THE FORMER DIRECTOR of the CIA's tech office, Robert Wallace, has written a book called "Spycraft" about the tools spies use to do their jobs, the gadgets and techniques they depend on from day to day.
It's definitely cool to read about spy secrets, but aren't these things secret for a reason? Have we just given up all our intelligence-gathering secrets so some guy could get a book deal?
Anyway, you can go ask him and see him speak (along with his co-author, intelligence historian Keith Melton) at the National Archives this afternoon. Maybe you'll decide it was worth the potential intelligence breach.
» National Archives, Constitution Avenue and 7th Street; Wed., Dec. 3, noon, free; 202-357-5000. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
Image courtesy Dutton
POST-MOD, pre-mod, hyper-mod? Or "confusing art phenomena"? The instructors at the Corcoran Gallery of Art can help the struggling teacher in your life not get completely lost with "Modern, Mod, Moderne, Modernism, Post-Modern, Contemporary" offered this Saturday as a primer on introducing kids to art for those teaching grades four to 12.
» Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW; Sat., Nov. 22, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., $5; 202-639-1700. (Farragut West)
Written by Express' Nathan Martin
THE SMITHSONIAN'S STEVEN ECKERD acknowledges the importance of "Pokemon," "Cowboy Bebop," "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" and other famous series in the worlds of manga and anime, but he says it's just as critical to understand the classic Japanese art that preceded them.
So for the past few years, Eckerd has made his summer project teaching children and teenagers about the traditions — such as the Edo period of Japanese art, or the work of painter and printmaker Hokusai — that are integral to understanding modern manga and anime. With the "Anime: Young Artists Residency" program, local 8- to 14-year-olds can learn about the development of manga drawing and anime films, as well as work with artists and educators to develop their own skills as illustrators. This year, the program runs from Aug. 11 to Aug. 14 in the Sackler Gallery.
"It turns out that anime is starting with a contemporary art tradition in Japan, which is extremely popular among a segment of young people in the United States, who in many cases have no other knowledge or interest in Japanese culture," Eckerd says. "It forms a bridge that brings them into the museum, and allows them to start appreciating Japanese art and culture beyond anime."
Continue Reading "Beyond Pokemon: Anime for Young Artists" »
BEFORE MTV — in fact, before music videos, before Madonna even — there was the Scopitone. Scopitone players look like video jukeboxes, or maybe robots in a hypothetical Pixar movie.
You can take a look at this forgotten craze — including a glitzy Broadway version of "If I Had a Hammer" — during Arlington's Arts Al Fresco on Friday. Or you could dig up your backyard in search of a time capsule, but that's so messy.
» Lubber Run Amphitheatre, 200 N. Columbus St, Arlington; Friday, 8:30 p.m., free; 703-228-1850. (Rosslyn)
MARJORIE BURNS' ACADEMIC specialty is the 19th century British novel — your old university friends Dickens and those guys.
So how is it that she comes to the S. Dillon Ripley Center on Aug. 7 to talk about Thor, Loki, Odin and those guys?
It was a circuitous route that led to Middle-Earth, to British translator and design icon William Morris, to Narnia and to Norway, where Burns was a Fulbright Professor.
Now the Portland State University, Ore., professor, who teaches courses on J.R.R. Tolkien, Celtic and Norse mythology, and even 19th century British literature, will discuss "Journey to Valhalla: The Lasting Influence of the Old Norse World."
Expect plenty of visual aids and some surprises.
» EXPRESS: Is the influence of the sagas the doing of Pre-Raphaelites such as Morris?
» BURNS: Actually, it goes back further. But with the 19th century of Romantics, it took on this romantic aura, you can imagine. The idea of categorizing and collecting and saving and organizing, and philology — which we now call linguistics — all of those things were actually going on a little in the 17th century, moving up in the 18th century and then it sort of filtered through the Romantics. I have a lot of illustrations from that time, some early figures of gods carved on stone and then some sort of sweeping themes featuring bosomy women.
Continue Reading "Oh, Valhalla! Marjorie Burns on the Old Norse World" »
AS THE FIRST female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has been a trailblazer. She's been a political presence in Washington for decades, breaking barriers all the while. And her new book, "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters," chronicles her transformation from stay-at-home mom to one of the most influential people in our government. She'll be speaking about her history, politics and the role of gender in all of the above at the strong>Sixth and I Synagogue tonight. For less than $25, you can get two tickets to the lecture and a copy of her book. Yes, that's in your power.
» Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. NW; Wed., July 30, 7 p.m., $23.95 for two tickets and a copy of her new book; 202-408-3100. (Gallery Place)
Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images
YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER heard of Frederic Gregory, but he was the first African-American to command a space shuttle mission. Which is pretty awesome. He'll talk about that and his childhood in Anacostia at a lecture tonight.
» Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Place SE; Tue., July 22, 7 p.m., free; 202-633-4844. (Anacostia)
Photo by Bill Ingalls/Nasa via Getty Images
JEAN NOUVEL recently won the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in architecture. He'll be speaking (presumably about the architecture, not the prize) at the National Building Museum tonight.
The general public will pay $30 per ticket, while museum members pay $20 and students $10.
» National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW; Tues., 7 p.m., $10-$30; 202-272-2448. (Judiciary Square)
Photo courtesy Ateliers Jean Nouvel
WE LOVE SCIENTIST AND ARTIST Bulent Atalay not because he has a kickin' name, or that he can still rock a fedora in blazing Mediterranean heat — though that's cool, too (see right).
No, we love Atalay because the guy spends his time writing about Leonard Da Vinci, the King Dude of The Dudes.
Plus, Atalay gets to do all his research in Italy, our favorite bella country, which should go just ahead and send a jet for us right now.
But we digress.
Tonight at Natty Geo's Grosvenor Auditorium, Our Kid Atalay will discuss his new book, "Leonardo's Universe," which covers everything from The Dude's mathematical genius and unmatched artistic skills to his amazing ability to predict future inventions — ones so advanced that they were not able to be created for hundreds of years.
Atalay's latest look at Leonardo follows "Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo Da Vinci." So like we said: Ol' Bulent, probably more than anyone else, knows how to crack Da Vinci's code.
» National Geographic, Grosvenor Auditorium, 1600 M St. NW; Tue., 7:30 p.m., $18; 202-857-7700. (Farragut North)
WANT TO KNOW why so many Chinese musicians have perfect pitch? Or how self-deception could be an adaptive trait? Or whether your Iron Maiden tattoo needs a numerical edit?
Only one show will take you there.
Now concluding its brief fourth season, the recurring miniseries WNYC's "Radio Lab" is the brainchild of sonic innovator Jad Abumrad. His highly processed storytelling has yielded the first genuinely distinctive public-radio template since "This American Life."
Thursday, he and esteemed science journalist Robert Krulwich will show a Koshland crowd how they make the magic happen.
» EXPRESS: Your narrative style involves a lot of looping, repetition, multiple voices, etc. It can be pretty jarring.
» ABUMRAD: We get a lot of nastygrams on the e-mail from people who don't like the style. They're, like [adopting kvetchy elderly voice], "Why the noises? Stop stuttering! Why do the people repeat themselves?"
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