Anti-droners rally at the White House

It was another pretty day in the neighborhood yesterday, another typical day with a protest out front of the White House with about four times the customary number of police cars available to handle the cherry blossom crowd and the protesters/Patricia Leslie

About 200 marched in front of the White House April 13, protesting the use of drones worldwide by the U.S. government/Patricia Leslie

The rally was organized by the ANSWER Coalition and was one of several demonstrations against drones held in major American cities/Patricia Leslie

At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie

 

The sign says "If you see something...Hello? I'd like to report my government."  He/she holds a telephone with the rest of the phone taped to the sign/Patricia Leslie

At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie

 

At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie

At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie

A "veteran for truth" at the anti-drone protest at the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie

Representatives from the Ivory Coast participated/Patricia Leslie

At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie

 

Words and symbols on the brown cardboard sign say "Make love, not drones"/Patricia Leslie

Among the victims listed on "Obama's Kill List" are the "Constitution, Rule of Law, Due Process, Magna Carta and the 10 Commandments"/Patricia Leslie

 

 

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State societies party with the Goo Goos

The longest serving member of the Tennessee State Society, Mary Lou Collector, partied with Sederia Gray, the Mississippi Cherry Blossom Princess, left, and Ashley Kimery, the Tennessee Cherry Blossom Princess, last week at Bobby Van's Grill on New York Avenue in Washington/Patricia Leslie

 

The number attending the 2013 Tennessee and Mississippi joint state societies' fete for their cherry blossom princesses at Bobby Van's Grill Thursday night was about half what it was last year, probably due to the omission of a third state society which swelled the 2012 crowd (Alabama). 

 

And maybe it was again lack of any munchies anywhere (not even little nuts or crackers at the bar),

 

Excuse, please, but "Goo Goos" (?) from Tennessee graced the tables. 

 

For hicks unaware, Goo Goos are chocolate pieces loaded with nuts and marshmallows, sure to please most everyone, especially mixed with beer and wine (?). Guess you had to be there to taste.

 

Mary Lou Collector, one of the party people always present, said she has been a Tennessee delegate to the National Conference of State Societies for 49 years.  A former resident of Copper Hill, Tennessee, Ms. Collector is a longtime resident of Washington.

 

Tennessee's cherry blossom princess, Ashley Kimery, is from Pasadena, California, and attends Vanderbilt.  Apparently,  the Tennessee State Society couldn't find any qualified native women from the Volunteer State to fill the bill and had to look elsewhere.  Someone needs to contact Cong. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis).

 

 

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National Archives: 'Ain't I a Woman?'

President Abraham Lincoln "showing Sojourner Truth the Bible presented by the colored people of Baltimore, Executive Mansion, Washington, D.C., Oct. 29, 1864"/Library of Congress

No women will be represented on a panel of four with a moderator when the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration hosts a discussion April 11, 2013 about the 100 years between President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation issued in 1863 and the 1963 march on Washington.

On its calendar of events, Archives says the talk will focus on "the continuing struggle for freedom, justice, and equality during Reconstruction, as well as the Tilden-Hayes Compromise and Jim Crow laws."

The four scheduled panelists are C.R. Gibbs, Clarence Lusane, Roger Davidson, and Frank Smith. John Franklin will be moderator. I suppose Archives couldn't find a qualified woman historian from the approximately 6,000 who teach history in postsecondary institutions to join its panel. Oh, that's right: Women's History Month was last month.

President Lincoln's proclamation applied to all slaves, men and women, one of whom affected was Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), an abolitionist and a woman's rights advocate who worked tirelessly to improve conditions for former slaves and for women. In 1864 she visited the White House and met President Lincoln. No doubt she would be surprised to learn that more than 150 years later, women are still overlooked for important roles, even by federal agencies which are supposed to lead the way, I thought, for the rest of the nation.

Sojourner Truth was the first black woman to be honored with a bust at the U.S. Capitol (2009).
 

Ain't it 2013, National Archives?  

Below is a portion of Truth's "Ain't I a Woman" speech delivered at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron in the 1850s, as recalled by Frances Dana Barker Gage, and cited at Wikipedia:

"Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!"

And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunder, she asked. 

