Style: Culture, Arts, Ideas & More - The Washington Post

Journalist Michael Hastings dies in Los Angeles car crash

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:11:40 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Michael Hastings, the award-winning journalist and war correspondent, has died in a car accident in Los Angeles.

Ben Smith, editor in chief of the news site BuzzFeed, said he learned from a family member that the 33-year-old died early Tuesday.

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Istanbul’s sights: The bazaar, Bosporus and tear gas

Roger Catlin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:44:00 GMT

ISTANBUL — A cruise up the Bosporus is one of the prime attractions of any trip to Istanbul, so we took the lovely two-hour ride Sunday. And just as the boat traversed the European and Asian sides of the Turkish city, home to so many civilizations, so did our excursion ride the line between vacation and political action.

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Sky Sitney keeps AFI Docs on an even keel

Ann Hornaday — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:51:00 GMT

On a warm June afternoon, AFI Docs festival director Sky Sitney hurries into the L Street offices of Bracy Tucker Brown & Valanzano. “Sorry I’m late,” she apologizes, blaming the traffic in Silver Spring. Sitney, the guiding force of one of the country’s premier documentary showcases, exchanges some small talk with festival press manager Jody Arlington and advocacy consultant Michael Bracy, and then the three get to work. The task at hand is reviewing plans for this year’s Policy Engagement Program, in which documentary filmmakers will be invited to discuss the subjects of their films with lawmakers, political appointees and organizations. Soon, the group turns its attention to a special pilot project that will offer five filmmakers one-on-one meetings with congressional staffers. Both are new features representative of a seismic shift in the festival’s direction.

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TV Highlights: ‘Futurama’ returns for last batch of new episodes

— Emily Yahr — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:40:41 GMT

They share a network, so the contestants on “MasterChef” (Fox at 8 p.m.) must cook a meal for the cast and crew of “Glee”; cast members Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch are this week’s judges.

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Mark Krikorian loses volunteer job with Catholic Charities after Washington Post story

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:50:09 GMT

Hours after the Washington Post profile of anti-immigration activist Mark Krikorian hit doorsteps Tuesday, he got fired -- from a volunteer job.

Catholic Charities informed Krikorian that he can no longer teach its civics classes for green card-holders seeking to pass the citizenship test after he brought a Post reporter to his classroom last week without prior approval.

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Boys Noize serves up relentless techno set

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:37:52 GMT

When most people think of a Monday night in the District, home-cooked meals and early bedtimes likely come to mind. But surveying the packed club at U Street Music Hall on Monday night, nobody seemed hungry for anything other than swarming techno. And it didn’t seem like anyone was ever going to go to bed again. With spastic, angular sounds that came down with relentless force, the German DJ Alex Ridha, better known Boys Noize, brought Monday night to its knees.

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Rep. Joaquin Castro engaged to Anna Flores

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:23:27 GMT

Engaged: Rep. Joaquin Castro and longtime girlfriend Anna Flores, the freshman congressman's office confirmed Tuesday -- though the news was originally broken by his older-by-a-minute identical twin brother, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, in a Facebook post late Monday. Flores, who has been dating the Texas Democrat for about three years, works for San Antonio tech firm and plans to keep living in their Texas district, rather than move to D.C., we're told -- a typical decision for many congressional spouses these days. In a statement, Castro said they are "grateful for the outpouring of love and well wishes on our recent engagement. We don't have a set date, but we are excited for the many years together to come."

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‘Letters to Jackie’ opens documentary film festival

Rachel Lubitz — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:06:40 GMT

“Letters to Jackie” — the opening film of the AFI Docs film festival that starts Wednesday — is a somber revisitation of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination by way of letters written from a supportive populace to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

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Comedy Central’s ‘Futurama’: 14 years later, one last rocket ride around Tomorrowland

Hank Stuever — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:02:00 GMT

“Futurama’s” general lot in life was underappreciation. Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s lovably nerdy cartoon series premiered in 1999 on Fox to mixed reviews and the afterglow of Groening’s “Simpsons” success. In what has to be one of the longest drifts into niche oblivion for a TV show, “Futurama” returned from cancellation and found a small but supportive fan base on cable, first on Cartoon Network and then on Comedy Central.

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Dave Chappelle to headline 13-show, monthlong comedy tour for Funny Or Die

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:18:00 GMT

NEW YORK — Dave Chappelle is making his most substantial return to stand-up comedy with a one-month tour for Funny Or Die.

The comedian will headline the Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, which kicks off Aug. 23 in Austin, Texas. The 13-date, two-stage tour concludes Sept. 22 in Phoenix.

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Josh Duggar moving to D.C. for political job with Family Research Council

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:46:06 GMT

After three decades of fighting the culture wars from within the Washington establishment, the conservative Family Research Council decided that it needed a fresh, new face to reach outside and cultivate the grassroots.

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A pocket-scaled pairing of ‘L’histoire du soldat’ and ‘Gianni Schicchi’

Anne Midgette — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:33:00 GMT

It’s a fallacy to think that community theater or community opera are necessarily altogether different from their larger and more polished brethren. Take the InSeries, which has been presenting professional, small-scale music theater of various forms for 30 seasons. Its latest double bill, which runs at the Gala Hispanic Theatre through June, is a pocket-scaled pairing of Stravinsky’s “L’histoire du soldat” (in the version for three instruments: violin, clarinet and piano) and Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” (with piano accompaniment).

