Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Rowboat Romance

This week's bonus photo from my archives is a shot I took of two rental rowboats snuggled up to each other in the C&O Canal in Washington, DC.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 193/365 - The Agony of Defeat

Today was the second game for my kickball team. We got clobbered again, but at least this time we scored two runs instead of getting shut out. You should have seen us whooping and hollering and jumping up and down after we finally scored. You'd have thought we'd just won a championship or something. I guess small victories are better than no victories whatsoever, even though they do still go down in the "L" column.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 192/365 - Stinkier than Dirty Diapers

Went to my second Nats game of the season and of course they lost again. For the second day in a row they blew a lead in the ninth inning and lost to the Marlins in extra innings. A three-run lead, yet!

Beautiful day for a baseball game, but a bad day to be a Nationals fan. Ugh. The look on this baby's face says it all.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 191/365 - Lunch al Fresco

Today was a perfect weather day in DC, which meant I absolutely had to have lunch somewhere with sidewalk seating. I opted to walk to a little Thai place on Capitol Hill and had the red curry duck, coconut ice cream, and two Thai iced teas. I love Thai iced tea.

So, to recap -- Friday afternoon, Thai food, sunshine, 70 degrees, interesting book, and hot Hill staffers strolling by. Yeah, I've had worse lunches.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 190/365 - Lysistrata

My first exposure to the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes' play "Lysistrata" came from my World Lit class in undergrad. I remember being surprised by how funny and, um, earthy it was. I guess I thought anything that old and classic had to be dry and sedate. Although I'd read the play many years ago, I'd never seen it performed live until last night when I caught Synetic Theater's production of it. Technically though, I guess I've still never really seen it performed live.

Synetic's version of "Lysistrata" is more a re-interpretation or re-imagining than a straight production. It's a joint production with the Georgetown University drama department and most of the cast is composed of Georgetown students or recent grads. The play concerns a Greek woman who, tiring of the ceaseless war between her city-state and a rival state that drains their treasuries and destroys their men, organizes her fellow women and the women of their rival state to press for peace. The women's tactics include occupying the treasury building and stealing their men's armor and weapons, but their primary strategy involves a sex strike. No peace, no nookie. The immovable object of war thus meets the irresistible force of sex.

Synetic's production of "Lysistrata" is certainly funny, but a bit disappointing. They settle too easily for the broad, cheap laugh and the efforts to modernize the play come off as heavy-handed and a trifle clumsy. While they've largely maintained Aristophanes' original story, they've done more than a bit of violence to his words. Here's a thought -- when a play has survived for over 2000 years and been hailed as a great work all that time, the less you monkey with it the better. Case in point, the godawful rap sequence. Although I will admit that changing the lyrics of the Eagles' "Desperado" to "Lysistrata" in a later serenade scene was pretty damn funny.

"Lysistrata" is really an odd fit for Synetic. They do best when they focus on telling a story through dance, motion, and pantomime. There's not much of that in this production and what is there is a bit too MTV-ish. "Lysistrata" is more dialogue-driven and that is not Synetic's strength. Stretching yourself and trying new things is fine, but hopefully they'll return more to what they do best in future productions.

The costumes, score, and set for this production are all adequate but not particularly noteworthy. Nothing about any of them really stands out. Similarly, the performances are workmanlike, but none of the actors really shine in their parts. Synetic's production of "Lysistrata" is fine if you're just in the market for a few cheap laughs. Otherwise, you're better off reading the original.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 189/365 - No Joy in Mudville

I had a ticket for tonight's Nats-Phillies game, but it was postponed for a date to be named later on account of rain. Oh well, at least the Nats won't lose again tonight.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 188/365 - Beer O'Clock

This week's self-portrait is me taking a beer out of the fridge, a process that is repeated many times over the course of a year. Don't worry, though -- there's still more in there if you're thirsty.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 187/365 - Home, Bittersweet Home

Today was Opening Day for the 2009 baseball season at Nationals Park in DC. The hometown Washington Nationals played host to the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. I wish the hosts had been a little less accommodating to their out of town guests. The Nats lost to the Phillies 9-8. They're now 0-7 on the season and were once again done in by poor pitching and shoddy defense. Ugh.

At least they made it close, though, with a two run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Plus I got to leave work early today, sit outside in the occasional sunshine, buy some new swag at the team store, and eat a hot dog and pretzel and drink a beer (followed six innings later by a Coke and an order of chili cheese fries). So in the final accounting I'd still say there were more entries on the plus side of the day's ledger than on the minus side.

Nothing breaks your heart and torments you with renewed hope like love and baseball.

Go Nats!

