Which stories did DCist readers think merited the most attention this year? Top 10 Most Commented Posts of 2007 10) D.C. Judge Seeks $67 Million for Lost Pants (105 comments) 9) Columbia Heights Listserve vs. Ross (107 comments) 8) Saving the Single Beer (108 comments) 7) This City Doth Protest Too Much (109 comments) 6) Solo Marines Often Refused Entry to Some D.C. Bars (113 comments) 5) Bars Claim Loss of Business Over Smoking......

Good morning, Washington. Think good thoughts for Tian Tian, the National Zoo's male giant panda and the biological father of Tai Shan/Butterstick. Tian Tian underwent eye surgery yesterday to remove inflamed tissue from one of his third eyelids. He's expected to make a full recovery, but in the meantime he'll have to live with the shame of being the one to expose this whole pandas having third eyelids monstrosity. DCist has always held a......

The majority of Overheards in D.C. fall into only a few categories: funny sex stuff, dumb tourists and weird kids. There's the occasional amusing political thing, or some quip that somebody sent in because they think they or their friends are funny. But there are always those that make absolutely no sense unless you are knowledgeable about some extremely narrow area of trivia, such as say, documentaries about lost and possibly mythical Brazilian cities. Quote......

FRIDAY: >>Great quadruple bill comes to the Rock and Roll Hotel: Three Stars alums Jukebox the Ghost (pictured right) and tour diarists These United States join DCist fave Ra Ra Riot and Sam Champion. All that for the low, low price of $10 before, $12 at the door. Show 9 p.m. >> The Black Cat once again hosts Cryfest, everyone's favorite dance party that pits The Smiths vs. The Cure, brought to you by DJs......

Good morning, Washington. Recent increases in gun-related crime in the city seems to be today's main topic of news, just as the Supreme Court may announce today whether it intends to take another look at D.C.'s handgun ban. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has scheduled a press conference this morning to address the District's position on its gun safety law, but in the meantime the Washington Post is questioning the law's effectiveness and just last......

>> Terrific local volunteer organizers Greater DC Cares are hosting a happy hour tonight at Mackey's with what looks to be free or deeply discounted beers provided by sponsor Samuel Adams. 6 to 8 p.m. Non-volunteers welcome to attend and learn more about the organization. >> The Lost Bayou Ramblers bring their Cajun dance music up from Louisiana for a free concert at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. >> Black Cat,......

MONDAY >> This ain’t not J-Pop, we swear. If you want good old-fashioned Japanese rock ‘n’ roll (OK, it’s true, we don’t really know what that’s supposed to sound like either), The Captains from some place in Japan (the city name on their MySpace page uses Japanese characters) will drop by The Red & The Black tonight. They will be supported by Sugarcane Crawl, formerly known as Blues Hammer, and D.C.'s The Bourbon Dynasty. 9......

MONDAY: As part of a national book tour sponsored by Amnesty International, award-winning journalist and filmmaker Michael Otterman will be at the Penn Quarter Olsson's to discuss his latest book, American Torture: From the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and Beyond. 7 p.m. Local author Edward P. Jones (All Aunt Hagar's Children and Lost in the City) will be at Politics and Prose to introduce the latest stories in the popular annual collection, New Stories......

MONDAY >> The City Veins are a strong local outfit that's been making their debut around town over the course of the past few months. They just formed in March and are already more mature and ready to bring the rock than a lot of bands with a lot more stage time. And hey, they have a blog! See what you're missing tonight at Solly's Tavern on U Street. 10 p.m. >> Do you......

Night of the Living Theater...by Dead Playwrights largely presents exactly what you'd expect to happen if notable writers from the ages were asked to take their scripts to modern-day producers and pitch them for Hollywood treatment. But while the five works highlighted in the piece may frequently lack surprises, the work as a whole still adds up to enjoyable, briefly-diverting entertainment. The best of the short skits is "A Lot of Talking", which smartly echoes......

We've come a long way, baby. The archetype of the dysfunctional family may go back farther than anyone can remember. But for the longest time, people just had to cope with passive aggressive animosity. At best, you could have lots of alcohol available to make the proceedings easier. The pharmaceutical companies, however, are always looking out for the best interests of you and yours. Their first success? Numbing emotional response to the point where no......

>> 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......

I skipped the season finale of Lost the other night in favor of another supernatural tale of attractive people haunted by their pasts who just want to get off the damn island. The Folger’s latest staging of The Tempest is a light, spritely, fleet-footed thing of a play, apropos for a show about forgiveness and renewal and the casting off of old follies. Like the shipwreck that opens Act I, it’s forceful and bewildering and......

Written by DCist contributor Chris Klimek Arena Stage's Peter & Wendy is so swollen with visual and musical marvels one might undervalue the performance of Karen Kandel, narrator of this hypnotic take on Peter Pan. She plays Wendy, along with every other speaking part, but this is no one-woman show. Sharing the stage are seven white-hooded puppeteers, and a company of dolls they bring to such astonishing life that it’s hard not to think of......

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......

So the big winners at last night’s Helen Hayes awards were… puppets? Indeed, Aaron Posner’s unique vision for Measure for Measure, produced at the Folger this year, where puppets took on many of the play’s roles, earned him a best director trophy (he tied with Michael Kahn, for his zany take on Love’s Labor Lost), as well as the award for Outstanding Resident Play. Signature Theater’s Assassins won the most awards of the night with......

