Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: July 20

Parties, exhibits, concerts and more through July 26

Published

14 years ago

July 19, 2012

‘Wild Night: A Burlesque Adventure,’ is coming to the Warehouse Theater on Saturday at midnight. (Photo courtesy Warehouse)

TODAY (Friday)

The HIV Working Group is doing outreach tonight at Town’s (2009 8th St., N.W.) Bear Happy Hour. It begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $5. For more information, visit towndc.com or thedccenter.org.

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, needs volunteers today through July 25 to help with the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall. To participate, visit burgundycrescent.org.

Whitman-Walker Health is having HIV Testing at Arena Stage (1101 Sixth St., S.W.) tonight at 5:30 p.m. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave., N.W.) is hosting two exhibits, “3D Collage the Adventure” by David Alfuth and “Being Affected” by Charles St. Charles until July 29. Alfuth’s artwork features are surreal 3-D collages consisting of newspapers, cloth, pressed flowers and other flat objects. St. Charles’ exhibition portrays faces with various reactions to shared circumstances. The exhibit is free. For more information, visit touchstonegallery.com.

Phase 1 (525 8th St. SE) is hosting its “Red, White & Boobs with D.C. Gurly Show” starting at 7:30 p.m. This event will have a special guest, Miss Flora Bush. Cover charge is $5. For more information, visit phase1dc.com.

Waverly Street Gallery (4600 East-West Highway, Bethesday) is hosting the exhibition “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” paintings and collage by Ronnie Spiewak today from noon to 6 p.m. Access to the exhibition is free. For more information, visit waverlystreetgallery.com.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) is having its happy hour today starting at 5 p.m. All drinks are half off until 7:30 p.m. After 9 p.m., admission is $15, and after 11 p.m. admission is $3. The party includes a pool, video gaming system and card tournaments. For details, visit thebachelorsmill.com.

Green Lantern (1111 14th St., Green Court, N.W.) is hosting its “Pop Goes the World” party tonight at 10 p.m. Cover charge is $5. For more information, visit greenlanterndc.com.

Saturday, July 21

A reception will be held tonight at 6 for artists John Gascot’s and MG Stout’s art exhibit at the D.C. Center (1318 U St. NW). Wine and refreshments will be served. Many or the paintings are inspired by or named after songs. The exhibit will be up through Sept. 8 and attendees can visit for free during the D.C. Center business hours. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Spunk-E Productions presents “Ink & Scruff” at Green Lantern (1111 14^th St., Green Court, N.W.) tonight at 10 p.m. There’s a hot body contest, drink specials all night and music by DJ Tone. Cover is $5. For details, visit greenlanterndc.com.

Tilted Torch’s “Wild Night: A Burlesque Adventure” is at the Warehouse Theater (645 New York Ave. N.W.) tonight at midnight. This burlesque show allows audience members decide what happens in the story. The decisions will lead to consequences, danger and even death. General admission is $17. For more information, visit warehousetheater.com.

The Black Cat (1811 14^th St., N.W.) tonight is hosting “Right Round,” its ‘80s alternative-pop dance night with DJ Lil’e. Tickets are $7 and doors open at 9:30. For more information, visit blackcatdc.com.

Town Danceboutique (2009 8^th St., N.W.) is hosting an AIDS 2012 Conference Party tonight at 10 p.m. The party is to bring men together to kick off the conference weekend. The music is by DJ Chord. Cover is $8 before 11 p.m. and $12 after 11 p.m. There are $3 drinks before 11 p.m. A drag show starts at 10:30 p.m. For more information, visit towndc.com.

Sunday, July 22

Youth Score 2012 is hosting “Uniting an AIDS-Free Generation” today at the Bell Multicultural High School (3101 16th St., N.W.) from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. This basketball and soccer tournament will feature games are for ages 13-24 with great prizes for participants. The event is free. For details, visit facebook.com/YouthScore2012.

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) is hosting the seven arts-related panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in its South Gallery. The show is free and will be up until July 27. The gallery is open daily between 10 a.m.-10 p.m. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.

Monday, July 23

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) is hosting its Martini Monday tonight at 10 p.m. There is no cover charge and martinis are $5. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8^th St., S.E.) is offering half-price drinks all night long. A free pool and NFL, NBA and NCAA games will be on the flat screen TVs. Admission is free. For details, visit thebachelorsmill.com.

Tuesday, July 24

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) hosts its Flashback dance night with DJ Jason Royce starting at 10 p.m. There is no cover charge. For more details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Wednesday, July 25

The D.C. Center (1318 U St. NW) is hosting its Center arts meeting today at 5:30 p.m. Attendees are discussing things like chapbooks (handmade books of poetry), that are performed at Capturing Fire, the National Queer Spoken Word Summit, and Slam, a Busboys & Poets event. The meetings are free and occur on the fourth Wednesday of each month. For details, visit thedccenter.org.

Transgender Health Empowerment is hosting the benefit “Glam” at Omega (2122 P St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and the event will include drinks and a drag show. All proceeds goes toward HIV/AIDS services for the trans community in D.C. For more information, visit thedccenter.org or contact Evan Hempel at [email protected].

HIV Prevention Working Group, an HIV/AIDS prevention outreach, volunteer and education program, meets tonight at 7 p.m. at the DC Center (1318 U St. NW). For details, visit thedccenter.org.

Thursday, July 26

Lambda Sci-Fi book group (1425 S St., N.W.) meets tonight at 7 p.m. The book for this month is “Welcome to Bordertown,” an anthology edited by Ellen Kushner and Holly Black. For more information, visit lambdascifi.org.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) is hosting its weekly Best Package Contest tonight at 9 p.m. There’s a $3 cover and there are $2 vodka drinks. Participants in the contest can win $200 in cash prizes. The event is hosted by Lena Lett and music by DJ Chord, DJ Madscience and DJ Sean Morris. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Books

New book reveals what we can learn from animal sex

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

Published

8 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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