 'And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear de lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"

patricialesli@gmail.com

Mozart and Tchaikovsky on tap tonight at Dumbarton Concerts

A Far Cry/Yoon S. Byun

 

The Washington premier of Mason Bates's Icarian Rhapsody will debut tonight at Dumbarton Concerts'  last presentation of the season with a performance by A Far Cry, a 17-member string orchestra from Boston where it serves as the chamber orchestra for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Mason Bates, a native of Richmond, Virginia, is the composer-in-residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Tonight's program at Georgetown's Historic Dumbarton Church includes Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht Music, Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in C, and Piazzolla's Two Tangos.

Dumbarton Concerts, celebrating the conclusion of its 35th season, "is dedicated to assembling the most talented ensembles from around the world to create a concert season of the highest quality."

Tickets may be purchased online or at the door.  

Historic Dumbarton Church in Georgetown/Patricia Leslie

What:  A Far Cry at Dumbarton Concerts

When:  Tonight, April 6, 2013 at 8 p.m.

Where:  Historic Dumbarton Church, 3133 Dumbarton Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007

How much:  $33, general admission, or $29, seniors and students

Parking:  Limited free parking is available at Anthony Hyde Elementary School at 3210 O Street, N.W. beginning at 6:30 p.m. until 30 minutes after the show's conclusion, or arrive in Georgetown early and drive the blocks until you find a spot. (You will.)  This is Georgetown, after all, where Metro rail is prohibited, however, buses may pass.

An hors d'oeuvre bar with beer and wine is available.

For more information:  202-965-2000

patricialesli@gmail.com

National Archives stings again

 

The sun sets near National Archives/Patricia Leslie

 

Dear National Archives, the least you could do is let the commoners, the peasants, standing out in the wind (gusts up to 29 mph) and the cold know that all we could have possibly hoped for Wednesday evening was nothing more than a video. 

 

No more than one stinking lousy video which we could have seen at home. 

 

On YouTube.

We were not going to get in the auditorium to see Rumsfeld and friends talk about their days at the White House since the Aspen Institute and the press had taken all the seats.  (“She’s from the London Times!" you exclaimed.  "Let her in!” Said my new line friend:  “Oh, where are our press passes?”) 

Why couldn’t you, National Archives, tell us in the first place that you had no serfs' seats left?

An "overflow" ticket for Wednesday's event at National Archives.  Contrary to the wording, "free tickets" were not distributed until 6:30 p.m./Patricia Leslie

Why couldn't you have saved our standing in line for one cold and breezy (wind chill = 44 degrees ) hour which we could have used more judiciously by walking up the street and attending an actual event, namely, the Civil War talk at the Smithsonian American Art Museum?

National Archives, you remind me of Marie Antoinette:   “Let them have video.”

Seeing a video of a live event is like seeing a picture postcard of Salvador Dali’s Last Supper. It cannot compare to standing in front of the real thing (on view at the East Building of the National Gallery of Art).  You just don’t get it, National Archives.

No, I did not hang around.  Yes!  I am angry at the wasted time, at my missing the Smithsonian talk which I would not have missed had you only said an hour earlier:  All that’s left is “overflow.”  Good grief.  You think "overflow" is a prize?

This was not the first time it has happened.

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke a few months ago, one of your representatives came out and told us on the concrete, the weary, the tired, the oppressed, that Thomas had essentially filled up the house with 120 of his staff members, and the rest of the seats were taken by the press.  And we left.

Woe to the line standers, the taxpayers.

National Archives, why don’t you take a cue from the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum?  When their events are “oversold” and their auditorium is filled up and all that's left is "overflow," they tell the people ahead of time.  Because we hear the truth ahead of time, we can leave pronto if "overflow" is undesirable.  We don't stand around anticipating a seat to the actual production only to be disappointed at show time, like we are at your house. 

National Archives, please contact colleagues at the Smithsonian. Thank you.

Sincerely,

A Wannabe Guest Who Stood in the Cold

patricialesli@gmail.com

Free organ concert Apr. 3 at St. John's, Lafayette Square

 

Benjamin Hutto, the director of music ministry and organist at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, and director of performing arts at St. Albans and National Cathedral Schools, will play Organ Treasures Old and New, an Easter recital of music by Bruhns, Handel, Stanford, Dubois in a free concert April 3 at St. John's.

