DAVID FROST ON "THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS," A TRANSPLANTED TV HIT
The death of David Frost took me back to a 24 hour period in 1972 when all in one night I intersected with him, Henry Grunwald, my boss at Time magazine, and Warren Beatty, at the time the most famous young movie star in the world. I give the evening a sentimental retelling on New York Social Diary.
This is why, when 20 or so, a young person should live in New York. It's not dull. Things happen.
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I expect Charlie Rose to be dancing Gangnam Style tonight at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. That's because, at least as of late last night, his designated dinner partner is the pop music sensation PSY. Charlie was not concerned, except about one thing: "I'm happy to sit by him but I've told CBS I plan to leave the dinner early." Charlie will head over to the Vanity Fair party at the French Ambassador's Kalorama residence. I think he should just invite PSY along, (he's already on the VF list) and the two of them can gallop Gangnam Style up Connecticut Avenue. That might rob the President or Conan O'Brien of making a PSY joke, though.
Last night at the Bradley dinner, where news spread of PSY's 11th hour addition to the CBS News dinner guest list, the questions were how did they get him and was he traveling to Washington from Korea? They got him courtesy of Jennifer Maguire, wife of CBS News Washington bureau chief Chris Isham. Maguire is an executive with the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. On Friday, the Festival honored Psy for his transcultural success by presenting him with the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award.
It was at the awards event at New York University where Maguire suggested to PSY that he come to Washington for the big media dinner. Done and done. All he asked was for a hotel room where he could smoke cigarettes. Done and done.
My prediction is he'll be the celebrity sensation of the weekend, as Ozzy Osbourne was a few years ago, and the Jonas Brothers a while back, and Lindsay Lohan last year.
Last night at the Bradley dinner, upon hearing the news, otherwise gray-humored members of the DC elite exclaimed, "I want to get my picture taken with him."
Notably, CBS sent me this message that lists their other WHCA dinner guests: U.S. Marine General John Allen, former Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan; Chef José Andrés, Gen. John F. Campbell, the Army's vice chief of staff; Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas); Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations;Actor Daniel Dae Kim from the CBS hit, “Hawaii Five-0;” Emmy and Golden Globe winner Claire Danes from the Showtime hit, “Homeland;” Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Reginald L. Love, former special assistant and personal aide to President Obama; Lisa Monaco, White House Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Advisor; Retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Samantha Power, Former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the National Security Council; Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs; Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals’ third baseman. The line under Zimm is my doing. That's who I'd want for a dinner partner, with PSY on my other side.
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ALL IN FOR SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, JENNIFER LAWRENCE & BRADLEY COOPER
My interest in the final movie awards for 2012 is keen. I prefer the Independent Spirit Awards (Saturday night) over the Oscars, but the Oscars always have the potential to be an irresisitble crack-up and therefore fun. They don't carry the weight the once did, but they still count. Most of all I like to watch the red carpet arrivals coverage that begins on a couple of cable channels at least two hours before the awards broadcast. It's such high drag. Insanely good. After that, the program is mostly just people walking on and off stage or sitting in their seats, broken up by the occasional song and dance.
This year, though, there's hope -- a tribute to James Bond at 50, plus Adele singing the nominated song from "Skyfall." But will or won't Seth McFarland get it done as host? Does it matter? If it were up to me, Ricky Gervais would host all awards shows that have movie actors in the audience. I'm cheering for McFarland, though.
What are my picks? If you care, here they are:
Best Picture - Should win: Silver Linings Playbook or Argo. (SLP should clean up at Spirit Awards)
Could win: Lincoln. Ugh. Abe Lincoln passed through a Disney-like filter. Too much schmaltz.
Best Actress - Should/Could win: Jennifer Lawrence owns this at Oscars and SLP, with Jessica Chastain a possible Oscar dark horse.
Best Actor - Should win: Bradley Cooper.
Could win: Daniel Day-Lewis. It's by rote. It's a shame, too, because while Day-Lewis is solid his is not a breakout performance.
Best Director - Should win: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Could win: Steven Spielberg, for Lincoln, which would be a shame. If Spielberg wins it would be awesome to see him go into the audience and hand the statue to Ben Affleck.
Best Supporting Actress - I guess this belongs to Anne Hathaway, but I can't take her off-screen personality so I have no opinion.
Best Supporting Actor: For me it's a tie - Alan Arkin for Argo or Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook.
Best Adapted Screenplay - Silver Linings Playbook
Best Original Screenplay - Django Unchained
Most Charming & Promising: Beasts of the Southern Wild. I hope it wins something.
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Met for drinks this evening with my friend Brian Noyes, owner of Warrenton's Red Truck Bakery. Look what he brought! A box of cookie weapons. This is precisely how I never start the calorie reduction I always plan to begin TONIGHT or TOMORROW. Clearly this will be TOMORROW, because what's better than being curled up on the sofa with a box of Valentine's cookies while tuned into the red carpet arrivals at the Grammy Awards?