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Glory Days

For this week's photo from my archives, we reach back all the way to my high school days. I took this shot of the old train depot in my hometown for my 11th or 12th grade photography class. They've restored the depot now, but I think I kinda liked it better when it looked more like a relic from the past than a museum piece.

(Taken with my first SLR, a Pentax K-1000)

Day 186/365 - Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everybunny!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 185/365 - Saturday Night Geek Out

Tonight was one of the geekiest and most entertaining nights I've had in a while. My friends Des, Chris, and I went to the Medieval Times dinner show at Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland to eat with our fingers, cheer for the Red Knight, and watch dudes poke each other with lances and whack each other with swords. Then it was off to Dave & Busters to drink (more) beer and play video games.

There was a trivia game I really wanted to play, but I was never able to snag an open spot. And I know I could've rocked at that game, too. Instead I spent most of my time playing a submarine game where you torpedo passing ships in order to win tickets. I wound up with 500 tickets, but they didn't have much worth getting at this D&B, so I just decided to hang on to them.

Then we capped the night off with more drinking at my friends' place while we played Rock Band and Lego Batman on their Wii. It's a bit sad for someone above the age of 15 to admit that they stayed up until 4:15 in the morning playing Lego Batman on the Wii, but I don't care. I had a blast!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 184/365 - The True History of Coca-Cola in Mexico, A Comedy

The effects of global commerce and corporate imperialism might seem an odd subject for a comedy, but it makes for a very funny play. Tonight I went to see Gala Hispanic Theatre's production of "The True History of Coca-Cola in Mexico." In keeping with the theme of the evening, I decided to have Mexican food for dinner before the show so I wandered a few blocks up from the theater's location in the Columbia Heights section of Washington, DC to Taqueria Distrito Federal.

It's tough to find good Mexican food in DC. While there are many people in the area whose families immigrated here from Central American countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador, not many people have immigrated here from Mexico. As a result, most of the local Mexican restaurants are operated by Central Americans. The food is a bit more authentic than Chi Chi's, but it's still not the same. TDF is the real deal, however.

It's a small place, only a half-dozen or so tables inside and three on the patio out front. It's fast, cheap, good, and authentic. Well, as authentic as Mexican food gets in the U.S. anyhow. I don't know if you can ever exactly duplicate a national or regional cuisine in a restaurant in another location. It never tastes quite the same for some reason. TDF is definitely good, though. I ordered the Combo #3, which is five tacos, the dessert of the day, and a drink for only $13. It was one of the cheapest pre-theater meals I've ever had.

TDF has about a dozen different types of meat fillings for their tacos and you can pick and choose what you want in them. I opted for two pork tacos, one chicken, one bbq goat, and one bbq beef. The chicken one was a little dry, but the others were yum. The dessert was a tasty slice of flan and my drink, given the play I was seeing, had to be a Coke.

As I learned from the play, Mexico's per capita consumption of Coke is second only to that of the U.S. "The True History of Coca-Cola in Mexico" is a two-person play about a filmmaker and a performance artist from Seattle who decide to go to Mexico to make a documentary about American cultural and corporate globalization as symbolized by Coke's infiltration into Mexican society. The pair of actors that form the cast play a wide range of parts throughout the course of the play, including: the filmmakers; the tourists, farmers, and resort community workers they interview for the documentary; various figures from Mexican political history; and, in one particularly hilarious scene, the characters on a telenovela.

In their quest to document the extent to which American corporations have exploited and manipulated the Mexican people, the two filmmakers (who despite their loudly professed ideals are just as ignorant, patronizing, and chauvinistic as those they criticize) themselves exploit and manipulate a family of poor farmers in order to jazz up their documentary. While they start out to be liberators, in the end they wind up being just another kind of oppressor (although that's a fact that they themselves never seem to recognize).

The play is quite good and flows well, with the exception of a music video recreation scene at the end of the first act that just doesn't fit and doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose. The two performers are excellent and the set design, though simple, is effective. Gala Theatre itself is housed in an upstairs portion of the old Tivoli Theatre, formerly the most opulent movie palace in DC. Some of that opulence survives in the ornate ceiling of the theater, but it's not much compared to its former glory as revealed in the historical photos that line the walls leading to the theater.

"The True History of Coca-Cola in Mexico" is part ironic comedy, part satire, part history lesson, part political argument, and all good. And if you go to Taqueria Distrito Federal for dinner beforehand, it's even better.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 183/365 - Halfway Home

For this week's self-portrait we have me standing in the middle of the George Mason Memorial Bridge (aka the 14th St. Bridge) that links Virginia to DC. Not only am I in the middle of the bridge and the middle of the Potomac River here, this is also the midpoint on my walk home from work. It's 50 minutes from my office to this point, and another 50 minutes from this point to my apartment.

