Moms Like Us
• July 26, 2011

It is the quintessential question for many young women today, how to balance a career and have a family. And though child rearing years may be a few years off, it’s still in the back of our minds: Will I have to sacrifice one for the other?

Angie Goff provides an answer to that question: Yes. Yes, you can.

Goff has a five-month-old, Adora, a long-distance marriage, an active social life and, on top of it all, a career in television as entertainment and traffic anchor at WUSA-TV in Washington, DC.

Though she’s doing it all, she admits that at times she has moments when she’s not sure if she CAN do it all.

When I spoke to Angie over the phone on a Saturday afternoon, she was standing inside the Lincoln Memorial with her husband and baby, taking in the sights while she took the time to connect with the community, essential to her job as a journalist. Later that evening, she would eat dinner with her parents, go home, throw on a ball gown and rush to the Washington Hilton for the White House Correspondents dinner. She spends two to three evenings a week out at events, either shooting or growing her audience. It’s half of what she would do pre-motherhood, but she says she’s more of a homebody than a socialite.

“When I go to a party, I’m in and I’m out. Sometimes I show up in my workout clothes,” says Goff, who is sometimes in her pajamas by 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. “ I’m kind of a homebody. I want to drink coke, watch American Idol and fall asleep. I work hard during the week at social events, but on the weekend it’s off limits.”

Born and bred up in Seoul, South Korea as a self-proclaimed military brat, she had lunch with Hillary Clinton in the eighth grade because her father was invited to a luncheon. She still has the picture they took together.

She attributes her ability to move around and adapt to different places, an essential part of her early career, to her childhood experiences. “I learned to leave a place where I was comfortable and go somewhere where I was uncomfortable.”

Goff grew up on an American military base and didn’t move to Virginia until high school. “ I experienced the customs of Korea and had the ideas of service to country ingrained in me at a very early age.” Goff says the Fourth of July was always the biggest holiday on the base, something that has spilled into her career as a journalist, where she covers military issues and frequents Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Her career started as a child in Korea, when her father would turn on the only English channel each morning and night for the news. The local broadcasts were produced on the base, and in the fifth grade she befriended the daughter of the station’s anchor. After taking a tour, “I was totally captivated and I became obsessed,” Goff says. She auditioned for the Audio-Visual club at school and became part of the school broadcast each morning. She eventually persuaded her teacher to let her interview students on various topics. But she never seriously considered a career in journalism until she was rejected from the United States Military Academy at West Point. “ I thought I would be a general or some rocket scientist in the military. I was only able to follow my passion and my dream when that door closed.”

Goff, who now lives 10 minutes away from her parents in Herndon, Va., says they are proud of her career thus far.

After college, Goff worked for Mark Steines, now a friend and mentor, at Entertainment Tonight in Los Angeles. “He was the one that believed in me in the beginning,” Goff says. “The deal was that I’d go out there and he’d help me out and mentor me.”

Within two years she had her first job as a reporter in Iowa. “We had lunch before I left,” she says, “and he said, ‘the thing that sucks is that you’ve already had a taste of the dessert.’ And he was right. The fact that I got to go out to LA, and meeting Harrison Ford and John Travolta, it was a gear shift and move to Nowhere, Iowa where I worked harder than I had in my entire life.”

Goff now takes interns of her own, one of which just took a job with Mark Steines after Goff connected the two.

Goff met her husband a few years later while working in Columbia, South Carolina at WIS-TV.
“We got engaged six months prior to her moving to NOVA,” says her husband, Robert Ellis, a pediatric dentist with a growing practice. “And I must admit, at the beginning it was unusual that we lived in different states. But I can be up there for long weekends, and after doing it for a while, it’s all I know. It’s not ideal and we make it work.”

They would see each other every two to three weeks, with plenty of phone calls and Skype sessions in between. But in March of last year, things took a sharp turn. Goff found out she was pregnant.

“It made it complicated,” Ellis says. “I felt bad because I wanted to be there for everything. I wanted to make sure she was okay.” A big factor in Goff deciding to move to northern Virginia instead of DC was the proximity to her parents, which alleviated the trials of a pregnancy with a husband hundreds of miles away. And since their daughter, Adora Kate, was born last December, they all see each other every weekend.

Though they don’t have immediate plans to live in the same city, it is a long-term goal. “It’s a question that remains unanswered, because we’re in love with our careers and it makes us happy people. And it makes us happy people to be each other. We have down to a science. The formula is working.”

At the beginning of her pregnancy, Channel 9 approached Goff with the idea of a blog following her pregnancy. After a discussion with her husband that took some negotiating, Goff was signed up for an experience that ended up equally beneficial to her. The blog, DC Moms Like Me, is a community forum for Metropolitan mothers to exchange their trials, triumphs, shared experiences and advice. “I had a new community to tap into,” she says of her new following. “I got support that I wouldn’t have otherwise. And now we’re grateful to have this video diary.”

