It's Back to Boston: Nothing Can Stop Us, Not Even Injury, Darkness, nor Evil

Normally, on Sundays, The Prices Do DC presents Smithsonian Sunday. But today, that feature won't appear so we can reprint this special report from The Los Angles Times about returning to the Boston Marathon one year after last year's bombing.  The story is written by Joe Tanfani. Years ago, in what now seems like a galaxy far, far away, Joe and I sat next to each other in the old office of the Cumberland (NJ) Bureau of The Press of Atlantic City. I left newspapers to go into education. Joe stayed in newspapers, won a Pulitzer Prize, and today covers Washington for the Times.  It is especially fitting that we post Joe's story on Easter. In essence, the Easter story is about resilience and revival and rebirth and resurrection. Joe's story is about all of those things on a personal, a local, and a national level. 

And speaking of personal, here is a personal note to Joe: Forget your Pulitzer. You have now reached the pinnacle of journalistic success. You are being reposted in The Price Do DC.

Reporter Joe Tanfani just minutes after finishing last year's Boston Marathon ...

... and then came the horror of this.

WASHINGTON — On Monday, if all goes according to plan, I'll be lining up at the start of the Boston Marathon. Let's just say this up front: I probably shouldn't be.

I signed up last September, but over the last few months, training season, I've been fighting one of those frustrating injuries that just would not come around. Figuring for weeks that it was just a bad hamstring, I stubbornly dragged my bad leg like a piece of wood over snow and black ice, all through a relentless, miserable Northeast winter.

My family and friends thought I was nuts, watching me limp around, and it's hard to think of a good counter-argument, especially on mornings when it's 18 degrees and you're supposed to be doing 10 miles, but every time you squat down your leg seizes in pain.

But running the Boston Marathon is always special, and this one means a lot more. I was there last year, when it turned horrific. I want to be there this year, when it comes back.

To continue reading Joe's story, click here.

A Peak at The Washington Post Peep Show 2014

Each week in our Saturday Supplement, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry of interest to both residents of the Washington area and visitors to DC that first appeared in another publication's website.

Peeps have a Dream

Peeping Potus

Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, The Washington Post's reporters and editors deliver the news of the day to the public; once a year we ask you to return the favor. When you do, it is yellow. And sugary. Though it appears in the spring, the annual Peeps Diorama Contest serves as a sort of Year in Review — albeit one rendered in sugar, corn syrup, gelatin and Yellow #5. The year’s headlines were rife with Peepable moments: the Oscars selfie, Olympics, the polar vortex and“Wrecking Ball.”

We winnowed the field to five finalists, with newsroom staffers voting for their top choice. It's difficult to quantify what makes one diorama stand out in a field of 700-plus entries. Resonance. Execution. But this is a competition where God — and victory — is in the details. Each of the finalists reflects that, whether it's paying homage to one of the defining moments of the 20th century or proving that, in the end, you just can't go wrong with a poop joke.

To continue reading and see the winning peep displays, click here.

Joan Osborne in DC

Welcome to Flashback Friday. Each Friday we showcase a post that deals with days gone by or has appeared previously in The Prices Do DC. Earlier this week, Joan Osborne performed at The Birchmere. We missed that show, but here is a 2012 post highlighting Osborne's a performance in DC with the band Trigger Hippy.

Joan  Osborne performing at the John Lennon tribute in New York City.

Some singers spend their entire career singing with one band. And then there is Joan Osborne, whose style is reborn virtually every time she takes to performing live. There is the Joan Osborne who toured behind her smash hit "If God Was One of Us." There is the Joan Osborne, who fronted the Detroit's Funk Brothers with such Motown classics as "Heat Wave" and "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?" There is the Joan Osborne who sits in with The Dead and its various offshoots as a guest vocalist. There is the Joan Osborne who heads out for nights of torch songs with just her long-time keyboard accompanist. There is the blues and soul belter Joan Osborne who recently toured in support of her latest CD Bring It on Home. And then there is the Joan Osborne who last night teamed with singer songwriter Jackie Greene to provide the vocal power for the soul-jam quintet Trigger Hippy at the Hamilton Live here.

In addition to Greene and Osborne, the superstar side project includes Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Nick Favorik,and new guitarist Tom Bukovac.

