Given that this is bound to be a slow day at work, what better time for Gilbert Arenas and adidas to launch GilTV, undoubtedly the next phase of The Takeover. Included are four new commercials -- The Black President (above), Cooking With Gil, Agent Zero and Gilbert's Island -- all seemingly ripped right out of the pages of The Wizznutzz. Let's hope those guys are at least getting some royalty checks from this. On......

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Indie: Lake of Fire Michael Moore may have grabbed all the press where high profile documentaries are concerned, but it's Tony Kaye's Lake of Fire that is being quietly talked about as the most powerful documentary of the year. Which is remarkable considering its subject is one of the most talked about and analyzed issues on......

D.C. has been the homebase for its share of musical luminaries. Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, and Bad Brains come to mind for their efforts in their respective genres. Right in this mix should be the man called the “Godfather of Go-Go,” Chuck Brown. For non-native Washingtonians, go-go is likely foreign and only experienced during the urban radio stations’ “go-go hours” or Brown’s D.C. Lottery commercials. However, go-go is D.C.’s music, Chuck Brown is D.C.’s musician,......

In some recent commercials for Visa credit cards, consumers are seen approaching cashiers at fast food restaurants, quickly swiping their credit cards and moving on. But when one consumer pulls out cash, the music abruptly stops and the swift purchasing momentum is broken. The message is obvious -- credit cards are fast replacing cash as the means for transactions both big and small. And nowhere is that more the case than in Silver Spring. Via......

There are plenty of NBA trade rumors floating around out there with the draft less than 30 hours away, and while the Wizards are keeping a relatively low profile as a team, that doesn't mean the players aren't keeping busy. Above is one of the new NBA '08 Live commercials that feature our still beloved Agent Zero with Maryland native and future NBA superstar Kevin Durant. Angry T has the other two if you're......

Monday >> This past December, Matthew Ryan released his latest album, From A Late Night High-Rise, a collection of songs inspired by the death of his friend and the sentencing of his brother to 30 years in prison. Tonight you can experience his acoustic contemplations on stage at Iota Club with Tim Easton. 8:30 p.m., $12. >> Do you want to see Silver Spring's Flaming Cooters? Did you ever think you would hear those words......

FRIDAY: >> This weekend is filled to the brim with events surrounding the 2007 Urban Film Series tour just in time for Black History Month. Dozens of short and feature-length films addressing the black experience are being screened at Regal Cinema Gallery Place, many with panel discussions following. There's a bevy of established and rising talent to see, but our pick for Friday has to be a conversation and book-signing with the Wizard's own center......

Between the creepy name and the glowing spermatozoa in the logo, readers can be forgiven for looking at the graphic on the right and assuming that washingtonpost.com is dabbling in creating Frankensteinian abominations/superbeings. Perhaps an alien/Katharine Graham hybrid that can squeeze secrets out of administration sources with its deadly tentacles? There's room for all sorts of mischief in that Arlington skyscraper. Sadly, that's not the case. The project, entitled "onBeing", is actually a new series......

OK, one more time, can someone explain to us the shrewd scheduling of the Super Bowl for Sunday night every year? We wake up on Monday, still stuffed with unhealthy amounts of sausage and seven layer dip, and more than a little bit hungover. How are we expected to work under these conditions? So we're making this proposal to The Man, right here, right now: make the day after the Super Bowl a holiday.......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

Having a hard time getting out of bed this morning, Washington? We feel your pain. Whether it's the cold weather making you feel sluggish, or that you spent all last night reading over the Iraq Study Group report, it sure would be nice to take a sick day and lounge around in our bathrobes. The views expressed here are not necessarily the views of DCist.com or GothamistLLC and should not be construed as the literal......

Written by DCist contributor Alex Hogan and Martin Austermuhle D.C. Mayor, City Council: Ok, so the September Democratic primary kinda took the air out of the District's official mayoral election, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go vote. Look for a crushing Democratic sweep, but give a little time and check out what the Statehood Green and Republican candidates, Chris Otten and David Kranich, respectively, have to offer. We'd like to think that someday their......

MONDAY When it comes to examining the state of contemporary theatre, Robert Brustein has few peers. Expect a stimulating discussion when Brustein comes to the J to offer his viewpoint on how the post-9/11 years have played out on stage — issues he takes on in Millennial Stages: Essays and Reviews 2001—2005. District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St. NW., at 7:30 p.m. $8. Also, from the McSweeney’s camp of writers come Kevin......

Doom, gloom, rending of garments. That's the poetic way of remembering how Redskins fans felt after the last time the team headed up to New Jersey to play the Giants. If you've forgotten that game, here's a brief capsule of how it went: the teams were introduced, there was a singing of the national anthem, then a coin toss, followed by a kickoff, then the ball was handed to Tiki Barber--and the next thing you......

Michel Gondry's latest film, La science des rêves (The science of dreams), opened last Friday in Washington under its American title, The Science of Sleep. After an extended period working in the United States, notably in collaboration with the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman on Human Nature and the Oscar-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gondry has returned to his roots and set this film in his old stomping ground, the 18th arrondissement of Paris. As......

