Chicago had Michael Jordan in his Hanes, but most around here prefer Baltimore’s Jim Palmer in his Jockeys.
The Hall of Fame pitcher for the Orioles met up with fans for a luncheon at Morton’s on Thursday — and while on air with ESPN during the steak course he mainly talked baseball, we got him to talk with us beforehand about his famous half-naked ad.
“Of course I would do it,” Palmer, aka “Cakes,” responded to our challenge if he would still pose today.
But the real question is could he?
“Nowadays they can make you look any way they want you to,” he joked about being airbrushed for an underwear ad today, cause back in the ’80s it was au natural. “So of course I would [pose].”
Sounds like he may like being in the spotlight — he also told Yeas & Nays that wouldn’t mind being on a reality show.
“Well you know I know Donald Trump, so I’d like to be on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ ” he said. “Or maybe ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ but I don’t think my knee could handle that.”
It’s still unsure if he will battle The Donald, but when he does, rest assured he’ll be doing it in his Jockeys.
“Of course I still wear them. They’re...
05/05/09 8:00 PM
Please click here to visit the new Yeas and Nays blog home page....
Country superstar Toby Keith will leave D.C. for Afghanistan on Tuesday night to add to the 100-plus USO shows he’s played throughout the past seven years. But at the National Press Club earlier in the day, Keith lamented that more celebrities don’t make similar trips to back the troops.
He said when they’re being paid to make movies, few stars want to leave “Disneyland” and “go to a war zone.”
Not that the danger isn’t real. “I’ve raced Marines to a bunker when the sirens go off,” he said. “It took me 100 shows to learn to trust how good our guys really are.”
But “you don’t have to go to a war zone,” he implored any celebs who were listening. “Go to Walter Reed Hospital.”
“Most of the time they’re rowdy and drinking ‘near beer,’ ” he said of his USO performances. “Most of the time it’s just a party.”
Keith (black baseball cap, green camouflage pants, desert camouflage jacket issued to him by the Army) largely kept it light, telling the crowd they had him to thank for the chicken-fried steak lunch. But like most of his appearances before the media, the conversation focused on politics more than music.
“I’m not political,” he repeated throughout the hour-long lunch. “I’m not an...
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was a tough act for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to follow Tuesday, as both men spoke at the Motion Picture Association of America’s “Business of Show Business” symposium.
Hatch opened his speech poking fun at himself, saying he “wished [he] had a body like [Johnson’s]” and that he was a “97-pound weakling.” He followed by taking a shot at the moviemakers in attendance for the ridiculous scenarios they love to put in movies.
Some of the things he mocked included:
* How air ducts are always the best place to hide in a building — they are never dusty and you can easily maneuver through any building.
* You can survive any battle unless you made the mistake of showing a picture of your sweetheart.
* Business meetings are always held in strip clubs.
* If there’s a large glass pane in any scene, someone will be thrown through it.
* A single match can ignite a room the size of a baseball field.
And Hatch knows movies: He has his own Internet Movie Database page for appearing in multiple films — including Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” — as himself....
That was former first lady Rosalynn Carter and R&B artist Usher arriving at Dulles on the same flight from Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon. Carter was in town for the signing of the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act at the SEED School; no word on why Usher was here.
Also spotted: Richard Gere dining at Blue Duck Tavern in the Park Hyatt Hotel Tuesday for lunch. Wearing a gray suit, blue button-down shirt and glasses, he appeared to be “having a great time” with the seven others at his table.
Then on Monday night, Jordanian Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi dined at the Bombay Club with Jordanian Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, five companions and a platoon of security....
President Obama had a little taste of home Tuesday afternoon, as the Navy football team brought a little aloha to the White House.
Both Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo and quarterback Kaipo Noa Keahaku Enhada are native Hawaiians.
"I hear Kaipo is a pretty easygoing guy," said the president, as he presented Navy with the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. "He doesn't get rattled easily, performs under pressure. That's the Hawaiian spirit. That's how we roll."
Just for good measure, the president flashed the "shaka" sign with his thumb and pinky finger.
In fact, just like President George W. Bush did when he welcomed sports teams to the White House, Obama was full of one-liners. "I understand your unofficial motto is 'No Excuses, Nobody Cares,'" he said. "That is my wife Michelle's motto for me also."
And at the end of the ceremony, when Navy gave him a silver football helmet, he wondered aloud whether it would fit. Then, obviously remembering Michael Dukakis, he said, "There's a rule for presidents that you never put anything on your...
We just love that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was introduced Tuesday as a “true member of the Disney family,” for there’s something sweet about a 6’6”, 275 lb. wrestling-icon-turned-Disney-blockbuster movie star.
Though now deemed a more family friendly actor than when he first made his move from the WWE to the big screen eight years ago in “The Mummy,” The Rock still couldn’t hide some of his signature charismatic bad-boy persona.
Appearing in a button-down shirt (unbuttoned just enough to see part of his large tribal chest tattoo), the keynote speaker for the Motion Picture Association of America symposium said he knows what’s on our minds.
“I know what you’re thinking. He’s just as good looking as the President,” Johnson joked, alluding to his recent skit on “Saturday Night Live,” “I’m The Rock Obama.”
Though he compared himself to the prez, Johnson told Yeas & Nays he has no plans to run for office because he’s “enjoying making films too much.” In fact, he told us this is his first time he’s been in town since his “good looking” twin has been in office, and he plans to bring his daughter (who sat by his side at the lunch) back for another trip so they can tour the White House.
I think we smell what The Rock is...
"You have a champagne appetite and a Coca-Cola paycheck."
-Mike Huckabee, speculating on what his late mother would tell President Obama and the "educated people" running the country....
On a day when Tiger Woods met with President Barack Obama, he was talking up another president’s prowess with the clubs — and his poker face.
Tiger paid a visit to the White House at about 5 p.m. Monday and did get an audience with the president. But earlier in the afternoon, he appeared at Congressional Country Club for the pre-tournament media day that precedes the annual AT&T National — the PGA tournament he founded two year ago.
In response to a question from Yeas & Nays, Woods recalled when President George H.W. Bush hit the ceremonial first tee shot during the inaugural tournament.
“He complained that he just had surgery and couldn’t hit, and he striped it right down the fairway,” recalled Tiger. “He’d probably be a pretty good poker player.” (Hear that, Obama? There’s a Bush who can still take you down.)
When asked if he’s picking up any Swedish from his wife, Elin, Tiger said he can speak a little bit, but he’s better at reading it. “I understand a little,” he said — mostly phrases like “Take out the trash.”
“I understand that in Thai, too,” he joked. (His mother is Thai.)
He and Greg McLaughlin, head of the Tiger Woods Foundation, said after a year and a half of searching, they do have a site chosen for a Tiger Woods Learning Center in the...
Tiger Woods wasn’t the only pro athlete to grace the hall of the West Wing on Monday. The Chicago White Sox, President BArack Obama’s hometown team, also got a private tour. The Pale Hose begin a series with the Orioles in Baltimore today, so they made the 30-mile trip south on their day off to meet the commander in chief and check out his office.
The Chicago Tribune reports about 35 players, family and team officials got the tour, which was arranged by Obama senior adviser David Axelrod.
The team already has shown its thanks to its most important fan: In January, the South Siders announced they developed two prototype designs of a team hat with Obama insignia on the side and back. Major League Baseball has approved the design, but the team is still waiting for the White House to weigh in before they can be produced....
The gloves are off in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor, thanks to some lingering bad blood between candidate Terry McAuliffe, Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, an adviser to McAuliffe’s opponent, Brian Moran.
To begin with, McAuliffe is a longtime consigliere of the Clintons, while Trippi worked against Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.
Then there’s the matter of McAuliffe referring to Trippi as Moran’s “ass” at February’s Virginia Capitol Correspondents Dinner. McAuliffe later implored Trippi to do what he “did for President Dean and President Edwards,” referring to two of Trippi’s clients who ran unsuccessfully for the White House.
This weekend, as the Democratic candidates were having their first debate, Trippi got in a few shots of his own, via Twitter.
On the eve of the debate, he wrote: “Strategy is to keep the Macker [McAuliffe, that is] guessing. Will Brian Moran’s A$$ show up? Its a 4 hour drive - yeah I am going.”
Then later: “The Macker & I shook hands & said hello but he didn’t apologize To me for his joke gone bad. I thought he was bigger than that.”
And during the debate: “No one has sense of humor right now. But Terry McAuliffe says he created 100,000 jobs. That’s...
They’ve brought The Donnas, Sheryl Crow and Billy Corgan to the Hill on their behalf, but now the musicFirst coalition is bringing out the big guns to lobby its cause.
Bono is the latest musician to support the “pay to play” argument being advanced by the organization, releasing a statement Monday in support of radio stations compensating musicians when they play their songs.
“We believe it’s only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist’s music ... [they] should be compensated.”
Bono made $30 million last year and admitted in the release that the issue “thankfully, doesn’t really affect [him and U2] anymore.” He also added that he “appreciates the many things that radio has done” in helping his career. So why, then, is he taking this stand?
The humanitarian made it about the children, natch.
“There are so many young recording artists out there who can no longer earn a living from the sale of their music. ... They should not be denied their fair share.”
We’d guess that this now makes it even tougher for his buddies, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to say...
36
Percentage of Americans who feel that Michelle Obama is changing fashion for the better.
21
Percentage of Americans that would like her to emulate Jackie O.
Source:...
That was USC quarterback Mark Sanchez dining at Il Mulino New York on Friday night, along with Redskins owner Dan Snyder, Executive Vice President Vinny Cerrato and Head Coach Jim Zorn.
The Redskins are rumored to be quite intereseted in drafting Sanchez during next week's NFL draft.
According to a restaurant rep, the group started with drinks out on the patio, before moving inside to dine in a private room. Sanchez chose the pasta trio and a 16-ounce veal chop....
Stand by your man
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy are taking their new love cross-country, capping their week-long east coast vacation this past weekend here in Washington.
Hewitt was spotted Friday night supporting her new BF as he performed his standup routine at the Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Draft House. The couple made their first public appearance only two weeks ago at the Academy of Country Music Awards and already she's his biggest fan — she was spotted selling his merchandise at the show.
He’s clearly just as into her. At both his Friday and Saturday night shows he talked about her on stage and told the audience they were an item.
The “Ghost Whisperer” costars then spent Saturday having lunch near their hotel-the Sheraton National Hotel and Resort in Arlington- at Bob and Edith’s Diner on Columbia Pike before setting off on a day of sightseeing. Not wanting to miss a thing, Hewitt ran into CVS to buy a disposable camera.
We’re sure his comedy is just what she needs after splitting from her fiancée back in January....
No denim here
Syndicated columnist and conservative icon George Will is no stranger to controversy lately, what with his highly disputed recent columns on global climate change, and his recent screed against ˜of all things ˜ denim.
But his sympathetic audience on Friday was ready for more of it. Many members of the Republican National Lawyers Association arrived early at the National Press Club to shake Will's hand, and even more were seen snapping cell phone pictures during his speech.
And for those looking for red meat, he didn't disappoint. Discussing Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments last year that we should be using natural gas instead of "other" fossil fuels, Will said, "We are not always governed by the brightest Crayolas in the pack."
He later added that "we have a Congress in which attention deficit disorder is an occupational hazard."
We couldn't resist asking: Has he gotten any blowback from denim companies following his comments? "I haven't heard," he said, "but then again, I don't do email."
Who needs modernity anyway?...
Plain.gov
Members of Congress must really be pressed for time under this new administration as most of the Congressional frosh class of ‘08 can’t even get together a decent web site after three months on the job.
About half of the 55 house newbies use only the basic site provided to when they took office, making no changes to the design by adding photos, press releases, or embedded videos. So if freshmen like Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Il., can spend the time to get washboard abs why not on Web site design?
”Has it been that long?” asked a press representative for Schock’s office. “We wanted to do our website independently,” he explained. “We want a great site so we’re not putting it up until it’s ready.”
When a member takes office the House Information Resources (HIR) supplies all the new members with a basic site. The member can choose from five design templates, which provide basic information. Some are colorful and eye catching while others are sharp and formal.
Representatives also have the choice to contract out for their own independent Web site design, but they have to pay out of their own office budget.
So why aren’t the freshmen taking advantage of what HIR has to offer?
Many of them, like Schock, are contracting out which takes more time. For others, it’s just a matter of...
Gals and guns
We know what Sarah Palin’s next vacation should be — the all female hunting trips organized by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Andrea Cerwinske, Deputy Executive Director of the NRA, spoke at the Heritage Foundation on Friday about the second amendment, but the mostly female crowd got most excited listening to her talk about the NRA’s hunting trips.
“‘I swear you have never seen such whoopin’ and hollerin’” Cerwinske recounted was said by one of the male organizers to the women on their last trip.
Although designed to teach gun-loving gals how to appropriately use firearms to hunt everything from turkey to bear, sounds like the women really just want to let loose in the wild.
“‘You guys get a lot crazier than the boys we take out here,’” she added were the organizer's next words.
Girls, guns, and guts — does it get any better than that?...
CBS to USO
Fiction meets reality this week as cast members from “The Unit” travel to the Persian Gulf to visit the heroes they play on the small-screen.
The cast of the CBS series, including stars Scott Foley and Dennis Haysbert, boarded a 5:30 a.m. plane this morning from Andrews Airforce Base as part of the USO/Armed Forces entertainment tour.
Playing members of a top-secret military unit clearly has made the cast feel connected to the cause — this will mark the cast’s second trip with the USO.
Also joining the cast for the six-day trip is NBA legend David Robinson and manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tommy...
Who knew The George Washington University was one of Jackie Robinson’s greatest fans?
The university not only hosts an annual Jackie Robinson Community Recognition award ceremony, as was the case Thursday, but also has an on-campus Jackie Robinson Society, has been teaching a class on Robinson for 12 years and a toy company just decided to team up with their Jackie Robinson Project.
Some of the 500 students who have taken the course on Robinson filled the audience to watch as awards were given to ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, WJLA-TV’s Maureen Bunyan and civil rights activist Franklin Kameny for reflecting the attitudes of the legendary sports hero.
And they couldn’t have picked a better day. Thursday marked both the 62nd anniversary of Robinson’s integration of Major League Baseball and the day President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act....
“To be on camera, Jake, you’d have to comb your hair.”
— White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, responding to an objection by ABC’s Jake Tapper that Gibbs’ press gaggle aboard Air Force One was off...
16,206
Number of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority members who set a Guinness world record last summer at the Washington Convention Center for the largest ever sit-down dinner. The record became official on Thursday.
3
Tons of beef filet that were made into beef Wellington for the event
1,800
Gallons of pink lemonade served
1,200
Additional waiters called in for the event
11,483
The previous record, set in 2001 by Vodafone Group PLC in...
Wolf clicks his heels
Wolf Blitzer went all nostalgic on us Thursday when he returned to his grad school, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
He addressed his audience on “President Obama and the World,” but he spent most of his time talking about his time at SAIS. He even brought a prop: a brown paper bag from Whole Foods filled with his old, highlighted textbooks.
“One of the happiest days of my life was the day I learned I had passed all of my exams,” he said. “I remember literally clicking my heels, jumping in the air and saying ‘I did it.’ ” The CNN “Situation Room” host received his master’s in international relations from SAIS in 1972.
It turns out Blitzer was a solid student, but a little cocky. He recounted his time with fellow alumnus and former “The Insider” host Pat O’Brien. “Like me, he had trouble with international economics, but unlike him, I passed,” Wolf jabbed.
It wasn’t all books and bravado. Blitzer did spend a little time on his experience in Iraq. He explained that after a missile exploded in a nearby mall, the CNN security team asked Blitzer to put on his gas mask and put the microphone inside. Blitzer responded, “I could put my gas mask on, but if they saw me on TV, my daughter would start to cry, my mother would...
Sightings
Six members of the Philadelphia Phillies, including starting pitchers Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Ryan Madsen, celebrated their victory over the Nats with a spread at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Crystal City this week.
Perhaps watching their girlish figures, the Phils eschewed the turf in favor of the surf — oysters, lobster tails, tuna and crab legs.
A restaurant spokesman says the Crystal City location sees a lot of athletes because visiting teams often stay in nearby Virginia hotels.
Also spotted: Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag dining at BLT Steak on Wednesday night....
$100 million man
He wasn’t a recipient at Thursday night’s NFL Players Gala featuring the JB Awards, and he hasn’t played a game yet for the Redskins, but Albert Haynesworth was all anyone could talk about Wednesday night at a pre-event reception at BLT Steak.
Perhaps his record-breaking contract has something to do with it.
“We got the $100 million man, I mean, come on,” teammate Rock Cartwright told Yeas & Nays when asked how he thinks the ’Skins will do next season.
Although Cartwright really should have basked in his own glory of being chosen by his team to receive the JB Award for Community Service, he kept turning his attention to Haynesworth saying, “We’re going to get things accomplished now that we have this man.”
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett — another one of the 12 NFL players receiving awards — also is happy we have Haynesworth.
“I’m glad he’s here and no longer in the AFC South,” Brackett joked.
Even CBS Sports commentator James Brown, who founded the awards, chimed in on the 27-year-old millionaire.
“We’re all worked up about the stimulus, so maybe Haynesworth should share a portion of his new $100 million contract.”
And those weren’t his only fans: The Baltimore Ravens’ Daniel Wilcox, Detroit Lions’ Mike...
'Manhunt' for the believers
James Swanson has a real bone to pick with Americans — John Wilkes Booth got away with murder because of us. The Lincoln scholar, speaking at the Newseum Tuesday night, had a lot to say about Americans’ misconceptions, claiming we treat Booth as a “flawed and tragic young actor,” not the cold-blooded killer that he was.
Speaking on the 144th anniversary of the day Booth shot Lincoln just a few blocks to the northwest, Swanson said while researching his book “Manhunt,” it dawned on him while walking around Ford’s Theater that the “most dangerous myth of the Lincoln assassination” is we don’t think of Booth as we do other assassins.
He cited Washington’s tourist maps given out around 10th Street that have the face of Booth on it and the sale of a toy Derringer pistol at a Lincoln gift shop — a replica of the one Booth used to take Lincoln’s life.
“If you went to Texas, you wouldn’t want to see Lee Harvey Oswald on street banners, would you? And in Memphis, you wouldn’t expect to see a picture of James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot,” he stated, clearly frustrated with our “leniency” on...
‘I’m a celebrity’?
Apparently former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich misses the cameras and all the attention he received during his impeachment: He has just signed on to appear on a reality show — that is, if his lawyer can loosen his travel restrictions to film the show in Costa Rica.
Blagoajevich will be a contestant on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” The survival-type reality drops celebrities the heart of the jungle “to face fun and comedic challenges designed to test their survival skills.” American viewers vote on who stays and who will participate in the different challenges.
Past notable “celebrities” include Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband, Cris Judd, Star Trek’s George Takei and former MTV VJ Downtown Julie Brown....
“Channel 4 doesn’t have a pulse.”
— ABC 7 anchor Gordon Peterson, overheard responding to Capitol Police officers who joked that he constantly sets off the magnetometer, even though it never happens to Channel 4 anchors and reporters....
‘Power 150’
Ebony magazine is out with its “Power 150” list of the most powerful African Americans in the country, and nearly half of them have D.C. ties.
Apart from President Barack Obama and the entire membership of the Congressional Black Caucus, other prominent pols on the list include Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., Justice Clarence Thomas, political strategist Donna Brazile, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Other Washingtonians who made the cut: Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson, BET CEO Debra Lee, Mystics owner Sheila Johnson, former secretary of state Colin Powell and entrepreneur Robert Johnson.
The issue of the magazine also includes a special feature on the African Americans in the Obama administration, where we learn, among other things, that White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers “has managed to put grits on the White House breakfast...
The Dead were closing their second set Tuesday night at Verizon Center with the rousing "Sugar Magnolia," when a blonde woman came out to join percussionist Mickey Hart on his drum kit.
From our perch in Section 419, Yeas & Nays couldn't quite make out who the mystery woman with the rockin' sense of rhythm was. But after they wrapped up, frontman Bob Weir gave a hearty Dead thank you to ... Tipper Gore!! She later came out again to take a bow with the band after their encore.
Turns out Mrs. Gore has some history not only with the Dead, but with beating the skins. In 1993, she hosted the band for tea at the White House. In 1999, she drummed alongside Weir, Hart and the Flying Other Brothers during a fundraiser for her husband (see the concert poster below).
And in a 1992 Entertainment Weekly story, Tipper told how as a D.C.-area high school student, she played drums in a band called the Wildcats. ''I wanted to play drums, and I got a set when I was 14 and just started to play in the house, to the stereo,'' she said.
Also spotted on stage: Woodstock icon Wavy Gravy, who we told you hung out with the band (and his pet rubber fish) at Equinox restaurant on Monday.
Among those who couldn't make it: Congress's top Deadhead, Sen. Patrick Leahy. Being that Congress is on break this week, the Vermont Democrat wasn't in Washington for the show, said his...
Oink oink
The camera crews flocked to the National Press Club on Tuesday morning not to take a photograph of a Hollywood starlet or a member of Congress, but potbelly pigs Dudley and Winnie.
The pigs arrived Tuesday to mark the annual release of Citizens Against Government Waste’s Pig Book — the nonprofit’s exposé that reveals who in Congress are the biggest spenders.
The organization fully embraced the pig theme at the news conference — PigFoot, a man dressed in a huge pink pig outfit, posed with the pigs, and dozens of plastic pig noses were handed out to attendees. Even Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz wore a navy blue tie with multiple pink pig heads on it while discussing this year’s winners (or is it losers?).
Topping the Senate side with $653.1 million worth of project spending is Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss. The title of biggest spender on the House side goes to Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, who got 44 projects that totaled $256.6 million for his district.
But the group also handed out special awards to other especially big oinkers.
The “Porkasaurus Award” went to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for spending $143,000 on a Las Vegas National History Museum.
“Sen. Reid is fond of saying that earmarks have been around since we’ve been a...
Girl stuff
Rosario Dawson has been a vocal supporter of President Barack Obama’s policies, appearing both at the Democratic National Convention and the “We Are One” concert, but Tuesday, she expressed a new reason why she loves our President.
“I feel like we have a very vagina-friendly administration,” Dawson said, speaking at the first Men Can Stop Rape conference at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
She didn’t elaborate on how the administration was “friendly,” but we presume she meant his work that supports the speech she gave about preventing sexual violence against women. She received a standing ovation.
Wearing a sleek, copper Bottega Veneta dress, Dawson appeared on behalf of the originally scheduled speaker, Eve Ensler — playwright of the “Vagina Monologues” and “friend” of Dawson (Dawson read for Ensler’s play last month in Santa Monica, Calif.)....
Sen. Drescher?
"I somehow turned my cancer into a cottage industry," said actress and cancer activist Fran Drescher Tuesday at the National Press Club.
She's also turned it into a successful lobbying effort and, who knows, maybe even a run for office.
"A lot of celebrities show up [in D.C.] once," she said. "But not me. I kept coming and there was no getting rid of me."
Her persistence on the issue of female cancer paid off, when she was appointed a U.S. public diplomacy envoy for the State Department. And after making it known last year that she wanted to be appointed to fill out Hillary Clinton's Senate term, she's still considering a run for Congress from New York. She said she's deciding if she's ready to be "thrown to the wolves where people are going to be actually disagreeing with me."
Drescher will stay in town today, filming TV spots for the Ad Council that remind viewers to be better "partners" with their...
That was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner dining at the Bombay Club on Monday night.
Seems the well-established restaurant is becoming a hot spot for the new administration's budget gurus. Just last week, National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan were spotted there.
No word on whether they left extra-large tips for a little stimulus of their own....
Maybe it was the roses
No, they didn't leave it tie-dyed and smelling of incense, but The Dead did visit the White House on Monday night, Yeas & Nays has learned.
Original members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh, along with fill-in members Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti, spent more than an hour at 1600 Pennsylvania on Monday night, in advance of their Tuesday night show at Verizon Center.
No word on what they discussed with President Obama, but they could have asked him what it's like to have the "Eyes of the World" on him, or what it's like to broker a "Deal" with Congress.
As for the White House itself? No doubt they discovered it was no "Brokedown Palace," but was "Built to Last."
In fact, when The Dead played the Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball back in January, Newark Mayor Cory Booker quipped that the band should come back, in an effort to chill Washington out.
After all, nothing like a Grateful visit to the West Wing to lift those "U.S....
Far out!