I plan to scrutinizie the talent to see whether they disobey the new rules. i.e., no side boob, no nip slips, and "adequately covered" genital "regions." That's regions discrimination, I swear. How'm I gonna get dressed to go out at night in DC if these rules make it to our shores? DC needs nip slips, side boob and inadequately covered genital regions. Ha. Angelina Leg, too.
BTW, when GR's are inadequately covered, try this trick that's out of fashion in 2013 but was popular with the ancients - pubic hair.
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FABLED GEORGETOWN CORNER, WHERE "DOC" DALINSKY HAD HIS PHARMACY, APPARENTLY WILL NOW BE 7-11
UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY OCT 31: "Carol, your note about 7-11 is correct…its unfortunate because it lacks vision and reflects the absence of a strategy by the owners of the properties around that intersection. While markets change and the quaintness of the past is replaced by mass-appeal commercial, it doesn’t have to be this bad. Will keep you posted on what else I hear, but this one gets chalked up to a lack of trying on behalf of the property owners…." - another golden source
(Note to whiners, I am not pissed of about this. I will buy lottery tickets there, hopefully one that wins.)
My source on this is golden and so I'm going with it: apparently the Donohue family has done a deal to lease their building at Wisconsin and O to the 7-11 chain. Work already has begun on the interior. Everyone seems to like to look for signs that Georgetown's charm is a thing of the past, and this latest development will probably be included on that list, along with reports of a TJ Maxx, Target and a bowling alley at Georgetown Park mall, and the new mega Nike store on M Street. But, the times they are a changin'.
This building once was home to "Doc" Dalinsky's pharmacy, one of the most popular Georgetown hangouts of true Washington insiders: Ben Bradlee, David Brinkley, Joseph Alsop, Art Buchwald, to name a notable handful. They would come in for their morning papers, especially the Sunday papers, and dish and jive with "Doc," then amble down to Martin's Tavern for eggs benedict and a brew or a bloody. The building authentically represents a bygone era when unique "ma and pa" shops and chic and pricy boutiques lined Wisconson and M Streets and the side streets. Georgetown also was home to the city's best restaurants, cafes and bars.
Those days are not coming back; that scene, in various iterations, has moved on to other parts of town, and it's debatable whether the reason is that Georgetown's leadership handed the village over to developers, or having no subway, maddening parking issues, or simply changing times. It's probably a combination.
I've noticed this, though, over the last decade or so of massive change: most of the big chains don't last because the average consumer, the shopper who has to fill an SUV with necessary goods, would rather park in a lot at a mall than drive around cramped Georgetown streets for 30 minutes, looking for a parking space, only to return to the car to find a hefty pink parking ticket, which is DC's way of saying "thank you for your sales tax dollars." It doesn't compute.
As for the 7-11, if what I was told is true, it will be the village's second, joining the established 7-11 on P Street at 27th, which is currently being doubled in size. But having two 7-11's in Georgetown is precedented: there was one at the corner of Wisconsin and Q that closed a few years ago.
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I'm loath to use the word, but Max's expression is insipid. Plain and simple. He's lost the will to faux emote.
Did I just catch Sgt. Brody in the audience texting Abu Nazir? Carrie?? Saul??
Schieffer and Lehrer not up to it. Managing men in debate heat is clearly a woman skill. We do it all the time. #debate
Romney's flag lapel pin is GOP version of "mine's bigger than yours." True patriots don't need 'em, and don't need big ones. Fail.
RT @Deadspin: A reminder of just how Mitt Romney ran the Olympics: http://deadspin.com/5945741/
Sheldon Adelson choking on a pretzel now.
Mitt's entire debate strategy: What he just said, but from a white guy
Thank god everyone in the Middle East is asleep right now.
To be fair, Romney is right that we need more armed whirligigs stationed as close as possible to fearsome Siam.
What we're learning tonight is only the women can control a presidential debate! #debate @candycrowley @martharaddatz
Uh oh. We've gone from Mideast not to Eurozone but back to domestic policy. I guess that means sit ups! #debate
The @cnn graph is cheap. They could make it much better. Come into the new century.
Meanwhile, San Francisco ripping up the NL pennant race. Next year it will be @nationals
You can have your drinking games. I'm doing free weights w/ the Mideast. Will switch to yoga/pilates for the Eurozone. #debate
I have made a pact with myself: to work out for the entire debate. That will make it all okay.
