Reoccuring Roundup August 2011

Lego Architeture Exhbit's Chicago Spire Photo by Joevare

This is a round up the weekly reoccurring events, so you all are aware of what's going on.  Give them a look if you're bored on the appropriate day.  These aren't covered in our TWIGs, because... well they would saturate the non regular events.  And because I don't hate myself for having to type the same thing a billion times. :) 

Longer Term

• Art - Wicked - Washington, DC - Until the 21st
• Play about the book told from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West.  Painting her in not quote the awful light of the Wizard of Oz.  To a lot of people I've known, this was one of the few books that schools required or allowed to be read as part of an assignment that was actually good.  Check out the link for which days this is on specifically.
• Art - Lego Architecture - Washington, DC - all month
• An interesting art exhibit where all of the pieces are buildings from around the world... made of legos.  The mini creator in all of us should be giddy. 
• Geekish General - Ghost Tours: DC's Most Haunted Houses - Washington, DC - Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Tour of the most haunted houses in DC.  Considering the near obsession with ghosts and vampires and the like in modern sci/fi fantasy, checking this out and seeing where those stories are grounded should be an interesting experience.

Tuesday

• Gaming - Chantilly Miniatures Night - Chantilly, VA - 5:30 PM
• An interesting gaming group that gets together to play a variety of miniature games.  Usually games workshop games like Warhammer.

 Wednesday

• Gaming - Dead Man's Chess & Coffee - Vienna, VA - 7:00 PM
• Chess and coffee night at a local coffee house / art studio.

Thursday

•  General - Brains, Beers, & Battlestar Galatica - Washington, DC - 9:00 PM
• Trivia and drinking night.  Not actually about Battlestar, but a general nerd trivia night.

Friday

• General - Rock & Roll Spelling Buzz - Washington, DC - 6:00 PM
• Spelling Bee and drinking.  Yes, that will make the spelling part... or speaking part, slightly more difficult.  What, are you against a challenge?
• Gaming - NOVAG Game Night - Chantilly, VA - 7:00 PM
• Northern Virginia Gamers hosts a general gaming night where the games played change week by week. For the most part board games.
• Geekish General - Pirates of the Drunken Ferret - Silver Spring, MD - 7:30 PM
• The 'house band' for the Piratz Tavern performs every Friday night with pirate themed music, drinking shanties and all sorts of merriment.
• Art - Hirshorn After Hours - Washington, DC - 8:00 PM
• Sort of social drinking with art discussion / appreciation.  Think art nerd mingling scene.  Goes pretty late.
• Art - Belly Dancing with Rosie - Silver Spring, MD - 10:00 PM
• Piratz Tavern has a show with belly dancing by the wonderful Rosie every Friday after the Pirates of the Drunken Ferret are done performing.

Hellmouth Happy Hour.  Looks nothing like this.  (most certainly owned by Wheedon or the like)

Saturday

• General - Hellmouth Happy Hour - Washington, DC - 7:00 PM
• The watching of Whedonverse media combined with drink specials.  Really, who came up with this idea?  Evil.
• General - Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadowcast - Fairfax, VA - Midnight
• Ok, technically this is Sunday, but it doesn't count as Sunday until I sleep.  That's the rule.  A shadowcast performs Rocky live while we all enjoy it on the big screen.  Huge nerd tradition for ages.

More detailed information about these events and others on the DC Geeks Website. 

Do you know of awesome going on around the DC area?  Please let us know! Drop us a line here, or send an email to events at dc-geeks dot com with the scoop.  All of geekdom (nerdopolis?) will appreciate it and we'll all have even more awesome things to check out. :)

This Week in Geek 2011/08/01

Gen Con Vendors Hall, by 8one6

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week.  Mark your calendars.
Longer Terms

• Conventions - Gen Con Indy - Indianapolis, IN - Thursday to Sunday
• A very popular gaming convention(cross functioned into a lot of other types of conventions as well).  Lots of people end up going out to it for epic sized board and card gaming tournaments.  When I played Magic the Gathering more often this was THE place you went for tournaments.  If you like just about any form of gaming, checking it out would be awesome for you.

