Gloria In Excelsis: National Cathedral’s Climb of the Spring Restored
• 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"]

R.I.P.: Scruggs and Crews
• April 4, 2012

They say music soothes the savage beast or words to that effect. Words on a page can do the same thing, or do exactly the opposite, as can music.

Two original and important people, both from the South, in matters of music and words passed away last week, leaving the words and music behind, speaking and playing no more. They died on the same day.

EARL SCRUGGS— Earl Eugene Scruggs—who died March 28 at the age of 88—was “an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.” So spake Wikipedia.

Well, yeah. True. But it’s a little like saying that Elvis Presley was a pioneer rock-and-roll singer who could hit high notes.

Scruggs, to many people who had never heard enough banjo music to love it, became the man who embodied the sound and the music and sent it over the mountain tops usually associated with it. Like many specific kinds of music defined by a region, locale or place of origin, bluegrass music learned to escape its boundaries and became embraced as a purely American kind of music, much like the Detroit Motown sound of the 1960s was embraced everywhere called an American place.

Scruggs—and Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt and, later, Ricky Scaggs—let bluegrass with its rhythmic, rolling, perpetually motion, infectious sound escape not only the boundaries of place but also of genre. It went beyond folk, and country music to be embraced by everyone, including, as it turned out, comedian, writer and movie actor Steve Martin who played with him on national television.

Scruggs did indeed develop the three-finger banjo picking style. He also first achieved prominence in 1945 when he joined banjo impresario Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. In 1948, Monroe guitarist Lester Flatt joined up with Scruggs and they formed the Foggy Mountain Boys.

If you’re of a certain age, you might remember their music from the theme of “The Beverly Hillbillies” or if you were more of an intellectual bent, from the furiously madcap driving music in “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Mostly, you remember the sound and the music, his generous trust of all sorts of music, and the way he (and Monroe and others) made the banjo and the virtuoso picking and play thereof something other musicians longed and love to play. He made what seemed to some to be a humble instrument something geniuses like to pick up and handle, people like Yo-Yo Ma.

HARRY CREWS— Monroe came from North Carolina, and Harry Crews, of the pre-eminent chroniclers of literature that came to be called Southern gothic (by way of Flannery O’Connor), came from a similar place, hailing from Bacon County, Georgia.

He was a marine, and his writing could be mean. He lived the life of the rough writer, always teaching, always forging ahead like a bull. He was never a best-selling kind of writer, but critics loved him, and his tough, lean, style, his penchant for over-the-top characters. You can tell sort of where he was coming from just from the titles of his fiction: “The Gospel Singer,” “A Feast of Snakes,” “The Hawk Is Dying,” “Scar Lover,” “All We Need of Hell” and “Car,” in which a man becomes famous for eating, well, a car, bit by bolt.

In almost any photo of him, you see a dangerous man, scarred, attitude-plus, unforgettable. When you read him, you get stuff or specks on yourself, as if Crews were spitting words. He wrote a column for Esquire magazine, called “Grits,” and covered things like cockfighting and dogfighting. He was a splendid writer and a hard man, who led a rough life. According—again— to Wikipedia, he had a tattoo on his right arm, which depicted a line from a famous E.E. Cummings poem which read: “How do you like your blue-eyed boy, Mr. Death?”

He liked him well enough. Mr. Crews died March 28 . He was 76.

Weekend Roundup March 29,2012
• April 2, 2012

DC Swan Event in Georgetown: “Singles Faire” Opening Reception

March 30th, 2012 at 8:00 PM | FREE | Event Website

The Georgetown Theatre Company and Women in Film & Video will host the 5th Annual DC SWAN Day, an all-day event featuring FREE Music, Theatre and Storytelling Performances, Poetry Readings, Visual Arts and Film Screenings. In honor of DC SWAN (Support Women Artists) Day, there will be an opening reception for the Singles Faire exhibition on Friday, March 30, at 8 p.m. at Baked & Wired. Jenny Walton’s art will be exhibited.The indie band Not My Sister will be performing at 7:30PM.

