Ah, Wilderness

Leads William Riley and June Schreiner

One of the things about being a writer is that you get to reexamine, re-imagine, revise, and rewrite your own personal story if you choose to do so. Take playwright Eugene O'Neill, whose early life was certainly far from idyllic. Born in a Broadway hotel, he spent most of his formative years on the road and in boarding schools. His father was a self-involved actor who struggled with alcohol. His mother became a morphine addict, never fully recovering from the death of her second son. And his only brother Jamie, whom he revered, lost his own battles with alcohol, despondency, and fast living.

But in 1932, O'Neill wrote Ah, Wilderness!, an idealized look at family life as it could have been, and indeed was for some. The subtitle for the play strongly hints at O'Neill's intention. That subtitle reads: A Nostalgic Comedy of the Ancient Days When Youth Was Young, and Right Was Right, and Life Was a Wicked Opportunity.

Tonight, we got to see a performance of Ah, Wilderness! at the Arena Stage. A strong cast allowed the basic humanity of the play to shine through. Judging from the laughter in the audience, the struggle between the young and their parents is as pertinent today as it was in the 1930s. But, of course, today instead of socialism, spooning and Shaw, we have tattoos, and violent video games, and rap. All shocking in their time, but all part of the growing process..

In a letter to his own son in 1933, O'Neill outlined what he hoped to accomplish with his latest play:

Ah! Wilderness is more the capture of a mood, an evocation (of) the period in which my middle teens were spent - a memory of the time of my youth - not of my youth but of the youth in which my generation spent youth ... It is a comedy ... not satiric ... and not deliberately spoofing at the period ... but laughing at its absurdities while at the same time appreciating and emphasizing its lost spiritual & ethical values.

Well, Mr. O'Neill, for about 2-and-a-half hours tonight a stellar cast let those lost spiritual and ethical values live again, if only for a few brief moments on stage. If you had seen their performance, I think you would have been pleased. I know I was.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
This was the 1st time we viewed a play at the Arena Stage here. But you can bet it won't be the last. Already, we have purchased tickets for another O'Neill drama, his dark masterpiece A Long Day's Journey into Night. And tonight we discovered 4 more plays we want to attend here as part of the company's upcoming 2012-2013 season. Those plays are:

• One Night with Janis Joplin (Sept. 28 to Nov. 4)
• Pullman Porter Blues (Nov. 23 to Jan. 6)
• Metamorphoses (Feb. 8 to March 17)
• The Mountain Top (March 29 to May 12

Hiaasen Handles The Kids

There is a contention that American kids aren't reading enough these days. But if you had visited the Politics and Prose book store on Connecticut Avenue here this morning, you might think differently. More than 100 youngsters crammed the floor of the store to hear Carl Hiaasen discuss Chomp, his newest book for young adult readers.

 Hiassen credited his 11-year-old granddaughter with prompting him to write his latest entry into the young adult fiction field. "She has pets of all kind and she is always getting chomped by a lot of stuff. She also pointed out that all my books have 1-word titles. She asked me to write another book and so I did. You'll find out that anything your grandchildren ask you to do, you'll do for them," Hiaasen said.

The author of 3 previous young adult books, all set in his native Florida and all containing a save the environment motif, Hiaasen added that the new book was also the result of his addiction to reality shows about nature. "You know, in every episode, they have to eat something gross ... like someone bites the heads off of a centipede. Well that kind of inspired the book, too," he said.

Before opening his talk to questions, Hiaasen provided brief details about Chomp. An actor is cast to portray a survivalist. The truth is the character, Derek Badger, knows absolutely nothing about surviving. Every night he takes a helicopter back to his fancy hotel and has a gourmet dinner. But when in the Everglades, this total klutz gets really lost. And that sets the stage for 2 youngsters to help him survive the ordeal.

After that brief background, Hiaasen opened the discussion to questions. And it seemed virtually every youngster there had something to ask. The questions ranged from his favorite book to how to handle writer's block.

Hiaasen said, as an author, he really doesn't have a favorite book. "It's like asking your Mom or Dad which child they like best. Some days, it's you. And some days, it might be your brother or sister. And some days it's none of you," he said. "Most writers are their own most critical readers. They always want to go back and change the things they have written."

After writing best-selling humorous novels about Florida for years, Hiaasen's first foray into young adult writing, Hoot, came from a suggestion by his New York editor.  "I thought she was insane," Hiaasen said. "Have you ever read anything I have ever written? This is a dangerous idea."

However, his editor maintained that young people would like funny, fast-paced books where characters with values battle those who seem to lack any. Finally, Hiaasen relented. "I thought, well if nothing else, the kids in my family will have a book to read that I have written," he said.

Hiaasen said his inspiration to be a writer stemmed from an insatiable desire to read as a youngster. "I knew somebody was writing these books and I thought that would be the coolest job in the world. What a neat idea - to tell a story and have your name on it," he said. And so when he was 6, he asked his parents for a typewriter. "That's something you write with that looks like a big clunky computer," he explained. "I'm probably the only 6-year-old who ever asked for a typewriter. My Dad was just crazy enough to do it." However, he now realizes that his parents might have had another motive - his horrific handwriting. "I have the worst handwriting of any human ever," Hiaasen said. "It looks like a chicken has walked through ink. My parents believed this would be the only way they could ever read something I had written."

In college, a professor suggested that he ghost write a couple of medical books, one of which was turned into a movie. After college, Hiaasen began a career as a reporter and, in fact, still writes a weekly newspaper column today. He credits his newspaper experience with helping him avoid writer's block. "On a newspaper, there's no such thing as writer's block. You learn to write with a lot of chaos around you. If you get writer's block, you get unemployment block. It really is great training for writing," Hiaasen explained.

Hiaasen elicited incredulous oohs from his young audience when he admitted that he had not read The Hunger Games. "When you're writing all the time. you don't have the luxury of reading as much as you would like to," he said. Hiassen also said he really isn't attracted to the fantasy gendre, either as a reader or a writer. "I like books about real people who have to do something extraordinary, who have to step up in a big way." But he promised that if someone writes The Arthritis Games for his generation he will try to read that.

In closing, Hiassen cautioned any budding writers in the room to be prepared for hard work if they take up the craft. "If it's not painful, you're not doing it right," he said. "Even bad writing is hard work." But, he added, the rewards of writing are immense. "When I'm walking through an airport and I see someone reading something I've written and they're laughing, well that's the greatest feeling in the world."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
What do Ralph Nader, Tom Brokaw, and Carl Hiaasen all have in common? Well, besides being brilliant best-selling authors, they have all touched me. And by touched me, I mean literally touched me. At book talks, all 3 have brushed by me, each one hitting my left elbow. Now if elbow touching only made for transferable writing talent, I might have a future in the book business.  Unfortunately, it doesn't. But I'm still mighty lucky to live in Washington where I can hear about writing from so many talented authors. Just one more reason why DC is perfect for me.

