IF YOU WERE A FAN of some of the biggest blockbusters of the summer — "Iron Man," "Incredible Hulk," "Hellboy 2" and "The Dark Knight" — then there's a good chance that you'd find something that interests you at the Baltimore ComicCon, the D.C. area's answer to San Diego's comic extravaganza.
Besides countless dealers with tons of comics, toys, books and other pop-culture ephemera, some of the greatest names in comics today and some of the top publishers will be signing, sketching and talking about the four-color fiction.
Dan DiDio, senior VP-executive editor of DC Comics, who will be bringing the DC Nation panel roadshow to Baltimore, is especially excited about having a good portion of the creative team of a certain Man of Steel in attendance.
"We got Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle," DiDio says. "These are all guys who are really just the driving force behind the Superman stories and everything we got going with that character right now."
Continue Reading "We Need Another Hero or 2: Baltimore ComicCon" »
"TRUST ME — that diva woman is out there in Annapolis."
Those are the words of "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano. Hear that, M Street shopper with the Gucci glasses and Balenciaga bag? Strut those oversize accessories right off that Georgetown sidewalk and onto the brick roads of downtown Annapolis. (Wear flats, though — the porous old streets weren't really made for heels.) The town may have a bad rap for its resident sailor style (worn khakis, a miscellaneous light beer cap and copious amounts of zinc oxide), but "Project Dudway" it ain't. Here are the Annapolitian trendsetting shops that deserve both a Tim Gunn nod and an influx of D.C. customers. Sail into the world of fierce!
Continue Reading "The Milan of Maryland?: Shopping in Annapolis" »
IT'S 8:15 ON A FRIDAY evening in Fairfax. Cintia Runha, 30, and Win Raguini, 27, stand side by side on a backyard deck, their eyes intensely focused on the 50-inch TV screen in front of them, their arms furiously pummeling like bongo players hopped up on caffeine pills.
"I don't know which one I am!" Runha yells in exasperation as 25 partygoers look on, amused by her failed attempts to direct her player in Nintendo's Wii Boxing. She thrusts her arms in the air: "Stand up! Stand up!" It's too late. Raguini has delivered a knock-out punch, and Runha's virtual counterpart (known as a Mii) crumples to the floor. "I'm glad nobody had money on me," she laughs.
Host Sean Powers, 28, hesitates to call his get-together a "Wii party." "It's just a party with the Wii," he explains as he grills up steaks, burgers and sausages. "Wii parties are more casual and weekday-ish" — just friends playing video games.
Yet a glance around his backyard tells a different story. The atmosphere says "low-key barbecue" — strategically placed tiki torches, an ice-filled bucket of Coronas and Bud Lites, the Strokes' "Hard to Explain" reverberating in the background. But it's clear that the Wii is the star.
WHIP OUT YOUR WALLETS, eager shoppers: The tax holidays are upon us.
As we mentioned earlier this week, both the District and Virginia will forgo their usual sales tax this weekend on certain items in a tip of the fiscal hat to the start of back-to-school shopping season.
Virginia's tax holiday started today and lasts through Sunday. It applies to school supplies selling for $20 or less per item and articles of clothing, including footwear, selling for $100 or less per item. Find out more from the commonwealth's Department of Taxation.
In D.C., the tax holiday starts Saturday and lasts until Aug. 12. Applicable items include shoes, clothes and school supplies priced $100 or less. Get details from D.C.'s Office of Tax and Revenue.
» "In Time for Back-to-School: Shop Tax-Free in D.C. August 4-12" [DC.gov]
» "Virginia's Sales Tax Holiday" [Va. Dept. of Taxation]
» EARLIER: "D.C., Va. Sales Tax Holidays Coming Soon" [Free Ride/Express]
Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post
YES, YES, YES, traditionally, the commemoration of Mexico's 1862 victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla comes on May 5 ... hence Cinco de Mayo. But that doesn't mean you can't stretch the celebration of French Gen. Charles Ferdinand Latrille de Lorencez's strategic blunder out over four days.
Join Express this evening at Regional Food & Drink on 7th Street NW in Gallery Place-Chinatown-Verizonville starting at 5 p.m. If you get there on the early side, you'll get first dibs on the appetizer buffet, giveaways and cheap beer.
» Miller Lite drafts are $1 until the first keg is consumed. Then they're $2 per draft.
» Margaritas are $3.
» There'll be a raffle for a free trip anywhere JetBlue Airways flies.
Express' co-sponsor is Lindy Promotions.
