With the federal government expected to enact spending cuts in the near future, D.C. is preparing for life outside of the federal bubble. more ›

The "bubble" set to be installed next year at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has a new name: The Bloomberg Balloon, following a major gift from Bloomberg LP. more ›

It appears as if the Hirshhorn Museum's large, temporary, inflatable special event "bubble" needs a cash infusion to become a reality. more ›

Even though the proposed bubble at the Hirshhorn Museum hasn't yet inflated yet (latest plans for inflation are October 2012) it has won a progressive architecture award from the Architect, the magazine of the American Institute of Architects. The controversial bubble, designed by New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, earned praise from the magazine for its playful and vibrant nature. more ›

The large, temporary, inflatable bubble which the Hirshhorn Museum is planning on erecting for special events has taken another step forward. Speaking at a conference yesterday, Richard Koshalek, the Museum's director, said that the bubble will be pumped up inside the Museum's central plaza by October 2012, according to a report on the American Society of Landscape Architect blog The Dirt. more ›

Plans to erect a temporary inflatable event space through the middle of the Hirshhorn Museum are moving forward, according to a news release from the Smithsonian Institution. The Hirshhorn has received "supportive comments" from the National Capital Planning Commission for the seasonal bubble, which would be installed twice a year for special events, and the Commission of Fine Arts approved the concept in February. more ›

Washington arts watchers have been whispering and wondering since The New York Times first reported earlier this week that the Hirshhorn Museum was developing plans to create a 145-foot-tall temporary, inflatable event space. more ›

Earlier today, we told you about plans to create a whimsical temporary event space in the form of a massive bubble through and around the donut hole-like center of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Since then, we've managed to obtain some more images of the proposed design, which has been conceived by New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. more ›

Via Atrios, this little geographically motivated blog spat between Ben Adler at TAPPED and Brian Beutler, about whether New York or California has a better environmental record, misses the more important point: This study shows that it's Washington, DC that actually has the lowest per capita gasoline consumption of any place in the country, by an impressively wide margin. We've certainly explored issues related to the relative greenness of densely populated urban environments, compared... more ›

>> Both the Examiner and the WaPo have stories today about the dreary work ahead for D.C.'s deputy mayor for education, Victor Reinoso. A recent report released by the Children’s Advocacy Roundtable which shows that 32 percent of children in the District of Columbia are living below the poverty line -- twice the national average. The report also highlights the high number of youth victims of violent crime and the high obesity rate among... more ›

This stinks. Literally. more ›

>> Could an Evangelical group be forcing your kids to swap spit in school? We were just as shocked as some parents to learn that the answer may be "yes." Apparently, just such a program, aimed at teaching kids about STDs and peer pressure, has been in place at many Montgomery County schools for nine years. In the lesson one student is given a piece of gum to chew and then other kids are asked if they would chew the same piece. Some kids actually go for it and now parents and health organizations are up in arms. So here's our question, on a scale of eating paste to having your head dunked in the toilet, how un-hygienic is playing pass the Bubble Yum? [WTOP] more ›

Tonight the Capitals will face the decisive game of their season. After weeks of injury troubles and youthful inconsistencies, the team finds itself in position to drop from twelfth in the East down to fourteenth, all in one night. The Capitals, who finished near the bottom of the league last season and retooled over the summer to perform better this season, are in a position to slip behind the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, who... more ›

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into... more ›

By DCist contributor Amy Monroe Today’s column will be about Champagne and sparkling wine. It will resemble Ben Giliberti's wine column in yesterday's Washington Post in that “It’s All About the Bubbles.” It will not resemble that column in any other way. If you’re looking for a laundry list of recommendations offset by non-specific tasting notes containing uselessly vague words such as “fresh” and “lively," stop reading now and take a look at the Post's... more ›

Back to the feeding trough, all. After spending a weekend in the beautiful and delicious Bay Area, it's nice to be back to the reality of dirty campaigning, impossible political prognostications, and the constant braying that the turrists are going to blow us up. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love it… Restaurants in Anacostia? Is it time to put a sit down restaurant in the middle of Anacostia? That's the question Washington Business... more ›

