Photo courtesy of Flickr user CP

Last year I fulfilled my goal to see the DC fireworks on the 4th. I knew trying to go to The Mall to see them would be a storm of epic proportions, so I made a plan to see them from the Georgetown Waterfront instead.

This year the DC fireworks aren’t getting less popular so I’m starting to make my plan on where I want to see them here are some links I found to help you get your DC Fireworks Plan put together before this weekend:

• The Washington Post already has it’s 4th of July guide out complete with maps of area fireworks and information on the day’s events.
• The Going Out Gurus are already thinking what I was thinking last year, and have put out a map of places besides The Mall to see the DC fireworks.
• Rachel Cooper over at About.com has a comprehensive guide of fireworks in DC, MD, and VA.
• Karen Hart also at About lists the best places to see the DC fireworks.
• Katie Bevington over at Examiner.com has a list of links of area firework displays.
• Washingtonian Magazine just came out with their own Independence Day guide yesterday morning.

Good luck getting your plan together!

Lastnight a friend and I went to the Twilight Tattoo given by the Third Infantry Division (the “Old Guard”) at Fort McNair in Southwest DC.  Fort McNair itself is nestled along the Potomac just south of the Waterfront Metro stop, and the parade ground in front of the old War College building provided a wonderful setting.  The weather was gorgeous, the soldiering was precise, and the crowd was enthusiastic.  There were lots of students from schools all over the country - we figured the loudest ones were those from Texas.  We learned that 2009 is the Army’s year of the NCO (who knew), “otherwise known as the backbone of the Army,” as the announcer made sure to tell us.  He took special care to introduce all the platoon sergeants taking part in the tattoo - most were Sergeants First Class.  Along with some hokey patriotic songs, we were treated to great demonstrations of skill and talent by the Army Drill Team, the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and the Pershing’s Own Army Band.  But I think that my favorite part of the evening was at the end, when the soldiers were treated like rock stars by the visiting students on school trips.  They were walking up to rope lines and shaking the outstretched hands of nervous middle-schoolers, as if they were Madonna!  It was awesome and really got me in the mood for Fourth of July (which is my favorite day of the year to live in DC).

Since DC is in the middle of its own Military District, there are always lots of things to do and see if you’re interested in military affairs, or pageantry, at all.  There are several units which perform tattoos or sunset parades around town during the summer, and all of the armed forces’ vocal and instrumental groups give concerts all season long; mostly outdoors, and almost all free.  I’ve listed just a few choices below.  Check them out!

• Twilight Tattoo - 3rd I.D., U.S. Army.  Fort McNair, 410 P Street, SW.  Wednesdays, 7 PM.  Free.  (Last tattoo is next Wednesday, July 1!)
• Sunsets with a Soundtrack - West Steps of the U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC.  Free.  Most Fridays at 8 PM.
• U.S. NAVY Band - US Navy Memorial - 701 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N.W. - TUESDAYS, JUNE 2 - AUGUST 25 AT 8 P.M. Free
• U.S. Navy Band - U.S. CAPITOL (WEST SIDE) MONDAYS, JUNE 1 - AUGUST 31 AT 8 P.M. Free.
• Air Force Summer Concert Series - Wednesday and Friday nights at 8 p.m., from June 3 through Aug. 28 at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Va. Free.
• Marine Barracks Washington - Sunset Parade, Iwo Jima Memorial.  Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. 2 June - 11 August 200.  Free.
• And finally, the “President’s Own” Marine Band is playing tonight (June 25) at the Sylvan Theatre (Washington Monument) at 8 PM.

Well, Virgin Fest is back for another summer.  What with Pimlico’s financial issues, there was deliberation as to whether the Preakness would actually happen, let alone another summer music fest.  However, Virgin have moved the Festival to Merriweather Post Pavilion, and renamed the Festival to “Virgin Mobile Free Fest.”  Yep, tickets this year are free!  You’ll still need to order them in advance, though (UPDATE:  tickets can be gotten via Ticketmaster starting at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, June 27.  Free, except for those irritating “convenience” charges.).

The lineup for VF is, as usual, impressive (at least to this old fogie).  Headliners Weezer and Blink 182 will be accompanied by Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Jet, Mates of State, Public Enemy, Taking Back Sunday, The Bravery, The Hold Steady, The National, St. Vincent, and Wale.  A Dance Tent will house the likes of Danny Howells, Holy F*ck (uh, that URL is NSFW), Lee Burridge, and Pete Tong.  Gates will open at 11 AM, and the show will last until 10 PM.

Tickets, as I mentioned, are Free.  They don’t seem to be yet available on Ticketmaster, but we’ll keep you posted on the “sale” date.  The Fest is encouraging attendees to donate at least $5 to The RE*Generation to help stem youth homelessness.  You can text “FREEFEST” to “20222″ for a one-time $5 text charge,  or go old-school and donate online.

Get on out there and have fun, you crazy kids!

Below is a very interested piece on a technique lobbyists are using to get into Congressional Hearings: paying homeless people to stand in line for them.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Lonelycelltheory

You read that headline right!

