July 4 Capitol Concert is dynamite

At the rehearsal of the 2013 July 4 Capitol Concert on July 3, Neil Diamond sang the premiere of his Freedom Song:  They'll Never Take Us Down composed in honor of the 2013 Boston Marathon victims, first responders, and the city's recovery. He also sang Sweet Caroline/Patricia Leslie

Not to miss on PBS tonight at 8 p.m. EST!

Washington, D.C. for all its bad has a lot of good at the U.S. Capitol, and one of the best is the July 4 Capitol concert which, after attending last night, I vow not to miss again.  It would be hard to top free Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, and John Williams performances, and Barry sang a lot more than an expected one or two patriotic songs.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington, the National Symphony Orchestra, the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band, cannons (the U.S. Army Presidential Salute Battery) and fireworks shot off behind the Congressional office buildings made the evening an unforgettable experience.  Bravo!

The next inaugural committee might consider hiring Barry Manilow who did not lip sync, but wowed thousands at the July 4, 2013 Capitol Concert rehearsal with his eternally energetic and distinctive voice.  He invited members of the crowd to join him in singing, and he held the microphone for some individuals to sing a few seconds of solo which delighted the audience and proved how magnetic his voice and stage presence are. Barry Manilow is 70 years old/Patricia Leslie 

(My friend says to me:  "Ah, um....isn't Barry Manilow kind of smaltzy?"  And I say to my friend:  "I wouldn't mind schmaltzing with him.")

Barry Manilow at the rehearsal of the 2013 July 4 Capitol Concert.  He sang I Write the Songs That Make the Young Girls Cry, It's a Miracle, Can't Smile Without You, Could It Be Magic?, Let Freedom Ring/Patricia Leslie

Members of the Broadway cast of Motown: The Musical sang Get Ready, but they weren't.  They were the only performers who exhibited lack of rehearsal for the rehearsal.  Behind the jumbotron is what looks like a jumbo pencil but is the Washington Monument under repair/Patricia Leslie

Michelle Obama might do well to use Darren Criss in her Move It! weight loss campaign for it was easy for him to get audience members on their feet and shaking tail feathers with his dynamic Shout! backed up by Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music/Patricia Leslie

At the foot of the steps to the U.S. Capitol it was hard to keep still when Darren Criss belted out Shout!/Patricia Leslie

Jackie Evancho sang an electric Star-Spangled Banner.  Other performers were Christopher Martin, Megan Hilty, Scotty McCreery, and Candice Glover/Patricia Leslie

This is what the stage looked like about 75 minutes before show time/Patricia Leslie

Union Station was bedecked in July 4 regalia/Patricia Leslie

Before the concert rehearsal started, these folks at the foot of the U.S. Capitol steps did what Washingtonians like to do: read, eat, and lay on concrete to stake out space and rest before the really big show/Patricia Leslie

The view from the Capitol steps/Patricia Leslie

The Embassy of Canada celebrates July 4 with Canadian flags/Patricia Leslie

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'Book dating' in Reston

Book dating at the Reston Public Library/Patricia Leslie

At the Reston Public Library's "book dating" night, the ratio of women to men was about 3 - 1, per the D.C. norm, but I don't think sex was on the minds of attendees too much. It was books which drew us together.

Books and more books.

The event worked rather like musical chairs, except no chairs were removed, and we spent four minutes chatting about our book loves with the stranger seated across from us.  (The inner circle of fans moved, while those of us in the outer lines stayed put.) 

Friends of the Reston Public Library and Harris Teeter provided treats/Patricia Leslie

Three minutes was the initial time allotted for each "couple" to discuss books, but that rapidly gave way to four minutes which the group, about 40, requested,  and the librarians quickly agreed.  (The fantastic librarians were not only skillful event planners, but listeners and order takers, too.) 

I took two from my current crop of library books to share and was definitely in the minority since everyone I talked with brought their own personal books which I found shocking.  No library users at the library?  (No e-readers were mentioned or spotted.  After all, what would you show?  "Here, have a look at my screen.")

