Coming This Week

Another week of overwhelming choices. It's really summer now.

• Artomatic kicks off this weekend. Visual artists, performing artists, music artists, and other local artistic types gather for a little art democracy. This year's Artomatic is in an empty office building off the Navy Yard metro station. Not to be missed.
  

• Cultural Tourism DC is offering a smorgasbord of free tours this weekend.
  

• Dan Fleshler will be at Busboys and Poets peace cafe on Sunday morning talking about his book Transforming America's Israel Lobby.
  

• The Washington Folk Festival at Glen Echo Park has more than 400 performers this weekend.

• The Old Town Arts and Crafts Festival is also this weekend.
  

• The Shakespeare Theatre Company has a free reading of Britannicus Monday night.
  

• The EuroAsia shorts film festival kicks off this week, many films are showing at the Goethe Institute.
  

• Thursday night, the Freer Gallery is putting on it's first ever Asia After Dark party with food, booze, and entertainment.
  

Adams Morgan Mural About DC Voting Rights

This mural in Adams Morgan says "If you lived here you'd be home now. But you still couldn't vote."

If you were not aware, DC does not have any voting representatives in congress, although it looks like that may change soon.

Unlike some places, Puerto Rico for example, that don't have voting rights, DC residents pay full federal taxes. Hence, our DC license plates say "taxation without representation."

Even worse, all our local governments decisions can be reversed by the congress, even though we have no representation.

Moscow String Quartet at the Freer Gallery

The Freer Gallery put on a free concert last week. the Moscow String Quartet performed four compositions.

First, let me say that these women were amazing musicians. Two of the songs they played were beautiful, one by Mikhail Glinka and the other by Alexander Borodin.

The other two pieces were written by Sofia Gubaidulina. That's her all the way on the right. They were a little crazy.

The first piece should have been playing in the background of a 1950s murder flick. It was, as Chris pointed out, the perfect music to strangle someone by. And there were quite a few candidates in the audience - the guy in the front row who was reading and fidgeting rudely, for example.

Also, the old, rotund, curmudgeon who yelled at the ticket people when we arrived was a good candidate for strangling. The other curmudgeon who yelled at someone for looking at one of his programs could have used a good throttle too. There were a lot of jerks in the audience is what I'm saying.

But I digress. The last piece was truly bizarre. They flashed red and green lights on the stage. The women played their instruments with little balls on slinkys. I know there was supposed to be music in there somewhere, but I did not get it.

Most of the audience still gave a standing ovation at the end. The musicians deserved it. They were amazing, even if one of their songs was kooky. The composer....well, she was old and we were polite.

Gay Rights Rally in Dupont Circle

Last night there was a rally in Dupont Circle in support of gay marriage and civil rights in general. I'm bad at guessing crowds, but I would say at least 500 people showed up.

That's as good a protest crowd as I've seen since I've been in DC. Interestingly, while most of the anti-capitalist/anti-war type protests have more cops than protesters, I only saw one cop.

Apparently, hundreds of homosexuals gathering in a public place to chant does not bring fear to the DC police. Two homosexuals getting married, on the other hand...

Speakers included two clergy, the vice president of the National Organization for Women, and Council Member Phil Mendelson. One of the clergy, told us to expect a coming out party next Tuesday of DC clergy in support of gay rights. He said the group includes black, white, straight, gay, baptist, methodist, and catholics. Stay tuned for that.

Taste of Eleven Benefit

Last Wednesday there was a benefit for the Capital Area Foodbank called Taste of Eleven. The benefit, sponsored in part by the Wizards and Mystics, was held at the Verizon Center.

For eleven bucks, you received six tickets good at thirty six different food stands. The food selection ran the gamut from McDonalds to Cafe Atlantico.

Amazingly, some of the biggest lines were for fast food. Chipotle was packed. No problem. That just meant the lines for Cafe Atlantico ceviche and Jaleo octopus were short.

