Events

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams spoke to GWU graduates on Sunday. He spoke to estimated crowd of 25,000 people on the National Mall.  At the close of his speech he implored the graduates to improve the country. “You don’t actually have to build a rocket and take us into space but please, take us somewhere,” he said. “Please keep us moving, push us, lift us up, make us better.”

Willams never graduated from GWU. He attended community college, transferred to Catholic University and then moved on to GWU. He left to intern for President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

Highlights:

• Mr. Williams told the story of how he first arrived in Washington, D.C. – tagging along with a friend visiting his girlfriend for the weekend — and eventually to GW for a semester but not before first enrolling at Catholic University.

• “(Catholic) have run out of dorm space and I’m a little late in applying so they find room for me in the administrative building across the street in Trinity College. There are eight of us living on the top floor: eight men and 600 Catholic women. It was fantastic.” Watch here.

• However, Mr. Williams said with money for tuition dwindling and “the taxi meter was running,” he dropped out entirely and never went back to college.

• “I walked out of college for the last time,” he said. “I like to say to people I was in a big hurry and I needed to go make a living, and I never looked back. But the truth is, as the last college I attended, I look back every day. And I look in the mirror, and it’s one of my great regrets. Don’t forget that by being here today that you have now achieved something I was not able to achieve.”

• Mr. Williams acknowledged the heroics of people like Chuck Yeager and John Glenn and how there was no guarantee that their missions in the early days of the space program would be successful yet they did it anyway.

• “When our American astronauts needed a ride up to the International Space Station, we have to ask the Russians. We don’t have a way to get them up there ourselves. It’s a last insult to Chuck Yeager. He’s still around and with us and he can see this. And it’s an insult to John Glenn who’s still with us and living in the Washington area and he can see this. It breaks their hearts and mine.”

• Mr. Williams asked the U.S. veterans graduating to stand up for a round of applause for their service.

• “Our civilian life and our military life are going down two separate paths. Picture it as two train tracks that don’t intersect because of the small percentage of people we call upon to fight our wars, because we don’t have a draft. You can walk door to door in this country and have to go to 250 homes before you come to a home of a military family.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Few things in life sound more deliciously appealing than getting primped and preened for a professional photo shoot with “Real Housewives of D.C.’s” uber stylist Paul Wharton at the helm. As many readers know, Wharton has his own show on Sunday’s called Paul Wharton Style, in which he downs a lot of booze and gets his eyebrows plucked among other activities.

There are a few male journalists we’d love to see Wharton get his hands on: Roll Call’s John Stanton, Politico‘s Jonathan Martin, ABC7′s Stephen Tschida and TWT Columnist Joe Curl to name a few. Of course, Slate‘s Dave Weigel may have a ball with this. A beach blonde Weigel could be intriguing. But if Paul burns up his scalp, do not take him to Whitman-Walker Clinic.

What your $250 gets you:
Fashion Hair Styling.
Professional Make-up Application.
Wardrobe Styling Advice.
Easy to Download Digital Files.
2 Distinct Looks
Photo Retouching Available.

It’s all in the details: Get a two look photo shoot with hair, make-up and wardrobe styling all for $250. Presented by Paul Wharton and his team of experts! Photographer Drew Xeron When: Saturday June 9, 2012 Where: Studio 52 DC 52 O Street NW # 204 Washington, DC 20001 Time: Once you’ve made your reservation (click Paypal link), we will contact you to set up your call time.
Important note: Bring 2-3 wardrobe options and come with face clean and hair clean and ready to be styled.

Reasons to do it: Paul states in his enticing announcement, “As you’ve now heard, the Beautiful You! Photo Shoots by Paul Wharton and his team are the best way for you to get up the up to date, professional  shots you need for your career or just for yourself. Take part in a fabulous day of being pampered as you become the star in front of the lights, camera and action.”

Sign me up! Write info@paulwhartonstyle.com for more information.

The Atlantic is hosting it’s third annual Food Summit and got a pretty gigantic get for the affair: Martha Stewart. Other guests include chef and restaurateur Mario Batali; Deputy Sec. of Ag Kathleen Merrigan; and Revolution Foods’ Kirsten Tobey.

Expect panel discussions, one-on-one interviews, and keynote addresses. The Summit will explore key themes in food, including the obesity epidemic, childhood nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and the role of government regulation. Hosting the Summit will be Corby Kummer, Atlantic Senior Editor and James Beard award-winning food writer.

Media wishing to attend on May 24, please contact Natalie Raabe at The Atlantic (nraabe@theatlantic.com).

We can hardly wait for MSNBC host Chris Hayes to sweep back into Washington for what is sure to be a bouncy, boisterous affair. Hopefully he’ll have busloads of Uppers and his perpetually unknown guests and will have worked on his people skills so that the masses can understand him without a thesaurus. Hayes has been known on FishbowlDC for our series entitled “I’m a writer Goddammit” as well as “I have a staff Goddammit,” his spanking white sneakers and more.