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HE'S AMAZING: ROBERT GRIFFIN III
Yesterday's losses aside, Washington is at the threshold of something wonderful: becoming a legit sports town. It's all happening and will likely get better and better. It's the subject of a commentary I wrote for today's edition of New York Social Diary
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WAITING FOR THE BIG MOMENT
Yesterday at 4 pm my buddy Al Long, also known as Georgetown's "mac man," snapped this pic of the fellow who is definitely first in line at the Georgetown Apple store (and maybe for the whole city) to buy the new iPhone 5. It goes on sale this morning. Would you sit outside all afternoon and overnight, a chilly night, to be the first to buy a phone, or anything for that matter? They cost from $199 and up, mostly up.
I don't think I'm in the mix for the 5. I'm happy with my 4S, though if I hear that the camera is insanely better, I may be tempted ... down the road. Sometimes I still miss my Blackberry, for the tactile keyboard, but I'm not going back.
Good luck today, shoppers.
(Note, if you need any kind of Mac help, do contact Al. He makes home calls.)
THE SAME SETTING, THIS MORNING ABOUT 8 O'CLOCK
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I figure if you read my blog with any regularlity you also follow twitter. I'm on twitter. I post things there that I don't post here, sometimes both here and there, and sometimes only Facebook. It depends. I tend to follow more people on twitter than I follow on Facebook. If that's possible, twitter has a little more intellect. Debateable, I know, but an opinion. Of the people I follow often, Norm Macdonald ranks high. I'll probably never meet this guy -- wish I could, we have friends in common -- but there's so much pleasure in reading his sports tweets. He follows golf with a passion that speaks to me. His observations about football are the same. Not really sentimental at all, but caring and sharp. Gosh, he's good.
So, I have to ask. Why aren't the networks wooing this guy? Did Dennis Miller ruin network sports for all comedians? Norm is cut from a different cloth. He's cool. He's smooth. He's, I think, Canadian. Not an ass. Damn. I've had a brain crush on him since SNL. But that was for his comedy. The crush grew deeper when I realized he understood sports. Then it became appreciation. Opened my eyes. Changed my mind. He's more than just a funny guy. Kinda like Jay Mohr, who with his witty podcast proves hes more than an eager actor. I love all these guys.
If I had a network deal I would produce a sports show with Norm as host and Jay as sidekick, plus some legit retired players, and I would have Norm do principally football and golf and whatever else he wanted. It would be priceless. But he'd have to continue to tweet also. And do a podcast. I'd have my pal Harry Shearer do basketball.
Will someone please write me a big check so I can do this for Norm, assuming it is exactly what he wants. I know. I know. Everyone wants Norm. A time will come.
Hay, he can come do my show and we'll talk golf and football the whole hour. I'll be embarassed but honored. Norm. Open invitation.
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From the Sunday paper, in a wrap-up by Guy Trebay of New York Fashion Week:
“We all want more sex, and no one is getting enough,” Ms.(Joanna) Coles was saying, noting that the problem is perhaps more exaggerated here than elsewhere. And the reason, she said, may be that in New York people are so busy they forget to bookmark sex time in their day planners. Whereas in England, where she is from, people routinely head out in the evening with the expectation of drinking a great deal, going home and making love, although the term she used for the sex act was vintage Austin Powers.
...which is why, I hope, there will always be an England.
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MITT ROMNEY AND BARACK OBAMA: WE KNOW THEM BY THEIR GIVEN NAMES, THE SECRET SERVICE USE CODE
It's that time of year again, when all the presidential level candidates, and their spouses, get code names to be used by the Secret Service. Now, in truth, those in office already have these code names, as do their high level staff, but added to the roster are the challengers. We couldn't resist making a pop quiz, which is posted on The Washingtonian. Some of you may already know the answers - so, no spoilers - but take the quiz and have fun. Secret Service Pop Quiz.
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It was the virgin flight of new Virgin America non-stop service between DCA and SFO. Of course, there were Obama and Romney impersonators on the flight. (Aren't there always in an election year). But here's the best part, a regular passenger, who coincidentally took the flight, looked like a clone of Paul Ryan ... at least in our eyes.
Am I right or am I right? Dude was totally surprised, but was a good sport about posing with his running mate, fake Mitt Romney. Read about him, his identity and the rest of the story tomorrow at washingtonian.com.
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This interview with Simon van Kempen of "The Real Housewives of New York City" was taped just before the launch of "Real Housewives of Washington DC." Bravo forbid any of the RHODC cast from doing interviews, but Simon -- who I contacted through Facebook -- was totally game to come down from Manhattan and have a lunchtime chat, my first foray into the topic of reality TV. The next would be with the by then notorious Tareq and Michaele Salahi - who filled the house.
The audience turnout for Simon was quite strong, also, including a couple of castmembers from RHODC.
I remained friendly with Simon and his wife, Alex McCord, seeing them in New York and having dinner together once here at Cafe Milano (where, of course, they turned heads). Best of all, I think, was when they invited me up to NYC to tag along on a RHONY shoot, so I could see what it was like behind the scenes. It was almost a whole day, a trek to Governor's Island with a lot of their "friends," and a birthday party there for Alex, and the literal convergence in one spot of three housewives (Alex, Kelly Bensimon, Cindy Barshop) and their individual crews. On the air it was about a 3 minute segment.
