Dear Frank and Carole:

The Tuckahoe silent/live Auction is on Sat 11/21 at the NRECA building in Arlington. Admission is $3

Current schedule is:

• 7-7:30 open dancing
• 7:30-8:00 demos by Iver & Lisa and by Sue & Steve; Iver teaches basic swing
• 8:00-9:30 open dancing

After 9:30 is the live auction, so we can't dance anymore.
-- Iver

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Venus on the Half Shell
From: Leslie Bresee Venus151@aol.com

Hi there! Love your site but I found a very glaring omission! When listing your sites for vintage clothing in the Frederick area you failed to name "Venus on the Half Shell" as a source! We are the ONLY store in Frederick that deals exclusively in vintage clothing. Our huge store specializes in wearable vintage fashions from the 1920's to the 70's. We are especially proud of our service to the swing community. We have a rather large men's selection and lots of ladies stuff in a variety of styles. We are also currently working on becoming a seller of Bleyer shoes--the ONLY place in Frederick to get em! We are also the EXCLUSIVE outlet for Home for the Holiday's tickets (a HUGE yearly big band event) We've been in biz for almost 3 years. Our address is 151 North Market Street in Frederick, (301) 662-6213.
Thanks,
---Leslie Bresee

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Chicago Swing Site
From: Andy slohand@slohand.com

I have developed a new Swing Site for the Chicago area. Check it out!

www.slohand.com/index.ht ml

Thank you
---Andy

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The Hula Monsters Web Site
By: Ben Holmes benholmes3@hotmail.com

The Hula Monsters Have their own website:

www.hulamonsters.com

The next hula club gigs are:

• Tuesday, 11/10/98 at Cat's Eye Pub, Fells Point
• Saturday 11/14/98 at Politiki, Capitol Hill, DC
• Saturday, 11/18/98 Zones in DC

Hope to see you there!
Aloha
---Ben

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Michael and the Little Professors
By: Mike White mtwhite@shore.intercom.n et

Hi Frank and Carole---
I want to tell all your friends that dig swing music about my band, MICHAEL and the LITTLE PROFESSORS, and that when y'all come down to O.C and/or the Delaware beaches, we're doing up to 3 or four shows per week (yes!!! even in our "off-season" here in the Ocean City area.....)

I look forward to hearing from you, and yes, we have a demo, and it's a killer.
Best,
---Michael Tracey White

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Reflections After a Year
By: Elizabeth Weaver Engel

It seems hard to believe, but Tuesday, October 27 was the one year anniversary of our very first anxious and awkward night in Tom and Debra's beginner class. In some ways I still feel very much the rank beginner, particularly when I think of all there is still to learn about Lindy Hop - not to mention all the other great styles of dance out there! - and when I look around at so many of the wonderfully talented dancers we have here in DC and realize how far I have to go. But in some ways, it feels like I've been doing this forever, and much as it's difficult to remember what life was like before I could read, it's difficult now to remember what it was like when my feet didn't automatically start to move in basic triple-step pattern when the music starts.

So now seems like a good time to thank all the people who've helped out along the way in getting me from sitting at VSO 1997 loving (but not understanding) what I was watching and thinking, "I could never learn to do that!" to the reasonably competent dancer I am today, who attended VSO 1998 to take workshops and steal moves from the competitors ;-) and who understood what I was watching so that I *could* steal moves.

First and foremost, thanks to Tom and Debra. Without your performance at VSO 1997 in Open Classic Lindy Hop (and your vintage clothes that evening), I would still probably be sitting around thinking, "You know, some day I'd really like to learn how to dance. I wonder if I could take lessons somewhere?" Without your tireless labor of love in promoting Lindy and swing in the DC area, we wouldn't have one of the best and biggest scenes in the country, and I wouldn't have been able to develop even the set of skills I currently have because I wouldn't have had nearly as many opportunities to dance. Without your terrific teaching skills, patience, eternal willingness to answer questions and correct mistakes, and obvious love of the dance I might not have even stayed with it after that first beginner class, when I was starting to get a taste of what's possible with the dance but it seemed like I'd never get there myself. And your continuing efforts to bring in internationally-recognized teachers and great bands continues the development and improvement of the scene, the community, and the dancing.

