Dean Christakos« November 2006 | Main | July 2010 »
December 31, 2006
The Year in Review
Hm. 2006 is almost done. I'm currently in Cambridge celebrating New Year's at the same party I've been to almost every year since returning to Cambridge in January of '99. I couldn't stop going now, could I?
Some moments from 2006:
I celebrated the passing of 2005,
mourned the passing of a colleague,
went to yet another Steer Roast,
celebrated my nameday in Greece,
found myself in the mountains of Bulgaria,
celebrated my first election victory,
left Cambridge for Washington, DC,
celebrated a huge electoral victory,
Posted by Dean at 6:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 25, 2006
Getting in the Christmas Spirit
Merry Christmas, dear readers. For some examples of falling short of the Christmas Spirit, I present the following:
Black-robed Monks Exchange Blows, Five Injured In Northern Greece (granted, the monks on Mt. Athos are not celebrating Christmas until January 7th, though)
This is kind of a bummer to hear about: The World's Supply of Frankincense is Dwindling because of overharvesting of the frankincense tree sap and tree-clearing for farmland.
While the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays always bring to mind one of my favorite holiday movies, Home for the Holidays, John Scalzi's (satirical) post on The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time always makes for hilarious annual reading.
Posted by Dean at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2006
Keeping DC's Reputation Intact
Many people know that former mayor Marion Barry of Washington, DC was arrested for smoking crack in the 1980s, went to jail, and then went on to get re-elected mayor, displacing Sharon Pratt Kelley in 1994. What many people don't know is that after Marion Barry left office, he was elected to the Washington, DC city council, where he remains today. In addition, he's continued to have various run-ins with the law, including being pulled over and detained by the police for allegedly driving with a suspended license this past Saturday. Here's a sampling of the 2005-2006 Marion Barry legal follies:
October 28, 2005: Marion Barry Pleads Guilty To Tax Charges
January 11, 2006: Marion Barry Fails Drug Test
March 9, 2006: Marion Barry Sentenced On Tax Charges
November 14, 2006: Barry Pleads Not Guilty To DUI
Gotta love DC.
Posted by Dean at 10:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 12, 2006
Santarchy!
While visiting various tourist attractions in DC, I suddenly came across dozens of Santas parading through the city. Really. Look:
There was zombie Santa:
... what has to be the most jaded Santa I've ever seen:
The requisite sexy Santa (left):
Frosty the Snowman even made an appearance:
I later discovered that this is all part of an annual even called Santarchy which proclaims "No force on earth can stop one hundred Santas!" Perhaps I'll put together an outfit next year.
Posted by Dean at 11:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 2, 2006
El Vez plays at The Black Cat
The music scene of Washington, DC is one in which the hipper-than-thou band The Decemberists gets sold-out one weekend and then The Black Cat hosts a packed house to see the novelty act of El Vez, The Mexican Elvis (I swear I am not making this up), who gave a special Christmas edition of his show Friday night.
It took a while for him to come on, and I almost got tempted to go home early, but the wait was worth it. He didn't do the entire show in his Santa-suit... he eventually stripped-down to more rock-appropriate clothing:
He even explained the miracle of the Virgin of Guadelupe, whose feast day is celebrated this coming December 12th:
More photos in my photo archive.
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