Robert Devaney • May 3, 2012

In tune with D.C.’s cherry blossoms, Bonhams Auctioneers and Appraisers held a preview of some of the art, ranging from Japan and China to Southeast Asia, being shown at Asia Week in New York at its Washington office on M Street in Georgetown March 8. Martin Gammon, who heads up the D.C. and Mid-Atlantic division, welcomed art lovers and a few Sackler Gallery trustees to the first highlights preview and reception at his Bonhams office. [gallery ids="100634,100635" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

M&T Bank, which has a branch on Thomas Jefferson Street, will be adding another Georgetown location at 1420 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., where the clothing store, Commander Salamander, once sold its funky wares.

Never mind: Crave, a sandwich and salad eatery on Potomac Street that opened a couple of weeks ago, was abruptly closed. A dispute between business partners led to the decision. Manager and co-owner Garrett Bauman, also of Annie Creamcheese vintage clothing, told the Georgetowner he hoped to find another location nearby.

The men’s clothier, Gant, is coming to Georgetown in August and moving into 3239 M Street. It could not be more different than its previous tenant, the free-wheeling, live-music bar, the Saloun. The 2,000-square-foot space will sell Gant, Gant Rugger and Gant by Michael Bastian, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Georgetown just got more preppy, as if it needed more help, Gentlemen’s Quarterly opined: “The whole collection is still grounded in the archival, American sportswear Bastin and co. have perfected in the past few seasons but amped up in the flair department, complete with special details like the floral lining on an insanely perfect M-65 jacket or the bold flecks of bright yellow and orange on a Donegal tweed blazer.” As if . . .

Ligne Roset and Natuzzi are setting up shop in Glover Park. The furniture retailers have jointly leased the storefront at 2209 Wisconsin Avenue, said property manager Cynthia Cumbo, who added, “The space should be ready in March.” The space was vacant after Mobili furniture departed more than three years ago.

The clothing store, Riccardi & Sports, have left the Shops at Georgetown Park along with so many others. It can now be found at the main Riccardi at 3213 M Street — 202-625-6687.

Mega and green, too: Swedish fashion giant Hennes and Mauritz — which has its H&M store on M Street at Georgetown Park — plans a separate luxury line for 2013. “We have many different projects in progress and already next year we will be launching a completely new store chain. Like COS, which today is very successful with good profitability, the new chain of stores will be independent and complement the other offerings from the group,” CEO Karl-Johan Persson confirmed.

On April 12, H&M will launch its Exclusive Glamour Conscious Collection, promoted by Amanda Seyfried and Michelle Williams and is made using sustainable materials including organic cotton, hemp and recycled polyester.

Hair stylist Luigi Parasmo is set to open his first namesake salon with fellow stylist Javier Calvo in Georgetown. Luigi Parasmo Salon will be equipped with a staff of 14 hair, make-up and nail stylists and opens its doors to the public on Tuesday, April 10. It will be located on 1510 Wisconsin Avenue.

The Chipotle-spinoff restaurant Shophouse Southeast Asian Kitchen plans to open in the old location of Furin’s Bakery at 2805 M Street. The first Shophouse restaurant in Washington opened in Dupont Circle in September last year. Shophouse aims to serve fast Asian food with high quality. The Georgetown Shophouse will open “later this year,” according to the company.

Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place at Washington Harbour and the Potomac will finally reopen its inside restaurant for business in early May with some changes in both interior and on the menu. Since the April 2011 flood only the outside patio and bar have been open, and a limited menu has served from an outdoor kitchen.

Robert Devaney •

Before its April 22 Sunday night cable debut, the cast of HBO’s comedy series, “Veep,” checked into Washington April 11 at the United States Institute of Peace for red-carpet poses and interviews along with a reception and preview of the first episode.

