Day 164/365 - Steppin' Out

The Carlyle Club in Alexandria, Virginia is a jazz (mostly big band and swing) bar and restaurant modeled on the dinner clubs of the 1930s and 1940s. It's also a great night out and so that's where I went tonight to catch the performance by Doc Scantlin and His Imperial Palms Orchestra. The IPO is a modern big band playing music from the 1920s through the 1940s fronted by bandleader, vocalist, and connoisseur of bad jokes Doc Scantln.

The band also features the vocal stylings of the Girlfriends and the bubbly and irrepressible Chou Chou, a self-described blonde floozy chanteuse-y. The Girlfriends provide both backing and lead vocals, individually and in collective harmony a la the Andrews Sisters. Chou Chou, who looks like a buxom Gwen Stefani and sounds like Betty Boop and Marilyn Monroe (woof!), always steals the show and vamps the crowd, both in delightful fashion.

I'd been to the Carlyle Club once before, also to catch Doc and the IPO. That time I had dinner and sat at one of the tables near the stage. The food was fairly good as I recall. Tonight, however, I opted for a seat at the bar and had the chance to mingle a bit with some of the members of the band before the show and during the break as we got caught up with the NCAA tournament action on the flat screen.

Doc's band and the Carlyle Club itself are both well worth checking out. They typically play the Club about once a month and their set runs approximately two hours and involves lots of laughs, good music, good times, and opportunities for dancing (by persons other than me).

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 163/365 - Printemps

Spring in DC started out on the chilly side. It was sunny and we had a pretty sky, though. And I'm currently in third place in my office's NCAA tournament pool, so that made the day even better. There's no money involved, however. It's strictly for bragging rights and entertainment value. There is a trophy, though. It's a Final Four commemorative basketball I got when I ordered a pizza from Papa John's several years back. The winner gets to sign his/her name on the ball and keep it for a year. I won the pool three years ago, but I'm a bit skeptical about my chances of repeating this year.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 162/365 - Post-It Note Impression No. 3

I didn't have any shots for today that I particularly liked, so that means it's time for another Post-It Note impression. Quick, who am I?

Mmmmrrrrrrrrnnnnnhhhh...

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 161/365 - On the Verge

I really like photographing flowers. I'm not sure why. I think maybe it has to do with the color and geometry and fragility of them. Plus they don't move much generally speaking, so that makes them fairly easy to shoot. I grabbed this shot as I was walking over to a co-worker's b'day happy hour at Rosa Mexicano tonight.

Between the blue sky, warm weather, and blooming flowers, even if you didn't have a calendar you could tell we were on the cusp of Spring. Given how lame our winter was in general, I'm ready for Spring to get here. If the weather isn't going to dump a foot of snow on us, it might as well be sunny and warm.

And as long as it's going to be sunny and warm, you might as well sit outside eating guacamole and drinking pomegranate margaritas.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 160/365 - Happy St. Patty's Day

I'm not Irish, but my first name is. It can mean either "of comely birth" or "noble, gentle, kind, and loveable." I've seen it translated both ways. I'm not sure how accurate either actually is as it relates to me. Originally my name was spelled Coemgen and it dates to at least the 5th century AD. That's when my name made its first recorded appearance in the annals of history with the arrival on the scene of Saint Kevin of Ireland.

He was an interesting character. He was a holy man who could reportedly talk to animals. He also founded a monastery but when the job of being in charge got to be too much for him he ran away and became a hermit who lived in a cave in the woods. The monks eventually tracked him down and pleaded with him to come back, but he wasn't having any of it. He did agree to let them visit him in his cave from time to time to consult with him, though.

I remember reading about him in college when I had some time to kill between classes one day and looked up my name in the library. Once I read about what a quirky introvert he was I thought "Yep, he was a Kevin alright."

Today has to be the Guinness Brewing Company's favorite day of the year, much as the Corona people have to love Cinco de Mayo. Pizza companies and Italian breweries need to get together and start pushing Columbus Day as the next ethnic food and excessive beer drinking holiday.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 159/365 - The Modern Prometheus

Not much in the way of backstory about today's shot. I was walking to the subway station this morning and saw these guys repairing the light fixture on the underside of the overpass. I thought the way they were silhouetted looked pretty cool, as did their extendible platform thingee, so I decided to take a photo.

Given that there were two workmen maybe the title should be Promethei instead, like octopi and rhinoceri. It always bugs me when reporters on tv who are covering Wall Street refer to the stock "indexes" rather than "indices" or someone says "appendixes" instead of "appendices." I'm all for inventing new words and stretching the meaning of old ones. The more expressive we can make our language, the better. But I hate when we lose existing words and unfortunately it looks like "indices" and "appendices" are rapidly fading into obscurity.

I guess I'm just word greedy.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Carnevale Trio

This week's bonus photo from my archives is a shot I took on my recent trip to Venice of three costumed revelers celebrating Carnevale in the Piazzo San Marco. Carnevale in Venice is definitely more refined than Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 158/365 - Assume the Position

This week's self-portrait is a 'MySpace style' shot of me stretched out on the couch listening to the Nationals-Tigers baseball game on the radio. It's currently 0-0 through the fifth. I love baseball on the radio. And couches. It's a twofer. Now I need a beer to complete the trifecta.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)