As the weather gives a preview to what spring feels like, what better than to get into the spring fever by surrounding yourself with hundreds of exotic butterflies!? And since the recession is still beating some of us up, why pay money? Visit the National Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Pavilion on Tuesday and get in FREE to witness some of the world's most exotic butterflies as they whiz past your face, if not land on it!

If you can't make it on Tuesdays, the exhibit is only $6 [or less for seniors, children, members and groups of 10 or more] for adults.

Check out the Butterfly Species Finder for a preview of what's in store.

GASLAND (USA, 2010, 107 min.)

"The rare example of cinema art that is also an organizing tool, the pic has a level of research, gutsiness and energy that should generate sensational response everywhere it plays...if a film can ever enact social change, which is rare, the potency of GasLand suggests that this may be that film." - Robert Koehler, Variety

It is happening all across America — rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Why? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground — a hydraulic drilling process called “fracking” — and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming a natural gas superpower. But what comes out of the ground with that “natural” gas? How does it affect our air and drinking water? GasLand is a powerful personal documentary that confronts these questions with strength and a sense of humor.

When filmmaker Josh Fox receives a cash offer in the mail to sell his own property for gas extraction, he travels across 32 states to meet other rural residents on the front lines of fracking. He discovers toxic streams, ruined aquifers, dying livestock, brutal illnesses and kitchen sinks that burst into flame. He learns that all water is connected and perhaps some things are more valuable than money. Directed by Josh Fox. Produced by Trish Adlesic, Josh Fox and Molly Gandour. Winner, Special Jury Prize, 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Washington, D.C. Premiere
Discussion with filmmaker Josh Fox follows screening.

FREE
7:00 pm
Carnegie Institution for Science, Elihu Root Auditorium
1530 P St., NW (Dupont Circle Mertro)

The 2010 Festival explores the vital connections between food and the environment. What we eat is essential to our health and wellbeing; how food is produced and transported to our tables affects the condition of our planet. Starting from the ground up, Dirt! The Movie and Soil in Good Heart focus on earth’s most underrated source of fertility and its key role in creating nourishing food. Our pre-Festival screening for D.C. public and charter school students, What’s On Your Plate? investigates the sources of our food while Lunch looks specifically at school food programs. Food Fight traces the birth of the country’s sustainable organic food movement in California during the 1960s, led by Alice Waters. Fresh and Ingredients celebrate today’s farmers, chefs and business people who are creating a new food culture in America. Terra Madre highlights the contributions of Italy’s Slow Food movement and HomeGrown spotlights an urban family farm in Pasadena, California. Nora! profiles Washington restaurateur, Nora Pouillon, founder of the nation’s first certified organic restaurant. Find out more about the over 150 or so films.

World Premiere of "Senegal: The President's Tour"
Featuring His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade President of the Republic of Senegal & Mr. Tiki Barber, Television Correspondent
6:00 pm Monday, March 22, 2010

The World Bank
Preston Auditorium
1818 H St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Metro: Farragut West

RSVP: marieme@africasummit.org or call (202) 232-3862 by March 19, 2010.

Presidential Tours of Africa Series
The Presidential Tours of Africa are a series of comprehensive films that highlight African countries and follow their Heads of State as they take viewers on an in-depth tour. The Africa Society in partnership with the Travel Channel began its Presidential Tours of Africa Series in 2003 with the premiere of "Uganda: The Presidential Tour," led by President Kaguta Museveni. After the success of this film, the series went on to feature Ghana in 2005 and Botswana in 2008. The third and most recent film in the series, "Botswana: The President's Tour," premiered in August 2008 at The World Bank and featured former President Festus G. Mogae, who later received the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Award for Achievement in African Leadership.

These groundbreaking films have reached over 180 million households with positive and accurate images of Africa, showcasing each nation's unique tourist attractions, natural wonders, industry, and modernity. These positive images of Africa promote tourism and combat the pervasive negative stereotypes that continue to plague the continent.

As the weather gives a preview to what spring feels like, what better than to get into the spring fever by surrounding yourself with hundreds of exotic butterflies!? And since the recession is still beating some of us up, why pay money? Visit the National Museum of Natural History's Butterfly Pavilion on Tuesday and get in FREE to witness some of the world's most exotic butterflies as they whiz past your face, if not land on it!

If you can't make it on Tuesdays, the exhibit is only $6 [or less for seniors, children, members and groups of 10 or more] for adults.

Check out the Butterfly Species Finder for a preview of what's in store.

It seems every day there's something going on in Washington, DC, and always a special deal to take advantage of. But finding those deals sometimes is hit or miss. How many times have I heard about a special the day after the deadline to get it!? Now you can get an email every day [or two] with the deal of the day and by signing up for free to receive the specials, a dollar will be donated to one of three charities.

The way What's the Deal works is they go out and negotiate discounts with area businesses. Once they finalize a special, they email out and post the deal for people to take advantage of it. All we have to do is click the "Deal Me In" button on their website and enter our billing information. We're then only billed once the minimum number of purchasers are met for the special. We then receive the coupon via email, and we're good to go.