For one night on Monday, Equinox restaurant became a head shop, as the four-star downtown eatery welcomed Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead and legendary activist (and Woodstock icon) Wavy Gravy in advance of The Dead’s show tonight.
While plenty of music fans gathered around Hart for photos and autographs, it was Gravy (the “official clown” of the Grateful Dead), who stole the show, appearing in a tie-dyed outfit and a clown nose. He burned incense and walked around with a rubber fish on a leash throughout the event, a fundraiser for the Seva Foundation, which he founded 30 years ago to assist impoverished communities around the world.
How’d they wind up at Equinox? Co-owners Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray met while following The Dead, and have maintained ties to the community of Deadheads. Todd, in fact, decided to be a chef when he used to sell grilled cheese sandwiches from the parking lots at the shows.
On Monday, he reprised those sandwiches (updated with truffles, of course) and spun his own version of Ben & Jerry’s Wavy Gravy ice cream.
Gravy said he’s hopeful that a Woodstock 40th Anniversary concert will take place in New York’s Flushing Meadows. Perhaps Gray can prepare breakfast in bed for 400,000.
UPDATE: After the reception, everyone headed out to the Govinda Gallery in Georgetown, where artist...
Eggalicious
AP
Monday morning’s Easter Egg Roll kicked off with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band playing such kid-friendly hits as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Pop Goes the Weasel” to the hundreds of kids and their families who were lucky enough to score tickets online. But thanks to performer Fergie, the event went from singing songs about animals to songs about boyfriends and driving in limos.
The Black Eyed Peas front woman was the headlining act at the annual family affair, but the pop diva seemingly forgot she was performing on the South Lawn for hundreds of young kids.
The former meth addict, dressed in a short white, layered dress with a lime-green cardigan, asked Washington, “Whassup?” before exhorting the crowd to “Get ready” during her cover of the Temptations’ “Here I Come.”
As she introduced the track “Clumsy” — a song about falling in love — she said she fell in love with “all the wrong boys.” Being that most of the girls were less than 10 years old, her message probably fell on deaf ears.
But it wasn’t until she began singing “Glamorous” the parents present might have understood why her album “The Dutchess” comes with a Parental Advisory label slapped on the front.
Lines like...
“Head over to President Obama’s personal court to learn how to set up, lay-up, shoot and more.”
— from Monday’s White House Easter Egg Roll...
Fashion designer b michael has dressed celebrities such as Serena Williams and Cate Blanchett. He also designed D.C. first lady Michelle Fenty’s gown for President Barack Obama’s inauguration. He’s now working on his Fall 2009 trunk show, which he plans to bring to Washington in June.
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
“Milk”
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
“I Love Lucy”
Q: What book are you reading?
“The Women Who Raised Me” by Victoria Rowell
Q: What Web sites do you visit in the morning?
CNN, BBC News
Q: What’s new on your iPod/CD player?
“Never Give Up” by Peyton & The Rhythm Republic, “Summertime” by Janis...
Make taxes fun again
Upset about the sagging job market? Ticked off at that tax bill you have to pay Wednesday? Well, if you can’t beat them, join them.
That was among the messages conveyed by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman Monday at a National Press Club luncheon. When asked if the IRS is hiring, Shulman replied, “Absolutely. We’ve actually been given a lot of support from this administration. Anyone in our viewing audience or in this room, if you want to do good work for the American people and have fun doing it, give me your resume on the way out.”
But even if you won’t work for Uncle Sam, taxes can still be fun — and lucrative. Referring to the economic boost that occurs each year when refunds are issued, he said, “Tax-filing season is often its own stimulus to the economy.”
Shulman also wasn’t shy about saying he thinks the tax code is too complex. “If I were the one processing the returns, I assure you we’d have a lot of problems,” he said....
Georgetown bound
Already in his three months in office he's created turmoil for the University of Notre Dame and Arizona State University, but that hasn't stopped President Barack Obama from visiting colleges—he is set to speak at Georgetown University Tuesday morning.
Perhaps testing the waters of speaking at a Catholic university, Obama will give a speech on the economy to students at 11:30 a.m in Gaston Hall on the school's campus, states an email sent out this morning by the school. The President will discuss the different steps taken by his administration to confront the economic crisis while also addressing the work that still needs to be done. The subject of the economy shoud keep him out of trouble with the Jesuits.
Registration to attend is being done via lottery through the school. This morning the website was inaccessible due to the high demand.
This will be the first time Obama has spoken at a local area college since becoming President....
Things will get hairy
It’s a venerable hockey tradition for players to let their beards continue to grow, as long as their team remains alive during the Stanley Cup playoffs. But as the postseason gets under way this week, the Capitals are taking it a step further, involving other members of the organization and fans in order to raise money for charity.
The Caps are asking fans to grow beards themselves and solicit donations, or to contribute in support of a Capitals player or a fan who has elected to grow a playoff beard. All proceeds will benefit Washington Capitals Charities.
“Participation is pretty solid,” said Joe Dupriest, the team’s marketing director, “but [this] week there’ll be a big push when guys start to grow the beards for our first few playoff games.”
He said some people in the front office had already stopped shaving, but “most people will start with the first day of the playoffs [Wednesday].” He said Wes Johnson, the team’s arena announcer, was currently second in donations on the beardathon.com Web site.
Even the sports media have gotten involved. Comcast SportsNet anchors Brent Harris, Chick Hernandez, Michael Jenkins, Chris Miller and Russ Thaler are participating. WJFK-FM’s John “Cakes” Auville from the Junkies, Chad Dukes from the “Big O and Dukes Show” and...
Louder than a peep
They have no mouth and their name sounds as if they’d be a quiet bunch, but on Friday one group made its voices heard loud and clear: Peeps.
The fluorescent, marshmallowy Easter candies made their political debut at the John Wilson Building, thanks to the nonprofit group D.C. Vote, which presented its Peep diorama for The Washington Post’s annual diorama competition.
The diorama included a miniature plastic foam replica of the Capitol building surrounded by little Peep protesters holding signs that read “Power to the Peeps” and — in a nod to the city’s license plates — “No taxation without re-peep-sentation.”
The diorama made its way around the D.C. Council offices to spread the word on D.C. voting rights. First stop for the Peep protest: Councilman Jack Evans, whom the “Peeps-arazzi” snapped photos of with the diorama in hand. Evans said he had intended to enter his own Peeps diorama with his son but hadn’t gotten around to it.
“It was going to be ‘Peeps of the Lost Arc,’ ” Evans said (maybe he had Harrison Ford’s recent visit in mind).
D.C. Vote’s Eugene Kinslow told us that just like Washingtonians, “All of our Peeps support the right to vote. … Peeps outside the D.C. area are fully empowered, and we want Peeps everywhere to be...
$8M-$9M
Approximate 2008 compensation for Marriott International Chief Executive Officer J.W. “Bill” Marriott, as revealed by him on C-SPAN last week
2/3
Approximate cut in his compensation for 2009, as the locally based corporation grapples with the rough economic...
Not Dead yet
Members of The Dead arrived in town early for the band’s Tuesday show at Verizon Center and were spotted strolling around Georgetown over the weekend. Phil Lesh, the bassist for the legendary hippie rockers, was seen at the Georgetown Barnes & Noble on Friday. And our spies saw guitarist/vocalist Bob Weir, pictured, walking up M Street on Sunday morning....
Commonsense semantics
Talk about a flip-flop! Backers of the Republican and Democratic candidates for Virginia governor are waging a Web site war over the use of the term “common sense.”
At 12:03 p.m. Thursday, we received a release touting the formation of a new independent group called “Common Sense Virginia,” which serves to attack Republican candidate Bob McDonnell. It started a Web site called therealbobmcdonnell.com.
Not four minutes later, another release arrived. It announced the formation of a Web site paid for by the Republican Governors Association to defend McDonnell. Its name: virginiacommonsense.com.
RGA spokesman Mike Schrimpf said his group heard the Democrats were launching their site earlier in the week, and the RGA launched its site Thursday as a reaction. “What kind of common sense they’re trying to tout, I’m at a loss,” Schrimpf said....
Here's Katy Perry, greeting fans at the 9:30 Club Friday before her sold-out show.
Photo: Mark...
Hair we go again
It’s a stylist showdown as two new reality shows filming in the District are set to follow Washingtonians in hairy situations.
Celebrity hair stylists Ted Gibson and “First Stylist” to Michelle Obama, Johnny Wright, both have inked deals for reality shows that will take place in Washington salons.
New York-based Gibson, who just opened his second namesake salon in Chevy Chase, told Yeas & Nays Wednesday his reality show — tentatively titled “Ted Gibson Beauty Universe” — will focus on his daily life.
“It will cover all aspects of salon life — me opening my third salon [in Fort Lauderdale], my celebrity clients and developing new products (he recently sold out his hair extension line on QVC). It will provide backstage access to the fashion world,” Gibson said.
Gibson, who has styled the tresses of Debra Messing, Demi Moore and Angelina Jolie, may not run his fingers through the hair of the first lady like Wright, but he did share with us how he’d like to style her.
“I’d update it some … I’d talk to her about extensions … she’s a woman that can handle more hair,” Gibson advised.
Wright’s untitled show unfortunately won’t follow him around the White House, but it will have him playing host on a “competition elimination...
16 billion
The number of jelly beans produced especially for Easter.
700 million
The number of Peeps sold for Easter
76
The percentage of people who prefer to bite off the ears first when eating a chocolate bunny.
86
The percentage of people who would rather have a chocolate bunny instead of a live rabbit.
source:...
Sightings
That was Nicole Beharie and Bill Haney, the star and screenwriter, respectively, of the upcoming film “American Violet,” attending an advance screening Thursday in the library of Woodrow Wilson High School.
Why Wilson High? For the answer, we turned to at-large D.C. Councilman Kwame Brown, who helped organize the screening. A spokesman tells us that as chairman of the Committee on Economic Development, which oversees the Office of Motion Picture Development, Brown was contacted to help arrange the screening and promote the film.
This is the third screening Brown has hosted for students, but the first at a high school. The others, “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “The Great Debaters,” were held at the Gallery Place theaters.
“American Violet,” which also stars Alfre Woodward, Will Patton and Tim Blake Nelson, tells the story of a mother falsely accused of being a drug dealer in Texas. It opens locally next week.
Also spotted recently: Gen. David Petraeus dining at Sam & Harry’s steakhouse downtown Wednesday night....
Opening act
Photo: Ed.gov
And now, opening for alt-country superstar Neko Case: Education Secretary Arne Duncan? That was the scene Wednesday night at the 9:30 Club, as Case played the first of two sold-out shows.
Before she began her set, she brought Duncan onstage, saying, "I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine, because I'm really interested in education."
Whereupon Duncan, looking very un-Cabinet-like in jeans and a dark, open-collared shirt, made a plea for members of the audience to go into education.
In a clip from the event, posted on the Ed.gov blog, Duncan asks for a round of applause for his boss, President Obama, before saying that "we need that next generation of teachers coming in."
"So we're going to come back in about ten minutes," said Case, "and I want all of you to decide that you're going to be either a teacher or a tutor in the ten minutes we're...
While on his way home from Iraq Tuesday night, President Obama made sure to take care of some unfinished business. From aboard Air Force One, he called North Carolina Coach Roy Williams to congratulate him on the national championship — and to thank the coach for saving the presidential bracket from further embarrassment.
Three of Obama's Final Four picks didn't make it that far in the tournament, but UNC's victory put the president in the top 20 percent of entrants on ESPN.com.
“The president offered Coach Williams his congratulations and thanked him and his team for vindicating him in front of the entire country," said Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "The president told him he’d done a great job and asked the coach to tell the players how proud he was of them and that he looked forward to seeing them at the White House...
Seinfeld to FEMA
John O’Hurley is touring North America in productions of “Chicago” and “Spamalot,” but he says it’s a “guise” to introduce his clean-energy technology to the cities he visits.
Among O’Hurley’s many ventures are businesses that harness methane from landfills and convert solid waste to emission-free energy.
He’s recently met with lawmakers and the Environmental Protection Agency, but his main goal is to get in front of Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, in hopes that they can use his technology in the event of a natural disaster. He says he has 30 projects in the pipleline, ranging from the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas to the Southern Nevada Water Authority to an entire town in the upper Midwest that has been hurt by the auto industry's troubles. "This town will be a totally green town," he said. "We're going to take it over, essentially."
Next week, he heads to Anchorage, Alaska, for a production of "Spamalot," and he's trying to get an audience with Gov. Sarah Palin.
So we couldn't help but ask him: How would J. Peterman, his legendary character from "Seinfeld," sell the clean-energy technology? "As I was standing in the amber waters of the Ganges River, elbow to elbow with the fish wives of New Delhi," he said,...
“I did not take a bathroom break for seven hours, until every book was signed.”
— conservative radio host Mark Levin, discussing his book signing at Tysons Corner late last...
Phillies to Phollow
The White House added some pinstripes Tuesday evening as a group of 22 Yankees players, coaches and staff were given a private tour that included the West Wing and Rose Garden.
The team is in Baltimore for its season-opening series against the Orioles. Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary under President George W. Bush, helped arrange the tour, telling us he was “kind of a go-between” from the team to the administration.
According to a Yankees release, Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher, Joba Chamberlain, Cody Ransom, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Jonathan Albaladejo and Ramiro Pena took part in the 90-minute tour.
It was just a warm-up for Tuesday’s visit by the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils, in town for the Nationals’ home opener, will be treated to a tour and — now that he’s back in town — some face time with the...
Move over Hollywood
Star seekers in Virginia may want to cast their vote for governor to Terry McAuliffe. If he’s elected, you can bet there will be a lot more paparazzi stalking celebrities in the commonwealth.
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate announced last week that he plans to make Virginia the top East Coast destination for film production. He met with Virgina film industry representatives to discuss his plans.
At first, we at Yeas & Nays thought the idea sounded a bit odd, but upon further investigation, we discovered Virginia has been the background for everything from British invasions to alien invasions.
With its close proximity to Washington and its wide variety of architecture, Richmond is the state’s most popular filming destination, doubling as Washington in several films. “Dave” with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, “The Jackal” starring Richard Gere and Bruce Willis, “The Contender” with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen and “First Kid” starring Sinbad all filmed in Virginia’s capital.
Tom Cruise and Anthony Hopkins are two actors who have traveled several times to Virginia for films. Cruise has been filmed running from trouble all over the Old Dominion — in Hampton Roads for “Mission Impossible III” and “Minority Report” and the Shenandoah Valley for...
Pre-YouTube
Wednesday marked a day of appreciation for countless crotch blows and absurd accidents as the Smithsonian National Museum of American History received memorabilia from “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
The reception, hosted by the show’s creator Vin di Bona, kicked into gear with a montage of the greatest clips from ABC’s comic crown jewel. The most painful excerpts plastered the show’s most recent host Tom Bergeron’s face on the bodies of the unfortunate victims (funny, but we would have loved to seen former host Bob Saget’s mug instead).
Following the clips, Bergeron told the audience that comedian Tina Fey is a huge fan, just like her character in “Baby Mama.”
“‘Amy [Poehler] and I love ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos.’ We watch it every day and call each other to talk about which one we liked best,’” Bergeron said, quoting Fey.
-Ryan Freeman...
Broadway actress and acclaimed singer Maureen McGovern stars in “A Long and Winding Road” — a musical she co-wrote that tells the story of her life through songs — at Arena Stage, Crystal City through April 12.
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
“The Reader”
Q: What book are you reading?
“Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson
Q: What Web sites do you visit every morning?
NYtimes.com for the Op-Eds
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
“Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “The Rachael Maddow Show” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
Q: What’s new on your iPod?
I don’t have an iPod. CDs include Sting, ’60s stuff, K.T. Tunstall and...
Phils to Phollow
The White House added some pinstripes on Tuesday evening, as a group of 22 Yankees players, coaches and staff were given a private tour, including the West Wing and Rose Garden.
The team is in Baltimore for their season-opening series against the Orioles. Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary under President Bush, helped arrange the tour, telling us he was "kind of a go-between" from the team to the administration.
According to a Yankees release, Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher, Joba Chamberlain, Cody Ransom, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Jonathan Albaladejo and Ramiro Pena partook in the 90-minute tour.
It was just a warm-up for Tuesday's visit by the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils, in town for the Nationals' home opener, will be treated to a tour and — now that he's back in town — some face time with the president....
DC on ABC
Leaving Seattle for Washington, the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” latest show has traded stethoscopes for reporter’s pads.
Shonda Rhimes’s new pilot “Inside the Box” — which follows the lives of Washington reporters and producers at a network news bureau, complete with a reporter who has an affair with a White House press secretary — shot scenes for the ABC show Tuesday at the White House, Lafayette Park and outside Old Ebbitt Grill.
According to a call sheet obtained by Yeas & Nays, the show will premiere late next year, as hundreds of extras playing bike messengers, joggers, tourists, business people and military personnel all were asked to come dressed in a coat, hat, scarf and gloves.
Missing from the filming were some of the show’s stars — “24” and “Lipstick Jungle”’s Kim Raver and “Eli Stone”’s Jason George — but their stand-ins took their marks while shooting the exterior scenes outside of the Willard InterContinential Washington Hotel....
Wax on
Photo: Carrie Devorah
It took 140 hours to style Michelle Obama’s hair — but when the blow-out has to last for years, it’s understandable.
The first lady is the latest person to be immortalized in wax at Madame Tussauds, joining her husband Tuesday in the museum’s “Oval Office” only blocks from the real one on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Appearing as stylish as always, Obama is dressed in a custom-made red sheath, designed after the purple Maria Pinto dress she wore on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
For accessories, Obama’s waist is clinched with a thick black patent belt — as it was in Denver — with matching black patent kitten heels.
Perhaps harkening another first lady to whom she is frequently compared, Obama wears a double strand pearl necklace not unlike the one the wax Jackie Kennedy is wearing down the hall. The rest of the jewelry is kept simple — a silver bangle, silver watch and gold wedding band and diamond solitaire, identical to her real one (not too shabby, Mr. President!).
And yes, although she was wearing a black cardigan at the unveiling, Marketing Manager Lisa McClure told us, “Yes, the dress is sleeveless … so she is able to ‘bear arms.’...
Let Teddy Win!
Photo courtesy Food Network
Apparently defeating Food Network celebrity chef Bobby Flay in a mussels cook-off is enough to earn a return trip to TV land.
Chef Teddy Folkman of Granville Moore’s on H Street NE, who bested Flay in an episode of “Throwdown” last year, will reappear on the network as a contestant on this summer’s “The Next Food Network Star.”
According to a release, the challenges pitting Folkman against nine other hopefuls will begin airing June 7. Among other contests, they will have to cook for “Barefoot Contessa” Ina Garten in her home, grill on the beach in Miami and “create a delicious dinner for a group of culinary elite at a screening of Columbia Pictures’ movie ‘Julie & Julia.’ ”
Flay himself leads the selection committee, so the question is: Will his loss to Folkman have him looking for revenge?...
Woodley Park: It’s a Zoo
Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart and their 6-year-old son, Liam, continued their touristy jaunt through D.C. Tuesday as they spent some quality family time at the National Zoo.
A Zoo spokeswoman said they saw the giant pandas, the sloth bears, the hippos, the small mammals, lions and tigers, the elephants and the Great Ape house, especially the new baby gorilla. (They skipped the snakes, a la Indiana Jones.)
Tuesday’s excursion follows the family’s West Wing tour at the White House Monday. They also were spotted that day walking around Georgetown....
“I’m just happy to put pinstripes before politics.”
— Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary under President George W. Bush, telling us about helping to arrange a private West Wing tour for his beloved New York Yankees Tuesday night....
First, he went to White Castle. Now, actor Kal Penn is heading to the White House. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly's EW.com, Penn (whose character on "House" committed suicide in this week's episode) revealed that he's accepted a position in the White House Office of Public Liaison.
"They're basically the front door of the White House," said Penn in explaining his new job. "They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House. It's similar to what I was doing on the campaign."
And yes, he admitted, he's taking a huge pay cut. "I've been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while," he said. "I love what I do as an actor. I couldn't love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service."
Executive producer David Shore told EW, "Kal is a man with broader ambitions than the entertainment industry. So he spoke to us and said, 'I love the show and I love working with these people, but there are things that I would like to do.' And you sort of think, 'That's admirable, but there's no way he's going to do it.' This is a good gig he's got here."
Penn joins other OPL staffers with connections to the arts and entertainment, such as David Washington, who has acted as Jennifer Lopez's political...
High and tight
Just after tossing out the first pitch for the Texas Rangers on Monday, President George W. Bush said his ceremonial pitch at Yankee Stadium following the Sept. 11 attacks was “the most nervous moment of my presidency by far.”
“My adrenaline was surging through my veins,” he said in the Rangers’ broadcast booth. “The ball felt like a shot put. I had never felt a feeling like that before. ... I walked out there and my arm felt like a thousand pounds.”
He threw a hard strike that day. On Monday, flanked by Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, Bush wasn’t quite as accurate, but still threw high, avoiding the dreaded dirt ball.
Bush said he told the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton, who caught his effort, “You didn’t need to bring a glove. It’s so slow, you could catch it barehanded.”
Back home in Texas, in front of the team he once owned, Bush heard more cheers than boos.
Ditto Vice President Joseph Biden Jr., who tossed out the ceremonial first pitch for the Orioles at Camden Yards on Monday. Appearing with his grandchildren and sporting a U.S. Army cap, Biden short-armed a high one (maybe it’s the bulletproof vest?).
A spokeswoman for the Nationals says the White House still hasn’t confirmed whether President Barack Obama will toss...
Celeb in chief
He has more cars following him than Britney Spears does paparazzi, he and his wife sell more copies of Us Weekly than Madonna and Jennifer Aniston, and his inauguration received an audience that makes the Oscars' numbers look feeble. Has the election of President Barack Obama made Washington the new Los Angeles?
An article in this month’s Marie Claire makes a strong case that it has, pointing out the many changes that have given the District a face-lift akin to that of Beverly Hills ladies who lunch.
Obamichelle (the hottest new uni-name since Brangelina) has made the White House much like the homes in the Hollywood Hills. Michelle Obama has hired the same decorator used by director Steven Spielberg. The Obamas also not only talked to chef Alice Waters for help in planting their organic garden, they also hired a locavore she approved of to help in the White House kitchen, the magazine reports.
Ted Gibson, who has styled the tresses of Angelina Jolie, Demi Moore, Renee Zellweger, Keira Knightley and Anne Hathaway, just opened a new salon in Chevy Chase. The price for a haircut blows John Edwards’ $500 cut out of the water — $950, just to be snipped.
Speaking of looking like a celebrity, the magazine also cited a local dermatologist who said his practice has seen a 20 percent increase in Botox, fillers and laser treatments of late.
But...
“As a basketball fan, I’ve even noticed that Hedo Turkoglu and Mehmet Okur have got some pretty good basketball games.”
— President Barack Obama, referring to the two Turkish-born NBA players as he addressed the Turkish Parliament on Monday....
44, meet 35
President Barack Obama certainly isn’t doing much to discourage comparisons between he and JFK. Or similar comparisons between his wife and Jackie O.
In Prague during the weekend, Obama echoed JFK’s famous line that he was “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.”
Obama said: “Today, I am proud to stand here with you in the middle of this great city, in the center of Europe. And to paraphrase one of my predecessors, I am also proud to be the man who brought Michelle Obama to...
Songstress Jennifer Hudson, with dog (or is it a fox?) in tow, makes her way into Constitution Hall Sunday night for her show with Robin Thicke.
Photo: Mark...
That's "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek making his way down Constitution Avenue on Saturday as grand marshal of the National Cherry Blossom Parade. While in town, Trebek presided over tryouts for the game show at Montgomery College's Germantown campus....
Caps and gowns
Much of the news over college commencements this year has centered on the controversy over Notre Dame’s decision to invite President Barack Obama to give its annual address this spring. But lost in the shuffle are a whole panoply of speakers with ties to Washington or politics who are set to give the graduation addresses at some of the country’s top schools.
» Gen. David Petraeus will address graduates at Princeton as well as the Virginia Military Institute. The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq received his Ph.D. from Princeton.
» Speaker Nancy Pelosi will give the commencement address at Johns Hopkins University, near where she grew up in Baltimore.
» Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has degrees from both Wellesley and Yale, will speak to graduates at New York University and Barnard College.
» Although he never graduated from college, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe will give the talk at Cornell University.