This seemed like the perfect spot for today's shot given that this marks the midway point in my 365 project. I've got 182 days behind me and another 182 days ahead of me. I never thought I'd make it this far. My guess was that I'd quit the 'photo a day' thing after about a month. I'm glad I decided to do a 365 project, but I'll also be glad when it's over. It's gotten to be a bit of a grind.

Some people go on to do a second and third year. Not me. It'll be nice to be able to go back to taking a photo when I feel like it rather than having to do a shot each and every day. I may do a second 365 project 5 or 10 years down the road, but I don't see myself doing another one any sooner than that.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 182/365 - Post-It Note Impression No. 4

I hadn't done one of these in a while, so I figured I was overdue for another Post-It Note impression.

Quick, who am I this time?

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 181/365 - Big Change

This is a close-up of the change dish sitting on my dresser. I need to take all this change to the grocery store and dump it in the coinstar machine and convert it into real money. You'll notice there are no pennies here. That's because I throw pennies away.

People always look aghast when I tell them that. I just don't see the point in holding on to pennies. It's not worth the effort. Whenever I get pennies back from a purchase, I dump them in the trash. I've been doing that since I was in high school.

Hanging on to pennies is more trouble than it's worth. You save them up for years and put them in a big jar or something and after all that time what do you have -- a few bucks. Ehh. The return isn't worth the hassle.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 180/365 - High Brow/Low Brow

Today was a pretty apt summation of my random and eclectic interests. This afternoon, I attended a rehearsal of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in preparation for their concert tonight at the Kennedy Center. Then tonight, I met my friend Chris at the theater in Georgetown to see the new "Fast & Furious" movie. Both were entertaining in their own way.

The Youth Orchestra was excellent. The kids were very skilled, talented, and energetic and the conductor was so lively it looked like he was dancing at the podium. The movie was escapist fun. It's essentially a two-hour long adolescent male fantasy of fights, guns, good buddies, fast cars, and hot women.

It's good to be well-rounded.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200 and processed using Microsoft Publisher)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Shadow Over Venice

For this week's bonus photo from my archives we have a shot I took on my recent trip to Venice. This was taken from the campanile, or bell tower, in the Piazza San Marco and shows a broad view of the city and the shadow of the tower itself.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 179/365 - Are You Ready for Some Kickball?

I obviously wasn't, given the way I looked like a discombobulated doofus at the plate. Today was my kickball team's first game. We pretty much got clobbered. I'm not exactly sure what the score was because Adriana and I were chatting and lost track of the innings, but I do know they scored a bunch and we didn't score any. That's a sure recipe for losing. Especially against a team as competitive and hardcore as our opponents were.

We barely made it once through our kicking order and in my one turn at the plate I let one go by for a strike, took one for a ball, hit another off my knee for a foul, kicked another one foul, and then when I did finally make legal contact it was just a weak dribbler back to the pitcher and I was out by a mile.

I did a bit better during my one inning in the field when I played short right field. All I did then was run over to back up first a couple times in case of an overthrow that never happened, but at least I was in position anyhow. I definitely need to work on my kicking. Turns out that adults pitch the ball much harder and with vastly more spin than do the 6th graders I last played against about 20 years ago. Go figure.

After the beatdown, we adjourned to the Exchange, the official after-game bar for our division, and went through pitchers of beer like Sherman going through Georgia. At the bar we played the drinking game flip cup against the team that had just beaten us at kickball. They're the nefarious team in purple on the left above.

I'd never played flip cup before and I was only slightly less abysmal at it than I was at kickball. That will certainly be much more fun to practice than my kicking will be, though.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 178/365 - Cherry Blossom Festival Parade

Today was the parade kicking off the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. I'd never seen this parade before, so today I forced myself to get out of bed earlier than I wanted to and went to check it out. It was a pretty good parade. It's sort of a smaller scale version of the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC. There are marching bands and floats and usually there are balloons as well, but the high winds today grounded the balloons.

And at the end of the parade, instead of Santa in a sleigh, we have the Easter Bunny in a carriage. Apart from the wind the weather was perfect -- sunny and warm. It was a great day to be standing on the corner watching a parade go by.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 177/365 - Everlasting Moments

A few days back my friend Pia invited me to go see the foreign film "Everlasting Moments" with her and tonight we both finally had a free night to go. The movie chronicles the experiences of a Swedish family in the early 1900s. The style of the movie is similar to the realist movement in literature in that it doesn't feature a strong central plot that drives the narrative, but instead focuses on the ordinary details of the ordinary lives of an ordinary family. As such, it proceeds at a very leisurely pace and meanders a bit in spots, but it is a journey worth taking.

