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ANNE MAHLUM'S REGULAR morning jogging route in Philadelphia took her past a homeless shelter, and rather than look away, she always gave the men standing outside a big smile. "I was running by these guys and they reminded me of my dad," says Mahlum, whose father has long struggled with addiction.
One day, as they cheered her on, she realized they were the ones who could use some cheering. So she called the shelter to set up a running club, and Back On My Feet (BOMF) was born.
Since their first outing in 2007, the program has gone the distance. The Philly chapter has helped 163 members complete a race (including marathons), a Baltimore branch started last year, and a Boston branch is scheduled to launch in May. And as of March 22, Mahlum and her team will be based in Washington, where they'll also be organizing running groups at four shelters. "The running community here is big, and people go here to change the world," she explains. And unfortunately, D.C. needs their help — more than 12,000 people in the metro area are homeless.
Continue Reading "Running Toward a New Way of Life: Back On My Feet" »
IT'S IN NO WAY surprising that Lifehouse sticks close to the middle of the mainstream-guitar-rock road on its fifth album, "Smoke & Mirrors": the songs are all pleasant but not particularly memorable, comfortable to not push a single boundary.
Instead of invention, Lifehouse is built on an abundance of earnestness, mostly in the form of vocalist Jason Wade. As with the band's decade-old megahit "Hanging by a Moment," Wade's lyrics are still first-person narrative love songs that are certain to soundtrack countless love scenes in film and TV, just as several of Lifehouse's previous tunes have done.
Continue Reading "Real Simple: Lifehouse, 'Smoke & Mirrors'" »
THURSDAY: Nice ... dress? Bring your rock-solid body image and a smile to BIG's Body Painting & Happy Hour bash at Creative Alliance at the Patterson in Baltimore. Revelers can keep their coats on and enjoy the painted men and women, comedy by the Baltimore Improv Group and body painter Jen Seidel at work on volunteers. Want to be one? E-mail info@bigimprov.com.
» Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore; Thu., Feb. 18, 6 p.m., $12; 410-276-1651.
FUNNY WHAT A few years, a handful of Oscars and the use of the word "flinty" in his description will do to a man. Former Hollywood pretty boy and fairly wooden actor Clint Eastwood is now one of the industry's Grand Old Men and well decorated for it. AFI Silver tips a hat to all things "Directed by Clint Eastwood" in its showcase featuring, among other films, "Mystic River."
» AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; through March 10; 301-495-6700. (Silver Spring)
Little Green Men
Of course leprechauns exist — that's a whole row of them right there munching popcorn and enjoying the show. The little guys are huge film buffs, as the success of the annual Lutins de Court-Metrage short-film festival proves. The five days of shorts in French with English subtitles ends on Saturday.
» Various sites; see francedc.org for schedules and showtimes.
ONGOING: Gorgeous cloisonne enamels go on display at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore this weekend, and if you run out of incisive remarks ("What gorgeous cloisonne enamels!" can only get you so far), stop by on Sunday for the opening-day talk. Exhibition curator Rob Mintz gives listeners a pathway in to the creation and inspiration behind these shiny beauties.
» Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore; exhibition through June 13; talk Sun., 3 p.m., free; 410-547-9000, register at Thewalters.org.
IN 2007, YEASAYER'S debut, "All Hour Cymbals," sounded like the end credits for some lost teen apocalypse movie from the '80s, like "Night of the Comet" or "Dead-End Drive-In."
Often dismissed as second-tier indie innovators bridging the hackeysack and ironic T-shirt sets, the Baltimore band were perhaps not as gutsy as Animal Collective nor as catchy as Vampire Weekend, but its organic synthesis of Afro-pop guitars, tribal percussion, catchy hooks and especially that cinematic sweep distinguished the ensemble from its peers and has made their follow-up one of the most anticipated releases of 2010.
"Odd Blood" doesn't lose that theatrical flair, but it does clear away some of the cobwebs that cluttered Yeasayer's debut. Instead of the DIY world music of "All Hour Cymbal," Yeasayer creates a shinier, spacier amalgam of postpunk synth effects and hippie noodling that only occasionally elevates what is the album's worst trait: clunky lyrics.
"Now the world can be an unfair place at times," sings Chris Keating on "Ambling Alp," "but your lows will have their complement of highs." This is some serious Lifetime movie uplift, and the chorus is especially egregious: "Stick up for yourself, son / Never mind what anybody else done." But the song is a burst of sneaky reggae rhythms, glassy New Wave textures, and expressive vocals that are all bracing enough to compensate for the songwriting, even to suggest that generosity of spirit, no matter how awkwardly expressed, is their greatest attributes.
BESIDES THE MANY festivals we in the Washington area are blessed with, our local silver screens will be bristling with individual gems. Sobering times, apparently, call for nonfiction, so expect a passel of earnest documentaries. But there's also action, animation and fictional crime to take us into the warm weather.
'NORTH FACE': CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN, OR ELSE
Mountains and Nazis? While it's based on a true story, this ain't "The Sound of Music." Two German climbers are "persuaded" by Nazi propagandists in 1936 to scale the impassable north face of the Eiger (of "Eiger Sanction" fame). It doesn't go well.
» Avalon, 5612 Connecticut Ave., NW; opens Feb. 26, $10.50; 202-966-6000.
'THE RED SHOES': ARCHERS AND ARCHES
Brit auteurs the Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) were already on the mark (sorry) with "Black Narcissus" when they hit the bull's-eye (sorry!) with this 1948 ballet-within-a-ballet tale. UCLA archivists spent three years restoring it with funding from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Nice to know the Golden Globes are good for something.
» National Gallery of Art, 4th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; March 14, 4:30 p.m., free; 202-842-6799. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
ONGOING: You know John Waters as the pencil-mustachioed director behind "Hairspray." Well, surprise, surprise, the weird and kitschy filmmaker is responsible for a weird and kitschy photography exhibit called "Versailles," named for the Baltimore neighborhood he's documented.
» C. Grimaldis Gallery, 523 North Charles St., Baltimore; through Feb. 27, free; 410-539-1080.
Photo by David S. Holloway/Getty Images
THIS WEEK: If you're addicted to Restaurant Week, you should probably get into some sort of food rehab where they scream "Just because it's cheap doesn't mean you have to go!" into your face a couple of thousand times until you lose your appetite. Or you could just continue your binge with Baltimore Restaurant Week. We recommend Afghan gem Helmand.
» Various locations, through Feb. 7, $20.10 for lunch or $35.10 for dinner; Baltimorerestaurantweek.com.
Photo by Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post
SATURDAY: For Washingtonians, it's a road trip; for everyone, it's a mind trip, a no-drugs-needed dive into a mind-bending, genre-challenging parallel universe of sonic possibility. This year's Aural States Fest II is most likely the last one to be held in Baltimore, and possibly the last one, period. The strange angels of music that's difficult, experimental and extreme include Pontiak, Vincent Black Shadow, Benjy Ferree, Sick Sick Birds, Caleb Stine and the new project by J Robbins (of Jawbox), the Office of Future Plans. Show up early with pre-bought tickets and get a grab bag of goodies.
» Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore, Md.; Sat., Jan. 30, 7 p.m., $15-$20; auralstates.com.
Photo courtesy Pontiak
Addison Road