More Musicians than Abe Could Shake a Stick At [UPDATED]

Via WaPo:  Well, kids, the rumor was true, and the Boss will be playing somewhere in the immediate vicinity of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, along with a crazy lineup of pinko-commie-Islamofascist-fake-America-lib’ral-leftist artists.  Start time is T.B.D. 2 p.m., and it’ll show on HBO from 7 to 9 that night.   The performers list includes the likes of:

Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am and Stevie Wonder. …

Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington will be among those reading historical passages. The Rev. V. Gene Robinson will give the invocation.

I know where I’m spending my Sunday afternoon.  I’ll hopefully have some pictures up this time next week, when – oh yeah – I’ll be getting dressed for a little shindig at the Air & Space Museum.  Gonna be an awesome weekend.

Get on HBO! (Oh Yeah, and a Free Concert too)

Via DCist:  HBO is taping airing (presumably live) the Opening Celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural on Sunday January 18.  Rumor is that Springsteen will be headlining, but given that HBO is onboard, even if the Boss skips out, you can bet somebody good will be there.  And did I mention that the concert will be on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial?  How do you spell badass?

Lost In The Tubes: Cheap Burgers Edition

• Good Stuff Eatery, the new burger joint on Capitol Hill owned by former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn opened recently.  Here’s a story about the opening festivities and we’ll have a review of the food (check out the super-reasonably priced menu at their website) as soon as we can get over there. [DCist]
• Momma’s who want their kids to be president, listen up: no rape jokes.  Really.  Just get that point across, because they come back to haunt you.  Even if you used the joke 22 years ago.  Oh, and let’s not forget that it is relevant in 2008, because McCain is still an asshole who makes rape jokes.[Wonkette]
• On a lighter note, Billy Packer has already found a new job! (ish) [Tirico Suave]
• Liz, the new blogger at why.i.hate.dc is doing a great job so far.  Check out her work. [why.i.hate.dc]
• There’s a whole mess in Philadelphia sports right now because Chase Utley was unimpressed when the New York fans booed him.  NY Tabloids are calling him out and everyone is making a bigger deal out of it than it is.  Here’s a great and interesting recap of the whole deal. [The 700 Level]

The Internet Is Your Playground: BRAINS!! Edition

• Want to scare your neighbors?  Keep those goldurn kids off your lawn?  Maybe even frighten off that pesky groundhog?  Boy have we got the thing for you!  (Caution:  may require occasional feedings involving human flesh and grey matter.)  [Gizmodo]

• Speaking of the walking dead, ladies and gentlemen, your Washington National Baseball Club!  [Bugs & Cranks]
• And while we’re on the topic… so long, Billy Packer.  [Deadspin]
• And for those still among the living who would like to get a fix to maybe feel like a zombie for a while, just listen for the happy music.  (Seriously, though, I’ve been making the joke that the ice cream trucks in the neighborhood around RFK are dealing for a while now, and I’ve heard real stories of this happening elsewhere.  Nobody should be surprised – it’s kind of a great cover, until it isn’t anymore.)  [DCist]
• And for anybody who’s convinced the apocalypse will come from climate change, and not something sensible (like zombies), here’s something for you.  [Capital Weather Gang]

Just for good measure, because no discussion of zombies is complete without it.  A special bunch of videos after the jump.

The Internet Is Your Playground: Paralympic Doping Edition

We have a big week planned for Culturegeist: a couple of new running features, a Movie Madness for Hellboy II, and lots of links to interesting, fun, and funny goodness.  Yes, you heard me right… actual content this week!  With words!  But first, here’s some links to start the week off right and avoid that case of the Mondays:

