Arts and Events: January 2009 Archives

In January 1959, rock n' roll performers Frankie Sardo, Richie Valens, Dion and the Belmonts, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly set out on the tour they called the "Winter Dance Party." Just 11 days in, the tour came to a heartbreaking end, when the plane carrying Valens, the Big Bopper, and Holly (born Charles Hardin Holley) from the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, to their next gig crashed—killing everyone on board. February 2, 2009 represents the 50th anniversary of the Day the Music Died.

Swedish songstress Lykke Li had quite a year in 2008. Her debut album, Youth Novels, was released all over the world to great fanfare. Its mix of hip-hop, folk and pop influences, coupled with Li's sugary sweet vocals, proved irresistible to music fans on both sides of the Atlantic looking for Sweden's next great music export. Li took time out her busy schedule to chat with DCist on the eve of her latest US tour. She plays a sold out show at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue tonight.

Director Kelly Reichardt's fourth feature, Wendy and Lucy, is a quiet affair. It takes place over the course of a couple of days in a little Oregon town. Its protagonist, Wendy, doesn't say much, as she spends most of her time alone, and occupies nearly every frame of the movie. And the film lacks a musical score of any sort, apart from a simple little offhand tune that Wendy hums absently to herself (written by Will Oldham, who also has a cameo). In other words, the movie sounds like life, long periods of silence with the little sounds of our environments and whatever music we bring with us.

FRIDAY:

We've all gotten them: unsolicited MySpace messages from bands. Usually the bands aren't anything you'd be interested in, they need a lot more practice, or both. In this case, we got one from Static Brigade, who described themselves as "a dc/baltimore/uk based electro-futurepop trio." That was enough for a click, and it didn't disappoint.

I think cstein96 has it right. Let's cut out of work early and go see a movie. I hear The Reader is good. Who's with me? (EXIF)

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

>> This week we recommend heading to Hemphill Fine Arts for the opening of Selections from the Barnett-Aden Collection: A Homecoming Celebration, featuring two centuries of work by and about African-Americans. The collection began in a private home in Northwest D.C. by a professor and student of Howard University in the 1940s, when African-Americans could not show their work in museums and galleries. A number of people came together recently to recollect the artworks, restore them, and curate a portion of the 250 pieces into the show at Hemphill. DCist got a preview of the exhibition this morning, and we're impressed by the artworks themselves, the broad swath of styles and media they cover, and the rich history — much of it local — they encompass. We'll have a more in-depth review for you next week, but see them at the reception this Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Over the past five or ten years, the District has seen an infusion of talented young jazz musicians, with many players being products of the fine music programs found at the area's universities. Saxophonist/composer/educator Brad Linde is part of this new crop, and in a relatively short period of time he has become a familiar face in the local scene.

I think my parents have a similar picture of me after my first snowfall, having stuck my nose in the ground much like quigley_brown's adorable Australian kelpie. EXIF.

Constellation Theater knows how to put on a farce.

All four members of True Womanhood are 23 years-old, and they come across as appropriately youthfully excited about what they're doing. They'll each gladly let you know anything and everything cool that's going on around town. But while that youthfulness initially translated into a sort of skittish stage show, the band has grown into its spirit and fervor, channeling it into crazy beats to go along with their highly emotive songs.

The first real snow of winter, naturally, requires an appropriately snowy Photo of the Day. Flickr user spectreman (who also gave us our image for the Morning Roundup today) took some great shots outside yesterday. We're happy to see that someone stayed outside long enough to build a proper snowman, complete with a bow-tie and cape outfit and Bic pencil arms, especially now that the snow and ice are already melting outside (I can hear it crashing from the overhangs outside my window). The blueish tone makes it look that much colder. EXIF.

>> Blues lovers should head down to the Millennium Stage on Thursday to check out Delta Moon. The Atlanta-based duo centers around the slide guitar to deliver their traditional sound. 6 p.m. Free.

This rather dizzying image (EXIF data) shot at the Newseum made us look twice to see which way was up. Perhaps esshots is channeling this dude. As you might expect, the Newseum web site is currently pretty much dedicated entirely to the inauguration.

