Story/Stereo @ Bethesda Writers’ Center Tonight.

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Well, you’ve got us stumped Baltimore. We’re looking around for something to do tonight. Sure it’s Fall and its turning cold and gray, and we had a big weekend last weekend, but come on, it’s Friday night, and we want to go out. So we’re looking around for something to do, and we had to look all the way to Bethesda before we could find something of interest.

What we found though might actually be worth making the drive for and fighting all that Friday traffic. The Story/Stereo Series is set up for another installment at the Bethesda Writers’ Center tonight.

The Bethesda Writers' Center hosts Story/Stereo tonight. 8 pm.

We had never heard of Story/Stereo before this week, and we’ve got to admit it looks like DC totally has a leg up on us on this one. We’ve grown used to Charm City being the place where innovative new formats take root, but the truth is that Baltimore has nothing to quite compare to Story/Stereo. The Writers’ Center brings in various and diverse writers of all stripes, both their own fellows and residents as well as others to read from their works, and pairs them with some of DC’s most talented and vital musicians.

Tonight’s program features Ugandan writer and former U of MD writer-in-residence Doreen Baingana as well as the poet Alison Pelegrin, both of whom will read from their latest works.

But perhaps the more interesting half of S/S is the stereo part. The series has previously landed some notable names in DC’s independent music scene, with past performers including Jon Davis, J. Robbins, and Asa Osborne. The organizers seem to have a talent for eliciting solo performances by musicians who have little to no experience playing solo, making for a unique experience for both the performer and the audience.

Such is the case with tonight’s featured musical guest, Devin Ocampo. When we saw Devin’s latest band, DC’s Medications earlier this year, it was a show we’d have to rank among the best we’ve seen in 2010, So we’re interested to see where he’ll go from there.

Getting artists together to combine their talents and try new things and then presenting it for free? Baltimore should be ashamed we didn’t think of this first.

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Of course, when there are cool things happening in Baltimore, you like to hear about them, which is why you should vote for the Chop in the Mobbies. We’re slipping hard in that Personal category, although we think of this as primarily a personal blog. We’re not quite ahead in the Music/Nightlife or Misfits category either, so help us out, ok? If we pull out a win, we’ll be sure to figure out some way to reward all of you Choppers who made it possible.

Mondo Balto Presents Blood Freak @ Windup Space Tonight

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What? You haven’t been to Mondo Baltimore at the Windup Space yet? What’s the matter? You don’t like blood and guts and dick jokes and film freaks and beer? What are you? A Communist? This is some real, genuine first amendment stuff right here, baby. It’s also free. Nothing says freedom like free.

What could be more American than Thanksgiving, the spirit of the open American road and the pastoral surroundings of a simple country turkey farm?

Mondo Baltimore screens Blood Freak at the Windup Space tonight. 7 pm Doors.

That’s the setting for tonight’s feature, Blood Freak. We’re not really sure how Blood Freak fits into the Mondo series though. So far Mondo has highlighted the weird and the bizarre, but Blood Freak seems perfectly logical and sensible to us. If you were a biker in the 70’s, wouldn’t you dig drugs and chicks? If you were a turkey farming mad scientist and some drugged up biker tried to bang your daughter, wouldn’t you turn him into a giant turkey? If you were just transformed into a turkey, you’d probably want to go on a homicidal rampage, wouldn’t you? See? It all makes perfect sense.

After all, what was the first Thanksgiving about? It was basically just the meal before the massacre.

Tonight’s feature will also be preceded by a short on Thanksgiving table manners, presented by Gutter Magazine’s resident Gore Whore, who knows way more about this sort of thing than you do, and is basically the Emily Post of Mondo manners.

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Competition is still very tight in the Baltimore Sun’s Mobbies contest, and the Baltimore Chop is still looking for your votes. We put a lot of time into writing this thing every day on a crummy old computer that freezes up constantly, but you can click over there now and vote very quickly. Look for the Chop in the Personal, Music/Nightlife, and Misfits categories, and don’t forget to vote for best overall.

As an anonymous blog, we can’t exactly bug our real life friends for votes every day, so it’s up to you, the readers, to put the Chop on top.

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Dead Mechanical @ CCAS Tonight

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It’s getting to be that time of year again; the time of year when non-profits and worthy causes of all stripes double down on ‘awareness campaigns’ trying to pull your holiday heartstrings, and get their ledgers in order with some last minute donations before the end of the year. Public radio, pink ribbons, the Salvation Army of bell-ringers… appeals to your sympathy and pocketbooks are about to come from all sides. You’ve been warned.

Perhaps there’s no more deserving cause than Baltimore’s own Charm City Art Space. It’s 8 years and more than 1000 shows now since the Art Space opened its doors, and with a budget of zero throughout all of it, they’ve managed to remain as a hive of creative underground activity without ever feeling like a poor relation (ahem. Senator Theater. ahem.).

Dead Mechanical gets generous at CCAS tonight. 7 pm Doors.

You don’t get more humble than the members of CCAS. Even when they do hold a benefit, it’s disguised as an awesome show, and won’t cost you more than a few bucks at the door, same as any other show.

This has always been the Chop’s favorite sort of philanthropy; the sort where you get something cool for your money, and someone else does the heavy lifting. Tonight the heavy lifting will be on the shoulders of one of our favorite local acts, Dead Mechanical.

Sharing the burden tonight is DC area post- HC outfit Give, and their fellow Washingtonians, the midwestern-sounding mathy Monument.