Monday

• Geekish General - Jim Butcher Signing of 'Ghost Story' - Mclean, VA - 7:00 PM
• Dresden Files is amazingly awesome.  Easily my favorite book series.  But... if you're starting new, Maybe try starting at book 4.  The first 3 are good, but on a different (lower) level than the rest of the series.  Jim Butcher is a very nice guy as well, met him at a smaller con in Western Virginia (Madicon).

Sunday

• Geekish General - Movies on the Potomac: Tron Legacy - Oxon Hill, VA - Dusk
• Giant inflatable movie screen showing Tron Legacy.  Which is a crazy non stop eye orgy.  Was a lot of fun, the plot was amazingly weak.  But the CGI, Dear God Man.

An exciting week! Get to it! Other weekly reoccurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours...). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.

NOVA Has a Serial Butt Stabber on the Loose

A reasonably factual re-enactment by ViralBus

You didn't hear me wrong.   There's a rash of gluteous maximus penetrations going on around Northern Virginia lately.  If the DC area wasn't weird enough before.
So let me get this straight.  Someone thought it would be fun to walk into a mall with a box cutter and just lightly stab a random stranger?  I... I'm confused by even the very nature of this crime.  Bank robbing, ok I get, it's sexy seeming, Bonnie & Clyde and all.  But(no joke), why would you want a little poke and walk away.

Ok, I'm stopping there before I dig myself into a hole I won't be able to climb out of.

So be careful.  All jokes aside, that's pretty messed up.  I'll give this all of 5 minutes before 4chan makes it into a meme.

Here's the basics:

In the most recent attack, an 18-year-old woman was shopping at Forever 21 inside the Fair Oaks Mall at 5:30 p.m. Monday when she was distracted by clothing falling over. She told police that she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her butt and realized she'd been cut through her denim shorts with a box cutter or razor.

The atttacks began in February. In each attack, the victims have been women in their late teens or early 20s at retail stores. In each case, the stabbing follows some sort of distraction.

via NBC Washington

This Week in Geek 2011/07/25

Otakon! by stbjr

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week.  Mark your calendars.

Longer Term

• Conventions - Otakon - Baltimore, MD - Friday to Sunday
• Major anime convention for this area.  One of our two primary conventions that are within the dc influence area (with Katsucon).  Worth checking out, even if you aren't so into anime, if not just for the costumery and being around that many geeks that are so passionately into their art as many of us are.  If you go, let us know by commenting links to pictures.  Always good to see.

Thursday

• Gaming - Angry Birds Tournament Part 3 - Arlington, VA - 4:00 PM
• Continuation of the same tournament from previous weeks. But angrier.  And birdier.

Saturday

• Music - Protomen and Friends - Baltimore, MD - 4:00 PM
• Huge nerd concert.  Nerdy nerdy nerd nerd.  Main band is the Protomen.  Known for making Megaman based concept albums (Act II, their second album I loved, and was based on the story of Dr. Light creating robots in the first place, basically him screwing over the world by creating a tool that Dr. Wily could use to wage war on humanity).  Many of the rest of the bands that will be there are also mega man and/or video game themed.  The ones that are not are still so heavily dripping of nerd that you might want to bring a towel.
• Art - Art Carnage - Vienna, VA - 8:00 PM
• The bizarre menagerie that is always Art Carnage.  Lots of artists, musicians, comedians, and people that appreciate all of the above come out for the vendors, coffee and performances.  It's a lot of fun, even if you only stop by for an hour or so.

Sunday

• Gaming - Gamers Brunch - Silver Spring, MD - 12:00 PM
• Buffet at noon, Happy hour at 4.  Gaming all day.
• Geekish General - Movies on the Potomac: How to Train Your Dragon - Oxon Hill, MD - Dusk
• A good movie on a blow up movie screen.  I've heard nothing but good things about this movie. And once again I'm being a bad nerd by not having actually seen it already.

An exciting week! Get to it! Other weekly reoccurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours...). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.

Captain Freedom and the Capital Fringe Festival

(images from the awesome people at capfringe.org)

The Capital Fringe Festival is a pretty cool idea. The event, which has run since 2006, focuses on serving up a selection of contemporary performing arts and music acts with a heavy focus on artistic freedom, low ticket prices, and original material. Fort Fringe, the epicenter of this annual performing arts festival, squats quietly on a side street merely two blocks away from the Mt Vernon Square/ 7th Street Convention Center Metro station, within spitting distance of K Street and all the associated money that involves.