>> He's a legend of funk jazz and spawned a number of hip-hop samples. Roy Ayers will be at Blues Alley for two shows a night beginning tonight and winding up Saturday. $35 + $12.50 minimum purchase per person, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

>> Magic Christian (ex Flaming Groovies/Blondie/Plimsouls) come east from San Fran with a brand of jangly surf rock. Local rockers The Differents bring the noise with guitarist Andy Prezkop (furious with the licks and the wah peddle). Their singer reminds us of Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock. $10, 9:30 p.m., Velvet Lounge.

Assembling a concert that celebrates a career spanning seven decades must be a daunting task. What material should be included? Should the program be more celebration or performance? While the audience will expect the classics, what of the more obscure material of which the artist might be proud? The Kennedy Center tried to balance all of these factors on Saturday night in mounting an 80th birthday celebration for legendary jazz tenorman and composer, Benny Golson.

When experimental indie rock trio Animal Collective announced that the name of their forthcoming record would be Merriweather Post Pavilion, their fans responded with a variety of reactions. Some showed excitement that the band was paying homage to its Maryland roots, others questioned whether this title signaled a move toward a more amphitheater-accessible sound, and a few were just relieved that they didn't name their album after Nissan Pavilion (we kid, we kid.) In fact, Animal Collective has just announced that they will be opening their American tour this May with a show at the 9:30 Club, not the title's namesake. But if any album in their catalog could inspire a massive growth in their fan base, it would be Merriweather Post Pavilion.

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

Brr! The Skipping Hippy captured this wintry overhead scene in appropriately bare black and white -- featuring an icy Rock Creek and two intrepid souls out for a stroll, elements be damned. EXIF.

Ichikawa's work is consistent as each piece is an abstract pattern made from the glass on paper. The marks are brown and smokey and the color shifts ever so slightly depending on the pressure and intensity of the heat from the glass. Each piece captures the movement used in its making. Some have delicate strokes and others have harsh, hurried lines. It is beautiful and simplistic but the result isn't as captivating as the process.

Yundi Li, a tireless performer on the concerto and recital circuit, returned to Washington this week as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra. The Chinese Wunderkind appeared with the NSO two years ago to play Liszt's first piano concerto, from the recording he had released that year. We opted instead to hear him play the work with the orchestra of the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Riccardo Chailly, and in the intervening year he was back in Washington to give a well-received recital at Strathmore recital. Of all the times we have heard Li play, this performance of Ravel's G major piano concerto, heard on Friday evening, was the least satisfying.

Flickr user stuzehner nabbed this action shot from yesterday's matchup between the Cherry Blossom Bombshells and Scare Force One over at the D.C. Armory. Jammin. Anyone catch the match? This is possibly my favorite sport that I almost never attend.

Some of January's most glamorous and worthwhile concerts are happening this weekend. The problem will be how to decide what to attend -- here is what we recommend.

kimberlyfaye caught this majestic perspective at the centerpiece in Logan Circle -- a bronze rendering of General John A. Logan: Civil War activist, Congressman, and role model for mustachioed men everywhere.

FRIDAY:

>> At the Randall Scott Gallery, find Etsuko Ichikawa's large "pyrographs," images made from fiery burns of blown molten glass as the tendrils fall and bubbles burst on the paper. See them at the reception on Saturday, 7 to 9 p.m.

Are you enjoying the balmier weather today? Mild temperatures are the perfect salve for forgetting the chilly winds that were responsible for freezing over the Capitol reflecting pool. Flickr user DCW3 took advantage of the ice and snapped this couple's reflection as they departed the National Mall. EXIF.

In Signature Theater's , there's nothing more irresistible than a feisty agent.

Written by DCist Contributor Dave Weigel

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

Although the subject consists solely of metal sheets, tinted windows, and vents, Flickr user ameschen lined up the perfect shot of the North Tower of Rosslyn's Twin Towers. The angle at which the shot is taken, by tilting the camera clockwise, transforms the building's curves into a cascade of modern industrial construction. EXIF.

>> Dasvidanya Inauguration hangover. Mumiy Troll, a band of Russkies who has been around since 1983, performs tonight at the Black Cat. Their music is a blend of fun, orchestral pop and rock. The lyrics are in Russian, so brush up. They're apparently quite popular in Mother Russia, and even represented their homeland in the 2001 Eurovision contest. Rockville's Force Major open. $15, 9 p.m.