It didn't take the group long to pack a specially designed dance floor right in front of the stage. Most of the original songs were penned by Greene, who shuttled among his guitar, Hammond B-3, and Steinway piano depending upon the tune. While Osborne and Favorik provided a soulful, rhythmic bottom, Greene and Favorik produced a number of guitar interweavings worthy of double guitar bands such as The Stones, the Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Widespread Panic.

For her part, when she wasn't offering her always powerful vocals, Osborne paced the stage, leaning on the instrumentalists, dancing, swaying seductively in time, or further driving the beat with her tambourine.

While the 90-minute set provided a showcase forTrigger Hippy originals like "Snatchin' in Back," "99 Pounds," and "Tennessee Mud," an extended cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" with Greene and Osborne reprising the Lennon/McCartney harmonies was a tasteful  highlight.

The intimate club setting provided a perfect opportunity for the band to interact with the crowd, especially Osborne whose remarks ranged  from "we're perfect for relieving all the political pressure of DC" to a call "Are there any good men out there?" She also danced with crowd members from the stage and led the audience in a sultry rendition of the birthday song for a fan celebrating her special day. 

Comic Books as Art

A knit-created artistic representation of Batman

Comic books aren't just for kids anymore. Tomorrow, a 3-day Awesome Com will begin at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center here. Thousands will attend. As part of the event, the promoters are inviting costumed superheroes to descend on the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool grounds at noon on Friday in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records record for the largest gathering ever of people dressed as comic book characters.

But the explosion of comic book characters is not only occurring in popular culture, it is showing a big influence in the world of fine art as well.

From now until June 8th, the Strathmore is presenting the exhibition A Shared Universe: The Art of Comic Books. The exhibition showcases 116 original works by professional and student artists at the Mansion at Strathmore.

Spidey can watch you read

"The exhibition is about the exponential growth of a genre and its virtual tidal wave of influence and aesthetic," says curator Harriet Lesser. "From original pencil drawings and hand inkings to graphic design and digital manipulation, these fantastic stories intrigue all ages and have influenced literacy."

In addition to admiring the art work, visitors can also come to learn much about the history of comic books through copies of older works, word posters, and videos placed throughout the exhibition.

If you go, you can complete your visit by perusing a collection of comic books offered in a special reading room.

A Prices Do DC Extra
Here is a sampling of what you will see at A Shared Universe: The Art of Comic Books

We Can't Know What We Don't Know

Claude Nadir - DC educator

We often think we know people, but many times we don't know them as well as we think we do. Case in point - my relationship with my fellow educator Claude Nadir.

I met Nadir 3 years ago when I began consulting at Dunbar High School. Dunbar was once the preeminent black high school in America, but, like its urban counterparts around the country, it has fallen on hard times. Only 18 percent of its students read on grade level. That number is even lower for math.

At the time I met him, Nadir was a media specialist. But it quickly became apparent he was much more - he was a mover, a shaper, a problem solver. For the next 3 years, we worked on several projects together. As you might expect, we also came to share our frustration with the chaos and counter-intuitiveness that comes with urban education, especially in a district as troubled as DC. But Nadir, an indefatigable worker, never gave up his belief that the school, with innovation and hard work, could be turned around. He had expressed that optimism in the state-of-the-art web site and the special radio spots he had designed for Dunbar.

When I last saw Nadir , he was making corrections to his plan for the state testing that was going on in the school. He was still at Dunbar, even though it was nearly 6 p.m. and the students had been gone for 2-and-a-half hours. Ever the perfectionist, Nadir was erasing some mistakes he had made and was once again revising the revisions of the revisions he had already made.

We joked. We exchanged a few pleasantries. We said goodbye.  I left for a Twilight school program at another school. Nadir stayed to finish his work.

On Monday, I received a shocking text from one of my fellow consultants. He had learned that Nadir, only 34, had died. The text didn't contain any details, so I rushed to the internet to see what I could find.

Googling his name, I discovered that Nadir indeed had died. But I also found out that there was so much about Claude - just one of the many names he was known as - that I had never known.

Akil Nadir - Philosopher King Rap MC

A piece from the ArtsDesk section of the Washington City Paper described Akil Nadir as a "Philosopher King, the straight-ahead MC known for his battle rhymes and sophisticated bravado" who had "influenced the course of D.C. hip-hop" and produced "grown man rap music."

