A Quieter Time

This past weekend was quieter than the last. Here goes:

The Presentations.

First, Friday night, Professor Judith Hauptman of Jewish Theological Seminary speaking on the relationship between Mishnah and Tosefta. (If you want to know more, call me.) She was quite good. The only unnerving thing about the presentation is that she sounds (voice, accent, intonation) 100% like a client of mine whom I had been speaking to that very afternoon. Who probably knows little about this subject. But what do you think Judith Hauptman knows about lead based paint?

Second, Sunday afternoon, Hannah did a solo talk back at Theater J about the plays of Richard Greenberg. Good job, Hannah. I still think that the two characters (Russell and Trey) in the 3rd act of Bal Masque underwent a personality transformation from the first acts.

The Restaurants.

Saturday evening, a quick salad at Panera in Friendship Heights. Not bad. Very reasonably priced. Comfortable enough. Not crowded, but not empty - an international crowd, plus some 20-somethings having supper with their laptops (while talking on their camera phones).

Sunday (Mother's Day) evening at RIA15, or 15RIA (forget which one we went to) at (clever, clever) 15th and Rhode Island Avenue (or Rhode Island Avenue and 15th). The two best features: comfort and decor (that's one feature) and our young Romanian waitress, four months in the US of A after 5 years on a Carnival Line cruise ship. But then, they were out of everything: the Sunday meatloaf special (no tears, there), chicken, beet salad and cheese grits. Reason given: 70 reservations for 11 - 4 brunch; 250 customers. We had steak (apparently good), salmon (not bad), rockfish (not good). The salads were OK, the deserts festive enough, the price too high.

The books: None completed. Still plodding along.

The movies: Two, both at home.

First, the original Manchurian Candidate. Very stylistic, black and white. The blurb said that after Kennedy's assassination it was not shown for 25 years. Pretty incredible that. Lawrence Harvey as the killer, Frank Sinatra as the guy who figured it out, Angela Lansbury as the evil foreign agent (and as Harvey's mother, although she is just 3 years older than he). The stylism was a bit surprising to me, as the newer, Denzil Washington version is simply an action thriller. Same plot, very different movies. For 2006, the newer is the better. For 1962, ????

Second, the Bourne Conspiracy, a 3 year old espionage/spy/CIA movie that I wanted to see when it first came out to good reviews. A lot of action in far away places (here particularly India, Moscow, Berlin and Naples). But, like Syriana that we saw earlier, the plot was a bit too convoluted and complicated for me to (a) follow and (b) care about. Well acted.

The Book Sale.

In this case, we did not go to buy, but to run it at the Murch School Rummage Sale. We had to get there by 7 a.m. and stayed until noon or so. Problem was it was so early, that it tired us out the rest of the day.

I think that was it.