President Obama Visits My Office
President Obama just arrived at my office to take part in an
AARP Telephone Town Hall to answer questions about his health care plan. Regardless of what you think of the plan, it's pretty darn exciting to see our President drop by the AARP national headquarters.
When I walked to lunch, I had determined where he would pull into the building. So I camped out next to the window and snapped these photos. Equally impressive to having the Prez visit your office is the Secret Service detail that's camping out front. As I said on Facebook... I love DC!
Labels: DC, Politics, Random, Urban
Indepen-dance in the District
I figured it was time to post some
photos from a shoot with Swedish house music
DJ John Dahlback. This is now the third year in a row that I've found myself shooting photos of a DJ the Thursday before a July 4th weekend. I think this year was the best so far because of the range of images I was able to capture along the way.
We started our evening on the terrace where I was able to catch some amazing shots of the club and the lasers permeating the crowd of house heads below. I also captured some shots of my friends who were happy to give their best
Zoolander face and pose for some provocative silhouette shots throughout the club. Having friends who are models is so rad!
So the part of the evening I enjoyed most was finding the ability to shoot some of these shots with such a low ISO setting. ISO settings for non-photo geeks measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) - however the cost is noisier shots. You can see this in some of my previous photo galleries where either the lighting was poor or the DJ bounced all over the place and I needed to speed up my shutter to keep my subject from blurring across the shot.
By shooting with a higher sensitivity, my shots of John Dahlback came out much crisper than normal. This was specially satisfying knowing I can print these shots in a much larger format now because the grain was kept to a minimum. It also doesn't hurt that the lighting in the Ultra Bar DJ booth is brimming in blue illumination.
The following are a few more shots from the evening. The complete gallery can be seen
right here on dougvansant.com. Enjoy...
Labels: Clubs, Dancing, DJs, Entertainment, House, Music, Nightlife, Photography
I Was Running...
Those of you who know me fairly well and keep in touch know that two weeks ago I began running every morning. This has actually been a lot easier than I expected and now something I actually look forward to when my alarm goes off. The fact was, with work, dancing and lifting weights, it left very little time for me to concentrate on my cardio. So it seemed like a smart idea to actually go to bed an hour or two earlier and get my run in before work. So far so good! I'm averaging 3 miles each morning and get to run past some of our nations most familiar icons. And my work day is filled with so much more energy it's insane!
Well recently I came across an email about a running club at the new Lululemon store on P Street across from the Whole Foods near Logan Circle. I decided this week I would check it out and push myself to run a bit longer than I normally do. Now I don't typically pimp out retail stores on my blog. I'll go to clubs and restaurants and tell you what I like and dislike, but retail has been an animal I've typically left alone. But I've got to say, this running club and the staff at Lululemon who run it are awesome! We did our run from the store down around the mall and returned to stretch, do some ab work and enjoy free bananas. The thing that I really liked about all of this was it seemed like a genuine effort to reach out to the neighborhood. There was no sneaky side-arm tactic to get you to buy things. It was simply people who enjoy running getting others to run with them. I'll most certainly be back next week!
Labels: retail, running, sports
Random Photo of the Day: July 12th
Now that's something you don't see every day!
Labels: Photography, Random, Urban
W Hotel Opens in DC
This is my first initial review of the brand new W Hotel in downtown DC.Based on my three years of living in DC, hotels have never really been a nightlife destination. Some are graced with amazing restaurants, but rarely did my nocturnal agenda include a stop at a hotel bar. But all of that has changed recently. Hotel's in DC are getting into the nightlife act. The Beacon Hotel hosts a pretty sweet Sunday afternoon party on their roof known as The Coolout. The Capitol Skyline Hotel is using a beautiful redesign and swanky pool to host parties Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And now the premier upscale and trendy W Hotel has opened their doors just yards from the White House.
While living in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to
spend many evenings at the W Hotel in downtown SF. Their lounge, XYZ, was always a hot destination among locals in the city and so I was excited to think we'd have something like that arriving in the District. Enter POV.
POV - which I'm sure stands for Point of View because of the location - is a rooftop ultra lounge and terrace with some of the cities best views of the Washington Monument and other DC landmarks. It's quite literally 100 yards from the east wing of the White House. Word on the street was that POV would be providing drinks influenced by owner Sasha Petraske, who's made a name for himself in NYC mixing wonderfully-unique concoctions for A-list crowds. One
NYC publication suggests, "he is responsible for the recent cocktail renaissance this city has experienced." Sounds good eh!
