H Street NE

From a press release:

“H Street Country Club (1335 H Street NE) will be the proud home of the DC Amateur Skee-ball League (DCASL). Beginning Nov. 15, teams of five will battle the best DC has to offer for a chance at glory, skee-ball greatness and discounts on drinks and food. The League will host games at H Street Country Club every Sunday and Tuesday night for five weeks. Once a week, each team will play two games to determine final rankings. The season will culminate with a one-day playoff and championship challenge.

The first DCASL champion will hoist the DC Skee-ball Cup in January 2010 and cement its name in history forever. The league is looking for teams now. To join, team captains can email the DCASL Commissioner at [email protected]. The deadline to sign up a team is November 2, 2009.”

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that a new restaurant, Souk, was coming soon to 1208 H Street, NE. Thanks to a reader for sending the word that they’ve opened. There’s already a couple of positive review up on Yelp.

THRILLER on H
Dia de los Muertos
Friday, October 30, 2009

From an email:

“Come join us in the Atlas District on H Street for a night of fun under the stars on October 30, 2009, as we honor the memory of Michael Jackson by dancing together to his iconic Thriller video.

Thriller on H is part of H Street’s celebration of Dia de los Muertos, the traditional holiday celebrating our departed friends, relatives, loved ones, and the important people in our lives.

Thriller on H will take begin at 9:00 PM in the parking lot of the Auto Zone at 1207 H Street, NE, with music, door prizes, and a Moonwalk contest.

It is sponsored by Joy of Motion Dance Center, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, H Street Main Street, and the Auto Zone.

Don’t know the moves? No worries! Take the Thriller Class at Joy of Motion at the Atlas at 7:00 PM to learn the steps to this famous dance. The workshop is $20 for adults, $10 for kids.

Then head over to the parking lot with us to join the crowd at Thriller on H!

Register for the Thriller Class at http://www.joyofmotion.org/concerts.php

While we encourage you to learn the dance moves, there is no need to attend the workshop to participate in the performance and the fun at this family-friendly event.

Costumes are recommended.

We’ll post the video on YouTube so you can remember the night!

Come early or stay late to enjoy the great restaurants and entertainment venues in the exciting Atlas District of the H Street Corridor. There are special events, menus, discounts, and programs to increase your fun and enjoyment, as you see H Street decorated for Dia de los Muertos.

The fun will continue throughout the week and weekend. Wear your best costumes and join the fun!”

And finally a new art gallery – INDUSTRY GALLERY OF 21STCENTURY INTERNATIONAL DESIGN

From a press release:

“Industry Gallery, a gallery specializing in 21st century design, today announced plans to open in January 2010. Industry Gallery, based in the Atlas/H Street Historic District of Washington, DC, will focus on international artists who create functional art from industrial materials. The gallery will hold temporary, single artist exhibitions representing a broad spectrum of international design trends. A complete exhibition schedule will be announced shortly.

Industry Gallery will offer unique and limited edition works that blur the boundary between experimental art and practical design.”Many of the artists I will show have works in major museums collections, and are producing pieces that are highly soughtafter by collectors in the rapidly expanding area of contemporary design,” said Craig Appelbaum, director of Industry Gallery, who has been a collector and private dealer. “In the past decade the field has grown considerably as measured by the increasing number of museum exhibitions, international art fairs such as Design Miami and S.O.F.A., and attention by major international auctions houses including Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s.”

Industry Gallery will occupy 4,300 square feet at 1358 Florida Avenue, NE, in the same building as Conner Contemporary. “Conner has helped make Washington, DC a destination for contemporary art connoisseurs, collectors and curators – my intention is to make this city a destination for aficionados of design, too,” said Appelbaum. In addition to single artist exhibitions, the gallery will maintain an inventory of works by noted artists such as the Campana Brothers, Shiro Kuramata, and Atelier van Lieshout.

A special event will be held in the new Industry Gallery space featuring Fixation, curated by Pinkline Project and Ten Mile Square, in conjunction with the opening of Koen Vanmechelen at Conner Contemporary on Saturday November 7, 2009 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.”

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics. You can read his previous columns here.

“I’m 76-years-old. I was born in this neighborhood and lived here all of my life. I’ve seen a lot of changes on H Street, some for the better and some for the worse. But, I have lived with them. I just go with the flow because I know I can’t do nothing about it.

“In my days, I’ve seen a lot of good changes, but a lot of wrong changes too, especially now. I’ve seen people forced out of their homes so others can move in. Since they rebuilt H Street, we basically lost our rights and now we have to fight for them. And why? We grew up here. Basically, everybody here is struggling, except the owners of those establishments on H Street.

“These clubs, restaurants, and places for carry out, they don’t help the neighborhood at all. They should have opened restaurants where anyone can enter, a place that fits the old and the new. But, it’s not like that, we can’t afford these places. You know what I’m saying?

“And, the police are coming around all of the time now that these places are here and harassing us. We ain’t doing nothing but hanging out, been doing that for 30-40 years with no problems. We around every day, some of us work and some of us don’t, but we don’t bother nobody.

“At night time, the streets are flooded with nothing but white people. I guess we get our time during the day and they get their time at night, except that we get harassed during the day by the police, too. At night, I go in the house and let them enjoy the street. If I am out here at night as a black man, I am like an endangered species. It don’t bother me, but that is the change that I see.”

Read more about the development of H Street NE here.

I had heard about these “H” planter boxes before but before but only just saw them last weekend. There are spaced very close together around 10th Street, NE on Eastward towards Bladensburg Road. I think individually they look alright but packed together one after the other in different colors they seem kinda silly. Do you think these are a nice addition to H Street, NE?

Little Miss Whiskey’s is located at 1104 H Street, NE. I was sent a bit more info from the folks running the trivia:

“Come find out at the Inaugural Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar Pub Quiz this Tuesday September, 15th. Arrive early to grab your table, space is limited. First round starts 8:00pm sharp.

The festivities feature five rounds of ten questions. That’s right, fifty explorations into the joys of everything from pop culture to prehistory.

Quizmaster Steel & Saint DC are pub quiz troupers, now is your chance to get your brain tickled by the swamis.

Gear up for music rounds, picture rounds, prizes, and surprises from generous sponsors and the fine folks at Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar.”