Washington Speaks

A Lincoln-Douglass debate 'live' at Ford's Theatre

2012-02-15T04:04:00.000-08:00

Craig Wallace is Frederick Douglass in Necessary Sacrifices at Ford's Theatre/Laura Keene

A serious "conversation" between two American heroes, President Abraham Lincoln (David Selby) and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (Craig Wallace), is occurring nightly through Saturday at Ford's Theatre in a play called Necessary Sacrifices.

It is a world's premiere, written by Richard Hellesen who was commissioned by Ford's to create a play for the celebration of this month's opening of the Center for Education and Leadership located across the street.

Hellesen based his drama on two documented sessions between Lincoln and Douglass.

David Selby is Abraham Lincoln in Necessary Sacrifices/Laura Keene

Everyone knows who President Lincoln was, but how many are familiar with Mr. Douglass? Not only did he work to abolish slavery, but he was an early supporter of women's rights and in 1848, the only African-American present at the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. (The Frederick Douglass home is at 1411 W Street SE in Washington.)

The specific Civil War period in focus for Sacrifices is chiefly August, 1863 and August, 1864. Mr. Douglass is disappointed by the president's policies and tries to convince him that not only is emancipation critical to national health, but the new role of blacks in the U.S. is vital, too.

In dialogue in two acts, the two converse, and the president explains to Douglass the political process and the evolution of public opinion. Selby's and Wallace's looks, demeanor, and superb acting give undeniable credence to their characters who truly make American history come alive on stage.

Jennifer L. Nelson, the director, writes in program notes that the two Civil War leaders discovered a "common vision" in each other, sharing a "belief in the potential of human beings to be generous of spirit in spite of profound differences." Would that words of yesteryear rang on Capitol Hill today.

Adding to the play's aura is Civil War music and a sad melody composed by John Gromada which is sprinkled throughout the production and expertly played on violin by Thomas Booker or Tony Donaldson, Jr. (depending upon the night of the performance).

The lighting is dramatic (Dan Covey), and the backdrop is a tranquil floor-to-ceiling landscape painting of clouds and sky in heavenly peach, lavender and blue which creates a dichotomy in a time of radical upheaval, where gunfire is sporadically heard in the background to remind all present of war's death and destruction.

Once a portion of the stage with the president's desk and chair move forward, and large white rectangular windows drop, the stage is set (by James Kronzer) for conversation between the two in the president's office.

Makeup by Anne Nesmith is worthy of a Helen Hayes nomination.

It is eerie and remarkable at the same time to sit in Ford's Theatre, to look up at the box where the president and Mrs. Lincoln sat April 14, 1865 the night of his assassination, and realize you are there watching a play about him.

The play is recommended for ages 13 and up. Hurry! On a Monday night, the theatre was packed. It is easy to see how this play will travel for hundreds of performances.

What: Necessary Sacrifices

When: Every night at 7:30 p.m. now through February 18, 2012

Where: Ford's Theatre, 511 Tenth St, NW, Washington, DC 20004

Admission: Prices begin at $32.20. Check here for possible discounts.

For more information: 202-347-4833

Metro station: Metro Center, Gallery Place, or Archives-Navy Memorial

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

'Van Gogh' opens in Philadelphia, the only U.S. venue

2012-02-10T03:33:00.000-08:00

Now through May 6, 2012.

Undergrowth with Two Figures, 1890. Vincent Willem van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 ‑ 1890. Oil on canvas, 19 1/2 x 39 1/4 inches (49.5 x 99.7 cm). Cincinnati Art Museum, Bequest of Mary E. Johnston

For art museums, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is a magnet, comparable to The Nutcracker for ballet companies. Expect thousands.

For anyone with the slightest interest in this most famous artist who died at age 37, the Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition is absolutely “must see.” It stunningly illustrates how the mysterious painter changed the course of modern art.

The show focuses on van Gogh's last four years (1886-1890) beginning with his residency in Paris where he met impressionists whose works affected him so acutely, he changed his brushstrokes and moved to bold colors from the greys and somber hues of paintings he created in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Iris, 1889. Vincent Willem van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 ‑ 1890. Oil on thinned cardboard, mounted on canvas, 24 1/2 x 19 inches (62.2 x 48.3 cm). National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

In the first gallery visitors will certainly find a cure for the wintertime blues: Portraits of poppies, irises, roses, zinnias, and sunflowers in bright, happy colors are the theme. (After all, said the museum's senior curator, Joseph J. Rishel, van Gogh was a Dutchman who knew a lot about flowers.)

From there, guests are introduced to the "Blades of Grass" gallery which focuses on the world under van Gogh's feet, and nature which comforted the artist amidst turmoil. ("I...am always obliged to go and gaze at a blade of grass, a pine-tree branch, an ear of wheat, to calm myself," he wrote his sister in 1889.)

Rain, 1889. Vincent Willem van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 ‑ 1890. Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/8 inches (73.3 x 92.4 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Henry P. McIlhenny Collection in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny

Landscapes of Arles, Saint-Remy, and Auvers and their horizons figure prominently in another gallery, followed by hidden forests and sunlit dappled scenes.

Undergrowth, 1887. Vincent Willem van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 ‑ 1890. Oil on canvas, 13 x 18 1/8 inches (33 x 46 cm); Framed: 20 1/4 x 25 3/8 inches (51.5 x 64.5 cm). Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands

The infrequent inclusion of people are seen at a distance, none close enough to have facial features for they are not so important here.

One side gallery includes examples of prints from Japan, identical to the hundreds owned by van Gogh and his brother, Theo, pieces which influenced Vincent and show up in his paintings, including the last one in the show, Almond Blossom, created to celebrate the arrival of Theo's son, Vincent's namesake, born January 31, 1890, only a half year before his uncle died.

Philadelphia Museum of Art's Senior Curator of European Painting Before 1900, Joseph J. Rishel, in front of van Gogh's Almond Blossom (1890)/Patricia Leslie

It seems like the show includes more than 40 works, perhaps because of the smart layout. Many are uncommon paintings, borrowed from private collectors and museums around the world: the Art Institute of Chicago, Baltimore Museum of Art, Basel, Carnegie Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Dallas, Dresden, Geneva, Honolulu, London, Madrid, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musee d’Orsay, St. Louis Art Museum, Stockholm, The Hague, the National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, Tokyo, Utrecht, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Zurich, the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the joint co-organizer of the five-year project, with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Sun Life Financial and GlaxoSmithKline were major underwriters.

The press preview drew far more representatives than any recent press event, said museum director, Timothy Rub, which leads to expectations of greater than the 300,000 who came for the last van Gogh show at the museum about 10 years ago, and the one before that in the 1970s when 200,000 visited.

Philadelphia will be the season's national art destination, boasted Mr. Rub and Gail Harrity, museum president.

An audio tour included with the entry price expands the van Gogh experience, and movies about van Gogh and lectures complement the presentation on various dates. (Check the schedule here.)

It’s an easy and comfortable day trip to Philadelphia from Union Station on Amtrak (made more pleasant by a 15% van Gogh discount), and early train reservations reduce costs. (For those who have not traveled recently on Amtrak, there is plenty of leg room, no restrictions on taking food and beverages on board, free Wi-Fi, and the best benefit of all: no security checks, hassles, or long line waits.)

Amtrak stops at Philadelphia's 30th Street station where a short taxi ride of less than $10 can carry passengers to the museum. Hotel discount packages are available, too.

Go before crowds make viewing difficult. Or travel to Ottawa beginning May 25 through September 3 where the exhibition moves to the National Gallery of Canada.

A Pair of Shoes, 1887. Vincent Willem van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 ‑ 1890. oil on canvas, 12 7/8 x 16 5/16 inches (32.7 x 41.5 cm). The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection

What: Van Gogh Up Close

When: Now through May 6, 2012, every day except Monday (exceptions: February 20 and April 30), open 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. – 8:45 p.m., Friday, and 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (until 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday beginning April 7 through May 6)

Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia 19130

Admission: $25 (adults); $22 (seniors; age not specified); $20 (students and youth, ages 13-18); $12 (children, 5-12); and under age 5 and members, no charge.

Getting there from Washington: Amtrak (please see above) or take a bus (not the Chinatown!), car, or plane

Tickets: 215-235-7469 (service charge added) or online

For more information: 215-763-8100 or visitorservices@philamuseum.org.

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Aznar's reign in Spain at GWU

2012-02-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar/Patricia Leslie

Maybe it was a long plane ride.

Or he had just landed at Dulles and had jet lag.

Or had eaten Italian and was drowsy from dinner.

Whatever it was or is, the former prime minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar who spoke at George Washington University last week, had little life in him when he addressed a group of mostly 150 students to talk about Iraq and terrorism at an event sponsored by the International Affairs Society and the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Maybe that’s the way he always is: lethargic. He would not make it as a candidate here.

But he is not a candidate here.

Okay, he was a candidate in Spain, a successful candidate, and perhaps flash is not important to Spanish voters. Whatever...

Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar/Patricia Leslie

“Politics is about making things happen…not sitting…,” Aznar said.

“The world is not a perfect place.” Leadership is exercising power with imperfect information. Making decisions, taking action. “Leadership and popularity rarely go together.”

It’s “essential to know what you believe in.”

Iraq is now “a working nation, self-sufficient with pluralistic institutions that perform well.” (?)

“Islam can be and should be made compatible with Democratic practices.”

America is not looking at Europe any more. Europe has good relations with the U.S., but Europe is no longer a U.S priority, he said.

Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar/Patricia Leslie

Aznar served as prime minister of Spain from 1996-2004 and elected not to seek a third term. He strongly supported the Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq against the will of the majority (92%, Wikipedia) of Spanish citizens and many Spanish politicians. Wikipedia says Aznar told the Spanish people in a television interview that he had evidence of "weapons of mass destruction," and they should trust him. (Spain pulled all its troops from Iraq in 2004. Eleven Spanish soldiers died in Iraq including seven on the same day, November 29, 2003.)

Aznar was the subject of a car bomb attack in 1995.

The euro? (Aznar steered Spain to the EU's single currency in 1999.)

The financial crisis? (Spain has the highest unemployment rate, almost 23%, of any of the 17 euro zone countries.)

The downgrading of Spanish debt? (Announced five days before he spoke)

These subjects were not on the agenda. Nor asked by the polite audience in the Q and A which followed his talk.

Prime Minister Aznar seemed to be stuck in the last decade, but not to belittle the threat of terrorism which is very real to Spain and which cost the nation 191 citizens when terrorists bombed the railroad in Madrid in 2004.

He talked about the unpopularity of making unpopular decision. (See Iraq.) And he spent several minutes on the widespread use of Spanish which is found in major American airports, he said.

He asked how many in the room spoke French. One "girl" raised her hand. And he may have said (his voice was soft spoken and the words, frequently hard to understand) that he had put Spanish vs. French on the table with the French president and, and, ? I believe the point was Spanish is more prevalent worldwide than French.

Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar/Patricia Leslie

He is 58, looks 48, is drop-dead handsome, and although his gloomy mood, grey words, and lack of enthusiasm would not make nice on the political stage here, Hollywood may want to get him on contract.

Aznar serves on the board of directors for Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Wikipedia says Aznar has expressed doubt that climate change is a global problem, calling it "scientifically questionable' theory.

'Man of La Mancha' is a hit in McLean

2012-02-02T04:11:00.000-08:00

"Don Quixote" (Mike Baker, Jr.) and "Aldonza/Dulcinea" (Janice Rivera)/Traci J. Brooks Photography

You don't have to be a resident of McLean to enjoy a decades-old favorite, Man of La Mancha, staged by the McLean Community Players at McLean's Alden Theatre now through February 11.

It's about the cheapest theatre ticket in the region, and it is a treat.

A sold-out audience loved the show on Saturday night, and the music and orchestra made us all dreamers of the impossible.

The stars, "Cervantes/Don Quixote" (Mike Baker, Jr.), "Aldonza/Dulcinea" (Janice Rivera), "Sanchez" (Nathan Tatro), the Duke/Doctor/Knight (Lance Adell), and the Governor/Innkeeper/Moor (Jay Tilley) are some of several who lead the way and sing admirably to delight the crowd.

The best melodies are the duets and quartets ("The Impossible Dream," "Golden Helmet of Mambrino," "I'm Only Thinking of Him") sung by the cast, the prisoners in a dungeon of 17th century Spain during the Inquisition. (A contemporary setting could work just as easily.)

Part of the cast from Man of La Mancha/Traci J. Brooks Photography

Don Quixote is a new resident of the prison where men and women stay for a day or a lifetime. The other prisoners immediately attack him, put him on trial and demand all his possessions if he is found guilty. Quixote asks that he be allowed to defend himself with his play within a play, his book he has with him, authored by Miguel de Cervantes who is also Don Quixote. The play/play takes the group on Quixote's make-believe journey with his faithful sidekick, Sancho (who "really likes him").

Nowhere are there "horses" (Chris Gallegos and Celina Gomez) who can act, show emotion, and prance as well as these "ridden" by Quixote and Sancho. Their costumes (Kathy Dunlap) match their performances.

From left, Sancho's horse (Celina Gomez), "Don Quixote" (Mike Baker, Jr.), Quixote's horse (Chris Gallegos) and "Sancho Panza" (Nathan Tatro)/Traci J. Brooks Photography

While the revolutionary, the "knight-errant," travels the countryside with Sancho, those he meets along the way in his dream world call him loco. (Are all dreamers crazy? Anything out of the ordinary is suspect.) At last, he meets his "sweet lady," "Aldonza" whom he calls "Dulcinea," a prostitute who rejects the world and those around her. Quixote tries to convince her that all is not lost. Does he succeed?

Exquisite lighting (Ken and Patti Crowley, Richard Hildebrand), constant action, drama, and song are more than sufficient to keep things moving quickly, and so many people fill the stage that lack of a set change is hardly noticeable. Props are used judiciously: rectangular boards become a table becomes a church pew or confessional becomes a bed.

Don Petersen directs, and Cathy and George Farnsworth produce, assisted by Linda Stone. The 14-piece orchestra led by Walter McCoy adds immensely to the evening's entertainment.

Program notes say the play is suitable for ages 16 and up.

What: Man of La Mancha

When: Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. through February 11, 2012 with a Sunday performance at 2 p.m., February 5, 2012

Where: Alden Theatre, McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean, VA 22101

Parking: Plentiful, free, and on-site

How much: $20 ($18 for seniors, students, and McLean "tax district residents")

For more information: 703-790-9223

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Secretary of State James Baker scolds Congress

2012-01-31T04:00:00.000-08:00

Former Secretary of State James Baker spoke at St. John's-Lafayette Square/Patricia Leslie

You know you're out of power when your limousine is yellow and your driver speaks Farsi, said former Secretary of State James Baker Sunday morning when addressing the Adult Forum at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square.

With apologies to his Farsi friends, he added.

Secretary Baker, 81, came to the church to talk about "Faith, Public Service, and Public Policy," and attending his presentation was his "very best friend in life," President George H.W. Bush, who sat in the President's Pew with Mrs. Bush.

President George H.W. Bush at St.John's-Lafayette Square/Patricia
Leslie

Former First Lady Barbara Bush at St. John's-Lafayette Square/Patricia Leslie

Mr. Baker, tanned and relaxed, spoke and answered questions (nothing was off-limits, he said) for about 50 minutes and frequently interspersed his comments with praise for President Bush.

The secretary supports the nomination of Mitt Romney because Gov. Romney represents the best chance the Republicans have to defeat President Obama next November, he said.

"Governor Romney would be far and away the strongest candidate in the fall."

The election will be determined by independent voters in critical swing states [Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, and some say Nevada] since the coasts will go Democratic and the heartland will vote Republican.

"A contested primary is good for the candidate in the general election."

The 13-year Capitol Hill veteran who worked for President Gerald Ford, President Ronald Reagan, and President Bush said people everywhere desire affirmation, recognition, and fulfillment, not just D.C. power brokers. Power can be "intoxicating and addictive," but it alone does not "bring the fulfillment that many people think it does."

When asked about the possibility of American troops going into Yemen, Somalia, or other African nation, Mr. Baker said "our economy is in the tank, and we don't have the money to go" and "be the policeman of the world." He talked about "wars of choice" versus "wars of necessity."

He commended President Obama, the Navy Seals, and the military for taking out Osama bin Laden, and he cited last week's successful rescue of an American in Somalia. He made no negative remarks about the president but he had a few for members of Congress.

Harmony is lacking in "the cynical world we live in today, especially in the city of Washington, D.C. ," and the blame rests with both parties. It is time to redevelop a bipartisan approach to government. "We all have to start to return some sense of comity." Washington gridlock is caused by one party wanting to increase spending, and the other party wanting to cut it.

"The parties must find a way to compromise" which "is not a dirty word..... We need to start focusing on the Number One Problem: we are broke."

Besides the economy, Mr. Baker said another major problem in the U.S. is the proliferation of media outlets and the "talking heads" who stimulate divisiveness that sells. "Comity does not sell." He mentioned cable channels and the Internet where anyone can put anything up, true or not.

Redistricting is another problem and another divider.

When one party gets in office, it redistricts to favor itself, and the reverse happens when the other party wins. Democrats tend to nominate candidates who are left of center, while the Republicans nominate candidates right of center, leaving out the center which is disappearing. Mr. Baker said he has no remedy since redistricting is constitutionally protected, and suggested it's easier if one party controls the House, the Senate, and the White House, then "maybe something can be done, but President Obama had that for two years."

Answering another question, he said he believes the Arabs and Israelis will reach a peace agreement, likely not this year, but later, but not too much later, since 80% of the Israelis want peace although the present Israeli government "is unwilling to lean forward for peace."