Goff now has a blog for baby Adora that follows everything from her clothing choices to attended events. In question of her privacy, Goff says: “I do put a lot out there, but there’s definitely more that I keep in. Just like any other hardworking mom out there, there are challenges and problems.”

Goff leaves her house every morning at 3 a.m., when the nanny arrives, and returns around noon. But sometimes that schedule doesn’t always work out. The day of the royal wedding, for instance, she worked her normal morning shift, but had to anchor the mid-day show as well, and didn’t get home until 3 p.m.

“It’s a tough balancing act,” says Andrea Roane, Goff’s Channel 9 co-anchor, who has two grown children of her own. “It’s hard when you have to look good, no matter what time you’re on the air. And then there are things in the community that she has to do because it helps gain an audience for the show. But like a lot of moms, she brings Adora with her. That’s what you have to do. You take your baby with you.”

Alex Naini is a cosmetic dentist and close friend of Goff’s, who she met while doing a segment on dentistry for Goff’s show. “I’m sure it’s not easy,” Naini says of Goff’s seemingly frenetic lifestyle. “But she makes it work in a positive way. She’s a mother and she’s a good mother, she’s a wife and she’s a good wife, she’s an anchor and she’s a good anchor.”

Though Naini, along with many others, calls Goff a role model, Goff doesn’t see herself that way.

“I don’t see myself as a role model. I see myself as a hard worker and hopefully a good mother who wants to find the delicate balance that so many women are forced to find.”

Nor does she consider herself a feminist: “I’m all about girl power and women succeeding in the work force, but I’m not burning my bra.”

When asked if she ever gets tired, she answered immediately, “Having a child brought me to that point. I remember sitting down and breast feeding my baby and thinking of all the things I had to do. And I realized I was letting this moment pass me by.” She says Adora has made her realize she cannot do it all.

“I had a lot of anxiety leading up to her birth, but it’s amazing how she made it black and white. Suddenly, saying ‘No’ became so easy. I don’t have to do it all. I don’t have to be a super hero.”

Visit Goff’s blog at DC.MomsLikeMe.com, her WUSA website, OhMyGoff.TV, or watch her morning broadcast on WUSA, Channel 9.

Cherry Blossom Festival Events
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As the dreary winter weather bids Washington its final adieu, the Cherry Blossom Festival lifts the spirits of residents and visitors who come to enjoy the official bloom of spring.

The first day of the festival, March 26, features a number of events and celebrations around town.

Go on a three-mile Cherry Chit-Chat Run around the mall, starting at the Washington Monument, 8 a.m.

Family Day at the National Building Museum is a festival in itself for “kids of all ages.” A number of hands-on activities as well as live music will celebrate and explore Japanese arts and design.

Taking sail at three times throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, Cherry Blossom River Teas features a full service English ‘high tea’ aboard a classic yacht while cruising by the blossoms. Serving soups, tea sandwiches, scones and teas, the cruise sets off at Washington Maria.

Hear the music of spring floating through the air at Eastern Market as the sounds of springtime jazz, world-beat, Americana, classical, and spoken word accompany Eastern Market’s foods, arts and crafts.

From Eastern Market, jump on the metro and head over to the Smithsonian for the Blossoms Secrets Stroll taking place from 2 – 4 p.m. The walking tour recounts the story and sites of how the Japanese cherry trees came to Washington.

The Opening Ceremony, officially kicking off the Festival, will take place at the Building Museum immediately following Family Day at 4 p.m. A number of performances, including Takehiro Ueyama’s TAKE dance company will start the 16-day citywide celebration.

Monuments-by-Moonlight River Cruises close out the opening day celebrations from the Washington Marina at 7:30 – 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 – 11:15 p.m.

But the Festival continues. Travel to Japan Saturday and Sunday at the Freer Gallery of Art and learn about the art’s importance in Japanese culture past and present. 1 p.m.

The Blossom Kite Festival on the Washington Monument Grounds takes flight March 27, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Enjoy the cool spring air at night with a Lantern Walk guided by the light of festive lanterns as rangers guide an evening stroll around the Tidal Basin. The walks take place Saturday and Sunday from 8 – 10 p.m. at the Paddle Boat Station.

Starting on the 26 and continuing through the end of the festival, a number of farms and gardens open their doors for visitors to encounter the beauty of nature in full bloom. River Farm and Green Spring Garden in Alexandria along with Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna all welcome Festival visitors with a free memento.

An array of diverse talent takes the stage at Sylvan Theater throughout the Festival. Varied genres of music and dance, martial arts exhibitions and marching bands will be featured from 12 – 5 p.m. on weekdays, and 12 – 6 p.m. on the weekends.

Macy’s Metro Center Cherry Blossom Show will host two weeks of in-store special events, including musical and dance performances, fashion presentations and cooking demonstrations.