Finally, I met some people who read spiritual books, sci fi, self-help, and contemporary fiction (and admit it), and all of them knew who Pat Summitt is and a few knew a little about Peter the Great.  (Yes, he was 6'7" and had a tic.)

Ages ranged from early 20s to 70s, I would say, and people came from as far away as Manassas, another shocker.  One woman, a very attractive 40-year-old or so with long, dark hair, said she's a member of four (!) book clubs and never goes out because she'd rather read.  She had read every book I mentioned, I think.  She likes all genres!

Probably the best benefit to me, besides learning there really are people who read contemporary fiction, was introduction to a woman from eastern Europe who gave me tips about visiting Russia and securing a visa.  Good grief!  It's no wonder Edward Snowden is stuck in the Moscow airport.  He's probably still running around in circles trying to figure out how much money to pay, where to pay it, and filling in all those security sheets.   Like, trying to remember the name of your first grade classmate who sat beside you and was suspended for attaching chewing gum to the bottom of her chair. 

But, back to books:  Smiles all around at the library revealed a good time was had by all.  The Tysons regional branch hosted a similar event a couple of months ago. 

Thank you, Fairfax County Public Libraries!  I love you!

P.S.  Come to think of it, I saw no wedding bands.  So, maybe, some came for more than books?

Book reviews in Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are too similar

William Fields, Alabama, 1936, by Walker Evans/Library of Congress

Is it just me who found it odd that the weekend book reviews in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post about the just published Cotton Tenants: Three Families by James Agee and Walker Evans started with the same five words and used the same quotes?

Daniel Stashower wrote the review for the Post and Cameron McWhirter wrote for the Journal, and this is how their first sentences begin:

"In the summer of 1936..." with "the 26-year-old" Agee.

Quoting Agee, here are the (practically) identical quotes the reviewers used:

"A civilization which for any reason puts a human life at a disadvantage; or a civilization which can exist only by putting human life at a disadvantage; (… Post) is worthy neither of the name nor ("or" Post) of continuance. And a human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea."

And this one, quoting Agee describing one of the farmer subjects, Frank Tingle:

"Crepe (the Journal uses a small "c") forehead, monkey eyebrows, slender nearly boneless nose, vermillion gums.  A face pleated and lined elaborately as a Japanese mask; its skin the color of corpsemeat."

It is perplexing that the same quotes appear, but maybe they are the ones on the blurb, or in the publicist's promotion which leads one (me) to wonder: Did the reviewers read the book? I haven't seen it, so maybe it's mostly photos, and there is little written content to quote. The book has 224 pages.

Whatever, the sameness is disturbing.  It's like competing dance reviewers picking out 30 seconds of a ballerina's pirouette and focusing on it.  Maybe Rupert Murdoch owns the Post, too, and Edward Snowden will reveal same.

I checked the New York Times and couldn't find a review there other than a review of how the manuscript was discovered and the process which led to the book's publication. 

Yes, according to the Post and the Journal, the book is well worth reading, and I've signed up for it at my favorite public library, Fairfax County's.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Drone art at the Corcoran

Drones at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum/Patricia Leslie

An art exhibit on drones closes July 7.
 

At the Corcoran Gallery of Art recently, about 100 turned out to hear Londoner James Bridle, artist, writer, and humanist, deliver a talk, “A Quiet Disposition,” about his self education on drones.  It was the launch for Mr. Bridle's exhibit on "unmanned aerial vehicles," which, among other things, are used to kill, herd livestock, help with land surveys, and assist in fire and crime prevention.

Five research-based projects form the basis of the show which include digital installations and training tools to identify drones.  Mr. Bridle, 33, coined the term new aesthetic.

With its proximity to the White House, the Corcoran makes an excellent drone art site at the corner of 17^th and E where Mr. Bridle, with the aid of Corcoran staff, outlined a drone's silhouette. He is replicating drone sizes and educating people about them around the world. 

At the Corcoran's corner at 17th and E streets with a drone shadow outlined on the sidewalk.  Across the street and to the left are White House grounds/Corcoran Gallery of Art

A drone's shadow in Istanbul, 2012/James Bridle

In his talk Mr. Bridle presented drone images and information, part of his expanding knowledge about them, all of which he obtained from public sources.  

