I love holiday photos like this, warm with just a hint of sparkle, rather than the garish no-holds-barred plastic Santa light display preferred by those with the festive spirit in overdrive. DC Jeff took this postcard perfect image somewhere on the Georgetown campus. Happy holidays indeed. Have you submitted your application for DCist Exposed 2008 yet? No time like the present! The 2007 winners are all over the place: mark your calendars for 6......

"No" bikes? This could only have written by one person. Flickr user AlbinoFlea caught this curious sign down in Gallery Place. We'll leave it to the bike riders to argue what the definition of "no" is here. EXIF.......

If you're heading out of the office to hop on the Green line at this very moment, may we suggest a bus? An unidentified man was struck by a train at 4:40 p.m. at the Fort Totten station and Metro put out the word to expect major delays. From WMATA: (Green line) trains are single-tracking through the area, taking turns headed in both directions between West Hyattsville and Georgia Ave-Petworth Metrorail stations. Shuttle buses have......

This is actually the first snow-covered Photo of the Day for this season. Clearly I was just waiting for something monumental. Oh, what do you want? It's Monday. And Flickr user *Toshio* does, in fact, have an impressive photo here -- I'm even more surprised by daytime photos of D.C. cultural sites that don't have a single person in sight. EXIF. Speaking of impressive, last night we reached 15,000 photos in the DCist Flickr......

The Air Force Memorial has a certain architectural elegance that makes it almost hard not to photograph well, but some certainly stand far above the others, and we especially like Flickr user mosely.brian's crisp version here. Did you miss our announcement on Wednesday? The DCist Exposed Photography Show contest is open and accepting entries for our 2008 exhibition. Not only might you get to show your original work on a real gallery wall at......

This is a great time of the year for beer lovers. Winter, more than any other season, is when craft brewers get a chance to flex their creativity and brew some unusual beers that satisfy the palate and warm the heart. Although many have traditionally been called Christmas beers, most brewers these days are going with some variation on the "winter" theme, in a large part because of the stigma of seeing a "Christmas" beer......

Written by DCist Contributor Eric Denman As the commercialization of Chinatown persists, the number of restaurants and bars continues to increase. For every existing grungy Chinese takeout place, there is a new sports bar, burger joint, or wine bar. Proof, which opened in July, is the newest entry in the Chinatown wine bar field, and it opened a mere block from the established José Andrés outpost Zaytinya (which has been open since 2002). Both places......

Salad days are usually something we look back on with a mix of nostalgia and embarrassment, but the folks at Chop't Salad are embracing them from the get go and celebrating them as soon as they kick off. How? Free salad. Penn QuarterChinatown's newest resident is throwing the doors of their first Washington location wide open today with free salad for all who stop by. The idea behind Chop't is customization. With a bevy of......

Moms are great. Aside from birthing us, they wipe our mouths when we dribble food, wrap us up warm when it gets cold out, and give us Jell-O and ice cream when we're sick. For many years it seemed like mom and dad were the smartest people in the world, an Encyclopedia Familica. Usually they give us advice like cover your mouth when you cough, wash your hands after using the bathroom and useful stuff......

Last week was a busy one when it comes to good comments, with thoughtful and funny ones about the Navy Yard Metro, Columbia Heights Day's existence, avatars, and more. And speaking of avatars, why not set up your own? Maybe you can be like monkeyrotica, who was the talk of DCist's commentariat — what's his going to be? Something profane? Something phallic? Mr. Monkey's response was this: For an avatar, I was about to go......

Once again Penn Quarter Living is on the ball with a newsworthy neighborhood post. They link to a Downtown Neighborhood Association announcement that Douglas Development has been negotiating with Whole Foods Market to lease them store space on 7th Street between E and D Streets NW. This is the same space that Balducci's was briefly considering before deciding against the move last year. Balducci's retreat from the location was met with a lot of desperate......

Written by DCist Contributor Oscar Bunoan We’ve all heard it before. “You’ve got to try this place out. It’s a complete dive but the food is just to die for!” A friend told me about a hole-in-the-wall place in Chinatown, Full Kee, that's popular with the lunchtime crowd. Is it really? Mythbusters Adam and Jamie should have tried cracking this mystery back in season one, but since they're in San Francisco, it's up to me.......

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Indie: The Darjeeling Limited By now, five features into his career, it's likely you already have a strong opinion on Wes Anderson. Despite his tendency to borrow liberally from his own film and literary heroes, from Kubrick to Fitzgerald to the entire French New Wave, a Wes Anderson film feels like a Wes Anderson film from......

College is a time for experimentation. Trying new things and learning about subjects you didn't know about. It's also a time when you experience the wider world, meeting people from around the country, comparing what's the same and different where you're from and where they're from, expanding your horizons. And sometimes it's a time to do things you've only heard about but don't really know what they mean. Because that always works out for the......

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Foreign: Stalker Revered in his prime as perhaps one of the best filmmakers Russia ever produced, Andrei Tarkovsky built his reputation on just seven feature films. As is so often the case, some of the most poignant art comes from those artists who must fight to bring their vision to an audience. Tarkovsky's films, often restless......

This week at Overheard, we'd like to take a moment to give thanks for a segment of the population that we feel is unfairly maligned. That's right, we're talking about you, Mr. Stares Blatantly at Women's Breasts on the Metro. And you, sir, who just nearly walked into a pole while leering at the woman who just walked past. We raise our glasses to the guy surreptitiously taking pictures of girls' rear ends on the......

