Latest News

Ari Post • December 7, 2011

Starting today, Monday Dec. 5 and continuing through Feb. 5, 2012, D.C. Public Library cardholders are being granted a pardon for all offenses regarding overdue, lost and damaged library material.

The Library’s “Check It In” campaign is an effort to get back as many overdue books as possible to benefit more District residents. The Library also wants to also ensure that all cardholder information is up-to-date, allowing an opportunity for updating your customer records with new email addresses, phone numbers or mailing addresses.

The 60-day campaign is a no-holds-barred clemency—no matter how beat up the book’s spine, no matter how many scratches on the CD, no matter how many cups of coffee have twisted and warped the pages, you can return them to D.C. Public Library no questions asked, with no fines of fees charged. Even if the item has been lost, all you have to do is report it and forgiveness will be granted.

When returning your books, see a library staff person in order to clear your record of fines and fees.

So “Check It In” and rediscover the joys of your local library. For more information visit DCLibrary.org

Gary Tischler • December 1, 2011

Everything that’s been written lately about the legendary New York Times former bureau chief and columnist Tom Wicker leads with his once-in-a-lifetime on-the-spot coverage of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

For Wicker, who died Friday at the age of 85 of an apparent heart attack, everything flowed into that moment, and everything that happened after flowed from it.

Probably for good reasons. Wicker happened to be the only Times reporter in Dallas that day, but, scrambling to make sense out of one of the most dramatically chaotic events in American history, dictated from notes he scribbled on programs. Wicker, undaunted and calm, did more than report, he provided stirring and moving descriptions of what he saw, including a remarkable portrait of the First Lady.

It was a life and game changer for Wicker. A year later, the rising young star from North Carolina was named Washington Bureau Chief of the New York Times, succeeding NYT icon James Reston, who had hired him. The move precipitated one of those in-house Times battles that happen periodically at that paper, but in the end, Wicker remained, became an associate editor of the Times and wrote his own column “In the Nation,” a proudly opinionated political column which he continued until 1991, when he retired to Vermont.

He was considered a classic liberal, which he wasn’t, but he antagonized Richard Nixon so much that he was one of many media types (and celebrities) who made the president’s infamous enemies list. During Watergate days, he strongly called for Nixon’s impeachment. But he also wrote a much more sympathetic—and probably more balanced – book called “One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream,” the book noted the president’s accomplishments, which were significant, and his flawed humanity.

Wicker gained more fame when he decided as a journalist present there to act as something of a negotiator at the Attica Prison Revolt of 1961 which ended tragically in violence and many deaths. He wrote a prize-winning book on the subject, “A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt,” which became a powerful made for television movie.

Wicker was something new — the journalist-reporter with a view that leaked like blood into much of his writing, purposefully — involved, personal, which he not only practiced but advocated. His writing on politics had pungent flavors to it.

But he was also something old—he was a member of that generation of southern creative types who grew to maturity during the civil rights struggles and were deeply concerned about the issue of race in America, a subject they wrote about, painted, or made music of, from Welty to Styron to earlier Faulkner. He grew up poor, in a place called—can’t be more telling—Hamlet, N.C. He once edited a small-town paper called the Sandhill Citizen in Aberdeen, N.C.

But this small-town southern boy rose to the top of the heap at one of the greatest newspapers in America, graduated from the University of North Carolina, had a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard and was a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government.

He wrote 20 books, including two notable works of fiction, “Facing the Lions,” a big, detailed, and stirring book about a presidential campaign and “Unto This Hour,” a terrific, very can’t-put-down yarn about the Battle of Bull Run.

Georgetowner •

ANC 2E will hold their monthly meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Visitation in the Heritage Room. The meeting will review the District Department of Transportation’s proposal to modify the roads on Wisconsin Avenue from S Street to Calvert Street among other issues.

Georgetowner • November 29, 2011

The small shop on M Street was filled with fans, cameras and anticipation Saturday, Oct. 29, as actress Kerry Washington paid a visit to Sprinkles Cupcakes to speak with her fans and to raise money for the non-profit organization Americans for the Arts.

“We’re selling the Red Velvet cupcakes, hence the red dress!” said Kerry Washington with a big smile. Fans were standing in line to buy a Red Velvet cupcake and get the little brown bag autographed by Washington. She paused to be photographed and speak with each person who showed up at Sprinkles Cupcakes, and spoke passionately about Americans for the Arts.

“I believe in equal access to the arts,” said Washington. “Art is important to understand history, so that we don’t repeat mistakes made by people before us.” Washington explained that Sprinkles Cupcakes entrepreneur Candice Nelson approached her and offered to help her with any event, and Washington chose to mingle with people at Sprinkles Cupcakes. “I am very is supportive of women entrepreneurs,” said Washington, referring to Nelson.

