My Emerge / 10th Street Art Walk Video Project

In connection with my ongoing series Public Art in Public Spaces, since its first Metamorphosis installment, in the spring of 2006, I have documented the 10th Street Art Walk.

Metamorphosis was replaced with Drift in the spring of 2007. Followed by the final and third installment, Emerge, which opened in the spring of 2008.

Click the image to view my EMERGE - 10th Street Art Walk - 7 May 2008 video tribute to the 12 contributing artists.

The video compilation features two 2004 studio mixes by DJ Bryan Hughes as background music. The first is Sunday Morning which is followed by Dreaming.

STUDIOCOLE SPRING 2008 Newsletter

In a Spring 2008 Newsletter dated Sunday, 4 May 2008, Robert and Susan Cole report that Robert was been very busy, this past winter, creating many new works in his studio. While some pieces follow established branches others are fresh blossoms on the tree of art.

And, along with more than 20 other artists, the Robert Cole Studios will participate in next weekend's 17 - 18 May 2008 Mid City Artists Open Studio.

The Spring 2008 Newsletter also reports that Robert's "Leaf" is one of twelve sculptures included in the first ever Foggy Bottom Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit. Curated by Shirley Koller, each sculpture will be on display in front of a historic home in the historic Foggy Bottom neighborhood from 3 May thru 25 October 2008.

Perhaps, its time for me to visit the Foggy Bottom area and, in connection with my ongoing Public Art In Public Spaces series, tour the Foggy Bottom Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit.

Click the above image to view the entire Studio Cole Spring 2008 E-Newsletter.

Friday's Photo of the Week - 9 May 2008

IKEA Ad Campaign / Billboard Display

WMATA - Union Station . NE . WDC

Saturday, 3 May 2008

2008 Fridays' Photos of the Week

Artomatic CD release party to be held tonight at Ibiza

Get an earful of some of the musical performers that will rock Artomatic this summer at a free CD release party tonight, Thursday, 8 May 2008.

From 6 until 9pm, Ibiza Night Club will play host to some of the bands that are on this year’s Artomatic CD compilation. Live music will be provided by BanjerDan, Lou Black, 302acid, The Splints, James Terrell and Free Lobster Buffet. Ibiza is located at 1222 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., adjacent to the site of Artomatic 2008 and close to the New York Avenue Metro station.

Click above Artomatic News image for details.

Today's Sounds in the Square Concert Postponed

Due to inclement weather, the Sounds in the Square concert in Farragut Park scheduled for tonight, Thursday, May 8th, featuring No Second Troy has been postponed. The rain date for the concert is September 4th. The regular schedule will continue next Thursday, 15 May, with a performance by Justin Jones & the Driving Rain. For all of the details on Sounds in the Square -- the free, outdoor concert series taking place in Farragut Square Park on Thursday nights in May and June, visit www.goldentriangledc.com.

SmartBike DC to Debut in Mid-May

Though SmartBike DC had hoped to launch in March 2008, due to some minor setbacks the first ever bike sharing program to hit the states will now debut in mid-May.

To learn more about the SmartBike DC program visit the website or The Bike-sharing Blog.

Click image to view my ongoing SmartBike DC photoset.

"On the Fly" Eco-Vending: A New Breed of Street Vendors

Though launched last November which, after some reflecting I now recall hearing news of at the time, the first time that I'd ever come across an On The Fly Smartkart was yesterday afternoon when enroute to the 10th Street Art Walk that I headed north on 7th Street, from D Street, and turned left onto F Street in the Penn Quarter area of NW WDC.

Founded by three crazy kats that saw a void that needed to be filled ... who then teamed up with three other doods ... the odd little green vehicle with wings debuted in Chinatown near 8th and H, NW selling empanadas and other Mexican fare.

A second Smartkart would fly in, at the 7th and F Street location in January 2008. Here's a list of other locations which includes the National Arboretum and National Ballpark and the soon to open Artomatic 2008.

Here is a list of their vending partners. If you have a product that you would like to see On The Fly® carry or, perhaps, always wanted to quit your day job and start a hummus company but need some help ... drop the crazy kats / doods a line.

And here is other pertinent contact info.

Sounds in the Square Summer Concert Series Kicks Off on Thursday, 8 May

Thursday marks the first of seven concerts this summer as part of the Golden Triangle’s tenth annual Sounds in the Square free summer concert series. No Second Troy, a band Spin magazine says “burns bright as the sun” and who received a nod from Washington City Paper as one of DC’s best local bands, will start the series off from 5 until 7 pm in Farragut Square Park. Check out their MySpace page and then come by the park ... for the best live and free music the city has to offer!

National Train Day - Saturday, 10 May 2008

The first-ever National Train Day will choo choo is way, in town and across the nation, on this Saturday, 10 May 2008. And there’s never been a better time to celebrate. With passenger ridership growing every year, more and more people recognize that trains are the best way to relax and enjoy the ride. To read, talk, work or snooze the time away. Which makes traveling by train the nicer way to get there. So get ready to join the festivities, which include live musical performances, exhibits, trip planning, VIP appearances and trip giveaways.

National Train Day events will take place on Saturday, 10 May at four of Amtrak’s largest stations: WDC - Union Station, NYC - Penn Station, Chicago - Union Station and La - Union Station. And here is a list of other events, throughout the nation, that will celebrate National Train Day as well.

