The Society of the Cincinnati follows china

The Society of the Cincinnati headquarters building at 2118 Massachusetts Avenue/Patricia Leslie

At The Society of the Cincinnati with national headquarters over on Mass Ave, only men (!) are

admitted to membership, and they must be "qualified male descendants of commissioned officers who

served in the Continental Army or Navy and their French counterparts."

What about "qualified female descendants"? There is no such thing. They don't matter.

You know when the Continental Army and Navy fought, don't you?* Good. I knew it was an educated

bunch that swarms these parts.

Ladies are welcome to visit Anderson House every afternoon between 1 and 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, when other non-descendants are invited, too. The mansion was constructed in 1905 to be the elegant winter residence of Larz Anderson, an American diplomat, and his wife, Isabel, an author and benefactress who lived in it until 1937 when he died. Mrs. Anderson later gave it to The Society of the Cincinnati where every night may be an adventure, if one is amenable.

What do you make of this?  Wooden walls with secret doors? A heavily-decorated jewelry box? It's the ceiling in the ballroom of the Anderson House/Patricia Leslie

It was there, in the not too distant past, that I met "Prospero," a man not of proper lineage to be

a qualified member of The Society of the Cincinnati most assuredly but, nevertheless, "qualified" if

you catch my drift, being of the World Bank and of too sound mind and brains since he knew exactly

everything I was going to say before I said it, and who absolutely knew everything I knew, and what good

is that? What's the purpose in conversing? I couldn't see the point either. Then, why bother with dinner?

He was a cheap braggart, to be kind. The one time he invited me to join him for repast, it was a Dutch treat. And somehow I paid for the desserts. Somewhere on 20th Street, I think it was. Fooled again. Imagine. So long, Prospero, which you are, and I am not.

George Washington presides over The Society of the Cincinnati.  The statue by Jean-Antoine Houdon after the official marble statue in the Virginia State Capitol.  Dedicated 2008.  Presented by Anita Graham and Frederick Lorimer Graham/Patricia Leslie

Next stop, china, as in china china, not China, but "the rare Chinese export porcelain service decorated

with the Society's insignia" which belonged to President and Mrs. George (Martha) Washington and the Lees of Arlington, as in Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, father of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general. (They all owned it at one time or another, however, the Washingtons and the younger Lees did not dine together since they lived about 100 years apart, but did you know that Robert E. Lee's wife, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (who had a name, after all) was the great-granddaughter of Martha (Mrs. George) Dandridge Custis Washington, also with a name. Martha Washington

left the china to her grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, who moved it to Alexandria and passed it along to his daughter, Mary Anna, and Robert. 

One of the plates from the George Washington Porcelain Service/The Reeves Collection, Washington and Lee University

Mary Anna Randolph Custis before her marriage to Robert E. Lee by Auguste Hervieu.  Anonymous loan and Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial ARHO 5840

What?

To continue:

Before she left their home, the Custis-Lee House in what is now Arlington Cemetery (yes, the house on

the hill) at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Mary Anna hid the china in the house from the Yankee troops who discovered it and had the good sense to save it which was transported to the U.S. Patent Office, put on display and then later, found its way to the Smithsonian.

About half of the rare porcelain service set is extant, and pieces are in the Smithsonian, the White House, and Mount Vernon, according to Ron Fuchs II, curator of the Reeves Collection at Washington and Lee University which also owns some of the collection.  He's the man who came to talk about the china at The Society of the Cincinnati.

The set has been "bought, sold, gifted, and faked," and the pieces "always have stories to tell," said Mr. Fuchs.

Rumors have existed for years about two sets of china, and some of the second set has been traced to

Light-Horse Harry Lee. Written records show his daughter-in-law gave away sauce tureens.

The china was commissioned by Samuel Shaw in 1784 and our very own (he is, isn’t he? He laid out our

plans!) Pierre L'Enfant (an artist as well as an architect, said Dr. Fuchs, and a Society member) made a sketch of the proposed insignia with eagle which was painted

on the china and later copied and sold by a counterfeiter who was never apprehended. (The Chinese created porcelain "and it took the Europeans 800 years to figure out how to do it.") 

The insignia

The insignia

About 40 well-heeled persons ranging in age from 20-somethings  
 (young lads in bow-ties, my gawd) to

senior citizens plus came to hear the lecture on George Washington's china.

It was a serious crowd. They were dedicated. And dressed up. Men wore coats and ties. (Those

without, sat in the rear, thankfully.) The women were as equally adorned. It was not your Washington

Capitals bunch, that's for sure. No one whooped and hollered or carried on like they had never seen

George Washington's export porcelain china service with insignia, but they acted like they ate on it every

day.

