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dustinprewittWednsday, 21 April 04
Knowing that I had my afternoon cut out for me, I set an early head-out time for the city, leaving at about 9,10 or so. After all, this is my vacation! I cant waste it sleeping/resting/relaxing!
After the experience I had with parking at the west falls church metro, I decided to try my luck instead at its eastern counterpart. Finding a parking spot was easy... almost TOO easy... finding pleanty of convient and non-metered spots was suspicious- was this reserved parking? Loading only? I didnt see any yellow paint, visible markings, or clear indicators of parking restriction. So when in roam...
1st stop was back at the Smithsonion Museum of Natural History, to finish up what I left off from yesterday- on origins of western culture. While the exhibit did have its high points, such as authentic myconian/helenistic greek pottery, interesting documentaries, and a genuine mummified cow, the exhibit stopped abruptly with the height of the Pax Romona. Personaly, I would have been more interested in seeing exhibits from the interim period between the fall of the romans and the high medieval period (i.e. Frankish Conquest of Europe, Charlemange's Empire, and the rise of the Catholic Church from a religious institution to its place as the indirect emperors of medieval Europe). But on a personal note, I was warmly satisfied that dates were labeled BCE as opposed to BC. Perhaps there is hope for the future...
On my way out, they had on display the pale, gelatenous, bloated, blobed carcass of a giant squid. Yup, those mysterious creatures of the deep ocean and cheesy sci-fi. As opposed to their smaller cousins, what I find so interesting about these creatures is that no one has ever seen, let alone captured, a live speciman. All we have to proove their exhistance is the forensic evidence on their escaped prey, and their disgusting, near-shapeless corpses. Despite how cynical I can be, I am still awed by the mysteries of the sciences, and comforted that there is still undiscovered realms of knowledge on the planet, stones still waiting to be unturned, territory still waiting to be explored!
Also to note was the display of the hope diamond, said to be cursed, and being the largest diamond in the known world. While the history and travels of the diamond were interesting, the diamond its self I wasnt too entirely impressed with. Then again, Ive never been very interested in geology. I passed through the rest of the gem collection.
The museum also had a special exhibit on the history of baseball, america's pastime. Relics, such as Andrew Doubleday's alleged baseball, Jackie Robinson's uniform, the bat of the Babe, Ty Cobb's songbook, etc. (Too bad they didnt have the gun that Ty Cobb pistol-whipped a heckler to death with after accusing his mother of "sleeping with niggers"). Not that I was ever a fan of baseball, but I was still impressed by the display of relics. The fact is that baseball is a religion of sorts in america- Just as better, seldom worse, than that of america's other religious institutions, complete with its own churches, rituals, relics, saints, and devlis. Sure, baseball is not everyones cup of tea, and being an american citizen does not mean that you are obliged to love the game, but baseball is nevertheless as deserving of respect as any other classic institution.
Next to the American History Museum. As from the previous days, I became will aquanted with another old time institution... Ive grown to hate kids on class field trips. Kids, with no respect for history, running around screaming. The layman chaperones chasing after them, being just as loud. Kids crowding everywhere, getting in the way of photo-ops, or interupting an observation, lecture, etc... Blah... no quiet, but eventualy one gets used to the habit of tuning them out...
Among the displays at the museum, there was the standard left-winger guilt-trip tribute to minority cultures in america exhibits, and the original star-spangeled banner; the flag of Ft. McHenry. A true american relic. On display in what one would call the intensive care ward of the museum. Tayyared, worn, carrying all of its battle scars of the battle, the patching, and its age. And the size of the flag, large enough to cover the floor of an average family den. A metaphor for America, one would think: No matter how large, dirty, tattered, soiled, spread thin it is, it is still deserving of dignity and respect, worthy of preserving at all costs, and still a thing of awe...
The main focus of the museum this season was an exhibition of presidental 1st ladies, the presidents themselves, and a sadly small pop culture gallery featuring Spok's phaser, Doroty's red slippers, Prince's guitar, Mr. Roger's sweater, Archie Bunker's chair, etc. There was also a beautiful full scale recreation of the white house dining and reception gallery, and an interesting walk through the evolution of information technologies. I began to walk through the transportation exhibits when my camera began to malfunction. Apparantly, fuji film just cant load properly. Blah. But I suppose one must go with what they have available to work with... So anyway, I headed out, stopping on the way for more film.
