Did You Know?

Did You Know? Sharon Bulova Is a Doodler!

You may think twice about telling your kid to stop doodling.

If you've ever wondered what Sharon Bulova, chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, is scribbling under the microphone during those incredibly long public hearings, it turns out that she's a lifelong doodler. In addition to her duties as a public official for 25 years, Bulova has run more than a few pens dry by making cartoon likenesses of her colleagues. The drawings tell a sort of truth — from a certain point of view. Once you see them, you'll never mistake the mustache of U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D-11th) for another, or the familiar dome of Mount Vernon Supervisor Gerry Hyland.   "Since becoming chairman, I don't draw and doodle as much as I used to," Bulova told Patch from her office in the Fairfax County Government Center. "…

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James Cullum

1:55 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012

Thanks Susan!   more ›

Opening This Weekend in Kingstowne: 'The Dictator,' 'Battleship'

Dark Shadows and other movies playing at the Kingstowne Regal 16 this weekend.

This weekend in movies playing in Kingstowne, Rihanna and Friday Night Lights' Taylor Kitsch face off against aliens in Battleship, and Sacha Baron Cohen channels the late Saddam Hussein. Battleship Taylor Kitsch can't get enough of those aliens, can he? Fresh off fighting and romancing extraterrestrials in John Carter, Kitsch returns to earth to battle an intergalactic threat with the help of Rihanna and Liam Neeson. www.battleshipmovie.com Battleship is a silly, noisy extravaganza, but humor keeps it afloat (AP) The Dictator Sacha Baron Cohen, famous for his gonzo escapades in Bruno, Borat, and Da Ali G Show, plays a dictator committed to keeping democracy out of his country. www.republicofwadiya.com The Dictator Stages a Coup of …

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Lake Braddock's 'Arabian Nights': A Magic Carpet Ride

A Cappies review of Lake Braddock High School's "The Arabian Nights."

This Cappies review by Hattie Clougherty of Chantilly High School is of the Saturday, April 28, performance of "The Arabian Nights" at Lake Braddock Secondary School. The Cappies is a critics and awards program, "through which high school theater and journalism students are trained as critics, attend shows at other schools, write reviews, and publish those reviews in local [media]." Student critics will vote on May 13 for the awards that will be presented at a formal Cappies Gala on Sunday, June 10. Top award honorees from the U.S. and Canada participate in the Cappies International Theater at the Kennedy Center during the summer. _____ The hollow thumping from Arabic drums rhythmically ushered in four lines of brightly clad storytellers …

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WSHS's 'Oz': Energetic and Comedic

A Cappies review of West Springfield High School's 'The Wizard of Oz'

This Cappies review by Laura Cermak of Oakcrest School is of the Friday, May 4, 2012, West Springfield High School performance of "The Wizard of Oz."  The photographs are by student Catherine Ariale. The Cappies is a critics and awards program, "through which high school theater and journalism students are trained as critics, attend shows at other schools, write reviews, and publish those reviews in local [media]." Student critics will vote on May 13 for the awards that will be presented at a formal Cappies Gala on Sunday, June 10. Top award honorees from the U.S. and Canada participate in the Cappies International Theater at the Kennedy Center during the summer. _____ Over the rainbow, down the yellow brick road, to Oz!  West Springfield …

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Movie Reviews by Cinema Siren

'Dark Shadows': A Mere Shadow of What It Could Be

PG-13 Johnny Depp film opens in theaters this weekend.

Tim Burton, as the stylized director of such glorious oddities as "Edward Scissorhands," "Beetlejuice," and "Ed Wood," is the pied piper to the inner goth in all of us. So it is with a heavy heart Cinema Siren has to report "Dark Shadows," while it might have moments of loopy greatness and top-notch production and costume design, it is on the whole the most tragic of cinematic sins: A bore.   The greatness is in some particularly exciting and fast-paced scenes, that are strangely intermittent in its 116 minutes, and so at odds with the soap opera ploddings of the rest of the film. The first minutes of "Dark Shadows" show great promise. Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp, in his eighth partnership with director Burton) is the rakish son of a …

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Opening This Weekend in Kingstowne: 'Dark Shadows'

Dark Shadows and other movies playing at the Kingstowne Regal 16 this weekend.

This weekend in movies playing in Kingstowne, Johnny Depp plays a vampire. Dark Shadows Johnny Depp stars as vampire Barnabus Collins in Tim Burton's comedic homage to the campy '60's drama of the same name. darkshadowsmovie.warnerbros.com Undead in the 1970s (San Francisco Chronicle) See the trailers for this movie in the media box to the right. -----------  Also playing in Kingstowne this weekend: The Avengers A group of superheroes, including The Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man, must fight a menace to humanity--if they can stop fighting each other.  www.marvel.com/Avengers Avenging Marvels (Metro Weekly) The Cabin in the Woods Five friends go to... (wait for it)... a cabin in the woods in this horror flick. www.…

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