January 2010

Hello Everyone,

I don’t know about you, but I am cold.  It’s freezing out there.  I don’t want to leave my home,  even for groceries.   Thank God for Peapod. My friend at Small Friendly Planet Dot Org, just sent over a huge list of things to do in DC in January. I plan on going to at least three of these events. Thank you good folks at Small Friendly Planet for making me get out of my house this cold month.  See you all at Restaurant week!

1. FEATURED EVENT: Young Benefactors Happy Hour
2. DOING GOOD: MODUS UNION 2010
3. MEMBER IN FOCUS: Neal Gorenflo,Shareable Magazine
4. FREE INTRO TO IMPROV WORKSHOPS
5. World Affairs Council Author Series: The Forty Years War
6. The 55th Washington Antiques Show
7. Washington Wine Academy – ABC’s of Beer
8. Capitol Wine Festival Opening Reception
9. Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony Reception
10. Iranian Film Festival 2010 – The Spectators

DC Restaurant Week is January 11 – 17, 2010!
Don’t miss gourmet, prix-fixe $20.10 lunches and $35.10 dinners
at over 170 top DC restaurants.
Washington, DC Restaurant Week is a great excuse to try a new restaurant or return to your old favorite. http://washington.org/restaurantwk/

1. FEATURED EVENT: Young Benefactors Happy Hour
When: Wednesday, January 20, 5:30pm
Where: Co Co. Sala, 929 F St NW,DC and the Verizon Center
Cost: $20 (Game only)
More Info: http://www.verizoncenter.com/wiz/smithsonian/

Join the YBs for a fun evening of libation and entertainment in Penn Quarter. Starting at 5:30pm, Co Co. Sala, DC’s premier chocolate lounge and boutique, will host the YBs for a happy hour. After you have enjoyed a few cocktails at Co Co. Sala, join fellow YBs and friends and watch the Washington Wizards play the Dallas Mavericks!

2. DOING GOOD: MODUS UNION 2010
When: January 14, 7-10pm
Where: The Mayflower Renaissance Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Cost: $100
More Info: http://www.labelsforlove.org/events/index.html

Don’t miss an exclusive and unique evening of fashion and art featuring a runway show by Lela Rose to benefit the Center for Heart, Lung and Kidney Disease at Children’s National Medical Center. Labels for Love is a 501 (c)(3) charity that stages fashionable events to raise funds for and bring awareness to women’s and children’s charities. Each year one children’s and one women’s charity is chosen to be the recipients for the funds raised at the event. Join in the fight to change the lives of women and children in the Washington, DC region, one charity at a time. General admission includes general open seating, cocktail reception.

3. MEMBER IN FOCUS
Member in Focus – Neal Gorenflo, Project Director, CommonSource Publisher, Shareable Magazine
A very Cool Person – Find Out Why!

SPF Editor: What prompted you to start Shareable magazine?
Neal: I had a strong hunch before this experience that sharing was important, so I began consulting for Internet startups that helped people share stuff in the real world. I had no experience. I just dove in. I also began a monthly salon for social entrepreneurs interested in sharing. I consciously built a community around the idea of sharing. Through the community I built, I met the people who launched Shareable with me.

Read full interview with Neal Gorenflo at www.smallfriendlyplanet.org

4. FREE INTRO TO IMPROV WORKSHOPS
When: Sunday January 3 – Thursday January 7 (7-9PM)
Sunday January 9 (3-5PM)
Where: The Studio School, 1301 V St NW, Washington, DC
Cost: Free
More Info: http://www. washingtonimprovtheater.com

Say you are successful at becoming super rich and in-shape this year, what good is it if your still not enjoying yourself? Washington Improv Theater classes have reinvigorated the creativity, re-sparked the spontaneity and unleashed the joy of pure fun in more than 1000 Washingtonians (with hundreds of more joining the ranks each year). Can’t you spare just 2 hours to find out what these people found to be so transformational? Our enthusiastic and professional instructor/performers quickly establish a trusting atmosphere where you’ll feel more free than you have in a very long time.

