THIS FRIENDLY, folk art-style marmalade cat may appear larger on the page. That's because Natasha Beshenkovsky's sculpture and every other work in Strathmore's 75th Annual International Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature is a tiny slice of heaven.
» The Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, Bethesda; through Jan. 3; 301-581-5200. (Grosvenor-Strathmore)
Photo courtesy The Mansion at Strathmore
PERHAPS IT WAS SAN FRANCISCO'S love of carb-heavy Rice-A-Roni products that did it in. Because in SELF Magazine's 9th Annual America's Best Places for Women survey — released today — the reigning champ was knocked to second place by Bethesda, Md. Features director Sara Austin wasn't surprised by the suburb's impressive showing. It's the first year the area was ranked separately from D.C. (which, along with Alexandria and Arlington, came in at a very respectable 15 out of 100 cities). "It's a combination of smart habits and good resources," she says, noting such factors as low rates of disease and access to health clubs.
Bethesda has the least unemployment and the most doctors per capita (it can't hurt to have the National Institutes of Health in its territory). Residents are also the second least stressed (after Cambridge, Mass.), and spend their days in the second-healthiest workplaces (after Seattle, Wash.). After all, a winner needs high marks across the board.
Not that all's perfect in Montgomery County. "We all have our health bugaboos to work on," Austin adds. Bethesda's rates of STDs were above average, and while it gets kudos in the magazine for being a commuter's heaven — thanks to Metro and the Capital Crescent Trail — the average round-trip work commute of one hour, 12 minutes represents a big chunk of the day. Better get working on that for next year to keep San Francisco in its place.
EATING A BANANA shouldn't be a philosophically complex question but Krapp's Last Tape manages to turn that small yellow fruit into something just a little bit more than an easy entendre.
Take advantage of Pay What You Can this week and catch a double offering of Beckett with Ohio Impromptu and starring Carter Jahncke at the Black Box Theatre.
» Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College, 7600 Takoma Ave., Fri., 8 p.m., Sat-Sun 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., pay what you can; 202-248-0647.
Photo by P. Schwartz
WHATEVER THE OUTCOME of Tuesday's election, the winner is bound to emphasize he'll bring change to Washington. Perhaps the candidates don't realize it's already here. But instead of taxes or rebates or regulations, Hyun Martin has her own techniques. "I came to Washington to change the world, and I'm doing it in a spa," says the owner of Bethesda's Be You Bi You Wellness Center and Spa (5602 Shields Drive, 301-493-4911, Beyouspa.com).
Her bipartisan suggestion: Get a jaw massage.
Whether you've been gabbing incessantly on cable news — or at the dinner table — or gritting your teeth as you listened with a forced smile, your jaws have taken a beating over the past few months. And that, my friends, could wear out the muscles that support your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). So, Martin, who hatched the idea to target beleaguered jaws after dating a dentist, designed a 30-minute massage ($80) that targets trigger points on your cranium, neck and mouth. She slips on gloves and dives into your oral cavity, fatiguing the jaw muscles with pressure. "I ask them to clench, and after awhile, they can't clench anymore, so the muscle has to release," she says.
Continue Reading "Take a Break, Talking Heads: Loosen Up Jaws" »
LABOR DAY WAS a few weeks ago, but the Eighth annual D.C. Labor FilmFest still seems timely. The AFI Silver is now billing the fest as "Real Films for Hard Times" to appeal to those moviegoers who aren't expecting a check from Secretary Paulson.
Assuming you've still got a bank and some money left in it, you've got lots of options. If your sense of humor needs a bailout, "Kabluey" features a schlub who's forced to support his in-laws by dressing as the pathetic foam-rubber mascot of a failing Internet company while his brother fights in Iraq. (No, it's not a documentary.)
For even purer physical humor, check out a restored print of 1936's silent classic "Modern Times" and watch Charlie Chaplin literally become a cog in the machine, as well as mistake cocaine for salt and accidentally lead a communist demonstration. (If anyone had the clout to flout the Production Code, it was Chaplin.)
