Tom Foolery Review

by Brian Stascavage

Walk through the door and you immediately see a hopscotch lane chalked to the ground. To the right there are two girls playing Mario Kart, their arms jerking wildly as they attempt to run the other off the road. Ahead are four people bent over a table, trying not to Break the Ice. 

Only his friends get to call him "Tom"
(logo from Tom Foolery's website)

Someone else sits in the corner, crown on their head and walkie-talkie in their hand. What seems like the best playhouse ever to your inner 10-year old is actually Tom Foolery, or "Thomas Foolery", the newest nostalgia-influenced bar in DC. Located in Dupont Circle, Tom Foolery seeks to combine craft beer, milkshakes, board games, and various other elements of our childhood into a wonderful blend of entertainment and service.

DC has embraced the microbrew craze over the years, and Tom Foolery does not disappoint. With over 40 different beers in stock, from Dogfish Head to DC Brau, there is plenty for any beer lover to enjoy. What sets Tom Foolery apart though, is there adult milkshakes. On top of traditional mixed drinks, they offer milkshakes spiked with liquor, an offering that is more rare in DC. 

To further their nostalgia theme, Tom Foolery offers a variety of other foods from our childhoods. From custom made ice cream sandwiches, where you get to pick out the cookies and the ice cream, to grilled cheese sandwiches - for those more picky children. Tom Foolery also boasts 15 unique sodas on tap, which can be combined with their multiple ice cream flavors to make any float you desire.

Why wait until Halloween? (image from Tom Foolery's FB)

Besides a wide assortment of drinks, Tom Foolery contains a wide range of entertainment. Sitting in the corner is a TV with a Wii, allowing for the quick game of Mario Kart after work. One wall contains a mirror and various hats and fake facial hair, which led to some wacky dress up fun. There are various board games you can check out, including a Ouija board and Don't Wake Daddy among the pile. Smaller toys, such as Wooly Willies, a miniature pinball machine, Connect 4, and various Etch A Sketches mounted to the walls. Most of them are toys you haven't thought about in over a decade. And the rush of glee when you realize, "I remember this!" is always a pleasure.

Of course, bars with board games or even video games are not new. Multiple venues in DC have been catering that market to great success. What sets Tom Foolery apart from the rest is their list of crazy, nonsensical rules (listed here). The Rules encourage the childishness and a somewhat cathartic outlet after Being an Adult all week long.

You can even order by yelling "I want a Magic Hat NOOOOWWWW!" like the tantrumming toddler above, and during Angry Hour (5:00-7:00PM every day) get $1.00 off your beverage of choice. Showing off your hopscotch superiority or doing your best Alfonso Ribeiro impression can both reward you with discounts and goodies. Each bit off oddity contributes to the spark of childhood nonsensical wonderment that is lacking from other bars. 

What other establishment let you put on a crown, sit on a throne, and order drinks with a walkie-talkie, solely because you got their first?

Atlas Arcade & Church and State: Nostalgia and the Speakeasy

by Brian Stascavage

Located in a two-story building on H Street, Erik Holzherr has opened two radically different bars. The lower level is the geek haven, Atlas Arcade. On the upper floor is Church and State, a self-proclaimed speakeasy that uses only American-made spirits. "I'm a cocktail geek," Erik explains as the bartender hands me a gin and tonic, "[and I wanted to open] a museum to the American cocktail." Having experience with mixology with his first bar, Wisdom, Erik sought to bring that experience to H Street.

The decision to use American-only liquors  in Church and State was inspired by the passion that Erik saw in American distilleries and their stellar products. As a result, he sought to make them the focal point for his bar. They follow this mission statement to a tee, even going so far as to say "If we can't find it [made in America], we'll make it ourselves." 

DC isn't a state, and this is no church, but it'll keep your spirits up.
(image from Church and State's website)

The low lighting, wooden pews, and adorned stain-glass windows help give the bar a unique feel combined with the usual cozy and intimate H Street environment. It felt strange, drinking in a setting that reminded me of Mass, but it also provided a feeling of tranquility, a contrast to an usually-chaotic Friday night.

Church and State is a stark contrast to the downstairs bar, Atlas Arcade. I went from the quiet, peaceful atmosphere to one filled with the lights of arcade cabinets, music blaring from the jukebox, and a giant projector screen. The change was jarring at first. Above the bar are large TVs with SNES and Atari machines attached and GI Joes, all relics of Erik's childhood. 

