HOLLYWOOD ON THE POTOMACRules, blackouts and bees...
while two legends hold court
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Looking for Art Buchwald? Dial party
central...
Ever since the perpetual funny man checked
into Upton Street's Washington Hospice, the community
room resembles a casting call's dream featuring Ben
Bradlee, The Kennedys, Jim Lehrer, Diane Rehm,
Myra MacPherson and interviews with Brian Williams,
Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw, to name a fistful. All the world's a stage and
no one knows that better than "Artie", as he is known to his friends. The
revolving door ushers in a daily cornucopia of colorful characters creating
serial marquee moments and he loves it, despite the fact that he has denied life
prolonging dialysis and is ready to take his schick elsewhere. After authoring a
zillion books and columns, the Pulitzer winning, self-deprecating satirist told
People Magazine: "Dying is easy, parking is impossible." Happy in his defiance
of nature and always on his game, he continues to reiterate: "I'll Always Have
Paris." And we, of course, will always have Artie.
Across town, it was no laughing matter!
It
was not a belated April
Fools Day joke when the Dirksen building was evacuated on the 3rd of April,
minutes after the lights went out. Although interrupted by the warning, that didn't
stop Golden Globe winner and two-time Oscar nominated actor Ed Norton,
who was in town shooting "24 Hrs", from continuing the kick-off briefing for
National Public Health Week. "If there was ever an issue that Republicans and
Democrats should be able to agree on, it should be creating healthy communities
for American children," said Norton, unfettered by the circumstances.
Some visitors got little more than a few minutes to leave the premises
before mild pandemonium broke out and sent visitors into blackness.
Taking their cue from Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia),
who got into an incident with the Capitol police recently over not
showing her I.D., everyone remained calm, cool, collected and willingly
showed theirs.
Who rules America? Jr's, IIIs and IVs
At the AFI Silver Docs premiere
of "The American Ruling Class", retiring editor of Harpers Magazine and
now documentarian, Lewis Latham was joined by director John Kirby and
producer Libby Handross as they explored the oft taboo subject of class, power
and privilege in a democratic republic. Unlike Court TV's Dominique Dunne's
"Power, Privilege and Justice" that covers the dark side of the rich and powerful,
Latham explores how they get there in the first place by following two recent Yale
graduates, one rich, one poor. A complicated interwoven scenario ensues where
each grad struggles with the responsibility of power. Casting included Walter
Cronkite, Kurt Vonnegut, Pete Seeger, Hodding Carter III, Harold Brown,
The New York Times' Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and William H. Haft IV.
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Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
According to
Dictionary.com, it's the longest word in the English language; so if you are
trying to win The Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship, you may want
to check it out. That's what Keke Palmer (Akeelah Anderson) did in Lionsgate's
"Akeelah and the Bee", which was screened recently at an event organized
by Reel Progress and The Center for American Progress. The feel good film
follows Akeelah, a precocious eleven-year-old minority girl from Los Angeles
with an aptitude for words (think "Karate Kid" meets "Jeopardy"). Palmer, along
with director/writer Doug Atchison and actor/producer Laurence Fishburne
took part in the post-screening Q&A. Said Fishburne: "I loved the script, I loved
the character, I loved the story but was saddened by the fact that there weren't a
lot of people that had come forward to finance it. So, I threw my hat in."
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All the King's men
Larry King proved he can pull an audience off screen as
well at his Annual Cardiac Foundation Gala where guests included Larry Jr.,
brother Marty Zeiger, producers (Sheik) Nile Rodgers and (Angela's Ashes)
David Brown, coach Joe Gibbs, Redskins owner Dan Snyder, artist Bill
Dunlap, honoree Joe Robert and singer Quincy Jones. But it was singer/
songwriters Denise Rich, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, and Shawn King
that claimed the night as well as Cosmopolitan lady Helen Gurley Brown.
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Take Two
He may have left his heart in San Francisco years ago, but he
sure got it back in time to share it with friends, admirers, colleagues and
Congressional members last month that included Charlie Rangel (D-NY),
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas),
Gene Green (D-Texas), Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and Clay Shaw (R-Fla.) at an
all star musical tribute in his honor at The Cannon House Office Building
hosted by The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. So
what's with all the Texans? "We appreciate good music, good artists," said
Congressman Charlie Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat of course.