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Georgetowner • October 23, 2014

Be among the first to welcome Melissa Chiu to D.C. as she assumes the role of director at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The Australian-born former head of New York’s Asia Society Museum is here just in time to celebrate the Hirshhorn’s 40th anniversary.

Chiu’s hiring marks a new direction for the Hirshhorn, which was plagued by controversy under former director Richard Koshalek. She comes into the role as an able fundraiser with a strong background in the arts, particularly those from the Asia-Pacific. We are excited to hear and ask questions about how the Hirshhorn will grow, evolve and thrive under her leadership.

Oct. 9, 2014

8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

The George Town Club

1530 Wisconsin Ave., NW

$15 for George Town Club members

$20 for non-members

Continental breakfast included

RSVP by October 7th to Richard@georgetowner.com or call 202-338-4833

Gary Tischler •

Remember “A League of Their Own,” the 1992 Penny Marshall-directed movie about an all-girls baseball league during World War II? At one point, Tom Hanks, playing the gruff old-pro manager of one of the teams, the Peaches, watched exasperated as one of his players burst into tears after he had chewed her out at length for making an error.

Shocked, he turned to her and yelled: “You’re crying? You’re crying? There’s no crying in baseball!”

Guess again.

There’s a hell of a lot of crying in baseball going on right now, right here in Washington, D.C., and up the road a piece in Baltimore, and all of Southern California and probably in Mudville, too.

The Washington National, owners of the very best record in the National League for the second time in two years, lost three excruciating, nightmare-inducing, heart-breaking games to the San Francisco Giants, an NL wild-card team, same as they did two years ago, against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Not only that, but the California Angels, owners of the best record in the American League and all of baseball, were swept unceremoniously by the Kansas City As, a—you guessed it—a wild card team who hadn’t won much of anything in decades.

The very same A’s, as of this writing, own a 2-0 lead over the Baltimore Orioles, the Nats’ nearby rivals, in a best of seven American League championship series.

Wait. There’s more. The Los Angeles Dodgers, owners of the second best record in the National League and the highest payroll in the land were dumped by the St. Louis Cardinals along with Clayton Kershaw, without argument probably the best pitcher in baseball. At this writing, the Cardinals and Giants are tied 1-1 in the NL Championship series. It’s entirely possible that two wild card teams will play in the World Series.

But, then, that’s baseball. The history of baseball is full of ghosts—of inches and feet, of seconds. It is measured as much in improbabilities as in certainties.

It’s a tale of opportunities lost, and glorious triumphs, of heroes who come through in the clutch, of impossible catches, and blown saves, of blunders and homers and boners, of improbable losses and improbable wins, of heroes who fail and little known players who become for one moment heroes.

Nothing bears this out than the Nationals-Giants four-game set, won by the Giants, 3-1. Here at the most important stats—forget all these new numerics baseball geeks have come up. 3-2, 2-1, 3-2. Three. Those were the scores of the games the Nationals lost, two at home and one to end it all in San Francisco. In there was a last hope-inducing 4-1 victory by the Nats in SF. The margin of error was about the length and size of a breath held a little too long.

The Nats squandered an efficient, if not brilliant, pitching performance by Stephen Strasburg in the opener, plus a couple of home runs, one from Harper. Then, they entered into what would turn out to be the longest game ever in playoff history, 18 innings or the equivalent of two games, and lost, 2-1, just after the clock struck midnight.

The game stretched heartache every which way. With Jordan Zimmerman, who had pitched a no-hitter in his last outing, cruising in the ninth inning with a tingly 1-0 lead, he walked a batter, prompting a prompt thumbs out from Manager Matt Williams, who replaced Zimmerman with Drew Storen, who had been doing well in his year of redemption, the same Storen,who blew the decisive game in the playoffs two years before. He allowed the hits that produced the tying run the seemingly endless deadlock broken up by a San Francisco home.

The 2-1 loss highlighted almost everything baseball is about, including its endless open-endedness. A manager appeared to forget that the game is about the players and the fans—not the managers. As has been noted, the game should have been Zimmerman’s to win or lose. He’d pitched a phenomenal 17 straight scoreless innings.

