Some guys have all the luck — that is, if you consider being a judge for the Miss Universe beauty pageant lucky. Come Memorial Day weekend, Jeff Kimbell, a healthcare lobbyist with Kimbell and Associates, will travel to Bangkok, Thailand, where he will spend 10 days judging 77 women.

How does he feel about it? “This really is just formalization of something I’ve been doing — and every male for that matter — since the fourth or fifth grade, so frankly I think I’ve got it pretty well figured out at this point,” Kimbell says.

This is Kimbell’s first year as a judge; however, it’s his sixth time attending. He began participating in 2003, sitting in for celebrity judges during rehearsals. He has served as the pageant road manager for Billy Bush, of “Access Hollywood,” the master of ceremonies for this year’s event alongside his TV co-host, Nancy O’Dell.

Kimbell attended St. George’s prep school with Bush. Kimbell’s entertainment company, Magnum Entertainment Group Inc., throws upscale late-night parties for the contestants.

Kimbell has historically been into blondes, but the contestants, no matter their hair color, cannot sway him in untoward ways, which likely pleases his current girlfriend, who is, shockingly, a brunette. “There are actually a series of legal documents I had to sign outlining what constitutes a conflict of interest, which are quite different from the ones I’m used to reading for medical-technology clients,” he says. Any personal or professional relationship with contestants or their families is forbidden. This means no late-night trysts.

Kimbell has gotten to know many contestants over the years. “You’d be shocked at how bright, driven and obviously attractive many of these ladies are, and without makeup. They are also very tall, so at 5-11 I feel a little like Rocky Balboa standing next to Ivan Drago in ‘Rocky IV.’”

His penchant for blondes aside, Kimbell insists he’s as objective as they come. “It’s really unfortunate this isn’t a full-time gig,” he says.

Rep. Ackerman’s famous deli fundraiser set for mid May

It’s that time of year again for political types to stuff their faces at Rep. Gary Ackerman’s (D-N.Y.) famous deli fundraiser. This year, the 22nd annual gala will take place at 101 Constitution Ave. on May 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. Featured meats will be brought in from Ben’s Best deli in Rego Park, Queens, N.Y.

The meats include cocktail franks, chopped liver, corned beef, roast beef, pastrami, tongue and turkey. Other deli fare: kasha varnishkes, matzoh-ball soup, noodle kugel and Dr. Brown’s sodas. Cocktails will be served.

What’s Ackerman’s favorite meat? “That’s probably the most difficult question I’ve ever been asked,” joked Jordan Goldes, Ackerman’s spokesman.

The answer: “The pastrami,” Ackerman says. “Forget the lean!”

But the lawmaker can’t stop there: “Real sour pickles that would make a lemon blush. Kasha varnishkes … Hungarian goulash that makes you long to go back home to the Old Country. Chicken noodle soup with a prescription from the House pharmacy, and the beef stroganoff — oy, don’t get me started!”

Annual blues fest on Hill

The second annual congressional blues festival is set for May 18 on Capitol Hill, at 101 Constitution Ave.

Organized by the C2 Group, the event, which has about 30 lawmakers on its host committee, expects to sell 1,000 tickets to Hill types. Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased online at www.bluesonthehill.org.

Members of Congress, such as Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Reps. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) and Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.), are slated to deliver speeches about the influence the blues has had on our culture.

The idea is for Republicans and Democrats to set aside their differences for one evening and celebrate the blues. The event raises money for the Music Maker Relief Foundation, an organization that provides food, shelter and clothing for struggling blues artists.

The festival will take place in the historic lobby at Postal Square, 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Performers include Mudcat, Cool John Ferguson, and Robert Randolph & the Family Band, among others.

Sen. Roberts gets hot new wheels

Could it be that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is having a midlife crisis?

Roberts, 69, was chatting up his new Chrysler Crossfire recently with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on the Senate subway. He told Murkowski he was getting some static about the new car, which ranges in cost from $35,000 to $50,000. “It’s my gasp at something,” he told her. “It doesn’t have any utilitarian value other than what you can put in the seat next to you.”

Before leaving Murkowski’s company, Roberts promised her a ride in his car.

Pot smoker gets warm (and cold) reception on Capitol Hill

Irv Rosenfeld could have been the most popular person at the Marijuana Policy Project’s reception last week at the Washington Court Hotel. Unfortunately, he could only show guests the fat joints he keeps on his person at all times. He can’t share.

“The DEA wouldn’t like that,” he says, adding that friends still ask.

Rosenfeld, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, is one of seven people in the United States who have obtained permission from the federal government to smoke and possess medicinal marijuana under the compassionate-care investigative new-drug program.

He obtains the reefer from the government and says it relieves the pain of his condition, which involves more than 200 bone tumors all over his body. That is why he has already smoked nine and a half joints that day, and why he smokes up to 12 a day.

Rosenfeld doesn’t look or act stoned and says he doesn’t feel euphoria from the joints. (He has a long explanation about receptors in the brain that won’t allow it.)

Earlier that day, he visited Capitol Hill and met with Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who supports a state’s-rights medicinal-marijuana bill.

Lawmakers who would not meet with him and whose staff didn’t get back to him included his own congressman, Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), both of whom don’t support the medicinal-marijuana bill.

Rosenfeld has war stories: Once when he was in Orange County, he was at a business conference, and needed to light up. He went to smoke in the men’s room. A busboy came in and said, “Hey, give me some of that.” Rosenfeld said no. The busboy called the cops, and Rosenfeld was arrested.

Top 50 update: Five days left

The clock is ticking, and on May 15 the ballot box for the 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill must close.

Many thanks to everyone who has cast nominations over the past two months. If anyone knows of any good-looking cops or lobbyists, we are still in need. To nominate a lawmaker, staffer, lobbyist, groundskeeper or any other Capitol Hill employee, send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or call (202) 628-8516.

Edited by Betsy Rothstein
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