Some forewarning for those inclined to make an evening out of a Capital Fringe show: Most of the dining options in the area are not cheap. Most restaurants nearby cater to the three-martini lunch crowd inhabiting the nearby offices. However, the folks running the festival have done attendees the favor of hosting a pleasant little tent bar in a parking lot near Fort Fringe with cheap and serviceable food and drinks – a good choice for those less inclined to spend $50 a head on dinner before a show. Comers may avail themselves of three-dollar cans of Stella Artois at their own risk.

The venue for the show I attended, the Redrum, is pretty much a typical shared art space. It is arty and spacious. Features include a slightly raised platform for your stagey needs, chairs for your sitting convenience, and not much else. Festival performances tend to be minimalist in design. The play itself was put on by a skeleton crew of six players (audio and lighting guru included), and contained all the heart and love you would imagine from true believers in the idea of live theatre.

Captain Freedom is a biographical journey through the life and times of its titular protagonist – a professional superhero more concerned with the celebrity and wealth that a heroing career can bring than petty morality. Those familiar with the movie The Specials will quickly understand the play's approach towards superheroes as beings that are not just super-powerful, but super-flawed. Our fearless Captain highlights the hitches, bumps, finagling, and dirty deals that made him the hero he was.

The show manages to be highly topical with plenty quips on politics, references to current events, and the usual old saws about inside-the-beltway life that seem to be sure-fire crowd-pleasers. Yes, some of the jokes are old hat, but overall, the performance was thoughtful and entertaining, and boasted a plethora of special touches that made the night a memorable experience for magnanimous humor lovers as well as nasty-minded cynics like myself.

The Capital Fringe Festival will continue to host performances until this coming Sunday. Captain Freedom's last festival performance will be on Friday, July 22 at 10:45PM. Kindly visit the festival website for information on shows and tickets.

This Week in Geek 2011/07/18

Promo photo by Phunked-up! Photos

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week.  Mark your calendars.

Longer Term

• Conventions - Comic Con - Thursday to Sunday
• Pretty much one of the major geek conventions each year for the US.  All sorts of companies come out, not all directly related to comics either.  Lots of big reveals.  Lots of protesting for nerd centric topics.  This year the main one I've heard about is the DC Comics reimagining their entire product line.  Big stuff.  Imagine some very pissed off Batmans(Batmen?).
• Comedy - Lizz Winstead - Arlington, VA - Friday to Saturday
• Well known as one of The Daily Show's correspondants.  Lizz is making a tour of different comedy clubs.  Currently producing, writing, and starring in the Wake Up World show.

Thursday

• Gaming - Angry Birds Tournament Part II - 4:00 PM
• Part two of the Angry Birds tournament that we covered before.  It's crazy. They are angry.  I hope this is something that people dress up for.  There's not much funnier than dressing up for Angry Birds.

Saturday

• Comedy - Tim Minchin - Washington, DC - 8:00 PM
• I know I keep stating things about my favorite comedians.  This is another on the list.  Really this isn't because I say this all the time, this is just a good year for comedy in DC.  Tim Minchin has done some awesome sketches / songs featured on a variety of programs.  If you haven't heard of him before check out the links.  Either way you should check him out in concert.

An exciting week! Get to it! Other weekly reoccurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours...). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.

This Week in Geek 2011/07/11

The Second City from Arlington Cinema Drafthouse

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week.  Mark your calendars.

Longer Term

• Geekish General - AMC's Harry Potter Marathon - Varies - Monday to Thursday
• Haarrrrrrry Potttttter.  Dress up, Geek out.  Bring in the new Harry Potter movie the right way.  With other nerds who are just as obsessed with this as you are.
• Comedy - The Second City: Fair and Unbalanced - Arlington, VA - Friday to Saturday
• Lots of interesting improve comedy splashed with topical current events references.  Another interesting troupe from Chicago.