It also said that Nadir was known to his family and friends as Claude Lumpkin. In his local rap career, he had variously performed as Cool Cee Brown and in a duo known as Dirty Water.

City Paper writer Marcus J. Moore reported that Nadir had first navigated local hip-hop as a teenager in the mid-1990s, when MCs were confined to small clubs on U Street because Chuck Brown and go-go then ruled the District.

Moore quoted local artist DJ RBI on Nadir and his rap rep. "He dealt with a lot of issues grown men could relate to," DJ RBI said. "Certain guys come along and remind you of how great the culture of rhyming and making music can be. He was somebody people really paid attention to."

Well, not everyone paid attention to Nadir's music. I didn't. I didn't even know it existed. But exploring Nadir's life on line further, I did find the frank, funny Claude I knew.

On his blog, Nadir had this to say about the controversial issue of standardized testing:

I was telling you yesterday about how we just wrapped up the 2011 standardized tests at work. And I thought later that you all might want to know what I think about standardized tests.

I think they suck.

And maybe you didn't want to know what I think. I told you anyway because I know what's best for you.

They suck because they're dumb. The kids don't take them seriously because in DC they don't count for anything. In New York City, you can't graduate from high school unless you pass their big standardized test. Same thing in Texas. In DC, however, because we're all so damned smart, we've invested millions of dollars into a testing system that the students are supposed to take seriously because ...because ... because... if they don't do well, all the teachers they hate will lose their jobs.

Brilliant!

But I guess I can't really complain about standardized tests and how inadequate they are in the business of measuring student achievement until someone comes up with a better idea. And since we can't crack open their skulls, as much as we may want to, and see what's going on in there, tests will have to do.

Still, like one of my students said on the first day of testing, "I don't see why we gotta take this stupid- ass test anyway. A nigga ain't gone know what a nigga don't know."

Well, Claude Lumpkin Akil Nadir, that doesn't apply only to young black men. It applies to 62-year-old white men, too. I'm sorry I never got to know about your musical life. I know I would have liked it. And I also know that if you put even a portion of your amazing effort and immense heart into your rapping that I watched you put into your educating, it would have definitely been the opposite of stupid-ass. So goodbye, Philosopher King. It was good to know you.

Dangos and Tanukis Take Over the Kennedy Center

If you want to take in the full majesty of the mystical sets and costumes renowned Japanese visual artist Jun Kaneko is capable of producing, then you will want to attend M&Ms Opera in the Outfield next month at the Nationals' ball park.

But if you want a preview of his often-stunning work, then you can head to the Kennedy Center, where an exhibit of Kaneko's work titled HEADS: Dangos and Tanuki is on view in the Hall of Nations until May 19.

For those not fluent in Japanese, Dangos means "rounded form" or "dumpling" in Japanese, while Tanuki is translated into English as a mischievous shape-shifter, most commonly portrayed as a large, stout badger.

Kanuki's work will be even more in evidence at Nats' Park on May 3 since he has combined both American and Japanese aesthetics into costumes and sets which will be an integral part of the Washington National Opera's spring production of Mozart's spectacular "The Magic Flute." Opera fans and newcomers will able to fill the outfield to view "The Magic Flute," which will be simulcast from the Opera House at the Kennedy Center.

A Prices Do DC Extra - A look at some of Jun Kaneko's colorful Tanuki sculptures

A New, Improved, and Expanded The Prices Do DC

Like this picture captures for DC, it is also a bright new day for The Prices Do DC

As we prepare for the 3rd anniversary of our move to DC and the debut of our blog you are now reading, we are making important changes to The Prices Do DC.

Actually, we are adding 3 companion blogs to our main offering. They are

1. Counter Culture in the Capital - A look at food and great dining spots in DC,  with a special emphasis on eateries that won't break your budget.
2. By the Book DC - All things bookish about Washington, its book stores, and the authors who visit them.
3. DC Screen Scene - What's up with TV shows and movies featuring Washington, DC.

There are several ways to make sure you don't miss any of the posts in the new DC blogs. You can bookmark or favorite each of the sites and check them periodically.

Each of the sites will have its own social media locations. You can like or follow any or all of the new sites and posts will appear there for you to read. In addition, the special Facebook and Pinterest sites will have posts and pins that are specific to them, which means you might want to check out all of them. 