When news spread that the sponsors of the annual summer tradition backed out there was a large outcry over the thought of a summer without a weekly visit to The Mall to watch a movie. I was one of them- I never got the chance to experience what thousands of Washingtonians have, and I was afraid I never would.

Up until now.

“Trust for the National Mall Partners to Bring Back Screen on the Green” read the e-mail subject that caused me to drop what I was doing and write this post. My friends over at the Trust for The National Mall gave me heads up that they are teaming with Comcast to help HBO bring the series back for a 10th year.

The city was screaming for an outdoor movie series and HBO was listening. In the Washington Post article that also just published Quentin Schaffer, HBO’s executive vice president for corporate communications said, “there was an outpouring of people concerned that this wasn’t happening…” The release I received reads, “fervent fans of Screen on the Green expressed strong support and enthusiasm for continuing the event . On Facebook, local blogs and Twitter, the Washington, DC community resoundingly asked for the popular series to continue this year.”

The power of the people… and The Internet… and blogs…coming together for the greater good.

Ok so here’s what you need to know about the series:

• Screen on the Green will be back on Monday evenings at sunset from July 20th - August 10th.
• Classic films will once again be shown on a giant 20′ x 40′ outdoor screen on The National Mall between 4th and 7th Streets.
• The screenings will remain free and open to the public.
• The first film will be Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the remaining movies to be named at a later date (UPDATE: WP speculates that HBO may take from the lineup of Bryant Park’s Screen on the Green and include films Dog Day Afternoon or Rebel without a Cause.)

Preparations for Artomatic are in full swing, but as you can see from the snap at left taken late Monday evening, not everyone has finished installation.  The deadline to get everything put up and nailed down is 10 pm tonight, so you can bet things will be in full swing at 55 M Street, SE all evening.

The show opens this Friday, May 29 and runs through July 5.   It couldn’t actually be more convenient; the building is right on top of the Navy Yard Metro and is just down the block from Nationals Park.  Despite the photo, things are actually mostly in place, and there is — as always — some breathtaking art interspersed with some of the craziest things you’ve ever seen.  But hey! There are four bars, four stages, and over a thousand visual artists and 600 performing artists.   And a Zombie Prom!  What could be more fun?  Artomatic will clearly be the place to see and be seen this June in DC.

Artomatic is a month-long art festival in DC that is free to the general public celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Monument Realty and the Capitol Riverfront BID have provided a brand-new 275,000 square foot building to host Artomatic, right next to the Nationals Stadium. The event features nine floors of visual and installation art, theater performances, dance and comedy, three music stages, street performances such as fire dancing and drum troupes, and a film screening theater. Workshops and seminars are held all month long and special events such as the Washington Post’s Peeps diorama finalists, Box Racing, body paint shows, and a no-holds-barred Art in Fashion Show.

(Captain’s Note: Rachel from Rachel, Rachel I’ve Been Thinking was my lovely companion to last week’s WGA reception at the Newseum- here’s her take.)

Courtesy WGA East

Okay so I’m a little slow on the guest-blogging but last last Friday (that would be May 8th), Patrick took me as his plus-one to one of the many pre-/post-party events surrounding the White House Correspondents Dinner (aka journalist prom). We got to attend probably the funniest event of the weekend, maybe not including the actual dinner, because President Obama’s speech was hysterical.

Nonetheless, The Writer’s Guild of America, East hosted a reception, stand-up show and panel all packed into one evening at the Newsuem, highlighting the world of comedy news. There are many things to focus on from the night (open bar!) but in particular, the stand-up from writers of the Daily Show, Colbert and Letterman was pretty hysterical. They certainly knew how to play to the very liberal, very hip, urban crowd and the jokes were full of Obama-loving, Bush-hating rhetoric. And pointed cracks at their own awesomeness and general writing prowess.

The comics’ heavy-handed liberalness was a point in the panel discussion,when one audience member asked why the conservative media hadn’t jumped on the comedy news bandwagon. Certainly it could work in the same way that Daily Show and Colbert (obviously the two favorites of the night) make a point of mocking media and politics. A writer for one of the shows (I had a hard time keeping them all straight — it was an open bar after all) said that conservative comedy is out there — in the form of Fox & Friends every single day — and he had the unenviable job of watching every minute of it. No doubt comedic gold.

But the formula works. A very clear theme emerged during the course of the event: these guys (and it was almost all men) were largely unconcerned with making the kind of pop culture waves that they have so often made. When both the recent feud with Jim Cramer by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner were mentioned as great moments, not only for the shows, but for media and news in general, the writers simply said that, sure, they were really proud of those kind of results, for making people sit up and listen, but their goal on a day-to-day basis is just to make people laugh.

One writer said, we don’t expect to be educating anyone. We’re just there to shine a light on the things we expect our audience already knows.

That seems to be the key to comedy news success. To really poke fun, you have to know what’s going on in the first place. And only then can you really laugh at it.

