Punk

**This talk has completely sold out in advance and no door tickets will be available.** [Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Folklore of Love Spells,”** on the use of magic to influence romantic destinies, with Cory Thomas Hutcheson, folklorist, lecturer at Middle Tennessee State University, and author of *New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic.* [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/folklore-of-love-spells](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/folklore-of-love-spells) .] Looking for a distinct follow-up to Valentine’s Day? Come to the Washington D.C.’s Hill Center for a rich, ribald, and riotous exploration of the use of romantic enchantments in history and folklore. You’ll feel spellbound as you listen to folklorist Cory Thomas Hutcheson, who has earned a big following of loyal fans in giving Profs and Pints talks in Nashville. On his visit to the nation’s capital he’ll discuss a delicious assortment of methods—alluring and occasionally appalling—that people historically have used to find, catch, or hold others to them. Dr. Hutcheson will present talismans, potions, charms, and more from the pages of history, exploring the principles at work in each. You'll hear about how counting stars can lead to dreams of future lovers, why some women in the Ozarks once nailed turkey wishbones above their doors, and how a meal of fish, cheese, or chocolate might lead to seduction—or the hospital. His talk will cover everything from fortune-telling charms designed to predict the future of a relationship to secretive formulae intended to drive a couple apart. Look Cupid in the eye and ask him "Why?" as we explore this raucous mixture of magic, belief, folklore, and story. If nothing else, you’ll end up loving this learning experience. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image from Gratis Graphics (Pixexid / Creative Commons).

Grab the mic and sing your heart out! This is not a hosted meetup. Own your journey making new friends during the event. **Mention Electric Events for 15% off your first house cocktail!** It's karaoke night at Pikio Taco — whether you're a shower singer or a seasoned performer, the stage is yours. Pick your song, grab the mic, and let it rip. No judgment, just good vibes and a crowd that's here for a good time. Come solo or bring your crew. Sing a classic, try something new, or just sit back and cheer everyone on. Search for your favorite songs ahead of time on https://www.karafun.com/karaoke/ 18+. Full food and drink menu available! \-\-\- **About the Venue** Pikio Taco is a vibrant social taqueria inside Generator Washington DC, featuring stunning Mexican murals, hanging greenery, and moody purple lighting. Plus craft margaritas and authentic Mexican cuisine. **Location** 1900 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009 (Inside Generator hostel, Dupont Circle) **Getting There** * Metro: Dupont Circle (Red Line) — just three blocks away * Parking: Available at Generator hostel * Rideshare: Drop off at 1900 Connecticut Ave NW **Food & Drinks** Tacos, burritos, margaritas, Mexican beers — grab dinner while you enjoy the show! **Links** * Venue: pikiotaco.com/washington See you there!

♠️😲♠️ W.O.W. Spades Night ♠️😲♠️ Washington on Wednesday (W.O.W.) - 3rd Wednesday Spades in DC 🌟Spades in DC! We are trying a new location. If things go well, we may meet there more often. Come hang out with us and have a great time! No partner is needed! Find one onsite. All skill levels are welcome. Here are the details: 📌 Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken - Navy Yard 300 Tingey St SE #150, Washington, DC 20003 📆 Posted in multiple groups. So, expect a nice crowd. 🌟 The fun starts at 5:30pm! RSVP today. 🚌 One block from Navy Yard Metro Station 🚗 Street Parking available. See photo section for nearby parking lots/garages. 🍷 Alcoholic beverages are available! 🍗 Please support the business by ordering food/drinks.

♠️😲♠️ **W.O.W. Spades Night** ♠️😲♠️ Washington on Wednesday (W.O.W.) - 3rd Wednesday Spades in DC 🌟Spades in DC! We are trying a new location. If things go well, we may meet there more often. Come hang out with us and have a great time! No partner is needed! Find one onsite. All skill levels are welcome. Here are the details: 📌 Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken - Navy Yard 300 Tingey St SE #150, Washington, DC 20003 📆 Posted in multiple groups. So, expect a nice crowd. 🌟 The fun starts at 5:30pm! RSVP today. 🚌 One block from Navy Yard Metro Station 🚗 Street Parking available. See photo section for nearby parking lots/garages. 🍷 Alcoholic beverages are available! 🍗 Please support the business by ordering food/drinks.

