The large serving of meatloaf was homemade good, drenched in mushroom gravy and served over a large mound of mashed potatoes. It was comfort food at its best. The crab cakes are even more successful. Although they do contain filler, it's just enough to bind the lumps of crab together. They are served atop lobster grits with slivers of stir-fried carrots and peppers.
Service was attentive, and the servers were quick with refills on drinks, including water and sodas.

It seemed that every second table had a plate of fried calamari, and many tables were crammed with various kinds of pizzas.

Desserts were especially enticing. Here, I finally found the simple but delicious chocolate layer cake I'd had a taste for and a not-too-sweet carrot cake that was rich with spices.
The Washington Post

November 22, 2007

pink - mr. president with spanish subtitles

Bomani Armah, not a rapper but a poet with a hip-hop style, is hitting the big time

(Photo credit: By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Bomani Armah is a Busboys and Poets regular. For the Busboys family, he often leads Open Mic Night while inspiring his fellow poets, poetesses and audience members alike.

We were thrilled to crack open this morning's Washington Post and see that they had featured Bomani on the cover of the Arts & Living Section (C01). The article's title is aptly written: His Punch Line Smarts: Hip-Hop Parodist Bomani Armah Juggles Sense of Humor and Identity, and the contents of the article are even better.

A few of our favorite passages on his provocative and now infamous song "Read a Book" (for the full article from today's paper, please click here)

[Its] rise to [the] consciousness:

He's fixated... on what has happened to him over the past four months, how he somehow became a symbol of the coarsening culture. All because he wrote a crunk song, "Read a Book," that traveled the Internet, that was discovered by Black Entertainment Television, that was made into a video, that ignited a controversy, that turned Bomani Armah into a person he didn't recognize, someone accused of "setting my people back 100 years." Between the irate blog posts and the snippy interviews by the likes of CNN's Tony Harris, Armah discovered that he had suddenly become somebody.

Bomani's follow-up thoughts [below the surface] of "Read a Book":

" 'Read a Book' was a joke from the beginning," he says. "It was more about parodying the state of hip-hop." And now it has become the thing that defines him. He thought about that for a moment. "Damn, do this many people not get me?"
[...]

"I feel like I'm a sergeant out here in the field, showing how ridiculous the culture is," Armah says. He began performing his song around the Washington area and it caught on. He made it available for free download on his MySpace page, and the buzz grew. At some point the "Read a Book" MP3 reached the inbox of Reginald Hudlin, president of entertainment for BET, who passed it on to the network's animation division, which loved it and wanted to create an animated video off the track. Which is where Tyree Dillihay, a Los Angeles-based animation director, comes in.

OMN 11/13: Presenting Loren...

Loren doesn't just serve customers dinner at Busboy and Poets, he offers his poetry and a little bit of a soul. Great waiter. Great poet.

Love may leave you heartbroken and hopeless.
Tears may fall, but life must move on.

"Never had I heard such beautiful lies spoken. I tried to dry my eyes from time to time..."

OMN 11/13: Presenting Derrick...

OMN 11/13: Exclusive Interview - Erwin Catlin

OMN 11/13: Presenting Erwin Catlin...

OMN 11/13: Presenting Katrina...

OMN 11/13: Presenting Doug McCulloch...

OMN 11/13: Presenting 2 deep...

OMN 11/13: Presenting Marcus...

OMN: 11/13: Presenting Neil Not Neyo...

OMN 11/13: Presenting Jenny...

Words by Langston Hughes

Numbers are only shapes meant to deceive us into believing that anything, anything, at all is certain 'cause it never is and we never had control.

OMN 11/13: Presenting Sheryl...

Reading "Inspiration," dedicated to her brother:

"We are very different, you and me..."

OMN 11/13: Featuring Nathan...

But you can be my target market!
Welcome to my target market!
Congratulations, you're my target market!
You hit the bullseye in my target market!
My target market!

OMN 11/13: Presenting Vanessa...

"It's entrapment I say, to keep your soul locked in a cage."

OMN 11/13: Presenting Ephrata...

Words by Ephrata

it's for a happy home even if you live alone the emotions will muscle you like al capone crippled cracked paralyzed ... bob marley's revolution keep biblical connection

(Transcriber's note: We're about 80% sure that this is at least 20% wrong.)

OMN 11/13: Presenting Kuku...

Kuku
on
vocals
and
strings:

"I was so I was so I was so... I was so I was so ... I had to go..."

OMN 11/13: Presenting Alao...

A Wooing
Langston Hughes
As performed by Alao

I will bring you big things:
Colors of dawn-morning,
Beauty of rose leaves,
And a flaming love.
But you say
Those are not big things,
That only money counts.
Well,
Then I will bring you money.
But do not ask me
For the beauty of rose leaves,
Nor the colors of dawn-morning,
Nor a flaming love.

Open Mic Night 11/13: MC Bomani Armah and "The Rules of the Stage"

Bomani got things started Tuesday night... check it:

Time & cleverness: "You get two pieces or five minutes, whatever happens first, all right? If you're clever enough to do haikus, you're clever enough to know when to stop."

Pay respect to Langston Hughes: "The other thing is we ask that you read a piece by Langston Hughes. So just pick it up, randomly open it. The shorter poems are in the front. Read whatever. Randomly open it, and read whatever poem you open to. Make sure to give Langston Hughes some credit for paving the way for so many poets."

Re-capping last night: "Open Mic" videos coming soon!

Wow, what a powerful night. The line-up and energy were awesome and we have the clips to prove it. We are working hard to get the videos and some pics ready, so please stay tunned.

Thank you to everyone who shared last night --- and to the audience, too. We hope to feature more events and artists as we work out all the kinks. Let us know if you have any ideas or would like to get involved -- it is your space to be and make and do.

In the words of Bomani, we all certainly were able to: "Shake it off, take it off and break it off" in one way or another.

Send us an email if you would like to receive an update once the videos are up! (busboysandpoetspr@gmail.com)

Getting the stage set for the real stars, walk this way and stay tunned...

This Saturday (11/17): Robert Parry joins us...

If you haven't visited the Busboys and Poets location in Shirlington, this Saturday is a good time. The journalist Robert Parry, who broke many of the key details of the Iran-Contra affair, will be there from 4 to 6 p.m. with his sons, discussing their co-authored book, "Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush."

Award-winning investigative reporter(who broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s) and two of his sons, Sam and Nat Parry, will be at the new Busboys and Poets restaurant in the Shirlington Village section of Arlington, Virginia, from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17.

We have only just begun...

The table is set, the food is ready, the guests are on their way... all we need is YOU. More specifically, your story. We are looking to grow our online community to better serve everyone -- think of it as an "open mic" night, only without the line.

We will start by covering some of the artists that share this Tuesday night (the 13th), and we will keep the conversation going in the days, weeks and months to come. Truly, we are almost as excited about ramping up our online community as we are living and contributing in our real one!

As a part of this effort, we are also reaching out to bloggers, writers, busboys, poets, poetesses, neighbors, foodies, activists, artists, you name it. So please let us know if you are interested in sharing your story, your writing, or your art. Think of this space just like the Langston Hughes Room Mural... room and support for everyone.

Calling all poets, poetesses and artists/musicians

We are excited to be kicking off the cold weather with some warm words, soul food and real-deal energy. Open Mic will be this Tuesday night from 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM, but get there early to get tix. The line usually starts around 7:30 PM in the bookstore and tickets go on sale at 8 PM ($3/each).We host this event every Tuesday at the same time and same place – we look forward to seeing you there!

We will be filming the event tonight and will then post the performances here. We want to share them far and wide, so help us spread the word and the love.