Posts Tagged ‘Entertainment’
Posted by Matt Basheda / Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
The metro region erupts with art this weekend.
The Festival. Photo: Bill Kinney
Fairfax’s Fine Arts Festival returns once more, and infuses Fairfax Corner with wares of all mediums. Over 130 exhibitors–about 10,000 individual works of art–spill onto the streets.
The festival runs on Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday, April 29 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Buy that perfect piece to finish a room or just look around–no pressure, and no cost for admission.
Art types represented include photography, metalwork, jewelry, woodwork, graphic prints, painting and more.
But if centuries-old Japanese artwork also interests you, head to the National Gallery of Art as soon as possible.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity awaits you in its hallowed halls, but April 29 is your last chance to see a legendary set of Japanese nature paintings from the 1700s.
The exhibit’s name is “The Colorful Realm of Living Beings,” by Ito Jakuchu. The art is a treasure of Japan’s imperial household, and has never been shown outside Japan until now.
Only days remain until their return. Japan loaned the art for D.C.’s centennial cherry blossom festival. The set of 30 paintings comprise a varied portrait of Japan’s colorful wildlife.
The National Gallery of Art has extended its hours for this exhibit’s final weekend. Its opening time remains the same–10 a.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. on Sunday. However, the museum will close at 8 p.m. both days.
–Matt Basheda
Best-Selling Authors and Vintage Punk Come to NoVA
Posted by Matt Basheda / Friday, April 20th, 2012
A couple of high-profile, bestselling authors speak in NoVA this week.
First up is Alice Hoffman, author of the recent best-seller “The Dovekeepers.” She’ll be at McLean Community Center’s Alden Theatre on Saturday, April 21 at 2 p.m. Books will be available for sale and signing.
The event is completely free and open to the general public.
Then next Thursday, April 26, Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan will be at Arlington Central Library. Her novel “A Visit From the Goon Squad” won last year’s Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Egan’s speaking theme is “Time Waits for No One … Writers on Life, Love and Loss.” Her appearance is part of Arlington Reads 2012.
Talk about a home-grown scene. Courtesy Arlington Public Library.
“A Visit From the Goon Squad” partially concerns San Francisco’s 1970s punk scene. The punk connection led Arlington Public Library to throw a simultaneous celebration of our city’s own rich punk history. The exhibit is now open.
Washington, D.C. was actually the nexus of American music in the 1980s. New York and London may have invented punk in the 70s, but D.C. kept it alive throughout the next decade. Bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and Fugazi, and musicians like Henry Rollins and Dave Grohl leapt forth from the 9:30 Club stage and into popular culture.
An expansive collection of posters, artwork and other punk artifacts are on display at Arlington Central Library through May. The exhibit is free. The library’s hours are on their website.
Egan’s talk is also free, though space is limited. The event begins at 7 p.m. This is a fairly big deal, so get there early if you’re interested.
–Matt Basheda
Posted by Matt Basheda / Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
The flowers are out in full force.
Springtime shines this weekend in NoVA, as two of our favorite towns kick off Virginia Historic Garden Week.
Spring shoots at Leesburg's show. Courtesy Town of Leesburg.
Blooms will paint downtown Leesburg for the famous Flower and Garden Festival. This garden party draws serious crowds each year, and this year will be no different. Leesburg’s streets shut down to vehicle traffic, and instead, flowers rise magically up from the asphalt as you wander this suburban floral sanctuary.
Best of all–you hardly have to pay. Recommended donation is just $3 to show up and take in the fragrant sights.
But if shopping is your goal, over 150 vendors will be on hand to distribute their wares and skills, including nurseries and landscapers. Gardening supplies abound, as well. Pick up anything you might need to complete your yardwork–not just spades and the like, but also the big stuff. Think deck-building supplies, patio equipment and more.
And to tempt you further, flora won’t be the only Loudoun native on display. This year’s special events include a tasting area, at which local vineyards tout their succulent wine, and craft breweries showcase beer. Food also features prominently in the festivities, as well as live music and children’s entertainment.
One of Alexandria's historic gardens. Courtesy Esther Carpi.
The Leesburg Flower and Garden Show is two days–Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. day one, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. day two.