Springsteen Rocks DC

If you are looking for a voice to capture the current state of America, you might consider 63-year-old rocker Bruce Springsteen, who brought the call to restoring the full promise of a fading American Dream to a foot-stomping, hand-raising show in DC tonight.

Springsteen and the E-Street Band, now expanded to a stage-filling 17 members, spent 3 energy-filled, tent-revival-like hours, alternating between allowing the sold-out crowd at the Verizon Center to revel in old memories and urging them to make a kinder, gentler America.

The focus of the show, the 6th in the band's current 1st leg of its world tour, was on Springsteen's new CD Wrecking Ball, which Rolling Stone magazine calls "the most despairing, confrontational, and musically turbulent album Bruce Springsteen has ever made."

"He (Springsteen) is angry and accusing in these songs, to the point of exhaustion, with grave reason. The America here is a scorched earth: razed by profiteers, and suffering a shameful erosion in truly democratic values and national charity. This is darkness gone way past the edge of town, to the heart of the republic," wrote reviewing critic David Fricke.

At a time when many rockers have been reduced to performing greatest hits packages in concert, Springsteen included 11 songs from the new CD during the 26-song set.

Of course, Springsteen didn't neglect long-time crowd pleasers from his immense catalog. Most of them came in the musical flurry of the multi-song encore. After closing the 1st part of the show with "Thunder Road," the band followed with staples "Born to Run," "Dancing in the Dark," and a night-ending "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out."

Springsteen also directed the extremely tight band in some lesser-played nuggets such as a back-to-back offering of "Seaside Bar Song" and "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" both from the band's early 1970s years. There were 3 tour debuts - "Adam Raised a Cain," "Out in the Street," (from a sign request by the audience) and "The Promise." Springsteen has always featured covers in his shows and that category was represented last night by a soaring "Trapped," written by Jimmy Cliff, and an upbeat soul medley of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "634-5789," during which Springsteen belied his 4 decades as a performer by crowd-surfing on the extended arms of thrilled fans.

But it was really Springsteen as prophet and advocate of the American Dream that truly defined the night. There were the lyrics of the 11 news songs with their combined premise that good governing and the ideal of sharing with others less fortunate is broken and in desperate need of repair. There was the juxtaposition of the themes of "My City of Ruins" and "The Rising." But, perhaps the most reflective moments came during a subdued, but powerful rendition of "American Skin (41 Shots)," originally written as a reaction to the tragic Amadou Diallo killing in New York City, but equally applicable to the Trayvon Martin shooting dominating the news today.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
To see the complete set list from the show provided by NJ.Com click here. To view Washington Post concert photos click here.

What is the Role of the White House?

For more than 200 years, the nature of the White House, home to 43 of the 44 presidents of the United States, has been the subject of debate.

Here we are back at the White House after 39 years

Leery of the trappings of royal power, but cognizant of the inherent symbolism of the presidency, early  presidents and planners struggled to create a house that was grand, but not too grand.  In modern times, that struggle has shifted on how to keep the White House open to the public while still maintaining the security necessary for such a vital center of democracy and freedom to operate. Much of the problem stems from the fact that the White House simultaneously serves as

• a home for the president and his family
• a functioning operational site to determine and run US positions both here and around the world
• a political center to celebrate freedom and contributions of citizens from all 50 states
• a symbol of the power, grandeur, and history of America
• a museum of the presidency and
• one of Washington's leading tourist attractions, a site which can attract as as many as 100,000 visitors a month. 

My wife Judy and I last visited the White House more than 40 years ago. Today, we returned to the home of our presidents to see how much such a visit has changed in 4 decades.

The most obvious changes concern increased security measures. After the 9/11 attacks, all tours must be arranged through a member of Congress, permission that can only be granted after much paperwork and a background check. You may only take 4 items on the tour. The permitted items are cell phones, wallets, car keys, and umbrellas. You will pass through 2 checkpoints where your ID will be scrutinized. You must also submit to a complete X-ray screening.

President Obama listens as Jagger sings in the Blue Room

However, once inside, you are able to wander at your own pace through the open portions of the building and grounds. Although the tour is self-guided, knowledgeable and helpful guide/guards are stationed throughout to answer your questions.You can pause and envision yourself at a presidential press conference or see yourself at a state dinner. I chose to imagine myself at the recent tribute to the blues concert where B. B. King graced the notes of "The Thrill Is Gone," Mick Jagger pranced while singing "Miss You," and president Obama himself sang a few lines of "Sweet Home Chicago."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Probably every one who tours the White House thinks about running into the president. But such encounters are extremely rare. In fact, it may actually be better for you as a visitor if the president is not on site at the time of your visit. That way there is less chance that your tour will be called off at the last moment for some presidential business or crisis. On the day of our visit, President Barack Obama was in Vermont, where one of my favorite bands Grace Potter and the Nocturnals served as his warm-up. Since he wasn't there to greet us, I plan to write him and tell him how much we enjoyed our visit.

Eugene O'Neill: Life as Art

He is considered one of America's premier playwrights. His early experimental plays stretched the boundaries of theater. He transformed the ancient Greek use of masks and Shakespeare's soliloquies into a modern format. He employed psychological ideas and motifs to shape the tragical circumstances of his personal life into great art. He won 4 Pulitzer Prizes for Literature. And now, Eugene O'Neill and his plays are the subject of a 3-month festival here in DC.

Tonight, 4 O'Neill experts engaged in a panel discussion on how O'Neill's life influenced his work. Entitled O:'Neill: My Life in Art, it was held at the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

The panel, moderated by University of Maryland theater history professor Frank Hildy, included Eugene O'Neill Festival producer Erin Dailey, senior theater researcher Aaron Malkin, and actor Rob Janson, who has written a one-man play about O'Neill and has starred as O'Neill's alter-ego in his masterpiece Long Day's Journey into Night.

Dailey said she immersed herself in O'Neill, known for both his on-stage and off-stage tragedies, in the months prior to the festival. "It was a very dark period in my life," Daily joked. "I was amazed about how much of himself he poured into his work."

Janson, who said his first encounter with O'Neill's powerful works "changed my life," agreed with Daily, noting "the blurred line" where the playwright's life and work "runs into one another."

Hildy said O'Neill's greatest contribution to American theater may be that "he was the 1st playwright to look at his own life experiences in a serious way. He was using the plays as a kind of therapy for himself"

The 1st of the festival's 3 major productions, Ah, Wilderness, is typical O'Neill in that it is based on personal experiences, but starkly different from the rest of his work in that it is comedic in nature.

"He put a different kind of spin on this play. This is a play of what he would have liked his family life to be like. He knew people who had that kind of childhood. People (who see the play) say 'I didn't know you could feel so warm at the end of an Eugene O'Neill play," Malkin said.

