FRIDAY: >> Starting tonight, George Mason Stadium plays host to the region's annual D.C . College Cup. The soccer teams of George Washington, American, Howard, and George Mason will square off in two rounds of games. Though the tournament is conspicuously missing national powerhouses UMD and UVA, the event will still showcase some of the best young talent around. GW and AU kick off tonight's slate (5:00 p.m.), with Howard and GMU rounding the night......

>> Plácido Domingo conducts the orchestra and selected singers of the Washington National Opera in a special concert performance in the Music Center at Strathmore. A few tickets in the orchestra section remain at the box office, if you are looking for a last-minute luxury date. $68, 8 p.m. >> Time is running out to catch this year's Shakespeare Free For All, Love's Labor's Lost, at the Carter Barron Amphitheater. The final performance is......

It’s summertime (well, springtime anyway) and the living’s easy…if you’re a Shakespeare fan. Theaters in the area have traditionally offered free Bard fare during the year’s warmer months, and with the Shakespeare in Washington Festival drawing to a close at the end of June, Will aficionados have even more options. Here are the highlights: Shakespeare Theater’s Free For All is always one of the more anticipated theater events of the year. From May 24 through......

There are reasons that Pericles isn't usually taught in high school English classes alongside the biggies like Hamlet and Othello. Its soap opera string of coincidences stretch plausibility even by Elizabethan standards, and it lacks that showstopper of a soliloquy that draws either reflection or emotional response. But in the right hands, Pericles certainly can be a lot of fun, and even a little moving. Shakespeare Theatre's deft production, adapted to fit the outdoor setting......

It's Labor Day weekend, and you thought everybody had gotten the hell out of Dodge City, hadn't you? Well, they probably have, and we're experiencing serious envy of anyone who's on a beach right now with a margarita in hand. But don't despair - there's still tons to do in D.C. this weekend, and we've rounded up the best of the best for you to do in a special extended version of Weekend Picks. But......

Sommer Mathis contributed to these picks FRIDAY: >> DCist likes to stay up late on Sundays and watch Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry". We enjoy the variety of viewpoints it always includes, and really truly, at least one poet each episode knocks our socks right off our collective feet. DCist also likes to stay up late and watch "The Cosby Show" on Nick at Nite. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, like we......

The Shakespeare Theatre's Free for All is perhaps this DCist's favorite thing about summer in the city. Sure, blistering 90 degree days stuck in rush hour traffic are also a highlight, but nothing compares to seeing a little bit of Shakespeare in the park. This year, the Shakespeare Theatre presents "A Midsummer Night's Dream," from May 26-June 5, at the beautiful Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park, with original direction by Mark Lamos. According......

Have you ever bought this book? Well you then probably have some left over electronics when you attempted the "Sonic Phasor Cannon, Electromagnetic Launcher, Tesla Coi [and] Ultrasonic Microphone." For those who have "obsolete electronics," the District will dispose of them free of charge this Saturday. According to the Department of Public Works: Many types of electronics contain significant amounts of potentially hazardous materials such as arsenic, lead and mercury. In the US it is......

FRIDAY: >> Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine and former food critic at The New York Times, comes to Politics and Prose to discuss "Garlic & Sapphires," a memoir of her times as a food critic. 7 p.m. Check out an interesting interview with her here, from back in 1996. >> Today marks the start of the Bethesda Literary Festival, which continues all weekend. The festival features contests, readings and participants such as the Post's......

In advance of Earth Day on Friday, the District today kicks off its Green Week DC today with Environment and Community Day on Freedom Plaza from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday is Holistic Energy Day at the Reeves Municipal Center at 14th and U streets NW where you'll be able learn more about renewable energy and see GM hydrogen vehicles. Although pretty much a concrete courtyard, Nassif Plaza at the U.S. Department of Transportation......

In January a reader wrote to us asking how they could dispose of a large broken TV. We suggested hauling it to the dump at Fort Totten or scheduling a bulk pickup with the D.C. Department of Public Works. Another reader suggested the D.C. Freecycle e-mail list, which we hear has some good stuff for the taking if you're quick on the "reply" button. We recently learned there was a better option available to get......

Have used batteries, motor oil, old televisions, chemistry sets and the like that you want to get rid of? Please don't use the Anacostia River as a dumping ground. But do take advantage of D.C.'s free disposal service. The District's annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection is coming up in two weekends on Saturday, Oct. 24, and District officials are starting to spread the word. Check out what can be disposed of (including asbestos tiles and......

Personally, this DCist will be heading down to Virginia Beach to drink gin and tonics and run the annual Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon (let's face it, probably while drunk). But if you're sticking around the city on what's apparently going to be a gorgeous weekend, here are some tips on how to fill your time. FRIDAY: - Big Boi, half of that whacky group Outkast, storms the stage tonight at Dream. 7 p.m., $20.......