       

The Art of Change was the sort of anti-ball to all the hoopla at the nearby Washington Convention Center. Trying to gain entry through the barriers, closed roads, volunteers and police was just as convoluted and difficult, but it had little else in common with the other balls. Barack Obama only made appearances in the artwork. Celebrity appearances were nil. And the dress code was the funkier the better... but preferably non-flammable.

>> So you thought inaugural fever was over? Well, the folks at Twins Jazz disagree, and will continue their celebration through the weekend. Tonight, trumpeter Charles Washington will perform. Other performers include saxophonist Brad Linde and drummer Aaron Walker. Full lineup and tickets are available here.

            

Last night's first ever Neighborhood Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center ended up being billed by the Presidential Inaugural Committee as the hottest ticket of all of the ten official Inaugural Balls, and from a vantage point in the middle of the packed ballroom, it was easy to see why.

Was there a rip in time at yesterday's Inauguration? No, but this photo by Flickr user xtol7 could lead someone to think otherwise. Pictured here are some of the members of the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, a group that has marched in every inaugural parade since John F. Kennedy's in 1961. EXIF.

Things were clearly a bit disorganized by the time my friends and I got to the John A. Wilson Building for the D.C. Council-hosted 51st State Ball. We didn't run into the security mess City Desk reported, but there was no signage or schedule posted anywhere, so a lot of people were milling around—it was just not clear where things were happening inside city hall.

Windy City pride was on full display pretty much everywhere this weekend, but it was perhaps no more rampant than at the Big Shoulders Ball, hosted jointly by the Hideout nightclub in Chicago and the Black Cat, benefitting the Future of Music Coalition. At the top of the bill were some big names like Andrew Bird and Ted Leo, and some legendary Chi-town music scene vets, like Eleventh Dream Day and the Waco Brothers.

Back in September, three singer-songwriters penned a three-disc box set called Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies, the sort of ambitious undertaking that could only hope to gain recognition during an election year. With the help of Bill Callahan, Alan Sparhawk (Low), Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) and Rosie Thomas, the album turned the heads of people who had never heard of the three songwriters (Christian Kiefer, J Matthew Gerken and Jefferson Pitcher).

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

                   

As a Historic Event, Sunday’s We Are One concert on the Mall was often stirring and inspiring. But as a show? As music?

We'll have a thorough review of the We Are One concert, along with a ton of photos, up later, but in the meantime, here's what DCist staffers are reporting about their experience:

If you stayed home this afternoon, it turns out that HBO is indeed airing the We Are One Opening Inaugural Concert LIVE right now. We wonder if the live version will conform to exactly two hours, or if an edited version will air at 7 p.m.

     

One hundred and fifty artists present their vision for worker's rights, the green economy, the reform of health care, and celebrate the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama in Manifest Hope. The exhibit contains brilliant artwork laden with hope and high expectations in a strong showing of eclectic work based on the three themes.

Something big is happening early in the week that seems to have canceled all of the classical music concerts. Good music awaits closer to the weekend, and here are some suggestions.

These Metro customers decided that impossibly long lines to ride the Metro weren't enough -- so they found an impossibly long line to purchase a commemorative inaugural SmarTrip card. Those of you who order one online won't receive it in time for the inauguration and are therefore only eligible to wait for forever when you actually want to ride. DCist contributor Rebecca Cooper snapped this image yesterday. Word also comes from Metro that this overwhelmed sales office and the one at Pentagon station will remain open until 10 p.m. every day through Tuesday night.

This morning, members of the press, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), the Podesta Group, the Boeing Corporation and friends of the Smithsonian gathered in the National Portrait Gallery's Kogod Courtyard for the unveiling of Shepard Fairey's iconic Obama Hope portrait. The courtyard was abuzz with the well-dressed (oddly more gala than press conference), and photographers scrambled to get a piece of the suddenly-ubiquitous Fairey.

We already gave you the low-down on the bigger art events and parties going on this weekend, but we've been getting so many notices in the past 24 hours with great stuff to check out, we had to put up a supplemental agenda for you. Add the following visual arts, theater and dance events to your schedule:

It's difficult to imagine a figure more polarizing than the subject of Steven Soderbergh's ambitious new biopic. Mention the name Che Guevara, or flash a picture of one of the endless variations on Alberto Korda's iconic image of the revolutionary leader, and you're bound to get an earful. But most reactions are of the knee-jerk variety, and are based more on reputation than history. Blind devotion or blind rage tend to be the reactions he inspires. Soderbergh's surprisingly journalistic treatment of the facts of Guevara's life is still likely to inspire vigorous debate, but from a more complete—and less black and white&mdashstarting point.

