Setting the stage for what appears to be a new cosmic direction for the Marvel Cinematic Universe,Guardians of the Galaxy focuses on the adventures of Peter Quill (you might know him as Star Lord) as he brings a band of fellow outlaws together in a quest to prevent Ronan the Accuser from obtaining a mysterious Orb that could wreak havoc on the galaxy.

There have been a lot of reactions to The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful List, a tradition 11 years in the running, but we’ve collected a few of the best here. Enjoy. Best Use of Smarmy Sarcasm “Scientifically speaking, the most beautiful person on the hill would be a well-oiled sailor …

#NATIONAL #DarthVader2016; 100 days until the election, can you make it?; Summer Vortex > Polar Vortex; Yelp trends: Chicken or the egg?; Nope nope nope nope; Could a Sharknado actually happen?; Type /ponystream into your gchat, just do it; Don’t just adopt a pet, adopt a best friend; there’s an out-of-control satellite …

#NATIONAL Forbes sold their majority stake to Integrated Whale Media Investments, which just sounds like a practical joke; Whoa Microsoft, whoa; Silvio Berlusconi’s still got it; Congress wants us to go to another moon; origami spacecraft; taking endless appetizers way past an appropriate limit; swimsuit contest + insulin pump = …

Also, major props to Grantland writer Andrew Sharp for giffing up this article about the Washington Wizards‘ newest player. Don’t read this unless you want to get real excited about the Wizards – his timeline of this weekend’s events will make any fairweather fan tune in. “Paul Pierce is going …

Hannah Hess at Roll Call reported some badass news last night: Republican Rep. Don Young, the self-described “alpha wolf” of Alaska politics, allegedly barged through the police line established to prevent members of Congress and staff from entering the Capitol following the spill. According to multiple sources, Young told an …

Happy birthday to the Justin Timberlake-loving, Kentucky basketball trash-talking, and Shane Battier super fan: Neil Chatterjee.

Hey Interns, Stop scrolling through your Twitter feed. Put your smartphone down. Your hair looks fine, step back from the mirror. Want to be better? Then there’s something much more important for you to check out.  Roll Call published the Best Intern Ever e-book, a collection of the best of …

If a rainbow shows up in DC and wasn’t Instagrammed 12,000 times – did it really happen? #NATIONAL Do you love dogs and weapons? Then the TSA’s Instagram is for you; Emmy nominations: who got robbed?; If soccer injuries were real life; we’re irrationally peeved about this guy and his …

It’s been a tough week. Let the most perfect weekend ever (read: every weekend) begin. Feast on these delicious weekend activities.

D.C.-area photographers added their 4th of July photos to the FamousDC Flickr Pool. Here are our featured favorites from the group. Relive America’s birthday and check em out.

Posted to our FamousDC flickr group, Corey Clarke‘s photo of the golden glow over D.C. last night between and during heavy rains makes the District look like something out of a movie.

Is it 4th of July? No. But is it time to watch a drone fly into fireworks? Always.