July 24, 2008
Not many exhibit openings this week, but that doesn't stop the galleries from throwing big parties for any reason they can find. Keep reading for derby arm wrestling, two concerts from our three star alums, DJs, poetry readings, and of course, tons of (mostly) free alcohol.
>> Head over to Hillyer Art Space on Friday night for the Barrelhouse Magazine Roller Derby Issue launch party, "License to Brawl". From 6 to 10 p.m. you can enjoy a giant mural by derby pop-art loving Cory Oberndorfer, presentations of derby-themed stories and poems, music, food and beer, and our favorite part: "A rare opportunity to arm wrestle an actual DC roller derby girl!" Though with the description of derby girls as "bone-crushingly awesome," we might just stick to the snack table, thanks. Sponsored by The Pink Line Project and Scion. $10.
>> We love folks who decide to just throw their own art parties, so get over to the temporary Boiler Gallery tonight, which is actually the apartment of a GW student with curatorial aspirations. She's flexing her muscles with To Say the Least, featuring six artists, some new and some established, who work in a variety of media. See it for yourself from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight at 1829 California Street NW, Apt. 33.
>> The National Portrait Gallery is celebrating Hip Hop all day today along with their Recognize exhibit. They started at 2 p.m. in the Kogod Courtyard, where WKYS-FM (93.9) is doing a live broadcast until 6 p.m. From 5 to 6:45 p.m. take in a Hip Hop Happy Hour with music and a cash bar, then head over to their McEvoy Auditorium for a screening of the video New York is Now by Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky), followed by a discussion with the artist. All events are free.
>> Civilian Art Projects has two big events this weekend. Friday they'll hold a closing reception/music party for the rock poster exhibit Screams and Screens. Starting at 9 p.m., hear music by Ilya Monosov, Duane Pitre, Pree (May Tabol of Le Loup), Scott Allison, and DJ sets from Ed Porter and Scott Bauer. ($5 suggested donation.) Saturday, swing by for the Summer Trunk Show at their shop, where you can find handmade jewelry, T-shirts, fine art books and more. 3 to 6 p.m.
Continue reading "Arts Agenda"
| 
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Not normally the kind of thing we'd choose for Photo of the Day, but Lilliang's capture of aging exercise guru/talk show guest Richard Simmons on Capitol Hill today deserves a post of its own. Simmons was here to testify before Congress about childhood obesity, and to promote legislation that would mandate more recess and physical education in public schools. Good for him. Somewhat more embarrassing is this video of Simmons's visit to the Fox 5 studio yesterday. Probably more embarrassing for the Fox 5 news team than for Simmons, but still. Wow.
Here's what photog Lilliang wrote:
Richard Simmons did a rally on Capitol Hill today, complete with a two number exercise routine! He had all the staffers dancing on the Cannon Terrace! It was really funny!
Photo by Karon
MUSIC: It's the best night of the Fort Reno season: the Night of 1,000 Cakes! Bring a cake to share or eat a cake someone else brought; there's usually plenty of cake to go around. Also, Statehood, Imperial China, and Tsarina. 7:15 p.m.
MOVIE: Tonight is the 25th anniversary of the release of War Games, seemingly every computer programmer over the age of 30's favorite movie, and select theaters around the country are celebrating by hosting special screenings. The full list of theaters is here. In the D.C. area it's playing at the AMC Mazza Gallerie 7, and the AMC Tyson's Corner 16, both at 7:30 p.m.
HAPPY HOUR: The National Portrait Gallery's continuing exhibit, RECOGNIZE!, hosts a "Hip-Hop Happy Hour" tonight. The happy hour itself begins at 5 p.m., with a talk with guest curator Jobyl A. Boone about artist Kehinde Wiley's portrait of Ice-T at 6 p.m. and a presentation by D.C. native Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky) titled New York Is Now, which will begin in the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium at 7 p.m. Free.
DJ: My Favorite Dress celebrates their third anniversary at St. Ex tonight, complete with champagne specials. 10 p.m.
MUSIC: Experimental hip-hoppers Math Panda are at The Red & The Black $8, 9 p.m.
Advertisement: DCist Continues Below!
July 24, 2008
Some bands are just better than others at reducing the barrier between band and audience. Sometimes it’s by engaging specific audience members in conversation, like Ted Leo, or actually playing in the middle of the floor, like Dan Deacon and a couple of his other F Yeah compatriots. The Mae Shi, who actually played alongside Dan Deacon for Whartscape Festival this past weekend, share that same philosophy of engaging the audience by moving amongst them....
Continue Reading "The Mae Shi @ Velvet Lounge"Just to add some fuel to Martin's argument that yesterday's Robert Novak traffic incident is no laughing matter, the Post has some much better reporting up than WJLA's early word. Turns out the victim is actually 86 years old, not 66, and he is currently homeless and has been living in a shelter. Clifford Liljenquist's injuries are apparently not severe, but were complicated by his age and history of homelessness.