About the Iranians, he said he thought they were too smart to block the Strait of Hormuz since it would be an act of war and a violation of the international sea agreement which would likely compel the U.S. to act. He has no insider information but thinks and hopes the Iranians are merely talking rhetoric and they "may be posturing a little bit."

Former Secretary of State James Baker at St. John's-Lafayette Square/Patricia Leslie

Mr. Baker spoke sincerely about his faith and friendship.

To "live a life of faith doesn't come easy" and "takes some serious hard work." Baker said he was not a saint unless a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.

Friends, friendships and lasting personal relationships that enrich lives and help individuals find their way are the most important ingredients to a satisfying life, he said, acknowledging several times the help his wife, Susan, has provided.

He quoted a favorite Biblical passage of his mother who lives "through the communion of saints": Proverb 3: 5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. "

"Faith and friends bind people," the secretary said.

Coming up at St. John's:

February 1, 12:10 p.m. Cupid's Heart, a half-hour harp and organ concert by Rebecca Smith and Michael Lodico

February 12, 10 a.m. John Milton Cooper, Jr., author, history professor, and former fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, will talk about Wilson's presidency at the Adult Forum

February 19, 10 a.m. Kristie Miller, author of Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilson's First Ladies, will speak at the Adult Forum

February 26, 10 a.m. Gigi Bradford, writer, editor, and chair of the Folger Shakespeare Library Poetry Board, will discuss similarities between faith and poetry at the Adult Forum

The National Gallery of Art opens 'triple header'

2012-01-30T03:51:00.000-08:00

Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman, 1921, pastel, Fondation Beyeler, Basil

Two new exhibitions and newly refurbished galleries were unveiled in the West Building at the National Gallery of Art over the weekend and its director, Earl A. Powell,III, called them "a triple play."

They are:

* The opening of the renovated 19th-century French galleries on the main floor

* Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition through May 6, 2012 on the ground floor (near the 7th Street entrance)

* The Baroque Genius of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione prints and drawings through July 8, 2012 on the ground floor (also near the 7th Street entrance)

After a two-year makeover, the French impressionism and post-impressionism galleries are now open, and many of the masterpieces which hung in the Chester Dale Collection up for two years on the ground floor which recently ended and you feared you would never see them again are here: Manet, Cezanne, Courbet, Cassatt, Morisot, Renoir, van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, and finally, Picasso, are some of the artists. The way some of them are hung now, they can have "conversations" with each other, according to the Gallery's Mary Morton, head of French paintings.

The Monet gallery in the renovated French galleries at the National Gallery of Art. It is the smallest of the new 14 galleries, good for "quiet contemplation," said Mary Morton, French painting curator and head/Patricia Leslie

On Sunday she spoke about the new show to several hundred people in the packed East Building auditorium. Earlier in the week Dr. Morton called the Chester Dale Collection "one of the greatest of its kind in the country, if not the world."

Director Powell said the completion of the 14 French galleries ends 10 years of renovation at the West Building which is now "completely open again."

Gustave Caillebotte, Skiffs, 1877, collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

The 55 or so Picasso drawings, pastels, watercolors, and collages are much, much more than what visitors may expect. The show is a history of early Picasso art including his earliest work, Hercules (age 9), and displays his first three decades of drawings in chronological arrangement.

More than half the works come from private collections, most of which Gallery visitors will never see again. On an energetic flight through the exhibition, Curator Andrew Robison enthusiastically described them, pointing out one wall in the third gallery where three of four works are private.

In the third gallery of the Picasso exhibition, three of these four paintings are from private collections/Patricia Leslie

The exhibition presages the Picasso masterpieces to come. Art education was important to the youthful Picasso whose father was a painter.

The 17th century drawings are detailed pen and ink scenes by the Italian baroque master, Castiglione, and his contemporaries and followers. Whether or not visitors are "churchy," the meticulous etchings and finest of pen strokes of many Biblical scenes will produce deep appreciation for this fine art where close-up inspection is permitted.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, The Flight into Egypt, 1647/1649, etching, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Pietro Testa, The Infant Christ at the Foot of the Cross, 1635/1637, etching, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

The Frick Collection in New York and the National Gallery of Art organized the Picasso show for which the Hearst Foundation, Inc. is a major sponsor.

In celebration of the exhibitions, the National Gallery of Art is hosting talks, concerts and films. See the schedule here.

When: Open daily from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.- 6 p.m., Sunday

Where: The West Building of the National Gallery of Art between 4th and 7th streets along Constitution Avenue

How much: No charge

Metro station(s): Archives, Judiciary Square, Federal Triangle, or L'Enfant Plaza and/or ride the Circulator bus with stops at the West Building

For more information: 202-737-4215 or click here

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

The National Symphony Orchestra mixes contemporary and classical

2012-01-24T04:33:00.000-08:00

Conductor James Gaffigan by Margaretta K. Mitchell

Not Mozart nor Schumann nor guest pianist Ingrid Fliter could outshine the contemporary music of Fluss ohne Ufer ("Shoreless River") by German composer Detlev Glanert, a piece co-commissioned* and played by the National Symphony Orchestra in its U.S. debut last weekend at the Kennedy Center.

It was a full night at the NSO.

The youthful and energetic guest conductor, James Gaffigan, briefed the audience about the composition's background: It is about a shipwreck, love, a battle, and two occupants, one of whom was not supposed to be onboard. And the boat sinks. Mr. Gaffigan compared parts of it to Debussy and said the timing juxtaposed to last week's ship catastrophe off the coast of Italy was coincidental.

With ominous sounds, the basses quietly forebode the calamity about to occur. Faint notes suggest the tension might be coming from offstage rather than from the orchestra itself, adding to the mystery. The music gradually transforms to produce scary images of a monster rising from the water's depths, giving Hitchcockian warning about the eminent tragedy.

Momentum builds to vibrant clashing and roar of waves. Cannons to right of them, cannons to left of them are heard with dynamic contributions from strings and horns adding to the ferocious ending which gradually converts to tranquility as water covers the boat, it sinks, and the music subsides to match the starting notes.

Mr. Glanert, 51, a native of Hamburg, helped the orchestra rehearse "Shoreless," Mr. Gaffigan said, and the composer was present for the Friday evening performance as well. When the orchestra finished playing his work, Mr. Glanert, smiling broadly, enthusiastically bounded upon stage to receive multiple ovations from the standing audience.

Composer Detlev Glanert

Ms. Fliter, who has performed with NSO every other year since 2008, played an audience favorite, Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, her fingers flying like speedy spiders building webs back and forth across the keyboard. She bobbed up and down on the piano bench displaying vitality and enthusiasm one can only envy.

Not to be overlooked, two of composer Mozart's works began and ended the evening: Divertimento in D major, K. 136 and Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, "Jupiter," which turned out to be Mozart's last symphony. Program notes said nineteenth century critics began calling it "Jupiter" after the god, rather than the planet, presumably because of its "fugal finale" and emphasis on "stately trumpets and timpani." Timpani, finale, or sonata, a symphony orchestra can do no wrong with Mozart.

*Other co-commissioners of "Shoreless River" were Germany’s WDR-Cologne, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and the BBC for the BBC Proms in London.

Coming up:

What: A program of classical and contemporary music featuring soloist Jörg Widmann with Christoph Eschenbach conducting.

WIDMANN - Armonica

MOZART - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622

SCHUBERT - Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 "The Great"

When: January 26-29, 2012

Where: The Kennedy Center

Metro station: Foggy Bottom and ride the free shuttle (every 10 minutes) from there to KC (or walk it)

For more information and tickets: Click here or call 202-467-4600 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

The Mariinsky Ballet was ecstasy at the Kennedy Center

2012-01-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

The Mariinsky Ballet's The Firebird/guardian.co.UK

Really.

If I had been able to find a ticket for a second consecutive performance of Les Saisons Russes, I would have snarfed it up, but all I could locate on the Web Friday were two $252 seats for the Sunday matinee. A bit out of my range.

The performance was that outstanding.

On stage and presented in almost three hours of dance were sex, passion, mayhem, music, magnificent costuming and perfect sets.

See what you are missing sans a ballet subscription?

Had there been no dancers on stage, the music by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra would have been enchanting enough.

The placement of Chopin's Chopiniana at the beginning was a smart spot since it would have been overwhelmed by the passion of Stravinsky's The Firebird and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade which followed. Michel Fokine crafted the choreography for all ballets about 100 years ago.

Chopiniana was a harmless romantic poem, without plot or much controversy, but nevertheless, vastly entertaining. The ballerinas wore cream-colored calf-length dresses with scooped necklines and danced in front of a Watteau-like landscape, an elegant backdrop to prepare the audience for what lay ahead.

The Mariinsky has danced The Firebird for 18 years, and The Firebird (Alexandra Iosifidi) was spectacular in resplendent orange with yellow streaks and a red-feathered headdress (or, from the ceiling, that's what it looked like). Her resistance and fight with Ivan-Tsarevich (Alexander Romanchikov) were skillfully portrayed, but the stand-out, as least for costuming and horror, was the awful Kashchei the Immortal (Soslan Kulaev) and his minions. Not to demean the Russian artisans in any way, but it was Ballet on Broadway with all the theatrics.