Address

Baked & Wired

1052 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW

Friends of Palisades Library Book Sale

March 30th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | 25 cents to $10/bag | friendsofpalisadeslibrary@gmail.com

Book Sale, The Friends of Palisades Library holds its Spring Sale, Friday, March 30, and Saturday, March 31, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Palisades DC Library, 4901 V Street NW. Most books priced at $1; “bargain” books go for 25 cents each or $5 per bag. Buy $10 bags of regular books on Saturday. Proceeds benefit the Palisades branch library to support special programs for children and adults. Email FriendsOfPalisadesLibrary@gmail.com.
Address

Palisades DC Library

4901 “V” Street NW

Blossom Kite Festival

March 31st, 2012 at 10:30 AM | Free and open to the public | ncbf@downtowndc.org | Tel: 877.442.5666 | Event Website

Have fun with kite flying at the Blossom Kite Festival that presents demonstrations of Japanese woodblock printing and painting, kite-making competitions and shows.

Address

Washington Monument grounds

Constitution Avenue & 17th Street, NW

The 2012 Capital Art Fair

March 31st, 2012 at 10:00 AM | $10.00 | Tel: (202) 965-1818 | Event Website

The Capital Art Fair will host its third annual art fair on Saturday, March 31, and Sunday April 1. Held at the Rosslyn Westpark Hotel in Alexandria, the Capital Art Fair will bring 22 established art dealers to Washington, D.C. Visitors to the fair will find thousands of works on paper- great master prints to cutting edge, contemporary pieces. The original prints, paintings, and photographs span over 500 years of creative expression, offering an impressive assortment to DC art collectors.

Address

Holiday Inn- Rosslyn Westpark Hotel

1900 North Fort Meyer Drive

Alexandria, VA 22209

Walking Tour “Mr. Nourse’s Neighborhood: Georgetown c. 1800”

April 1st, 2012 at 01:00 PM | $10.00 | info@dumbartonhouse.org | Tel: 202-337-2288 | Event Website

Join Dwane Starlin, member of the Guild of Professional Tour Guides, for this meander through Georgetown’s “East Village” streets, circa 1800, the way Joseph Nourse– first resident of Dumbarton House and first register of the U.S. Treasury- would have viewed his neighborhood on the heights of Georgetown from his “Belle Vue” home (aka Dumbarton House) atop Cedar hill. 60 minutes. Comfy walking shoes a must! $10 per walker (age 3 and under free). No pets, please. Register online or call us.

Address

2715 Q Street, NW

Washington, DC 20007

Taste of the Nation

April 2nd, 2012 at 06:00 PM | $95 | dctaste@gmail.com | Event Website

Hottest food and wine event of 2012 featuring tastings from the best restaurants and bars and a silent auction to help fight childhood hunger. This year’s event benefits Capital Area Food Bank, DC Hunger Solutions and Mary’s Center.

Address

National Building Museum

401 F Street NW

Washington DC 20001

Cherry Blossom Tea

April 4th, 2012 at 01:00 PM | $20

Enjoy the return of the cherry blossoms at Tudor Place with teas, sandwiches, scones, desserts and a stroll through the gardens.

Address

1644 31st Street, NW

Washington, 20007

Teri Galvez Encourages D.C. to Vote Republican
• March 29, 2012

Teri Galvez is running for Republican National Committeewoman for Washington, D.C., in a very important, very historical race where she believes conservatives, including herself, have the opportunity to make this city a focal point for the Republican Party.

With a mission to grow the conservative population in Washington by bringing young voters and minorities in, Galvez wants to erase the mindset that so many people carry that Republicans are bad and support candidates because they are the best candidate for the job, despite their political preference.

“We are about addition, not subtraction,” she said. “We want folks even if they don’t line up completely with our philosophy.”

Galvez was born and raised in California of Mexican parents, and said she can speak personally from her own experience growing up as a first-generation American as what persuaded her to become a Republican.

“For me, it was really just, you know, you really need to take charge of yourself and be responsible for yourself,” she said. “It was all about personal responsibility.”

