Saturday, March 16, 2024

Still Life with Robin: Bear gang steals trash can from Connecticut driveway

 by Peggy Robin

 
I was so excited when I saw this Fox News video in one of my newsfeeds. I read the headline, "Bear gang steals trashcan from Connecticut driveway," and noted what I thought was a local TV news station as the source, and jumped to the conclusion that the driveway in question was for a house somewhere in our area, providing a way for cars to exit or enter from Connecticut Avenue. Maybe not in DC, but it seemed plausible that the location was in the far reaches of Silver Spring, MD, where there are plenty of single family houses with driveways that go straight to Connecticut Avenue (like, say, this one).
 
So I clicked on the video - https://www.fox13news.com/news/bear-gang-steals-trash-can-from-connecticut-driveway? - and immediately discovered that the "Connecticut" in the headline referred to the New England state, not our local thoroughfare. But the footage is so amazing, I had to post it here anyway.

After last year's Brookland Bear, we know that our ex-urban, woodland neighbors may wander into town now and again. And we do have some mighty tempting, fragrant, and accessible trash cans!
 
Just look at the way they move that thing!! BEAR-y IMPRESSIVE (groan!)


[Note: This version is not the original clip from Fox news but a version edited for better lighting and effects, posted on Youtube by ABC News] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rFC-EamO0hg]
 
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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Get Out! Travel to "Ireland on the Wharf" on Saturday, March 16 (St Patrick's Day minus One)

by Peggy Robin


The Wharf and Kirwan's Irish Pub are bringing the luck of the Irish to the waterfront with our free Ireland at The Wharf festival! Enjoy all the fun of a true Irish festival with Guinness beer, whiskey, bands, rugby and so much more. 

All ages welcome, must be 21+ to consume alcohol. Slainte!

☘️ EVENT SCHEDULE:

12:00 PM — Guinness Beer Gardens open on District Pier and Transit Pier! Also visit the DC Lottery tent on Wharf Street near The Watering Hole to spin the wheel and win prizes. Located at the top of District Pier, visit the WAFF tent to enter to win club level tickets to an upcoming home Capitals game. Raffle tickets are $24 each.

12:00 PM — Irish dance performances by the Boyle School of Irish Dance on the Transit Pier stage.

12:30 PM — Poehemia performs on the District Pier stage.

12:45 PM — Six Nations Rugby on the big screen on Transit Pier - Ireland vs. Scotland.

2:00 PM — Irish dance performances by the McGrath Morgan Academy of Irish Dance on the Transit Pier stage.

2:15 PM — The 19th Street Band performs on the District Pier stage.

4:00 PM — Six Nations Rugby on the big screen on Transit Pier - England vs. France.

4:15 PM — Ben-David Warner Band performs on the District Pier stage. The bar will still be open!

View our Ireland at The Wharf event webpage for more information: 
www.wharfdc.com/ireland/ 
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The "Get Out" event of the week is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Still Life With Robin: Tick, Tick, Lose!

 by Peggy Robin


It's that time of year again....ugh. You know, "spring forward" and lose an hour of sleep. The only thing that's worse is the time-switcheroo in the fall when we get that hour back but are plunged into the gloomy darkness of winter an hour earlier. 

Well, we keep up hope that Congress will end this useless clock-game. But when has hope in Congress in this day and age ever been justified?

I've complained about this in this space before, as you may recall-- (and if you don't, here's where you can find it: "Down with DST!" https://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2014/03/still-life-with-robin-down-with-dst.html) And for more on why Congress keeps screwing it up, see "Permanent daylight saving time: The clock is ticking in Congress": https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03/09/daylight-saving-time-bill/

There's just one bright spot to this year's spring-forward time-shift, and that has to do with a much glitzier event happening much later on Sunday, March 10; I'm talking about the Oscars show, which is on ABC an hour earlier than in past years. This year's Oscar show starts at 7pm EDT, which means (with a bit of luck and maybe some strictly-enforced time limits on a few of the longer and cringier thank-you speeches), we can call it a night around 11pm, not midnight. So, by going straight to bed immediately after the show, skipping all the snarky, post-show commentary and replays of the most outré outfits, plus any badly fluffed lines or out-of-nowhere fisticuffs, we can take back an hour of sleep that we wouldn't have had in past years.

