Ro-o-o-oling on the riiiivvvverrr....

This month festivals abound, kicking it off with the Western Maryland Blues Festival which kicks off tomorrow night in Hagerstown, as well as the Jefferson Ruritan Spring Festival and the Frederick Festival of the Arts this weekend. Then next week there's the annual Potomac River Family Festival and River Race, followed by on the weekend of the 15th there's the Shepherdstown Film Festival. The weekend of the 23rd Linganore Winery will hold its Swingin' Blues Wine Festival featuring the Kelly Bell Band and The Nighthawks.

All of this happening in and around the county, and none of that includes the monthly regulars like Brunswick's First Friday this week, or Frederick's First Saturday and Alive@Five Events. This month's Alive@Five event features soul performers Quiet Fire.

An update soon on the Zombie Movie poll from last week. Let's get more people responding...if I recall, currently the 2004 remake is leading the way as the favorite Zombie film for readers here.

Everybody's working for the weekend...

Okay, I know that's a pretty lame 1980's song reference, and I usually like to make film references, but here's what's on tap this weekend...

In Frederick County -
The Keys begin a homestand on Thursday night, celebrating St. Pats (I know it's not the right day and all, but it's their promotion). Friday is fireworks night at the stadium. Click on the link for more about what the Keys are up to this weekend.

Break out the ouzo, St. Peter's and St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church across from the Safeway on 7th Street in Frederick will be holding its annual Greek Festival this weekend. For more information, click here.

The MET starts a run of Something Brilliant Will Come to Us on the main stage this weekend. The original piece is billed as a comedy.

Down the road -
The Tarara Winery over in Lucketts, VA will be holding their 7th annual Winds and Wine festival. There will be vendors and kite flying demonstrations. Also be prepared for the $15 admission fee.

The Shepherdstown Opera House continues its run of Miss Potter, and will start showing Hot Fuzz this weekend. A great little town for dinner and a movie for those of you who haven't been.

Hagerstown is hosting its weekly farmers market, but the Western Maryland Blues Festival will be there at the beginning of June, starting with a prelude on Thursday the 31st. Consider this first notice. Blues legend James Cotton will be playing, and I intend to be there.

Also, DCSmashed is sponsoring the following over the next couple of weeks -

May 18- Monto Carlo Night benefiting the RPJ Housing Development
Corporation. http://www.rpjhousi ng.org/monte. html

May 19- Tamika & Friend's Beat the Clock Walk to raise money and
awareness for cervical cancer
http://www.tamikaan dfriends. org/aboutthewalk .html

May 24- Happy Hour at Capitol Lounge to benefit Capital Queen for Day.
http://www.capitalq fad.org/index. html

June 9- Lawyers Have Heart 10K Run & Walk benefiting the American
Heart Association. To register or volunteer: http://www.runlhh. org

Local Club Sports -
Frederick Rugby men's club currently sports a winning record, but doesn't play again until June 3. For more information, click here. The women's club will be playing in Harrisburg this weekend.

The Baltimore/Washington Eagles started their Metro season last weekend, which featured a DC win over NoVa. This weekend will feature DC v. Baltimore at West Potomac Park in Washington DC.

Current standings -

METRO 2007 LADDER

TEAM GP W L PF PA % DC 1 1 0 97 69 141 NVA 1 0 1 69 97 71 BAL - - - - - -

C'mon, Baby don't you wanna go...

Sorry, last week was a busy week in the Smith household. Easter weekend was spent at the parents house in Williamsburg, VA - typically an increasingly more difficult weekend trip as traffic woes worsen between Washington and Richmond (yet for some reason traffic was reasonably light - especially considering it was a holiday weekend). The last half of the week was spent on a business trip to Chicago (for you blues fans out there, yes the title of this entry is a reference to the old Robert Johnson song "Sweet Home Chicago" covered so well by the Blues Brothers).

Chicago was rainy, snowy and cold for two of the three days we (my wife and I) were there and we were largely chained to the neighborhood in which the convention which took place in a neighborhood I believe is called the Near North. We made it into The Loop a couple of times, but never got to see the neighborhoods that make Chicago...well...Chicago.

The area in which we were stuck, a stretch called The Magnificent Mile, was reminiscent of mid-town Manhattan along 5th Avenue. While it was nice to get into a big city again, and to go someplace I hadn't been, I really prefer to go to someplace that's unfamiliar - and this neighborhood felt all too familiar to me (although I would recommend that anyone going to Chicago venture to the Nordstrom's on the Magnificent mile for a visit to Vosges Haut Chocolates - some of the best chocolate I have ever had).