Thanks also to Hutch. If you didn't have the vision and drive to have VSO in the first place, to promote it so well that little ole non-dancing me saw it last year and thought, "What a fun thing to go watch over Columbus Day weekend!", and the foresight to include Lindy and jitterbug even when this was a mostly West Coast swing scene, I wouldn't be dancing today. I hear doing coaching with you is going to change my life - I can't wait! After the marathon, look out!

Thanks to Frank and Carole. Without you two, we certainly wouldn't have gotten into the crowd of "regulars" as quickly as we did (we still might not be in there even now!), and we wouldn't be dancing even as well as we are now because we wouldn't have been able to attend even 50% the dances we have. I am still amazed at Frank's generosity in offering us rides all over the place (even when he has to go far out of his way to drop us off or pick us up). One Tuesday in mid-January 1998, when we were just starting our first intermediate series, I happened upon the website and saw Frank's e-mail. I sent him a message asking if he had thought about setting up a rides board. The next thing I know, he was offering to pick us up at Friendship Heights and take us out to Vienna Grille. At that point, all the social dancing was out in the 'burbs, and Frank and Carole generously ferried us all over the place so we would have a chance to practice the moves we were learning from Tom and Debra. Aside from all the work you do right along side Tom and Debra promoting Lindy and swing in the DC area and around the country, you have been particular friends to us. Without you, we wouldn't be in the community the way we are, and we wouldn't have gotten in nearly the amount of practice we have over the past year. I still knowthat if I go to dance and can't find another way home, Frank will always drop me off even if it takes him out of his way. I know you both hate the term "den parents," but you're like a fairy godmother and godfather to me.

Thanks to Cameron - you were the first "regular" to dance with me at the end of my first beginner series. I still remember how bad I was (I just hope you've forgotten by now!), and how much it meant to me that one of the good dancers would ask beginner me to dance.

Thanks to Iver - also one of the earliest "regulars" to dance with me on a frequent basis. I have learned a tremendous amount from you - you've taught me moves, you've taught me more about frame, you've helped teach me to have fast feet, and you've taught me an incredible amount about how to stay on my toes, pay attention, and react quickly as a follower as you constantly amaze me - every dance - with moves I've never seen before. You were also the very first one to invite Jim and me over for an evening of viewing dance tapes and figuring out moves, something that I suspect will be a fixture of our social life for some time.

Thanks to Jim Kranyak - your enthusiatic support and enjoyment of our dancing was probably the deciding factor in finally getting us out for our first jam back in May. Your support of us gave us both the confidence to be willing to enter performance space for the first time. You were - I think - the first dancer to offer us compliments on our dancing, which meant - and still means - an incredible amount to both of us.

Thanks to Gay, Buck, and Dave for Dancestore. Without Bleyers, I would still be wearing my saddle shoes, I probably would've torn up my knees, and I'd probably be injured right now, instead of avidly dancing AND preparing to run my first marathon. Thanks also for all the great dance stuff you've labored to put together - the clothes, the tapes, the accessories. Thanks particularly to Gay - I can always count on you to be honest about how a move looks and to provide frank commentary - both positive and negative - on how I'm doing as a dancer. You and Dave were also the ones who coaxed us - unwillingly - to start on some air steps, and then took time you could've been out dancing and having fun to work with us on learning them.

Thanks to all the excellent leaders who asked me to dance when I was too scared to ask you, and to all those who said yes when I asked - the Cowles brothers, PsychoBoy, Charlie, Eric C, Ron, Buck, Duke, Bill, Mike Henry, Dr. Dan, Ray, Steve D, Dave, Jeff, Thomas, Matt S, Dan Daley, Naomi, Jim Kranyak, Eric Robinson, Frank, Frank the Magician, Mike Hess...I know I'm missing people here!...and to the many I've danced with at Glen Echo, Chevy Chase Ballroom, Vienna Grille, America, and other venues whose names maybe I didn't get. You all share a part in making me the dancer I am today (now whether that makes you proud or embarrased is for you to say...just not where I can hear you! ;-)

Thanks also to everyone who has provided a ride for us over the past year - Chris B, Cameron, Frank, Carole, Debra, Dan D, Dr. Dan, Eric, Deb Brooks, Christy - and to the many more who've called *us* to *ask* if we needed a ride just to make sure we had a way to get to dances. We wouldn't be dancing like we are without you, because fun as it is, rolling up the rug and practicing in the living room is just not the same.