Alas, Alex, Simon, Kelly and Cindy are no longer in the New York cast, but I do communicate with Simon. My interest in the "Housewives" shows has waned quite a lot. I rarely watch. The new New York cast members, particularly Carole and Aviva, are buzzkills, in my opinion. Radziwill is a Debbie Downer. Heather could last, though. But ... does anyone care?
In that vein, I consider this interview a good dose of pop culture, circa winter, 2010.
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TOMMY LEE JONES AND MERYL STREEP IN "HOPE SPRINGS," A FILM FOR THE OVER-16 SET
It feels like there's hope at my local multi-plex, the Loews Georgetown, and I'm not referring solely to "Hope Springs," the new film with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones (OMG, actual adults!!). The hope,in this case, springs from the fact there are fewer 3-D or "Imax" films running than at any time this summer, which makes way for more films. The new arrivals are "The Campaign," "The Bourne Legacy," and the aforementioned "Hope Springs." They join "Ruby Sparks," which I saw last weekend and liked a lot.
Earlier this week I had a terrific conversation with film critic Arch Campbell, and you can read it here on washingtonian.com. The interview followed a peculiar weekend of movie-going I experienced last weekend. I noticed in this morning's Washington Post that they like "Bourne," where Arch was cool on it, and they were cool on "The Campaign," which he adored. Everyone seems to be in agreement on "Hope Springs."
I'm generally happy with the Loews. Do I think it could be a little more mindful of peak times and perhaps at those times have more than one ticket seller on duty? Yes. As I discussed with Arch, I'm not sure what to do when in the same theater, with people trying to watch a movie, are a babbling baby or a man loudly snoring. The movie theater experience has changed so radically over the last couple of decades. But I would never want to see movie theaters go away.
btw, Arch breaks down what constitutes real Imax. Sorry, Loews.
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GORE VIDAL (photo: The U.K. Telegraph)
This afternoon I had an interesting conversation with the man who was often at Gore Vidal's side for the past eleven years, his house manager and personal chef. He was with Vidal when the writer died at his home in Hollywood one week ago. Please read my report of the revealing conversation at washingtonian.com
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This is one of my favorites from The Q&A Cafe archives - the men of "Spinal Tap," Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. I know Harry very well, and Chris and Michael sorta well. Thanks to Harry, we all cross paths from time to time. This interview had been a long-time coming. The guys were game, I just needed them to all be in Washington at the same time, which a "Spinal Tap Unplugged" concert made possible.
Enjoy the conversation. Also, it's a glimpse into the old location, Nathans. For long-timers of The Q&A Cafe, that will be sentimental.
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I'M GOING TO MISS THESE TWO
It's tough to believe that what started as a two-hour season premier seemingly only yesterday will wrap up tonight with the finale of Season 5 of Mad Men. Time did fly. We were having a joy ride. For me it's been one of the best season's ever, Godfather-level in quality of writing, directing and acting...and plot threads. Isn't Lane Pryce another iteration of Fredo? We could debate this point for hours.
Hopefully tonight we'll get one last blast of Don Draper and Roger Sterling out for a cocktail. They are the embodiment of 60s style when they have their martinis and old-fashioneds. It's all in the way they hold their glasses, sip and quaff. Even Peggy's got it going on, when she knocks one back in the office. Lane gulped his last week, and understandably.
Believe it or not, back in the day -- including when I went to work in the Time & Life Bulding in 1971 -- offices had bars and the office "secretary" stocked them with one's favorite booze. People did drink in the office and often, at least at Time Inc. Not so much when I got to CBS News, at least not at the Broadcast Center. Occasionally the executive producer of The CBS Evening News would have a beer at his desk during lunch. Otherwise, drinking, and a lot of it, was done outside the office. Always a bottle of wine at lunch, occasionally martinis and other cocktails at lunch, and then drinks after work. I was quite young, and not really drinking yet, but it was impressive to see how much the grown-ups consumed, and still we got the show on the air every night.
Well, anyway, adios Don and Roger, et al. Thank goodness for Netflix streaming but it will be a long lonely summer without a new episode every Sunday.
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DON DRAPER AND JOAN HARRIS EYE A RED JAGUAR XK-E
I'm absolutely enchanted with season 5 of "Mad Men." This season is so strong, episode after episode; at times it is on a par with "The Godfather" in mastery of story-telling, direction and performance. For example, last night, as the drama switched back and forth from Don Draper pitching Jaguar to Joan Harris selling a piece of her soul. What made Joan's act more dispiriting? That she did it at all or that it was with a fat old man? And Peggy walking out the door with a smile. I held my breath for a moment before the elevator doors opened, wondering if we were about to revisit the empty shaft Don faced a few episodes back. Thankfully, not. Peggy stepped into her future, but I'm sure we'll see her again, and again.