• USADA caught of a couple of track and field athletes doping… at the Paralympics.  Luckily, I am slow of wit and unable to get myself in trouble making fun of this story. [International Herald Tribune]
• The New Yorker has an interesting piece on how Chicago influenced Obama.  Unfortunately, the editors thought it would be a great idea to put a cartoon of the Obamas as machine gun toting, flag burning Muslims on the cover of the issue… so there’s that too. [New Yoker article here, the cover here via the NYT Politics Blog, and The Carpetbagger Report on the campagins' reactions here]
• Good news, bad news in D.C.  Another gunman in Adam’s Morgan this weekend: bad news.  Witnesses ran him down and the police caught him: good news, such as it is. [NBC4]
• Apparently product placement is bothering the FCC so much that it is considering regulating the practice.  One idea includes disclaimers… which, by my count, will draw attention to the product placement and only make it more effective.  Right? [Gawker]
• Advice for Elton Brand from Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley, a couple of players who know what it’s like to deal with Philly fans. [The 700 Level]

The Internet Is Your Playground: Tattoo’d on the Couch Edition

I’ve got a trip for work, so I’m likely out for the weekend, which means I won’t have a Weekending… post up tomorrow.  Suffice it to say that one of the (few) great international club soccer rivalries involving an American team renews itself Saturday night as your D.C. United play host to CD Guadalajara, better known as Chivas – the Goats.  I’ll see you kids Monday – here’s your Playground.

• Let’s keep the self-reference going from a couple days ago.  I’m planning on getting a tattoo this summer – thankfully I wasn’t considering any of these designs.  Wouldn’t that have been embarrassing?  [Radar Online - shout out to AL]
• And speaking of embarrassing… what a way to die.  Death by Couch.  [Reuters - shout out to Ms. Kelley]
• And back to the self-reference.  (What?  We’re a blog – it’s in the job description.)  The week I finally cave and buy a Mac, out leaks photos of the next edition.  Every bleeping time.  [AppleInsider]
• With all the important matters facing the District, from schools to transit and everything in between, perhaps the greatest question is this:  Are we a town or a city, anyway?  [DCist]
• I’ve never been to Yankee Stadium.  I’m doing my best to rectify that this summer, before it’s too late.  If you manage to make it up there, think about following Rick Reilly’s lead… if there’s anything left to pilfer, that is.  [ESPN The Magazine]

The Internet Is Your Playground: Don’t Call It A Comeback Edition

• So, a comedian, a politician, and a wrestler walk into a Senate race… looks like Jesse Ventura is running after all. [Wonkette]
• The KSK guys are huge Judith Light fans. Really. [KSK]
• After moving Rodney Carney and Calvin Booth to make cap room, Elton Brand is a Sixer!  The city of Philadelphia is happy, but I’d imagine that Baron Davis is a bit pissed. [ESPN via The 700 Level]
• If you are into jazz, there is a ton of stuff going on this week in the D.C. area. [DCist]
• And today’s Bill Simmons Real World Story of the Year: Kevin from Season One is running for Congress!  The United States Congress!  The one in D.C.! (Yes, those are horses you hear behind you, and, yes, Death, Pestilence, Famine, and War are riding them.) [Gawker]

So Much Fringe… So Little Time

As DCist pointed out in their July Theater Preview, this month in the District is all about the fringe.  We’re talking over 600 performances.  More than 200 companies putting on shows in upwards of 30 venues scattered all over town.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the 2008 Capital Fringe Festival is at hand.  If you’re reading about the festival for the first time, odds are that you don’t have a pass (the cheapest of which runs $110 for 10 shows).  If you do want to get in to see some good (and, possibly, not so good) theater, a $5 button (one-time purchase) and $15 per show gets you in the door.  The button, coincidentally, gets you crazy discounts at all kinds of D.C. landmarks like Tryst, Open City, the Diner, Love Cafe, and more.  Pretty sweet, right?

At any rate, I don’t claim to be a theater expert, but I spent about two minutes and picked out a few plays that looked interesting from a few different genres.  (And I tried not to overlap with DCist’s picks.)  The list follows, complete with descriptions ripped right from the website.  After the jump!

The 4th on the National Mall

On Friday, we went down to the National Mall to watch fireworks like they should be watched: with the Air Force Band in the background and the sky lit up with a wonderful display.

The National Mall gets a bad rap.  People say it’s an impossibly crowded disaster on the 4th and that it’s hard to have a good time there.  Well, this was my second 4th of July on the Mall and it’s been spectacular each time.  Details after the jump!