“Kerry Washington is a member of our Artist Committee,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of AFTA. “The committee consists of 100 artists who come to events, testify before Congress and advocate for us,” he said, adding that Washington is one of their greatest contributors. Other prominent artists such as John Legend, Meryl Streep and Yoko Ono are also members of this committee, according to AmericansForTheArts.Org

Lynch has been working for the organization for 26 years. “We have many events and conferences, but we have never done anything like this before,” said Lynch. “Kerry Washington came to us with this idea.”

Catherine Brandt, spokesperson for AFTA, praises Sprinkles Cupcakes and Kerry Washington for their work with the event. “Washington and Sprinkles Cupcakes have organized this, and Sprinkles Cupcakes has been wonderful, agreeing to sell Red Velvet cupcakes to profit Americans for the Arts for a week,” said Brandt.

Tara Anderson was one of those who came out to Sprinkles Cupcakes despite Saturday’s snow and wind. “Americans for the Arts is awesome, and Kerry does a lot of good charity work!” said Anderson, who came both to meet Washington and to report for her PR firm, Fire Public Relations Group. Michelle Dhansinghani and Monica Arroyo also escaped the weather outside and enjoyed the charity event at Sprinkles Cupcakes. “It is cupcakes and beautiful women,” said Dhansinghani and laughed.

After more than an hour, the shop was still crowded. Washington, Lynch and Brandt were happy about the event and the turnout on Saturday. Washington showed her appreciation more than once, saying “Thank you all for coming out, and for the support!”
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Ari Post • November 28, 2011

Join the Georgetown Business Association at City Tavern Club this today, Nov. 9 for “Economic Development in Georgetown,” a presentation by D.C. community leaders and Georgetown business owners exploring the current state of economic development in Georgetown and its impact on business.

The list of speakers includes D.C. Councilmembers Jack Evans and Vincent Orange; ANC 2e Commissioner Bill Starrels; Michael Fitzgerald, President & CEO of Bank of Georgetown; as well as a handful of prominent small business owners, such as John Hays of The Phoenix and Karen Ohri of Georgetown Floorcoverings.

Wenesday, Nov. 9, 2011, from 6 – 9 p.m.
City Tavern Club
3206 M St., NW

6:00 Registration
6:15 Presentation
7:00 Q&A
7:30 Reception

For more information visit GTownBusiness.com

Georgetowner •

With James Madison’s historic home Montpelier as a backdrop, the annual Montpelier Hunt Races took off Saturday, Nov. 5 with all the pomp and circumstance to be expected of an event that dates back to 1934. The event presented seven races over its natural tracks, including a hurdle race featuring live brush jumps, the only course of its kind in Virginia. Attendees were treated to another unique aspect of Montpelier’s course: the proximity of its viewing areas to the race track. Unlike other horse races where guests have to watch the spectacle through binoculars to get a good view, guests at Montpelier can sit trackside, practically in the middle of the action. [gallery ids="100373,110777,110789,110782,110786" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

In celebration of its “20 Something Anniversary,” all Pizza Paradiso locations – including the one here in Georgetown – will host a week full of discounts and deals for its patrons, all of which are centered around the number 20. From $20 take-out to 20 cent toppings, Paradiso is getting creative with their birthday bash.

Drop in Monday for take-out and get one large and one small pizza for $20.

On Tuesday, Pizza Paradiso is giving away 20th Anniversary Beer Glasses with a purchase of a beer.

For $20 on Wednesday, you can get All You Can Eat Pizza & Beer with a two-drink maximum.

On Thursday, $20 gets you a small special pizza paired with an Anniversary Beer.

Your first beer purchase on Friday will only cost you 20 cents.

On Saturday, your first three toppings on any pizza will also cost you only 20 cents. Dine in only.

Sunday is “20 Free Pizzas” Family/Kids Day. From 1 to 4 p.m., kids can make their own pizzas with Chef Ruth Gresser. The first 20 pizzas sold will be free. This offer is only available at Pizza Paradiso’s Old Town location.

Gary Tischler •

Everything you read or hear about the singer Suzanne Vega inclines you to think that she remains something of a secret. Elusive, quiet, a kind of musical whisper in the annals of popular contemporary music. She seems part legend, part rumor, a mystery with staying power.

So you approach a phone interview with Vega, who’s doing a concert at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue downtown Saturday at 8 p.m., with a little respectful nervousness, even after listening to and watching her in the rich playing field that is YouTube.