We decided to book a table on the rooftop terrace Friday night, just 3 days after their official opening. We arrived to the Hotel walking down 15th Street and were greeted with velvet ropes and a line typical of any hot nightclub. Large doormen in suits with clipboards were there to make sure those on the list were granted entry and those not so connected stood in line. You know this is a classic trick of any club to give the impression of exclusiveness, because the places are never full inside. In fairness to the W Hotel, it was clearly the place to be among the DC nightlife mavens.
We walked into a beautiful lobby that was a mix between classic renaissance design and Alice in Wonderland funkiness. White ornate walls with grand arches surrounded a lobby bar with shiny red patent leather sofas and black and white chairs with exaggerated backs. Crystal chandeliers with purple lighting gave the entire room a sleek atmosphere you'd expect from the W Hotel. We were then greeted by more bouncers and a girl with another list who then allowed us to take the elevator up to POV.
This is where things got a little unorganized, which we have to remember is expected of any new venue on their first big Friday night. Coming off the elevator we were greeted by another hostess, this time with an electronic reservation system typical of any restaurant. But we then stood for 15 minutes waiting for them to "clear" our table because random guests were apparently planting their butts in seats marked reserved. So while we stood and waited, we peeked inside the ultra lounge side of POV. This room impressed me the most of everything I saw at the W. It was about as sleek as you can get with shiny black floors and black walls, all accented with red trim and red ambient lighting behind the bar. But it was the view out of the large windows that left me breathless. There...right behind the DJ spinning deep house, was the Washington Monument in all her glory. It was a scene I could never get tired of seeing and recommend everyone visit this lounge for a chance to see this inspiring city-scape.
We were finally moved to our table on the terrace where we found ourselves lounging in plush couches and enjoying cocktails just yards from the most famous house in the world. The setting is untouchable in DC as far as I'm concerned. It's a rooftop terrace with some of the best views in the city. The music is decent. The crowd is attractive and well dressed. The drinks however left a lot to be desired. I don't know if Sasha Petraske has anything to do with what is mixed on the terrace, but my "pina colada" cocktail was pretty damn lame. It arrived in a goblet that was about 3 quarters full. The drink itself had hints of pineapple and hints of rum, but the excessive ice just watered it down. Francis enjoyed a mojito that had definite hints of mint flavor but lacked the smoothness and refreshing flavor I've found at other bars. And at $15 per drink, I walked away feeling scammed more than impressed.
We ordered a warm chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice creme dessert to see if their happy endings were truly happy. I think they got this one right except when the waitress told me it was a Jean-Georges exclusive. I honestly don't care who created the idea of a molten chocolate cake...I just want it to taste good. And this one definitely hit the mark.
Overall I have mixed feelings about POV and the rooftop. I loved the setting, the atmosphere, the design and of course the view. I will most certainly go back. But I get the impression they are having a bit of an identity crisis right now. On one hand you feel like you're going into an exclusive club with a strict guestlist. On the other hand it's a restaurant where we made actual reservations to have a table. Clearly half the people on the terrace had not reserved a table, so there needs to be some direction on how to deal with those just coming for drinks and those actually sitting down to have dinner and/or desserts. I think with a few weeks under their belt things will smooth out and they'll get everything under control. The staff (or as they call them, "talent") was a bit overwhelmed with who was coming and who was going, who had reservations and who was just on "the list." This isn't new territory for the W, so I'm anxious to go back once they've got this baby operating as a well oiled machine.
Labels: Clubs, DJ, Entertainment, House, Music, Nightlife
Caption This!!!
Obama to Sarkozy: "Kinda hard to blame Berlusconi when they look like that." Sarkozy back to Obama: "Uh huh...see what I'm saying!"U.S. President Barack Obama (C) and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) take their places with junior G8 delegates for a family photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 9, 2009. Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial nations and the main developing economies are meeting in the central Italian city of L'Aquila until Friday to discuss issues ranging from global economic stimulus to climate change and oil prices.
But clearly Obama and Sarkozy are thinking of a different type of stimulus in this photo...
How would you caption it?
Labels: Photography, Politics, Random
Sounds of a City
This morning while walking into the office, I was reminded once again why I love DC. I had just turned the corner at 7th and F Streets NW, walking past the Verizon Center. It was closer to 10 a.m., so the streets were more quiet than usual as most of the foot-traffic had found their way to their respective offices for the day. That's when I noticed the slight hum of the city. It's a sound so exclusive to city life that sometimes we forget it's there. It's every large building for blocks running a/c or heating units on their rooftops, creating a buzz that never seems to go away. And it's a sound I can remember hearing whenever I would visit a city considerably larger than my hometown.