Nostalgia is a powerful force, a reminder of a simpler, kinder, more cheerful time. This feeling seems to be magnified in my generation, the children of the 90s. The rise of the Internet has allowed us to preserve those memories and feelings and to easily revisit the mediums of our childhood through cartoons via Netflix and NES emulators. 


It should come as no surprise that a bar on H Street, DC's newest expanding district, sought to capture that feeling for their patrons. Filled with old arcade machines, movie posters for "Jaws" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," even GI Joes hanging on the walls, make Generations X and Y feel right at home, our old memories resurfacing as we once again hold a real Nintendo controller (A and B buttons and all).

Dreams do come true. (Image from Thrillist)

To use Erik's words regarding Atlas Arcade, "I wanted to build a bar that the eight-year-old me would think was cool." After a chance meeting with a guy who could repair arcade cabinets, Erik went about acquiring cabinets for its opening last August. He is constantly looking for new games, new attractions for his arcade, and is very attentive to feedback in order to provide for his patrons.

The arcade also has an abundance of DC-local microbrews, both bottled and draft. However, Atlas does not support a kitchen. It instead offers childhood snacks such as popcorn, Gushers, and other candies. The space that would normally be used for a kitchen was put to better use as floor space for the arcade. This simple design works well, triggering memories of playing in movie theater arcades before a show started. While arcade games, such as Ninja Turtles and Donkey Kong, do take quarters, both serving as a callback to simpler times and a reminder of a forgotten nuisance, the console games are free - but also first come, first serve.

An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. (Image from Thrillist)

Atlas is much more than a arcade with alcohol, though. In the center of the bar is a giant protector, used for Atlas's monthly Rock Band nights (held on the first Tuesday of each month), Michael Jackson's "The Experience” dance parties, and sporting events. Their cozy but presentable setup has been praised by many, even to the point of being declared the second best place in DC to watch March Madness. 

Atlas believes very strongly in engaging the DC community, and frequently partners with groups such as Rock Band DC and even our own DC Geeks to host nerdy events; their layout and provided entertainment making it a natural spot for geeks and video game enthusiasts. Atlas Arcade is the perfect mix of 80's and 90's nostalgia and modern nightlife: the games' cabinets, like the Simpsons Arcade Game, have been fitted with cup holders. Crushing my friend in Street Fighter II was even sweeter with a drink next to me and a small crowd watching.

As a reminder, DC Geeks hosts a monthly happy hour at Atlas Arcade. Our next event is July 10th. For more about these bars and their origin stories, please check out our podcast with the owner of Wisdom, Atlas Arcade, & Church and State - Erik Holzherr.

The Board Room: Pick One Thing and Do It Right

by Samantha Tynes

Conveniently nested only a couple blocks north of the Dupont Circle metro station is a real gem for board game fans, serious and casual alike. Peering in the oversized front window will give you a peek into a busy, but not crowded, collection of tables and chairs with enthusiastic patrons huddled close over colorful, durable cardboard and a smattering of equally eye-catching plastic pieces. The Board Room opened in the latter half of last year with much anticipation. Barcades and board game bars were things saved for places like New York and Chicago, and DC got one of each in one year.

Baseball, beer, and Sorry! (image © The Board Room)

The bar stretches almost the entire length of the building, my friend waiting all the way at the end of it. I apologize for being late. “It’s alright,” he replied with a shrug, a tumbler of something dark resting on one of the many Uncle Pennybags cartoons that decorated the bar’s surface. The barman interrupts, “What can I get you?” With twenty-one beers on draft and a very well-stocked bar, it takes me a minute to decide. The cabinet at the front end of the bar is also packed full, but with all the classic games from childhood: Operation, Sorry!, Battleship, even Mousetrap. The extra fun comes in from the vintage games they have to rent. You could try your hand at MiamiVice: the Game, Kommissar, or even a game about the Kennedy family.

With matching glasses in hand, we head upstairs. The few tables in the downstairs area can fill up quickly once peak hours start, but the second floor is much more spacious, quieter and with larger tables. A second fourteen tap bar and tabletop Pac Man game round out the area for being the better of the two for actual gameplay. For all their games to rent, you don’t have to feel restricted to Connect-4 or Yahtzee. The Board Room is happy to let you bring your own games, they encourage it, in fact. I came prepared with a bag full of options, and one set of instructions later I was getting my ass handed to me in Ascension. 

