>> It’s Halloween! Spooky, Scary! Despite the taxi strike, SoberRide is still offering free taxi rides for people who have had too much to drink celebrating the holiday: If you need a ride home between 8 p.m. tonight and 4 a.m. tomorrow morning, call 1-800-200-TAXI and you should be able to get a free ride home of up to $50. How long you’ll have to wait for that ride is an open question, but…

This review was written by guest poster Eric Nuzum, a local pop culture commentator and author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula. Here’s the reason why there have been more than 600 vampire films produced in the past 85 years: Vampires are the perfect metaphor. Tradition says that vampires don’t cast reflections. But vampires are, in fact, reflections of what terrifies or titillates us, as well as what we…

>> Looking to practice your Spanish comprehension? The Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the OAS is hosting an interesting free movie screening tonight at the Art Museum of the Americas — but be warned, the film does not have English subtitles. Donde Acaban Los Caminos is based on the autobiographical novel by Mario Monteforte Toledo, about a young man who arrives in San Pedro La Laguna during the military dictatorship in the first decades of…

There’s a scene in the action/horror film Blade: Trinity in which a resurrected Dracula, played with a considerable lack of energy by Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell, wanders into a store that sells vampire-themed novelty items. For a second — just before Dracula kills everyone around and the movie switches back to another techno-saturated fight scene — it’s amusing. Where did vampire lore begin and how did it result in countless terrible movies, action figures and…

The women of Venus want to once again experience a man’s touch. A former Miss D.C. transcends all normal applications of the term “statuesque beauty”. And Jane Fonda does what Jane Fonda does best: save the world. The Hirshhorn brings high camp into the realm of high art with the kickoff of their free “Summer Camp” film series this Thursday. The theme? The feisty, dangerous, and scantily-clad women of adolescent male fantasies 50s & 60s…

Veteran gossip columnist Michael Musto is in town today promoting his new book, La Dolce Musto, a collection from his columns of the same name (he’ll be at Nage Restaurant from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.). The bespectacled provocateur has spent 20 years at the Village Voice chronicling New York City’s gay life, nightlife and sex life, sometimes in terms that would make Candace Bushnell blush. Along with the tales of club kids, politics and sex…

Caroline Bartman knows her scientists. And her pop culture references. And her U.S. presidents. And her signs of the Zodiac. The DC resident and National Cathedral School senior proved her spanning knowledge of trivia Wednesday night, when she calmly slaughtered two other teen competitors during the Jeopardy Teen Tournament. Bartman barely showed her nerves during the television program (though perhaps it might have been because one of her competitors thought JFK voluntarily chose not…

Someone break out the cigars. The Washington Post yesterday welcomed the newest member to its family of blogs, rolling out the D.C. Sports Bog. Authored by Dan Steinberg, the Bog will cover a vast array of Washington area sports while inserting nuggets of pop culture. The obvious question that comes to mind: Why Bog? Q: Why is this called a Sports Bog? A: The Author covered the Maryland football team in 2005. When he…

This post was written by DCist contributor Salima Appiah-Kubi. Warning: Some links contain nude photographs. This Saturday some of the leading ladies of modern burlesque will be taking it off for a good cause. Warehouse Theater will present Burlesque…As It Was, a night of classic striptease benefiting the Exotic World Burlesque Museum and Hall of Fame in Helendale, California. Produced by Kitty Victorian, the force behind much of D.C.’s burlesque scene, the benefit will…

>> Numerous galleries in the 14th Street corridor have opened new exhibits over the last week. Curator’s Office opened a new exhibit of drawings by Korean-born Jiha Moon last week. Moon’s colorful, kaleidoscopic work reflects her training in both American and Korean artistic traditions and combines elements of folklore and pop culture. >> Meanwhile, Transformer Gallery has launched its fourth season with a more cutting-edge exhibit of video work. “Fair Game,” the first solo exhibit…