Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, The Examiner
2007-03-30 07:00:00.0
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Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday. Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .

Donovan draws a crowd at Greek embassy

The guest of honor at the Greek Embassy Wednesday night was none other than a folk-singing Scotsman.

Donovan Leitch, known more often by only his first name, burst onto the hippie scene some 40 years ago. Now, he passes his time with art and poetry as well.

Connie Mourtoupala, a spokeswoman for the embassy, explained that the consular staff noticed an exhibit Donovan showed last year at Georgetown’s Govinda Gallery, a collection of prints he calls “Sappho-graphs” — highly processed, black-and-white photos of his wife, daughter and granddaughter, which often evoke art from ancient Greece.

She also said that the folkie spent a lot of time traveling the Greek islands in the ’60s and ’70s and filmed many of his experiences.

Those films played on a loop Wednesday before the crowd of about 200, which included several representatives from other embassies and a handful of Scottish expats.

Of course, Donovan also brought his guitar, and regaled the crowd with a half-hour of music, including his songs “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Jennifer Juniper” and “Mellow Yellow.”

Before he left, the troubadour scrawled a poem on a Sappho-graph and presented it as a gift to Greek Ambassador Alexandros Mallias.

“It was probably the most enthusiasm we’ve had here for any event,” Mourtoupala said.

The embassy is showing the exhibit for the next two weeks.

Dobbs serves no blini before its time

When the first guests began to file into Russia House at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night for CNN’s Radio and TV Correspondents’ Association dinner after-party, they were directed to the vodka bar upstairs and the caviar station downstairs.

But when the curious revelers approached the caviar, they found none other than CNN’s Lou Dobbs standing menacingly in front of the table, arms crossed and brow furrowed.

Apparently, the blinis (little pancakes) that accompany the caviar weren’t quite warm yet, and Dobbs was standing guard to make sure no one had a crack at them before he did.

Of course, given Dobbs’ opposition to free trade, he could have been protesting the importation of the Russian delicacy. Or considering his love of fences, demonstrating how easy it is to barricade something.

Other notes from Wednesday:

» Do television competitors CNN and MSNBC secretly — gasp! — like each other? Joining the obvious names like CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Jon Klein, MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews each made an appearance at the exclusive Russia House event. No other on-air personalities from other networks were seen at the party.

» Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., must not have had time to change before heading to the dinner. He was spotted on the floor of the Senate in his tuxedo just before the event began.

D.C. awaits Saturday’s Gridiron

The Gridiron Club’s annual white-tie dinner is one of the hardest tickets to score all year (the elite journalists’ club caps membership at 65). But Saturday’s dinner will be slightly different from years past. First, it’ll be held at the Renaissance Washington Hotel instead of the Capital Hilton, where it’s been for the past 60 years. Second, the timing is odd: With Congress starting a recess, some no-shows are to be expected. And, third, President Bush won’t be there (he’ll be at Camp David hosting the president of Brazil).

The club will induct five new members: CBS’s Bob Schieffer, NPR’s Mara Liasson, David Espo of The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal’s Jackie Calmes and The Denver Post’s John Aloysius Farrell.

Planning for the event began four months ago, and roughly 50 reporters will perform elaborate skits in fancy costumes before a crowd of 650. But everyone wants to know this: How will Vice President Dick Cheney fare during his stand-up routine in front of the prickly Fourth Estate, especially considering that he was the butt of most jokes last year?

In addition to Cheney, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., and former Gov. Mitt Romney will also speak. VIPs in attendance will include Vernon Jordan and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Not expected there: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who has to skip the dinner for his mother’s 85th birthday party in New York City.

Foxx & Friends

Jamie Foxx loves D.C., but not enough to fight off the cold that kept him locked in his hotel room Wednesday night. Foxx had to cancel both of his performances at DAR Constitution Hall and an after-party sponsored by Belvedere Vodka at the Northeast nightclub Love.

Still, the party went on without him. Marion Barry made a surprise appearance, and Washington Wizards Roger Mason, Brendan Haywood, Michael Hall and Donell Taylor took over Foxx’s VIP area on the second floor. Perhaps it was their victory over the Philadelphia 76ers earlier that night that made them feel especially assertive.

Lawyers: So hot right now

Republicans are famous for poking fun at lawyers of all stripes. But their hearts may be warming to the legal set. At Wednesday’s Radio & TV Correspondents’ Association dinner, President Bush cracked, “We really blew the way we let those attorneys go. You know you’ve botched it when people sympathize with lawyers.”

And tonight, presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is hosting a “Lawyers for Rudy” fundraiser at the Willard InterContinental. In a letter to supporters advertising the event, former Solicitor General Ted Olson made it clear why lawyers are important — even for Republicans: “[I]t is attorneys who ensure that elections are fairly and properly administered.”

Friends toast senator McCarthy on his birthday

Friends and associates of former senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy gathered at The Palm on Thursday to pay tribute to him on what would have been his 91st birthday.

The five-term congressman and two-term senator from Minnesota, who passed away in 2005, nearly beat President Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire primary in 1968, an event that caused Robert F. Kennedy to jump into the race and the president to bow out.

The diners, who included The Hill’s editor at large Albert Eisele and the History Channel’s Roger Mudd, sat next to a vintage 1968 campaign poster that read “McCarthy/Peace” and toasted their old friend with Bordeaux.

Conservatives award their ''favorite'' liberals with ''DisHonors''

Winners of the quirky ''DisHonor Awards'' given out at Media Research Center's 20th Anniversary Gala held Thursday evening at the Grand Hyatt Washington:

-Puppy Love Award: Charles Gibson

-Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis: Katie Couric

-God, I Hate America Award: Arthur Sulzberger

-Tin Foil Hat Award for Crazy Conspiracy Theories: Jack Cafferty

-The I’m Not a Political Genius But I Play One on TV Award: Rosie O'Donnell

VIPs at the event included Brent Bozell, Rush Limbaugh, Cal Thomas, Mary Matalin, Michael Steele, Pat Sajak, G. Gordon Liddy and Neal Boortz.