One of the central themes of the movie is the search for fulfillment and happiness. For the coarse, abusive brute that is the family's husband/father, this search initially leads to the illusory joys of alcohol and adultery, and later to caring for an injured horse. For the eldest daughter, it's her desire to become a teacher. For the eldest son, his desire to become a scholar. But the movie's primary focus is on the wife/mother of the family's quest for happiness, a search which leads her to discover photography.

Photography is in many ways the deus ex machina in this movie, working to push and pull the characters in various ways. At the beginning of the movie, the eldest daughter who narrates the film recounts how her mother won a camera in a raffle with a ticket purchased by her eventual husband. When he said the camera should be his given that he paid for the ticket, she said he could only have if he married her, which he then did. The camera, however (a portable Contessa with a collapsible bellows), is quickly packed away and forgotten, only to be rediscovered many years later when the women is cleaning house. She takes it to a local photography studio to sell it, but the proprietor of the studio convinces her that she should at least try the camera before she sells it.

She does, and quickly discovers that she has both a passion and a skill for photography. Her talent for photography eventually leads to her selling a photo to the local newspaper, taking portraits for her neighbors and later for merchants and more well-to-do clients, and also serves as the seed for her unconsummated affair of the heart with the studio owner.

From the end credits, it appears that the movie is not a work of pure fiction but is instead based on the lives of an actual family as recounted in the reminiscences of the eldest daughter. The movie is interesting and compelling, if a bit long-ish, but don't expect slam bang action or neat resolutions to difficult questions. In the end it's a realistic portrait of people's lives, much in the way that a photograph is, and real life is seldom sensational or tidy. But, just the same, life is worth living and this movie is worth seeing.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 176/365 - Elizabeth Rex

Another evening at the theater for me. This time the theater in question was the Keegan Theatre in the Dupont Circle section of Washington, DC, where they were staging a production of the play "Elizabeth Rex." Before the play, I stopped by Nage, a sexy little bar and restaurant a few blocks away from the theater, for dinner.

Nage is a cozy, red-tinted, snug, sensual little nook of a place that shares space with a Courtyard Marriott hotel. A big chalkboard by the entrance lists the daily specials and the options for the $35 three-course, prix fixe meal. The service and cocktails are excellent and the food was pretty good. I started things off with a cantaloupe martini that was particularly luscious. Instead of the standard bread and butter Nage serves bread and hummus, which was a nice switch. For my three courses, I opted for a wedge salad, pork chops with risotto, and rhubarb upside down cake. The salad was good, although they went a little heavy on the dressing. The pork chop and risotto were well-prepared, but a bit bland. Then again, unless you drench it in jerk seasoning or drown it in mustard sauce, it's hard to get much pizzazz out of a pork chop. The rhubarb cake was quite yummy.

I probably should've have gone with my first inclination and ordered the goat cheese baklava appetizer and grilled scallops entree from the regular menu instead of deciding to be thrifty and take advantage of the prix fixe. I'd likely have enjoyed those dishes more. Still, I'd say Nage is worth taking a flyer on. It's an ideal spot for drinks and a pretty good option for a meal.

After I got my belly stuffed, it was off to the play. This was my first visit to the Keegan Theatre. It's in the middle of a quiet residential street and is housed in a small brick building that was originally the gymnasium of a private school. Although it is purely a work of fiction, "Elizabeth Rex" is based on a historical incident. On the night before the scheduled execution of her lover, the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth I of England engaged William Shakespeare and his band of players to distract her from her grief over having had to sentence the Earl to death for his part in a conspiracy against the crown.

"Elizabeth Rex" takes place in the barn of the Queen's estate just outside London. Due to a curfew imposed until after the execution in order to prevent a civil disturbance, Shakespeare and several members of his company are forced to spend the night after their command performance in the barn. Unable to sleep, the Queen joins the players in the barn and has them keep her company to further distract her from her sorrows. The discourse between the Queen and the actors hits on the play's core themes of love and loss, gender roles, and the dichotomy between the people we are in private and the parts we play in public.

It's a excellent piece, well-written and powerfully performed. The set design and costumes are quite good and the cast is admirable, with the exception of the actors portraying Shakespeare and the Queen's counselor. In the case of the latter, given the minor nature of the role the casting of a weak actor is insignificant. However, placing a poor performer in the part of Shakespeare, one of the central characters, is another matter. The producers did strike gold though with the casting of the actors portraying the Queen and the dying actor Ned, who square off against each other in several scenes. Both performers invest their parts with a great degree of power and pathos without being hammy or overwrought. It's almost enough to make up for the miscast Shakespeare.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 175/365 - I'm on TV!

April Fool's!

