>> Continuing their trend of showing only the weirdest awesome movies for free in this city, the Library of Congress' Mary Pickford Theater will actually screen an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 tonight as part of their Screening Shakespeare series. Really. It's the episode of MST3K where the crew is forced to watch a laughably bad German made-for-TV adaptation of Hamlet -- as the press release rightly notes, "is that Ricardo Montalban as Claudius? You betcha!" Hopefully MST3K needs no introduction, so call (202) 707-5677 to reserve your free seat by 4 p.m., or take your chances in the stand-by line.

>> The few Wolf Parade tickets being offered on Craigslist are awfully pricey, so head over to Rock and Roll Hotel to catch Austin, TX's excellent The Octopus Project and Berlin's Stereolab-esque Stereo Total. With Fever, 8 p.m., $13.

>> Lee Gutkind will be at Olsson's in Dupont Circle to read from The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 1, as well as a selection from his book, Almost Human: Making Robots Think. 7 p.m.

>> Folk-rock singer-songwriter John Bustine will perform a set of entirely cover songs by Rocket From the Tombs legend Peter Laughner, plus a few songs by Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, tonight at the Velvet Lounge. As always, the Velvet Lounge's web site provides no clue as to starting time or cover, so show up around 9 and expect to pay somewhere between 7 and 10 bucks.

Photo by Kyle Walton