Of course, there's always the very sensible strategy of skipping the whole shebang. You know Oppenheimer is the odds-on favorite to do a huge sweep, don't you? Do you really want to spend 4 hours of your day watching the inevitable unfold? Well, I'm a sucker for longshots, so I'm tuning in just in case "American Fiction" pulls off the Oscar upset of the decade (that is, if you pretend you don't remember the whole kerfuffle about Moonlight winning over La La Land). Oh, just the thought of something like that happening again is more than enough to keep me glued to the screen!

As with the long-delayed promise of an end to clock-switching...one can only hope!
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Still Life with Robin is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Get Out! And Celebrate Women's History Month at the National Portrait Gallery on Saturday, March 9

 by Peggy Robin


This one’s for the ladies (and everyone else, too) as the Portrait Gallery hosts its annual Women’s History Month festival for all ages! Come see our newest portraits of Oprah, Beyoncé, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and other inspiring women. Join the celebration in the Kogod Courtyard, featuring performances and workshops from The Washington Ballet, art activities, spotlight talks, scavenger hunts and story times– there will be something for everyone!


Saturday, March 9th · 11:30am - 3pm 

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution


Schedule of Events:

11:45 a.m. The Washington Ballet Adult Division, Modern Dance Performance and Workshop

12:30 p.m. Spotlight Talk: Oprah Winfrey

1:00 p.m. Author Talk: Debbie Levy

1:30 p.m. Book Signing: Debbie Levy

2:00 p.m. The Washington School of Ballet Youth Performance Ensemble - Performance and Ballet Workshop

2:30 p.m. Spotlight Talk: Carmen de Lavallade


Free Admission - Reserve Your Spot:

The Portrait Gallery strives to provide programs that are accessible to all visitors. If you have questions about the accessibility of this program, or if you would like to request real-time captioning (CART), sign language interpretation, or any other accommodations, please contact EvansB@si.edu or RubensteinI@si.edu. Two weeks advance notice is appreciated for requesting accommodations.
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The "Get Out!" event of the week is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Still Life with Robin: It's National Old Stuff Day!

by Peggy Robin


Hmm, I'm usually a fan of all those silly, offbeat, little "holidays" -- you know, like National Waffle Day (August 24) and Lost Sock Day (May 9) and Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept 19) -- but today's "fun" holiday, National Old Stuff Day, seems, well, just a tad condescending to those of us over the age of.....um, er, mumble, mumble [unintelligible].
 
We and our "stuff" deserve respect!

What do we get instead? Something like that eye-rolling "OK Boomer" meme. Yeah, that got old, quick!

While I am not keen on today's "holiday," I was impressed by the composition posted in praise of this day that I found in my Twitter feed [*see Note 1] this morning, by one of my favorite posters, David Cohen @dc_scrabblegram.

Dave posts a daily wordplay /poem called a Scrabblegram [*explained in Note 2].

Here's his lovely composition for today, National Old Stuff Day

Dave's Scrabblegrams @dc_scrabblegram
SCRABBLEGRAM* OF THE DAY
[*Uses all 100 Scrabble tiles.]

Grandfather Clock 👴🕰️

March 2nd is National Old Stuff Day (really). With my 6th decade just around the corner, I'm starting to identify with vintage items like grandfather clocks.


More of Dave's Scrabblegrams on his website at  https://davesscrabblegrams.com/ and in his recently published book https://penteractpress.com/store/scrabblegrams-david-cohen by Penteract Press (in the UK, but shipping to the US is fast and relatively inexpensive.)
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* Note 1: I'm sticking to my sworn oath never to cave in and call by the brand "X" name thrust upon it by its current, unhinged, Gen X owner.

*Note 2: A Scrabblegram is a message (a kind of freestyle poem, really) that uses each of the 100 Scrabble tiles exactly once. This means that each entry will contain exactly 9 As, 2 Bs, 2 Cs...1 X, 2 Ys, 1 Z (and 2 blanks which can be used as any letters).

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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays. 

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Get Out! It's Leap Day! Or Stay In & Watch the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions

 by Peggy Robin


If you're a leapling (yes, that's the word for people born on February 29th) today's the day to go out to a bar or restaurant that's giving out freebies to your kind. Our local Axios newsfeed has a good round-up of your options: https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2024/02/28/leap-day-deals-food-beer




If you're like the rest of us born on the other 365 days of the year, you might want to stay home and watch TV. Why? Because the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions (TOC) is on, and tonight, two of the three competitors are from the DC metro area. And they're both lively and entertaining players. (WJLA at 7:30pm)


Kevin Belle from Silver Spring, MD. Kevin is a transportation planner by day and a drag queen performer by night under the stage name, "Whiskey Ginger"

Luigi de Guzman from Arlington, VA. Luigi is an attorney, originally from the Philippines.

