Today would have been Captain Outrageous' 68th birthday (the cake was for his 66th). I had him in mind all day, listened to music that he chose for his iTunes library, checked to see that the web sites that we developed together are still up and running. Late in the afternoon I went to the Green Parrot to hear a group that Janet said I would like, the Gypsy Blue Acoustic Revue, and tipped them generously to dedicate a sad song to the Captain. I proposed St. James Infirmary Blues, a song that C.O. enjoyed, but they played Minor Blues at an almost-dirge tempo. There was a scattering of applause in the half-full bar when the dedication to Captain was announced, like a few people knew who he was.
Hardly a day passes that I'm not reminded in some small way of Captain Outrageous. I occasionally hear from someone who knew him too, like recently when John St. John came by to tell me about some photos he has of the funeral parade through old town. He's going to bring them to me to copy.
Gypsy Blue at the Green Parrot last year.
Sometimes I wonder if Captain Outrageous' art is going to live on. His heirs stored away all of the things that were still in his possession. Some Key Westers (and others) collected his work. There are still examples of that around town, scooters, bicycles and the occasional automobile. Someone reported to me that they saw the "Circus Car" he painted for John Kelly over in new town recently.
1 comments:
His art lives on. I first heard about him this past weekend. One of the ladies participating in the annual SkateDC Weekend did so in a pair of skates that he painted for her.
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