Grant was in town to help kick off the Red Cross’ Holiday Mail for Heroes program, where you can take a moment to sign a card and send a message to those that are serving our country all over. If you missed your chance to sign a card with Amy Grant, you can still send a card to service members and their families through December 7th.

Send your cards to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Make sure you check the website for info on how you should make out your cards.

Starting today you can register to enter a lottery for the free tickets needed to see the event in person. Registration for the lottery will last until 11:59 PM on Friday November 6th. Just head on down to the event website for more info.

The National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, scheduled for 5 p.m. Dec. 3 on the Ellipse, south of the White House.

Photo courtesy Alex Buckley

A disclosure so the FTC doesn’t go after me: this post is going to be 60% shameless plug.

I’ve spent the last few months stage managing for Kensington Arts Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. We opened last weekend to some wonderful audiences and this weekend we are pulling all the stops out for Halloween. Tonight we’ll have a performance at 8:00 PM but tomorrow night we’ll be having a special midnight performance for Halloween! What better way to celebrate the holiday than watching the show that’s been a horror cult classic for years.

The Rocky Horror Show tells the tale of Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple that are left stranded when their car breaks down in a rain storm, and seek the sheltered at the nearby castle of Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist who has a devilish plan in store for his new visitors.

For those that are Frankie fans, audience participation will be allowed and encouraged. If you are Rocky Horror virgin, you can find out what all the fuss is about here. Audience members will be free to shout out their favorite callbacks during the show, however keep your rice and pieces of toast at home. Props brought from home won’t be allowed due to safety reasons, however you can purchase all the props you need to shower the theatre with cards for sorrow and cards for pain.

To get complete details on the show check out KAT’s website- and if can’t catch it this weekend it’ll be running til November 14th.

If my shameless plug didn’t convince you to check out Rocky Horror then here’s a couple of other things you can do:

• The International Spy Museum will be holding a Spy Fright today and tomorrow. Besides a haunted Spy at Night event with cocktails, wearing a costume to the museum gets you discounts including 50% admission.  On Saturday the museum is also launching the latest Clue game: CLUE Secrets & Spies.
• The folks at Lindy Promotions are putting on the 10th Annual Nightmare on M Street, and if M Street two years ago means anything, it’ll be quite the show.
• From 6 PM – Midnight on Halloween stop by any Taco Bell for a free Black Jack Taco. No base stealing required.
• Instead of listing every single Saturday night Halloween party in town, just check out what The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, and BarDC have to say.

Sports fans may know him as the ESPN columnist that’s a die-hard Boston sports fan (which appeals to me as a former Bostonian), I know him mainly from his daily podcasts that feature interviews with his friends, fellow writers, and the occasional GM or actor. His experience writing for the Jimmy Kimmel Show has given him a broad background and network that makes his podcasts entertaining for both fans of sports and pop culture.

So you can tell that I was thrilled to hear via Twitter that Simmons will be kicking off his book tour in Washington DC with a midnight signing at ESPN Zone. He’ll be there tonight to release his latest book, The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy, and he’ll be signing copies that you can purchase or you can bring in your own copies to be signed (he’s already recommended going to Amazon or Wal-Mart to get the best deals.)

So if you want to know where I’ll be tonight, I’ll be the one with the Red Sox cap standing in line downtown- however I have a feeling there’ll be a lot of Boston caps in line, maybe I should wear my Nationals hat instead.

UPDATE: It was great to shake The Sports Guy’s hand and get him to sign my copy of the book with an insult to my Alma Mater (which neighbors his Alma Mater of Holy Cross.) The event was so big that they didn’t have enough books for everyone, and the line rounded the corner and went down three blocks- glad to see DC has a lot of Bill Simmons fans!

It’s fall-so it’s football.  Thursday night marks the opening of the NFL season, and while Patrick has been fantasying it up, and I’m in near hysterics watching my team make questionable move after questionable move-I think we can both safely say that we are looking forward to Thursday.  Maybe you are too-and maybe you’re looking to celebrate the new NFL year with friends, loved ones-or to make some new friends or loved ones, or you’re looking for some end of the year charitable donations to make as an offset to all of the money you won in Vegas on the Super Bowl this year.