And here are some National Train Day promotions that may be of interest to you.

2001 National Police Week Photos Never Before Seen / May 2008

click image

NLEOMF launches new National Police Week blog

On Tuesday, 6 May 2008, the NLEOMF launched the National Police Week blog. Which not only allows you to keep up-to-date on all the activities but also affords one the opportunity to share their thoughts about and reflections of National Police Week.

Click the above image to read the entire update regarding the launching of the National Police Week blog.

This past Sunday at Malcolm X. Park's Dance & Drum Circle

Not having visited the Sunday afternoon Drum and Dance Circle at Malcolm X. Park since last July, once realizing late in the afternoon, last Sunday, that contrary to the weather predictions ... it was not going to rain ... I headed over to Malcolm X. Park / Meridian Hill to capture my first 2008 Malcolm X. Park Drum & Dance Circle Session.

Though still under construction here is where you're find the photos. Click the image to view the video compilation which represents seven (7) different clips.

And here are the various clips.

• Drum & Dance Circle #1/7 - Malcolm X. Park / WDC - Sunday, 4 May 2008
• Drum & Dance Circle #2/7 - Malcolm X. Park / WDC - Sunday, 4 May 2008
• Drum & Dance Circle #3/7 - Malcolm X. Park / WDC - Sunday, 4 May 2008
• Drum & Dance Circle #4, 5 & 6 / 7 - Malcolm X. Park - Sunday, 4 May 2008
• Drum & Dance Circle #7/7 - Malcolm X. Park / WDC - Sunday, 4 May 2008
• Drum & Dance Circle (Compilation) - MXP / WDC - Sunday, 4 May 2008

Here is my ongoing Malcolm X. Park (Meridian Hill - WDC) Drummers & Dancers webpage which has no official connection to the Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers website.

Only TWO DAYS left to install artwork at ARTOMATIC

During my NoMa Corridor Walk this past Saturday I stopped in at the Artomatic 2008 location at the Capitol Plaza 1 Building situated at the corner of First and M Streets in NE to get a few INSTALLATION photos and video footage.

Here is an important INSTALLATION UPDATE, dated 6 May 2008, from Artomatic News ePublication reminding participating artists that there are only TWO DAYS left to install their artwork.

Click image to view my 3 May 2008 Artomatic 2008 Installation video. And here are the photos.

The River House Complex at Pentagon City

I first became aware of The River House Complex in the mid 70's when a military man associated with the Pentagon who I met at one of the bars invited me back to his place.

And while I do not now recall which building he lived in, our sexual relationship would span the course of several years.

So, in recent years, when I have visited the Pentagon Row Complex which Richard introduced me to in February 2006 ... seldom have I not remembered that first night or the subsequent times, in the 70's, that I visited the Pentagon man at his apartment at the River House.

And, it has also been since my February 2006 visit to Pentagon Row that I have contemplated an ongoing project that would explore the River House Complex.

So, on Friday, 2 May 2008, and while waiting for Costco Photos at Pentagon City to develop some of my 2001 National Police Week negatives (which had never before been processed) ... I took a stroll over to the Pentagon Row Complex and launched The River House Complex Exploration Project.

Here is an interesting article at Wikipedia regarding the history of Pentagon City. And it is also in this same exploration that I came across the December 1995 Washington Post article River House:Island of Calm in a Retail Swirl by Steven Ginsberg.

While I do not now recall which building 'my friend' lived in, I learned in this exploration the the River House complex consists of three buildings - The Ashley, The Potomac and The James.

Click the above image to view my River House Complex and Pentagon City photosets.

As I strolled along South Joyce Street and snapped pictures of The River House complex and Grace Murray Hopper Park on Friday afternoon, 2 May 2008, I could almost smell the scent of the cherry and dogwood blossoms that filled the air of the River House complex when the morning after my first visit, in the spring of some year in the 70's, that I walked through the parking to my VW Beetle and drove back to my apartment in Hyattsville MD.

Even now, and while I do not know where he is or if he is still alive, whenever I think of him or pass by the River House complex ... I can still smell the scent of that particular Pentagon man.

Coloradans Kirk Bockman & Jim Lee to Engrave the Names of 358 Fallen Law Enforcement Officers

Since the 1991 opening of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Coloradans Kirk Bockman and Jim Lee , of Great Panes Glass, Inc, have traveled to Washington DC, in April of each year, to engrave the names of the fallen law enforcement officers that will then be honored at the annual National Police Week event which takes place at the Memorial in May, of each year.

In commemoration of National Police Week 2008, and as family members and fellow officers looked on, it was during the 29 April 2008 Annual Engraving Day Ceremony that Bockman and Lee began to engrave the names of 358 fallen law enforcement officers (by name - pdf) on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in preparation for the National Police Week 2008.

The 358 names (by state - pdf) being added to the Memorial, in 2008, include 181 officer deaths from 2007 and 177 from previous years. Dedication takes place at the Memorial during the 20th Annual Candlelight Vigil on Tuesday evening, 13 May 2008.

Having first captured Kirk Bockman and Jim Lee in April 2006 I made a point to stop in at the Memorial, before my Saturday, 3 May 2008 NoMa Corridor Walk, to get a few photos and video footage of the 2008 engraving process.

To learn more about Great Panes Glass, Inc. or to contact Kirk Bockman and Jim Lee visit the website.