The DC Traveler

Grammy-winner Cassandra Wilson was named “America’s Best Singer” by TIME magazine in 2001.
Interpreting classic jazz standards or singing her own bluesy jazz pieces is her sound today, but her background is varied, from playing in marching bands as a child to a back up singer with Joni Mitchell and  singer in funk bands.
In the 1980 she explored into the New York jazz scene and has since recorded over 20 albums, won a Grammy and was named the female Jazz Vocalist of the Year by Down Beat magazine, three years in a row.
Cassandra Wilson
Warner Theatre
513 13th Street, NW, between E …read more

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The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank met this weekend at the World Bank in Washington, DC.

Police cordoned off streets and sidewalks for several blocks around the IMF and World Bank buildings just blocks from the White House, expecting hundreds of protestors, if not thousands.
Surprisingly, when I walked by the bank yesterday around noon, the streets were empty of protestors, even with the current financial meltdown.
I asked one of the many police officers manning a pedestrian barricade if there were any protestors. He replied sarcastically, “Yes, there were eight on Saturday.”
During previous summits, protestor turnout was much …read more

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Funnyman Sinbad, originally had plans to play professional basketball. He played college ball at the University of Denver, but an injury ended his career.  So he turned to comedy.
In 1983, he was a finalist on Ed McMahon’s “Star Search” and his stand-up comedy career tool off.  Since then he’s appeared in a number of major movies including “Jingle All the Way,”  “Houseguest”  and “Necessary Roughness”.
 
Sinbad
Warner Theatre
513 13th Street, NW, between E & F St.
Washington, D.C., 20004 (map it)
Dates and Times -  Saturday, October 18, 2008, 8:00 p.m.
Tickets – $46.50 and are available online at Ticketmaster.
Nearest Metro Subway Station …read more

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Take dancers from a couple troupes of local professional dancers and have them dance to music from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, Swan Lake, but not on a traditional stage, but with a collection of Bobcat earth movers as props.

As part of the Festival of Building Arts, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange along with BMD (Bowen McCauley Dance), bring their high energy dance style to the National Building Museum in Washington, DC for three free performances on Saturday.
The dance performances express the relationship between movement, architecture, and the machinery used to build our community.
This revolutionary concept, dancing on and around earth movers should …read more

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Here’s a wacky convention – Anime USA, designed to bring together fans of Japanese Anime (animation) and Magna (comics – pronounced MAHN-ga, and to educate people about and help promote Japanese arts and popular culture.
Pronounced ah-NEE-may, it’s a popular form of art used in television shows, video games, movies, and on countless Internet sites.
Animation was popular in both the U.S. and Japan after WW-II, but in Japan, anime and magna (animation and comics characters) accounted for over 40% of all of Japan’s domestic films. While in the U.S., animation was mostly targeted at young children, in Japan, it had …read more

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I grew up in a German neighborhood in Chicago.  When I say German neighborhood, the majority of the shops within a couple blocks of home required all of their employees to speak at least some German. 

But my favorite place in the old neighborhood was Meyer Delicatessen. It was an old world German deli filled with countless types of German sausages, cold cuts and food products. After I moved from Chicago, every trip back would require a stop at Meyer’s to fill a cooler to bring home.  Just walking in the door and smelling the rich flavors that permeated the walls …read more

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makes fun of everyone, but uses his Mexican-American heritage as an anchor to his humor. After staring in 5 seasons of ABC sitcom, “George Lopez”, he’s hitting the road and stopping in Washington, DC for three shows at the Warner Theatre.George Lopez
He’s released a couple funny Grammy-nominated CDs, an autobiography entitled “Why You Crying?”, which hit the NY Times Bestseller top 20 list, and has also appeared in a dozen movies.  
He’s also had a couple rather public controversies with Jay Leno and Carlos Mencia.
George Lopez
Warner Theatre
513 13th Street, NW, between E & F St.
Washington, D.C., 20004 (map it)
Dates and …read more

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Best selling author, story teller, humorist and Public Radio’s This American Life radio contributor, David Sedaris brings his unique wit and self-deprecating social critique that effectively cuts through much of today’s political correctness to Washington, DC for one night.
As the best-selling author of million plus sellers such as “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” he’s what some call the literary equivalence of a rock star.
His show should be an evening of wit and satire as he examines the human condition from his unique vision coming from a middle-class, North Carolina background.
His published …read more

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While it looks like a government building, the neoclassical building near  Dupont Circle is actually the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

The inside of the building holds in rather unique museum with very eclectic pieces of freemason history from presidents to actors, G-men to generals.
The museum includes:

36 original still life oil paintings of the various Rite elements by Robert H. White.
The official collection of memorabilia from FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover.
A letter from former President Harry S. Truman.
A life mask of President Abraham Lincoln.
A large collection of memorabilia from the actor Burl Ives, known for his roles in Cat …read more

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Over 20 million tourists visit Washington DC each year, and it’s a safe and tourist-friendly city.  Most local people will go out of their way to assist tourists, provide directions, take your photo in front of the White House or offer recommendations for dining, nightclubs and more. 
But you might just be approached by a scam artist offering you anything from tickets to “designer” products. 
So when visiting Washington, DC, you know you are getting ripped off if…

Anyone offers you discounted tickets to the National Zoo (it’s free).
You get approached to buy a Smithsonian Museum Pass, good at all …read more

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