Good morning, Washington. It's only the end of September, but if drug store candy aisles are any indication, many of you are probably already thinking ahead just a little bit to the holiday season. What will you be for Halloween? Will you stay in town for Thanksgiving? What kind of Christmas bonus will you be getting this year? For some D.C. government employees, the answer to that last question is now up in the air.......

Have you ever put off seeing a movie dealing with man’s inhumanity toward man, such as Hotel Rwanda or Life is Beautiful, know it will be shocking and sometimes painful, and will force you to confront the ugly reality that people often do very bad things to other people? That's how one might feel when approaching Mary Coble's new show, Aversion, at Conner Contemporary Art. Coble confronts the horrible effects of electro shock therapy prescribed......

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay......

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. -Chicagoist had fall on their mind as they made squash and fudge, read "House of Leaves" and ">tried to figure out what's next for the Cubs. Not fall related, but still of utmost concern, the whole skinny black pants thing. -Torontoist fought off an evil scourge of raccoons and went to go see who......

Let's start with the good news this morning: this excessive, unrelenting, soul-sucking heat is expected to come to an end tomorrow, say the guys at Capital Weather. And we say they better not just be leading us on. However, today is yet another day in Scorcher '06 -- and may even be the hottest one yet -- with highs once again flirting with triple digits. Heat-related Problems Continue: With near record temperatures, people are......

February’s theater scene brings a month of insomnia and exorcisms, dames and deaths. But before we outline the month’s offerings, allow us to say thanks to DCist reader Jeffrey, who reminded us that tickets for the Monty Python spectacular, Spamalot, coming to the National Theater in June, go on sale Februrary 26. They’ll be gone faster than you can say "shrubbery," so mark your calendars. In the meantime, how far would you go to protect......

Good morning, Washington. Today will be sunny with highs in the upper 80s, so you can leave that umbrella at home. We were happy to read that the steamy hot temps will ease all week with highs expected in the 80s and evening lows in the 60s. While we were cruising Flickr to find today's photo, taken by Aziz Gökdemir of the ever-photogenic interior of the National Building Museum, we came across an interesting......

How do you best diffuse negative publicity? Well, according to Rev. Willie F. Wilson of the District's Union Temple Baptist Church, you do so by identifying a problem so grave that it necessitates being labeled a "national emergency." And what emergency is that? Young, African-American lesbians. Wilson, a firebrand preacher, community activist, former mayoral candidate, and executive director of the Millions More Movement, first stepped into hot water when in a July 3 sermon he......

Maryland, the state some DCists call home, may be getting closer to becoming the next state to legalize same-sex marriages. Well, one step closer, anyway. A case filed by nine same-sex couples earlier this month (plaintiffs Jodi Kelber-Kaye and Stacey Kargman-Kaye are pictured above) and aimed at overturning a state law banning same-sex marriage is currently working its way through the courts, with a circuit court in Baltimore set to hear oral arguments on July......

The 30th Anniversary Capital Pride is this weekend with a parade kicking off at 6 p.m. tonight at Dupont Circle and a street festival tomorrow. Coinciding with the large celebration this weekend was the 12th annual D.C. Dyke March, which was this afternoon at 1 p.m. This week's Metroweekly magazine has lots more information about Capital Pride, including a profile of "D.C.'s own West Hollywood Porn Star" Tag Adams, who is participating in the parade......

City officials are reeling after a member of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' cabinet was found dead in her home. Wanda Alston had served as advisor to the mayor as director of the D.C. Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs. She is pictured to the right in a photo from the Washington Blade printed in a story from last July about the selection of a new head for the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration. The AP......

It has been a so-so past couple of weeks for gay and lesbian equality in the metropolitan D.C. area, with news both good and bad happening on either side of the District. Virginia veered ever so slightly from the path to becoming the most anti-gay state in the Union, while Maryland managed to defeat two anti-gay bills in committee. February was not a good month for gays and lesbians in Virginia, as the state Assembly......

We did a double take upon hearing that members of the Virginia General Assembly objected to the prayer that opened the session this past Friday. Then we learned about the content of the prayer. We were less surprised. During her invocation, Rev. Deborah Peevey was heard to say, "Holy One, convict those who are using their power not to lead or to guide but to harm the gay and lesbian citizens, a small minority in......

A pair of sold-out Wilco shows and a Teenbeat reunion highlight our picks for this week. MONDAY: >> Rambunctious retro power pop group The Futureheads, at right, play the 9:30 Club, with Shout Out Louds & The High Speed Scene opening. $12. Stream their video for "Hounds of Love" here. TUESDAY: >> Feminist electro-popsters Le Tigre, fronted by ex-Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna, are at the 9:30 Club this evening. Unfortunately, local band Measles Mumps......