Mr. Fuchs was good, very good, and quite knowledgeable about china and obviously adoring of the subject at

hand which always helps when the speaker likes his topic. His excellent illustrations, too, kept the earnest

transfixed by china.

It seemed remarkable to me (well, maybe not so much since the location was Washington,) that

fanciers could gather together in one place to hear an hour-long talk about one set  of china, but I must admit, the whole topic was much more intriguing that anticipated. Our first president, also a member of The Society of the Cincinnati and its first "president general,"was a wheeler-dealer (Mr. Fuchs did not use that description) who was interested in the set "if great bargains are to be had."  In 1786 Washington bought the 302 pieces for $150.

Which reminds me of current "great bargains to be had" over on C Street where I dined before the

presentation, not on china with The Society of the Cincinnati insignia, but from a paper sack

featuring McDonald's insignia in color. There I ate a tasty Quarter Pounder (without cheese: calories), or ketchup (yuk) or onions (the better to kiss with! Whither, Prospero? ) for $2 (coupon)

which included a diet drink (free-coupon). My tab totaled $2.20. Those confounded D.C. restaurant taxes will rob us blind.

*"The Society of the Cincinnati is the nation's oldest patriotic organization, founded in 1783 by officers of

the Continental Army and their French counterparts who served together in the American Revolution. Its

mission is to promote knowledge and appreciation of the achievement of American independence and to

foster fellowship among its members."

What: The Society of the Cincinnati

When: Open for public tours, 1-4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday

Where: Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Avenue

Admission: No charge

For more information: 202.785.2040

Metro station: DuPont Circle and walk up Mass Ave.

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

In Memoriam: Chuck Brown, 1936-2012

Chuck Brown in a free public performance, Woodrow Wilson Plaza, September 24, 2010/Patricia Leslie

With weary steps I loiter on,
Tho' always under alter'd skies
The purple from the distance dies,
My prospect and horizon gone.

Chuck Brown in a free public performance, Woodrow Wilson Plaza, September 24, 2010 with Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray/Patricia Leslie

 No joy the blowing season gives,
The herald melodies of spring,
But in the songs I love to sing
A doubtful gleam of solace lives.


Chuck Brown in a free public performance, Woodrow Wilson Plaza, September 24, 2010/Patricia Leslie

 If any care for what is here

Survive in spirits render'd free,
Then are these songs I sing of thee
Not all ungrateful to thine ear.

by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) , no title, 1849, from In Memoriam A. H. H. obiit MDCCCXXXIII, no. 38, published 1850

Chuck Brown in a free public performance, Woodrow Wilson Plaza, September 24, 2010/Patricia Leslie

Chuck Brown in a free public performance, Woodrow Wilson Plaza, September 24, 2010/Patricia Leslie

Chuck Brown had this effect at Woodrow Wilson Plaza and everywhere/Patricia Leslie

Put your hands in the air for Chuck Brown/Patricia Leslie

From examiner.com September 24, 2010 by Patricia Leslie

Chuck! You made me feel good!

With Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray on stage, who was jivin' and movin' with the rest of us, Chuck Brown put on an energetic, fantastic two-hour show for D.C. on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza at the Ronald Reagan Building Friday evening, and he didn't want to stop and neither did we.
It was impossible to listen and see Chuck without bobbing up and down, and movin' your feet over the concrete, and there were plenty of seats available (if you could get to them) for none were occupied. Everybody danced since no one could sit down.
Partners? Not necessary!
We were a'movin' and a'groovin' and a'boppin' and a'hoppin' and singing the songs with Chuck. (Or at least, most of the crowd was; I didn't know any of the words.) Wind it up, Chuck!
Near the end he cried to us over and over again: "I love you! I love you! I love you!" I think he meant it.
Just feel the action and the moves and the music straight from website of the Godfather of Go-Go, and you'll know what you missed. But you still have a chance this weekend since Chuck's got a big CD release party Saturday night at the Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet University to celebrate his newest album, "We Got This."
Chuck baby: You is the man!

At GWU: The best weapon is human

Professor Mary Kaldor last week at George Washington University/Patricia Leslie

In the “Distinguished Women in International Affairs” series at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Professor Mary Kaldor from the London School of Economics and Political Science talked last week about her newest book, The Ultimate Weapon is No Weapon: Human Security and the New Rules of War and Peace, which she co-authored with Lt. Col. Shannon Beebe, a former adjunct professor at GW.

The Ultimate Weapon is No Weapon by Mary Kaldor and Shannon Beebe

The book is about the futility of using conventional weaponry when conflict outcomes now are determined by efforts to restore and protect citizens' basic needs.  Those who make people feel safe and secure become the victors.