While 51 percent of D.C is African-American and nine percent are Hispanic, just six and a half percent of D.C. voters are registered Republicans, Galvez said. “We can’t be complacent. We need to be reaching out to our constituents of color in the District. We are never going to get elected if we don’t.”

She believes her message will resonate with minorities because she knows what it is like to struggle. “My father was a mechanic. His company went on strike twice. We almost lost our house. We went on vacation once and came back, and our house had burned down.”

Despite it all, her parents came here because it is such a great country. “I’m so blessed that I can do anything I want here,” Galvez said. “If I lived in Mexico and my mother was a housekeeper, I’d probably be a housekeeper. In America, the occupation of your parents is not your occupation.”

Galvez also wants to address the importance of education among minorities. Her family was not able to pay for her schooling fully and was thankful for her involvement with the Miss America pageants which granted her scholarships to pay for college. “I would not be here today if it weren’t for the preparation I received from the program,” she said.

The Miss America pageants not only sent her to school but also taught her how to interview, how to speak into a microphone and not to be nervous in front of an audience. “People really misunderstand this aspect of my life,” Galvez said. “It’s a lot more than just the swimsuits and evening gowns seen on TV. It’s more like Candidate 101. I wasn’t really going to learn speaking skills and interview skills at home. You don’t really learn these in college, either. Miss America Program taught me speaking, advocacy and philanthropy.”

With all she learned in the program helping her throughout her campaign, she also credits several other aspects of her life to her qualifications for becoming the next Republican National Committeewoman of D.C. She’s bilingual, has been committed to conservatives for 30 years, has lived in D.C since 1985 and owns her own small business. She attends 4-5 events a day to meet voters and volunteers in several organizations including Miss D.C. Scholarship Organization, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

“Everything you learn along the way is a benefit,” Galvez said. “You will use it all in some way.”

Click Here to read Michelle Kingston’s interview of Jill Homan

Jovee Co. Brings ‘Spa In The City’ to Georgetown
• March 27, 2012

Spring has sprung early, and Jovee Co. is coming to town to bring you the latest in make-up and skincare.

The company was launched by Jhavon Smith to bring people together in support of local businesses and bridge the gap between beauty and art. “Spa In The City” travels to 10 cities, showcasing “spa-like” businesses in art gallery’s or the sort.

The event caters to both men and women and gives people services to indulge in, providing the outlet to do so with friends all in a relaxing, eclectic art atmosphere.

The Georgetown event is the first event by Jovee Co. for 2012. New vendors, multiple treatment areas, interactive presentations, a glam photo stage, sample spa treatments, skin/beauty products and medical/wellness consultations will be on display on April 7, 6 to 10 p.m. at Georgetown’s MOCA DC located at 1054 31st St., N.W.

Business Ins & OutsMarch 22, 2012
• March 22, 2012

**Martin’s Tavern to Be Closed. . . Temporarily** Don’t freak out; it’s just temporary. One of Georgetown’s most famous restaurants and its oldest tavern plans to close Sunday, March 25, at 5 p.m. for five days. Billy Martin’s Tavern, serving D.C. since 1933 at Wisconsin Avenue and N Street, will be closed for kitchen renovations until 5 p.m., Thursday, March 29.

**Crepe Amour Is Closing for Good** Co-owner Sri Suku confirms that the popular eatery at 3291 M Street will close Saturday, March 31. The rent on the property has “more than doubled,” Suku told his customers in a farewell letter, “making it difficult for us to survive as a business at a location where we have been tenants for the past 15 years.”

Suku comes from a family which has owned and operated businesses in Georgetown over the last 25 years.

“As difficult as the current circumstances are,” Suku continued, “our story is far from over. We are scouting new locations in Georgetown along with a possible downtown sister location.” Crepe Amour will also relocate to the Vienna/Tysons Corner area as well as launch a food truck, Crepe Love, in April (Find the truck’s position on Twitter @crepelovetruck).

**Jonathan Adler Furniture is slated to open March 22** at 1267 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., where GapKids used to be.

**Hairstylist Milko has returned to Georgetown**. In California for years, Milko (Todorovic) is now at Roche Salon at Washington Harbour on K Street.

