Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave It is entirely possible that the only people who visit the National Building Museum are intrepid tourists who have strayed from the Mall, or perhaps those only there to count the ridiculous number of columns in the Great Hall. It would be a shame if this were actually true, since the NBM has plenty to offer. Of particular note for tourists and locals alike is an exhibit, Washington: Symbol…

Yesterday we threw together a list of the people in the District we considered influential, taking after a similar annual list put together by GQ that compiles the movers and shakers on the federal side of the city. One of our nominees was Dorothy Brizill, a well-known civic activist and political gadfly who runs DC Watch, the closest thing we have to a citizens’ inspector general. And as we expected, last night she offered us…

You’ve heard it all a million times before — nobody dances at shows here! People don’t get into the music! There’s just no soul in D.C.’s music scene! The Hall Monitors heard your cry and happily came to answer the call with their brand of throwback garage rock & soul reminiscent of the guitar and Motown greats that made most of us (well, OK, me at least) learn to love music in the first place….

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. It is disappointing, though not surprising, that the bill to grant Washington a voting respresentative ran into difficulties on the House floor this week, just as it was unfortunate but entirely predictable that the White House, so careless with the Constitution in other situations, cast itself as the document’s determined defender and threatened to veto the bill should its allies in Congress…

UPDATE: We’ve now gotten word from intrepid boy reporter Kriston Capps that the D.C. Council’s Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation voted to table Bill 16-734, in a motion brought by At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz, which carried 3 to 2 with Marion Barry, Schwartz and surprise vote Vincent Gray against Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson. What does this mean for the future of Williams’ library plan? Hard to say. Tabling a bill is usually a…

According to word we have just received, the flat tax that Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is hoping to force upon the District is receiving a second round of debate and consideration today. The District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which he chairs, has scheduled a hearing today to dicuss his flat tax proposal, and it will be receiving testimony from District CFO Natwar Gandhi, Brookings Institution scholar Alice Rivlin, and Terence Golden…

So, this morning we told you all about Lincoln Ross’ potential District anthem. Now, as suggested in the comments, we’re going to take a vote. Here are the nominees: “Come to Washington,” by Lincoln Ross. “Chocolate City,” by Parliament. “Washington, DC,” by Magnetic Fields. “Washington, DC,” by Johnny Cohen. “Rock Creek Park,” The Blackbyrds. “Bustin’ Loose,” by Chuck Brown “DC Will Do That To You,” by Smart Went Crazy. “DC Fight Song,” by Federal City…

As you know, DCist likes to let the cat out of the bag. We’re constantly searching for ways to spread the word far and wide, from Fairfax to Frederick, soup to nuts. We also have a penchant for really screwing over a particular archetype: The Superfan. You know the type; they’re the people who spend day and night toiling to sign up for e-mail lists comprised of mere tens of thousands of other superfans. They…

There are bits and pieces of music info floating around out there that we thought you should know about, dear readers. At first we’d thought we’d try to put them together in some sort of organized manner, but then decided we were too lazy for that. So what follows? Just some tidbits about events and news that we threw together in a random fashion. Because we love you like that. >> A couple of performances…

Holy crap! There was a tornado in the Tidal Basin yesterday, and the rest of the weekend promises to bring another deluge. Nevertheless, we’ve got some recommendations to keep you dry and having fun. FRIDAY: >> Talented local artrockers Metropolitan hosts a record release party at the Black Cat for their third CD, “The Lines They Get Broken.” Aqueduct and Federal City Five open. 9:30, $8. >> The Brindley Brothers, local musicians and owners of…