Today I came across a massive group of police officers hanging around their motorcycles at 5th and E streets. Dick Cheney visiting the Science Museum? A sting about to occur at the Building Museum? No, it’s National Police Week, and the officers were gathered from all over the country to honor fallen colleagues. There were folks from as far as California, as well as a busful of officers from Hagerstown who were there on behalf of an officer who died this year.

They’ll be having a candlelight vigil this evening at 8pm, at the National Law Officers’ Memorial on Judiciary Square. The public is invited and apparently it’s really something to behold.

My darling girlfriend and I are out at the Old Town Fine Arts and Crafts Festival selling some nice mirrors, and while the selection of things for sale are nice - our own included, of course - the weather could be better. It’s hard to believe this is the same event we just sweated our way through last year, given the way my dearheart has put my spare windbreaker on over her coat.

Undeterred by the slight chill are our feathered friends, back again this year. Apparently they’re used to us now, however, as the female yesterday darted up and grabbed the last bit of a crabcake bun right off a plate. Luckily it was a leftover being saved for her anyway, but we still scolded her. Not that it seems to have bothered her - I lifted up the rear of the booth to take a picture and found her right there, apparently waiting for us to have lunch today…

From Arlington Alert:

The Arlington County Police Department will close several streets in the Clarendon, Courthouse, and Rosslyn neighborhoods on Saturday, May 10, 2008, for the Battle of the Boulevard 10K Race and the annual Neighborhood Day Parade.

The Battle of the Boulevard Race and after-race activities will begin in Clarendon, at 9 am and finish at approximately noon.

The Neighborhood Day Parade will begin at Court House and proceed up Wilson Boulevard at 1 pm. It will end at Irving Street, at approximately 3:00 pm.

The streets that will be affected are listed below.

From 6 am to 3 pm:

*Clarendon Blvd. from Washington Blvd. to Highland Street
(Clarendon Blvd. will have a sound stage set up on it, from 7 am to 3 pm. The road will open when the stage is removed)

*Wilson Blvd. from Washington Blvd. to N. Highland Street

*N. Highland St. from Clarendon Blvd. to Wilson Blvd.

From 8 am to 11 am:

*Wilson Blvd. from Highland Street to Rt. 110 North @ I-395

(more…)

Today marks the opening of Artomatic 2008 or what should be called “More Art Than You Can Shake a Stick At 2008″. This annual show promises to be bigger and better than ever this year, taking over the empty ten story Capitol Plaza office building and housing the work of about 1,000 artists. Yes. 1,000 artists. Not exactly something you can see all of in a casual walk through. Something tells me I’m going to have to make multiple trips to the show and even then probably won’t catch everything.

So what is Artomatic you ask? Their website sums it up best by saying:

Artomatic is a month-long multimedia arts event that draws together visual artists, musicians and performers and brings their work to the community without charge.

I had toyed around with the idea of exhibiting in this year’s show but just couldn’t get my act together in time. Picking a series of photos, printing them (bleh), framing them (bleh and cha-ching!), printing business cards, painting the walls of my space, arranging lighting…way too much work for me to tackle. I am, however, excited to see the work of many of my friends at this year’s show including Marie Kwak, Eric Petersen, Kyle Gustafson, Angela Kleis, and Jason Colston.

The show opens at noon today and if you are planning on going tonight (like I am), be prepared for an insane amount of people and chaos. If you want to avoid tonight’s crowd, the show runs until June 15th so you have plenty of time to pay your respects to DC’s art community.

Artomatic
Opening Friday, May 9 - Closing June 15
1200 First St NE
Capital Plaza I - corner of First & M streets NE - NY Ave Metro
Wed-Thu: 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sat: noon-2am; Sun: noon-10pm; closed Mon-Tue
Free admission; donations welcome

Photo by Tracy Lee

Kemper Macon Ware Lodge in Falls Church will be hosting a blood drive for the Red Cross this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Yep, it’s a Masonic Lodge but you don’t have to be a Mason to come save a life by giving of your own. Come on down and make a difference. The Lodge is located at 411 Little Falls Street in Falls Church.

Not sure about this whole blood donation thing? You can learn more about the process here and get a lot of your questions answered. Saving a life is a great reason to get up and out that early on a Saturday morning. Why not join me?

One of the most fantastic things about the internet is the way it hooks us up with information and people. Want to know how to build your rain barrel? Instructables has several different articles. Trying to figure out something in Burnout: Paradise City? Watch one of the almost 3,000 videos on YouTube.

Or you can use it to connect a lot of people who want to teach others in person. That’s what the people behing Learnapalooza are doing. There’s currently over thirty sessions scheduled to happen on May 10th which will cover everything from geeky stuff like writing a Facebook application to more granola things like how and why to eat local food. If you wish you weren’t writing facebook apps you can learn some hip-hop dance or more general skills for dancing at a party. The schedule lists 31 events at the moment, all in donated locations.

I agree with their central idea - everyone has something to teach others - and think this is just a great idea. Get out and learn something!

Please join Shara Banisadr and her students to celebrate unconventional ways of painting. They request that youRSVP so they know how many people to expect. You can visit the site about this event here and see others’ works as well.

The above painting is by local artist Kristin Bruch, a very talented and interesting young artist. As I have said before, I am not schooled in such highfalutin’ things as art history or art appreciation, but I know what I like and her work is drenched in it. Come on down and see Kristin’s work and that of many other artists as well. Here are all the specifics:

Reception: Friday, May 2, 2008
Time: 6:30-8:30

Location: Kensington Framing & Gallery
10805 Connecticut Ave
Kensington, MD 2089

Are you the type of person who starts thinking about weekend plans around 4:30 on Friday or do you start planning Monday morning when you say hi to your homies and play catch-up at the water cooler? Me, I like to keep an open mind all week and see what develops, but this weekend is a bit special because I am donating blood on Saturday, which I am a bit embarrassed to say is something I have not done before, and then on Sunday I am leading a photography class, something I look forward to and have not done in a while. It’s good to get back in the groove with teaching and sharing and hope to do many future classes.

How much of your weekend is planned this early in the week? What’s going on in your neck of the woods that we should all know about?

Photo of Orange by Carl Weaver Photography

The Golden Triangle BID announced their summer lineup for their popular “Sounds in the Square” concert series. The concerts are free at the Farragut Square Park on Thursday evenings in May and June from 5:00 to 7:00pm. Rain dates will be held in September.

This year’s series will feature concerts by some of the area’s most popular bands like No Second Troy, and local favorites including Everyone but Pete and JunkFood. So if you’re looking for some great local music fused with warm summer evenings in the middle of downtown DC, this might be your thing.

The current schedule is:

May 8 No Second Troy
May 15 Justin Jones & The Driving Rain
May 22 Everyone But Pete
June 5 JunkFood
June 12 The Kelly Bell Band
June 19 Crowded Streets
June 26 Reflex

You can check for any updates at the Golden Triangle’s website and if you’re myspace-savvy, add them as a friend.

OmegaBand, courtesy of stgermh

How is this night different from all other nights? For one thing, it’s the wrong darned night. Don’t let that stop you from attending the third annual Cyber Seder at CarlWeaver.com. This is the third year we have done a live cybercast of our Passover Seder. Unfortunately, we were out of town the first two nights of this important holiday, but we feel that it is important enough to continue the tradition that we are doing it on the third night to play catch-up.

Not sure what Passover or a Seder is? Read all about it here and then come join us. As long as we are here, your wanderings have not taken you too far from home, or at least a virtual representation of it. The broadcast will start at 6:30 and the actual Seder will commence at 7 p.m.