For me it's been extra fun seeing the attention paid to the sexy little Jaguar XK-E. When I married my husband I also married the Jaguar XK-E. Howard Joynt loved to buy them and get them fixed up into pristine shape (though with a Jaguar, that was a challenge). In college he drove an XK-150. His parents and sister drove Jaguars. When we met Howard drove a white 12-cylinder XK-E convertible that he got painted black and reupholstered with red leather. We drove that car on so many road trip holidays, from Maine to Key West. I was not a driver yet, still very much a passenger.
Usually these trips were great fun, except on Route 95 in heavy rain with 18 wheelers tearing by, kicking up what amounted to rogue waves for our little car. And since it was a Jag, it broke down as often as not. There was the time, again on Route 95, when we had to wait for a flat-bed truck to pick us up in the middle of nowhere in southern Virginia. The car was so low to the ground it could not be conventionally towed. Another time we were stranded on the side of a rural road, also down south, and had to accept a ride to a gas station from a stranger, who drove at 75 miles an hour not with his hands on the wheel but through the wheel so he could drum on the dashboard. I crossed my fingers and prayed.
The most dramatic moment was when the engine caught fire as we drove Route 50 through Marshall, Va. We came to a stop near a 7-11, both running in to grab bottles of water. Fortunately, the fire department was one block away.
It was a true two-seater. Behind the front seats was just enough room for our dog. The trunk could fit a small bag or picnic basket.
Later, we had a British racing green XK-E hard back, also 12 cylinders, and then another E-Type convertible, this one cherry red, 12-cylinders. Howard's master mechanic (really, his collaborator), Carlos Neiderhauser, a charming connoisseur, was in Shepherdstown, WV, where we would trek for repairs and fine-tuning. I never drove the convertibles because they were stick shift. I did drive the green car. Yes, hot, though I wasn't a driver yet and so not fully able to appreciate.
These were our cars for a decade. When Spencer was born, the XK-E's went away, replaced by a station wagon. Imagine. What a transition. Howard didn't last long with that. We kept the staton wagon but he got a Jaguar sedan, a 12-cylinder Vanden Plas, which was like driving velvet, if velvet could be driven. The exterior was British racing green, the interior buttery beige leather, the exquisite trim was burled walnut. After Howard died, rather than putting his mahogany urn in a hearse, I drove up to Gawler's and had the men there put it in the trunk of the Jaguar. With Spencer and my brother, Robert, in the car, we drove Howard on a last tour of Georgetown, ending up at Oak Hill Cemetery. Since the car was leased, I turned it back in, with sadness of course.
I'm thrilled that SCDP got the Jaguar contract. Will Don learn to feel moved by the car, or will he remain happy with Megan? It seems with him it's not possible to have both. My friend Shane Harris texted last night to say the actual slogan for the 1967 Jaguar was, "Domesticated, Not Declawed." Is that the same for Don Draper? I can't believe there are only two episodes remaining to Season 5. I'm already in mourning.
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HAPPIER TIMES: THE SALAHIS OWN PHOTO OF THEMSELVES WITH V.P. JOE BIDEN AT WH STATE DINNER
Remember the Salahis? Of course you do. They will be back in court on Monday for another hearing in an ongoing nasty divorce case. We talked with Tareq Salahi, who says he's turned his life around since splitting with Michaele. He also says he's developing a cooking show. Read it here: Tareq Salahi Interview With Washingtonian.
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This is leftover from last night, which seems appropriate, since the Oscar show felt leftover from 1967 or thereabouts. Favorite clueless line of this morning, on Today, Ann Curry: "Wasn't Billy Crystal wonderful?" Oy vey.
But I always like Hank Stuever, and here's his review in The Washington Post. And from last night, my
LIVE BLOGGING...
9:05PM - So far, ho hum. No refreshing surprises. Everybody looks nice, though. Very nice. It could be the Eisenhower era. Liked on the red carpet: Roony Mara, Tina Fey, Jessica Chastaing, Michelle Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Melissa McCarthy, Viola Davis, Shailene Woodley, Nina Garcia... the latter possibly the only one who didn't use a stylist. (Not one showed defining character)
9:15 - Yay for Octavia!
9:30 - It's been an hour. Feels like two, three... Coke commercial was good, however.
9:39 - Def talented, but what does Cirque du Soleil have to do with the nominated films? That it's silent? Not good enough.
9:45 - Thank you, Chris Rock ... just for being. It's about time. Finally, a comedian.
9:57 - Emma Stone was a needed glass of lemonade. Nice shot of Jonah Hill behind Brangelina's lipstick. Billy's had botox...not to mention eye work.
