Evergreen Screen

It’s back. Washington’s “Screen on the Green” film festival, wherein city dwellers and tourists alike watch classic movies on the National Mall with the Capitol Dome in the background, gets under way one week from today with a new location on the Mall.

Because of ongoing renovations, the location has been moved from the area between Seventh and Fourth streets Northwest to Seventh and 12th streets Northwest. Full story

Barbecue in the DMV

Team HOH taste-tested the meal the president ordered at Kenny’s Smokehouse. (Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

It all started with an innocent enough culinary question.

Was Kenny’s Smokehouse on Capitol Hill, where President Barack Obama dined June 13, worth the time of the leader of the free world?

And what if Team HOH found Kenny’s lacking? Perhaps we could provide alternatives if the president’s barbecue jones struck again. Full story

We Hope for Knope

Dare we dream of watching anti-establishment interloper Ron Swanson trade existential jabs with Libertarian poster boy Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)?

We may find out in just a few short weeks.

As first reported by entertainment scribe Michael Ausiello, NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation” is considering shooting part of its forthcoming fifth season — set to debut this fall — here in the nation’s capital.

Crystal Palmer, director of the D.C. Office of Motion Picture and Television Development, told HOH that NBC execs have put out feelers about filming here later this month, but noted that no official permit has been filed.

Full story

Barney Frank Gets Ready to Wed

Rumor has it that retiring Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank and his longtime partner James Ready are tying the knot this weekend.

And by rumor, we mean that North Carolina Rep. Brad Miller (D) says so on his Facebook page.

(Screenshot)

Full story

Meghan McCain Promotes Dennis Kucinich

Though the one-time “boy mayor” failed to reconnect with voters during his spring Ohio primary, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s days on Capitol Hill might not be numbered.

In fact, author-cum-armchair pundit Meghan McCain sees him moving on up.

While preparing to interview the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) about her latest book (written with comedian Michael Ian Black), “America, You Sexy Bitch,” HOH noticed what we assumed would be a temporary flub. In the advance copy of the road-trip-centric tome, Meghan McCain offhandedly refers to the 10-term Ohio Democrat as “Senator Kucinich.”

Full story

Putting André Carson in Context

The conservative website Jihad Watch and the Daily Caller reported comments Indiana Rep. André Carson gave during a speech last May at the 37th annual Islamic Circle of North America-Muslim American Society Convention.

“America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our madrassas, in our schools, where innovation is encouraged, where the foundation is the Quran.”

Carson tells Roll Call that these comments were part of a longer set of comments on the state of the American public school system.

“The entire speech is on YouTube, and [the comments were] only a section of what we talked about,” he told Roll Call. Full story

Zip It

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

Blowhards, ye have been warned.

Mitt Romney: Dumb People Need Not Apply for Supreme Court

In his latest campaign promise, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney vows to nominate only smart people who believe in the United States Constitution to the Supreme Court.

In an interview Wednesday with CBS News, Romney was asked if he would still nominate Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts with the knowledge that Roberts would uphold the Affordable Care Act. Republicans across the land say the previously beloved chief justice was wrong, wrong, wrong in ruling that the legislation was constitutional.

Before we get to his answer, HOH thought it would be helpful to consult Romney’s campaign website. Lo and behold, his campaign website promises to “only nominate judges in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.”

Full story

Bring It, World!

(Courtesy Tea & Sympathy)

The Fourth of July is when we, the humble citizens of the ol’ You-Ess-of-Ayyy, come together to commemorate the violent birth of our inherently disaffected nation. There’s beef to be grilled, beer to be guzzled and pyrotechnics to be unleashed.

And if we can emasculate a few other nations in the process, all the better.

The U.S. Department of State has for years invited visiting dignitaries to raise and glass and enjoy a view of the fireworks display over the National Mall. This year, Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, chief of protocol of the United States, has decided to up the ante with two groundbreaking events: an apple pie bake-off and the inaugural Global Chiefs of Protocol Conference.

Full story

Tasting Tampa (on the Cheap)

Olympics, schmalympics. You wanna talk test of wills, try covering the upcoming political conventions.

Living out of suitcases. Navigating congested walkways. Muscling through sweaty scrums. It’s the stuff political reporters DREAM about.

The Republican National Convention is looking to tap into that quadrennial excitement with their GOParty Card, a passport to sliding-scale savings throughout greater Tampa Bay, Fla.:

(Courtesy Republican National Convention)

The prospective discounts (good Aug. 17 through Sept. 3) apply everywhere from zoos and museums to golf courses and watering holes. But your dedicated HOH Food Desk decided to focus on what matters most: cheap eats.

Full story

‘Jesus Lady’ Faces Eviction

(CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated: 2:20 p.m. | Rita Warren, known  on Capitol Hill as the “Jesus Lady,” needs a little help from divine sources today.

The 83-year-old Fairfax, Va., resident, who sits in front of the Capitol with a life-sized mannequin of Jesus Christ every Tuesday and Thursday, is being evicted from the apartment she’s lived in for the past 22 years.

Full story

Summer Intern Project

California Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) has some new summer interns on the Hill. And they just met you and this is crazy. Here’s their completely adorable 2012 Summer intern project. Watch it, maybe?

Game Changers

Republicans had a brilliant plan to win Thursday night’s CQ Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game: And that plan was — gasp! — more regulation.

Sure, it was a move straight from the Democratic playbook (and let’s face it, after an 18-5 drubbing, maybe the GOP should at least try to steal signals). But the party that doesn’t believe Wall Street CEOs such as Jamie Dimon should have federal regulators all up in their business wanted to impose a new rule to curb the number of innings a single hurler could pitch in the annual charity game. Full story

Chowing Down

While Democrats summarily spanked their Republican counterparts (18-5) on the baseball diamond Thursday night at the CQ Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game, the rest of us stuffed our guts with the top contenders in CQ Roll Call’s annual “A Taste of America” showdown.

Now in it’s second year, the regional taste-off pits iconic dishes from all around the country against one another, with items narrowed down by public vote.

Cherry cobbler, the official entry from Utah, handily claimed the 2012 crown. The dish was delightful, pairing sweet-and-sour cherries with a crumbly, streusel-like topping. Full story

Just Another Day in the 202

The circus came to Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning, pitching its tents on the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court.

The news cameras were among the first to arrive. They rolled in to stakeout spots in front of the steps early. By 3:30 a.m., the prime spots were taken; by 4:30 a.m., the stragglers were relegated to the lawn on the strip of grass next to the court’s steps.
Full story