For the third ballet, Scheherazade, the audience became peeping Toms, able to gaze stealthily inside a harem and learn what happens when body guards and gatekeepers depart. It was as wild a scene as one could hope.

Throughout the night, the cymbals, harp, horns and strings got a sound workout. After the performance, Russians were heard discussing the impossibility of obtaining Mariinsky tickets in the motherland.

Run, if you can, and sign up for a ballet subscription next year, and do not miss another Mariinsky which should leave you days later with beautiful imagery of its majesty.

'Iron Lady' wins Oscar for 'Dullest Movie'

2012-01-19T03:51:00.000-08:00

Darling, the critics are right: It is not worth seeing unless you:

1. Adore Meryl Streep who puts out another stellar performance

2. Are a makeup artist (incredible. Kudos to Marese Langan)

3. Write historical fiction

In the audience at Tysons Corner was no one under age 45, and there is reason for their absence: b o r i n g.

Really, if you must see it, save your neck and take a pillow. Or, save your cash and take a nap (at home).

Factually, it appears to be accurate for about half the show but about one-third of it occurs in dementia victim Margaret Thatcher's head as she talks with her dead husband, Denis Thatcher, played by Jim Broadbent who does a right jolly good job. (Mrs. Thatcher, 86, is still living.)

By means of mental flashbacks while the prime minister suffers the vagaries of dementia, the movie tells Mrs. Thatcher's life story from later childhood (admirably played by Alexandra Roach) through her reign as the only female (and longest serving? Wikipedia is dark (save the Internet) and I cannot verify) British prime minister in the 20th century.

Actual footage of British riots inflamed by Mrs. Thatcher's "let them eat cake" attitude are included.

David Gritten at the Telegraph says Ms. Streep's performance overshadows the movie, and who can deny it?

What else is there to say?

Except, darling, I have grown rather weary of Meryl Streep, and respectfully request, please, someone else in a starring role.

Dancing talk at Glen Echo

2012-01-16T06:07:00.000-08:00

A Saturday "swing" night at Glen Echo where the crowd danced to the music of Blue Sky 5 + 2, sponsored by Flying Feet Enterprises/Patricia Leslie

Act I

Overheard at the unheated dance hall (where it doesn't take much to warm up), a conversation and an offer between two 60-somethings.

"Susan," dressed in black dancing shoes, black tights, black "swing" skirt and a decidedly unsexy fleece zipped to her neck, stands next to a column waiting for the 8 p.m. swing lesson to begin.

"Dave," dressed in an all-black suit with orange tie and wearing a woolen knit cap with his name stitched across the forehead (which he never removes), approaches Susan and once they engage in conversation, takes aim with a fox's stare, never taking his eyes from hers. He has targeted more prey.

Dave: Hi.

Susan: Hi.

Dave: My name's Dave.

Susan (smiling): I am Susan.

Dave: You look familiar.

Susan: (? and rolls her eyes)

Dave: I know you! Do you work at the ______________ ?

Susan: Yes, I do! I don't recall seeing you there.

Dave: That's because my business ________________.

Susan: Oh, well, I work in a nearby building.

Dave: Oh.

Pause

Dave: I am looking for a wife.

Susan: I am not material.

Dave: How come?

Susan: (?) Been there, done that.

Dave: And?

Susan: (?) And?

Dave: And?

Susan: It's too confining and ....

Dave interrupts: But I have a lot of money!

Susan: (And?)

Dave: I own my own business which I am going to sell for $___ million. I know Stevie Wonder.

Susan: (Wondering how Stevie Wonder has crept into the conversation) I just saw him on TMZ.

Dave: TMZ? What's that?

Susan: A trashy TV show

Dave: Where do you live?

Susan: Northern Virginia

Dave winces.

Susan: Where do you live?

Dave: Northern Virginia (pause): I got an offer on my house last week for $1.6 million, and I bought it for $100,000 20 years ago.

Susan (Fancy that): Did you accept the offer?

Dave: No, I'm gonna wait for something higher.

Susan:

Pause

Dave: Don't you ever get lonely?

Susan: Sometimes.

Dave: I lived with someone for 18 years.

Susan (Congratulations): Where is she?

Dave: I dunno

Pause

Dave: I have a place in Key West, too.

Susan:

Dave: I am going to dance with you.

The scene ends as the dance class begins.

Act II

An hour later on the dance floor with 400 people dancing swing to an orchestra. After several dances, Dave finds Susan.

Dave: Let's dance. I know the steps; follow me.

(Turns out he is a very good dancer.)

Dave (emphatically): Put your arm here! (On his)

Susan: Well, if you know the steps, why did you come to the class?

Pause

Dave: This is the Fox Trot (as he glides her along backwards on the floor where her foot is crushed three times by men weighing 200+ lbs.).

Susan: I thought we were supposed to be doing "the swing."

Dave: This is what we are doing...the Fox Trot. Just don't think about it.

Susan (As they dance): I was wondering (pause)... if this is called the Fox Trot, is it because... this is the way foxes trot?

Dave: (?)

After three numbers together, Susan takes a water break where she spots an obnoxious neighbor across the dance floor. Fearful of an invitation (or not) to dance, she makes a break and escapes into that good night.

It pays to get out.

What: Dancing to live music

When: Thursday - Sunday nights, some Sunday afternoons

Where: 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD 20812

How much: $15 or $16

For more information: Call 301-634-2222 or email info@glenechopark.org

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

National Symphony Orchestra tickets on sale for $11 each

2012-01-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

Christopher Eschenbach is the National Symphony Orchestra conductor, and Michelle DeYoung is a mezzo-soprano who will sing March 8, 2012/The Kennedy Center

Stephen Hough will play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 April 19 and April 20, 2012/The Kennedy Center

It's true!

According to a mailing I received from the Kennedy Center: Pick any three concerts (certain dates and times) from remaining programs for $33 total, or six concerts for $66 (better seats), or nine concerts for $99 (premium orchestra seats).

No handling charge! And no Saturday nights, but there are some Friday nights: Jan. 20, Feb. 3, Feb. 10, Mar. 9, Mar. 23, May 18, and June 8, in addition to Thursday nights and several Friday matinees and a couple of Sunday matinees (Jan. 29 and Feb. 19).

I don't have to list all the performances, do I? Good! Get'em while they are hot.

Log on to nationalsymphony.org/tripleplay and choose the Triple Play Subscription under NSO Classical. Make your selections and check out and look for your tickets in the mail, or call 202-416-8500 to speak with a human. Three's the minimum.

Offer ends February 29, 2012, and it can be withdrawn at any time so you better get to clickin'.

While $11 is higher than what you may pay for the Wizards (30 cents), members of the National Symphony Orchestra are true team players who put out a solid performance and win every time.

'Sonia Sotomayor: The True American Dream'

2012-01-13T04:00:00.000-08:00

Last summer it was reported that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has received an advance of $1.2 million for her upcoming autobiography.

It is doubtful that "New York Times bestselling author" Antonia Felix received an advance like that for her book, Sonia Sotomayor: The True American Dream, but she beat the justice to the bookstores, at least, with her "yes" biography of the first Hispanic member appointed to the Supreme Court.

("Yes" books are those which essentially affirm everything about the subject and make for rather dour, uneventful reading and information since very little negative is included. And if this title doesn't confirm it, what does? Note to Justice Sotomayor: If your book is still in the draft stages, please make it as objective as you can if you want to sell more copies and include at least some negatives. "Yes" books generally fail at the book office but your intent may be, unlike 99.9% of celebrities taking pen to paper, non-profit-motivated.)

Anyway, back to the book: If you have any curiosity about Justice Sotomayor's background, Ms. Felix's book for information is worth a read, and it's the only one (for adults) out of the gate at this time.

For a middle-school reading level, it is well written, although in "chop chop" style (like Wikipedia or an encyclopedia) and documented with references, an index, and a list of cases. It may be a
publisher's "author for hire" book.

Like so many books published now, the editors have gone missing. Folks, the machines can't do it all.
And since it's a "yes" book, it is not "fair and balanced."

Ms. Felix describes Ms. Sotomayor's life from childhood to present with as much public information the biographer could find.

A few highlights:
Sonia Sotomayor's father died when he was only 42, and Sonia tried to escape her sadness with books, lots and lots of them, including Nancy Drews (but not enough books to overcome her ignorance of the "classics" where, at Princeton, she was handed the wonderful self-assignment to read many of them, and she did.) (An associate professor at Virginia Tech, a high school valedictorian like the justice, with several books and articles in her repertoire, told me her (the professor's) writing suffered from a lack of reading good fiction, i.e. classics, when she was growing up, more reason to read more of them.)

Anyway, Justice Sotomayor adored the television show, "Perry Mason" which helped shape her desire at age 10 to become a lawyer, and instilled her with an appreciation for the prosecution side.

