Spring Music Highlights
• March 8, 2012

The Music of Budapest, Prague and Vienna Festival at the Kennedy Center

This umbrella festival is a little like taking a musical cruise on the Danube River, which runs through three of Europe’s major capitals of romantic and classical music. The Festival runs from February 25-March 29

First stop: Budapest, headquarters of the eastern part of the old Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian empire and the source of a host of musical creativity. The National Symphony Orchestra is slated to perform Bela Bartok’s “Romanian Folk Dances” and the one-act opera “Bluebeard’s Castle,” as well as music by Franz Liszt and Zoltan Kodaly and his lively waltzes. There is also a chamber performance by Budapest’s Takacs Quartet as well as a performance of “Gypsies,” a play with music from the Hungarian theatre company “Katona Jozsef Theatre.”

From Prague, we’ll get the NSO performing Antonin Dvorak’s cantata “Stabat Mater.” The Prague Philharmonica will be on hand to perform Leos Janacek’s Suite For String Orchestra. And the Eben Trio will perform chamber works by Peter Fiala, Bedfich Smetana and Dvorak.

From Vienna, there will be programs by the NSO, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, (by way of the Washington Performing Arts Society), the NSO’s Christoph Eschenbach on piano with violinist Dan Zhu, and Matthias Goerne singing Schubert’s “Winterreise.” The WNO”s performances of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” is also part of the festival.

For a complete breakdown of the festival and dates visit Kennedy-Center.org.

WPAS

The Washington Performing Arts Society will present the Choral Arts Society and the National Symphony Orchestra performing Brahms’ “A German Requiem.” The piece is a personal favorite of Norman Scribner, the Choral Arts conductor, who will be conducting his final concert in a remarkable 47-year-career. April 22 at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall.

Looking much further ahead—but it’s worth doing so—is a performance by master violinist Itzhak Perlman with Rohan de Silva on Piano May 14, also at the Concert Hall.

And let’s not forget, March means St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll be having a listen to the great, six-time Grammy award winning Chieftains, headed by founder Paddy Moloney, on a 50th Anniversary Tour also at the Concert Hall on March 16.

For more information visit WPAS.org.

Strathmore

At the Music Center at Strathmore, Max Raabe Und Das Palast Orchestra will present its own style of music from the Roaring 20s and 30s. As you might guess, Raabe and his ensemble and cohorts bring a dusky, European Berlin-ish flavor to the proceedings March 1.

Jazz and pop vocalists John Pizzarelli and Kurt Elling will pay tribute to Sinatra and Ellington with riffs on the great American Songbook May 10.

Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields come to the Music Center April 13 in an already sold out program in an all-Beethoven Program April 13.

And its bluegrass and fiddle time April 17, with “The Music of Bill Monroe,” featuring Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and the Traveling McCourts.

And did you know Kevin Costner was in a band? Well, he is and its his own group called Modern West—and he’ll be at Strathmore April 5.

For more information visit Strathmore.org.

The Embassy Series

The Embassy Series, the most unique and original musical entity in the Washington area, continues another season offering top-notch classical and international music in the city’s embassies, ambassador’s residences and international cultural centers.

Coming up for founder Jerome Barry’s institution is a performance by violinist Bella Hristova, First Prize Winner in the 2008-2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, at the Embassy of Bulgaria March 23.

Next it’s the Mendelssohn Piano Trio at the Embassy of Austria, with Peter Sirotin on violin, Ya-Ting Chang on Piano and Fiona Thompson on cello with guest artists Michael Stepnia on viola playing a program of Austrian chamber music, including works by Haydn, Mahler and Schubert. (April 20)

April 27 brings pianist Paulius Andersson, the winner of the “Music Without Limits” competition in Lithuania playing works by Mozart, Liszt, Scarlatti, Beethoven and other at the Embassy of Lithuania.

EmbassySeries.org

Our Daydream Believer, Davy Jones
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The death of Davy Jones, the most popular member of the singing group, the Monkees, at age 66 was shocking.

Who knew he was 66?

Who knew that even Monkees could age and become vulnerable to all the dangers of old age, like the heart attacked that felled Jones?