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, best know for “Seinfeld,” stars as Vice President Selina Meyer with her office more or less in its own bubble, with the president never shown on screen, and with Washington seen as much as a popularity contest as high school. At the preview, Louis-Dreyfus and a few of her co-stars said that they were happy being actors and did not envy the lives of politicians. Nevertheless, the D.C.-Hollywood connection continues in film, in lobbying efforts and with the increasingly exclusive White House Correspondents Association Dinner April 28. And, while Louis-Dreyfus talked to several politicians in her research for the role, but not Sarah Palin, the subject of an earlier HBO political show. [gallery ids="100750,122249,122225,122239,122235" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

The Washington Nationals won their home opener, 3-2, in the 10th inning with Ryan Zimmerman, face of the franchise, running to home and getting out of a jam with visiting team, the Cincinnati Reds, thanks to a wild pitch. Before the game, the Nationals put on a patriotic show with Army veteran, actor and “Dancing with the Stars” champion J.R. Martinez, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Several VIPs, such as Wolf Blitzer, Charlie Brotman and Jim Kimsey as well as members of the Lerner family, watched the ceremonies from the field. With a sell-out crowd of 40,907 and their inaugural home win this season, the Nationals are in first place in the National League East. [gallery ids="100732,121374,121321,121368,121331,121363,121340,121357,121349" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

Jack Davies of Prospect Street is at it again. This time, his rooftop is occupied by an inflatable of a generic Washington Capitals hockey player with the numbers, “00,” and the name, “Let’s Go, Caps,” according to Davies, founder of AOL International, philanthropist-businessman and part owner of the Washington Capitals.

His 20-feet-tall, inflated Caps player dominates the skyline, seen from Key Bridge, Canal Road and M Street. Davies is cheering on his team, now tied 1-1, with the Boston Bruins. They play Game 3 of a best-of-seven tonight at the Verizon Center.

In December, Davies’s inflatable Santa Claus waved “Merry Christmas” to everyone coming into Georgetown. [gallery ids="100734,121373" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • April 18, 2012

Television personality and celebrity stylist Brad Goreski stopped by Brooks Brothers on M Street April 13 during his seven-city book tour, signing copies of “Born to Be Brad: My Life and Style, So Far.” Patient fans lined up to meet Goreski, get his new book and pose with him. Fashionable Brooks Brothers employees helped with the reception that included champagne, finger food and tunes from DJ Ben Chang.

Robert Devaney • April 16, 2012

Georgetown House Tour 2012 leaders and volunteers as well as those opening their homes to the public for the April 28 event, one of the oldest of its kind in the nation, met March 15 at tour co-chair Frank Babb Randolph’s 34th Street house. The Patrons’ Party will be held April 25 at house tour champion Frida Burling’s 29th Street home. Those whose homes are on the tour: Cherry and Peter Baumbusch; Kristin and John Cecchi; Pat Dixon; Michele and Jack Evans; Hugh Newell Jacobsen; Kristin and Greg Muhlner; Dale and Melissa Overmyer; Alice Hill and Peter Starr; Christian Zapatka.

Robert Devaney •

“American Stories,” the newest signature exhibition at the National Museum of American History opened today and shows and tells the stories of Americans from the 1600s to the 2000s, beginning with wampum and a piece of Plymouth Rock to Apolo Ohmo’s ice skates and the 2008 presidential election.

At the show’s entrance visitors are greeted by Dorothy’s red ruby shoes from the movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” The show flows in a circle with interactive screens in the center near a video camera used by a French film crew at Sept. 11, 2001, in downtown Manhattan.

The historical objects tell “the tales from e pluribus unum,” said the museum’s interim director Marc Pachter at the preview opening. “There are millions of untold stories out there.”

There are items that belonged to Benjamin Franklin as well as a jacket worn by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Archie Bunker’s chair from the TV show, “All in the Family.” The profoundly historic mixes with the everyday and mythic. “The power of the ruby slippers is real,” Pachter said.

The 5,300-square-feet exhibition displays a fraction of the Smithsonian’s holding to “examine the manner in which culture, politics, economics, science, technology, and the peopling of the United States have shaped the country over the decades,” according to a museum statement. “Dedicated spaces throughout will regularly feature new acquisitions to give a more inclusive representation of the experiences of all Americans.”