This week's self-portrait is a shot of me playing the part of a private detective in an old movie on tv. Thankfully, it's no April Fool's Day joke that my cable is working again at last. After a week and a half with no tv, I'm finally able to resume rotting my brain out with vulgar tripe. Bring on the bread and circuses!

(Taken with my Nikon D80 and manipulated using Microsoft Publisher)

Day 174/365 - Cherry Blossom Time in DC

The cherry blossom trees have started to bloom in Washington, DC. The blossoms will only last for about another week, so I decided to make the most of the clear skies and warm weather today and walk home. My path home takes me right along the edge of the Tidal Basin and through the main grove of cherry blossom trees. The trees were a gift from Japan to the United States and, although they don't actually produce any cherries, they do put on a beautiful display each year in early Spring.

If you've never seen the cherry blossoms before they are an amazing sight. I've been here ten years and they still astound me. The day I get so jaded that they stop astounding me is the day I need to turn my eyes back in and let them give them to someone else who will make better use of them. Most of the cherry blossoms are a brilliant white, but some are a light pink. They make the trees look like they're full of snow or cotton candy and then when the wind blows some of the petals pull loose and tumble and flutter along on the breeze like snowflakes made of satin.

As someone I know said: "thanks, Japan, for the trees."

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 173/365 - Happy 30th B'day, Des!

Today was my friend Desiree's 30th birthday. Some of us got together at her place to eat, drink, and laugh ourselves silly. It's a great way to spend an evening, even if it isn't anyone's birthday.

Happy birthday dear Desiree, happy birthday to you!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Car vs. Train

This week's bonus photo from my archives is a shot of a mural on the side of a building in Bethesda. I really love this mural and I keep meaning to drag a friend there with me so I can have my portrait taken in front of it.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 172/365 - Abercrombie

This is my old teddy bear. His name is Abercrombie and I've had him for years and years. Friends and lovers come and go and even families have falling outs, but teddy bears are forever.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 171/365 - Go Fly a Kite

Today was the Forty-Third Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Too bad the weather was less than optimal for kite flying -- chilly, misty rain, and not much wind. Still, everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves. This is one of those DC events I always mean to take part in but I forget about it until the last minute. This year at least I was able to take photos of it. Next year, I'm buying myself a kite and joining in the fun.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 170/365 - Ion

Tonight I went to the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Sidney Harmon Hall to attend a performance of the play "Ion" by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, as recently re-translated by David Lan. For a play that's over two thousand years old, it's awfully funny and entertaining. The story arises from, as many Greek tales do, a liaison between a male god and a mortal woman. Their resulting offspring, left abandoned in the wilderness by his mother, grows up to become a temple attendant who knows neither his name nor his origins.

When his mother, now queen of Athens, accompanies her husband on a pilgrimage to consult the oracle of the temple her lost son serves, the action is set in motion and leads to joy, jealousy, confusion, murderous plots, reunions, and divine intervention. Not to mention more than a few laughs. The play is very irreverent for its time, openly criticizing the gods for their hypocrisy in punishing the sins of mankind while they flagrantly sin themselves and reciting the timeless plaint against a heaven that allows the wicked to prosper while the righteous suffer.

The performances in "Ion" are uniformly excellent. There is not a single off note or weak actor amongst the cast. The set design is simple but effective and the descent of divine characters from the rafters of the theater is handled well, as is the use of puppets to relate the prelude to the play. The costumes are done in a way that neatly marks the divide between the spiritual and the mundane, the permanent and the impermanent, with the gods and temple servants arrayed in the traditional dress of ancient Greece and the visitants to the temple attired in modern clothes.

The play is short, clocking in at a well-paced 90 minutes without intermission, and the Harmon Center itself is a very pleasant, convenient, and effective venue. Even though "Ion" concerns a time and a people that have long since passed, it remains relevant today. In fact, given that the play in essence concerns the circumstances and consequences of an unwanted pregnancy, it's hard to see how it could be any more contemporary.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200 and processed using the watercolor effect on an old version of Microsoft's Photo Editor program)

Day 169/365 - Ida Maria & Glasvegas in Concert

There was a double bill of Norwegian rocker Ida Maria and Scottish band Glasvegas at the Black Cat tonight and I went, largely on the basis of a single song -- Ida Maria's "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked."

Before heading over to the gig I stopped by Al Crostino, a small Italian restaurant and wine bar on U Street, for dinner. It turned out to be one of the best meals I've had in a while (and it gave me a chance to slurp down a couple glasses of prosecco). The pasta e fagioli (pasta and bean soup) was comparable to the version I had in Venice and the Osso Bucco with soft polenta was one of the best dishes I've had in DC. The polenta in particular was mindblowingly delicious. I was running late for the concert, so I didn't have time to try any of their desserts, but now I have an excuse to go back. I'd rate Al Crostino as the second best Italian restaurant I've been to in DC, after Galileo.