The Monkees — Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork — were in their brief time absolutely huge, and they were unique. In the time of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and the Beach Boys, the Monkees were a totally manufactured — after much auditioning — rock group made for television — literally. “The Monkees” was a quirky, big-hit, half-hour television show, right in the middle of the glory days and haze of 1960s’ rock and roll.

In a way, the Monkees, who looked like very early unscruffed Beatles, adorable as panda bears, were antidotes to the hippie-blues world of drugs, sex and rock and roll that prevailed during their two-year stay on television from 1966-1968. “We don’t like to put people down” was part of their anthem sound, nor, apparently did they have truck with groupies (thousands of screaming girls were part of their live act), drugs, booze or politics. They were energized, electric, nice guys with nice voices, whose energy was infectious, it had a sweet delirious quality to it that was reminiscent of the Richard Lester Beatle films like “Help!”

Hardcore rock-and-roll critics, who found the boys wanting in seriousness, content and rebelliousness, pretty much dumped on them, although hordes of fans embraced them. It should be noted that in one year, the Monkees had record sales that topped the combined efforts of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, a considerable achievement.

The Monkees rolled out hit after hit, including “Hey, Hey We’re The Monkees,” the theme song of the show, “I’m a Believer” and “Daydream Believer.”

Jones, easily the best known of the quartet, never stopped performing, without or without his mates. Although the group as a whole had a faintly British trope to them, Jones was the only actual Englishman, who once played the Artful Dodger in a Broadway production of “Oliver.” Story has it that the cast played the Ed Sullivan Show the same night that the Beatles rocked the American world.

Jones was born in Manchester, England, which eventually became a title for a rock song. The Monkees may not have been great singers, but they achieved great and huge pop status, with their own inimitable combo of personalities. They were the softer side of rock and roll in the 1960s and 1970s, much like Herman’s Hermits, with impossible to get-out-of-your-head songs (“I’m Henery the Eight, I am” in the Hermits’ case).

We interviewed Peter Noone, the Herman of the Hermits, once when he toured with a production of “Pirates of Penzance” at the National Theater. In one of those unaccountable moments of sheer blank stupidity, I asked him “what was it like being a Monkee?” After what seemed like a very long no-place-to-hide silence, Noone, with good humor, acknowledged that he was in fact a Hermit, not a Monkee.

John Stewart, a former member of the legendary folk group, the Kingston Trio, wrote “Daydream Believer,” when he was living in Marin County outside San Francisco in the 1960s. A rugged singer with Kristofferson charisma, he recorded his own version, which was rueful, romantic, a paen to loving and living young and hardscrabble; it sold few copies, The Monkees turned it into a huge hit, transforming it instantly into a “Sweet Caroline” of memory. They’re the reason most remember the lyrics: “Cheer up, sleepy Jean. Oh, what can it mean. To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen.” Stewart made a nice career for himself singing about regular American folks around the country, including on Bobby Kennedy’s campaign trail, until his death a few years ago. Stewart probably didn’t complain much, given the royalties.

Stewart and Jones were both daydream believers and both gone now.

It’s Over: Romney Is Still the Winner
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Even as the Michigan and Arizona Republican primaries have gone into the record books, I’m going on the record to say what I’ve been saying pretty much since around the primary days of Iowa and New Hampshire.

It’s over.

I don’t know how many times I have to say it. The GOP primary race is over.

Romney will win, has won even as he muddles on. He’ll win even if he loses Ohio on Super Tuesday tomorrow.

I don’t pretend to be a seer here by any means. I mean, even when Romney wins, he loses or ties. If anyone could screw up a sure thing, it’s the honorable Mitt Romney of BYU, Utah, Michigan and Massachusetts.

But still: it’s over.

Why? Because nobody among the rag-tag band of survivors from the original rag-tag band of announced candidates can win.

The media loves to talk about members of the Republican establishment — Bob Dole, a lobbyist or two in New York and Fred Thompson perhaps — who are panicking with almost every vote cast for, at first, Newt, now fading faster than a silver bullet gone astray, and now Rick Santorum, who was unceremoniously booted out of the Senate seat he had in Pennsylvania when last he ran for office.

