Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Jan. 13

Parties, concerts, support groups and more through Jan. 19

Published

15 years ago

January 12, 2012

Juliette Ebner

Blowoff DJs Bob Mould, left, and Richard Morel. (Photo by Jeff Smith)

Friday, Jan. 13

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) is hosting a “Mega Bear Happy Hour” tonight in honor of Leather Weekend. Doors open for happy hour at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. for the general public. Attendees must be 21 or older from 6 to 10 p.m.

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) presents its production of “Billy Elliot: The Musical” directed by Stephen Daldry and featuring music by Elton John, tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $150 and can be purchased online at kennedy-center.org. The show closes on Sunday.

Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave., N.W.) is hosting an opening reception for its newest exhibit, “Into the Wild,” featuring paintings by Paula Lantz, tonight from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Women in Their Twenties, a social discussion and dinner group, meets tonight from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.).

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) presents Beat the Clock happy hour tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. Prices for all bottles, Miller Light and house vodka drinks start at $2 and go up a $1 every hour.

Code D.C. is hosting a special party for Mid-Atlantic Leather tonight at Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.). General admission is $15 and MAL package holders get in for $10. Doors open at 10 p.m. For more information, visit codedc.com.

Saturday, Jan. 14

Blowoff, a dance party featuring gay DJs Bob Mould and Richard Morel, will be at 9:30 club (815 V St., N.W.) tonight. Doors open at 11:30 p.m. Attendees must be 21 or older. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at 930.com.

Busboys & Poets presents “The Intersection of Art and Activism” featuring Ethelbert Miller and John Feffer in the Cullen Room of its 5th and K location (1025 5th St., N.W.) at 5 p.m. Miller is the Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Studies and Feffer is a playwright and political analyst. This is a free event.

Zoom: Urban Lesbian Excursions presents “The Smoker’s Room,” at Shelly’s Back Room (1331 F St., N.W.) tonight at 6 p.m. The event is free to RSVP, but there is a $12 minimum purchase at the venue. For more information, visit phatgirlchic.com/zoom.

Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) presents Hellmouth Happy Hour where every week an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” will be screened and drink specials will be offered. This week the episode is “The Wish,” featuring the first appearance of “a little gay” Willow.

Emmy Award-winning actress Holland Taylor comes to the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) with her one-woman play “Ann” today at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. The show tells the story of Ann Richards, the second female governor of Texas. Tickets range from $54 to $95 and can be purchased online at kennedy-center.org. The show closes on Sunday.

The International Deaf Leather Meeting is being held at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Sunday, Jan. 15

D.C.’s Got Talent presents a Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration at Busboys & Poets Hyattsville location (5331 Baltimore Ave., Suite 104) tonight at 8 p.m.. The event will feature artists performing spoken work, songs and poems in tribute to King. Tickets are available by calling 202-705-5048 or 240-381-5553 and at the door.

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.) presents Drag Brunch hosted by Shi-Queeta Lee today at 11 a.m. with a $20 brunch buffet, then stick around and watch the Baltimore Ravens take on the Houston Texans in the NFL Playoffs at 1 p.m.

As part of Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, 495 Bears is hosting a special Bears Can Dance tonight from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.). This is no cover for this event.

Monday, Jan. 16

Stephanie Mills plays the Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $69.50. Mills will also be performing on Tuesday night.

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) and Georgetown University are hosting a musical celebration tonight at 6 p.m. featuring Grammy award-winning vocalist Bobby McFerrin and the “Let Freedom Ring!” Choir. Free tickets will be given away two per person in line in the Hall of Nations starting at 5 p.m.

The D.C. Coalition, the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club and the D.C. Center will be marching as a single contingent in the Martin Luther King Junior Holiday Parade today at 11 a.m. The parade starts at Friendship Public Charter School and ends at Leckie Elementary School. For more information, visit mlkholidayparadedc.org.

Tuesday, Jan. 17

Riot Act Comedy Theater (801 E St., N.W.) presents its weekly trivia night, hosted by Ashley Linder and Lauren Zoltick tonight at 8 p.m. in the upstairs bar. There is also a bonus question worth three extra points online at riotactcomedy.com.

