Summer Music Thursday Time

DC doesn't have many awesome traditions for its residents. The baseball team, you'll remember, has to make up its own as it goes along. But there is this awesome one where they put on free concerts at Fort Reno all summer long. This is Fort Reno:


This is how people relax there:


Fort Reno is right next to Wilson High School, which would be awesome if you went to summer school there, because you get to go to concerts afterward.


Fort Reno concerts, because they're for the kids, don't have the drugs or the alcohols. They do have babies.


It draws really good bands. This week two of our favorites (Benjy Ferree and the Aquarium) played. I originally wrote "NERD ROCK" on this picture of the Aquarium, not because they're part of a genre of music called Nerd Rock or anything, but just because when I listen to it I think of nerds and it seems that nerds like it alot. But Ana feels that categorizing music is dumb, and that it should just either be Awesome or Not Awesome. Since the Aquarium is her favorite band, I decided to acquiesce. Also she's holding a gun to my throat.



After the show was over, we went to DC9 for this DJ night by this guy. When we got there, Da Committee was on stage singing songs like "Last Call for Alcohol" and "DC Clap," the latter of which details how people in DC clap. The awesome part about the show was that people danced, which in DC is tantamount to a coup.


He asked for a Patron margarita before singing "Last Call for Alcohol." Gotta stay true to the lyrics.


Anyways, it was fun.


Don't forget to contribute to the poll.

Photo Essay #14: DC Going Away Party #1,283,643

Leaving DC is one of the great pastimes of the city. Let's move to New York! Let's move to LA! Let's move to San Francisco! Let's move to Petaluma!

Our friends


are moving to Oakland, which is like San Francisco but with more popular sports teams. So we had a going-away barbecue for them yesterday in Petworth, where only people with beautiful children are allowed. Seriously, look:

During the afternoon, we did things that people do at barbecues, like playing horseshoes,


arguing that our horseshoe abilities are far superior to others,


eating frozen plums,


and taking naps on the front steps in our own label's t-shirt.

That's Petworth, y'all!

But seriously. Piero decided that in lieu of gifts, he would sell some of his art (which he is good at) to raise money for the cross-country trip. Perhaps the best one, however, was a sheet of drawings by Clarissa's nephew. They are either ruminations on modern life, character studies for new superheroes, or some mixture of the two. Whatever the idea was, it produced something amazing:


This one is "Xler8", which is how kids spell "accelerate" now. Really, you can use the "8" for anything with the "-ate" sound, like "sk8" or "ber8". Xler8 looks to be a cross of donkey and cleric.


Next up is "Four Arms," which isn't a creative name at all.



Luckily, he recovers with "Ripjaw", which is a turtle in medieval battle garb. Its jaw isn't ripped; rather, it rips other things' jaws.


Then is "Stink Fly," which is gross.


Ahhh! "Ghost Freak"!


"Heat Blood" sounds like a 70's movie, but it's not. It's blood that is the product of heat.



Bored with violent and gross imagery, he moves on to "Diamondhead," which is a rabbit with ears made from big diamonds. He subdues his enemies with them in some way or another.


"Grey Matter" is probably the coolest one of all: a brain that anthropomorphizes and kicks ass.


And finally, in a tip of the hat to Beyonce and perhaps the pop music world in general, comes "Upgrade." On second thought, it might be a tip of the hat to the nerd world. The head looks like it could be a PDA or 3G phone. If that is the case, I would've recommended the name "Motherboard" instead.