5. World Affairs Council Author Series: The Forty Years War
When: Thursday, January 7, 6:30-8pm
Where: UCDC Washington Center
1608 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC
Cost: $10
More Info: https://www.worldaffairsdc.org/

The World Affairs Council is pleased to announce an Author Series and C-SPAN Book TV event with Len Colodny and Tom Shachtman, the authors of The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama. The book is an examination of the last forty years of foreign policy that emphasizes the continuing impact of President Richard M. Nixon’s foreign policy initiatives throughout the era, and long past the end of his own presidency. The event will be moderated by Dr. Irwin Gellman, author of a multi-volume biography of President Nixon. After the authors’ presentation there will be an audience question and answer period. Light refreshments will be offered following the program.

6. The 55th Washington Antiques Show
When: Friday, January 8 – Sunday, January 10
Where: American University’s Katzen Arts Center,
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Cost: One Day Ticket: $15.00, which includes a show catalogue
More Info: http://www.washingtonantiques.org/about.cfm

Founded in 1955 as a fund raising event benefiting children and families through the Thrift Shop Charities, the Washington Antiques Show is one of the longest running antiques shows in the country. The show features forty-four premier dealers from the United States and Europe who offer a wide range of period furnishings and decorative arts, vintage jewelry, porcelains, ceramics, silver, and architectural garden accents. Through its yearly Loan Exhibition Program and its catalogue featuring scholarly articles to illustrate the Show’s theme, the Washington Antiques Show offers collectors at every level the opportunity to view and purchase wonderful objects and to learn more about their particular area of interest.

7. Washington Wine Academy ABC’s of Beer
When: Thursday, January 14, 7pm
Where: Washington Wine Academy Education Center
1201 South Eads, Suite 400, Crystal City/Arlington, VA
Cost: $42.50
More Info: http://www.washingtonwineacademy.org/public-events.htm

If you love wine…we mean beer….then the ABC’s of Beer is the perfect overall concept course for you. This course has been created to cover the basics of the beer world. From how it is made, styles, trends and we will taste 9 beers throughout the evening to showcase different beers. Participants learn about each of the basic types of beer, the techniques by which they are made, and the factors determining quality. Presentations are coupled with guided tastings of carefully selected beers that exemplify the world’s predominant styles.

8. Capitol Wine Festival Opening Reception
When: Friday, January 22, 7-10pm
Where: Fairfax Hotel at Embassy Row
2100 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Cost: $85
More Info: http://www.capitalwinefestival.com/

The Capital Wine Festival, modeled after the prestigious Boston Wine Festival, and promising to become an annual local series, will take place at The Fairfax at Embassy Row. The Festival will commence with a grand opening reception featuring more than 50 wines from around the world paired with a bountiful buffet created by Jockey Club Chef Levi Mezick.

9. Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony Reception
When: Saturday, January 23, 6:30-11pm
Where: Embassy of Croatia
2343 Massachusetts Ave. Washington, DC
Cost: $29
More Info: http://www.mcbarnette.com/charity/#1

Join Former TV news anchor Beverly Burke, and other local area actors for an evening of film watching and celebrating for a good cause while enjoying art work, wine, and hor d’oeuvres. Watch the live broadcast of the Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony from 8- 10:30pm. NonSAG members are welcome. Black tie or Formal Attire.

10. Iranian Film Festival 2010 – The Spectators
When: Sunday, January 24, 2pm
Where: 1050 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
Cost: Admission is first-come, first-served. According to the
artist’s wishes, the audience will not be allowed to
enter until the performance begins.
More Info: http://www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp#/?i=1

With Ta’ziyeh/The Spectators, Iran’s most famous filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami convincingly and triumphantly brings the powerful experience of communal, ritual theater into the digital age. The Ta’ziyeh is a unique form of Islamic musical drama performed, often by ordinary citizens, in towns and villages across Iran. It dramatizes the famous battle of Karbala in 680, at which Muhammad’s grandson Husayn was killed along with his followers. Part theater, part religious ritual, it offers audiences the cathartic experience of collectively expressing their sorrow at the tragic events unfolding before them. With this multi-screen video installation, Kiarostami invites audience members to participate in the ritual in a thoroughly unique way. One screen shows a performance of the Ta’ziyeh, while two much larger flanking screens show the faces of those who are watching the performance (segregated, according to custom, by gender). Like visitors to the installation, audience members on the screens at first chat and relax before the show, but as the tragic play progresses, their emotions become heartbreakingly intense.

Please come out and support these great events! See you there.

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