At the beginning of her presentation, Dr. Kaldor, director of LSE's Centre for the Study of Global Governance, spent several minutes describing Beebe's talents and skills, and she talked about the evolution of her friendship with him, who was the senior Africa analyst for the U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence.

Last August Beebe died in a private plane crash with his girlfriend in Fauquier County, Virginia.  Members of their families joined the mostly student audience.

The best tools a nation has to defeat an enemy, Professor Kaldor said, is to safeguard citizens' rights and provide people with security and basic necessities, such as protection from violence, poverty, environmental degradation, and bomb attacks.  For citizens to obey laws, they must be able to trust their government, and they must believe in a legitimate authority. 

Without trust that government can protect them and provide a general feeling of security, doors open to let in terrorists who have an interest in violence to create fear and hate, Professor Kaldor said.
Many citizens are seized by fear. 

Professor Mary Kaldor last week at George Washington University/Patricia Leslie

“I think people nowadays do feel very insecure” Professor Kaldor said.  If citizens cease believing that their government can keep them safe, the situation becomes “very, very dangerous.” 

Syria is an example of one nation with “massive violation of human rights.”  People must be free from attacks by their own government.

“No one really knows how to address” the “persistent conflicts” in Somalia, Kenya, Yemen, Syria, and Libya.  In Iraq and Afghanistan “we've used conventional weapons [and] have made the situations much worse.” 

Events in Afghanistan illustrate "more than ever" the importance of civilian command and leadership, necessary to gain citizens' respect for authority. 

Professor Kaldor criticized drone attacks and asked the audience if a terrorist were known to be hiding in Washington, would drones be released to take the person out?  No.

She said she used to think state security and human security could co-exist, but she has changed her mind.  “Of course, the state must be protected” at the expense, sometimes, of international security.  (Think border protection.) 

Her quiet and friendly manner suggested her classes must be popular among LSE students.  At GW they listened intently to her remarks.

The Elliott series, sponsored by Jack and Pam Cumming, bring "renowned women leaders" to GW to talk with students about international issues. 

The occasion was also the fifth annual Banville Forum, presented in memory of GW alumnus, Robert Banville.  Receptions preceded and followed the event.

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Save the date: June 5 for Venus's trip across the Sun

Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty/Wikipedia

Sounds like the name of a song, doesn't it? Venus trips across the Sun?  John Philip Sousa has already written it.

A transit of Venus occurs when the planet passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, and it is a rarity, having occurred either six or seven times since the invention of the telescope.

Beginning at 6:03 p.m. on June 5 Venus will start its path across the Sun and will be visible to the U.S. until 8:26 p.m. when it gets too dark to see.  (How can scientists be so precise?)  The show will actually last past midnight, and on June 6, will be visible from much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

Venus's route will run from west to east or from about the 11 o’clock to the 2 o’clock positions.  Unless you live until December 11, 2117, you'll never see it again.  (Special glasses recommended. It is inadvisable to stare directly at the Sun.)

In a talk last week at the Library of Congress about Venus's trip, NASA's Sten Odenwald revealed all kinds of interesting facts to approximately 75 middle-aged and above academicians (based upon appearances) who crammed the Mary Pickford Theatre.

NASA's Sten Otenwald/Astronomy Cafe

Evidence suggests that in 1520 Montezuma may have been able to see Venus trip the lights fantastic while Montezuma was studying the Sun for "portends." (?)  It wasn’t until 1639, however, that the first recorded sighting of the transit was made, and that was by William Crabtree and British cleric Jeremiah Horrocks.   

Printed literature at the lecture said that only six times since the invention of the telescope in 1609 or 1610 has Venus crossed between the Sun and the Earth, (news to Earthlings: The telescope inventor seems to be up in the air and may not have been the long-thought Galileo, who by the way suspected the love planet was more than just a bright light in the sky), however, NASA says that, excluding next month's transit, there have been seven Venus transits. (You know how persnickety academicians can be when it comes to dates, don't you? Someone may have excluded the transit in 1631 when no one recorded it, and anyway, who's counting? See chronology below.)

Venus's transit on Dec. 6, 1882, taken by students at Vassar College/Sky and Telescope, February, 1961

What’s weird is that Venus's trek across the Sun comes in pairs (of course! The love planet) that are eight years apart but separated by over a century (?).  This is so confusing I must quote from an original source before I screw it up:

Transits of Venus have a strange pattern of frequency. A transit will not have happened for about 121 ½ years (prior to 2004, the last one was 1882). Then there will be one transit (such as the one in 2004) followed by another transit of Venus eight years later (in the year 2012). Then there will be a span of about 105 ½ years before the next pair of transits occurs, again separated by eight years. Then the pattern repeats (121 ½, 8, 105 ½, 8). 

