The pretty people are descending upon our city. A couple big movie shoots are in town, so if you're into that sort of thing, now's your chance for an Affleck or LaBeouf sighting. State of Play, an adaptation of a BBC miniseries starring Russell Crow and Ben Affleck, has been shooting for a couple of days around Capitol Hill. This movie made headlines in the fall when Brad Pitt dropped out due to an inability......

The Washington City Paper's Angela Valdez provides a two-pronged update today to the monstrosity that could be the Late Night Shots reality TV show we told you about earlier this month. In a piece over at Campus Progress, she interviews Havva Eisenbaum, the producer of the pilot, who says that they've already had "nibbles of interest from networks" who might end up picking it up once the pilot is completed. Considering how many reality TV......

Aside from donating to charity or saving for your child's college fund, the best use of $6.75 is the quarter-chicken platter with fries and salad at Skorpios Maggio's Family Restaurant (affectionately known as Skorpios) in Vienna.  Hot rotisserie chicken, dusted with a lemon peppery spice blend, served to you on a divided plate with thick cut steak fries and a simple lettuce salad covered generously in feta and dressed with oil and vinegar, and a......

Last night, Fox 5 reported on an alarming attack of a gay man by six or seven men on the Metro. "Nathaniel," as he's referred to in the report, was riding alone on a train Friday night. As the doors closed at Metro Center, the group surrounded and beat Nathaniel, kicking him as he fell to the floor and yelling "faggot". Nathaniel managed to get off the train at the Smithsonian station, and he ran......

Are you ready, D.C.?! That's right: it's the first snowfall of the season. We talked about it yesterday, and the outlook remains pretty much the same. Both Capital Weather and our local TV weatherpeople agree that we'll get about an inch of unusually fluffy snow, with most of it falling by early afternoon. City Starts Looking For More Theft: Watch out, D.C. government ne'er-do-wells: Dan Tangherlini is on your trail. NBC4 reports that the......

Good morning, Washington. Given that A Charlie Brown Christmas was on TV last night, this story seems especially rough. Apparently some folks stole $1500 worth of Christmas trees from the Boy Scouts that were selling them. Remember kids: leave your clearly marked tree receipt out for Santa if you want your presents delivered promptly and with a minimum of additional paperwork. Latest On Taylor Murder Investigation, Funeral: The Post reports on the few details......

Word of mouth is considered an important marketing tool these days; call it what you will, but it's still a great way to hear about new music, movies, TV, whatever. Usually the best way to find the good stuff is to talk to somebody whose opinions you respect, but sometimes just random folks can tell you about neat new stuff — some person at a party, a friend of a friend, or whoever. And sometimes......

Hollywood, rock and roll and reality TV are all subject to artist Jeremy Blake’s critical eye in Wild Choir: Portraits by Jeremy Blake. The Corcoran Gallery of Art, where the show opens tomorrow, calls his work “psychological pop portraits” — trippy digital videos depicting the lives of cultural figures. Flashing images, voice overs, music and explosions of color are typical in the three videos on display — 2003’s Reading Ossie Clark, 2005’s Sodium Fox, and......

MONDAY >> You cannot avoid Toots Hibbert on TV these days. Well actually, it is just that Nissan car commercial with the Clash's version of Toots & the Maytals' "Pressure Drop." The guy who penned that song, "Reggae Got Soul," and numerous other R&B flavored Jamaican numbers is at the 930 Club with the latest version of the Maytals. Hot D.C. go-go combo Mambo Sauce were just added as openers. $26 >> If solo indie......

Written by DCist Contributor Andrew Chriss Enjera Eritrean Restaurant opened in Crystal City in May 2007. On an early visit over the summer, the restaurant was not very inviting from the street level, which was disappointing due to the vast amount of outdoor seating space available. The menu was crudely assembled from what seemed like loose-leaf, and the signage for the restaurant did little to sell the restaurant besides intrigue passersby to ask, "What do......

Facebook isn't just for ridiculous photos of politicians' kids anymore. Now university presidents are getting into the act. We'd usually say that a college administrator having a profile on Facebook, the big social networking site that started with colleges but has since spread everywhere, sounds pretty neat — the administration is trying to be transparent and stay in touch with the students' internet fads. We can imagine a lot of good uses for the site......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

>> Right there is the Laura Sessions Stepp Credo: Laura doesn't "get it" so the "social culture" is broken. [DCeiver] >> Don't miss the ABC News coverage of the 5-year anniversary of the D.C.-area sniper shooting spree. What do you think of Lee Boyd Malvo's apology? [ABC News] >> Oh c'mon, don't you get it? Kids can say they're going to "The Library" and not be lying! It's totally hilarious. [Free Ride] >> Regarding......

