Wonk'd: The Spring Break Edition
People seem to be having a good time these days. This week in Wonk'd brings us Judy Miller, savoring her freedom; Chief Justice John Roberts, taking in the cherry blossoms; and James Carville, enjoying a springtime run. Also spotted: Hillary Clinton, hopping into her pimped-out town car; Rep. James Sensenbrenner, buying a small fortune in lottery tickets; and Cynthia McKinney pal Danny Glover, asking for directions. You can check them out, along with several other celebrity sightings, after the jump.
Please continue to keep us well-stocked in sightings, via email, with "Wonk'd" or "Sighting" in the subject line (along with the name of the spotted celeb). Thanks!
* Damn, I am good. Been in DC for two hours [4/7] and I run into Boehner picking up his dry cleaning from Lustre Cleaners on Independence. Maybe was renting a tux. Has a huge goon with him that is about 6"10, blond, ugly, and wears Oakleys but he could kill you with one hand.
* [From the same tipster as prior item] Have now walked down to Hawk and Dove. Sensenbrenner waddles by here by himself. Almost wanders into the wig shop absent mindedly -- which would have been awesome. Goes into the little liquor store and buys $125 in lottery tickets. I guess he is worried about Social Security or his reelection chances. Tomorrow he is going to Moscow. Wanted to get our picture together but no dice -- he waddled away.
* So I was standing outside the National Museum of Women in the Arts last night [4/6] and out stumbled Daniel Glover. There was a rocking party going on in the Museums great hall, you could hear the music all the way outside. He came out with a woman and a little kid. He seemed confused, asked no one in particular which was K st. was. He was taller than I expected and definitely graying. He was holding an award of some sort. He was trying to make it up the street when people started asking for pictures, etc.
* Saw Judith Miller along with 2 unidentified peeps at The Guards in Georgetown, Wednesday night 4/5. Miss Runamok and her pals looked very relaxed having wine at the bar and watching the O's game on TV. Topics of discussion included: jail [duh], Patrick Fitzgerald, Joe Wilson, Valerie Flame... er... Plame, Katie Couric, Bob Scheiffer, and the O's. But they totally ignored American Idol. Must be too low-brow for them.
* 4/4 - I happened upon Katherine Harris at the Kennedy Center around 7:30-ish. I'm sorry to report to your boob-obsessed fans that her chest looked less perky in person than in her cowgirl pictures. Take heart though -- this could be in entirely the result of her hideous dress.
* 4/4: Montana Republican Senator Conrad Burns, he of the downspiraling approval ratings ever since his sordid affair with Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff came to light on teh pages of Montana's newspapers, waiting at the Minneapolis airport for his late afternoon flight to DC. He was alone, without a jacket but in a collared shirt. He seemed lonely. We recoiled when he launched the damp wad of dip out from under his lip and into a garbage can (we're waiting to see how the camera phone picture turns out). He sat in coach (must be sensitive to the trappings of first-class travel), in a bulkhead seat. He wasn't even off the jetway at National when he had his can of Copenhagen back out. Must be stress.
* 4/4: Saw Hillary outside of the Hinkley Hilton this morning after the big AFL-CIO building trades breakfast. She was getting into a towncar with two Secret Service agents and a staffer... the back seat was tinted (more like painted) black and you couldn't see shit once she was in there. Another unmarked car followed it out onto Conn Ave. Glad to know that we (taxpayers) are still paying for her to get around to political events. But hey, that building has a history. Never can be too careful.
* 4/2: James Carville (95% sure it was him, didn't get a photo) on the Mount Vernon Trail near the Belle Haven Rest area, Sunday afternoon about 5PM. He was out jogging/running. Turns out he is (or has been) an avid runner: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-0-0-0-1105-1-1X2X3X4-5,00.html.
* So last night (4/2), I went to Cafe Milano with 3 of my girlfriends and we were seated at a fabulous table outside. It was the perfect vantage point to spot Tom Friedman from the NY Times enter the restaurant with his wife. It was rather thrilling. He was wearing a brown suede jacket.
* On Friday [3/31], a visiting-from-out-of-town friend and I decided to brave the tourist-hoards and go look at the cherry blossoms at the tidal basin. Since the temps were in the mid-70s, everyone was dressed in their favorate global-warming attire (e.g., shorts/t-shirts). Suddenly my friend and I notice a gaggle of dark suits coming towards us, their sweaty brows shimmering in the heat. To our surprise and delight, one of suits was Chief Justice Roberts. The others all looked mid-20s, male, and white -- must have been his clerks. None of the tourists seem to recognize him or even notice the suit-clad entourage. But when I said rather loudly to my friend, "hey, it's the Chief Justice," Johnny evidently overheard because he turned and smiled his oh-so-gay smile at us. I soooo wanted to pluck a little cluster of blossoms and place it behind his ear....
* Saw Jack Kingston (R-GA) at dulles yesterday [3/30] on the bus shuttle to terminal G. I only recognized him from his recent appearance on real time with bill maher.
And here's an update to a prior Wonk'd item (accompanied by some additional, older sightings):
I was on that same 6:30 shuttle with Gephart,and Kerry.Dick Gephardt is a sneaky line cutter, glad handing some poor soul who called him Senator. As if! And he carried 3 blackberrys. More blackberries than votes he received.
Saw Bob Schieffer and his producer on the 7:30 AM shuttle March 8. He and producer were discussing a column in NYTimes about Katie Couric taking over his job. He was smirking. They both seemed to think it was really funny in that condesending way.
Spotted John Tierney on the Acela back in the begining of March. I now know why he thinks he knows what women want, cuz they want him. He's a hottie. And a rollerblader! Wow, so 1988.
Commuting to NYC a couple of times a week is a drag, but it's fun people-watching.