This Week in Geek 2012/7/2

A showcase of this week's finest geek and geek related activities for the week. Mark your calendars.
Longer Term

• Blood - Blood Donations with the Red Cross - Check the site for locations and appointments.
• This isn't an event, but it's something we should all work into our schedules. The Red Cross has an urgent need for blood (especially if you're O-, O+, A-, and B-). Why is this on our geeky events list? Because if you send Jonah Knight a photo of yourself giving blood, he'll give you a free download of one of his albums: Music for Blood.
• Steam - Tuckahoe's 39th Annual Show - Easton, MD - Thursday through Saturday
• Are you one of those people who hates how Steampunk seems to be taking alternative history or fantasy and vomiting gears all over it? Here's a chance to check out Tuckahoe Steam & Gas Association. To be clear, this is not Steampunk. In the mid-seventies, a group decided to preserve rural life and the archaic methods that went along with it like blacksmithing, rock crushing, and wheat threshing. Could be good for Steampunk writers and artists looking to do serious research (also, the Blacksmiths' Guild of the Potomac will be there).

Tractors and saw mills - not the usual derringers and dirigibles.
(via vonguard)

Wednesday

• Non-Holiday - 2001: A Space Odyssey at AFI Silver - Silver Spring, MD - 2:00PM
• Wait, 45th anniversary? Damn. Anyway, this is a great chance for those of you like me who grew up experiencing Stanley Kubrick in all the glory of VHS. Avoid the holiday insanity going on around you, and catch a classic. It's part of AFI's The Films of Stanley Kubrick series.

I hope that you all have the opportunity to take a day off and enjoy the area's mid-week nerdiness. If you're set on going it alone, here's a full list of the holiday events in the city. However, if you want to navigate the record-breaking heat with fellow geeks, there are a ton of options for hanging out:

• Parade - Geeky Meetups at the Parade - Washington, DC - 9:00AM
• If you want to check out the parade but don't want to go alone. Join up with this meetup group and metro in with a passel of new friends (hence the early meeting time). Probably not a bad idea to go with a pack given how insane the city will probably be for the holiday.
• Redditors - Charm City Holiday Meetup (feat. OceanSkys) - Baltimore, MD - 1:00PM
• OceanSkys did an AMA a few weeks ago because he's 23 and dying of cancer. In usual heart-warming Reddit fashion, this turned into a crowd-funded trip of the world. He's joining the Charm City Redditors for a house party on Wednesday. RSVP on Meetup or this post ($10 to get in). If you can't make it to Baltimore, they're hitting up DC and the Air and Space Museum on Thursday.
• Fireworks - Northern Virginia Geek Club - Washington, DC - hangout starts at 2:00PM
• Location pending, but if you're from NoVA, it's a great time to check out your local meetup group. The hangout starts just after the parade and should continue through the fireworks.
• Party - Geek Night Out at Starrs and Stripes - Washington, DC - 5:00PM to 11:00PM
• The Eight Annual Party on the Potomac will run you $16, but since that includes two Starr Hill beers, the price isn't bad. Tickets are still available at Eventbrite. The VIP tickets include access to a private open bar. Beer, geeks, and rock and roll. Hell yeah.

In lieu of the usual patriotic images, here's one of the capital
looking badass. (via Forest Wander)
PS: Hope you're all safe after this weekend's storm.

Saturday

• Gaming - AARGGH's Grand Gaming Melee - Alexandria, VA - 10:30AM to 4:30PM
• The Alexandria-Arlington Regional Gaming Group ("H" because AARGG looks silly without it) is hosting the July 2012 Grand Gaming Melee. Know what's better than burning yourself to a crispy melanoma outdoors in the accursed light of the daystar? Gaming in a library with free parking, sharing food with an awesome group of geeks.
• Movies - Spiderman Opening Weekend - A Theater Near You - All day
• Mechanical web slingers? A slammin' hot Gwen Stacy? No more of this crap? If you're as psyched for all this as the rest of us, consider a meetup: Northern Virginia Geek Club, NoVA Star Trek Group, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Outpost, and Comiclub on Infinite Earths.
• Music - Music of John Williams at Wolftrap - Vienna - 8:15PM
• Until I read Wolftrap's short bio trivia, I never knew exactly how prolific John Williams was. Of course, I knew Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones. But the list is pretty jaw-dropping. And you can check it out at Wolftrap this weekend. (Come on, Spiderman will be in theaters for weeks anyway, right?)

Did we miss something? If you have an event you’d like to promote that isn’t on this list, leave a comment or email us. Other weekly reoccurring events are listed on our website (such as Rocky, CCG tournaments, crazy themed happy hours). For more information, check out the calendars at DC Geeks.