>> DAM! Fest kicks of with its first night of shows featuring a dozen different bands at three venues, including New York's A Place to Bury Strangers (don't miss our interview with the band) and Dirty on Purpose at the Rock and Roll Hotel, Vandaveer and Julie Ocean at the Red and The Black, and Foreign Islands at DC9, among many others. Check out our guide to the DAM! highlights. >> Two film festivals open......

Ain't Named Passion For Nothing Once again, the men of Passion Food's restaurants (TenPenh, Ceiba, D.C. Coast, and Acadiana) get out of their kitchen kits for a nude romp through 2007. Mr. Kliman over at the Washingtonian lets us in on what's underneath the aprons of some of Passion Food's cookmen, like Acadiana sous chef Anthony Piscioneri and TenPenh chef de cuisine Cliff Wharton. Though most aren't totally naked (though I hear Mr. October, Ceiba's......

>> Now fellas, we know circumcision is a serious issue, and everyone is pleased to learn that the procedure could protect millions from contracting HIV, but our inner ten-year-old also delighted in the Post's coverage today. Speaking about the foreskin research on behalf of the World Health Organization was none other than Kevin De Cock. Seriously. We're happy to see he has taken the problem firmly in hand and cut through social issues surrounding the......

Monday: >> Over at Black Cat there's a Pitchfork friendly line up of mid-tempo, indie folk, with John Vanderslice, Portastatic, and Brandon Butler. There's sure to be some quality balladeering, but you'll probably want to hit the 14th Street Caribou for some caffeine beforehand. $10. >> As for us, DCist is going to see The Sentiment at DC9. They're loud, they're fun, and they let you jump on stage. On a Monday, this is what......

So, it's kind of a slow week for music in D.C. Labor Day weekend is beckoning, 9:30 is dark most of the week, and Black Cat is closed for a few days to make repairs. But give DCist lemons, and DCist makes lemonade, unearthing these gems for this last week of August. MONDAY: >> The early 1990s were full of quasi-generic melodic soft rock acts. We won't say that Toad the Wet Sprocket stood head......

What are the smokeless bars and clubs and restaurants? I don't go out in D.C. as much as I would (as much as I do in NYC), because of the smoke. D.C has an active smokefree lobbying group, Smokefree D.C., which regularly goes head-to-head with Ban the Ban and other pro-smoking establishments groups (smoking "choice" if you will). So far, efforts to legislate smokefree bars and restaurants in the District have not panned out, but......

(From DCist contributor Colleen Clark) On first listen, it's hard to believe the album "These Are All Beautiful Things" was birthed from Paul Michel, a D.C.-based musician weaned on flamenco guitar, high school jazz and years with metal and hardcore bands. But give it another spin and you'll get it. This is the album of a guy with musical chops -- he plays all the instruments and plays them well -- who has the restraint......

Opening its doors just under month ago, Bar Pilar had a lot to live up to. The owners of Café Saint Ex hit a home run with their first undertaking, growing a small local secret into a popular nightspot that draws customers from far outside the neighborhood. That growth and the crowds that come with it, predictably, have locals seeking the next hip thing. The owners of Saint Ex hope that it’s Bar Pilar, or......

Like the double-faced Janus, there are two Smith Points. One is the Georgetown restaurant loved by neighbors for its food, the other is the exclusive club environment that gets going later toward midnight, made famous by two infamous patrons, the Bush twins. And numerous people (including these women who were apparently White House interns last summer who posted their W.H. photos on Webshots) have followed in their wake. As some community interests in Georgetown continue......

We here at DCist love happy hours. After all, we've thrown a few ourselves (at The Reef, Big Hunt, Biddy Mulligan's, and Chief Ike's Mambo Room), and we try to emerge from behind our computers now and then to attend those put on by fellow bloggers, residents, and activists. Today DC Vote, the organization that has single-mindedly championed District voting rights since 1998, is sponsoring the first of what are to become monthly happy hours.......

MONDAY: >> Local indie rockers The Bonapartes and high school group Sid Space (despite their youth, we hear good things) are at the Galaxy Hut in Arlington. Free! TUESDAY: >> The Lucksmiths, who play twee-ish guitar pop straight outta Australia, come to DC9. Check out an mp3 here. Ladybug Transistor opens. $10. WEDNESDAY: >> iPod DJ Night, now officially over a year old and still going strong, is downstairs at Saint Ex this evening. THURSDAY:......

I really like mashups and would love to know if there are any djs in D.C. who have mashup nights. Something like this except in D.C. instead of Cambridge, Mass. Unfortunately DCist can't be too much help here because as far as our knowledge extends (and the knowledge of everyone usually in the know that we consulted) there are no mashup nights in the D.C. area. The best we have to offer is stretching it......

[Editor's Note: We're happy to bring to you the long-planned-for DCist Interview. Many of our sibling sites have used their Interview to find, meet and write about some of the most interesting people who reside in their respective cities. And we plan to do the same, so if you know of a townie, other locals or interesting transient, e-mail staff [at] dcist [dot] com.] Name: Jeremy Barber Age: 28 Location: U Street Corridor Jeremy Barber......

We realize that some of you may have taken an extended four-day weekend for the Veterans Day holiday, so here's some of what you may have missed since your last visit. (DCist photo of Reflecting Pool at dusk Sunday by Mike Grass) >> Center for Science in the Public Interest classifies Cheesecake Factory no-carb cheesecake as "food porn." >> The NTSB scolded WMATA back in 1996 about the possibility of train cars falling apart......

Last night, DCist met up with a few other bloggers at Cricklewood Massive's iPod Jukebox night at Cafe Saint Ex's Gate 54, which always hosts a great gathering of folks. While we heard that the bartender was giving some customers "attitude," we all enjoyed the music selections for the evening, and give special thanks to the good soul who featured the Gotan Project in their lineup. But the best part of the night wasn't the......

>> Flip Orley, self-proclaimed world's funniest comic hypnotist, brings his show to DC Improv tonight. He'll be here through Nov. 14. 8:30 p.m. >> The Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam makes a stop at the Lincoln Theater. Nine poets, melding hip hop and the spoken word, read from their works. 8 p.m., $36. >> Take your inner child out for a movie: The Polar Express, starring a vaguely creepy animated version of Tom Hanks, opens......

Even though there was plenty of stuff on TV last night, DCist left the couch behind in order to catch the uber-sexy Polly Jean Harvey at the 9:30 Club as she brought her Uh Huh Her tour to D.C. The early show time didn’t keep fans away as the club was filled to capacity shortly before she took the stage at 7:15 p.m. Dressed in black ankle boots and a smallish yellow dress that......

DCist has always thought that D.C. lacks neighborhoods with a clear ethnic identity. There is no Little Italy, no Koreatown, no Pulaski Square. There is a Chinatown, but in reality, it is a Chinablock flanked by a Hooters, an Irish pub, a Chipotle and a Coyote Ugly. And while Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights used to be a district of mainly Salvadorans, an influx of Route 42 hipsters caused Don Juan's (corner of Lamont and......