» Stanford grads will hear from Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
» Presidential historian and frequent D.C. talking head Doris Kearns Goodwin will give the commencement address at Vanderbilt University.
» Eric Schmidt, who grew up in Washington before going on to become chief executive officer of Google, will speak at the University of Pennsylvania.
» Longtime NBC anchor...
Cheesetastic
All that were missing Friday were hot dogs, as a miniature Fourth of July took place at the Capital building to welcome 200 of the newest Americans, complete with waving flags and cheesy American music.
Special guest speaker Rep. Anh Joseph Cao, R-Louis — the first Vietnamese-American to be a member of Congress — addressed the new Americans with his own American cultural acclimation.
“I got my first taste of pizza and needless to say I didn't like it because it did not taste like rice,” Cao said.
The citizens walked across the stage to receive their certificates in a ceremony reminiscent of high school graduation, sans cap and gown. They watched a video address by a giant pixilated Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and viewed an early nineties montage of Americana flashed across the screen as “Proud to Be an American” rang out in the background.
Somebody should assure all of those new citizens we don’t listen to Ace of Bass anymore before they head back home....
900
Number of beer distributors and brewers in town last week for the National Beer Wholesalers/Brewers Joint Legislative Conference
75
Different labels of beer available to the guests at the conference’s event at the Library of Congress on Thursday...
What Academy Award?
It's always nice to see two grown men hug it out, especially when it's Denzel Washington in a manly clinch with Justice Clarence Thomas.
And so it was Friday night, when Washington was presented his most recent honor from the Justice- the Horatio Alger Association Distinguished American Award.
Washington came into town Friday as one of 11 recipients - other notables included Steven Wynn, owner of multiple many celeb-favorite Vegas resorts and music producer David Foster - to receive the award for “succeeding in spite of adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education.”
Joining the actor at Constitution Hall for the ceremony was his wife Pauletta and daughter Katia - a few of the hundred in attendance who listened to him speak about the importance of education and hear him repeat to the crowd, “Keep God first,” which seemed to be his motto for the evening.
He told the crowd that he had always believed the Boys and Girls Club of America was the most important club he belonged to before being inducted into the prestigious association.
Sounds like Oscar has nothing on...
Charity ball(ers)
Forget this weekend’s Final Four in Detroit — the real basketball action happened Wednesday night right here in Washington, as Georgetown’s law buffs took on members of Congress at the annual Home Court charity event to benefit the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
The “Hoya Lawyas” faced off against the “Hill’s Angels” in a basketball battle at Gonzaga High School to determine the lesser of the two evils. The congressional ballers finished on top with a 48-42 win in the final minutes of the game.
Their skills would never take them to the Final Four, but seeing a side of Congress missing from their political profiles is what made the game. A few notable highlights include:
Mervyn Jones — son of the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, who founded the event — had a respectable dunk and carried the team to victory in the final minutes of the game.
MVP goes to all-of-5-feet-nothing Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Md., who tore up the court with some ball skills that would look more at home on the Harlem Globetrotters’ court.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., the connoisseur of the no-look pass, sank a few jumpers of his own, while 48-year-old stud Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., strutted his well-maintained bod across the court.
The “that guy” award for excessive butt slapping and...
Chic boutique
Rihanna walks the red carpet in her shoes and Blake Lively “gossips” while holding her handbag, and now thanks to a new boutique in Georgetown, it may be only a matter of time before Devi Kroell styles first lady Michelle Obama.
“She’s what the first lady should be,” Kroell told Yeas & Nays on Wednesday night, referring to the first lady’s modern style and penchant to wear young American designers like Jason Wu and Isabel Toledo.
Austrian-born Kroell traveled from New York to Georgetown to host the grand opening of Hu’s Wear — a luxury boutique that exclusively carries her line of modern and sleek clothing, shoes and handbags.
Even if Kroell — whose height and beauty make her look more like a model than a designer — has her “dream” of dressing Obama come true, it won’t be the first time people recognize her designs on celebrities. She told us Jessica Simpson helped start her career, carrying her large hobo python bag in the first two seasons of MTV reality show “The Newlyweds.”
“They are our new fashion idols,” Kroell said about her celeb fan base that also includes Kate Hudson, Sienna Miller, Catherine Zeta Jones, Anne Hathaway and Reese Witherspoon.
So what would she dress Obama in?
“Definitely something to show off her arms,” she said....
Home ‘View’
It’s a big week for Ali Wentworth. The Georgetown-based actress, comedian and wife to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos will appear on “The View” today. Plus, “Elle Décor” magazine announced the couple’s living room will grace the cover of its May 2009 issue.
San Francisco-based decorator Elizabeth Martin renovated the circa 1907 house in 2006. “George skews more toward clean lines and lack of adornment whereas Ali loves collecting and layers,” says Martin. “Their home is a wonderful mixture of both of their personalities.”
“Beth did a great job of balancing all the chic and beautiful things I love with furniture that can withstand two little girls,” Wentworth said. “We go from ‘High School Musical’ birthday parties to adult dinners...
All that jazz (and corruption)
You know you’ve gone down in infamy when you’re mentioned in a musical about murder and corruption. Such is the case with the current production of “Chicago,” which references the state’s former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his alleged attempt to sell President Barack Obama’s Senate seat.
“Chicago” premiered to the media Wednesday night at the National Theatre and clearly decided to play off the crowd of Washingtonians in a scene between characters Bobby Flynn — played by Seinfeld’s John O’Hurley — and Roxie Hart.
In the scene, Flynn asks Hart for his $5,000 attorney fees. She doesn’t have it, so she begins to beg God for help.
Showing that money talks more than prayers, Flynn laughs and says, “If Jesus Christ lived in Chicago today, and he had $5,000, well, he could buy himself his own Senate seat.”
No word yet if the president and first lady plan to see the musical with their hometown’s namesake....
Porn-y Foreign Policy
A few reporters got more than they bargained for Thursday when they called into a phone number provided by the White House to hear Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Jim Jones discuss the NATO Summit.
“Do you have any hidden desires?” asked the breathy voice on the other end of the line. “Well if you feel like getting nasty, you came to the right place.” The recording went on to ask for a credit card number so the call could be billed at the rate of $2.99 to $5.99 per minute.
You see, whoever copied the phone number into the press release was off by one digit — and what a difference a digit makes. Instead of getting AT&T conference call service, they were directed to the “Swank” phone sex line.
According to Fox News’ Kelly Chernenkoff, who first wrote about the snafu on FoxNews.com, the only way to actually get through to the call was to try the international call-in number.
“Hours after the original press release with the incorrect number was put out, the White House sent a corrected version,” writes Chernenkoff. “But the conference call was already under way. Even later, a release was sent out noting, ‘If you are having trouble dialing into the call, please try this number as an alternative,’ and listed the international...
That was Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, hanging out and signing autographs from his gold-plated wheelchair Wednesday afternoon at the Convention Center. Flynt was in town for the "Cable Show" trade show for the cable industry, and made an appearance, naturally, at the Hustler TV booth....
Washington ‘Whispers’
Keith Harper and Erik Huey, two attorneys in the Washington office of Kilpatrick Stockton, have signed on as executive producers of “Whispers Like Thunder.” The film will tell the story of the Conley sisters, three Native American women who battled the federal government for 67 years in an effort to protect their ancestral burial ground in Kansas City.
“This is a quintessential Native American story of courage and perseverance, but unfortunately, it is also a story that is largely forgotten,” said Harper.
Academy Award-winner Sir Ben Kingsley is producing the film, in addition to portraying Charles Curtis, who served as vice president under Herbert Hoover and is the only Native American to every hold that office.
Huey said they’re also pursuing A-list talent, “but we want to have as many Native American actors as possible.” He said they’d like to begin filming in the fall, but right now they’re focused on raising funds, which they hope will come from the Native American community. In the meantime, they’re thrilled that their IMDB.com page is up. “You kind of feel like you’re part of the producers’ club” when that happens, Huey said.
And that’s not Huey’s only film project in the works. Actress Fran Drescher has signed on to direct and produce...
“We’ll be happy to live in the pod, whatever it’s called.”
— NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt, speaking from orbit at a news conference Wednesday on what he thinks about Stephen Colbert’s successful write-in campaign to have a room at the International Space Station named after him....
April Fool
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid forgot what the first day of April can bring when he fell for a trick played on him by his staff about the men he was appearing with Wednesday at a news conference.
“My staff said I had to come in early a little today to talk to me about something,” Reid stated at the start of the conference on the need for a clean-energy smart grid.
“They told me [T.] Boone [Pickens] was becoming a Democrat and John [Podesta] was becoming the Republican,” said Reid, referring to the Texas oilman and the president of the Center for American Progress, respectively.
Lobbying groups also found a way to make light of things April 1. On Wednesday morning, we received a release from musicFIRST, the organization that’s attempting to establish radio performance rights for artists and musicians. It said broadcasters and artists finally had reached a deal.
“We were surprised when the broadcasters said, ‘Let’s work out a deal that is fair to artists, musicians and labels and fair to radio,’ ” said Jennifer Bendall, executive director for musicFIRST. “But they seemed sincere, so we threw caution to the wind and took them up on their offer to talk. After that, it didn’t take long to reach an agreement.”
Of course, it was all a ruse. “Wouldn’t it be great if it were...
Dishwasher duty
For someone who's notoriously reticent about speaking, Justice Clarence Thomas opened up about matters great (Constitutional jurisprudence) and small (loading the dishwasher) Tuesday night, as he gave the keynote address at a Bill of Rights Institute gala.
"This is a rare sighting for me to be out during the week, especially a sitting week," he told the crowd, who had assembled to honor students who won the Institute's "Being an American" Essay Contest."
And while he spent plenty of time on matters like civic responsibility and his role as a judge, his thoughts kept turning back to domestic life.
"I'd like to thank my bride for being here," he said. "We've been a team for a while and enjoy each other a lot. ... I tend to be morose; she tends to be energetic."
Indeed, he confided that when he gets "down," he turns to "what I tell my wife is the 'Inter-Net,' and I look up great speeches," like Gen. Douglas MacArthur's speech at West Point." And when things become "routine," he says he goes down to the basement to watch "Saving Private Ryan."
That's not all that picks him up when he's feeling blue. "I have to admit that I'm one of those people that thinks the dishwasher is a miracle," he said. And because of that, "I like to load it."
"I...
‘You raise (money) up’
Though he wasn’t using his deepest baritone, Josh Groban still was able to capture everyone’s attention Tuesday morning, as he joined Linda Ronstadt and Wynton Marsalis on Capitol Hill for Arts Advocacy Day.
We caught up with Gorban on his way to testify at the “Arts=Jobs” hearing. He not only talked about his purpose for coming to Washington — to discuss the “ripple effect cutting jobs in the arts” can have on the economy — but also how this differs from the last time he was in town, as a performer at the “We Are One” inaugural concert.
“It’s much warmer,” Groban joked to Yeas & Nays.
Adding to his sex appeal that causes so many women to dream about marrying the single 28-year-old, Groban added he extended his trip to spend some more time with his parents, who were present to watch their son testify on the Hill.
“We’re staying in town an extra day. I want to take my parents sightseeing to all the monuments and museums. … They have been such big supporters of me.”
He's not the only big supporter. Upon exiting an elevator and seeing Groban, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., screamed "Josh Groban." He later confided that his wife recently bought $90 worth of music by David Foster, Groban's mentor.
As for his future trips to...
Life not imitating art
Photo: Carrie Devorah
The “West Wing” crew still gets the presidential treatment wherever they go, but their on-screen personas might not match so closely with their President Barack Obama administration counterparts.
Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff visited the Senate on Tuesday to stump for the union-backed Employee Free Choice Act.
The always politically active Sheen is no stranger to playing a president or a White House staffer — along with playing President Josiah Bartlett on the hit show, he has played the role of John F. Kennedy twice and has appeared as chief of staff in “The American President.” But when it comes to being a president in real life, Sheen could only laugh.
“At 19, I was elected as the president of the caddy union. I came to find out it was the first caddy union in America,” the again-new grandfather joked at the Russell Building. (Son Charlie Sheen and his wife just welcomed twin boys).
But it was a brash and witty Whitford who stole the show, playing off his character’s counterpart, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
“On behalf of the acting president of the United States, I thank you all for being here,” he said. “I’m his Rahm [Emanuel], except I swear less.”
Continuing to play off Emanuel’s dirty-mouth...
Drumming up support
Just about anytime Mike Huckabee shows up at a fundraiser, you can expect a jam session to break out. But those musical interludes don't normally include the candidate for whom Huckabee is stumping.
Huckabee turned up in Bristol, Va., Monday night on behalf of Bob McDonnell, the Republican hopeful for governor. As is his wont, Huckabee pulled out his trusty bass guitar to sit in with the house band, Montage.
But then, as the band launched into Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy," McDonnell took the stage and set himself up behind the drum kit.
"I did not know he could do that," wrote McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin, as he sent out a YouTube clip of the performance.
Truth be told, Tucker, we're still not sure he can. McDonnell's timing in the clip is a little off, and he's a bit heavy-handed on the crash cymbal. But if a McDonnell governorship means more jam session with Huck, how can we complain?
(Click here to see the...
The rest of the story
"Referred to as the 'largest one-man network in the world,' Paul Harvey ... was a blogger before we knew what that was. He just did his blogging on the radio."
Thus did Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., take to the House floor Monday night to honor radio legend Paul Harvey, who died in February at age 90. Sullivan's bill attracted 60 cosponsors since he introduced it three weeks ago. It passed by unanimous consent.
Also speaking was Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., who disclosed that he "was introduced to Paul Harvey 30 years ago as an ironworker, working at the Inland Steel Plant in East Chicago, Ind. Every day, when that lunch whistle would blow, all the ironworkers would gather at the lunchroom or in the trailer where we had lunch, and every ear was glued to that radio set. It was the plain-spoken, moral and commonsense views of Paul Harvey's that I think enlightened us...
That's Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, making his way down the runway with PR maven Victoria Michael Saturday night at the Washington Humane Society's Fashion for Paws fundraiser. When asked who he was wearing, Evans admitted that it was, in fact, his own suit.
Photo: Joseph...
Catch a rising star
It used to be that in order to spot those who have their hands on the levers of power, one had to hang around at a stodgy downtown hotel like the Hay Adams or a five-star dining room like Citronelle.
No more. Another way in which the Obama administration has changed Washington lies in the after-hours social habits of its top aides — and the congressional leaders and lobbyists who love them.
From the inauguration to President Barack Obama’s stop at Ben’s Chili Bowl and beyond, U Street has been ground zero for Obama’s fans as well as his aides. But the buzz now also runs north and south along 14th Street, thanks to a bevy of hot new casual restaurants.
“The neighborhood, specifically, has become the coolest place to hang out in D.C.,” said Ian Hilton, a manager at Marvin on 14th Street. “The inauguration helped, and this area became Obama-central.”
The fact Marvin has a large Obama mural on the side of its building, he adds, “probably helps.” But in any case, Hilton said, he’s definitely seeing “more people from Chicago than there used to be.”
Chicago ties help in luring Obama-ites, but so do Democratic Party connections. Just ask Khalid Pitts, co-owner of Cork, the wine bar a few blocks south. He still works full time as director of political accountability for the Service...
Sightings
That was Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis having lunch in the House Members Dining Room on Monday afternoon with Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., and Howard Coble, R-N.C.
According to Coble's press secretary, Ed McDonald, the lunch came about after Coble's office got inauguration tickets for a constituent that happens to be a family friend of Lewis.
While at Coble's office, she noticed McDonald's collection of Orioles paraphernalia, and it came out that he was a Ravens season ticket holder as well. Word got back to Lewis and lunch was on.
As for Ruppersberger, his spokeswoman said he's "a huge Ravens fan and has season tickets. He rarely misses a game. He is thrilled Ray decided to stay in Baltimore." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was also supposed to join the group, but he had a scheduling conflict.
Lewis also stopped by the Capitol Hill office of Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., before departing.
Also spotted on the Hill Monday: liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, crossing Independence Avenue toward the Capitol.
And on Friday, Doris Buffett, sister to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, made her way to Silver Spring to donate $150,000 to the nonprofit Hearts & Homes for Youth. Buffett donated the money with the catch that Hearts & Homes would have to match her donation dollar for...
Jam on it
Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., hasn't had much of a chance to rock out lately, now that the congressional rock band the Second Amendments lost three of its members in the mid-term elections.
But this weekend, McCotter sat in with his brother's band, Dr. Zaius and the Bright Eyes, at the Assembly Line Concert in Ferndale, Mich. The benefit concert is an effort to show support to auto workers affected by the foundering industry.
McCotter's notable gigs with the Amendments include playing at Farm Aid in 2007 and jamming with longtime Rolling Stones keyboard player Chuck Leavell in the House Agriculture Committee room last year.
McCotter's spokesman confirmed that they are "on hiatus." "I hope Dr. Zaius keeps him occupied with gigs!" he said.
UPDATE: Monday night, Bloomberg TV referred to McCotter as a senator. So if he lost his guitar gig, he at least gained some stature on the Hill....
Eric Felten has not one but two enviable careers. As a jazz musician, the D.C. local is a big band leader, singer and trombonist. And as a cocktail expert, he's an acclaimed author. His book "How's Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well," comes out in paperback in June.
Q: What's the last movie you saw?
“Le Doulos,” a first-rate French crime noir from the early sixties.
Q: What's your favorite TV show?
Whatever is on Turner Classic Movies.
Q: What Web sites do you visit in the morning?
WSJ.com, Joel Achenbach’s “Achenblog” at the Post, Politico, Slate, The Weekly Standard, a jazz blog called Rifftides, and a cocktail blog called Alcademics.
Q: What's new on your iPod?
Nat King Cole singing "Just You, Just Me" from the small-group recording "After Midnight," and the Buddy Rich big band wailing through "Love For Sale" from the disc "Big Swing Face."
Q: What book are you reading?
“Puttin’ on the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache,” a new biography of the great singing dancer, written by the late Peter...
“Only if I can run behind you.”
-Ben Affleck, answering "Access Hollywood" host Pat O'Brien's question about whether he'd ever run for office (Daily Beast link).
“I’m just not going to give a guy who gives aid and comfort to people like Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, and Saddam Hussein, when he was alive, my 10 bucks.”
-Bill O’Reilly in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on why he’ll never watch another movie starting actor and liberal activist Sean Penn....
Val's pals
Since he began mulling over a run for governor of New Mexico, actor Val Kilmer has been making nice with anyone and everyone in Washington — including its animals.
Kilmer stepped in as a last-minute honorary host for Saturday's "Fashion for Paws," the annual runway show that benefits the Washington Humane Society.
He couldn't get here to walk the runway himself, however. "He wanted to get involved, although he couldn't be here," said the Humane Society's Tara de Nicolas. "He'll be back in May."
She said Kilmer rescues animals on his own at home in New Mexico....
'Blonde Charity Mafia' grows up?
Preproduction for D.C.’s next would-be reality show has been rolling along the last couple of weeks, as crews have descended on the city’s toniest enclaves to interview prospective stars.
Recently, casting crews were spotted at a party thrown by GOP consultant Juleanna Glover at her home Friday evening (and interviewing Glover throughout the night) and at the Washington Humane Society’s Fashion for Paws fundraiser on Saturday. Earlier this month, producers were spotted filming at the District Sample Sale fundraiser/shop-a-thon in Georgetown and at the new Inox restaurant in Tysons Corner.
None of the prospective stars would talk to us on the record, citing the secretive nature of the show’s development. But one source familiar with the production — tentatively titled “Inside Washington” — told us it will focus on Washington women “in their late 20s to early 50s,” unlike the much-discussed and yet-to-air “Blonde Charity Mafia” series, which focuses on women in their early 20s. “They’re looking for women who are juggling their home life with their careers, and are socially active,” she said.
Apart from Glover, crews have also spoken to Andrea Rodgers, who runs the Courage Cup polo matches and writes the “Ask Miss A” blog; Mary Amons,...
Wayna responds
After being arrested last week at the Houston airport for trying to carry a collapsible police baton through security, D.C.-based R&B singer Wayna released a statement thanking her fans for their support and calling the 14 hours she spent in jail "exhausting."
Ironically, Wayna uses the baton as a stage prop when she sings her song, "Billy Club," a ballad about police abuse. "In a rush to get to the airport, she inadvertently packed the item in a carry-on bag," her statement reads. "Despite explaining to the circumstances, she was nonetheless arrested and charged on a 3rd degree felony weapons charge. ... With no criminal history, she never thought she'd be jailed over an innocent mistake. Certainly, the experience has given her a new perspective on the themes she portrays in her music."
Wayna worked as a writer in the Clinton White House before launching her music career full time....
"May I call you Mr. Definitely?"
-Writer Christopher Hitchens to rapper Mos Def on Friday's "Real Time with Bill Maher." (Mos Def is short for "Most...
Do as I say, not as I do?
Do as I say, not as I do? Seems like former Vice-President Al Gore may be embracing that motto as evidenced Saturday night by his failure to turn off the lights of his Nashville home for “Earth Hour.”
Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research —the same organization that also found Gore's home consumes 20 times more electricity than the average household — told Yeas & Nays that Gore’s Belle Meade-section mansion did not go dark during the global campaign’s designated hour between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Johnson did admit that although it wasn’t as bright as can be, Gore did have on "a dozen or so" floodlights on his trees, a light shining on his address number, and a noticeable “bluish glow” from his powered-on televisions and computers coming from inside his house.
“It was very noticeable compared to the fact that even the streetlights on his street were off for the hour,” Johnson said. He also added how ironic it was that Nashville was one of the “official” U.S. cities of “Earth Day.”
Earth Hour was established by Australian conservationists in 2007. The Empire State Building in New York, the Sydney Opera House, the Golden Gate Bridge, Egypt’s Great Pyramids and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome are just...
There was some trash to be talked on Friday, as President Obama officially installed Eric Holder as attorney general.
"[S]everal months ago, Eric even had the audacity to comment to a reporter on my basketball skills," the president told the audience at George Washington University. "He said, and I quote, here's what he said, 'I'm not sure he's ready for my New York game.' We will see about that, Mr. Attorney General."
But Holder would have none of it (or at least he knows when to back down). When he took the microphone, he said the president is "never going to see my New York game. He's got 10 years on me, he works out ... but had I been 10 years...
Here's Renee Zellweger at Wednesday night's USO Metropolitan Washington Awards Dinner.
Photos: Gene...
"I've always said politics is like the circus: the worst job is cleaning up after the elephants. We're just beginning to find out how true that is."
-Democratic operative James Carville, in an email pitch to Democratic donors on Thursday. And no, he's not referring to Britney Spears' "Circus" tour....
What McCain nose
It’s clear Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is not as image conscious as his former rival, President Barack Obama.
McCain, appearing on stage at the Heritage Foundation Thursday with a hanky in hand, let ‘er rip into the microphone before addressing the capacity audience.
After clearing his nose, he let the words, um, fly out too.
In discussing his presidential campaign, he said with a laugh, “Fifty million people voted for me and Sarah Palin — well mostly for Sarah
Palin.”
But during his lecture, entitled "Generational Theft: The Fleecing of America's Children," the senator spent most of his time discussing the free market system and the pitfalls of the appropriations process.
On the economic crisis, the Maverick disagreed with the president, saying, “We have not devoted resources to the correct problems. Do not think raising taxes on anybody at this point in time will do anything but harm the economy.”
It wasn’t all party-based rhetoric. The more moderate McCain talked about re-branding his own party.
“Republicans need to refrain from becoming or appearing to become the party that just says ‘no,’” affirmed McCain. “With resolute action we can rise above.”
-Ryan...
Actors and drivers
"This is no time for theatrics,” as the saying goes. Well, the House Committee on Education and Labor thinks differently, as it took the time Thursday to discuss the importance of music and the arts — even in a recession.
Tim Daly, of "Sopranos" and "Private Practice" fame, flexed his celebrity muscles to testify on the great impact the economic crisis is having on the arts. He turned out not only as an actor but as co-president of The Creative Coalition, which frequently stumps for arts issues around town.
“In ways large and small, obvious and obscure, art and entertainment are important engines of our economy. We must take steps to ensure the continued vibrancy of our arts and entertainment,” Daly said.
Earlier in the day, another actor braved the rain to continue his work as spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s proposed education center.
Tom Selleck presided over the unveiling of the latest exhibits for The Wall that Heals, a newly refurbished, 45-foot trailer that travels across the country to allow people that may not be able to visit Washington experience the Wall.
