Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, The Examiner
2006-11-06 10:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .

Wilmer gets a second wind for Lionel

It was a celebrity mash-up at Play Lounge on Friday night, as Generation Y favorite Wilmer Valderrama mixed with baby boomer legend Lionel Richie.

Valderrama, of “That ’70s Show” fame, had earlier been at the Georgetown Loews theater, which premiered his latest project, “Fast Food Nation,” the fictionalized film of Eric Schlosser’s bestselling book.

Holding court at the after-party at the new Agraria restaurant, Yeas & Nays asked the famously social actor if he’d be continuing the party elsewhere later. “I don’t know,” he said. Citing an early morning flight, he said, “When I’m not working, I always go out [but] when I’m working, I’m working.”

But Wilmer would rally. Bolstered by the attention of some pretty young things, he soon made his way to Play Lounge on Connecticut Avenue. In the VIP area, Valderrama drank Dom Perignon and led a hip-hop sing-along. And when the strains of “Running with the Night” signaled the arrival of Richie just after 2 a.m., Valderrama fought through the crowd to the other side of the club to earn himself an audience with the former Commodore. The two celebs chatted for a few minutes before Valderrama retreated to his corner. Richie continued to mingle in the room that included the likes of Northern Virginia moneymen Joe Robert, Mark Ein and Michael Saylor before saying goodnight.

Richie had just finished dinner at Café Milano and a show at Constitution Hall. The well-received show stuck mainly to his familiar hits.

For his part, however, Valderrama was anything but familiar to his fans. The somewhat gloomy yet politically poignant “Fast Food Nation” is the vehicle for the Venezuela native’s first major dramatic role as well as his first entirely in Spanish — one he calls the “most rewarding character I’ve ever played.” He portrays an illegal Mexican immigrant who finds work in a Colorado slaughterhouse.

“I’m never going to turn my back on comedy,” he said. “I did it for so many years. But I’m glad to be involved in something more serious” than sitcoms. “We’re not just laughing at poopy-caca jokes.”

Robert Duvall knocks ‘Cruise’ down to size

The organizers of the annual Knockout Abuse for Women gala at the Ritz Carlton on Thursday put Robert Duvall on the spot, but it was Duvall who got the last laugh.

During dinner, emcee Leon Harris introduced a video clip of Tom Cruise and Duvall in “Days of Thunder.”

“One of these men is here tonight ... which one?” asked Harris. It was an easy question, as many in the crowd had already seen the actor/director, who makes his home in Virginia horse country and who was on hand with his young wife, Luciana Pedraza, to support the charity.

But then came the misdirection. “Ladies please welcome our favorite All-American movie star, the handsome, the charming, the talented, the one and only Mr. Tom Cruise!”

And out popped Archie Drury, a Tom Cruise impersonator from Los Angeles, to the strains of “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.”

“Is that your co-star?” Harris asked Drury, pointing to Duvall in the audience.

Drury hammed it up, asking, “Hey Bobby, what are you doing here? Hey Bobby, did you hear I’m getting married?”

But although Drury does look eerily like the movie star, Duvall was quick to point out a glaring difference. On stage later in the night to auction off a vacation at his home in Italy, Duvall put his hands on Drury’s shoulders and pushed down until Drury’s knees flexed to make him a few inches shorter.

“Now, you’re Tom Cruise,” deadpanned Duvall.

Democratic victory could be a stretch

Yoga instructor Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke organized Sunday’s “kg yoga’s 2nd C-OM-MUNITY Circle of Healing Light and Love dedicated to Peace in Politics,” which took place at Malcolm X/Meridian Hill Park.

And, just two days before the midterm elections, the timing was no accident.

The session was designed to send “healing light and love to everyone involved in and/or impacted by the 2006 U.S. Elections, Hurricane Katrina, Immigration Reform, Darfur Genocide, and U.S. Military Involvement in Iraq.”

It was the kind of GOTV effort that you don’t often see. Activities included such things as “third eye chakras” and sun salutations.

But, if this event was any indication, yoga types who stretch right but vote left may not be all that jazzed about Tuesday’s election: Leeke was the only one who showed up.

Still, that didn’t stop her from completing her session by calling “out the names of people and places in need of peace in the world.” Yeas & Nays asked Leeke who she singled out and she quickly declared, “Congress.”

We’ll have to wait until Tuesday to see if Leeke’s efforts will turn any congressman into downward facing dogs.

Steele looking for Tuesday KO

His former brother-in-law Mike Tyson couldn’t make it, but Maryland Senate hopeful Michael Steele stopped by Fight Night at the Washington Hilton on Thursday.

At the annual event for the Fight for Children charity, a cadre of legendary boxers and local models mingled with 2,500 wealthy men under a thick cloud of cigar smoke.

Yeas & Nays ran into Steele just as the green lasers and thunderous “Terminator” theme music signaled the introductions of ring royalty Jake LaMotta, Joe Frazier, Michael Spinks and Hector “Macho” Camacho, among others.

When asked if he was looking for inspiration, Steele said, “Absolutely! I’m trying to get some of that ‘ring’ feeling.”

“I’m ready; I feel great,” he added, referring to his own Tuesday battle with Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin. The Steele camp said he goes to the event every year.

Also on hand: D.C. Council member Vincent Gray, the Temptations, former Reps. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., and Tom McMillen, D-Md., and Harris Miller, who lost to Jim Webb in the Democratic primary for Virginia Senate. No word on whether they were drawing inspiration as well.

Speakeasy

“And, even though we all think that our city is the worst place for dating, geography isn’t it. … For [successful women] in Washington, D.C., and I’ve calculated this, the odds of marriage are terrific.” – Christine B. Whelan, author of “Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women”

“May God pour out his Spirit upon America’s Pastors! May their powerful Election Sermons stir voters to elect God-fearing leaders who will restore righteousness in government and public policy!”– from a Family Research Council get-out-the-vote e-mail sent this weekend