The Hillwood Museum Estate and Gardens hosts Paul MacLardy, co-author of “Kimono, Vanishing Tradition” and owner of Arise Bazaar, as he presents a brief overview of Japanese kimono traditions, history, textiles, and symbolism. Followed by a trunk show in Hillwood’s Museum Shop. April 2, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

Silver Springs’s Big Cherry Block Party, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. in downtown Silver Spring features a number of art and craft booths, entertainment, food and karaoke.

If you cant make it to Silver Spring, hang around the Potomac and Anacostia rivers for DISC Cherry Blossom Regatta. The sailboat races can be viewed from the water aboard the M/V Patriot II, which will be offering a Cherry Blossom Regatta cruise.

Head down to Gangplank Marina at 2 and 4 p.m. everyday throughout the Festival for a relaxing cruise down the Potomac around Hains Point for a fantastic view of the trees. Then on April 2 jump on board for a dinner cruise where you can catch the fireworks.

The Festival Fireworks Show will light up the sky on April 2 from Waterfront Park. Best viewing of the show can be found at Southwest Waterfront promenade or East Potomac Park. 8:30 – 9 p.m.

The Parade, which runs down Constitution Ave from 7th to 17th Streets, closes out the festival April 9, 10 a.m. – noon. Catch a glimpse of lavish floats, giant helium balloons, marching bands and performers as they make their way down the route.

With a number of other events going on throughout the festival (March 26 – April 10 in its entirety) it is hard to not catch the blossom bug.

Visit NationalCherryBlossomFestival.org for more information on all the festivities.
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The Life of a Clown
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When I was a kid I wanted to run away with the circus.

I would meet the boss clown, I would walk with the ringmaster, be buddies with the guy who trains the big cats, and I would date the girl who gets shot out of a cannon.

I became a journalist instead. Same thing, except for the cannon girl, the big cat guy, the ringmaster, and the boss clown, although I may have spent some time with a contortionist once.

These days, at my age, it’s no good trying to run away with the circus. And “walking away with the circus” doesn’t have that zip thing going for it.

But yesterday I saw pachyderms marching down Washington streets.

And yesterday I talked with the ringmaster and met the boss clown.

They tell me that ladies are no longer shot out of cannons.

Two out of three isn’t bad.

The ringmaster is Jonathan Lee Iverson, and the boss clown is Sandor Eke, and they’re at the head of the pack when the circus come to town. That would be the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey’s 2011 show, “Barnum’s FUNundrum!” celebrating the life and legacy of the founder, P.T. Barnum. The circus is camped at the Verizon Center through March 27, then moves to Baltimore and Fairfax, Virginia.

As always, it’s the greatest show on earth, sparkling like a firecracker with hyperbole: come see 230 performers from six continents, watch the 100,000 pounds of elephants perform, see the cowboys, the pirates, the mermaids, the tigers, the Flying Caceres with their quadruple somersault on the flying trapeze. Watch the Puyan Troupe from China do their bouncy stuff on a two-tiered trampoline, and, there’s the body benders and the Mighty Meetal, the strongest man in the world. And don’t forget Duo Fusion, the married couple of hand balancers, in which the wife does the heavy lifting. Just like in real life.

The elephants and clowns and ponies and performers marched through parts of Washington yesterday for an annual parade that signals the arrival of the circus in town and delights hundreds of children and tourist along the road.

Leading the way was Iverson, decked out in red-white-and-blue and top hat—the man who gets to say the iconic words at the start of each show: “Welcome Children of All Ages to the Greatest Show on Earth.”

Iverson, who started out wanting to be an opera singer but sort of ran away with the circus instead, holds some firsts for the circus: he’s the first African American ringmaster and the youngest ever to hold that high-stepping, master–of-charisma, beguiling cheerleader of all cheerleader jobs.

A New Yorker now in his thirties, he’s performed (at age 11) with the Boys Choir of Harlem and got a degree in voice from Hartford’s Hart School. Shortly after graduating, he was offered a job with the circus.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I know I saw myself as a singer, but to be able to perform in the circus in that kind of role, well, who’s going to say no to something like that.” Not Iverson, that’s for sure. “They kidnapped me,” he quipped.

Watch him work the crowd, picking up little kids, posing with moms, his voice clear over the noises of the downtown city. For a while he left to broaden his horizons, performing off-Broadway and in productions of “The Magic Flute” and “Showboat,” sang with the USO and did some freelance writing as J. Frederick Baptiste.

But now he’s back, this time hitting the rails with family—wife Priscilla and children Matthew Felipe and Lila Simone—in tow.

He’s got the charisma of a ringmaster, a compelling stance and lively face. We asked him if he did anything special to create a persona for the ringmaster. “Are you kidding?” he said. “Look at me—In this outfit, folks are going to pay attention to you.”