You can’t blame the manager, who also got thrown out of the game the next inning, for everything. In a short series, a slightly inferior team can beat the favorite if that team suddenly stops hitting altogether, which the Nats did, pretty much up and down the lineup except for Harper and Rendon. At one point, they went 21 innings without scoring until the seventh inning of the third game.

Baseball is a game full of Sunday sermon homilies of hope, which springs eternal everywhere, but especially in baseball. Baseball, unlike other sports, has no clock. So, as the saying goes, it ain’t over ’til it’s over, which is to say until after the last out.

Anything can happen goes the siren song of hope, and the Nats, needing to win three straight, won one, bringing that emotional pinch hitter hope out of the dugout on wobbly legs.

It had been done before. In 2004, the Boston Red Sex, down three games against the Yankees in a seven-game playoffs, won four straight, to take the AL title, and then swept the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 to win the Series, reeling off eight straight wins.

Hope springs, partly because the sport is full of ghosts and memories, and its literature is rooted in the hieroglyphics of the box score.

In some ways, it’s a game of stillness, interrupted by furious seconds of actions—the crack of the bat, the missed swing, the slide and throw at home plate, the loud rocket noise made by thunderous home runs, the swift blur of a double play, (Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance) and the basic rhythm of pitch, swing, hit (or not), catch (or not), and run. Towards home, always the journey towards home.

Nothing is certain in baseball—it is a battle against obvious futility, in which a player is deemed to be an excellent hitter by making outs two out of three times. It is a game that leaves players naked—you can’t always spot the grievous missed block in football, but when a hitter strikes out with the bases loaded, he might as well drop his pants.

Baseball is full of ghosts—the ghost riders in the sky of the heroes and triumphs of long gone players, and their mistakes and blunders and failures under pressure. In the 1964 World Series between the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, Cards manager Johnny Keane allowed the brilliant but struggling Bob Gibson—one of the most fearsome pitchers ever—to finish the game, grimly winning a 7-5 game. “I was committed to this fellow’s heart,” Keane said. The vagaries of baseball and its glories were on display that fall—Mickey Mantle in his last year of playing for the Yankees, hit three home runs in the World Series, manager and Yankee legend Yogi Berra (“When you come to a fork in the road, take it”) was fired. Johnny Keane became the Yankee manager, and he too would eventually be fired.

This time of the year, fall with leaves and nuts on the ground, and in the stands, is baseball season when all the other things—steroids, unbelievable salaries, and so on—just fade away.

We are seduced by baseball’s long-treasured cliches, listening for the opening words as if in a play in a theatre: “Play ball!” It is the baseball equivalent of “Places, please.”

We hope until hope is gone as it was in Mudville and as it is in Washington. So, we embrace another old slogan, hope’s last ditch siren song: “Wait until next year.”

Robert Devaney •

UPDATED 12:15 p.m., Oct. 22.

Rabbi Barry Freundel of Kesher Israel Congregation was arrested at his O Street home in the early hours of Tuesday, Oct. 14 and charged with six charges of misdemeanor voyeurism by the Metropolitan Police Department.

Prosecutors say that video retrieved from Freundel’s computer and hard drive substantiates the voyeurism allegations.

According to prosecutors, Freundel used a camera hidden in a clock radio he placed in the women’s bathroom near the synagogue’s mikvah – an Orthodox-required ritual bath used for conversion – to spy on female congregants bathing themselves. Victim Leah Sugarman of Silver Spring told the Washington Post that Freundel, who acted as a rabbi-guide for her conversion, pressured her to bath more frequently in the mikvah to speed up the process. Other young female converts complained to Kesher’s leadership that Freundel was commenting on their looks in an inappropriate way.

Kesher Israel’s board of directors, which immediately suspended Freundel, issued this statement: “This is a painful moment for Kesher Israel Congregation and the entire Jewish community . . . Upon receiving information regarding potentially inappropriate activity, the board of directors quickly alerted the appropriate officials. Throughout the investigation, we cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so.” The synagogue removed information about its rabbi soon after Freundel’s arrest.