Join Burgundy Crescent Volunteers to help pack safer sex kits from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at FUK!T’s packing location, Green Lantern, 1335 Green Ct., N.W.

Wednesday, Jan. 18

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) is hosting a dance party fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) tonight with Mixtape DJs Shea Van Horn and Matt Bailer. Doors open at 8 p.m. and there is a $25 cover for this 21 and older event. For more information, visitindependentaction.org.

The D.C. Ice Breakers will be having its monthly skate and social tonight. The group will be skating at Kettler Capitals Iceplex (627 N. Glebe Rd.) in Arlington from 8 to 9 p.m. then they’ll hit a local bar for a social hour. Skating is $8 and skate rentals are $3.

The Tom Davoren Social Bridge Club, for gay bridge players, meets tonight for social bridge at the Dignity Center (721 8th Street, S.E.). No partner is needed. Visit lambdabridge.com for details and click on “social bridge in Washington.”

Thursday, Jan. 19

Christine Lavin plays Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available online at wolftrap.org.

D.C. Lambda Squares, a local gay square dancing group, is having its plus with as-needed mainstream club night tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, N.W.). For more information, visit dclambdasquares.org.

Related Topics:Blowoff Bob Mould Out & About

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Books

New book reveals what we can learn from animal sex

‘Poking the Squid’ on homosexuality, gender swapping, and more

Published

5 hours ago

July 13, 2026

Terri Schlichenmeyer

(Book cover image courtesy W.W. Norton)

‘Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex’
By Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
c.2026, W.W. Norton
$29.99 241 pages

Birds do it.

According to Cole Porter, bees do, too, but it’s not exactly what he imagined. Wild and tame, avians, insects, and mammals all have sex – although not always as you’ve been told or for reasons you might think. Even educated fleas do it and, as in the new book, “Poking the Squid” by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, humans can learn from them all.

If you read through scientific papers on animal reproduction, you might notice something unusual: for scientists, the word “sex” means a lot of different things.

Says Ireland, “It’s used to describe behaviors, biology, life histories, and more.”

That might be because animals are not simply binary.

Take, for instance, hyenas. It’s easy for the casual observer to mistake a male hyena for a female and vice versa because of stereotypes of anatomy. Mating, for hyenas, requires subordination for the male and a nifty trick on the part of the female’s body to get things done.

Our feathered friends are no birdbrains, either: black-browed albatrosses were once thought to be monogamous but global warming seems to have changed their nesting habits sometimes. Male flamingos have sex with one another, as a territorial thing; other birds and animals form same-sex pairs for other reasons.

The Chinese mantis eats her mate after fertilization. Female snakes, alpacas, guinea pigs, and monkeys are anatomically able to enjoy sex. Genitalia between species varies quite a bit; in fact, the vaginas of ducks “are highly complex.” Lionesses will mate up to 100 times when in heat. Female damselflies will change into a “third sex” to avoid overly aggressive mating males. Bearded dragons can change their sex, if needed, as can yellow clown goby fish. And seahorse pregnancy and birth sparked a book banning in Tennessee.

So, asks Ireland, if animals, including us, vary so much in biology and life, “… why are we using the word sex like it means something, anything, consistent?!”

Pick up “Poking the Squid,” page through it a few seconds, and you’ll see that the information here is largely told through cartoon-like drawings mixed with captions. It seems to be something on the lighter side, but don’t let that artwork fool you.

Author Perrin Roosevelt Ireland offers readers solid information that cozies up to the scholarly, with hard science, philosophy, feminism, and quotations from researchers to support it, thus furthering the narrative and hitting the points squarely. If you see the art and expect something lighthearted, comic, and small-talk-worthy, you could be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you want solid, wryly serious facts, you’re in for a treat.

There’s lots of learning to be gleaned here, and some slight nudge-wink whimsy to emphasize the absurdity of wrong-headed thinking. This can make readers feel like they’re in-the-know on the jokes, and the playfulness balances the seriousness of the information well.

So, serious, scholarly, or slightly silly, none of these are negative but you’re going to know what you want from a book like this. For the right reader, someone in the mood, “Poking the Squid” is wild.

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