The English Beat @ The Birchmere

Music

The English Beat @ The BirchmereI confess I was a bit skeptical. After having recently watched VH1’s failed attempt to reunite one of my favorite bands, The English Beat, I knew that the bill being called ‘The English Beat’ tonight at the Birchmere in Alexandria actually only included one original band member, lead singer Dave Wakeling. But I need not have worried. Although it would be great to see and hear the whole band together again, Dave and his band were perfectly capable of taking me on a nostalgic tour of my musical youth.

I first heard The English Beat in a movie theater, watching a midnight showing of the 1981 Concert movie Dance Craze. I remember the night, it was memorable both for the music it introduced me to, and for the fact it had us dancing in the theater aisles. Later, in 1982, I would see The Beat open for the Clash at the Hollywood Palladium, one of my best concert memories.

So tonight at the Birchmere, with an intimate and appreciative crowd of about 550, it was a joy to again hear The Beat. And my buddy TJ stepped up big time as an impromptu roadie. After doing Tears of A Clown, Dave told the audience that he’d broken a guitar string and that they were too cheap to have a roadie, so he asked if anyone in the audience could string a guitar. TJ raised his hand and got the job, earning Dave’s thanks and a dedication of Twist and Crawl to him for his efforts.

Here’s the set list…

Whine & Grine / Stand Down Margaret
Ackee 1-2-3
Hands Off She’s Mine
Best Friend
Doors of Your Heart
Tears of a Clown
I’ll Take You There
I Confess
Twist and Crawl
Sole Salvation
Rough Rider
Two Swords (Dave shared a good tale of his brick-throwing youth before this one)
Can’t Get Used to Losing You
Never You Done That
Tenderness
Ranking Full Stop
Mirror in the Bathroom
Click Click (noted as a point of pride as having been the fastest song in the movie Dance Craze)
Save It for Later
Encore – some appropriately picked encores…
End of the Party
Jackpot – I’m sorry to say that I’m on my way, I won’t be back for many a day, so Goodbye Everybody!

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Chris is Climbing!

Diversions

For the last two years I’ve blogged about how well my own name, Christopher, is performing on the Social Security Administrations annual list of most popular names. In 2005 the news was grim, Chris was dropping and had sunk to #10 on the top ten list. Last year I was glad to report that the trend was reversing, and Christopher had climbed back into the #9 spot.

And now I’m glad to tell you that the climb continues. In the year 2006, Christopher was the #7 most popular name for baby boys. Lookout Jacob, we’re climbing the charts with a bullet baby, and not stopping until we hit #1!

Thanks to Eric for the reminder

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The Cheney Surge

News, Rants

This morning’s news is that VP ‘Big’ Dick Cheney has made a surprise visit to Baghdad. You’ll know things are going better in Iraq when a visit by the President, VP or cabinet secretary there is no longer described as a ‘surprise’. I imagine the Iraqi Prime Minister, walking into a darkened conference room and the lights come on and he’s confronted by Dick shouting ‘Surprise! I’m here!’. It must be hard, as I’d guess they’re tired of guests from America. Or maybe Cheney is part of the surge. He can tell the Iraqis to “Go F Themselves“, which would be good, because I think we’ve F’d them enough.

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Prince William County is in the Top Five!

Rants

Top five what you ask? According to this article in the Potomac News, my county of Prince William in Virginia has the fifth worst commute in the whole United States! Woo-Hoo! According to a study conducted by U.S. News & World Report, the average commute for a resident of my county is 40.5 minutes, and each of the top four worst commutes are all New York counties.

I guess I’m a little surprised… worse that any in LA? Worse than anywhere but NYC? Wow. But I know I’m spoiled for two reasons. First, I’m very fortunate to work for a company that allows me to telecommute for a few days of each week. And second, last summer I discovered the local commuter bus, OmniRide, which literally picks me up and drops me off within sight of my own front door. And for these reasons it’s now a very rare day where I drive myself into DC and I can tell you that’s fine with me.

I hope we don’t climb any higher on this list, as I don’t need my bus getting stuck in traffic any worse than it has to. But if it does, it’s just a little more reading time on the way in, and a little more nap time on the way out 🙂

County has fifth-worst commute in nation
The Potomac News, 5/8/07

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Old Man OPO

Politics

Last week the Washington Post began a series of articles about Political Consultants, including a front page story last Friday about Internet Strategists. The Post dubbed them Online Political Operatives, or OPOs. It’s the first I’ve heard that title, it’s too soon to say if it will stick. But I did enjoy seeing some well-deserved attention being paid to a field of work I have been involved in for fifteen years.

This weekend I spoke at a training for political fundraisers in a session about online fundraising. The organizer introduced me with a brief bio, including the fact that the first online campaign campaign that I worked on was for Senator Kennedy’s 1994 Senate race.

Looking out at the room of young faces, my curiosity got the best of me. “Give me a show of hands”, I asked, “how many of you were in college in 1994?”.

A couple of hands in the back of the room went up.

“How many of you were in high school in 1994?”

Again, just a few hands are raised.

“How many of you were in grade school in 1994?”

A sea of hands reaches skyward.

My initial reaction was just to feel a bit old. But on reflection, it was really very nice. I’m glad to be an old man OPO and I hope I to continue finding opportunities to share what I’ve learned and learn something in return from the growing numbers of young fledgling OPOs out there.

Meet the OPOs
The Washington Post, 5/4/07

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Don’t Move The Awakening

Diversions, Rants

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Washington, DC is a city of memorials and sculptures, most of which commemorate individuals and events in our American history. Combined with DC’s many wonderful museums and other attractions, they provide many a fine place to pause, reflect and appreciate. But far from the National Mall and well off of the beaten track, is one (or several) sculptures that serve an entirely different purpose. It is called The Awakening, and it is actually a few different pieces that together give the appearance of a buried giant that is angrily (or painfully) emerging from under the ground. I’ve always tried to make The Awakening a stop on our standard DC tour when we have guests from out of town. It’s best when they have young children, and you can set it up on the drive out to Hains Point with a tall tale about the buried giant.

Well, apparently The Awakening is about to get up and move completely. The sculpture’s owner has plans on moving it to the shopping complex he’s developing. That would be a shame. Leave the giant be.

The Hains Point Hand: Stealing Away A Public Treasure
Mark Fisher, The Washington Post, 4/25/07

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Ireland Books: The Rebels of Ireland

Books

For the last few months I’ve been cramming on Ireland books in preparation for my recent visit there. And now that my trip has come and gone, I expect that although I’m sure to continue reading about Ireland, I will likely change subjects for a while. The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd was a good place to end my run of Ireland-themed reading. I had read much of Irish history to this point, but this piece of historical fiction tied centuries worth if Irish history together through the intertwined lives of several fictional families.

This is actually the second of a two-book series called The Dublin Saga and was preceded by The Princes of Ireland which I have yet to read. The Rebels of Ireland begins in 1597 and spans through the 1916 Easter Uprising and does a great job providing a glimpse at how the major events of Irish history during that timespan might have been experienced by families and individuals. For a hefty 850+ pages in this book, I found they turned very easily. I’ll look forward to backtracking and reading The Princes of Ireland, but maybe after just a brief break to mix up the reading list with some other subject matter for a bit.

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