“We can and must honor our heroes,” Magnum stated to the many veterans that gathered at the future spot on the mall that will house The Education Center at the Wall, an underground facility to give a...
Top chefs and a ‘Top Chef’
Michel Richad and Kaz Okochi
Chefs from your favorite D.C. restaurants sat together on a judges panel Wednesday night to rate chefs whose food you may never get the chance to sample.
Five embassy chefs-in-residence — representing Afghanistan, Haiti, Hungary, Morocco, and Trinidad & Tobago — prepared specialties from their region for guests and A-list chefs as part of Cultural Tourism D.C.'s Embassy Chef Challenge.
Michel Richard, Ris Lacoste, Kaz Okochi and Art Smith were the panel's star chefs. Dressed in their chef’s whites, they spent most of the evening together at a corner table, drinking, eating and joking about what country has the best food (France for Richard and Japan for Okochi, natch). Definitely a foodie's version of a power table.
Joining them on the panel were Washington's reality cooking show stars Rock Harper from Hell's Kitchen and Carla Hall from this season's “Top Chef,” who admitted to Yeas & Nays that she’s “visualized this moment for a long time,” finally being on the other side of a cooking competition as a judge.
But not everyone could go home a winner — there were only two awards to give out, the Judges' Choice and People's Choice Award.
Evidence that Washingtonians have good taste buds, Chef Nazha Kasraoui from the Embassy of the Kingdom of...
Dr. Rahm
President Barack Obama may have to travel to the Midwest to give the commencement speech at The University of Notre Dame, but his White House Chief of Staff need only walk a few blocks.
Rahm Emanuel will be this year’s commencement speaker at The George Washington University’s graduation on the National Mall this May. He will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service Degree.
More than 5,000 graduates from all GWU departments will hear Obama's WHCOS deliver his speech on May 17.
Emanuel is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence University. While in Congress, he gave the commencement speech at National-Louis University in...
Where is the love?
Thought President Barack Obama’s prime-time news conference was a bit boring? Well, what happened behind the scenes might have actually been more compelling than the president’s macroeconomic theories.
He called on who?
Many in the White House press corps were outraged at being shunned by the president Tuesday night. Obama passed over Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal reporters, picking on lesser-known reporters from Univision, Stars and Stripes newspaper, and Ebony. Even Ann Compton of ABC Radio conceded to the president that she was shocked to be called on.
Some claimed he was trying to appeal to a broader constituency, but one White House reporter said, nonetheless, “He thumbed his nose at protocol. The regular White House corps is losing their minds.”
But perhaps some rope-swinging will save the day. One photographer told us that although Obama shut out the usual White House pool reporters, he’s been inviting them to bring their kids to play on the new White House swing set.
Teleprompter out, huge flat screen in
Obama has been getting a lot of flak for his dependency on using the side-by-side teleprompters, so last night a huge monitor was set up right in the center, forcing him to look straight into the camera. Our sources said his advisers worry he’s not connecting to the people —...
Cold cut combo
At the D.C. Armory on Wednesday to promote a new anti-obesity program, Jared Fogel revealed he was asked to be a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”
How’d it come up? Well, the Subway sandwich shops spokesman appeared with boxer Laila Ali, who finished third on the show in 2007.
It sounds as if Fogel can’t exactly “float like a butterfly,” however. He conceded he turned down the offer because he has “four left feet.”
Also on hand: former U.S. soccer star Tab Ramos.
But it was Fogel who seemed to command the most attention. After all, even President Barack Obama knows the $5 footlong slinger.
“Aren’t you that Subway guy?” then-Sen. Obama had asked Fogel one afternoon while he walked around Congress — one of his many trips to Washington, had where he comes to meet and lobby members.
-Ryan Freeman...
He just can’t let it go
After holding a news conference last fall where he claimed vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was racist, Gregory Charles Royal now is taking her to court for failing to issue an official proclamation back in June 2007.
Royal claims that, as governor of Alaska, Palin failed to issue a Juneteenth Proclamation in 2007 as required by the Alaska Legislature. Juneteenth is an observance established by Congress to celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.
In the lawsuit filed March 5, Royal not only asks Palin to make the proclamation, but also to “pay restitution and compensatory damages” to him and the other affected individuals in Alaska.
But don’t be quick to say it’s all about the money (which is estimated at $75,000). The plaintiff wrote it was his “moral obligation, civic duty and personal anguish” to file this complaint.
We’ll let the courts decide that one....
Catch it!
With opening day just around the corner, baseball fever is gripping D.C. politicians.
First up: Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., who hosted a reception Tuesday night for former stolen-base king (and Washington native) Maury Wills. Thomas and Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham sponsored a bill last year that named the Banneker Recreation Center’s new ball field “Maury Wills Baseball Field.”
Next up: Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-N.Y., who raised some campaign dollars on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night with the assistance of Hall of Fame relief pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage....
John O’Hurley, best known for his role on “Seinfeld” and his appearance on “Dancing With the Stars,” is taking on the role of Billy Flynn in “Chicago,” which opens at the National Theatre on Wednesday.
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
I took my son to the IMAX movie “The Mysteries of the Great Lakes.” I’m a sucker for IMAX movies.
Q: What book are you reading?
Several: “1776,” “The Shack,” “The Rules of a Constructive Argument”
Q: What Web sites do you visit every morning?
petermanseye.com; pgatour.com; mlb.com
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
My wife and I have enjoyed watching “Entourage.”
Q: What’s new on your iPod?
Il...
Knock-out family
He may be done fighting in the ring, but in no way has Muhammad Ali stop
fighting for causes he believes in, coming to Washington this week to raise
money and support youth issues.
The first stop during his trip to Washington was at a fundraiser he hosted
Tuesday night at the Four Seasons Hotel in support of his hometown
Congressman, John Yarmuth (D-Kent). Yarmuth represents the city of
Louisville where Ali was raised and is home to his Muhammad Ali Center.
Ali, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease, spent most of the evening sitting
on a couch that overlooked the C&O Canal with friends. His guests — the
majority lobbyists who paid an upwards of a $5,000 donation to attend the
event — snacked on cheese and drank wine.
One lobbyist was overheard further explaining Ali's connection to the
Congressman to a guest, stating, "[Yarmurth] use to play in his backyard as
a little kids...but I'm sure Ali wouldn't remember."
A staffer for Yarmuth told Yeas & Nays that Ali wasn't just in town for the
fundraiser— he was scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama Tuesday to
discuss the president's upcoming bill aimed at helping adolescent boys. Just
as it was Michelle Obama's turn last week to work with inner-city girls, we
were told Obama's now working on a bill aimed at helping adolescent boys.
Calls to the White House for...
Crazy
The Ringling Brothers circus left town Sunday, but a new one rolled in just
two days later.
Britney Spears performed Tuesday night at the Verizon Center as part of her
"Circus" tour. Our spy saw her entourage unloading off three tour buses
Tuesday morning at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown.
Crews also were in Georgetown to film a new CBS pilot. The show about the
FBI titled "Washington Field" stars Cole Hauser from "Good Will Hunting" and
Eddie Cibrian, most recently known for his
alleged affair with LeAnn Rimes.
Hauser was spotted at the 20-something preppy go-to Smith Point in
Georgetown Saturday night. We're guessing he was letting loose before
filming his show's planned action scene complete with "fireballs" blowing up
over the Key Bridge this morning....
First pitcher?
Now that President Barack Obama skipped Saturday night¹s Gridiron Club
dinner, we have to wonder: Might he bail on another traditional presidential
perk — namely, throwing out the first pitch at the Nationals' home opener?
Nationals brass say he has been invited, and they¹re awaiting his
acceptance.
"The president always has an open invitation," Nats President Stan Kasten
told Yeas & Nays. "We don¹t have anything more to say."
The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment.
President Bush was 2-for-4 on first pitches once baseball returned to
Washington. He threw out the first ball in 2005 and 2008, while Vice
President Richard Cheney threw it out in 2006.
Even if you don¹t have Opening Day tickets, you still may catch Obama at
Nationals Park this year. Kasten said he¹s "been told" Obama plans to visit
the stadium as a fan on other dates.
Our money would be on the Nats series versus the Chicago Cubs on July 16...
NBC to HBO
Maria Shriver is making good use of her time in town to increase awareness
of Alzheimer's disease. The niece of President John F. Kennedy not only is
an honored guest at tonight's National Alzheimer's Gala, but she's also
hosting a screening of her new HBO documentary on the disease.
The author, activist and first lady of California hosted a breakfast for the
press Tuesday morning at the Hay Adams to discuss her newest project, a
documentary on Alzheimer¹s titled "Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?"
The 30-minute film is one part of HBO's four-part documentary series "The
Alzheimer¹s Project," which debuts May 10.
"No matter your age, you're a child of Alzheimer's," Shriver said before
screening the film, which features young children telling their stories
about what it is like caring for a grandparent with the disease. Shriver¹s
father, Sargent Shriver, was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.
Shriver reflected on how working as executive producer for this film was a
"great personal achievement" in her life and was happy to say that it was
"the first work I've done where my children — she and her husband, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, have four — are like,'Is there more?' at the end."
Her activism for the cause didn¹t stop there: Shriver was found Monday night
participating in a...
With the bleak economic outlook, the best investments may not be on Wall
Street.
They may be off the Alaskan coast, says Captain Keith Colburn of
Discovery Channel¹s cult hit TV series "Deadliest Catch.
"Crab stocks are very prolific and healthy right now," Colburn said Tuesday
at a hearing in the Longworth Building, which was quite a different venue
from where he spends most his days— aboard a 155-foot Alaskan crab boat
named The Wizard.
The crabber was in town to testify against offshore drilling on the coast of
Alaska on the anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The night before, Colburn dined at Sonoma, where he had steak, carpaccio and
oysters.
We guess he's sick of crab, but as someone at the restuarant
confided, they may start serving the Alaskan crabs.
Isn¹t that against some kind of law in...
The great Muhammad Ali was in Washington Tuesday night to host a fundraiser in support of his hometown Congressman, John Yarmuth (D-Kent).
Held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown, Ali mainly watched the event from a couch overlooking the C&O canel as his guests — mainly lobbyists — snacked on cheese and drank wine.
Ali is in town to meet with President Barack Obama today to discuss the president's upcoming bill aimed at helping adolescent boys. Ali has been dedicated to this issue for quite some time. His Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville is both a cultural attraction as well as a global learning center that deals with adolescent issues.
But aside from the center connecting the representative and the boxer, we over heard one guest say that Yarmuth use to play in his yard as a little boy....
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the few openly gay members of Congress, called Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a "homophobe" in an interview with the gay news Web site 365gay.com (video link).
Frank was talking about whether the Supreme Court would one day take a case on whether the Constitution allows legislatures to deny recognition to same-sex marriages.
"I wouldn't want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court," said Frank.
Neither Frank nor Scalia would provide comment, when asked by the Associated Press....
Antic-free zone
Terrell Owens is in Washington this week, but fear not football fans — he's not here to meet with the Redskins.
Owens will meet with the likes of Maria Shriver at the National Alzheimer's Gala, where the infamous football player will be recognized for more than his bad behavior. He will recieve the Alzheimer's Association's Young Champion Award Wednesday night for his work raising money and awareness for Alzheimer¹s Disease.
Yeas & Nays spoke with Owens (albeit almost two hours later than scheduled, after his handlers told us they “couldn’t find him” and “he lost his phone”) about what got him involved with the disease.
“My grandmother has suffered from dementia for years. She’s been there for me my whole life, so I wanted to give back ... by using my likeness to increase awareness,” Owens said.
So does he think this award may change some of the public’s negative attitude toward him?
“Probably not,” he conceded with a laugh. “God has a way of doing things. [Getting this award] is Him showing me He’s still in my corner.”
And his thoughts on his future in football?
“I’m excited and fortunate to be in Buffalo,” he said. “Half the teams in the league didn’t want me, so I’m glad to be on a team that...
Shrinkage
Too bad Alexandra Wentworth can’t grab guests off her husband George Stephanopoulos’ Sunday morning show to appear on her series, “Head Case” — watching her play a psychiatrist to some of Hollywood’s hottest stars makes us wish she could do the same to politicians.
“Could you imagine being a fly on the wall for their therapy?” Wentworth asked Yeas & Nays while preparing for a photo shoot at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown. “I mean, politicians are just as crazy, if not more [than Hollywood celebrities], but they’re much too guarded and fearful of being misconstrued or misquoted.”
Wentworth explained to us how she devised the idea for her Starz series two years ago while waiting in line at the supermarket in Los Angeles. (The show began its second season Friday.)
“I saw a picture of Marilyn Manson, and I thought, ‘How do you go from a typical kid to that?’ ” she said.
Unscripted and improvised makes for an unpredictable show — be it Andy Dick suffering from PTSD after starring in a Vietnam-era film, to Macy Gray being mad at Michelle Obama because she should be married to President Barack Obama, to Joel Madden wishing he could quit his band Good Charlotte and become an orthodontist.
And although it brings the laughs, it can get unintentionally...
Historic run
Runners will tread on a path paved by history in The American Odyssey Relay Race as they sweat their way through our nation’s battlefields and famous memorials during the two-day race. So who better to lead the Washington team than Mayor Marathoner, Adrian Fenty?
Fenty is set to captain one of the 150 teams — hailing from 25 states — that will take their marks behind the starting line April 24 in Gettysburg, Pa., to raise money for The Wellness Community D.C. The team’s 12 runners — each of whom will be passed the baton three times to split the race with teammates — will cross the famous Mason-Dixon Line and move into Maryland. By the end of the 200 miles, participants will have run through the Antietam battlefield, the C&O Canal, the Appalachian Trail and Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
The final leg will be here April 25 — a dash past the Lincoln Memorial, around the Jefferson Memorial at the Tidal Basin to the finish line at the FDR...
President Barack Obama has once again gone digital, this time putting the
tickets for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll online.
Just as he used the Internet to get more people involved in his campaign,
Obama hopes to achieve the same result at his first Roll. By making the
tickets to the event available online, parents can avoid the headache of
having to stand in line for hours the weekend before. It also makes it
easier for out-of-town guests to check out the festivities.
Information for the April 13 event, which features sports, storytelling,
live music and an egg hunt for children ages 10 and younger, will be
available Thursday at, where else,...
Sam Grow is an independent artist from Waldorf who has performed with Kanye
West and written music for Journey. He invites fans to watch him film a
music video Saturday in Purcellville, Va., as part of the Goose Creek Live
Performance Series.
Q: What¹s the last movie you saw?
"He's Just Not that Into You"
Q: What book are you reading?
I'm not much of a reader, but love Guitar Player magazine
Q: What Web sites do you visit first in the morning?
MySpace, for my music page
Q: What's your favorite TV show?
"House"
Q: What's new on your iPod?
Keaton Simons. He's an independent artist from Los Angeles that I did a show
with a couple weeks ago....
What nomination?
Tom Daschle was back on Capitol Hill on Friday, appearing surprisingly cool for someone who had to withdraw his nomination for secretary of health and human services only six weeks ago after hearings in the same spot.
Upon arriving at the Rayburn building for a conference sponsored by Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute, we at Yeas & Nays were caught off guard to see the former Senate majority leader sitting behind the check-in table.
Daschle, who was there to speak on a universal health care panel, greeted us with a friendly “hello” and went back to playing with his BlackBerry.
After a double take — it wasn’t just that he was lacking an entourage that was unusual but also his signature red glasses — we further chatted up the South Dakotan.
“I’ve been super busy,” Daschle told Yeas & Nays. “There’s so much to do to reform health care. What I talk about in my book, I’m working on now,” Daschle said, giving him a nice little plug.
Hoping to finally get him to resemble a man who just underwent a big political scandal, we asked the question everyone’s wondering about: How is his current relationship with the President Barack Obama?
“We’re still in touch … the president is really good,” was all we could get out of Daschle...
Lincoln logs
It was the past come to life at the Lincoln Cottage Friday, as nonprofit conservation organization American Forests became the latest group to celebrate President Lincoln's bi-centennial - this time planting three trees that represented significant moments from his life.
Students from ABC and William E. Doar, Jr. charter schools watched as the first tree, a dogwood, was planted on the grounds. Although our 16th President's home state of Kentucky's official tree is the Tulip Poplar, Executive Director of American Forests' Deborah Gangloff explained that the dogwood is a “very common tree he encountered in his youth” in the southern state's town of Sinking Spring.
The second tree planted, with the help of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln impersonators Charles Brady and Bonnie Fairbank, was the honeylocust. This thorn-bearing tree is a descendant of a tree that grows in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the site of his famous address.
The final tree that was planted in honor of Lincoln Friday, which appropriately was also the first day of spring, didn't have to travel far. The White Oak can still be found right here in D.C. near the Lincoln Memorial,...
Off limits?
Comedian Frank Caliendo is known for his impersonations, however one was noticeably absent from his performance Saturday night at the Leukemia Ball - President Barack Obama.
“It's not realistic in my act. I still think people are worried about making fun of him because of his race, ” Caliendo told Yeas & Nays minutes before performing in the round at the Washington Convention Center.
“It's the same as Cartman from South Park attempting to do it,” he joked.
But there is someone Caliendo believes could pull off some Obama jokes - this year's White House Correspondents’ Dinner entertainer Wanda Sykes.
A veteran to performing at the May dinner, Caliendo believes “[Sykes] will do a good job, but she has to be careful.” He explained that just because her and the president are of the same race “doesn't give her free-for-all, but it does help.”
“[Stephen] Colbert's [2006] performance was brilliant but evil, she needs to stay away from that...stay away from racial stereotypes,” Caliendo suggested. “Goofy always beats edgy,” he added.
So is there anyone she should look to before performing in Washington? “Richard Pryor. I think she can do something like...
Heidi play, not ‘Heidi game’
The most famous Swiss Miss is coming to town with a message of hope that rivals President Barack Obama.
Imagination Stage celebrated their April 4th premiere of “Heidi” Thursday night at the Swiss embassy.
Mark Richardson, president-elect of the Bethesda theater was one of many who feel Heidi will appeal to Americans for its “universal message of hope and the way she overcame obstacles.”
The Swiss Ambassador to the U.S., who opened his modern residence for the event, had a different opinion.
“Americans like emotions, and Heidi is full of them,” said Urs Ziswiler. “Kinda like why you love...
‘Hook Up Joynt’
“This night is about everyone talking into the mic — but not yet. I’ll wait till you all get juiced up.”
Thus did Carol Joynt, owner of Nathan’s of Georgetown, kicking off the restaurant’s 40th anniversary celebration Thursday night.
Over cocktails, wine and a three-course dinner, some of her most loyal patrons filled the back dining room to tell their Nathan’s stories.
Jim Kimsey, the founder of AOL, visited Nathan’s in its very first year, 1969. “I just got out of the Army and came back from Vietnam,” he said. “I had a crew cut and wore a thin lapel suit I bought in China. One guy said, ‘Jim, look around. Do you see how different you look from everyone else?’ They all had mutton chops.”
Legendary lobbyist Thomas Quinn recalled that in those days, the laws required bar patrons to sit while they drank. “Several of us went down to the local court and perjured ourselves to say that we never stood up to drink,” he said.
Michael Kelly, bartender there in the 1970s and 80s, remembered the time that he and Howard Joynt, Carol’s late husband, carpeted the floor of the bar with sod.
But most of the stories involved meeting future wives and husbands, aw well as sparking relationships of shorter durations. On her blog, Joynt later joked,...
Sally Field, in town for the Vital Voices event at the Kennedy Center last Thursday, waits for her driver at Dulles.
Photo: Mark...
Bad day to play hooky
While her husband’s away, first lady Michelle Obama will play — mentor, that is. She enlisted the help of a long list of celebrities to join her Thursday to visit area high school students to talk to them about their career goals.
Mrs. Obama started the daylong event in honor of National Women’s History Month at the White House, welcoming the celebrities who would help her surprise high school students with visits. The high-profile women included singers Alicia Keys and Sheryl Crow; actresses Fran Drescher, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, Alfre Woodward, Kerry Washington and Tracee Ellis Ross; athletes Dominique Dawes and Lisa Leslie Woodward; and make-up artist Bobbi Brown.
The first lady traveled to Anacostia High School, where the 13 students chosen to speak with her gasped as she walked in. Looking fashionable in all black — black jacket, black skinny pants with a thin black belt and black patent flats — Obama related to the students by discussing her own childhood as the driving force to her coming to meet with them today.
“I lived right near the University of Chicago, but I never had a relationship with it, I never stepped foot on it…. I thought maybe there are a lot of people who feel that way about the White House, especially in D.C.”
But the discussion wasn’t all about the importance of...
Throw down
Just because Bush and Cheney are out of office doesn’t mean protesters have stopped finding things about them to hate.
Take the activist group Codepink, who met outside the Embassy of Iraq on Thursday to protest the sentencing of Muthader al-Zaidi, the man who threw his shoe at President Bush last fall. Al-Zaidi was sentenced to three years in prison for the hurl.
The group chose to re-enact the throw seen ’round the world by having one member dress up in a huge papier-mache head of President Bush while the other pink-wearing protesters threw old shoes at her. An added update to the head was a black-and-white stripped prisoner’s hat to symbolize their belief that Bush, not al Zaidi, should be in jail.
Killing two birds with one stone, they also protested the war in Iraq, as did many others around town — Thursday was the sixth anniversary of the United States entering the war. In keeping with the theme, they lined the sidewalk with baby shoes, each set representing a child victim....
17
Number of current U.S. senators who were in the Senate when C-SPAN2 began live floor coverage in June 1986
1
Number of current U.S. representatives born after C-SPAN’s March 1979 start
7,439
Number of individual guests who have appeared on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” morning call-in programs since the series began in 1995
3.7 million
Number of times C-SPAN’s video of President Obama’s inaugural address has been viewed on...
Does a body good
Sports stars and kids alike came out to pump up the Capitol today as they hopped, skipped and jumped across the building's west garden.
The exercise enthusiasts, who included DeAngelo Hall of the Washington Redskins and Brendan Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens, came to support the improvement of physical education curriculum in schools.
"When kids go to school we work on their minds, but we don't work on their bodies," said Ayenbadejo.
"Nowadays, kids aren't playing outside," said Hall. "They're sitting in front of the T.V. playing video games...Even my own kids," said Hall.
But it wasn't all talk and no play. Today the fitness fanatics included Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Reps. Ron Kind (D.-Wisc.), Zach Wamp (R.-Tenn.) and Jay Inslee (D.-Wash) who reintroduced the "FIT Kids Act," a resolution to fortify physical education programs throughout the country.
Members of the Congressional Fitness Caucus expressed growing concern with children's health.
"The statistics on childhood obesity are staggering, and we need to get them going in the other direction," said Wamp.
Fitness guru Richard Simmons have also been working closely with the Congressional Fitness Caucus to improve physical education in schools. "Don't worry, Richard Simmons is not going to be drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers,"...
In the ‘House’
Photo: Robert Ascroft at Monaco Reps for Capitol File
You can’t blame “House” star and Georgetown native Olivia Wilde for plugging her alma mater — even if it is her gradeschool alma mater.
“I went to Georgetown Day School, which is a fantastic school where I was hoping the little Obamas would go!” she said in the spring issue of Capitol File magazine.
She also said though she has been active in nonprofits such as Doctors Without Borders and Power Up Gambia, the 2008 election has her getting involved at home. “After working on this election, I’m like, ‘I care about my own country!’ ” she said. “After eight years of feeling really cynical and unpatriotic, Obama has inspired me to take care of the other people in America.”
Not that she’s completely idealistic. In comparing Los Angeles and D.C., she observed, “Each city is built for one industry and everyone there talks about that constantly. Here, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a producer, and there it’s a congressman.”
Then again, she needs only to look to her own family for a bit of both worlds. Her parents, Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, both are film producers and political journalists....
The House Republican Study Committee is making hay over President Barack Obama’s extracurricular activities of late.
Striking a sarcastic tone, an RSC release says Obama “will send a clear and unmistakable message to the American people tonight that he is ready to lead as the country faces a financial crisis, market meltdowns and a host of mounting diplomatic problems: he’s taking a break from filling out his NCAA tournament bracket to appear on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.’ The L.A. Times reports Garth Brooks will follow Obama. Maybe he’ll play ‘Shameless.’...
Those New York pols sure are proud of their local college basketball programs. Or maybe they're just delusional.
