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I lived waaaaay out in the sticks in NoVa, way outside the Beltway.  The Biograph (and Georgetown in general) was kind of a refuge from the suburban hell where I spent my teenage years.  It's kind of sad to go back there now and look at what's happened to the place.  It's like a giant shopping mall now.

I ended up in Egypt because I got a job here, that's all. The company I work for transferred me here a few years ago.  I really dunno how long I'll stay, or where I'll go next....

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:37:22 PM EST
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This feels like "old home" week.
My son, who still live in the D.C. area sent me an article last week about the closing of the Dupont Theatres which mentions th Biograph. He sent me the whole article but I'll see if I can dig up the link.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:42:29 PM EST
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I was actually thinking about the Biograph recently because I saw that same article in the Post.  There are no more art theaters in DC, it seems.

Were you involved with the Biograph in Richmond, too?

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:55:15 PM EST
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The Biograph in Richmond was ours too. It was always a money loser; Richmond was just too small a town to support an art house. Eventually we gave it to our manager who lasted a few years and then went out of business.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:41:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I still have one business interest left in D.C. and in my office there is this water color of The Biograph.



Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:50:34 PM EST
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There are a couple of large multiplex theatres, run by Landmark, one downtown and one uptown, near Bethesda, that specialize in art films. I haven't seen them but they're big and modern. The Biograph had character, the seat were uncomfortable, your feet stuck to the floor because of all the spilt cokes but everyone loved it; it was like a reliable old shoe where you'd always get your money's worth. I'll have to stop now before I tear up.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:56:55 PM EST
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I'll have to stop now before I tear up.

Yeah, me too, actually.

I've been thinking all night about the diary I have to write expressing my gratitude to you for that theater.  Maybe you've heard this a thousand times before, but it was really important to me.  Really.

So if I ever meet you in person, LEP, dinner's on me.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:10:02 PM EST
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Well, I hope you can make it to the next meet up in Paris. I would be most honored to meet you; I admire your sensitive writings. And it's not necessary to express any gratitude. Your contributions here, along with everyone else's have helped me to keep hope and to keep my brain young.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:26:13 PM EST
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Here's something that might interest you that was sent to me recently from Counterpunch.org.

When Good Drugs Happen to Bad People
Karl Rove, Pothead

By FRED GARDNER
Among the 78,000 pages of Nixon Administration documents recently released by the National Archives was a memo from young Karl Rove to Anne Armstrong, counselor to the President. Rove aspired to head the College Republicans. His memo proposes, among other things, that college Republican clubs show "nonpolitical films for fundraising (e.g. John Wayne flicks, 'Reefer Madness')..." The New York Times asked Rove for a comment and then reported: "The 56-year-old Mr. Rove pleaded forgetfulness. 'God, this is 1973,' he said. 'You work the math. I don't remember it all.'"

What math? The heavy subtraction? 1973 was 34 years ago. Who but potheads thought Reefer Madness was worth watching, let alone showing? Instead of pleading memory loss Rove could have denied to the Times that he, personally, had been into pot. His response reveals an awareness of the essential lightness of the subject. He probably remembers quite well sitting in the old Biograph Theater on M Street in Georgetown, laughing superciliously with the other pot-smoking young Republicans, feeling insightful, maybe not so unattractive, getting the munchies, infatuated with the crowd in power, wondering if he could get close to George Bush's inadequate son and somehow become his advisor...

I think the writer was confusing us with the Key Theatre. We didn't let Republicans in the Biograph.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:25:18 AM EST
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Do you think that at some point you actually had the pleasure of ejecting a young Carl Rove?

(Perhaps he decided to get even and the last few years have been his revenge on evil lefty cinema managers) ;-)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:40:33 AM EST
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I feel guilty now.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:45:16 AM EST
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Well it could have been worse, you could have let him in and spoiled a good seat by contact.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:55:14 AM EST
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Here's the link to the Post Article. The Biograph is mentioned 5 paragraphs from the bottom. I have to pick up my kid now so I'll see you later.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/20/AR2007092002633.html

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:49:16 PM EST
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