This weekend, the weather rocked – sunshine, blue sky, gentle breezes. It looks like we actually get to experience spring, this year, and not just spring right into summer. Thank you Lord. I sure do appreciate it.
Friday, I began my day at a Women’s Leadership Forum, hosted by the Junior League of Atlanta. It was an amazing event, complete with two breakout sessions and a vibrant panel discussion on diversity over lunch. I spent the last forty-five minutes or so of the afternoon at the “kitchen table” of Terri Badour-Duckett, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross of Georgia. At the “kitchen table” attendees “pulled up a seat” to ask questions of some of the brightest, most accomplished women leaders in the Atlanta community. Not too shabby, right?
In other news, the month of May is home to the Atlanta Jazz Festival (AJF). For 31 days, we celebrate the beautifully diverse sounds of jazz, and there’s a BIG jazz festival in the park during Memorial Day weekend. Friday night, the AJF hosted a jazz festival kickoff party/concert that featured Canadian band BadBadNotGood (or BBNG). I don’t know where the name came from, but BadBadNotGood was more like GoodGoodPlusAwesome. Seriously.
This trio from Toronto includes Matthew Tavares on keyboard, Chester Hansen on bass and Alexander Sowinski on drums. Three instruments unite to create one crazy unique sound. Their set at the Westside Cultural Arts Center marked their first performance in the ATL. The crowd showed mad love and I was pretty happy to be in the number.
Friday night was my first time hearing their music, but I became an instant fan. The melting pot of rich sounds was surpassed only by the energy with which the band totally rocked out. Their sound is a unique amalgam of rock, hip hop, R & B and even classical influences. Then they had a guest saxophonist who threw the set into straight jazz beast mode.
BBNG drew such a diverse crowd of music lovers. I scanned the room and thought to myself, “surely we don’t share the same taste in music.” But on that night for about an hour and a half or more we certainly did. That’s the power of music that I love so much.
I kinda hate that BBNG was booked for the beginning of the festival month. Their sound was just so grand. I think it would fit well on an outdoor stage like the ones set up during the jazz festival’s Memorial Day weekend event. I could totally picture it. Maybe they’ll be on the line up for next year.
In the meantime, it appears these cats don’t have many shows in the states this year, but here’s a list of the upcoming concert dates through the summer. You can check them out on Soundcloud and here’s a taste from Friday night. Dude on the keys, though…. Does he not remind you of Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons?
We stuffed the rest of the weekend with lots of errands and a three hour movie break to see the new Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. So, no one told me that when I got married my husband would turn me into a fan of comic book characters. Nope, I didn’t see that one coming. I’ve learned more about comic book characters in the last few years than I’ve ever known in my entire life. Who knew I’d become a Marvel fan? I’ve learned to keep my eyes peeled for Mr. Stan Lee’s cameo appearance in each film AND, most importantly, to NOT leave the theater until the very last credit has rolled. This ensures I don’t miss hints for one of the upcoming films in the, seemingly never ending, Marvel series.
Gotta find me a Captain America t-shirt, too, although I struggle to really decide which super hero (thus far) is my fave. I think I’m leaning toward Iron Man…or maybe Captain America. Thor? Smh… Anyhoo, the movie was good. That’s all I’ll say about that just in case you haven’t seen it yet and plan to go.
Let’s see, what else happened this weekend. Oh, I bought a pair of sandals and some cute earrings. I love feeling like I got something for a bargain. A cute pair of Nine West wedge sandals (can’t go wrong with classic black) from DSW and two nice pairs of earrings from White House Black Market for just under $50 definitely speaks bargain to me. I have one happy little word for you – COU-PONS.
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Got a chance to grab some hugs from some out of town family members. They were visiting for a Braves game, so that was a real treat.
Oh and we added these little guys to our fish family. 
I know the pic isn’t that great. They’d just arrived in their new home and were swimming around like crazy. You can’t see them all but there are nine of them.
So, now it’s your turn. Let’s hear it.
What did you do this weekend? Are you a Marvel Comics fan? If so, who’s your favorite Marvel comic book hero or heroine?