Politics and sports: Proposed design for United Social Sports’ DC t-shirt.
At HBO Premiere of VEEP, Honesty is the Best Comedy
“Is it a good thing she’s one heartbeat from the presidency?” asked one reporter, speaking to Tony Hale (formerly of Arrested Development) of Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ character Selina Meyer — a former senator who reaches the prestigious yet (as she discovers) powerless office of Vice President in HBO’s newest comedy, VEEP.
“Um, no, she’s a total disaster.”
That no holds barred honesty characterizes the show — and Wednesday night’s DC premiere, held at the United States Institute of Peace — to a tee:
To see the rest of this post (originally published April 12, 2012) visit KStreetKate.net.
Greetings from DC!
Originally published on August 25, 2011 on We Love DC.
For fifteen years, the West-facing wall of Mama Ayesha’s restaurant on Calvert Street stood bricked and barren, save for a narrow painted banner of Middle Eastern desert. In 2007 it was time for a tune up, decided manager Mohammed Abu-El-Hawa, whose family has owned and operated the Adams Morgan icon since 1960.
Originally founded as Calvert Café by Ayesha Abraham, a Palestinian immigrant who arrived in Washington in the late ‘40s, the restaurant has “served ambassadors, foreign dignitaries, and U.S. officials,” according to its website, and found a regular in one DC institution in particular: reporter Helen Thomas.
The distinguished (and now controversial) White House correspondent seemed the perfect fit for his DC venue, and Abu-El-Hawa envisioned a mural of Ms. Thomas interviewing every president since the start of her career, beginning with Kennedy and on through, at the time, George W. Bush.
He just needed an artist.
Birthday Parties that (Make and) Take the Cake
Originally published in the January 2012 issue of The DC Family Source. Available online here.
Planning a birthday party? Chain-store pizza and boxed cake mixes are a thing of the past thanks to a new foodie trend in the DC-Metro area: cooking classes for kids. Children as young as four are taught to read recipes, wield whisks and bake cakes while older children might explore the makings of bruschetta or apple turnovers, all in preparation for a festive birthday meal.
“Children are visual and tactile learners,” says Maria Kopsidas, owner of Cookology Recreational Cooking School in Sterling. “They love to put together puzzles and stack building blocks or Legos into shapes… Cooking is much the same way.”
WHCD: The Pre-Parties
Originally published in K Street Kate on May 1, 2011.
Greeted by swarms of adoring fans, CIA agents and, of course, protestors (well, this is DC), hundreds of celebrity guests made their way down the red carpet yesterday to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, held at the Washington Hilton.
Considered to be Washington’s ‘Oscars,’ the event features an awards presentation honoring journalists and their work, as well as star entertainment. (This year, Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers was a keynote speaker.) And like the Oscars, the pre- and post-event parties are where to see and be seen.
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We Fight We Die: How The Disenfranchised #Occupy
Originally published on November 3, 2011 on We Love DC.
Jeff Kirkman III, Alexander Burton, Michael Rodriguez and Stanley Andrew Jackson III; Junesong Arts’ We Fight We Die. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.
Self-defined as representing the masses, it’s no surprise that a majority of Americans approve of the now-global “Occupy” movement—they understand it as the manifestation of desperation, a fight where compromise failed. Feeling powerless in the face of corporate greed and political corruption, hundreds of thousands are venting their anger in the most public, most drastic way possible: by taking to the streets.
But what about those who are neither among the wealthy one percent, nor among the “other ninety-nine”? That is, those truly at the bottom, for whom money-hungry CEOs and rotten Congressmen are perhaps the least of worries; for whom starvation, extreme cold, or gang violence are a much more real threat than losing healthcare or facing foreclosure. Where can they rally? How can they express themselves?
After watching Junesong Arts’ new stage production We Fight We Die, the answer may be that they, too, must occupy the streets…but with aerosol cans instead of pitchforks.
DC Graff: The Case for Open Walls (Part II)
Originally published on September 21, 2011 on We Love DC.
Just a few blocks from the Capitol South metro stop, alongside children tackling the jungle gyms and dogs chasing after Frisbees, Hill staffers play pick-up games of football and soccer on the greens of Garfield Park. Until a few years ago you might have caught a pick-up basketball game, too, at the cement-paved court nestled under the Southeast Freeway. But not so true anymore, ever since a group of young skateboarders discovered the court and claimed it as a skate park, installing improvised rails and ramps, decorating their domain with sneaker chandeliers and aerosol tags. “We had never had graffiti before” says Bill Phillips, President of Friends of Garfield Park, a community group that maintains the historic Capitol Hill locale. “We’d call the city and they’d paint it over and that did nothing but create a canvas for brand new graffiti.”
A canvas perfect for the work of Albus Cavus…