That’s true, but he fills the outfit with his persona, as if born to the circus. “You look pretty,” a woman tells him. “I do, don’t I?” he says and preens. Welcome to the circus in Washington. “Great to be in this city,” he says. “I’m sort of like Henry Kissinger with a personality.”

Sandor Eke, on the other hand, looks a little like a crash dummy.

That’s his outfit, his persona, a puff of tomahawk hair on his head, spots of color, loose, colorful, dummy clothing and big, sometimes sad eyes. “I’m a white clown,” he says, explaining clown etiquette. “Like a black clown would be the guy that plays tricks on the white clown.”

But he’s also the circus boss clown.

“Makes me the guy who takes care of the other guys,” he says. “You know, who bunks with whom, dressing rooms, schedules, food, problems, the guy who talks to management on behalf of the other clowns…You wouldn’t believe how important dressing rooms are.”

Eke who is 35, lives in Budapest on the Danube River in Hungary, but doesn’t get to go home much. His parents, both circus folks, live there. “With this schedule, it’s a little crazy. My father was a tentmaker, my mother was a ringmaster.”

Clowns and circuses are time-honored professions and institutions in Europe. It’s where the best of them came from, and it’s why most circuses have an international flavor to them. Eke attended the Hungarian State Circus School—can you imagine that in an American state budget?—and started with a Swedish circus, but eventually made his way to the Ringling Brothers as part of a Hungarian teeterboard act

“Everything that circus performers do is difficult and takes so much practice,” he said. “But it is not very useful on the outside. Imagine explaining your job resume: I was teeterboarder.

“I love this life. I am an acrobat, a clown, I am totally a circus person,” he said. “I would not do anything else. My life is here. My friends are here. They are my best friends, people you can call in the middle of the night.

“I can say I have 50 real friends in the circus. They are not on Facebook.”

Asked about his future plans, he quipped “I have no future.”

“Actually, what I want to do is teach, teach other young people how to be clowns,” he said. “That is my hope, my future.”

Japan Relief in Washington: Get Involved
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Washington’s relationship with Japan is exemplified in the National Cherry Blossom Festival. With the recent Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami devastating Japan, Washington is offering support to the country that planted the seeds for the festival, and the culture that is honored throughout the celebration. Below is a list of things you can do around town to help out and donate to Japan relief efforts.

Red Cross Online Donation
The Festival has joined the Red Cross in supporting the nation of Japan. Online donations can be made at NationalCherryBlossomFestival.org.

Stand With Japan
March 24 6:30 p.m.
Beginning at the Sylvan Theater, walkers will make their way to the Tidal Basin. All donations received during the fundraising effort will go to the National Cherry Blossom Red Cross Online Donation Site.

The walk around the tidal basin will be a time of reflection in midst of the Cherry Blossom trees gifted to Washington by the Japanese in 1912. The evening of hope and perseverance inaugurates the Festival, celebrating the friendship between the two countries.

Online Auction
The National Cherry Blossom Festival Online Auction is open through March 27. Proceeds from the auction will be split between the Red Cross and the Festival’s year-round programs. Items in the auction include, two tickets to OpenSkies Business Airlines to Paris, dining certificate for Buddha Bar, a Weekend Getaway to the Normandy Hotel, dining certificate to II Canale, Georgetown and a number of others.

DC Help Japan Now Auction
A number of DC restaurants are joining the cause in an eBay auction with proceeds benefiting Red Cross. Restaurants include KAZ Sushi Bistro, Perry’s, The Tabard Inn, Oyamel Cocina Mexicana, Passion Food, Masa 14, The Source by Wolfgang Puck, Restaurant Nora, Peacock Café, Marcels, Brasserie Beck/Mussel Bar, and Café Atlantico. More restaurants are joining in to support so check eBay frequently.

Kaz Sushi Bistro Raises Funds
In addition to the eBay Auction, Kaz is supporting Japan with various fundraising events. The restaurant is currently holding a raffle through April 16. Kaz is located between 19th and 20th on I Street NW.

Capital Hearts for Japan
Capital Hearts for Japan will be holding a fundraising night at The Park at Fourteenth (920 14th St. NW) March 26. Doors open at 6 p.m. The night will include a silent auction, performances from local artists and drink specials. All donations will be given to Save the Children, an international aid organization that provides emergency relief for children affected by disaster and devastation. The Park is donating $3 per person that comes to the event. Capital Hearts for Japan is a coalition of diverse organizations in the DC metro area and was formed to help provide immediate and long-term relief for Japan.

DC CityCenter Construction Begins at Former Convention Center Site
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On Monday April 4, Hines|Archstone’s CityCenter broke ground at the site of the former DC convention center, with the simultaneous announcement of a full equity investment from Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. (QatariDiar), reports Real Estate Bisnow and The Washington Post. Mayor Vincent Gray and members of the DC City Council met at the area, currently a parking lot, to celebrate the beginning of the site’s construction.

