I started going through some files on my desktop and came across this adorable photo of Joelle and I. It was taken two weeks ago on a Saturday night at Muse Lounge by one of their party photographers working for DCNites.com.
The funny story about this photo is that we had no intention of hitting up Muse that night. The original plan was for Joelle and I to get together with Francis and Samm and to see Armin van Buuren at FUR. But mother nature decided to open the skies and dump rain all across the region. We braved the colder temps and Hurricane FUR (this is what we decided to call it since it felt like a damn hurricane swept through on our walk from Metro to the club) to attempt to get into the club. But we decided against it when it was clear only my name was on the guest list and everyone else would have to pay a high price for their ticket. Not that Armin isn't worth spending a little money to see. But on this night, it just seemed like everything was working against us.
So we jumped into a cab, went downtown and enjoyed cocktails at Zola and some dancing at Muse Lounge. The weather sucked, but the night was a huge success because of the great company and awesome management over at Muse.
I'm sitting in the terminal at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and figured I'd post a little note about something I hold close to my heart. Food!
As you can see in the photo above, I love food. Specifically, I love my egg sandwich with a side of bacon. The image above was taken one morning just after I finished cooking. I couldn't help but notice the great contrast of colors on the plate and figured I should share this culinary delight with everyone.
It's not a weekend without my egg sandwich and College Gameday on ESPN.
This edition of the random photo of the day actually comes with two photos. So consider this your mid-week, hump day special treat. =)
The above photo was taken at Muse Lounge this past Saturday, September 19th. As you can see, it was myself, Rob Fairbairn, Francis Luong, Joelle Williams and Samantha Quigley. We hit up a rooftop party in Bethesda earlier in the evening featuring some of DC's best house music DJs and then made our way downtown. After a quick stop off at Stir, we decided to cap our evening at one of my favorite nightlife destinations. And sure enough, the hyper-active club photographers were out capturing our random moments of silliness. At least Francis and I aren't holding our boobs. But the angle on this photo makes it look like I'm grabbing someone else's boob.
This next image was taken earlier in the evening by Mr. Francis Luong. This one captured my cat Ernie drinking from the kitchen sink.
I have no idea why he does this, but ever since I moved into the apartment in downtown DC, Ernie has been begging for water from various sinks. He's sitting on the counter when I get out of the shower. He waits on the kitchen counter as I cook. The cat can't get enough of this water from the faucet. Oh, there is plenty of water in his water dish. But no, he wants this water and will talk to you until you give it to him.
Okay, okay, so I know I'm terribly slow in my updates as of late. I guess I've been telling everyone that I would post photos of my new apartment and never actually did it. And sure enough, I was called on it this past weekend. So last night I busted out my camera and shot a few photos of the new apartment. Without further adieu, Casa de Doug...
Folks have been asking for me to throw a house warming party, but I'm not so sure I'm going to do that just yet. I'm thinking I may host something in my clubhouse or rooftop, but I still need to learn more about the building and any rules they might have in place. So stay tuned...
President Obama just arrived at my office to take part in an AARP Telephone Town Hall to answer questions about his health care plan. Regardless of what you think of the plan, it's pretty darn exciting to see our President drop by the AARP national headquarters.
When I walked to lunch, I had determined where he would pull into the building. So I camped out next to the window and snapped these photos. Equally impressive to having the Prez visit your office is the Secret Service detail that's camping out front. As I said on Facebook... I love DC!
Obama to Sarkozy: "Kinda hard to blame Berlusconi when they look like that." Sarkozy back to Obama: "Uh huh...see what I'm saying!"
U.S. President Barack Obama (C) and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) take their places with junior G8 delegates for a family photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 9, 2009. Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial nations and the main developing economies are meeting in the central Italian city of L'Aquila until Friday to discuss issues ranging from global economic stimulus to climate change and oil prices.
But clearly Obama and Sarkozy are thinking of a different type of stimulus in this photo...