BETWEEN GAMES OF pool, shuffleboard and Wii, enjoy a sandwich at Breadsoda. The newly opened Glover Park bar and deli serves a variety of sandwiches, a few salads and sides, but it will soon sell Boar's Head meats and cheeses and homemade sides for take-out. The Moroccan chicken salad sandwich is enhanced with a subtle, homemade harissa, and the vegetable sandwich on multigrain bread is enlivened with a homemade goat-cheese spread.
» Breadsoda, 2233 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-333-7445, breadsoda.com.
Written by Express contributor Stefanie Gans
Photo by Jay Premack
IF YOU'RE AN '80s baby, nostalgia might draw you to Imagination Stage's final production for the 2007-08 season, "The Neverending Story."
What legwarmer-clad child didn't want to ride that big, flying dragon-puppy creature brought to life in the 1984 film version of german novelist Michael Ende's 1979 book, "Die Unendliche Geschichte"?
Adapted by Canadian playwright David S. Craig, Imagination Stage's rendition focuses on the lighter parts of Ende's existential examination of the depths of the imagination. Young Bastian is a loner — he'd rather read a good book than develop Nintendo thumb — who escapes his dismal reality of torturous bullies via the pages of a gripping book he "borrows" from a shop owner who refuses to sell to children. (Boo! Hiss!)
Continue Reading "Pure Imagination: 'The Neverending Story'" »
THERE WAS WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE in the D.C. region yesterday, but not a drop to drink in upper Montgomery County — not straight from the tap, anyway.
The big news this morning for residents there is that water use restrictions have been lifted, but people are still being advised to boil water before drinking it, The Post's Steve Hendrix and Dan Morse reported this morning.
The restrictions came after a 48-inch water main ruptured in a wooded area, affecting water supplies for much of the county outside the Beltway. The order was lifted Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the batch of severe thunderstorms that pounded the area with wind, heavy rain and hail led to another round of power outages, affecting about 150,000 homes from Loudoun County to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, The Post's Paul Schwartzman and Martin Weil report.
The winds toppled several large tents on the National Mall, briefly trapping seven children and three adults inside, The Post reports. They sustained minor injuries.
Continue Reading "Area Cleans Up from Storms, Water Main Break" »
Josiah Boyer and Kristin Tomasulo look at a tree that fell Wednesday at 9th and K streets NW. Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post. Below right: Virginia Melanson of Chicago seeks shelter from the storms in Annapolis. Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post
GOOD MORNING, WASHINGTON. If you haven't seen a downed tree limb, power line or other detritus from yesterday's onslaught of powerful stormy weather, you're one of the few.
The violent storms are blamed for one death, and caused so many power outages that Montgomery County and Prince George's County decided to shutter their public schools for the day today, although scheduled graduation ceremonies will go on as planned.
Here's the latest on power outages from The Post's Maria Glod, Debbi Wilgoren and Tom Jackman:
In Northern Virginia, more than 115,000 customers remained without power as of 7:30 a.m. this morning, Dominion Virginia Power reported. Pepco said there were 72,000 homes and businesses without power in Montgomery County, along with nearly 18,000 homes and businesses in Prince George's County and almost 12,000 customers in the District. Baltimore Gas and Electric reported another 7,000 outages in Prince George's, along with 20,000 outages in Anne Arundel County, 5,500 outages in Howard County. And some 6,400 outages remained in Southern Maryland, according to utility officials there.Area utility companies said last night that they will need until late tomorrow to restore service to all their customers.
NEW POTENTIAL RIDERSHIP numbers are powering renewed calls for a Purple Line light rail or rapid bus service to connect Metrorail stations in suburban Maryland.
According to new state estimates, about 68,000 people would take advantage of a Purple Line if it existed — a jump of 20,000 people from initial figures, NBC4 reports. Line supporters, who spoke with the press and handed out pamphlets at the Silver Spring Metro station earlier today, cited rising fuel prices as part of the draw for commuters.
The line, which would connect the strong>Bethesda and Silver Spring Metro stations in Montgomery County with the New Carrollton station in Prince George's County, has received strong support from the Maryland Transportation Authority and other state officials. But it would need federal funding, as well as resolutions to land-use and environmental questions, in order to proceed.
Map courtesy innerpurpleline.org
Addison Road