The thing that pops up the most is her most enduring, best known and popular song, “Tom’s Diner,” a wispy, blank poetry infused, gritty little number that first saw the light of day in 1987 on her third album, “Solitude Standing.” Turns out, all poetry aside, you could dance to it—as in “do do do do do do do do.”

Even now, she’s a little puzzled by the continuing refrained fame of the song, which has been done, covered and re-mixed by hordes of musicians, groups and singers, and found its way into the pop culture like a house guest that always knew he was staying for good. The song, and Vega, are especially popular in Europe, where she is something of a goddess after 25 years on the scene.

“I guess I was surprised initially by how the song was received and its longevity,” she said. “I meant it as a light song, it was about this diner by Columbia University, it was bouncy, but it was also a series of observations by someone sitting in a diner, watching people, society, that kind of thing, a little ironic. It’s hard to say what you were thinking all these many years ago.”

Vega, who recently sang with her daughter Ruby, now in her teens, doesn’t seem like someone from all these many years ago. She—and her music, even though she hasn’t done a new album in some time—seem like yesterday, a minute ago, fresh off the train.

Vega came up for air and into the spotlight in the early 1980s when a kind of folk revival was going on, (among many musical uprisings), and as a result she is one of the more hyphenated singers in the annals of music, as in folky-acoustic-intellectual-pop-waif-new age. She is perhaps most importantly a writer with a keen, sharp eye. One that sees the world pretty clearly, as opposed to in ideal, romantic terms. “I’m not overtly political, singing about politicians and that kind of thing” she said. “But I do see things and feel them and I know that I don’t fit the mode of girl singers, even folk singers. I don’t care about that, the ‘you’ve got to look good to make it,’ that kind of thing.”

This may have something to do with the fact that although she was born in Santa Monica, she grew up in New York, in neighborhoods where you have to be savvy, a little tough and smart to navigate your way safely: 102nd Street and roadway in Spanish Harlem on the Upper West Side of New York City. They’re also the sort of places that heat up the imagination, inspire and make you, like the photographer Walker Evans urged, someone who goes out “with a hungry eye.” She went to the New York High School of Performing Arts, the “Fame” school. She wrote poetry at a very young age and also showed off her toughness in her writing. Here is Vega at 13: “I’m the baddest girl in the world/as I’m as bad as Super Fly/and I don’t need coke to get me high/I can beat you, Jack, and you better get back/when the Vega’s come around.”

She laughed when I told her I had read her early poetry. But poetry—blank verse, swift, hard, arrow-straight words mark her song-writing, and that quality makes her enduring, there’s nothing pretentious about her work, or the way she sings and talks. She’s a serious person, sure, but not so mysterious or waif-like as she’s often described.

“I don’t know about the waif part, now, I mean I am 50, so maybe that doesn’t apply,” she said. “But yes, I’m serious about the work, about how I live, about being a mother, about responsibility.” She has also written a play about Carson McCullers, worked with David Lynch, always pushing, always exploring. She toured with Bob Dylan in Europe and held concerts which re-created her first album in its entirety.

She sings, even on videos, with clarity, and while she’s not one of those singers that bowls you over with emotion, or movement, her songs fly straight at you, unfettered. “I’ve gotten more comfortable on stage over the years,” she said. “I move around a lot more.”

She picked up a guitar as a teen, but started out majoring at Barnard College in—surprise—English Literature. “I saw Lou Reed once in person, and that had a huge influence on me,” she said. “That influenced me strongly.”

Which is not to say she was an instant hit—her demo tapes were rejected by just about everyone of note. In her early twenties, she played in a bar in Buffalo called Nietzsche’s, which somehow seems perfect.

When she did finally put out her first, self-titled album, it was a huge hit to the tune of over a million albums. Her second album was called “Marlene on the Wall,” with the haunting hit song “Luka,” a song about a homeless child in the neighborhood. “I used to see the kid, and it was meant to be about his observations, how he felt about the world around him, in the hallways, out in the streets.”

“Solitude Standing” came next with “Tom’s Diner,” which apparently touched the imagination of all sorts of creative types high and low, including such diverse groups and artists asd Terror Squad, Eazy-E, Will Smith, Ludacris, Jars of Clay, 2Pac, REM, Nikki D and Peter Behrens with “Dep De Do Dep.”

High Tide times followed—at the very first Lilith Fair, that popular mobilization of all-star women vocalists touring the country, she was the first star to appear. She won Best Female Artist for “Luka,” beating out none other than Cher.

She is now in the midst of a four set CD project, the first of which, “Suzanne Vega, Close UP, Volume 1, Love Songs”—came out last year and sparked a 38-city tour. “Right now, yes I guess I’m looking back, summing up,” she said. “When I finish, then it’s time to move in to something new.”