Dailey said that the greatest of all tragedies surrounding O'Neill is that despite his popular and critical success, the playwright never believed he truly achieved his ambitious writing aims. "He showed that the life we live every day is art. But it's so sad that he never really felt he got it," she said.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
The coming weeks are a treasure for O'Neill fans who can make it to DC or live in the Washington area. The main part of the O'Neill Festival consists of 3 of his better-known works. Ah, Wilderness is running until April 8. Strange Interlude ends April 29. Long Day's Journey into Night concludes on May 6. The festival also showcases several original works, readings, rehearsals, and discussions. You can check out the complete schedule by clicking here.

The Titanic Sinking: A New Look After 100 Years

In August 2010, Samuel Halperin and 10 other researchers of  the Titanic began an intensive re-look at the tragedy using modern technology and new information that has surfaced during the 100 years since the initial investigations into the sinking of the ship after it struck an iceberg in the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean .

The group planned to publish their findings in a book patterned after the 15-chapter report issued immediately following the 1912 Titanic probes in American and England.

"We wondered if they knew then what we know now 100 years later, how would that report be different," Halperin said. "We modernized our effort, making use of technology and all the information we now know."

Those updated finding were indeed compiled in a book entitled Report into the Loss of the S.S. Titanic: A Centennial Reappraisal and Halperin appeared at the National Archives today to discuss the recently released work.

So what did the new group find?

The most tragic finding was a reinforcement of the fact that not only were there too few lifeboats on board, but those that were used for passengers to escape the doomed ship were not filled to capacity.  "The average lifeboat was only filled to a 61% capacity," Halperin said, noting, for example that the group found one lifeboat ferrying only 35 people when it could have held 57.

The new verified outcome of passengers stands at 1,496 lost and only 712 saved. One of the major problems with rescue was that the number of required lifeboats was based on "woefully inadequate" rules from the 1880s which never envisioned the increased passenger capacity of early 20th Century cruise ships. "Clearly, there was never enough lifeboats and life rafts for the passengers and the crew," Halperin said.

"One of the major tragedies of the disaster was that not all classes were treated equally," he added. The poorer passengers in 3rd class died in disproportionate numbers to those in 1st and 2nd class. Halperin said that while only 6.4% of the higher paying passengers did not survive, that percentage was 52.9 in steerage. The main reasons for the discrepancy were locked gates and guards who refused to let the steerage passengers come up on deck.

Other new or revised findings included:

• there were actually 55 seconds between the 1st lookout report of the iceberg and the striking, not the 30 seconds initially reported
•  the ship was filled with water as the result of 5 broken seams, not a 300-foot gash as was originally thought.
• the ship did indeed break into 2 parts before sinking
• the ship would have survived if only 4 compartments had been filled with water; it was unable to handle 5 filled compartments
• the ship was not weak structurally and was not thought by its builders to be unsinkable. "They knew there was no such thing as an unsinkable ship," Halperin said. "Nobody could ever imagine something that would open up 5 compartments."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Halperin's talk, which was accompanied by a host of detailed slides, photos and animations, was only the 1st of a series of programs at the Archives dealing with the Titanic. On April 13,  Julie Hedgepeth Williams will discuss her book: A Rare Titanic Family: The Caldwells' Story of Survival." The following day, there will be a free showing of the classic film A Night to Remember based on the sinking. The Archives is also featuring a collection of artifacts from The Titanic collected as part of the 1912 hearings in Washington about the sinking.

Celebrating Tennessee Williams

In 1935, the 3 college friends spent much time together on Washington University campus in St. Louis, discussing writing as a craft and reading their poems to each other. One - Clark Mills, a senior - was already a well-known poet. The other 2 - Bill, a freshman, and Tom, also a senior - also hoped to become published writers and poets. But probably neither one of them ever envisioned exactly what the future had in store for them. For Bill was to become William Jay Smith, noted American poet and Library of Congress Consultant on Poetry. And his friend Tom was to become Tennessee Williams, one of America's greatest dramatists and the winner of 2 Pulitzer Prizes.

Tonight, Smith, now 93, returned to the Library of Congress to read from his latest book My Friend Tom: The Poet-Playwright Tennessee Williams and discuss his long friendship with Williams, who would have celebrated his 101st today.

The poet William Jay Smith

"I am probably one of the few people alive who knew Tom before he became Tennessee," Smith said. "He was always exactly the same, a warm person."

Smith said his new book "is not a long book, but it has been long in the making."

After college, Smith and Williams went their separate ways for a short period. After Smith returned from World War II, the 2 reunited in New York where Williams' play The Glass Menagerie was being performed. Much of the play was autobiographical and Smith, as a friend, was able to recognize all those details and nuances.

"It was somewhat strange because I spent so many years in that home he depicts so beautifully in that play," Smith said.

From that point on they remained in contact until Williams' death in 1983. In addition to recollections of personal memories and conversations, Smith consulted the vast trove of materials Williams left behind. "He never tore anything up because he thought there might be something in it that could be saved," Smith said.

Smith said that even though his friend became known for his dramas, he never lost the poet's touch. "He had a great ear. His characters spoke as they would. But his work has a rhythm like you would hear if you were reading poetry. I think some of his work is really prose poetry," Smith explained.

Tales, Tips, and Tidbits

Williams at work

I have a few connections to Tennessee Williams. He was the subject of my senior English paper at Villanova University. My assignment was to read everything that Williams had ever published and then try to give it my perspective. Of course, this gave me the opportunity to really learn to appreciate Williams and his craft. Tennessee and I also share the same March 26th birth date. So, attending this free presentation was a birthday gift to myself. However, Smith, in his remarks, gave me one of the the greatest surprise gifts of my life. His poem, "American Primitive" is one of my favorite short poems. After explaining that both he and Williams wrote to reconcile and understand their feelings about their family, Smith proceeded to recite the poem from memory. So thank you, Mr. Smith and Mr. Williams, for making my 60th birthday special.

The Education of a President

It was the summer of 2007. Presidential aspirant Barack Obama, then a political long shot for the White House, was really just an asterisk on the political scene. It was his 46th birthday. He got a call from one of his financial advisers Robert Wolf, who was ensconced on a massive $12 million yacht where a hedge fund manager had just finished  describing a once-in-a-lifetime impending financial collapse. Wolf wanted to alert Obama, "to make him see what I am seeing from where I am standing."

Wolf carefully detailed a grim future. Then he wished Obama a happy birthday, "Yeah, right, happy birthday," Obama said after hearing Wolf's bleak description. But the bad news seemed to enliven the candidate. Maybe real changes could be made in the way America did business.

