Thanks, Fellas

While Weaver was picking up something shiny for his mantle Saturday night, I was enjoying a most delightful birthday gathering in the Queen City. Whisked away by the Old Goat, we held up in a smoky Blues bar in hopes that Blind Chitlin' Somebody would soon make his gee-tar cry and sing. It was not to be. Instead, a thrash metal combo poured on the testosterone in a display of off-key angst I probably would have found fetching twenty years ago. No matter - as the company was Top Shelf. From Greenville, South Carolina came reformed Portlander JL Watkins - mercurial goofball of Little Lost Robot. Far more complex than his on-line persona would have you believe, JL's got a brain I always love to pick. Equally intriguing is Colonel Ken Corn - whose broadcast chops and love for writing makes him nothing short of a blood brother to your not so humble lenslinger. A photog-blogger I'm less familiar with is Adam of This Blog May or May Not Suck - a hilarious Charlotte native who's bound to brighten any crime tape he babysits. (Think Jim Breuer meets Doogie Howser). Together we dined on the finest chops, guzzled lots of hops and probably talked to much shop. All in all, it was a highly restorative weekend and I thank you all. Mostly though, I'd like to thank the instigator of this event, Dick Carney - a man whose very presence I yearned for as a kid and still savor as an adult. Let's do it again - soon...