The Movie: "Man on Wire"

92 critics can't be wrong.

Are you familiar with the "tomatometer"? The film critics' site, "Rotten Tomatoes"? Few movies score 100% on the "tomatometer" which means "thumbs up" by all participating critics, and "Man on Wire" is one!

Go see it! Just fantastic.

The story, the score, the tension, the everything.

A documentary and thoroughly entertaining. Not a chick flick; not for the squeamish or "fluff bunnies," or acrophobics. You will grip your seat; you will gasp; you will laugh. Although you know the ending, your palms still sweat.

Philippe Petit's "words of wisdom" at the end are worth the price of admission. And if you are curious about the construction of the World Trade Center towers, many scenes of their construction are screened throughout.

Bravo, Philippe Petit, the star, James Marsh, director, and Michael Nyman, music director! I can't wait to buy the CD.

The Movie: 'Mamma Mia'

Moviegoers and Mama lovers, this is not for those who've seen it on stage. Yes, it is as bad as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CBS reviewers claim.

The theatre version is so lovable, you want the movie to entertain and enthrall like the play, but, alas, movies are seldom as good as the stage, and this one follows the pattern.

My cousin called it “camp.” Yes, it is “camp” all right. It is so camp that audience laughter is rampant when Pierce Brosnan sings. Especially in "S.O.S." He was a super trouper to have tried this and must have earned money, money, money for taking the chance. Meryl Streep's singing is almost as bad. The girl (“Sophie,” Amanda Seyfried) has a stunning voice, the only one which works on a professional level.

If you can put aside your musical ears and take a chance on it, you may likely spend a pleasant two hours if you paid the matinee price. And if you are a chick, for “Mamma Mia” is strictly a “chick flick.”

My pal, Rita Faye called it “the best movie I’ve ever seen in my life!” Well, you can only imagine what she has seen (or not seen).

Despite all the criticism that the female stars are too old, their ages made no difference to these dancing queens.

There’s no need to pluck the plot since there isn’t one. You’re reading this since you like “Abba,” right? That’s the plot. Beware: The songs will stick to your mind like brain plaque.

Location expenses will win the Oscar for the lowest location costs for a large-scale movie, since 95 percent of it takes place in a Grecian urn, whoops, Grecian inn. Dear reader, the money saved was not used on voice lessons. It's only money, money, money, honey, honey.

Must reading: The Times’ review by A. O. Scott. (Link above.) It is one of the best movie reviews and should by studied by theatre students everywhere. You need to laugh out loud? Take a read.


In Santa Fe on a Monday night, the audience was a respectable 50 persons or so. Not bad for a camp out night. Based on the number of theatres still showing it locally several weeks after opening, the winner got it all. Thank you for the music.

Crime at the Nats Game

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon yesterday to take my out-of-town family to a Nats game and join friends. For unprofessional fans, our seats were great! Section 202 in the shade on a hot day.


It was our first visit to the glorious new stadium and everything went well, even spreading out with stroller, grand baby, and daughter at the nearby concrete platform with railing to watch the game from a distance and enjoy our picnic of Nats' dogs, chicken wings, fries, water and cold beer.


Everybody was happy and the Nats won! 4-2 vs. Cincinnati. My 16-month-old grandson clapped his little hands and shouted with the crowd.


My pleasure in ball games involves dogs, beer, good conversation, and an occasional look out on the field to see what's going on. I went for my last and second beer of the day to a nearby food stand and gave the cashier $20.50 for a Bud Lite (yes, no Happy Hour pricing), and she gave me $13.00 in change. She then picked up the $1 bills from the drawer, leafed through them, finding a $10 bill in the 1s, and stuffed about $12 in her right shorts pocket. Then she stooped and stayed hidden by the counter top.


Should I have reported it right then and there? To whom? Caused a commotion at the bottom of the sixth in the stands? I pondered: If the transaction was recorded in receipts, and several people have access to the cash drawer, who is charged with stealing? Is anyone? Or are shortages common? It would be easy to avoid ringing up cash purchases by pouring beer from the tap. Who would know? Perhaps employees are instructed to stuff bills in their pockets when the till gets full. Calling Mr. Ethicist.


The government money crimes in D.C. are unceasing and revolting.


Last year I boarded bus 5A at Dulles en route home and watched the bus driver stand and collect $3 in cash from each rider. If exact change is required, why was the bus driver collecting it? I thought drivers were not supposed to handle cash. I reported that one.

