At this point in December, holiday concerts and Handel's Messiah have completely hijacked the classical music schedule. Here are a few other events, not all of which avoid the spirit of the season. After this post, the Classical Music Agenda will take its end-of-the-year hiatus, to return in the New Year. >> On Tuesday, the final concert sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society this calendar year features young violist Jennifer Stumm and Finghin Collins at......

FRIDAY: >> Bay Area songstress Goapele’s (pictured) musical background is almost as diverse as her ethnic background. Born to a South African political exile father and a mother whose parents survived the Holocaust, she studied at the Berklee College of Music and later would form musical partnerships with the likes of hip-hop acts like the Hieroglyphics crew and E-40. However her 2005 release, Change It All, established her as especially talented when it comes to......

Good morning, Washington. It turns out that House Pages don't need lecherous congressmen's help to make scandalous headlines: two have just gotten busted for inappropriate behavior in a House elevator. They've been dismissed, bringing the year's total fired pages to five — two others were caught shoplifting, and one was booted for fighting. Needless to say, it looks like the program — the oversight of which has been in turmoil — will be getting......

Reverend Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping are of the opinion that the masses have an opiate other than religion. And if it's the merchandise that keeps us in line, then there is no time of year when we binge on our fix of choice like the holiday season. Bank accounts and credit card statements across the nation can do the testifying for us on this point. And so it is at the most......

We've reached another Friday, D.C., but if those light flurries that accompanied you on your way into work this morning gave you visions of a leisurely Saturday snowball fight, you'll likely end up disappointed. Very little accumulation is expected from these flakes, and the weekend will see temperatures back in the upper 40s, with a possibility of some light rain on Saturday morning, according to CapitalWeather.com. If this update doesn't satisfy your weather nerd urges,......

Han Sung Oak in Falls Church has a familial feeling, from the large parties that occupy the main dining room and the private rooms in the back, to the service staff, willing to help you as you navigate the intricacies of their native cuisine. I was surprised to be asked "smoking or non-smoking" when I entered the restaurant, but all I smelled was grilled meat, so I don't think the seating area would have mattered.......

In Trader Jim's first move of the off-season, the Nationals have traded catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church to the Mets for outfielder Lastings Milledge. Milledge batted .272 last year with 7 HRs, 29 RBIs, .341 OBP and .446 slugging, though he only accumulated 184 at-bats. Church had similar averages last year, but with almost 300 more at-bats only had 8 more homeruns and 41 more RBIs. Schneider only hit .235 last year, with......

December begins tomorrow, and that means only one thing: it's time to take that special person in your life to a holiday concert. Do you want to subject him or her to the same old carols, something historical, or something really weird? Here is a list of your options, not including the many performances of Handel's Messiah or The Nutcracker, to be previewed tomorrow. THE BEST OF THE BEST: >> For those who never want......

Good morning, Washington. It's news of the weird day today on DCist, as the Post tells the bizarre story of two 2nd-year engineering students from U-Va. who have been charged with the kidnapping of a man in Tysons Corner and demanding $500,000 in ransom. Both the two kidnappers and the victim are Chinese nationals who had been living with host families in Virginia while attending college. Police arrested Guanyu Lu and Baichuan Shu, both 19,......

MONDAY: Peter J. Gomes, pastor of Harvard’s Memorial Church, will be at Politics and Prose to read from his book The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus. Gomes believes Christians should be heeding the messages of Jesus, not objectifying the man. 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Washington Post literary critic Michael Dirda wants you to know it's OK to love Fowler's Modern English Usage. How else would you learn that the "n" in damning, when it means "fatally conclusive,"......

Just who does Bob Dylan think he is? There must be a truth, a real life story way down underneath the layers of the biography that Dylan has created, but where that truth lies is probably only known to Mr. Zimmerman himself. So how does one approach making a film about the life of a man who has made a career out of self-mythologizing and asking us to please pay no attention to the man......

After a weekend full of concerts, there is not much to mention this week, for obvious, turkey-related reasons. Still, if you find yourself in town this week, there will be a few things to hear, although tickets may be hard to find. >> On Monday (November 19, 7:30 p.m.), French violinist Nicolas Dautricourt will be hosted by his country's embassy, La Maison Française. The attractive, all-modern program is bookended by the Poulenc and Debussy violin......

WMATA has put out a release to remind everyone that the first in a series of six planned public hearings on the proposed Metro fare hike is tonight. All six hearings start at 7 p.m., with open-houses beginning at 6:30 p.m. before each one. Tonight's hearing is in Reston, at the Bechtel Conference Center, which is at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive. To get there, take the Orange line to the West Falls Church station, and......

Good morning, Washington. Make it to the polls yesterday? If so, we hope you did so before the sun went down — it got cold in a hurry last night, as the area rapidly moved from warmer-than-usual temps to colder-than-usual ones. CapitalWeather is saying that the weekend should be warmer, at least. Election 2007: The results are in, and it looks like it was a good night for Virginia's Democrats. The Dems picked up......

