Regretting that second helping of mashed potatoes? Or feeling guilty for sneaking that third piece of pie, even on the day after? Well redeem yourself by getting out, getting active and taking a nice walk. outtacontext shares a beautiful possibility for a recovery jaunt through the woods.

Good morning, Washington. Here's to hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving, doesn't have to work today and didn't have to fend off crowds of shoppers hellbent on getting that one flat-screen TV for 50 percent off.

The Ballou Senior High School Majestic Knights marching band, under the direction of leader Darrell Watson, are the pride of D.C. today after their performance in the Macy's annual Thanksgiving Parade. Ballou's band is a D.C. institution that has even inspired a documentary, and they are the first school from the District ever to perform in the parade. The students have been preparing for this performance since their selection was first announced in April of last year, practicing and fundraising for their trip to New York. The band performed a tribute to Michael Jackson called, "It's a Thriller." Enjoy the clip below, courtesy of NBC, and congratulations on a job well done to Mr. Watson, the fantastic musicians and dancers, and their families!

Semyon Varlamov earned his first shutout of the season Wednesday night, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

• Whoa! Reliable Source reports that "polo-playing socialites" Tareq and Michaele Salahi may have successfully crashed the White House State Dinner on Tuesday night, gaining admittance without an invitation.
• Acorn is laying off 240 employees, but so far none in D.C., Housing Complex says.
• Tragic accident: An Arlington County employee was killed and another severely injured after being electrocuted while trying to fix that big water main break on Glebe Rd., the Post reports.

The man who was arrested and charged in the Nov. 14 killing of 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes has been found dead inside his cell in the D.C. Jail, according to a report from WTTG/FOX5. Josue Pena, 26, had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Fuentes, who died after being shot through the door of his Columbia Heights apartment. The Washington Post reported earlier that paramedics had been called to the jail for a call of an unconscious inmate this afternoon. WTTG says Pena was found hanged inside his cell just after 1 p.m. He was pronounced dead later at Howard University Hospital, with the cause of death determined to be cardiac arrest by asphyxiation. The report also includes these details:

Pena told prosecutors he had a gun in his waist band, but it accidently went off as he walked up the stairs.

Continue reading "Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail"

MTV has posted the first trailer for The Real World DC on its web site. It includes a number of establishing shots of our fair city (including, inexplicably, an intro featuring President Barack Obama exiting Marine One to the tune of the Civil War-era song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," aka "The Ants Go Marching," ... maybe the producers confused it with "Hail to the Chief"?), and there are a couple of fun scenes showing off the D.C. locale: one of the cast members meeting Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), another playing around in the White House briefing room, that kind of thing. But most of the storylines that are teased are pretty much standard Real World fare: hook-ups, young people unsure of who they are or what they'll do with their lives, and of course, girls running around with their tops off.

President Barack Obama pardoned his first White House turkey, Courage, a little while ago. The White House has since released video of the ceremony (see below), during which Obama called Courage "a good looking bird." The president was in a joking mood, noting that "there are days when I'm reminded why I ran for this office ... and then there are days like this, when you pardon a turkey and send it Disneyland."

Lulu is bad news. Don't believe me? Just take a glance at the couch that resides immediately in front of front row, center, in Washington Shakespeare Company's production of this Nicholas Wright-penned mashed-up adaptation of two notorious Frank Wedekind plays. There you'll find the trail of broken hearts and broken bodies the seductress leaves in her wake, in the form of dead husbands — one per act of this bloody, bawdy play — forced to sit there and watch helplessly after she has heartlessly dispatched them.

MOVIE: Cormac McCarthy’s Oprah-backed mega-bestseller, The Road opens today at a handful of theatres. You can view the trailer here, and be sure to check out the rest of our holiday weekend movie picks in Popcorn & Candy.

The turkeys are coming, the turkeys are coming! Or fleeing, as is the case here. Synapped reminds us that our upcoming feast isn't great news for the turkeys.

Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM (or listen online) today and catch DCist Editor-in-Chief Sommer Mathis as a guest on The Kojo Nnamdi Show. Sommer will bring you her expertise on everything to do this weekend in and around D.C. for those souls sticking around for the holiday. Her segment begins around 12:30 p.m.

>> Unbuckled alum Matt Grason leads his live house band, House of Soul, tonight at the Bossa Bistro & Lounge. The group features Three Stars alum Charles Ostle on drums and monster keyboardist Jon Ozment. 10 p.m. $3