Bird's eye view before the rush (image © The Board Room)

There isn’t a kitchen on site, unlike most other bars in the area. But as afternoon transitioned to evening and the tables upstairs filled, delivery men began to appear. They wandered the building balancing stacks of pizzas or loaded with arms of brown paper bags, looking around with that lost, yet hopeful expression of somewhere, in this building, this pizza belongs to someone. Just like bringing your own games in, they don’t mind if you order in. Ask the bartender about food and he’ll supply you with a thick stack of takeout and delivery menus that would do any college dorm proud. 

It’s a unique approach to the bar and restaurant scene. They don’t try to offer everything, or pretend that they do. It’s a bar, yes. But you aren’t confined to sitting in a row at a bar or little isolated booths. There are couches and chairs and nooks and open areas and room for a game in each. The casual atmosphere makes it feel like a little more than that. Across from us, an awkward first date was stumbling through semi-personal questions and a round of Battleship. While next to us, a loud group of friends were destroying a pizza and striving to cement their own monopoly. The Board Room feels less like a bar and more like a hang out spot. Just remember to be kind and give the delivery guy your cell number.

Red Palace: Six Years Was Far Too Short a Time

by Samantha Tynes and Brian Stascavage

With it’s painted yellow stripes and light up sign, the Red Palace immediately sets the mood for a unique setting. Inside the brick building is no different, it’s quirky and cozy with red-velvet drapes, warm lights and old-timey sideshow art with a worn but polished wood bar that runs along the length of the narrow room. We arrived at what we thought was early for the Lord of the Pasties burlesque show and the room was already packed. A few more minutes and the first round of reasonably priced drinks later, the line for the show was snaking out the door and down the sidewalk. The excitement for the show was palpable as people waited for the call that it was beginning.

Red Palace's Bar (image via Red Palace's closed FB)

It was finally showtime, time to go up the narrow stairs and through another red velvet curtain to the second floor stage. It’s an intimate setting; bare black walls, another warmly glowing bar, and a stage raised only a few feet from the ground. The room buzzed as people wandered from one group to the other, exchanging greetings and small talk with the people they knew. 

The few lights in the room dimmed and the show began, as it should, with the finding of the Ring. We were treated to hungry hobbits and elegant elves, an uruk-hai on a suspended hoop, a dwarf that loved to show off her braids, and even an Entwife. The show was sexy and humorous, you could tell that each performer loved being there.

The Red Palace was originally two separate bars that merged together under united management. They have been hosting burlesque shows for almost six and a half years.  During this time the club’s success and popularity grew in parallel to the DC burlesque scene, with most dancers finding it to be a perfect fit for the shows they wanted to perform.  Being located in the center of H street, it was able to promote burlesque to those who were unfamiliar with the art.  Mourna Handful, who spent the evening as an ethereal Galadriel, recalled how the Red Palace inspired her to dance, stating “On a whim I saw a show at the Red Palace...eventually I said ‘Hey, I want to do that!”  She participated in Trixie Little’s Burlesque Bootcamp to learn how burlesque differed from the more traditional dancing she was familiar with, beginning her involvement with the community.

In the months leading up to its closing, a large following for geek-inspired burlesque started to form, and more nerd-focused shows were prominent.  Performers were ecstatic after their Tolkien-inspired show, citing the quality of the costumes, the fun they had organizing it, and the packed room of fans sending the venue off.  A month earlier the Evil League of Ecdysiasts, founded and co-produced by Cherie Sweetbottom, who played Smeagol for the Lord of the Pasties, and GiGi Holliday, brought their "Whedonism" show to The Windup Space in Baltimore. The show, inspired by Whedonverse, premiered at the Red Palace in June of 2012, and the entire cast returned for the Baltimore version, including Mourna Handful and her "Dark Willow" act. That show was Cherie’s favorite to date, with her describing it as a “total Whedon-nerd’s dream come true”.  Such combinations provided the artists with a fun direction to funnel their creativity while allowing their geeky audience to witness their favorite characters and canon portrayed in a different light.