Wednesday night skate and chill is our weekly group ride. DCESK8 has been hosting this weekly ride for several years now. We are very active in our group chat and that is where you will find the most up to date information on the rides. Follow the link below to join. Join our Telegram chat here https://t.me/dcesk8 to stay current on what's going on in DCESK8. Our ride meets up at the Lincoln Memorial, near the southwest side of the Reflecting Pool and the Korean War Memorial. That is on the left side if you are looking at the Lincoln Memorial. We meetup at 6:30pm, with the ride leaving at 7:00pm.

Come join the DMV D&D Group and DCGaymers for our next LGBTQ+ happy hour! Meet some new folks, have some good food & drink, and find your next adventuring party! Can't make it? No worries! Join the[ DMV D&D Group](https://discord.gg/bDvGRtKfhR) to stay aware of future events!

**NEW GAME LOCATION at The Board Room** Let's play board games. Not the ones your ancestors played but the really cool ones of the new millennium. We play everything from fun, social games to light to heavy strategy games. Don't know how to play? Not a problem - we're happy to teach. It's a great chance to learn new games or play your favorites with non-competitive people who like to laugh. You can build a railroad, eradicate a plague, or explore the far reaches of the galaxy in one evening. While many will bring their own games, you can show up gameless and still play. We play at the Board Room in Clarendon on Wednesday from 6:30-10:00. It's within walking distance from the Clarendon metro. **Find us in the far left by the fermentation tanks.** If that area is reserved for a private event, look for us in the middle. Look for a group that has containers and carrying bags with multiple games. We're very fortunate to have this great venue for our game nights and they take care of us for 3-1/2 hours, so please spend a minimum of $10 on food or drink and tip generously (at the very least $2, even if 20% of your bill would be $1). Thanks!

Come out, make new friends and enjoy the edgy pop punk band Tunnels End as they perform all the nostalgic hits live!

Come out, make new friends, have some drinks and watch A Night to Forget band perform all your favorite pop punk hits live! Most importantly, have fun :)

Roxplosion X DRINK DC team up again to bring you another night of great music from local punk/indie/rock bands. Indoor show/ no cover. The bands are Fat Nave, Nude, and Endless Cigarette. Come out and explore your local punk/rock/indie scene!

Join Blackout as we visit Hush Harbor on DC's H Street Corridor as we have a night of convo, games, and retro vibes. It's a Black-owned cocktail bar focusing on interesting drinks and inspiring connections. If you're not familiar with Hush Harbor, the concept is that it is a phone free cocktail bar. They put your phone in one of those cases but you can still access it in a pinch. More info: https://hushharbor.co/#info Remember when we could hold conversations without needing to refer to cellphones? House phones? Numbers on napkins? Remembering people's names? Printing out MapQuest directions? We're going back to that time. We'll have some conversational topics and games that we'll play as we get to know each other. Hold your spot by sending $5 via CashApp ($Blackoutbaltimore). This'll go towards the Polaroid film--yep, it's a throwback kind of night. And, yes, I'm actually bringing a Polaroid for the group shots. Can't wait to see you there! \-\-\- **About Black Everywhere®** Black Everywhere is a global community bringing together Black professionals, creatives, couples and singles alike for brunches, mixers, hikes, wellness, and cultural outings. Whether you're looking for connection, networking, or just fun, you'll find it here.

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Everyday Supernatural,”** a discussion of how folklorists and anthropologists view our belief in uneasily explained beings, forces, and experiences, with Benjamin Gatling, folklorist, scholar of belief and everyday religion, and associate professor of English at George Mason University. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-everyday-supernatural](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-everyday-supernatural) .] Profs and Pints debuts at [Highline RxR](https://www.highlinerxr.com/) bar in Arlington’s Crystal City with a talk that will both teach you and leave you thinking about your relationship with the unknown. Have you ever wondered why people believe in the supernatural? Or where do such beliefs come from and what purposes do they serve? On hand to offer answers will be Benjamin Gatling, who teaches a course on folklore and the supernatural, studies various cultures’ oral traditions, and serves as editor of *Folklorica: the Journal of the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association.* You’ll gain an understanding of how the supernatural isn’t something strange or extraordinary. It’s part of the everyday lives of most people around the world, and it’s fundamental to virtually all cultural traditions. Here in the United States, three out of four people believe in some aspect of the supernatural such as astrology, telepathy, clairvoyance, or communication with the dead. About half attest to having personally had a mystical experience. In discussing the nature of supernatural beliefs, Dr. Gatling will talk about how our experiences are inexact and ambiguous and how we operate on incomplete information. In many ways belief in the supernatural represents an affirmation that human understanding extends beyond empirical observation and that we live in an imprecise, infinite, irrational, and mysterious world. The goal of folklorists and anthropologists studying such beliefs is not to prove or disprove them, but rather to understand various peoples’ lived experiences and gain insight on how individuals make sense of the uncanny around them. Dr. Gatling will talk about such researchers’ findings in terms of how such beliefs are expressed in dream interpretation or the stories people tell about encounters with ghosts or their relationship with the dead. He’ll talk about visits to haunted places and touch upon subjects such as UFO sightings, encounters with the divine, and magic in our everyday lives. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: A deck of 22 Tarot cards. (Photo by Roberto Viesi / Wikimedia Commons.)

