WeirdCurves
Von Iva
I'm diggin' "Not Hot to Trot" from
Von Iva. You can take a listen and/or download the mp3
here.
'Toon Blog
You have to admit that
Cartoon Brew is a pretty cool blog. Link stolen from the fine folks over at
Enormous Fun.
On a related note, consider checking out
SPX 2004 in Bethesda during the first weekend in October. SPX is an exhibition of more than 300 independent comic book artists and publishers. I'm not all that knowledgeable about comic books, but I went last year and really enjoyed myself. I learned a few things about the industry and talked with some interesting people. And I got a bunch of free comic books and stickers!
Fried food, swine, spinning and music
I learned on Saturday that my stomach and head are not as strong as they were when I was 11 years old. As I entered the Timonium Fair Grounds on Saturday to experience the 123rd Maryland State Fair, I had plans to ride lots of rides and eats lots of fried food on sticks. After the Gravitron and that ride with the swings that spin around and around, I was done with the rides. Feeling dizzy and nauseated just wasn't appealing anymore. The only fried food that called to me was the six-pack of deep-fried Oreos, which I shared with my fair buddies. They were everything I hoped they would be. In addition to the food and rides, I saw lots of livestock. Check
Seeking Irony for pictures
later today tomorrow.
There was talk of heading to the Rock Paper Scissor Championship at DC9 after the fair, but we decided to head home and wash the smell of livestock and grease off of ourselves instead. Check DCist for a
report of the championship.
A pretty decent local band, The Cause, is playing at DC9 this week. Check out their demo
here.
The Killers and Ambulance Ltd.
Tickets are now on sale for the October 3 show at
9:30 Club. Better buy them fast. I will be really surprised if this show doesn't sell out.
What?
Honey soy chicken-flavored potato chips? Really?
Link via
The Decade Project. BTW, check out the other photos in The Decade Project while you're there. Pretty interesting.
Junction Trunk Show
You know I love any event that combines drinking and shopping. Check this one out tonight.
From Junction annoucement:
"Come join Junction on Wednesday, August 25 for our Fall Trunk Show! Help us say goodbye to partner Kathleen Shafer as she leaves Junction for New York. There will be wine, food, a DJ spinning and sales on our Summer clothing and accessories. You'll also get a preview of our new Fall merchandise at special prices for one night
only."
Junction
1510 U Street
When: Wednesday, August 25, 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Phone: 202-483-0260
Blog, blog, blog
Gosh dern day job has gotten in the way of blogging again. I hate when I have to actually do, you know, work at my job. The blogger happy hour at Pharmacy last week was a success. Thanks to everyone who showed up. I enjoyed meeting the new people and catching up with the old people. Big news for local blogger,
NM. She's been linked from
Soviet Panda! Congrats! In related news, WeirdCurves, Seeking Irony and
DCSOB are linked from
DCist! I feel like one of the cool kids.
Don't forget that
Girl Friday is this week at Black Cat.
Confirming happy hour
Tuesday, August 17 @ 7:00 p.m.
Pharmacy Bar (2337 18th St. NW)
August 27 - September 6
Mark your calendars for the
2004 Maryland State Fair. There's gonna be pig racing!
No more "Booknotes"
Brian Lamb has decided that
he's done with "Booknotes." Why? He's tired of reading so much every week. He tells the
Washington Post, "it seemed, in many ways, like I was always studying for a semester exam every week. Even kids in school get the summers off." I find his attitude refreshing. He provides a good reminder that when something you enjoy doing becomes a stressor in your life, it's okay to take a break and do something else.
Blogger Happy Hour on Tuesday, August 17?
A couple of bloggers suggested a happy hour or get-together of some sort in
NM's comments a few posts back. NM suggested that
Avram take over organizing duties. That hasn't happened. As I tend to like to control things like this (not one of my better qualities, but I just can't help myself), I am taking over duties as the organizer. First of all, any interest in a blogger happy hour? If you're interested, use the comments box to let us know if the 17th works for you and if you have a suggestion for a meeting place and time. My suggestion is Pharmacy Bar at 7:00 p.m.