A little guacamole from Oyamel and a couple sliders and my office mate and I were good to go...to wait on line for ice cream that is. One thing that all the attendees seemed to agree on was the need for a stop at Gifford's Ice Cream. The line was LONG.

It was a great event. Fun. Inexpensive. Something for every taste. And I'll bet they raised some serious cash too.

Coming This Week

The list of events is surprisingly thin this week. I imagine most of the town will be getting away for memorial day. Not to worry, it is going to be warm and the weather report is getting sunnier by the day. Also, a lot of summer-long events are kicking off this weekend.

• Jazz in the Garden starts tonight. The National Gallery Sculpture Garden will have jazz concerts every Friday from now until September 11th.
  

• Public pools around DC and Maryland open this weekend.

• It would also be a great weekend to hit the U.S. Botanic Garden where they have a chocolate exhibit.
  

• Or perhaps we will finally check out the National Arboretum or one of the parks around DC
  

• Sunday morning at 9:00 Mohammed Sawalha, a Palestinian human rights activist whose son is in Israeli prison, speaks at the Busboys and Poets Peace Cafe. (Peace Cafe brings together Jews and Arabs around the issue of Israel/Palestine.)
  

• Sunday night is vintage soul, jazz and South American music at Marvin
  

• Monday is the annual memorial day parade and preceded by a wall side ceremony
  

I think we'll manage to find something to do.

Hawaiian Plays and Fainting Spells

Friday, Chris and I went to a play at the National Museum of the American Indian. Before the play, this Hawaiian group played music in the Mitsitam Cafe.

The cafe served Hawaiian food, including some rather delicious lumpia (little egg rolls). They also had a sweet and imminently drinkable pineapple coconut cocktail.

The play was called The Conversion of Ka' ahumanu. It takes place in Hawaii and focuses on two women missionaries and three Hawaiian women. Subject matter ran the gamut from European exploitation of indigenous people (and resources) to indigenous people selling their women like cattle. It was a very feminist play.

I won't say I liked the play, but I did find it thought provoking. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the end.

I fainted.

You see. I am very, very (did I say very) squeamish. I have a particular phobia when it comes to needles and knives. The play had a very, very (did I say very) long act about one of the women's mastectomy. It was a mastectomy without drugs. It was descriptive. It was pretty much my worse nightmare.

I started feeling nauseous, but I didn't want to get up in the middle of the play. It's rude. Next thing I know, the voices got really far away. Chris says I let out some sort of moan and started slipping down in my seat. He had to help me out of the theatre.

After my recovery (head between the knees outside of the theatre), I stopped in the ladies room. While I was in there, one of the actors from the play came and asked Chris if I was all right. Apparently, they noticed from stage!

So embarrassing.

Dupont Farmers Market Tomatoes

The Dupont Circle Farmers Market is getting so good now that summer is close. They finally had strawberries. They also had the most amazing tomatoes.

We've been eating caprese with these tomatoes and some of the Blue Ridge Dairy Company fresh mozzarella. It is soooooooo good.

They also had someone there from Hello Cupcake handing out samples of their strawberry buttercream. I could have eaten a vat of that. I would have had to throw up afterwards, but it would have been worth it.

Mid City Artists Open Studios Tour

Mid City Artists Open Studios was this weekend. Chris and I managed to hit a few placed on Sunday afternoon.

The cool thing about open studios is, not only do you get to see cool artwork, you also get to see inside the old brownstones in Dupont and Logan Circle.

Also, it's a great opportunity to meet the cool neighbors. We spoke with the artists, checked out their studio/homes, and looked at some beautiful pieces.

Because we got started late, we only had time to visit Lucinda Murphy, Mark Parascandola, Peter Alexander Romero, and Regina Miele. Mark's photography was the highlight for me. Chris loved his photos of an old graffiti covered prison in Spain. I loved the shot up stop sign in Alaska.

If you missed Mark at Open Studios, you can catch him at Artomatic.

DC Film - Strangers on a Train

Hundreds of movies have been filmed in DC, including some real classics. Last night Chris and I watched Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.