Gray called CityCenter, “one of the most important projects in the history of the District of Columbia,” in a lavish tent where reporters, developers, neighbors, businesspeople and District officials gathered for the celebration.

CityCenter DC is a 10-acre, mixed-use development, located in the heart of downtown Washington on a 4.5-block parcel bounded by New York Avenue, 9th, H and 11th Streets NW. A total of six buildings are to be put up over the next three years as phase 1 of the project, according to the Washington Post, split between apartments, condos and office space, all connected by a public courtyard. Shops and restaurants will line the street level with four levels of underground parking, and 10th and I Streets will be reopened to reconnect the city’s street grid. A second phase of the project is planned to include an upscale hotel, along with additional square feet of retail.

The project is an enormous undertaking for the city, and promises to transform the east end of Downtown, however its history of development troubled financing and development has kept that area of the town in limbo for years. According to the Washington Business Journal, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans joked about meeting to discuss the project years ago with Bill Alsup (of Hines, based in Houston), George Washington and Pierre L’Enfant.

But with financing plans now in place, Gray is already touting the achievement of CityCenter as “the last piece of the puzzle for downtown Washington.” If successful, CityCenter would accordingly transform Downtown into a more substantial neighborhood, where citizens don’t only work and go out, but live.

Anchor investor QatariDiar is the real estate investment arm of the Qatari Investment Authority. Barwa Bank’s investment banking subsidiary, The First Investor (TFI), financed the project. TFI will co-invest in and manage the dedicated TFI U.S. Real Estate Fund.

“This effort has been almost a decade in the making, and we look forward to the progress that will be made on the site of the old convention center as this last missing piece of our downtown is redeveloped,” Mayor Gray said. “I am excited about the more than 190 District Certified Business Entities that are involved in the planning, design and construction of this project, and the thousands of construction and permanent jobs that it will create. This is a huge development for the residents of and visitors to our city.”

According to the Washington Post, construction is not scheduled to finish until 2014, and phase 2 will not be done until late 2015 (though it is probably fair to assume unexpected delays and hurdles, as par for the course).

Gray, touting the job opportunities within the project, expects it to create 1,700 construction jobs and almost 4,000 permanent jobs. Nearly 100 local companies have already secured contracts with the development team. [gallery ids="99644,105274" nav="thumbs"]

Passport DC Comes Back to Town
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On any given Sunday, there’s always some foot traffic on Massachusetts Avenue along Embassy Row, especially if the weather is ideal and spring-sunny as it was on May 7.

But hey, what was this: crowds pouring into the British Embassy and coming out with tote bags emblazoned with the flag of England? What were the lines of people snaking around the block, making their way to the Embassy of Greece, the Embassy of Ireland, or the Latvian Embassy? And just what was going on at the Embassy of Finland?

It was the beginning of the fourth annual Passport DC celebration, an ever-increasingly popular city-wide event produced by Cultural Tourism DC, with the participation of over 60 embassies, which fling open their doors to the general public in a wildly successful annual event that celebrates the international presence of world embassies in our city.

Looking at the crowds, you could well agree with Cultural Tourism DC Director Linda Harper, who said: “Passport DC is a chance to honor and explore the many cultures that are represented in Washington, DC. There is no better place to have this grand celebration…a truly global city.”

This all began four years ago when member embassies representing the European Union decided, without out much elaborate planning, to hold open houses for most of their embassies, allowing tourists and residents to come in and visit, meet embassy officials, and share in the cultural offerings and history of the respective countries. Some 70,000 people showed up.

The European Union folks knew they were on to something and joined up with Cultural Tourism DC to produce what is now a month-long celebration of international culture and conviviality. Last year, around 160,000 people participated in the events that make up Passport DC.

Round one was another edition spearheaded by the European Unions called Shortcut to Europe, and the British effort looked to be the splashiest affair, like a sweet hangover from the recent nuptials of Prince William and his Katherine. You could tour the English gardens, which included an impressive, essence-of-horse-nobility sculpture of a horse reputed to be a famous British racehorse whose kidnapping was never solved.

British soldiers, real ones and dressed up ones were there. There was whiskey tasting, music and a bit of English pudding, and it was all very English—proving once again that we may have rebelled against the king to form a more perfect union, but we still love our cousins across the pond.

The embassies were far flung: Ireland, the Brits, Iceland, Latvia, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, Finland (all along Mass Ave.), and the Embassy of Austria and Slovakia at International Square, France and Germany on MacArthur Boulevard, and the list goes on. From the looks of it, the celebration will probably exceed last year’s crowds, the weather gods permitting.