Join the group for *School of Rock* at The Little Theatre of Alexandria on Sunday, February 22 at 2PM. NOTE: This performance is sold out. If you're interested in attending on a different date, please comment below. Based on the hit film, this hilarious new musical follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school’s beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within. (The New York Times says, **“BE WARNED! There’s a love story in this one.”**)

**THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FEB. 22ND** **GOOMBAY MEETUP** *brings you* **The MARDI GRAS PARADE at The WHARF Parade & Social** **Sunday\, Feb\. 22\, 2028 \| 1:00pm\-4:30pm** **\*\*YOUR MUST REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT AT [WWW.GOOMBAY.NET](WWW.GOOMBAY.NET) OR AT THE LINK BELOW!** **[http://goombaydc.leagueapps.com/events/4893437-mardi-gras-at-the-wharf-with-goombay-2026](http://goombaydc.leagueapps.com/events/4893437-mardi-gras-at-the-wharf-with-goombay-2026)** **GROUP MEETING POINT:** 1\. Meet at the Boardwalk Bar & Arcade \| 715 Wharf St\. SW DC \| 1:00pm\-3:00pm *$10 to reserved your seat (beads provided)-SPACE IS LIMITED & NO REFUNDS* 2\. Meet at the parade route across from Boardwalk Bar & Arcade \| 3:00pm **EVENT AGENDA:** * 1:00pm - Registered participants meet at the Boardwalk Bar & Arcade for the social * 3:00pm - Group will move to the parade route across the street from Boardwalk Bar * 3:30pm - Mardi Gras Parade Begins * 4:30pm - Live Music on all WHARF stages * 6:30pm - Fireworks (for those that decide to hang around) *This is a rain/snow or shine event!* **SUGGESTED THINGS TO BRING:** * Dress in layers so that you can take off when your hot, and pile on when your cold * Dress in Mardi Gras colors (Purple/Green/Gold) and bring your beads * Handwarmers (optional) * Wipes for when you have to use the restroom * Batter pack for your phone * Small tripod stool for sitting (optional) * A good cup for your drink * Your personal drink stash (optional) * A bag or day pack to carry all your stuff **TRANSPORTATION:** Plan your transportation early! There are plenty of parking garages in the area, but arrive early. You can also catch the Metro Green Line and get off at the Waterfront station or take a Ride share. **For more information, contact Butch at (202)210-1957**

**Caller: Frank Buschelmann** **Band: The Rosenthorns** **Big Scioty Contra Dance** **temporarily returning to our long ago location for Jan-March - First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St., Columbus 43215** WHAT IS CONTRA DANCING? Picture the Grand Ball scenes like you’ve seen in period films such as “Pride and Prejudice”, where the dancers are lined up in long lines, across from each other. That’s English Country Dancing, the predecessor of contra dancing. Now, add moves like “swing your partner” and “do-si-do,” like you’ve seen in square dancing. Set it to fabulous, high energy, live music with fiddles, guitars, percussion and more, alá “Riverdance.” Finally, set the whole scene down in the middle of Woodstock, with a hip, groovy atmosphere, a bit of tie-dye, and hints of counter-culture attitude. THAT’s Contra Dancing! Wear cool and comfortable clothes (you will get warm) and clean shoes that won't mark up our nice wood floor. Be sure to come for the beginner's lesson from 7:30 - 8:00, followed by dancing 8:00 - 10:30. All dances are taught; we will help you learn! Beginners always welcome, no need to bring a partner. Cost is $10.00 adults, $5.00 ages 12-26. Under 12 free. Free parking in church lot. For more information contact me or check out our website: [www.bigscioty.com](http://www.bigscioty.com/) Please bring your own refillable water bottle. Snacks to share are always welcome!