Santorum has become the defender of true conservatism, and certainly typical of the 2012 crop of GOP candidates suffering from terminal foot-in-mouth disease. Just recently, when he called President Barack Obama a “snob” for insisting that everyone should go to college, GOP governors were reduced to defending Obama. Of late, he picked a fight with President John Kennedy over the issue of separation of church and state, which the former senator apparently doesn’t believe in much.

Santorum, avoiding the jobs issue, has gone all in with no chips on the values issues: abortion, contraceptives, gays and religion. Which is why I repeat: it’s over.

Santorum is heading into Super Tuesday hoping to win Ohio, Gingrich hopes to win in Georgia, and Romney is going to win . . . period. Santorum got swamped in Arizona where he did badly in the debate but got a split of delegates in Romney’s home state of Michigan. So, he figures a tie is not like kissing your sister, of which he would disapprove vehemently in any case.

This GOP race for the nomination has been a farce. As that great political sage and seer Stephen Sondheim wrote, “Send in the clowns, don’t bother they’re here.”

You gotta admit: Romney is a fighter especially with a bunch of opponents that hardly resemble murderer’s row. More like doofus row. He flustered Perry, ignored Bachman, was nice to the pizza guy, shot Newt out of the water in Florida, and now has Santorum by way of Obama in his sights. Romney is like the Harlem Globetrotters who routinely are matched with designated loser teams, which they dispatch with ease after much hilarity. Romney’s opponents have been somewhat similar —they’re not in his class. Yet Romney appears to have trouble winning and winning over the GOP base. This allows him to be the front runner and the comeback kid at the same time, a neat trick come to think of it.

Along the way, the former governor of Massachusetts has shed almost every shred of what could tag him as a moderate to court the party’s base, otherwise known as the Tea Party and Christian right. He’s accepted the endorsement of Donald Trump and, most recently, the governor of Arizona who appeared to notice, after yelling nose to nose at Obama, that Romney had a double-digit lead and made her endorsement on Meet The Press.

Nevertheless, he has failed to seal the deal. The right is suspicious of him, the independents and moderates are aghast every time he says stuff like how nice the trees are in Michigan, that his wife drives two Cadillacs or that $350,000 isn’t a lot of money.

So, why does the Republican Party seem so fragmented, so ill at ease, united on hardly anything except “We don’t like Barack Obama, the lying elitist socialist Muslim from Kenya who’s going to destroy the American way of life”?

The trouble with Romney is nobody really knows what he stands for, what his core principles are — except that what’s good for business is good for America . . . so let’s cut taxes. When you get his slogans — drop Obama care, stay in Afghanistan, lower taxes, you get bromides which sound with every telling a little closer to Tea Party rhetoric.

He’s the spitting image of a presidential candidate — those teeth, that hair, those boys, those blue jeans ensembles. His wife is the perfect candidate’s wife: she’s funny, blonde, gorgeous, smart and down to earth. It’s a wonder Gingrich hasn’t proposed to her.

Nothing sticks to Romney. He has turned detachment into a plus, minus the irony that usually accompanies it. Most importantly, he’s detached from the lives of most Americans. If the nomination process has done anything, it’s to expose that detachment, that disconnect.

One media writer who supports Romney nonetheless admitted he was “a dork” and that he would present himself as the brainy doctor who would cure the economy. Good luck in convincing the middle class of that one.

But the GOP race?

It’s over. Don’t say a word, Yogi Berra.

Natural Healing—Just what the Doctor Ordered
• March 7, 2012

Natural medicine is nothing new to Dr. Snejana Sharkar. Growing up, her mother would cure her colds with ingredients in their kitchen. “Teaspoons of herbal honey, black pepper and red wine several times a day,” said Sharkar. “For coughs and congestion, she would make a warm compress for my chest with crushed poppy seeds.”

After receiving several Masters Degrees and Board Certifications, Sharkar is now giving her patients the same care her mother gave to her.

“I believe in conventional medicine, too, don’t get me wrong,” she said. “But it’s more beneficial to treat botanically first, using hydrotherapy and even healing with massages and acupuncture.”