Which means you can split your time between Leesburg’s enormous festival and Alexandria’s subdued, but no less splendid historic garden tour.
Alexandria is one of a few tours that begin Virginia’s Historic Garden Week, a celebration of Virginia’s gardening culture. The tour itself has existed for 79 years.
A dozen homes and gorgeous gardens feature on this year’s tour, including several from the 19th century and even one from 1782. Stroll Alexandria’s shady streets and soak in its rich history, all amid a profusion of springtime glory.
Tickets for the tour cost $35 in advance online, or $40 the day of the tour.
However, Historic Garden Week is a statewide celebration. If you feel like taking a trip to soak in everything our glorious state has to offer, check out some of the other garden week happenings. I’ve covered a few, and there are even more on garden week’s website.
–Matt Basheda
Capitol CAREaoke: Fools for Charity
Posted by Matt Basheda / Friday, April 13th, 2012
Wouldn’t you love to see your favorite–or least favorite–TV reporter make a complete ass of him or herself?
You can, and it’s all for a good cause.
Capitol CAREaoke raises funds for a national child abuse support charity by putting high-profile locals on the spot. Participants this year include Brianna Keilar from CNN, Shannon Bream from Fox News, and D.C. councilmember Jack Evans.
The winner earns a duet with Jordin Sparks. The big show goes down this Wednesday, April 18.
But the event’s true purpose is not public humiliation. Childhelp, also known by its national 1-800-4-A-CHILD hotline, provides support and rescue for abused children. Childhelp has existed since 1959, and fields calls from the U.S., Canada, and most U.S. territories.
Attendance requires a generous donation. If you’re interested in attending, visit the official website for ticket details.
McLean Silent Film Series Continues
Posted by Matt Basheda / Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
Rudolph Valentino is now more myth than man.
His name still reverberates in pop culture’s collective memory. He was the hottest of Hollywood sex symbols, and died at age 31. But his actual films remain largely forgotten.
However, McLean Community Center’s wildly popular silent film series, riding “The Artist’s” groundbreaking waves of success, provides a glimpse of Valentino’s acting abilities tonight, April 11, at 8 p.m.
“The Eagle” is one of a handful of Valentino’s blockbuster films, and one of the most critically praised. Valentino plays a Russian bandit in love with a princess. Complications ensue–to say the least–but it works out well. This is no tragedy.
The film’s pace is brisk, and its length only about an hour.
As usual, tickets run a cheap $10, and famed movie musician Ben Model provides live accompaniment.
From The Green Room With: Mandisa
Posted by Lorin Drinkard / Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
Mandisa = American Idol
alumna + 3 Grammy noms
+ 4 albums + a nationwide tour
For Christian singer/songwriter Mandisa, this short list just begins to describe her musical accomplishments in the recent years. We chatted with the bubbly, Zumba-loving artist about faith, fitness and what she has up her vocal sleeves (the Girls Night Live tour, also featuring Laura Story, stops in Woodbridge this Saturday!).
We’re excited about your upcoming tour coming to Woodbridge, right here in Northern Virginia. What led you to be a part of the Girls Night Live events?
Posted by Matt Basheda / Monday, April 9th, 2012
Tommy Stinson is the co-founder and former bass player of The Replacements.
If you don’t know who The Replacements are, they began as a Minneapolis punk band in the ’80s. As the decade wore on, they helped invent the genre now known as alternative rock and influenced scores of current indie groups.
Stinson is playing at Jammin Java this Friday, April 13. He recently released a new album, “One Man Mutiny,” and it’s great. You can’t mess up straightforward rock ‘n’ roll, especially if you play it with as much attitude as Stinson. But he tosses in country influences, too, with slide guitar on several tracks.
I spoke with Stinson over the phone to talk about his new album, the Replacements and music in general. He also works with Haiti charity Timkatec. Timkatec is a school that teaches young Haitians trades like masonry and plumbing to give them employment, hope and the power to rebuild their own community.
What was your writing process like for your new album?
Pretty haphazard, like it always is for me. The way I make records is I compile songs over the course of time when I’m able to spend time on my own to write stuff … and when I have a record’s worth of material, then I just decide what to do with it after that. Usually, it takes longer for me than other people because I kinda spread myself a little thin with Guns [N’ Roses] or Soul Asylum or the other things that I end up doing in the course of my life.