**Crave is a new sandwich and salad eatery on Potomac Street**, where GoFresh used to be. It is run by Garrett Bauman, also of Annie Creamcheese vintage clothing. (It sells cane sugar Coca-Cola.)

**It’s like ZipCar for parking spaces:** Private parking spaces available and shown online. Parking Panda matches driveways and other private spaces with drivers who really need to park it. Register at www.ParkingPanda.com.

**Dandelion Patch has moved to Book Hill** at 1663 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., (former spot of the Magic Wardrobe), but the Magic Wardrobe is still there, just next door at 1661 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.

**Carr Workplaces**, a provider of alternative workplace solutions, has opened its latest business center in the heart of Georgetown at 1050 30th St., N.W. It is the first to offer shared common workspaces alongside conventional private office space. The Georgetown center was designed for collaboration, with a large open co-working room filled with co-joined desks complete with phones and wireless internet access ? useful for independent professionals who need ultimate flexibility. This is the ninth new executive offices facility Carr Workplaces opened in the past year. For additional information, visit www.CarrWorkplaces.com.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Ends Print Run, Fully Embraces Digital World
•

We’ve already waved good-bye to video cassettes and pay phones. Now, after 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica announced March 13 that it will no longer be printing its reference publications. The 32-volume print sets will be discontinued; the 2010 Encyclopaedia Britannica set is its final printed version.

Founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768, the encyclopaedia was a creation of the European Enlightenment which challenged the status quo of the day. Moved to Chicago by a new owner, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., has been on bookshelves across the world year after year, day after day.

With the new digital age and demand for constant news updates, the company can no longer keep up with the times through its printed version.

“We just decided that it was better for the brand to focus on what really the future is all about,” said Encyclopaedia Britanica president Jorge Cauz.

Turning to the web is not new for them. Communications director Tom Panelas, said the company produced the first digital encyclopaedia in 1981 (distributed through LexisNexis) and its multimedia encyclopaedias were invented in 1989. The company put its first encyclopaedia on the internet in 1994.

“It’s a rite of passage in this new era,” Cauz said. “Some people will feel nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The website is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive, and it has multimedia.”

To show a true sign of the times, Parade magazine claims that Americans purchased 120,000 printed sets in 1990, and Encyclopaedia Britannica made $650 million in revenue. This final printed version, produced in 2010, contains 32 volumes and weighs129 pounds. The company printed just 12,000 sets and still has an estimated 4,000 left, currently selling for $1,395.

For now, the company will direct their focus to online and educational curriculum for schools. “We have very different value propositions,” Cauz said. “Britannica is going to be smaller. We cannot deal with every single cartoon character, we cannot deal with every love life of every celebrity. But we need to have an alternative where facts really matter. Britannica won’t be able to be as large, but it will always be factually correct.”

Starting March 14, Britannica Online — www.Britannica.com — is offering a free week to customers.

Globetrotter Flight Time Lands in Town at Key and Volta Parks
•

Harlem Globetrotter star Herbert “Flight Time” Lang traveled on Key Bridge into Georgetown March 19 to start the tip-off for Globetrotter Week. During his dribbling, walking and basketball spinning from Lee Highway in Arlington to the basketball courts at Volta Park, Flight Time paused at Francis Scott Key Park on M Street and saluted the Georgetown author of the national anthem and the Star-Spangled Banner which waves above the park.

Flight Time’s one-mile walk was part of the Globetrotters’ school visits and goodwill appearances which lead up to the team’s three games demonstrating the Globetrotter’s unique skills and techniques on March 24 and 25 at the Verizon Center and the Patriot Center. (They will take the court at the Verizon Center, March 24 at 1 p.m., and then the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., March 24, 7:30 p.m., and March 25, 2 p.m.).

One of the Globetrotters’ most dynamic ball handlers, Flight Time appeared with teammate Nathaniel “Big Easy” Lofton on “The Amazing Race” in two separate seasons. In their second effort for the finish line in the TV show, they came in second. Having appeared on other TV game or “reality” shows, Flight Time’s record was perfect on “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” during which he answered each question posed to him correctly.