You got all that?  Good.

Venus's special one-way trip across the Sun led to the discovery of the solar system's size and the distance from the Earth to the Sun.  What?  (Do you remember what it is?  Answer at bottom.)

Now how in the world would Venus crossing the Sun provide knowledge about the Earth’s distance from the Sun? You must not remember your physics. Or your geometry, your chemistry, astronomy, and math.  Go back to school.

Venus's last Sun trip was on June 8, 2004 when sun storms were quieting, said Dr. Odenwald, but this time, sun storms will be more heated. 

Around the world hundreds of observation points are ready to take aim and record, and the entire transit will be broadcast from Hilo Station in Hawaii, from near the summit of Mauna Kea.

Kudos to Dr. Odenwald who was everything a listener would want a lecturer to be:   enthusiastic, animated, energetic, knowledgeable, humorous with lots of great illustrations to share, and seemingly happy to be presenting at the Library of Congress. He even had some music for his traveling show:   He played a few notes from a recording of Sousa’s “The Transit of Venus March.”   

Where will Dr. Odenwald be on June 5? Probably in Washington, D.C., he said, and maybe on top of the Library of Congress building which reminds me:

Attention Library of Congress:  The fire marshal would have had blown a fire ball had he or she seen people sitting on the steps and blocking egress in the Mary Pickford Theatre like they were for Dr. Odenwald's talk. It is obvious librarians are not safety experts, but really, the Library doesn't have a larger venue for popular talks?

    Transits of Venus:  1601-2200

1631 Dec 07                 
                       

                        1639 Dec 04                

                        1761 Jun 06                

                        1769 Jun 03             

                        1874 Dec 09             

                        1882 Dec 06               

                        2004 Jun 08                

                        2012 Jun 06                

                        2117 Dec 11               

                        2125 Dec 8

Answer: 93,000,000 miles 

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Biking on a sunny afternoon

Along the George Washington Parkway Trail/Patricia Leslie

The Bike Ride

How do you like to ride on a bike,
Under a sky so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a girl can do!

Ride my bike and move over the trail
And I can see so wide,
River and trees and airplanes and all
As I go cycling by

Till I look down on the pavement dull
Down down down I fall
Up on the bike I go riding again
Oh, look! There's the National Mall

With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson

A traffic jam along the George Washington Parkway/Mt.Vernon Trail in 2011/Patricia Leslie

From the George Washington Parkway Trail with the Washington Monument in the distance and is that the Jefferson Memorial?/Patricia Leslie

A rare sighting in Vienna along the W&OD Trail:  A member of the trail patrol/Patricia Leslie

Dogs are always welcome along the W&OD Trail/Patricia Leslie

Crossing Gallows Road along the W&OD Trail/Patricia Leslie

Be'la Dona rocks the Kennedy Center

Be'la Dona last week at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie

One of the free 6 p.m. performances at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage last week was by Be’la Dona, D.C.'s own "homegrown" all-female band whose members can shake a tail feather, yes they can!

Dance and jive, yes!

Be'la Dona last week at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie

I know I shed about 500 calories just watching them, and all I did was clap and throw my hands in the air.  I didn’t even stand up and get out on the dance floor like the white-haired white guy in the yellow shirt up front who thought he was part of the act, too.  But he produced a lot of laughs and applause with his show inside a show. 

An audience member who became part of the Be'la Dona show at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie

Despite his participation, it did take a while for the singers and musicians to get the rest of the KenCen audience "going" in the spirit of things, but "going," it finally did.

It was the first Millennium production I've seen where the performers left the stage to go down into the audience and try to coax the crowd into a boogie. It was like rolling a wagon through a mountain of molasses, but then the people finally got into it

Said one of the leaders right at the beginning, "This is the Kennedy Center, after all, and we’ve got to be respectful” or something like that. 

The Be'la Dona guitarist was Genevieve Konecnik/Patricia Leslie

One of my favorite kinds of music, gospel, is one of Be’la Dona’s genres, but I didn’t hear any.

What I did hear was mostly loud percussion and vocals, and to my untrained ear, selections were repetitive.  One (maybe more) of the Be’la Dona members used to sing with Mr. Chuck Go-Go Brown, and it was his brand of music I was hoping to hear. (Mr. Go-Go may be 75, but he'll never be old, even when he gets to be 105! Hope he's feeling better.) 