James Bridle speaking at the Corcoran Gallery of Art with a photograph he created. Public photographs of drones firing weapons are not available...unless, unless...Mr. Snowden?/Patricia Leslie

 

 

Rather than an angry mob burning an effigy at the stake, Pakistanis were pictured burning a drone in a photograph Mr. Bridle put up on the screen along with a headline from the Washington Post about America's "kill lists." [One estimate numbers drone attacks in Pakistan over nine+ years to be more than 350.  The number of deaths range from about 2,000 to 3,300.]
 

A lack of visual sense of what drones do is unsettling, Mr. Bridle said, whereas battlefield engagements are photographed and can be widely available.  This is "not a local issue," he said. "These are everywhere." 

The Smithsonian label says this one, the "Predator," flew 196 reconnaissance and attack missions over Afghanistan.  Designed for combat, it also "served" over Iraq and the Balkans/Patricia Leslie

 

 

[In the U.S. 42 state legislatures have debated their use, and six states have enacted drone laws. Click here for a report by the ACLU.]  

 

 

Before his talk Mr. Bridle visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to check out its drones, a visit which he found “a deeply strange experience.” 

This drone, now an "antique," retired in 1999.  It's the RQ-3A "DarkStar," reminiscent of a giant stingray in the sky/Patricia Leslie

 

 

Mr. Bridle has initiated what he terms “dronestagrams” to record drone locations and strikes.  The results are not perfect but fairly close to reality, he said.

 

 

When the military considered honoring drone operators with a medal to be ranked higher than the Purple Heart, veterans objected.  After all, the operators guide their strikes from inside air-conditioned trailers hundreds or thousands of miles away from battlefields where troops fight, die, and are maimed.  However, Mr. Bridle said drone operators experience higher levels of stress. 

This is the X-45A, the first modern UAV, which flew 40 sorties, now at the Air and Space Museum.  Overheard at the museum:  A man said to his wife:  "Honey, come and look.  Here's what they spying on us with."/Patricia Leslie

The X-45A has two weapons bays/Patricia Leslie

Looking up at the X-45A/Patricia Leslie

“What interests the public is not necessarily in the interest of the public,” said Mr. Bridle. 

 

 

After Mr. Bridle's talk he answered questions from the audience, and then everyone walked over to a lovely reception in Gallery 31, the drone site at the Corcoran. It is not a huge show, but an enlightening one where you’ll learn something about drones. It sent me straight to the Air and Space Museum and scared me out of my wits.  What's left.

 

After a lapse of several years of dormancy while it debated mission and location, it is exciting to see the Corcoran come to life again, with an invigorated staff and events and to know it’s staying put, not to be converted to a hotel or drone landing pad at the White House.  

 

 

Welcome, Corcoran, to the new Drone World!  While you were napping, strange things were happening, and even stranger things now.  Please stand by.

 

 

Also at the Corcoran through September 29: War/Photography:  Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath.

What:  A Quiet Disposition

When:  Through July 7, Wednesday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., with a late closing on Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

Where: Corcoran College of Art and Design and Gallery of Art, 500 17th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006

How much:  Gallery 31 is free, and the Corcoran's Gallery of Art is free on Saturday (in the summer) and on other days (the Corcoran is closed on Monday and Tuesday) admission is $10.75 for students and seniors, and $12.75 for adults via Ticketmaster

For more information: 202-639-1700

Metro stations:  Farragut North or Farragut West

patricialesli@gmail.com

A star-studded evening at the National Symphony Orchestra

Jean-Yves Thibaudet/Cincinnati Symphony.org

 

How was I so lucky to be able to attend the best performance of the year by the National Symphony Orchestra?  Or, at least, of the six concerts I heard?

My $11 seat three rows from the front at the Kennedy Center Friday night on the "piano side" was equivalent to a 50-yard chair when the Redskins play Dallas. 

