Straight women and gay men all across D.C. were presumably disappointed by the news that came out over the Thanksgiving holiday that Brad Pitt had dropped out of the production of State of Play, a big-budget political thriller set to begin filming here in Washington this winter. You may recall that Pitt had stopped by the Washington Post newsroom in September to do some research on the character he was slated to play in the…

Would you be willing to pay $25 for a photograph of yourself standing next to someone who looks eerily similar to your favorite celebrity? That’s the question you’ll want to answer before venturing in to the new Madame Tussauds wax museum at 10th and F Streets NW, which opens to the public today. Last night, DCist attended the opening party for the attraction. We say attraction purposefully, because Madame Tussauds isn’t a museum at…

So who do you turn to if you’re an embattled administration facing an unpopular war, bitter criticism both at home and abroad, an exodus of senior staff, and the barrel of a long year’s worth of lame ducked-ness? A retired general? Nope. A political mastermind? Nah, that would be too easy. Perhaps a captain of industry? They’re too busy starting and running multi-billion dollar foundations. Well, then how about someone who made his name by…

With Congress in recess, it’s officially the August doldrums here at Reader, Meet Author. If you have any tips, feel free to drop us a line. Otherwise, read some good books and stay cool. MONDAY: Pushcart Prize-winning author Katherine Taylor will be at Olsson’s Books & Records in Dupont Circle to talk about her debut novel Rules for Saying Goodbye, a coming-of-age tale that straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction. 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Man…

Dear Hillary Clinton and Dick Cheney: feel free to do embarrassing things in public today. D.C.’s celebrity (and we use that term loosely) photogs are probably following around real celebs — well, at least Angelina Jolie. Yesterday the Examiner gave us the heads-up on a litany of famous-outside-the-Beltway folks traipsing around town this week. So if you’re a little tired of running into Nicolas Cage filming National Treasure 2, keep your eyes peeled for these…

> > Deadline worth noting! Anyone interested in participating in this year’s DC Idiotarod has until tomorrow, Thursday March 1, at 11:59 p.m. to register your team for the big race on March 3. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to bring wanton chaos to the streets of D.C. [DC Idiotarod] > > Fans of soccer, wine, photography, and philanthropy will descend upon the JW Marriott tonight for the Goals for Girls Auction & Wine…

Remember that tingling sensation running rampant in the city this time last year? No, not that one. It was the anticipation of Washington getting an honest-to-goodness A-list power couple. Well, those halcyon days are officially over with the news that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt won’t be moving to town any time soon. Washingtonians dying to bump into Brangelina in the baby formula aisle of Whole Foods will have to look about 1,000 miles southwest….

It feels like it’s been a while since anyone truly famous has graced our fair city with their presence, but it looks like that drought comes to an end today. According to an email we received yesterday, Matt Damon and Robert DeNiro are in town (actually in Fairfax, Virginia) today taping a special episode of Chris Matthews’ Hardball. Before you berate us for not passing this tip on earlier, tickets were only available to Mason…

About as close to celebrity-status as the District gets is when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt decide to buy a house here and Woody Harrelson spends a few days filming a few shots for an upcoming movie. That might soon change. Well, kind of. NBC 4 is reporting that the owners of the world famous Madame Tussauds wax museum are in talks with the District over the possibility of opening a museum in downtown D.C….

Yeah, we heard the rumors last week too. By the looks of the constantly churning rumor mill, it appears that the cutely coupled Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or Pitt-Jolie) just bought a house in Kalorama. Now, we’d love to get excited about the prospect of honest to God A-List celebrities being our new neighbors, but DCist has been burned once too often. The couple’s real estate dithering, which began around the Thanksgiving holiday, is…