Saturday, August 22: There’s creative, and then there’s just weird. The Washington Improv Theater is featuring short films that are made on the streets of DC and based on audience suggestions all while the audience is … in the audience. It’s like paying to watch your favorite You Tube films, only somehow it’s a lot cooler. 8PM, tickets are $15. [Washington Improv Theater] MORE »

It’s here! Well, OMFG the second installment of Screen on the Green is coming up on Monday, July 27. The first one may have almost been rained out, but we CAN’T WAIT to see the next film, Dog Day Afternoon, on Monday. What’s it about? Is it any good? Who cares! [This is a very well-known Oscar-winning movie, ARIELLE. -- Ed.] This is about our RIGHT to watch old movies on the Mall that we would otherwise never ever even think about watching. [Screen on the Green] MORE »

It Is Back: Screen on the Green is back! DCers were devastated when it was canceled.  There were riots in the streets, people were twittering like mad, there may have been hearings on Capitol Hill, and who knows what other displays of unnecessary emotion all due to the demise of an outdoor film festival, even though the entire economy IS ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE.  But all the bitching, complaining, and crying paid off, because IT’S BACK! MORE »

* Office Space extravaganza at the Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse. Trivia, Bill Lumbergh & O-face impersonation contests, best costume contest, and the movie itself. By the time the movie starts you’ll be super fucking drunk and have the best time of your life. Prizes, etc. $7 at 7PM. [Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse]
* The Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and the National Zoo host a Valentine’s Day panel lecture. Learn what science tells us about the social and psychological processes of love (coping with threats, expressing sexuality, maintaining satisfying romantic and marital relationships, displaying compassion and altruism). Followed by a wine-and-cheese reception where you can meet the speakers and ask them to do it like they do on the Discovery Channel. Free at the Zoo, 7PM. [National Zoo]
* King Lear at the Folger, $32 at 7:30PM. [Folger]

* Bellflur, The Sad Little Stars and The Hidden Ratio at the Black Cat. $8 at 9PM. [Black Cat]
* Fashion designer Kay Unger discusses her career and design aesthetic as well as “what it takes to be a modern woman” at the Corcoran. $25 at 7PM. [Corcoran]
* Shakespeare reading group at Chapters. University of Connecticut Emeritus Professor Arnold Orza leads a discussion of King Lear. Free at 6PM. [Chapters]

If you love edumacation, then you’ll love today’s crazy new word, malkin. But what does it mean? Nobody really knows, so these are the current official definitions:

1. An untidy woman; a slattern.
2. A scarecrow or a grotesque effigy.
3. A mop made of a bundle or rags fastened to a stick.
4. A cat.
5. A hare.
[From Middle English Malkyn (little Molly), diminutive of the name Maud or Molly/Mary.]
A related word is grimalkin, referring to an old female cat or an ill-tempered old woman.

Learning is fun! Here’s what we had to say about the beloved word way back in September:

Speaking of highbrow white anglo culture, Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Coriolanus features a “Malkin” — you know, a Kitchen Slut!

A Word A Day [Wordsmith]

* Republican controlled lame duck final session of the 109th Congress begins today. Only innocuous, non-controversial legislation expected to go through — but the White House is still hoping to push for the authorization of domestic wiretapping and the confirmation of John “Mustache of Fury” Bolton as ambassador to the UN. [NYT, WP]
* Nancy Pelosi supports John Murtha for House majority leader citing his early support for withdrawal from Iraq. [WP, NYT]
* Incoming Senate leadership also beating their out-of-Iraq drums, “We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months.” [NYT, LAT]
* Newly independent Joe Lieberman, establishing himself as the generic brand alternative on Iraq, says the Democrats’ plan “to pick up an leave” is wrong. [WP]
* California and Nancy Pelosi are all about the pork. [NYT, LAT]
* Everything you never wanted to know about Jon Tester. [NYT]
* George H. W. Bush: “I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.” [Newsweek]

Go to Arizona for the Grand Canyon but stay for the possibility of getting $1 million if you cast a ballot in an election there. NY Times reports that a “political gadfly” (was it Shakespeare–or Norman O. Brown, the Danny Thomas of political philosophy–who wrote, “as wanton gadflies to shit, we kill them for our sport?”) is pushing a ballot initiative that would reward one lucky voter with a $1 million novelty check. MORE »