Obama was surrounded by not one, but 2 economic "dream teams," according to author Ron Suskind, who dubbed the groups Team A and Team B. Team A was headed by economist Paul Volcker. Volcker and his group advocated that Obama, once elected, could use the crisis to create needed fundamental change in the way banks and Wall Street did business. Team B, headed by economic adviser Larry Summers, whom Suskind describes as a colorful "character in search of a good novelist," pushed to first "do no harm," that the financial markets are self-correcting and the situation would take care of itself., Suskind said that eventually Team B "sort of pushed Team A out of the way."

Suskind, who appeared at an Inside Media edition at the Newseum today, said the lack of activity after Obama's election was a missed moment. "You could have had a fundamental Rooseveltian  change. He (Obama) had a 70% approval rating. He arrived on the surf of yearning. He had extraordinary political capital. He was a Prometheus not bound," Suskind said.

Instead, Obama, tried a "let's all get together and work this out tactic and that was the wrong path," Suskind said.

During his talk, Suskind discussed 2 of the more controversial aspects of his book, Confidence Men; Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of the President. One was where Summers was supposed to have said: "We're home alone. There is no one in charge. Bill Clinton never would have done that." The other was detailing a belief on the part of female White House workers that they were being treated "as a piece of meat" and being asked to carry out their duties "in a hostile work environment."

Part of the initial problem, Suskind said, is the difficulty of being President and running the massive White House operation. "Four years before Obama had been a state senator sharing 1 staffer with another senator and now he found himself at the center of the most complex management organization in the world," Suskind said.

"I think the 1st year was a year of real chaos," Suskind said. "Obama showed all kinds of pre-game aptitude, but he couldn't imagine what exactly it would be like to be president. People saw in him what they felt they needed to see. He kind of got the wind knocked out of him. But he ramped up a learning curve faster than anyone could imagine. You could see him everyday growing into his fullness."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
During the question and answer portion, Suskind was asked what might happen to the economy if President Obama gets re-elected. "The betting line right now is that he is in pretty good shape. He is certainly more like Roosevelt in '37 than Hoover in '29. If he wins, it could be viewed as a fresh mandate and he would get another 100 days to push his plans." Suskind cautioned, however, the business world makes a tough opponent. "We are really a nation of 2 capitols," he said. "Washington is the political capitol and New York is the financial capitol. New York has a technical clarity and influence peddling is the business of Washington. You have to fight the currents. It takes real courage."

A Disaster Through Artists' Eyes

Art has the ability to promote peace or provocation. It can soothe or stir up. Sometimes, it has the power to do all of these things simultaneously. And that is the case with 2:46 and Thereafter, an exhibit by a group of Japanese artists at the Edison Gallery on 8th Street.

The title refers to the exact time that the powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku area of Japan on March 11 of last year, damaging nuclear reactors and, for a time, threatening the entire nation.

Members of the Dandan art group were commissioned to create new works based on their feelings and reflections of that natural devastation, about 20 of which were on display here.

"The disaster reminded us of the importance of being humble in the face of the might of Mother Nature. We can never conquer nature; we must learn to live with it," says Dandan General Director Kazuko Aso. "It makes us look at what is the essential value in life? - the value that can never fully be satisfied with materialism."

Probably the most ironic piece is by Mosaharu Fotoyu. It is a replica of an illuminated sign that hung at the entrance to a shopping center less than 3 miles from the damaged Fukushimo Daiichi nuclear power plant. In Japanese, that bright signs reads: "Atomic Power is the Energy of the Brighter Future."

In one piece, "Afternoon" by Yasushi Ebihara (pictured above), there was a definite connection (at least to me) to the famed Japanese monster of nuclear awakening Godzilla. In this painting, a young, sad-looking woman is laying on the floor. Her unnaturally long black hair flows everywhere, appearing almost twisted in to the electric cord powering the single pole lamp illuminating the room. Strewn around her are toy houses and trucks, similar in position to those uprooted by the disaster. Above her prone body looms an ominous, supernaturally large preying mantis.

Another colorful piece was a 2-set painting by Ryota Unno. In the first, called "Tohuko's Ark", historical characters like drummers, dragons,, and baseball players practice local traditions.  In the 2nd, "Tohoku's Hero," rescuers and builders work to restore the Ark and its mountainous area. In both pictures, a giant tsunami is striking.

In another series of 3 works, Shinichi Tsuchigu used photographs he had taken of the area to create 3 picture puzzles in shadow boxes. The pictures all were missing pieces, some of which were scattered on the edges of the 3 framed boxes.

"This work represents my belief that the affected area, too, will make a full recovery and complete its picture," Tsuchiogu says in a booklet describing the exhibition, which was scheduled to close on March 25.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

This particular exhibit may be closed, but there is no shortage of things Japanese to do in DC over the next 4 weeks. It is Cherry Blossom Festival time and flowers and Japanese cultural art works are blooming, not just in the tidal basin and the National Mall, but all over the city. For anyone wishing to take part in the festivities, here are a few on-line sites with suggestions and schedules you can check out.

• Cherry Blossom Festival 2012
• Cherry Blossom Turns 100
• Official Cherry Blossom site

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The Importance of Being Figurative

Whenever Black artist and art professor Kerry James Marshall would tour a major art gallery, he was reminded of the old Sesame Street song that goes "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things is just not the same." The problem, as Marshall saw it, was that all the art work, at least when it came to forms and figures, was exactly the same. All those pictured were of European descent. Rarely, if ever, were there black or brown faces.

When he consulted the major art history books, the situation was much the same. There might be mention of Jacob Lawrence, or Romare Bearden, or Jean-Michael Basquiat, but for the most part African-American art and artists were dismissed as primitive and not worthy of the acclaim awarded their white counterparts.

"There needs to be more about people of color. There is scant representation of black folk at every level," Marshall says. "We ain't goin' nowhere. We're here and we've been here."

Marshall, 57, has spent his career as an artist focusing on black figures. Last year, his painting "Great America" was selected to be included in the permanent collection of the National Gallery. And today, he appeared at the East Wing of the Gallery to deliver a lecture on the state of art entitled "The Importance of Being Figurative."

Including more faces of diverse colors in a collection of art benefits all the works, Marshall contended. "If everything is the same, those things fade into the other things that are just like them," he said. "You want the clearest distinction possible. That has a value in its own right regardless of what you think of the work. You can make the case that an expanded field is not a diminished field."  To prove his point, Marshall showed a slide containing all white portraits; then he replaced one portrait to include a black female face and the contrast did enhance the entire collection.

He said that much of his art work has been designed to "fill in the gaps" that have been created by the exclusion of Black artists from the mainstream.

For example, is perusing books claiming to define beauty, black representation isn't there. "In the Great American Pin-Up there is not a single black figure. That is a problem," Marshall said, adding that he created a series of pin-up posters depicting black females.

The idea of a hero in art culture also excludes blacks. "To allow that to stand unchallenged is unhealthy," he said. To remedy that deficiency, Marshal is continuing to display a comic book character series called Rythm MASTR. There, black figures escape from the Chicago Art Museum to do good and battle evil.

