Eric Motley, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, and MapHook president and CEO Dr. Paul Carter. Photograph by James R. Brantley.

In show business, the work ethic is simple: The show must go on. But what happens if a solo performer falls ill, and there’s a party planned for her after the show? Businesswoman and philanthropist Bonnie McElveen-Hunter answered that question Saturday as she welcomed guests to her Georgetown home. “On O Street, the show always goes on!” she said.

The party was to be in honor of mezzo-soprano Susan Graham after a midday performance at the Kennedy Center. But the evening before, soon after she arrived in Washington, the singer’s throat began to bother her, and by Saturday morning it was worse. The show was canceled, disappointing a few hundred fans holding tickets. Graham boarded a train home to New York to recuperate.

Her pianist, Malcolm Martineau, who did make it to the McElveen-Hunter party, said the performance would have been the last stop in a month-long tour that took them across the country and up to Canada. “In the evening, Susan felt something wasn’t right,” he said. “We went out in search of a humidifier and found one at CVS. But when she was warming up at rehearsal, it was not good. She’s the last person to cancel. It’s always a tough decision, but for the voice, when it’s not right, it’s not right.”

Everyone has a theory as to why the Skins can’t make the Super Bowl. Photograph by Brian Murphy.

The New York Giants are Super Bowl champions once more, and all we can do is lash out at the gleeful New Yorkers in our lives.

Why are you so happy? You lost to the Redskins twice. That should automatically preclude you from competing for the Super Bowl, let alone winning one. Stop smiling at me!

But they don’t care. They are the victors, and we are wallowing in a pool of misery that’s become all too familiar. Marion Barry knows what I’m talking about.

Photograph courtesy of Flickr user badosa.

Update (02/07): The Smithsonian plans to make an official announcement regarding the item later today.

Bob Dylan’s leather jacket will be making a permanent home* in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, according to a source familiar with the transaction. The jacket is significant because he wore it the night of what Wikipedia calls the “Electric Dylan controversy.” It was the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, and Dylan shocked the folk music community by switching from acoustic to electric on three numbers, including “Maggie May” "Maggie's Farm" and “Like a Rolling Stone.” The performance reportedly received boos as well as applause from the audience.

At the time, Dylan was the king of American folk music, and the popular performers of the genre (Peter, Paul, and Mary; Joan Baez; Judy Collins) were steadfastly acoustic. Folk music topped the charts in the early ’60s, and bridged the gap between the rock tidal waves brought by Elvis Presley in the ’50s and the Beatles in 1963. The Beatles revolution eventually prompted other folk stars to go electric. Dylan, though, caused a stir, because he was Dylan.

Another reason the gift is significant, according to the source, is that “Bob Dylan didn’t save anything” from the early years. Apparently he’s not a pack rat.

Among the Smithsonian’s most beloved and talked-about collections is the museum’s assortment of entertainment artifacts. They include Irving Berlin’s upright piano, Minne Pearl’s hat, a yellow guitar that belonged to Prince, a signpost from the hit TV series M*A*S*H, Archie Bunker’s chair from All In The Family, the “puffy shirt” from a memorable episode of Seinfeld, and Carrie Bradshaw’s laptop from Sex and the City. These pieces of American pop culture are a reason the Smithsonian is often called “America’s attic.”

Our source did not know when the jacket will be presented, nor whether Dylan himself will make the presentation.

*Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the status of Dylan's jacket. It will be loaned to the Smithsonian, rather than given as a gift to the permanent collection.

Bill Clinton on inauguration day 1997. Photograph courtesy of Flickr user pingnews.com.

Whatever your feelings about former President Bill Clinton­—reverence, doubt, curiosity, rage—your point of view will likely be satisfied by the four-hour documentary, Clinton, that will air over two nights on PBS stations beginning Monday, February 20. For a Washington audience, it plays more like a home movie, with all-too-familiar characters resurfacing.

The documentary is produced by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance as part of the PBS series “American Experience,” which is creating a collection of presidential biographies. Clinton is a juicy subject, and that’s part of the beauty of this film; it’s a history lesson and a captivating cautionary tale all in one. The biography is split into two parts. The first two hours, “The Comeback Kid,” revisit his unstoppable imperative as the first baby boomer president. The second two are called “The Survivor.” The opening scenes are focused on what you might expect: Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who became a household name for having oral sex with Clinton in the Oval Office—prompting endless jokes and the second impeachment vote in US history.

For those who remember the arc of the Clinton years, many familiar faces appear onscreen to testify about the man—though not the man himself. There are close friends and advisers: David Gergen, Wesley Clark, Mike McCurry, Dick Morris, Sidney Blumenthal, Harold Ickes, James Carville, Dee Dee Myers, Leon Panetta, Mark Penn, Joe Purvis, Robert Reich, Robert Rubin, John Podesta, Harry Thomason, and Betsy Wright. One wonders, though, where is good friend and first White House chief of staff Mack McLarty?

Meanwhile, a boatload of journalists have their say, including Christiane Amanpour, Jonathan Alter, Max Brantley, John Harris, David Maraniss, and Jeffrey Toobin.

A decade or so ago, the Washington press corps included bureaus from far-flung newspapers. In the digital age, most bureaus are defunct or depopulated. But there are more reporters than ever covering Washington. The Post remains the largest news operation, with a newsroom staff of just over 600, hundreds fewer than a decade ago. NPR, also based here, has 283. Here are the top ten other news organizations (excluding TV) and the size of their editorial staffs.

Hennenberger's new blog topped the Post's site in its first month. Photograph by Erik Ueke.

The number of Washington Post blogs has topped 100, which raises a question: Has the Post ever seen a blog it won’t publish?

The New York Times gets by with 62 blogs. The Wall Street Journal publishes 53, the Los Angeles Times 30.

When Post national editor Kevin Merida brought on Melinda Henneberger this winter to write about national affairs from a woman’s perspective, blog number 108 was born. She the People was launched in January with 25 contributors, including 11 from the Post.

Simon Doonan in his carnation throne built for a queen. Photograph by Jeff Martin.

The late Gianni Versace once told Elton John that when he died he wanted to go to heaven and not only be gay, but be “super gay.” Simon Doonan can relate. He’s made being gay into a side profession, in addition to his already successful careers as creative ambassador at large for Barneys New York and as a writer. His new book, Gay Men Don’t Get Fat, was celebrated in Washington on Wednesday evening with a très gay soiree on the rooftop of the W Hotel, featuring pink patent wing chairs, loads of pink flowers, pale pink skinny “boy” margaritas, “power gays,” drag queen Heidi Gloom—and Doonan, of course, in his trademark flowered shirt, trilling. The deejay was Shea Van Horn, who sometimes performs in drag, though not on this night; he went preppy instead.