For the next two weekends at AFI Silver you can get your inner geek out.

Saturday and Sunday they’ll show Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, back-to-back in the grand old theatre at 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm respectively.

You could also watch The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones there tomorrow night at 6pm and 9pm, run catch a midnight showing of “Revenge of the Sith” somewhere, then go see the rest of the Star Wars mega-saga on Saturday. That would probably guarantee you entrance into the Geek Hall of Fame…

Next weekend is all three Indiana Jones movies, also shown in chronological sequence starting with The Last Crusade.

Cool…

I really love my house. Not only is it just a cool space, with brick walls, funky stairs, a skylight and a back yard, but one additional feature that I ALWAYS forget about until days like Memorial Day, Independance Day, etc. is that my house is on a parade route.

No foolin!

How cool is that?

Typically, my discovery goes a little somthing like this: I walk out the front door, and there’s a marching band walking by! Very Monty Python, if you ask me. There are always gaggles of kids in sparkly outfits waving pompoms, District and church choirs, people running for some office or another, and groups of people called, “The Supreme Brotherhood of the 3rd Eyeball” or something else equally mysterious and obscure like that.

I especially love the wee kids who choose to play tuba or some other equally self-dwarfing instrument.

Anyway, those parades function splendidly as an unofficial calendar of major holidays – thank goodness, or I’d never know when to put my white shoes away….

Not sure what the actual route ever is, but stand at the intersection of Vermont Ave and 11th Streets NW on any given holiday, and don’t forget to look out for the little guy with the tuba.

That’s right, we’ve got two new cities as part of the Metroblogging Network opening up today:

Philadelphia, our neighbors with the Main Line and Pat & Geno’s to keep us well-fed, not to mention the legacy of Rocky!

and

Berlin, our trans-atlantic friends, also familiar with being a divided Capitol! Now, Sean, about that paid exchange program!

Welcome Berlin and Philly!

Traffic’s been light on 395 this week, likely a sign of people leaving town for the long Independence Day weekend. Lots of folks head out of town for the weekend, but as someone who usually celebrates the Fourth of July with some fervor, this is a good place to be for the day.

You can go see the document that started it all at the National Archives, the Declaration is on Display there along with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. On the 4th, there will be a reading of the Declaration at 10am on the Steps of the Archives on Constitution Ave. The Declaration is one of the most poetic of our founding documents, with such beautiful rhetoric as: “A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

And of course, there will be a parade downtown. What’s Independence Day without a parade? I mean really. After you’ve listened to the Declaration, get a good spot along Constitution to watch the marching bands (likely playing JP Sousa’s works) and military demonstration units (including The Old Guard, in Revolutionary Garb) march on the route down Constitution toward the Lincoln Memorial.

Fireworks don’t start until 9 or so over the Mall, so feel free to grab a spot near the Washington Monument and watch the concert that will take place near there, or look for folks from your home state, most Mall-camping groups will be flying a flag of one sort or another.

At 8pm, Barry Bostwick will be hosting the concert on the Capitol Steps, featuring the NSO, Gloria Estefan, the Beach Boys and Ronan “I only sing God Bless America” Tynan. Of course, it all ends with the 1812 Overture, which features LIVE CANNON FIRE. Yes, Live Cannons, and a Symphony Orchestra. How can you go wrong?

And of course, the Fireworks on the Mall. They’ll start around 9:10 or so, and they’ll be some of the most impressive you’ll see, just for the crowds, the ambience and the great photo potential of capturing a bursting firework between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. That right there is worth all the hassle of getting there.

Take Metro, sunscreen, and a good camera. You’ll not regret it. It’s something everyone who lives here should do, at least once while they’re here.

Walking in my door last night after a long swim at the pool, what do I spy in my dinning room but a full fledged poker game! Chips piled high, beer bottles scattered low, and cards flying all around, my housemate, Francis, had Texas Hold ’em happening on our kitchen table.

Tossing in a $20, I took my chips and started the killing. Leading off with dumb questions (So how do I deal, again?) and bad bets (What? A pair of 3’s didn’t win?) I had fun with Frances’ poker crew till I pulled out the can of Vegas-learned whoop-ass.