You have friends in town who came specifically to celebrate the Inauguration, and they want to go out and do something festive. You don't want to pay $375 to go to some stuffy dinner and dancing gala hosted by the senior citizens of the state of Florida or whatever, but you're willing to spend a little more than you usually do on a night out. Unfortunately, you don't seem to have the hook-up to score free tickets to anything. You were hoping you might snag some of the D.C. resident tickets to the official Neighborhood Ball, but weren't one of the lucky few who got tickets through a local non-profit. There are approximately 5,683 Inauguration-themed events and parties happening tonight through Wednesday, and your head is swimming.

That’s change we can believe in.

There are a plethora of options to help you entertain your out of town guests this weekend. If you can't decide on a movie, try the museums or galleries, but be sure to check venue schedules, because some inside the Inaugural zone, like the National Building Museum, will be closed. Good thing Flickr user sally henny penny and these half-pints got a chance to master this fun and interactive exhibit on transportation options already. EXIF.

Mike DeBonis at City Desk received a note over the transom with details about the Mayor's on-again inaugural concert, and now it's confirmed. The Mayor is hosting an early party (doors at 7 p.m.) at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night featuring Fall Out Boy, T.I., and Young Jeezy.

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

Longwave has been riding the rock 'n' roll rollercoaster for the last decade. Their first big moment came in the wake of the release of their second album, 2003’s .

Did you hear that? It's the squealing tires of art world hitting the gas and letting go of the clutch as they careen into the political art scene like a carful of 16-year-olds off to their first kegger. Sure, there was political art going on the last eight years, but not a whole lot of it, and scanning our arts agendas for the past few years, it wasn't really happening in the District, home of the White House, much at all. The coming out party has arrived with the election of Barack Obama, and artists are harnessing the excitement to say hooray! Happy days are here again! Hope and stuff!

Despite the presence of bare tree branches, the bold reds, browns and golds on the Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Silver Spring evoke the warmer climes of southeast Asia. If imagining yourself someplace warm gets you through today's frigid weather, we hope this shot by Marcellina helps with that. Temperatures in Cambodia are expected to be in the 80s this week.

>> One of the world's finest guitarists, Al Di Meola, will perform tonight at the Barns of Wolf Trap. His live set will heavily integrate selections from his most recent release, Diabolic Inventions and Seduction for Solo Guitar, Volume I, Music of Astor Piazzolla, a tribute to the tango master. Tickets to the 8 p.m. set are $35.

The Mariinsky Ballet, the St. Petersburg company formerly known as the Kirov Ballet, brought its charming, old production of Don Quixote to Washington this week. Alexander Gorsky's adaptation of the classic 1869 choreography by Marius Petipa dates back to the first decade of the 20th century, and not much about it has changed since then. Anyone interested in the cutting edge of ballet is unlikely to be much taken with this bit of history, but for the ballet neophyte it would be a grand, agreeable introduction - a light-hearted, at times slapstick ballet in which the only suicide turns out to be fake.

As if picking the winning photographs for DCist Exposed over the last two years wasn't monumental enough of a task, you guys made it even tougher this year by turning out in record numbers. In our first year, we barely cracked 450 entries (and we were thrilled indeed), while in 2008, we reached over 550. This year more than 300 photographers submitted close to 800 images for us to sift through. Even with six judges, we had a hard time getting it down to just the photos listed below, but we can certainly say we had an amazing base to start from. If you have the time, it's worth going to Flickr and playing the slideshow of the whole pool, which runs just about two hours. (Maybe something to leave on the table and play when your out-of-town guests arrive this weekend?)

MUSIC: A double bill of retro soul sounds at the Birchmere. James Hunter and Ryan Shaw will take you on an fantastic voyage in the wayback machine. $29.50, 7:30 p.m.

With just one week to go until the big day, this intriguing shot (EXIF data) by ameschen prompted us to hope that the planets will align for as smooth an Inauguration Day as possible.

>> Keyboardist and D.C. native Andrae Alexander is a rising star on the jazz soul scene. He'll be at Bohemian Caverns with Bilal Salaam, YahZarah, and Debórah Bond for two shows. $10, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The rumors were true: the Presidential Inaugural Committee has released the list of confirmed performers for what's being called We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, scheduled to air on HBO on Sunday, January 18 from 7-9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There's no set start time for the concert itself yet, just a note that it will be taped on Sunday afternoon. (NB: We've updated this paragraph to clarify the concert schedule).

