Winter Party Festival 3rd Annual South Florida LBGT Family Pride Picnic - TY Park / Hollywood FL . 24 February 2008

This year, the Winter Party Festival's 3rd Annual South Florida LGBT Family Pride Picnic will be held on Sunday 24 February 2008 at TY Park, Pavillion #8, in Hollywood FL.

The 12 noon 'til 5 pm free event for parents and kids, new friends and old, complete with food and festivities ... TopeeKeegee Yugnee (TY Park) is located at 3300 North Park Road (just off I-95 at Sheridan Street) in Hollywood FL. Here is a map.

Click the image to view my 3 March 2007 2nd Annual South Florida LGBT Family Pride Picnic at TY Park photoset (some which may be viwed at the Winter Party Festival website). And my 2007 Winter Party Festival photo collection.

WDC's St. Patrick's Day Parade - Sunday, 16 March 2008

Scheduled for a 12 noon step off at the corner Constitution Avenue and 7th Street, NW, the theme of this year's WDC St. Patrick's Day Parade which will take place on Sunday, 16 March 2008, is "A History of Strength".

With no entry fee for marching units, inquiring participates must apply by completing one of three applications, available for download from the website.

Whether submitted electronically or by regular mail, your application must be received before February 15, 2008. It is very important that your application include a brief one-paragraph description of your unit. If you are submitting a paper application, use the back of the form; if by email, include the description in the message. What you write will be announced to all who are watching the parade from the reviewing stand. If you have an email address, please include it on your application.

There are three ways to register your unit for the 2008 parade:

1. Fill out the online registration form

2. Download and follow instructions on this pdf form (Acrobat reader required)

3. Download and follow instructions on this Microsoft Word® form (Allows for emailing filled-out application)

Please review the Parade Policies and Rules. Violation of these policies will result in immediate ejection from the parade.

Click the above image to view my WDC 11 March 2007 St. Patrick's Day Parade photo set, which is still under construction.

Koreatown / Manhattan

When, last week, that I inquired of his delineation between Times Square and Midtown, saying that that he has always regarded them as one in the same, Richard suggested that Times Square / Midtown area began in proximity of Macys, around 34th Street, and ended at the beginning of Central Park.

Saying that while I understood that the two areas overlap and are very much inter-related from my days in NYC with Frank back in the 80's when we referred to the area between 31st and 34th Street as Herald Square ... Midtown, for me, may would be from 34th or 35th to 42nd. And 42nd to 59th would be Times Square.

Herald Square would be along the Sixth Avenue and Broadway corridors whereas, the 7th and 8th Avenue corridors, from 31st to 34th or 35th, may would be Madison Square Garden. While the same area along 9th Avenue up to 42nd Street may would be referred to as the Clinton area. Which is situated between Chelsea and Hells Kitchen along 8th and 9th Avenues.

Anyway ...

When posting the above never before seen March 2006 image and using the opportunity to learn more about Herald Square I learn that the corner of Sixth Avenue and 31st Street, as the beginning of Herald Square, is also the beginning of Koreatown / Manhattan.

Click the above imge to view my March 2006 NYC flickr photo set.

2008 White Party Launches New Website

The 24th Annual White Party Week website is now LIVE and features a sleek, clean all new look, with easy navigation and lots to see and do.

Explore the shops for exclusive White Party music, clothing and jewelry. Visit the photo page that contains links to pictures from the 23rd Annual White Party as well as pictures from prior years and be sure to keep up to date with White Party's latest news by checking out the News page, this page updates often so bookmark it now and keep checking back.

Visit the new White Party website now and enter the "Win Two VIP Tickets to White Party" contest. Just click on the TICKETS link on the navigation bar and enter your information. You and a friend could be our exclusive VIP guests to the 24th Annual White Party in November.

DJ Paulo Rated as 2007 BEST DJ ON THE EDGE

When the EDGE / New York staff got together to bring you the Best of Nightlife 2007, the new resident at New York’s much-coveted gig Work at Stereo, DJ Paulo, was rated as THE BEST DJ ON THE EDGE.

I, myself, which recently downloaded several of his mixes from his website ... including Erotic Tribal After Hours / August 2006, GIMME MORE TRIBAL (Part 1) / December 2007 and GIMME MORE TRIBAL (Part II) / December 2007 understand why.

Friday's Photo of the Week . 01 February 2008

Billboards . Times Square / NYC

Friday Afternoon, 14 February 2003

35MM Film Revisited Project

2008 Friday Photos of the Week

August 2008 24th Annual Gay (Male) Naturists Gathering Registration NOW OPEN

Dana Ellyn included in tonight's DC GreenheART Exhibit

Dana Ellyn's 18 x 24 oil on canvas "Adoration of St. Padua (Patron Saint of Barren Women)" will be included in tonight's (one night only) “DC Greenheart Exhibition” new paintings, drawings, and photographs by 19 local artists priced at $500 or less. Art will showcase environmental awareness with a touch of Valentines Day inspiration. 10% of all sale proceeds will benefit http://www.earthecho.org/ in support of saving our planet.