Tom "Who needs Paramount Pictures?" Cruise just struck a deal that brings him a little bit closer to our neck of the woods, figuratively speaking: CNN reports the actor has signed a two-year development deal for his production company Cruise/Wagner Productions, with the investment partnership First and Goal, headed by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. We think the name is catchy, Dan. Looks like the the firm will "provide development and overhead financing" for Cruise's Cruise/Wagner......

Another D.C.-based, political show bites the dust. We here at DCist (admittedly, somewhat apathetically) mourn the passing of "Commander In Chief", which will air its last episode tonight on ABC. Born out of The Contender like "The West Wing" was inspired by The American President, "Commander In Chief" followed the battles faced by the first female president, played with class, style and authority by Geena Davis. Capturing a wide audience early in its run and......

Mornin', Washington. We hope you had as much fun as we did at Unbuckled last night. Thanks to the Hard Tomorrows, Olivia Mancini and the Housemates, and our own DJ Leafblower for providing a night of great music. Most of all, thanks to all of you for coming out. We had a blast. Hospital Proposal Hits Roadblock: The Post reports that Mayor Williams' plans for building a hospital in partnership with Howard University has run......

Good morning, Washington. As we approach the new year and the amount of colleagues in your office thins out even more, here's a run-down on the happenings today in and around the District. And to get you ready for those new year's eve drunk text messages, today the Post features an article about bringing on the brevity. Call us critical, but it just sounds goofy when the Post tries so hard to sound hip. Stadium......

We were overwhelmed by the response to our Annie ticket contest. Nearly fifty folks entered, and we enjoyed ourselves heartily looking over your Annie mashups. This list was narrowed to twenty entries, which were then given to the editorial staff for a vote. First, for your reading pleasure, we present some non-winning, enjoyable runners-up. Best to Receive No Votes from the Editors: - Ted Kowalsky (and you have to follow the link) - "A sumptuous......

We successfully sailed the ocean blue and are back with this week's shortened music picks. TUESDAY >> It's an early show/late show kind of night at the 9:30 Club (directions from DCist Maps). Come by at 6 p.m. to catch Anna Nalick, the songstress TV networks love to dramatize commercials with, for $15. Pound a Red Bull and stay for the late show as Blues Traveler gets all your harmonica lovin' ya yas out. $25,......

MONDAY: >>Lucinda Williams brings her raspy voice to the D.C. tonight. Her Tom Petty-inspired brand of roots rock can be heard on her latest album, Live At The Fillmore. Or you can catch the real thing tonight at the 9:30 Club. $35, 7:30. >>Grab your Coke, gel your hair, and spend the evening with the man who made teenagers and soccer moms wear out their voting fingers in 2003. Clay Aiken at Wolf Trap, $25......

Fall catalogs are quickly cramming our mailbox and "Back to Cool" commercials are again making schoolchildren cringe, but the frizz-inducing weather reminds us with a humid slap each morning that it's still summer. Celebrate the sweaty mess that is a D.C. summer at the Midcity Dog Days of August, a sidewalk sale and festival spanning the U and 14th Street NW corridors this Saturday and Sunday. More than 50 businesses are participating in the sixth......

Radio listeners might have heard the kind of annoying commercials on BP/Amoco's Gold Standard Game, which rewards customers for purchasing more than eight gallons of Amoco Ultimate by offering a chance to win "free gas for life" -- that is, a $1,200 Amoco Ultimate prepaid gas card every year for 50 years. With an eight gallon purchase, customers receive a scratch-off card with two chances to win -- once at the station, and once by......

This DCist lives in an apartment building that not only has a PA system but keeps that PA system tuned to the satellite radio 80s station. We begin our day with Depeche Mode no matter what. When you think about it, you’re forced to listen to music in many places, whether it’s the staple jazz bleating from Starbucks speakers or the minstrels of the metrorail stations. But it’s one thing when “Banana” provides you a......

Late night infomercial annoyance and "famous for D.C." resident Matthew Lesko has jumped feet first into the blogosphere. And yes, you have heard of this guy. Lesko is infamous for his snazzy question mark suits, his garishly painted car and for his "Get Free Money from the Government!" commercials that seem to air almost exclusively between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on local cable stations. Lesko Blog went live a few days ago, and like......

AOL headquarters out in the hinterlands of Northern Virginia (Dulles) announced their first round of layoffs this afternoon. The Post reports that the company cut close to 750 jobs today, over half of them from the Dulles location. The mood at AOL HQ though, seems to be akin to that of the last day of school. Our inside source at AOL reports:It's craziness here though: people are walking around crying and hugging, packing up desks,......

Two metrobuses hit the streets today "wrapped" with advertisements covering everything except the windows. The ads, which cost $5,000 per month, were purchased by Juniper Networks, an IT company with offices in Tysons Corner. In addition WMATA riders can expect to see more ads on metrorail as well. Officials told the AP ads covering rail cars will come "in a month or two," and the AP notes WMATA's board has also approved "installing televisions in......