The Associated Press is reporting, via the Examiner, that a Department of Homeland Security employee has been placed on leave after wearing a Halloween costume that was racially insensitive - even though it won "most original" in the agency costume contest. Deciding what costume to wear for Halloween can be tricky enough, but deciding what to wear to an office Halloween costume party in D.C. is tough business. You certainly wouldn't want to wear the......

It’s been a few years since the Pope of Mope has graced the District with his presence—four three to be exact—and in the meantime, many of us have managed to see him play in other nearby locales. As a matter of fact, a few DCist staffers caught the Moz’s Halloween show in Baltimore, at the relatively intimate Ram’s Head Live—a date that was rescheduled due to Morrissey’s string of cancellations this past July. While......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

Orange Line to AAHHH!!!!!! So we've posted a lot of neat Halloween shots, but we couldn't overlook this one by James Calder. It's like a still from a zombie movie set in Washington. Metro's trademark darkness makes it a little spookier, and amusingly, the guy to to left doesn't seem to be too worried about the undead invasion. And the photo has funny tags too: "what do we want - brains. when do we......

Moms are great. Aside from birthing us, they wipe our mouths when we dribble food, wrap us up warm when it gets cold out, and give us Jell-O and ice cream when we're sick. For many years it seemed like mom and dad were the smartest people in the world, an Encyclopedia Familica. Usually they give us advice like cover your mouth when you cough, wash your hands after using the bathroom and useful stuff......

With the surprising lack of Halloween aftermath photos in the DCist pool today, we did a little browsing back through the past week and found this interesting shot by Flickr user chapulin colorado. Using a fake tilt shift, he turned this photo of real life visitors at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History into a diorama you might find in an exhibit of the museum. Tilt-shifting distorts the focus so that viewers believe they're......

Good morning, Washington. Have a good Halloween? We have to admit, this year's midweek scheduling kind of put a damper on the holiday's opportunities for costumed revelry. It didn't stop us from eating a ridiculous amount of candy, though. Naturally, we feel that the children are to blame: if more kids had stopped by we wouldn't be stuck with this glut of chocolate and dearth of willpower. Perhaps this is why our childhood neighbors......

Ten hours in to the 24-hour D.C. taxi strike, it's looking like a large percentage of drivers in fact stayed home. As people make their way out of offices to head home and tend to children anxious to begin trick or treating, what will they find? Based on streets we've seen around town virtually devoid of D.C. cabs, we'd say that if you have your own car, your drive will most likely be a lot......

>> It's Halloween! Spooky, Scary! Despite the taxi strike, SoberRide is still offering free taxi rides for people who have had too much to drink celebrating the holiday: If you need a ride home between 8 p.m. tonight and 4 a.m. tomorrow morning, call 1-800-200-TAXI and you should be able to get a free ride home of up to $50. How long you'll have to wait for that ride is an open question, but......

Happy Halloween, Washington! From the looks of things, Mayor Adrian Fenty is in a festive mood for the holiday, and had a great time right alongside everyone else at last night's 17th Street High Heel Race. The Examiner isn't so sure Fenty's high spirits will last though, as members of the D.C. Council are ticked off at the Mayor for snubbing their hearings by not sending a representative from his office to attend them. Hopefully......

Good Morning, Washington. Birds may finally be heading south for the winter now that overnight temperatures are dipping down towards freezing, but if you can believe it or not it's actually looking like Wednesday is going to be warm again, with temperatures predicted to be back up in the 70s. Well, at least if it's going to be tough to find a cab tomorrow, it'll be pleasant enough to walk or bike. CapitalWeather.com points out......

There seems to be some healthy skepticism about the planned taxicab driver strike on Wednesday, which is set to commence at 6 a.m. on Halloween morning and last for 24 hours. How many drivers will really strike? Could it actually change Mayor Adrian Fenty's mind about switching to time and distance meters? Is the fact that it's planned for Halloween going to impact the number of drunk drivers out on the road? If D.C. taxi......

MONDAY >> Do you like screamo? How about metalcore? Us neither, but if you do, get yourself to the 9:30 Club, for Underoath and similarly sinisterly-named Every Time I Die, Poison the Well, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and Belle and Sebastian. Just kidding about the last one. 6 p.m., $18. TUESDAY >> Stevie Wonder needs no introduction. He's coming to the Verizon Center today. Tickets start at $68, so get your wallet ready.......

We've already covered some of the great Halloween photos today, and, wouldn't you know it, there are all kinds of other interesting things going on in October besides creepy costume parties. There's the fall harvest at our local farmers markets, some fun times at our arts festivals before it gets too cold to play outside, and, well, whatever the hell is going on here. Of course, there was also the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday......

Welcome back to work, Washington. Perhaps you're struggling to focus this morning, having only barely recovered from the weekend's Halloween festivities. Perhaps you just had a difficult time extricating yourself from your bed on this first cold morning of the year. Whatever the case may be, DCist recommends a strong cup of coffee with a dash of Rumbler to get your motor running today. The Rumbler is described as a "high-tech blaster" being used in......