First up: Rep. Maurice Hinchey. In a release, the Democrat claims that this year's NCAA Tournament final will feature ... wait for it ... Binghamton and Cornell. To be fair, both are in his district, so he's just playing favorites. "Once Binghamton cruises past Duke in what some will mistakenly characterize as an 'upset,' but what will really be 'an expected trouncing,' and Cornell teaches Missouri how to play basketball, we'll be well on our way to a championship game showdown between the Bearcats and Big Red."
Next is Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is sending President Obama a Syracuse Orange T-shirt, after he talked up their chances on "Good Morning America" this week.
“The Orange have had a great season and they deserve presidential support going into the tournament," she said. "Personally, I have a hard time picking between all the New York teams in the...
Played one on TV
Who knew the man who took on Jaws was such a history buff?
“I like to tell my friends I was born in 1812,” actor Richard Dreyfuss said Wednesday at the National Press Club. Dreyfuss, whose latest role is spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust, was there to announce the nation’s 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields.
A frequent voice against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq (he was happy to portray an evil Cheney in “W.”) has a different opinion when it comes to the war fought on our country’s turf.
“I’m for the preservation of this war, the preservation of these battlefields that show us at our best and us at our worst,” the Academy Award-nominee said. “The American Civil War is easily the most defining act in American history — the world stopped and looked at us in awe. They were stood both horrified and in wonder.”
Dreyfuss not only played a teacher on screen in “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” but he has also been a longtime supporter of the need for civic education. He said he believes battlefields can act as classrooms. “The irony of America is that everyone else knows what America means except Americans themselves,” he said.
Later in the day, Dreyfuss was scheduled to lay a wreath at the African-American Civil War Memorial...
Madness at the office
Those worried about getting caught sneaking peaks at NCAA tournament hoops while on the job are getting a little cover from the network televising all the games.
CBS is streaming all the games online, and they’re promoting what they call a recession-friendly gadget that makes it easier to slack off at work and still watch the action on your computer. Their “Boss Button” instantly generates a fake spreadsheet that pops up on the screen, blocking the game you’re viewing — and likely letting you keep your job.
The network said 2.5 million people clicked the button during last year’s tournament and, based on the fact this feature now has its own sponsor, we suspect even more clicking to come.
But unless you work at a baseball stadium, you may still find yourself in trouble if your boss wants a closer look at your spreadsheet’s rows and columns. We’ve heard they actually show how much pizza, beer and pork rinds are consumed during sporting...
Down the Hatch
Last Friday on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said he’s lobbying Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to appear at this year’s Funniest Celebrity Contest.
But, Norquist tells us, that might not be his biggest “get.” He said he’s also been tasked with inviting Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher to crack wise at the event, which takes place in September at the Improv.
Also on the wish list for Norquist and contest founder Richard Siegel: Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.; House Minority Leader John Boehner, O.H.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Fox’s Brit Hume; Mike Huckabee; George Will; House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, Va.; NBC’s Chuck Todd; and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
“I’ve always wanted to get a Supreme Court justice as a judge,” adds Siegel.
Siegel has already expanded the event to San Francisco and is now focused on duplicating the contest in Baltimore, Chicago and Atlanta....
Gholam Reza Afkhami is a senior scholar at the Foundation for Iranian Studies and author of “The Life and Times of the Shah,” which focuses on the life of Mohammad Reza Shah, the last Iranian monarch.
Q: What CD are you listening to?
Chopin, Nocturne, Opus 9
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Q: What Web sites do you read in the morning?
New York Times; Le Monde; ISNA
Q: What book are you currently reading?
“Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
“The Daily Show with Jon...
“Teddy Kennedy wishes he could be here tonight. But I guarantee you this much: The thought of all of you here tonight has his eyes smiling, and he expects you to party. ... Stay as long as you want. Try to avoid putting any lampshades on your head.”
— President Barack Obama, exhorting his St. Patrick’s Day party guests to have a good time Tuesday...
Puff puff pass legislation?
Green was the talk of the town Tuesday with all things leprechauns and shamrocks, but the Cato Institute was more interested in focusing on a different kind of green altogether.
The debate on medical marijuana moved from California to Washington as advocates Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project and Donald Abrams, director at the Osher Center at the University of California (in San Francisco, natch), argued the case for legalization against Robert DuPont, president of the Institute for Behavior and Health and the debate was “highly” emotional
An aggravated Abrams had been bothered by DuPont’s argument throughout the debate, shown when either having to fix DuPont's out-of-date pot-lingo (“we don’t ‘smoke leaves’, it’s not the 60s anymore, said Abrams) or his list of statistics.
After DuPont closed his remark stating that “marijuana is a leading cause of auto accidents in the United States.” Abrams got the most “hotboxed” of the discussion in response to this claim, stating, “That’s ridiculous, do we have to listen to this? I’m done with this.”
We wonder what he did after the discussion to “chill?”
-Ryan...
President Obama took the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day to announce that he’s nominating Dan Rooney, the owner of the champion Pittsburgh Steelers, to be ambassador to Ireland.
“Dan is a great friend,” said the president at the White House Tuesday. “He and his family are as gracious and thoughtful a group of people as I know, and so I know that he is just going to do an outstanding job.”
But perhaps no one is happier about it than Rooney’s nephew, freshman Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., who said, “I know he will do a great job representing the United States.”
It was part of a big week for the elder Rooney. On Monday, the American Ireland Fund presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award....
Is this thing on?
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., took a turn as "Glinda the Good Witch," of Wizard of Oz fame, in the Annual Arena Stage Benefit for Community Engagement on Monday night.
Welcoming Dorothy (played by NBC-4 sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak) to the enchanted land of Crystal City, Norton was outfitted in the traditional magic wand and pink headdress. But the latter, it seemed, wasn't the most comfortable of costume attire.
After she left the stage, Norton — her microphone still on — could be heard pleading, "Can I take it off now?"
Also appearing: Councilmen Jack Evans and Tommy Wells, Arlington Judge William T. Newman and Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., who cracked up the crowd with his one recurring like: "I like milk!"
Arena also announced it was naming its American Artist Award for Robert Prosky, the local actor who passed away last year. Prosky appeared in 126 Arena productions, as well as "Rudy," Mrs. Doubtfire" and other films.
Lindsay Czarniak as Dorothy (photos courtesy Arena Stage)....
Irish you a safe night
Fado Irish Pub could have been the safest place in D.C. this St. Patrick’s Day, as area police gathered at the bar Tuesday morning to celebrate the day. But the Beltway’s finest know better than to drink on the job — they were there to breathe a sigh of relief as checks changed hands to pay for the evening’s free cab rides.
SoberRide, a program sponsored by Washington Regional Alcohol Program, or WRAP, aims to prevent alcohol-related accidents and deaths in the Washington area by giving drinkers a safe and free option home. The up to $50 fare per rider is funded by donations from local companies, such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which donated $15,000 to the program (possibly to prevent people from crashing its rental cars?).
Sounds like maybe some of the boys in blue did get a chance to share some brews. The 4 p.m.-to-4 a.m. free taxi service helped alleviate the heavy number of DUI arrests typical of St. Patty’s Day.
Patrick Burke, assistant chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said that in 2007, “14,796 DUI arrests were made in the Greater Washington area.
“That’s an average of one every 45 minutes,” he said.
And don’t think WRAP only covers cab fares as we celebrate the national holiday of another country. They’ll be back this Independence Day to protect American drunks as...
'Girlfriends'
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., lunched with first lady Michelle Obama Tuesday at B. Smith’s Restaurant at Union Station, the first time the two had gotten together by themselves.
In a statement, Norton said the lunch conversation was all over the map “like any girlfriends who put no limits on their...
The Green House
The White House went green Tuesday, and we’re not talking about being environmentally friendly.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the fountains on the north and south lawns were dyed green, making it the first time the water in the fountains at the White House has been dyed.
First lady Michelle Obama came up with the idea based on her hometown of Chicago’s tradition of dying the city’s river green every year to mark Ireland’s national holiday.
“It’s a little piece of home for our new home,” said spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld.
The color green isn't the only Irish import the Obamas welcomed to the White House on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Brian Cowen spent several hours there as well.
President Obama noted that Cowen hails from County Offaly, and "it was brought to my attention on the campaign that my great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side came to America from a small village in County Offaly, as well. We are still speculating on whether we are related."
Cowen later responded that he had checked, and there were no Kearneys (the surname of Obama's forbears) on the register in his district. "But if there were, I assure you, I'd have them on my campaign team."
Later on, on Capitol Hill, referring to how his name is sometimes jokingly spelled "O'Bama," the president...
Kick start
Some say it’s not how well you do something, but how good you look doing it. Seems that’s the mentality being embraced by the women of the Washington Freedom, who all got makeovers Monday in preparation of their new season.
In order to put their best face forward, the soccer players — lead by U.S. Women’s National Team star Abby Wambach and University of Maryland star Emily Janss — received highlights (some opting for pink!), manicures, pedicures and massages at the Cahra Salon and Spa in Gaithersburg.
The day spa’s owner and former professional soccer player, Jhonny Davila, is involved with local youth soccer teams and offered his services free of charge to the professional team so the team’s young fan could meet their idols.
They all left looking and feeling better, but we’ll have to wait until their season kicks off March 29 to see if they have pretty toes both on and off the field.
(Courtsey...
Long lost brothers?
“What is it with Irish shoemakers that they spawn politicians?” So asks Megan Smolenyak, chief family historian at Ancestry.com, now that she’s delved deeper into the Irish roots of both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
ccording to Smolenyak, both Obama’s and Biden’s Irish relatives were shoemakers by trade, and arrived in the United States within six months of one another in the mid-19th century.
So we couldn’t help but ask: Might they be distant relatives?
"They come from slightly different parts of the country,” Smolenyak said, “and the surnames don’t match up. But never say never.”
Obama’s heritage can be traced back to the small towns of Moneygall and Shinrone in County Offaly, Ireland. His third great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, immigrated in 1849, his family following a year later. They ultimately settled in Fayette County, Ohio, among Irish relatives. Smolenyak found a tombstone in Ohio that had markings for a Kearney family.
Biden’s Irish family can likely be traced to Carlingford, County Louth. His great-great-grandfather, Owen Finnegan, immigrated in 1949, and his family also followed a year later. They would settle in Pennsylvania.
“Ireland is actually some of the toughest research out there,” said Smolenyak. “In 1922,...
36.5 million
Number of United States residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2007, more than eight times the population of Ireland itself
24
Percentage of Massachusetts residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2007, double the rate of 12 percent for the nation as a whole
581 million
Cabbage production, in pounds, of California in 2007, more than any other state
Source: U.S. Census...
Mumbo jumbo
Dr. Deepak Chopra may go under the professional title of doctor, physicist and author, but in Hollywood, he is the go-to guru for guidance. So lucky for us in Washington, the spiritual counselor expressed his confidence President Barack Obama is a good leader — or so we think he did.
At first it was hard to tell what Hollywood’s favorite alternative medicine man thought of Obama while speaking Monday at a conclave on health and wellness at the National Press Club. After all, stating Obama “transcends all national and racial identity” isn’t the best characteristic for a leader of a nation.
Even after he added Obama was the “manifestation of where a collective consciousness wants to go,” we still had doubts and thought perhaps not all things Oprah (Chopra is one of her “favorite things”) go Obama.
But it wasn’t until his final statement, “Obama is an inspiration to change the world,” that we finally understood the India-born Chopra is a supporter of the American president.
Maybe we need to buy one of his 50 books on spirituality, listen to his weekly Sirius radio show or catch him on “Larry King Live” to better understand his new age language. Or on second thought, maybe this guy doesn’t need more money — he once admitted to Stephen Colbert he wasn’t a...
Bush still kills
It isn't just the staffers, legislators and journalists who are trying to find their legs in a new administration. It's also the comedians.
"I'm in my own transition period here," said Frank Caliendo, the gifted impressionist and star of "Frank TV." Caliendo will play the Leukemia Ball at the Convention Center on March 21, then returns to perform at the Patriot Center on May 9.
But first, the man who was known for doing a spot-on take on George W. Bush is trying to iron out his Barack Obama impression.
The first challenge is getting the voice itself down. "He starts out slow and speaks fast at the end" of his phrases, said Caliendo, much like another of his favorite impressions, John Madden. He explained that you have to find the "little gaps and pauses" in his speech to make it funny."
And pronunciation of anyone's consonants is key. The president, he said, "has two voices: The speech voice and the question-answering voice. ... With the questions, you hear all the 'uh ... uh ... uh.'"
The second challenge is formulating the jokes. "People don't laugh that much at Obama," he said. "I still think there's a huge racial hang-up."
He said the situation now is actually similar to doing Bush after 9/11. "It was a very serious time," he said. "I was doing Bush but very...
We’re all Irish today
If only international politics could be settled on the basis of sporting allegiances, then Gerry Adams might be on to something.
Speaking Monday morning at the National Press Club, Adams, the leader of Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein party and the longtime face of the movement for a unified Ireland, pointed out that Irish identity is bigger than political borders.
“Ireland is playing Wales in rugby on Saturday,” he said. “Every unionist will be supporting Ireland. No one will be supporting Wales.”
Ireland could play England in tiddlywinks, he continued, and all of Northern Ireland would support Ireland.
Ditto Irish culture and arts. “Even the huge success of ‘Riverdance’ was seen as something everyone could enjoy,” Adams said. “You didn’t have to give up your unionism to enjoy the magic of that.”
And it’s a big week for Adams. During Monday and today’s St. Patrick’s Day, he had meetings scheduled with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and former Sen. George Mitchell, as well as a White House reception....
Coach in Chief
We know President Barack Obama has athletic skills on the court, but what about from the sidelines, as our new Coach-in-Chief?
Joe Ehrmann, whom Parade magazine hailed as the “most important Coach in America” in a 2004 cover story, thinks that he “has a difficult task” ahead of him but "feels this time of discontent presents a perfect opportunity” for him to act on his message of change.
Baltimore-based Ehrmann was town Thursday night to speak to the Gonzaga High School community and told Yeas & Nays he has high hopes that Obama¹s “tremendous character” and “compassion” will provide America the coach it needs.
And Ehrmann should know. He was the subject of the bestselling book “Season of Life,” a NFL defensive lineman for 12 years, and is currently writing a book called “Coach for America.”
Erhmann believes that Obama critics who say he's not delivering on his campaign promises have jumped the gun. "It's a process. It takes time to get a couple of wins but soon you have a championship team," Ehrmann said. Afterall, it is still the first 100-days or as Erhmann called it, his “preseason...
McCain madness
The NCAA Tournament field is set, which means that once again, Sen. John McCain has tied his picks to a fundraising pitch. For the third year, McCain's PAC, now called "Country First," is asking supporters for their contact information in exchange for the chance to "compare [their] basketball bracket to John McCain's."
Of course, while information is good, cash is better. The bracket invitation is also tied to a pitch for a contribution of "$25, $50,$100, $250, $500 or more."
McCain's not the only high-profile pol to release his picks. According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, President Obama will release his own picks this week....
Thin Mint-ality
Could the Girls Scouts of America fix the economy better than President Barack Obama or Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner? Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, thinks so, telling a group of women Friday how the sales of Samoas or Thin Mints provides the best fiancial training.
“Any Girl Scout mom would be better at balancing a federal budget,” said Blackburn Friday at the Congressional Women’s Network, where she discussed her new book (or more accurately workbook), "Life Equity: Realize Your True Value and Pursue Your Passions at Any Stage In Life.”
But it wasn’t just cookies that got the women talking. In closing her speech, the Heritage Foundation presented Rep. Blackburn with every conservative girl’s must have — “The Pretty in Mink” 2009 calendar, which features the “favorite leaders of today’s conservative movement” (think Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin) wearing mink coats and bright red lipstick, made to resemble their 1940s hero, Clare Boothe...
Sightings
That was Latina music legend Gloria Estefan touring the Smithsonian museums with her kids in tow on Saturday afternoon. Estefan and her family were in town because her husband, Emilio, received an award on Friday night from the American Task Force for Lebanon (he's part Lebanese).
Meanwhile, Bill Cosby was seen at the Ritz Carlton on M Street. Cosby was in town late last week for media appearances on "Hardball" and...
Poor billionaires
Two of the biggest bits of news that came with Wednesday night’s release of this year’s Forbes World’s Billionaires List could’ve been predicted months ago: First, Bill Gates once again sits atop the list. Second, he’s got a lot less company.
Here’s a rundown of Washington-area billionaires (yes, there are still some left) who still hold spots on the list, despite its decline from 1,125 tycoons to just 793.
Proving people still love candy no matter the economic situation, John and Forrest Mars of Mars Inc. are the wealthiest Washingtonians. The pair comes in at No. 43 with a net worth of $9 billion dollars. We can’t help but find it a bit ironic that their Virginians’ grandparents started the company during the Great Depression, offering workers the 5-cent Snickers bar to fill them up.
Another set of billionaire brothers right here in the District is Mitchell and Steven Rales. Even though they own manufacturing company Danaher Corp., we wonder if there’s a bit of sibling rivalry — Mitchell has the No. 296 spot, and $200 million more than his brother, who sits at No. 318. Their combined loss of $1 billion since last year is a small fraction of the overall decline from 2008’s list, which totals $1.4 trillion.
Speaking of rivalries, there may be a new one between the Redskins and the...
T.O.
The Redskins didn't want Terrell Owens. But the Alzheimer's Association does.
The organization announced Thursday that it will present the troublesome NFL wide receiver with its "Young Champions Award" at the Alzheimer's Gala at the National Building Museum on March 25.
Owens was cut by the Dallas Cowboys earlier this offseason and remained in limbo for several days, as other teams contemplated whether his on-field production was worth his reputation as a "clubhouse cancer."
But the Buffalo Bills signed him last week. So the Alzheimer's Gala may be your only chance to see T.O. in D.C. this year, because the 'Skins don't play the Bills in '09.
A spokeswoman for the gala did not respond to a question about why Owens is getting the award....
Which way the wind blows
The 2008 election cycle is fading into memory, but Bill Ayers, the former Weather Underground terrorist and Chicago neighbor of President Barack Obama, still draws fire in some quarters.
Cliff Kincaid, president of America’s Survival Inc., a conservative group that keeps tabs on the United Nations and international terrorism, called a news conference Thursday at the National Press Club to discuss “Justice for the Victims of Weather Underground Terrorism.”
Kincaid said he believes Ayers and his wife, fellow Underground alum and Chicago-area professor Bernadine Dohrn, should still be of concern to the public.
“Their victims are college students,” he warned. “Ayers is free not only to brainwash college students, but to travel to Marxist-controlled Venezuela. … He returned to the U.S. after hailing Presidente Chavez to resume his brainwashing activities,” Kinkaid said.
James Pera, a retired police officer who witnessed the aftermath of San Francisco’s Park Police station bombing by the Weather Underground on Feb. 16 1970, asked the audience to “think about how these two Marxist-Leninist traitors are allowed to breathe the air of freedom, when they should be gasping on the stagnant stenches of a prison cell or better yet moldering in a post-execution grave site.”
But it...
All in the family
“The Sopranos” star Vincent Curatola said Wednesday, “I’m here for my family.”
But before you run and hide from the man who played a mafia boss, he was talking about his real family and not the Lupertazzi crime family he was part of on television.
Curatola, whose father passed away from kidney failure, was on the Hill on Wednesday to support the kickoff of National Kidney Day.
“I’m here to raise awareness and let people know that, yes, dialysis may not be fun, but it’s much better than the alternative — death,” he said.
This theme of family continued while he spoke to Yeas & Nays, telling us that the cast of the fictional Soprano family has “literally raised millions” for his cause, and he supports their causes as well.
And although the focus of the Rayburn House Office Building reception was on kidney disease, most in attendance were no doubt focused on the actor, who didn’t run from the TV character, but rather embraced his wiseguy image.
Sporting a black suit with a crimson red pocket square and a blue unbuttoned oxford shirt, Curatola (or was it Johnny Sack?) explained how “refreshing” it was being back in Washington “and not have to visit the FBI or IRS.” He then warned the representatives in attendance, “I’ve got pictures of...
Bad blood?
Embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said it wasn't emotional for him when Barack Obama was inaugurated, explaining that he doesn't "get caught up in that way."
Could it be because there's been tension between them ever since Obama arrived in Washington as a senator? In a wide-ranging interview with Lisa DePaulo on GQ.com, Steele says, "I was two years into my term. At that time I was the only African American lieutenant governor in the country [and] I reached out to him brother to brother."
He said his staff reached out to Obama's staff "more than several" times and "his office told my staff they didn’t see any need for the two of us to meet. So I’m like, 'Oh-kay. All right. I don’t know what THAT’s all about, but that’s fine.' ... And then when I ran for the senate (in ’06), he was the only African American elected official in the country to come and campaign against me. Nobody else."
Steele said it "bothered" him, but if Obama invited him to come to the Oval Office right now, he'd be there "in a heartbeat."
Steele largely dismissed the promise of bipartisanship, however, saying "Lalaland and Rodney King time and we all wanna get along. But that is not the nature of American politics. That is not the nature of politics,...
Feelin' groovy
Lately, it seems as if every day a musician or two comes to the Hill to drum up support for this issue or that. Wednesday, it was LeAnn Rimes’ turn. The country songstress lobbied House and Senate members on behalf of a new bill that would increase funding for research into psoriasis, which Rimes has battled since age 2.
“As I entered the public spotlight, I went to great lengths to hide my psoriasis,” she said of the rash that once covered 80% of her body.
“Although the physical pain of living with psoriasis has been difficult at times, it has been much more of an emotional struggle. The physical pain doesn’t even compare to the pain of embarrassment and fear that someone is going to think you’re not a normal person.”
This embarassment has played a big role in her public appearances "because part of what I sell is how I look," she said. Although in remission now, LeAnn explained that every red carpet she's walked she's worn a long dress with long sleeves (but not today -- knee-length knit dress) and one time was forced to stay covered in 104 degree weather.
She was joined in her dicussion by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). While on the Hill, she also met with her home-state senator, Bob Corker (R) of Tennessee, as well as Reps. David Wu (D-Ore.), Jim Gerlach (R-Penn.), Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), and Bart...
More than memorials
Only blocks from where her memorial to the Vietnam War brought her fame as an undergrad at Yale University, Maya Lin is showcasing her newest art exhibit — but this time indoors at the Corcoran Museum.
“Systematic Landscapes” addresses Lin’s notions of landscape and geologic phenomena to challenge our perspective of the environment that has been altered because of new technologies — or so said the art professionals who introduced her. We’re not really sure what that means, so we’ll just say we liked it.
Most stunning of her works, which are meant to “question and reinterpret our experience of land,” is titled “2X4” and made up of — you guessed it — two-by-four boards. More than 55,000 wood pieces of differing heights combine to form a huge hill (or ocean swell, depending on how you look at it) that you can’t help but want to run up. (In fact, Lin suggested in her opening remarks allowing visitors special days to do just that).
Also on display is a piece titled “Pin River-Potomac.” Lin, who likes to honor her exhibit’s surrounding areas, created the wall installation with tens of thousands of straight pins to give visitors a linear view of the Potomac River.
As you can tell, thousands of the same item comprising a larger thing is the common theme of...
Big timers
It was a hodgepodge of history at the National Archives on Wednesday — big time — as the archives unveiled its newest exhibit on all things super-sized.
“BIG! Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the National Archives” features a “grab bag of great stuff … from big maps to big egos and big shoes,” said the exhibit’s curator, Adrienne Thomas.
Some of the oversized items on display include the 43 pounds of paper President Ronald Reagan dramatically showed at his 1988 State of the Union address and a size-22 shoe that basketball star Shaquille O’Neal presented to President George Bush in 2001. But our favorite has to be the newest gem — a tribute to our most rotund of presidents, William Howard Taft.
The leviathan bathtub replica on display is made to Taft’s 1908, 300-plus-pound specifications — it’s 7 feet 1 inch long, 41 inches wide and weighs more than a ton — and is accompanied by a picture of the original tub with four regular-sized men sitting comfortably inside.
The exhibit also informed us that nine months after leaving the presidency, Taft dropped an impressive 70 pounds that he kept off for the rest of his life. He once told The New York Times “all vegetables except potatoes are permitted” in his diet, so we think it must have been the Atkins...
An Honor Dipped in Soy
Chalk up another local restaurant that’s gotten national recognition as our culinary reputation continues to expand. This month’s Bon Appetit magazine names Sushi Ko in Chevy Chase one of the top 10 sushi spots in America.