FRIDAY: more ›

Named after an NES joystick, The Advantage tore apart the Warehouse Next Door on monday. The foursome from California plays instrumental Nintendo covers, but somehow aren't gimmicky. With no keyboards or electronics, the two guitarists, bassist, and maniacal drummer have to be blisteringly fast and precise - hitting the turbo button as video gamers might say. more ›

DCist's hard-hitting grocery store coverage continues, but here's a new one: the non-corporate corner shop. Sure, we love Trader Joe's (and his internationally named alter egos). And Whole Foods fetishism can gives you a grocery high, yes. But if we're gonna pay extra, why not do it at a good corner shop every now and then? Yes, they close before the workday ends and their prices are often high, but there's something special about knowing the details of your cashier’s personal life and saving the trouble of a long walk. Even better, you might be able to go those few steps barefoot. more ›

Discussion of recent crime activity continues today, but not in an encouraging way. The Post focuses on Chief Ramsey's comments yesterday, which noted that criminals are increasingly leaving their own neighborhoods and coming to wealthier places in the city, including areas of the National Mall. Ramsey says this is new and striking behavior, but it's hard to imagine that no one saw this coming. Luckily for Ramsey, the mayor is back and ready to begin... more ›

Sometimes you need to clean yourself up, get serious, and move in with daddie for a few months before you head to Latin America for a new gig. The District bids Jenna Bush adios. D.C.-based television shows have an elderly audience and DCist has some suggestions to fix that. They're also throwing Butterstick the panda bear a birthday bash. Yeah, we may have a few issues with our World Cup broadcasters here, but this guy... more ›

The months since Hurricane Katrina have been filled with the fervor of apocalyptic millennialism for many weather geeks. The Weather Channel has been endlessly running a feature on how dreadful things would be if a Category Five storm trundled up the Hudson, leaving me, as a good Washingtonian, to mutter how Katrina on the Potomac wouldn't exactly be a bag of cupcakes. Newspapers carry, as the Post did yesterday, breathless stories on how the earth... more ›

This week in transit, Metro answers calls to be more bike friendly and the bubble finally bursts in Virginia. Also, a new report says D.C. needs Amtrak more than it thought, and we give out some Memorial Day travel advice. more ›

With so much of the District wrapped in a political bubble, sometimes it's nice to take a break and remember that there are things in this world not based on massive plumes of hot air -- science for instance. Café Scientifique, a monthly event organized by the National Science Foundation, (NSF) helps connect the scientific experts and the average viewers of NOVA. Held in Arlington last month, the first Café Scientifique had such a great turnout, that the science buffs are doing it again. more ›

If you didn't know, today is National High-Five Day. And as weird as that may sound, there is something mildly satisfying in giving strangers on the street the surprise high-five. And best of all, there is a local tie-in here -- it was a group of students at the University of Virginia that kicked off the celebration five years ago. more ›

For George Mason, Selection Sunday was a relief. For George Washington, it was the worst-case scenario. The Patriots -- a bubble team thanks to two recent losses to Hofstra -- didn't have to sweat too long on Selection Sunday, as they were named the 11 seed in the second bracket announced. This was much to the dismay of CBS basketball announcer Billy Packer. The Patriots' regional will be played in Washington, but GMU has plenty... more ›

Though ranked sixth in the country, George Washington has been characterized as an overrated team. Given the opportunity to prove that their 26-1 record and 18 game winning streak wasn't just a house of cards, the Colonials instead folded, losing 68-53 to Temple in the first-round of the Atlantic Ten tournament. The loss is not only disappointing and gives fuel to the team's critics, but it likely cost them a couple of seeds in... more ›

>> Oh those clever Redskins. First they use the NFL labor talks as an opportunity to buy out disgruntled linebacker LaVar Arrington and then while the area media whips itself into a frenzy over the move, the club quietly announces that, much like the Wizards, ticket prices will be going up, up, up next season. Surprising no one, the 'Skins attributed the increases to putting the team more in line with other teams in... more ›

There isn't much to say about this week other than it was Stapptastic. more ›

For those of you that don't know, Six Points is a D.C. music festival in its third year, hosted at venues in and around the city, including the Black Cat, Jammin Java, the State Theater, The Mansion at Strathmore and more. more ›