10:05 - Christopher Plummer = lilt, charm, elegance, grace. That's all the old Hollywood needed.
10:17 - Meant to say earlier, Penelope Cruz' new hair looks terrific.
10:18 - Happy for the Muppets, but remember when hit songs won the Oscar?
10:23 - From a friend: "Billy looks like a pufferfish." Haha. He does. Good call. About as funny as one, too.
10:31 - Angelina could use some of Billy's puff. The arms. Scary. Do we think she rehearsed the leg pose? Yes.
10:36 - two hours down. I'm ready for the after show, or sleep.
10:45 - Morris Lessmore? hahaha
11:08 - Esperanza Spalding is a radiant talent. Managed to lift this show up substantially even while scoring the obits. So many of the "in memoriam" folks seemed too young to be gone.
11:23 - I thought it would go to Clooney. I was wrong. It's fun to see an exuberant winner.
11:29 - Oh, God. Her! Again? They came through for Meryl. Shocker. To me. Not that she isn't an "unreasonably" talented actress, but that "Iron Lady" was not a stellar film. Shades of Pacino winning for "Scent of a Woman." I so wanted it to go to Viola, but Meryl charmingly (seemingly) surprised, and gracious.
11:36 - The anticlimactic end, "The Artist" ... with dog on stage.
Goodnight. In the end, my forecast nailed it: predictable, out of touch and tame. And just think, next year "Lincoln" is expected to be the front runner, which means we could have a three-year hat trick of history: King George, Lady Thatcher and President Lincoln.
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Thank heaven for Sacha Baron Cohen. If he'd not made some noise in the last days before the event I doubt I would have remembered there are the Oscars tonight. It shows how clueless the Academy of Motion Pictures can be when they announced he would not be welcomed in his persona for "The Dictator." Out of their effing minds. Producer Brian Grazer knew it and reversed the edict. Cohen, who will now be welcomed to walk as he wishes, is the show's last best hope for pulling some competitive ratings and some audience members under age 40 (though it's easy to beat last year's desultory and embarassing show). And that's just the red carpet. Goodness, when Cohen started getting traction I would have booted the usually unfunny Billy Crystal and replaced him with the "Borat" creator - in or out of character or characters. Any way he wanted to do it.
If not Cohen, I would have handed the hosting to Howard Stern, who remains relevant and contemporary regardless of his age and wealth.
Since the new century began The Oscars have been showing their age, certainly in terms of showmanship. They shouldn't feel superior to the awards shows that come earlier in the season, because the earlier productions, whatever their merit, at least swallowed some vitamins. Oscar should look to the Grammy awards. The music industry figured it out. Minimize the awards, maximize the performances. Over the last decade, the Oscars have gone in the other direction, to more blather, especially now that the "best song" category is anorexic. The broadcast shares a lot with the GOP debates, with some schtick at the top. From the presenters point of view, I loved the quote from Connie Wald today in The New York Times: "It’s really a very thankless show to do, congratulating people and opening envelopes.”
Like Mitt Romney, with the disconcerting challenge from upstart Rick Santorum, the Academy of Motion Pictures still haven't figured out the sea change that occurred when the Golden Globes and SAG Awards, etc., began to steal their thunder. They figured they were entitled always to be the biggest deal of Hollywood awards season. Things change. The field is so crowded most people don't make a distinction, certainly not younger people. They read reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, watch films on Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and youtube, rank them on IMDB, and go to movie theaters at midnight for "event" opening nights, which are chosen based on each other and marketing, not what critics think. An Oscar isn't going to make a 20-year-old go to a movie. Old folks don't go, anyway. They watch ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, unless they have basic cable, in which case they get hooked on one-note MSNBC or colorless CNN.
But, as mentioned, at least we'll have the red carpet, where live coverage begins three to four hours before the Oscar broadcast, making the arrivals extravaganza as long or longer than the awards ceremony! The carpet has lost some spontaneity, too, as stylists and jewelers rule and promote. But I'd rather have Rachel Zoe and Brad Goresky do the red carpet commentary - not Ryan Seacrest, et al - for the possibility they might provide some cat fights over who got which designer dress for whatever client.
Rachel: "Brad, how did you get that Versace? I had it exclusively!"
Brad: "Rachel, you know me, I have my ways."
Rachel: "Rot in hell, bitch."
Brad: "You wish. I'd rather be your worst nightmare, bitch."
Anyway, that's my fantasy.
Last but not least, here's who I'd like to see win Oscars tonight.
Best Picture: Moneyball
Best Actress: Viola Davis
Best Actor: Brad Pitt
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer
Best Supporting Actor: Jonah Hill
Best Adapted Screenplay: Steve Saillian and Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball)
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
As for "The Artist," I have to quote Tony Kornheiser, who called it "the best black and white silent film of 2012."
