No Money? No Problem!

Festivals Galore!

brokecollegekid — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:25:20 +0000

“Festival” is such a goofy word. We probably abuse it, considering the word is supposed to be describing an event centered around a feast, but who doesn’t love big cultural get-togethers? There’s usually food anyway, and even if there isn’t, festivals almost always are entertaining.

Regardless, you gotta love ‘em, especially when they’re free and cheap!

The Hip Hop Theater Festival is happening NOW through July 11 in various venues throughout D.C. With over 4 venues, 12 events and 20+ artists involved in productions from theater to dance to poetry to music, it sounds like it’s worth checking out (fo’ free)!

The Capital Fringe Festival (I love love LOVE this festival) is starting this Thursday, July 9 and will run until July 26 downtown in Penn Quarter and Mount Vernon Square. It’s not exactly cheap, per se — tickets are usually $10-$15 a show (some are free, others can cost up to $35), plus you have to pay for a $5 (just once) to get in to any show, and it can get you all kinds of discounts for the rest of the year at certain restaurants and theaters throughout the city. Also, if you go to a show at the Trading Post (one of the many festival’s many venues) you can get a lot of free stuff, like CDs, clothing, etc.

Honest Abe…in Cheese?

brokecollegekid — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:05:02 +0000

Really. I don’t know exactly what to say about this, other than the fact that it’s a statue of Abe Lincoln made of cheese. hahahahhaha!

Oh yeah, it’s life-sized!

Cheez-Its is sponsoring it, so you get free crackers?

(Who thinks of these things!)

There’s a Caddyshack screening tonight behind the DOT building on New Jersey Ave. The theme is “Wear Your Best Golf Shirt”. Gotta love ’80s movie nights.

We’re going hiking tomorrow on the AT to Annapolis Rock. Great way to spend my day off, huh!? Anyone want to come with?

If you can’t make it, LocalHikes has a number of great hikes to explore in the DC area, and you can set it to whatever region you’d like.

Look at all these plans the Gurus have for the Fourth across the region! Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band in Vienna? Yesss!

Have a happy, safe Fourth of July!

John Dillinger Trivia and Public Enemies Screening

brokecollegekid — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:42:14 +0000

Wanna see Public Enemies for free? The National Museum of Crime and Punishment is having a trivia night tomorrow, Tuesday June 30 at 5 p.m. Questions center on John Dillinger, and the winner gets free tickets to an advanced screening of Public Enemies.

To get into the museum you have to pay $17.95 (totally worth it, by the way- it’s a neat place. Wrote an anthropology paper on it, actually), but the trivia is free.

Plus, even if you don’t win, it’s still fun, right? Call the museum at 202-393-1099 for more info.

FreeFest, Folklife Festival and More

brokecollegekid — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:54:36 +0000

Lots of things to update today! First though, Michael Jackson died today, as did Farrah Fawcett. Devastating.

Here are a couple of FREE things to do/sign up for this weekend:

What’s better than Virgin Fest? I’ll tell you, FREEFEST. This awesome music festival will take place at Merriweather Post Pavilion August 30. Headliners include Weezer, Blink 182, Franz Ferdinand and a bunch more, and it all costs…$0.00.

oh yeah and GIRL TALK GIRL TALK GIRL TALK GIRL TALK GIRL TALK!!!!

(who, ps, is coming to JPJ August 22 at 8…$12 for upperclassmen. heeeelll yeah!)

From the website:

“The move celebrates both a giveback to music fans in a bad economy as well as an effort to solicit donations to homeless youth agencies around the country…”

You can sign up to get a free ticket and an optional $5 delivery fee, a free ticket as well as optional $5 delivery fee and an optional $5 donation, or a karma package: “get a free ticket & 1 t-shirt for $30 or get 2 tickets & 2 t-shirts for $55. Prices include $5 donation to youth homelessness.”

Those who’ve gone to VirginFest before will have the first opportunities to score free tix (you would’ve/should be getting an email about it). The rest of ‘em will be given out Saturday, June 27 starting at 10am. Check Ticketmaster Promotions for more details.

That sort of music not your thing? Check out the Smithsonian Folklore Festival! Happening June 24-28 and July 1-5 on the National Mall, the Festival celebrates different types of cultures from around the world. Some teasers from the website:

“In re-creating physical settings for the traditions represented, the Festival has built a horse racetrack (from the Washington Monument to the U.S. Capitol Building), an Indian village with 40-foot-high bamboo and paper statues, a Japanese rice paddy, and a New Mexican adobe plaza.”

Over a million people come to this thing. I went last year, ate delicious food and listened to some pretty sweet concerts. Check the full schedule for more information.

These cost $10, but seem well-worth the money:

The DC Caribbean Festival is happening this weekend. With a parade on Saturday (at 11 a.m., down Georgia Ave from Missouri Ave to Barry Place) and the festival happening all weekend (right across from Howard University), the event aims to educate visitors about “Caribbean arts, crafts, and cultures.” Learn more on the festival’s website, and take a look at these pictures from last year!

Safeway’s National Barbeque Battle is happening this Saturday, June 27. The event benefits the Boys and Girls Club, and has all kinds of food and entertainment (BBQ and more from Safeway, music, lots of family-friendly events like rides…pretty packed, I’d say). Get your tickets early to avoid the lines!

Free Food!

brokecollegekid — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:55:50 +0000

For those of you in Charlottesville, UPC is giving away a BUNCH of free food over the next week.

They’re sponsoring a study break with free Arch’s on Thursday from 12:30 to 3 on the South Lawn. Also, on Monday there’ll be free Bodo’s at 9:30, also on the South Lawn and next Wednesday (not tomorrow, but the 1st) there’s a BBQ at Nameless Field!