One of the best things about covering hockey is that you get the summer off. Just ask USA Today's Gary Graves, TV Analyst Darren Pang or the anonymous Western Canadian hockey experts on this conference call. All of them are really excited to watch what happens when Alexander Ovechkin plays with newly signed free agent center Michael Nylander. But as Ovechkin kindly told these vacationing reporters when they asked him how he felt about it,......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

>> 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......

Good morning, D.C. With much of the hot political action this week taking place at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, it's our job to pull your focus away from trivial issues the mainstream media seem obsessed with, like global climate change, and bring it back down to what's really important at the local level, like complaining about how gasoline could be about to get really, really expensive in Maryland. What's that you......

>> Following on the heels of MC Hammer and salsa legend Willie Colon, rock 'n' roll pioneer and TV commercial pitchman Little Richard brings his falsetto scream to a free outdoor concert, with openers D.C. female soul vets, the Jewels. 7 to 9 p.m. at at Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. >> Emmanuel Jal, a "lost boy of Sudan" who is the subject of his own upcoming documentary, War Child, will perform his......

>> Akron/Family's folk-influenced jams will pour out of the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight, with Greg Davies, Raleigh's Megafaun, and Stamen and Pistils. $12, 8 p.m. doors. >> The awards have already been announced, so it's a good time to check out the end of the D.C. Shorts Film Festival now that they're offering one of several "Best-Of" collections screening at 10 p.m. tonight -- odds are good you won't have to sit through......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

>> Don't miss our full preview and interview with Bonde do Role, playing tonight at the Black Cat with Plastic Little and local experimental audio/visual artist Edie Sedgwick. $10, 8 p.m. >> >> DC9's got The Daybreak Line and The Beanstalk Library, who we recently profiled in a Three Stars piece, and Athens, GA's The Winter Sounds. $8, 9:30 p.m. >> I have vivid memories of watching the significantly creepy 1960 TV version of......

Good morning, Washington. Even if you don't plan to do anything with your day like attending a memorial event or volunteering, it's rather difficult to forget what day it is today -- every time you see the date Sept. 11 on a credit card slip or memo, you're going to be reminded. The Post has a big interactive feature up on the creation of the Pentagon Memorial, which is scheduled to open in one......

Just as a new videotape from Osama bin Laden was released over the weekend, tomorrow marks the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, and as in year's past, there will be events, speeches and vigils across the country to remember the dead. But with more time now between us and that tragic day, it does seem as though the way we want to honor the anniversary......

MONDAY >> They put it pretty well themselves, and since it's all about them anyway, we're just going to repeat what the Black Cat had to say about their anniversary party tonight: "After 14 years of pouring you guys drinks, then picking up the glasses, working the doors, and sweeping the floors, we've decided that it's time to dedicate a night to ourselves. Black Cat staff bands, staff DJs, and staffers will be hanging out......

Today’s kids probably think rappers have always been purveyors of commercial goods. 50 Cent has Vitamin Water. Diddy and Burger King are partners. Common probably even folds every shirt at The Gap. However, there was a time when rappers weren’t viable salespeople because their music wasn’t reaching a broad segment of the population. In 1990, a Bay Area entertainer who went by the moniker MC Hammer helped set rap on track to be a cultural......

The public sale of anything and everything once found inside the famous Watergate Hotel, which is currently undergoing a massive renovation, began at 10 a.m. this morning, and by 11 a.m. it was already a circus of people rushing through the different floors, grabbing anything they could get their hands on while hundreds of other hopeful buyers stood waiting out in the hot sun. More than 300 people have already been let inside, and......

The Unmentionables, Woolly Mammoth’s incendiary season-opener, boasts one of the strongest companies to tread a District stage this year. Their comic timing is both tight and loose, like a well-rehearsed but highly instinctive group of musicians. But the real star is Bruce Norris’s play itself, a screwball satire about imperialism, do-gooderism and hypocrisy. Set in equatorial West Africa, this jeremiad finds as much fault with supposedly altruistic relief workers who come to ease their......

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom......

Well, it's been several weeks since we got a false report out of Russia saying that Washington Capitals superstar left winger Alexander Ovechkin savagely attacked someone. Therefore it came as no surprise yesterday when we got an apparently false report out of Russia saying that Alexander Ovechkin broke a hockey agent's jaw in a bar fight. Last time, we had to watch the video to see that nothing happened. This time all we have is......

The office of Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) has released an alert to the news media on this slow August Wednesday afternoon, and that means it's going to get a lot more coverage than it probably deserves. For our part, we wanted to mention it also as an excuse to post the funniest video our staff could find of someone destroying a television. The winner is above. For her part, Cheh is concerned......