Not until she went off to Princeton had she ever visited a bookstore, but her family had a set of encyclopedias.   (After high school, a condescending Harvard counselor's attitude led the future justice to reject Harvard. )

When Sonia Sotomayor was only a college sophomore, she filed a successful complaint with the federal government about the dearth of Latinos on the Princeton staff.

She attended law school at Yale and worked for five years in the New York's District Attorney's office which she left for private practice. A study of her judgeship from 1993-1998 revealed her sentences were harsher than most. Her 1994 injunction, which essentially ended the baseball strike, endeared her eternally to baseball fans everywhere, and her diabetes and gender make her work harder than men.

For her swearing in to the Supreme Court, she wore an off-the-rack suit.

Her "distance marriage" to Kevin Noonan, whom she had dated since high school and married after she graduated from Princeton, lasted seven years. The divorce was amicable.

The book is nicely designed with a catchy cover (a photo of the justice), but some of the text is too dry for us non-lawyers.

P.S. If you, dear reader, are unhappy with President Obama in any way, just consider his choices for the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, and be thankful he was in office to make them.

Tunisians celebrate their revolution at the Kennedy Center

2012-01-11T03:42:00.000-08:00

Jaloul Ayed, composer, at the Kennedy Center/World Leadership Forum

Hannibal Barca

Composer and Tunisia Minister of Finance, Jaloul Ayed

Tunisia's revolution/Wikimedia Commons/Rais67

To pay tribute to the first anniversary of the January, 2011 uprising in Tunisia which ultimately cascaded into Arab Spring triggering the people's revolts against harsh regimes in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen, the Embassy of Tunisia with the Tunisian Ministry of Culture hosted a gala concert Monday evening at the Kennedy Center, composed for the occasion by none other than Tunisia's minister of finance, Jaloul Ayed.
Premiering in the U.S., Hannibal Barca, the Symphony commemorates composer Ayed's longtime hero, Hannibal Barca, who in the third century B.C., marched with 40 elephants and 80,000 warriors across the Pyrenees and Alps Mountains from Carthage into Rome, defeating an army twice the size and capturing Italy for 15 years.
With resounding clashes and horns heard gloriously throughout the hall, Conductor Jean-Charles Biondi enthusiastically led the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, augmented by many Tunisian musicians who joined in making triumphal music for the audience of 2,000 which excitedly applauded at the end of the three movements, The Pride of Carthage, The Long Crossing, and The Glorious March.
Ayed composed the music to honor not only the feats of Hannibal Barca but to link his victories with that of a young fruit vendor, Mohammed Bouazizi, who, in December, 2010, set himself aflame, so frustrated by despicable acts of the Tunisian government. The cause for Bouazizi's action enraged the Tunisian people who, one month later, took down their government, laying the foundation for other nations to follow.
Said one listener afterwards, "I heard a lot of Arabic influences," but others disagreed, hearing only the powerful sounds of victory.
Beginning the evening's performance were the Tunisian and the American anthems followed by Verdi's Overture to La forza del destino which the Opera House Orchestra played with the vigor and polish of the expertise it owns.
Question: Does Timothy Geithner make music?

Harry Callahan photographs on exhibition at the National Gallery of Art

2012-01-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

Harry Callahan
Detroit, 1943 gelatin silver print
overall (sheet, trimmed to image): 8.3 x 11 cm (3 1/4 x 4 5/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Callahan Family
© Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Harry Callahan
Eleanor and Barbara, Chicago, 1953 gelatin silver print
overall (image): 19.5 x 24.45 cm (7 11/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Promised Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill
© Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Harry Callahan
Atlanta, 1985 dye imbibition print
overall (image): 24.4 x 36.7 cm (9 5/8 x 14 7/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Callahan Family
© Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Not far from DC's core is a photography show which is capable of soothing a busy mind by means of a mental massage.

On the ground floor of the West Building, near the Seventh Avenue entrance at the National Gallery of Art, it is the exhibition of 100+ photographs spread over five galleries in celebration of the 100th birthday of the artist, Harry Callahan (1912-1999), "one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century" who produced "highly experimental, visually daring and elegant photographs," the National Gallery says.

Much like staring at the ocean and its horizon, the still, linear portraits allow the mind to wander aimlessly about a city, along a shore, beneath stark, wintry trees. Scenes of urban life, a captivating 1965 shot of pedestrians on a town sidewalk moving in two directions, a 1956 collage, and "Cutouts" (1956) carry the viewer from romantic influences "back down to earth."

Callahan was fond of lines and undecorated designs without much detail, able to skillfully convey haunting images of nature, city life, and his wife, Eleanor.

Five galleries of his photos are arranged chronologically and thematically, according to his life.

Hanging in the first gallery of the exhibition are black and white 1940 scenes of Detroit where he was born. Like today, Detroit looks rather bleak and bare (although word on the street says a revival in Motor City is presently underway). Found also in this gallery is an unusual self-portrait, a shadowy silhouette of Callahan's face superimposed on his shoes in multiple images which he made in 1942 in homage to Albert Stieglitz. It is one of 45 photographs given to the National Gallery by Eleanor and their daughter, Barbara, in honor of the exhibition.

Those he loved most dearly, Eleanor and Barbara, are subjects in the second gallery, notably Eleanor, a classy nude in many whispery, unpretentious black and whites. The head of the National Gallery's photography department and senior curator, Sarah Greenough who consulted with Callahan, said Mrs. Callahan posed for her husband at any time and place he asked. (Some husbands might want to know his secrets.)

In the third gallery is Chicago from the 1940s and 1950s, and color appears in the fourth gallery with pictures of Providence and Cape Cod where mass culture's effects are observed.

The last gallery, "Later Works," depict places Callahan and Eleanor visited before his death: Atlanta, Ireland, Morocco.

Without any formal training in the medium, Callahan's artistic talent was recognized early on, and he was invited to teach at the Institute of Design in Chicago and the Rhode Island School of Design where hundreds of students enjoyed his lessons over the years.

The Trellis Fund is a major sponsor of the exhibition.

What: 100 photographs for Harry Callahan's Centennial Celebration

When: Now through March 4. The National Gallery of Art is open seven days a week from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday

Where: The West Building of the National Gallery of Art on the National Mall between Fourth and Seventh streets, NW along Constitution Avenue

How much: Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Navy-Memorial/Archives, Judiciary Square, China Town/Gallery Place, or ride the Circulator bus

For more information: 202-737-4215

And if you visit this weekend, you cannot dare miss the magnificent Gothic tapestries exhibition from Spain, set to close January 8 (East Building).

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Second City at Woolly Mammoth was ?

2012-01-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

Peter Marks must have seen another Second City performance from the one at Woolly Mammoth I saw which only referenced Chicago in political scenes; Barack Obama is not local.

Do WE care that much about Chicago? No.

Do WE care what Chicago eats? No.

Do WE care about television furniture ads in Chicago? No.

Its baseball teams' rivalry? No.

Was I expecting some political comedy? Yes.

Really, is coarse language the de rigueur of contemporary theater? It grows tiresome. I guess to be hip with the younger set, it's a requirement. (But it was not a younger audience at the performance I attended.)

Years ago when I saw the troupe in Chicago on two occasions, they were much funnier, and years ago, I was much younger and don't recall constant, explicit "f's" and "s's" every 30 seconds. But those were the days, my friend, when things and language were not frequently vulgar and base which are contributing factors to the erosion of today's society.

Anyway, the acting in Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies was superb (Jessica Frances Dukes and Aaron Bliden are Woolly Company members who participated), and the music (Matthew Loren Cohen), spot-on. The props were minimal, and they (accessories, chairs) worked well with solitary lighting (Colin Bills and Jennifer Sheetz).

Audience participation was the best scene (sic; sorry) anywhere and quite effective. Do you think it is going to become an award since it grows more frequent?

Was the production worth $50? (Saturday's matinee prices.) Probably not. If you're looking for political comedy, the Capitol Steps are much better.

What: Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies

When: Now through January 8, 2012

Where: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D Street NW

Tickets: 202-393-3939

Metro stations: Gallery Place-China Town, Archives-Navy Memorial, or a short walk from Metro Center or ride the Circulator bus up 7th Street, NW

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Andy Warhol and Chester Dale to leave the National Gallery of Art Monday

2011-12-30T04:03:00.000-08:00

Andy Warhol Daily News 1962/ Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, formerly collection Karl Stroher, Darmstadt, 1981, copyright 2011 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Artists Rights Society, NY, Axel Schneider, Frankfurt am Main

Folks, you have this last weekend to check out Warhol: Headlines and the unparalleled Chester Dale collection From Impressionism to Modernism, both at the National Gallery of Art.

The earlier in the day you get to the National Gallery, the smaller the crowds will be. Monday is the last day for both, and January 15 is the last day for Andy Warhol: Shadows at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The National Gallery's Warhol (1928-1987) show in the East Building (Dale is in the West) includes paintings, photographs, videos, and screenprints which demonstrate the artist's fascination with all things celebrity and the news. From Washington the exhibition moves to Frankfurt (Feb.11 - May 13), Rome (June 11-Sept. 9) and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh (Oct. 14 - Jan. 6, 2013).

