Weekend Picks Return

Friday night
Check out ArtDC - DC's first modern and contemporary art fair - apparently it will put DC on the international art scene map. It will be at the convention center through Monday. But try and head there tonight where it is free all day. Though it ends at 7! If you go this weekend (11-7 Saturday and Sunday) you'll pay $12.

Saturday
This is the last weekend for the DC International Film Festival. You can check out the schedule at FilmfestDC. The films are all over DC at different locations (mainly on Wisconsin Ave) and most films are $9. At 3pm at Busboys and Poets there will be a Directors Roundtable with free admittance.

Sudnay
Sundress Festival '07 at the Wonderland Ballroom is sure to be fun. An equal opportunity event - anyone (guys or girls) who come in sundresses gets cheap drinks ($2 off drafts, $3 rail and $6 bottles of Delirium Tremens -whatever that is). To see pictures of last years Sundress Festival, log into Myspace and click here.

Enjoy the weekend!

Beauty Night Out

So apparently, the Style and Image Network puts on a yearly Beauty Night Out which features local dc spa treatments, make-up consultations and boutique shopping. I was invited by a friend and was not sure what to expect at all. The biggest original attraction for me was that a portion of the $35 entry fee went to Dress for Success, a great Non-profit organization that provides interview suits, confidence boosts, and career development to low-income women. You were also promised a gift bag which ended up having some free hair products (for color treated hair), some crazy pomegranate and blackberry energy drink, eye renewal creme (my favorite) and a book about why we should consider getting plastic surgery earlier rather than later -- not only was it kind of annoying to be pushing surgery on 20-somethings, but really heavy to carry around all night. But the best part turned out to be a free bar with all the beer and/or martinis (or Beautinis) i could drink. The martinis were made using Pink, a new vodka infused with caffeine that was making its debut in the dc market...i have to say it wasn't half bad, though i didn't really feel "energized". the was bottle really cool, but this marketing campaign is kind of lame. but whatever, it was FREE! there wasn't much food and when it appeared it didn't last long, so i was glad i ate first.

As far as product placement, they only thing that really stood out for me was the mini-makeup consultation by PR at Partners , using their "Pretty" signature makeup brand. I felt a little like an extra in "The Mummy" when it was over, with my golden-bronzed eyes and nude lip color but got some great application tips and the look definitely grew on me. My friend went for the oh-so-popular smokey eye look, but it was really modernized using a bronze shadow for the base and navy in the crease -- a great combo for brunettes! That, i think i might have to buy.

We went on to get free hand and back massages, which were good but nothing special. This was done by a traveling day spa company (listed as a vendor on the site). I'm still figuring out how i can suggest to our management committee that we have them come do massages for our office once a month... Moroccan facials were available, but watching girls walking around with mud on their faces and their hair in shower caps was not really appealing...so we skipped that. Besides the makeup people, I can't say I'd search out any of the other spa treatment providers in the future, so its not the kind of event you'd attend to find a great spa.

All in all I'd give the general event 4 out of 5 stars, mostly because of the free booze. I was only planning to be there for a few hours and we ended up being one of last groups to leave. The vendors were all incredibly nice and as a result we bought more stuff than we had intended. However lines were really, really long and I wished I'd worn more comfortable standing shoes. I can't think of many better ways to spend $35 or my Thursday evening and I'll definitely be on the lookout for next year's event and inviting all my girlfriends.

HUGE Panda News!

We can start planning the 3rd AND 4th annual panda baby pub crawl!

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/

Prepare to see the planet as neverbefore...

So i realize that a lot of my posts of late have been sciencey and educational but for some reason I'm in to all of that right now. i could post on my horrible metro ride today and do a long rant on pole hogging (I mean seriously people - if the train is crowded, don't wrap your entire body around one pole so that nobody else can hold on!!) but instead I will tell you about the coolest thing to hit cable since... well not quite sure since but in the nonfiction category of cable, I would say this takes the cake.