In no short order, I cleaned out two of the five players with straights, flushes, and a full house. It was then down to just three and with an all-in before the flop, one player tried to go for gold with a pair of Queens. I had only an ace and 6, but even his all-in didn’t touch my original $20 so I called him. My housemate, the other player left, went all in too, just barely matching the pot. Over went the flop to the river and when the smoke cleared, Francis won with a pair of kings.

Knowing when to fold them, I called it a night, leaving the table with my original $20 as Francis counted up $120 and went to buy beer. Yeah, he’s stocking the beer fridge this month!

In April of last year, I brought D.C. DJ D-Mac (say that three times fast) out to Chicago to spin at The Modernist Society. When D-Mac came back to D.C., he was quick to set up a local chapter occuring the last Thursday of each month at Saint-Ex. Well, to make a long story short (too late), now it’s my turn to guest DJ at The Modernist Society. However, “DJ” being used to describe what I do may be a bit much, I’m more of a “selector” whereas your residents D-Mac and Nevelle Chamberlain (of Crooked Beat records) actually know what they’re doing. Regardless, if you want to have a good time Thursday night, come out and hear rock, soul, reggae, funk, hip-hop, disco, go-go and all that good stuff.

p.s. while the flyer says we’re starting at 10pm, we’re secretly getting under way at 8pm to play all the new records we just bought and haven’t had time to listen to yet.

There are no lights on the Beltway! At least not the stretch I was on tonight, from Franconia to Rte. 50. What’s up with that? Visibility was horrible tonight because of the rain, and lights would have really helped. Who can I complain to?

The Metro and I go way back. I used to spend a good 90 minutes a day commuting via Metrorail before I got wise and moved closer to the city. I saw all sorts of crazy things: drug deals, a flasher or two, a drunk guy peeing in the corner, a fist fight, but never, ever did someone push the red button on the emergency intercom.

It’s as if there was a decency force-field attached to the little box that says “I don’t care if you’ve been drinking, I don’t care if you’re convinced hemadrones are coming for you, don’t fucking touch this thing unless the train is on fire, some is very near to death, or this train is beneath another train.

Apparently, however, it is just a portal to a car dealership disguised as a train driver. So, next time you’re on a train, and you need a Benz Truck, you go right ahead and push that button to get one from the driver.

The 2005 NBA draft just got done and over with. Yes, on a Tuesday night. When you didn’t really notice. But you coule be excused for that. In a previous post, I made some observations and pseudo-predictions.

Kwame Brown has yet to be traded, Pops Mensah-Bonso withdrew from the draft to back to GWU and former Maryland star-turned-pariah John Gilchrist better start writing up his resume. However, the night is still young and once the trading period is officially opened, we may start hearing some rumors of the former boy wonder getting shipped out of here.

Few of the mock drafts I saw (and I only saw a few) had Ike Diogu of Arizona State going in the top 10. Which exactly where he went, ahead of Sean May, as I predicted, so pardon me as I enjoy my little moment.

Where Les Boulez really surprised me was in violating my numero uno prediction that anyone who had anything in common with boy wonder Kwame Brown would never receive any consideration. With their second round pick, they drafted a 6-11 prep star, Andray Blatche. An inch shy of 7-feet and out of high school, much like boy wonder Kwame Brown. What is surprising is that Blatche was projected to be a top-20 pick, so he could still turn out to be a steal for the Wiz.

Also, ESPN had mentioned that the Celtics were taking a long hard look at him. The Celtics were to pick immediately after the Wizards, so perhaps this was a little swipe-the-leprechauns-lucky-charms move while they weren’t looking. Only time will tell.

One the other hand, Kwame Brown ought to know that there’s only room enough in this town for one prep school center, and it ain’t looking like it’s going to be him!

Guess how much it’ll cost to extend Metro through Tysons Corner (part of the extension from West Falls Church to Dulles)? $2.4 billion. That’s 60 percent more than was previously estimated. The plan is going to be revised, fortunately, because the only person who’s ever spent that much money on one thing was Paris Hilton.