This morning while walking into the office, I was reminded once again why I love DC. I had just turned the corner at 7th and F Streets NW, walking past the Verizon Center. It was closer to 10 a.m., so the streets were more quiet than usual as most of the foot-traffic had found their way to their respective offices for the day. That's when I noticed the slight hum of the city. It's a sound so exclusive to city life that sometimes we forget it's there. It's every large building for blocks running a/c or heating units on their rooftops, creating a buzz that never seems to go away. And it's a sound I can remember hearing whenever I would visit a city considerably larger than my hometown.
I was very lucky to grow up in Dover, Delaware. Dover is probably the perfect setting for a child to be raised. We had safe streets, good schools, a good mall and we were really close to the beach. But Dover has a population right around 30,000. It's not a large town at all. When sitting outside, it's very easy to relax and enjoy a peace and quiet not found in most major cities. I notice this every time I go home to visit. Last time home I literally fell asleep on my parents patio because the only sounds to be heard was the wind and the birds (okay, maybe an occasional car with an obnoxious sound system). But you get the point...it's quiet.
Living in DC we're surrounded by sounds all the time. We hear emergency vehicles, motorcades, car horns, and people just out and about walking. There is an energy of living in the city that makes walking out my front door in the morning so exciting and enjoyable. So when all of those ancillary sounds disappear, you're left with that hum of our buildings. I used to hear this when I'd visit Allentown, PA for drum corp performances. We'd walk out the front door of our hotel located in downtown Allentown and there it was...the hum of a city. I'd hear it while enjoying dinner on the rooftop of my office in downtown Tampa after most of the city had gone home. I'd hear it walking from the Tribune Building to my gym most evenings in downtown Oakland. Next time you're in a city, try to find some time to walk around when the rest of the population is either sleeping or hard at work. See if you can't notice this sound of the city.
Boy was it a boring Sunday yesterday! I mean, gosh... all I did was go trapezing and eat burgers at the No. 1 burger joint in the DC region. I'm kidding of course. It was hardly a boring day at all. In fact, to quote May Kanti, it was probably one of the best weekends ever.
My Sunday start was fairly typical with cats, a cup of coffee and lounging. But I got moving quickly and met up with Sup, May and Michele Maxson for a day of trapeze. Yes, we signed up for a class with Trapeze School New York, a high-wire act school that has outposts in DC, LA and Boston. The first class taught us the knee hang, flip dismount and a standard catch. The photo above is Sup being successfully caught near the end of the class.
I can't tell you how much fun this was. I was definitely nervous the first time up because you're suddenly throwing your body into a situation it's not really used to. Swinging from a trapeze looks fairly easy, but it's a little different when you find yourself 50 ft. above the ground ready to go. But it was probably one of the most addictive activities I've done since getting into dancing. And because of that, Sup and I have already signed up for two more classes.
There is video on Facebook and hopefully I'll have something to post real soon.
And like all great activities, trapezing makes you hungry. So Sup, May, myself and my roommate Jon all jumped into the car and set off for Ray's Hell Burger. I had heard these burgers were no joke and the place was winning all sorts of awards. Our own president even made his way there one afternoon, so it was only natural for me to want to try it. Below is what I ordered... a standard hamburger with Vermont white cheddar cheese and a side of mac & cheese.
Below is what was left...
A very happy and full Sup...
Apparently a delicious Ray's Hell Burger makes you act silly and make faces, courtesy of May and Sup...
So yeah, a typical Sunday turned into a high-flying trapeze act, burger consuming afternoon. Or as I like to call it "one of the best weekends ever!"
I came across the funniest darn video tonight on DCist and just wanted to share it. In fairness to our friends across the bridge in Virginia, Arlington really isn't that bad. I've been spending quite a bit of time over there with Sup in neighborhoods such as Court House, Clarendon and Ballston. Aside from the hills you have to walk up and down, it's actually a pretty neat part of our metro area. Enjoy...
I found myself reflecting the other day on a ton of things that have changed in my life over the past two-plus years I've lived here in DC. I moved across country, got separated, lived with rednecks, started dancing, moved into the city, got divorced, traveled a ton, moved again, and made more friends than I could have ever asked for. In a nutshell, the past two-plus years has been some of the best and worst in my life.