The one night only DC GreenheART Exhibit opening reception will take place TONIGHT, 1 February 2008, from 7 until 10 pm at Lofts 11 at 1125 11th Street, NW, WDC. The opening night party is free to attend but please RSVP to rsvp@taurusdev.com.

Having embarked on a brand-new series for 2008, "The Year of Presidents", Dana will be holding an OPEN STUDIO on February 16th (Presidents Day Weekend) to officially unveil the series.

Next Saturday, 9 February 2008, Dana Ellyn will be holding a one night only solo show at The GallAerie, a small grassroots showing space in Mt. Pleasant. It's a one night only event so please, no procrastinating! Free to attend, no RSVP necessary - just come out and enjoy the party. It starts at 8 and goes until late. The GallAerie is located at 1644 Newton Street, NW, WDC.

01 February 2008 / Black History Month

On 01 February, White Crane Magazine /Gay Wisdom For Daily Living reminds us that not only was the great American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist LANGSTON HUGHES born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902 but that in 1960 four African American students sat down and ordered coffee at a lunch counter in Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Visit Gay Wisdom & Culture.

Artomatic Happy Hour - Science Club - Wednesday, 6 February

Artomatic Happy Hour at The Science Club, 3rd Floor, next Wednesday, 6 February 2008. From 6 - 8 PM. The Science Club is located at 1136 19th Street, NW, WDC.

Artomatic Happy Hour happens the 1st Wednesday of every month. The next meet up will be Wednesday, March 5, at The Science Club.

US Supreme Court Police

Established in 1949, the Supreme Court of the United States Police is a small federal law enforcement agency headquartered in the District of Columbia, whose mission is to ensure the integrity of the constitutional mission of the Supreme Court by protecting the United States Supreme Court building, the Justices, employees, guests, and visitors.

Read more at Wikipedia.

Though I have captured the USSCP and MFL many times over the years - not to mention that and one of 2006 MFL USSCP which was published on page 57 of Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society . Volumer 8, Number 2, Spring 2006 issue was also featured as the front cover of Racializing Justice, Disenfranchising Lives: The Racism, Criminal Justice, and Law Reader (Critical Black Studies) book, released in September 2007 I did not know the correct acronym for the agency, until yesterday, which was when I searched GOOGLE.

Unfortunately, when I photographed at the Supreme Court, over the years, my experiences have always been text book examples of racializaing justice. As was the case on Tuesday evening, 22 January 2008 with a white female and male feminist and then black male USSCP officer.

Click the above photo view my USSCP 2008 photo set and Cop Duty 2008 collection.

Manhunt & Apex presents dj Hector Fonseca at this Friday's "Cherry's Official ManHunt Party"

What do you get when you mix HECTOR FONSECA, one of the hottest DJs from New York, with APEX, one of the hottest dance clubs in DC? You get DC's Official ManHunt Party. There will be hot guys galore, giveaways from ManHunt & CHERRY, and our good friends at Apex will be donating a portion of the door to The Cherry Fund! As an added bonus, if you buy your CHERRY PASS at Apex this Friday, we'll knock the $9 cover charge off of your pass price, so you only pay $121! So come on by, and start getting pumped for CHERRY!

Excerpted from Cherry Fund Newsletter / Update dated 31 January 2008.

Split This Rock Poetry Festival / WDC . 20 - 23 March 2008

Author Ed Hamilton & "Legends of the Chelsea Hotel" Thursday's Reading at the Dupont Circle Olsson's Featured in WDC's Local Press

As reported in my 19 January 2008 blog posting, author and blogist Ed Hamilton will appear at the Olsson's / Dupont Circle South on Thursday evening, 31 January 2008, at 7 PM. Where, at a book signing, he will read from his latest book "Legends of the Chelsea Hotel".

I've just received news that articles pertaining to "Legends" and Ed Hamilton will be featured in Thursday's issues of the Washington Post Express and Washington City Paper.

Here is an excerpt from the City Paper.