Thanks finally to the entire DC dance community. When we walked into our first beginner class, we'd only been living in DC for about 6 weeks. We didn't know anyone here yet (other than co-workers), and we didn't have any kind of a social circle. This is a wonderfully warm and welcoming group of people. You share your humor, your time, your expertise, food (I have never gone to Vienna Grille when there *hasn't* been a cake!), and your cars without even a second thought. In my humble estimation, DC has perhaps the best swing scene in the country. Yes, we have lots of great local bands. Yes, we have some damn fine local teachers. Yes, we have an abundance of good to excellent dance venues. But what *makes* this scene is the people - the dancers. Whether it's a new air step, a cool break move, a routine from a workshop, a dance tape, or a regular partner, everyone shares with everyone else. And we have so many really excellent local dancers that we all always have something to reach for and someone who is always moving the bar just a little higher. Thank you for helping make the past year of my life so fun, tiring, interesting, occasionally frustrating, busy, and grand. And it just keeps getting better!

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Charleston Movie
By: Jamie Balser

There is a fun movie with a good group Charleston number comming up in November on AMC. Channel 18 in Montgomery county. (Channel 34 in the District and Channel 11 in Arlington)

Tea for Two (1950) November 30 at 9:45 pm and 3:15 am.

Check the AMC website for other Lindy related films:

www.amctv.com/home.html

Jamie Balser

[Editor's Note: We also reccommend that you also check out AMC for Irene, a comedy that has a great Lindy routine in it near the end -- of all things to a jive version of "Alice Blue Gown." We think that Frankie Manning may be one of the dancers. Let us know what you think]

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DJ, Will Work for Swing!
By: Jeff Hulbert

Hi....I'm a veteran nightclub DJ with a strong swing CD library. I would like to start a Wednesday or Thursday Swing Night in the area. I have the PA gear and some leads on obtaining floor space. Is there a way to post a note inviting instructors and/or clubs who might like to co-sponsor? Thanks very much!
---Jeff Hulbert

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Closing out 1998 with Too Much Fun
By: Erika Wissolik

Aboard the 30+ year old bus, custom built for Roy Clark and now owned by Clay Blaker, Too Much Fun and Blaker's Texas Honky Tonk Band just completed another jaunt thru the honky tonks of Texas. Somewhere between hunting for Starbuck's and playing that old tele, Bill showed off his new Susan Penn creation - a handmade shirt featuring a diesel truck and the "Swing Fever" Diner. These splendiferous shirts were made to be seen so we'll get some pics, taken at Texas' Gruene Hall and the Continental Club.

The big rig is iconic among Dieselbillians but there was a time in September of this year when Too Much fun was anti-truck ...yessir....the boys and their mamas hated diesels and for a few days the tele played no truckin' tunes. It was all because a big ol' 18-wheeler almost made a pancake out of the TMF van as they were leaving a toll booth on the Delaware turnpike. Johnny said the trucker threaded the needle perfectly, spitting the van 20 feet out the other end of the tollbooth. All's well that ends well...sort of. Johnny, Jack and Bill are "purt' near okay" and playing dieselbilly again, but the van now sits on the farm in Maryland as a monument to the power of the Mack beast.

Once again, Too Much Fun has received several WAMMIE nominations and this year, Peter Bonta holds up his end by getting 3 nominations of his very own. Congrats to 4 of the Balto/Wash area's finest musicians.

Louise Kirchen, a singer, songwriter and guitar player in her own right, has contributed a track to a new Washington area compilation due out December 15, entitled the "District of Country." For those of you who don't know, Louise got her start in the Californian renegade country band, Rowdy and the Rivets. She's recorded in studios from San Francisco's Wally Heider's to Fredericksburg, Virginia's Wally Cleaver's. Her compositions have appeared on stage, screen and CD. Louise's song "Why Wyoming" played while Sam Shepard and Kim Basinger steamed up the screen in the film, Fool For Love. For info on the CD, write to Diana Quinn at diana@muddypaws.com.

