FRIDAY: >> The 18th Street Lounge's regular Wednesday night reggae stars SEE-I are at the Rock and Roll Hotel to celebrate the holidays with some friends who are sure to get you dancing too -- DJ Mat the Alien and remix artists Fort Knox Five. Tickets for the Happy FKX-XMas are $10. >> Rufus Wainwright begins a two-night stint at the 9:30 Club tonight with his sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche. Tickets are still available for......

We've mentioned it briefly before, but it's worth reminding everyone that a D.C. neighborhood is in contention to win a makeover from HGTV, and a lot of local bloggers are asking you to cast your vote to help make it happen. In partnership with Rebuilding Together, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, HGTV's Change the World, Start at Home contest has identified D.C.'s Anacostia as one of ten needy......

>> Woolly Mammoth's popular One Man Star Wars Trilogy is back, written and performed by Charles Ross. Tickets are $28 for the 8 p.m. show. >> The Alliance Francaise and Twins Jazz present the Dupont T quartet, a group led by bassist Hubert Dupont, a major player in the jazz scene in Paris. Tickets to the 8 and 10:30 p.m. sets are $20. >> Take the opportunity to check out the new Busboys and......

Is everyone already leaving town for the holidays? Our calendar here at Reader, Meet Author is looking a little lonely right now. If you have any tips or complaints that we're not posting all the awesome poetry readings, feel free to email us. MONDAY: Caroline Kennedy will be at Politics and Prose to share the Christmas prose most dear to her. It's all in her latest book, A Family Christmas, which includes tributes to Irving......

The White House Christmas Tree lighting ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday Nov. Dec. 6, at 5 p.m., which means without a doubt, if you can avoid driving your car in the city, you really should. The annual ceremony always screws up downtown traffic in an extreme way. Add the leftover snow and ice on the ground into the mix, and we can promise you a traffic clusterf*** of epic proportions tomorrow evening. If you'd......

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is hereby proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by conventions of three-fourths of the several States: "Article – Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the......

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......

If you're down on the National Mall this weekend and see, oh, 12,000 flags stuck in the ground, don't be alarmed. The Federal Government hasn't started an experimental flag farm, nor is the display an effort of the area's squirrels to show their patriotism. The flags have been planted to represent the 12,000 members of the United States military who have been discharged under the practice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The policy, which governs......

America by Air, the newest permanent gallery opened by The National Air and Space Museum, encompasses the entire history of flight and air travel in the United States, starting in 1914 and leading up to today. We know what you're thinking, "Isn't that what the whole museum is about?" And yes...it is. So Air and Space has managed to create an exhibit that is, in fact, a microcosm of itself, which is so damn postmodern......

Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine are two filmmakers who call D.C. home. They've made a name for themselves as writers, producers, and directors of documentary films, often for National Geographic and television, but their latest project has raised their profile far beyond the recognition of their previous work. War/Dance, for which the pair take joint directorial credit, has earned the couple a mantle's worth of awards this year, including the documentary directing prize at......

Good morning, Washington. Yesterday afternoon Roll Call had the story of a potential suspect finally being identified in all those strange Senate bathroom fires from the last few months. Capitol Police Officer Karen Emory recently has been suspended in connection with the fires, although it still hasn't been confirmed whether she is definitely a suspect in the case. No charges have been filed, but color us a little disappointed if it turns out a......

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter and local resident Tim Weiner won the National Book Award's nonfiction category for Legacy of Ashes: The History of the C.I.A., a sweeping 600-page critical history of the agency with a particular emphasis on the intelligence failures that have occurred during the agency's relatively short period of existence. "Legacy of Ashes," writes Weiner, “is the record of the first sixty years of the Central Intelligence Agency. It describes how......

>> Pope Benedict XVI will make his first visit to the United States as pontiff in April next year, with his first mass to be held at the new Nationals stadium here in D.C. [AP via WTOP] >> Four people who were stabbed Sunday afternoon during a soccer game near RFK are expected to be OK. [AP via WJLA] >> The Maryland House of Delegates this week will take up Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan......

The United States Park Police, DDOT and MPD have released the following road closure advisories for Saturday's Veterans Day Parade. All closures should be re-opened by 5 p.m. Saturday. Roads closed at 6 a.m.: * Jefferson Drive from 14th Street to 4th Street, SW * Madison Drive from 4th Street to 15th Street, NW * Seventh Street from Independence Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW Roads closed at 10:30 a.m.: * Lincoln Memorial Circle to Henry......

Hidden underneath the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall is a treasure waiting to be discovered — the Smithsonian Latino Center, which has been celebrating Latino culture, spirit, and achievement in America for 10 years, presents a terrific exhibit, Mexican Treasures of the Smithsonian, on display through November 11 at the S. Dillon Ripley Center’s International Gallery. The exhibit pulls together objects from different museums around the city to explore the shared histories and cultural......