Counter Culture in the Capital

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By the Book DC

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DC Screen Scene

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Links to each of the posts in Counter Culture, By the Book, and Screen Scene will also be reposted to both The Prices Do DC Facebook page and its Twitter page.

We also have made and will continue to make changes to improve this blog. We hope you enjoy what you read here as much as we do experiencing it and writing about it.

So whether you are a Washington resident, a DC-area enthusiast, or a visitor, we hope to see you again soon on the internet. And, as always, thanks and good reading to each of you. 

New Education Lab Called Q?rious Now At Museum of Natural History

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most treasured and visited places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry that initially appeared in one of those highly-readable blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity."  And just as Lewis Carroll took license with the word, making Alice's wonderland world "curiouser and curiouser," the National Museum of Natural History, has coined a new version— Q?rius.

"It's like a highly secure password," says Shari Werb, the museum's assistant director for education and outreach. "It's a word that makes you stop, and try to decode. By then, you're curious."

The name marks a new 10,000-square-foot education space that is packed with stuff that kids (and adults, too) can pick-up, smell, squeeze, and otherwise analyze. Some 6,000 specimens—fossils and plants and minerals and even human bones—from the collections are housed in a setting that the museum is calling "part lab, part collections vault, part DIY garage and part hangout."

To continue reading this post, which first appeared in Smithsonian.com, click here.

Washington Monument Scheduled to Reopen Next Month

The Washington Monument will reopen to the public next month after three years of repairs prompted by a 2011 earthquake, National Park Service officials are saying. 

While an exact date has yet to be finalized, Park Service spokesman Brian Hall said the scaffolding did come down in time for the Cherry Blossom festival and the beginning of the tourist annual season. should be down in time for tourist season 

The project is expected to continue to be in line with projections that the work will be completed this spring — despite a season of erratic winter weather, which interrupted repairs periodically.

To continue reading this post, which first appeared in the Washington Times, click here.

Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band

Welcome to Flashback Friday. Each Friday we showcase a post that deals with days gone by or has appeared previously in The Prices Do DC. Today, we feature an entry that has received more views than any other post we have ever posted. It 1st appeared on Aug. 12, 2012. 

When Kwame Alexander started Virginia Tech University majoring in bio-tech, he was all set to become a doctor. But 2 developments in his sophomore year altered those plans. The 1st was organic chemistry. "It kicked my butt," Alexander says with a laugh. The other was the elective poetry course he took with famed African-American poet and author Nikki Giovanni. "That  changed my life," Alexander says.

Alexander decided to become a writer and 2 years after graduation he completed his 1st book of poems entitled Just Us. Always gregarious and outgoing, Alexander began appearing at churches and libraries. He would hold readings at any place that would have him. He sold 2,000 copies of his book. "That gave me the bug," he says.

More than a decade has past since that 1st volume, but Alexander still enjoys promoting his books in person. Last weekend, we caught up with the author at his display table at Eastern Market in the Capitol Hill section of D.C.

"These are my 2 latest children's books," he would proclaim to any passersby who appeared interested. He would then give them the highlights of Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band, where a group of animals with names like Thelonious Monkey, Mules Davis, and Duck Ellington have a late night jazz contest, and his latest creation, Indigo Blume and the Garden City, in which a young outcast teaches her community to "go green."

So how did a poet, whom his mentor Nikki Giovanni praised by saying "If I can have a literary son, I like to think it is Kwame Alexander. Hard worker, truth seeker, soul sharer," become a writer of children's books? Alexander begins the story this way. In 2008, his daughter was 15 and fell in love. Alexander's knew he should be supportive as a father, but he was perplexed. His wife suggested that her husband write about young love "to understand it." The book became popular with the teenage set. At a book talk, an editor asked Alexander if he had considered writing for young adults. Now, he has a novel coming out for middle-school age students in 2013 and the high school set the following year.

Kwame Alexander talks about his work

But that still doesn't get us to the children's books. For that impetus, he needed his 2nd daughter, who is now 4. When she was even younger, she would implore her father to read to her constantly. "I noticed with all the reading, the tone of my writing began to change," Alexander noted.

The idea for Acoustic Rooster actually came 2 years ago during the time Alexander was taking advantage of a writing fellowship in Italy. "Every day I would walk past this chicken coop," he said. "One day I began thinking, what if the animals had a party - what kind of party would they have? I was listening to all this jazz and bossa nova at the time and there were all these musicians jamming every night. I can't take credit for Duck Ellington - I had heard that somewhere. I just started creating the whole idea. It was dream-like."

But what is a successful author and publisher (Alexander runs his own publishing company) doing hawking his books in the hot August sun? "It's a great way to stay in touch with the readers and the buyers," he said.

And there are other benefits to personal appearances, too. In the hour I spent with Alexander one man stopped by and promised to hook him up with a friend who was involved with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, a woman from NPR said that she would get him on more NPR programming, and a fellow writer who said he had really wanted to meet Alexander, said he would be getting back to him about a special project. And that's not to mention all the books that Alexander was sellling.

So what's next? "I think I will continue to write for readers between kindergarten to high school," Alexander says. "I have a 4-year-old at home. She's my audience. I'll grow with her."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

Since we've moved to the D.C. area, I have met many of my favorite writers including George Pelecanos,  Bob Woodward, Douglas Brinkley, David Maraniss, and Colson Whitehead. But thanks to my 3-year-old grandson Owen, none of them had quite the impact as my chance encounter with Kwame Alexander. In June, my wife and I were watching our 2 grandkids for a week. Both Judy and I are constantly buying books for them. Since I love music almost as much as reading, many of my purchases deal with music. I picked up Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band the 1st time I saw it in a bookstore.  I read it to Owen for the 1st time at his June visit. It quickly became his favorite book. "Grandpop, read the Rooster one again," he would say. Two weeks later, I was walking through the Eastern Market and saw a table of Acoustic Rooster books, along with its author. Alexander was headed to Brazil for a writing event, but promised we could get together when he returned. Now I know a 3-year-old clamoring "read the Rooster one again, Grandpop" isn't quite as prestigious as a Pulitzer or a Nobel. But, for a grandfather like me, it's about the best endorsement a book can have.

An Orchid Symphony

Finally, after the most brutal DC winter in a long while, blooming flowers and other visual signs of spring are making an appearance around the city. But if you want a more concentrated burst of natural beauty right now, you should head to the national Botanical Gardens, where the elegance of orchids and nature-themed classical music have been combined to create an exuberant, whimsical display.

With more than 20,000 species, orchids, valued for their variety, fragrance, and shapes, are one of the most diverse plant families on Earth.

While most people associate orchids with the tropics, they are actually found on every continent except Antarctica.

With this new exhibition, which will be on view until April 27, you walk among instruments made of flowers and listen to a set list of great classical music such as Water Music:Air by George Frederic Handel, "Spring"from the Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi,  and "Ode to Joy" by Ludwig Van Beethoven, as you revel in a true symphony of color, form, and smell.

A Prices Do DC Extra
Here is just a sampling of what you will see ...

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

For Russell Mitchell and Richie Nocella, who too soon were taken to be a part of the greater Cosmos, and to Steve Ferrera and Dr. Robert Wilkinson, who are still here. And a special shout-out to William Shakespeare, John Updike, and all my South Jersey high school students without whom this story could not be told.

Have I ever told you about the time I performed the "Tomorrow" soliloquy from William Shakespeare's Macbeth live on the stage of the Folger Shakespeare Library? No? Well, that's because up until last Sunday, I hadn't done any such performance.

But now I can tell you the tale (and, no, you smart-assed Shakespearean scholars - it is not a tale told by an idiot).

I performed the monologue as part of a day-long celebration at the world-renowned DC Shakespeare institution to honor what would have been William Shakespeare's 450th birthday.

And, as you can see here, I even have visual proof, that, in the words of Macbeth himself, "I have done the deed."

But my involvement with the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy actually begins more than 4 decades ago, which of course chronologically makes for a whole lot more than just 3 tomorrows.

In 1970, I was a 2nd-semester freshman at Villanova University. My English class was taught by Dr. Robert Wilkinson (who, unbeknownst to me at the time, would become a life-long mentor ). In the class were 2 of my best friends, Steve Ferrara, my Boston-speaking roommate, and Richie Nocella from South Philly. Richie, Steve, and I had all been randomly assigned to Dr. Wilkinson's Freshmen Comp and Lit Class (a bit of fortunate fate that would change all of our lives) the 1st semester and had chosen him for our Spring Semester English course.