Do you usually write on guitar, or on bass?
You know, I don’t even have a method. It just kinda comes out of me, whatever it is I happen to have in my hands. And there was actually one point where I had sort of a favorite chair that I used to write lyrics in, but that chair has since died. And now I write on whatever chair I happen to find available.
Is there a common source you usually draw inspiration from?
Not really. I’m a bit voyeuristic, I guess in that regard. I take my life and things that are going on in my life and I kinda funnel it through what I see in others … and I make my own composites of things to keep it interesting. I’m not really down with songs just totally in the first person. I think it’s … to blather on completely about themselves, which is not interesting to me [laughs]. So I like to switch it up and blather on about whatever I feel like [laughs].
You’ve been making music for years, so how do you stay motivated and keep finding inspiration?
I’m starting to find that I’m inspired to use my music to help others. … I think I’ve somehow fallen into this life of service … I didn’t find it, it found me, and I think after spending so much of my life in The Replacements or in Guns even, it’s a pretty narcissistic world. That’s the life of a musician in a lot of ways. You’re doing it because you want people to pay attention to you, and you want people to pay you money and you want people to come out and adore you and that sort of thing. I’ve gotten past that, and what intrigues me now is ‘What can I do with this, to help this situation in the world, or that, or these people?’ And … now that I’m starting to get into that mindset, it’s freeing me up to let whatever music is coming out of me to just come out of me without trying to harness it or turn it into something that it ain’t.
Yeah I read about your work with Haiti. Are you still doing that?
Oh yeah. We’re actually doing a show up here in Hudson, N.Y. on the 10th of April which is a benefit for Timkatec schools in Haiti. We’re trying to do a fundraiser to raise 70 to 80 toolkits for the graduating class this year. They’re graduating masons, electricians, plumbers, beauticians and seamstresses. We’re trying to get them the tools to take into their communities and help the rebuilding process, because they need all the help they can possibly get there. They’ve basically been forgotten by the rest of the world since the earthquake and it’s still an absolute mess down there.
Do you listen to current music at all?
I do.
Who do you like?
Always been a fan of The Walkmen. They’re one of my favorites; they’re one of my favorite favorites. There’s a band that I’ve heard recently up here called Railbird that I got to see live once before. We’re lookin’ to try to go see them again when they come into town.
All time favorite punk band?
If you’re talking just straight-up punk bands, I think The Clash were probably my favorite, but I like Stiff Little Fingers in there. I was huge into Black Flag for a while. The Damned were a pretty big staple in my stuff, in my record collection.
When was the last time you met with Paul Westerberg?
I haven’t actually physically seen him in probably a little over a year or something, but we talked the other day. … We’re gonna try and do something for our guitar player Slim [Dunlap, who] had a stroke recently and he’s in pretty bad shape. We’re trying to find some way to raise some money for him.
So you think a show, maybe?
No, I think more of like a tribute record kind of thing. There’s already something kind of, kind of in the works I can’t really go into yet, because it’s not fully in the works. But we’re trying to figure out what we can do.
How does it make you feel when people say—when kids—come up to you and say, ‘Your music’s been a huge influence on my life.’?
It’s a good thing. As an art form, [music] has this very healing effect on people. … A lot of music means that to me, so as a fan of music, when I get that it’s killer, I’m glad, that’s awesome. Because I can relate to that.
New Lego Structures at National Building Museum
Posted by Matt Basheda / Friday, April 6th, 2012
The National Building Museum houses a Northern Virginian.
The Lego Burj Khalifa. Photo: National Building Museum staff.
The NBM’s popular Lego exhibit just added three new structures. One of those is the Winthrop house model, as designed by the Gulick Group. The Winthrop is one of the most popular luxury homes in the region. So popular that it’s now being honored with its own museum shrine.
The real-life Winthrop is exclusively NoVA-based. Most examples sit in Reston and Great Falls. But it will join, in Lego form, 15 of the world’s most legendary buildings.
