Beginning today, every fifth person you see on the Metro for the next nine months will be reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. And for the next year or two, every third tourist you see will be on a quixotic quest to see for themselves all the D.C. "locations" where the fictional events in the book took place. more ›

Earlier this year we pointed out that DaVinci Code author Dan Brown's newest book, The Lost Symbol, is set here in Washington, concerns itself with the mysteries of the Masons, and is due out in September. Now via The New York Times' Arts Beat blog, we finally get a look at the cover of the book, which depicts "a shadowy skyline of the Capitol." more ›

Don’t let the threat of Polonium poisoning crush your dreams of becoming a spy or the inevitable prison sentence keep you from robbing a bank. We understand your desire to solve ancient religious conspiracies shrouded in mystery and international intrigue, but perhaps you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Joshua Czarda, the brains behind Ravenchase Adventures, has a solution. He and his crack team of writers and actors want you to step inside a... more ›

When Gustav Mahler, near the end of his life, conducted the world premiere of his eighth symphony, in Munich in 1910, he did so with amassed musical forces — orchestra, eight vocal soloists, off-stage brass, and several large choruses of adults and children — numbering over 1,000 people. Although Mahler never liked the name, the work is still often known as the "Symphony of a Thousand." More an oratorio than a symphony in many ways, it ends with a mysterious exaltation of the Sacred Feminine (literally, Das Ewig-Weibliche), in the musical climax called the Chorus Mysticus. No, it has nothing to do with The Da Vinci Code. Although the end of Goethe's Faust would be a logical choice for a quick name-dropping reference in Dan Brown's hack novel, given how the man writes, it seems unlikely that he has read Faust. more ›

While the infamous white van from the D.C.-area sniper saga of 2002 is still in our memories, we have a new van to worry about. The arsonists in the Hunters Brooke fire may have driven a blue van to do their deed. Firefighters noticed that a blue van was driving away from Hunters Brooke (an example home at right) when they were arriving on the scene of the massive subdivision fire, the Post reports. There is no regional all points bulletin on the van or blockades on the Beltway, but investigators are looking for the occupants of the van for questioning. As of now, there are few leads in the case. Since the controversial subdivision sat on the edge of a rare and threatened Magnolia bog, environmental extremism by eco-vigilantes is being looked at carefully. more ›

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, official repository of government records, unveiled today a new exhibit of some of their collections. more ›

Those who love (or despise) Dan Brown's literary crack, some more details about his new book, which will be set in Washington, are coming to the surface. The NY Times reports that during a reporters roundtable, Brown's publisher let the title of the book slip. The "Da Vinci Code" author's new book is titled "The Solomon Key," which we're Googling right now to see what it may be tied to. more ›

If you frequent Dupont or Logan circles, please note those traffic circles are tied to the apex of all evil: The White House. That's what people who push Masonic conspiracy theories would like to make you to believe at least. Now that "DaVinci Code" author Dan Brown is preparing his next megaseller on D.C.'s Masonic machinations, we thought we'd lay out the general thought patterns as to why some people think the L'Enfant street plan... more ›