“Sushi aficionados flock to this curvy 14-seat bar to watch expert sushi chefs turn fresh fish into edible art,” reads the blurb. “They know the fresh wasabi (as opposed to the common processed stuff) is well worth the extra...
Jock Friedly is the founder of LegiStorm.com, the online clearinghouse for (sometimes sensitive) information on Congress, such as staff salaries, earmarks and gifts from foreign governments. He’s busy working starting the site’s first paid-subscription product.
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
“The Dark Knight”
Q: What book are you reading?
“The Lost City of Z” by David Grann
Q: What Web sites do you visit first in the morning?
NYTimes.com, LegiStorm.com
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
“The Daily Show,” “Big Love” (my wife, my only wife and only love, objects to this choice)
Q: What’s new on your iPod?
Don’t own an iPod. If I did, my “new” downloads would be Rachmaninoff and Mahler. My wife says I don’t listen to “normal...
Hot listings
President Barack Obama may rule the country, but apparently his staffers have already established themselves as ruling the D.C. social scene. Or so says Washington Life magazine, whose annual "The Young and the Guest List" is filled with many new White House staffers.
Among those to make the under-40 a-list: President Obama’s ‘body man’ (Reggie Love), his Director of New Media (Macon Phillips) and his speechwriters (Jon Favreau and Adam Frankel). Sarah Feinberg, a senior advisor to Rahm Emmanuel, also makes the list.
Add members of Congress such as Aaron Schock, R-Ill., and Patrick Murphy, D-Penn.; Hill Staffers; and diplomatic staff, such as United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba and Huma Abedin, aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the number of those in the public sector jumps to one in six.
Another sizable population of professionals to make the list are those who cover President Obama as journalists. These 35 lucky guys and gals include: ABC7 and New Channel 8’s Pamela Brown; The Atlantic’s Senior Editor Ross Douthat; and Fox News’ Bret Baier, as well as Donna Byrd, publisher of TheRoot.com.
Since many of these staffers are new to D.C., they may want to reach out to some of their fellow listees for advice on what to do on their day-off.
They could ask restaurateurs Fritz Brogan,...
Monkey business
Could guests to her lecture really be too surprised that primatologist Jane Goodall opened her talk Tuesday afternoon on the Hill howling like a chimpanzee? After all, she has arguably spent more time with apes than humans.
Goodall told attendees at the Woodrow Wilson’s Center's discussion of the dire need for environmental change if we hope to protect the apes, who in turn come to the aid of humans.
"The brain of a chimpanzee is more like a human than any other animal … you can take a blood transfusion from a chimp if you can match the gene pool,” Goodall said. To further highlight similarities between humans and monkeys, Goodall added, "The most intelligent of chimpanzees can use a computer.”
We wonder if Goodall was able to catch the Fleetwood Mac concert Tuesday night, whose singer Stevie Nicks penned a song in her honor titled — what else? — “Jane.”
-Ryan...
One more time...
Billy Corgan shakes hands with Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif. (photo: Carrie Devorah)
Hmm, one of these things is not like the other. That was Billy Corgan, founder of alt-rockers the Smashing Pumpkins, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as part of a panel testifying — again — on behalf of the Performance Rights Act.
Sporting a snazzy dark suit and his trademark bald head, Corgan added his name to the chorus of artists pleading with Congress to close a loophole that lets radio stations play songs without compensating the artists who created them.
“After 20 years as a performer I have particular sensitivity to performance rights,” Corgan said. “When the public hears that little bit of magic. … the performer should be compensated.” Corgan added, “Ours is a business that begins with the brilliance of the artist.”
He sympathized with radio stations, however, saying, “I by no means see radio as the bad guy.”
Some committee members felt neutral about the bill, at least for now. Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., expressed a commonly shared concern. “I don’t know if I have enough information to know what the benefit of this proposal would be,” he admitted.
-Ryan...
Lindsey Buckingham made like a Clinton with a free night in Washington on Monday: The famous front man of Fleetwood Mac dined at the Bombay Club, across Lafayette Park from the White House.
What about drummer Mick Fleetwood, who used to own a restaurant in Alexandria? Another source spotted him getting into a car in front of the Ritz-Carlton on Tuesday afternoon, in advance of the band’s show at Verizon Center. His attire: “Blingy” sunglasses....
When press releases go bad
Boy, these Virginia legislators aren’t doing restaurants any favors. First, they ban smoking in restaurants. Now, they’re suggesting that lunch will give you cancer.
Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, issued a release on Tuesday to correct a previous release about the smoking ban, which referred to “lunch cancer.”
“While I suppose it is not necessarily inaccurate to use ‘lunch cancer’ in reference to cancer caused by exposure to second-hand smoke while eating or serving lunch,” Englin said, “we intended the release to read ‘lung cancer.’ ”
And that wasn’t the only press release foible this week. In issuing a statement on education reform, freshman Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said, “I look forward to working closely with Secretary Duncan Arne and the White House on this much-needed reform.”
Of course, the new Secretary of Education’s name is Arne Duncan....
WTOP's Mark Seagraves gets into it with Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas. (Photo: Andrew Harnik)
"Is it over yet?" announcer Frank Herzog asked.
"A few more bricks, and they could build a whole new school," another observer noted.
So it was, as the D.C. Council took on the media that cover it in a game of hoops Monday at the Verizon Center, in front of a crowd of tens and tens of people.
In the end, the media team overcame a 5-point halftime deficit — to say nothing of some ice-cold shooting of its own — to take down the council by a score of 35-25. The star of the show for the media was Fox¹s Wisdom Martin, who netted 20 of his team's points.
Ward 4's Tommy Wells scored 10 to lead the council.
Media team captain Mark Segraves of WTOP called Martin the key to the game. But Jacque Bland, who represented The Examiner along with Michael Neibauer, had another theory. The council members are old, she said, ³and they tired out."
Segraves and Wells organized the matchup's ground rules: half court, one woman from each team on the floor at all times, seven-minute quarters and, above all, no one from the mayor's office. Thanks to their loss, the council is now obliged to declare a "Press Day" in Washington.
Marion Barry coached the council team, which included everyone save Jim Graham and David Catania.
The game was a...
Cross-Atlantic conservatism
Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of Britain's Conservative party, opened his discussion at the Heritage Center on Monday by describing a candidate with “a message of change”, who was “adored by the media” and “hired his rival to a top post.” It wasn't President Barack Obama he was talking about, but rather former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his ascension in 1997.
Blair's rise to power was “the death of the Tory party,” Duncan said, but was quick to show that after 15 years of losses, the party is once again the largest opposition party in Parliament. The similarities between the current state of the Republican party to this period in British politics allowed him to lay out a blueprint of suggestions for American conservatives. Some of his strategies included:
-- “Broaden appeal rather than transform ourselves beyond recognition”
-- “Stop finger-wagging at those living controversial lifestyles of made mistakes.”
-- “Embrace ideas of social justice … cannot ignore poverty any longer.”
-- Run candidates other than affluent, white males.
The one thing he stressed would not work for conservatives is Rush Limbaugh. He said Republicans should “pause carefully” toward before letting him direct their...
“[President Barack Obama] and [Michelle Obama] then clapped their hands as they swayed to a number played by the band that your pooler did not recognize. [Sen. John] Kerry clapped his hands while looking slightly stiff. [Vice President Joe Biden] tried to whisper into [Obama’s] ear. [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi clapped with a slight sway. [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid stood motionless throughout.”
-Demetri Sevastopulo of the Financial Times, cataloging the motion at Sunday night’s tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy at the Kennedy...
Four wheels not enough?
Does being Hollywood’s preeminent celebrity lobbyist mean that Angelina Jolie gets A-list treatment from the D.C. government? Could be, based on the “motorcade” she had while filming “Salt” here last week. Sources tell us that Jolie at times had a two-, three- or even four-car police escort when she traveled from her hotel to the film’s shooting locations.
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Department did not provide us with a comment, and the film’s production office told us there was “no one taking press calls.”
Meanwhile in other celeb news, that was Chazz Palminteri, the writer and star of “A Bronx Tale” at the Warner Theatre, taking in dinner at — where else? — Café Milano on Sunday night. No word on who his unidentified female companion was.
And Richard Gere appeared at a Capitol Hill ceremony Monday marking the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile from Tibet.
Below, he pals around with Nancy Pelosi:
Photo: Carrie...
Hair-razing experience
She proudly wears the crown of Miss Virginia 2008, but come April 11, Tara Wheeler will be trying to figure out a way to keep the diamond tiara secure atop a bald head.
Wheeler has recently announced she will be shaving her head as a participant with the St. Baldrick’s foundation in solidarity of children with cancer. On Wheeler’s fundraising Web site, she states she wants to prove that “beauty is as beauty does.” Ultimately, she is motivated to join the fight against childhood cancer by her firsthand interactions with children at Children’s Miracle Network in Virginia, where she is an ambassador.
But perhaps we won’t be seeing her hairless in any pageant gowns soon — one of the “generous” sponsors she thanks on her dedication page is a wig store.
To donate to Tara Wheeler's fund please visit:...
Model Citizen
Although Christy Turlington is best known for her days on the catwalk, the supermodel is now more superwoman, with a diverse career in helping advance women’s health and rights that far exceeds the time she spent modeling.
She was in town Friday at the Mayflower Hotel to support the United Nations at a luncheon in honor of the organization’s International Women’s Day.
Turlington, who serves as an Ambassador for CARE with a focus on maternal health, explained to attendees the importance technology, education and treatment facilities play in improving child birth techniques throughout the world. “The day she gives birth could be the day she dies,” Turlington said in regards to the high rate of maternal deaths — one in 24 — in some parts of Africa.
Turlington, who is married to actor Ed Burns, not only works on behalf of CARE. She has two lifestyle brands that are partnered with women’s rights groups, is a spokesperson for RED, posed nude for PETA and has been a special correspondent to NBC’s “Today” show, interviewing the Dalai Lama on the perils of living in war....
Officer and a gentleman
Lt. Andy Baldwin, star of “The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman,” Navy physician and man-about-Washington, has been named a regional finalist for the prestigious White House Fellowship.
White House fellows spend a year working as full-time, paid special assistants to senior White House staff, Cabinet secretaries and other government officials. This month and next, the regional finalists undergo an arduous interview process, after which 30 candidates will be named national finalists.
Baldwin starred in “The Bachelor” in 2007. He subsequently was assigned to the Navy Yard in Southwest D.C. to work as a Navy physician and recruiter.
If selected as a fellow, he would join other program alumni such as Colin Powell, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Travelocity Chief Executive Officer Michelle Peluso and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert....
If you lived in Baltimore, you’d hang out here a lot, too. Just ask Jenna Bush and Henry Hager, the happy newlyweds who made the trip down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway this weekend to revisit their old stomping ground.
A source spotted the couple having brunch at Peacock Café in Georgetown on Saturday morning.
Just up the street the day before, two of the Jolie-Pitt girls picked up some new toys to play with while mom Angelina continued filming “Salt” around town. Brad Pitt was spotted with daughters Zahara and Shiloh on Friday morning at Tugooh Toys in Georgetown.
Crowds gathered outside the shop to snap pictures of the girls, who like their father, were sporting sunglasses — clearly not their first time getting their picture taken....
“This is the first room I’ve been in where the people are more my age than my parents’ or grandparents’.”
-Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., the youngest member of Congress, speaking to a group of young conservatives at the Heritage Foundation last...
Alternate reality
Reality show star Brody Jenner teamed up with some future reality show stars at Park on Fourteenth on Saturday night. The star of “The Hills” joined with Katherine Kennedy and Krista Johnson from the upcoming reality show “Blonde Charity Mafia” — which has been called the D.C. version of his show — to host the event.
And no, thankfully, there weren’t any cameras...
Double O
Next month’s “O Magazine” will feature First Lady Michelle Obama on the cover along side Oprah Winfrey — the first time in nine years the talk show host has posed with someone else on her magazine’s cover.
The cover shot was taken February 17th on the White House grounds, the same day Oprah conducted the first interview with Obama done inside the White House. Taken by famed photographer Bruce Weber, Obama wears a blood orange Michael Kors dress, yellow cardigan (yes, her arms are covered), and a clear plastic belt — quite a difference from the simple black dress she wore in her formal White House portrait done by the same designer.
Oprah discussed the interview on her talk show Friday afternoon. The magazine will be on newstands March 17th.
Photo courtesy of...
As we told you last month, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his father, Bernard, had all but finalized a deal to purchase the office building at 1615 L St., NW — which just happens to overlook the Mayflower Hotel, where the younger Spitzer's dalliance with a prostitute forced his resignation.
The Wall Street Journal now reports that the deal is done, as the Spitzers have agreed to pay $180 million for the 13-floor structure, whose clients include PR giant Fleishman-Hillard and the Washington office of Richard Nixon's Presidential Library.
Asked about the building's proximity to the Mayflower, Spitzer told the paper it didn't figure into his decision. "We are buying a great building. That's why we are buying it," he said....
More photos from Thursday of Brad Pitt on Capitol Hill, and Angelina Jolie and her "Salt" costar, Liev Schreiber, shooting scenes on Pennsylvania Avenue. (Credit: Gene...
“I have received death threats. On election night, I loaded my gun.”
Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, at a news conference he hosted Thursday afternoon at the National Press Club to announce a lawsuit he filed against President Barack Obama supporters who allegedly searched confidential databases for dirt on the plumber....
A strong example
If you haven’t heard of Mark Jenkins yet, you will soon. The celebrity fitness trainer has moved into town and plans to shape up the District.
Adding to his line of supplements, water and DVDs comes his start of I M Fit Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to teaching youth about obesity and forms of prevention. “You have to change the system … you have to teach kids how their whole health and fitness affect their lives,” Jenkins told Yeas & Nays.
And there’s one thing Jenkins admitted to that “has definitely made a difference” in allowing him to connect with kids — he trains many of their icons.
Jenkins, who owns International Fitness, has worked with Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, D’Angelo and L.L. Cool J., and he recounted to us how fantastic it was training for and running the New York Marathon with Sean "Diddy" Combs. “To see all the kids in the ’hood and projects out on the street to watch Puff was great,” Jenkins recounted.
But he hasn’t always had a six-pack and guns — as a kid, Jenkins was out of shape. Growing up in Brooklyn to a single mother, Jenkins was put into ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance classes, that is, until he entered middle school, when he “realized that kids in the hood don’t dance.” Jenkins started to put...
BAM!
"It was like filming a movie," said local blogger and consultant Pamela Sorensen of her Wednesday at Whole Foods in Fairfax with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. "There were about 25 people there, with five cameras on us all the time."
The two were taping an upcoming episode of "Emeril Green," the chef's reality show on Discovery's Planet Green network in which he assists people with specific culinary challenges.
Sorensen's challenge: maintaining a healthy diet even when she's on the go morning, noon and night. Emeril dreamed up an entire day's worth of meals for her, and then they set out to walk the store and select their ingredients before cooking on camera.
"This is a stove. These are the knobs," she said he kidded as they began.
The episode is expected to air in three to four months.
After the taping, Emeril and the crew dined at Black Salt in the Palisades....
Perhaps if he said he was Rick James...
It can be tough to get a table at some of the city’s top restaurants. Just ask Dave Chappelle. The comic and TV star was spotted walking into Rasika at Penn Quarter on Wednesday night. But his visit didn’t last long as there were no tables to spare (one of them, in fact, had been taken by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano).
But fear not, Chappelle fans; Dave didn’t starve. A source spotted him at Le Madeleine in Georgetown on Thursday morning.
And heads up: Supermodel Christy Turlington Burns will be in town today to speak at the United Nations Foundation’s annual International Women’s Day Luncheon....
By the Numbers
9
Number of times Vice President Joe Biden used the expression "man" during an address to the AFL-CIO Executive Council today in...
Silver screen scene
When golden boy Brad Pitt comes to town, he's all business. He met with Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Wednesday. On Thursday, he had audiences with everyone from President Obama and energy czar Carol Browner to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday. But he did carve out some time Wednesday night for dinner at Adour in the St. Regis Hotel with a group that included Steve Bing, the movie producer and supporter of liberal causes and candidates. Bing's also funding Pitt's "Make It Right" project in New Orleans. A source tells us that other guests cycled in and out throughout the evening, and that the group enjoyed "plenty" of food and wine.
Pitt's significant other, Angelina Jolie, wasn't on the scene. After all, she needs her rest as she continues shooting for the upcoming spy thriller "Salt." On Thursday, she and the crew filmed a chase scene near the Navy Memorial/Archives Metro Station on Pennsylvania Avenue. We also spotted an Angie look-alike, who was doing most of the running during the takes. A crew member told us they'll be shooting in Georgetown on Friday.
And watch for some other A-listers in coming days. Later this month, local shooting is expected to commence on "Fair Game," the movie based on the Valerie Plame saga starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. According to...
In a Rush
Computer animation started out as a hobby for Springfield resident Bobby Standridge. Now it’s landed him on the latest DVD release by classic-rock legends Rush.
Back in 2005, Standridge completed an 18-month process of animating Rush drummer Neil Peart’s playing on the song “YYZ.” Peart was so impressed, he posted the video on his own Web site.
That inspired Standridge to work on a second Rush video, this one for the band’s 2007 song “Malignant Narcissism.” And lo and behold, the band selected it for inclusion on its latest DVD, which was released Tuesday.
“It’s difficult to describe how honored I am to contribute to an official release of one of the most legendary bands in history,” Standridge said in an e-mail. “When I started dabbling in animation years ago I never imagined that something like this was within my realm of possibilities.”
Below, two screen shots of Standridge's computer...
The sincerest form of flattery
The new issue of Glamour magazine features some of today’s biggest celebrities posing as historical female icons — styling singer Alicia Keys as Michelle Obama, the most current historical female icon to be portrayed.
Some other stars to get snapped as someone else include Lindsay Lohan as Madonna (Like-a-virgin-era Madonna, that is), Alexis Bledel as Rosie the Riveter and Hayden Panettiere pulls it off as Amelia Earhart.
photo courtesy of...
'Salt,' starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor, began local shooting at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Wednesday morning.
Upcoming shoot locations over the six days of filming include L'Enfant Plaza, the Navy Memorial and along Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. The D.C. government expects the production to bring in close to $1 million dollars to the local economy.
Meanwhile, Angelina's other half, also known as Brad Pitt, is already in town. According to the Perez Hilton gossip site, Pitt was spotted leaving an office building on K Street through the back entrance.
He'll probably use the back entrance again on Thursday afternoon, as he meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The two will discuss "Make it Right," a project to construct affordable housing for New Orleans residents who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina....
Breaking a sweat
On Tuesday, we saw dozens of musicians and songwriters blanket Capitol Hill, in a push for better performance rights for their music. Wednesday, it was the jocks’ turn, as more than two dozen athletes — brought to town by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association — lobbied for more funding of physical education in schools and tax breaks for spending on fitness by individuals.
The big guns: football great Herschel Walker, who had meetings scheduled with Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, Jack Kingston, R-Ga., and Phil Gingrey, R-Ga.; and U.S. soccer legend Mia Hamm, who met with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
During his playing days, Walker was famous for doing 2,500 sit-ups and 1,500 push-ups every morning. So has he scaled it back these days? Quite the opposite. He told us he’s doing fewer push-ups, but 3,500 sit-ups every morning. He also said that, although he played for every NFC East team except the Redskins, he’s got no hard feelings toward their fans. “People here like me because I was never controversial,” he said.
Hamm said the day was “all about showing my commitment to exercise and physical activity.”
Also in the lobbying contingent: San Francisco 49ers tight end (and U of Maryland grad and D.C. native)...
Celebs vs. snipers
The American Legion awarded Ben Stein with its National Commander's Public Relations Award on Wednesday, putting the actor and TV personality in the same company as past recipients Dolly Parton and Lou Dobbs.
His remarks centered on society's priorities and perspectives. "Hollywood movie directors are said to have 'courage' for making a gfilm about gay rights," he said. "You know what I call courage? Being under German sniper fire while you call for help."
Then later, discussing his visits to Walter Reed: "It's a huge deal if Angelina Jolie gains two pounds. These guys loose their legs and no one knows about it.
"I don't understand these magazine with the same celbrities over and over again. One woman even puts her own picture on her magaizne every month [Oprah] but you never see stories about our soldiers."
And finally: "Who's going to protect us? Not guys in Beverly Hills or Malibu, or Nick Nolte or Barbra Streisand — even though she has a voice of butter — but the guys in battle. They are saving the whole...
Girl Power
It was a night of firsts at the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues annual dinner Tuesday: Janet Napolitano, the first female Secretary of Homeland Security, addressed a room full of female members of the 111th Congress, which boasts a record number of female members.
While speaking at the gala in Union Station, Secretary Napolitano discussed some of her other ‘firsts’ — the first woman governor to succeed another female governor (“Go Arizona,” she joked) and being one of the women to make up the first all-female slate of Arizona’s elected offices. Yet getting to these milestones wasn’t easy.
While running for attorney general, “A reporter called me up to ask whether I intended to run for office as a woman,” she said to the laughing crowd.
Although it was a night for women, Napolitano addressed the importance of not getting bogged down by traditional women’s issues like children, education and abortion, stating, “All issues are women’s issues.”
A good point from a woman who has the “man’s job” of fighting terrorism.
Also in attendance were Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, caucus co-chairs Reps. Mary Fallin, R-Okla., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. Hard to go...
That’s gold!
Above: Memphis Gold at the Gibson Entertainment Relations Office/Showroom in Washington, D.C. (photo: Carl Gray)
Local blues master Memphis Gold had plenty of reasons to celebrate Tuesday night as he took the stage at Blues Alley: It was the eve of his 54th birthday, it was a release party for his new CD, “Gator Gon’ Bitechu!,” and Gibson Guitar presented him with a Custom ES-335 guitar in recognition of his life and work.
A Vietnam War veteran, Memphis Gold has taken part in nine USO tours to entertain the troops. In February 1996, he made local headlines after rescuing nine children from a crashed train in Silver Spring. And more recently, he rehabilitated from a near-fatal fall from a tree. In January at the Heroes Red, White and Blue Military Inaugural Ball, he shared the bill with Sly Stone, Harold Melvin’s Blues Notes and George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.
It was the second in a series of awards Gibson is presenting at Blues Alley. The first was given to David “Honeyboy” Edwards and D.C. based producer/musician Scott Shuman, in recognition of their Grammy-winning 2007 album, “Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in...
Local band Shane Hines and the Trance will be celebrating the release of its newest album, “The Glory Journal,” at Jammin’ Java in Vienna on Friday night, with an after party hosted by Mix 107.3’s Tommy McFly. We asked Hines for his Media Mix.
Q: What CD are you currently listening to?
Regina Spektor’s “Begin to Hope”
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
“Almost Famous”
Q: What Web sites do you check in the morning?
Only Facebook (both my personal page and my band’s page). I’ve been writing a lot today, so haven’t had too much time.
Q: What book are you currently reading?
“Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace
Q: What’s your favorite TV show?
“Burn...
Wag of the finger
The Congressional Black Caucus honored one of its founding members, Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-N.Y., the first black woman in Congress. To honor her achievements, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., unveiled a self-portrait of Chisholm on Tuesday.
Pelosi described Chisholm as “a brave pioneer who was unwilling to settle for the status quo. … As the first woman speaker of the House, I want to say thank you to Shirley Chisholm,” she added.
The portrait is all too appropriate for a woman whose memoir is titled “Unbought and Unbossed” — it depicts a playful rendition of Chisholm, arms folded across her chest with an indignant index finger wagging.
-Ryan Freeman...
Conan does Lincoln
Since he’s between gigs, Conan O’Brien has some time on his hands. The soon-to-be host of “The Tonight Show” was in town Monday night to participate in Ford’s Theatre’s “Living Lincoln” series of events. O’Brien and author Joshua Wolf Shenk discussed “Lincoln as Humorist” during the 90-minute program. On hand to hear them were Chris and Kathleen Matthews, “Manhunt” author James Swanson, Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., and Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas.
Later that night, O’Brien grabbed a bite at the Old Ebbitt Grill.
Then on Tuesday, he stopped by the Newseum to check out its newest exhibit, Manhunt: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. He was accompanied by Swanson, whose book is branded with the exhibit.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, a source spotted a “not glammed up” Darryl Hannah, sporting a green parka, corduroy jeans and snow boots at the Glover Park Whole Foods. A two-person video crew followed her around as she pointed at food on the shelves or in her cart. “It is for Darryl’s video blog,” the sound man told our spy. “She’s very into the...