MONDAY Richard Preston, fresh off his Daily Show appearance, where he confounded Jon Stewart, brings his unique perspective on some of America's oldest residents, California redwood trees, in The Wild Trees. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 7:00 p.m. TUESDAY With the glut of celebrities proclaiming themselves Buddhists, it's sometimes hard to pin down the historical and ethical roots of this ancient religion. Author Lama Surya Das, who the Dalai Lama calls 'The American......

MONDAY As we've said before: F.W. Thomas Performances rock, but credit curator and MC Adam Mazmanian—he aims to prove it. Tonight, it’s the Rock and Roll Edition of DC’s premiere reading series, featuring John Sellers reading from his new book (Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life), Glenn Dixon discussing the secret porn of Christian rock, artist Mike Lowery emitting delightful odors, and Mazmanian himself, who’ll give rock gestures the Francois Delsarte......

FRIDAY: >> If you still haven't been out to a live show by The Lost Atoms, rock now or forever hold your peace. Shortly after tonight's show at Velvet Lounge, guitarist Paul [] and bassist Keith will marry their beautiful and talented fiancees, and the band will be divorced. Explaining the breakup with a typically droll statement on the band's blog, singer Matt Lame writes, "life happened, and there isn't time." It's rumored the band......

Rob Crow is best known for his work in Pinback, though he's been a part of too many bands to count. In January, he released a solo album called Living Well. And well, it's a damn good album. Pitchfork said, "Living Well is likely the most cohesive album to bear Rob Crow's full name on the cover." It's what PopMatters called "an extremely sharp flex of his solo muscle," and what Lost At Sea magazine......

We know what you're thinking. It's the week of Valentine's Day. You're either coupled-up, buying the flowers, and getting ready for your $250 dinner at the Tabard Inn with your sweetie; or you're single, planning on spending Wednesday watching "Lost" with your roommate, and secretly signing up for the next speed-dating session at Chi-Cha Lounge. So what better way to prepare for either event than standing in front of a packed room, re-hashing the hell......

I don’t spend much time listening to the radio anymore. What with WHFS having gone Latin and DC101 moving further and further towards an “All Nirvana, All the Time” format, I’ve had to turn to 94.7 The Arrow for anything approaching rock. Problem is, I’ve never much been a fan of classic rock, much less classic rock stations that promote themselves via TV ads starring a guy with a "radio in his finger." Yeah, you......

Here at DCist, we're all bout doing things bigger and better in 2007, so get ready for Unbuckled 5, coming your way next month. We thought we'd break from tradition a bit with this edition and (gasp!) book a band from out of town. Now before everyone goes and gets their knickers in a bunch, just relax. The District will be well represented at the show, but we had a chance to book Brooklyn's......

Completely unlike your great aunt Edna, DCist is here to shower you with gifts you will actually use and enjoy. We've teamed up once again with our friends at Landmark's E Street Cinema to bring a free film screening to our readers. This time around it's God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan, a powerful new documentary by Christopher Dillon Quinn and co-director Tommy Walker, which chronicles the inspirational story......

It looks like the event-planners for most of the District's book stores are still on vacation, so it's slim pickings for you bookworms out there. Fortunately, Politics and Prose is picking up the slack with a few notable author events. Chicklit-erati beware: this week's offerings tend more toward the academic set. THURSDAY Daniel Mendelsohn will be reading from his book, The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, about his historical detective work retracing......

With its period costumes and lilting music, you might expect The Beaux Stratagem, now being staged at Shakespeare Theatre, to be a very civilized little British comedy, a kind of gently amusing work rather than anything particularly uproarious. It might earn a chuckle here or there, but didn't seem like the kind of work to have you doubling over in your seat at any of its antics. So much for expectations - Beaux is extremely......

What happened to my Americana? Somewhere out there, crotchety old folkies, scruffy bluesmen, and maybe even an early alt. country pioneer or two are listening to Califone and wondering the same thing. And it’s true – this may not be your parents’ roots music, but we like it that way. Sunday night at Iota, even stubborn traditionalists would have a hard time denying the delicate picking and mild harmonies of “Michigan Girls” – though they’d......

What if you could live forever? It’s an intriguing question that many filmmakers have attempted to address over the years. Just don’t ask it of Darren Aronofsky, writer/director of the upcoming sci-fi love story, The Fountain. He hates taglines -- such as this one for his movie -- that narrow the focus of and discourage individual thought on the meaning of his work. Last Tuesday, the man behind the psychological brain bender, Pi, and the......

For all our snark here at DCist, you have to know we're big fans of the Internet. So on this gray and gloomy day, we thought we'd bring you a short but sweet tale of the power of the Internet to save puppies. Because, really, what else is it good for if it can't save helpless, adorable animals? Nothing, that's what. Wednesday night, a friend of DCist Amanda's was driving along in Falls Church when......

Score one more for the heatwave. Metro trains running less frequently, air conditioners failing under the pressure, and now, the cruelest cut of all: Sleater-Kinney fans denied on the D.C. stop of their (Please Don't Call It A) Farewell Tour. Arriving at a show to find a fire truck parked by the front door and firemen looking sternly into an open manhole can never be a good sign. (A manhole cover that, we’ve heard, housed......