When I moved to DC, there was so much uncertainty in my life. My marriage was on the rocks and I didn't really know where it would go. I had just started dancing but still sucked and really didn't care to social dance while feeling like a swing dance reject. Even my job was on contract and wasn't going to last more than three months. The only thing consistent in my life was my photography and my friends...of which two of my closest (Dan and Matt) lived right here. I rented a room in a small townhouse in Annandale because it was close to my contract work and because I still had an apartment in Oakland. My first roommates were awesome and a joy to live with, but they moved out 3 months later and I was left with an empty townhouse and two other redneck roommates who had their friends get drunk and pass out on the empty living room floor. Life kinda sucked at that point and I missed the days of tearing up the town in Tampa with my crew at some of the hottest clubs in one of my favorite cities. That was when I had to make some hard choices and make a change...
Fast forward one year from that. I had moved into a one-bedroom apartment off Connecticut Ave. I had all brand-new furniture, a new LCD TV, new Macbook Pro, and a new car. I had fully immersed myself into Lindy Hop, started traveling to dance events in other cities and had even thrown myself into a competition. I was back with my soon-to-be-ex-wife, had really gotten into exploring and living in DC and even found some friends who enjoyed house and trance music as much as I did. Life was good.
Fast forward to today... The marriage didn't last. And I'm not sad about that. We both grew apart and had different priorities in life. We remained friends after the divorce and even still dance together on occasion. I certainly don't wish a divorce on anyone, but it was probably the best thing to happen to me since that move across country. I now live in a new apartment in downtown. I teach dance, travel extensively and compete on a regular basis. I shoot photos for some of the best clubs in the world and have a resume that includes photo shoots of 5 of the top 10 DJs in the world. I've shot photos in LA, Boston, Chicago, New York, Austin, SF and many other cities. I work for the AARP, the largest lobbying organization and one of the most powerful in Washington, DC. And later this summer I'm moving into a brand-new apartment right next to the ballpark. Dan and Matt still live in the city and even more of my friends are moving to town this summer.
It's crazy to think that in that short period of time I've changed so much. But it happens. When people come to a crossroad in their life, they can keep going down that one road or they can make a sharp turn. I made that sharp turn several months after I arrived in DC and I couldn't be happier with the journey.
The photo above of Lily and I was taken recently in NYC in the meatpacking district. We were trying different things to create an image to promote our teaching and weekly dance, Tempo at Muse Lounge.
So I thought about posting this photo in the "Random Photo of the Day" section but there was just too much of a story to go with it.
I just returned from Lindy Fest in Houston and was greeted by this photo waiting for me in my inbox from my buddy Stephen Grimes. The photo comes from Lindy Focus, which a large group of us attended in Asheville, NC over the New Year's weekend. I honestly can't recall which night the photo was taken, but the band performing was our favorite Boilermaker Jazz Band.
What makes this photo so absolutely hilarious was the fact that we noticed this cat walking around with the Boilermaker t-shirt. As James 'Droz' Andrews (Jeremy Piven) says in the movie PCU, "Gutter, don't be that guy. Don't be the guy who wears the shirt of the band you're going to see!"
Seeing this as a photo opportunity, Stephen and I put on our best rock-on pose with the guy wearing the shirt of the band he's going to see.
...I just love the stain in the middle of his shirt. Priceless!
So the above photo seems fairly mundane. Nothing more than a bunch of suits hanging out in a random DC pub. But look closely. Notice the teeth. Notice me mugging it up in the background of the shot. As much as I'd love to say, this isn't by accident.
The photo was taken this past Thursday night at the Media Bistro Happy Hour at Porter's in Dupont Circle. Dan and I decided to head over there and mingle and network with our fellow media-types. I noticed the photographer wandering around earlier in the evening. I then noticed his lens was pointed right in our direction, obviously shooting a few people closer to him in conversation. I said to Dan, I'm gonna mug for this shot!
Sure enough, there I am... big old smile crashing a photo that I shouldn't be in. Fun stuff!
It's never a good sign when your company starts offering training on "Creating A Winning Resume."
