Music and Art Blooms on 11th Street

Leaving the Wonderland early Sunday morning, your bloggers came across a site that I exclaimed as "fantastic" about 50 times in a row. The vacant building next to the Wonderland on 11^th Street was transformed into Bloombar, which its website describes as "Spontaneous, underground music, art and inspiration." The small gallery and performance space is a great fit for the 11^th Street corridor, and I can't wait to see what it becomes.

The Caribbean Meets Georgia Avenue

While Barack Obama was busy working out at our local gym, The Heights Life was enjoying a day in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Carnival Parade took place on Saturday. We grabbed some grass on one of the street islands and waited about an hour and a half for the sounds of the Caribbean islands to come our way.

It was pretty wild. Photos and pictures are below. We didn't make it to the festival, but opted for brunch at Domku.

The highlight of the parade for this blogger was the Fenty Smart Car, natch. The mayor was throwing green beads about, and every other political candidate in the parade was doing the same and hoping they'd be mistaken for Fenty.

"Get 'yer dishes, knives, and blenders here!"

Additional signage for Bed Bath & Beyond at DC USA was being installed
on Friday evening. Now everyone heading north of 14th Street will know
where you can get your kitchen needs.

Listserv post of the day

And a sincere one, at that.

CHEESE & YOGURT NOW at 14& U Farmers Market Saturday June 21

Posted by: "robinjeffs" 

Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:22 pm (PDT)

PLEASE COME OUT AND MEET THE CHEESEMAKER on Saturday! FREE SAMPLES!

It has taken more than a year, but we will now have wonderful yogurt, fresh cheeses, aged
cheeses and blue cheese dips at the market. Quark and Ricotta and Fresh Cream Cheese,
Cheddars and 11 varieties of aged hard cheeses. Come sample on Saturday.

Yes, it's true. Farmstead CHEESE AND YOGURT ARRIVE THIS WEEK AT 14 & U FARMERS MARKET! Hurrah! Come and Try them. I promised the cheesemaker , Melanie, that she would meet a huge crowd of U Streeters who were hungry for cheese.

*My favorite yogurt--
*11 different hard cheese-- cheddars and Fetas and Wallabies and Vermeer
*Fresh German style or Central European soft curd cheese (Quark)
*Fresh Ricotta and Italian Style Pressed Ricotta
*Fresh Cream Cheese with herbs

Rain or Shine

Listserv Post of the Day: Help Find A Cat

The Heights Life loves animals, so when I saw this message my heart went out to the cat owners.

Keep your eyes open for Artemis:

Smallish, orange/golden and white colored short hair cat. No collar. ID is a black marking in the middle of her lower lip. If you find
Artemis please call George Ripley at 202-XXX-XXXX. Thank you.

Update: The cat was found!

Target to sell beer and wine?

From Jimmy D:
"1) an alcohol licence request posted on the front of DCUSA main doors with Target as the named requester. No idea what it means exactly. Maybe Target wants to sell beer and wine? I have never heard of that before. Hmm."

In April, Target's request for an alcohol license was discussed at the ANC 1A meeting. Reports from that meeting are available from DCist and DC North. Target's website, though, thinks wine is already available at the store. While The Heights Life is a big fan of d'vines, making beer and wine available at Target will make summer party planning that much easier. And Target's wine cube is supposed to be pretty good.

If anyone has an update on Target's alcohol license, please post it in the comments below.

Five Guys Looking Good

The butcher paper is off the windows at Five Guys showing that construction is nearing completion. Tables and chairs are stacked in the dining room; the Coca Cola dispenser is primed to start pouring fizzy goodness; and the griddle is ready to go. The burger joint looks to be on-schedule for an early-July opening, as announced a few months ago.

Columbia Heights Shoe Shopping: A Rant in 200 Words

In the two months that the inexpensive shoe triumvirate of Target, Marshalls, and Payless has been in operation at DCUSA, I should have purchased at least three pairs of cute, cheap perfect-for-summer shoes by now. Except, in fact, it’s been the exact opposite:

• While the Columbia Heights Payless has a lot of shoes in my size (something that the Metro Center and Adams Morgan stores do not), their summer styles just don’t suit me this year. Or they don’t have the shoe I want in stock. Where is this shoe, Payless?!
• Marshalls' shoe department continues to surprise me, but between May and August black heels are the last thing I want to buy. Give me embellished sandals!
• This weekend Target’s shoe department was full of empty shelves because they removed all the shoe boxes, with the exception of anything by Converse. A call to Target as to why they no longer use shoe boxes was not answered, but it certainly doesn’t help an already quiet corner of the store. Also, has anyone else noticed this Target rarely puts its shoes on sale or clearance? I used to have the best luck getting good deals at the Potomac Yards Target, but not yet at Columbia Heights.

Fun find at d’vines

While you normally find cool window designs at clothing, furniture, and department stores, d’vines also does a great job of showing off its goods. I love the steel wine caddies currently on display. They retail for $55.99 and represent various professions and hobbies. There’s more online at the H&K Sculptures website if you can’t find what you like in the store.

Rough Friday night?

Has this ever happened to anyone? Or perhaps this is one of our readers? On Saturday morning around 7:30 am, I found a guy sleeping on the front stoop of my building. No shirt, no shoes, but cell phone in hand. We had a lovely conversation:

ArtBart: Excuse me, do you live here?
Dude: No, do you?
ArtBart: Yeah.
Dude: Where am I?
ArtBart: Washington, DC.
Dude: [obviously] No, shit.
ArtBart: You’re in Columbia Heights.
Dude: Oh. [stands up, stumbles to the sidewalk and starts making a call on his cell phone]

It was a strange way to start the day. But the real question is, how did this guy get there? He didn’t appear to be a victim of mugging or robbery. Was it a prank pulled by friends on a passed-out drunk after a house party? Or did he get kicked out of bed? Maybe he just wanted to sleep in the great outdoors of Columbia Heights?

Wonderland in the WaPo

The Wonderland Ballroom made it into the Washington Post today for going all Gossip Girl with some public Guitar Hero nights.

 

Check it out by clicking here. And here is an excerpt:

 

Rock On in Columbia Heights

By Karmah Elmusa
Friday, June 6, 2008; C11

Guitar Hero isn't just a game. Well, technically, it is. But it has also become a phenomenon worthy of media attention, a "South Park" episode and, now, a designated night at Wonderland Ballroom.

Every Tuesday, the top floor of the Columbia Heights hot spot is transformed into a wannabe-rocker's dream den. Lights are down, a projector is up and the speakers are at full tilt, creating an intimate two-player paradise for Hero junkies and their groupies.

While Guitar Hero night is a fledgling operation (it started in early May), the potential for a cult following is there. There are, of course, the standard draws of Wonderland-on-a-weeknight: a beer selection that's extra cheap before 8 p.m. (Delirium is popular here), friendly staff and that off-the-beaten-path feel that disappears when the weekend crowds roll in.

Poll Fails to Predict the Future

And Columbia Heights residents are a bunch of pessimists. The 14th Street North Metro escalators are once again working, after being out of service for about six days. Also, track work delays continue to plague the Green and Yellow lines this weekend. However, if you are on a train, hope for one with a speedy operator. The drivers of the trains I was on this afternoon were determined not to get stuck single-tracking and stopped for about 10 seconds less at affected stations.