By DCist Contributor Aaron Morrissey Dogfish Head Alehouse, the third (and we assume not the last) in a planned series of eateries that serve lovers of the venerable Delaware-based brewery with the American basics, is now open in Falls Church, and DCist popped by to survey the scene in advance of Tuesday night's official Grand Opening party. There’s nothing outstanding about the place upon entering. The immediate thought was the episode of The Simpsons in......

Usually in our Revisiting Series, we like to talk about the monuments and memorials you pass on a regular basis; this time, by revisiting the District’s boundary stones, we thought we’d point out something you might never have even seen. In fairness, they’re easy to miss. Of the 40 original stones, two have been lost, and the rest have been marred and eroded from sitting outside for 216 years. Some sit in no trespassing zones,......

Written by DCist Contributor Oscar Bunoan Despite what you’ve read, Vincent Van Gogh was not insane. I mean, what’s the use of an earlobe to a painter anyway? An artist under mental distress, after all, would have immediately deemed his moneymakers a more suitable gift for an unsuspecting prostitute. Why make reference to the 19th century post impressionist? Because, whether James and Miranda Chen—owners of the Asian influenced Sunflower Vegetarian—realize it or not, he serves......

>> Lieutenant Sean M. Egan of the District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department has emailed out a citywide call for blood donations in the wake of four D.C. firefighters having been seriously burned yesterday at a rowhouse fire at 621 4th St. NE. You can find a blood donation center here. >> George Clooney is in D.C., and still hott. [GossipGirls] >> Police are investigating an arson at Western Presbyterian Church on Virginia......

>> Tonight is the annual 17th Street High Heel Race. The classic D.C. drag event kicks off officially at 9 p.m., but you'll want to take your position on 17th St. NW between Church and R well before that (we'd recommend 7 at the latest). If you're looking to make a queer night of it, don't forget about the Hug-In planned at the U Street Rite Aid at 7 p.m., and the pre-Hug-In Happy Hour......

Now that it's getting darker earlier, bicyclists in the city need to be more careful about riding at night. But if you're like me, you've been putting off buying a safety light for oh, forever. So I'm planning on being first in line this Friday, November 2 at the Suntrust Plaza in Adams Morgan to snag free front and rear bike lights courtesy the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and DDOT. All you have to do......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

Good morning, Washington. The weather-related headlines today are all generally pretty disappointing -- The Post proclaims that "Rain Likely to Dampen Area But Not Douse the Drought", and others have followed suit. But waving like a lone reed in the pessimistic sands of weather prognostication is CapitalWeather.com, who just minutes ago put up a prediction, based on a brand new model, suggesting that "several factors are finally lining up to bring the potential for......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

Whether it was the driving beat of his Afrobeat music or his outspokenness on political issues, Fela Kuti made a statement. Having made such an impact, the fact that a decade after his death from AIDS–related complications he’s still revered shouldn’t be a surprise. His son, Femi, has done his part to keep his father’s work alive and so have numerous other artists. One of those artists, DJ Rich Medina, will deliver his own tribute......

Written by DCist contributor Andrew Chriss Falls Church offers a diverse array of ethnic cuisine, providing a homespun, lower cost alternative to higher-priced and better-decorated offerings in the District. That being said, it's been a while since the days when I frequented the BBQ, kosher deli, and pho establishments in Loehmann's Plaza. On this night, the destination was Eden Center, Falls Church's Vietnamese epicenter on Wilson Boulevard in Seven Corners. But where to eat? The......

>> D.C. United and Chivas Guadalajara renew their budding rivalry this evening. The match is part of the Copa Nissan Sudamericana, a 34-team invitational tournament featuring the best clubs of South America and several North American teams looking to crash the party. The match could be one of the most entertaining, competitive affairs this season. United aims to atone for their first round exit from the tournament two years ago; they also seek to......

>> Despite well-publicized problems at D.C. Schools, reading and math scores at 8th and 4th grade levels are both up in the District. [WaPo] >> Tonight is the second public meeting for the Fourteenth Street Transportation and Streetscape. 7-9 p.m. at the National City Christian Church at 5 Thomas Circle NW. [Logan Circle News] >> Westbound traffic on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is closed while an ambulance takes an injured worker to the hospital. [AP......

DCist is proud to be the official media sponsor of Cultural Tourism DC's free event this Saturday, Sept. 29: WalkingTown DC offers a wealth of free walking tours all day long to get Washingtonians out and discovering new things about their city and neighborhoods. The Temperance Tour, hosted by volunteer Garrett Peck, author of The Prohibition Hangover, begins at the Cogswell Temperance Fountain at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW at 1 p.m. and wraps......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. LAist saw national headlines soar this week with......

Written by DCist Contributor Laura Logerfo For the central cathedral in a major city, St. Matthew’s somehow blends in. The Cathedral is surrounded by offices that stand nearly as high as the church, and its brick façade resembles that of adjacent buildings. It is situated near one of the busiest and trickiest intersections in DC, where Connecticut Ave., Rhode Island Ave., 18th and M Streets all meet. On weekends, city dwellers pass by the church......