Hayes and other libs will partake in  the “Take Back the American Dream” conference from June 18 to 20 at the Washington Hilton.

Journos and pols we can expect: Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist and NYT columnist, Rebuild the Dream’s Van Jones, Rep. Keith Ellison, Democracy for America chair Howard Dean, Sen. Bernie Sanders, MSNBC’s Alex Wagner, Chris Hayes and Melissa Harris-Perry, Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation, Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey, co-directors of the Campaign for America’s Future,  and more.

The conference will offer free conference registration for reporters, bloggers and producers.  To register, visit here.

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams will deliver George Washington University’s commencement address on May 20.

The event will take place on the National Mall.

RSVP: Media who wish to attend Commencement should RSVP by Thursday, May 17, 2012.  To RSVP, contact Latarsha Gatlin at 202-994-5631 or lgatlin@gwu.edu.

Lorraine Wallace, wife of Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, piggybacked on her husband’s Sunday program by writing the book, Mr. Sunday’s Soups. This was a folksy recipe book about what she feeds her husband after he gets home from a grueling day on the Fox News set where he once again prevented Brit Hume and Juan Williams from getting into a bitchy fist fight reminiscent of an episode of Bad Girls Club. As if the dirty looks exchanged aren’t enough stress.

Now the Wallace couple are taking their capitalizing to the next level with a chicken book. On Sunday, June 24 she will emasculate him further as they appear at the Newseum to discuss her new book, Mr. Sunday’s Saturday Night Chicken. These are the bold chicken dishes she serves him the night before he wakes up and courageously heads into a World War II type battle otherwise known as Fox News Sunday. We were going to make a joke about Lorraine choking Chris’s chicken, but maybe that’s too much.

What a weird coincidence!

As it happens,  Lorraine has a little something in common with potential first lady Ann Romney and current first lady Michelle Obama. An announcement for the chicken book reading says she was a competitive horse jumper in the 80s while astonishingly starting her own vegetable, herb and flower garden. Who knew?

Get more specifics on the event here.

As we speak, Lorraine is working on her next book, Mr. Sunday’s Power Breakfast, a book about the pots of peach compote Lorraine forces down Chris’s throat before he leaves for the Fox News studio on Sunday mornings.

In a twist on Mother’s Day today, we asked Washington journalists to think about a time or moment in their lives when they disappointed her. Just the asking part was fascinating in that it sometimes evoked complicated feelings. While many readily replied to the question, more than one declined for any number of reasons. A few said the question brought up touchy things they’d rather not discuss or have her see, while others dealt with the heavy reality that she’s no longer alive. We appreciate those who provided us answers, and to those of you who couldn’t or wouldn’t respond, we understand that too.

NBC Producer Andy Gross told us he’d rather not answer the question since his mother, Cornelia, passed away fairly recently and this is his first Mother’s Day without, as he put it, her “reassuring presence in my life.” In lieu of an answer, he sent this photograph of the two of them. He’s the one in the big black shoes.

SiriusXM’s Julie Mason: “I grew up in a seriously liberal family — Boston Irish Kennedy-huggers from way back. Effective modes of teenage rebellion were highly limited. I became a punk rocker, but that raised few eyebrows. Then one summer during college, I went to work for the RNC. It was like I had stabbed her in the heart! We both got over it, eventually.”

Mike Elk, In These Times Magazine: “My mother used to fart a lot when I was a kid and then blame it on me in public. Occasionally, I would be like no mom you farted, I dont know if that she was disappointed I wouldn’t take the fall for the fart, but she was certainly embarrassed.”

Politico‘s Dave Catanese: Probably when I was a young teenager and a few friends and I got nabbed by local po-po swiping political signs.  And nooooo, it wasn’t a partisan thing.  Just dumb kids seeing what we could get away with it in the dark of night.  Mom wasn’t pleased, but neither was Dad.

WaPo‘s Erik Wemple: “I am sure that I disappointed my mother on many fronts. Thing is, I don’t really know what those things were, because she never betrayed disappointment. She was everything to me, and then she dropped dead in a supermarket in Schenectady, N.Y., 12 years ago. So I’ll add this question to the many that I never got to ask her.”

NJ‘s Jim O’Sullivan: “My mother is a tough lady. You’d have to be, to endure the perpetual state of disappointment in which I’m certain she exists. She’s too kind to ever show this, of course, but I’d imagine on any number of levels – sartorial, behavioral, professional – the disappointment is almost total.”

The Daily Caller‘s Brian Danza: “I wouldn’t want to disappoint her more by saying something stupid in the media. My mom lives in Italy, so it’s not mother’s day over there. I am off the hook this time.”