FRIDAY: >> It's raining, and you've got some serious partying to do tomorrow night, so we'd recommend taking in a movie and saving your strength. Don't miss our movie picks for the weekend here, including special Halloween screenings of Nosferatu at the AFI Silver Theater. Also of note tonight, The American City Diner screens Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho at 8:30 p.m. >> If you’re more in the mood for getting your eardrums absolutely destroyed, Japanese metal......

Last week a little dose of relief came to the city's art lovers and critics, as the National Gallery of Art announced they've filled the position to head up their department of modern art, vacant for around six months now. Harry Cooper comes to the NGA from the Harvard University Art Museums, and Washington City Paper's Jeffry Cudlin does a good job putting it in perspective. In other museum news, camera-in-cell-phone technology is officially history.......

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Repertory: Halloween Screams at the AFI Perhaps my favorite part of this time of year is the fact that on any given night, you can turn on the television, and somewhere on the dial you can find a movie about things that go bump in the night, creatures from the depths of Hell, or your garden......

Unsurprisingly, Flickr user intemporelle hit the trifecta with the three photos she uploaded to the DCist pool yesterday, which also reminded us that it's about time to get some seasonal photos up in here. It's interesting to see our contributors taking bets on Photo of the Day selections, but though the pumpkin patch baby was a strong contender (along with this sweet one), this Wicked Witch image has the pitch-perfect hint of Halloween spookiness.......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on DCist. AMEX Urban Adventures, because big cities are full of little adventures. Rogue Wave, playing the Black Cat on November 5th. World War Z, perfect as Halloween is coming up. Ambition Facing West, at the H Street Playhouse. Travelzoo, with its Top 20 list on travel deals. DC Vote, with an event on October 23rd (that's next Tuesday!). Busted Tees, where they're......

>> Sure, meters are great, but what about getting D.C. taxi drivers to use their rooftop lights like cabs in every other city? [NotionsCapital] >> The Quest for Dog Parks: A very rigid search. [Intangible Arts] >> Some D.C. Cab drivers hate Halloween! [WaPo] >> All MARC commuter service out of Union Station on the Brunswick Line has been shut down because of a gas leak in Kensington. [AP/WTOP] >> Vietnam Memorial Visitor Center......

By DCist Contributor Stephanie Taylor Halloween is fast approaching, and because the scariest day of the year was inconsiderate enough to fall mid-week this year, much of the drunken pin the rib on the skeleton madness begins next weekend. But the District has very few true costume shops. If you've sorted through your closet and still haven't found a winner for this year's costume, we thought we'd offer a few suggestions as to where to......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

It's October, friends. Can you smell the pumpkin pie yet? Flickr user outdoor_type was out in Herndon, Va. this weekend and found his first pumpkin of the season, getting some great depth of field on this pretty iron bike outside of a soon-to-be bed and breakfast owned by some friends. Guess it's time to start scoping out local pumpkin fields -- where will you be going for your Halloween gourd this year? EXIF.......

Dysfunctional relationship musicals...the Odyssey revisited...a one-nun show...one can't say the D.C. theater scene is relying only on Halloween for their October programming inspiration (though we do, at least, have some Poe still playing). Here's an overview of what's opening this month. Not only a new show, but a new theater! Bethesda Theatre hopes that I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, a relationship musical which has been compared to Seinfeld in its sensibilities, will become......

This is the kind of image that really shows off the skills of the photographer. On the surface this seems to be an otherwise nondescript building each of us passes by every day without really noticing, but Flickr user twoeightnine has created an ominous scene; perhaps the foreshadowing opening shot of a building with a life of its own in your upcoming Halloween horror fare. EXIF.......

Good morning, Washington. It's only the end of September, but if drug store candy aisles are any indication, many of you are probably already thinking ahead just a little bit to the holiday season. What will you be for Halloween? Will you stay in town for Thanksgiving? What kind of Christmas bonus will you be getting this year? For some D.C. government employees, the answer to that last question is now up in the air.......

There’s something totally undeniable about the music of Bellman Barker. From the moment they hit the stage, toes start tapping. A verse or two in, heads start bobbing. By the time they hit the chorus, you’ll find yourself wanting to jump up and down like a kid who’s had too much sugary cereal for breakfast. Their recorded output has been compared to late-period Belle & Sebastian and rightfully so—these local lads clearly worship at the same altar of 60s pop. In a live setting, however, the songs take on a life of their own, with the bouncy verses and wide-open choruses adding up to something more power pop than twee. Rest assured, there’s still no shortage of vocal harmonies, a whole lot of handclaps and more than a few “Oohs” and “Aahs”. DCist caught up with lead singer and guitarist Aaron Estes to talk about the years he spent working as a Blackjack dealer, the unsung heroes of Motown and the secrets of the handlebar mustache. Check out the full interview after the break. Visit them online at: myspace.com/bellmanbarker See them next at: The Velvet Lounge, October 27th ("Halloween Spectacular") Buy their EP at: CDs at MySpace / MP3s at Amie St....

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......