I was very lucky to grow up in Dover, Delaware. Dover is probably the perfect setting for a child to be raised. We had safe streets, good schools, a good mall and we were really close to the beach. But Dover has a population right around 30,000. It's not a large town at all. When sitting outside, it's very easy to relax and enjoy a peace and quiet not found in most major cities. I notice this every time I go home to visit. Last time home I literally fell asleep on my parents patio because the only sounds to be heard was the wind and the birds (okay, maybe an occasional car with an obnoxious sound system). But you get the point...it's quiet.
Living in DC we're surrounded by sounds all the time. We hear emergency vehicles, motorcades, car horns, and people just out and about walking. There is an energy of living in the city that makes walking out my front door in the morning so exciting and enjoyable. So when all of those ancillary sounds disappear, you're left with that hum of our buildings. I used to hear this when I'd visit Allentown, PA for drum corp performances. We'd walk out the front door of our hotel located in downtown Allentown and there it was...the hum of a city. I'd hear it while enjoying dinner on the rooftop of my office in downtown Tampa after most of the city had gone home. I'd hear it walking from the Tribune Building to my gym most evenings in downtown Oakland. Next time you're in a city, try to find some time to walk around when the rest of the population is either sleeping or hard at work. See if you can't notice this sound of the city.
Labels: DC, Random, Urban, Washington
Well a small little era of lindy hop in DC has come to an end. And it's a bitter-sweet moment for me after working so hard to build a weekly night of dancing at downtown nightclub Muse Lounge.
After much discussion with the folks at Gottaswing and assorted players in the DC swing dance world, we all agreed to postpone our new series of classes and weekly dances until September. If Muse Lounge is down and we can attract more students, we'll return to this downtown venue before we know it.
But that brings me to the bitter part of all of this. I have to be perfectly honest with you all in saying I'm highly disappointed. Sure, I finally get one night off during the week to myself now. But that's not really the point, nor is it a true silver lining in all of this. The fact is, Tempo at Muse is postponed until September because very few were willing to support it. We started out very strongly with an average of 10 or 12 students in each class and about 30 dancers showing up. The range went from ridiculously good to fresh out of our first class beginners. The venue has a nice, strong air conditioner, a full service bar and a pretty darn nice sound system. Even the floor was pretty nice, soft and above all, clean! There were couches along the wall for people to relax in and you really couldn't beat being one block from 3 metro lines. I had even booked a solid rotation with some of DC's best swing-era DJs.
Our high point was having The Loose Marbles come through town. We had over 100 dancers squeeze into this venue with a bevy of the top names in Lindy Hop tearing up the dance floor right in front of the hot jazz combo. In my opinion, it was one of the better nights of dancing in DC because it was a combination of amazing music and dancers all thrown into this beautiful nightclub. I remember saying to some folks, this is quite literally what the social life was like back in the days of the Savoy in Harlem. Ballrooms were to dancers in the '30s what nightclubs are to so many today. So here we were, blending these two era's into something that really worked.
Fast forward a few weeks. Our dance has a total of 6 people. I can't even remember how many actually paid because I think 2 or 3 were from the class. We couldn't even pay our DJ for an hour worth of time so Lily took money out of her own pocket. How does a dance go from over 100 to 6 within just a few weeks? Maybe it was a just one of those nights? Maybe it was the rain? Who knows???
It didn't get any better the next week. Or the next. Or the next. Finally we book the Red Hot Rhythm Chiefs for the final week of our classes. We get about 30 people to show up. It was fun. The music was great! The venue rocked once again. But it was nothing like the success we had captured before. And clearly there was a large segment of the DC dance scene avoiding Muse Lounge.
At this point I guess there isn't a whole lot to be said other than I'm definitely confused. I'm confused at how a lindy hop scene can sit back so proudly and pat themselves on the back for having such a vibrant scene, yet won't support the majority of dance nights thrown their way. I'm always so embarrassed when people come from other cities thinking DC is "the shit" when it comes to having a dance scene. They know about the Jam Cellar. That's a no brainer. But they're always so surprised and disappointed when there isn't more dancing options throughout the week. Sure, we have CCB. We have Glen Echo. But we all know there is a large number of people who won't support those venues either. And frankly, some times the music leaves a whole lot to be desired.
Such as it is, we have venues. We have sheer numbers that other cities would die for. We have talent between DC and Baltimore that is unreal. But for some reason we can't seem to build upon these things. I have no clue why. Maybe it's politics? Maybe it's personal? As far as I'm concerned, politics and personal beefs have no place in dancing. Dancing should be that outlet to forget all that crap and simply have fun and be moved by amazing music. It's why we do this. It's why Frankie and his crew did it in Harlem.
Hopefully in September we'll return. Maybe we'll have a better marketing approach. Maybe we'll figure out the key to getting more dancers out. Who knows. For now we just lost another chance to engage in one of our passions in this great city.
Labels: Dancing, Jazz, Lindy Hop, Music, Swing Dance