...and the third contestant is Juveria Zaheer from Whitby, Ontario, Canada. Juveria is a psychiatrist and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.

If you're betting on the outcome, you'll want to know how these three match up:

PLAYER:  Kevin Belle
GAMES WON: 3
AVERAGE WINNINGS PER GAME: $10,950
AVERAGE CORRECT RESPONSE %: 94.8%
FINAL JEOPARDY! CORRECT RESPONSE: 1 out of 4
RANKING AMONG TOC PLAYERS: 27

PLAYER: Luigi de Guzman
GAMES WON: 5
AVERAGE WINNINGS PER GAME: $26,709
AVERAGE CORRECT RESPONSE %: 88.4% 
FINAL JEOPARDY! CORRECT RESPONSE: 5 out of 6
RANKING AMONG TOC PLAYERS: 11

PLAYER: Juveria Zaheer
GAMES WON: 5
AVERAGE WINNINGS PER GAME: $25,625
AVERAGE CORRECT RESPONSE %: 87.4%
FINAL JEOPARDY! CORRECT RESPONSE: 4 out of 8
RANKING AMONG TOC PLAYERS: 12

Want to know which of our two hometown champions I'm rooting for? Neither one! I'm hoping to see the Canadian psychiatrist, Juveria Zaheer, take this round and go on to win the whole enchilada. Why? Because there are so few women who have taken Jeopardy's top prize. In the 40 seasons of Jeopardy since the 1984 reboot (that is, the beginning of the Alex Trebek hosting era), only four women have won the TOC. They are: Rachel Schwartz in 1994; Robin Carroll in 2000; Celeste DiNucci in 2007; Amy Schneider in 2022. 

Of the 27 contestants in this year's TOC there are only 5 women (Hannah Wilson, Melissa Clapper, Deb Bilodeau, Emily Sand, and today's hopeful, Juveria Zaheer. Go girls!

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The "Get Out!" event of the week is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Still Life with Robin: A taste of Paris in Cleveland Park? Mais non, le goût de Nantes!

Photo by Fresh Baguette 
by Peggy Robin 

On Wednesday I went to the Grand Opening of Cleveland Park's new cafe, Fresh Baguette. Despite the crowds (converging for the announced baguette giveaway, I'm sure, as well as from a desire to check out a new eating spot!), the long line moved quickly, staff members were pleasant and efficient, and all the choices looked so tempting. 

The display cases were filled with baguettes and many types of loaves and croissants, most of them warm from the oven. Now we can live like the French, right here in our neighborhood. 

Well, I have French relatives and have spent some time with them in their homes, and one thing I love about their lifestyle is the way it's so normal to pick up a fresh baguette on the way home from work -- so many people walking home with a baguette under the arm. Fresh baked every day -- that makes the sensuous, yeasty aroma of bread one of the everyday glories of France. 

But I wasn't reminded so much of my relatives in Paris as my time spent visiting my daughter for the year she lived in Nantes, in the northwestern province of Loire-Atlantique. Nantes is a medium-sized city with much less hustle-bustle. Yes, there are bakeries on every corner so that people can get their daily baguette, but when it comes to food, it is known as the home of a particular brand of cookie, produced by the famous LU factory. 

Here's your mini-history lesson from the LU website (UK version) https://www.lubakery.co.uk/en 

LU’s story begins in 1846 and in true French style, romance played a key role in their creation. In the city of Nantes, Jean-Romain Lefèvre and Pauline-Isabelle Utile fell in love over their shared passion for baking and their desire to make the most delicious biscuits. Putting the first initials of their surnames together, LU was born.

Thanks to the excellence of Lefèvre-Utile’s recipes, the biscuits factory gained a stellar local reputation. In 1882, LU even won the gold medal during the Nantes Exhibition.

Over 176 years later, LU remains an icon of French culinary heritage.

So here's what I noticed the first time I walked into Fresh Baguette: I scanned the long narrow shop and my gaze quickly fell upon the back wall, with shelves of so many different packages of LU cookies --many of them hard to find in the US-- I felt as if I'd walked into a shop in Nantes. And like any small French specialty shop, there were just a few shelves of the products, all very prettily arranged. 

