C2 Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger


EZ SU


KLMNO THE RELIABLE SOURCE


“It doesn’t botherme that I’m not invited to the bill signing. Service is sacrifice, not glory.”


—Dan Choi, outspoken advocate for the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal, in a Monday tweet. The White House doesn’t plan a signing until Wednesday, so . . . hint, hint? “If the commander in chief wants me there, I’d certainly report for duty,” he told us in an e-mail. The former Army officer and combat vet, hospitalized last week after a breakdown, said he’s “back on my feet” but “exhausted.”


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2010


KEVIN CLARK/THE WASHINGTON POST


Always the life of the party, Gilbert Arenas, left, and Diddy welcome the 7,500 guests invited to Arena’s 25th birthday celebration at Love nightclub in 2007.


RICHARD DAY/DARLA PHOTOGRAPHY


Arenas’s fiancee LauraGovan, during a baby shower in 2009. The couple are currently expecting another child.


So long, Agent Zero I


twas greatwhile it lasted:We’re talking, of course, ofGilbertArenas andhis contributions toWashingtongossip. Rarelyhas apro basketballplayer


provedmore entertaining off the court than on.TheWizards star, tradedSaturday to Orlando,hadthe quirky gift of living large and over-sharing,whichyieldedtreasures we’llnever forget: l His off-again/on-againrelationship


withnow-fiancee LauraGovan,who (breakingnews!) isnowexpecting another baby—their fourth infive years.Thenine- year romancewasmarkedby breakups, makeups, luxury baby showers andfinally a proposal inOctober 2008.Butnowedding date yet, thatwe knowof.AsArenas explained: “Youshouldprolong your engagement as long as youcan. . . because of life inthe bedroomdisappearing once yougetmarried.” l His 25thbirthdayparty in2007 for


NED DISHMAN/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES


The former Wizards basketball player, traded to Orlando over the weekend, bowls as part of a fundraiser in 2008.


7,500people atLovenightclubwith appearances byDiddy,Game, T.I., Lil Wayne,BustaRhymes.Guests to the invitation-only bashwere requiredto present a black “ArenasExpress” card printedwiththeirnames;dress codewas “SuperDuperFly.”Entrance:drivinghis Lamborghini convertible into the concert


tent andupto the stage. l His blog,wherehewaxedpoetic on


everything frombreakups (“Youask for space, youknow, because everything feels closedin. . . .Nowyougot cleanwalls, clean furniture andyou’re lonely”) to fatherhood (“Ihearpeople say youcan’t choose betweenchildren, buthey,people got their favorite children.Don’t lie”).He threatened to quit several times butwaspersuadedto keepwritinguntil finally calling it quits last year: “Itmademe andit’s going to killme, so Imight aswell stop.” l He built ahugepool behindhisGreat


Fallshome . . . andamassive shark tank. “Ever since Jaws there’s beensomething about fishandsharks that I’ve always liked,” hewrote. “AlsowhenI saw‘Cribs’ andIceT hada shark tank inthe back ofhisplace, I was like, ‘Ohman!That’swhat it is!!’ ” But thencame theweirdbeard, the bum


leg andgunprank gonewrong—andAgent Zerowentunderground.Andnow, to Florida.TheWizards tradedhimfor RashardLewis, a 12-yearNBAveteranwith no apparent quirks.


I


PHOTOSONTHEWEBTo viewa photo gallery onGilbert Arenas’s careerwith theWizards,


go towashingtonpost.com/style. ROYAL MINT Guess who? The RoyalMint engagement coin, previewed online. Royal coin, taken at face value At last! The RoyalMint has


released a coin, worth five British pounds (about $8), in honor of the impending nuptials of PrinceWilliam and Kate Middleton—its first ever for a royal engagement, and a design officially approved by the queen


LOVE,ETC. l Engaged: Shania Twain, 45, to Swiss-born business exec Frederic Thiebaud, 40,Us Weekly reports. Thiebaud— follow closely, please—is the ex- husband of Twain’s former best friend Marie-Ann, who reportedly took up with the


and her grandson. Only question is, Who exactly modeled for it? Is that . . . Barbara Bush and Al Gore III? Sissy Spacek and JFK? Melissa Leo and Benjamin Bratt? If you can figure it out, tell us by e-mailing us at


reliablesource@washpost.com.


country-pop star’s producer husband Mutt Lange, leading to Twain and Lange’s 2008 split. Did you get all that? Complicated! l Born: A daughter, Locklyn, to actor Vince Vaughn, 40, and his wife of nearly a year, KylaWeber, on Saturday, People magazine reports. First child for both.