Cherie Sweetbottom (image via Cherie's website)

The thing that struck us most about the Red Palace and the people involved was the incredible sense of community. When Mourna Handful put out the call for enthusiastic Middle Earth performers, people were excited to respond.  None of the performers we spoke with knew why Red Palace was shutting down, but they all spoke highly of it. The burlesque community will keep going strong, but just without a place to call home. The closing of the palace has caused confusion amongst the community and created a void that needs to be filled. Consensus among those we spoke with is that the immediate future of burlesque is unknown but the community has a desire to quickly find a replacement.

“There is no other venue in DC that is like the Red Palace.  The Palace is the home of burlesque in DC,” Cherie cheerily recalls, a sentiment her fellow performers agree with.  While it will be difficult to replicate the charm and prime location that the Red Palace had to offer, a dedicated venue is needed to further promote the level of burlesque that it’s community expects.  A few venues in the city, such as Black Cat and H Street Playhouse, still host shows, but lack the specialization or community that the Red Palace offered.  While there are many factors to consider, such as location, crowd size, venue prices, and management, many dancers are confident that they will find a suitable replacement.

Geek Venues (4/4)

The final guest post from Brannen in a series about geeky hangouts around DC.

Places for Pages

Welcome back geeks and friends to the show that never ends, come inside, come inside.

I might be on cold meds. You have been warned.

I have to admit that I’m a book geek. When I finally accumulate Sod Off money my personal cave isn’t the sybaritic den that some might guess (that’s for sharing with guests, after all), no. It will be more like this:

No, I don't have enough. Why do you ask?
(via Charlotte L.)

There is just something about the weight of the book in your hands, the smell of old paper, oiled leather, hint of must and dust and words both shouted and whispered into my ears by people I’ve never met.

For a lover of books, not just as an idea transmission medium but as objects in and of themselves, then you’ve got to get over to the Folger Shakespeare Library. The collection is amazing and it runs far beyond just getting to coo at covers and look at a few displayed pages. The Folger does an excellent job of bringing out not just the texts but the context of the works as well. The easy hours of the place and the free admission make it a very attractive offering if your out for city exploration or scratching that academic itch. If you’re willing to pay out a bit the Folger also has an ongoing schedule of plays, musical performances, poetry presentations and other live works. The place makes a great spot for a geeky, elegant date when you’re looking to impress (or taking advantage of your SO’s patience to soak in your own preferred geekdom).

The second spot for the book geek and the final suggestion for this little series on geek outings for the winter winds up at a place very near and dear to my heart. If I had a church, a temple, a mosque or sacred grove this would be it:

Try not to fall when you look up, it happens surprisingly often.
(via Angela N.)

Yeah. That’s the Library of Congress that I’m talking about. Take a look at that image above again. Now think about your personal library or local library. Now look at the image below:

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story...
(via Matt Riggott)

Yeah, tell me its not a place of reverence and I’ll call you a liar.

The complex itself is surprisingly large, spanning several buildings in DC and a whole warehouse area outside of the city. The buildings in the city are linked by a series of tunnels, so if you’ve ever been curious about underground DC you can get a small (and well lit) taste of what a lot of the federal passages around the area look like. I suggest coming in from the main entrance, though. Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass, as we all know, and you can really get a feel for that as you come into the main reading room. It truly does feel like a temple to knowledge, to the understanding and creativity of humanity. Its an incredible place to seek out on a wander, no matter whether you’re on your own or with others.

There are several options for visiting the library as well. You can do the standard tour thing, or even download some self guided tours onto your phone. The outer rooms of the library buildings tend to be special focus and often hold small exhibits that shift over time. Honestly, I’ve spent hours in there just for the art and architecture, let alone the book collection.

Ahhh, yes, the collection.  It is massive and you need to know a few things about it. First of all, if you want to actually access anything you need to get yourself a Reader’s Identification Card. The process isn’t bad, it took me about 20 minutes last time I got one. You need a valid photo ID, the ability to fill out a short form and then you’re issued a card good for two years. Once you’ve got that in hand you can use the on-site catalogs and can even request materials. Yeah, request. You can’t go digging through the stacks, which honestly is for the best. Just a warning though, depending on traffic this can take a while and what you want may not always be available. Last time I was in I requested a fair obscure book dealing with a Norse mythological figure. They’ve got it in the catalog, but after a bit more than an hour of a wait I was informed that it wasn’t available at that time. So if you’re going in to research, have a full list of materials you want to look at. On the upside its almost like a restaurant: Tell them which desk you’re at when you turn in the requests and they do the rest.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope these ideas have encouraged you to get out and about, even as the weather gets colder. Whether you’re seeking solitude from the maddening throngs or looking for that cool place to share some special company, there’s no reason to ever claim being bored in DC. We have a vast and rich region to enjoy. Get out there!

