First it was cupcakes. And then food trucks. Now it's fancy burger joints. We seem to have a thing for lining up to wait for food trends; the more widespread the trend, the longer the lines seem to get, ironically enough. more ›

If you've yet to read this hilarious trend story from the Awl about a phenomenon called "Icing Your Bro" — a thing at least a handful of people across the country are doing that involves forcing a friend to get down on one knee and down a Smirnoff Ice as fast as they can — do take a look.

The rules are simple: hand a Smirnoff Ice (the warmer/more disgusting the flavor, the better) to a friend (your "bro"), and he must get down on one knee and chug the malt beverage, regardless of location and situational appropriateness. HOWEVER. If said friend happens to have a Smirnoff Ice on his person, then the bro who initiated the battle has to chug BOTH Ices.

The Wall Street Journal has one of their career trends by ordinal list pieces today on where young people in the United States are deciding to move during the recession, and once again Washington, D.C. is at the top of the list. We've heard almost all of this before, but here's why the newspaper says the D.C. area is the best option for young job seekers:

Government hiring is projected to grow fast, and jobs in lobbying, aerospace, defense contracting and professional services are also a draw. Mr. DeVol calls Washington the national leader in high-tech services, surpassing Silicon Valley. Washington's 4,000-plus nonprofits hold appeal for service-minded youth. And amid rising regulation of financial markets, says Barbara Lang, president of the DC Chamber of Commerce, "much of Wall Street is now moving to K Street."

New trends and fads follow a predictable path in the Washington area. First there are pioneers, next come early adopters, then the general public and eventually, some time after that, the Washington Post. Once the Post gets around to publishing an article on the new trend or fad, you can bet that it's only a matter of months before it's completely over. more ›

Local favorites Le Loup came to the Black Cat Monday night as part of their short road trip with last night's openers, Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos. At first glance, both bands seem to subscribe to the same basic trends in rock: the two bands feature a total of fifteen members between them, complete with non-traditional instrumentation. However, the comparisons ended there as the guys and gals from the District showed just how... more ›

Mid-December has arrived, and with that comes the inevitable flood of best-of lists. The Washington Area Film Critics' Association has, for the previous five years of its existence, been in the habit of trying to get their own list out ahead of most of the other critics' societies. We can't really blame them. Considering the fact that none of the critics from the city's biggest newspaper are members, not to mention the fact that the... more ›

Welcome back to work, Washington. Perhaps you're struggling to focus this morning, having only barely recovered from the weekend's Halloween festivities. Perhaps you just had a difficult time extricating yourself from your bed on this first cold morning of the year. Whatever the case may be, DCist recommends a strong cup of coffee with a dash of Rumbler to get your motor running today. The Rumbler is described as a "high-tech blaster" being used in... more ›

Former editor-in-chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Here’s an interesting question to consider: is the District of Columbia becoming less diverse? With whites once again moving into the city, the question of the sustainability of the District’s multicultural heritage has been raised, but what do recent demographic shifts actually suggest about the future of a diverse D.C.? Over the past decade, the city as a whole has become less... more ›

England's "Britpop" movement in the mid-1990s has proven to be one of the most enduring music trends of recent memory. Checking the local club listings will reveal all sorts of dance nights aligning themselves with "Cool Britannia," Creation Records and the like. Not many of the bands from that time are still together and making music though. The two stewards of the movement, Blur and Oasis, continue to release records now and then, although... more ›

At Nevin Kelly Gallery until October 7th is Peer Pressure, a group exhibition guest curated by D.C. artist Thom Flynn. Of the four artists featured, Sue Huang and Pasqual Sisto hail from UCLA’s Media Arts program, while Carrie Mallory and Baby Martinez reside in D.C. Flynn claims that the impetus for his selection of work was simply to “assemble a group of his peers to size-up contemporary trends in art,” however the show itself seems... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. I don’t suppose it would surprise most District residents to hear that there are sharp differences in income between the city’s neighborhoods and racial and ethnic groups. We see it all around us, but especially in those parts of the city where the lives of the haves abut and intermingle with those of the have-nots. These gentrification frontiers are often a locus... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. For much of the past year, this column has taken a hard look at many aspects of District life, from crime and schools, to transportation planning and development, to the uneven distribution of growth in the city, and found them wanting. It’s never difficult to be critical of the way things are done in the District, and yet there are obviously many... more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. It wasn’t easy to keep up with the business flooding through the Council as the latest session neared its end. Amid the bills dealing with Greater Southeast Community Hospital, authorizing development bonds, addressing land deals in the West End and over the Center Leg Freeway, and placing moratoria on new Adams Morgan taverns, an interesting pattern nonetheless emerged. In just this past... more ›

Maybe it’s always been this way, but it seems the latest trends in indie bands are to either go really big or pare everything down. Examples: The two-person, girl-boy pop duo has exploded, not to mention the two person blues combo. Power trios seem on the rise — run-of-the-mill rhythm guitarists need not apply. On the other side of the spectrum, The Arcade Fire gains a member every time they tour, collectives like Broken Social... more ›

When Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier introduced their new strategy for tackling the District's stubborn crime problem late last week, we expressed some skepticism. After all, "new" strategies come along about as often as school superintendents, neither of which have proven to be particularly good at fixing what they have to fix. But we might have reasons to be hopeful. Beyond today's news that the weekend's all-out deployment netted nearly 500 arrests,... more ›