Be'la Dona last week at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie

During the production I did pick up a few words which may have been song titles since they were repeated about a millennia:  25 Days, Heartbreak Hotel (not the Elvis version), and Love Will Make You, Oh, So Happy…So Sad (Sing it sister! Not the Al Green version).

Members of Be’la Dona are Rhonda Coe, Wendy Rai Mackall, Genevieve Konecnik, Cherie Mitchell Agurs (maybe relative of John Agurs, manager?), Claudia Rodgers, Tempest Thomas, Shannon Brown, and Karis Hill.  If there's a happier band, I'd like to know who it is.   These ladies in their black and white apparel never ceased smiling broadly throughout their hour-long appearance.

Be'la Dona last week at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage/Patricia Leslie

It was surprising at 5:30 p.m. to find plenty of empty seats which I would have expected the hometown fans to have filled, but, by show's end, they had showed up, and it was SRO.

Reminder:  Before 6 p.m. you can get Happy Hour prices at the KenCen's hallway bars. Five bucks will get you beer, crunchy treats and live music.  Who can beat it? Gospel, not necessary. 

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra captures Shostakovich's genius

Marin Alsop leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Before the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, conductor Marin Alsop provided a brief history of the piece to a spellbound audience which filled the Strathmore Symphony Hall.

According to Ms. Alsop and program notes, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was in Leningrad, the city of his birth, on the evening of June 22, 1941, where he was shaken by the news that despite an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany, Adolph Hitler's forces had attacked his homeland.  It didn't take long for German forces to overwhelm Russia and begin bombing Leningrad.

Hitler's goal was to take down Leningrad, "the once and future St. Petersburg."

The protection of Leningrad, October 1, 1941/David Trahtenberg, Wikimedia Commons

During the onslaught, an estimated one million Leningrad citizens died, but the Russian people refused to give up their city, and Shostakovich's talents and fortitude helped them persist.

The timing of his start on the symphony is actually in dispute, according to Wikipedia, but some claim Shostakovich began the composition in July, 1941, after the German attack.  Whenever the start, he dedicated his work to the city of Leningrad which he refused to abandon. By October, Shostakovich had written three movements. 

Dimitri Shostakovich in 1942, the year the Seventh Symphony premiered/Wikimedia Commons

Under orders from the government which wanted to protect one of its most talented, Shostakovich moved with his family from Leningrad to Moscow and then to Kuibyshev, both cities which premiered the symphony the following March, after he completed it in late December. The March productions were broadcast in the Soviet Union and abroad.

Meanwhile, English and American audiences eagerly wanted to hear it, and the score was transported on microfilm by car, ship, and plane through Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, and Brazil before reaching New York where orchestras competed to play the American premiere.  In a radio broadcast, Arturo Toscanini introduced it to the U.S. on July 19, 1942 with the NBC Symphony.  In the 1942-43 season, the BSO was one of 62 orchestras to play the work.  The entire composition calls for more than 100 musicians and lasts less than 90 minutes. 

Against a backdrop of quotes from Shostakovich and video of Leningrad and the initially downtrodden Russians, the BSO musicians enthusiastically played their most recent rendition.   The harsh sounds and clashes of war and its aftermath are the focus of the first movement, allegretto, lasting 28 minutes, however, the output and enjoyment of the music, despite its strident message, made it seem far shorter. 

Some have compared the movement to Ravel's Bolero to which Shostakovich replied, "That's how I hear war."

At the end and as expected, Strathmore attendees leaped immediately to their feet and gave the BS0 three encores.

Juxtaposed with Shostakovich's response to murder and political upheaval in his homeland during World War II, are the responses of another artist, Joan Miro, deeply affected by tragedies occurring at the same time in his native Spain.  On Sunday, a major exhibition of Miro's works, "The Ladder of Escape," opened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the only venue in the U.S.

It is clear that the Strathmore audience adores its BSO and the confident Ms. Alsop, the first conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellow and the first woman to lead a major orchestra in the U.S.  This September she will celebrate her fifth anniversary with the BSO. 

Next up for the BSO at Strathmore is a program featuring works by another Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and an Englishman, Sir Edward Elgar.  Conductor Alsop will lead, with guest artist Andre Watts on the piano for Rachmaninoff.

When:  8 p.m., Saturday May 12, 2012

Where:  Strathmore Symphony Hall adjacent to Metro Grosvenor-Strathmore station with free parking in the Metro garage

How much:  Call 301-581-5800 at Strathmore or the BSO ticket office at 410-783-8000 or 877-BSO-1444 to see if any tickets remain since it's sold out on the Web. Update: Today (May 7) two tickets at $88/each remained for the Strathmore performance, however, $25 tickets are available if you will go to Baltimore. 

For more information: 301-581-5200

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