My most recent stuff is at the top of the page. Here's what I've been up to...
Well, as usual I've been busy. Unfortunately, as winter rolls around there's less and less to do. But, I think I've more than made up for it the last couple weeks. I will try to keep it as brief as possible. I would like to know if everyone enjoys reading about what I've been up to. Please vote, so I know whether I should change things or not.
October 16th was my mom's birthday and we were fortunate enough to have her best friend down to visit. We went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Tivoli, in Arlington.
The next day we went to an Impressionist exhibit at the Philips Collection in DC, focused on Impressionist Still Lifes, I enjoyed it. Later that evening we attended an interesting discussion to on "The Media and the Military" at the Newseum. It was originally to be hosted by Pete Williams of NBC News, but with everything that's been going on in Washington he was unable to be there. It was still an interesting discussion that featured the Commandant of the Marine Corps General James L. Jones, a reporter from the Associated Press, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Rear Admiral Craig R. Quigley, and Peter Arnett formerly of CNN. I have to admit Rear Admiral Quigley and Mr. Arnett provided much interesting conversation over how far the military should go in providing sensitive information. I'd like to tell you more, but if I did I'd have to... Well, you get the idea. Just kidding. It was pretty interesting, however.
On the following Sunday after our guest had left we went to the National Gallery to see an exhibit of sculpture by Henry Moore. It was quite impressive even if I didn't understand some of it. Later that evening we attended a free concert at the Gallery featuring George Shearing, a well-known jazz pianist.
On Wednesday, the 24th, I visited the Sackler Gallery to see an exhibit by an artist named Xu Bing, who I had never heard of before. It was probably one of the coolest exhibits I've seen. He does all this wierd stuff with words and symbols. And it's one of the few exhibits I've seen where you actually get to do something, at the end you can practice a special type of calligraphy that the artist invented using ink and paper, and even take-home a free practice kit. The exhibit was called "Word Play" and that basically describes it. I definitely recommend checking out the WebSite, to see for yourself.
I have no reason for waiting an extra week, I was just busy doing other stuff.
On Saturday, September 29 we visited Washington National Cathedral. They were having an open house that day. It's very Gothic looking, almost ancient looking, but was actually only completed less than a decade ago. I have to say it's pretty amazing.
We went to the National Gallery Wednesday, October 3rd to see an exhibit related to a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The exhibit, "Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women" was very interesting and I always like visiting the National Gallery anyway. Security was definitely increased though, you used to be able to simply walk in see what you what and leave, now they do a bag search and will not allow cell phones or sharp objects inside the Museum. I applaud the cell phone idea, I can't stand them.
The next day we went back to the city, because we had to pick up a handicapped parking permit specifically for DC, because all of a sudden they do not allow the same rules for out-of-state handicapped parking permits. Which is really stupid. I mean this is the nation's capital after all. Parking rules in this area are ridiculous.
After getting the permit, which honestly only took five minutes to get, we went to the Library of Congress, which I hadn't visited yet. The place is amazing, I would recommended it to anyone for a visit. While there we saw Japanese prints from the 1600s to the 1900s called Ukiyo-e, in an exhibit, "The Floating World of Ukiyo-e: Shadows, Dreams, and Substance." Apparently making these prints was both trendy and profitable, profit being something I can appreciate, trends I can do without. Cool stuff.
We also saw an exhibit on Buddhist cave paintings from China, similar to one's recently destroyed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The exhibit, "The Cave as Canvas: Hidden Images of Worship along the Silk Road" was interesting and I was amazed how well all the stone paintings held together over the years. It was at the Sackler Gallery of the Asian Art Museum on the mall.
This past Friday I went to the National Gallery again to see another exhibit about a Dutch artist named Aelbert Cuyp. Some of the drawings and paintings on display were pretty amazing, one even belonged to Queen Elizabeth II. To view some of the paintings click here. After spending over an hour looking at this exhibit we headed across the mall to the Hirshorn Museum (modern Art) to check out what was on display there. We tried to get as much in as possible while the weather is still nice.
Two movies I've check out lately are "Along Came a Spider," which was actually pretty good and "Bridget Jones' Diary," a chick-flik but it was surprisingly funny. Not much in terms of good movies lately.
This week we're going to a presentation at the Newseum, a discussion on the media and War, hosted by Pete Williams of NBC News. It should be interesting especially considering what's going on right now. After attending I may add an early Update here.