It's time for a new "Midnight Cowboy," and I don't mean a remake. I mean a film that is so stunningly about our times and who we are that it upends the entire industry, which is what "Midnight Cowboy" did in 1969. It won Best Picture and changed everything, making the 70s an innovative and exciting era of movie-making. "The Artist" may be endearing, but it won't spawn a creative revolution.
btw, washingtonian.com has the scoop on Oscar parties and public events in DC.
Also, I will live blog the show.
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Regardless of where you stand on the verdict in the Yeardley Love murder trial, there's another important factor that involves the young victim and the young man convicted of her murder, George Huguely. That factor is alcohol. College age and under age drinking in the U.S., according to police and experts, is out of control. Please read my report on washingtonian.com: George Huguely: The Fatal Combination of Youth and Alcohol.
After you read my piece, please also read this incredible analysis by Trevor Tierney, an NCAA lacrosse professional and the son of the long-time Princeton coach. He boldly and candidly discusses his own struggle with alcohol abuse and says, yes, there is too much alcohol abuse among lacrosse players in general. He writes, "Many people in lacrosse are tip-toeing around this topic, like it is some deep, dark family secret, and that's because it is. It's an extremely sensitive topic that is sad and quite challenging to talk about. But we need to be open and discuss it, to discover any healing from a tragedy like this." Again, read the full essay at Trevor Tierney on the Huguely-Love Case.
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Spent my day at Mount Vernon, enjoying the beginning of George Washington's birthday. We previewed a new exhibition and had lunch with Mrs. Washington. Isn't that a typical day in this town?
It was a beautiful and delicious occasion and there is a full report on washngtonian.com.
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Sorry for a delay in posting. It's been a busy week for me, so far.
I get to bed early, up early, to work early, but still days feel short. Not bad or unsatisfying. Only short. I fall behind in everything that is not work. Thus the phone messages from collection agencies...(and, of course, each thinks it is unique). Ha!
Here are some posts, so far this week:
Party for Sally Bedell Smith to Celebrate her Book, Elizabeth the Queen
Susan Eisenhower Talks About Her Family's Battle with Frank Gehry
And you wonder what any of this has to do with Tim Tebow. Read the Sally Bedell Smith book party story and then you'll know.
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We know commercial M Street is going through changes, trending toward more mall stores. Still, I burst out laughing at the sight of this mannequin in the window at Calvin Klein. The Georgetown of Dorcas Hardin is gone, baby, gone. Is this what the rebranding campaign means with the slogan, "Come out and play in Georgetown?" Hahaha. More hahaha. The complete package? An Anthony Weiner homage? CK's bf? Wishful thinking?
Better be careful, it could scare the little children (and some adults).
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JUSTIN THEROUX (courtesy comicbookmovie.com)
Okay, here's a tabloid moment, but interesting because it connects to our city.
Did you know that Jennifer Aniston's latest BF is a native of Washington? Yep. Actor and writer Justin Theroux was born and raised here and went to one of the city's most interesting schools, The Field School on Foxhall Road. According to his IMDB profile he chose Bennington for college. He's related to all those other Therouxs, including Paul, who is his uncle. If you believe Wiki, his parents live here; she's a journalist and he's a lawyer. Interesting, eh?
This from IMDB: Academy Award-nominee (documentaries) Rachel Grady and her friend, Brooke Jones, took Justin Theroux to his first prom in Washington, D.C. and Justin's journalist mother, Phyllis Theroux, reported on their date in the June 5, 1985 New York Times.
I'm sure you already know of the other actor and emerging star from our neighborhood? Olivia Wilde, whose latest film is "Cowboys and Aliens." She grew up in Georgetown, along with an older sister and younger brother, and I believe attended Georgetown Day School before heading off to boarding school. Not positive about GDS. Her parents are the journalists and documentary filmmakers Leslie and Andrew Cockburn, long-time friends. One evening a while back I bumped into Andrew, Leslie and Olivia, walking along N Street ... just a young woman out with her parents. Like her parents she's smart and intuitive and it is fun to watch her career bloom.
Hmmm. Maybe Justin and Olivia should co-star in something??
NOTE: I saw "Cowboys and Aliens" this weekend. It's fun. Olivia and Daniel Craig carry the film, though in respect to Daniel Craig it his mostly his buff butt.
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TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, WILL CONGRESS BEAT THE CLOCK?
I'm back from 24 hours off the grid. Would actually like to have 24 months off the grid, but haven't figured how to do that and still pay the mortgage. When you are unemployed and job-hunting it becomes, sadly, all about the grid. In fact, to such an extent you begin to despise the grid. It can be a form of noise, brain pollution, distraction, an anti-creative force, the black cat crossing your path. The grid is at the root of our trend obsession. When inundated with questions about one's social-networking fluency it looms as a hyphenated false marker of relevance, even though I participate, and play the social media game well. Sometimes that focus on electronic communication seems more busy than authentically productive.