In our next class, we would be examining the John Updike short story "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and So Forth." Obviously, Updike used the beginning of the Macbeth soliloquy for his title. So Dr. Wilkinson had assigned me to memorize the 74-word word soliloquy and deliver it to the class to start our exploration.

Piece of cake, I thought. And it would have been too, if it hadn't been for the fact that my recitation happened to occur on what turned out to be the first beautiful warm day of a Main Line spring. So somehow Richie and Steve, now joined by the fourth member of our freshmen quartet, Russell Mitchell, decided to celebrate the arrival of warm weather by grabbing some quarts of beer and some smoking material and head to a small stream near our Havertown apartment.

Now, in my defense, I probably didn't fully realize what Steve was suggesting. To this day, Steve speaks funny. You know the type - Pahk yer cah in the bek yahd. (I mean, come on, there are r's in those words).

The 1970 Tomorrow ... me in my college band Frog Ocean Road

But no matter what the reason, I found myself partaking in the merriment and soon I was - what is the phrase I am searching for here - oh yes, stoned and completely wasted. However, I was confident that I could still deliver my soliloquy since at the time I was a keyboardist in a rock band and had performed numerous times under the influence of chemicals that made members of the audience appear to be things like crazy-colored, melting dragons spewing giant bubbles.

We arrived at class. Richie, Steve, and Russell positioned themselves in strategic places where they could best annoy me. Dr. Wilkinson summoned and I headed to the front of the room, where I proceeded to deliver the soliloquy in flawless fashion despite the best attempts of my trio of friends to distract me. But Dr. Wilkinson - did I mention he is one of the most brilliant men I have ever encountered - must have sensed something was awry. He asked me to repeat my performance. And this time, the outcome was decidedly different. I swear I thought I was beginning by repeating "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow," but instead it came out something like "Tomershthis, ang Teropoly um tomomsie." And it went downhill from there. Anyway, we all had a good laugh, I graduated Villanova with a BA in English, and we moved on with our lives.

After a decade as a reporter, I switched careers and became a high school English teacher. I found myself teaching Macbeth in my British lit class. And so, as I had been asked to do so many years before by Dr. Wilkinson, I had each of my Honors and Academic students memorize the "Tomorrow ..." soliloquy and deliver it to the class. To make it more memorable, I tried to pair up performance with interest. A member of the baseball team could recite it standing at home plate. Members of the drama club could say it on stage.  Classroom sweethearts could deliver it together. To this day, many of my students can still recite the soliloquy by memory when I see them. Of course, they then spoil the moment by pointing out that that is the only thing they remember from my class and exactly when did my hair turn gray.

Three years ago, I retired from teaching and instructional coaching and we moved to DC. But then I was asked by a friend to join him in educational consulting. Now I find myself splitting time between high schools in DC and Syracuse, working with teachers who teach in Twilight programs designed for students who are in danger of dropping out.

Tomorrow ... at Luke C, Moore

Last month, I was delivering an impromptu presentation to the teachers and students in Luke C. Moore High School in DC and, in the middle of the delivery, I used the "Tomorrow" soliloquy. While I was speaking the lines, I observed 2 teachers reciting them along with me. After the presentation, I discovered that one, an English teacher, had memorized the passage when he was a high school senior in Asia. The other, a math teacher, had been required to master the soliloquy when he was a 16-year-old student in Nigeria.

Although I didn't know it at the time, that presentation served as a good rehearsal for my Sunday work on the Folger stage which you can view by clicking here.)

So that concludes my Tomorrow tale for now. I swear it all true except for the parts I made up. But does the story, as I always used to ask my students, contain any morals, messages, or meanings?

I think there are quite a few takeaways from combining Shakespeare's original soliloquy with my several encounters with it over the decades. They include:

1. Macbeth says the future "creeps" in a "petty pace." He is wrong. The future doesn't creep. One day you are delivering a Shakespeare soliloquy in your freshmen college class. In what seems like a brief passage of time (but is actually 4 decades) you find yourself delivering that same soliloquy on a stage.
2. Macbeth calls life "a walking shadow" that after death is "heard no more." Sorry, Macbeth, wrong again. Life is not a shadow, but substance. And memories allow our life stories to resonate through times that come long after we are gone.
3. While it's true that moments of our lives are "full of sound and fury," they do not "signify nothing." Our friends, our experiences, our memories all give meaning, not nothingness, to our lives.
4. And perhaps most importantly, if 3 or more of your friends ever ask you to celebrate the warmth and beauty of a first warm Spring day, be safe, but take a chance.  For whether you are an idiot or genius, there really is no telling how your tale will turn out.