Classy Contemporary Art at Zenith's Alternative Gallery

By the Queen of Free

The new show, “Reincarnations,” which has opened in the lobby, the “Sculpture Space,” at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue is not to be missed. So much to love!

Curated by Linda and Steven Krensky for Zenith Gallery, the show’s stated description is: "Mixed media works created from found objects” and recycled materials.

It is so much more than anticipated and entertaining in every way.

There's a full-scale woman with a school bus as part of her arm on a discarded bicycle, multiple glass lens from sunglasses which hang like wind chimes , rows of combs, lamps, sculptures, musical instruments. It is all marvelous and serves up much to an art lover on any scale to savor and admire the creativity and genius of the participating artists.

Caitlin Phillips made handbags from books. “Cleo,” the cat is made up of blue and gold ceramic pieces by SuAnne Lasher. A “room” at the entrance of the exhibit almost becomes part of the office building itself, until closer inspection from a distance (what ?) reveals old, recycled signs are its walls, providing enlightenment. (Sorry, I didn't get the artist's name! To add.)

Jane Pettit’s sculptures including a mermaid and three frogs made of mosaic tiles at the end of the space deserve to be moved out further in the gallery to allow visitors distance to more easily admire both sides.

Kristin Eager Killion, John Pack, Randall Cleaver, and Irma Spencer are some of the other 43 artists who participate.

At the crammed opening Wednesday evening, it was an “avant-garde” (or as much as one can be described in stuffy Washington, D.C.), mostly older Baby Boomer crowd who loved it all (or most of it anyway) and seeing old friends and artists in a welcoming venue, the lobby of an office building (or what appears to be a lobby). How refreshing to be around an "event" in D.C. where the majority of the crowd was older than 30. Anyway...

The show is open until September 28 on weekdays (office building hours from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m., or “on weekends by appointment”; call 202-783-2963).

Prices for all pieces are listed. Were there any "NFS"? As usual, I found myself wishing that my income was much bigger so that I might buy a piece or two.

The press release says some of the artists are college-trained, and others, self-taught. Whatever! The pieces serve to pique the mind in wonderful ways. I shall return!

Smithsonian Class V: Christianity: Holy Pilgrimages

It is likely because I am a Christian and am more familiar with its “sacred sites” than the other religions, that I found the “Christianity” lecture to be the least interesting of the five presented by the
Smithsonian Associates in its "Sacred Spaces and Spiritual Journeys” series.

It was not that Anthony Tambasco, professor of theology at Georgetown University who gave the last lecture, was boring or tedious in any way. Far from it. My eagerness to learn a little about the Islamic faith and Buddhism were factors, and I was least attracted to Christianity. Anyway!

He showed class members 60 slides of sites and maps of the Christian faith, providing as much detail as 90 minutes (with questions) would allow. If you can’t go to these “sacred places,” seeing them in color photographs with a bit of their background explained by a renowned teacher is certainly a satisfactory substitute.

Professor Tambasco divided “Christian Pilgrimage” into segments: "Life As A Journey"; "Prayer, Petition, and Praise"; "Penance"; "Purification"; "Rededication"; and "Imitation."
With “prayer” Christians need to ask for healing, he said. “Penance” includes the hardships and choices Christians make during the “pilgrimage of life” while “purification” acknowledges sinfulness, confession, and renewal.

Byzantine Christians selected many of the Christian sites which lay atop former Byzantine churches, Professor Tambasco said. The size and scope of the land Jesus traveled was actually not that big. Professor Lambrusco pointed to a map of Jesus' travels from Galilee to Jerusalem to Golgotha off and on throughout his lecture.



The supposed site of Jesus' birth is now “very touristy,” and it is a difficult place to pray because of the numbers of people, yet the mountain of the “Sermon on the Mount” now managed by Italian nuns, is quite peaceful and better for prayer.

Locations where Jesus performed miracles (Capernaum, the Tomb of Lazarus) were shown. Each gospel describes a different itinerary for Jesus, Dr. Tambasco said. John’s writings tell of Jesus’ ministry over three years; the others, only 1.5 years.

It is amazing that so many sites, and/or portions of them, remain. Some, like the sites of the House of the Last Supper and the Garden of Olives are not certain, yet the supposed locations approximate the actual places, Professor Tambasco said.

The sepulcher where Jesus' body was placed is generally accepted as the right location.

Suggested readings Professor Tambusco listed were his own, In the Days of Jesus: The Jewish Background and Unique Teaching of Jesus, and The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor.