Two men meet on a train. A tennis player with political aspirations, in love with a senator's daughter, has a horrible wife he can't get rid of. A trust fund baby has a father he hates. The trust fund baby suggests that they each murder the others problem.

The tennis player thinks the stranger is a kook and forgets about it. Problem is, the stranger was for real. He murders the tennis player's wife. When the tennis player doesn't return the favor, the murderer stalks him. The tennis player won't tell the police because he thinks they won't believe him.

As usual, Hitchcock manages to squeeze in quite a few creepy phobias and create a couple new ones. It has mentally imbalanced strangers who won't leave you alone, the random murder of a young girl in the middle of the woods, a constant fear of being blamed for something you didn't do, and the guilt of knowing something you shouldn't. Plus it has crazy carnys and the best carousel ride ever.

Washington, DC features prominently in the film. The film begins in Union Station, although looking much different from the shopping mall it is today. The Capital Dome is in the background of quite a few scenes. The Lincoln Memorial and National Monument show up as well. Best is the scene where the murderer is standing alone on the Jefferson Memorial steps. The pillars of the memorial tower over him, but he still looks ominous.

Strangers on a train was one of Hitchcock's favorite films. According to Charlotte Chandler, who wrote a Hitchcock biography titled It's only a Movie, it was also the movie that scared him the most. The guy in the carousel scene isn't a stuntman. He is a carnival worker who could have gotten his head chopped off by that thing. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Hitchcock's daughter Pat is adorable as the tennis player's girlfriend's sister. Oh and keep an eye out for Hitchcock's appearance. He gets on one of the trains as the tennis player gets off.

Coming This Week

I have major decisions to make this weekend. So much going on and I just won't be able to see it all.

• The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu is a play about Christian missionaries and indigenous Hawaiian women. There are two showings (tonight and tomorrow) at the National Museum of the American Indian. Tonight's showing is preceded by Hawaiian food, beverages, and music in the Mitsitam Cafe.
  

• The Asian Heritage Festival street fair is tomorrow on Pennsylvania between 3rd and 6th.
  

• Also tomorrow and Sunday is the Dragon Boat Festival where groups race their dragon boats down the Potomac from Georgetown Waterfront Park.
  

• Still another event tomorrow and Sunday is Mid City Open Studios where, as the name implies, Dupont Circle area artists open their studios to visitors.
  

• And as though that weren't enough, Saturday is DCs Chile cook-off. The cook-off supports the National Kidney Foundation (and probably the makers of Prilosec)
  

• Saturday evening Vijai Nathan performs her one woman show at the Freer Gallery's Meyer Auditorium for free.
  

• Sunday, the Dupont Circle farmers market is going to have strawberries and asparagus, not to mention a cupcake making demonstration. (Can you say samples?!)
  

• And if I could manage to get myself up to Baltimore, the exhibition from Picasso to Leger closes this weekend.

Next week's activities are a bit more somber.

• On the 19th there are several events around town in honor of Troy Davis, including an interfaith service at All Souls Unitarian Church.
  

• Thursday there is a screening of the Grapes of Wrath at the American Art Museum
  

• Also Thursday, the Moscow String Quartet gives a free concert in the Meyer Auditorium.
  

Coming Soon - California

We arrived in California this afternoon for a short family/friend vacation. More on that adventure when we get back next week. In the meantime, I would just like to point out that Northwest Airlines does not actually land at the San Jose airport (contrary to what our ticket said).

It landed somewhere out in Timbuktu. Then we were herded into a long narrow line under a tarp. This line seemed to lengthen as we walked through it. That may have been due in part to the absurdly slow walkers ahead of us. Or it may have been due to my desperate need for a restroom.

Once we finally reached the end of our journey from the Timbuktu tarmac to the airport, we had to wade our way through about 12 million people. Incredibly, they all seemed elderly and reliant on wheelchairs, walkers, and canes to get around. Inevitably, there was also an enormous lines in the women's bathroom.

In short, should you fly into what they say is San Jose, suck it up and use the plane lavatory before you get off.