If any of these are the case, might I suggest the Business Buddies Mid-Atlantic Region Fall Happy Hour, which just so happens to coincide with the Thursday night festivities.  Business Buddies Mid-Atlantic Region (BBMAR) will host a “Reality Bites” themed fundraising happy hour at Front Page in Arlington, VA on Thursday, September 10 from 4:00pm-8:00pm. The organization of charitable minded young professionals will raise funds for Best Buddies Virginia (BBVA), a local nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of intellectually disabled individuals. Tickets for the event are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets may be purchased at www.BestBuddiesVirginia.org/Events and proceeds will benefit BBVA.

The Arlington Front Page, right next to the mall in Ballston, will offer half-price appetizers and burgers, as well as $2 Miller Lights, $3 draft beers, $2.75 rail drinks $3.25 house wines and $4.50 John Daily’s (firefly & lemonade).

If you were going to go out to the bar to watch the game anyway, then maybe try and make a detour out to the Front Page and support BBMAR and BBVA.  You might just build good karma (for you or your team).

More about BBVA: Best Buddies is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

More about BBMAR: With many young professional organizations in the area, this one is unique in that it offers the opportunity to support an organization with a population that is often neglected and misunderstood. Through BBMAR, professionals in their 20s and 30s can engage with like-minded individuals and raise support for programs that enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities through friendships and in the workplace. BBMAR will provide opportunities to attend networking events, professional development seminars and, most importantly, interact and participate with Best Buddies members in the various schools in the area.

Saturday, we all woke up to news-channel remembrances and the funeral being broadcast from the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston before his internment at Arlington National Cemetery, next to two of his three brothers (the fourth, and eldest, Joe Jr. was killed in WWII and never recovered).  While I was watching, I decided to head down to view the procession as it went down Memorial Drive to the cemetery. I’d seen the Reagan and Ford funeral processions so making the trip down to ANC would just be keeping up my own little tradition. (Story continues after the jump.)

Waiting for the procession

I hopped on the Metro and arrived on Memorial Drive at about 3 PM.  I wasn’t alone, but when I first arrived there were more press than anything else.  However, as the hot day wore on, more and more arrived to wave goodbye to a popular figure in DC, and the last Kennedy Brother.  Some mourners arrived with homemade signs, some had chairs to relax on, some had umbrellas to hide from the sun. The really smart folks brought their own snacks and water – we ended up waiting in the muggy heat for several hours longer than we had expected due to bad weather in Boston.  The woman next to me checked progress on her Blackberry and kept me posted.

Get behind the barricade!

I was next to the visitor’s gate of the cemetery, between the Metro station and the Women in Military Service memorial.  The nearby journalists were constantly trawling for interviews, but only a few of us acquiesced.  Since the cemetery was open (though the Kennedy burial site closed in preparation), we were treated to hours of entertainment by the senior security man at the entrance. He corralled his folks, the tour buses, the traffic, and us spectators enthusiastically all afternoon long!  Only a few protesters were in attendance – the same anti-papists who protested the Pope’s visit last year.  They stuck by the Metro station escalators waving their signs.

Free Speech

As the procession began to approach people began to encroach on the roadway, and mounted Park Police came out for crowd control.  There was one particular group who didn’t seem to want to move, but a strategic placement of  horse-puckey put them back with the rest of us.  (It seemed somehow wrong to be laughing with the procession just a few minutes away, but we really couldn’t help it.)  With just a few minutes to go, the last group of journos polled for opinion on Kennedy, and why folks had come by.  A little boy, perhaps eight years old who was perched on the fence next to me stopped the last reporter just as he was moving away and made a great, heartfelt statement.  He was interviewed by Al-Jazeera English – I wonder if he made it on the air? (I don’t get that channel!)