As for the show, Ida Maria was as good as I'd hoped. She played a short, full throttle set that was pure attitude, energy, and rock and roll. And the live version of "Better When You're Naked" didn't disappoint. With the way she sings I don't know how she has any voice left. She must have vocal cords of steel. Glasvegas isn't really my thing, so I left about 20 minutes into their set. A lot of people there seemed to like them (although I did notice I wasn't the only person leaving early), but to me all their songs sounded the same. They were just kinda mopey and dull and the vocals were very muddy and indistinct so I couldn't tell you what the hell they were singing about. They seem to try and cover their shortcomings by amping up the volume. It's rock so it's supposed to be loud, but playing 'stadium loud' in a small-ish club like the Black Cat is neither big nor clever. It's just L-O-U-D.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 168,365 - Oh No, It's Godzilla!

As you may be able to surmise from today's photo, my cable is still out so I continue having to find ways to amuse myself. For this shot I used one of my white dress shirts as a backdrop and then set my stuffed Godzilla on it and took a photo. You can't tell it from this shot, but if you press his chest his eyes light up red and he makes the Godzilla sound. It's totally cool!

For the illustrations, I used Microsoft Paint. This is the sort of drawing I used to do all the time in grade school, although then I'd draw the Godzilla as well. I loved the old Japanese monster movies when I was a kid. You could usually skip the first hour of them because that was mostly just talking. The second hour was when the good stuff happened -- monster on monster fights; tanks, jets and rockets firing (always to no effect); and cities being laid waste.

I think my favorite movies were "Godzilla vs. King Kong" and "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster." Ooh, and I almost forgot Mechagodzilla. Godzilla + Robot = Awesome!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 167/365 - Kickball!

I have officially leapt over the precipice into the yawning chasm of geekdom -- I joined an adult kickball league. I'll be playing in the Washington Monument division of the DC chapter of the World Adult Kickball Association. We play our games near the Washington Monument (duh) on Sundays starting the first week of next month. My friend Adriana and I signed up together so we could get placed on the same team. That way neither of us had to be the 'new kid' on our own.

It should be fun. I figure it will get me outdoors and get me some exercise if nothing else, plus I'll get to meet new people to drink beer with. Every division has a designated after-game bar to hang out in. Ours is the Exchange over by the White House. Given that I haven't played kickball since I was in the sixth grade, it's a near certainty I'll be terrible at it so hopefully my teammates won't take kickball uber-seriously. I mean, it is kickball after all.

The woman in charge of our division said there are still plenty of openings, so if you've ever considered making a fool of yourself in front of a bunch of tourists now is the time to sign up. And we've even got one spot still left on my team if you're interested!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 166/365 - Oh Noes!

For this week's self-portrait we have documentary proof of me being forced to amuse myself due to the fact that my cable is out. I look like an African tribal version of Mr. Bill here. I ordered this mask from a catalog years and years ago and I think it came from Ghana, but I can't remember for sure. It looks cool hanging on the wall but it sucks as an actual mask because, unless you have a hammerhead shark somewhere in your family tree, the eyeholes are wayyyyyyy too far apart.

Getting back to my lack of cable miseries, apparently the line running to my apartment has been cut somewhere. The cable was out when I woke up yesterday morning and when I called it in they scheduled to have a technician come by this afternoon. Perfect, not a prob. My boss is really cool and understanding so I just went into the office this morning, picked up some files, and told him I'd be working at home.

So then the technician comes, plugs a monitoring device into my cable socket, and then tells me the line has been cut somewhere and there's no signal coming to my apartment. Yeah, I kinda figured out that last part for myself when both my tv sets had black screens. Unfortunately, wiring issues are handled by people in another division so there's nothing he can do but report it to HQ and then they'll send the wiring folks to look into it and they'll be in contact to schedule a convenient time for me if they need to enter my apartment, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Thanks, Comcast!

In fairness, the technician guy was on time and he was really nice and he apologized for the fact that I'd basically stayed home for nothing. I think I'd have felt better if he'd been late and been obnoxious. Then I could've vented my spleen on him.

So in the meanwhile I'm stuck with no cable and no one to really be mad at, apart from the mysterious saboteur who apparently cut or unplugged the cable line somewhere between where it enters the building on the roof and where it reaches my apartment ten floors later.

Oh well, at least I'll be able to watch tonight's episode of '24' on-line. Assuming the DSL doesn't suddenly go out as well, anyhow.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Rialto Bridge

This week's extra shot from my archives is a photo of the Rialto Bridge I took on my recent trip to Venice. For several hundred years this was the only bridge spanning the Grand Canal.