Until next time, I hope your obsessions blossom beautifully.

Geek Venues (3/4)

The third guest post from Brannen in a series about geeky hangouts around DC. This time, he covers a few museums that usually get missed in the online lists.

For Science!

Welcome back, geeks and friends. Today’s posting is brought to you by something I’ve been experimenting with involving high grade coffee beans, pure water, some lab equipment and very, very slow expression of the goodness in the beans. I’m almost to the point where I can see time, but not quite yet. Let’s see where I am by the end of this posting.

As promised on Saturday, tonight I want to talk about a couple of spots to get out to with friends, family, loved ones or those you hope to entice into becoming your companion for a time. But not just any kind of spot. Thus far I’ve looked at places for gaming, spots for making but tonight I want to talk about a couple of places that fall more under Science! than anything else.

For those who want a more mellow time (and perhaps be reminded of just how small and meaningless and... okay, I’m back), I can’t really suggest a better spot than the Albert Einstein Planetarium. Oh, sure, there are IMAX theaters all around you in the complex where you can watch Big Bird talk about the sky and stuff about planes, but that’s just local details. In the planetarium you get a kind of purity, a sense of where you are with all the stars shining around you. Not everything is sedate out there. I’ve been hearing good things about the Cosmic Collisions presentation at the planetarium as well, so you can go for the peaceful and philosophical or you can still get massive (galactic scale) bang ups. The choice is yours.

This is a hard spot to beat for sheer versatility. Desperately need a break before you go Sweeny Todd on visiting family? Head out for an afternoon showing and then a walk over to say hi to Albert himself. Need some alone time? Metro over and enjoy. Looking for something with more geek cred than a movie to take the object of your affection to? Take a walk around the Mall and wind up in the dark, looking up.

I wish you could see the ground at his feet. It's a map of more
than 2700 local stars. (via Bernt Rostad)

Pulling a serious one eighty from the planetarium (and heading over state lines) brings us to The National Firearms Museum, a prime example of the application of science. Now, I’ll say up front, this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. That being said, I know a lot of geeks who enjoy heading to the range now and again. I know a lot, lot more geeks who love guns (along with swords and lightsabers and knives and...) as part of their fandoms and fan iconography.

The museum itself is home to fifteen galleries and more than 2700 firearms. Most of the galleries are arranged by historical period (not a bad way to hook in a proto-geek child if you have one available) with a few specialty galleries like the toy gun section or the Hollywood Guns gallery. They also have collection images online, but that’s just the same as getting to see them in person. Check out the site for hours and directions, but if you’re the type who enjoys weapons or perhaps has a love of reserve engineering then go and enjoy an afternoon.

Coming up next from Brannen on DC Geeks is the final installment of this little series, two places the book geek has to go in DC.

Geek Venues (2/4)

The second guest post from Brannen in a series about geeky hangouts around DC.

Welcome back, geeks and friends. Tonight’s thoughts brought to you by Lady Caffeina, She of the Bright Eyes and Trembling Hands. "It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, It is by the beans of Java the thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion" But, enough about my chemical addictions, let’s talk about a deeper and more insidious need of mine.

Crafter Spots

I tend to keep my hands and brain busy during evenings and weekends in making things. Its just something I do and the need to do it has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older. Culinary experimentation, fermentation, carving, building - its all there. Lugh help me, I’m actually looking through poly resin information in the other window and having visions of an extremely sticky-then-hard disaster in my future. There’s something about this time of year though; the chill in the air, the early sunsets, the endless, sanity destroying loops of carols in public spaces, that just makes me hands itch with memories of yesterday. Memories of handmade Christmas gifts (not out of some sort of ethical or aesthetic choice, but because us kids didn’t get an allowance or budget for gifts. We either had to make them or endure the shame of failed social obligations.) rise like swamp gas out of the muck of the mind.