In another series of works called Monuments, Marshall attaches some type of slave reference to established symbols of freedom such as the Washington Monument. "This is to show that there were other people fighting for their freedom, too," he said.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

With its elements of folk art, myth and social consciousness, I don't find Black figurative art primitive, I find it powerful. And James Kerry Marshall's "Great America" (1994) is a prime example of that power. The large painting, which is now hanging in the permanent collection of the National Gallery in DC, is an absolute must-see. It re-imagines Black freedom as a theme park boat ride through a haunted house. So much symbolism. The boat trip as Middle Passage journey. The haunting ghosts as white sheet-clad KKKers. The ribbons bearing the title reminiscent of patriotic mottoes. The use of red (and blue and white). The word WOW in stark white letters surrounded by a field of red. The red cross. Judy and I spent more than 10 minutes in front of the painting, talking and trying to take it all in. Powerful, powerful, stuff, indeed.

How Creativity Works

Portrait of Bob Dylan in 1965

It was the early Summer of 1965. Bob Dylan was winding up an exhaustive tour of England. He felt he had been ruined by fame. He was performing the same songs night after night. Reporters were asking him questions ranging from what is truth to why is there a cat on your last album cover? Bored and soul sick, Dylan was giving inane answers like his music was the result of "chaos, watermelon, and clocks." He thought "what good is it having everyone dig your music if you yourself don't dig it." After a bout of severe food poisoning in Spain, he made a decision - he would quit making music forever. He might paint. He might write a novel . But he wouldn't compose any more songs. He was done.

Arriving in America, he headed toward upstate New York on his motorcycle. He didn't even take his guitar with him. But a short time later, something extremely bizarre happened. He was seized by an uncontrollable urge to write something down. He grabbed a pencil and began scribbling frantically. He later called it "a long piece of vomit" that poured from him "as if a ghost was writing." He headed to a recording studio. He and his session band worked on the product. The result was Dylan's masterpiece "Like a Rolling Stone." It revolutionized all of rock and roll. Rolling Stone magazine has repeatedly selected "Like a Rolling Stone" as the greatest rock song ever written. Bruce Springsteen calls the first time he heard the song on the radio "one of the most important moments of my life."

For science writer Jonah Lehrer, the Dylan example is just one of those creative moments of insight in mankind's story which provide the world with something new and true. Archimedes with his eureka moment in the bathtub. Sir Issac Newton with his theory of gravity literally falling from a tree.

Tonight, Lehrer appeared at Politics and Prose to discuss his new best-selling book Imagine: How Creativity Works. Lehrer said that while much study remains to be done, scientists are now finding that insightful creative ideas come from the portion of the human brain that is also involved in understanding metaphors and laughing at jokes.

"Things go through a mental blender. There are remote associations that bring together ideas," Lehrer said. These creative insights are linked to brain-produced alpha waves. Hooking subjects up to brain scanners, scientists have found that there is about an 8 second advance warning that one of these break-through insights is about to occur. "It's sort of like they can say 'sorry buddy, you are wasting your time or in about 7-and-a-half seconds you are going to have an epiphany,'" Lehrer said.

So is there a way to bring on these moments? Yes, Lehrer says, but it the exact opposite of how most people struggle for the break through. It won't come from stressing at a computer or laboring over a problem. It comes through relaxation. "Take a hot shower. Lie on the couch. Drink a beer. Take a walk. Do whatever puts you at ease. Turn the spotlight inward. You just may hear that voice you need," he said.

But what then is the proper place of work and refinement in creativity? Well, they are definitely part of the process.  For example, the great composer Beethoven was known to try hundreds of variations of notes in a passage before he was satisfied that he had created masterful music.

Scientists are finding that truly creative people are not smarter than others, but "are a little more open to experience." They are also finding that time again, the truly creative exhibit "grit", which they define as "refusing to quit."  J. K. Rowling is a prime example. Lehrer suggested that you consider the case of the author of the wildly popular Harry Potter series, then a British mother on welfare, surrounded by a pile of rejection letters, continuing to write in a coffee house with her infant by her side until today she finds herself one of the most-read authors in history and richer than the Queen of England.

But this grit factor can not be tested by any short term measure. It only reveals itself over an extended period of time. That idea is anathema in today's test-happy world where everything must be measured immediately. As a prime example of such fallacious thinking, Lehrer cited the National Football League's combine for prospective draft picks. The candidates are given all kinds of tests. But studies have shown that only 1 - the 40-yard dash for running backs - shows any relationship to later success. "The NFL combine is a big waste of time and money," Lehrer says.

It comes down to grit. "Grit is what allows you to show up again and again and again and again. You can't measure that with some kind of multiple choice test," Lehrer said, adding that creativity is as difficult to produce as it is to measure. "If it (some great insight or performance that leads to a great accomplishment) were easy, it already would have been done," he maintained.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
During the question-and-answer portion of the program, Lehrer was asked how the findings examined in his book could be applied to helping solve America's alarming crisis in education. He briefly outlined a 4-part beginning plan:

• since studies show that the greatest learning gap begins around 4th grade that should be the target area for most of the resources
• there should be much less emphasis on testing and more on promoting creativity at every level and in every learning
• all students should be given mulitiple activities and opportunities to increase their "grit."
• the entire process we use to produce world class athletes should be replicated in the educational world. "The United States is really good at producing athletes," Lehrer says "We have wonderful mechanisms. We need to apply these same basic lessons to our schools. We need to celebrate creativity not just on (football) Sunday, but every day as a culture."

Could Lincoln Be President Today? Probably Not.

From the 1950s fuzzy black and white TV coverage to today's frenzy of 24-hour cable news networks, internet sites, blogs, and Twitter, the media has drastically shaped both the actions of American presidents and indeed who can actually get elected to that post, presidential historian Michael Beschloss says.

The immense power of  visual media first surfaced during the presidential debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Those who watched the debate on TV clearly believed Kennedy was the winner. Those listening on radio gave the victory to Nixon. Kennedy eventually won that highly-contested 1960 election. But another winner was television, which had clearly demonstrated its power, a power that was only to grow during the ensuing years.

Tonight, Beschloss appeared at a special program at the Newseum to discuss how presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama had both used and been affected by the contemporary media of their times.  Beschloss' talk was part of the Newseum's recently opened exhibit Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press.

For his part, Eisenhower saw little effect from the media. "He was so popular he could say almost anything and it wouldn't change anyone's opinion of him," Beschloss said.  In fact, Eisenhower, genuinely mystified, once replied to a question by saying "What could a reporter do to me?"