Dr. Sharkar spent seven years at a family practice in Washington, D.C. as an ANCC Board Certified Nurse Practitioner and then 12 years specializing in adult cardiology before opening her own practice in Georgetown in February 2011. She received her Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) from the University of Science, Art and Technology, Montserrat, British West Indies and London, United Kingdom, is Board Certified in Integrative Medicine and is a member of the American Association of Integrative Medicine. She is the only provider in the Washington, D.C. area who holds a certification with the Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome (WTS) Restorative Medicine.

Her new private practice, Indigo Integrative Health Clinic, is focused on allowing the body to heal itself by discovering and treating or removing the cause of pain. IIHC is located at 1010 Wisconsin Avenue and is open Monday – Wednesday. Her patients receive her time and devotion at each appointment. She tells them to leave 60-90 minutes in their schedules for their initial visits in order to get the most out of what the clinic has to offer.

Contact Indigo Integrative Health Clinic at 202-298-9131 or go online to schedule an appointment at www.IndigoHealthClinic.com.

JACK EVANS REPORTMarch 7, 2012
•

This week, I chaired a meeting of the Committee on Finance and Revenue to consider a bill to require mobile vendors, including food trucks, to pay sales taxes. The bill amends a section of the District?s tax law that currently exempts sidewalk and mobile street vendors from sales tax requirements.

Currently, sidewalk and mobile street vendors, including food trucks, pay a quarterly fee of $375 to the District in lieu of having to pay sales taxes the way other food service businesses must. Members of the public and other stakeholders have pointed out that this is not a fair system, and the evolution of the mobile vendor market requires a modernization of our tax laws. A writer for the Washington Blade recently called the current quarterly fee ?a token alternative annual payment initiated several decades ago? and advocated for ?sales tax parity? as found in the bill I am sponsoring.

Legitimate concerns have been raised by the food truck industry about the need for comprehensive regulatory reform that more accurately takes into account their true corporate structure and business activities. At my hearing last year, for example, the executive director of the D.C. Food Truck Association testified that, like storefront restaurants, mobile vendors should be licensed and taxed as businesses rather than as sole proprietors. However, requiring individual street vendors to have a vending license, she says, makes about as much sense as requiring an individual waitress in a restaurant to have a business license. I tend to concur.
Regardless of the merits of that argument, though, the subject matter of corporate form is not within the purview of my committee, but rather is being addressed by regulations from the District?s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). Comments on the proposed rules were due March 1 and are posted at [dcra.dc.gov](http://dcra.dc.gov).

The bill I moved this week has been subject to debate and public comment since at least March of 2011 and would not propose to implement the tax until October 1, giving plenty of notice to the industry while also allowing a reasonable amount of time for the regulations to become effective prior to implementation of the sales tax. As noted by the writer quoted above, however, ?there is scant evidence of public support for continuing to exempt the[se] businesses from the standard sales tax levy? or allowing the sales tax issue to remain unresolved while the regulatory process is completed.

Also this week, I chaired a hearing on my proposed bill to repeal the out-of-state municipal bond tax. I have heard from many constituents about the hardship and unfairness of changing a law that impacts so many seniors after they have already relied on the tax break in good faith when making their retirement plans. While the hearing has already taken place, the record will remain open until March 9. If you have time to send a letter to my staff [kstogner@dccouncil.us](mailto:kstogner@dccouncil.us) in support of the bill by next Friday, we will include it in our official record to help demonstrate the support we need to convince the Mayor and the couple of swing votes on the Council we need to repeal this tax.

Protecting Our Historic Homes
•

At the latest meeting of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, officials approved revised designs by the Tudor Place Foundation for new small buildings on the historic home’s grounds along 31st and Q Streets. Such approval was a triumph of balance between neighbors and a historic home. While some did not like the proposed garage designs taking up their line of sight on 32nd Street, the argument did not devolve into a “not-in-my-back-yard” discussion. Tudor Place modified its initial designs after critiques by neighbors and government bodies, and the result was a better design overall.

We must find ways to maintain the historic homes within our neighborhood without going NIMBY on them. They are fragile and expensive to get. Likewise, owners of these properties should always engage the residents in their mission and future. Two historic Georgetown homes – Evermay and Halcyon House – are now under the umbrella of the same non-profit, S&R Foundation, which appears more than willing and able to preserve and protect them. Families, it seems, cannot hang on to such large properties.