I'm talking about Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel. If you have already caught on, then you know how amazing it is. It uses this new high tech camera that is attached on a helicopter which allows them to shoot up close from a mile away so they can capture amazing footage without scaring the animals. They also have cameramen who are incredibly patient. One spent 8 weeks in a camouflaged hole waiting to get a peak at the Birds of Paradise trying to mate. The males attract the females by doing a dance and showing off their colors and then if they do a good job, the female chooses them. Wish it was that easy in the real world!

The show takes you from the bottom of the ocean, to the desert, to the top of Everest and everywhere in between. Usually I would tend to get bored watching nature shows, but this one is different. I had recorded a bunch of episodes (usually Sunday nights at 8 and 9) and though tit would be something good to watch while I switched out my winter and summer clothes but I couldn't take my eyes off of it. The footage is just amazing. Truly makes you appreciate the planet and makes you really get that the world doesn't not revolve around us humans. If you have a high-def tv, watch it on Discovery HD! If not, it is still great! This coming Sunday they are doing a marathon on the Discovery Channel. Set the TiVo for it to catch up and prepare to be amazed.

Bodies: The Exhibition

I was very excited when I heard that the exhibit Bodies had come to DC. The last time I was in New York my friend wanted to go check it out down at the South Street Seaport and since most of her other friends had already seen it, I agreed to go - but I was very hesitant! Not only was I actually going to have to pay almost $30 (and coming from DC where most of the museums are free it took a lot of convincing) but the actual exhibit seemed a bit repulsive.

The exhibit is basically actual human bodies, which have been preserved and then dissected to show specific muscles, organs and systems. The thought brought me back to anatomy class in high school when we were dissecting cats and after a few days the smell became horrendous. But the exhibit turned out to be far from repulsive! In fact, it is the best exhibit I have been to. It was amazing! You can truly see everything in the body and how it works. The dissection technique is pretty cool too and how they were able to remove everything but the circulatory system still shocks me! I highly recommend this to anyone. It is well worth the trip to Rossyln and well worth the $26. You won't be sorry! It is truly fascinating and you will learn so much about your body.

The bodies were either unidentified people or were donated to science - all were acquired from a laboratory in China. But it begs the question - is this considered science?? My friend and I ended up debating this for awhile. Being put on display like this in a museum for all to see just doesn't seem like science to me. But go check it out yourself and let me know what you think!

Spring, oh Spring, Where for art thou Spring??

National Weather reports that 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected to fall late tonight into tomorrow morning. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 30's.

UGH!

fashion insult to injury

i'm sure you were all greatly relieved to hear of the release of the british sailors held captive by iran after their "apparent" invasion of iranian waters. the sailors took top press coverage on the front of at least 2 major us newspapers (the washington post and the ny times) and showed the captives smiling and waving to what is apparently a crowd in iran. one interesting point, for those with access to the hard copies, is that the post managed to crop out the 4 very surly looking sailors who belie the gracious and thankful attitude of the others waving and smiling, obviously relieved by their eminent freedom or feeling pressure to make nice with iranian officials lest they renege on their promise to release you (again).

my biggest beef with the iranian government is after all they put Faye Turney through did they really have to throw her in that chadwick-esque outfit while the men got decent (if ill-fitting) suits? i mean, its hard enough to pull off a head scarf without pairing it with a monstrous navy and red striped shirt three sizes too large. all in all i can't help but feel that iran was trying to send the statement visually that this woman had no place as a sailor with a career, but rather should be in her rightful position at home in her suburban housewife outfit (granted most housewives i know dress way better than that). i'll admit there are a few pictures of her looking more put together, but if going on the pictures alone seems too judgemental (maybe they're fashion challenged), let me reference the iranian president's own words, who "admonished london for sending a mother, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, on a dangerous mission in the persian gulf". seems to me they see women in the military as a no-no.

fashion, or at least style of dress, does matter, especially in commanding respect for a position and conveying a sense of dignity. and the fact that the iranians would deny a person that, while obviously bestowing that consideration on her peers of the opposite gender, is almost more annoying to me than their increasingly pompous and provoking propaganda of late.
and if this seems like a bit of overreaction, well, i did label this a rant :)