All photos by Victor Zapanta.

With the end of this brutal summer drawing near, the light at the end of the tunnel just may be DC’s many street festivals. The Columbia Heights Day kicked off street fair season this past weekend with it’s yearly gathering at Harriet Tubman Elementary. Local eateries from throughout the neighborhood shared their offerings outside the event while many vied for primo seating+discounted booze around the corner at Wonderland. This DC blogger couldn’t resist spending the majority of his time enjoying the performance by DC’s own Batala [http://www.batalawashington.com/ ], the amazingly talented women’s drum band. (more…)

Whether you accept it or not, the end of summer is here. Tonight The Pink Line Project invites you to the End of Summer White Party at the Phillips Collection, a Caribbean style white party featuring interactive art by Kenny George and Alberto Gaitan and music by BLUEBRAIN. BLUEBRAIN has spent the past few weeks compiling your stories from the snowpocalypse to create a one-of-a-kind multimedia presentation. Check out the Phillips Collection’s website for more information. (more…)

Here’s a great video about the great neighborhood of Anacostia.

AND they will be on sale tonight at FIFTY-ONE: Be The Tourist for only $15. There will be only 51 limited edition first run shirts, so get there early to grab one!

You can get your ticket to FIFTY-ONE for half-price in advance. Tickets are HERE.

All photos by Chris Svetlik.

Last night, The Pink Line Project presented PM@ The TM: Mod Madness at the Textile Museum.  The event fit nicely with the Textile Museum’s current exhibit of textile designs from the 1950s and 1960s, “Art by the Yard: Women Design Mid-Century Britain”. The Mad Men craze is everywhere you turn and Mod Madness further spotlighted the phenom. Event goers dressed in their best interpretation of the period’s pieces, all competing for the title, “best mid-century dressed.”  The whole glamorous-yet-conservative Betty Draper-look was prevalent, as was the fedora. And, of course, there were cocktails–Gin Rickey’s to be exact. The rain held off as guests poured in, gallivanting around the museum’s interiors and the courtyard, enjoying tours led by WE ARE SCIENCE and music by DJ Jahsonic.

FIFTY-ONE: Be The Tourist is this Friday (the 20th) at DISTRICT, a spacious two-level lounge SAKI’s intimate basement lounge in Adams Morgan. The (re)DC winning design, “DC LOVE” by Alex Slater (NATAKO) will be available for the first time. HIP HOP DAN and DJ Phil Real will be at the DJ Booth, keeping the party going until 3am. Tickets? Only $5 if you buy them in advance here.

But you say, ‘What will will I wear?’ Well here are five simple rules (guided by photos) for how to be a REAL tourist.

1. Coming in a group? Make sure you have the exact same shirts so that you can easily find each other.

(more…)

Creative inspiration from around the world. Not necessarily DC, just necessary.

What do you DC DJs think about this?

Beautiful photography by Tracy Clayton. Beautiful modeling by Brandon Bloch.
—————–

UPDATE: To allow sufficient time for t-shirt printing, voting will end on Thursday, August 12th at 11:59PM.

(re)DC is a new creative project series by ReadysetDC. We are looking at things that we see all the time in DC, and making a call to improve them. A simple concept to raise the bar.

We are starting simple, with DC’s “tourist t-shirt”. We’ve pulled together some talented artists and designers to rethink what this shirt could be. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DESIGNS. Check out the designs they’ve put their time and sweat into. YOU vote. Look through all of the entries and make your decision at the bottom. The winning design will be “gifted” to the public, under Creative Commons (Attribution, No Derivatives). Until their is a winner, artists maintain all rights to their works.

A special thanks to Jeff Tien, Erik Dreyer, Kiril Tchangov, Elizabeth Graeber, E.B. Davis III, Adrian Constantyn, Jenny Griffith and Alex Slater for participating.

The winning design will be printed and sold for the first time at a ReadysetDC party to be announced this week. Just keep your August 20th evening available.

Photo by excalipoor

It appears that the DC staple, Busboys & Poets, has its sights set on the Big Apple. According to a New York based blog  Harlem Condo Life (via UrbanTurf DC), Busboys and Poets plan to open up shop in Harlem, its first venture outside the DC area.

If the news is true, this will be a big first step for DC restaurants. Rarely, if ever, do DC based restaurants make the leap to New York, but all too often DC receives New York transplants. The NY Magazine food blog Grub Street recently posted an article titled, “Is DC the Next Big Food City?” Inside, the blog cited the upcoming (and recent) moves of famed New York establishments like Carmines and Serendipity 3 as indicators of DC’s potential new label as a foodie capitol. With Busboys & Poets move to Harlem, it seems the tables have turned.

So, what do you think? Will Busboys & Poets succeed outside of DC? Does it even make sense for the quintessential DC coffeeshop and restaurant  to set up shop in New York?

AMAZING photography by Brian Nevins

This past Saturday, the Red Bull team and their squadron of wakeboarders, jet skis, and groupies took over the Potomac River for a few hours to dazzle the cheerful crowd at the National Harbor. This was a great opportunity for folks not familiar with the sport to see world-class riders exhibit their craft in the water – and the air. The heat wave graciously took a backseat to the sun, breeze, and music for what seems like the first time in weeks.

The crowd was jazzed as the commentary crew was successful in hyping the riders and the sport while attempting to explain to the casual fan exactly what these crazy kids were doing on the river. Not many people know the difference between a Switch Half-Cab Double Back Roll Mobe and a Backside 540 Rodeo Indy Nosebone. One sounds like an item on a sushi platter while the other some type of unsanctioned motor sport. Maybe the MC helped clear up some of that confusion. Or maybe the crowd was simply focused on witnessing the spectacle and was content with letting out ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ as opposed to learning the jargon. (more…)

What exactly is Seersucker?

That was the question I asked myself when I first encountered Dandies and Quaintrelles’ Seersucker Social. It turns out seersucker is an all-cotton fabric made with a slack tension weave that gives it that puckered or wrinkled look. It’s a fabric normally used for spring and summer wear and popular among Southerners. Former U.S. Senator Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) also helped revive its popularity inside the Beltway.

To bring in some good ol’ Southern style into the halls of Congress, Lott started Seersucker Thursday held every June, in which Senators wear seersucker suits. (more…)