On Oct. 20, the Rabbinical Council of America said it had received similar complaints, and some that were more salacious (one detailed that Freundel co-signed a checking account with a woman who was not his wife), that went back to 2012. He was involved in the council, leading its group on protocol for conversions. While the council reprimanded him, he was not removed from the position and “made assurances these behaviors would discontinue.”

Freundel was the leader of Kesher Israel, a modern Orthodox synagogue, at 2801 N St. NW, five blocks from his home. Since 1987, Freundel has been with the synagogue, which counts among its members former Sen. Joe Lieberman and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Neighbors of Freundel on O Street like Carol Joynt reported on social media that the arrest took place. “Interesting goings on across the street,” wrote Joynt. “Neighbor hauled off in cuffs. Detectives swarming, hauling out hard drives. Police cars here and there. Ah, Georgetown.”

Dana Farrior •

Lane cheaters have been brought to a halt with the addition of barriers at M Street and Key Bridge. In what is an already a heavy traffic spot, blockades have been placed to deter drivers from making last-minute left turns from Key Bridge.

The District Department of Transportation was called upon to address the issue, which in turn resulted in the barriers. DDOT’s traffic engineer James Cheeks told Fox 5 News, “This will last for a little while. People will begin disregarding them and then we’ll have to think of some other measures.”

However, left turns are not the only traffic issue drivers face; at the very same intersection people heading east on M street into Georgetown deal with a similar problem.

“Clearly that’s human behavior, that’s bad driving,” Cheeks said to Fox 5. “And so we’ll try to do something to keep them in their lanes. It’ll be similar to this.”

So, be on the lookout for more partitions in the near future.

Georgetowner •

At the height of rush hour at Key Bridge and M Street, protestors on horseback from out West entered the nation’s capital Oct. 16 with a set of grievances against the Bureau of Land Management.

Their right to assembly and protest was assisted by the Metropolitan Police Department and other federal police agencies with Homeland Security as cop cars and motorcycles blocked intersections for the group of 20 riders, a wagon and their horse trailers. The spectacle briefly stopped traffic and turned heads. Commuters were first bemused but then smiled and waved at the ranchers.

Riding horseback from coast to coast, demonstrators from the Grass March and Cowboy Express made their way to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness for ranchers’ grazing rights. Riders and horses left 4 a.m. this morning to finish the last leg of their journey.

The group left Bodega Bay, Calif., on Sept. 26, riding more than 2,800 miles by horseback in order to deliver petitions to Capitol Hill and hold rallies in various cities along the way.

The ride was sparked by Battle Mountain BLM Manager Douglas Furtado’s decision to remove grazing rights from Battle Mountain, District of Nevada. The main petition is calling for the removal of Furtado from his position, but there are a number of other petitions for different land and environmental issues. For example, half of the land in question is privately owned but is prohibited for use as part of the entire restricted area.

Peter Murray •

The D.C. Department of Transportation is holding an open house from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Pinstripes in Georgetown tonight to review current operations, get input from riders and present information about the bus line’s draft transit development plan for the new year. The current draft would reduce overage in much of Georgetown. For example, under the plan the Union Station to Georgetown Circulator would no longer service Wisconsin Ave. north of M Street. DDOT encourages riders and community residents to participate in the meeting to provide feedback on the draft and on the existing system.

Anders Ohm •

The Healey Family Student Center at Georgetown University opened last month, offering 44,000 square feet of social and programming space and providing a new gathering place for students on campus.

The student center is in the New South residence hall and is open to the entire academic community. There are study rooms, a TV lounge, music practice rooms, dance studios, 12 study rooms and three conference rooms. The “great room” has a fireplace, couches and chairs, and it overlooks the Potomac River.

Along the end of Prospect Street, the south side facing the Potomac River will also feature a new terrace with fire pits, green space and outdoor seating. The two-floor student center includes a new entrance from Library Walk and redesigned entrances at the ground level across from Leo’s, the main dining hall, as well as from the Village A courtyard.

On Oct. 31, the Bulldog Tavern — a pub serving food to everyone and alcoholic drinks to those over the age of 21 — will open in the student center. The pub will be managed by Bon Appetit Management Company, which manages more than 500 dining halls and restaurants, including Google, eBay and many on university campuses.

A salad and smoothie restaurant called Hilltoss will open in the building on Nov. 1.