The New York that made the Chelsea Hotel a bohemian mecca vanished a long time ago - frankly, if the best music to come out of it lately is the Libertines and Ryan Adams, bring on the wrecking ball. But it’s hard to argue that Ed Hamilton isn’t doing the world a service by serving as the storied joint’s self-appointed historian. In his book Legends of the Chelsea Hotel, Hamilton profiles and collects stories about Chelsea residents past and present like Arthur Miller, Michael Alig, and you-know-who; on his blog, Hamilton mostly bemoans every move made by the Chelsea’s new management team, from the hold music (“a bad recording of the Velvet Underground”) to the policy against unsupervised children in the lobby (“It’s a shame because the Chelsea Hotel in the old days was welcoming to all age ranges”). In other words, he’s exactly the kind of pain-in-the-ass old-timer who’ll never vanish from New York. Hamilton discusses and signs copies of his work at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 1307 19th St. NW. Free. (202) 785-1133.

Author / Activist Mark Thompson's Fellow Travelers Exhibition

Touring LGBT community centers around the country, Fellow Travelers: Liberation Portraits by Mark Thompson, en exhibit sponsored by White Crane Institute was at the Gay Center in NYC from late March until early May 2007.

Derived from a 2005 'word and picture' film project by that same name, the photography exhibition is a collection of 14 stunning black & white images of Gay liberation pioneers taken by Mark Thompson, one of the foremost chroniclers of the movement.

After travelling to Philadelphia in October for Gay History Month at the William Way Center, Fellow Travelers was on display at A Cup of Joe in Salt Lake City during the month of December 2007 and, apparently, for a few days in January 2008. Where, in conjunction with the exhibit, several Queer Spirit events were held including Gay Soul Making / Mark Thompson and a weekend mini-retreat featuring Mark Thompson and Shoshone ceremonialist, Clyde Hall, who is one of the subjects in Thompson's exhibit.

With plans currently in development for exhibitions in Portland OR, Modesto CA, Detroit and Chicago donations to the White Crane Institute in support of the traveling exhibition are more than welcomed.

Friday's Photo of the Week . 25 January 2008

WMATA Rail - Gallery Place / Chinatown Station

NW WDC . Thursday, 24 January 2008

2008 Fridays' Photos of the Week

Tasting at Artfully Chocolate / Del Ray - Wednesday, 30 January 2008 - 6:30 PM

Featuring special deals, exceptional champagne and exquisite new chocolates from the brilliant Christopher Blume of Christopher's Confections, a TASTING will be held at Artfully Chocolate / Del Ray on Wednesday evening, 30 January 2008.

Beginning at 6:30 pm, this event is free. However, space will be limited. To ensure that there will be enough tasty treats for everyone, please RSVP by email no later than Friday, 25 January to mkj116@hotmail.com.

Artfully Chocolate is located at 116 E. Del Ray Avenue in Alexandria, VA. Telephone at 703.635.7917.

Now Is The Time To Send Birthday Wishes to Dr. King

This is a very important month - the month we remember Dr. King's birthday.

To help the Foundation celebrate this important occasion by sign the online birthday card today.

When you sign the card your name is added to the list of thousands who are remembering this important man and the invaluable legacy he left.

Born in Atlanta and on his 79th birthday, Dr. King's life and message are as relevant now as they were 40 years ago when an assassin's bullet prematurely ended his life.

By signing the card your signature is the first way you can honor his life and legacy.

But there's another way for you to help right now.

Add your name to the Founding Roll of Honor by making a secure online contribution of $79 or more to the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project.

The first Memorial to a person of color on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. you may remember, the Foundation must raise $100 million to formally break ground.

Having raised $87 million to date, just $13 million more must be raised before the Foundation can build the dream.

Now is the Time to:

Sign the special online birthday card to honor the legacy Dr. King has left, and make a special gift of $79 this month which is just $1 for each year since Dr. King was born to add your name to the Roll of Honor and help create a permanent place for Dr. King's legacy on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Happy 114th Birthday To My Great Grandmother, Violet Biscoe

At the age of 105, my great grandmother, Violet Emma Dove Biscoe, passed in November 1998. Today, on 21 January 2008 I will celebrate her 114th birthday.

David Comb's Most Famous Painting is Now 3-D!

When passing the Chelsea Hotel during my Labor Day Week 2007 visit to NYC I had the pleasure of capturing the artist David Combs as part of my ongoing Street Artists series.

In an email, he now informs me that his most famous painting, "Red Chelsea" is now available as a 22 x 30" 3-D lenticular!

The first collaboration between Combs and Depthography (R. Anthony Munn & Sara Cook) and after decades of research, development and seven hundred man hours ... because of the nature of 3-D ... the product must be seen in person to appreciate it.

Combs' 22 x 30" 3-D "Red Chelsea" may be viewed at Dan's Guitars in the Chelsea Hotel on 23rd near 7th Avenue in NYC. Or email David Combs at david@davidcombsart.com to set up an appointment.

Number 5/50 is not only a fantastic piece of work but a great investment. Be one of the first to get your hands on one of the most exciting pieces of artwork to come out of the Chelsea Hotel ever!