We pretty relentlessly mock lists that involve listing the best of ________ (location, dining establishment, watering hole, venue) in the District. Be it a national publication or even our own Washington Post, sometimes it seems that the rankings reflect what's easiest rather than what's actually best. After all, is Starbucks really the best Washington has to offer by way of coffee? So when we saw that Esquire had published a list of the best bars... more ›

As wine quickly edges out beer as the top alcoholic beverage of choice by Americans, depending on your source, it seemed only natural to add a wine column into our mix of other food and drink related topics. Every other Wednesday, to mirror Eating In, we will bring you information on wine trends, news, events in the area, and any other pertinent information to your ever-increasing wine consumption. For our first installment we want to... more ›

Good morning, D.C. Did you have a good weekend dodging and weaving between all those digestive disease specialists in town? We couldn't help but be impressed by the sea of 20,000 be-purple backpacked conference attendees, and kept hoping we'd meet one or two who could explain to us exactly what Crohn's Disease is anyway. WJLA was kind enough to remind us that Digestive Disease Week will have brought in $32 million to the District when... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. The news came as absolutely no surprise to most observers of the city of Washington, but it still managed to produce banner headlines and an outbreak of hand wringing. Which, I suppose, should also have been no surprise, in a city where issues of race and income lade every public policy discussion. Earlier this week, the Census Bureau released new data on... more ›

From the front page of this morning's Washington Post, it seems the last person anyone expected to be right about anything, perennial whack-a-doo mayoral candidate Faith, wasn't actually that far off the mark during last year's campaign: Chocolate City is rapidly becoming Vanilla Villa. The District of Columbia will likely no longer be majority-African American within the next 13 years. The 14 percent increase in non-Hispanic white District residents and 6 percent decrease in blacks... more ›

If you've been itching for a day of pampering but can't seem to justify the cost after sending in that check to the IRS, DCist found the perfect excuse. Thursday, Washington women are invited to Beauty Night Out, a event highlighting style and beauty trends along with facials, hair consultations and cocktails. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds from the to do benefit Dress for Success, a program to help disadvantaged women flourish... more ›

Good morning, Washington. We've been hearing some excellent reports from the frontlines of the celebrations in Georgetown last night, after the Hoyas came back from a 10 point deficit to beat the Tar Heels 96-84. Thousands of students filled M Street in their exuberance, chanting "Hoya Saxa" at the top of their lungs. A smaller group apparently ran all the way to the White House, where the Secret Service asked them to keep it down.... more ›

[Editor's Note: With the Nationals readying to begin their third season in D.C., change is constant and questions abound. Today, like last year, we take a look at the 2007 roster and all the new contributors. Next week, we’ll discuss this year’s most pressing questions with some of the Nats' best bloggers.] With the Nats preparing to head north from spring training in Viera for their third season on the Anacostia, it’s time to take... more ›

It's the end of the year! And DCist is here to tell you about it...through the power of radio. That's right, if you're antsy at work and want to hear DCist Editor Sommer Mathis pontificating on some of the area's biggest trends, then tune into WETA's The Intersection. Sommer'll be there with some other media folks, chatting away. Can you guess in the comments what they'll think will be the most important D.C. stories of... more ›

By DCist Contributor Morgan Hungerford. DC is not a city of sample sales and trunk shows, so when we have one fashion-related event worthy of attendance it is Very Exciting; when we have two it is a Big Deal. And three? Well, you lucky, things, let’s just say you’d better take advantage. Tonight is the Third Thursday MidCity Shopper Social; shop the U Street Corridor and 14th Street for special deals at Junction. Wild Women... more ›

When local media, including this site, discuss our countless transportation and traffic problems, it is often to be described as D.C.-Metro or Washington-area congestion. However, statistics indicate that something along the lines of Va./Md.-Metro area congestion might be a more appropriate description. Eric Weiss, the Post's new transportation reporter, has kicked off his duties with articles exploring several recent studies on commuting trends across the region and the nation. He reported last week that the... more ›

If you’re not in the habit of drinking an aperitif before dinner, it’s a fun one to embrace every so often. Like skinny jeans, Rod Lavers, and shag rugs, aperitifs are retro without the kitch, like the two-martini lunch days of yore but less boozy. As you've likely noticed of expats at Italian, French, or Greek restaurants around town, an aperitif is part of the every day dinner ritual for many Europeans. “How very continental... more ›

The Purple Line, a transit project that would link New Carrollton and Bethesda, is an idea that has been bandied about for years. As the Post noted last week, shifting growth patterns and economic trends make the need for just this kind of inter-burb transit even more urgent. For a while, Maryland seemed to have pushed the Purple Line off the table with the decision to support the multi-billion dollar Intercounty Connector instead. However, state... more ›

The highly anticipated Battle of the Beltway ended its second round yesterday with the Nationals losing the weekend series to the Orioles at Camden Yards. The series concluded this year's meetings between the two teams. Looking back on this budding rivalry, it is clear that the Nats and Orioles played themselves to a stalemate. Each team won its home series by taking 2 of 3 games. Each team finds itself struggling to stay out... more ›