station — have found out as they try to promote the developing area as a first-class office environment.
As The Post's Alexander Lazo reports, NoMa faces two big problems: There's not much out there yet to lure business owners and there remains a perception that the area is remote. One new building, Capitol Plaza I, pictured here, at 1st and M streets NE, has no tenants.
But not to worry, says Liz Price, president of the NoMa Business Improvement District, told The Post: "We are really one phase away from a real, wholesale mind-shift in what NoMa is."
ACCORDING TO a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, African-Americans are 10 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than their white counterparts.
Veteran reporter and syndicated columnist Gil L. Robertson IV knows this fact all too well: His brother Jeffrey D. Robertson was diagnosed as HIV-positive in the mid-1980s.
The people of Washington, D.C., should be intimately aware of this stat, too, but too often we're not. It's estimated that one in every 20 adults in the District is HIV-positive, with 82 percent of those being African-Americans.
D.C. also has the highest rate of new AIDS cases per 100,000 people in the U.S.
That's 10 times the national average.
It's stark numbers like these, plus his family's own story, that led Robertson to create the book "Not in My Family: AIDS in the African-American Community" (Agate Publishing).
Robertson solicited more than 50 essays from the high-profile likes of Jesse Jackson Jr., Rev. Al Sharpton, Patti LaBelle, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Mo'Nique and more, along with testimonials and tales from the not-so-famous — including his brother Jeffrey. Together, they tell the emotional stories about how HIV/AIDS has affected their friends, family and themselves.
Express spoke with Robertson about "Not in My Family" before his Saturday book-signing appearance at the Congressional Black Caucus' Annual Legislative Conference at the Washington Convention Center.
Neighborhood Frontiers: Where Is Penn Quarter?
Map It:
Archives-Navy Mem'l Gallery Pl-Chinatown Metro Center Mt Vernon Square
IT MIGHT NOT BE a watershed day in the District's local history but neighborhood blog Gallery Place Living got an online revamp and has adopted a new name, Penn Quarter Living. It's a small sign of the greater change swirling through the center of the city.
Since the MCI Center (now the Verizon Center) was built at 7th and F streets NW a decade ago, the surrounding neighborhood has shifted; for example, the number of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown has decreased, while condos and chain stores continue to appear.
In recent years, the shiny Gallery Place retail/entertainment/condo complex at 7th and H streets NW — in addition to the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metrorail station — has anchored the heart of the neighborhood and solidified the use of "Gallery Place" as a downtown destination.
Now it seems newcomer name "Penn Quarter" is edging in on Gallery Place's turf. So what's part of Penn Quarter and what isn't?
Continue Reading "Neighborhood Frontiers: Where Is Penn Quarter?" »
BY THE END OF THE MONTH, the District will say goodbye to one more of its eating institutions when A.V. Ristorante Italiano, a mainstay on New York Avenue near Mount Vernon Square, closes its doors after 58 years in business. This follows the shuttering of the 52-year-old Yenching Palace — a Cold War landmark in Cleveland Park — and the 121-year-old Reeves Restaurant and Bakery downtown in June.
A.V. Ristorante, Yenching and Reeves were all casualties of rising rents or development opportunities that were too good to pass up. With the trio goes the stuffed fried artichokes, Peking duck and strawberry pies enjoyed by so many over the decades.
Like many restaurants in the area, the three played a major part in the country's political history. Deals and historical accords — like Yenching's role in resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis — were reached at their tables. They provided meals to the city's most illustrious citizens and politicians such as Herbert Hoover, Henry Kissinger and Helen Hayes, as well as to popes and rock stars.
But more than that, these restaurants encapsulated unique periods of dining history in the District. Whether they introduced a new cuisine to the city, fulfilled the needs of homesick expats and world travelers, or provided downtown employees with a quick lunch at a counter, they each played a role in changing the culinary landscape.
Continue Reading "The End Is Near for D.C.'s A.V. Ristorante Italiano" »
Addison Road