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Voices

What is it good for? Nothing.

It was a bitterly cold Saint Patrick’s Day, and my mother and I had already lost feeling in our hands. We found the path at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial that led to the anti-war march from the monuments to the Pentagon. There seemed to be more counter-protesters than protesters, and the counter-protesters all seemed to be wearing veteran jackets and American flags, holding angry signs.

Voices

Carrying on: Life with my father, the rockstar

At 14, in true hippie fashion, my father stopped cutting his hair, started hiding an ash tray under his bed and picked up a guitar. Just a couple of years later, he watched my mother sing for her audition to the 87th St. Gang, their high school’s folk group. “He told them to pick me because I was cute,” she always chimes in at this point in the story. She got in and six years later married my father with flowers in her hair before they moved to San Francisco so he could try to make it big with his band. Had he succeeded, my parents’ early life would make a hit biopic, complete with stills of my mother in hotpants and my father’s face obscured by a massive beard.

Voices

Art for your dog: the Pet Gallery

Deep in the back of the Pet Gallery, a one-room pet store on O and Wisconsin, a voluptuous Italian woman with pale blue eye shadow and a thick accent pulled me aside. “In Italy, we like dog but we don’t dress them up like dees!” she said, gesturing towards the store’s merchandise, a look of confusion on her face. “Here, they are too pre-ppy.”

Features

D.C. Through Its Stomach

It’s six o’clock on a Monday at Soviet Safeway and the place is packed. Sandwiched between a pretty residential street and the subdued bustle of 17th street, the undersized Dupont Circle grocery store is crawling with the neighborhood’s young professionals and older long-time residents, all there to pick up that gallon of milk, can of cat food or roll of paper towels that’s been missing from their shelves.

Leisure

You Taste Like A Burger

Red Ginger is unusually quiet for a Wisconsin Avenue restaurant, but don’t let the empty tables fool you: this Caribbean eatery is everything you could want in a restaurant, and then some.

Leisure

Critical Voices: Low

Low never used to be a surprising band. These pioneers of the minimalist, glacially-paced subset of indie rock called slowcore made a name for themselves, beginning with their early ‘90s debut, by doing exactly what everyone expected: producing album after album of quietly gorgeous songs stealing plays from the Velvet Underground.

Leisure

Critical Voices: Andrew Bird

Album number seven from Andrew Bird finds the midwestern singer-songwriter returning to many of the elements that made his last few albums beloved by his fans. It makes for a good album, and while Armchair Apocrypha can’t quite match 2005’s excellent Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, it nonetheless stands as another remarkable entry in an increasingly varied and impressive oeuvre.

Leisure

Maya Roth’s Big Love is a lot to love

Big Love just isn’t big enough to conquer all the staples of a social drama—free will, “love thy neighbor” and unrelenting feminism are just a few issues tackled in this revival of an ancient classic. Nevertheless, the performances are captivating, and the script is tinged with enough humor and cynicism to redeem the occasional dragging monologue.

Leisure

Getting political with Ted Leo

New Jersey native Ted Leo isn’t your typical semi-knowledgeable, politically-charged artist. He’s a punk rocker, yes, but he also earned an English degree at the University of Notre Dame. In his recent interview with the Voice via e-mail, Ted discussed in depth the political themes that run through his latest release, Living with the Living, demonstrating a mastery of syntax seldom seen in the world of indie rock.

Sports

Sports Sermon

There is no better time in the sports calendar to kick back for an all-day television vigil than the opening rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. But year in and year out, the weekend that should be the sports fan’s dream is shrouded by frustration. This frustration is not the result of watching one’s bracket fall apart with each game, but by the March Madness monopoly of CBS.

Sports

Freshmen Dominate

Georgetown baseball, riding a thrilling 3-2 extra-inning victory in this weekend’s game against the University of Pennsylvania, headed home on Wednesday to battle Mount St. Mary’s. The Hoya’s young pitching staff flexed their muscles once again, leading Georgetown to a hard-fought 3-1 win.

Sports

Disappointing opener for Hoyas

The Lady Hoyas had a disappointing home opener against James Madison yesterday afternoon, dropping both games of their doubleheader, 7-1 and 8-0. Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the very first game at Guy Mason Field, the new home of Georgetown softball.

Sports

Interference

Basketball, basketball, basketball. An entire month, dedicated to a single sport? Against all odds, I managed to find a non-basketball story of more than minor interest when I came across a few comments made by 49ers coach Mike Nolan on what has always been a pet peeve of mine: the NFL’s pass interference rule.

Sports

A new voice in college rankings

Imagine if college students across the nation had the ability to decide your college team’s position in the ranks each week. This became possible last week when two students launched www.studentwriterpoll.com, a ranking system similar to the AP writers’ and Coaches’ polls, that will survey college students to determine NCAA rankings.

Leisure

You Taste Like A Burger: Red Ginger

Red Ginger is unusually quiet for a Wisconsin Avenue restaurant, but don’t let the empty tables fool you: this Caribbean eatery is everything you could want in a restaurant, and then some.

Leisure

Critical Voices

Album number seven from Andrew Bird finds the midwestern singer-songwriter returning to many of the elements that made his last few albums beloved by his fans. It makes for a good album, and while Armchair Apocrypha can’t quite match 2005’s excellent Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, it nonetheless stands as another remarkable entry in an increasingly varied and impressive oeuvre.

Leisure

Critical Voices

Low never used to be a surprising band. These pioneers of the minimalist, glacially-paced subset of indie rock called slowcore made a name for themselves, beginning with their early ‘90s debut, by doing exactly what everyone expected: producing album after album of quietly gorgeous songs stealing plays from the Velvet Underground.

Leisure

Maya Roth’s Big Love is a lot to love

Big Love just isn’t big enough to conquer all the staples of a social drama—free will, “love thy neighbor” and unrelenting feminism are just a few issues tackled in this revival of an ancient classic. Nevertheless, the performances are captivating, and the script is tinged with enough humor and cynicism to redeem the occasional dragging monologue.

Leisure

Getting politcal with Ted Leo

New Jersey native Ted Leo isn’t your typical semi-knowledgeable, politically-charged artist. He’s a punk rocker, yes, but he also earned an English degree at the University of Notre Dame. In his recent interview with the Voice via e-mail, Ted discussed in depth the political themes that run through his latest release, Living with the Living, demonstrating a mastery of syntax seldom seen in the world of indie rock.

Letters to the Editor

Gallaudet article misleading

Your article about Gallaudet University is misleading the public when it says that “Gallaudet University is still suffering from the long-term effects of last fall’s student strike.”

Page 13 Cartoons

Giving Up Jesus for Lent

“I wanted him to come back,” she said, the sleeve of her striped pink blouse sagging to expose the protruding, wing-like bone of her shoulder blade. Sloshing the water around in her glass, she whispered, “I need to get this water out of my veins.”

Leisure

Black and white and pop all over

Beach Boy Brian Wilson once claimed he was making “teenage symphonies to God.” Wilson knew, perhaps better than any musician of his time, that a great pop song can be deeply spiritual, each melody crafted as an offering to some unknown musical deity.