Enjoying a Swedish massage at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, DC

The spa: Housed in the depths of this landmark hotel, the four-room spa is an oasis of serenity next to a busy gym, which, as befits the world’s powerhouse of politics, is open 24 hours a day.

Spa Spy’s symptoms: Ah, those hardy perennials: shoulder tightness, muscle tension and lower back pain that Spa Spy suspects is back-to-work stress.

The prescription: After a consultation with Yannick, my therapist, the signature therapeutic massage (50 minutes, £76) is recommended – a common-or-garden Swedish-technique massage designed to ease chronic pain, fluid retention and muscular fatigue that is pepped up some deep-tissue action and a range of specialist therapeutic techniques.

The procedure: Easing the pain involved some serious pummelling of the shoulder area and tugging of arms from the masseuse interspersed with yelps from Spy; the myofascial release involved some rather unpleasant manipulation of connective tissue. Yannick used her knuckles and elbows to get into the deep tissue and mobilise long tightened muscles, all the while, we discussed the finer details of Washington politics. The neck was lengthened and, finally, the knots untied, the worries wrung out.

The verdict: Executed with highly skilled hands. Spa Spy strolled to a rendezvous in front of the White House feeling lighter, thanks to a change in posture, and definitely taller.

The medical opinion: “Lower back pain is very common, affecting approximately 80 per cent of the population at some point,” writes Dr Max Pemberton. “It is usually the result of poor posture leading to strain on the muscles and ligaments of the back. However, a review of the research on spinal manipulation – massage included – showed that it is no more or less effective than standard medical interventions for back pain, such as encouraging gentle exercise and managing pain with painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication.”

The feelgood factor: Unlike other newly built, cookie-cutter Ritz-Carltons, this one has a boutique feel. Housed inside a former incinerator, with a 130ft chimney that rises above the hotel, it’s more trendy loft conversion than marble palace. But you are well situated for fashionable restaurants and shops, and for a stroll to the White House.

Details: Doubles at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown (0800 234 000, www.ritzcarlton.com), from £279 a night. Virgin Atlantic (08448 747 747, virginatlantic.com) is offering return flights this month from £379 return.

Source:elegraph.co.uk/

DC Design Working On Tata Nano With Ferrari Pricetag

Starting with the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, which normally retails from about $2,000 in its home market, Indian vehicle customizer and coachbuilder DC Design has added enough luxury and performance amenities to send that pricetag up to the $220,000 mark.

Whether the modifications to the Nano justify the inflated pricetag is open to interpretation, but you have to at least commend the ambitions of DC Design.

Starting with the basic 10.2-foot hatchback, DC Design removed all the plastic surfaces, small wheels and dashboard before refitting them with much finer materials.

The project is still in the prototype stage but there are plans to inject the car with high-technology products. The basic chassis and floor plan will be retained but other than that everything will be different. Even the Nano's 33-horsepower twin-cylinder engine will be replaced with a more powerful 1.6-liter unit.

DC Design plans to only build around five of the cars each year, with most going to wealthy locals though a few will be heading overseas.

With reports suggesting the diminutive Tata Nano may be heading to the U.S. in the next couple of years, we just hope no one here plans on calling DC Design to order one.

Source:motorauthority.com/

Sweet harmony: Blind Boys of Alabama come to D.C.

Singing group Blind Boys of Alabama arrives at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles last February. (AFP/Getty Images)


If you go
Blind Boys of Alabama and Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Where: Warner Theatre

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Info: $28 to $58; 202-785-9727; wpas.org; livenation.com
Washington Performing Arts Society invites you to head "Down By the Riverside" and experience the musical partnership of the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Together, they represent 115 years of incomparable music making in a program blending traditional gospel and New Orleans jazz.



Since their founding in 1939 at Alabama's Talladega Institute for the Blind, the Blind Boys of Alabama have earned five Grammy Awards and five Lifetime Achievement Awards. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Since their debut concerts before small, segregated audiences, they have spread their beautiful voices around the world many times and rejoin the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Warner Theatre direct from a tour of China.

Lead singer Jimmy Carter has been with the ensemble since the beginning. Speaking from Minneapolis near the close of their annual Christmas tour, he cited the group's fondness for New Orleans as ample reason for joining PHJB and other distinguished local musicians to record their 2009 Grammy Award winner "Down in New Orleans."

"All our members grew up singing and harmonizing in the church. We're a family and, as gospel singers, our goal is to win people over. We've performed often in New Orleans, and although we can't help build houses for the people who still need them, we can bring everyone hope and encouragement. We enjoy touring with the PHJB because they are very nice gentlemen."

