Sounds Like Fun!

An international man of mystery in his own right, Mike Meyers popularized a cartoonish bit of British culture as the velour- and medallion-wearing character Austin Powers. Thanks to his efforts, many Americans now associate the term "shag" with something much more titillating than a thick living-room carpet, and it may be a while before anyone can utter the words "Yeah, baby," without affecting an inflated, pseudo-English accent. With this in mind, the Snake Pit, Capitol Hill's most eclectic neighborhood dance club, recently introduced a Wednesday-night series titled "Shag: Brit-Pop a Go Go,"where DJs J. Heller and Matthew Smith spin Brit-pop music of the '60s and have dancers moving with more vigor than Mini-Me in a fight sequence. Specials on English brews provide extra incentive, as does the notion that the place just might be stacked with folks as shagadelic as those in Austin's nightclub scenes.