Now is the time of year when we all get to start complaining about how stupid standard time is and how walking out of our offices last night into pitch black darkness was weird and uncomfortable and made us confused about what time happy hour was supposed to start. That is all. 'Fat Gap' Between Whites and Blacks in D.C. High: We've certainly talked about the income gap between whites and blacks in our city......

Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. This is the fourth and final installment of this series. The Paris entry: Thursday October 25th After our marathon, 14-hour, pre-dawn-to-post-dusk trek from Bath to......

Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. This is the third installment of an ongoing series. Tuesday, October 23, 2007 A leisurely breakfast, then off to Bath. Bath is stunningly beautiful. And......

The Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) is presenting an exciting double bill of adventurous piano-based jazz this Sunday at Lisner Auditorium. Performing will be The Bad Plus (pictured right) and pianist Jason Moran (pictured below), two acts who consistently refuse to be limited by traditional notions of what a jazz performance should or should not be. Moran and The Bad Plus have played together on the same bill before and, unsurprisingly, their common outside-the-box approach......

Outside of her relatively small but loyal following, the United States has not seen much of Sinéad O’Connor over the past decade, though she has continued to release albums and perform. Despite having a massive hit with the Prince-penned "Nothing Compares 2 U," she is remembered equally for the controversy she generated with her infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live and her refusal to have the national anthem played before a concert in New Jersey.......

Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. Look for his dispatches from the road abroad over the next few weeks. Tuesday, October 16, 2007 We walk (and walk and walk) from Baker......

MONDAY: We apparently didn't pay enough attention in history class, because we never knew Alice Roosevelt Longworth was such a bad girl. The daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, Alice married then Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth and had a child by Sen. William Borah of Idaho. Stacy A. Cordery will be at Politics and Prose with all the juicy details found in her latest book Alice . 7 p.m. TUESDAY: New York Times columnist......

Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. Look for his dispatches from the road abroad over the next few weeks. Checking my pockets every ten seconds for passport, work permit, wallet, boarding......

FRIDAY: >> Two shows for DAM! Fest tonight, with events at Rock and Roll Hotel and the Red and the Black. The former includes an appearance by recent Three Stars subject the Beanstalk Library, plus The Exit, Dragons of Zynth and The Teeth. Stick around for the free afterparty, We Fought the Hej, a combo of two of our favorite DJ nights, Hej Hej and We Fought the Big One. >> Don't forget to check......

On Wednesday night, Washington Performing Arts Society opened its fall classical music season with a spectacular concert by the La Scala Philharmonic. Notably it did so not at the Kennedy Center, which has long been the organization's main venue, but at the newer and growing Music Center at Strathmore. In spite of the suburban location, which doubled this disgruntled city dweller's car trip, a VIP box at house left held such distinguished guests as First......

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave Museum exhibits are usually necessarily limited in focus, attempting depth rather than breadth. The few that are not so restrained tend to overwhelm their patrons, losing them in an ambush of Too Much Information. Yet the National Museum of the American Indian has managed to avoid this pitfall in three exhibits that aim to define the entire histories, cultures, and guiding philosophies of indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere.......

Last week, the National Gallery of Art opened a career retrospective of British landscape artist Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) -- the largest ever assembled in the United States. The curators of the show have assembled a collection that demonstrates Turner's development as an artist, as well as his commitment to raising the status of landscape art in a time when the classical themes pervaded Europe's artistic community. A must see for anyone with even......

FRIDAY: >> Do the right thing and head to 9:30 Club for a show hosted by the strange gathering of the likes of Gypsy Eyes Records, The Federal Reserve and haberdasherie Propper Topper for a benefit for the DC Public Library Foundation. Kitty Hawk, Vandaveer, Revival, These United States and many more make up the crowded bill. 7:30 p.m., $20. >> The Brunettes (pictured right) perform sickly sweet but addictive pop duets, and they'll be......

Ragged Glory plays tonight at the Velvet Lounge. Can’t afford to pay $100 for a cheap seat at Neil Young’s upcoming DAR stop in November? You’re in luck. During our last chat with Ryan Walker from The Beanstalk Library, we found out he also put together a Neil Young cover band a few years back. They call themselves Ragged Glory, and the lineup plays something like a who’s who of up-and-coming local bands: Brian Kent......

Two of our favorite local acts, Le Loup and These United States are taking the main stage of the Black Cat tomorrow night, in celebration of the release of Le Loup's album, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly. Both bands have graced the pages and stages of DCist in the past, so today we're trying something different. Le Loup's Sam Simkoff and Dan Ryan and TUS' Jesse Elliot and......