Monday

• Art - Clown Cabaret - Washington, DC - 8:00 PM
• Another show by our local dc clown troupe who is don't anything but clowning around... except... that they are clowning around.
• Gaming - DCGN Dominion Tournament II - Online - 8:00 PM
• Man I love me some Dominion.  Probably one of my favorite board games.  Might be doing this as well.  Cause, I'm gonna bring it.  But not like a cheerleader.

Thursday

• Gaming - Angry Birds Tournament - Arlington, VA, 4:00 PM
• Oh shit!  If you have a smart phone(no Blackberry does not count) then you've played the Birds that are Angry game.  Compare your skill at this atrocious time waster to other local Washingtonians.

Friday

• Gaming - Small World Tournament - Dulles, VA - 7:00 PM
• Ok, small world is a lot of fun.  What's going on with all of these tournaments this week.  I'm declaring this week to be TOURNAMENTATHON.  Where if you feel like it, you can be nerding it up in tournaments almost every day.  Outside of a con at that!  Small world is a lot of fun.  A strange board control... sort of conquest game.  If you're into it, I'd check this out.

Sunday

• Geekish General - Movies on the Potomac: Despicible Me - Oxon Hill, MD - Dusk
• I've heard nothing but good things about this movie, although I haven't seen it yet.  If I happen to be in town Sunday night I wouldn't be surprised if I go check it out.  Can't go wrong with a large outdoor movie night on an inflatable screen anyway.  Unless it blows away... or lands on you.

An exciting week! Get to it! Other weekly reoccurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours...). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.

Space Sunday

Photo by FlyingSinger

There was a rocket that was meant to leave from Atlantic, VA yesterday that got delayed to today(might be fun to watch if you are near by there).

A company in Tyson's Corner(Space Adventures) is offering a services to get into the outer orbit.  

I thought that space was more or less done.  I mean  done done.  Then again if you have $50 million laying around I have a few other ideas that you could do with that money.  Saylinemygamingroomwithgoldandblingandthings.

Maybe we're getting closer to finally putting up a space station that normal people can visit... or a space elevator.  There are a lot of crazy things that many of us want to do, that would absolutely require space travel not be just the play thing of the rich.  The future, as always, is nerdy and exciting.

Then again, a teleporter would be nice too.  Scratch the space thing and begin working on that.  Stat.

via 9 News Now and NBC

Angry Birds Tournament Comes to Arlington

Angry Birds Game by V 2

Ok, I know Angry Birds is fun and all, but... this may be a step too far.  I'm sure many of you have heard of the Guitar Hero tournaments (all of which must have dried up recently, I haven't heard of any this year.  Drop a comment if you know where any are going down around DC).  But Angry Birds?  Doesn't seem like it leans itself heavily in the multiplayer tournament direction.  Then again, if you can have Pacman tournaments... or Super Mario Bros. tournaments(why did I link this, I just watched this whole scene, 10 minutes I'm not getting back)...  Hmm.  If you end up checking this out let me know, I'm really rather curious about it.

Anyhow, here's most of the details regarding the tournament.  Check it out.

If you thought Angry Birds was a game that one only plays alone while killing time on the Metro, think again. A local hotel is turning the popular puzzle video game into a full-fledged, multi-day tournament.

The new Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Crystal City (2800 S. Potomac Avenue) will be hosting “Angry Hours” — a weekly series of live Angry Bird tournaments — every Thursday from July 14 to Aug. 25.

via DistrictGeek via ArlNow

Review: Axis of Awesome Show

The Awesomvirate from Axis of Awesome

Straight out of Sydney, the Axis of Awesome bursts into stage for American audiences.  This is more proof of geek culture joining the mainstream.  Not in a bad way mind you.  Not like M. Night Shamealot's The Last Airbender.  This band is pretty much covered in medals and accolades from Austrialia, it's pretty cool they were able to make it up for an American tour.  The crowd at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse was very excited and the house was packed (and buzzed, it is a drafthouse after all).