As Georgetowners and bearers of the light of history, we must work with the persons or groups that own our historical places. We cannot make it all about us. At the same time, they may own it, but it is not theirs alone.

On Civility and Public Discourse
•

Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University Law Center student, found herself the target of radio host Rush Limbaugh on March 1 after recommending that employers cover the costs of contraception in their health care programs at a meeting of the House Democratic Steering Committee. For her remarks, Limbaugh called Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.”

“So, Miss Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal,” Limbaugh continued. “If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

“This language is an attack on all women,” Fluke responded. “The millions of American women who have and will continue to speak out in support of women’s health care and access to contraception prove that we will not be silenced.”

After a major outcry against the radio commentator – including a phone call to Fluke from President Barack Obama on March 2 – Limbaugh apologized March 3. “In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation,” he said. “I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke… In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a presidential level. My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.”

Below is a letter by John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, commenting on the fracas.

There is a legitimate question of public policy before our nation today. In the effort to address the problem of the nearly 50 million Americans who lack health insurance, our lawmakers enacted legislation that seeks to increase access to health care. In recent weeks, a question regarding the breadth of services that will be covered has focused significant public attention on the issue of contraceptive coverage. Many, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, have offered important perspectives on this issue.

In recent days, a law student of Georgetown, Sandra Fluke, offered her testimony regarding the proposed regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services before a group of members of Congress. She was respectful, sincere, and spoke with conviction. She provided a model of civil discourse. This expression of conscience was in the tradition of the deepest values we share as a people. One need not agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression. And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position – including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels – responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student.

In our vibrant and diverse society, there always are important differences that need to be debated, with strong and legitimate beliefs held on all sides of challenging issues. The greatest contribution of the American project is the recognition that together, we can rely on civil discourse to engage the tensions that characterize these difficult issues, and work towards resolutions that balance deeply held and different perspectives. We have learned through painful experience that we must respect one another and we acknowledge that the best way to confront our differences is through constructive public debate. At times, the exercise of one person’s freedom may conflict with another’s. As Americans, we accept that the only answer to our differences is further engagement.

In an earlier time, St. Augustine captured the sense of what is required in civil discourse: “Let us, on both sides, lay aside all arrogance. Let us not, on either side, claim that we have already discovered the truth. Let us seek it together as something which is known to neither of us. For then only may we seek it, lovingly and tranquilly, if there be no bold presumption that it is already discovered and possessed.”

If we, instead, allow coarseness, anger – even hatred – to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders. The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance. This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another.

‘I’m Sorry’ Don’t Right the Wrong
•

I could have sworn I heard Brenda Lee making a come back, singing “I’m sorry, so sorry, please accept my apologies.”

Being sorry and apologizing has become something of a fad these days — only recently a Montana judge apologized for sending President Barack Obama an e-mail that the judge himself said was racist. He apologized and said he was sorry.

Gregg Williams, the former Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator, apologized for instituting a bounty system for both teams, handing out cash rewards to players who executed exceptionally tough hits on opposing offensive players, giving points for knockouts and stretcher-inducing hits. He said, among other things, that he was, of course, sorry.

And now, to paraphrase the late President Richard Nixon, it’s conservative talk show Rush Limbaugh’s turn in the shooting barrel. Limbaugh, whose reputation for nuance when it comes to what he says on his talk show, is nil, is up to — we believe — his third apology, 21st lost advertiser and two drops from radio stations. Quite a little fire storm in that booth.

So what did the vitriolic, bombastic Limbaugh do this time? Quite a lot. He attacked a Georgetown University law student named Sandra Fluke, who wanted to testify on why her college’s health plan should cover contraception pills.

Here are the most offensive—we think—parts of Limbaugh’s take: “What does it say about the college coed Sandra Fluke who goes before a congressional Committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? Makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraceptives. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex.”

Later, he added that he wanted her to post videos of her sexual activities.

At first, Limbaugh said he was just trying to be humorous because he is, after all, about satire. Limbaugh’s lion-like Wednesday sermon was followed Saturday by a squeaky, mouse-like statement on his website. “My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir,” that statement reads. “I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.”