Day 165/365 - The Circus Is in Town

I've always wanted to run away and join the circus just like Toby Tyler but I've never had the nerve, so tonight I just settled for going to the circus instead. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus was in town playing the Verizon Center and I had a front row seat. It was a pretty good show this year. You could see a few Cirque du Soleil influences here and there, but it still hung on to its good old cheesy circus charm.

The lion (or in this case, tiger) tamer is always one of my favorite parts. This year's tamer was okay, but nothing special -- no jumping through flaming hoops or sticking his head in their mouths. A friend and I once went to a psychic fair and a lady there 'read' my past lives for ten bucks. She told me I'd been a lion tamer in the circus as well as a chariot racer in ancient Rome, an Islamic scholar in the medieval mideast, and a female silk weaver. I'm 99.9% certain it was hooey (she probably has a list of lives thought out in advance and then picks a few at random to tell the suckers), but still it was cool to be told I'd been a lion tamer.

My other circus favorite is the human cannonball, but they didn't have one in this year's show. It's sort of an odd thing to have as a favorite. There's a five-minute build-up for a two-second payoff and it's really just a guy flying through the air into a net, but I love it. Even without the human cannonball however it was a fun time. I ate a couple hot dogs and a box of popcorn, saw the circus, and thought about running away with it for the thousandth time.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

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)

Day 157/365 - Saturday Time Machine

Today was a perfect day for a retro boy like me. I started off by heading over to the Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum to see the exhibit "1934: A New Deal for Artists." It's a collection of paintings from 1934 sponsored by the U.S. government under the Public Works Art Project, a precursor to the longer term and larger scale Public Works Administration initiative. Participating artists were requested simply to depict "the American scene." Everything else was up to them.

It's quite a good exhibition with some wonderful paintings and excellent discussions of what life was like in the U.S. during the depths of the Great Depression (which should really be called the Terrible Depression instead). It's also a reminder of the importance of art in society, even in tough times. After I finished checking out the exhibit, I headed over to the DC Armory for more retro goodness -- the DC Rollergirls' latest roller derby match. As an appetizer, the Cherry Blossom Bombshells completely crushed the visiting Boardwalk Brawlers from New Jersey in an exhibition match. The main event between the DC DemonCats (my faves) and Scare Force One was a closer match, however. It was pretty hotly contested as well. Two skaters went down with injuries and there were multiple penalties.

In the end the DemonCats pulled out the victory, their second win this season over defending league champs Scare Force One. This was my second trip to the roller derby and this time I sat on the floor of the Armory right at the edge of the track. I was hoping to end up with a rollergirl in my lap at some point, but no such luck. Several did go flying into the crowd just to my left, however. I'll have to remember that spot next time.

After the roller derby ended, I capped off my throwback day with a visit to the American City Diner for dinner and a movie. ACD is a diner in the Friendship Heights section of DC that serves up both classic diner fare and classic movies, which it shows on its deck for free every night at 8:30. In winter the deck is covered and heated, but in better weather I'm guessing it's open to the air. I opted for a very vintage meal of meatloaf, coffee, and apple pie to accompany tonight's movie, "Dial M for Murder" with Grace Kelly and Ray Milland. I'd never seen it before and it was quite good, as was the food. I'm a little bummed that I missed ACD's screening of "King Kong" earlier this month. Now that I know about this place, I'll have to make sure I check their movie schedule fairly often to see what's showing.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 156/365 - Season Tickets

These are the tickets for my 41-game (i.e., half-season) plan for the Washington Nationals. They were delivered yesterday and today I'll take the tickets for the weekday games to work with me to keep in my office. The ticket for Opening Day this year is hard plastic, almost like a credit card, rather than cardboard. That's a first. Also, each ticket has a different photo on it. In the past there would be 8 or so different pictures and they would just be repeated throughout.

It's kind of a silly little thing to get excited about, but those two changes over prior years gave me an extra bit of giddiness on top of my normal excitement about receiving my tickets. It was like the cherry atop my baseball sundae.

Now if the team can just approach something resembling respectability this season...

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 155/365 - Hello to an Old Friend

This was one of my favorite lunches as a kid -- a peanut butter and jelly sammich with cheese curls and chocolate milk. It had been a long time since I'd had it, so when I was at the store earlier this week I picked up the fixin's. It was just as good as I remembered. If I was a condemned man, this might be on the menu for my last meal.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 154/365 - Weary Wednesday

Today was my follow-up appointment at the dentist's office. She drilled out and replaced three old fillings and then filled two new cavities. Plus they took a mold of my teeth for a mouthpiece thing I have to wear at night. Apparently I grind my teeth. It took about two and-a-half hours all together. My jaw is sore from being pried open that long and my gums are sore from all the pressure that was placed on my teeth.

