IT'S FINALLY OCTOBER, and that means it's time for beer. Really, anytime is time for beer, but now you can wave your arms wildly and learn ridiculous German compound words that take weeks to say and also grow an impractical beard. "An Octobeard!" one of my silliest friends called his before we shaved it off in the night as part of a prank, which may sound mean but believe me we were doing him a favor. As I recall, there was beer involved in that decision as well.
Anyway, there will be Oktoberfest celebrations all over the city this month, but one of my favorites is at Pizzeria Paradiso and Birreria Paradiso, which will have German-inspired food (and pumpkin beers!) available for the next two weeks. This is one of the few places in D.C. where the beer AND the food are uniformly excellent, so you'll be safe in their hand.
» Pizzeria Paradiso, 3282 M St. NW and 2029 P St. NW; through Oct. 4; 202-337-1245. (Dupont Circle)
Image courtesy Pizzeria Paradiso
I SPOKE TO STEVE ALMOND about his new essay collection, "Not That You Asked: Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions," on the seventh anniversary of 9/11.
Ostensibly it's a collection of essays spanning nearly Almond's career and dealing with subjects as diverse as his sexual humiliations as a teenager to his experiences as a new father to his run-ins with what he calls the right-wing "Hateocracy."
But the 9/11 connection is particularly apt.
Throughout every essay, whatever its stated subject, Almond is noticeably and dreadfully concerned with the state of American politics and morality.
In "Demagogue Days," he recounts the brouhaha following his decision to protest Condoleeza Rice's appearance at Boston College by resigning his adjunct professorship there, but does so with humor and aplomb, likening his radio interviews and his appearance on "The Hannity & Colmes Show" as different levels of Dante's Inferno.
"Why I Crush on Vonnegut" gives a sympathetic overview of the late author's life and works, with Almond finding in works like "Slaughterhouse 5" a means of dealing with our disappointing tolerance for war and human suffering. "The idea that anybody in modern culture would cheer for a war is morally unfathomable," he explains. "I understand that people are full of fear right now, but a war means that a profound tragedy has taken place. If we're not human enough to recognize the drastic circumstances, we're dead. That was supposed to be the lesson of 9/11, but that's not how it played out."
Continue Reading "Acts of Imagination: Steve Almond Rants & Obsesses" »
THINK YOU'RE TOO STRESSED OUT? You might be right. Also, it might kill you.
"Killer Stress," a documentary about measurable effects of stress in the animal kingdom, will air Thursday on PBS. But you can see it tonight at the National Geographic Society if you're willing to pay $18 to be two days ahead of the average public television viewer. You'll also get to see Robert Sapolsky, a neurobiologist from Stanford University, talk about his thoughts on the film.
But first, you can read what Sapolsky said on the topic to Express' Vicky Hallett for the low, low price of free.
» Grosvenor Auditorium, National Geographic Society, 1600 M Street, NW; Tue., Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., $15-$18; 202-857-7700. (Dupont Circle)
RECENTLY, THE MEDIA has taken the American public on many journeys through China. There's the Olympic journey, there's the "China's scary, watch out!" journey, there's the "No one can breathe in China!" journey. But freelance journalist and food writer Jen Lin-Liu is at Olsson's to take us on a decidedly different kind of journey: a refreshing, tasty journey.
In her new book, "Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China," Lin-Liu starts out as a cooking student and works her way through the echelons of the Chinese culinary hierarchy. Come grab a copy and discuss everything from noodle stalls to chic Shangai restaurants tonight.
» Olsson's, 1307 19th St. NW; Tue., Sept. 23, 7 p.m., free; 202-785-1133. (Dupont Circle)
Photo courtesy of Jen Lin-Liu
SHORT STORIES ARE the new something-or-other. Nope, I can't finish that sentence. Nothing kills a genre like trendiness. Short stories are the new black. Short stories are the new pancakes. Mmm, pancakes.
There have been several great collections of short stories out lately, including Eileen Pollack's "In the Mouth." She's appearing at the D.C. J.C.C. to talk about her book — and yes, the stories are about the Jewish experience in America.