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, born in Lyon, France in 1961 and "one of today's most sought after soloists," according to the program which quotes verbatim from his website, did dazzle with his performance of Camille Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103, "Egyptian."  His fingers raced up and down the keyboard faster than a fan's blades turn in summer, and the magical music we heard coming from the piano was truly astonishing, given the pounding inflected upon it by Thibaudet. He was up and down from the bench so frequently one guesses he never need exercise.

At the end the crowd roared, and the pianist, who has played around the world for three decades and recorded more than 50 albums, returned to the stage for three encores which ended the first part of the program.

At intermission in the aisle was a woman, about 80, complimenting Thibaudet's performance:  "I've traveled around the world," she said, and it was about time the National Symphony put on a really good show.  "Shut up," said the man (her husband?) as he guided her up the aisle with his hands on her shoulders.  "No one wants to hear you!"  (I was taken aback, more by him than by her.)

It was a spectacular evening, beginning with Edvard Grieg's familiar Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, and ending with Witold Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra. 

Krzysztof Urbanski was the guest conductor

 

The guest conductor making his NSO debut was Krzysztof Urbanski, the music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the chief conductor for the Trondheim Symfoniorkester and the principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony. Quite the showman himself who has won many awards and conducted all of Poland's major orchestras, Urbanski, age 29, was a a danseur at the podium to watch him weave and wave the baton and urge the orchestra to follow his commands.  His modern, upswept hair style might be worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Meanwhile,  Thibaudet's wardrobe, the program noted, was designed by Vivienne Westwood.  It included a diamond oblong belt buckle of about 2.5 by 1.5 inches, a diamond-filled emerald cut brooch (about 2 by 1 inches) hanging from a necklace, and a single diamond-studded earring. A black satin jacket and black patent-leather shoes complemented his score.

 

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Another day on the National Mall

Lynda Farley of Edmonton, Kentucky stopped traffic on the National Mall Wednesday with her message about smokers' rights/Patricia Leslie

 

On the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol before several thousand Wednesday, Michele Bachmann waxed poetic into a microphone for a few minutes about the evils of the Internal Revenue Service.  Mrs.Bachmann went to work for the IRS after she finished law school so she could work inside the enemy and find out exactly what was going on, she exclaimed to the throng.  (Then, why did it take her 20 years to reveal her discovery?)

Tea Partiers covered the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday and listened to Michele Bachmann, among others, talk about the evil of taxes. President Ulysses S. Grant presided from his horse (on the left)/Patricia Leslie

 

Save the world, Michele Bachmann shall!  But not from her seat in the U.S. Congress since she's quitting.

 

A van with a message/Patricia Leslie

 

Meanwhile, a little further west, beyond the Capitol Reflecting Pool and parked on Third Street was a well-decorated (every spare inch) minivan occupied by Lynda Farley of Farley Road in Edmonton, Kentucky. 

Mrs. Farley's vehicle gained some attention on the Mall Wednesday/Patricia Leslie

 

 

Mrs. Farley, an advocate for smokers' rights, sat in the driver's seat puffing away on one cigarette after another, and giving to anyone who stopped at the passenger's window for a few seconds, a little American flag with her website printed on the wooden stick:  libertyvan. com.

 

Lynda Farley of Edmonton, Kentucky, funds her smokers' rights campaign with money from retirement and inheritance/Patricia Leslie

 

She has taken her smokers' rights message to 49 state capitols (Fairbanks, Alaska is the exception) and put more than 367,000 miles on her car ("two engines!") but a traffic citation for "books on my dashboard!" will keep her in Washington at least through her court appearance on Friday.

A dashboard of books violates the law in Washington, D.C./Patricia Leslie

 

(First we have national surveillance of every email and phone call we make. Next, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to inspect every morsel of food New Yorkers discard, in addition to checking trash, and that's just the beginning!  The government wants our light bulbs, and you better watch out for your coffee before it's taxed or banned, and now, it’s books we read!  Or pile on our dashboards.  Just like Orwell wrote about in 1984 whose sales, by the way, are up 3,000 percent ever since the national surveillance story broke.  Thank you very much, Edward Snowden.)