So obviously, the more people who subscribe to the email list, the better the odds we'll see bterr specials. And of course the more money is donated to either Martha's Table, Food and Friends or Fashion for Paws.

Sally Berk, a Washington preservationist, will give a guided tour of the exhibition she co-curated with Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, Celebrating a Century of Wardman Row-House Neighborhoods. This exhibit recounts the story of real-estate mogul Harry Wardman, who claimed in 1925 that he housed 10% of Washington’s population. The critical role he played, not only in the development of the Bloomingdale, Columbia Heights, and Brightwood — three row-house neighborhoods that were built along major streetcar lines in the early years of the 20th century — but in the constituent city as a whole, is told with historic photographs, maps, and advertisements; architectural floor plans and elevations; and the faces and voices of current residents. (The exhibit was sponsored by the DC Preservation League and funded in part by the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C.)

Meet at the entrance to the Kiplinger Library located on the second level of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. (Suitable for all ages) No RSVP required. FREE

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 21

Join HSW for a second guided tour of one the most unique buildings in the Sixteenth Street Historic District, the Temple of the Scottish Rite at 1733 16th Street. The building, designed by John Russell Pope, who also designed the National Archives and the Jefferson Memorial, was constructed between 1911 and 1915. It was built to headquarter the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the 33rd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry.

Meet for the tour inside the entrance by 2:15 p.m. The Scottish Rite Temple is located at 1733 16th St., NW, between R and S Streets. Metro stop: Dupont Circle. RSVP at 202-383 1828 or RSVP@ historydc.org (Ages 12 to Adults).

FREE - 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 19.

From: Robin Diener, president@dupont-circle.org

Please join us to hear Susan C. Piedmont-Palladino speak about the significance of Dupont Circle as an urban green space. Monday, November 2, 7:30 p.m., at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1772 Church Street, NW.

Susan serves as a curator to the National Building Museum and is also an architect and Professor of Architecture at Virginia Tech's Washington/Alexandria Architecture Consortium (WAAC), the College's urban campus. She received her Master of Architecture from Virginia Tech and her Bachelor of Arts in the History of Art from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Before joining Virginia Tech, she taught at the University of Maryland and the Catholic University of America.

Susan is the former national president of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, served on the design committee for the National Peace Garden Foundation, and has been a consultant to the Department of Energy for the Solar Decathlon.

Light refreshments will follow the meeting.

Opening - Friday, Nov. 6, 6-8 pm

The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery
1632 U Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
smithfarm.com/gallery
(202) 483-8600

Please join us in launching our Fotoweek event as we present the Mexican Photographer, Dulce Pinzon's series, "The Story of the Real Superheroes" (dulcepinzon.com/superheroes.htm), which satirically documents Latino immigrants in New York City, working in their mundane environments donning superhero costumes. In doing so, Pinzon raises questions of both Americans' definition of heroism and ignorance of and indifference to the workforce that fuels the ever-consuming US economy. Refreshments and snacks will be provided.

The opening is co-sponsored by the Mexican Cultural Institute

FREE and Open to the public

Author's talk - Abigail Adams by Woody Holton

Be the first to hear Woody Holton, associate professor of history and American studies at the University of Richmond, discuss and sign copies of his recent biography of Abigail Adams the day before it is published. The life story of the charismatic, politically engaged and financially savvy Adams-most often remembered through her letters-is an epic yet intimate narrative spanning seven decades from colonial Massachusetts, through the American Revolution, to presidential politics and retirement. She was the first First Lady to preside over the White House-completed in 1800 and then known as the President's House. Using previously overlooked documents, Holton presents a vivid account of how Adams' behind-the-scenes influence shaped critical events in the early history of the United States.

Holton's Abigail Adams has been praised as a "bounty of fine-grained social history" and a "feast of language." Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, calls Abigail Adams "a must-read book for understanding the founding of our nation."

Copies of the book will be on sale at the event provided by Politics & Prose of Washington, D.C.

» Click Below to Continue Reading:
'Author's talk - Abigail Adams by Woody Holton'

The Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians proudly presents:

"What's New in What We Know About the Smithsonian's Arts & Industries Building"

Five years ago, Cynthia Field thought she told us everything there was to know about Adolf Cluss and his fascinating masterwork, the Smithsonian's Arts & Industries Building. That was then, and this is now. Join us to hear from Dr. Field and the Smithsonian team who have been studying the building in ever greater detail. They will present findings so new they have only just been learned using sophisticated analyses as well as old fashioned research.

» Click Below to Continue Reading:
'What's New in What We Know About the Smithsonian's Arts & Industries Building'

DC Preservation League's Holmead Village Row-House Walking Tour

Real-estate mogul Harry Wardman built 3,000 row houses in Washington between 1898 and 1938. Walk through Holmead Village, 1907-1911, the largest tract of houses to be built in Washington until that time and the development that instituted front-porch row-houses as the predominant free-standing house type in Washington for the next three decades. Tour will be lead by Sally Berk.

Free to Citywide Conference attendees. $15 for DCPL Members. $20 for Non-Members. Space is limited! Up to 25 participants!

3301 14th Street, NW
Tivoli Theater
12:00pm - 2:00pm on Sunday, November 8

To make a reservation or for more information contact Amanda at DCPL by phone at (202) 783.5144 or by email at rsvp@dcpreservation.org. Visit dcpreservation.org for more information about the DC Preservation League.

Special Sinners and Scoundrels Tour
Saturday, October 31, 2009 (11:00am, 11:30am)

Free Admission

Which cemetery resident haunts the Capitol Dome?

Who was famous for levitating grand pianos?

And who was invited to dinner…as the main course?

Learn the scandalous, sinful, and supernatural side of Congressional Cemetery on this new tour.

Call 202-543-0539 or email staff@congressionalcemetery.org for more information.

Rebecca Roberts

Come to the CPHS Fall House Tour - this year's tour will feature the NCRC school building and seven noteworthy homes located on
Highland Place and Newark Street in the heart of Cleveland Park.

Date: Sunday, November 1st, from 1pm to 4pm

Tickets: Advance purchase prices: $25 per ticket for CPHS members; $30 per ticket for CPHS non-members. On the day of the tour, tickets may be purchased at NCRC (National Child Research Center, 3209 Highland Place). All ticket prices are $30 on the day of the Tour; no member discounts. Only a limited number of tickets are available, so get your tickets now!

To purchase tickets in advance, please send your check payable to CPHS to:
CPHS
P.O. Box 4862
Washington, DC 20008

For additional information on tickets, please email: staff@clevelandparkhistoricalsociety.org or call (202) 237-2538

Additionally, we still need docents for the tour. If you are interested in volunteering for a two hour shift, please contact me directly at: booladc79@yahoo.com.

See you on the 1st!

Gwen Wright
CPHS Boardmember

Smile. FotoWeek DC is back. Our annual competition has just closed, after receiving thousands of amazing entries. As for the rest of the celebration, now just around the corner, it's going to be even bigger and better this year, filled with powerful international exhibitions, thought provoking lectures, and, of course, the chance to have your own portfolio critiqued by experts. In short, FotoWeek DC - a non-profit organization - has planned a total photographic immersion, featuring the latest in documentary, fine art, and every genre of photography - and feel free to overindulge, because most of these events are free.

The date is November 7th - 14th and the place is all around the city, from our nation's prestigious museums and institutions to embassies, cutting edge galleries, and even public schools. So browse on to find out more about our schedule — and start planning yours.

From the DC Latin American Film Showcase:

“Tradition”, “Diversity” and “Renewal” might be the best terms one can use to describe the essence of more than thirty films presented in this Latin Film Showcase organized by the Ibero-American Cultural Attachés Association, which will be free and open to all in the Washington DC metropolitan area. This event showcases films from almost twenty countries, and in its diversity brings together contemporary classics such as La gente de la Universal (Colombia, 1993) and El hijo de la novia (Argentina, 2001), as well as new and surprising examples like La Nana (Chile, 2009) and Juventude (Brazil, 2008). Besides this wide variety of tendencies, documentaries from Spain and Latin American countries are also highlighted, such as El honor de las injurias (Spain, 2007) and the highly acclaimed Cocalero (Bolivia, 2007).

» Click Below to Continue Reading:
'DC Latin American Film Showcase'

Filene's Basement is celebrating its 100th anniversary by giving away $10 gift cards to the first 100 people entering the store tomorrow!

For those of you in the Washington, DC, area, here's something different to do, especially if you're an early riser [see Betty Morrison]. Out in the boonies at 5:00 am there's a hot air balloon event going on. I got the information from a photography meetup group, but I'm sure anyone can go. It's actually a hot air balloon and wine festival for those who know their wines. And if you're recession-resistant, You can even go for a hot air balloon ride for a mere $250 per person.

» Click Below to Continue Reading:
'Now This Is How You Get High'

When Bobby Cato first sent me the link, I glanced at the site and thought it was just another club/bar/lounge that opened here in Washington, DC, and I figured I'd visit the site again later to see why Cato would send me a link to another club/bar/lounge that opened here in Washington, DC. Then the Going Out Gurus of the Washington Post did a write up, and now I see why this isn't just another club/bar/lounge that opened here in Washington, DC.

Golf isn't really my thing [I've yet to even swing a real golf club], but growing up in Fayetteville, NC, Putt-Putt was pretty popular [the company Putt-Putt was founded by Don Clayton, a Fayetteville, NC, native, for those who just had to know] since there was nothing else to do other than walk around Cross Creek Mall. And H Street Country Club take miniature golf and puts a local spin to it. Where else are you going to find Ben's Chili Bowl on the first hole?