Jury Duty
I am called to the Moultrie Courthouse once every two or three years to do my duty as a U.S. citizen. Yesterday was one of those days. It's one of the very few duties my government asks of me and I don't mind doing it, but I wish that there was a little more pomp and circumstance surrounding jury duty. I mean, at least I get a sticker when I vote. I have only been called to jury duty in D.C., so I have other experience to which I can compare mine. However, I'm guessing that the D.C. way of handling jury duty is not the most efficient method. While it may not be terribly efficient, I enjoy myself. People watching is great. I enjoy watching how people segregate themselves and how they make new friends. Making new friends usually starts when one person says something like, "gosh! I can't believe they dragged me here at 8:00 a.m. for this" to no one in particular. At least one person will certainly respond, and Bob's your uncle--you've made a jury duty buddy. For those who choose not to make friends, the court provides entertainment. They showed the same documentary on jazz in the lounge that they showed when I was there three years ago. It's still a good documentary. I think it's a good thing that the D.C. court system feels that citizens need to learn more about jazz. I had not been put on a case or even called to be on a panel by noon--that's when the guy in charge let us go for the day. So I showed up downtown at 8:00 a.m., read my book and watched TV for four hours. I don't feel that I adequately performed my civic duty, but I guess that's the best I can do living in the district.
Boycott Franconia Roller Rink
I should have stuck to my "no Virginia" rule when I began making plans for my birthday party. Well, I guess I shouldn't blame the entire state of Virginia--I'll stick to blaming Franconia Roller Rink (from here on out referred to as "the evil roller rink") for ruining my birthday party. My birthday was coming up and I decided that I wanted to do a little something different from the usual meeting friends for a nice dinner to celebrate the occasion. I decided that I would have a very special roller skating birthday party. My friends were on board with this idea and we began planning the festivities.
One friend and I took a trip to the evil roller rink a couple of weeks ago to check it out and talk to the management staff about my intentions of bringing a group of about 10 people to the rink one evening for my party. The rink was very simple, but NM and I decided that it would do. To add to the fun, I planned for a limosine to pick the group up in Dupont Circle and drive us to the evil skating rink so that we wouldn't have to venture into Virginia on our own. I called the rink two weeks ago to make sure that there were no private parties planned for the evening of my event and that the rink would be open. "No, we have no parties scheduled. We'll be open until 10 that night" the nice woman on the other end of the phone said. I called again the day of the party and spoke with the manager. "No, we have no parties tonight. We're open until 10" the man said on the other end of the line. The limo pulls up to the evil skating rink at 8:15 p.m. on the evening of my party. My group gets out and walks in the door and to the front counter. I ask the woman behind the glass partition if it's two-for-one night. She says, "it is, but I've already sent the kids home because I've been sitting here for two hours and nobody has shown up." I stare at her blankly for a couple of seconds trying to comprehend what she's saying. My friends start asking her questions, but she becomes more and more belligerent. I jump in and we keep our cool as we ask her basic logical questions like, "I don't understand--you're hours say you're open until 10. Why did you close at 8:15?" and "But I called this afternoon telling you that I was bringing a group to celebrate my birthday." Basic reasoning and logical thinking skills were clearly beyond this woman's capabilities. She continued with her rude tone and told us there was nothing she could do and that we should have showed up earlier. My friends persisted and I started crying because my very special roller skating birthday party was ruined. The nearest skating rink was 25 miles away. There was no way that we could have made it there and skated for a decent period of time before they closed. I felt bad that I had let my friends down. I continued to cry because I had planned this fun night and felt responsible for the evil skating rink ruining their night. Because I have great friends, they were nice to me and consoled me. They helped me fix my make-up and told me that we would still have a fun night. We did end up having a very fun night and I'm grateful to have them as friends. However, I still feel that what the evil skating rink did was wrong and completely stupid on their part. Here's a little something else that I found that further supports my cause to boycott them. This is taken from a May 17, 2000
Report of the Fairfax County Human Rights Commision on Sexual Orientation Discrimination:
Two lesbian couples are thrown out of a Franconia skating rink after they
skate together during a couples-only skating session which, according to the
skating rink owner, means only male/female couples. The following week, a
gay male couple is arrested by Fairfax County Police for refusing to leave the
skating rink after being ejected for skating together during the couples-only
skating session. The two men are then prosecuted for trespassing by the
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney’s office at taxpayer expense.
I encourage all readers to join my boycott by linking to this post on your blogs and/or Web sites and by telling your friends to stay away from this establishment.
Shop Pop and Dance
Yes, it's only Thursday afternoon, but I'm ready to end this work week right now. A few friends and I will celebrate my b-day in style tonight. We'll start with a drink and food in Dupont, get picked up by a shiny limo and end up at a skating rink in Alexandria where we will lace up our rented roller skates and do our best to stay vertical. Please join us in praying for no major injuries.
Assuming I have no broken bones, I'll be shopping this weekend and suggest you do the same. Head over to
Pop this Saturday between 5 and 9pm for their one year anniversary sale. There will be DJs, drinks and discounts. You can't go wrong with that winning combination. If that wasn't enough, August 7 will be the first day of D.C.'s tax-free shopping week.
After you've made your purchases, stumble down to the Black Cat and choose between Right Round Up (80s alt pop) and Wag (60s and 70s garage and soul) for music to which you can shake your tail feathers.
