Happy birthday to Tranquil Space! Celebrate with founder and tranquilista Kimberly Wilson tonight at the 17th St. studio from 7-9. The free event features music from PS24, lots of veggie food, massages, yoga demos, and 10% off everything in the boutique.
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Tags: Tranquil Space
Well Dupont, at first I thought Georgetown owned us at decorating for Halloween. I was there last weekend and there were some amazing decorations. I hadn’t seen anything besides tasteful pumpkins-on-steps displays around here. But maybe we are just late bloomers, because over the past week I’ve noticed more creative efforts.
This creeper is on 21st between Q and R:
The faux rat on the ledge (right side of the door) scared the bejesus out of me at first glance. This would be spookier if the ghoul on the left were still upright:
While not spooky, these pumpkins win creativity points:
Still, I’m woman enough to admit that Georgetown wins this battle. But Dupont has a lot more apartment buildings and a lot less kids, so I guess that makes sense. See pictures of some over-the-top Georgetown displays after the jump.
Tags: Georgetown, Halloween
Due to no fault of my own I only had about twenty minutes to hang out at last night’s High Heel Race, which was not enough time to position myself for good pictures or even to see the race. It was, however, enough time to observe the following:
1. The dance team from Results (which included actual women, is that legal?) was awesome. Their expertly choreographed “Thriller” dance was a huge crowd pleaser. Harold Sanco, I suspect you are responsible for this.
2. Kim Zolciak’s “Tardy for the Party” was blasting at Dupont Italian Kitchen. And everybody loved it.
3. Causes championed by the queens included: Fur is a Drag, Marriage Equality, Fenty
4. Best reaction in the audience seemed to be to the group who went as characters from different musicals, including Annie and Wicked. They had huge sparkly signs advertising their characters.
5. Not everyone decided on heels. (And some of you tried to get away with kitten heels, which I condemn, because they are not in keeping with the spirit of the event.) This guy bucked the trend and went with roller skates:
Tags: High Heel Race
Don’t forget! As if you could. The annual High Heel Race on 17th St., organized by JR’s Bar and Grill, is tomorrow evening. The race begins around 9:00 pm (the start is at R St., the finish is at Church St.) but people begin showing up for a good spot around 6. Trust me, if you get there at 9, you will not be able to see a thing. 
Unless . . . you purchase a VIP spot from Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets, the beneficiary of this year’s race proceeds. Tickets are $40, and the price includes a guaranteed (standing) spot in a reserved area at the finish line and a bar “fast pass” that rockets you to the head of the line at a few 17th St. bars. $40 to get a great view and avoid standing on the street for three hours is probably worth it, folks. Word is there are a few VIP passes left, but the deadline is midnight tonight. So act fast! Faster than a queen in heels.
Tags: Halloween, High Heel Race
POSH consignment boutique hosted a grand opening preview party Friday night, and the place looks great! The shelves are stocked and owner Julie Visperas did an excellent job pulling everything together (with an assist from her significant other, who did the remodeling work inside). The clothes are like new and Julie has an excellent selection so far. I saw a Louis Vuitton bag and a Betsey Johnson dress, among other things. Posh indeed.
Tags: POSH
Mystery solved! Someone has finally taken credit for the wild and beautiful garden east of the Circle at the triangle between Dupont Circle, P St. and Massachusetts Ave. I love this garden! I have wondered for months who maintains it. The plant choices are in such good taste and the garden is so well tended that I suspected it was a private citizen (or two, in this case). Thanks, Steve and Phil!
Here is the garden in August, in all its summer glory:
Tags: Gardens
Tags: Gandhi
The Dupont Circle location of BGR the Burger Joint is set to open September October 22nd, according to founder and co-owner Mark Bucher. (Although he warned me the date could change.) The picture above is a few weeks old; now if you walk by the brown paper in the window is gone and you can peek in to see the store’s progress. Young and Hungry has good coverage of the restaurant in its early stages here. I like burgers but am not a big fan of Five Guys (or fast food-ish burgers generally), so BGR is a welcome addition to the neighborhood.
Now that Sweet Green and BGR have arrived, I hope PNC Bank can get a few more retailers into their space. Empty storefronts in such a prime spot near the Circle are a total waste. The Dupont Circle ANC urged PNC to add locally-owned retail, and the bank has done well so far. I’d love a good independently-owned boutique, a la Proper Topper. Benetton and Ann Taylor Loft? We can do better, Dupont.
Update on Oct. 16: When I initially posted this opening I wrote “September” 22nd (twice!). Obviously, it should be October. Sorry, BGR! That’s what I get for writing a post first thing in the morning.
Update on Oct. 26: BGR still isn’t open, but it looks oh-so-close. It’s coming along nicely! Check out the guitar table tops the next time you walk by.
Tags: BGR the Burger Joint
The new exhibit at the Phillips, “Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens” opened Saturday and I had a chance to stop by. (I recommend joining for this reason– if you’re in the area and have 30 minutes to spare you can just swing through.) My hopes were not especially high for the exhibit since I don’t know much about photography. Knowing a lot about photography isn’t a prerequisite to enjoying most photographs, since they usually feature people or scenes that cause some sort of emotional reaction apart from the technical aspects of the shot (or it’s all intertwined to have an impact). But most of the photographs in the exhibit are of staged objects, which I somehow thought would require an appreciation of lighting, focus, etc. etc.
The great thing about the exhibit, though, was that the Phillips actually had a lot of the objects on display next to the photographs, so it was very clear the effect Man Ray (and the other modernist photographers) wanted the object to have on the viewer. Also, the Phillips displayed other images, like book covers and fashion magazines, that showed the effect the photographs had on pop culture in the 1920’s and 30’s. Ray’s pictures were some of the first (Western) portrayals of African objects as art rather than anthropological artifacts.
This untitled photograph features a statute of a queen from Cameroon:
Predictably, though, my favorites featured people along with objects. This may be one of Ray’s most famous photos, “Noire et blanche.” Interesting contrast between black and white, hard and soft, male and female:
This one is “Mode au Congo (Adrienne Fidelin),” featuring Man Ray’s lover. The checkerboard seems heavy-handed but it does add a nice effect:
Tags: Phillips Collection
The answer is no. No you do not have the time; no one does. Not without a functioning U.S. Naval Observatory master clock. The sight of a blank master clock on a recent walk past the Observatory really unnerved me. The USNO determines the official, precise time in the United States, and is apparently also responsible for managing something called “time dissemination.” (I clicked the link on the USNO’s webpage to try to find out what that was, but my eyes started to cross, so here’s the link. You’ll have to do the legwork yourselves.) It is THE time, people.
So . . . was someone still keeping track of the time, or were we all floating around in a timeless abyss? Is the time correct now, or is it just some naval officer’s best guess after a meltdown? Or, more plausibly, was the sign broken?
The whole thing made me think of “I.Q.,” the 1994 rom com starring Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins. What, you don’t remember it? Well I do, and there is a scene where one of the scientists is doing an experiment where he puts a guy in windowless room all day, leaves the lights on, and feeds him at irregular intervals. The whole thing makes the subject crazy; he screams in a wild panic for hours. Then Albert Einstein (just go with it) slips a watch under the door and the subject is happy as can be. The point is, not knowing what time it is drives people crazy. So let’s hope the USNO resolves the situation promptly so we can all avoid that scenario.
Tags: USNO