Would I sign up for the series again? Without a doubt. A new acquaintance said she and her husband would not, however, and she suggested an outline at the beginning of the series would have been helpful. Agreed.

Mark Russell at the Omni

Mark Russell for $20 ($22 with tax).

Yes, he’s worth it, political aficionados.

At the Omni Shoreham Hotel on Calvert Street…two shows every Monday night, at 7 and at 9.

For about 75 minutes (show started promptly on time when we went) he regaled the crowd in the private, masculine (but don’t let that deter you, ladies; the crowd was half men and half women) bar named after him where he plays the piano while telling jokes and singing original lyrics to the tunes of familiar numbers.

No politician escapes, especially Joe Lieberman, featured the day we went on the front page of the New York Times, and the New Yorker for its non-satirical cover everyone was talking about.

Barbs were cast on both sides of the aisle.

Samples:

“Where will John McCain place his hand to take the oath of office?
Atop the New Yorker.”

“When Democrats tell lies before Congress, it’s called ‘perjury’;
when Republicans tell lies before Congress, it’s called ‘State of the Union.’”

The baby boomers? Who cares about the likes of them? Everybody! What a nation of whiners, indeed! (Mark Russell, a baby boomer – NOT, complained about the lack of attention he’s received: “Nobody cared about me when I turned 60,” he boomed. Wikipedia says he is 75.)

As a sure sign that Buzh is OUT, there were few wisecracks made about him, but, lo, Hillary and Bill? Aplenty.

McCain’s age? Sure. Obama’s ‘flip-flops’? Yes.

An attentive waitstaff serves drinks ($$; it is the Omni), and there is plentiful (free) popcorn.

The night we originally wanted to go was sold out, and when we got a reservation a week later, the bar was about half filled with tourists and residents (he asked), ages from teens to 90-somethings. (True! One in my group, 90, could pass for 70-something.)

For a few bucks, it’s an evening’s pleasure to spend with your political friends in a beautiful setting, the Omni, and hear content which will make even the silent, howl.

Rocking out with The Rev. Al Green !

If you like only two notes of Al Green's music, you won't be hurting to rush, rush to his nearest concert. What a stupendous, captivating, magnificent show The Rev. Green gave at Wolf Trap Tuesday night.

The Washington Post story by J. Freedom du Lac pretty well ignored the reaction of the crowd and the pure delight we experienced with nonstop dancing at our seats and in the aisles at what was likely a sold out show.

We rocked, we danced, we clapped, we swayed to the beat, we sang along, we threw our hands up in the air. Seats? Not needed.

The music! Goodness gracious! We sang along with most everything, and Al and the crowd didn’t seem to care since his voice was so loud and melodious it wiped ours out: “Love and Happiness,” “Let’s Stay Together,” "Here I Am," other big ones; a dash of Otis, the Four Tops, the Temptations, and some new ones from his latest album, “Lay It Down.” Oh, my.

The mood and sounds of the combination of the happy, enthusiastic crowd and The Rev. Green singing “Amazing Grace” is too difficult for me to describe. I’ve got to rush out and get his gospel recordings before they sell out.

If it can be believed, The Reverend's voice is better than decades ago, and he can still reach those way high notes and hold them forever.

A tuxedo, the Post said? Not the traditional tuxedo you might expect from the word but a fancy three-piece suit, with vest, lavender shirt and matching tie.

Throughout the evening, the Rev. Green frequently took off the jacket, only to put it right back on. He came out in long white (nylon?) gloves which he kept on for about a third of the performance before he threw them out to the crowd. He wore sunglasses which he never removed.

And the roses! Has anyone told you about the roses? All night he threw out long-stemmed red roses to the females close to the stage. And kissed some of the adoring women. (The terrific photo by Richard Lipski in the Post story is worth a look.)

His band included two female vocalists, three men on electric guitar, an organist, a pianist on electric keyboard, two horns, one sax player, and two percussionists. That this was an entourage from a minister was obvious since the females wore no skimpy, revealing costumes but dull suits with pants. You would have thought they were lively K Street types.

The two dancers on stage were young males who perfectly performed their choreography synchronistically and often changed outfits.

The Rev. Green frequently moped his brow, and the perspiration twinkled in the lights and in the night, much like the stars in abundance on the heavenly night.

The evening began right on time with a 45-minute set by jazz, blues, and folk guitarist and composer Amos Lee, a former elementary school teacher, who was interviewed this morning on NPR's Weekend Edition by Scott Simon.