The current schedule covers everything right up until New Year's Eve but if there are changes, you will of course be the first to know. Hope your holiday season is a good one and see ya on down the road.
Yers, Erica

"We now know why Leo Fender made the Telecaster! We now know what one is supposed to sound like and we know why there is no finish left on your (Bill's) tele. "
- - Kim Metzgar, Philadelphian and Kirchen fan after seeing Bill play

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Anna in Sweden.....the adventure continues....
By: Anna Duncan duncan_anna@hotmail.com

Well kids, things here are going just swimmingly and I couldn't be having more fun. At Jesse's Jazz Club last week the band knocked my socks right off! The lead singer, Jennie Löbel, has won the Louis Armstrong award for her vocals. What a voice on that girl! And what a night of simply wonderful dancing.

Then, on this past Sunday I was part of something I never thought I'd be able to say I would be a part of....here's the story of Minnie the Moocher, and how I got to perform WITH the Rhythm Hot Shots as that most famous of 'Hoochie Coochers'.

It was a dark and stormy night (well dark anyway) and I was at a party with Catrine, Eddie, and Eva. A nice little gathering where after he had several drinks in him, Eddie (AKA *Mr. I-don't-social-dance) was rarin' to go and we danced quite a few songs. After leaving the party the four of us plus Joel (from SF) headed out to a pub. While we were

there Eddie was trying desperately to talk Catrine into performing the next night with them, seeing as how they needed a Minnie. But Catrine was unable due to her recent knee surgery, so she jokingly says to him..."What about Anna?" From that point on, I was in their hands. :0)

The next night at Jesse's there was to be a huge party (some rich guy turning 70) and TRHS were performing 4 numbers. Minnie was the 2nd number, and Eddie was to sing it dressed in his bright yellow plaid Zoot replete with big red hat. They did one chorus to teach the crowd how to sing along with their hi-de-hos and then the number started over

again fresh. When that first trumpet solo started I was to saunter out and regale the crowd with my sheer 'sauciness'. Not hard for me you can imagine :0). I spotted the birthday boy and wrapped my boa around him and then pulled him to his feet to dance a few bars, then on the 'King of Sweden' line I (gently) pushed him back into his chair and made my saucy way over to Eddie where we did some jazzy little steps together before I made my way into the rest of the audience. What fun!! Eddie says I did a fabulous job and I even got some money out of it.

OH!....and don't let me forget the end when they were taking their bows....I had already changed into my 'Dang-its-cold-outside-clothes' when I heard calls for Minnie from the audience, so I put The big yellow Zoot jacket on and the stylin' red hat and went out to take my bow with everyone else. Can I just tell you I was on cloud 9? The Hot Shots are wonderful and amazing performers and I am quite proud to say that I got to be a part of them, if only for one night.

The band that was playing was amazing too! They have been together for 35 years and have a sound like no other (non-vintage that is, they have plenty authenticity). They are called 'Wasabandet'.

Other than dancing, great parties, and too much delicious Swedish food not much is going on. It is stunningly beautiful here, when the sun is up....(dark at 3:30 now! Jeepers!).....and even when it is down. It has snowed twice and the temperature has plummeted in the past week with NO signs of rising again.:0( I wish I had packed warmer. I miss everyone like crazy and I don't know how long it is going to take me to RE-learn the Dean Collins stuff once I'm back, but my Savoy style Lindy has been and is being polished with every outing. Toodle-loo for now and I send more updates as I am able. My love to everyone in the DC area.
xxxxx
ooooo
Love, anna banana

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Lost Shoe
From: Susan Lusi Susan_Lusi@ITA.DOC.GOV

Although it seems like eons ago, the New Morty Show at the Birchmere was a blast - yes. But for me it also signifies loss - that is , the loss of my beloved blackDoc Martin size 7 and ˝ shoe - the left shoe. Would you be so kind as to broadcast the news of my loss and ask if anyone has a clue where it might be? The Birchmere does not. In fact, they laughed when I told them I left a shoe there. They'll have to get used to finding the things dancers leave behind with the new dance floor. I think I left it at the rear of the dance floor at a table (or under a table) four tables from the sound booth's right. thanks

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Jody and Royce White's Lindy Classes
From: Royce White royce@datadisc.com

I hope all is well with you and yours. How did Iver's party go? At the last minute we couldn't come. I am sorry we missed it. I have some new information for your emails and website. We now have a website:

www.swing-lindyhop.com

Here is some information on our classes as well as a notice about a FREE Day-After-Thanksgiving Lindy Dance and Free Lesson on November 27th.

Classes: