5,000 years of Greeks leave D.C. tomorrow

Queen Meda, the sixth wife of Phillip II of Macedon, wore this wreath of gold, 340-336 BC, found in the antechamber of Phillip II's tomb. She committed suicide when the king was assassinated and to honor her, the Macedonians buried her with him. Archaeological Museum of Aigai, Vergina/photo by Patricia Leslie

A magnificent presentation of 5,000 years of Greek history and culture with 500 objects, many which have never traveled outside Greece, is set to close Monday at D.C.'s National Geographic Museum, the only East Coast museum to present the exhibition. If you can't get there, here are a few artifacts and sculptures loaned by 22 Greek museums to dazzle you.

This may have been a serving platter or filled with water and used as a mirror. A longboat and foaming waves can be seen on this back side. During the Early Bronze Age (3300-2100 BC) longboats may have been the only means of transportation between islands in the Aegean Sea. Ceramic. Syros, 2800-2300 BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens/photo by Patricia Leslie

This was probably sewn into a garment. Gold. Aravissos, 4500-3200 BC, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki/photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Linear A tablets with Minoan script which have not been completely deciphered, but are believed to contain agricultural records  One of these is probably an inventory of a temple. Clay, Kydonia (Chania), around 1450 BC, Archaeological Museum of Chania/photo by Patricia Leslie

This is one of the oldest known Greek "crowns," a diadem worn by a ruler and featuring dogs which were sometimes buried with their owners.  It was found in Tomb II in the cemetery at Mochlos. Gold, 2600-2100 BC, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion/photo by Patricia Leslie

Probably a priestess between 25 and 35 years old from Mycenae was buried with these gold items which include designs of butterflies and flowers. Circle A, Grave III, Second half of the 16th century, BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens/photo by Patricia Leslie

A jug, cups, dagger, and clothing ornaments are among the items found in a grave of two men, discovered through DNA analysis to be related. Ceramic, bronze, and gold, Mycenae, Circle A, Grave VI, Second half of the 16th century, BC, National Archaeological Museum, Athens/photo by Patricia Leslie

Items found in the grave of a high priestess. Terracotta, ceramics, gold, silver, glass, Archontiko, 540-530 BC, Archaeological Museum of Pelia/photo by Patricia Leslie

Gold funerary masks and helmets found in the graves of elite warriors who may have worn the helmets in life. Bronze and gold, Archontiko, mid-sixth century, BC, Archaeological Museum of Pelia/photo by Patricia Leslie

Fragment of a large vase showing Odysseus and his troops piecing the remaining eye of the Cyclops Polyphemus to escape entrapment in a cave where the cyclops is eating the men, two by two. Ceramic, Argos, 670-650 BC, Archaeological Museum of Argos/photo by Patricia Leslie

Homer, from a Roman-era copy of the Greek original, around 300 BC.  No known images of the poet from his lifetime exist, but many were fashioned between the fifth to second centuries, BC. Pentelic marble, National Archaeological Museum, Athens/photo by Patricia Leslie

The King of Sparta, Leonidas (540-480 BC) is associated with this bust. Leonidas issued the challenge "come and get them" to the Persians when they demanded his troops' weapons. Members of the Spartan military wore beards with no mustaches.  Found at the Acropolis of Sparta. Parian marble, 480-470 BC, Archaeological Museum of Sparta/photo by Patricia Leslie

Sculpture of an athlete found on the southeast side of the Parthenon, the largest and most important temple in Athens.  Parian marble. 450-440 BC, Acropolis Museum, Athens/photo by Patricia Leslie

The head of the woman on the left was once considered to be one of the Parthenon metopes which depicted scenes from mythical battles, but analysis revealed her "style" came later, from the late or later than the fifth century, BC. The sculpture on the right (447-438 BC) was from the Parthenon and partially destroyed in the Great Turkish War of 1687. Her remains are undiscovered. Both pentelic marble, Epigraphic Museum, Athens
/photo by Patricia Leslie

Phillip II may have worn this gold and silver diadem when he was assassinated in 336 BC at his daughter's wedding, stabbed by one of his bodyguards who may have conspired with  one of the king's wives, Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great, 340-300 BC, Archaeological Museum of Aigai, Vergina/photo by Patricia Leslie

Who:  The Greeks:  Agamemnon to Alexander the Great

When:  Now through OT 10, 2016, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the last ticket sold at 5 p.m.

Where:  National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St., NW, Washington, DC, 20036

How much (buy tickets here): Adults, $15; Subscribers, Military, Seniors (over 62) and Students over age 12, $12; Children, ages 5 -12, $10; Local school and youth groups, ages 18 and under, and annual pass holders, free


Metro stations:  Farragut North or Farragut West

For more information:  202-857-7700

patricialesli@gmail.com

U.S. Army Chorus opens St. John's free First Wednesday concerts Oct. 5

The U.S. Army Chorus

The United States Army Chorus will inaugurate this season's First Wednesday Concert Series at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, at noontime Wednesday, October 5.

On the program are patriotic songs, a medley of service pieces, and sacred compositions.

Formed in 1956 to accompany the U.S. Army Band, the U.S. Army Chorus regularly sings with the National Symphony Orchestra on Memorial Day, Independence Day, at other patriotic events, and for visiting heads of state. It tours the U.S. and performs with local symphonies.

Also called "Pershing's Own," the chorus, whose members speak more than 26 languages and dialects, is one of the few professional male choruses in the U.S.


In the Chorus's repertoire are traditional military music, pop, Broadway, folk, and classical tunes. 
Accompanying the singers at St. John's will be organist and Staff Sergeant Dan Campolieta.

St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

St. John's founded in 1815 is known to many Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square, and often called the “Church of the Presidents.” Beginning with James Madison who was president from 1809 to 1817, every president has been a member of St. John's or has attended services at the church. A plaque at the rear of St. John's designates the pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by the church during the Civil War. 

First Wednesday concerts begin at 12:10 p.m. and last about 35 minutes. Food trucks are located at Farragut Square, two blocks away.

Who: The U.S. Army Chorus

What: First Wednesday Concerts

When: 12:10 p.m., October 5, 2016

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16th, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square (White House exit), Farragut North, or Farragut West

For more information: Contact Michael Lodico, St. John's director of music ministry, at 202-270-6265.

Future dates and artists of the First Wednesday Concerts are:

November 2: Director of Music Ministry at St. John's, Michael Lodico will play German and French organ music.

December 7: Madrigal Singers from St. Albans & National Cathedral schools will sing seasonal music under the direction of Brandon Straub.

January 4, 2017: Concert organist Janet Yieh will play works by Mendelssohn, Messiaen, and the "Beatles" Toccata

February 1: Jazz vocalist Sara Jones will sing a Winter Escape, accompanied by the Dan Dufford Ensemble

April 5: Soloists from St. John's Choir will sing.

May 3: Director of Music, Christ Church, Georgetown, Thomas Smith, will play A Journey to Merrie Olde England - A Recital of English Organ Music

June 7: Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 will be played by the U.S. Air Force Strings with Mary Bowden on the trumpet
patricialesli@gmail.com

Hubert Robert leaves the National Gallery of Art i

Hubert Robert, Young Girls Dancing Around an Obelisk, 1798, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The year of the painting is the year Napoleon took his army to Egypt whose monuments and pyramids drew Robert's admiration and fascination. 
Hubert Robert, The Bastille in the First Days of Demolition, 1789, Musée Carnavalet- Historie de Paris© Musée Carnavalet. The Marquis de Lafayette, one of the revolutionaries who ordered the destruction of La Bastille, so admired this work, Robert gave it to him.

Hubert Robert, Arhitectural Capriccio with the Portico of Octavia, 1784, Musée du Louvre, Paris, on deposit at the Embassy of France, London
Hubert Robert, The Pantheon with the Port of Ripetta, 1766, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, on deposit from the Departement des PePeintures du Musée du Louvre

Hubert Robert, The Destruction of the Royal Tombs of Saint-Denis, 1793, Musée Carnavalet- Historie de Paris© Musée Carnavalet 

Hubert Robert, Feeding the Prisoners of Saint-Lazare, 1794, Musée Carnavalet- Histoire de Paris© Musée Carnavalet

During the French Revolution, Hubert Robert and other prisoners at Saint-Lazare, ate cheese flavored with maggots and worm-infested herring, and they drank poisoned wine.  Above, prisoners beg outsiders for better provisions. 

Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of 18th century's most successful artists was Hubert Robert (1733-1808) whose keen interest lay in architectural capriccio when he combined old and new or make-believe.  A sci-fi artist!

He would have been right at home in Washington, D.C. today (and, as a matter of fact, is here for one day more), able to choose and draw the past and insert and lift the old and the fictional.

He could have painted the brutalist Third Church of Christ, Scientist, by the I.M. Pei firm, up against a boring, stereotypical modern office building which took its place at the corner of 16th and I streets, NW,  the church architecture always one of my favorites to admire, but n'ermore.

Shame, shame and sigh. I want to preserve it all.

Known to many in the art world as "Robert of the Ruins," the artist was born in Paris and traveled at age 21 to Rome to study where he stayed 11 years, visiting, among many pleasures, the countryside with his pal, Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), drawing landscapes and learning.

Returning to Paris, his mind was filled with memories  of monuments and Italian antiquities, many which found their way into his works and helped elevate his position among French artists.  A versatilist, Robert drew beautiful, romantic landscapes, too, and was well respected as a garden designer, interior decorator, and draftsman.

Caught in the upheaval of the French Revolution (1789-1799), Robert was arrested and imprisoned, scenes which he drew and now present an eyewitness account of the Revolution on the walls at the National Gallery .

After the war, he returned to the Musée du Louvre where he resumed his position as a curator which Robert remained until his death.
 
More than 100  paintings and drawings comprise the exhibition, the first monographic Hubert Robert exhibition in the U.S. and the first anywhere since 1933. The National Gallery and the Musée du Louvre, where it opened earlier this year, organized the presentation.


A color catalogue of almost 300 pages is available in National Gallery shops. Here is a link to an audio of the introductory lecture at the National Gallery of Art.

What: Hubert Robert, 1733-1808

When: Closing today at 6 p.m., Sunday, October 2, 2016.  The National Gallery opens at 11 a.m.

Where: West Building, the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission charge: Never on Sunday or any day

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com

Washington warmly welcomed Chilean President Michelle Bachelet

 President of the Republic of Chili, Michelle Bachelet, speaking at the Wilson Center, September 22, 2016/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Last week at the Wilson Center, the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, spoke passionately about the importance of women's participation in politics and in all aspects of life.


"Women can be true agents of social change," she said to a SRO crowd of about 500.

"Women feel they have to be perfect.  They don't have to be perfect."

President of the Republic of Chili, Michelle Bachelet, speaking at the Wilson Center, September 22, 2016/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ms. Bachelet is the first woman elected to the presidency of Chili and the first person to be elected twice to the position since 1932 (2006-2010 and 2014-present). On July 6, 2016, Reuters reported the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for Ms. Bachelet: 22%, primarily due to reforms she is trying to implement, rising unemployment, and a financial scandal involving her son and daughter-in-law.

The ratings didn't seem to bother Ms. Bachelet in Washington, for she spoke confidently, at ease in surroundings of mostly supporters and the curious.

Wikipedia errs when it claims she speaks English with "varying levels of fluency." I was expecting a halting, stilted presentation, however, her delivery of remarks contradicted the online source. 

President of the Republic of Chili, Michelle Bachelet (center) with Cynthia Arnson (left) and Gwen Young at the Wilson Center, September 22, 2016/Photo by Patricia Leslie

She spoke the day after the 40th anniversary of the murder of former Chilean ambassador and exile Orlando Letelier (1932-1976) at Washington's Sheridan Circle, but not a word was said about him or the event.

She did mention rights.
 
After enduring decades of totalitarian rule under the leadership of Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006) whose henchmen killed Letelier, "Chile is a country where people are more aware of their rights.  For young people, it's all about rights. Children of democracies are much more demanding."

Ms. Bachelet is also the president of the Pacific Alliance, a trade pact of Chile, Columbia, Mexico, and Peru, a group she frequently cited, whose nations are committed to achieving gender economic equality. 

"Women do make a difference," the president said, and make "a more just society." For "women and men to enjoy the same rights," she said, "we have a long way to go."

She praised India where half its engineers are women. "They want their girls to study."

"Many women don't like politics because politics is hard; sometimes it's harsh and they prefer to do other kinds of stuff."

She credited the French twice for the aphorism: "When a woman goes into politics, the woman changes.  When women go into politics, politics change." The audience applauded.

"I am convinced women have a key role ," she said more than once.

"There is no progress when women are not active in decision making."

Without naming him and to light disapproval from the crowd, she mentioned the 2005 remark by then Harvard University president Larry Summers who opined that "innate differences" likely keep more women from excelling in science. 

Ms. Bachelet focused her remarks solely on the empowerment of women at the session which was co-sponsored by Smith College. 
 
Businesses which give money to politicians can create a conflict of interest, she said.

No stranger to Washington, she lived in Bethesda for two years while growing up when her father was a Chilean defense attache, and later, she attended the National Defense University.

She spoke from the podium about 15 minutes before she sat down and joined Wilson Center's Cynthia  Arnson, director, Latin American Program, and Gwen Young, director, Global Women's Leadership Initiative and the Women in Public Service Project, who asked her questions, and then later, Ms. Bachelet also answered questions from the audience, a member who asked her about the impeachment and removal from office this year of Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff.  

Ms. Bachelet called Ms. Roussef a "very good friend of mine" whom Ms. Bachelet frequently telephoned during the ordeal, she said.

"The Brazilian constitution permits that [impeachment].  I don't like what happened," and to applause:  "That's all I can say. It's easier to impeach a woman [than it is] a man."



Chili has good child care:  "The care of children is the responsibility of all society." 


"I think a country which cares about its people" cares about child care. "If Chile can do it, I think the U.S. can do it, of course," she said.
  