Robert Devaney •

The principal of Duke Ellington School for the Arts — Father John Payne — died suddenly Oct. 9, and a school community is in mourning.

Payne had a cardiac arrest at the school, which is temporarily located at Eugene Meyer Elementary School on 11th Street, NW, while the main Duke Ellington School building on 35th Street, NW, is undergoing major renovation and modernization. He later died at the hospital.

Payne was involved with Duke Ellington School since 1995. He became Dean of Students in 2000 and then was the school’s facilities manager and Director of Student Affairs. Payne has worked on many of the school’s renovations.

In August, Payne was named Head of School, succeeding Rory Pullens.

“Today, our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of our friend and colleague Father John Payne,” said District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson in a DCPS statement. “During his decades of service at Duke Ellington, Father Payne helped thousands of students achieve their dreams. Whether you knew Father Payne for years, or for only a few minutes, you instantly felt his passion and commitment as a champion of the arts and education. Father Payne insisted upon excellence for his students and was a stalwart believer in possibility and tradition. He had an abundance of faith in his students, showed them love every single day, and set an example that created a welcoming and thriving school community. While we grieve this tragic loss, we send our prayers, our thoughts and our condolences to his family.”

“Everyone who knew Father Payne regarded him with the utmost respect,” wrote board president Charles Barber on the school’s website. “He was a brilliant, loving and courageous man who had a passion for helping children. He dedicated his life to the students of Ellington for 20 years.”

Payne arrived at Ellington after serving as Associate Pastor of St. Augustine Catholic Church. He was an Augustinian Friar and a native Washingtonian.
There were grief counseling session yesterday and today at the Meyer School at 2501 11th St. NW. Duke Ellington School also holds classes at Garnet-Patterson Middle School, 2001 10th St., NW. Memorial services are pending.

Dana Farrior • October 20, 2014

No longer will we be confined to dining rooms and dinner tables when it comes to gourmet eating. The Four Seasons Hotel embarks on its second food truck tour, which will travel the East Coast bringing a twist to local favorites as well as serving exclusive menu options. The nine-city tour began in September and will continue through November with plans to stop in Atlanta, Orlando and Miami.

The Four Seasons Food Truck will make its way through Washington, D.C., stopping at MedStar Washington Hospital Oct. 15, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and then at PNC Bank at Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, Saturday, noon to 2 p.m. While on the truck, the hotel’s executive chef Douglas Anderson will prepare kale Caesar salad, D.C. a half smoke, grilled kimchi, bulgogi short rib sandwich, barbecure-spiced fries and desserts.

Fifty percent of proceeds from the Four Seasons Hotel sales at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center stop on Oct. 15 will be donated to the hospital’s Washington Cancer Institute.

Gary Tischler •

Deborah Rutter, now in her second month as president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts made her Oct. 15 appearance at the National Press Club an opportunity to talk about story-telling, about art for art’s sake, but also art for life’s sake, about what it felt like to acclimate herself to the her maze-like new surroundings at the center, about what the Kennedy Center means to the city and its residents.

Of course, changes are likely to come under Rutter, who came here after a successful and long stint as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association. She is known for her innovation skills, for a passion for the works of living composers and artists, for her collaborative efforts and for her sense of place and community.

“When I think about the arts, and the performing arts, when I think of this place with the inspirational words of President Kennedy on its walls, I think in terms of story-telling,” she said. “Everything is a story, and the arts are ways for how we tell each other the stories of our lives, how we lived and have lived. This is how we connect with others, how we connect the draw strings of our lives, through image, story, music, dance and theatre, we convey our values, what we believe and hold dear, our moral values.

“I know I’m in the presence of journalists here, who are the professional and true story-tellers of our community, with whom we engage every day, at least I hope we do,” she said.

Rutter showed off some of her trademark skills and approaches to her life in the world of culture and the arts. She spoke eloquently, often with humor, and she spoke in full sentences and paragraphs. She told stories, about her own life, about Chicago and now Washington, about the center, and how her life was set on its course.

She recalled her teacher in third grade who asked her and others: “What instrument are you going to play?” “She didn’t say do you want to play an instrument, she made it a statement,” Rutter said. “She gave me the first tool… to write my story in the arts.” Rutter chose the violin.