This weekend, it’s the All Around the World Embassy Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. all over the city, featuring 35 embassies from six continents. Needless to say, the embassies won’t just be from all over the world, but will be located all over the city. They included the Bahamas—a very popular destination last year where the annual festivities of Juckanoo will play a key part; Australia where you can hear the didgeridoo, an Aboriginal musical instrument, among other activities; Bolivia, which is now called the Plurinational State of Bolivia; Ghana, with a splendid display of its unique arts and crafts; and the Republic of Iraq, a free democracy. In fact, you can blaze a trail through the countries most affected by recent upheavals from Egypt to Bahrain. History in this city is alive and moving full steam ahead.

There will be shuttles available and special bus stops to the various embassies and residences which are scattered throughout the city

Other upcoming events in May include the National Asian Heritage Festival and the Fiesta Asia Street Fair, May 21 at Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd and 6th Streets, which also celebrates Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Live music, dancing, Pan-Asian Cuisine

May 21 will also feature the annual Meridian International Children’s Festival, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There will also be special events on a daily basis at embassies, museums, and international cultural centers like the Goethe Institute and the Mexican Cultural Center, including jazz concerts, Kids World Cinema, Embassy Series concerts, the Eurovision Song Contest, workshop and classical music, film and so on.

For a complete list of all the events, times, schedules and locations for Passport DC, go to the Passport DC section of the Cultural Tourism website at www.culturaltourismdc.org

McCooey Milestone: Bar None, He’s Golden
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Raise a glass, Washingtonians, to Richard McCooey, who celebrates 50 years in the business world this year, and his 80th birthday on October 14th. You likely have dined at his first classics in Georgetown: 1789 Restaurant or The Tombs, now owned by Clyde’s Restaurant Group.

Today, McCooey and his wife Karen run a restaurant design and consulting business that has left its mark from California to Russia.

It began in Georgetown back in 1960 with the plans to build The Tombs and 1789, where McCooey
had been a student. “I always wanted to open a restaurant near Georgetown University since my freshman year there,” recalled McCooey, who had just arrived back in D.C. from Florida, where another restaurant venture was discussed.

He has collected art since college and has worked with Clyde’s John Laytham in art and collectibles for many of Clyde’s restaurants. Laytham liked The Tombs and 1789 so much that he purchased 1789, Inc., in 1985, along with F. Scott’s.

Before McCooey made his archetypes of a student pub and faculty club a reality, he had to convince Georgetown residents that his plan made sense for the community as well. There was opposition to his project. When The Georgetowner’s founder Ami Stewart stood up at a citizen’s meeting to back McCooey, the tide turned. Two restaurants that epitomize Georgetown today were born in 1962. McCooey never forgot Stewart’s support and towards the end of her life would regularly send waiters to her home with meals from his restaurant.

Back in the 1960s, McCooey was the first in D.C. to introduce things we take for granted: pizza and gourmet burgers in a pub, rock ‘n roll music — with students selecting the music — and a consistent story throughout the restaurant’s concept, design and decor. By the way, if anyone asks, why the name “1789”? That was the year the Federal government was established, Georgetown University founded and Georgetown, Md., incorporated. And “The Tombs”? Inspired by T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” In it, “Bustopher Jones, The Cat About Town” likes to lunch at the tomb. (Add to that McCooey’s nickname in the Air Force: “Bustopher Cat.”) As for the now private club, F. Scott’s, it is named after author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a distant cousin of Francis Scott Key.

“A restaurant is a neutral spot,” the soft-spoken and private McCooey says. “It is where people can forget their troubles. I have a drive to delight people by giving them a magical, tasteful and soul-filled space in which to be.”

Years from running a restaurant, McCooey and his wife Karen now use their design talent and an impressive art collection of posters and other artwork in their restaurant design business, Persona
Studios. “One of our principal contributions to a project is the basic concept and the art and artifacts that support it,” they say. “The concept can be a unique idea or can flow from the style of food, the general history of the area or even the personalities of the owners.”

“So, we celebrate Richard,” says his wife Karen, “ . . . for his loyal 50-year career in Washington,
D.C., for sharing his exquisite gift in designing comfortable, gorgeous restaurants . . . and for dedicating his life to feeding us — body and soul. He serves up an inspiring example.”

Here is a partial list of establishments where McCooey has been involved: Clyde’s 1789 Restaurant, Clyde’s Tombs, Clyde’s F. Scott’s Restaurant as well as the Clyde’s on M Street, in Reston, Chevy Chase, Gallery Place, Columbia and the Old Ebbitt Grill; The Tap Room, Georgetown Club; Union Street Cafe, Alexandria, Va.; Riverbend Restaurant (Philadelphia Airport Marriott); The Polo Club, Marriott Grand Aurora Hotel (Moscow, Russia); Tap Room, The Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs, W.V.); Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort (Calif.).

Washington Humane Society’s $100K Challenge to Save Lives
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Since 1870, Washington Humane Society has been the leading voice for animals in the District, standing as the only animal shelter in the District of Columbia that never says “No” to an animal. They never turn any animal away, and their doors are always open—WHS is the only agency out there open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week rescuing animals off the streets of DC.