For more information, visit www.HarlemGlobetrotters.com. [gallery ids="100585,100586" nav="thumbs"]

Weekend Roundup March 15, 2012
• March 19, 2012

BLOSSOM DC

March 16th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Free | info@oldprintgallery.com | Tel: (202) 965-1818 | Event Website

BLOSSOM DC, opens on March 16th with a nighttime reception and runs until May 11th. Inspired by the 100 year anniversary of the gift of cherry trees from Japan to DC, this show celebrates the youthful energy of spring’s blossoms. A large number of prints by local DC artists are included in the show, coupled with a selection of works by NY contemporary artists and several early 20th century printmakers. Highlights include prints by local artists Marti Patchell, Susan Goldman, and Erwin Thamm.

Address

The Old Print Gallery

1220 31st Street, NW

Looking for more Cherry Blossom Themed event? Click Here for more!

Not Alone’s St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser

March 17th, 2012 at 06:00 PM | One (1) Ticket: $70; Two (2) Tickets: $125; Four (4) Tickets: $240 | danielle@notalone.com | Tel: 615-243-7400 | Event Website

Come learn about and support Not Alone, an organization that provides programs, resources and services to warriors and families impacted by combat stress and PTSD through a confidential and anonymous community. Enjoy unlimited beer and wine, kick up your heels to great music, and taste the exquisite food of Todd and Ellen Gray.
Washington, D.C. 20007

Address

Watershed Restaurant

1225 1st Street Northeast

Washington D.C., DC 20002

Champagne Dinner

March 19th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | Event Website

Join Washington Women and Wine at The Curious Grape Wine Bar for a Champagne Dinner

Address

The Curious Grape Wine Bar

2900 South Quincy Street

Shirlington Village – Arlington, VA

2012 Pink Tie Party

March 15th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | $200 | Tel: 877.442.5666 | Event Website

Washington’s petal partiers will gather for the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s signature Pink Tie Party on Tuesday, March 20 at 7 PM. Chefs José Andrés and Roy Yamaguchi, innovators in the culinary community, will host the evening, exemplifying the international collaboration and creativity at the heart of the Festival. The sixth annual fundraiser and kick-off to the Centennial Celebration will be held at The Mayflower® Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel.

Address

Mayflower® Renaissance Hotel

1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20036

Preparing for the Ball: Dancing

March 20th, 2012 at 07:00 PM | 10-12 | Tel: 202-337-2288 | Event Website

Fourth in a series of four 19th-century skills & etiquette workshops, with the “American Ladies,” Pat Sowers and Jackie Geschickter. Become immersed in Jane Austen’s world at Dumbarton House’s annual Spring Ball on March 24. To prepare for the festivities, attend one or all four classes on period games and dances. Series includes: Feb. 28, Gaming; March 6, Dancing; March 13, Gaming; and March 20, Dancing. Classes are held in the Belle Vue Room. Each class $12; Members $10.

Address

Dumbarton House,

2715 Q Street, NW,

Washington, DC, 20007

Irish Ayes for Old Friends and the Auld Sod
•

“I am of Ireland

And the Holy Land of Ireland

And time runs on, cried she,

‘Come out of charity

Come Dance With Me in Ireland.’ ”

— W.B. Yeats

I am not Irish and not of Ireland.

But, aye, often I have wished to be. Now, on St. Patrick’s Day, thousands, maybe millions embrace the same wish as if they had kissed the Blarney Stone on a damp day some time ago. They wear green, drink green beer, quaff the quaffables, sing and dance, wear green hats, try to speak Gaelic, listen to the grand Irish music and perhaps stand on a floor in two inches of Guinness and tears. Perhaps not. Most parades have already gone by. The music will linger if you’ve heard it.

Yes, the Irish in America have left their imprint. They brought their famine tales, destitution and memories. They came in droves in the wake of the Great Famine of the early mid-19th Century. They came to where stores were littered with signs that read, “Irish need not apply.” They were drawn in political cartoons as pipe-smoking monkeys.