Look, like most people there I had heard their 4 chords song.  While I love that song I wasn't sure that was going to be enough to sustain my entertainment throughout the entirety of the concert.  Man was I wrong.  I need to wear a t-shirt that says "this dude is wrong".  I expect that shirt waiting for me back at Castle DCGeekia.  There weren't really any portions of the concert itself that were weaker than others.  The bits they performed between songs played perfectly off each other.  Lots of fun self deprecating humor.  Comedy about how they are Austrialian.  Some good old fashioned anti-Canadian humor.  I mean it had just about everything.  What's up with all this Canadia hate anyhow?  Do you think it's a hang over from the French and Indian War?  Yeah, probably.

Watching their performance showed obviously not just how long the three of them have been working together, but how well they queue off each others performances.  The show felt like a pretty normal music / music comedy show (funny music anyone?) with these awesome pauses in between the music where the band would begin these pseudo casual conversations, half between themselves and half with the crowd.  It somehow felt incredibly casual, like you were sitting with them in a coffee shop or living room, yet polished like the fine comedic routine that it was.  Yes, the lead singer looks a lot like Jack Black, I kept thinking this to myself throughout the entire performance.  I was pretty shocked when as I was about to convince myself that it was just me that saw this, he goes into a bit about how he's tired of people telling him how much he resembles Mr. Black (hmm ok in this case not a Reservoir Dog, dear god, I keep forgetting Tim Roth was one).  Then goes into a song about it.  I should hate them for reading my mind like that.

In addition to everything else the entire performance was rife with nerd references.  I mean packed end to end.  I'm not even going to begin trying to list references because I would just be handing you the script for their entire show.  Looking around the crowd people were rocking woot and threadless shirts, plus the scruffy Dick Van Dyke, both key signs that you are in a nerd heavy zone.  It was especially heavy on the internet culture references.  I'm only half surprised they didn't get into making All Your Base jokes.

There were a couple of huge selling points for me on this show.  The large volume and smoothness of delivery of nerd references.  The awesome interpersonal interaction between the band members.  The self deprecating humor (ie Jack Black reference and a few others).  I really enjoyed this concert, honestly, a lot more than I thought I would going into this.  I didn't know a whole lot about them before hand and now it's obvious I was doing myself a disservice by now keeping them on my radar.  Well worth attending and their music is well worth listening to.

National Pinball Museum Doors to Remain Open



Photo by Philip

 Ok, time to admit a piece of sadness here.  I had never heard of the National Pinball Museum until I read this piece of news.  Now I have to make a point to go and visit it.  While I'm not crazy big into pinball, I recognize this is an important party of nerd history.  Sort of like visiting the Natural History of Geek museum, or the closest we have.

Thanks to some working with the property management company of the location they are leasing space from, it looks like the National Pinball Museum will remain open without interruption.  At least until they can find some place to be on a more permanent basis.

While the National Pinball Museum looks for a new, permanent home, patrons will still be able to stay and play for reduced rates. That hopefully means a winning tourist season for the museum, but Huskey has also seen a lot more District residents lately. "Locals were coming out in droves, which has been a really great thing because the museum, for all we know, will not be here in the state it is in now [after September]," she says.

via TBD via Washington City Paper

This Week In Geek 2011/07/04

Play! a Video Game Symphony

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week.  Mark your calendars.

Longer Term

• Conventions - Dexcon 14 - Morristown, NJ - Wednesday to Sunday
• Awesome gaming convention run by some interesting folk.  The PST larp that they do just about every year is phenomenal. It's like a LARP vacation.  When I've gone before I've spent a lot of time Cthulhu LARPing and board gaming.  Good stuff.
• Festivals - Smithsonian Folklife Festival - Washington, DC - Friday to Sunday
• It's back again for week two.  Ok, this week I'm going to talk about some of the dancing stuff I've heard about for this event.  Not a good example from this year, but here is some video from a folklife a few years ago.  Good example of the quality you can expect.

Monday

• Geekish General - Steve Martin @ the Fourth of July Celebration - Washington, DC - Duskish
• Steve Martin doing Banjo.  Yes, if you are a fan of Steve Martin comedy, you will understand how awesome this is.  Don't ask that question you are thinking.  If you are planning on being at the main 4th of July celebration, make sure you are paying attention to this part.

Friday

• Music - PLAY!  A Video Game Symphony - Vienna, VA - 8:30 PM
• An awesome video game music concert where they take popular video games with interesting music, then recreate the music using an orchestra.  Worth seeing if you haven't before.