We did see the IAC, an excellent art museum which most people my age might have initially been exposed to in the movie Ferris Beuller's Day Off, and got some good wandering in on the one sunny day which happened to be the day we departed. On that final day we had lunch at Harry Caray's, right next to the Chicago House of Blues. It was one of the two truly excellent meals that we had - if you're heading that way, I recommend the house specialty; Chicken Vesuvio (warning, it is cooked in peanut oil for those of you with severe allergies). The chicken Marsala is also excellent.

The other place we ate that was good...the only chain, though we weren't previously familiar with it, was an Italian restaurant called Buca di Beppo. The food was very good (and I hold a pretty high standard on my Italian food - my mother's family is Italian...grandfather came through Ellis Island) and served family style. The platters seem expensive until you realize that the $17.00 dish you're ordering is intended to feed two. I recommend the gnocchi (small potato dumplings/pasta).

Overall I was disappointed, however, I do realize I was there on limited time and covered only a very limited area. I failed to make it to Wrigley Field as I had hoped, and didn't make it to any of the Blues bars/clubs. I do plan to go back, possibly next year for the annual Chicago Blues Festival and get more into the neighborhoods that give Chicago its sense of self.

The photos you see here were taken by my wife, Kelly.

Coming soon, my review of Grindhouse...

Coming Attractions...

Eat Drink and Be Merry...

This weekend I'll be going into the field due to my gig as the Maryland columnist for the Mid-Atlantic Brewing News. On Saturday afternoon I will be heading to Timonium to attend the Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival. For $20 at the door you get to sample a variety of local and imported beers and a variety of bourbons while grooving to the Kelly Bell Band (until 3:00 PM) and then Mister Wilson comes on at 4:30.

Considering you get to enjoy beer, bourbon, bbq and blues music, I gotta say, it sounds like a helluva time.

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike...

Yes, we are getting into that time of year again, but that's not what I'm really talking about. What I am talking about is an event for the hard-core cycling fanatics and the Floyd Landis supporters. According to a story at Lancaster Online, "The Floyd Fairness Fund will hold a 'champion reception' on Saturday at the Ephrata Performing Arts center."

The reception costs $25.00 and you will have a chance to mingle with Landis, according to the story. This Saturday's reception was added after the previously scheduled Sunday event sold out.

Contact Green Mountain Cyclery in Ephrata at (717) 859-2422 for tickets and information on availability.

Would you prefer a red or a white with your jazz?

Frederick Cellars, one of the County's four wineries will be hosting the Kevin Lewis Jazz Quartet on Saturday evening. For a five spot relax and listen to some jazz while soaking in the atmosphere in one of Shab Row's most recent additions and a recent winner of the Governor's Cup Award.

If you have a chance to talk to the owner, Charles Daneri, he's a pretty urbane guy and very committed to the success of the winery. I had a chance to talk to him several times while he was in the process of opening the downtown location - a rarity in the industry as a whole (Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries association told me at the time that he believed there were roughly ten located in urban settings throughout the entire country) wanted to put the winery where the people are. He felt that was a key.

Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing what else he does to ensure the business grows.

This Weekend's Big Event in Frederick

Frederick area blog hoppers have probably already seen the listing from the Frederick Winterfest over at Frednet, so I'll keep this short.

The Winterfest is this Saturday at the Talley Rec Center on Bentz Street. Doors open at 5:00 PM, tickets are $20.00 per person and includes two beers or two glasses of wine, and live music. Barley and Hops, Brewers Alley, and Wild Goose/Flying Dog will be represented at the little soiree, and food can be purchased from Hempen Hill BBQ Bar and Grill, a Hagerstown-based pub.

I will be attending the event, covering it for The Mid-Atlantic Brewing News.

For the beauty pageant set, the annual Miss Frederick pageant is taking place this Saturday at Frederick Community College. The event is scheduled for 7:00 PM in the Jack Kussmaul Theater.

Tickets are available by phoning 301-845-4893, or can be purchased at the door. The box office will open at 6 p.m. and tickets are $15 each, which includes a program book.

On a sad note, Jim's Liquors in Antietam Plaza was burned down under what, right now, appear to be a set of murky circumstances. The conflagration took with it a number of other businesses in that resided in the building.

Initial reports are that the incident stemmed from a botched robbery attempt, but friends and family of the would-be robber deny that this was the case, citing a personal relationship with the liquor store owner. Curiously, the liquor store owner, who is supposedly the one who contacted the police in the first place (or whatever employee was working there at the time), has not corroborated this telling. Also, and I will be quite honest about this, when your nickname is "Menace" and you're not a five year old blond haired boy, it seriously puts intentions into question.