Carter is grateful for the opportunity to share his music with the world and the many thrills he and the ensemble have had over the years, performing at the White House among them. The group has been featured on many TV shows and in the Obie Award-winning musical, "The Gospel at Colonus." He especially enjoyed performing on the David Letterman and Conan O'Brien shows and looks forward to another scheduled appearance on the Letterman's show Jan. 31 singing excerpts from their latest recording, "Duets."

Ben Jaffe, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band creative director and tuba player, carries on the tradition established in 1961 by his father and mother, Allan and Sandra Jaffe, to preserve the music of New Orleans. Live music is still performed every night in Preservation Hall where portraits of present and past musicians line the walls.

"I grew up in the French Quarter and lived with its music all my life," he said. "Hurricane Katrina was the turning point in a lot of our lives. Everything in the French Quarter was physically damaged. The storm had a great impact on the community and our family and we've spent the last four years fixing up Preservation Hall so it could become a healing place. The city got through its darkest period because of the music."

When the Blind Boys of Alabama visited New Orleans to make the record, "Down By the Riverside" as a means of earning money for restoration of the city, Jaffe saw the remarkable effect they had on the citizens and how well their two groups meshed.

"The BBA and the PHJB are cultural institutions," he said. "We got the idea to take them both on the road throughout America so audiences who can't get to New Orleans can enjoy these great groups performing together."

Source:washingtonexaminer.com/

D.C. to AT&T: All Your Unused Minutes Are Belong to Us

Washington, D.C. is suing AT&T because some customers who buy its prepaid calling cards don't always use up all the minutes. The city isn't suing on behalf of the customers, of course (though even that would be sort of silly). It's suing on the notion that when a customer doesn't use up all of a product or service they purchase, the remainder belongs to the government. So they want the company to pay what the minutes are worth to the D.C. government, where they might be better used on, oh I don't know, maybe to pay overtime for Mayor Adrian Fenty's mountain bike detail.

Next up, D.C. sues Burger King for stray fries that go uneaten after falling to the bottom of the drive-thru bag.

Source:reason.com/

Harry Jaffe: It's old home week at D.C.'s gathering spots

For a dinner to celebrate the gathering of my far-flung family members, I chose Arucola, a local eatery on Connecticut Avenue just south of Chevy Chase Circle.

It was that hazy, semivacation week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The place was jammed, from wood-fired pizza stove to bar to windowed front room. It seemed the entire neighborhood had turned out. I saw union boss Andy Stern, who has Barack Obama on speed dial. My daughters pointed out kids they had known since Lafayette Elementary. Our waiter had graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High with one of my girls.

As a city, Washington, D.C., has the rap as a transient place populated by rootless politicians and bureaucrats. That's not the city I know. Like Boston or New York or Baltimore, we know local places that define us.

The revelry from last week's celebrations will give way to more gatherings with friends and family. Obey the rules: Don't drink and drive! But no one says you can't drink and walk -- or just eat and walk. Here are a few of my favorite neighborhood joints from one end of Washington to the other:

Down Connecticut Avenue from Arucola there's the trusty Chevy Chase Lounge, connected to Parthenon, the Greek restaurant that's been there forever. At the corner of Connecticut and Nebraska, check out Comet, a fine pizza restaurant with a long bar and high-class food.

The strip of stores and bars in Cleveland Park has an abundance of fine options. Locals hit these two: Nanny O'Brien's, smaller and more gritty than Ireland's Four Provinces on the west side of Connecticut; and down the steps to Atomic Billiards, where the beers are cold and cheap.

Penn Quarter is jammed with watering holes and eateries, but many are franchises. Locals tend to hang out at Oyamel, on Seventh Street. Great bar and terrific tapas.

Lord knows it's hard to stumble on Columbia Road and not wind up in a bar or restaurant. Locals still go to Millie & Al's, known for cheap drafts and greasy pizza, which seem to go together perfectly in this ancient meeting place.

The "New U" is no longer so new, but the run from Columbia Road to 14th has plenty of places to sit and chat and imbibe. When locals want to hit a dive bar, they wander in to Stetson's. Expect no frills.

On Capital Hill's Pennsylvania Avenue strip, Tune Inn still tops Hawk & Dove in my book. Can't get more D.C. than Tunnicliff's, across from Eastern Market. It attracts the local crowd, too.

Brookland? Try Colonel Brook's Tavern across from Catholic University.

Moving east, Antonio Roberson has opened Langston Bar and Grill at 1831 Benning Road. You have to navigate past some rough corners, but the shrimp and grits are worth it.

And up in the Anacostia hills, Players Lounge at 2737 Martin Luther King Avenue SE, is where locals like Marion Barry head for old home week.