Seriously? C'mon guys. Are you serious??? You're in the middle of a budget crunch. Every full-time employee has been asked to take 5 furlough days. There are "voluntary buyouts." And we know you're doing "involuntary buyouts." (code word for lay offs) Stress is high enough as is. And now something like this shows up on our internal communications newsletter and site. We get the picture folks, you want us to leave. =)
In fairness to the company, they are taking every possible step to lessen the financial burden on the organization. And if they can accomplish this, more people will keep their jobs than lose them. But the timing was just a bit suspicious...don't ya think?
I got word of some breaking news today when Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for health and human services secretary. So you can understand my surprise when I saw the above headline on FOXNews.com.
First we have the Arizona porn clip in the middle of the Super Bowl and now this. Someone is up to no good, but it sure made me laugh.
This posting is going away from my typical musings about nightlife, dancing and photography. But I came across an interesting story today about a Dallas girls basketball coach being fired after his team defeated another Dallas school 100-0.
The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Dallas, fired coach Micah Grimes after he sent an email disagreeing with school administrators that the win was an embarrassment. The school has a response to the game on their web site here.
So it got me wondering, what exactly is the problem here? According to the reports, there are no mercy rules in place within this particular athletic conference. Not to mention, how can one participate in sports to achieve a certain amount of success and then be told its embarrassing when that success is attained? I'd like to know what others think. We all joke about the college football games when teams like Paducah Bible College try to play Ohio State and lose 90-0. But those teams are usually paid a handsome amount of money to provide the typical powerhouses with glorified walk-throughs. But what about high school kids? My state has mercy rules in affect after scores get out of control. But isn't there some sort of conflicted message you're sending these kids when you tell them to win, win, win, then fire a coach when they do. We see guys like Tommy Tuberville fired at Auburn after going 34-16 in his previous 4 seasons. We see a turnover in coaching jobs that looks more like a shift change at your local McDonald's.
So what's the right thing to do here? Fire the coach because his girls played a masterful game? Or step up efforts to institute a mercy rule in the league to prevent something like this in the future. No one wants to lose 100-0. A bagel in any game sucks. But what's a coach to do if he can't keep his job even when he wins???
Most of you know I have two cats. They're pretty cool animals to have around. Though sometimes they start shedding and next thing you know you have puffs of fur floating around the apartment. And so when that happens, it becomes time to furminate! What you see below is the result...
For those wondering, furminating is using a small, very fine brush to comb the extra shedding fur off your cat. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they get annoyed. Today Ernie was completely content with the free massage. But Daisy knew something was up and went into hiding part of the day. After I was done she walked around the house ticked off giving me the evil eye. Then they slept...
I got to joking with my boss Tina a few weeks ago about political ideology and randomly called her a communist. Tina replied proudly that she really likes communism and thinks it's a pretty good thing. We then went into debate about how oppressive the ideology is and how, while everyone outside of the government is equal, they are all equally poor.
Truthfully, there is really no solid argument in favor of communism. Even if you were able to eliminate class warfare among the average citizen, you'll always have a governing class. And when you give any governing class that much power, well people tend to die.
I try to avoid political talk on this blog. But one thing I won't back down from is a new call to arms by the radical left. I call them "Neocoms" because they are communist who have rebranded since the days of the radical 60's. They certainly aren't what I believe to be liberal, nor do I consider them true democrats. They are a brand of individual who seems unwilling to look at history and lack a basic understanding of human nature and psychology.
At any rate, the above graphic was something I created for my boss after we decided to name our office after a typical communist regime. We called it the People's Republic of Tina Johnson-Marcel since she is our fearless leader. She got a kick out of it and I was quite happy with the little graphic I created.
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.
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.
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.
Welcome to urban marinade...a blog that lets you stew in the cultural crock pot of Washington, DC. I'm here to rant and rave about anything and everything in my little urban world. Generally speaking, that includes nightlife, photography, dancing and DC urban development. So there!
I started going through some files on my desktop and came across this adorable photo of Joelle and I. It was taken two weeks ago on a Saturday night at Muse Lounge by one of their party photographers working for DCNites.com.