Something new is hard to define. So much of what she has done , musically, writing wise, is new and in tune with the new—as the do, do, do, do’s of “Tom’s Diner” and Luka’s straight-talking and singing lament – continue to haunt. They carry forward, become a part of what’s next.

Robert Devaney •

On Nov. 16, the board of directors of the Georgetown Business Association elected its officers for 2012 and held its networking reception at F.Scott’s restaurant on 36th Street.

Succeeding Joe Giannino as president will be Rokas Beresniovas of HSBC Bank USA. The new vice president will be Riyad Said of Wells Fargo; treasurer, Karen Ohri of Georgetown Floorcoverings; secretary, Janine Schoonover of Serendipity3. They begin their one-year terms Jan. 1.

“Building on great leadership for the past two years, the GBA has new energy and is getting younger members,” Beresniovas said. “We have to sustain that, and we have built better relationships with many community groups.” The GBA — which also acts as a lobbyist for small businesses — works closely with the Georgetown Business Improvement District, which is not allowed to lobby.

The GBA’s Dec. 14 annual meeting on Dumbarton House will elect new members to its board and celebrate the holiday season.

Georgetowner •

Alliance Francaise Celebration of Beaujolais

November 18th, 2011 at 6:00 to 9:00PM | $ 40.00 members, $ 50.00 admission VIP: $120 | Tel: 202-234-7911 | Event Website

Kick off the beginning of the French wine harvest with a formal celebration at The Washington Club hosted by Alliance Francaise. This event will offer the greatest variety of entertainment, in a building that was used as a temporary White House during the Coolidge administration. During this evening, guests will enjoy the beautiful building, a live jazz band, fashion show, silent auction, DJ and dinner buffet from a local Franco-inspired restaurant. An open bar will be set with their traditional red and white beverages.

Address

The Washington Club

15 Dupont Circle

Washington DC

The Washington Harbour Food Drive

November 17-22nd, 2011 All Day | Tel: 202-944-4230 |

The Washington Harbour is now collecting non-perishable food items for donation to the Food Drive for SOME (So Others Might Eat). From now until November 22, donation boxes will be located in the East and West office lobbies at 3000 and 3050 K Street NW, Washington, DC at The Washington Harbour. The lobbies are open from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The collection will be donated to help stock the food pantry at SOME, which provides meals to those in need in the Washington, D.C. area. Suggested food items include: nutrition bars; cereal; pasta & sauce; rice; beans; macaroni; canned meat/soup/vegetables; peanut butter/jelly; evaporated milk; instant potatoes; instant oatmeal; ground coffee.

Address

Washington Harbour Condominium

3030 K St NW

Washington DC 20007

“Masters of Illusion: Impossible Magic”

November 19th, 2011 at 8:00 PM | Event Website

The illusionists from TV’s “Masters of Illusion: Impossible Magic” come to Strathmore for two nights for a live magic show. Saturday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 20, 2 p.m. Masters of Illusion Live!, which NBC Radio declares is the “best non-stop family entertainment anywhere!” features a cadre of talented showstoppers –Mark Kalin, Jinger Leigh, Farrell Dillon, Darren Romeo, Kevin James and Aaron Radatz.

Address

Music Center at Strathmore

5301 Tuckerman Lane

North Bethesda, MD 20852

Sculpture Garden Ice Rink Opening

November 19th, 2011 at 10:00 AM | $8.00 for adults and $7.00 for children, students, and seniors | ngaicerink@guestservices.com | Tel: (202) 216-9397 | Event Website

The National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden Ice Rink is scheduled to open this Saturday at 10 a.m. despite warm-ish weather. Check it out for a chance to enjoy this winter activity while wearing only a light jacket. Call 202-216-9397 for more information and for conditions.

Address

7th St NW & Constitution Avenue

Washington D.C.

15th Annual Holiday Brunches with Santa

November 27th, 2011 at 10:00 AM | $39.95 for adults and $20.00 for children ages 4-11 | lisa@lindarothpr.com | Tel: 202- 416-8555 | Event Website

Santa Claus is flying into town early again this season, parking his reindeer and sled atop the world-famous Kennedy Center, as Roof Terrace Restaurant prepares for its 15th Annual Holiday Brunches with Santa. Families and friends are invited to gather amidst live jazz music and incomparable skyline views, while visiting with Old St. Nick to share their holiday wish lists.

When: Sunday, November 27; Saturday, December 10; Sunday, December 11; Saturday, December 17; Sunday, December 18.

Address

Roof Terrace Restaurant

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

2700 F Street

Washington, DC