As you may or may not know--I didn't until late last year--Aristotle wrote extensively on "friendship" in the Nicomachean Ethics. After 69 years the concept of friendship still creates questions and uncertainty. I had close friends in high school and for a few years after high school but our interests diverged and people moved all over the country so it was hard to maintain connections. * So if I/you haven't talked with a friend for several years, are you still friends? Are we friends who meet at Drunken Philosophy or Omnipresent Atheists? * Can you be friends with someone with whom you have virulently divergent political views? Sartre and Camus could not. * Aristotle regarded friendship as essential to a good life, not merely an added "bonus." Do you agree? * In the Nicomachean Ethics (Books VIII and IX), he claims that wealth and power are meaningless without friends. Trump has wealth and power but seems to have no real friends, but wealth and power seem meaningful to him in perverted ways. Can you have meaning in your life without friends? * Do men and women view and maintain friendships in different ways? * Aristotle categorizes friendship into three types, based on what forms the bond: * **Utility**: Based on mutual benefit, but this type is fragile and ends when the usefulness ceases. * **Pleasure**: Based on shared enjoyment (e.g., humor, hobbies). Common among youth but fades as interests change. * **Virtue (The "Complete" Friendship)**: Based on mutual respect for each other's character and goodness. You wish good for the other for their sake, not yours. * **Key Principles of "True" (Virtuous) Friendship:** * **Permanence**: Virtuous friendships last a lifetime whereas those based on utility and pleasure are fleeting. * **Reciprocity**: Requires mutual goodwill; secret or unreciprocated affection does not qualify. * **The "Second Self"**: A true friend is "another self"—their virtue helps you understand and improve yourself. * **Time and Intimacy**: Deep ("complete") friendships are few, built on time and shared experiences. * **Self-Love and Friendship:** * Good friendship starts with being a friend to yourself. * They distinguish shallow egoism (chasing honors) from real self-love (pursuing virtue). * A virtuous person’s pleasant self-company allows them to be a stable, good friend to others. * Aristotle argues that one's social circle ultimately reflects one's character—a view with striking relevance today. Well--the Drunken Philosophy social circle certainly reflects good character!

# **Band: Old Possum's Menagerie; Caller: Richard Ades** Beginner lesson at 1:30, regular dancing begins at 2:00 pm NOTE THAT WE ARE TEMPORARILY DANCING IN THE AFTERNOON INSTEAD OF EVENING. Dance with us in the afternoon then you can still go out in the evening! **Sponsor: All Soles Contra and Square Dancing, First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd., Columbus OH 43214** WHAT IS CONTRA DANCING? Picture the Grand Ball scenes like you’ve seen in period films such as “Pride and Prejudice”, where the dancers are lined up in long lines, across from each other. That’s English Country Dancing, the predecessor of contra dancing. Now, add moves like “swing your partner” and “do-si-do,” like you’ve seen in square dancing. Set it to fabulous, high energy, live music with fiddles, guitars, percussion and more, alá “Riverdance.” Finally, set the whole scene down in the middle of Woodstock, with a hip, groovy atmosphere, a bit of tie-dye, and hints of counter-culture attitude. THAT’s Contra Dancing! Wear cool and comfortable clothes (you will get warm) and clean shoes that won't mark up our nice wood floor. Be sure to come for the beginner's lesson from 1:30 - 2:00, followed by dancing 2:00 - 430. All dances are taught; we will help you learn! Beginners always welcome, no need to bring a partner. Cost is $10.00 adults, $5.00 ages 12-26. Under 12 free. Free parking in church lot. Please bring your own refillable water bottle.

Thursdays just got smarter (and sassier). 🧠🍻 Join us at TownHall Short North for Trivia Night with Marquis—where the questions are fun, the competition is friendly, and the vibes are immaculate. Grab your crew, sip something good, and prove you know random facts you absolutely shouldn’t.

Come join us at [Natalies](https://nataliesgrandview.com/) in Grandview for a free Happy Hour show. **The doors open at 5:00 pm.** Tonight is Sirens, an all girl rock band. This club has a great vibe with drink and eats specials. **The show runs from 5:15 pm - 6:30 pm.** There is no admission charge, but tips for the band are strongly encouraged. ***RESERVATIONS ARE FOR A 8-TOP; overflow can sit at the bar, lean in, or find available all season patio seating. MEMBERS ONLY, please. No guests.*** *(I have to pay for no shows. If you cancel late or no show, you may be temporarily removed from the group)*