Photo by PoPville flickr user a digital cure

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday. So anything good happen to you this weekend?

Back in Nov. ’09, Danny Harris wrote a People’s District post titled Nicole on the Last Remnants of Italian Life on North Capitol Street. It was fascinating. I finally went for a visit myself last weekend and I was absolutely blown away (as I should’ve known.) The place is a true time warp for many reasons but for all those who’ve been pining for a proper bakery – I don’t care if you live nowhere near here – it is worth the travel! I would go just to talk with the former owner, Mr. Caruso (now retired), who will tell you all about the history of the bakery and the neighborhood. They are only open for retail Sat. morning around 7:30am until around 1pm.

I bought a chocolate bread that was ridiculously good – seriously no other way to describe it. Plus they have proper Italian bread and rolls, other pastries and their famous biscotti. For those who know good Italian subs in DC – these folks are the suppliers for Mangialardo’s and A. Litteri among many others. Enough said, right? So next Sat. go visit! They are located at 1404 N. Capitol St, NW (just south of P).

As I said – this post will give you a taste of how old school and awesome this place is in photos:

The oven from 1946

Real Italian bread!

Lots more photos and history after the jump. (more…)

I support most bands from Athens, Georgia… If you’d like to win two free tickets – just let me know why you want to go in the comments.

F 4/8
Converse Presents Get Out of the Garage Music Tour featuring
The Whigs
w/ Get Out of the Garage winner: Beast Make Bomb
Brought to you by Rolling Stone & Journeys
7:00 PM Doors
$15
Tickets available here.

While home/office furnishings took a big hit on the 1500 block of U St, NW – clothing options are blowing up. At 1526 U St, NW I just a saw a coming soon sign for Match Clothing. You can see in the photo below they join the recently opened Rock it Again and Dr. K’s vintage not to mention Lettie Gooch located across the street at 1517 U St, NW and Junction location located at 1510 U St NW. Oh yeah, Ginger Root is also on the same block at 1530 U St, NW.

With that in mind it’ll be interesting to see who moves into the big space at 1515 U St, NW.

On Friday afternoon I started getting emails that something was going on at RCKNDY, located at 1515 U St, NW. Phone calls went unanswered at first then the line was disconnected and when I stopped by on Sat. I only saw this:

The store has been completely emptied. Their Website that is still live says:

RCKNDY (pronounced rock candy) is your resource for creating a new look for your home or office. We specialize in modern decor with an emphasis scaled to condo and apartment living. We’ve circled the globe to find the best in modern design the world has to offer including furniture from Blu Dot, Gus Modern, and American Leather. Our gift & decor selection compliments our furniture and is always changing so every time you visit our store you see something new. An inspired and unmatched inventory, creative merchandising, and knowledgeable sales team unite to give the RCKNDY customer an exceptional shopping experience.

We took a peek inside back in March ’08.

Were there any fans?

Photo by PoPville flickr user AWard Tour

Mayor Gray announced the $1 fuel surcharge on Sat. afternoon.

This is from U St, NW on the side of the old State of the Union building underneath this classic:

As many predicted it was a truly bizarre weather weekend but I think we scored on Sat. There were great blooming trees all over the city. I saw more spectacular than this one but I was amazed by how they were training the trunk to curve. Very cool.

If you get any good shot be sure to upload them to the PoPville flickr pool here.

And below’s wild contrast of snow and the cherry blossoms is from PoPville flickr user schmiddi:

Classic Logan Circle. Check out the details up top:

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Not a lot of info but at 2:21am Sat. night/Sun. morning AlertDC sent word that there was a:

“Shooting 1200 b/o 11th St NW No lookout DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911″

Last weekend there was a shooting nearby at 7th and N St, NW.

Update: MPD reports:

“This morning at 2:25 am, police responded for a shooting at an establishment in the 1200 block of 11th Street, NW. They discovered that an argument between 2 adult males led to one subject to shoot the other in the upper torso. Ambulance transported the victim to the hospital where he later died of his injuries. Police arrested the suspect.”

And more info from an MPD press release:

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch announced today a suspect has been arrested in the homicide that occurred in 1200 block of 11th Street, NW.

On Sunday, March 27, 2011, at approximately 2:25 am, members of the Third District responded to the 1200 block of 11th Street, NW for the report of a shooting. Upon arrival on scene, they found a male victim suffering from a gunshot wound. Personnel from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services transported the victim to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at approximately 5 a.m. The victim has been identified as 24-year-old Jose Hernandez-Romero, of the 1400 block of N Street, NW.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found the suspect being restrained by witnesses to the shooting. The suspect identified as 24-year-old Alexis Pineda was arrested and charged with Murder Two While Armed. A firearm was recovered at the scene.

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And if you scroll down AlertDC you’ll see more unfortunate news from the 1300 block of H St, NE on Sat. afternoon at 2:36pm:

“Robbery Gun_1436 hours_1370 H St NE_lookout for a B/M, 5’3″, wearing a Redskins cap armed with a revolver last seen west on H st NE DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911″

From an email:

This weekend, we’re having a big shindig at Community Forklift, the nonprofit thrift store for home improvement. You (and your pet) are invited to show off your best garden party style. Below are all the details about the food, the live music, the FREE seeds, and the Garden Attire Awards!

Lots more info on their Website here. Directions available here.

We spoke about Community Forklift here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user jsmjr

The Kingsman Dog Park is located at 14th Street and Tennessee Avenue, NE.

From Hill Hounds:

Kingsman Dog Park will open to the public at 5:00 pm this Friday, March 25th. To celebrate, please join us for an informal get-together from 5-7 pm at the new park. We invite everyone to come by, take a look around, play a little fetch and make some new friends from the neighborhood. Members of the Hill Hounds Steering Committee will be there to answer questions about the park and to hand out free treats to your very patient pooches.

The park will be open until 10:00 pm on Friday. Starting on Saturday, March 26th, the park will be open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm every day of the year.

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Rbrammer

I don’t know if it’s just me but I’m fascinated by the skeletal building that will become NPR headquarters on North Capitol St, NE by L in NoMa. Doesn’t it look wild at this stage?

And nearby I tried to get a little artistic with the reflection on this new building:

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

Photo by PoPville flickr user idit.

“S St. dog park. Dog and owner enjoying what seemed like a fun fake wrestling match. the owner kept lifting the dog up and then pretending to slam it to the floor. the dog loved it.”

“From 16th street heights”

“Our 4 month old puppy Shiloh, adopted from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, trying to get out of a bath in Columbia Heights”