Just two days ago, we gave a shout out to Kanye West’s new puppet theater, but we’ve never thanked the master of muppets himself. Luckily, the Smithsonian is one step ahead of us. They recently honored Jim Henson with a full exhibit. It’s still open through this weekend, so head on down if you haven’t seen it already.

Puppets are a perfect mix of fluffy, cute, and DIY technology. And you can even comb their hair!!! It’s their three-dimensionality and stringiness that makes them so cuddlesome. Just imagine how boring it would be to comb a cartoon’s hair with a Wii remote!

Waiting for a good comb!

Get ready to break out of your visual bubble and attend to your audio aspirations. The Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music begins this Sunday in Washington, D.C. Mer-chan’s eye-on-the-street cub reporter hears the following as festival highlights: Bernhard Gal, Paul Flaherty, Suzanne Thorpe & Philip White, Mattin, Matmos, and Jason Kahn + Jon Mueller. Keep on listenin’! Keep on lookin’! For that Spectra Sonic Sound!

And that’s the image that first came up! Here in DC we’re not all khakis and politics, but you’d be hard pressed to tell when even the DC Short Film Festival looks like a political campaign:



But this is a high-stakes election year, so they’re forgiven for political fervor. Especially since DC Shorts offers the best short films from local and international filmmakers. So check them out at Landmark’s E Street Cinema.

A dormant power cord, lit by candlelight

Yesterday, we lost power for over five hours! All the other blocks had power, only our little street had none. The entire block. And we thought brownout season was officially over in D.C. What a city!

Now that we are back up and electric, we thought we’d collect ideas of fun things to do the next time this happens. Our favorite is this top ten list on Chatsquatch. And there is also a family oriented list on Associated Content. Or get out your dancing shoes: fun things to do in the dark with your friends. Store them away for a darker day. After all, if you are reading this, you probably have power. Unless your laptop is fully charged. And the other side of the street still has power. And your neighbors have an open wireless network.

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty is known to zip around town in his Smart Car. And a cartoon version of the animated mayor welcomes kids to the Kids’ Capital (the virtual Fenty even has a cell phone that rings incessantly). Everywhere we turn these days there’s a smiling Fenty face. And there is a growing number of “Fake Fenty” sightings. Just the other day, we saw a Fenty look-alike double park his Smart Car in front of a downtown restaurant. But who’s to blame him? How else can you get affordable valet parking in this town?