(next- Malls, Monuments, and Memorials)
Knowing that I had my afternoon cut out for me, I set an early head-out time for the city, leaving at about 9,10 or so. After all, this is my vacation! I cant waste it sleeping/resting/relaxing!
After the experience I had with parking at the west falls church metro, I decided to try my luck instead at its eastern counterpart. Finding a parking spot was easy... almost TOO easy... finding pleanty of convient and non-metered spots was suspicious- was this reserved parking? Loading only? I didnt see any yellow paint, visible markings, or clear indicators of parking restriction. So when in roam...
1st stop was back at the Smithsonion Museum of Natural History, to finish up what I left off from yesterday- on origins of western culture. While the exhibit did have its high points, such as authentic myconian/helenistic greek pottery, interesting documentaries, and a genuine mummified cow, the exhibit stopped abruptly with the height of the Pax Romona. Personaly, I would have been more interested in seeing exhibits from the interim period between the fall of the romans and the high medieval period (i.e. Frankish Conquest of Europe, Charlemange's Empire, and the rise of the Catholic Church from a religious institution to its place as the indirect emperors of medieval Europe). But on a personal note, I was warmly satisfied that dates were labeled BCE as opposed to BC. Perhaps there is hope for the future...
On my way out, they had on display the pale, gelatenous, bloated, blobed carcass of a giant squid. Yup, those mysterious creatures of the deep ocean and cheesy sci-fi. As opposed to their smaller cousins, what I find so interesting about these creatures is that no one has ever seen, let alone captured, a live speciman. All we have to proove their exhistance is the forensic evidence on their escaped prey, and their disgusting, near-shapeless corpses. Despite how cynical I can be, I am still awed by the mysteries of the sciences, and comforted that there is still undiscovered realms of knowledge on the planet, stones still waiting to be unturned, territory still waiting to be explored!
Also to note was the display of the hope diamond, said to be cursed, and being the largest diamond in the known world. While the history and travels of the diamond were interesting, the diamond its self I wasnt too entirely impressed with. Then again, Ive never been very interested in geology. I passed through the rest of the gem collection.
The museum also had a special exhibit on the history of baseball, america's pastime. Relics, such as Andrew Doubleday's alleged baseball, Jackie Robinson's uniform, the bat of the Babe, Ty Cobb's songbook, etc. (Too bad they didnt have the gun that Ty Cobb pistol-whipped a heckler to death with after accusing his mother of "sleeping with niggers"). Not that I was ever a fan of baseball, but I was still impressed by the display of relics. The fact is that baseball is a religion of sorts in america- Just as better, seldom worse, than that of america's other religious institutions, complete with its own churches, rituals, relics, saints, and devlis. Sure, baseball is not everyones cup of tea, and being an american citizen does not mean that you are obliged to love the game, but baseball is nevertheless as deserving of respect as any other classic institution.
Next to the American History Museum. As from the previous days, I became will aquanted with another old time institution... Ive grown to hate kids on class field trips. Kids, with no respect for history, running around screaming. The layman chaperones chasing after them, being just as loud. Kids crowding everywhere, getting in the way of photo-ops, or interupting an observation, lecture, etc... Blah... no quiet, but eventualy one gets used to the habit of tuning them out...
Among the displays at the museum, there was the standard left-winger guilt-trip tribute to minority cultures in america exhibits, and the original star-spangeled banner; the flag of Ft. McHenry. A true american relic. On display in what one would call the intensive care ward of the museum. Tayyared, worn, carrying all of its battle scars of the battle, the patching, and its age. And the size of the flag, large enough to cover the floor of an average family den. A metaphor for America, one would think: No matter how large, dirty, tattered, soiled, spread thin it is, it is still deserving of dignity and respect, worthy of preserving at all costs, and still a thing of awe...
The main focus of the museum this season was an exhibition of presidental 1st ladies, the presidents themselves, and a sadly small pop culture gallery featuring Spok's phaser, Doroty's red slippers, Prince's guitar, Mr. Roger's sweater, Archie Bunker's chair, etc. There was also a beautiful full scale recreation of the white house dining and reception gallery, and an interesting walk through the evolution of information technologies. I began to walk through the transportation exhibits when my camera began to malfunction. Apparantly, fuji film just cant load properly. Blah. But I suppose one must go with what they have available to work with... So anyway, I headed out, stopping on the way for more film.
(next- Malls, Monuments, and Memorials)
no subject
A mummified cow...
I'm blown away.