>> There's no rock like garage rock. No music besides garage rock tonight, either, really. And so: The Breakups with Balmer surfcats Thee Lexington Arrows at the Black Cat Backstage. $8, 9 p.m.

Here's something colorful to brighten up an otherwise dreary Monday: LaTur caught these vibrant (and obviously starving) Venus Fly Traps this weekend, just waiting to get their nom nom nom on. EXIF.

>> If you don't already have plans for today, head to the Natural History Museum for Will the Rainforest Survive? New Threats and Realities in the Tropical Extinction Crisis: Symposium, which runs from 1 to 6:30 p.m. Secretary of the Smithsonian Wayne Clough will introduce, and Director of the museum Cristian Samper will moderate as top scientists debate tropical extinction. Free; also available via webcast.

There is some excellent classical music to be heard this week, before the Inauguration Madness shuts down the District of Columbia.

DC Metrocentric and others wrote in about the new billboard erected by artist Yoko Ono at 6th and K Streets NW. Yoko's no stranger to the District Of. In 2007, the artist participated in Street Scenes: Projects for D.C. at several different venues. Yoko imagined peace at the Verizon Center, planted ten wish trees around town, and delivered a (shall we say) interesting lecture in Anacostia. Yoko's was recently featured as a part of "Close Encounters at the Katzen Art Center of the American University Museum. And perhaps you've run across her work in a recent copy of the New York Times.

In at the National Theater, a bilingual production is hardly a language barrier.

After the Washington City Paper acknowledged the Black Cat near the top of the pack in its 2008 best-of category for dance clubs — right up there with monosyllabic sweat-halls Town and Love — the Cat had a crisis of conscience. For some time now, most Friday and Saturday nights have been guaranteed to be themed dance nights with names like Mousetrap, Bliss, Homo/Sonic, Cryfest, and CATatonia. That means choice weekend slots not reserved for acts like Edie Sedgwick, Civilians, Buildings, Medications, Equinox — District rock 'n' roll groups. Could the Cat spare a little change for D.C. bands?

FRIDAY:

Yep. In news that will shock literally no one, Ticketmaster's allotment of 5,000 inaugural parade tickets sold out in under a minute — this was the image that greeted us at 1:01 p.m. on the dot. Did anyone actually manage to score any? A few are already starting to pop up on Craigslist.

That looks like some pretty tasty cake, and Sexy Fitsum got awfully close to these blissful cake eaters to show us. So close in fact, that the composition is borderline uncomfortable. EXIF.

If there's one thing D.C. has plenty of, it's journalists. We're willing to bet that almost everybody reading this post has somebody who works in the media near and dear to them in some capacity. As it turns out, a lot of those journalists are also in rock bands. Which brings us to Journopalooza, a battle of the bands at the National Press Club tonight. Why a battle?

Trouble is, we don't have many ways to settle who's the best. Sure, the profession doesn't suffer from a lack of awards. There's the Polk, the Hillman, the NMA , the almighty Pulitzer. But that's precisely the problem--much as with college football, the proliferation of awards does not anoint a single undisputed champion. So we've decided to figure this out following a long-held tradition of the Streets. With a battle.

Daisey is due lots of credit for his willingness to bite the hand that feeds him, if only just. He calls himself a "carrion bird of the American theater," aware that his popular monologues -- 2001's 21 Dog Years, about his spell as an Amazon.com clock-puncher; and last summer's Fringe Fest hit, If You See Something, Say Something, skewering our post-9/11 tendency to see terrorists in our cereal, among them -- appeal to theaters chiefly because they cost peanuts. He knows that if he's on the stage, then a play is not. He gets some comic mileage early on by reeling off the usual suspects in the murder of American stagecraft: Reagan, the Disney megalith, iPods, and (ahem) critics. But when he comes round to prosecuting his case, his target turns out to be the theater companies themselves, particularly the ones mortgaging their futures to ornate new buildings when they literally can't give tickets away to people younger than 30 to replenish an audience that's aging and dying off. "You only play to the people in the house, and there are less of them every year," Daisey observes ominously.