Now, WHS is taking part in the ASPCA’s “$100K Challenge to Save Lives,” and if they win the money would help them rescue and save more animals than ever before. In order for them to even get a spot in the competition, they must first be one of 50 groups nationwide that secures the most online votes. This first phase, called the Qualifying Heat, requires voters to cast their votes everyday to secure Washington Humane Society in the final standing.

The competition is stiff—last year over 23,000 people voted for just one agency—and they need you to vote. You can vote online every day until April 15th and encourage your friends to do the same. “Every vote will be critically important!” says the WHS. “We feel confident that once we can secure a spot in the competition that we stand a very good chance at winning the grand prize.”

The Georgetowner strongly supports the WHS as they continue to help the animals within our community, and we encourage our readers to lend a hand. Please vote daily and spread the word about the WHS and the competition.

The Washington Humane Society provides comfort and care to nearly 30,000 animals each year through its broad range of programs and services including: sheltering, adoption, cruelty investigations, wildlife rescue, free and low-cost spay/ neuter services, humane education, human/animal rehabilitation programs, and lost and found services. With your help today, we can save more animals lives and provide for a better tomorrow.

To cast your vote daily go to VoteToSaveLives.org.

Stewart and Colbert Restore Sanity and/or Fear on the National Mall
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-A warm-up performance by The Roots and John Legend, a collective seismic jump led by Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters”, and a poetry reading by Law & Order’s Sam Waterston; these were just a few of the spectacles rally-goers were treated to at John Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear”. The comedian-turned-pundit and the media satirist took the National Mall by storm last Saturday, in an event that seemed to counterpoint Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally from two months prior.

“We have over 10 million people!” quipped Stewart following the National Anthem—a clear jab at Beck, who claimed some 500,000 people had attended his rally, even after AirPhotosLive.com released an estimate of 87,000. The same company now approximates 215,000 concerned citizens showed up to restore sanity. That’s one in the win column for Stewart and Colbert.

Rally participants came bearing an assortment of signs, most of which poked fun at the divisive, partisan nature of politics of late. “I want my country back! Or a pony…One of the two”; “The Death Star was an outside job, and so was 9/11”; “I fought Nazis, and they don’t look like Obama.” Others were aimed directly at the Tea Party, such as “Teatards”; “O’Donnell turned me into a newt!”; “The Mad Hatter called. He wants his Tea Party back.”

With the audience setting the rally’s jocular tone, Stewart and Colbert set to work drawing laughter. As with any show, the duo’s sketches were hit and miss, and sound was an issue in the far reaches of the audience.
The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, introduced by Stewart as Yusuf Islam, began to sing “Peace Train” before being interrupted by Ozzy Osbourne. At Colbert’s behest, the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness started performing “Crazy Train.” A musical deul ensued, culminating with the O’Jays performing their conciliatory hit “Love Train,” much to the crowd’s amusement.

Following the musical routine, Stewart began presenting Medals of Reasonableness to those individuals who exemplified rational thought. Not to be outdone, Colbert countered with his Stephen Colbert Fear Awards, one of which went to ABC, CBS, AP, NYT, and NPR for disallowing employees not covering the rally from attending. A 7-year-old girl accepted the award on their behalf, on the grounds that she exhibited “more courage.”
Regrettably, the final musical act, consisting of Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, and T.I. (audio only), was rather anticlimactic. This was followed by a less than stellar exit by Colbert, who once again interrupted Stewart as he began his “keynote speech.” Though Colbert’s video montage highlighting the fear-mongering tactics of the media was hysterical, melting like the Wicked Witch of the West after Peter Pan (John Oliver) convinced the audience to cheer for Stewart, was odd even for them.

Fortunately, the rally took a turn for the serious immediately after, with Stewart delivering a heartfelt address. In it, he expressed optimism for the future: “We live now in hard times, but these are not end times.”
Still, Stewart condemned the fractured media environment. He knocked, “The country’s 24-hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder.” He continued, “If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.”

Though he did not name names, Stewart’s distaste for media figures like Beck was evident. While his message was not explicitly tilted, this has not stopped the mainstream media from speculating as to his political agenda.

In a post-rally press conference, Stewart and Colbert stressed that the purpose of the rally, first and foremost, was to entertain. Said Stewart, “We’re proud of the show we did. You can’t control people’s reaction to it.”
Downplaying the rally’s political undertones, Colbert commented on the audience, “They were there to have fun. They were there to play a game along with us.” Nevertheless, the debate over the rally’s political influence will surely continue, particularly as it pertains to the events surrounding Election Day.

the Kennedy Legacy: JFK’s Inauguration Anniversary & remembering Sargent Shriver
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-For a while this month, you were forgiven if you saw the banners and towers of Camelot appear out of a frigid mist again, or perhaps Excalibur rising out of the icy waters of the Potomac, accompanied by the music of Yo-Yo Ma or Bono.