But by Kennedy's time the president/media situation was much different.  "After the debate, it meant you had a different kind of president," Beschloss said, noting that in 1963 national polls showed that more people received their news from television than from newspapers.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was obsessed with media coverage. He had 3 television sets tuned to the news showing on the 3 major networks - ABC, CBS, and NBC. He also had 2 ticker tapes constantly running to see what was being reported between the nightly broadcasts. It was not unusual for Johnson to pick up the phone and angrily call a network executive insisting "get that off the ticker, it is completely wrong" or "kill that one for the western feed. That is completely wrong."

Johnson was succeeded by Richard Nixon, who had a testy and challenging relationship with the press which eventually culminated in his resignation as president due to the highly and competitively reported Watergate scandal.

Both Gerald Ford and his successor Jimmy Carter had image problems created in part by the media. Ford, one of the most athletic presidents in history, became portrayed as a a bumbler on Saturday Night Live sketches after he beaned one of his secret agents with a golf ball and stumbled exiting an airplane. Carter never really recovered from admitting in a Playboy magazine interview that he had "often had lust in his heart."

As a former actor, Ronald Reagan was extremely comfortable in front of the camera. "He was LBJ's nightmare of what the presidency would be turned into by television," Beschloss said.

George H. Bush admitted that television was "not a medium he ever handled well." In fact, during a debate with Bill Clinton who would deny Bush a chance at a second term, a defining moment came when Bush kept looking at his watch, an action viewers took to mean that he was "an effete, out-of-touch person who felt that the debates were somehow beneath him" Bush's action contrasted greatly with those of the personable Clinton.

During Clinton's 8 years in office, the modern media that we now have today first came into being. "There were suddenly three 24-hour cable news networks that were extremely competitive and we had the first 50 pages (of politics) on the internet," Beschloss pointed out.

George W. Bush used television to push his agenda after the 9/11 attacks. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected after running the most sophisticated media campaign in American history, a trend that Beschloss is convinced will only grow with Obama's upcoming campaign against his as-yet undecided Republican challenger.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
During his talk, Beschloss raised a truly terrifying possibility from the unrelenting 24-hour news cycle. The time for presidential action has been dramatically shortened. That means hard decisions have to made much more quickly than in the past. As just one frightening example, Beschloss cited the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Initially,  President Kennedy favored military action against the Russian missile sites in Cuba, an action which almost certainly would have plunged the world into nuclear confrontation. However, he was able to hold off his final decision for more than a week and the crisis was averted. "Can you imagine if something like that happened today to President Obama? It's a much different atmosphere. It's much more immediate. When you think about who you want in office, you need to choose someone who has the strength to hold those kinds of decisions off despite media pressure," Beschloss said. Of course, if the press acted the way they do in today's anything is reportable era, there is a good chance that Kennedy would never have been elected. The press knew about his incessant womanizing, but due to the tone and unstated rules of that time, never reported about it. That is a silence that is simply unimaginable today.

A Neighbor of Note: Mr. Rogers and Me

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?”
                                              -- Fred Rogers
                                                 Host of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

Mr. Rogers trademark sweater is in the Smithsonian

For 35 years on PBS Television, Fred Rogers exchanged his shoes for sneakers, pulled his cardigan sweater out of the closet, asked thousands upon thousands of young kids to be his neighbor, and promised to like them just the way they were.

Many responded. All were rewarded. But for some, like Benjamin Wagner, the experience was more personal. For Ben, Mr. Rogers was not just the kindliest TV neighbor ever, he was a real-life neighbor on the island of Nantucket.

Wagner met Mr. Rogers as he was celebrating his 30th birthday. After singing his signature song from his show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and "Happy Birthday" to Wagner, Mr. Rogers offered him  this advice: “I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex." And then he asked Wagner to “spread the message.”

After Mr. Rogers' death in 2003, Wagner teamed up with his brother Christopher to begin making the documentary Mr. Rogers and Me, an 80-minute film detailing Mr. Rogers' life and legacy.

Today, the Wagner brothers appeared at the Newseum to show their film, which debuts on selected PBS stations and on DVD this month. Following the movie, the brothers hosted a panel of 3 of Mr. Rogers' friends to describe in person the effects Mr. Rogers has had on them. The panelists were:

• Maureen Orth, the wife of the late Meet the Press Host Tim Russert and another real-life Nantucket neighbor.
• NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg who had been involved with taping specials on children and divorce with Mr. Rogers and
• Amy Hollingsworth, who after a 10-year friendship with Mr. Rogers, wrote the book The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers   

Stamberg said Rogers, who was shy, overweight and bullied as a child, had an innate ability to make people feel comfortable. For example, she became extremely nervous and unsure when it became time to work with Rogers on a special for children. She received a long telephone call from Daniel Tiger (a Rogers character from his show) who said she shouldn't be afraid.

"He knew just what I needed to hear," Stamberg said. "He had me almost wanting to suck my thumb. He's was amazing. He was everybody's Fred Rogers.

Wagner agreed that there is a universality to Mr. Rogers, noting that the "Me" in his film title refers to the unique relationships Rogers developed with people he encountered both on screen and in real life.

"The message is about Mr. Rogers the man, the values, the work," Wagner said. "He said the greatest gift you can give anyone is your honest self. He gave that gift to all of us"

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Mr. Rogers stopped producing his show, which debuted in 1968, in 2001. It is no longer on the air. However, DVDs of the episodes are available for purchase for people who want to see them again or show them to their children. Wagner said a show involving Rogers' character Daniel Tiger is ready for broadcast. The are many websites, such as this one, which contain pieces of Mr. Rogers'  spiritual wisdom. And, now there is the Wagner brothers' documentary. "There are people who say it (Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) feels dated. I would say it feels timeless," Wagner said.

The Chieftains Show Their Irish Roots

For 50 years, The Chieftains have been playing the best of Irish roots music and tonight the band gave DC a day-early St. Patrick's Day gift by performing at the Kennedy Center as part of their 50th anniversary tour.

As it has been since the beginning, the group is fronted by Paddy Moloney on tin whistle and Uillean pipes. The rest of this year's touring lineup, each member of which was given ample time to shine on extended solos, includes:

• Matt Malloy, flute
• Kevin Conneff, dodhran and vocals
• Sean Kean, fiddle
• Jon Pilatzke, fiddle and dancer
• Triona Marshall, harp and keyboards
•  Jeff White, guitar and vocals
• Deanie Richardson, fiddle

On several numbers, the main band was augmented by Alyth McCormack on vocals and Cara Butler and Nathan Pilatzke as ethnic dance demonstrators. For one number each and the finale, the Chieftains were joined by a DC-area young Irish dance group and a high school drum and bagpipe corps.

In a special tribute to both The Chieftains and the incredible lasting power of Celtic music, Irish-American astronaut Cady Coleman joined the group on several numbers. The NASA astronaut marked last St. Patrick's Day in space by playing a solo on Paddy Moloney's pennywhistle and Matt Molloy's 100-year-old Irish flute she had borrowed as she traveled on the international space station.