Photo props to WABA

WABA again did an excellent job with Bike to Work Day in downtown DC on Friday, May 15.  For those of you who aren’t hardcore cyclists, I have to say I recommend this event highly even if you only bike to work one day a year!  A few highlights:

• Most importantly, the weather held out - perfect temperatures and no raindrops on Freedom Plaza!
• The food was excellent - bagels and schmears, apples and oranges all nicely quartered, hot coffee and cold tea – and plenty of  it.  Yay, sponsors!
• The Coast Guard contingent was particularly impressive, led by Admiral Thad Allen
• A surprise visit by the Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate, Stephen Chu, who clearly knows his way around a bike.    Here’s hoping he has reversed the insane disincentives to bike to work at the Forrestal Building.
• Excellent giveaways and raffles; the drawings are the only time during the event that everyone on the plaza pays strict attention.  Again, yay, sponsors!
• A lot of other speakers (of varying degrees of interest) allowing plenty of time to chat with friends. :)  Amazing who you run into at this thing.  I swear, every year it’s someone else.
• All kinds of kids, dogs, and bikes; a great opportunity to shop for new gear by talking to folks who already own it.
• The Tune Ups, always a treat at BtW, did a memorable rendition of Smart Bike Ditty, which I am still humming.  Where’s your website, kids?  I want youtube videos!
• I didn’t stick around to see Mayor Fenty (as I had to, you know, actually bike to work).  Just FYI, the festivities normally run from 8 to 9 am.

Courtesy of WGA-East

Well tonight is the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, the dinner is known for more humorous moments such as Stephen Colbert ranting on the podium, and Karl Rove showing off his rapping skills. Tonight Wanda Sykes will be on the mic and I’m very interested to see how she does- I don’t think she’s holding back any punches.

The glitz and glam isn’t limited to the dinner tonight, there will be a slew of pre and post parties all weekend, just check out Politico for their party guide.

I had the opportunity of being invited to the WGA East’s “Writers Speak!” event last night at the Newseum. I checked out the party with Rachel from Rachel, Rachel I’ve been thinking. She’ll be putting up a guest post on her take of the event later next week.

The place was packed as Hollywood and Washington came together for some stand-up comedy and a panel featuring  TV writers. The panel included J.R. Havlan (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart), Bill Scheft (Late Show With David Letterman), Anthony Jeselnick (Late

Anthony Jeselnick (Late Night With Jimmy Fallon) Courtesy of WGA-East

Night With Jimmy Fallon), Matt Goldich (Best Week Ever), Tim Carvell (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart), Opus Moreschi (The Colbert Report), Tom Ruprecht (Late Show With David Letterman), and Allison Abner (The West Wing)- the night was promised as a, “A Potentially Regrettable Evening With Comedy Writers”, but it will be one I won’t be forgetting too soon.

Courtesy Politics on Film

It’s an odd weekend that’s packed with parties, politicians, and celebrities. And I’m not just talking about the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

This weekend also brings the Politics on Film festival, an annual weekend of bipartisan films that cover a wide range of issues. Last night the festival kicked off it’s inaugural run with an opening night party on the rooftop of 101 Constitution Ave. Among the party attendees were actors Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager) and Peter Riegert (Damages/The Sopranos/Animal House)  who both star alongside Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show) in “The Response“, one of the festival’s official selections.  Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America and Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) were also on hand as they accepted awards from The Bipartisan Policy Center, the organization behind the creation of the new festival. The non-profit formed in 2007 was founded by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George Mitchell. Unfortunately none of the founders were on-hand- I was really hoping for the off-chance to shake hands with Bob Dole.

While I’ve never been in a room with a mix of Washington insiders and west coast creative-types, I learned that they have a lot more in common than they thought.

David M. Edwards is the director of “Sprawling from Grace“, and he tells me that documentary is much more than simple story telling- it’s also a business. His feature documentary covers the today’s urban sprawl and the consequences on our infrastructure. A self-described “prorector” (A producer/director/editor) he essentially created his film mostly on his own, however he made some strategic partnerships in order to secure funding and support. Edwards explains by finding groups and organizations that share the same message and vision, you can create relationships that reduces the burden of creating a feature length indie without big studio backing.

“Sprawling from Grace”  looks at various growing areas of the country and points out how we need to change the way we design and develop our cities to run more efficiently. Arlington and Washington DC were used as locations in the film and we chatted about the role of public transportation and growing areas like Arlington. “You can expand a congested highway [think I-66] and for a little while traffic will go down, but next thing you know the traffic is back,” explains Edwards. He suggests focusing on public transportation like buses and metro, “It’s actually a great thing when you hear stories of The Metro reaching capacity, we should celebrate it.”

Other selected films in this year’s festival include Abraham Obama, an artist’s journey to plaster walls with images to support the Obama campaign; and What’s the Matter with Kansas, a documentary based on the book by Thomas Frank. The films will be screened all over DC, with many of the screenings held at the E-Street cinema.

Check out the Politics on Film website for complete schedule and ticket information.