Not all such memories are bad though, and obviously they haven’t kept me from indulging that drive to make and that ever expanding curiosity about how things work. And I know I’m not alone in that. The geek culture seems to have a large population of crafty and/or DIY folk in it. Sometimes the crafting is a way to further their hobby. Sometimes the making is the hobby. Either way, I call it a good thing (and look for further thoughts on this in the future). But for now, let’s stick with the original theme: getting out and indulging yourself.

HacDC is one of hundreds of Hacker Space or Maker Space shops that have sprung up around the globe over the past decade, spaces devoted to amateur engineers and their networks. Head over to their site and you’ll get a taste of what’s going on in the space. Gatherings for microcontroller and electronics enthusiasts are coming up soon, as is the ongoing software developers’ get together. They hold free classes and workshops, maintain space for the technical and social needs of those who want to tear apart and rebuild technology and generally do very cool work with the tech available to most folks. Their Spaceblimp project had me mesmerized. So as a way to get out for an evening, a working date in those early, what-do-we-talk-about stages or something to do with friends, its a great venue. Just keep checking their website, mailing list and other channels of communication.

See? You could be doing this on your weekends. (via blackrazorus)

If your needs are a little more... muscle intensive, then get yourself over to the gatherings of the Blacksmith’s Guild of the Potomac. Mostly meeting at the forge at Gulf Branch Nature Center in Arlington, they’re easy to get to and a friendly bunch of folks.

Now, just a couple of warnings about smithing: it takes time to pick up even basic skill, its hot, it takes time to pick up basic skills, you need keep aware, it takes time to pick up basic skills. But there is a pay off for patience and perseverance: you get to make things out of metal, with metal, in your own hands. Machine pieces can be a lot of fun and produce some beautiful work. Casting is just neat (and something I’m trying to figure out a way to do a lot more of), but there’s something about handling steel gone orange in the flames, about shaping it with heavy wallops and delicate strikes, of learning to coax and seduce the metal into what you want. And from a fantasy geek standpoint: who wouldn’t want to make their own mace?

Trust me: Wear closed-toe shoes. No, I don't want to talk about it.
(via Derek Key)

Unless you’ve found a truly special someone, this probably isn’t a date kind of activity. Though, hey, if you have, team forging can be awesome. I would recommend this spot as a great way to get to know your friends, though. There’s something about dripping sweat and the concern of metal searing skin while you work that tends to focus the mind and bring out honest words. Or maybe that’s just my experience.

Coming up next from Brannen at DC-Geeks... we retreat a bit from the making to the use of tools in a couple of spots that might appeal to the science geek in us all.

Geek Venues (1/4)

Hey guys, this week I’m posting the first of a short series of guest posts from fellow DC Geek, Brannen, about a few fun spots he’s come across in DC. Give him a warm welcome.

Hello, DC Geeks. Brannen here, filling in for Aine this week. But for now, you’re stuck with me and a glass of something decidedly not coffee, so away we go.

The holidays are upon us, but I’m not going to talk about that. What I’m interested in tonight is venues. More to the point, venues for the geek around DC. Maybe its for a date, maybe its a new option for a family outing, maybe its a haven from family and friends. No matter the situation we need options. Below are a few I’d like to suggest as alternatives from the usual routine.

If your game center systems look like this, run.
You’re either in an art installation or an epilepsy study.
(via visual velocity pc)

Game Centers

Aye, it can seem a bit odd at first glance. Go out to some place and pay them for the privilege of using unfamiliar systems where I can’t lounge around in my boxers while my music throbs out of the speakers I got adjusted to just the perfect angle? And yet... and yet there’s an appeal to this. Maybe I’m odd, but I actually put this experience out there with going on a bar crawl or chatting up folks at a con. We’re all strangers, but we’re strangers together, an obviously shared interest and an excuse to interact. Or not. She may want to frag me while I just want to finish out the entire Zelda franchise.

That is another plus for game centers though: the collections. It may be tarnishing my reputation here, but I’ll admit that video games aren’t my primary area of fandom. I certainly can’t hold a candle to Aine’s collection (or obsession), nor that of several other of the DC Geeks writers. I’ll lose days at a time to a good game, but my collection numbers in dozens of titles, not in the hundreds. Its also a bonus if you’re trying to get family or friends interested in your specific interest (especially if they included folks who are completionists, like me. Poor souls.).