"I might not have mentioned that the trip would have been six months long and that their flutes would have traveled millions of miles before they came home. Actually, they were never far from home because we flew over Ireland several times a day," Coleman said following a video of her far out (in space) performance.

Tales, Tidbits, and Traveling Tips
In their 50-year career, The Chieftains have recorded with a who's who of rock and country music stars, including Sting, Ry Cooder, Van Morrison, and Vince Gill. My favorite Chieftains CD is The Long Black Veil, which included the title track with Mick Jagger and "The Rocky Road to Dublin" with all the Rolling Stones. Tonight the band (without the Stones) played the latter track. To get an idea of what the Celtic Roots/Rock combination can sound like, check out these 2 videos. The 1st is The Chieftains with the all-female Irish band The Corrs, who opened for the Rolling Stones on one of their tours. The 2nd is a version of The Who classic "Behind Blue Eyes" sung by Roger Daltrey with backing from the Chieftains.

Back from the Big Apple

If you read this blog regularly, you know we haven't posted for a few days. That's because Judy and I were spending some time in New York City.

While there, we attended a concert at Carnegie Hall where 21 different music stars performed 1 song each from The Rolling Stones' greatest hits LP Hot Rocks and a still-in-previews Broadway production of the political play Gore Vidal's The Best Man with James Earl Jones and a host of great TV and film actors. We also viewed Twin Peaks' director David Lynch's 1st solo NYC art show since 1989, 3 exhibitions at the MoMA including Diego Rivera murals, and an exhibit on British Romantic poet Percy Shelley and his wife Mary, the author of Frankenstein, at the NY City Library.

You can get more details on our quick trip by clinking on this The Prices Go to NYC travel blog link.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
I like New York. Judy doesn't. She says its dirty, costly, and crowded. But there is an energy there unlike any other American city and there are many things you can only see and do in New York.  However, when it comes to living, we both prefer the DC area. It's less crowded, it's cleaner, and, with all the free museums, book talks, and concerts, it's definitely cheaper.

Picturing Frida Kahlo

When you think of Frida Kahlo and pictures, you probably think paintings, not photographs. But over the years Kahlo collected more than 6,500 personal photographs, 240 of which are on display at the Frida Kahlo Her Photos: The Celebrated Artist's Life Revealed Through Personal Photographs at the Artisphere in Rossyln.

The exhibit is divided into 6 sections or rooms. They are

1. The Origins (young Kahlo and her family)
2. The Blue House (the home where Kahlo was born, lived, and died)
3. The Broken Body (images of Kahlo's recovery from the tram accident that almost killed her)
4. Loves (friendships and deeper relationships)
5. The Photography (influences on her work)
6. Diego's Eyes (images presumed to have been shot by her husband Diego Rivera)

The Rossyln exhibition marks the only United States showing this year of the collection, curated by Mexican photographer Ortiz Monasterio. Kahlo and Her Photos will close March 25.

Tales, Tidbits, and  Tips
We viewed the Kahlo exhibit immediately on our return from a 3-day New York City trip. The Vamoose bus which we had used for transport dropped us off just a block from the Artisphere. The Kahlo exhibition provided a nice artistic closing for our journey since we had viewed the murals of her husband Diego Rivera at the Musuem of Modern Art (MoMA) as part of our NYC stay. You can check out details about Rivera and our NYC trip by clicking here.

Fighting Stereotypes with Art

For Japanese-American artist Roger Shimomura, a seismic shift in his art came, strangely enough, following a surreal chat with a farmer at a Kansas auction. Shimomura, who spent 2 years of his childhood behind barbed wire at an internment camp in Idaho, tells the story this way:

At the time I was collecting windup toys. I was at an auction looking for items and this farmer kept inching closer to me. Finally, he said, I was listening to you talk and I was wondering how you came to speak the (English) language so well? Where are you from? Seattle, I replied. Well, then where are your parents from? Seattle, I replied. I knew what he was after but I wanted him to have to work for it. Are you Indian, he asked? I said no, I was Japanese-American. Then he drawled, Well Ka-nich-eee-wa. Me and the little lady collect them Gee-she girls with Kimonos. Do you paint that kind of stuff?

Returning to his studio, Shimomura was unable to get the conversation filled with stereotyped thinking out of his mind. The thoughts drove him to create Oriental Masterpiece, originally fifty 5' by 5' paintings in a series containing Oriental items. Before the series was completed, it came to number almost 150 works.

Shimomura Crosses the Delaware

Shimomura, who appeared at the National Portrait Gallery today to discuss his unique works of social commentary, then spent the next 4 decades creating art inspired by his views of the challenges of being different in America.

At the beginning of his 1-hour presentation, held in a small gallery room containing 5 of his works all created within the last 2 years, Shimomura said he really didn't like to discuss the works themselves. "You make work disappear by talking too much about it. It is up to the viewer to fill in the sentences," he said.

American vs. Disney Stereotypes

The artist, who is a professor at the University of Kansas, said that his latest art falls into 3 broad thematic categories.

First, were paintings based on the interment camp years. Although Shimomura did have a few memories of those years, much of his work came from the 56 years of diary entries his grandmother had kept which he had to have translated from the original Japanese.

That was followed by years of work on dealing with "yellow-term stereotypes" especially prevalent during the World War II years. Using Ebay, Shimomura amassed a collection of more than 2,000 such items, many of which found their way into his art. He said he was particularly struck with what at the time were called "Jap hunting licenses." These free cards, distributed at barbershops and other places where young people might congregate, jokingly allowed the bearer to kill any Japanese and further specified the method (gun, knife etc) that was to be used. Shimomura said that even in today's more tolerant America, insidious stereotypes can still make an appearance. During a recent auto crisis, Shimomura said an advertisement in a Kansas periodical depicted a yellow, buck-toothed, slanty-eyed Japanese pilot bombing America with Toyotas and Hondas.

American Born

Finally, Shimomura said some of his work deals with "the whiny sort of issues that I've had about being Asian-American." As an example, Shimomura cited the oft-expressed belief that all Orientals are the same. "I get upset when someone mistakes me for a Chinese. People are always asking - where were you born? I'm an American. I was born here. You put me in a concentration camp. I've been in your damn army. I don't know what else I can do," he said.

Tales,Tidbits, and Tips
Shimomura's 5-piece collection is part of a larger show at the National Portrait Gallery entitled Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter. That exhibition is on view until October 14.

Journopalooza: It Rocked with the Write Stuff

By day, like mild-mannered Clark Kents and Lois Lanes, they worked their journalistic jobs - editor, columnist, public policy writer. But as darkness descended on DC tonight, they exchanged their pens for guitars and their laptops for drum kits and  transformed into reporter-rockers, intent on helping their groups win best band at Journopalooza.