My teeth themselves feel fine and they certainly look a lot better. The dentist used tooth-colored filling material and it seems weird now to open my mouth and not see my old silver fillings at the back. Plus she was able to spackle over the tooth toward the front of my mouth that was missing a sizeable chunk off the side, so now I shouldn't have to worry about any more bits of it crumbling away. No more food getting caught in the gap, either.

Evidently I have a good tolerance for pain. The dentist said she could count on one hand the number of male patients she's had who didn't flinch or squint when she shoved the needle into their gums to benumb their mouths (and that was after she'd already deadened the surface of the gums a bit with a topical anesthetic). Women patients hardly ever flinch at that, she said. I didn't react when she jabbed me with the hypo, so she told me I could take a shot like a woman. I did grunt a couple times though when she was using the drill and she got fairly deep in the tooth. She just backed out, gave me a couple more shots, waited a sec for it to kick in, and then went back to work.

The photo above is from the centerfield gate at Nationals Park. I was a bit early for my dental appointment, so I stopped by the ballpark on the way and peered through the gate (there were some men working on the centerfield restaurant) and pressed my face against the glass of the team store (it was completely empty) like a hungry man searching for a morsel of food. Less than a month left now until the home opener! To make things even better, the word is that President Obama has agreed to throw out the first pitch. I'm betting I'll enjoy that much more than the two times I saw his predecessor throw out the first pitch, and astronomically more than the year Vice President Cheney filled in.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 153/365 - Bibliophile

For this week's self-portrait we have me reading a book (whilst standing in my kitchen -- it has the best light and least distracting background). I think I've always loved to read. My sisters liked to play school with me as the student and so they taught me to read before I started going to real school. It made it tricky for my parents though because then they couldn't spell out the things they didn't want me to know about.

I do most of my reading on the Metro, at lunchtime, and for an hour or two before turning in for the night. I read fairly quickly, which was always a definite plus when it came to taking exams. Mostly I read for enjoyment rather than edification. I have to 'read to think' at work, so at home I 'read to escape' instead.

Mostly I read exciting, atmospheric, mysterious, fluff. Anything with adventure, intrigue, and a dash of romance. I really like Alan Furst's books. That's his "Night Soldiers" I'm reading above.

His books are always about spies (typically ordinary people recruited to serve as spies for a variety of reasons) operating in Europe in the years just before and during WWII. They're very langorous and moody and world-weary and reading one is like slipping inside a really good old black and white movie.

I've read three of his books so far. This will be the fourth. They're all excellent, but I think my favorite may be the first one I read -- "Kingdom of Shadows." When I travel I like to read books set in the places I'm visiting. That book is set in Hungary and I found it while browsing through a bookstore looking for something to take with me on a trip to Budapest. It turned out to be an excellent choice.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 152/365 - Squirrel Crazy

I would like to be a squirrel. I realize that squirrels are essentially just rats with fluffy tails, but I'd still like to be a squirrel. Squirrels look like they have fun. They're always chasing each other around the trunks of trees, leaping from branch to branch, and chattering at each other.

Plus, squirrels are similar to some very cool things. They're like furry little ninjas in that they can run up the side of a tree, hang upside down, and blend in with their environment. They're like pirates because they like to loot and pillage bird feeders and they are always burying and digging up their treasure. They can also run across powerlines like tightrope walkers in the circus.

And flying squirrels are even more awesome yet! In addition to all the standard squirrel superpowers as discussed above, they can soar through the air. So if you don't particularly feel like climbing down your tree, running across the meadow, and climbing up the tree on the other side, you just jump off a branch, spread your skin-flaps, and hang-glide your way on over.

Being a city squirrel would be really cushy. You have no real predators to worry about. Dogs may chase you, but they'll never catch you. Plus, if you don't feel like hunting for acorns, you can just go and hang out in the park and some sucker will come along and feed you part of his or her lunch. Ahhh, that's the life. Some people might like to be dolphins or eagles or lions but, as for me, I'd rather be a squirrel.

What kind of animal would you be, if you had the choice?

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Columbus Circle

This week's photo from my archives is a shot I took of the globe sculpture and skyscrapers at Columbus Circle in New York City when I was up there to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last November.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 151/365 - Cake = Yum!

Because I was in Venice for my birthday last weekend, my friends decided to have me over for cake today to celebrate. Desiree and Adriana made me this luscious cake from scratch.

It has a scrumptious mango filling and a fondant covering and it was decorated with some of my favorite things -- Speed Racer, SpongeBob, Patrick, Eve, and Wall-E. It's pure awesomeness, not to mention pure deliciousness.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)