Publicist and Hollywood on the Potomac blogger Janet Donovan: “In general, my mother was very supportive and non judgmental so it is hard to say just what disappointed her, but if I had to guess it would be when she and my father would take my children in the summer so I could ‘get my act together’.  Instead, I went tooling around in the Greek Islands and pretended to be calling from a ‘bad connection’ when I checked in with them.  They never said anything, but being a mother myself, I know she knew, so assume she was disappointed.”

TWT‘s Anneke Green: “So I called my mom on this one. She denied every disappointment I accused her of ever feeling, including that I wouldn’t cut off my hair. Apparently I am a model child. Or it’s right before Mothers Day and she doesn’t want to jeopardize her gift situation. Gotta go, jumping on a plane to surprise her this weekend!

TPM‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro: “I have never disappointed her. Every mother dreams her 30 year-old son will spend his days driving across the frozen Iowa tundra in the hopes of yelling questions at a former Pennsylvania Senator in a pizza buffet restaurant.”

Publicist Dannia Hakki: “I have the lucky privilege of having a mother for a client. My mother is the COO of my father’s plastic surgery/med spa practice, Luxxery Medical Boutique. I am the boutique’s publicist. My mother loves to bother me about pitches, press releases and other public relation’s services that are included in her monthly retainer. She sends me daily emails with updates, questions, and concerns to make sure my father is being pitched properly. Take, Plastic Surgery Practice Magazine, for example. Email from my mother attached – in which she yells at me her assistant Maha about our pitching efforts.” An excerpt from her mother’s email: “This is going to become poop on Maha day because Maha doesn’t know poop about what I am talking about, and besides: AINT GOT TIME FOR THIS. Dannia, if you are in your office, please look in the pile of junk this is on your left hand side at your desk and you will find the PSP issue, at which point we can talk.”

Standup comic Will Durst is a five-time Emmy nominee, political satirist and cheeseburger enthusiast.

Durst is in town today and tomorrow performing at the Comedy Theater on E St. We caught up with him to pick his brain on the pressing issues of the day.

1. Has President Obama completed his evolution? Well, he’s evolved enough to grow some flippers to walk on dry land and crawl to Dick Cheney’s position on gay marriage. Perhaps he grew some other things as well.

2. Does Mitt Romney have any evolving to do? In what areas? Not sure Mr. Romney can evolve. They keep saying the long campaign made him a better candidate. But the only thing he’s done for five years is run for president. Pretty sure his learning curve has run out of bendy parts. He’s just electile dysfunctional. Finally figured out who Romney is: he’s Thurston P. Howell III before the island. And Ann is training to be Lovie.

3. Who’s your favorite journalist (print or TV)? Love a lot of gifted writers out there: but especially [NYT's] Gail Collins. She manages to merge punditry with humor. Doesn’t take herself or her opinions too seriously. It’s rare that this particular medium is so well done. And Carl Cameron on Fox News for the exceptional job he’s doing of passing.

4. What do you think of Sarah Palin co-hosting “Today”? Should she do it full time? Don’t care what the former Governor of Alaska does as long as she keeps doing it. The girl can’t help herself. Every two weeks with her there’s something. Every two weeks she erupts. She’s like Republican herpes. But I mean that in a good way. “Celebrity Apprentice” should be next on her list.

5. Michele Bachmann recently received dual-citizenship status with the U.S and Switzerland. What’s the significance of this? More yodeling from behind the closed door of Marcus‘s bedroom?

Note: Since this interview took place Michele Bachmann says she has renounced her dual-citizenship status with Switzerland.

The Atlantic is hosting a day-long “Innovation Summit” next Tuesday at Ronald Reagan Airport where tours of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner will be given.

The Dreamliner’s stop near Arlington is part of Boeing’s worldwide tour that includes layovers in the United Kingdom, Norway, and Italy.

Scientists and business executives from Google, IBM and Boeing will speak at the event about advancements in technology and science.

View the full list of the day’s events and register here. Take note: There’s a Friday 9.a.m deadline for those who want to tour the Dreamliner.

CQ Roll Call is partnering up with Musicians On Call to host fundraisers at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions this year. And if 2008 is the judge, they could wind up hosting a concert featuring talent on par with rapper Kanye West. That’s who the group brought to Denver in 2008.

Donations will go to Musicians On Call, which brings live and recorded music to patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center among other healthcare facilities. Sponsors for the events are the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

“CQ Roll Call is widely known as a go-to news source for what’s happening throughout Washington,” said Cary Sherman, Chairman and CEO of RIAA in a release. “We are especially thrilled that the reputable CQ Roll Call brand will help serve to uniquely highlight the wonderful work of the Musicians On Call charity in helping wounded soldiers experience the joy of music as they undergo medical treatment. We look forward to our charity events with all our partners, which are sure to keep up the tradition of being memorable and entertaining for audiences.”