Proceeds from the charity event, which this year was being held on the new Hamilton concert stage, would benefit Writopia, an organization which helps young student writers, and REACH Incorporated, which trains low-level reading high school students to help younger struggling students become better readers.

For our $20 each, we would get to see 7 bands compete to become the reigning 2012 news band of Washington. The contribution entitled you to cast 1 vote for the band of your choice. You could cast additional votes by placing money in tip jars which lined the stage.

After a welcome by Grammy-nominated progressive hip-hop artist and host Christylez Bacon, Paddy Goes West kicked off the contest. Dennis Dunleavy, senior Washington editor of ABC News, joked as he tuned his acoustic guitar that the purpose of their opening was "to make the other bands look younger" and, in actuality, "sound better." However, with their instrumental lineup of Irish fiddle, penny whistle, and hammered dulcimer, the band managed to pull off a rousing rendition of the Steve Earle-penned "Galway Girl" before leaving the stage.

Next up was Lethal Bark led by Tom Toles, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post. From his drum kit, chief song-writer Toles directed the guitar-less band with its 3 boa-ed female vocalists and lead violinist in progressive originals about such subjects as Tom's bother by the same mother, George, and narcissism.

The 3rd act was the band we had really come to see - the cover band Stepping Stones, anchored on drums by John Kelly who writes the 5-day-a-week "John Kelly's Washington" column in The Post. As the group's name implies, the band plays a heavy rotation of Monkees tunes, song choices particularly appropriate considering the death of Monkee lead singer Davey Jones earlier this month.  The band, whose main vocalist wore a black  arm band over his white jacket in Jones' memory, played several Monkee hits including "Last Train to Clarksville,  "I'm a Believer" and "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," as well as lesser known tunes such as the Jones' song "Cuddly Toy." But, for me, the band sealed the performance with the Kinks' garage classic "Till the End of the Day," one of my favorite 60s album cuts of all time.

After The Stepping Stones finished, we cast our votes and headed home. Of course, leaving early meant we missed the last 4 performers - The Charm Offensive, Dirty Bomb, Nobody's Business, and last year's Journopalooza winner Suspicious Package. However, with a room full of reporters, I was certain I would hear the news of this year's winner soon enough.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
To say that Washington's music scene is vibrant and growing is an understatement. Since we moved to the area last summer, 3 new venues have opened and 1 more is scheduled to debut next month. First up was the Filmore in Silver Springs. Next came the jazz and blues Melody Tavern , located less than a mile from our Crystal City apartment. Earlier this year, The Hamilton began in a reconverted Borders on 14th Street. And next month, concerts will resume at the renovated Howard Theater, which lunched the careers of DC legends Duke Ellington and Marvin Gaye.

Game Change: Behind the Scenes

Ed Harris as McCain, Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in the HBO movie Game Change

Journalists Mark Halperin and John Heileman say they always conceived of  their best-selling book Game Change, part of which was made into the HBO movie by the same name , in cinematic terms with broad set pieces and vivid characters..

The idea for the book came early in the 2008 election campaign as Halperin and Heileman were riding back together from a John McCain event in Washington, DC.

"We knew the nomination races would have great plot twists and be very cinematic," Heileman says. "So I turned to Mark and said 'let's write a movie.' Mark asked if I had ever written a screenplay and I said no. He said let's focus on something we actually know how to do."

So the pair wrote the book, actually titled Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime about the "human story" behind the candidates and the process. The book rights were purchased by HBO. After a couple of false starts, a decision was made to create a movie based on the 2 chapters of the book that deal with the selection of charismatic, controversial Sarah Palin as McCain's Vice Presidential running mate.

The movie has generated a great amount of news coverage, much of it attempting to judge how fairly it portrays McCain and especially Palin. Both GOP political figures have indicated they have no plans to watch the film.

Today, Halperin and Heileman appeared at The Newseum to discuss their book, the film, and the reactions it has provoked. The talk, part of the Newseum's ongoing Inside Media series, came one day after the facility hosted an invitation-only world premier for Game Change attended by such Hollywood luminaries as actress Julianne Moore, who uncannily portrays Sarah Palin, and producer Tom Hanks, as well as a who's who of Washington DC media stars..

Heileman, who stood only a few feet away as Palin, then a virtual unknown governor of Alaska, made a spectacular entrance into the world of national politics with her riveting acceptance speech at the GOP Convention to nominate McCain, said Palin's unusual story line and characteristics provided natural material to translate into a  powerful film.

"There was a press frenzy around her," Heileman said. "The pressure on her could not have been greater. She could have fallen like a souffle and been taken off the ticket. But with her speech, I don't know how she could have done any better. She showed her natural charisma. The pick looked like genius. At that moment, Sarah Palin took over the heart of the Republican party."

But in the weeks that followed, Palin's star tarnished. Based on a series of gaffes and comments, much of America judged her as unfit to be vice president and she and McCain lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the 2008 election.

Some of Palin's diminished appeal came from a perception that she lacked intelligence and political acumen, a failing comedian Tina Fey promoted with her spot-on impersonations of Palin on Saturday Night Live. 

Fey's impersonation was  so fixed in the public's mind, that it sparked a natural question - why not have Fey portray Palin in the movie?  "It was a brilliant, funny caricature, but it wouldn't  have worked in a serious movie," Halperin said.

Concerning widespread criticism from Republican die-hards about the film, Halperin replied that "people should see the film. Then, if they have specific criticisms, we would love to hear them."

As for Palin's political future, both authors said the last chapter in that real-life story has yet to be written. "Gov. Palin still has a huge voice in the Republican party. She will be part of the national discussion for a long time.," Halperin said.

Heileman agreed. "She is young. She still packs the house like no one else. It wouldn't be a surprise at all if she someday runs for president," he said.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Obviously, most of the Inside Media program focused on Game Change. However, since both Halperin and Heileman are covering this year's GOP primaries, questions about that race also surfaced. Halperin said Mitt Romney began the campaign as the front-runner and he "still is that."
He cautioned that despite his lead, Romney still faces 3 major problems: he may not have the required majority of delegates by the time the convention begins, he didn't do well in the recent voting in the South, and with Alabama and Mississippi next, "you can begin to talk about a scenario in which Rick Santorum can take Mitt Romney out." Heileman, who has called this political season "whack-a-doodle" in his writings, says Romney's weak support demonstrates how many voters  are "reluctant to embrace him. He's not really in sync with where the Republican party is today." Heileman said that is somewhat ironic since Romney was considered the conservative alternative to McCain in 2008. In a national election, it appears Romney would struggle to gain the votes he would need from Hispanics, women, and independent voters to gain the presidency. "He  has done himself damage, but whether it is lasting damage or temporary damage remains to be seen," Heileman said. Despite the outcome, the authors revealed that they would be writing a sequel of sorts. Heileman jokingly suggested that they already had 2 good titles: Game Change 2: This Time It's Personal or Game-ier, Change-ier