Avon Lady
Despite the steady stream of headlines detailing Chris Brown’s alleged altercation with his girlfriend Rihanna, another famous celebrity in town Tuesday wouldn’t talk about the case, even though she came to discuss domestic violence.
Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon participated in a news conference hosted by Avon cosmetics to announce the company’s expansion of programs to fight violence against women, yet they kept the focus on the more unseen cases of violence, refusing to comment on the pop singers.
Fair enough, for as Andrea Jung, chairman and chief executive officer of Avon Products Inc., told the crowd at the National Press Club, Rihanna is far from being alone — domestic violence occurs to women in the U.S. “once every nine seconds.”
“When you see the company’s deep commitment to women … it’s impossible not to feel motivated,” Witherspoon stated in explaining why she became Avon’s global ambassador. She described the numerous countries she’s visited as a spokeswoman and unveiled their newest product, an infinity sign necklace (that she wore around her neck, natch) to match a bracelet that raised $4 million last year.
Following the event, Witherspoon kept the women’s theme going, visiting the National Museum of Women in the Arts to meet with participants...
Romantic yuk-yuk
Funny gal Ali Wentworth, best known for the small screen— think “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “In Living Color,” husband of “This Week’s” George Stephanopoulos — is moving to the big screen, appearing alongside some other famous comedians in a romantic flick set to premiere on Christmas.
Written by Nancy Meyers, the untitled project stars Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as two New York men lusting after the same woman, Meryl Streep. Wentworth plays Streep’s go-to best friend, “so we do a lot of girl talk,” she tells Yeas & Nays.
Although Streep is best known for her dramatic roles, Wentworth said her co-star would be the one celebrity she’d love to have on her improvised television show “Head Case,” “cause she’s really funny.”
The rom-com may still be “in production,” but it undoubtedly has hit potential — Meyers has already seen box office success with “The Holiday,” “Something’s Gotta Give” and “Father of the...
'Preaching to the converted'?
Late last month, we told you about the A-list musicians — Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, etc. — who came to town to lobby for the Performance Rights Act, which would force radio stations to pay artists for playing their songs.
As the House Judiciary Committee gets closer to a vote on the legislation, more than 100 lesser known artists fanned out across the Hill on Tuesday for a final lobbying push. Among them: all-girl garage rockers The Donnas, singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, Gary "U.S." Bonds and several notable session musicians.
"I first heard about this issue from my first manager, who said you could make more money as a songwriter than as a singer," Vega told Yeas & Nays. She added that most of the members of Congress she had met with were "very enthusiastic. We're preaching to the converted."
"We've been so busy for 16 years now, we've never had a chance to do anything like this," said Donnas' lead singer Brett Anderson of their first lobbying experience. "We've played in D.C. a million times, but we've never been to the Capitol or seen the sights."
So, have they gotten any pitches for campaign cash as they've met the members of Congress? "We've got nothing to squeeze from this rag," she joked....
Getting warmer?
We had to do a double take when we saw the current issue of Condé Nast Portfolio magazine. Yes, that's Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the global warming skeptic, named to the magazine's "Portfolio 25" list of "people who are using technology to transform business as we know it—for better or for worse."
Ah, must be that "or for worse" part that got the editors. "From his position as the ranking minority member on the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works," they write, "Inhofe will work as a counterweight to the Obama administration's expected clean-tech initiative." Referring to his "fearless belligerence," they continue, "Even if he had a point, his outrageous statements would undermine it." Ouch.
Other locals making the list: Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner John Wellinghoff and blog queen Arianna Huffington....
Serving all your ‘43’ needs
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Other times, it’s a political statement. (And not just in the Starr Report.)
For evidence, look no further than georgewbushstore.com, an online hub of all things Bush, which is proving that though he may be out of power, ol’ No. 43 can still move merchandise.
The store began during Bush’s first term, but of late has added a slew of merchandise commemorating his tenure in the Oval Office.
Like $12 commemorative cigars with “January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2009” emblazoned on the tube. Or a set of four glass tumblers ($24.95). Other items simply feature a “43” logo, from crystal bookends ($199.95) to a crystal decanter ($114.95) to a paperweight ($29.95).
For something simpler, there’s always the “Thank You President Bush” bumper sticker ($1.50 each, but there are volume discounts for large orders!) or the ever-popular merchandise with the simple “W” logo.
“It’s doing really good,” said Ted Jackson, president of the Spalding Group, a Kentucky firm that does merchandising for many GOP candidates and runs the George W. Bush store. “It won’t go on indefinitely, but we started emphasizing the commemorative line around Christmas, and there was a real spike around the inaugural, as you’d expect....
Journalist Trevor Paglen is the author of the new book “Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World,” which looks at the classified bases, secret defense projects and covert operations conducted by the U.S. military. He gave us his Media Mix via e-mail.
Q: What CD are you currently listening to?
CDs are a little out of date, aren’t they? I’ve been listening to a lot of Johnny Cash lately.
Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
“Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years”
Q: What Web sites do you check in the morning?
New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story
Q: What book are you currently reading?
“In Defense of Lost Causes” by Slavoj Zizek
Q: What’s your favorite TV show at the moment?
I don’t have one at the moment....
“Due to weather conditions, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not been able to travel back to Washington this morning so will not speak at the 2009 Annual Power Shift Conference Rally to be held today on the West Front of the Capitol.”
- Statement issued by Pelosi’s office Monday morning regarding her involvement in the climate change protest, continuing a bad run of cold and snowy weather for anti-global warming activists of late....
Crowning Achievement
There she was, Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund, a beauty relating her ugly struggles with anorexia. Haglund shared her ordeal with American University students Thursday evening in a speech to close the university’s eating disorder awareness week.
“I was terrified of the word ‘anorexia,’ ” Haglund said. “It made me feel afraid, it made me feel ashamed.”
Haglund’s struggle came after she became deeply invested in ballet. “Before I went to serious ballet school, I wasn’t very body-conscious,” she told the students. “I was a chicken tenders and fries kind of girl.”
But as her ballet continued, she began to become more self-conscious. “I was always very insecure about my legs. ... It’s unbelievable, the distortion that comes with anorexia.”
Eventually, help came from her family and she was able to beat the disease, but she certainly hadn’t planned on being able to share her story in order to help others. Only six months after her first competition, Haglund, who said pageantry was “something I never planned on doing,” took home the top prize.
-Reporting by Ryan...
Sightings
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was spotted Sunday getting money at the SunTrust Bank in the Safeway on the corner 17th St. and Corcoran St. NW. Our spy says he impatiently waited in line at the ATM with a cell-phone glued to his ear, while a USS agent stood guard. Sounds of laughter and gasps we're heard as he left.
Also spotted around town:
-The first-ever woman to hold the title of Secretary of State sat down with the latest woman to occupy that office Thursday night, as Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton broke bread at the Bombay Club. A restaurant spokeswoman tells us the pair sat in the middle of the dining room and stayed for about two hours. Bombay Club was one of the Clintons' favorite restaurants when they were in the White House.
-Laura Breckenridge, the newest object of desire to Penn Badgley’s character on "Gossip Girl," co-hosting a fundraiser for the DNC at Lima restaurant Thursday night. Sorry ladies, she didn’t tell us what to expect in upcoming episodes of the hit...
Tea Time
It was less about civility and more about civil disobedience Friday as dozens of stimulus protesters gathered for a “tea party” in Lafayette Park. Hearkening back to the Boston Tea Party, many stood with teabags hanging from their pockets and pickets.
“It’s unconstitutional,” said one protestor who had driven from Pennsylvania to be a part of the protest against President Barack Obama’s massive spending bills. “It’s not about Democrat and Republican, not about party lines. It’s about liberty.”
About a dozen such protests took place around the country. The “tea parties” were inspired by an on-air rant of CNBC’s Rick Santelli last week on the floor of Chicago Board of Trade. In a clip viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube and dubbed the “Rant of the Year,” Santelli screams that public should hold a tea party, like the Bostonians did when they protested England’s taxation.
"We reached out to Joan Baez," wrote organizer J.P. Freire on the Tea Party's blog, “but shockingly, no...
“I don't know whether that's involved in the Treasury Department's stress test, or if we have to go to Bethesda to do that.”
-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, on whether President Barack Obama will be diagnosing himself with...
Lt. Dan to the rescue
It was more than a year ago that filmmaker Jake Rademacher had finished his documentary, "Brothers at War," and was looking for help in getting it distributed. That's when "CSI" star Gary Sinise came along.
Sinise was shown the film by Michael Broderick, an actor and former Marine, and wanted to get involved.
"I was very moved by it," he said of the movie, in which Rademacher travels to Iraq to see what his two active-duty brothers are experiencing on the front lines. So Sinise signed on as an executive producer, held a screening at Fox Studios in Los Angeles to drum up support and has been promoting the film ever since.
"It's very simple," Sinise told Yeas & Nays. "It's a very personal movie. That's different from some outside perspective of someone who wants to put a documentary together. Most Americans, unless you have someone who's served, don't have a proper perspective. ... Most films that show the war want to show all the ugliness. This shows another side of things that people in our country are ready to see."
Later this month, the film will premiere at locations near four military bases in the Mid-Atlantic. Beyond that, he hopes to secure its wider release. "It's a grassroots thing," he said. "We're going to start very small. We know the odds are against us."
Sinise...
Leader Limbaugh?
Just days after President Barack Obama gave his State of the Nation, Rush Limbaugh gave the Republican party their own version in the closing speech of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“They destroy people’s future,” Limbaugh said Saturday about his favorite topic to hate, the Democrats, adding that they are “deranged” and “socialists” and liberalism is a “psychoses.”
Much like the president’s address, Limbaugh received applause and standing ovations throughout the speech from the packed-house at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. In a speech that ran an hour over schedule, Limbaugh clearly enjoyed the praise and public attention (things he surely misses being on radio) and stated countless times “it’s my first national address...I’m so excited about this.”
He continued the “I hope Obama fails” theme he’s been preaching on his conservative radio since before the president took office, alleging Obama’s “agenda is not new, it’s not change and it’s not hope,” instead insisting he believes the president’s plans threaten the “bastardization of the...
“I don't know whether that's involved in the Treasury Department's stress test, or if we have to go to Bethesda to do that.”
-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, on whether President Obama will be diagnosing himself with...
First fan
At least the president is bullish on something.
President Obama ventured out to Verizon Center on Friday night to watch his hometown Chicago Bulls take on the Wizards. According to the White House pool report, he took his courtside seat opposite the Wizards bench "amid general pandemonium."
Sporting a black shirt and black jacket, the president was joined by his Chicago pals Marty Nesbitt and Eric Whitaker. Also seated nearby: White House aides David Axelrod, Jon Favreau and Reggie Love.
Just before the second quarter ended, Obama made his way to the owner's box, which meant that throughout halftime, the section in front of the suite stood with their backs to the floor, oblivious to the halftime act.
As the Wizards pulled out to a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, Obama had had enough, and headed back to the White House....
The first-ever woman to hold the title of Secretary of State sat down with the latest woman to occupy that office Thursday night, as Madeleine Albright and Hillary Clinton broke bread at the Bombay Club. A restaurant spokeswoman tells us the pair sat in the middle of the dining room and stayed for about two hours. Bombay Club was one of the Clintons' favorite restaurants when they were in the White House....
Can I get your number?
Thanks to a photo printed by the Washington Post, President Barack Obama’s speechwriter may now have to change his cell phone number.
Jon Favreau’s phone number can be clearly made out in a picture the Post chose for their Op-Ed page on Friday, which depicts President Obama making his remarks to Congress on Tuesday. Taken by a Reuters photographer from above, you see Obama reading from the first page of the address — and clearly printed is: “Draft 2/24/09 12pm…Favreau/Rhodes….6-1334 | 312-805-xxxx." (Number redacted.)
We at Yeas & Nays tried the number and can confirm it is his number (we got his voicemail). This may excite a lot of the women around town, but we heard he's taken by White House aide (and Maxim model) Ali Campoverdi.
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A jolt of Jolie
D.C. goes A-list again next week, as the cast and crew of "Salt," the upcoming spy thriller starring Angelina Jolie, arrives here to begin filming.
A casting call for background performers, obtained by Yeas & Nays, says filming will begin on March 3. Josh Friedman, a spokesman for D.C.’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development, said, "We are expecting a large-scale production for several weeks, and again in summer."
Jolie is expected to arrive early in the week, and a source tells us producers have been casting a teenage Jolie look-alike as well.
Jolie’s role was originally offered to Tom Cruise, but when his deal fell through because he demanded too much money, the script was rewritten for Jolie, with the title character's name being changed from "Edwin Salt" to "Evelyn Salt." Jolie plays a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy.
The film also stars Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
A woman who answered the phone at the local production office said she couldn't comment, as the film's publicist hadn't yet arrived in town....
Not bluffing
Critics might say the last presidential administration gambled with the nation’s future, but 2004 World Series of Poker winner Greg Raymer thinks George W. Bush’s conservative ideals are just what his game needs.
“It’s about individual liberties and freedom,” Raymer told Yeas & Nays when asked what brought him out to the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Omni Hotel. The “Fossilman” (a nickname based on his hobby of collecting fossils) said luck has nothing to do with winning at poker, calling it a game of skill much like golf.
Although Raymer said poker’s “not political” and is “for everyone,” one poker company is hoping to profit off the Republicans’ loss at the polls. BluefirePoker.com, an online poker training school, is targeting unemployed former Bush administration employees, offering free classes in exchange for their White House resumes.
The absence of Bush’s jacket-required policy, creating your own hours, and higher payouts than most public sector jobs are the perks the company plays up to attract the Republicans to poker.
Plenty of people already hit the tables. Said Raymer, known for wearing holographic glasses at work: “Millions of Americans play poker, just not a well as me.”
But we think they still might have a better shot making...
Locks and loaded
This month's GQ takes a look at that most venerable of Washington institutions: the "hair helmet."
The magazine's murderer's row of political locks includes:
-Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.: "The Fuzzy Brahmin"
-Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y.: "The Deflated Pompadour
-Gov. Bobby Jindal, D-La.: "The No. 8 (At Supercuts)"
-Ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill.: "The Black Swan"
-Ex-Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.: "The Anti-Fro"
-Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.: "The...
Windy politics
Even convicted criminals aren't buying what Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., is selling.
This week, we caught up with James Laski, a former Chicago alderman and city clerk who served 11 months in federal prison for public corruption, as he promotes his book, "My Fall from Grace."
"If anybody should know about truthful testimony, it's [Burris], the former attorney general," said Laski, who first met Burris in the early 1980s. "You can't change your story four or five times and then say, 'I've done nothing wrong.'"
Laski called Burris a "political wannabe," who could only achieve office at this point the way he did — by being appointed by now-impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
And yes, he said, people should be nervous about President Obama, his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and adviser David Axelrod, thanks to the notorious political machine that spawned them. "People outside Chicago don't know Chicago and how things work there," Laski said. "People [in Chicago] don't worry about twisting an arm, they worry about breaking an...
"After about 30 minutes there's not much to talk about except what you're going to do to the other team."
--Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., speaking about the weekly party caucus meetings in the Senate
"I was just back in the green room. On one television was the face of Congressman [Aaron] Schock, fresh young new face of the Republican party. And on the other monitor was the face of Rosie O'Donnell. That's an argument we should win everyday."
-Conservativebattleline.com's Donald Devine, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on...
‘Breathing the Fire’
Television correspondent Kimberly Dozier worries that President Barack Obama’s pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq by late 2010 will lock the United States into an oversimplified approach to dealing with the insurgents there.
Speaking at Nathan’s “Q&A Café” in Georgetown Wednesday, the award-winning CBS news reporter outlined her near-fatal experience covering Iraq in 2006, an assignment she was “desperate” to obtain.
On Memorial Day in 2006, Dozier became a victim of Iraqi insurgents who detonated a car bomb while she and her crew were trying to cover a story. She “was peppered with shrapnel” and almost lost both her legs from the attack. Two CBS employees and an Army captain were killed in the attack, something she said was the “hardest to deal with.”
Dozier has fully recovered from all injuries — she ran in a 10K event during the U.S. Marine Corps Marathon last fall and published a book on her experience, titled “Breathing the...
An ‘Affair’ to remember
While most of official D.C. sat in front of their televisions watching President Barack Obama’s first “state of the nation” address, a couple hundred Washingtonians settled in front of a movie screen to watch a film on another popular president: “An American Affair,” starring Gretchen Mol as a flustered and drunk lover to John F. Kennedy premiered Tuesday night, appropriately, only blocks from the White House at the Landmark E Street Cinemas.
“What better place to premier a film on the Camelot years than in Washington,” Mol told Yeas & Nays. The actress, who once portrayed pinup queen Bettie Page, wore a cream dress and black Louboutin pumps, looking not unlike another mid-century sex symbol — and alleged lover of JFK — Marilyn Monroe (In fact the movie’s poster shows Mol wrapped in a flag, looking like Monroe’s twin, with the tagline, “What can you do for your country?”). Also in attendance last night were actors James Rebhorn, Cameron Bright, and Kris Arnold.
In the film, set during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Mol becomes an easy target of conspiracy-ridden CIA officials, the infatuation of her much younger neighbor and gossipy Georgetown socialites.
It was definitely a night of all things politics — or as Washington Life magazine’s...
"I'd like to make him as successful as he wants to be — within reason."
--Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaking about President Obama at an Atlantic Media breakfast on...
Double threat
Like Clark Kent to Superman, Usher Raymond IV, the mild-mannered alter ego of R&B superstar Usher, appeared Wednesday on Capitol Hill to discuss “Improving America’s Commitment to Service and Volunteerism.”
Appearing with Time magazine managing editor Richard Stengel and former Sen. Harris Wofford, D-Pa., Usher’s testimony focused on two points: the need to engage youth in service and the changing the perspective of service work in the non-served community.
“Service is an incredible thing,” said Usher to the committee. “Not only should it be the right thing to do, but the cool thing to do. Don’t you agree?”
Usher referred to the potential of what he called “generation S,” a generation of service-driven leaders to better then nation. “Generation S is ready to do the right thing, and the time is now.”
Usher’s New Look service program helps youths become more involved in their communities as well as helps them with the resources they need to better their lives.
James Harris, a young member of Usher’s New Look service program, shared his aspirations after the program helped him to attend college. “If I have a degree in accounting, I can do my own books and be a rapper,” he said. “That’s what we call a double threat.” Sounds like going to...
Congressman, duck!
Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher said Wednesday he might run for Congress one day. But if he won, his colleagues might need to wear headgear to the House floor.
“I’d probably be in jail more often than I’d be on the Hill for slapping some member,” said Wurzelbacher at a lunchtime discussion at Americans for Tax Reform. “And that’s not [bull] either.”
Wurzelbacher, clad in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, didn’t have much good to say about either man who vied for his vote last fall. On President Barack Obama he said, “People are comforted [by Obama’s rhetoric], but he’s a politician and I know he’s lying.” On John McCain he said, “John McCain’s a politician, and I don’t have a whole lot of respect for politicians.”
He did allow that of all the politicians he met on the campaign trail, Sarah Palin “seemed the most sincere.” He also said he’d consider voting for Newt Gingrich.
And it appears Wurzelbacher’s 15 minutes aren’t quite up yet. He signed copies of his new book, “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream,” at a Border’s downtown Wednesday night, and he’s appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference here this week. Finally, he said he’s going to be...
Money for Nothing?
In our current economic state, do wealthy musicians really believe we’ll be sympathetic to them demanding more money? Apparently, as celebrity musicians from across the country banded together Tuesday on Capitol Hill to discuss “musicFIRST," a coalition that hopes to make corporate radio pay to play their songs.
The musical all-stars included Sheryl Crow, Dionne Warwick, Will.i.am, Herbie Hancock, Patti LaBelle and Emmylou Harris, each fighting to receive compensation every time one of their songs is played on the radio.
Patti LaBelle chipped in, “We’re being pimped! That’s exactly what we’ve been. I’ve gone for so long hearing my own voice on the radio… I never thought I’d be standing up here asking for my money.”
Contemplating backlash from corporate radio, a visibly exhausted Will.i.am said, “I got a text from my friend. It said ‘Hey they played your song 10 times on the radio in two hours.’ So do I stick my neck out? I do.”
-Ryan Freeman
Dionne Warwick takes a smoke break during her visit to the Hill.
(Photo: Mark...
Cohen’s cool hand
Paul Newman passed away in September. So why did it take Congress so long to pass a resolution honoring his life, as is customary when an American icon dies?
The short answer has to do with the vagaries of the congressional calendar. Last year, Newman’s home-district representative, Christopher Shays, R-Conn., submitted a resolution. But coming toward the end of the session with elections looming, the calendar only allowed for very specific business to reach the floor. Then Shays was defeated in November.
When Congress reconvened, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who was one of the bill’s original co-sponsors, picked up the mantle. (His spokeswoman tells us that as a member of the Tennessee legislature in 1985, Cohen passed a resolution honoring Newman for his acting and his philanthropy, and received a “nice note” in return.)
Clearly, Cohen’s not Newman’s only fan on the Hill. On the House floor Tuesday, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, noted Newman’s “steely blue eyes,” while Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., referred to his “burgeoning marinara empire.”
Said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.: “The right wing tried to punish him in the marketplace, but the right wing could never win that argument because the American people knew Paul Newman and trusted him."
And Cohen exhorted “everyone...
Harvard man
Kwame Jackson, a first-season veteran of “The Apprentice,” is proving that he doesn’t need The Donald to find success. Jackson highlighted the keys to his success at a Youth Business Leaders Roundtable held at the Small Business Administration on Tuesday.
Jackson, a D.C. native, spoke with a group of teenage business moguls Tuesday, sharing anecdotes from his own youth.
“When I was in seventh grade, I wanted the original Nintendo,” he said, “but my mother gave me a look like, ‘People in hell want ice water.’ ” Showing early business savvy, Jackson got out his lawnmower and went to work on his neighbors’ yards in order to get the game console.
These days, he has moved from gardens to department stores, where he currently sells a line of ties named “Krimson” — much more appropriate for a Harvard Business School grad.
-Ryan Freeman...
Sharks and mobsters
The otherwise dry topic of national antitrust policy took a sharply local — and colorful — turn on Tuesday, as local concert promoter and club owner Seth Hurwitz took center stage as a key witness against the merger of concert business giants Ticketmaster and Live Nation.
“Apparently it took something as simple as not being able to get Bruce Springsteen tickets to finally wake the public up,” Hurwitz told a Senate subcommittee, referring to fans’ recent accusations that Ticketmaster had attempted to gouge them when Springsteen tickets went on sale. “I am deeply sorry it has taken this long for everyone to start figuring out what is going on here.”
But Hurwitz, who owns the 9:30 Club and concert promotion company IMP Productions, was just warming up. Answering Live Nation’s claims that the merger would help them look out for fans’ best interest, he replied, “Trust the dictator to serve the needs of the people? I suppose it could happen. ... [But] why shouldn’t they try? You can’t blame them any more than you can blame a shark for eating people.”
And, he wondered, why no acts other than Springsteen have spoken out about Ticketmaster. “Doesn’t that say as much about the problem here as anything? Kind of like the shop owners in mob-era Chicago that were afraid to...
Friendly Skies?
Everyone has praised Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, his crew in the sky and those on the ground for their quick decision making prior to landing a full jetliner in the Hudson River last month. Yet at a House committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., attacked the air traffic controller, Patrick Harten, with a barrage of questions that gave the impression Mica believed the birds shouldn’t take all the blame.
Mica, with a tone much different from the other, more appreciative members’, asked if Harten had “dumbed down” the equipment on the afternoon of Sept. 15 — suggesting the possibility that the birds alleged to have caused the trouble went undetected because of his error.
Mica continued to heckle the traffic controller with questions, leading to shocked faces in the audience, wide eyes and whispers in the crowd. One member even mumbled, “What an ass.”
But Harten handled it with nerves that certainly aided him while guiding USAirways Flight 1549 — silencing the representative with a great comeback that made everyone, except Mica, laugh.
As Mica tried to make his point that the current flight plans of LaGuardia Airport are outdated and should be replaced with his plan (which he displayed on the committee’s flat screens), Harten calmly testified, “I can tell you...
When President Obama took office, he and first lady Michelle Obama promised to reach out to the city of Washington. From the looks of the guests in the First Lady's box at the president's address to Congress Tuesday night, they're serious.