Matchbox Coming to the Hill As if we needed any more proof that Barracks Row is flexing its muscle in bringing business to the Hill. But, we have it anyway. Last week's TomChat gave us the news that Matchbox, the over-popular Gallery Place pizza and mini-burger heaven, has signed a lease for a second location along Barracks Row—521 8th Street SE to be precise. According to Tom, the owner expects the new place to open......

Written by DCist contributor Eric Denman As summer lingers on, the average D.C. resident may be tempted to stay indoors, limit excursions, and camp out in front of the A/C unit with a tongue-numbingly cold, mass-produced lager. There is a better option! A nice Belgian beer can quench your thirst while also satisfying your palate. Although some Belgian styles may be a bit heavy for summer, many of them fit the bill perfectly (Witbier and......

But this photo, taken in Old Town on Friday night by zenisfrisbee just before the final Harry Potter book was released, is too funny not to post. I honestly honestly honestly have no idea if this is true, I'm still reading The Half-Blood Prince, and I'm choosing to believe this guy is just trying to rile people up. For now, PLEASE DO NOT POST SPOILERS in the comments. I will remove them. That said,......

Over at Gallery Place Living, contributor Columbo provides an illuminating rant on everyone's favorite topic to whine about: D.C. government bureaucracy. In this case, specifically the arduous process of obtaining a marriage license in D.C. Before a lengthy recounting of the entire ordeal he and his fiancée went through to obtain a license to be wed in the District, Columbo summarizes the experience thusly:Step 1: Discover bureaucratic nightmare that is DC. Step 2: Get blood......

>> A federal jury awarded $260,000 to one of two men who sued NBA star Allen Iverson after they said they were beaten by his entourage outside Eyebar. [WaPo] >> Watch the very same Allen Iverson dominate on his high school football team at Bethel High in Hampton, VA in 1993. [DCSportsGuy] >> Spending $600 on a first generation iPhone: expensive. Losing it twelve hours later: so sad it's funny? [craigslist] >> Massive fire......

RAMMY's All Around! Sunday was the Restaurant Area of Metropolitan Washington's 25th annual RAMMY awards, the local dining scene's big gala event. 1,500 people packed the Marriott in Woodley Park, listened to speeches, clapped for the winners, danced like teenage hooligans, and probably drank more booze than they wanted to/were happy about the next day. But, why else would so many people get together in one place? Oh, the awards? Yeah, I'll get to them.......

A couple of odd and/or disturbing crimes that happened in the District this morning are making headlines. >> Metro Transit Police are investigating a stabbing outside the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station that took place early this morning. There are conflicting reports about exactly what happened. ABC7 says the unidentified victim told police he was stabbed from behind while he was going down the escalator at the metro entrance at 7th and H Streets NW. But......

In the summer of 2003, Chef Ed Hanson opened a pizzeria on the western edge of a neighborhood that had just renamed itself Penn Quarter. Four years later, Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza, named for Hanson’s young daughter, remains a rarity in downtown Washington: it is an independently owned--and not the least bit pretentious--place to enjoy a drink and a bite to eat. Located at 901 F Street, Ella’s features neither a unifying decorative theme (Matchbox)......

This post from DCist contributor Eddie Kim Isn't it the winter holiday season that's the time of year when we're supposed to gain those extra pounds from overindulgences? It doesn't help that several franchises– especially ice cream shops–have taken advantage of the spring months to hold promotional giveaways. Here's hoping you don't have a wedding dress to fit into anytime soon! In case you missed the Baskin Robbins and Ben & Jerry's giveaways earlier this......

There are, of course, many criteria by which one can judge a photograph: form, composition, color, subject matter, context, or the viewer’s emotional response. In viewing Harry Benson: Being There, currently on display at Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery, it is not Benson’s technical ability as a photographer that impresses, but his uncanny ability to be present when historic moments occur and then place himself......

Today we continue a new feature highlighting our favorite reader comments. Thanks guys, and keep 'em coming! This week: lots of griping about the government and skepticism toward all manner of development. Also, panda porn fluffers and public urination. DCist is one classy joint! ----- >> Lots of readers were shocked to learn Warehouse is facing closure due to skyrocketing property taxes. Steve Goldenberg said, I love this town, but it's really sad that there......

As of yesterday, Metro was placed among the many city agencies with pricey downtown digs currently being considered for more a affordable address. Mayor Fenty approached Metro yesterday with the idea of selling its eight-story headquarters at 600 5th St. in Northwest and relocating to a new, state-of-the-art facility at the Anacostia Metro station. Fenty and city officials say that such a move would provide an economic boon to both the downtown and Southeast areas,......

>> Metrobus driver and five passengers injured in bus crash. No charges filed. [NBC4] >> One blogger navigates the D.C. real estate auction, hears great things about 7th St. [Gallery Place Living] >> A little relief is on the way to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in the form of the new Warrior Transition Brigade, a group of combat veterans whose mission is to help wounded soldiers navigate the military medical bureaucracy. Now only......

The Weekly Feed was pushed back this week because its regular author was tied up with another task. Thanks to DCist Food staffer Jamie Liu for picking up the column last minute. The Proof is in the Pinot Coming up in May, wine enthusiast Mark Kuller is bringing out some fun little tricks with his wine-centric restaurant, Proof, in Gallery Place. The sexy little enomatic from Italy will be dispensing tasting and full pours of......