Library of Congress Hosts Ode to Copyright

Lawmakers and their spouses sat down to a performance of well-known hits at a Tuesday night concert in the Library of Congress.

“We love music,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said of he and his wife, Kelley, who was also present at a reception before the concert. “I think one of the amazing things is to see the writers perform their own songs.”

“He loves to do things like this when I’m in town,” Kelley Paul said of her husband. “If I’m not, he tends to get sucked into his regular meetings.” Full story

Horton’s Kids to Take Over Nationals Park

Thirteen members of Congress and more than 60 staffers will join CNN’s Jake Tapper and celebuchef Spike Mendelsohn to hit up the 5th annual Home Runs for Horton’s Kids.

Mendelsohn will help fete Horton’s Kids at Nationals Park. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

The invite-only Nationals Park event, scheduled for Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., will raise money for the Ward 8 charity, which provides direct services on the Capitol campus for about 500 children and families in D.C.’s Anacostia neighborhood. Full story

Arrested Development to Play N Street Village Benefit

Two-time Grammy winner Arrested Development and super-producer Kevin “Khao” Cates will perform at the N Street Village‘s Night Sessions on May 16, a young professionals event to benefit the D.C. nonprofit.

N Street Village is a support and resource center for homeless and low-income women in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit provides services to address emergency and long-term needs. The group is the city’s largest homeless service provider for women.

This year’s Night Sessions event will also feature the “musical inauguration” of the Village Bliss Award in Memory of Evan H. Bliss, a D.C.-area native who passed away suddenly in August.

Bliss was a local musician with a loyal, enthusiastic fan base — and a Washington Post Redskins blogger. He also performed at the 2010 N Street Village Night Session, which was held at the Rock and Roll Hotel.

Correction: May 13, 3:30 p.m.

An earlier version of this post misstated when Evan H. Bliss played the N Street Village Night Session. It was in 2010.

Tonight! Cocktails, D.C. History and the Chuck Brown Band

In Washington, it sometimes feels like every week is World Cocktail Week.

From May 6-13, however, it actually is World Cocktail Week. And Friday night, D.C. Toasts will hold its first annual Spring cocktail event to pay tribute to the art and diverse history of the well-built drink by throwing a killer party at the Howard Theatre, which will feature D.C.’s legendary Chuck Brown Band.

According to the website, D.C. Toasts was founded by Washington’s cocktail geeks to promote “excellence in bartending through diversity and education, by celebrating those who have made significant contributions to bartending but whose stories have gone virtually untold.” Full story

Members, Sheryl Crow Party at Down Syndrome Foundation Gala

A catwalk’s worth of government and media big shots let their hair down at a Wednesday night fundraiser where special needs met special interests.

“I don’t think many people are aware how little Down Syndrome receives [in] research dollars, for being the most common of chromosome abnormalities,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in an interview at the start of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s 2013 gala dinner, hosted at the Ritz-Carlton in Foggy Bottom this year. Full story

Derby Day Addendum

We here at HOH consider our editorial mission to be, partially, one of public service. And what better way to convey that than to give our loyal readers a few ideas for how to spend the upcoming weekend.

Start it off right Friday afternoon with the grand opening of Hill Country’s Backyard Barbecue pop-up at the National Building Museum. Starting at 4 p.m. on the west lawn of the museum at Fifth Street Northwest between F and G streets, the HC crowd will serve up smoked meat, beer and tunes.  Full story

Mini-Golf Returning to National Building Museum, With Barbecue

The National Building Museum is bringing back one of its most popular exhibits, air-conditioned mini-golf courses, from Memorial Day, May 27, to Labor Day, Sept. 2. And it’s bringing along some smoked meat and beer.

This year, the exhibit has been expanded to two nine-hole courses and will again be designed by leading architects. This year’s theme will be “Building the Future” and draws inspiration from things such as green urban planning, the reality of our office space, pinball and others. Full story

Booze in the Rayburn Basement

Uh oh … look what HOH found in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building on Thursday afternoon:

(Julie Ershadi/CQ Roll Call)

A garbage dolly loaded with empty boxes and bottles of Stella Artois beers and Robert Mondavi vino. Let’s just hope it was a celebration, not a mourning.

Rock the Vote Party Spins Weekend Forward

White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner weekend got under way Thursday night, and the pretty, pretty people were all about shaking their groove things at Rock the Vote’s “Spin Room” fiesta at Heist.

The subterranean Dupont Circle hangout was packed with politically-connected operatives poured into skintight dresses and bespoke suits. Staff sported full sleeves (spotted some insanely intricate tats) and branded T-shirts proclaiming “We will be heard.”

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

Full story

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Kate Walsh Lobbies Capitol Hill for Clean Energy

Actress Kate Walsh, known for her role as Dr. Addison Montgomery on ABC’s “Private Practice” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” made the rounds Thursday on Capitol Hill to lobby for offshore wind power with the ocean conservation group Oceana.

