"WOODCUTS NOW" Wednesday through March 28 What happens when you take the oldest form of printmaking and put it in the hands of contemporary artists? You get a fresh look at the medium. Beginning Wednesday, works by Christiane Baumgartner, Mel Kendrick, Alison Saar and Richard Bosman will be...

Friday-Dec. 13 Countryside Artisans' Studio Tour -- Saturday Johnny Winter at the State Theatre -- Wednesday Nick Verros at the Corcoran

Not sure what to buy that person on your holiday shopping list who has everything? Think outside big-box stores and shopping malls: How about a yak-wool coat, or perhaps an authentic Nagchu horse blanket? These items and more can be found at the Tibetan Artisans Trunk Show, Friday through Sunday ...

Weekend is on Facebook! Become a fan and you'll have access to special postings of articles, music and theater reviews, photos and updates on events around town. Whether you're in Washington or southern Israel, which is where our recently crowned 2,000th fan hails from, you can find us at...

Every year tens of thousands of Washingtonians head to Alexandria to celebrate all things Scottish. Clans march proudly down the street wearing their family tartan, pipe and drum bands fill the air with traditional jigs and reels, and Scottish terriers tarry.

Life is so much easier when you can construct your own endings.

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA "Night Castle" Kindred spirits: Led Zeppelin, Yes

THE BIG PINK "A Brief History of Love" Kindred spirits: New Order, Jesus and Mary Chain, Velvet Underground

Linn Barnes and Allison Hampton "Lord Ronin's Return" Kindred spirits: Julian Bream, Planxty, Bela Fleck Shows: At Dumbarton Church in Georgetown. Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m.; Dec. 12 at 4 and 8 p.m.; Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. 202-965-2000. http://www.dumbartonconcerts.org. The music compo...

Brendan Benson "My Old Familiar Friend" Kindred spirits: Fountains of Wayne, Panic at the Disco Show: Wednesday at the 9:30 club. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. 202-965-0930. http://www.9:30.com. Brendan Benson, one of the new pop singer/songwriters appearing all over the club circuit, isn't just anoth...

PELICAN "What We All Come to Need" Kindred spirits: Slint, Earth, Dead Meadow, Godspeed You Black Emperor! Show: Friday with Black Cobra and Disappearer at the Rock & Roll Hotel. Show starts at 9:30 p.m. 202-388-7625. http://www.rockandrollhoteldc.com. This Los Angeles-by-way-of-Chicago quart...

Step into any hot Washington club these days, and you'll notice it: Throngs breaking it down not to top 40 club jams, but to Otis Redding, Tina Turner, even funky foot-stompers by such long-forgotten groups as the Marlboro Men and the Trinikas.

Prices listed where available. VIRGINIA OPERA Friday at 8 and Sunday at 2. The opera company presents Donizetti's romantic comedy, "The Daughter of the Regiment." George Mason University, Center for the Arts Concert Hall, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax. 703-993-8888. 888-945-2468....

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster for "Arabs Gone Wild" featuring comedians Dean Obeidallah, Aron Kader and Maysoon Zayid Jan. 30 at Lisner Auditorium ($30); Alice in Chains March 3 at DAR Constitution Hall ($38.50); Norah Jones March 30 at Baltimore's Lyric Opera House...

LEAH SMITH Friday 7 to 10. Potter's House, 1658 Columbia Rd. NW. 202-232-5483. http://www.pottershousedc.org . Suggested donation: $15-$50.

Prices listed where available. BLACK CAT Bilal, Friday, $20; DJ Stereo Faith, Friday, $7; the Big Pink, Crystal Antlers, Saturday, $13; Child Abuse, Orphan, Sunday, $10; the Moderate, Choo Choo La Rouge, Timothy Bracy's Collection Agency, Tuesday, $8; Curtis Harvey, Glorytellers, Wednesday, $10....

At a glance: "Inexpensive sushi." To a cheap-eats writer, few words inspire as much dread as those two. Raw-fish lovers are always looking for ways to indulge the habit at a discount, but the cost-benefit analysis can be perilous. Cheap sushi is not always good sushi.

Prices listed where available. OH SUSANNAH Friday 10 to 10:45. Susan McNelis performs a children's holiday concert. Westfield Montgomery Shopping Mall, 7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda. 301-469-6000. Best for ages 1 to 9. Free.

Today is your last chance to help choose the winner of our annual Holiday Wrapping Paper Contest. Online voting ends at 11:59 p.m., so cast your ballot today at http://www.washingtonpost.com/postfun . The winner's artwork will appear in Weekend on Dec. 18 as a sheet of gift wrap.

Advent calendars have been used to mark the coming of Christmas since the mid-18th century. The tradition reportedly began in Germany, where families recorded the days leading up to the holiday with chalk.