On Wednesday afternoon, the East Building was packed with holiday visitors, many of whom came to see the phenomenal documentary about Warhol's friend, Brigid Berlin (b.1939), Pie in the Sky.

Ms. Berlin is the daughter of the head of Hearst Publishing who grew up in luxury and bucked it all in the 1960s to join the Warhol conclave in New York and pal around with Warhol until his death. She was/is also an artist who, at times, used her body parts to dip into paint and give away the results. Central to the film is Ms. Berlin's relationship with her mother and the conflicting goals set by each. Can your relationship with your mother/daughter compare to theirs? It's a great film which asks many questions.

Other Warhol films scheduled for this final weekend, all to be screened at no charge in the East Building Auditorium, are:

Dec. 30, 12:30 p.m., Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling

Dec. 31, 12 p.m., Warhol: Velvet Underground and Nico

Dec. 31, 2 p.m., Orphee (Orpheus)

Dec. 31, 4 p.m., Donkey Skin (Peau d'Ane)

When: Doors open 30 minutes before show times and seating is "first come, first seated." The National Gallery of Art is open from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. every day except this Sunday when it is closed for New Year's Day.

Where: The National Gallery of Art, Fourth and Constitution

Admission: Always free at the National Gallery of Art

Metro stations: Judiciary Square, Navy Memorial-Archives, or the Smithsonian or ride the Circulator bus

For more information: 202-737-4215 or 202-842-6799 (for films)

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

Movies: 'The Descendants' : Yes!

2011-12-28T04:02:00.000-08:00

George Clooney with Shailene Woodley (center) and Amara Miller/Fox Searchlight Pictures

Academy Award nominations:
Best picture: Alexander Payne et al.
Best actor: George Clooney
Best supporting actress:Shailene Woodley
Best supporting actress: Amara Miller
Another Clooney film without sex! Aaaaauuuuuugggggggghhhh, but those eyelashes! Do you think they are real?
This is a thoroughly enjoyable film, and as a matter of fact, I wish I had not seen it so I could see it for the first time.
It's a great story with "another man," a dad, an estranged and mute (?) wife, two daughters, and a boyfriend who adds tremendously to the enjoyment, and a grandpa whose lines are keen. I wouldn't give it the highest rating, but it's close.
A chick flick? No!
A sleepy (at times) tempo match the Hawaiian lifestyle (the locale) so it's not a film for the action-oriented male kills everybody, except when it comes to words: The lines for this film are some of the best heard anywhere. Including the obscenities which are mostly 85% gratuitous in all other movies, but not here. They are part of the plot.
The Hawaiian scenery is nice on the eyes, especially at this time of year, and did the Hawaiian Tourism Bureau help produce it?
The only negatives: the redundant music which lacks any pizzazz (no nomination), and the passionless title (sounds like one of those loooooong books by James Michener) which is too vapid for the contents. Don't judge a movie by its title.
Please go here (Rotten Tomatoes) if you want to know more about the plot but don't be turned off by what looks depressing. It's not. It's hilarious.
Suggested new title: "George Clooney's Got Eyelashes"

Christmas party animal chat

2011-12-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

African Sulcata Giant Tortoises at the Linton Zoological Gardens, Cambridge, England/tigertailfood.com

At a Sierra Club Christmas party I met a woman who told me that she and her boyfriend have a pet ... tortoise.
Really.
They've had him (it's a "he") three years, and he has increased his girth from a three inch circumference to about the size of a dinner plate.
When he reaches adulthood, he'll be big enough to ride, she said.
To ride? Where would you ride a tortoise? To the Harris Teeter and back over the course of a week? Would you carry along a mini-refrigerator to store cold items?
On the other side of me at the nicely decorated table was a woman who had just come from the zoo after a long, circuitous route into the Tysons Corner jungle which carried her over two hours to Annandale before she could figure out where she was, having left her GPS at home.
"I'll never do that again," she said, "because once you're in a lane, you're in a lane forever, and there's no escape."
Don't we all know it, the pitiful who live at Tysons Corner and have to endure the mess? A dangerous mess.
The zoo lady took canvases to the zoo, she said, to get "animal art." Animals with painted feet walk on the canvases, and then she sells them to Sotheby's for $$$. (Just kidding about the Sotheby's part, but it makes good fodder and it's believable, isn't it? Modern art.)
What happens to their painted feet? "Oh, the paint just comes off," she said.
But back to the tortoise...his name is Livingstone (with emphasis on the last syllable (?), and yes, his name comes from the African explorer).
The owners "absolutely adore" him.
Yes, I guess so, if they've got a tortoise under roof!
Livingstone has his own personality (!), his own table/room (?; unclear) and free roam of their apartment. I didn't ask her, although I must say the thought occurred to me more than once, about uuuummmm, you know. Does the pet store have tortoise diapers? (Try Googling that. They're there!)
(Since her fiancé was absent from the party, one assumed he was safely at home tortoisesitting which is not far from "torturesitting." Hahaha.)
Do they take Livingstone on trips?
No, her boyfriend's parents have a big house and a separate room all fixed up for Livingstone who is moody and loves to eat lettuce. He is a vegetarian.
Join the throngs!
That's all I wanted for Christmas: another moody person/animal to live with. (Do plants have moods?)
It pays to get out.

A Christmas night at the White House

2011-12-23T22:17:00.000-08:00

Like tall ballerinas dancing pirouettes in sparkling floor length gowns trying to capture the most attention from an awestruck audience, real Christmas trees grace every room, standing shimmering in lights and decorations, ready to receive admiring glances.

Cross Hall at the main White House entrance/Patricia Leslie

Not far from Aaron Shikler's 1970 portrait of President John F. Kennedy, members of the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir in Harrisonburg, Virgina sing Christmas hymns in the Entrance Hall/Patricia Leslie

Hushed crowds are captured by the moment and the reality they are but fleeting visitors in the president's home (the People's House) where the unmistakable fragrance of Fraser fir greets them at every entrance.

None of that fake stuff, if you please. This is real.

In the East Room/Patricia Leslie

The East Room/Patricia Leslie

Garlands, real garlands, flow from door, window, and mirror tops to floors. Necklaces of the season decorate mirrors.

Bulbs grow below a window in the East Room/Patricia Leslie

Tiny spotlights powered by smaller batteries, brighten the huge gingerbread White House in the State Dining Room/Patricia Leslie

The State Dining Room and a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln. The banners on the trees say "Shine, Give, Share," this year's White House Christmas theme/Patricia Leslie

In the Red Room with Henry Inman's 1842 portrait of Angelica Singleton Van Buren /Patricia Leslie

The biggest Christmas tree, the official White House tree, is found in the Blue Room, the focus of attention upon entering the main White House threshold. Stretching to the ceiling, it pays tribute to the troops whose children made the Christmas cards which hang with military medals from almost every branch of the special tree.

The official White House Christmas tree hung with military medals and Christmas cards made by children of servicemen and servicewomen/Patricia Leslie

At the East Visitor Entrance is a table laden with postcards for visitors to inscribe messages to the troops to thank them for their service, and a few steps away is a mailbox for the deposits of gratitude.

Overhead in the Green Room were two guards chatting. Said one, shaking his head: "The question of the day has got to be: 'Is this the real White House?'"

From the Green Room/Patricia Leslie

Parties, tours, and open houses galore. The people are grateful for the opportunities to visit our house, the president's house. What other nation permits it?

From the East Visitor Entrance Hall on the ground floor/Patricia Leslie

Along the East Visitor Entrance Hall decorated on the right with Christmas photos of American presidents and their families/Patricia Leslie

Just outside the Library on the ground floor is a poinsettia tree/Patricia Leslie

The China Room on the ground floor with Grace Coolidge presiding/Patricia Leslie

Seen on the ground floor without his Santa hat was Henry Clay/Patricia Leslie

Wedding dresses extended at Hillwood through January 15, 2012

2011-12-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Have you seen that dumb show on cable (thank goodness I cannot identify the station or the night) about women selecting wedding gowns?
In fancy bridal shops the women come and go, talking with mothers and close friends who tell the brides-to-be how ravishing they look in wedding apparel.

The 60-year-old with the wrinkly arms?

"Darling, sleeveless is perfect for you!"

Who in their right mind would spend time watching such a show?

Velma and I love it.

If you haven't been out to Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens to see Marjorie Merriweather Post's four wedding dresses, you have until January 15, 2012 to see them. The show has been extended to satisfy the crowds bombarding the mansion for this very special exhibition. (Through last month Hillwood's attendance exceeded all of 2010 admittances which had already set a record.)