Besides the LUs, there are different types of jam in jars, some pates, a little sac of French sea-salts in large crystals, some chocolate bars.... None of these things are listed on the website, which features the breads, the sandwiches, quiches, macarons, madeleines and other pastries and desserts, and the coffees and other beverages. See: https://www.freshbaguette.net/menus/ 

They cater, too! 

I wish I could say this is going to be my daily little taste of Nantes.... but malheureusement, I have recently been put on a low-carb regime and I'm sticking to it. But for all those who are not.....bon appetit!

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Still Life with Robin is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Get Out! Get Out! The Cinema Calls -- it's the DC Independent Film Festival


The D.C. Independent Film Forum (DCIFF) will mark its 25th anniversary this year by showcasing 70 independent feature films, documentaries, shorts, and animated films. The festival will also host a special event to honor one of the greats of documentary filmmaking.

The festival will take place from Wednesday, February 21 to Sunday, February 25, at various theaters across Washington.

This year, the DC Independent Film Festival (DCIFF) is paying tribute to 
André Singer, a renowned documentary filmmaker. The festival will feature a special invite-only preview screening of his latest film, "Meeting Zelensky," at Landmark's E Street Cinema on Wednesday, February 21 and Sunday, February 25 at 12:15 PM to the public. The preview will be followed by a panel discussion.

We will also be featuring an additional documentary of his, WHERE THE WIND BLEW, on Friday, February 23rd at 5:30 pm at JxJ - Washington in Cafritz Hall. There will also be a panel discussion featuring director Andre Singer, Justin Ahasteen, executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office and Cheryl L. Reed, author, journalist, and professor.

After each film screening, you'll have the chance to participate in interactive Q&A sessions with the talented filmmakers, cast, crew, and industry experts. But that's not all - we have a bunch of other fun activities planned too! There will be panels, workshops, and pop-up events throughout the forum that will cover a wide range of topics, like animation and even a masterclass with the honoree to discuss his 50 years in documentary filmmaking!

The director of WOLFPACK, Cédric Peyster – Le Roux, will showcase his gripping tale that unfolds in a future where the youth hunt the older generations at night, putting 50-year-old Matthieu in a fight for survival. The film and Q&A with the director will be held on Friday, February 23 at 9 PM at the Regal Gallery Place Theater. Tickets are available for purchase on Eventbrite.

To top it off, there will be live dance performances by the cast of a TENS ACROSS THE BOARD to really celebrate the occasion on Saturday, February 24 at 7:20 PM. They are championed by Black and brown LGBTQ artists in dance, music and fashion, the St. Louis ballroom community.

At 
The Way It Was: PARIS RESTAURANTS IN THE 1970'S screening on Sunday, February 25 at 4 PM and 5:45 PM, we're bringing in a local French chef and his wife, a French food blogger. Anina Belle Giannini is author of the very popular Le Chefs Wife blog and her husband is Sébastien Giannini who is about to become a partner at L'Avant-Garde in Georgetown. They'll be giving a simple demonstration followed by a wine tasting - sounds pretty good, right? 

On the closing night of the festival, there will be a Q&A session with DCIFF Founder, Carol Bidault de l'Isle, and Executive Director, Deirdre Evans-Pritchard, who will also give closing remarks. You can find a complete schedule of programming for DCIFF is 
available here.

You won't want to miss out on the excitement of DCIFF's milestone anniversary! Get your tickets for 
individual screenings, or take advantage of our event passes, through Eventbrite. Exclusively on FilmFreeway, you can get tickets to film screenings with limited availability.

To learn more, visit 
dciff-indie.org and stay up-to-date with the latest festival news and updates. Follow us on TwitterFacebookInstagram, and TikTok, and be part of the action by using the hashtag #DCIFF2024.

Join us for an unforgettable experience - see you there!

DC Independent Film Festival
dciff-indie.org
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The "Get Out" event of the week is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Still Life with Robin: We'll Always Have Squirrels

by Peggy Robin

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Get Out! It's Presidential Family Fun Day at the National Portrait Gallery on Sat, Feb 17, 11:30am - 3pm

 by Peggy Robin


Saturday, February 17 · 11:30am - 3pm EST
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
800 G Street Northwest Washington, DC 20001

Celebrate Presidents’ Day at the Portrait Gallery’s annual festival for all ages! Discover more about presidents during guided tours of “America’s Presidents” and story times or enjoy artmaking and writing activities – there is something for everyone!
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The "Get Out!" event of the week is posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Thursdays.