FRIDAY:
>> Put on your robe and wizard hat…Harry Potter’s coming to town! The sixth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will be released tonight at midnight, and don’t think we don’t know. Watch this space for more info on tons of crazy HP events going on around town. For one, Politics and Prose will be hosting a party in their parking lot with magicians, a costume contest with prizes, and refreshments, starting at 10:30 this evening. Anyway – any bets on who’s going to bite the dust in the book this time?
>> If books meant for 12 year-olds aren’t your thing, head out to Vienna where local and melodic indie faves Monopoli and Army of Me are playing Jammin’ Java. Except lots of soulful crooning and teenage swooning. $10, 8 p.m.
>> Here in town, VHS or Beta and Edie Sedgewick play the Black Cat mainstage for just $10 (note that Controller Controller and Bob Mould have cancelled). The music gets started at 9:30 p.m. with DJ junebullet of the First Ladies DJ Collective.
SATURDAY:
>> Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrate…that phrase from Dante’s Inferno, meaning “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,” is burned into our minds, not only because of its powerful bleakness, but also because that is totally the attitude we took when we had to read the entire thing in Italian back in college. Yeesh. Nevertheless, we can’t help but be interested in the panel discussion “Hip Hop Dante’s Inferno: A Listening Salon,” part of the Hip Hop Theater Festival this week. Italian Cultural Attaché Martin Stiglio talks about the meaning of a hip-hop rendition of the Inferno with its creators, NYC’s The Eternal Kool Project. The Studio Theatre, 5 p.m.
>> Want to get into food writing but don’t think you have the “cred” necessary to do it? Lucky you — for the mere price of $131 ($85 if you’re a Smithsonian Resident Associate member), you can join the likes of Post critic Tom Sietsema, New York Times reporter Kim Severson, author Dianne Jacbos, and Vogue columnist and author Jeffrey Steingarten for “Food Writing for Food Lovers,” an all-day seminar to instruct you on food writing. How nice of them to teach the little people. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Drive, S.W.
SUNDAY:
>> Hurrah for baby animals! First we got Butterstick, the (apparently quite terrifying) baby panda, and now the five cheetah cubs born at the National Zoo on April 14 are now on exhibit at the Cheetah Conservation Station from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. We saw the previous litter earlier this year, and it’s quite a delight to watch them frolick around. Barring that, you can always check out the Cheetah Cam.
>> Head on down to Penn Quarter on 3rd and F Streets for the 7th annual Festa Italiana, which this year celebrates one of Italy’s loveliest regions, the Veneto. There’ll be live traditional Italian music, dancing, displays about the Veneto region and, most importantly, food and wine. Yum. You can also register to win a Vespa or a trip to Italy. 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