Wedding Dress, 1905 Worn by Marjorie Merriweather Post for wedding to Edward Bennett Close, December 5, 1905 Hitchins& Balcom, New York Silk satin, silk organza, open cut lace, rhinestones

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973

The show includes not only Mrs. Post's four wedding dresses (none alike), but those of her three daughters, her mother, bridesmaids, mother of the bride, and Dina Merrill's dress she wore as a flower girl (piped in white fox?) in her sister's 1927 wedding. Ms. Merrill (b. 1925) was the youngest of Mrs. Post's three daughters and the only one extant. Like mother, like daughters: Adelaide, the oldest, was married three times; Eleanor, the middle daughter, six times, and Dina Merrill, three times. It might take an airport hangar to show all of the wedding dresses which may explain why they are not all in the show. Nevertheless...) A 2.5 minute film of scenes from Adelaide's 1927 wedding is included.

Wedding Dress and Bridesmaid Dress, 1935

Worn by Marjorie Merriweather Post and bridesmaid dress worn by Dina Merrill for Post’s 1935 wedding to Joseph E. Davies, photographed in the pavilion at Hillwood. Photo by Ed Owen

Wedding Dress, 1946
Worn by Dina Merrill for her wedding to Stanley M. Rumbough, Jr., March 23, 1946
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York
Satin, tulle, pearls
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Gift of Dina Hartley; photo by Ed Owen

The dresses are in superb condition. And accompanying them are hats, shoes, purses, jewelry. (Do not dare miss, as I almost did on first go-round, Dina Merrill's wedding bag with diamonds and pearls.) Without a doubt, Mrs. Post's most elegant dress was her first one.

The costumes are all quite complete and originate from Hillwood's collection of 175 gowns Mrs. Post (1887-1973) left to her estate.

The Adirondack at Hillwood, home of "Wedding Belles"/Patricia Leslie

The exhibition is in a small gallery, the Adirondack, a few steps from the mansion which is also included in the admission price. Hillwood is stunning with holiday decorations up and docents galore to happily answer questions.

Hillwood Estate/Patricia Leslie

If you should wonder why Hillwood is not open every Sunday, it's because the neighbors prohibit it via zoning, a docent told me. Likely, they abhor the traffic which reminds me...

Parking is available on-site, however, the Sunday I went, the only parking was in an employees lot, but, not to worry, friendly parking lot attendants will take care of you.

The $15 admission is well worth it, and do take advantage of the beautiful grounds. I didn't believe the website which advised planning a stay of three hours, but it is true. The café offerings were magnificent and reasonably priced. An attendant told me large brunch crowds come on Sundays (when open).

What: "Wedding Belles: Bridal Fashions From the Marjorie Merriweather Post Family 1874-1958"

When: Now through January 15, 2012, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and two Sundays, January 1 and January 15, 2012, 1 - 5 p.m.

Where: Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Avenue, NW

"Suggested donation": $15 (adults), $12 (age 65 +), $10 (college students), $5 (6-18 years), no suggested donations for younger than 6 or members

Metro station: Van Ness-UDC and walk a short mile up a hill through a pretty neighborhood (or take a taxi). To shorten your walk or skip the taxi, ride the L1 or L2 bus and walk a half mile from Connecticut and Tilden.

For more information: 202-686-5807

A portrait of Marjorie Merriweather Post at Hillwood

Dina Merrill's bedroom at Hillwood/Patricia Leslie

The Breakfast Room at Hillwood/Patricia Leslie

A portrait of Catherine the Great of Russia hangs on the stairway at the mansion. Mrs Post's marriage to Joseph E. Davies took them to Russia in 1937 and 1938 when he was U.S. Ambassador, and there Mrs. Post developed a love of Russian decorative arts. A docent said Hillwood owns the largest collection of Russian decorative arts in the U.S.

Russian trade and human rights on Capitol Hill

2011-12-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California)/Patricia Leslie

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) rebuked statements from members of a panel at the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday for their criticism of human rights violations in Russia when conditions in China are much worse, he said. "The nerve to attack Russia" and ignore what is happening in China is a travesty. "We talk about Russia meddling in Georgia," he said, but look at what's going on in China which "is a threat to us."
Rep. Rohrabacher was speaking from the audience at a gathering of about 50 mostly congressional aides who came to hear a presentation, "Jackson-Vanik after Russia's Accession to the WTO," sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Russia is expected to be admitted to the World Trade Organization this month which will have enormous trade benefits for the U.S. if it permanently waives provisions of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment. It was originally designed to pressure "non-market economies," including the Soviet Union, to improve human rights and permit trade advantages. The law has succeeded with Russia since it no longer restricts emigration, one of the key component of the legislation. (However, Cuba and North Korea are other targets of the amendment since they do block emigration, said speaker Richard Perle of the American Enterprise Institute.)
Jackson-Vanik is "the single most important human rights legislation passed by Congress," Perle said. It was "cold war legislation" and its repeal, favored by no one speaking, is desired by Russian leader Vladimir Putin because the "KGB despises" it. Repeal would be a "huge concession" to Russia, Mr. Perle said. The President of the United States can single handedly waive provisions of the law annually, a benefit enjoyed for many years by Russia, China, and Vietnam.

Randi Levinas of the U.S.-Russia Business Council/Patricia Leslie

Also up for discussion at the lunchtime session was U.S. trade with Russia. Speaker Randi Levinas of the U.S.-Russia Business Council was happy to make her pitch: Only four percent of Russia's imports come from the U.S., and the opportunities for growth are huge. Last year California's trade with Russia grew by 40 percent, and New York's, by 75 percent. Top exported American goods to Russia, she said, are machinery, spacecraft, cars and parts, and computers. (? Hewlett-Packard says most computers in the U.S. come from China.)
One-third of Russia's citizens are middle-class, 99% are literate, and about half the population has university degrees (about 20% more than found in the U.S.).
Russia's economy will be the ninth largest in the world by the end of this year, Ms. Levinas said. Forty percent of its imports come from Europe, and 16 percent, from China.
Joining the WTO will mean Russia has to follow the rules, Ms. Levinas said.

Lara Iglitzin of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation/Patricia Leslie

Lara Iglitzin of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation said human rights violations over the last ten years demonstrate "a culture of impunity in Putin's Russia...We are gravely concerned about the direction of human rights" there, urging that U.S. leaders continue to speak out against human rights violations by the Russian government.
William Pomeranz of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center was moderator of the event, also co-sponsored by Kennan and the Jackson Foundation. Next year will be the centennial celebration of the birth of Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (1912-1983) who, in addition to many causes, was particularly devoted to human rights for all. Jackson-Vanik was named for him and for Rep. Charles Vanik.

Blair House is lovelier than the White House

2011-12-14T04:14:00.000-08:00

Really.

It is much lovelier than the White House.

Really.

It is bigger than the White House.

One butler said it is prettier than the White House at Christmas.

And you thought it was "just" that three story standing behind the "Blair House" plaque at 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue. Au contraire, messieurs et madames: It stretches from the Lafayette Square corner all the way to the Renwick Gallery, encompassing all the buildings in-between, including the Lee House. It is lots more than the cream-colored building with the flag. It is all the buildings around it.

One butler said it had 14 bedrooms (17 beds). Another butler said it had 15 bedrooms (17 beds). One butler said, "bathrooms? Oh, my...50?"

They vacuum and dust every day.

Even when visitors are not present?

Even when visitors are not present.

The downstairs walls (we were not invited upstairs where I was hoping to glimpse a shirtless Vladimir Putin ) are painted Williamsburg light yellow and peach. Centuries old wallpaper from China stretches from floor to ceiling in one of many parlours.

In another room General Robert E. Lee faces a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln.

Blair House is much more than just this (photo) with the flag.

Paintings of George Washington hang on several walls. In one of four (!) dining rooms (the Lee House dining room was off-limits due to water damage; now under repair) is a memorials mural which covers all the walls from the chair rail up and includes, but is not limited to, depictions of Mount Vernon, the U.S. Supreme Court building, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Washington Monument, and there in a corner, St. John's Episcopal Church, the president's church, on Lafayette Square. (Painted by Robert Jackson in 1988.)

The resplendent and abundant chandeliers!

Andrew Jackson here; Andrew Jackson there, Andrew Jackson was everywhere...on the wall in several places. In a dining room, sculpted in miniature on a bronze horse (a la the Lafayette Square statue). A visitor from the National Portrait Gallery explained that President Jackson had many connections to the Blairs and thus is omnipresent in the house. (She also highly recommended the CSPAN story of Blair House.)

Yes! (Photo) Blair House(s) is all this, down to Renwick Gallery at the far left.

But, alas, ...fake trees! They are in a large, expanded reception area at the back of Blair House which was originally part of the garden. Real trunks, and that is all, the butler told me. Their small pots gave them away. (Size matters.)

The butler said the State Department has jurisdiction over Blair House which is exclusively reserved for heads of state on "official," "state," or "working" visits. Who pays for their food? State works it out with the governments, the butler said. (The website calls it "the President's guest house.")

The staff we met came from several nations; Spain and Brazil were two. And they have long tenures at Blair House. Of course.