G O T A T I P ? E - M A I L U S A T R E L I A B L E S O U R C E@WA S H P O S T . C O M . F O R T H E L A T E S T S C O O P S , V I S I T WA S H I N G T O N P O S T . C O M / R E L I A B L E S O U R C E MUSICREVIEWS With roots showing, Earle delivers a bluesy, authentic set How to handle the Himalayan weight


of famous fathers and their troubled friends? Justin Townes Earle — son of Steve


Earle and namesake of the late Townes Van Zandt, iconic singer-songwriters both — has had to deal with more pressing personal demons.As he put it at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night: “a con- tinuing problem with incarceration and chemical dependency.” He meant it humorously and it was


taken that way. But the joke barely masked the reality of disenchantment and self-destruction that his songs de- scribe.


Earle, 28, was dressed like a Depres-


sion-era busker, nervously stalking cen- ter stage asthoughbasketball’s three-sec- ond rule applied to microphones. Flanked by a violinist and an upright bassist, he served up delightfully time- warped rockabilly (“Move Over Mama”) and country blues (Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “I Been Burning Bad Gasoline”). The proficient picking and fiddling


gave way to moments of pin-drop quiet, as Earle unfurled confessional ballads “Who Am I to Say,” “Someday I’ll Be Forgiven forThis”and“Mama’sEyes,” the latter offering a complete genetic picture of his mother’s “long thin frame” and his father’s penchant for hell-raising. Not thatMom(Carol-AnnHunter)was


meek: Earle — with his trademark mix- ture of pathosandfarce—recounted that she once decked Dad with a single punch that detached his retina. Earle has kept up a prolific pace, dropping three full-length albums in as many years, including the most recent, “Harlem River Blues.” A dexterous, old-fashioned Travis-


style finger-picker with a love for Dust Bowl folk and postwar acoustic blues, Earle tends toward the formal in onstage couture. The look and sound add up to a tradition-bound pose — young hipster


KYLE GUSTAFSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST TALENTSANDTROUBLES: Justin Townes Earle performs at the 9:30 Club. DOONESBURY by Garry Trudeau CUL DE SAC by Richard Thompson


For Khristenko, challenge comes in style, selections


Ukrainian pianist Stanislav Khristen-


The look and sound add up to a tradition-bound pose—young hipster with an old soul.


ko took a break froma frenetic competi- tion schedule (17 previous listed in his program bio and who knows how many in the pipeline) tomake hisWashington debut on Sunday at the Phillips Collec- tion. The young artist is still a work in progress, but his playing is fresh and assured. It is certainly advisable to play music with which you’re most comfort- able, for an important debut. But Khris- tenko’s entire program was Russian music written within a 27-year span; he will need to show more to sustain a career. Fromthe opening “Dumka,”Op. 59, by


with an old soul—that antedates both his father and Van Zandt, affording Earle the security of deep roots. The juxtaposition worked beauti-


fully on “One More Night in Brook- lyn,”atale of drearytenementliving in CrownHeights. Earle delivered it with acombination ofwarmthandtartness that fans of Lyle Lovett have appreci- ated for years. Earle wrapped his set with a drawl-


ing cover of the Paul Westerberg- penned classic “Can’t HardlyWait”— thereby invoking the name of another godfather with a history of bad behav- ior and poor mental health. —Scott Galupo


Tchaikovsky, itwas clear thatKhristenko knows how to spin a story; his pacing wasmature and unhurried, the dynamic range wide, and his fingers exhibited power and sensitivity. The delicate fili- gree came off well in the unforgiving acoustics of the small Phillips music room. (Will they ever get a platform for the musicians?) The artist can phrase eloquently, but sometimes attends too much to a melody; accompaniments could sound distant or neglected. And in the Scriabin “Fantasy,” Op. 28, he had trouble keeping the line intelligible amid all the fireworks. Khristenko’s technique was formida-


ble, and he could cleanly hurl out notes at any speed and without apparent effort, but there was somethingmissing. His marches, mazurkas and other styl- ized pieces were not completely natural and characterful in their rhythmic feel. It is this last concern, in addition to the extremely limited repertoire offered, that makes one urgently hope this lik- able and talented pianist will broaden and develop hismusical landscapes. —Robert Battey


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