Saturday

• Music - Jonah Knight @ Epicure - Fairfax, VA - 8:00 PM
• Fantastic local Filk musician.  Definitely check out his stuff / see him play at Epicure.  We did an interview with him not too long ago.  Check out the Pirate Song if you need any more convincing.
• Art - Rocky Horror - Fairfax, VA - Midnight (techncially sunday, but hey)
• Time to watch other nerds dress up as characters from a movie and act it out as we play our parts and yell at the screen.  Always good.

Sunday

• Art - Movies on the Potomac: Megamind - Oxon Hill, MD - Dusk
• Will Ferrell, super heroes, Superman symbology, cartoon violence.  Basically a fun time.  Man, I really need to see this movie.  Might have to go just to see it.

An exciting week! Get to it! Other weekly reoccurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours...). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.

Jugger or Geeks are Crazy

Monkeyhead and Strife saluting at the start of a match

Ok, whoever thought it was a good idea to imitate the death sport from the 80's movie, The Blood of Heroes, was out of their mind.  And a genius.  Wrapped up into one crazy sports mad scientist.  We'll call him Phil.  So I'm pretty sure this is Phil's fault.  High five Phil.

Jugger is a sport I would call a combination of ... rugby and boffer LARPs.  You try to beat each other with padded weapons while scoring points by putting a ball onto a sawed off safety cone.

Rules basically are if you're hit with the business end of a weapon on a limb, you pretend like that limb is dead, if you're hit in the main body mass/head or lose two limbs, you're incapacitated for the count of 4 stones.  Oh, that's right, there someone on the side line throwing stones from a barrel at a street sign to keep count for this.  Each round (of which there are 3) consists of 100 stones.  What crazy magic is this?!?

Pause in the action with the stones road sign.

Yes, that's a rope flail the goalie like players have. Look, if you want to see a full set of rules for this think, check this out.

Let me tell you this.  My friends.  My enemies.  That kid from across the street staring into my window (wait... is that my wallet you have there?).  JUGGER IS AWESOME.

If my head wasn't Edgar Allen Poe sized I would have run out there and played with them.  I'm sad that I couldn't.  Everyone left the field amazingly bruised, covered in sweat, and completely satisfied.  It seems to scratch that intense and deep itch that many of us have for the utterly ridiculous, running around like a 5 year old, and hitting your friends in such a way that they don't die from it.

An Enforcer performing an awesome block against a Chain.

So this is when I was visiting some friends out in St. Louis last week, where they had a league at some point. (Competitive Underground Jugger League or C.U.J.L., shout out to Party Hard Corps)  Why don't we have a league for this out here?  Are we just not nutty enough?  If someone ends up organizing that, let me know, I'll come out in a heartbeat and take some shots / cheer you on.  We need more extreme geek sports. Makes me wish we had a Quidditch league around here as well...

Reoccuring Roundup July 2011

This is a round up the weekly reoccurring events, so you all are aware of what's going on.  Give them a look if you're bored on the appropriate day.  These aren't covered in our TWIGs, because... well they would saturate the non regular events.  And because I don't hate myself for having to type the same thing a billion times. :) 

Longer Term

• Art - Wicked - Washington, DC - For most of the month
• Play about the book told from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West.  Painting her in not quote the awful light of the Wizard of Oz.  To a lot of people I've known, this was one of the few books that schools required or allowed to be read as part of an assignment that was actually good.  Check out the link for which days this is on specifically.
• Art - Lego Architecture - Washington, DC - 3rd through the end of the month(and beyond)
• An interesting art exhibit where all of the pieces are buildings from around the world... made of legos.  The mini creator in all of us should be giddy. 
• Art - Fringe Festival - Washington, DC - 7th through the 24th
• There is an ASTOUNDINGLY huge list of fringe culture related activities going on during the month.  I'm having a very hard time choosing what to go to myself.  Check out the list, it's kinda crazy.
• Geekish General - Ghost Tours: DC's Most Haunted Houses - Washington, DC - Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Tour of the most haunted houses in DC.  Considering the near obsession with ghosts and vampires and the like in modern sci/fi fantasy, checking this out and seeing where those stories are grounded should be an interesting experience.