On Thursday of last week, the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts began a month-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy as the 35th President of the United States. On this particularly dry and wintry day, you could see the living breaths of great men in Washington.

Grand stories and occasions were once again fondly recalled the brash, idealistic beginnings of the Kennedy era, Washington’s own Camelot. However, it collided—and then folded into—the loss of one of the last of this era’s remaining giants, Sargent Shriver.

The Kennedy Center kicked off its series of special events with a gala concert that, if reports are correct, had the feel of an actual inauguration, with the presence of the sitting president, world-class singers, musicians, conductors, movie stars and performers in attendance alongside a flock of city mayors and politicians.

Only a day later, at the nearby Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, a wake was held for Sargent Shriver, a Kennedy by marriage to the late Eunice Shriver, JFK’s sister. Shriver embodied the knightly quality of the Kennedy clan, if not in name than in the best of spirits: its call to service, and to use power for the betterment of others.

His long and useful life of legacy was recalled by his children, presidents, governors, and by the remnants of the family that bears the Kennedy name.

Shriver’s many grandchildren are generations removed from the occasion 50 years ago when the youthful president laid down a mission for the country to: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Everything seemed possible with this president.

In the course of the passing years, Shriver and his wife answered that call. Sarge was called to take up the leadership of the Peace Corps. Then, unable to withstand the importuning of Lyndon Baynes Johnson, he led the War On Poverty. Eunice Shriver would create the Special Olympics.

A refined cultural heritage, full of virtuoso artists playing at the White House (itself redecorated with whispery flair by Jackie Kennedy) was one of the hallmarks of the Camelot years. Its members were remembered and marketed as highly intelligent, able, worldly, literate, and full of confidence and talent: an army of book-schooled and war-formed soldiers and their companions. Introducing his cabinet in the White House, JFK said that there had never been such an assemblage of talent there since Thomas Jefferson dined there alone.

This was a week when folks remembered all the brothers, but especially JFK and the army of celebrities that rushed to Washington in the middle of a snowstorm, Frank Sinatra among them. They remembered Jackie and John, who only months before lived in Georgetown.

Their daughter Caroline, thin as her late mother, was in recently in town to speak at the National Archives’ unveiling of the Online Archive of the Collection of the JFK Library. Writers got a chance to see some of the trove of material now available with a push of a button. It was strange seeing her with her husband, watching clips of her small, young self, playing with her father. “All my life,” she said, “people have told me that my father changed their lives. They decided to give back to their community or serve our country because, for the first time, someone asked them to. President Kennedy inspired a generation, and that is why, 50 years later, his legacy still resonates.”

Sargent Shriver certainly lived out that call to service in the flesh and in the deed.

But politics and power often tend to make men falter and fall to temptation, and the Kennedy histories suffered twin blows of tragedy and scandal. Shriver too took some glancing blows: the ignominious defeat as George McGovern’s second-choice running mate, and a half-hearted attempt at a presidential run.

But these were small setbacks when compared to the tragic deaths of the JFK, Robert, and John Jr, and revelations and scandals that seemed to plague the family as chronicled by historians.

The Kennedy family, and the trinity of brothers, seemed to have incandescence, a magnet-like charisma and lore that enabled the legend to survive and overcome raffish and rough detail. A spotlight occasion like the 50th anniversary of the JFK Inauguration revives the legend from a time when we had no hint of what the future held, and a little less of the savory details from the past. Poetry, music, hope and challenge were in the air that day, and romance and glitter were on display that night at the gala balls; a restless president walked the streets of Georgetown.

Shriver burned with his own light in the service of his family, but foremost of his countrymen. “My God, Sarge was such a good man,” Bill Clinton said at his funeral, almost unable to contain himself. “Can you believe how good he was? My God, nobody’s that good. You listen to the story of his life and you feel eight inches tall.” Everybody laughed, as they should at some point in an Irish funeral.

At the Kennedy Center, Yo-Yo Ma played, and the NSO played a work of newly minted music, and Caroline Kennedy’s children recited the poem that Robert Frost had written for JFK’s inaugural, titled “The Gift Outright.”

At the Shriver funeral in Potomac, his sons and daughter carried the coffin alongside son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger, who probably could have carried it himself. There were clips of a frail Shriver, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s, waving goodbye to the car carrying the coffin of his wife who died last year.
People made music here too—people like Bono and Vanessa Williams.

The times of January were a wisp. A wind of Camelot days and Camelot lives. We remembered everything of our youth in a flash, when they were right here among us, demanding us to think and dream and do great things for mankind. We thought we could, and sometimes we did.

For sure, Sargent Shriver did.

For details and information about the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Center’s “The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: a 50th Anniversary Celebration,” visit the Kennedy Center online