They brought their music, their smitten-with-words poetry, their poets and playwrights, their fiddle players and their red-headed sages and lasses. They left their troubles behind in Ireland where they still persist here and there, as mysterious a tragedy as ever existed. They became cops, firemen, nannies — and, soon enough, politicians — and bartenders, priests and nuns, except for the Ulster folks.

They gave us Shaw, Yeats, Wilde, Behan, Synge and the great Irish place names. Eugene O’Neill who is enjoying a festival of his works at Arena Stage and throughout was as wildly Irish as you can be. Just check out that crazy family saga, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” or “A Touch of The Poet.” O’Neill knew that the Irish also quadrupled the number of bars in America, and he wrote the ultimate bar play, “The Iceman Cometh,” which I trust alcoholics living day to day would avoid. The second best bar play was written by an Armenian, and it was called “The Time of Your Life.” If Eastern Europeans were Irish, they would be called Armenians.

Myself, I emigrated from Germany knee high to nothing at ten years old from the most Irish place in Germany, which would be Bavaria. Bavaria is as Catholic as Ireland, as beer-soaked as Ireland and as Bohemian as Ireland, and it has its grand stock of peasant tales and superstitions and music And the food is better. Maybe that explains the affinity.

John Ford was Irish —the great director of westerns and Americana movies — and also directed “The Quiet Man,” which is Ireland as a dream of Ireland, a technicolor film where the greens and reds were so green and so red that they looked like paint. It had a matchmaker played by Barry Fitzgerald, who drank too much, a village where the local Catholic protected its Anglican priest by pretending to be Protestant. It had John Wayne as a retired pugilist. It had Maureen O’Hara, whose hair defined the term “redhead.”

O’Hara came from the Abbey Theatre still alive and strong in Dublin. Irish writers will always be among us. Witness Seamus Heaney, the great Irish poet, and the new breed of Irish playwrights, whose work is both surreal, crazy and modern. There’s a lad named McDonough who is particularly good. Look out for a production of his “The Seafarer” soon, produced by Robert McNamara, the artistic director of Scena Theatre who is as solemnly Irish as they come. The play is about three men who play poker with the devil, and you know what the stakes are. The devil does all right until he starts taking tastes of the homegrown brew in the house. Plays are about words, and, boy, do the Irish love to talk and sing.

I believe in my heart that the Irish invented poetry and the job title of bartender. How else would so many who found work found it as a bartender? I knew a few in Washington in my time in places like the Dubliner, Nanny O’Briens, Kelly’s Irish Times, the Four Provinces, Matt Kane’s, Ellen’s and from what I hear tell, there’s a whole new generation of publicans and pubs. In those places and among those gentlemen — along with the ladies — I found such surely old-fashioned qualities as trust and loyalty, fierce kindness and grand thoughts and talk. There is something to be said for the drink, were it not for the fact that you can’t remember what it was that was said. A toast to the Kelly’s Michael and Hugh, Mr. Coleman at the Dubliner and Obie O’Brien. Some have gone, none forgotten.

And always, the sound of the fiddle, the Celtic drums, the rebel songs, and sad songs about the troubles and old Irish moms mourning their sons. There is dancing and, of course, as luck would have it “Danny Boy,” a song impossible to sing properly and which almost everyone thinks they can sing. I remember a member of the Irish embassy, an older gentleman in a bow tie and sports jacket, singing it loud and clear in the kitchen at 3 a.m. at Kelly’s Irish Times a long time ago.

They held “Reel Around the Shamrock” with Eileen Evers and Immigrant Soul at the Music Center at Strathmore this Thursday along with the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance with Brendan Mulvihill and Billy McComiskey. Mulvihill, a national fiddle champion in Ireland, and McComiskey were part of the Irish Tradition, one of the most popular Irish bands on the East Coast. Brendan could break your heart when he played the fiddle. And I can recall that he had an Afro load of Irish hair and how the Tradition’s music rousted the Wild Rover in all of us.

More than that, Paddy Maloney and the Chieftains are celebrating a 50th anniversary at the Kennedy Center this Friday night, March 16. Things don’t get more Irish than that.
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