Those two words were inappropriate and uncalled for,” Limbaugh said “They distracted from the point I was actually trying to make, and again I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for using those two words.”

Somehow, this doesn’t quite meet the standard for a sincere apologies, or any notion of just what a stink he made by what he said. Anybody with a daughter, a mother, a wife or just a general respect for women should be ready to burn Limbaugh’s house down. Just being satirical.

It wasn’t just the two words — offensive, vile and personal as they may be in this case.

It was the casual way they were strutted out as if it’s just the most natural thing to say about anybody.

Given Limbaugh’s status as a powerful and influential conservative, Republicans and conservatives respondedly weakly. Rick Santorum said Limbaugh’s comments were “absurd.” Mitt Romney said, “I would have said something different” or some such words, leading to wonder what that might have been. House Speaker John Boehner called his statements “inappropriate.” No, sir — wearing an orange tie to an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s day is inappropriate (and dangerous). Calling a smart, intelligent law student a slut and a prostitute — calling any woman that — is, well . . . let Don Imus say it: “Rush Limbaugh is an insincere pig, vile and gutless.”

It takes a little doing to be insulted by Don Imus, but there you are.

Or let’s hear it from Senator John McCain, who called Limbaughs’ comments “totally unacceptable” and “should be condemned by everyone. “

So there. As for writing about this matter, I hope no one was offended or upset. If so, well, you know the drill:
I’m sorry. So sorry. Please accept my apology. Thank you, Brenda Lee.

The Thrills of the Oscars
• March 5, 2012

Watching the 2012 Oscar Awards made you feel:

1) Thrilled

2) Bored

3) Old

4) Nostalgic

5) Made you miss Billy Bush

6) Didn’t watch it

If you picked 6), I can’t say I blame you.

As for me:

1) Thrilled (sometimes)

2) Bored (often)

3) Old (uncomfortably so)

4) Nostalgic (comfortably so)

5) Made you miss Billy Bush (surprisingly so)

Some highlights of the evening include Angelina Jolie’s gam thigh-high striking pose of grand dame movie star, Meryl Streep, who broke her almost three-decade losing streak and made her husband cry, and George Glooney, who didn’t win, but kissed Billy Crystal on the lips. We also got to see a portion of the sink scene from “Bridesmaids,” thank you so much. And, rumor has it that one flew out of the cuckoo’s nest, otherwise known as the dress that Jennifer Lopez almost wore.

The biggest thrill was not Jennifer Lopez—missed that because Robin Roberts was busy talking to Prince Albert of Monaco on ABC’s red carpet show. It happened right in the middle of things when Cirque du Soleil’s “Iris” performers put on a startling, gorgeous homage to movies, with flying Cary Grants and heart-stopping flights without nets, like a convention of lithe stuntmen and women.

Let’s not forget Christopher Plummer’s acceptance speech. After being reminded once too often that he was the oldest Oscar winner ever, at age 82, first by a gabby English red carpet reporter, then by Billy Crystal, he took the Oscar and looked at it sweetly and asked, “I’m only two years older than you, where have you been all my life?”

Thrilling, too, was the odd fact that every time they ran a clip of the charming dancing fools from “The Artist,” (the semi-French, semi-silent film which won the Best Picture Award as predicted), it energized the place in ways that no amount of banter by presenters trying and failing to be funny—that was for you, Emma Stone, and you Robert Downey Jr., or even the ladies from “Bridesmaids”, although God knows they tried manfully or womanfully—could match.

Humorous was the skit number featuring a 1930s depression audience watching a test screening of “The Wizard of Oz” and their reactions. Thank God that wasn’t real.

Crystal—after many a winter’s absence—returned to his old hosting role with aplomb—the clips, being kissed by Clooney’s “The Descendant’s” character, running into Justin Bieber, the odd on target quip. And yet, it wasn’t the same. It was predictable and a little wan, like that little bad boy’s smile after a joke that didn’t quite land as sharply as it should have.

For the most part, however, I was bored by the predictability of the big awards—maybe a long awards season seems to settle the choosing of the winners to the point of an absence of any sort of surprises. Ergo, if you’d been paying attention you knew the French guy was going to beat Clooney for best actor, and that “The Artist” was going to win Best Picture, and best director, and best dog, if there had been a category.