With a lineup like that you can afford to give til it hurts… or at least until your ears ring.

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Speaking of poor relations going begging, today is day 2 of voting in the Sun’s Mobbies contest. The Baltimore Chop is nominated in the Music/Nightlife, Personal, and Misfits categories, and we’re begging for your vote. Click over there now. It only takes a second.

O’Malley/ Mikulski Victory Party @ AVAM Tonight

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Election nights can be a tough time for political geeks. For those of us who follow politics as a spectator sport, a mid-term election may not be the Superbowl, but it’s at least equivalent to an NFL playoff game. It’s something we get excited about. It’s something we don’t want to sit around and watch alone. It needs to be shared with other political geeks, and not the ones on the Daily Kos message boards either. For nights like tonight, it’s time to turn off the internet and treat this election like the event that it is.

Problem is, you can’t have a house party, because all your friends are going to work tomorrow, and because frankly, the national outlook isn’t primed for a festive atmosphere. Some Great parties were thrown when Obama was elected, but that was a whole different animal politically.

If there's any governor in these 50 states that knows how to throw a party, you can bet it's Martin O'Malley.

Strangely enough, Baltimore also lacks a true-blue Democratic stronghold bar. You could argue that nearly every bar is a stronghold Democratic bar, and even make a case for certain spots near city hall and the Sun newsroom, but we haven’t quite got the Democratic equivalent of a Ropewalk. Where’s the bronze bust of Bill Clinton, eh?

So for those of us looking to make a party out of election night, the only place left to go is straight to the candidates themselves. You can get tears in your beer over at Ehrlich headquarters, but your best bet for tonight is to show up to the AVAM and party with the likes of Martin O’Malley and Senator Barb.

Official celebrations are always nice, mostly because they’re financed with campaign dollars. While this might seem wasteful at first blush, in the real world you can’t possibly have underpaid staffers and volunteers working long hours, evenings and weekends, including really long hours doing ‘get out the vote’ on election day and then not throw a party at the end. It would be a slap in the face to your entire staff and all your supporters. If you didn’t donate or volunteer, then shame on you, but you can still come out and enjoy the fun (Don’t get your hopes up for open bar though. Gotta keep the war chest full for the next cycle).

Tonight’s event is free to the public, and opens up at 7:30, officially beginning at 8 pm when the polls close. Election results will be broadcast and speeches will be made, and the AVAM looks to be one of the brightest spots on a pretty dim electoral night. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to hit a free buffet (Who feels like cooking on a Tuesday?) and throw on some ritzy clothes. And don’t forget to sport tonight’s sexiest accessory… that little I voted sticker.

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Voting is a great habit to build, and beginning today you can vote for the Baltimore Chop every day in the Baltimore Sun’s Mobbies blog competition. This blog is nominated in 3 categories (Music/Nightlife, Personal, and Misfits), and we’d really like your vote. It only takes a second to register at baltimoresun.com, and after that you can vote for the Chop once a day until November 12. After all, we write this blog every single day to keep you up on shows, parties, culture, fashion, politics, booze and the rest, so why not vote every day?

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The Dizzy Cocktail Glass: A Better Way to Sip

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Whew! Well, that was a hell of a Halloween, don’t you think? We had a blast going out all weekend, but if there’s one thing we regret it’s got to be that we did so much reveling out on the town, there was scarcely any time left for imbibing at home.

We’ve finally got the dining room done. As in finished. As in ready to eat. The last step in that process involved (yet another) trip to Crate and Barrel where we found one of our new favorite things ever: the Dizzy Cocktail Glass.

The Dizzy Cocktail Glass is available at Crate and Barrel for $1.95 each.

We weren’t even really shopping for cocktail glasses, but we picked up six of these on a whim. As you know, we’re big on the double old-fashioned (DOF) glass, and we’ve already gone on record as being against stemmed cocktail glasses.

The Dizzy Cocktail is 4″ tall, and 4″ in diameter at the rim, which makes it appear to be about the same size as a DOF glass, but with the V-shape of a cocktail glass. It’s even got the same heft and weight in the hand as a DOF, thanks to the knot of glass that serves as the foot. (Which means less drips and drops when you’re holding it in your hand.)

This ‘foot’ is not your traditional glassware foot, but manages to serve the same purpose while looking much more modern and stylish. No matter how cold you mix your drinks, your furniture will stay dry and safe without the need of a coaster. The name ‘Dizzy’ might have been a poor choice though, because these glasses are very stable on the bar. It would take the same force and effort to spill one of these as with any other type of glass… they won’t tip over easily.

At 8 ounces, we feel they’re the perfect size for a straight up cocktail, and will even leave you a bit of room around the rim. They’ll also support a drink which calls for crushed ice, and can even pull double duty as an attractive dessert or appetizer dish. (Think shrimp cocktail, crab salad, or gourmet ice cream.)

The customer reviews on the C & B site all unanimously rave about these glasses, and with good reason. Most of them neglect to mention the best part though: the Dizzy glass is hand-blown and costs $1.95 each. Let us repeat that… $1.95!

At that price you can’t afford not to buy one. Drinking from this glass will make your cocktails more enjoyable, and by encouraging you to mix cocktails more often they’ll ultimately make you a better drinker at the end of the day. It’s not just any glass that can say that.

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Crate and Barrel has locations at Towson Town Center and Annapolis Mall, as well as several DC area locations.