Apart from the guests you'd expect — Dr. Jill Biden, presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett — Michelle Obama's section is chock-a-block with Washingtonians. Among them:
-Gen. Alfonso E. Lenhardt, CEO of the non-profit National Crime Prevention Council and the first African-American to serve as Senate Sergeant at Arms.
-Roxanna Garcia Marcus, the development manager of Year Up
-Alvaro Simmons, chief operating officer of Mary’s Center
-Sgt. John E. Rice, a Marine from Bethesda who was injured in Iraq
Mrs. Obama also invited local students to sit with her: Victoria Kirby a senior at Howard University; Elizabeth Carballo, a junior at Roosevelt Senior High School; Akrem Muzemil, a sophomore at Benjamin Banneker High; and Juan Francisco Rodriguez, a student at Bell Multicultural High School....
Elton and Billy
One might think with all the furor over how Ticketmaster handled the sale of Bruce Springsteen tickets earlier this month, its concert-industry brethren would be up to speed.
Not so, as Wilson Howard, president of the southeast region for concert promoter Live Nation, joined Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner and Mayor Adrian Fenty at Nationals Park Monday to announce the first-ever concert at the ballpark: Elton John and Billy Joel on July 11.
Howard was asked how he could assure fans that Live Nation's ticketing partner, Tickets.com, wouldn't gouge them by immediately placing tickets in the resale market, as Springsteen fans accused Ticketmaster of doing.
"I don't know how to answer that," he said. "We do the best we can, and that's really all I can say. ... Pardon me for not knowing all of this."
Nevermind that Ticketmaster is currently attempting to merge with Live Nation. Or that Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino is scheduled to testify to a congressional committee today on this very topic.
As they're merely renting the venue to Live Nation, the Nationals wouldn't comment further on the ticketing.
Howard did tell us later that he thinks the ticket prices of $56.50 to $182 were "very...
Photo: Mark Wilkins
George Clooney was back in town Monday, this time to meet with Vice President Joe Biden. The two were scheduled to speak about the conflict in Darfur and Clooney's recent travels in the region.
America's leading man flew into Dulles Airport on a private jet, and — looking "dressed to impress," say our spies — stopped at the offices of Ernst & Young before his meeting with Biden....
And the nominees are...
Enterprising socialites had their pick of two Oscar viewing parties Sunday night that both claimed “official” status. Let’s see how they stacked up.
Event: Oscar Night DC
Place: Hard Rock Café
Hook: One of 52 Oscar viewing parties nationwide officially sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Charitable component: Raised an estimated $100,000 for The American Red Cross of the National Capital Area.
Perks: More than 30 flat screens, silent auction featuring a Gibson guitar signed by O.A.R., swag bags for VIPs worth over $500.
Food: Went untouched by many of the females dressed to the nines, afraid the chili-cheese dogs (!) and hamburger sliders would get on their dresses. Safer options from the Hard Rock kitchen included coconut shrimp kabobs and smoked salmon on cucumber.
Drink: Two open bars, plus waiters walking around with Casa Noble tequila shots and strawberry margaritas.
Notable Attendees: WJLA-TV/NewsChannel 8’s Pamela Brown, Washington movie critic Arch Campbell, Mix 107.3 DJ Tommy McFly, Councilman Jack Evans, Miss D.C. 2008 Kate Marie Grinold, former Miss D.C. Kate Michael, Jan Cousteau, Pamela Sorensen and tech tycoon Michael Saylor, who was the "presenting sponsor."
Seen: Most of the VIPs opting out of their private upstairs area to mingle down below with the rest of the...
Barack the Lion?
Scottish First Prime Minister Alex Salmond arrived in D.C. Monday as part of a sort of marketing tour to showcase the many reasons why Americans should visit the land of the Loch Ness Monster—and linking it to our popular president was one of his tactics.
“President Obama’s own ancestry can be traced to the Scottish King William the Lion through his grandmothers side,” Salmond told listeners at Georgetown University. He also added that President Obama, like his idol President Lincoln, admires the works of Scottish poet Robert Burns.
And if that didn't convince everyone to embrace Scotland, he hosted a Scotch tasting Monday night. After all, Salmond said, "According to the census, there are 10 million Scottish-Americans, however 27 million claim they are.” Maybe those 17 million “wannabes” just like the country’s...
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., raised a few eyebrows this weekend when he predicted that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be dead within nine months. Ginsburg is battling pancreatic cancer.
Monday afternoon, the senator tried to make amends through a statement sent out by his office. But something tells us he still won't be on Ginsburg's holiday-card list. Bunning misspelled her name twice in the release.
“I apologize if my comments offended Justice Ginsberg [sic],” said Bunning. “That certainly was not my intent. It is great to see her back at the Supreme Court today and I hope she recovers quickly. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her...
Truth is better than fiction
The mastermind behind the Frost-Nixon interviews was in Washington Friday to discuss his new book, “The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews” -- and share details that screeners of current Oscar-nominated film might have missed.
James Reston Jr. headed most of the research conducted for the 1977 interview—serving as the British host’s Watergate advisor—for which Nixon was paid an “outrageous” $1 million. Reston admitted to a Capitol Hill audience that along with the money, Nixon most likely agreed to the interview for “he surely thought David Frost was a soft touch.” Reston agreed, but added that though “Frost had a lot of weaknesses … we were fortunate that in the 11th hour he really did his homework.”
Reston, played by Sam Rockwell in the film, attempted to link the definitive presidency to a more recent one. “The actions of Nixon seem trivial to those of Bush in the last eight years to the college generation,” he said. “Perhaps we need a cathartic, definitive bookend to the Bush era” (a "Frost/Bush," maybe?).
When asked about the scene in "Frost/Nixon" in which Reston refuses to shake hands with Nixon but later crumbles under the pressure, Reston chuckled, “I suppose...
Test for the chef
The 130 guests in attendance Sunday night for President Obama's first big dinner in the East Room — honoring the nation's governors — enjoyed a menu that would make any local gourmand envious.
In fact, a few local gourmands — six top students from Bethesda's L’Academie de Cuisine, plus two of their instructors — helped prepare the feast.
The courses included Chesapeake crab agnolotti with roasted sunchokes; Wagyu beef and Nantucket scallops with glazed red carrots, portobello mushroom and creamed spinach; winter citrus salad with pistachios and lemon honey vinaigrette; and huckleberry cobbler with caramel ice cream.
Guests were entertained by Earth, Wind and Fire. Flowers were bouquets of deep reds and burgundies, including roses, black callas, orchids, tulips and gardenia foliage. The china service was the Woodrow Wilson service, circa 1918.
During a media preview, first lady Michelle Obama said yes, she's considering her own china service. “I think so, I think that’s part of the job,” she...
Mind your Ps and Qs
In today's world, you often need a little more than just "please" and "thank you" to solve all your problems. Say you want to tell a coworker she needs to bottom up her blouse a bit more, or perhaps inform a mother that her child is a bit too rambunctious, but don't know how to say it nicely? Then James Henry's debut book, "Mind Your Manners! George Washington's Rules of Civility," is what you need -- a modern take on 111 of George Washington's own rules of etiquette for today's society.
"Yeas & Nays" sat down for a civil lunch Saturday with the local author at Founding Farmers restaurant, and got a smile from some of Henry's suggested "rules of civility."
Washington: "When in company, put not your hands to any part of the body, not usually discovered."
Henry's version: "Fishing for one's privates should rarely be done in public."
Washington: "Reproach none for their infirmities of nature, nor delight to put them that have in mind thereof."
Henry's version: "Don't tease freaks or unfortunate geeks."
Henry claims that "it's almost fashionable to be rude." So then we wonder: If this is the new mindset, aided through the ease and detachment of technology (think anonymous blog postings), do Washington's lessons still apply?
"Technology is just...
Real Fake?
How fake can you make reality? The stars of the D.C.-based reality show "Blonde Charity Mafia" (or, to be fair, their producers) tried to take it to the next level last week, returning to the District to shoot additional footage for a program that was originally slated to air last fall.
Thursday night marked one of those instances where the "reality" is planned, as the show -- now punted from Lifetime to The CW Network -- engineered a vague "Welcome to Washington" party at the St. Regis.
Girls donned their little dresses, hoping to get filmed in the background as they happily signed waivers from the show's producers before entering the party. It was a predictable mix of "The Hills" and the older man/younger girl dynamic — both well past their expiration dates, given the country's new recession reality.
A delayed debut, that ambiguous caveat that the production is still "in development," and an email from producers asking for "good looking guys and girls … to be background fillers" may suggest that the show might need a bit of stimulus itself to get off the ground....
"Fairly recently Congress's approval rating was at 4 percent. I mean O.J. [Simpson's] approval rating was at 16 percent in 1995."
– Pollster John Zogby, speaking Thursday about his new book, "The Way We'll...
Blues legend B.B. King leans into his famous guitar Lucille at his show with Buddy Guy Friday night show at DAR Constitution Hall.
Buddy Guy performs.
(Photos: Carrie...
Former Vice President Al Gore was in Washington Thursday, and shockingly it wasn’t to talk about the environment. Gore served as the guest of honor at a luncheon held at Il Mullino New York, in conjunction with Sidwell Friends School, to raise money for the school’s “Al Gore Scholarship Fund.”
Gore had a few personal connections to the event besides his namesake on the scholarship. The same Quaker day school that currently teaches Malia and Sasha Obama also counts Gore’s son, Al Gore III, as an alum. But he we think he didn’t appear just to support the school — we’re sure the hosts, Democratic super-donors Al and Claire Dwoskin, also played a role....
Meet me at Martins
Any regular to Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown knows that every booth has a history to it (think John F. Kennedy proposing to Jackie). But as the restaurant celebrates its 75th anniversary, we wanted to hear the juicy stories that aren’t as well known.
We caught up with the fourth-generation owner, Billy Martin IV, over some Welsh rarebit Wednesday night, as the watering hole held its anniversary celebration for valued regulars and friends.
One story involves President Lyndon Johnson and then-House Speaker Sam Rayburn, who often joined Martin’s grandfather in the backroom nicknamed the “dugout” (after Martin the Second’s first career as a professional baseball player). Martin told us how Rayburn and LBJ were dugout regulars. One night, Rayburn attempted to tell a story to Martin’s young son, but kept being interrupted by the president. Rayburn finally yelled, “Johnson, if you just shut up, he might learn something.”
Martin touched on everything from making moonshine during Prohibition to shuffling diners down a hatch door during an after-hours police raid to when Redskins Hall of Famer John Riggins — picture “fur coat” and “Scotch”— wanted a bigger steak knife. “I came back with a huge serrated kitchen knife as a joke,” said Martin. “Well he...
On Broadway
For the first time in its history, D.C.-based Arena Stage has two of its shows moving to Broadway at the same time.
"33 Variations," which premiered at Arena in September of 2007, recently opened for previews on Broadway, with Jane Fonda in the lead role.
And "Next to Normal," which had its second staging at Arena from November to January, takes its entire cast to the Longacre Theatre in New York.
“This moment shows the true promise and range of Arena's new work in addition to our commitment to American writers and artists," said Artistic Director Molly Smith.
Aaron Tveit as Gabe, Alice Ripley as Diana and J. Robert Spencer as Dan in Arena Stage's recent production of "Next to Normal," now headed to Broadway. (Photo courtesy Arena...
“We’re not mightily adept at playing backroom poker in Asia. We go to the table with a big fat wallet, but eventually we get picked clean.”
--Author Ron Suskind, speaking Wednesday about America’s image around the...
Good knight
Amb. Sheinwald, Lady Sheinwald, Jeanne Warner, Sen. Warner
Former Sen. John Warner, R-Va., will be made an honorary knight of the United Kingdom, British Ambassador Nigel Sheinwald announced at a dinner in Warner's honor on Wednesday.
"Senator Warner has always extended a hand of friendship to the UK from the Commonwealth of Virginia," said Sheinwald. "We were delighted to cement that friendship in 2007 when Her Majesty the Queen visited the Commonwealth of Virginia, and met Senator Warner again."
Warner said, "My wife, Jeanne, who was born in London, and I both share direct ancestral lineage to the United Kingdom, and we quietly reflect on how our parents would have such joy in their hearts with this recognition."
Guests at the dinner for Warner (which also coincided with his 82nd birthday) included National Security Adviser Jim Jones, Sen. Jim Webb, former Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb, Gen. David Petraeus and Colin Powell.
Warner joins Jones, Bill Gates, Rudy Giuliani, Powell and Steven Spielberg, among those Americans who have received an honorary knighthood.
Warner will travel to London this spring to receive the award formally. Queen Elizabeth herself is expected to present it to him.
Photos courtesy The British...
Daddy’s Watching
Could Bernard Spitzer be looking to keep an eye out on his son? Probably not, but in a funny coincidence, Eliot Spitzer’s father is attempting to purchase the office building at 1615 L Street NW — which happens to overlook the Mayflower Hotel.
As most will remember, Eliot Spitzer, then the governor of New York, spent the night before Valentine’s Day last year in the hotel with 22-year-old call girl Ashley Dupre.
New-York based real-estate company Broadway Partners currently owns the 13-story building and, like several other “young and flashy companies who got too overloaded,” as one source dubbed them, they’re facing the reality of the economic crisis. The private-equity firm had borrowed $1.5 billion from now-defunct Lehman Brothers and, because of missed payments, could be forced to send three buildings, including 1615 L Street, to auction. But not if Bernard Spitzer gets his way.
Sources close to the deal say the Manhattan developer is hoping to stop the auction by buying the downtown property, only a few steps from where his son failed to think with his brain. (It wouldn't be Bernard Spitzer’s first foray into D.C. real estate, either. He owns the William P. Rogers building at 2001 K Street.)
But Spitzer the elder is facing some money issues of his own. “[Bernard] Spitzer is awaiting his...
Pet detective
Call him Jim Moran: Pet Detective. The Arlington Democrat announced Wednesday that he has formed the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, along with Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.
Moran has long been involved in animal-rights issues, from working for a ban on horse slaughter to prohibiting the sale of clothing made with dog fur.
CAPC replaces the Friends of Animals Caucus that existed in previous congresses.
“Animals are sensate beings that deserve to be treated with respect and dignity,” Moran said. “I look forward to building a consensus among my colleagues in support of sensible animal welfare laws that reflect our common values. Protecting animals from cruel treatment is not a partisan...
Help, I’m Immelting
With executive compensation such a hot topic around the halls of power these days, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt sure picked a good place to announce he was forgoing his $12 million bonus: at a Georgetown cocktail party Tuesday night populated by the city’s rich and influential.
The occasion was a soiree thrown by the Financial Times, with Immelt as its guest. (Unsurprisingly, the paper was the first to break the news.)
On hand to hear of Immelt’s largesse: Chris and Kathleen Matthews, Bob Woodward, Luke Russert, superlawyer Bob Barnett, Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson, Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Casamitjana, Egyptian Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, Special Olympics chief Tim Shriver and Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover...
Dodge ball
It’s official: Ben Bernanke is a creature of Washington. During a Q&A session at the National Press Club on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Chairman skillfully dodged all questions that asked him to criticize the administration or Congress.
“That’s a moot point, isn’t it?” he replied, when asked whether there was anything else would he have liked to see in the stimulus bill.
But his most artful dodge came at the very end, when he was randomly asked if the recent steroids scandal could hurt Alex Rodriguez’s chances at the Hall of Fame.
“I love baseball,” came his...
So Hot Right Now
Energy Secretary Steve Chu may be working on cooling the planet from global warming, but he was definitely in the hot seat Wednesday as he faced a barrage of questions from the media during a conference call to discuss the agenda for next week’s forum, “The National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy.”
“I hope the press will pick on someone other than me,” said Chu, directing questions to other attendees, who included Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., T. Boone Pickens, chairman of BP Capital Management and John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress.
Chu, a former U.C. Berkeley physicist, tried to keep the focus on discussing a clean energy policy. “Clean energy is a national goal and needs a national solution,” Chu said. “The president has proposed a plan that we as a cabinet need to execute on.”
Salazar agreed. “The new energy frontier is a huge part of the administration,” he said.
The forum, scheduled for Feb. 23 features Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and, possibly, an appearance by Al Gore. Which means, of course, that it will snow.
-Ryan...
22
Total number of guns that five of the six candidates for RNC chairman bragged about owning during their January debate
$5,000
Amount an undisclosed buyer offered the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport last year for the “Larry Craig bathroom stall”
Source: Harper’s Index, March...
Pollster smackdown
Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg has been described as the “Robert DeNiro of political consultants.” Is that because he goes after his enemies and rivals with a mafia-like zeal?
Republican consultant Frank Luntz, former Hillary Clinton adviser Mark Penn and bipartisan consultant Dick Morris are Greenberg’s pollster peers who find themselves on the business end of his prose in his new book “Dispatches from the War Room.”
No sooner than page 2, Greenberg lets Luntz have it, calling him “perhaps the epitome of the modern spinmeister, now almost a parody of himself.” He later calls Luntz the “master of obscurantism.”
Next to have it is Penn. Greenberg recalls an instance during Tony Blair’s reelection campaign where it was decided that the polling would be split between to the two men. “No, I won’t be doing that,” Greenberg recalls saying. “The Labour Party deserves better than that.”
He doesn’t just attack Penn’s polling skills, either. He goes after his book, “Microtrends,” opining: “If I ever come to think of my work in such terms, then take me out and shoot me.”
But the majority of his ire is reserved for Morris, whom President Bill Clinton famously brought on for his 1996 reelection effort. Sprinklings of his jabs...
Cowboys and Indians
Ramsey Clark has spent decades going after Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Now he’s even taking on their secret society.
The former attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson has been hired to represent the Apache medicine man and military leader Geronimo’s descendants in a federal suit demanding his remains be returned to their final resting place in Arizona. Which raises the question: Where did they go in the first place?
The defendants in the case provide some clues. Along with President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of the Army Pete Geren, Yale University and the campus’ Order of Skull and Bones, which counts the father and son presidents as members, are the standouts in the list of people being sued for allegedly stealing Geronimo’s bones.
“There’s been widespread reporting that in 1918 a group of Yale students entered the tomb and took the skull and some other bones,” Clark stated at a news conference Tuesday. Legend has it the members of the secret society allegedly kiss the skull at initiation ceremonies held in the tomblike headquarters on the New Haven campus.
Clark and Harlyn Geronimo, the warrior’s great-grandson, spoke at the National Press Club on Tuesday — which also marked the 100th anniversary of the warrior’s death —...
Opting out
Rep. Ted Poe told Congress Friday that he is “opting out” of the stimulus package. According to the fiery Texas conservative, the idea came from his wrecker-driving pal back home, Sammy Mahan.
Poe recalled Mahan telling him, “Unlike you government boys, I can't spend money I don't have. So I want you to opt me out of this deal.’... Give me a form. I want to sign it. You take $10,000 off that $790 billion, and I don't want to pay it because I don't have the money.”
It was enough for Poe, who said, “I suspect that if most Americans read this bill and they realized how much it was going to cost them personally, they would want to opt out of this deal.”
He went on to say, “Since people I represent can't opt out, I am going to opt out for them. And that's just the way it is.” Somehow, we get the feeling that it’s...
BET on Bob
Bob Johnson, the founder of D.C.-based BET and the first black billionaire, says he’d relish the opportunity to work with the country’s only other black billionaire, Oprah Winfrey.
Interviewed as part of CNBC’s forthcoming special “NEWBOs: The Rise of America’s New Black Overclass,” Johnson argues that black businesses should more aggressively work together and even merge. “I would love a call from Oprah saying, ‘Bob, I hear you’ve got this idea for this TV channel. I’d love to co-own that with you and develop it.’ ”
In the show, which premieres Feb. 26, Johnson discusses what it’s like to have achieved such wealth. “You’re sort of in a world where not many other African-Americans penetrate,” he says. “So you find yourself not alone in the sense that you don’t have friends, but alone in the sense that you’re invited to this meeting or you’re invited to this event, and you’re surrounded mainly by white men. ... You’re still in that room by yourself.”
And, of course, he touches on his endorsement of Hillary Clinton for the presidency in 2008: “I think people expected me to support [Barack Obama], that [we] should be pulling the same wagon. ... It gave people some consternation, but to me it was just a matter of who I...
Lincoln has been viewed in celebratory ways of late, but former Sen. George McGovern D-South Dakota, gave a new, very “honest” angle on the President Friday when discussing his new work, “Abraham Lincoln.”
McGovern focused on the most human aspects of the Civil War president while speaking at the National Press Club, stating, “Lincoln suffered most of his life with what we would now call clinical depression.” Certain to know a little about feeling blue after being defeated by a landslide in his race for president in 1972, McGovern added that Lincoln once told one of his aides “he would no longer carry a knife with him for fear that in a moment of despondency he might cut his wrists or slit his throat.”
McGovern highlighted the way Lincoln laughed and made jokes to cover up the melancholy.
“A group of women once asked Lincoln how he could laugh when so many men were dying during the war to which he replied, ‘After all the terrible things that have occurred, if I did not laugh then my heart would break.’”
-Ryan Freeman contributed to this...
All The President’s Men
A group of President Nixon’s closest advisors met Thursday night under the shadow of the Capital, but despite the way it sounds, the goings-on would no longer interest Woodward and Bernstein.
The February Group — a secret society of sorts made of top members of the Nixon administration — met for a cocktail reception in a conference room at Hall of the States for the first time in seven years. What started as a small luncheon in February of 1975 of about a dozen men has grown to include members of the Ford administration and now totals over 100 men and their wives, as was the case Thursday evening.
Original member Steve Bull, Special Assistant to Nixon, said “the group was formed as a way for people that worked together and were friends to stick together.” No doubt the turbulent fall of Nixon played a part in creating a unique bond between the former co-workers.
So was there any talk about the current state of the Republican party, the affiliation “almost entirely everyone” in the group claims? Bull swears the event was “no more than a social gathering” but joked “we’re in Washington, D.C., so of course we talked some politics.”
Bull added that Thursday’s reunion also served to honor the group’s founder, former Nixon advance man, Dewey Clower. When Clower...
Nick the sick?
Photo: Mark Wilkins
That was Nick Lachey flying into Washington Reagan National on Sunday afternoon and checking in at the Fairmont Hotel. The former boy-band star and ex-husband of Jessica Simpson then strolled to Old Glory in Georgetown for dinner. According to a Yeas & Nays spy, on the way back to his hotel, he stopped by CVS to get NyQuil.
Lachey was in town to promote his new album, "Coming Up for Air," at a few local radio stations, including Hot 99.5 and a 730 a.m. meeting at the Hard Rock Cafe with Mix...
Art Smith is the former personal chef to Oprah Winfrey and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla. Late last year, he opened Art and Soul in the new Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill.
Q: What's the last movie you saw?
"Slumdog Millionaire"
Q: What book are you reading?
"Cross Creek Cookery," by Marjorie Kenning Rawlings
Q: What Web sites do you visit in the morning?
NewYorkTimes.com
Q: What's your favorite TV show?
"Damages" on FX
Q: What's new on your...
"He’s smart at the game. First thing up he’s passing, nice post pass, nice set up, always looking for the other man."
--Magic Johnson, dissecting President Obama's basketball skills Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union with John King." Later in the segment, the New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul remarked that "lefties always can shoot," but Hall of Famer Bill Russell accused the president of having a "YMCA...
Given that the Senate passed the economic stimulus bill on Friday the 13th, Americans for Tax Reform (which opposed the legislation from the beginning) took it upon themselves to overhaul the original movie poster for "Friday the 13th."
“This year, Friday the 13th really was a scary day for taxpayers,” said ATR President Grover Norquist. "We thought this movie poster, with a few edits, lent itself to aptly capturing the nightmare which culminated on Capitol Hill on...
Seduction 101
"Remember when flying used to be fun?" asks Jason Tesauro. "Remember romance?"
As the author of "The Modern Lover" and "The Modern Gentleman," the Richmond-based Tesauro spends much time thinking about such things.
Tesauro appears at Ici Urban Bistro downtown on Saturday for a four-course dinner-cum-seminar called "The Art of Flirting."
"I'll be telling people how food and wine and spirits can fit into their whole romantic game," he said.
But let's cut to the chase: How about some Valentine's Day advice for suitors -- and established lovebirds:
-"The first kiss should not be the first contact."
-"[There's a] difference between flirtation and seduction; between confidence and cockiness."
-"Don't try to eat in a sexy fashion. You'll look like an idiot."
As for his future plans, Tesauro is working on his first novel ("