 

Anyway, Mrs. Farley, who left her husband at home with the dogs (18 Afghans which they breed), said the traffic cop tried to give her a ticket for obscured rear visibility until Mrs. Farley pointed out she has special cameras to show the view of the rear, so the traffic cop cited her for a crowded book dashboard, instead.  (Try Googling that.  And, if they wanna get you, they're gonna get you.  After all, this is a police state.)

"Look," said the tourist.  "Do you see what I see?" An large metal eagle with wings spread, and other items, on the minivan's attached wagon/Patricia Leslie

 

 

“Look,” said Mrs. Farley, lighting up another weed and proudly showing her copy of Rand Paul’s new book, Government Bullies, to an inquisitor:  “It’s autographed.”

 

A line of antique cars on the Mall piqued interest/Patricia Leslie

 

 

A few feet away and lined up on the Mall's gravel path were antique cars for passersby to photograph and envy. Nearby, the cars’ owners sat in lawn chairs on the grass or milled about while they piled hot dog lunches on paper plates.  They seemed somewhat dazed by all the activity and the Mall's competing factors.

 

Identification on this car said Dodge, but it looked like a Rolls Royce/Patricia Leslie

Little do they know what goes on here every day.  It's a great place to be. On the National Mall. 

God love it!

And us!

And them.

God bless the USA.

Anybody here old enough to remember the Corsair?/Patricia Leslie

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Friday night's jazz scene at the Sculpture Garden

Deanna Bogart and her band at the National Gallery's Sculpture Garden/Patricia Leslie

Every Friday!

I tell you:  Every Friday!  We've got to be there.
 

Good vibes, drink, ambience, people, people.

Dance with me, Henry.

All right, baby/Patricia Leslie

So what if all those country people are over at the National Building Museum whoopin’ and a’hollerin’. We got class at the Jazz Sculpture Garden.  Like last Friday when Deanna Bogurt and her band played the blues and jazz and her brand of "blusion."  We had a gooood time.

“Darlin’, that one’s mine! Don’t even think about taking a sip!”

 

“Oh, okay. Don’t we have enough for us each to have a pitcher?”/Patricia Leslie

If stretched from end to end, the legs of Louise Bourgeois's Spider, 1996, might equal the length of the beer line seen beyond/ Patricia Leslie

Ouch! Blisters and band-aids, all for the love of beauty in the beer line. What means comfort at a free jazzfest?/Patricia Leslie

 Chains on wheels? Or chains on heels? You got'em!/Patricia Leslie

 

The presiding officer of the day was President George Washington who held court from on high/Patricia Leslie

 

"Lovey, do you think there are sharks in this pond?"

"Silly, they only swim on Capitol Hill."/Patricia Leslie

She just looks like she's holding Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen's Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, 1999.  Does anyone here know what a typewriter eraser is? Or was?/Patricia Leslie

What better place to look at your newest National Gallery of Art catalogue than in the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden with good food and drink and sunshine to brighten your day?Patricia Leslie

What’s with Men in Red all of a sudden?/Patricia Leslie

A line at the men's room, I declare/Patricia Leslie

Whoops!  Wardrobe!  I want wardrobe!/Patricia leslie

 

Across the street National Archives watches with envy/Patricia Leslie

 

Upcoming Jazz Sculpture Garden programs run from 5 - 8 p.m.:

Hendrik Meurkens, June 21

Swingtopia, June 28

Ernest "EC3" Coleman and Friends, July 5

Juanita Williams, July 12

Euphonasia, July 19

Incendio, July 26

Brian Simms, August 2

Josh Bayer, August 9

Doc Scantlin's Palmettos, August 16

Dixie Power Trio, August 23

Bruno Nasta (jazz violin) and the U.S. Navy Commodores Jazz Ensemble, August 30

 

Where:  The Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art at the corner of 7th and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

 

How much:  No charge for admission

 

Food and beverages:  Available at the Garden and may be brought in with the exception of alcoholic beverages which may be purchased. Guards check bags.

 

Metro stations  Federal Triangle, Smithsonian, or Archives-Navy Memorial

 

For more information:  202-289-3360

 

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