Bhangra, an infectious folk music and dance style from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, has slowly crept into the mainstream club scene. The driving force behind this increase in popularity are the South Asian DJs of Great Britain and North America, who took this traditional form and infused it with the programmed sounds of hip-hop, dancehall, and techno. One of the most well-known names in this movement is DJ Rekha (pictured), a New…
With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it’s a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-a-verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we’ve all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked…
John G. Hanhardt has been working as a consulting curator on film and media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). He’s had an influential career as one of the pioneering curators of media art in North America, helping shape the way museums look at and receive new media within their galleries and collections — all stemming from his perspective of film’s influence on art and culture in the 20th Century. Hanhardt grew up in…
The 5th annual SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival officially kicked off last night at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring with the Washington, D.C. premiere of Jim Brown’s film Pete Seeger: The Power of Song. Even though the film was playing in three separate theaters within the complex, there weren’t enough seats to go around for all the invited guests who RSVP’d for the opening ceremony. Festival volunteers indicated they had…
Three cheetah brothers, named Draco, Granger and Zabini after the Harry Potter characters, have arrived at the National Zoo to help add genetic diversity to its breeding program. The new cheetahs go on public display Friday. Zoo reproduction specialist JoGayle Howard explained to WTOP that the new cheetahs are vital because their genetic line is not represented in North America. Cheetahs are both critically endangered and very difficult to breed, so the introduction of a…
By DCist contributor Jason Cox While bees across North America have been dropping like flies this year, one D.C. bee in particular still buzzes strong — perhaps stronger than ever. Buzzlife Productions, organizers of the infamous Cubik party held at Nation up until its close last year, has been hard at work to make summer 2007 as electroneriffic as possible. Longtime Buzz DJ and hive worker Muramasa said that the close of Nation has…
Yesterday we picked up a false report from a usually reliable news source, and conveyed misinformation as facts. Washington Capitals team webmaster Mike Vogel ran a story on the official team website stating that Caps forward Alexander Ovechkin had been disciplined for a “hit from behind,” and we picked it up as fact. After all, there was a link to the story on the NHL.com homepage, so someone must have checked it out. Hitting…
I’m struggling to remember from point A to point B: I first saw Arcade Fire in a Midwestern college town, right on the heels of the release of Funeral, before their official anointment by every critic in North America. The show had to move from a smaller café to a bigger bar because of ticket demand, but, even still, no more than 70 people showed up. The next time I saw them, in a sold…
Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It’s grossing millions and definitely the most quotable thing we’ve seen in ages. But Borat himself seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he’d made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of Handmade Toy…
Londonist prepares a Happy Birthday bath for Buddah this week and then things get all cliched. A madman goes on a rampage while axe-weidling and London’s mayor warns an American diplomat to avoid the kitchen if the heat bothers him so much. LAist has finally come around to purchasing tickets for Clipper Train. Hyper local dating sites are spamming L.A. neighborhoods and the fascinating Dame Darcy talks with LAist about art, the city and earthquakes….