The only semi-surprise was Streep’s win for best actress as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”, a film that did not match either “Harry Potter” or the latest “Transformers” receipts. A popular semi-favorite in that category, Viola Davis of “The Help” did not win, but Octavia Spencer from the same movie did win best supporting actress. She immediately turned into emotional, wordless, joyful mush, providing a refreshing authentic moment.

The two films that could be considered the big winners were “The Artist” which was a French film with few, if any, words, some barks and the sound of tap dancing and phones, that paid kinetic, original tribute to the golden age of Hollywood as it was beginning to learn to speak, and “Hugo”, Martin Scorcese’s homage to Paris and the founder of narrative film. Our political right wing—ever suspicious of all things French—will find further proof that something’s rotten in Hollywood by that pervasive French and Parisian flavor to the proceedings. On the other hand, the French to a man and dog said, “I love this country.” Go figure.

“The Artist” and “Hugo” were about old Hollywood. They are films about the movies when they were both movies and cinema, oozing nostalgia. So for that matter, an alarmingly thin Jolie, who in a splendid gown, her hair down like a gorgeous witch, struck a pose that made her seem like she was auditioning for some far-in-the-future remake of “Sunset Boulevard.”

All of which made me feel both pleasantly nostalgic—the older you get, the more there is to remember—and old—the older you get, the more there is to remember.

When Plummer mentioned his daughter Amanda, I remembered Tammy Grimes, whom I had an occasion to interview twice over the years, was her mother, and when the French producer of “The Artist” paid tribute to the late director Claude Berri as his inspiration, I remembered seeing both “Jeanne de Florette” and “Manon of the Springs,” two remarkable films Berri directed in the 1990s, at the Key Theater, which of course is no longer there.

Washington D.C. To Host High Speed Rail Summit
•

The Federal Highway Act of 1956 changed the lives of Americans. Thousands of jobs were created, cars were purchased and suburbs emerged. Our economy thrived and revitalized our nation. Trains were no longer needed as automobiles were affordable and all the rage.

56 years later, it is 2012. Cars are not as affordable. Gas prices are through the roof. Our carbon footprints are larger than life. And our economy, well, we all know how that is.

To help with job creation and get America moving again (and fast), many are in support of bringing the High Speed Rail to the United States. The HSR will connect major cities together with a 17,000 mile national high speed rail system with an estimated completion date by 2030.

The trains are revolutionizing the world as they speed across countries at 220 miles per hour. They currently operate in more than 20 countries worldwide including the UK, France, Spain, China and Germany. In Japan, 9 billion passengers have been riding the trains for over 45 years without a single fatality. Ten more countries are under construction including Saudi Arabia and Italy. Turkey, Morocco, Russia, Poland, Brazil and Argentina are among the 14 countries currently under development.

The High Speed Rail Summit, an independent, nonprofit trade association focused on advancing the speed rail in the country, will be meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 28- March 1 where supporters and opponents of bringing the trains to our nation can voice their opinions. Numerous highlighted speakers who will be in attendance include U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Congressman John Mica, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar. They’ll inform the public and continue to gain popularity and support to begin building the trains that could reshape our country’s transportation system and kick our economy back in to full gear.

The speakers will discuss the many challenges with launching a major new infrastructure project as large as this, such as the high cost to begin the project (just $98 billion in California alone), but will also stress the importance of bringing the high speed rail to the United States. The High Speed Rail Summit said the project will not only revive our economy and add millions of new jobs, but it will reduce our dependence on oil, reduce congestion and provide safe and affordable transportation. These trains have the ability to take 18.6 million cars off the road, said Peter Calthorpe for the New York Times. “This type of development means less air pollution, fewer respiratory diseases, less water consumption, efficient local infrastructure and lower costs to local governments,” he said.

With the pros and cons piling up across the country, it might be difficult to decide to stand for or against the High Speed Rail. Join others this Tuesday- Thursday at Alion Conference Center, 1100 New Jersey Ave S.E., directly across the street from Navy Yard metro station, for speeches, networking events and programs to establish an opinion on the project that could quite possibly change the way Americans travel. Again.

Register here:

YouTube Video: High Speed Trains Around The World