A woman said she was "mortified" by the treatment she believes Hillary Clinton receives from the press, and Ms. Bachelet agreed: "I am also 'mortified' by how the media has treated Hillary."

During her own run for the presidency, Ms. Bachelet said, "I was the 'fat one.'"

Women are perceived to be weak "because they don't shout or use," and she struggled for the English term, "swear words."

To applause from the mostly female audience, she said: "No one asks a man if he is capable."  

Yesterday was President Bachelet's 65th birthday.

Power to the prez!

patricialesli@gmail.com

Movie review: 'Snowden' takes early lead for Best Picture

Dear Carla,

Rafi will like this one, too!


I have admired this Whistleblower (capital "W") ever since his name became a household word in 2013. 

Thank you, Edward Snowden, Oliver Stone,
Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Kieran Fitzgerald, all the writers, cast and crew of Snowden.

Bravo!

Snowden is a nerve-wracking thriller and although the outcome is known, still, you get chills watching what happens and wondering why the heck he didn't get out of  Dodge sooner in Hong Kong (?).   

It compares to the stress and anxiety experienced in Argo.  Or a Tom Clancy novel (which I've never read but hear they are pretty good). 

And it's brought to the screen by the same company, Open Road, which distributed Spotlight, the 2016 Oscar winner for 'Best Picture.'

Snowden is Oliver Stone at his best and lo, I am not going to make this a review of Oliver Stone a la so many others, since most moviegoers don't go to a movie because of the director, but we go because of what our friends say, to see a good film based on entertainment, acting, script, music, and all the other components which go into a great film. Who said anything about a director, except the reviewers who write for other reviewers?  They make the film?

 All we want to know:


1. Is the movie worth our time and bucks?  Snowden, yes!  And yes, again!

Due to filming in Munich ("a beautiful experience") where Stone took his menagerie to escape the confines and U.S. peeping, and due to the movie's importance to him, Stone skipped his mother's funeral in the U.S. (where the NSA probably would have wired him at the airport), and to ensure staff technological security, independence, and protection, he hired a cyber expert for the filming. (All these important facts, courtesy, Wikipedia.)


The star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Snowden,"), (quoting again, Wikipedia) has pledged his salary from the movie "to 'help facilitate the conversation' about the relationship between technology and democracy." (Huh?  There's an organization for that?  Would that be the Clinton Foundation or a "Trump charity"? I say, give it all to The Nation.)

Craig Armstrong and Adam Peters's excellent music increases Snowden's drama and depth with the right amount of volume and composition.

The metallic, sterile industrial complexes of the CIA and NSA are exquisitely done, and the world of make-believe comes alive with Big Daddy Boss Man (Rhys Ifans).  He literally covers the Big Screen in magnificent, scary effect when he morphs into Tyrannosaurus Rhys ready to eat Snowden up. Roar and yeekers, yikers, he is one creepy dude nominated for Best Supporting Actor.


Sex?  Sex?  You want sex?  It's here and more than you'd think, not totally gratuitous and with sprinkles of the "F" bomb dropping every now and then, natch.  

Thanks to Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) who have major roles and led the publication of the information Snowden possessed (possesses).

Ms. Poitras directed Citizenfour, the 2015 Oscar winner for Best Documentary, the predecessor to Snowden about the same subject, however, a little too wonky and technical for me, not nearly the "keep you on the edge of your seat" like Snowden. (The difference between a refrigerator manual and Lolita (I have read).)

Near Snowden's end are heard the shrill cries of Hillary in the background: Hang him!  Hang him high!  To the gallows!  Meanwhile, there is Donald J.Trump who would only execute the man. Sigh, our "leaders," one and the same. Some things never change. It's no wonder so many voters will stay home.

Speaking of, Snowden's hopes for President Obama were dashed early on when Snowden realized Obama was more of the "same ole, same ole," a difficult world to escape once he or she enters the lair.

Snowden said the government uses terrorism as an excuse to spy and pry on the people, and he shared the proof with us. Thank you, Edward Snowden, for the revelations, unlike national intelligence director James Clapper who, three months' prior to Snowden's release of data, lied to U.S. senators in a hearing when he denied that the U.S. collected information on citizens. Excuse me, isn't this what Nazi Germany did? 

Why hasn't Clapper been charged with perjury?  Oh, I forgot:  He's one of "the good old boys," a member of the Washington hierarchy which grants immunity from prosecution, depending upon position.

Please, don't come back, Edward Snowden. Move to St. Petersburg, if Moscow is too droll. Stay away. We don't want THEM to hang you high.

Academy Award nominations:

Best Picture, Snowden

Best Director, Oliver Stone

Best Actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Shailene Woodley (the girlfriend)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Rhys Ifans

patricialesli@gmail.com