Back to business: AFI's Guggenheim Symposium

Ok, now that I've recovered from my trip to the dark side ("Friday Frivolity") I can get back to serious work. Thursday night I attended the Guggenheim Symposium at the AFI Discovery SilverDocs festival, where I was wowed by the body of work by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, the honorees and stars of the event. Sen. Al Franken, their subject  in "Al Franken: God Spoke" started the show with a series of refreshingly hilarious, self-deprecating remarks. I was dying for him to break into "Stuart Smiley" just one last time, but that milieu didn't lend itself to shout-out requests. He introduced a film compilation of the prolific team's body of work, films about a very young Bob Dylan, Carole Burnett, Al Gore, John DeLorean, Bill Clinton, James Carville. Their films are like poetry in the way that they capture a moment of time--simply as it is, for what it is. No tidy endings, no protagonist appeals to the audience to "like me, like me."

Their next project is a restoration of Richard Leacock's "A Stravinsky Portrait". The filmmaker captures Stravinsky's intensity, passion and the joy he finds in his work just by filming him talk about it. If you want to catch a little Hegedus and Pennebaker for yourself, go see "Kings of Pastry" running through Saturday. Click here for a clip.

Art, Bloody Marys and a New Name

Happy New Year! It's a whole new look, new name and and new specials for Grubb Road's The Daily Dish, a restaurant and catering company in Silver Spring. Locals may have known this place as redDog Cafe till late last year. They may also know that they can wet their weekend morning whistle with a custom Bloody Mary they can create at the Bloody Mary bar to enjoy with Saturday and Sunday brunch. The everyday dinner menu offers "comfort foods with a twist" created by former Rock Creek Mazza chef Michael Chretien; stars are scallops, mac 'n cheese, organic roasted chicken and gourmet pizza. Ingredients are local and the wine list is tops. Oh, and did I mention the staff? Friendly, efficient and eager to please. And there's atmosphere: co-owners Zena Polin and Jerry Hollinger regularly bring in local artists to showcase their works. Below is artist Stephanie Bonifant in front of one of her paintings. Artist Lisa Rose appears this month. 8301 A Grubb Road, Silver Spring, 301.588.6300

Arty Saturday

Today should be good: I'm planning a trip to downtown Silver Spring to check out the reopening of ArtSpring, a center started last year when five local artists got together to display their works in a neighborhood art show, which also included a wine-tasting, cupcakes and live music, provided by an artist's spouse. Proceeds went to a nonprofit. Sounds like a fun group right? They'll be at their new space on Georgia till 10 pm. 

Next up might be a trip to Ibhana boutique on Cindy Lane in Bethesda for a clearance sale and chance to pick up a free scarf. Founder Meena Tharmaratnam showcases unique clothing, hats, jewelry and accessories from around the world. 

Because I've never been to either place, it should be a great day! I'll report back with all the details later.

The Real Life at AFI Film Fest

Unless you just crawled out from under a rock, you're probably aware of the AFI-Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival this week at SilverDocs in Silver Spring. Highlights include the documentary on which the recent HBO movie, "Grey Gardens," starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, was based. I was both disturbed and haunted by the movie about the making of the documentary; actually seeing the Bouvier pair in their regal deshabille may take me over the edge. But unfortunately for me it's playing 11:15 Friday night! Not good. I'm already going earlier that same day to see "The September Issue," the real story of legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour--the Prada-wearing devil played by Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada."I actually don't care what she's like to work with, to me, she's no devil. She painstakingly brings us a fashion aesthetic in which we can immerse ourselves through pages of haute couture presented in the most spectacular layout possible. That's why the film intrigues me so. I can't wait to see the creative director Grace Coddington in action. Vogue's pages have always been art and an inspiration to me. After all I did spend much of my childhood in costume pretending to be someone else. And that is what fashion brings me. It's all about the destination, the idea of who we think we really are. Oh and lest I digress, another filmfest highlight will be the world premiere of "The Nine Lives of Marion Barry." Oh yes, truth is always much, much better than fiction. And we finally have an opportunity to see the "shorts" we hear about on Oscar night, plus the U.S. premiere of "More Than a Game" about a group of basketball players from Ohio. Does the name LeBron James ring a bell? Fashion, athletes, eccentrics, meandering mayors... I can hardly wait.