As we mentioned before, the 2009 Washington DC/Baltimore Zagat Guide was released yesterday. While there have been numerous questions about the methodology used for ratings, the Guides still deserve a lot of respect for compiling the opinions of so many diners and venturing where no Michelin Guide would go. Zagat Guide founders Tim and Nina Zagat were in town publicizing the newest edition and hitting up some of the top local restaurants when they sat...
Continue Reading "Chewing the Fat: The Zagat Guides' Tim and Nina Zagat"
Illustration by Monica Meehan Editor's Note: Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez is sending us his dispatches from a cross-country trip investigating the comics scene around the country. Read Part I, Part II and Part III. Santa Fe, NM The night I arrived in Santa Fe, Bram and Monica Meehan took me out for New Mexican food. Carne Adovada. I got it with the red chiles and I sweated through the entire meal. I...
Continue Reading "Coast-to-Coast Comicdom: Sweating the Southwest"Back in February we were alarmed by reports of a man in Prince George's County who was using Craigslist to lure rape victims to various locations in the county. The Post reports that the man suspected of committing these crimes killed himself during a standoff with police yesterday. The suspect, Mark Antonio Humphries, 33, of the 4100 block of Suitland Road of Suitland, shot himself in the head after police began setting up a barricade outside a Hyattsville apartment where they believed he was hiding. He was pronounced dead later at a nearby hospital.
There was plenty of snickering in the media yesterday about Robert Novak's very literal run-in with a pedestrian. Heck, we snickered ourselves silly, and even Jon Stewart couldn't resist making jokes — "You know what Washington needs? More vigilante bicyclists!" (see video above). As we mentioned earlier, today WJLA is reporting that the victim of Novak's negligence might be worse off than originally thought:The victim, a 66-year-old Don Lilkinquist, appeared somewhat incoherent, said the...
Continue Reading "Novak Run-In a Serious Matter"
The intersection of U Street, 16th Street and New Hampshire Ave. in Northwest has long been a perilous spot for pedestrians and cyclists alike. It's just a weird confluence of two major thoroughfares plus a diagonal avenue that runs one-way, in opposite directions, for one block only on either side. If you've ever tried to cross U Street on foot there, you know just how unpredictable the flow of traffic can be. Last year...
Continue Reading "Cops Ticket Cyclists at New Hampshire and U Street"
Should we talk about the weather? Flickr user brandonwu captures an unfortunate soul dealing with a flooded basement resulting from last night's storm. Does the sweeper wonder if the storm could have been prevented if the global emission decline curve had a slightly steeper slope? Or maybe he just found a cool T-shirt. EXIF....
Continue Reading "Photo of the Day: July 24, 2008"
Baseball's trading deadline is July 31, but the District's transportation scene experienced it's own version of a pennant race deal yesterday. Now-former head of DDOT Emeka Moneme resigned from his post to take up the Chief Administrative Officer post at Metro. Mayor Fenty can't be too upset at the loss; WMATA is just returning the favor after Fenty plucked current City Administrator Dan Tangherlini from Metro back in November 2006. David Alpert has the first...
Continue Reading "Transit on Thursday: Switching Sides Edition"
Slash Coleman Has Big Matzo Balls is weird. Weird. But that’s because Slashtipher J. Coleman is weird. The one-man play is a representation of the playwright-actor-jazz pianist-author-comedian-painter’s Jewish, eccentric, and quick mind. It is a collection of one-liners and songs, audience participation and balls-to-the-wind gimmicks. Actually, the play is about Slash—he changed his name from Jeffrey after his Bar Mitzvah to include two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the name his grandfather, who survived...
Continue Reading "Slash Coleman Has Big Matzo Balls @ Fringe"
Check out this string of robberies listed in the Northwest D.C. portion of today's WaPo crime report:GIRARD ST.,1100 block, 2:24 p.m. July 15. A male approached a pedestrian from behind, snatched her purse and fled. IRVING ST.,1300 block, 2:02 p.m. July 15. A male approached a pedestrian from behind and snatched her purse, which contained a Global Positioning System device, a cellphone and a camera. IRVING ST.,1300 block, 3:29 p.m. July 14. A man asked...
Continue Reading "String of Mid-Day Robberies in Columbia Heights"
They say that it's good to never give up, but would someone send Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) a memo telling him that sometimes it's cool to throw in the towel? According to a press release issued yesterday by DC Vote, Souder is looking to re-introduce legislation that would do away with the District's gun laws. Didn't the Supreme Court recently rule that the city's gun ban was unconstitutional, and didn't the police recently start registering...
Continue Reading "Congress Moves to Strike D.C. Gun Laws; Wait, What?"