Soon the procession itself arrived, and suddenly the crowd broke out into spontaneous, yet quiet applause.  Some people in the crowd called out, “Kennedy! Kennedy!” as the cars and buses carrying attendees went by.  And the Kennedys seemed overwhelmed by the affection the crowd showed.  I hadn’t realized that they were driving by with the windows open, waving back at the crowd.  Vicki Kennedy, the senator’s widow, was simply waving and saying, “Thank you,” over and over.  No matter what one might think of them politically, I have to feel that was an amazingly generous thing for them to do.  After forty-five years of public funerals, I don’t think anyone would have blamed them if they’d kept the windows closed.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, 1932-2009

Mrs. Kennedy waves back at the crowd

Anyway…we went to The Occidental, which is one of those places that’s stereotypically Washingtonian (walls covered with politicians’ photos, luxe banquettes hiding the fat cats as they wheel and deal) and which I have always wanted to visit.  It is also, however, located in the Willard and is one of the more expensive places in town, so naturally I haven’t been there.  So, Restaurant Week is the perfect time to check it out.  This year’s price point, $35.09 for three courses, is lower than the price of several entrees on the regular menu, so that is what I call a bargain!

The place is, of course, beautiful; our server was crisp, friendly, and fast, and the food was omnomnom delicious.  Reasonable portion sizes, beautifully presented.  I had risotto, steak, and a chocolate dessert.  All of which was fabulous!  My companions each had different appetizers and one of them had a different entree, and we each tried a bit of the other.  I can tell you that everything which came to the table was wonderful.  The plating was nice, the aromas were terrific, and the flavors were great.  Our cocktails were even mixed well.

Now, Occidental is one of the best places around.  It’s not surprising that the food and drink were thoroughly enjoyable.  What was especially pleasant for me, was that the service was just as wonderful as if we were running up a $500 check.  Folks who complain about RW often complain that the service is bad because the places are so busy.  I’ve been RW-ing for long enough, though, to realize that the best bargains are at the best places.  Occidental, 701, Tosca, etc.  They know how to run their dining room, and they know that the real purpose of RW is to give a person like me a wonderful experience, so that I will go back and pay full price.

Which I will.

Bravo, Occidental!

DC Restaurant Week, August 24 – 30.  Don’t despair, many restaurants (including Occidental) are extending their RW offerings.  Book your table!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user meratspain

I don’t read books with Fabio or other scantily clad men on the cover, however my friend Lusty Reader does.

She told me about the Romance Writers of America, the trade association for romance writers, and how excited she was that their national conference was going to be in town starting today:

I had this idea it was like Comic-Con but for romance novel lovers. Hubby has taken to calling it “Rom-Con” ever since I mentioned it.

Makes sense, if you can imagine tons of male geeks hoarding a convention center over comics, then the inverse must be a hall full of women lusting over… well lusty literature.

The idea of a convention for the genre most associated with Supermarkets and Italian fashion models really piqued my interest. So I talked with the RWA and got some details of their big public event, The “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing.

Most of the conference is really geared towards the industry, with workshops and sessions for writers, agents, and publishers; but there is one public event that is sure to draw a huge crowd of hopeless (or hopeful) romantics. More than 500 romance authors will be signing books at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Exhibit Hall tonight from 5:30 – 7:30.

Admission is free and proceeds from book purchases from the event go towards ProLiteracy Worldwide. Since the book purchases are going to a good cause, it’s encouraged that you show up and buy your books rather than bring a whole stack of novels to get signed. If you do bring a book or two to get signed, think about making a donation, which will also be accepted as well.

For complete information on the event and a complete list of participating authors check out the RWA’s website.

And if you do check it out, I won’t be there but do say hi to my friend Lusty Reader.

All the films in the Made in Hong Kong Film Festival all hail from the Chinese city and the festival kicks off tonight with a screening of The Sparrow, a comedy about, “a gang of debonair pickpockets who come undone when a beautiful stranger enters their midst with a con of her own.” The festival will continue through August 23rd with a selection of films that have won me over based on titles alone. Such hits include My Mother is a Belly Dancer and Tokyo Gore Police.

While most of the films will be shown in Cantonese or Mandarin, they will be subtitled in English. Best of all, it’s all FREE (however tickets are required, get the tickets at the theatre an hour before showtime to avoid the Ticketmaster service fees.)

All shows are at the Freer & Sackler Galleries.

• July 20th: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• July 27th: Dog Day Afternoon
• August 3rd: On The Waterfront
• August 10th: Rebel Without A Cause

Looks like the film slate will mirror the Bryant Park’s Screen on the Green series also sponsored by HBO as rumored earlier in the Post. For more information check out the festival’s official website.