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Calendar: The Return of Screen on the Green

It’s officially the dog days of summer.

But along with all that heat and humidity comes also the return of the granddaddy of all outdoor movie venues, as well as a host of other activities that go with the middle of the year.

Screen on the Green

Washington has a host of great outdoor movie venues, from the brand new DC Drive In to the NoMa Summer Screen and other venues near Nationals Park, the U Street corridor, Crystal City and Rosslyn. But the big papi of them all, Screen on the Green, has a truly special draw, with its magnificent view of the Capitol and quirky rituals, such as people doing the “HBO” dance before the first reel.

Screen on the Green on the National Mall is a summer tradition in Washington. (CQ Roll Call File Photo.)
Screen on the Green on the National Mall is a summer tradition in Washington. (CQ Roll Call File Photo)

It’s a good line-up that starts Monday night with “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” The sight of Elliot and E.T. flying on their bike with both the Moon and the Capitol in the background should be one for the ages.

The rest of the summer’s SOTG offerings are “Norma Rae” (Union issues are hot these days!) on July 29, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” on Aug. 5 (The original, with Gene Wilder, not the creepy Johnny Depp remake) and “Tootsie” on Aug. 12. (Can dressing up like a woman enhance your career? Ask congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Cathy McMorris Rodgers!)

Local Color

The folks at Eat Local First DC have christened the week of July 22-27 as Eat Local First Week 2013 and several restaurants and venues are there if you want to make good on keeping it local in your culinary choices, coupling it with Farm-to-Table Restaurant Week from July 22-28.

On Monday night, Woolly Mammoth (641 D Street NW) is hosting the “How Local Food Grows a City” kick-off party.

The Heurich House Museum (1307 New Hampshire Ave. NW), one of the District’s early breweries, gets in on the action with a happy hour on Wednesday night. On Thursday, the action moves to beer haven Meridian Pint (3400 11th Street NW) which will host an “urban foraging and forage cask event.” Translation? Expect to eat stuff and drink beer from ingredients that you might walk by every day on a city sidewalk but is actually edible (and even delicious.)

The Bloomingdale neighborhood and its Big Bear Cafe (1700 1st Street NW) gets into the act Friday with an edible garden tour and party. Things wrap up on Saturday with a “Farm-to-Street Party” at Union Market (1309 5th Street NE).

National Review

We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention that the Washington Nationals are in the midst of an 11-game homestead. It should go a long way toward determining whether they make the playoffs this year. The heat is on!

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Editor’s Note: Tim Curran, an editor and a neighbor