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

Many events require reservations or advance ticket purchases -- call before you go!

George Clooney has been pretty busy lately, between "The Men Who Stare at Goats" and the animated feature "Fantastic Mr. Fox." Both of those are enjoyable enough larks, but "Up in the Air" finds Clooney in a role he seems to have been born for. There are fewer things more sublime than Clooney in his...

With a running time of slightly less than two hours, "Brothers" isn't an especially lengthy film. But it does take half the movie before the story -- about the relationship between a straight-arrow Marine serving in Afghanistan and his ne'er-do-well, ex-con brother back home -- really kicks in. W...

"Everybody's Fine" arrives like a bolt out of some distantly remembered past, when they made movies about recognizable human beings engaged in real, if flawed, relationships, where the stakes are high even if the family van doesn't turn into a giant robot.

French actor Alex Descas provides the graceful, mesmerizing anchor to "35 Shots of Rum," Claire Denis's absorbing portrait of the love and letting go that define parenthood.

Co-workers coerce a new guard for an armored truck company to steal $42 million. But the group splits, which leads to a potentially deadly resolution in "Armored." PG-13. At area theaters. This movie did not screen in time for review. Contains sequences of intense violence, some disturbing images...

Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. Movies that opened Oct. 23 or later include the Post critic's star rating. Movies not reviewed by The Post will be marked "NR" for not rated. For older movies, see the Movie Directory.

The first hint that "A Christmas Tale" probably isn't your standard holly-jolly holiday fare: the opening scene in which a woman with terminal cancer collapses, bringing a tray of teacups clattering to the floor with her. Another hint that "A Christmas Tale" isn't your standard holly-jolly holida...

The basics: This revolutionary documentary by filmmakers Albert and David Maysles follows the Rolling Stones on their 1969 U.S. tour, culminating in the stabbing death of a concertgoer at the Altamont Speedway.

Everybody's Fine (PG-13, 95 minutes). Touching in its way, but slow to build and at times downright inert, this family drama isn't likely to grab teens, though it's not inappropriate for them. A few may even appreciate the nuanced view of parent-child relationships. Frank Goode (Robert De Niro), a...

AFI SILVER THEATRE "North by Northwest," Friday at 10, Saturday at 1:45 and 4:20 and Tuesday at 6:30 and 9. $6-$10. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-495-6720.

A star (*) denotes a show recommended by our critics.

BLUES ALLEY Marion Meadows, Friday-Sunday, $25; Memphis Gold, Jay Summerour, Wednesday, $20; Gil Scott Heron, Thursday, $35. 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW (rear). 202-337-4141. http://www.bluesalley.com .

On a recent trip to the Middle East, choreographer Paul Gordon Emerson listened to dozens of Iraqi refugees share their harrowing experiences of torture and displacement.

On sale now: Mel Brooks's comedy "Young Frankenstein" gets a musical treatment at the Kennedy Center Dec. 15 through Jan. 10. $37-$150. 202-467-4600. http://www.kennedy-center.org . . . . Shakespeare Theatre Company presents an adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel "The Screwtape Letters" Dec. 16...

Meaning is a moving target. That's true at least in the jungle of contemporary art, where secrets lurk in the shadows and hide behind, or inside, things. Don't worry. They won't hurt you. These mysteries want to lure you into their lair, not scare you away.

A recurring theme of "Telling Secrets" is the tension between the visible and the invisible.

On Friday evening, the galleries in the Dupont Circle neighborhood will stay open late for their monthly First Friday gallery crawl. Participating venues include Foundry Gallery (1314 18th St. NW); Studio Gallery (2108 R St. NW); and Washington Printmakers Gallery (1732 Connecticut Ave. NW), each of...

"IN PLANE VIEW" Large-scale photographs of famous aircraft that emphasize the sculptural forms and life-like elements present in aerodynamic engineering, through June 11 at the College Park Aviation Museum, 1985 Cpl. Frank Scott Dr., College Park. Open daily 10 to 5. 301-864-6029....

Closing Friday: "Cityscapes" at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (202-547-6839); "Intuited Reality: Quantum Dynamics of the Cosmos" at Coppin State University's Cryor Gallery (410-951-3368); "Pastels and Pottery" at Artists' Gallery (410-740-8249); Peter Marcus and Joan Hall at George Mason University's...

Prices listed where available. GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST Friday and Wednesday, through Dec. 24. Bring your gingerbread creation to the restaurant to be displayed and judged -- you'll get a free glass of eggnog when you do. Poste, 555 Eighth St. NW. 202-783-6060. Free.

WIZARDS Friday at 7 vs. Toronto Raptors. Thursday at 8 vs. the Boston Celtics. Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW. 202-397-7328. http://www.nba.com/wizards . $10-$2,250.