There's one called "The Bris," which you may be tempted to skip because of the title (unless you don't know what that is), but you'd be missing out. It's been included in the anthology of Best American Short Stories this year.
» D.C. Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St. NW; Mon., Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m., $6-$9; 202-518-9400. (Dupont Circle)
HEMPHILL FINE ARTS pays tribute to versatile artist William Christenberry, whose depictions of the rural South document with poignancy but no sentimentality that oft-mythologized swath of Americana. His photography, drawings and sculpture are included in this show.
Photo by William Christenberry
YOU MIGHT KNOW David Carr as a renowned columnist for The New York Times, but perhaps you're less familiar with his past. David Carr the journalist was once David Carr the crack addict, and using his journalistic skills he deftly sums up his harrowing experiences in a new book, "The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own."
Using sixty taped interviews and medical records and after reporting for three years, Carr acts as an investigative journalist reporting on himself, and thereby shares his most intimate experiences as an addict, a parent and cancer survivor.
See him tonight at Olsson's discussing his courageous piece of work.
» Olsson's Books and Music, 1307 19th St. NW; Wed., Sept. 17., 7 p.m., free; (202) 785-1133. (Dupont Circle)
Photo by Helayne Seidman for The Washington Post
HOW DO YOU make a book about the process of turning atmospheric nitrogen into fixed nitrogen interesting, even relevant?
"The one thing that I say that gets people interested in this book — because, as you know, it involves some rather significant technological and chemical history — is I ask them to name a discovery that's keeping 2.5 billion people alive that has nothing to do with medicine," said author Thomas Hager.
"Nobody can think of the answer. Nobody can believe there's a single invention that's keeping that many people alive."
In Hager's new book, "The Alchemy of Air," he explains how the discovery of how to transform airborne nitrogen into ammonia led to both the manufacture of synthetic fertilizer — saving billions of lives — and the production of gunpowder and explosives, which killed millions during World War I and II.
"I would say that it is arguably the world's most important discovery," Hager said emphatically. "I carefully use the words 'most important' rather than 'greatest' because 'most important' I define in terms of having the greatest immediate real world effect on the most people possible. It's hard to imagine a single discovery that could have a life and death meaning for 40 percent of the people on earth, and that's what this discovery is about."
Continue Reading "Nitro Explosion: Thomas Hager on 'The Alchemy of Air'" »
IT LOOKS LIKE she's just taken a round of buckshot to the abdomen. Bent at the waist, limbs flailing, hanks of red hair hiding her face — she's flying backward through the air! A mirror rests askew on the floor behind her, and the backdrop only heightens the ghastliness of her fingers clutching at the air.
But a second take reveals the model's pose as playful. No violence can be seen, save for how one imagines her landing in a few heartbeats.
It was English photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten who crafted this contradiction. For her "In Between," she put five gymnastic teenagers into understated mid-air fantasies.
Continue Reading "A Flock of Females: Julia Fullerton-Batten" »
OF COURSE I'LL HAVE things to say about John McCain — and Cindy McCain, who I find to be a Barbie doll hooker, you know," says Sandra Bernhard. "But I'll find a fun way to say it."
So, that's a relief. Bernhard's wit has not been dulled by two decades, motherhood or the broken Seventh Seal: Prince covering — gasp — Radiohead.
It was the (in)famous finale of her 1990 film "Without You I'm Nothing" that saw Bernhard strip down to pasties and an American flag G-string while gyrating to Prince's then-controversial "Little Red Corvette." It was both brutally satirical and weirdly poignant, a nod to the symbiotic audience-performer relationship, and a dream of an America where Prince delivers the national anthem. The updated stage version returns to Theater J this week.
The Old Glory G-string will not make its Washington debut. "No pun intended, but this is already a stripped-down show," says Bernhard. "I do work out a lot, and I'm in good shape," but the expense of makeup artists, costumers and detailed staging is prohibitive.
Addison Road