DC Filmmakers Meetup Sept 29

The first meetup of DC Professional Digital Filmmakers is on Sept 29 at 7pm. The meeting at the West End Library was set up by Peter Estrada, who is putting together a professional team of digital filmmakers with the goal of producing independent short films:

"We are recruiting for the right combination of talent, experience, passion and training; Cinematographers, Writers, Actors, Audio Engineers, Lighting Gaffers, Grips, Audio Designers and other Digital Artists that want to join a team of serious filmmakers."

The film making community in the NoVa/DC area is pretty small, so this is a great opportunity for local film makers or recent graduates to network.

BYT Ticket Giveaway: True Womanhood & Deleted Scenes

Quick! Leave a comment here today and give yourself a chance to win free tickets to the True Womanhood show tomorrow night. Brightest Young Things is going to choose one of the comments on that page to get a pair of tickets saving you $20.

TW is playing with local sensation Deleted Scenes Thursday night at the Black Cat.

Last time TW performed at the back stage of Black Cat I had a great time, and am looking forward to their show tomorrow!

VA Homebrewers @ Sweetwater

The local Virginia Homebrewers group is having their first meetup tonight. They will be trading beer recipes and secrets at 7pm at the amazing Sweetwater Tavern in Centerville.

"This group is for those beer lovers who want to go beyond just drinking beer, but creating beer. A meetup to share recipes, techniques, but most of all homebrewed beer. Whether you are a wheat beer lover or a Irish stout drinker, this group welcomes all those who want to dabble in homebrewing."

DC Rollergirls @ Rocket Bar

Tonight the DC Rollergirls were hanging out at famous and wonderful local dive Rocket Bar.

They were raising money for their Eastern Regionals in Carolina by selling $3 shooters or challenges at pool or arm wrestling.

I have a feeling very few men were able to beat those tough women at arm wrestling tonight.

Jazz in the Garden

Finally made it out to a delightful evening at the Jazz in the Garden, despite the torrent of sudden rain showers concluding the event early. The storm earlier in the day did provide the short lived rainbow pictured here.

The festival is held every Friday night at the Sculpture Garden at 7th & Constitution Ave. A live band fills the park with jazz as people either pack around the pond, walk around the grounds, or relax on blankets in the grass. It is also a great people watching scene, as this also attracts the young see-and-be-seen DC crowd.

It is highly recommended to get their early (music starts at 5pm) to stake out a good patch of grass and bring a few blankets to lay on. Also you can bring your own food, but alcohol is only allowed if purchased there (police patrol the garden and will confiscate your wine from home if you don't hide it well). You can also buy $25 picnic baskets which has everything two people need to enjoy the night.

There was also charitable events you could donate to, as Shannon was raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by selling water bottles and freezy pops. It's a great charity that fights blood cancers, and if Shannon raises $1,800 for their cause she can run in the Marine Corp Marathon. Good luck!

Crash Boom Bang @ The Gap

I stumbled upon an unexpected live music performance in Tyson's Corner tonight as Crash Boom Bang was playing at The Gap!

I was very surprised at the concert in a commercial shopping space, but it was successful in drawing in a moderate sized crowd into the store. Crash Boom Bang is a local light rock / pop quartet that reminded me of a combination of the Killers and the Jonas Brothers.

Iota Open Mic - New Format

One of the best kept secrets of the local music scene is open mic night at Iota on Wednesdays. Previously, anyone could sign up to perform two songs, most of which where acoustic guitar solos. The night usually features a variety of talent and styles, and there is always at least one amateur musician who will impress you.

As new hosts take the reign of managing the open night, Iota changed the format tonight. Todd, Rich and James now run two separate open mic times on Wednesday - 7:30pm and 10pm. There was not a two song restriction on the performers.

It seemed like a rough start for their open mic, along with numerous audio problems. The talent of those who entertained us ranged from incredible to you-really-shouldn't-be-up-there bad.

Standing out amongst all the open mic-ers was the fantastically gifted Laura (pictured here in red). She played acoustic guitar and completely dazzled the crowd with her gorgeous voice.

So Whats the Deal DC

A former Clarendon resident just created an interesting site called Whats The Deal DC. The service is geared towards letting people take advantage of group discounts of local DC restaurants and venues, especially when you don't have a bunch of friends who want to join in on the activity.

Its a good concept: The site negotiates group discounts with local venues. Anyone can sign up for the discounted rate, and if they get a minimum number to participate everyone gets the special deal. If not you don't get charged.

Currently the deal is for a cheaper dinner at Leftbank. I'm following them on twitter and am looking forward to using the service!

Zombies Attack DC

Good thing I was out of town at the fair Saturday when zombie mobs attacked DC.

Thanks to Brightest Young Things to extensively covering the undead march in the capital when the mainstream media neglected to.

Apparently the flash mob was organized by the people who did the No Pants Metro ride back in January. From the pictures it looks like quite a good number of people turned zombified themselves and roamed the DC streets, metro stations, and parks.

I'm sure this thoroughly confused or irritated most of the tourists, but it doesn't appear as if anyone panicked and pulled out their Zombie Survival Guide. Its sad how unprepared most people are for when the undead attack.

Hang Gliding @ Highland Aerosports

A great and unusual weekend activity, and a very memorable date idea, is hang gliding. The closest airfield that provides this is Highland Aerosports on the other side of the Bay Bridge.

Hang gliding is incredibly safe and very fun. Its quite thrilling to be high up in the sky, with a completely unobstructed view, and to be able to pilot the glider slowly to the ground.

There are two ways to do hang gliding: either strap in a glider and jump off a cliff or have an ultralight plane tow you up and let you glide down. Luckily for us there are no mountains close by suitable, so at Highland Aerosports they use ultralights. This is much safer as well as being far less nerve racking.

Flights start at $145 for gliding down from half a mile up. This takes about 15 minutes and is absolutely worth it. Remember to bring sunscreen as there isn't any permanent shade in the landing field.