A Line of Depression

Near the MLK statue is the FDR memorial. Part of it includes some long forgotten history. We fight a lot over the politics of this era, but we have to remember that things are not that bad. A little perspective within our conflicts should be considered.

Stephen Davern and Southside Jake

As I posted on Facebook, I was blown away by Stephen Davern and his band, Dark Passengers who I saw play at the Irish American Heritage Center for an event that Stephen created, Cash for Kids, Chicago's Only Johnny Cash Festival, to support Pediatric Cancer. What an amazing event. I have seen Stephen play many times before, but never with his full band. In this picture, Southside Jake appeared with Stephen's band to sing a new song that they created while hanging at Davern's Tavern. As Stephen said, my brother has a talent for putting people together.

I have to relate another story about last night. The Irish American Heritage Center is inside an old high school and the event reminded me so much of being back in school. The hallways were crowded. There was beer all over the place. Outside, the cool kids were smoking and there was the smell of weed here and there among the crowd. Wow. Those sights and smells really brought me back to the 1970's. LOL.

Springtime in Washington DC -- 2019

No, its not spring yet, but one can hope. This is from a shot at the Tidal Basin that I took after work in 2019. Got down to that area before sunset for a nice run along the basin. Fun area, especially if you go in late March when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

Beatles Mini Model Mayhem

Feeling blue? I was never much of a fan of the Yellow Submarine movie. I liked the album and one of the songs on it, Hey Bulldog, has become a sleeper favorite of mine.  The Beatles channel is always playing it (well, they always play everything Beatles). The original title of the song, written by John, was Hey Bullfrog, but Paul got into it and started barking like a dog, so they renamed it Hey BullDog. As to the Yellow Submarine movie, the Beatles had almost nothing to do with it. They allowed it to happen to fulfill the third picture in a three picture deal when they couldn't think of anything else to do (and the Magical Mystery Tour movie wasn't the hit they expected, although the album was great). The voices in the cartoon are not even the Beatles' voices. Anyway, feeling pretty blue with the snowy and rainy weather and this made a great choice for today's Shot of the Day for that reason. From a Beatles pop-up shop in So-Ho this past Christmas.

MLK Monument -- My Favorite Place in Washington DC

I have been to the Tidal Basin around 5 or 6 times now and the Martin Luther King Jr.'s monument, to me, is by far the most powerful monument that I have ever seen. Maybe the Michelangelo in Florence tops it, but they are close. You can't miss the impression of power that the sculptor took from the 1964 "I Have A Dream" speech, where Dr. King said "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope". A fitting tribute to a powerful American.

Model Mahem 2

Wow. Mannequins as an art form. Who knew? I don't think I have enough shots of mannequin models to make a display of these shots, but I will look for more in my catalog. From the Chelsea area in New York.

How much are these models in the window?

Ok, I don't really care how much these models in the window are, I just needed a cute title for this picture. So, hopefully, I got one. They are starting to look real which is really freaky. If one of them moves, I am out of here.....