Walsh’s visit, which coincides with the third anniversary of the Gulf oil spill, brought her to the offices of Sen. Barbara Boxer of California and Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona and Xavier Becerra and Mike Thompson of California, all Democrats. Full story

Remember the Maine (Reception)

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

Maine solons Susan Collins and Angus King hung out with a few hundred of their new best friends Tuesday night at the inaugural Taste of Maine reception.

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

The event, sponsored by the Maine Chamber of Commerce, brought together roughly two dozen Maine food and beverage professionals for a meet and greet with Capitol Hill’s most famished. (We spotted Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., slipping out with a sample cup of something tasty.) Full story

Next Black Tie Affair Goes NOLA

It’s still days before the glitterati cram into the Washington Hilton for the annual running of the bullpucky known as “Nerd Prom,” but we’re already looking forward to the next stop of the black-tie brigade: the Mardi Gras-themed Radio & Television Congressional Correspondents’ Dinner.

(Courtesy RTCA)

Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association dinner Chairman John Wallace told HOH he’s devoted the past year to planning a blowout party, scheduled for the evening of June 5 ($245 per person), that brings the best of the Big Easy to D.C.

That entailed a few things. First, shifting things from the Convention Center to the National Building Museum. The “wrap-around balconies remind me of the French Quarter,” he said. (Just watch out for the man-eating aquatic features.)

Second: hiring a cheflebrity — “Suffice to say, it’s one of the top chefs in the country,” Wallace stated, adding that the name will be revealed April  29 — to plot an authentically N’awlins dining experience. And finally, recruiting four distinct Crescent City bands, as well as “tribes” of dancing Indians, as entertainment. All this, and carving out time to crown a king and queen of the evening.

Full story

Girding Our Loins for Nerd Prom

The wild ride that is the White House Correspondents Dinner begins gaining steam this Thursday, picks up speed Friday night and barrels forward for the balance of Saturday before crashing into dueling brunches.

Anxious to hang — think open bar and endless finger foods as far as the eye can see — all week long? HOH has taken the liberty of plotting your itinerary. Full story

Great Neptune’s Revenge! Coburn Falls Into a Fountain at Gala

Sen. Tom Coburn took an accidental dip in a fountain at Wednesday night’s 31st March of Dimes Gourmet Gala.

(Photo courtesy March of Dimes)

Two sources confirm that the Oklahoma Republican tumbled into the fountain at the National Building Museum where the gala was being held.

This wasn’t some quick toe-in-toe-out of a shallow fountain. The senator took a serious dive. When he emerged, he was soaked to his neck, his suit was sopping and ”water had to be poured from his cowboy boots.”

“That’s just a natural reaction to making the Time 100 list,” quipped Coburn spokesman John Hart.

Picture of the offending National Building Museum fountain. Image is from another event with a similar set up to Wednesday’s. (Photo courtesy BishBash.com)

It could be. Or this just might have been great Neptune’s revenge on Coburn for pooh-poohing a 2012 fountain restoration project in Lancaster, Pa.
Full story

Jennifer Hudson Honored at ‘Grammys on the Hill’

Music met politics Wednesday night at the annual Grammys on the Hill awards, which honored Jennifer Hudson with the Recording Artist Coalition Award for her philanthropic and artistic achievements.

Dozens of musical and political stars mingled at a VIP cocktail reception at The Hamilton venue in downtown Washington before the awards dinner. Guests included producer Clive Davis, singer Yolanda Adams and songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

From left: Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Hudson, Clive Davis. (Danielle Ryan/CQ Roll Call)

Speaking to HOH, Hudson said the award was “extra special” to her.

“Because it’s not just for the arts, but because it’s just like me being me, being the person that I am and trying to make a difference in the world,” she said.

Librarian of Congress James Billington was also there to be honored for the work the library has done to preserve historic audio recordings.

Reps. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., their parties’ respective whips, were among a dozen members of Congress on hand to show support for the protection of intellectual property.

Hoyer turned to the Ten Commandments to illustrate what he said should be the guiding principle when it comes to protecting musical property.

“Thou shalt not steal,” he said. “There’s no caveat.”

Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Steny H. Hoyer.  (Danielle Ryan/CQ Roll Call)

Proceeds from Grammys on the Hill go to the Grammy Signature Schools Program, which works to keep music programs alive in schools.

Hudson told HOH how important school music programs were to her as a child.

“I would not be here if it was not for music programs in school growing up — that’s what made me a dreamer,” she said.

“I would hate to see that being taken away from kids and schools.”

After receiving her award, Hudson wowed the crowd with powerful performances of “Hallelujah” and  ”One Night Only.”

As the evening drew to a close, more than a dozen members of Congress joined singers and songwriters on stage for an unrehearsed but rather lively rendition of The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.”

(Danielle Ryan/CQ Roll Call)