by contributor Wendy Gordon
Oh sure. It’s the Inaugural weekend. There are soirees of all kinds each and every state…and then some. But let’s face it, there’s nothing like an Art Soiree, and this year’s was their 3rd Annual Catoonist Exhibit, a journey back through Obama’s first term in office through the eyes of the world’s most respected contemporary editorial artists.
This year’s flock included KAL (The Economist), DARYL CAGLE (MSNBC), TOM TOLES (Washington Post), MIKE KEEFE (Denver Post), JIMMY MARGULIES (The Record, Time, Newsweek, New York Times, USA Today), ANN TELNAES (The Washington Post), SIGNE WILKINSON (Philadelphia Daily News ), CHRISTO KOMARNITSKI (Sega, Sturshel) and DAMIEN GLEZ (La Monde, Courrier International, La Gazette). This could be the most bi-partisan event of the year.
This year at Georgetown’s Malmaison, the event, had the club’s walls covered with cartoonish depictions from the past four years. It wasn’t just the cartoons that were wall to wall—it was the crowd as well. It was a sellout. But the highlight of the evening again this year, was a performance by ever growing in popularity journo-band, Suspicious Package. Sets included some retro covers of favorite songs which kept the throngs dancing as well as entertained.
Suspicious Package plays a mix of rock, blues, punk, funk, pop, zydeco and originals. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post political cartoonist Tom Toles on drums and vocals, former TIME and Bloomberg correspondent Tim Burger plays bass, with Medill National Security Journalism Initiative Director Josh Meyer (twice a member of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams during two decades at the Los Angeles Times and co-author of an important new book:http://www.thehuntforksm.com/) on lead guitar and vocals. Senior government officials Bryan Greene and Christina Sevilla also sing and play rhythm guitar and keyboards, respectively. Suspiciously, none of the members had ever played in a rock band prior to their 2008 debut.
As soirees in this town go, a little popular culture is a good addition. When it comes with friends letting friends have an artistic experience, it’s not suspicious at all.