My condolences do go out to the family, and I understand the instinct to defend one of your own, but there are things that just don't add up in the family's defense of "Menace."

I Can Sing the Rainbow Too - multicultural events mark this weekend's calendar of events

Give it up for Black History Month

"From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in Frederick," will take place Saturday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will honor Lord D. Nickens, who grew up in Maryland during segregation.

The 93-year-old Nickens will give an oral history of his life and will speak about problems he faced, his service in the U.S. Army and the many influential African-Americans during the time of the civil rights movements.

The program will include performances by The Maranatha! Singers, a 50-person choir--comprised mostly of University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College students--comprised from the University Methodist Church and Student Center in Gainesville, Fla.; the Hallel Dance Ministry of Thomas Tabernacle in Frederick, Md.; the Walkersville High School Steppers; the Bernetta R. Brown Dancers; and various other groups.

For more information about the film and Jones-DeWeever's lecture, please contact Tamelyn Tucker-Worgs, assistant professor of history at Hood, by phone at (301) 696-3686 or by e-mail attuckerworgs@hood.edu. For more information about Hood's other Black History Month events, please contact Kiran Chadda, director of multicultural affairs and the International Student Program at Hood, by phone at (301) 696-3799 or bye-mail at kchadda@hood.edu.

• Celebrate the Chinese New Year

There will be a Lunar New Year Show on February 17th 2007 at Governor Thomas Johnson High School from 6:00 to 8:30PM sponsored by Learning Institute For Enrichment (LIFE) & Discovery.

Admission is $6.00 per person, (age 4 and up). For more information call (301) 631-6838

• Mardi Gras

The Frederick Woman’s Civic Club will hold its annual Mardi Gras Ball on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the FSK Holiday Inn. For more information contact (301) 663-5875

Frederick Cellars in Shab Row will celebrate Mardi Gras on Saturday night with local blues artist Bo Weevil from 6 to 8 PM. For more information contact (301) 668-0311

• Toys

The Central Maryland Antique Tractor Club is holding their annual Toy Show & Auction this Saturday and Sunday at the Frederick Fairgrounds in building 9. For additional information contact cmatc@cmatc.org or go to http://www.cmatc.org/.

• Daytrippin Shepherdstown, WV

If you haven't made it out here, Shepherdstown is a pleasant day trip from Frederick. A 45 minute drive, the town can be accessed via Harper's Ferry, or via Boonsboro and is home to a handful of quality dining establishments, small shops, several performance venues and Shepherd University. For a town as small as it is, there always seems to be something happening. This weekend...

Nationally known poet Richard Garcia will conduct a one-day poetry workshop in Shepherdstown on Saturday. The event is being sponsored by the Sotto Voce Poetry Festival, which is held annually in Shepherdstown in the fall.

The workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Stone Soup Bistro restaurant on German Street. It will include on-the-spot writing exercises and take-home assignments, readings and critiques, information about the business side of poetry, and publishing tips.

The fee for enrollment will be $75. A free luncheon will be provided. No pre-registration is necessary; anyone interested should simply come to the restaurant before 9:30 a.m.

For more information contact Hope Maxwell-Snyder at 301-667-1391 or hms@hbp.com. Garcia, who was one of the headliners at last fall's Sotto Voce festival, is the author of The Flying Garcias (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), Rancho Notorious, (BOA Editions, 2001), and most recently, The Persistence of Objects (BOA Editions, 2006). Among his many awards are the Pushcart Prize and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about him see his website at http://www.richardgarcia.info/.

On Sunday, owner of the Blue Moon Cafe in Shepherdstown, WV, and Cheryl Mansley, founder of the RiverHouse Concerts, will launch a brand new, weekly music series. The series, Blue Moon Sundays, will take place in the heart of Shepherdstown each Sunday evening at the Blue Moon Café on North Princes Street.

For the concerts, King is preparing a new look for his café, as well as special dinner menus, and Mansley is booking a diverse selection of artists. The series debuts this Sunday with John Lilly and Diana Jones.

Lilly specializes in Americana, roots, country and folk.

Nashville songwriter and NewSong Recordings artist Diana Jones will share the evening with Lilly.

Admission for this show is $10/person at the door. Doors open at 5:30pm, dinner will be served from 6 to 7:00pm, and music starts at 7:00pm. For more information, call (304) 876-1920

Doors Open 5:30pm, dinner served: 6:00-7:00pm

Concert: 7:00pm, dinner and drinks available for purchase