Happy Birthday, Bill Shakespeare

To be (going to the annual big birthday bash for William Shakespeare at the Folger Shakespeare Library this past weekend) or not to be (going), that was the question.

Well, for us, it really wasn't a hard question to answer. Of course, we were going. And here is a pictorial sampling of some of what we saw and did there.

You could take in the decor and countless volumes in the Shakespeare library, which is only open to the public once a year on the celebration of the Bard of Avon's birthday.

You could view the impressive stain glass. Here is one of the characters representing the seven stages of man from the "All the World's a Stage..." speech from As You Like It. Can you name the other 6?

You could examine special gifts given to noted Shakespeare actors throughout the ages. This chair was designed for famed 18th century actor David Garrick. 

You could peruse priceless artwork visually representing scenes from Shakespeare's 34 plays. Which play is this?

You could buy a T-shirt commemorating the special day, a celebration of 450 years.

You could dress up and get your picture taken in period costume. Here is my wife Judy as a Renaissance queen.

You could make a shield with your own special coat of arms.

You could receive your Shakespeare fortune. Judy's said: "... there is this jewel in the world that I may see again." from Cymbeline 1.2.21-23.  Mine said: "I seek not to wax great by others'  waning." from Henry VI 4.10.20

You could receive a pin, if,  like I did, you performed some Shakespeare on the Folger Stage. To find out what I performed, click here.

Pillow Power, It's One Boppin' Worldwide Fight

Hundreds on National Mall declare have pillow, must fight

You could clearly see the young couple were ready for the upcoming battle. They were sitting on the ground, stuffing their weapons carefully into their containers. Then, with their newly purchased soft pillows temporarily safely encased in the white plastic Bed, Bath, and Beyond bags for protection, they headed off toward the Washington Monument to engage with hundreds of fellow fighters in the DC National Mall version of International Pillow Fight day.

30-year-old Andrea Papi was a veteran of the once-a-year fun pillow wars. A native of Rome, Italy, Papi had battled in the 2008 contest in his home city. So when he arrived to visit his girlfriend Annabel De Braganco, he convinced her to join him in the fun-filled DC battle.

Annabel De Braganco shows her fighting form

This would be De Braganco's first parlay into the world of non-competive, large-scale pillow fighting, which this year in DC was being hosted by Capitol Improv. The event was being staged in more than 150 cities around the world, from Abu Dhabi to Zurich.

De Braganco, 24, was well aware of the rules:

• use soft pillows only
• swing lightly as many people will be swinging at once
• remove glasses beforehand and
• do not swing at people without pillows or using cameras.

But she still admitted to a tinge of nervous excitement as a massive pillow fight newbie. But that nervousness quickly vanished as the couple approached the crowd, which was already swinging away at each other between fits of laughter. After a few warmup hits on each other, Papi and De Braganco waged into the circle, pillows held high in a fight-ready position.

About 15 minutes later, a heavy-breathing, beaming De Bragnaco emerged from the group for a short break. "It's insane," she shouted. "You just hold your breath and jump in."

David Gaines 

While the majority of the battlers appeared to be in their 20s and 30s, some were much younger (4 or 5) and some were much older. In that latter category was 61-year-old David Gaines of Arlington. Gaines had entered the fun fray with his specially labeled pillow which said "David - Hogs the Blankets." It was also adorned with the picture of a big hog, sort of the way knights of old announced their lineage on their shields.

"It's a crazy sounding event, but really it helps you work out your physical aggression and nobody gets hurt," Gaines said.

While this Saturday was devoted to fun, and laughter, and a free-swinging time, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Gaines suggested that the pillow fight concept could have much more serious implications. Instead of deadly weapons, countries could go to war with pillows, Gaines opined. 

"It would mean spending a lot less on the military.  All you would need is bigger pillows," he said.  

A Prices Do DC Extra

They say every picture tells a story. So here is the story of the raucous DC International Pillow Fight Day 2014.