This Week in Geek: Synthpop Tributes and Anti-Art

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

Enjoy the day off. I'd link you to "I have a Dream," but you'd
only see EMI's takedown notice. (image by Alves Family)

Tuesday

• Maker - Arduino 101 with NoVA Makers - Reston, VA - 7:00PM
• For $10, the NoVA Makers will bring you up to speed on Arduino: what it is, what people are doing with it, what you could be doing with it, and even a chance to show off any current projects you may be working on. If you have a laptop, bring it. If you have an Arduino, bring it. If you don’t, come anyway and learn enough to get started with your first project afterwards.

Thursday

• Concert - Daft Punk Tribute Concert - Washington, DC - 11:00PM
• This is not the greatest synthpop band in the world, no, this is just a tribute. But with replica chromed helmets, a full-scale pyramid stage, Daft Punk’d still provides awe-inspiring electroluminescence. I keep imagining the concert looking like the amp vs. amp battle from Scott Pilgrim, so I can’t help but think that the poster lacks sufficient exclamation points. Definately sounds like a great chance to geek out Tron-style at the 9:30 club.

Friday

• Variety - New York Variety All Star Show - Washington, DC - 9:00PM
• This week, the Palace Productions Presents: Adam RealMan, Cardone and Kryssy Kocktail. The event description promises wacky feats, vaudeville magic, illusions, ventriloquy, prestidigitation, sword swallowing, and razor wit. Show the Black Cat how much we love them hosting our variety performers (and the visitors from New York’s huge burlesque scene) by heading over to this event and buying a fistful of drinks. What better way to kick off the weekend.

• Gaming - Gatecrash pre-release event at Game Parlor - Chantilly, VA - 11:30PM
• The Gatecrash M:tG expansion is coming out this weekend, and Game Parlor is kicking the release off early with a midnight party. Door open at 11:30pm, and for $25 you get a guild pack, 5 boosters of Gatecrash, a guild-specific booster, a promo card, a spin down life counter, a guild sticker, and a letter from the guild master. Then there’s the tournament and door prizes. Don’t want to party that late? Don’t worry. The second pre-release event is Saturday - sign up at 11:30am, and the event starts at noon.

Saturday

• RHPS - Transylvanian Concubines Shadowcast - Fairfax, VA - 11:59PM
• Its not just one time events that catch our interest here at DCG. In some cases the sheer, enduring practice of some events warms our cockles, and nothing quite blows a warm breath across my blackened soul like shadowcasts of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. They’ve kept the cost to $5, prop bags are available, and every third Saturday in a month is the not to be missed Trashy Lingerie Night.

Longer Term

• Game Dev - Global Game Jam - Rockville, Baltimore, & Fairfax - Friday through Sunday
• Rip through the entire iterative development process of a game in 48 hours. Come together with other designers, programmers, hackers, and anyone else interested in throwing together a game. On Friday, you get the keynote and the theme, and then spend the next sleepless blur of days making something on that theme. Straightforward badassery.

Shout out to the behind-the-scenes geniuses.
(image by Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore)

• Art! - Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore - Baltimore, MD - Next Monday at 7:00PM
• Until Rev. Valentine finds an alternative to the Palace, we have to get our drinky drawy fix up in Baltimore each month. The rules of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School are simple: Buy drinks, tip the model, draw like a fiend, don’t take pictures, don’t creep, and be over 18. A glance at the site’s sidebar shows the huge list of local performers that they’ve worked with. The Windup space is great for all sorts of quirky niche events like this, and this month’s burlesque-y muse is Rycin Von Schierling.

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 recurring 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.