But then I digress.
I was off the grid for other reasons, too. My son had his wisdom teeth out. All four. And so I used that as an excuse to be full-time "Mom" for a day, fluffing the sofa, feeding the DVD player, bearing bags of frozen peas, smoothies, Percocet. He sends me texts: "I'm not a baby." I reply: "You are my baby." But I know he's not. His wings are fully formed and the nest I made for him is in his rear view. So I seized this moment where I could be needed. Why would anyone even think of social-networking under those circumstances??? I ask you???
Which brings me to another reason for being off the grid. Next week we drive to Texas to deliver him to his sophomore year of college. I'll make a NYSD column out of it, of course, and for that reason I am in deep research about where to stay, where to eat, what to see. Nashville is one stop, Dallas is another. I seek authentic, real, indigenous, places that are nowhere else but there. Even if it is only for a few hours, I like to feel local, sometimes a touristy local - like I've got the in-laws in tow but I just happen to want to be there, too. It's the way I feel about Joe's Stone Crab in Miami and Don The Beachcomber in SoCal.
And I've been sad, too, about the closing of Furin's. Too sad really to be able to comment. I'm tired of saying farewell to good businesses in my neighborhood. They disappear, replaced by less or nothing and the texture of my community degrades. So many evenings I want to phone Griffin Market with a dinner order and they're just not there. I will feel that way about Furin's breakfasts for days, weeks, months, years.
Most of all I'm in a funk because of this: the budget mess. I walk among these people, our "elected officials," some who are putting us second to their own self-interests. I was at a dinner last night with many House and Senate members, cutting into the tenderloin, enjoying the good Cabernet, as if nothing critical is occurring. I wanted to jump up in that room of round tables of ten and shout: "What Is With You, People?"
I meant what I wrote in my NYSD column Monday: put them in "political" rehab with Dr. Drew and put Lexapro in the water supply for the rest of us.
I'm accustomed to Congress cruising within centimeters of the cliffside --makes for better media, and better for the re-election ads-- but this time is different. This time there are certain among 'em who don't care if we go over the edge, so that on the way down they can point fingers and holler, "It's Obama's fault." Well, it's not. (Do listen to Warren Olney's "To The Point" podcast on KCRW.)
How did I deal with all this inner drama? Ha! I made incredible blackberry martinis cosmopolitans and some really tasty crab cakes, shared with a friend, and watered the poor parched plants and bushes. We humans in DC have it not so good this summer, but the green things may have it worse.
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DC Cable uses an Amy Winehouse hit, "You Know I'm No Good," as the opening credit track for The Q&A Cafe. I was not offended. I was honored. It even gave me a giggle, too, as it is also the opening credit for one of my favorite cable shows, Secret Diary of A Call Girl.
From the first time I heard Winehouse I was a fan. Her death is not a shock, because she was an addict. As the younger sister of an addict I know it is a life-long battle, and so very tough to come out on top. Most don't, joined by my late sister and now Winehouse. She was so young. I kept hoping she'd kick it and give us years of great tunes.
Amy Winehouse did not leave a huge body of work, unfortunately, but her 2006 "Back to Black" is a resonant legacy. It won five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. I can't imagine there's anyone who hasn't heard that album. It's well worth owning, but now also a sad epitaph.
"I cheated myself,
Like I knew I would,
I told you I was trouble,
You know that I'm no good"
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Howard Stern is without a doubt the best interviewer in American media, and his interview with Lady Gaga was one of his best. One of her best, too, though I'm not a student of Gaga, and only barely a casual fan. At the end of the interview she sang a song of her own composition, accompanied only by herself on the piano. This is the result. I think it could make a solid fan of anyone who listens. It's a shame the interview isn't included, but then that's why we have to subscribe to Sirius.
Enjoy this remarkable performance and note it occurred in the early morning, when Howard does his show, and still her voice is very wide awake.
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Carol Joynt has "a perfect eye, an infallible ear and the unequaled gift of rearranging the alphabet into words which both entertain and mean f**cking something."
-- "Hollywood Bob"
The Q&A Cafe, now in its 17th year, is on hiatus until the autumn, when we'll have interviews with Tom Sietsema and Brian Noyes, among others. For now, please enjoy the show each Friday on DC Cable, channel 16, and on YouTube. The two most recent interviews were Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and Patty Stonesifer. For more information please call 202-333-9330.
Emmy-winning CBS News producer, talk show guest wrangler, published author, host of The Q&A Cafe, print & digital journalist, filmmaker, photog, and former saloon owner. Read more...
Here is information for my popular memoir Innocent Spouse...
MEDIA: For book-related inquiries, please contact my agent, Laney Becker, at 212-243-8480
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