today's Washington Post: At the Hungarian Embassy, Dinner and a Moviemaker
By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts Wednesday, January 17, 2007; Page C03 Who knew official Washington was so eager to find its inner bliss? Or that it harbored a yearning for gentle '60s folk-rock? When Hungarian Ambassador Andras Simonyi planned a dinner for director David Lynch and Scottish singer Donovan -- both here to lecture at the Kennedy Center on the benefits of meditation -- he anticipated an intimate affair. "The smaller embassies, you send out 90 invitations, you get 30," he mused Saturday night, looking out at a seated crowd so big it had to be moved from his home to the embassy. "We sent out invitations, and we kept getting 'yes.' " About 60 guests (including Tony Lake, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and GWU prez Stephen Trachtenberg listened to the auteur of dark visions like "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive" explain how transcendental meditation has changed his life and why it should be taught in schools. "We grow in happiness. Creativity starts to flow," said the surprisingly earnest Lynch (a little like Kyle MacLachlan as Agent Dale Cooper in Lynch's '90s series "Twin Peaks"). "You're getting out of bed looking forward to the doing of the thing. A job that's boring becomes more exciting." He also threw in mentions of quantum physics, unified fields, prefrontal cortices and something about "water the root, and enjoy the fruit." Hey, sounds good. Donovan, who has joined Lynch on his TM tour (last week, Lincoln Center; this week, LA's Kodak Theatre), was praised by Simonyi for pioneering the kind of rock that "caused the Iron Curtain to fall." The singer, in turn, invited the ambassador -- a guitarist with D.C. diplomat band Coalition of the Willing -- onstage to join him for his old hit "Colours." You know, the one that goes "Yellow is the color of my true love's hair"? Except that the second verse, as delivered by the Hungarian, went something like this: K ék az ég mikor ébredek / a reggel ha felkelek. Come on, everyone, sing along!