…Why didn’t I stay in Cville again?

Check UPC’s website for more details and other upcoming events.

Soap Box Derby

brokecollegekid — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:17:54 +0000

The SOAP BOX DERBY is tomorrow, June 20th from 9-4. It’s from 1st St. and Constitution Ave (between Louisiana and Kentucky Aves. NW). I mean, really, who doesn’t want to see a bunch of soap box derby cars in the middle of DC? Awesome.

Cute!

SILVERDOCS

brokecollegekid — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:02:01 +0000

AFI and the Discovery Channel have paired up to present SILVERDOCS, a weeklong series of documentaries at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD (you can get off at the Silver Spring stop on the Red Line). Most of the time the films aren’t free (but SUPER interesting, I loved going last year), but tonight they’re showing a documentary about the first walk on the moon outside that doesn’t cost anything. Here’s the blurb For All Mankind:

Forty years ago, in July 1969, the space race ended when Apollo 11 fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” No one who witnessed the lunar landing will ever forget it. Breathtaking both in the scope of its vision and the exhilaration of the human emotions it captures, FOR ALL MANKIND is the story of the 24 men who traveled to the moon, told in their words, in their voices, using the images of their experiences.

The show starts at 9.

Also, for those of you who are interested, the film festival continues until Monday. Here’s the schedule. Anyone want to come with me this weekend?

Summer Bags

brokecollegekid — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:30:11 +0000

It’s the summer and if you know me at all, I’m definitely a bag lady. I stumbled upon this neat video where you can make your own bag from 105 cm of cloth.

And yeah, we’re in a shopping cart in that header. It was pretty awesome if you ask me.

Groupons

brokecollegekid — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:04:04 +0000

I signed up for this a while back, but since we were talking about it at work today I figured it’s worth mentioning:

The Groupon website will send coupons to your inbox every day – if X amount of people claim them by a certain time (though there is no limit (theoretically) to the number of people who can claim it), then the offer is valid. They offer coupons for EVERYTHING from kayak lessons to restaurant to spa deals, and the coupons usually run from 50-70% off, so check it out- it’s well worth your time!

Also, TGI Friday’s is offering a buy one get one free deal until June 22: if you purchase one entree, you can get a second one fo’ free! You just need to print out the coupon, and you can use it as much as you want until next Monday! I mean, you have to eat there at the restaurant (aka dine-in only), but I’m not complaining…

Random fact of the day, according to an article sponsored by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services college students spend approx. $5.5 billion dollars a year on alcohol, mostly beer. (The study was referenced here.) Maybe we should learn how to make our own? Looks like wine might be cheaper…

Can you tell I’m hungry?

JOB UPDATE: the restaurant across the street from my internship put up a help wanted sign, so I applied today: maybe I can finally get a job! And I have another interview (a “group interview”…I swear, I’ve never had a group interview until this year and I’ve had like four in the past six months. Crazy!) with the Disney Store on Thursday…wish me luck!

Art-O-Matic and Cookouts!

brokecollegekid — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:44:35 +0000

V’s boyfriend is in town and she’s trying to show him a good time. Unfortunately, like me, she has zero dollars. But we still have a pretty sweet plan for tomorrow:

6:00 pm Walk to her house: no car? No problem! It’s good exercise, anyway. I haven’t gone running in almost a week.

6:15 pm: Cookout! Her dad volunteered to grill (one of the main reasons I appreciate being home: free food)

8:00ish: hop on the Metro to go to Art-O-Matic, the awesome, 12-story empty office building taken over by crazy hippie artists. Last time I was there, Veronica and I saw fire dancers, two concerts, a comedy show, every single type of visual art imaginable (both good and shitty), dancing…we took over the open chalk wall/space and played hopscotch. Did I mention she tried to get a tattoo? Because there was definitely a tattoo artist there as well. (I’m betting she wouldn’t have been too happy the next day…good thing the artist was gone!) OH and I bought a $2 canvas bag that I ended up using as my purse/tote/handbag all summer. Art-O-Matic=Awesome.

Oh, and yesterday I found out that it’s BACK!

HBO tried to cancel Screen on the Green (those sneaky bastards!), but thankfully due to a lot of angry, awesome people s it’s been resurrected and starts on July 20! Yessssss- we can still roast marshmellows over our banana lighters and do that goofy dance on Monday nights!

FWIW, and since I’m just starting this thing, I’d like to point out that the Going Out Gurus are kind of a big deal: not saying that all of their stuff is cheap (it’s definitely not), and their free/cheap section is not crazy huge, but they’re still really great at finding sweet places in the city.

In the meantime, here are a couple awesome things I’ve come across:

TUESDAY PARTY BUS FOR INTERNS
From corner of Second and D street SE to Wisconsin Avenue NW., 21+ interns can board a bus (with both a DL and college ID) that will take them to Gin and Tonic, where every drink is 2-1. Yeah, everything. Watch out, though- that deal is for everyone, so there are bound to be some creepers.

WEDNESDAY FREE YOGA
Lululemon Yoga offers classes in the middle of Dupont Circle every Wednesday at 6:30.

THURSDAY: SOUND IN THE SQUARE
Free concerts in Farragut Square. Not only can you sign up to win a free package that has food, drinks, and tix to DC Improv Club, but there’s also a weekly prize!

FRIDAY: BETHESDA ART WALK
Every second Friday (meaning this Friday!) Bethesda art galleries are open from 6-9 fo’ free. It’s kind of like First Fridays except…second.

SATURDAY: NAKED BIKE RIDE IN DC
Need I say more? 3 pm. Franklin Park 13th and K st NW. Be there or be clothed (which is lame).