» RFD, 810 7th St. NW, 202-289-2030, 5-8 p.m. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
WHEN YOU THINK of manhole covers in the District, you probably think of those things that explode downtown or in Georgetown, scaring office workers and causing D.C. emergency response crews to send in the rescue boats. But yet, manhole covers (or drain covers, like this one on 10th Street NW pictured at right) often tell the history of a city, and local blogger Rob Goodspeed takes a look at the history of manhole covers and may be one of the first to do so. And there's a lot of ground to cover, because "... there's been no shortage of agencies digging holes in the ground for various purposes," from the General Services Administration to Metro to AT&T.
Writes Goodspeed:
... [F]ew of the covers I have found are unusually ornate or beautiful. Most are utilitarian in nature, and many of the contemporary covers are positively dull. Beauty aside, to the informed reader manholes can tell a story about the history and function of the modern city.So next time you're looking down, watch out for an on-the-street piece of history.
(Standard disclosure: This writer worked with Goodspeed, now a community planning master's student at the University of Maryland, to launch DCist back in 2004, a site both of us are no longer affiliated with.)
» "An Introduction to the Manhole Covers of Washington, D.C." [Goodspeed Update]
Photo courtesy Rob Goodspeed
YOU CAN JUST sip yourself silly with samples from the 280+ wineries on hand for the Washington D.C. International Wine and Food Festival this weekend (dcwinefestival.com), or you can attempt to spit enough of the vino out that you'll be clearheaded enough to learn something. Both Saturday and Sunday, Gloria Maroti Frazee, the director of education for Wine Spectator, will explain how to match up your favorite grub with whites and reds. She gave Express' Vicky Hallett a preview of her presentation.
» EXPRESS: How do you know when you've made a perfect pairing?
» FRAZEE: There's no such thing as a perfect pairing -- it's personal preference. I like ketchup on my hamburger, you like mustard. Ideally the weight of the wine should match with the weight of the food if you really want to be able to taste both. If you put balsamic vinaigrette on a salad, you'll taste the microgreens better than if you doused it in Russian dressing. But I've talked to wine makers who really like red wine, so they'll drink it even if they're eating fish.
» EXPRESS: What's the hardest cuisine to pair with wine?
» FRAZEE: Anything with a lot of spice or heat. If you have a wine with a high alcohol content, it can make a burning sensation in your mouth. Gewürztraminer works well with spicy food. Sometimes I'll just give up though and have a beer.
AT RESTAURANTS such as Hank's Oyster Bar, Creme Cafe and Lounge, Coppi's Organic and EatBar, chefs and restaurateurs are shaping the dining experience by expressing their tastes in music.
At Coppi's, that choice may be a mix of bebop and ska circa 1960, while at Creme, it's James Brown and Maceo Parker late at night. With an earlier closing hour — reinforced by its bright interior and residential location — Jamie Leeds of Hank's Oyster Bar dials down the night with Bonnie Raitt or Etta James. Like the sign and the name, the vibe is retro and relaxed.
Playlists are nothing new. But imposing a song list made up of chef and employee favorites is. With the ease of iPods and CD burning, diners are seduced — or assaulted — by a sonic mood-shaper whose effect goes beyond that of dim lighting or tucked-away banquettes. In his memoir "Heat," author Bill Buford mentions that chef Mario Batali surprises diners by presenting authentic, creative, rustic Italian fare in an upscale dining experience — to the dulcet strains of the Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head."
SOMEONE, quick, call the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission! Wasn't there a federal directive handed down during the Lyndon Johnson administration banning the color yellow from the city's bureaucratic quarters? This might be too much for L'Enfant Plaza and Federal Center SW to handle.
» "On the Street: Awkward Cool" [Project Beltway]
This week, Express kicks off a new semi-regular feature called Escape the Office, where we'll offer some non-cubicle options to enrich your workday near your place of employment. Today, we kick the series off for those who work at or near Farragut Square.
IT MAY SEEM LIKE a bad time to visit the Renwick Gallery. Its exhibition on Ruth Duckworth has closed and the 2007 Renwick Craft Invitational doesn't start until March. But that lull makes it a perfect time to swing through the more than 145-year-old museum at Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street NW, just steps from the White House and plenty of Farragut Square-area office buildings. So tell the boss you need some coffee or have a doctor's appointment and plot your downtown workday escape.
Originally designed as Washington's first private art gallery, the old Corcoran Gallery was taken over in 1899 by the U.S. Court of Claims, which occupied it until the mid-1960s. It was re-opened as a gallery under the auspices of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1972 as the Renwick, a space to display American art, crafts and design.
While the Renwick sits across the way from the heavily trafficked White House pedestrian precinct, causal tourists and locals alike often overlook the museum. Which, of course, is why you shouldn't — that means its collection, which deserves more attention than it gets, can be perused without braving the visiting hordes.
Addison Road