“I fully subscribe and embrace the concept of art for art’s sake,” she said. “But it goes beyond that and I also believe this: art is about art for life’s sake.”

Rutter is on something of a whirlwind tour of the city and its various institutions, citizens and groups, and it’s safe to say when we can all expect to see more of her, in the flesh, hands on and curious.

“I firmly believe that no one, especially children, should be deprived of access to the arts,” she said. “I believe in arts education, in education, in access to the arts for everyone.” She made sure that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra spread its gifts and talents and wings throughout the city, including its poorest neighborhoods. This is something she apparently shared with Maestro Riccardo Muti, who stretched his interests and curiosity in many places, including “to my surprise, a prison, a youth reformatory for young female offenders” where he began a program that encouraged and allowed the women to write songs and music.

“I thought about story-telling when we set about to move here, which is a major undertaking for a family and we went through all the things we would bring (or not), and you find old children’s books, pictures and the like, and they’re full of stories, everyone has them,” she said. “It’s about shared memories, friends you leave, friends you’re going to make.”

“But I have to say, if there are surprises, it was for me how hard it is to get around the Kennedy Center,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I had the wrong access card for the wrong door.”

“The Kennedy Center houses so many examples of the best in all kinds of art,” she said. “We saw ‘Evita’ recently, and I thought how far beyond the normal musical it went. It was about something, about the rise of a woman from the lower classes in that country, about greed, and narcissism and their consequences. Then, I thought about ‘Angels in America,’ a powerful and pioneering play about the AIDs crisis, how revolutionary it was, and then to think of ‘Swan Lake,’ and its great, unique beauty. Then I thought of ‘St. Matthews Passion,’ which I have loved so much for all of my life.”

“I think sometimes one of the things that get overlooked here is the incredible education program, and how many young people it involves—in learning, in opportunity for performance and I don’t think people really realize just how large that impact is. I think that’s one of our jobs—one of my jobs—here , to get young people excited about the arts, not only as consumer but as participants and artists..”

“You know, it’s interesting, people are always asking dwindling audiences or older audiences, how to get young audiences into the center,” she said. “I’ve been part of this world for 30 years or so now, and everywhere I’ve been, the same question gets asked. And yet, the fact that the question gets asked so often tells you something about the fact that audience come. You can grow audiences with great art, with education, with access, and a presence in the community. The new campus offers all sorts of ways to bring in new audiences, and new art.”

“They tell me that Washington audiences are more conservative here,” she said. “I’m going to push you on that.”

She reiterated her well known passion for new works, and gave “The Little Dancer,” which will be performed come November as an example. “This is a ground-up, brand-new production, a musical about art and artists, about painters and dancers. It’s an example of taking risks, and I believe in taking risks.”

Rutter was asked about a variety of issues—the state of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera, the issue of diversity in Kennedy Center Honors recipients, the possibility of labor issues.

“I’ve been here a little over a month, and already I’m an expert on everything,” she said. “The thing with the Honors is that it’s a symbolic thing. It’s the way that most people in the country know the center. It’s famous. So, I think we’ve looked at that issue and made changes in how the process works and makes selections.”

By the way she handled the questions, by her optimism, which is rooted in pragmatism and experience, you can guess Rutter will be a major presence in the city, with a big footprint. “I believe in collaboration,” she said. “I intend to work with and reach out to the arts institutions in the city, theaters, dance companies, museums, at all levels.”

“Being a part of the arts community, doing this job, it’s not easy. It requires true commitment,” she said. At first, and second and third glance, Rutter doesn’t seem to suffer from a lack of commitment or presence.

Deborah Rutter will headline the Nov. 6 Cultural Leadership Breakfast at the George Town Club. The breakfast series is organized by the Georgetown Media Group, which publishes The Georgetowner and The Downtowner newspapers. The breakfasts run 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. with remarks by leaders of Washington’s top cultural organizations and time for questions. The George Town Club is at 1530 Wisconsin Ave., NW ($15, George Town Club members; $20, non-members). RSVP to Richard@georgetowner.com, or call 202-338-4833.