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.......

"The trouble with radicals,” goes a quote widely attributed to early 20th century economist Thomas Nixon Carver, “is that they only read radical literature, and the trouble with conservatives is that they don’t read anything.” That both sides of the political spectrum have proven that to be a lie will be apparent tomorrow tonight at the Trover Shop on Capitol Hill, which is hosting The Hill’s Sixth Annual Political Book Fair. Participating authors include current......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

Renee Stout, a very cool D.C. resident and assemblage artist, has a new collection of works on view at Hemphill Fine Arts -- Journal: Book One. Walking into this cabinet of curiosity, you are greeted by a large, accurately painted advertisement for the corner psychic. By putting on the airs of alter ego Fatima Mayfield, Stout is able to role play as a fictitious herbalist/fortuneteller who enters the arena of the shadowy and strange.......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

“Before there was Harlem, there was U Street,” and before there was national Prohibition, there was the Sheppard Act. Passed by a Congress intent on making the District of Columbia a beacon of temperance for the saloon-soaked nation, the Sheppard Act closed Washington’s four breweries and nearly three hundred licensed liquor establishments on November 1, 1917—two years before it outlawed the sale of alcohol in the rest of the country. Congressman Morris Sheppard successfully had......

By now it is Chamber of Commerce cliché to write of "U Street’s revitalization." Most residents have read the historical postings along U Street NW and know, by way of slogan at least, that "before Harlem, there was U Street." At the height of Washington’s segregated past, a few decades after segregation was imposed by Congress against the will of a vocal many white and black District residents, U Street NW was the city’s celebrated......

Most Washingtonians are accustomed to participating in guided tours only when entertaining out of town guests. We all know we'll have to trek out to the monuments with family and friends at least a few times a year, so being a tourist in our own city voluntarily at other times might not sound terribly appealing. But try not to think of the tours being offered in this coming weekend's WalkingTown DC, a series of 60......

In the recent incarnation now playing at the Folger Theatre, the Classical Theatre of Harlem has managed to inject King Lear with a sort of Bacchanalian ferocity. This is a very physical production of the Shakespearean tragedy, and the intensity serves the work well. It also means we have moments, like when Gloucester is blinded by the treacherous Cornwall, where we actually see the villan squeeze the man's eyeballs until they burst, squirting juices towards......

FRIDAY: >> James Wong Howe's 1954 film Go, Man, Go! is a fictionalized account of the Harlem Globetrotters story, starring Sidney Poitier, Dane Clark and some of the original Globetrotters. And we don't know about you guys, but we're just never bored watching those guys do things with a basketball that seem to defy the laws of physics. Plus there's a love story, and who couldn't use a little more love? A free showing has......

In an age when broadcast radio is increasingly homogenized and corporate, WAMU’s Hot Jazz Saturday Night is a refuge for those with an interest in vintage jazz, swing and big band from the '20s, '30s, and '40s. Host Rob Bamberger, whose record collection has taken over his basement and laundry room, has been laying down jazz knowledge every Saturday night from 7 to 10 p.m. since 1980. That makes 25 years — congrats to......

FRIDAY: >> If you're not Black Cat-ed out from the Unbuckled concert last night, head over to the mainstage to catch an indie-tastic show with The Whips, Her Daily Obsession (at right), and The Hard Tomorrows, all of whom we hear will put on one hell of a show. Doors are at 9:30 p.m.; $8. >> If you missed a screening of "9:30 F ST," the documentary about the old 9:30 Club, worry not --......

FRIDAY: >> The Sixpoints Music Festival, which highlights good local music played at good local venues, continues this weekend. Make sure to check out the schedule here and support your local music scene. >> Ross Douthat, blogger extraordinaire and reporter at The Atlantic Monthly, managed to pull a pretty nifty trick: he attended Harvard, reaped the rewards of the degree, and then got a hefty advance to write "Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the......

Monuments to individuals are generally built to honor their biggest achievement; indeed, that's usually why one becomes eligible for a big stone marker to begin with. In recent months DCist has visited Sonny Bono park, the Clark Griffith monument and Kahlil Gibran memorial, all of which reference the acts/circumstances/events for which they are primarily remembered. Other times, when an individual's accomplishments are too numerous to convey visually, their monuments tend to be more abstract --......

CapitalWeather says the weekend's looking to shape up to be a bit better than the gloominess of today -- not that it matters, because all we're going to see all weekend is the inside of Tysons Corner's shopping malls. FRIDAY: >> Can you believe Better Than Ezra sold out the 9:30 Club tonight? What is this, 1996? Anyway, if you need a musical hit, make your way over to the George Mason Center for the......

(From DCist contributor Zoe Mitchell) U Street's long jazz tradition continues this weekend with the world premiere of the Suite for Human Nature with renowned jazz musician Wynton Marsalis (right), the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and The Boys Choir of Harlem at the Lincoln Theatre this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. According to an email circulated on the U Street News listserv, an uplifting satirical fable for the entire family, Suite for Human Nature chronicles the......