The incredible waving squirrel
I've been meaning to post something on this for a few days now. Last week I grabbed some dinner and walked over to the National Mall to relax and watch the sunset at the Lincoln Memorial. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful night to be outside and walking around this great city. Not too hot...but just right.
So here I am, sitting outside eating dinner when a little squirrel came wandering over. I figured he was used to tourist feeding him, so I tried to ignore his attempts to get my attention. Soon I realized that wasn't going to work when he came within 1 ft. of my food. At that point I knew I had to feed him a sun chip so he'd go away.
Five minutes later our little friend was back. So I waved at him. You'll never believe what he did next. The darn squirrel waved back. My friends didn't believe me until they turned to look and sure enough, he was waving again. Okay, okay...so maybe he was just imitating me. But if it wasn't the coolest thing to see.
The above photo was the best I could do. I tried to get one of him waving but he was more concerned with food and I had to keep my eyes out in case he tried to climb into my lap.
Overall it was a perfect evening to enjoy a picnic, the memorials and our little friend we now call "Chippy the Squirrel." The picture below was taken a few hours later after the sunset behind the Lincoln Memorial. I never get tired of all the great things to see and do in our nations capital.
Labels: Memorials, Random, Urban, Washington
Huh?
So as I'm leaving my apartment for work this morning, I go the elevator like I normally do. When the elevator I'm standing in doesn't move after I pushed the button, I start to worry. I push the button a few more times, hold it down for a good 5 seconds and then exit the obviously broken elevator. Since the broken elevator is going no where, the open door signal begins to beep loudly throughout the halls of my building.
So I take another elevator and go downstairs. Thinking I should let someone know, I tell our concierge the elevator is broken, won't close, and is beeping loudly on the 9th floor. He responds...
"Well the beeping is because the door is open. You should let the door close and push which floor you want to go to."Huh? Is he serious?
Sadly, he was... I just left the building shaking my head.
Labels: Idiocy, Random
Swing Dance Rant
So most of you who read this blog know that my biggest passion in life is dancing. And most of you know that if you every need to reach me, it's a safe bet you'll find me on one of the various dance floors throughout the DC region. So it should be no surprise that I was at
Glen Echo this past Saturday night. But what is a surprise is how horrible the dance was.
Now, I've been meaning to opine on this subject for awhile, but keep getting distracted by...you know, dancing. But this weekend was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's humps.
I had talked with a few folks about going, so I took my friend Bethany and we set out for a night of dancing. When we walked up to the Spanish Ballroom, I started to get a sense it was going to be rough by the wailing sounds of rock music coming from the venue. I also started to have second thoughts when I saw it was the
Washington Swing Dance Committee hosting the event. But we paid our money and went in anyway. I guess it was an hour later we were leaving what was probably the worst dance I've seen in DC.
Here's my problem. DC has a great swing dance scene.
Monday at CCB is always fun and
Tuesday at the Jam Cellar is regarded as one of the best dance nights around the world. The Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo is probably the nicest ballrooms in existence and we have more than our fair share of great bands in and around the DC metro area. And in terms of numbers, DC is home to more of the best dancers than any other city in the world. So in my opinion, there is no reason we should run into a bad dance. But week after week, month after month, the Washington Swing Dance Committee (we'll just say WSDC from now on) hosts these horrible dances.
This past Saturday they hosted the rock and blues band The Nighthawks. Now if I'm watching a NASCAR race or at a bar enjoying a Bud, I'd have no problem with this band. And from a music stand-point, they aren't bad. But they certainly were not a swing band. They certainly did not play swing music. And they certainly should not have been performing at a swing dance inside the venerable Spanish Ballroom.
Surely the WSDC has heard of jazz. Surely they know what real swing music sounds like. I have to believe they realize we have orchestras like Tom Cunningham's and Eric Felton's right here in our backyards. And surely the know bands like the Boilermaker Jazz Band and Harlem Renaissance Orchestra aren't far. So why, please tell me why, they keep bringing in these roadhouse rock bands for swing dances?
Their web site says they're "dedicated to preserving and promoting all forms of swing dance, instruction and music." But their approach to their dances is only driving people away. Sure, Billy Joe Jim Bob may like the Nighthawks. Sure, Billy Joe Jim Bob might find an occasional young girl to look at with creepy eyes while he's dancing. But the average swing dancer...those who really do care about the history and roots of the dance...are not showing up. And those that do are never coming back.
We're at a cross-roads here where the Lindy and other forms of swing are growing in interest around the world. DC will host the first ever
International Lindy Hop Championships this summer and almost every major city hosts Lindy and Balboa exchanges for hordes of young and older dancers. The last thing we need is a swing committee that either hires their friends and the wrong bands or is out of touch with real Lindy world. For every young dancer that arrived at Glen Echo this past Saturday, I'm sorry. That is not swing. That is not what
Frankie Manning and Al Minns had in mind when they did their thing in the ballrooms of Harlem 70 years ago. Visit CCB on a Monday night or The Jam Cellar on a Tuesday and you'll see the true version of this dance and people who really do care about preserving and promoting what we love.
Labels: Lindy Hop, Random, Swing Dance