When you come home, don't drink and drive -- just walk to a local joint.

Source:washingtonexaminer.com/

Temple Football Fans Head to DC for Bowl Game

by KYW's Al Novack

A charter bus loaded with about 60 Temple University alumni left the Liacouras Center Tuesday morning bound for Washington, DC to cheer on the Owls as they take on UCLA in the Eagle Bank Bowl.

The spirits were high, many noting this will be only the 3rd bowl game in Temple’s history and the first one since 1979.

Vince Boccollo of Newtown, graduated in 1978 so he missed that 1979 bowl game but, he said, he wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world and he predicted a big win.:

“I feel good. I feel that, you know hopefully Pierce will have a good game. Golden has done a great job, the guys he’s recruited, he’s turned the program around, getting some notoriety. It’s only going to happen again and again and again. I think he’s going to have a good drafts coming up because of this.

The fans on the bus were all predicting victory.

Source:kyw1060.com/

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Wizards: Gilbert Arenas Stored Firearms In Locker

Washington, DC -- (Sports Network) - The Washington Wizards said point guard Gilbert Arenas stored firearms in his locker at the Verizon Center and that the NBA is investigating the matter.

"The Washington Wizards have learned that Gilbert Arenas stored firearms in a locked container in his locker, unloaded and without ammunition," the team said in a statement. "The Wizards organization and Arenas promptly notified the local authorities and the NBA, are cooperating fully with law enforcement during its review of this matter and will have no further comment at this time."

Arenas told the Washington Times that the incident happened around December 10. Arenas said after his new daughter was born he didn't want the guns in his house and around the kids anymore. Arenas told the newspaper he took the guns to his lock box at the Verizon Center and then about a week later turned them over to team security, and told them to hand the weapons over to the police.

The 27-year-old Arenas hasn't faced any criminal charges related to the incident, although action could be coming from the league. According to the Times, the league permits players to have guns, but doesn't allow them to carry weapons on NBA property.

Project FUNDway rewards aspiring fashion designers - local students to show runway collections

(Rendering by: West Potomac fashion design student Alessandra Degregorio)

On Thursday, December 3, the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce (GWFCC) will hold the first-ever Project FUNDway competition for local students aspiring for a career as fashion designers. The three student finalists, Michael Edwards, Samuel Mintah and Adegbemisola Ademisoye, will compete for a $5,000 fashion design scholarship. Taking its cue from the hit reality television show, Project Runway, the finalists will be judged on the design, construction, individuality and quality of a four-piece mini-collection they each created for this competition.

“The mission [of this competition] is to fund a way [for students] to go to school and study fashion,” said Maggy Francois, vice president of education and training for GWFCC and fashion design director for Project Stitch Studio at the West Potomac Academy of Fashion Design. Francois also stated that the students are not only aspiring designers, but also want to be writers and to learn the “business side of fashion,” which is what this contest seeks to teach them.
In addition to putting together a cohesive four-piece collection, the students are also responsible for the production of their own runway show – including searching for models, music selection and purchasing the materials for their garments.
Interested students from Washington, D.C., as part of the submission guidelines, had to present a garment design, write an essay about why they want a career in fashion and submit their grades in school in order to be eligible. Due to overwhelming interest from students in neighboring metro areas, Francois said next year’s competition will be open to students in Maryland and Virginia as well.
In addition to benefiting local students, this event, sponsored in part by the DC City Council and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development for the District of Columbia Government, seeks to put Washington, DC on the map as a capital city of style by investing in the talent of its residents. Earlier today, the GWFCC released the first-ever report on the state of the DC fashion industry. The Fashion Census Survey Report and the Fashion Action Plan: Identifying the Needs of the Independent Fashion Industry in Washington, D.C.surveyed over 80 local fashion-related businesses and found that Washington, D.C. boasts over 1,900 retail stores and the overall retail industry generated $6 billion in general sales tax revenue for fiscal year 2008.
Download the PDF report here.
Although Washington, D.C. has not traditionally been known for its fashion forwardness, a strong and growing network of designers, merchants and business owners in the fashion sector view these initiatives as a step forward for DC’s burgeoning fashion economy.
Project FUNDways has been garnering considerable local media coverage in advance of the event. Tomorrow at 9:30am on FOX 5 Morning News, the finalists will talk about this contest as an opportunity to support their fashion career goals.
“It’s hard to find scholarships for fashion in this area,” said Francois. “Kids in DC want a fashion program…and want to be visual.”
To learn more about the student finalists and the Project FUNDway contest, visit http://www.gwfcc.org/

Source:examiner.com