In Virginia you can take a look at GamePad for a start. In Maryland there’s Graphix Game Center. These are just a start, though. Whip out the Google-fu and keep looking. Its not a bad idea for a first date, a day just for you or a way to occupy your geek spawn for an afternoon.

Funny, I don't remember Zelda being co-op. (via Kevin)

Coming up on Saturday on DC Geeks... A counterpoint to tonight’s venues of the ephemeral. I’ll talk about local spots to make, build and craft.

Off the Beaten Path: 5 Cool Places for Geeks in DC

We've heard of a lot of cool places in the Greater DC area through our extensive research into DC events and the DC geek scene.  Here are 5 places that if you are just in town visiting or have lived here for years, you may not have heard of (thus... you should still check them out).  These are mostly metro accessible.  But not exclusively.  This is not your normal list of assorted tourist traps.   This is off the beaten path.

via Mr. T in DC

Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences 

525 E Street NW, Washington, DC

I can't look at the name of this place without thinking the Department of Redundancy Department. Beyond that the items on display at this Museum are full of interesting sciencey facts. They have a whole exhibit dedicated to the recent breakthroughs in the scientific community.  Come on, science is sexy.  This museum features a wide array of hands on and interactive displays that engage your further into some of the cooler aspects of science.  I know we've all been to the Air & Space Museum, but passing on this gem of scientific wonder may be one of the worst decisions of your life.  That and eating that piece of pizza that was left out over night.  You know who you are.

via Jeff Kubina

The Awakening
Fort Washington, MD

This one's pretty simple.  This is a massive statue of a Titan clawing his way out of the earth itself.  It's something you need to see.  I mean need to see badly.  This used to be up in dc, but they moved it out to Fort Washington not too long ago.  He kind of looks like he's in pain right?  I'm in love with large scale art as well as semi mythical pieces.  I can almost imagine this was a frost giant smacked down by Thor.  He does look sort of uncomfortable.  I bet that would also make for a fantastic photoshoot.

While you're out in Fort Washington check out the dueling piano bar, 

Bobby McKey's Dueling Piano Bar. I've had a fun at Bobby McKey's, not a nerd place, but they know some pop songs.  Nothing funnier than watching a few pianists trying to do piano renditions of Backstreet Boys songs.

via CodeHooligans

The Mansion on O

2020 O St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20036-5912

An interestingly quirky mansion in DC. They boast that there are 100 rooms with 32 hidden rooms.  That's... man that would make for a fantastic game of hide and seek. Part hotel, part restaurant, part club, part musem (all cop).  Really this place is pretty weird.  Not something you would immediately go to with thinking "hey, that looks nerdy."  Honestly, it looks like a rich persons country club at first glance. It's only open Sundays and Mondays to the public. The whole place is decorated like your grandmothers collection if she was on a very special episode of Hoarders and had a house the size of a ship.  I've heard that if you take the brunch and tour there's a prize for who can find the most secret rooms.

One of the other interesting things with the Mansion on O are the accommodation.  I mean look at this list. YOU CAN HAVE A SECRET ROOM BEDROOM!  Or even one that's done up like a boat. I could not resist, if I stayed in that room I'd probably be blaring it night and day.  They would hate me for it.

via NCinDC

Einstein Memorial

2101 Constitution avenue northwest, Washington, DC 20037

This would be a quick visit with an old geek friend of ours.  Not literally.  We never played Dominion together.  Which is a shame, he would probably have been very good. Really this would just be to hang out with this statue.  Seems to be one of the only ones in the states.  Honestly not a bad way to spend an afternoon, checking out a section of dc, and sorta high fiving Einstein.

via ElvertBarnes

Newseum

555 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC

You don't have to be a journalism nerd in order to appreciate the things on display at the Newseum. Most of the biggest moment in American history are covered in these walls. They also have a large amount of interactive exhibits good for little and big nerds. You can even pretend to be a television news reporter.  How cool is that?  I recommend wearing all yellow, dying your hair red, and hanging out with giant antropomorphic turtles.  Just watch out for ninjas.  (How long until the demand for a ninja museum is finally met?  I've been waiting years.  You'd think my letters to the King of the Ninjas are going unread)