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Quoted: Katy Perry will only drop hints, for now, about her breakup with Russell Brand

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:46:21 GMT

"I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can't necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day."

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Briefly: Michele Obama and Bono; Lolo Jones; Komen CEO; Kimye baby name

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:47:19 GMT

Brief news from here and elsewhere:

In what should be a mandatory stop for all Dublin tourists, Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama met up with Bono and his wife for lunch. (Irish Times)
Earlier: Michelle Obama on visiting Dublin's Trinity College

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Group turns nerdiness into theater in ‘The Best of Craigslist’

Rebecca Ritzel — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:26:00 GMT

With 50 or so small, producing theater companies in the Washington area, you’d think we’d have all the dramatic niches covered. There are companies that explore Eastern European movement theater, Italian Commedia dell’arte and a bloody French spectacle called Grand Guignol. Then there are the troupes devoted to plays by women, Irish plays and new plays. But there is always room for more, as proven by a newish little troupe called Flying V.

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Battle of the ridiculous: 'The Wolf of Wall Street' vs. 'Magna Carta Holy Grail'

Jessica Goldstein, Cara Kelly — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:25:32 GMT

On Monday, like heaven releasing manna down to the Earth, the Internet dropped into our unworthy laps two extraordinary videos dare we say, bite-size cinematic masterpieces that we have only begun to appreciate and can't even attempt to fully comprehend.

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Nigella Lawson husband Charles Saatchi warned by police over fight

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:33:10 GMT

Charles Saatchi, the art dealer husband of Nigella Lawson, took an official warning from London police Monday over an incident in which he appeared to attack the celebrity chef, British newspapers are reporting this morning.

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One Teen Story gets one new editor

Ron Charles — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:24:11 GMT

Like any adolescent, the face of One Teen Story is changing fast. Just a year old, the monthly magazine of short fiction for young people is getting a new editor-in-chief: Patrick Ryan, 47, was the associate editor of Granta from 2009 to 2013. He left the London-based literary journal last month in The Great Exodus that included John Freeman and other staffers.

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Hey, isn't that. . . ?: Stephen Colbert

The Reliable Source — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:47:16 GMT

-- Stephen Colbert lunching at Old Ebbitt Grill Sunday with his wife and daughter. Had the steak salad, posed for a photo with his server. Looked like a nice Father's Day moment for the Comedy Central star, who has been off the air for several days following his mother's death.

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Mark Krikorian: The provocateur standing in the way of immigration reform

Manuel Roig-Franzia — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:37:49 GMT

Mark Krikorian is tapping the earpiece of his glasses — into the center of his right eye.

Clink. Clink.

“This eye doesn’t track,” he says by way of explaining his slightly distracted, far-off gaze.

Clink.

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Discovery’s ‘Blood and Oil’: Mostly sludge

Hank Stuever — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:08:00 GMT

From its description alone, Discovery’s “Blood and Oil” (premiering Tuesday night) sounds like welcome relief from the usual jagged landscape of manly reality shows, simply because it’s not set in Alaska, where viewers have wearied of watching get-rich-quick schemes devolve in get-poorer-slower sagas of self-absorbed guys with gold fever.

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TV highlights for Tuesday, June 18

— Emily Yahr — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:57:47 GMT

Now that the auditions are over, “So You Think You Can Dance” (Fox at 8 p.m.) announces the 20 finalists.

FINALE WATCH: It’s the season finale of “The Voice” (NBC at 9), and naturally, that means there will be lots of musicians in addition to the actual contestants, the final three acts being the Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbery and Michelle Chamuel. Joining the fun are Bruno Mars, Pitbull, Nelly teaming up with Florida Georgia Line, and “Voice” judge Christina Aguilera.

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Newt Gingrich turns 70 with a surprise birthday party

The Reliable Source — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:23:50 GMT

So a priest, a politician and his wife walk into a bar

Newt and Callista Gingrich thought they were having a casual dinner with a small group of friends -- including a few priests -- Sunday night when the driver gave a vague excuse and diverted the car to Georgetown. As they pulled up to Cafe Milano, the couple found 250 friends waiting outside of the restaurant for Newt's surprise 70th birthday party.

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Michelle Obama on visiting Dublin's Trinity College

The Reliable Source — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:36:35 GMT

"It's like Hogwarts, as Sasha pointed out."

-- Michelle Obama describing her trip Monday with her daughters to Dublin's Trinity College to a crowd of Irish youth she later addressed at nearby Gaiety Theatre: "It's a huge room with shelf after shelf full of books; a beautiful place, and I hope that all of you aspire to go there, if not study there, but just to go and experience what it's like to be surrounded by so much history and so much power." On day one of the president's official visit to Northern Ireland and Germany, his wife and daughters went to Trinity to see the illuminated ninth-century gospel known as the Book of Kells and and birth registries for President Obama's Irish ancestors.

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Pianist Michael Arnowitt delivers an on-point performance at National Gallery

Joan Reinthaler — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:17:00 GMT

The National Gallery of Art’s new exhibition is “Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes” and, in its honor, pianist Michael Arnowitt has put together a beautifully thought-out program — a bits-and-pieces retrospective of what was going on musically about 1913, when the past, present and future vied for position. He played it at the gallery Sunday with an exquisite sense of touch, color and musical imagination.

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