Highlights include the following objects:

= a fragment of Plymouth Rock

= a section of the first transatlantic telegraph cable

= a sunstone capital from the Latter-day Saints temple at Nauvoo, Illinois

= the ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz”

= baseballs used by Babe Ruth and Sam Streeter

= a Kermit the Frog puppet

= clothing artifacts, including a “quinceañera” gown worn for a 15th-birthday celebration

= Apolo Ohno’s speed skates from the 2002 Winter Olympics [gallery ids="100731,121334,121285,121326,121295,121319,121304,121313" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • April 13, 2012

The Library of Congress hosted “the Department of the Navy’s Commemoration Honoring the Bicentennial of the War of 1812” March 13 at its Thomas Jefferson Building. With Jay DeLoach, director of Naval History and Heritage Command, as master of ceremonies, Librarian of Congress James Billington welcomed the crowd and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Billington noted the library’s link to the war and the Burning of Washington in 1814 with its first replacement volumes from Thomas Jefferson. Mabus said that the War of 1812 is “overlooked and least remembered” of America’s war but has “an outsized impact” on its history. As the 75th Secretary of the Navy, Mabus recalled that the first Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert — who built and lived in Halcyon House on Prospect Street in Georgetown — had no ships to begin with. The war “confirmed our independence,” Mabus said, and was “fought over the idea of the freedom of the seas . . . not just for ourselves but for all.” Navy events for the War of 1812 begin in New Orleans in April and continue on the East Coast through the year. For details, visit www.OurFlagWasStillThere.org. [gallery ids="100638,100639" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • April 5, 2012

Saturday’s misty morning seemed nature’s soft rebuff to Friday’s 80-degree day at the Tidal Basin under the cherry blossoms. A sunny walk near the monuments around the cherry trees with petals at their peak was to be followed by the next day’s climb along the stones into the monumental tower of Washington National Cathedral.

A one-day event was announced by the cathedral for a “tower climb” on March 24 to show that the central tower — its ecclesiastical name is Gloria in Excelsis Tower — was “deemed to be structurally sound and safe for visitors. The tower climbs have been a semi-regular tradition for many years.” It was the first time since the Aug. 23, 2011, earthquake that visitors were allowed into the central tower, the highest geographical point in Washington, D.C. Four teams of about 80 persons took separate morning climbs.

With volunteer guides to direct and comfort, we began our 45-minute tour in the cathedral’s crypt at the Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea and ascended approximately 333 steps to the tower’s bell ringing floor. The stairs, whether of stone or metal, spiraled and challenged some a bit. And whether physical or mental — “I have issues,” said one woman — all made it.

There were stops to look out narrow windows, doors or balconies to see the sides of the one of the largest churches in the world with some of its pinnacles missing and masonry cracked because of the earthquake. Our heavenly view was constricted by the fog to the cathedral’s close and parts of Wisconsin Avenue and Woodley Road, but we were touring through the holy hollow of master work that went on for 83 years. Only in 1990 was the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, a national sacred place of many celebrations and memorials, considered officially completed, its final stone set. Now, with the earthquake damage, the cathedral estimates that it will take 10 years and $20 million dollars to fix the cracks and replace lost finials, pinnacles and other stonework. Only $2 million has been raised for the restoration.

In the bell room, ringers of the Washington Ringing Society showed us the ropes to the massive peal bells above us, heard often up and down Wisconsin Avenue. Spiral stairs above that room are now closed but were used to get to the observation deck years ago. Nevertheless, out on the balcony the view could go down to the Potomac — though not on this drizzly day. Descending to the cathedral’s carillon room, carillonneur Edward Nassor put on another show. Happily, he did not ring the largest bells, closest to the floor and bigger than his visitors.

Moving through the transept, we looked down on the netting that protects worshippers from falling mortar or dust and the rose window unobscured and prepared to climb to the ground floor. Soon enough, we were back on earth, our glimpse of heaven within and without veiled in the fading mist. [gallery ids="100640,100653,100652,100651,100650,100649,100648,100647,100646,100645,100644,100643,100642,100641,100654" nav="thumbs"]