HAPPY HOUR: Liquor is once again being served at Warehouse Theater, and not a moment too soon. The venue's new Punch Club happens every Thursday starting at 6 p.m., and features a preview of sorts from co-owner Paul Ruppert, Looking Glass Lounge bartender Dan Searing and their partners in the coming-soon Columbia Heights wine bar, Room 11. A "tightly curated beverage selection" and a handful of classic and original punches will be on offer for between $5 and $8, plus bar snacks and sandwiches. No cover.

The holiday break is over, so just about everyone in the art world is taking advantage of the first non-brutally-hungover weekend of the year to open a new show. Before we start, we'd like to congratulate the locally based but becoming ever more world famous glass artist Tim Tate on the unveiling of his large-scale piece commissioned for the New Orleans AIDS Memorial. We should also note that Zenith Gallery, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008, is closing its venue on 7th Street NW next month. The gallery owners are staying in the business, though, curating shows and managing art projects around town.

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

Thanks to everyone who entered their photos for the DCist Exposed Photography Show.  We received a record number of submissions this year, 789 in total, which is more than 200 than we received last year. Winners will be announced next Wednesday.

That's right, it's time to muscle through your procrastination, end the hemming and hawing, and get those photos in for the 2009 DCist Exposed Photography Show. You've had over a month to make your final choices from all the charming, intriguing, and spectacular shots of D.C. you have, and now it's go-time. When the clock strikes 12 tonight, you need to have done the following to participate in the contest:
• Filled out our brief application form (so we can associate you with your PayPal and Flickr accounts);
• Sent us $5 via PayPal (please don't do this after midnight and ask us to open up the pool for you; we'll just thank you for the donation);
• Submitted up to three photos to the Flickr Exposed pool.

>> Tonight, smooth jazz superstar Chris Botti plays a sold out show at the Birchmere. Those interested in attending the 7:30 p.m. set should pay a visit to Mr. Craig immediately.

Yesterday, the Presidential Inaugural Committee sent out a release announcing that a deal had been struck with HBO that would allow the pay cable network to broadcast exclusively an event being called the "Opening Celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural," a free concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial planned for Sunday, January 18. The release boasted that event will feature "some of the biggest acts in the world of entertainment." Today, WTOP reported they've heard that Bruce Springsteen is expected to headline.

Our schizophrenic weather these days is pretty annoying; we kinda wish it would just pick a direction already, even if it means some serious -pocalypse warnings from Davy DCist. That's probably why we were taken with Aziz Y's photo from last January of the frozen-over Capitol Reflecting Pool, cause it, you know, went there. And look at those sea gulls, prancing around, acting like it's no big deal to walk on water.

>> The National Gallery of Art opens two exhibits on American photography on January 18. Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans" presents all 83 photographs from Frank's photography book which is heralded as the most important photography book published since World War II. Held in conjunction with Looking In, Changing Perceptions: Reading the Modern Photography Book will display twenty-one books drawn from the Gallery's library to show how the photography book is a significant conveyor of contemporary experience and a witness to historical events. Both are on display through April 26.

MOVIE: The Washington Psychotronic Film Society hosts its final screening at The Meeting Place tonight, after having their arrangement at the downtown bar abruptly revoked by management. Tonight's film is MegaForce, a class tale from 1982 about a group of kick-ass, America Fuck Yeah!-style soldiers who defend our freedom with their big muscles. $2 suggested donation at the door, 8 p.m.

After the big tease of Monday's comparatively mild temperatures, we only have the cold wet stuff to look forward to over the next couple days. This texturific photo from EsoGato just about sums up the feelings of those of us (of the warm-blooded persuasion at least) who are not happy about having to trek outside today.

It seems like just a few weeks ago we were heralding the Washington Psychotronic Film Society's return to the District. Wait, that actually was just a few weeks ago. After a scant six week run at The Meeting Place downtown, it seems that the film society has been given the boot by the bar.

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

This is a delayed entry into the DCist pool, taken during last year's Cherry Blossom Festival. Particularly with the not-so-terrible weather today (though we're staring down the dreaded "wintry mix" tomorrow), it's a nice reminder that the flowers will be blooming again soon enough. New Flickr user hello markers! took the meta image of these folks taking photos down by the Tidal Basin with the multi lensed Supersampler camera.

If your New Year's resolution was to hear some different music, you can make good on that promise this week.

FRIDAY: