ONGOING: It's been nearly 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down and East and West Berlin became one city again. The Goethe-Institut reflects on the events of the last two decades with "Iconoclash! Political Imagery From the Berlin Wall to German Unification," an exhibition of objects that comment on, send up and celebrate this historic shift, including a bottle of no-doubt-delicious Leninade.
» Goethe-Institut, 812 7th St. NW; through Jan. 8, free; 202-289-1200. (Gallery Place)
Photo courtesy Wende Museum
THE WIGGLES ARE sometimes called the Fab Four of children's music. But Jeff Fatt — aka, the Purple Wiggle — said you're more likely to find the Australian band warming up with cover versions from another '60s Brit-pop combo.
"We might jam on some Rolling Stones numbers, or Booker T and the MGs," Fatt said. "More Stones than Beatles at sound check, or any of those classic '60s sorta thrash, sort of guitar-type bands. That was pretty well the style of music that The Cockroaches played in the '80s."
Fatt and Anthony Field played in the garage-rock group The Cockroaches, which took its name from the one used by the Rolling Stones when it played secret gigs, and released five albums before breaking up. Then Field, original Wiggles Murray Cook and Greg Page — since retired due to illness and replaced by Sam Moran — met while studying early childhood education, and they called Fatt in 1991 to help record an album for their university project.
"When Anthony asked me to play on this album of children's music, I thought I'd just go along and amuse him," Fatt said with a laugh. "It was a very throwaway sort of thing."
Now, 18 years and millions of dollars later The Wiggles are one of the most popular children's brands in the world, and their happy teaching music, TV, videos and books have encouraged the under-7 set to eat healthy, dance and read — a lot.
COULD WE HAVE a famous sibling for our very own?
It's unfortunate, but true — in this pop-culture-obsessed day and age, having a celebrity share your name basically means your very own ticket to notoriety, infamy, free swag, paparazzi and all that other good stuff. We don't mean the kind of privilege that allowed Robert Kennedy to rise up the political ranks or helped Roger Clinton get a pardon from his brother Bill in 2001. Instead, we're talking about the strictly entertainment-related benefits that fall into the laps of Hollywood's most-loved siblings.
And when teen starlets like Miley Cyrus are being named the "worst celeb influence" (a title given to her by 9- to 15-year-olds who voted on AOL's pop culture blog Just So You Know) it makes sense that her older half-brother, Trace Cyrus, is riding on those coattails as hard as he can. With pop-punk band Metro Station, the heavily tattooed Trace has teamed up with another "Hannah Montana" sibling —; Mason Musso, older brother of Mitchell Musso, who plays Oliver on the Disney show — to bring his synth-heavy sounds to the prepubescent masses.
Although their self-titled debut came out two years ago, Metro Station is still touring to promote it, and will open for Miley on Nov. 3 at her sold-out show at the Verizon Center. And in honor of Trace's fame-whoring, who are some of our other favorites in the less-talented, spotlight-stealing celebrity brothers and sisters realm?
We've got 'em rounded up, just for your snarky reading pleasure.
Continue Reading "Sibling Revivalry: Miley Cyrus' Bro & Other Celebrity Spawn" »
MONDAY: Bruce Springsteen is still working on his "Working on a Dream" tour, giving area Boss-heads plenty of opportunities this year to fill up their backstreets with his singular style of Americana. He's returning to Verizon Center tonight for the second show in 2009 (last time was in May), and he'll also appear up the road in Baltimore on Nov. 20 at 1st Mariner Arena. It's an I-95 tunnel of Springsteen love.
» RELATED: "Hard to Be a Saint: Bruce Springsteen's make-or-break moments" [Express, May 2009]
» RELATED: "Born to Write: Bruce Springsteen's Top 20 Character Studies" [Express, Jan. 2009]
» RELATED: "America's Troubadour: Bruce Springsteen, 'Working on a Dream'" [Express, May 2009]
» Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW; Mon., Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m., $32.50-$98; 202-397-7328. (Gallery Place)
Photo courtesy Columbia Records
THIS WEEKEND: Mission objective: Find something that is actually fun for both adults and kids over Halloween weekend. Your target: The International Spy Museum.
On Friday and Saturday, the museum will host events for kids during the day, including the launch of the new game CLUE: Secrets and Spies edition. Festivities will include visits from Special Agents Plum, Scarlet, Mustard and the rest of the game as well as a professional makeup artist who will teach incoming agents how to disguise themselves. Special Halloween treats will also be offered.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, adults can enjoy a special Halloween edition of the museum's Spy at Night event, which will include cocktails and tours through the Operation Spy exhibit, in which actors lead visitors through the museum and teach them the craft of spyhood. There will also be a costume contest on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Wear your costumes to the museum and you'll get a discount — 50 percent off admission to the museum and 25 percent off of the Spy Fright events and all store purchases.
» The International Spy Museum, 800 F St. NW; Fri., Oct. 30 - Sat., Oct. 31, $14-$20; 202-393-7798. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
Written by Express' Sarah Mimms
Photo courtesy International Spy Museum
THIS WEEK: This Day of the Dead has nothing to do with zombies. Well, very little.
It's customary in Mexico to honor the deceased by bringing their favorite food to an altar, and as usual, Oyamel is staying true to the holiday. They're decorating the place in traditional fashion — including an altar covered in candles and marigolds — and making food that would lure the dead from their graves.
Well, not really. Everyone knows that after death, we only crave braaaaaaaaaains.
A full menu of tasty tamales, butternut squash soup and avocado salad will be available only for this celebration. The restaurant is also brewing up a special cocktail of Plymouth Sloe gin, Presidente Mexican brandy, Green Chartreuse, lemon juice and an egg white, aptly named Sloe Dead Fizz.
» Oyamel, 401 7th St. NW; Mon., Oct. 26-Sun., Nov. 1; 202-628-1005. (Gallery Place)
Written by Express' Janice Leary
Photo courtesy Darko Zagar
WEDNESDAY: OK, so the "Emerging Cyber Threats" panel at the International Spy Museum will terrify you and cause you to go into a paranoid, password-changing frenzy. But not without good reason: Most of us aren't practicing safe social networking, after all. So stay informed — check out this panel of security experts discussing Internet threats to personal and national security. Then hide under the bed.
» International Spy Museum, 800 F St. NW; Wed., Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m., $15; 202-393-7798, Spymuseum.org. (Gallery Place)
Photo courtesy International Spy Museum
THERE'S A CERTAIN disappointment journalists get when we have to conduct an interview via e-mail. Questions must be worded precisely, there's no chance to follow up and there's always the chance that the interviewee isn't actually the person answering the questions.
But when I learned my interview with Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, the comedians behind "The State," "Stella," and, most recently, "Michael and Michael Have Issues," would need to occur through e-mail, I thought, "This might not be so bad, and hey, at least I won't have anything to transcribe."
You see, Black and Showalter are as good at writing as they are at performing — both wrote for "The State" and "Stella," and have written for other television shows. Showalter's big-screen debut was co-scripting frequent collaborator David Wain's cult classic, "Wet Hot American Summer," while Black penned "Run Fatboy Run" with Simon Pegg. And if you follow either of their Twitter feeds (@michaelianblack, @mshowalter), or the blogs on their Web sites, you know the two are sharp with the written word, no matter the character limit.
The duo will be in Washington on Oct. 28 as part of the their "Michael and Michael Have Tour," which is promoting the uncertain future of their Comedy Central series. In our e-mail conversation, Black discusses depression, Showalter talks about his ski sweater and both express their mutual love — ahem, admiration — for each other.
EXPRESS: This one's for Michael Ian Black: The blog posts you wrote on Oct. 14 and Oct. 17 about ticket sales slumping and battling with your own insecurities are quite revealing — are the problems you're having affecting your work at all?
BLACK: These problems ARE my work.
Continue Reading "Michael and Michael Have E-mail: Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter" »
YOU REALLY CAN fool some of the people all of the time. At least that's the premise that drives the new-millennial spin on Ben Jonson's "The Alchemist" currently being performed by the Shakespeare Theatre Company at Lansburgh Theatre.
The farcical action centers on a butler — Face (Michael Milligan) — who enlists two ethically challenged, disguise-loving pals Subtle (Davis Manis) and Dol Common (Kate Skinner), to charm and cheat the neighbors out their money, women and silverware. To do this, the trio impersonate characters from a decorated army captain (Face) to a cymbal-clanging hippie healer (Subtle).
Jonson knew that sending up hypocrites, preferably in funny costumes, makes even rogues look like heroes. So, in a Georgetown-esque townhouse scene, Face, Subtle and Dol proceed to trick everyone from a Donald Trump-like moneyman, Sir Epicure Mammon, to a revival-meeting preacher straight out of Fox news called Tribulation Wholesome.
» RELATED: "Lick It Up: Kiss' Top Six Double-Entendre Songs" [Express, Oct. 2009]
» RELATED: "Love at First Feel: AC/DC Live at Verizon Center" [Express, Oct. 2009]
BECAUSE I GOT into AC/DC after Kiss, I had already developed a heightened sense for sniffing out double entendres and testicle japes.
And unlike with the filthy Kiss tunes I walked around singing as a kid while being completely unaware of their meanings, I often had a pretty good idea what I was crooning with AC/DC — though I'm sure I didn't know "The Jack" was about V.D. until I conducted a much more scientific study of the band's lyrics.
With the ancient but forever childish AC/DC returning to Verizon Center tonight, I'm having my own personal tailgate by listening to the band's 10 most salacious songs, which are listed below. I only stopped at 10 because I need to get fitted for my schoolboy outfit. Please add to the filth in the comments; there are at least 20 more jams worthy of "Hustler's" letters section.
Continue Reading "Shake Your Foundations: AC/DC's Top 10 Salacious Songs" »
Addison Road