Two other brand new Lego models join the 15. One is a series of Metro stations from D.C., decked-out in a famous Halloween theme. The other is 15 Central Park West, an apartment building in New York City.
The exhibit runs through Sept. 3, 2012. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission runs $8 for adults, and $5 for kids.
–Matt Basheda
Spring Break Guide: Movie Madness
Posted by Matt Basheda / Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
Spring break giving you too much time on your hands? Has spending your days outdoors left you tapped out and bored at night?
Catch up on some movies.
The theaters currently offer a wealth of fun flicks. Surely you’ve seen the previews–”The Hunger Games,” “21 Jump Street” and “Mirror Mirror.” But there are more movies on the way, even just this week, none bigger than “Titanic’s” 3D re-release on April 6.
The ultimate fantasy romance for many a 1990s teenager can now be your go-to date movie. There’s no reason to believe this won’t be at least half as monstrously successful as the first iteration, so join in the frenzy once again–this time with an actual date, rather than a middle school crush.
Springtime always gives me a hankering for “Star Wars,” probably because each of the movies came out in the spring. You really can’t go wrong with these most classic of sci-fi movies, especially since they are truly films for every member of the family.
The “Rush Hour” trilogy provides comic mastery. If you want to laugh from your gut, you can’t beat Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan as an outrageous detective duo.
Of course, the kids need their own alone-time, too. If you need a couple hours to keep the kids in one spot, try “The Spongebob Squarepants Movie.” This watery tale fits spring break’s theme, and provides enough of a summery preview to ease the return to school.
On the theatrical side of things, “The Lorax” is still going strong in theaters. Rainy days cancel parks and other fresh-air shenanigans, but a day at the movies is a perfect distraction.
Oh, and did you hear the joyous news? A “Dumb and Dumber” sequel, directed by the Farrelly brothers and starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, is on its way!
–Matt Basheda
Spring Break Guide: Stay Outside
Posted by Matt Basheda / Friday, March 30th, 2012
Don’t rot indoors.
Resist the temptation to use spring break to catch up on movies and TV shows. With weather this sublime, stay afloat in the fine spring air. Of course, you can’t help it if it’s raining–but I’ll have more on that next week.
First tip: Use two wheels instead of four whenever possible. Most of NoVA’s sprawl includes interwoven trails. Within neighborhoods, sidewalks often serve both bikes and pedestrians. So next time you hit your local Starbucks, try riding there instead of driving.
Courtesy Shutterstock.com / Lisa S.
If you want something a little more rigorous, try mountain biking. Unless you have a bicycle specifically designed for road use–you would know if you had one–your bike most likely has all-terrain tires. You’ll have quite a bit of fun on light off-road trails like the unpaved byways on the W&OD.
For large stretches of the W&OD, particularly in Loudoun County, unpaved horse and multi-use trails run alongside the paved trail. Try cycling in the dirt for added workout and added fun.
Wakefield Park in Fairfax also has a laid back multipurpose trail perfect for mountain bikes. It’s part paved, part dirt, part gravel. Slightly more arduous paths branch off from the main trail. If you really want to get a beginner’s feel for what mountain biking is all about, stray off the beaten path and have fun.
In fact, the trail is not only for biking. So if two wheels isn’t your thing, take a walk or a jog at Wakefield–it’s quite scenic.
If you have kids on your hands for spring break, you absolutely must have a different activity every day. One of NoVA’s overlooked highlights is its petting zoos.
Courtesy Shutterstock.com / Smileus
Reston Zoo features exotic animals for observation and farm animals for petting. The place is pretty huge–about 30 acres nestled right off Route 7. With so much land, they have a wide variety of animals, from wildebeest to ostrich, and even prairie dogs. Animals for petting include sheep, goats and rabbits.
The Leesburg Animal Park is a little-known treasure. Their animal list differs from Reston’s, so each is unique. Leesburg has lemurs, parrots, tortoises and other uncommon creatures, like the Patagonian Cavy.
There are tons of other options. We’ve mentioned a bunch, and we have even more coming.
And don’t forget to check out our guide to traveling with kids. It will ease the burden of entertaining however many schoolkids invade your house each spring break.
Stay tuned for Easter ideas and lots more.
–Matt Basheda