Some of its famous guests have included President Charles de Gaulle, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Boris Yeltsin, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Vladimir Putin, Pervez Musharraf, and Muhammed VI. (Check out the guestbook for more names and nations.)

Does anything mar Blair House?

Oh, yes.

Eyesorish telephones. Really. They sit on various tables in stark contrast to the period furnishings and elegance, rather like slugs atop wrought-iron white furniture beside a swimming pool. That's how much they stand out, and quite ugly things they are.

And, pul-leazz, would someone cover up the ugly back of that unsightly red thing at the corner of H and 17th which forms the back wall to the Blair House garden interrupting its serenity? (It's like putting a decrepit red devil on stage with Margot Fonteyn, when she was living.) You know the building that looks like it went up in the 1960s and hurts your eyes to look at it, it is so awful? (Like the slugs above.) As a matter of fact, if the entire building could be removed or permanently covered up on all sides, that would be a bonus. Where is Christo when you need him? (At the National Gallery of Art! Or he was.)

Is Blair House on FB?

The new bishop visits St. John's Church, Lafayette Square

2011-12-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

At St. John's Church, Lafayette Square, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed the Adult Forum/Patricia Leslie

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde at St. John's, Lafayette Square/Patricia Leslie

The processional at St. John's, Lafayette Square with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde at the end in red/Patricia Leslie

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde carried her crozier at St. John's, but where was her mitre? Preceding the bishop is the Rev. Dr. Luis Leon, rector at St. John's/Patricia Leslie

The newly elected Episcopal bishop for the Washington, D.C. diocese,
Mariann Edgar Budde, visited St. John's at Lafayette Square Sunday where she preached at four services and spoke to a packed sanctuary at the Adult Forum.
Energetic, animated, and smiling aplenty, the first woman elected bishop for the Washington diocese, said she firmly believes she was chosen to help the church grow and develop. She said Washington was fortunate to have a healthy economy, especially when compared with the rest of the nation, and she is not worried about financial difficulties at the Washington National Cathedral. She is "blown away by [Washington's] resources."
The area is a dynamic place for 18 to 34 year olds, she said, but the fastest growing age segment is people over 80, presenting the Episcopal Church with
opportunities to serve persons on "both sides of the spectrum." The difference between a 60-year-old and an 80-year-old is the difference between a 12-year-old and a 19-year-old, she said.

Answering a question from church member Togo West, Bishop Budde said the Episcopal Church is always open to all: "We believe that everyone is chosen."

She quoted from a favorite book, Always We Begin Again by John McQuiston: "'Treat each hour as the greatest of gifts....When we rise from
sleep, let us greet each day with joy and cheer each other on...be
gentle with this life...and live fully within your time.'"

Bishop Budde, 52, comes from Minneapolis where, under her 18-year leadership, St. John's in Minneapolis grew from 100 to 400 members. Last June at the Washington Cathedral, laypersons and clergy elected her the ninth bishop for the diocese. She was installed last month.

Coming up at St. John's:

December 7 at 12:10 p.m.: Music of the Season with the Madrigal
Singers from St. Albans and National Cathedral schools under the
direction of Benjamin Hutto, director of music ministry and organist
at St. John's

December 18: The Festival of Lessons and Carols

Where: St. John's Church, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW

For more information: 202-347-8766

Metro station: McPherson Square

15th century tapestries portray military history at the National Gallery of Art

2011-11-30T04:24:00.000-08:00

The entrance to the Pastrana Tapestries exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, framed by Alexander Calder's Model for East Building Mobile (1972)/Patricia Leslie

The Pastrana Tapestries exhibition opening/Patricia Leslie

King Afonso V and his son, Prince Joao, prepare for battle

A mother escapes a battleworn city with her three children

Moth damage before restoration of the tapestries by the Royal Manufacturers De Wit of Mechlin, Belgium

After restoration by the Royal Manufacturers De Wit of Mechlin, Belgium

A 15th century weapon of mass destruction

A timeline of 15th century Portuguese history/Patricia Leslie

Whether or not you are a fan of military history, a visual feast awaits you and your family in the East Building of the National Gallery of Art where a stunning display of four 15th century Gothic tapestries never seen together in the United States hang floor-to-ceiling in two galleries.

When the show first went up, no less than the ambassadors from Belgium, Portugal, and Spain came for the briefing to praise the artistry, each other, and the National Gallery of Art in the joint effort to produce The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries. (If they had taken a side trip up to Capitol Hill, they might have imparted their wisdom about cooperation and a common goal to members of the U.S. Congress. Alas.)

The tapestries of wool and silk threads tell the story of the 1471 advent of Portuguese King Afonso V (1432-1481) to the African coast with his son, Prince Joao, age 16, to successfully wage battle against Muslims in Asilah and Tangier at a time when Portugal and Spain vied to control the region.

If your sons are anything like mine, they will be awestruck by the action, the weapons, the armor and the art, and the huge numbers of soldiers designed and sewn by Flemish artisans who knew little about Africa but gave the Moroccan cities a dash of Belgian flavor with European urban scenes and some monkeys thrown in for good measure.

Standing in the galleries and with just a tiny imagination, a visitor can hear the sounds of battle, the horns and shouts, the clashing of swords and spears, the stomping of horses' hooves and soldiers' boots.

Where is King Afonso? See if you can find him and his son in ceremonial battle garb more than once. Can you find the mother with her three children? Well-written labels will guide you, should you need any help.

In the second gallery is an excellent timeline which spans almost an entire wall and lays out important dates of Portuguese history. Also, photographs of "before" and "after" the restoration of the tapestries funded by Spain's Fundacion Carlos de Amberes produce more admiration for the talented artisans of 500 years ago and for those of today, as well.

The tapestries measure about 12' x 36' and weigh approximately 135 pounds each. They are among the rarest and earliest examples of illustrated history for the vast majority of those period tapestries portrayed allegorical or religious subjects.

They are named the Pastrana Tapestries for Pastrana, Spain, 50 miles from Madrid where the works have been located in a church since the 17th century. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), they received special protection.

From the National Gallery, the exhibition will travel to Dallas, San Diego, and Indianapolis. A handsome color catalogue with cloth covering is available for purchase.

On December 6 and December 8 at 12 p.m. the National Gallery's Julia Burke and Diane Arkin will speak about the tapestries, and the public is invited. (For location, ask at the East Building information desk.)

On December 18 at 4 p.m. and December 21 at 12:30 p.m. the 2010 film of 270 minutes (with intermission) by Raul Ruiz, Mysteries of Lisbon, which is based on the 1854 novel by Portuguese novelist Camilo Castelo Branco, will be screened in the East Building Auditorium.

What: The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries

When: Now through January 8, 2012, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday excepting Christmas Day and New Year's Day when the National Gallery of Art is closed

Where: National Gallery of Art, East Building, between Third and Fourth streets on Constitution Avenue, NW

How much: No charge. Admission to the National Gallery of Art is always free.

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, Judiciary Square or ride the Circulator

For more information: 202-737-4215

Patti Smith's 'Just Kids' is one terrific book

2011-11-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

If I hadn't gone to NYC, if Stacie hadn't recommended the Chelsea, then Claire would not have told me about Just Kids, a must-read if you like good writing and memoirs and, especially if you stay at the Chelsea. (Why it wasn't for sale in the lobby is beyond me.) It's no wonder Patti Smith's book won the National Book Award for non-fiction in 2010; it is marvelous.

It's all about her advent to the Big Apple on just pennies a day and her meeting up with Robert Mapplethorpe and their fantastic relationship with each other, friends, and the city in the 1970s, through common ups and downs, and how they eventually achieved stardom which is told as a postscript.

One of my favorite passages:

"Robert, Harry, and I often went together [to eat at the Automat], and getting the fellows under way could take a lot more time than eating.

I have to fetch Harry. He can't find his keys. I search the floor and locate them under some esoteric volume. He starts reading it and it reminds him of another book he needs to find. Harry rolls a joint while I look for the second book. Robert arrives and has a smoke with Harry. I know then it's curtains for me. When they have a smoke it takes them an hour to accomplish a ten-minute thing. Then Robert decides to wear the denim vest he made by cutting the sleeves off his jacket and goes back to our room. Harry thinks my black velvet dress is too bleak for daytime. Robert comes up on the elevator as we go down the stairs, frantic comings and going like playing out the verses of 'Taffy Was a Welshman.'"

Writing masterfully, Patti tells the story in modest, unassuming terms. At the end you'll be very happy for her, that she "made it." You will seek out Wikipedia to find out more of their details than what is shed in the book.

It can't be true that perseverance conquers failure every time. We only hear the success stories. Where are the stories from the unrelenting that never get told? Are those persistent souls still at it? They'll tell their stories, too, after they have succeeded? If you abandon your quest, then you gave up too soon? If you die before you reach your goal, well, it's n'ermore.

Don't miss the cover story about Patti Smith in the October 16, 2011 issue of the NYT Style Magazine. You'll become her fan if you're not already.