Also in the program is Edward Hart's La Joie de Printemps (2012) which Mr. Hutto performed last year in its world premiere at Bethel Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C.  Mr. Hart teaches at the College of Charleston.

Benjamin Hutto, organist at St. John's, Lafayette Square

 

The concert will begin at 12:10 p.m. and end at 12:45 p.m.  It is part of the church's First Wednesday Concert Series which includes:

 

May 1: Alvy Powell, bass-baritone and Gershwin interpreter

June 5: Jeremy Filsell, artist-in-residence at the Washington National Cathedral, performing organ works by Bach, Dupre, and Rachmaninov

Nov. 6: Bianca Garcia and Michael Lodico performing Stephen Cabell's Kokopelliana (re-scheduled from last month's "snow day")

St. John's, known to many Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square, is often called the “Church of the Presidents.” Beginning with James Madison, president from 1809 to 1817, every president has either been a member of, or has attended services at St. John's, including the Obamas who worshipped here on Easter Sunday. A plaque at the rear of the church designates the Lincoln pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by St. John's during the Civil War. 
The concert is an excellent refresher and break from what normally may be a pressurized lunch.  Food trucks are located at nearby Farragut Square so you can "eat and run" back to the office.

Who:  Benjamin Hutto playing Organ Treasures Old and New

When: 12:10 p.m., April 3, 2013

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

How much:  No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square or Farragut North or West

Food trucks:  Located two blocks away at Farragut Square

For more information: 202-270-6265

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Dear National Gallery of Art: 'Tear down this wall'

 

The wall which screens a trailer at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art.  To the left is the Washington Monument and hiding in the trees on the right is the dome of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, all on the National Mall/Patricia Leslie

 

You know I love you, National Gallery of Art, or I wouldn't bring this up, but that old rotting, wooden fence on 7th which I've thought for years was temporary, is, for years, still there. The one that screens the landscaping equipment. The one with the ripped, chipped, buckling and peeling paint. It shows wear and tear. 

The warped and dilapidated fence at 7th and Madison at the corner of the West Building at the National Gallery of Art is an eyesore. The promotion on the fence promotes the current Color, Line, Light exhibition.  Have the Dykes seen this fence? Maybe a benefactor would pay to uproot it/Patricia LeslieDavid-Apollo couldn't take the feeble fence any more, and he left/Patricia Leslie

David-Apollo's maker would not approve, and, after seeing their furnishings, it's inconceivable the Kaufmans (a must-see, in the West Building) would hang around digs like this, but they are still there, waiting, I suppose, like the rest of us for this canker to heal.

The "privacy fence" at the West Building at the National Gallery of Art/Patricia Leslie

Have the Kaufmans seen this fence? May I suggest a "Friends of the Fence at the National Gallery of Art" to take it down/Patricia Leslie

It is so out-of-character for you, National Gallery of Art, contrasted with the beauty and glamour of your distinguished buildings and their contents!  This fence does not flow here.  It would flow at a junkyard in West Virginia (please excuse me, West Virginians, but you know what I mean). I don't think zoning laws permit junkyards within the confines of the District of Columbia.

It may look like a modern piece of art, but it's the deteriorating fence at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art/Patricia Leslie

Patricia Leslie

Since you are getting a face-lift at the East Building, can the doctors come down and uplift the old fence right outa there?   

The fence at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art/Patricia Leslie

I am surprised the National Park Service has not complained.  Are trailer parks allowed in D.C.?  Ones that stand for years? Did you know the trailer and fence show up as out-buildings on Google maps?

From a distance, the trailer, the peeling paint and age of the fence are not noticeable, so please stand back and do not look closely.  This is not a work of art/Patricia Leslie

What about planting some trees or big bushes as a privacy hedge? Your landscaping team does a magnificent job, but the fence, I imagine, is out of their hands.  

Your beauty is impinged by this eyesore. It's like the Mona Lisa with a band-aid across the corner of her chin.  It's time for the masters to come in and do their thing.  Surgeon:  Please heal this scar!

With deepest affection,
Patricia

I ask you:  Which is more attractive?  Greens or peeling paint? The vehicles and equipment could be stored at the U.S. Capitol which is usually empty most months of the year/Patricia Leslie

 

Greens and pieces of the Earth are more attractive than the eyesore of a fence which has been standing for years at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art/Patricia Leslie