Last Friday two of rock and roll’s original greats, Neil Young and Patti Smith, touched down in Fairfax. In addition to playing a lot of material from his latest album, Psychedelic Pills, he also played “Cortez the Killer” for only the second time this tour. DCist photographer Andrew Markowitz was on hand to document the event.

A few DCist Flickr pool contributors got to experience this thrilling ride in Washington sports history. Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos.

Even though they can instill fear and cause lots of damage, lightning strikes are pretty cool to watch from afar. Photos of these electrical discharges have been trending in the DCist Flickr Pool these past few days after a couple of storms. So, of course, these bright beauties are going to get a photo gallery.

Based on these photos, the H Street Festival was a hit and continues to grow each year! Many thanks to the contributors who submitted photos from yesterday’s all-day street party in Northeast to our Flickr Pool.

Union Market, the city’s newest fancy food market, opened yesterday in Northeast. DCist checked it out this afternoon. All of the vendors were not yet present, but it’ll be exciting to see this space blossom in the coming months.

Yesterday’s violence will undoubtedly tarnish the city’s memory of this year’s Caribbean Carnival. Most stories about the festival today predictably chronicle Saturday’s brutal events, but before the day’s unfortunate shift, crowds of people came out on a summer day to celebrate culture, to revel in the flamboyant sway down Georgia Avenue, to indulge in good food, and, quite simply, to enjoy their friends and neighbors.

From the looks of it, many of you spared a little bit of time from this weekend’s spectacular weather to check out the opening weekend of Artomatic, the collective arts exhibit which is celebrating its tenth year of existence this summer. This year’s space, located near Nationals Park on M Street SE, will be open for the next five weeks — here’s a little taste of what’s on display….

The Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park is seeking to increase the number and variety of animals on display after their collection has decreased by half since 1992, the AP is reporting. The change comes at a time when the Zoo has recently begun a director search, perhaps indicating that institution is turning over a new leaf in its history, after a number of notable animal deaths at the zoo from neglect, accidental poisoning or attacks from…