DC Week Teaser (1 of 2): Perhaps, Cong. Morgan Griffith Can Have Lunch with Amb. Namik Tan Now....

Hmmmm................in hind sight, perhaps we should have put the image of Ambassador Namik Tan (pictured bottom), who is Turkey's ambassador to the United States, on top, and the photo of Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va; pictured top) on the bottom.

At either rate, if the government shut down lasts long enough perhaps Griffith (full disclosure: We know Griffith) and Tan (full disclosure: Turkey is my late father's country) can meet at Meze Restaurant in downtown Washigton, DC, or at the Famous Anthony's in Blacksburg, Va., which is in Griffith's district (full disclosure: Since we are Democrats, we probably wouldn't get invited).*

At any rate, on Thursday, we will start a week-long, eight-entry series dedicated to Washington, DC, regardless if the federal government shutdown is on-going or not!

*-On the flip side of the coin, I also oppose the Turkish government policy of requiring visas to Americans who visit my father's motherland, so perhaps Charlie Rose should be the third man at the table.

The middle image is of the Jefferson Memorial, which is closed at the moment.

http://morgangriffith.house.gov/

http://vasington.be.mfa.gov.tr/

http://mezedc.com/

http://www.famousanthonys.com/index.php

http://washington.org/

http://www.charlierose.com/schedule

Quote of the Week- Martin Scorsese

Wow! I just saw the stats for this blog, and assuredly if we were a cable reality tv show, we would have been cancelled three years ago. But, we do live in a world where more people watch "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" on Bravo than "Frontline" on PBS!

Today's quote of the day comes from Martin Scorsese. I guess one could argue about what is his best film: "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas" or "Kundun," but we only get into politics when it involves Greeks, Armenians or Republicans (forgive the ethnic humor; I happen to be the only person of Turkish heritage here in Welch, West Virginia*).

Here is our quote from Scorsese:

"Cinema is a matter of what's in frame and what's out."

SIDEBAR: Well, we learned from their web site that The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo., which is going to be held from Sept. 29th to Oct. 1st is alas sold out!

But, should one be able to attend, there will be vendors from all parts of les etats unis**, including Boulder Beer from (of course!) Boulder, Colo., Fat Head's Brewery from Cleveland, and Cigar City Brewing from Tampa.

Closer to home, there is the third annual Brew Do, which is a beer festival in Blacksburg, Va., on Sept. 24. Hopefully, there will not be a home football game for Virginia Tech for those attending!

*- Not actually where I live, but it is a place that seems fairly similar to that.

**- The French word for The United States

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- The White House Soup de Jour Is...

In case you were wondering, today The White House is offering Tuscan Chicken Soup as its soup of the day, according to a tweet from WashDCNews.

The tweeters gathered this info from Chuck and Todd with the MSNBC show "The Morning Rundown."

Recipes for the dish can be found at cooks.com

Alas, President Barack Obama will miss out on the soup as he is giving a talk today in Seattle, which is more than 3,000 miles away from Washington, DC, but hopefully Michelle Obama will get to sample the soup.

We have no info on what Bo the White House Dog will be eating today, but as we find out, we will pass it along to you!


SIDEBAR: Some unique films are showing this week at college town cinemas in Virginia. The Vinegar Hill Theatre in Charlottesville is currently showing "Winter's Bone," a thriller set in Arkansas in which a young girl tries to track down her deadbeat father who put the family home up for sale so he could make bail before vanishing.

At the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, "Cyrus" will begin its week-long run on Friday. The independent mumble-core comedy starring Marisa Tomei, John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill deals with an average Joe who gets very lucky when he makes love to a gorgeous woman out of his league only to discover that she has a psychopathic 21-year-old son who happens to live with her.

Quote of the Day- Walt Whitman

I'm sure if the late poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) were alive today, he would be both delighted that we are quoting him today and that a high school in Bethesda, Md., is named after him!

We are quoting famous Americans all this month on July for the 4th of July, but to show that we are internationally-minded, we will also be quoting famous French people on Wednesdays in honor of Bastille Day, which will be on July 14.

Here is our quote from Whitman:

"There is no trade of employment but the young man following it may become a hero."

SIDEBAR: My friend Jason Garnett once again has a terrific lineup for The Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., this month. Among the scheduled events is a screening of the 1953 film "Salt of the Earth," a liberal docudrama about labor injustices in California made by then-blacklisted actors which was effectively one of the first films banned in America for political reasons. It will show on July 12 at 8:00 p.m.

Other films in the lineup for Shadowbox include "The Goonies" on July 10, the soft-core Italian cult film "Chatterbox" on July 12 (I guess the ninth grade teachers at WWHS will never show this one in class!) and "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" on July 17.

The Lyric Theatre in nearby Blacksburg, Va., will be showing the new Oliver Stone film "Solitary Man" with Michael Douglas and Susan Sarandon that a friend of mine in Washington, DC, was raving about starting on July 16.

Quote of the Day- Algerian Writer Mohammed Dib

Initially, we were not certain that we could go through with today's quote from the late Algerian writer Mohammed Dib (1920-2003) since Team America was playing the Algerians today in The World Cup. We were afraid that if Algeria won we might look unpatriotic even though we have quoted Che Guevara (on a lark) here on this blog....many times!

But, Team America scored a late-game goal by Landon Donovan to reach the second round with a 1-0 win.

One might expect that relations between The United States and Algeria, the only pre-dominantly Muslim country in the World Cup to be slightly tense these days, but according to an article by Adam John Waterman in the current issue of the progressive journal "The Utne Reader" (originally published in "Bidoun") there is actually a cultural link between Algeria and Iowa!

Waterman said that the town of Elkader, Iowa, founded in 1846 and named after 19th century Algerian revolutionary fighter Abd al-Qadir, is sister cities with Mascara, Algeria. And, the town has a very unique history which many folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines might be unaware of: "By the same token, the name Elkader, with its vague Arabesque exoticism, distinguished the town in a field crowded with biblical allusions, Indian rebels, and wartime heroes."

So, this brings us to today's quote which comes from Dib, who is still considered to be Algeria's most well-known writer, though some may say that distinction belongs to the late French writer Albert Camus who was born in Algeria and spent much of his life there (alas, Camus died at age 46).

This is a point that Dib makes in his quote about Camus, who also happened to be a good friend and a contemporary of his:

"Albert Camus is an Algerian writer, yet we generally think of him as a Frenchman, and as an existentialist, and regard his North African settings as almost beside the point; just backdrops for investigations of life and fate."

As for the World Cup games, there are many places where one can watch them.

In Chapel Hill, NC, there is the Turkish restaurant/bar Talulla's that is showing many of the soccer games. Talulla's might well serve the best manti (a Turkish pasta dish) this side of Istanbul. Their menu also features chicken pide, falafel and the eggplant dish Imam Bayildi.

And, in another college town, there is Big Al's Sports Bar in Blacksburg, Va., home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. In addition to showing the futbol matches, Al's features chicken tenders, cheezy fries, spuds and corndog nuggets---which I've honestly never had before!

Quote of the Week-Nikki Giovanni

The great poet Nikki Giovanni who is an English professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., is the subject of our Quote of the Week in honor of National Poetry Month and the upcoming third anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Giovanni gave one of the key speeches at the memorial services for the students and faculty who were killed on that fateful Monday morning.

Giovanni was our choice for Person of the Year for this blog in 2007:

"We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be tamed."

Cinema of the Week- (8 of 21)- The Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va.

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of these right-wing talk show hosts who spew venom and hatred as they foam at the mouth is secretly ashamed of his suppressed homosexuality as San Francisco council member Dan White was back in the day.

Of course, White, who was played by Josh Brolin in the film "Milk," is an infamous figure now since he gunned down activist Harvey Milk and the mayor of San Francisco some 30 years ago. After getting an all-too-brief sentence, White ended up taking his own life.

"Milk," which features an Academy-award winning performance from Sean Penn in the title role, is now playing at the Lyric Theatre located at 135 College Avenue in Blacksburg, Va.

Along with Virginia Tech athletics, the Lyric is one of more positive aspects of Hokie Town which has been coming to terms with the horrific mass shooting that happened there in April of 2007.

In addition to independent films, foreign flicks and documentaries, the Lyric is also a venue for musicians.

Acts that have performed there include the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Doc Watson, Eddie from Ohio, and Lady Blacksmith.

Starting on Friday, the Lyric shows "Frost/Nixon," which I recently named my favorite film of 2008.