“Film-noir meets radio in a comic cocktail collage ignited by Esquire’s 1949 Handbook for Hosts. Consummate recipes from a time when men were men, dames wore gloves, and sloe gin fizzed.” That’s the official description of Handbook for Hosts, the Happenstance Theater production at this year’s Fringe festival. The show is gaining fans, like our own Chris Klimek, in Fringe-going circles. We asked Sabrina Mandell, the artistic co-director of Happenstance Theater, a few questions….

Well, obviously, not the actual Beatles. As you know, because you live in the world, The Beatles broke up in 1969, and two of them are no longer living; and if the actual Beatles had played somewhere on this planet, the Internet, your cell phone and all of your relatives in their late 50s and early 60s would have crumbled into cyclones of OVER CAPACITY error messages. When I say that The Beatles invaded…

by sally henny penny » Speaking as someone who experienced the full force of food-born-illness’ wrath at the hands of the last round of poison spinach, I hope everyone out there steers clear of Krisp-Pak Ready to Eat Hydro-Cooled Fresh Spinach. The product has been recalled by Lancaster Foods after traces of Listeria were found. If you have any in your home, throw out the greens, save the bag, and call 800-247-8125. [WTOP] »…

by moworld As predicted, Metro’s board of directors approved a host of fare increases today, which, according to Dr. Gridlock, are the most sweeping in WMATA history. Jim Graham cast the only dissenting vote against the increases, the first of which go into effect this Sunday. The remaining increases will be rolled out on August 1 and later in the fall. As of next week, you will see peak average peak Metrorail fares rise…

via The National Zoo’s Twitter feed brings a tiny mouthful of adorable today in the form of a one-week-old red panda cub. The cub joins the two adults already living at the Zoo’s nature trail (we suppose this is how these things usually proceed). Quoth the Zoo’s release on the topic, “It was love at first sight for Shama and Tate, the Zoo’s red pandas, and now, nearly a year and a half after…

The Whitman-Walker Clinic is extending National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) to a full week in D.C. NHTD, which takes place on June 27 this year, is a Department of Health & Human Services initiative to raise awareness of and to increase testing for HIV nationwide.

Photo by jim_darling » Constance McMillen, the Mississippi teen who made national headlines when her high school said she couldn’t go to prom in a tuxedo and slow-dance with her date (another girl), visits the White House tonight to attend a pride event hosted by President Obama. This weekend she’ll act as grand marshal of New York City’s pride parade. Seems like a fitting last laugh for the brave student. » Cutest car accident ever?…

christopher.poole Written by DCist contributor Sarah Sherman With all the balancing that had to happen on Sunday night at the Black Cat, Thao Nguyen’s mindful chaos with Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn’s polish, clarinets and violins with wild guitars and four-man percussion teams, the result of finding that spot where the bubble sits perfectly in the carpenter’s level, might have brought the bodies in the room to a standstill. The superband known as Thao and…

Congratulations, Stephanie Williams, who was crowned as 2010’s Miss D.C. this past Sunday. Williams accepted the title from last year’s winner, Jen Correy, who you may remember making news this May after her Georgetown “bar brawl” — in which she slammed a man against a wall after he repeatedly physically assaulted her. That incident, and its coverage in the Washignton Examiner, is where the story takes a more interesting turn. The Sexist keenly discusses…

TUESDAY

Concrete Blonde have reunited for the . . . is it the third time now? If you’re feeling nostalgic for the late 80s and early 90s — that crossroads between The Go-Go’s and REM — now’s your chance to capitalize. 9:30 Club, 7:30 p.m., $25.

>> DC9: The Most Serene Republic, Annuals (who DCist reviewed way back in 2007). 7:30 p.m., $10/$12.

>> Velvet Lounge: Savage Badger Vag. 9 p.m., $7.