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Friday, 23 April 04
Another early morning. 1st stop, getting my ticket for the capitol tour. I reached the booth at about 10ish, and grabbed my ticket for a 12:15 tour, giving me some time to kill. Since I did not get as good of a look as I would have liked of the Supreme Court yesterday, I headed there. Another horribly long line, this time consisting of what appeared to be yuppie high school young republican seniors club... ick... 60 year olds in the body of 20 year olds, in all the worst ways, yet still spoiled young rich brats, in all the worst ways. Combine that with a hot sun and VERY sore and worn feet (with my feet being this sore already, I could tell that it was going to be a long day...)
AT
THE HALL OF JUSTICE!!!!!!!
Making it into the main hallyway- a pillared room line with busts of past cheif justices, the tour line began there (yay... ANOTHER line to wait in...). Which was actualy more of a hold-hand routing to the basement museum. Mostly dedicated to John Marsall, the greatest of all chief justices, who was responsible for establishing the supreme court as the ultimate authority in the US, as well as the defenders of the Constitution (as well as the namesame of my middle school). There was also an exhibit on the building of the Supreme Courthouse. Surprisingly, most of DC's most recognizable buildings are in fact reletively new... The Washington Monument and the Capitol dome in the 1870s, the library of congress in the 1880s, the lincoln memorial and the reflecting pool in the 1910s, the supreme courthouse in the 1930s, the jefferson memorial and the ernnovated white house in the 1940s, etc. Prior to the new courthouse, the supreme court used to be held in the basement of the capitol... how ghetto is that?
I really wanted to stop by the library of congress again to try and get a tour to go through the main chamber and get a library card, but the capitol tour was approaching, and I most definitly did not want to miss out on that. While waiting for the tour to begin, a couple of bicycle cops approached- one started a typical and pleasant conversation about the who, what, where, and why of my visit. The 2nd cop then asked if I was here for the IMF summit. Not knowing what the IMF was, I asked, and he replied it was the world bank protest. Ick. Normal protestors are bad enough, but those protesting the world bank- uneducated hippies, small creatures with small minds, attacking something to big for them to understand. I told them no, and they abruptly left. Rude, presumptive, and stereotypicaly good cop/bad cop. Of course, they have a job to do, but at least they could have found a more polite way of going about it...
There were somewhere around 4 stations before entering the capitol. The first were for the tour gathering. The second, for the security briefing. The third, for the metal detectors and another lecture, the fourth on the front porch, waiting for the tour guide. The Main Hall/Rotunda was filled with beautifuly gorgeous paintings, as well as the ceiling- painted as if it were heaven itself, and just as high into the sky. Next, was the old senate chambers, now the statue gallery. One of the most impressive sights I have ever visited. The room was so acousticly perfect, that a person on one end could whisper, and on the other end, it could be heard clearly on the other end... lol I even gave it a try... it works! Each state had two statues to represent them... In case you are wondering, Kansas' were of Einsenhower (ick) and Ingalls. You would think that they would all be american heroes, but with people represented such as William Jennings Bryan (enemy of science, progress, and evolution), John C. Calhoun (father of sucessionism), and Jefferson Davis (the 1st president of the southern Confederate States of America and traitor to the USA). Appearantly, those dixie states just cant let anything go....
Then, down the stairs to the crypt where the main exhibits were, and then, thats it. Tour was over. WTF?!?!? THATS IT!??!? Appearantly, with all the post WTC BS, in order to get the full tour, one needed a written permission slip from their congressman. Blah. "Hey Mr. Brownback! Yeah Im talking to you shithead! Gimme a Pass!" I guess that congress wouldnt want the public to see how bad they are screwing us over, let alone letting any dissenters in... Congress was out for the weekend, so no celebrities for me *sigh*...
With that done, it was off to the pentagon
Another early morning. 1st stop, getting my ticket for the capitol tour. I reached the booth at about 10ish, and grabbed my ticket for a 12:15 tour, giving me some time to kill. Since I did not get as good of a look as I would have liked of the Supreme Court yesterday, I headed there. Another horribly long line, this time consisting of what appeared to be yuppie high school young republican seniors club... ick... 60 year olds in the body of 20 year olds, in all the worst ways, yet still spoiled young rich brats, in all the worst ways. Combine that with a hot sun and VERY sore and worn feet (with my feet being this sore already, I could tell that it was going to be a long day...)
AT
THE HALL OF JUSTICE!!!!!!!
Making it into the main hallyway- a pillared room line with busts of past cheif justices, the tour line began there (yay... ANOTHER line to wait in...). Which was actualy more of a hold-hand routing to the basement museum. Mostly dedicated to John Marsall, the greatest of all chief justices, who was responsible for establishing the supreme court as the ultimate authority in the US, as well as the defenders of the Constitution (as well as the namesame of my middle school). There was also an exhibit on the building of the Supreme Courthouse. Surprisingly, most of DC's most recognizable buildings are in fact reletively new... The Washington Monument and the Capitol dome in the 1870s, the library of congress in the 1880s, the lincoln memorial and the reflecting pool in the 1910s, the supreme courthouse in the 1930s, the jefferson memorial and the ernnovated white house in the 1940s, etc. Prior to the new courthouse, the supreme court used to be held in the basement of the capitol... how ghetto is that?
I really wanted to stop by the library of congress again to try and get a tour to go through the main chamber and get a library card, but the capitol tour was approaching, and I most definitly did not want to miss out on that. While waiting for the tour to begin, a couple of bicycle cops approached- one started a typical and pleasant conversation about the who, what, where, and why of my visit. The 2nd cop then asked if I was here for the IMF summit. Not knowing what the IMF was, I asked, and he replied it was the world bank protest. Ick. Normal protestors are bad enough, but those protesting the world bank- uneducated hippies, small creatures with small minds, attacking something to big for them to understand. I told them no, and they abruptly left. Rude, presumptive, and stereotypicaly good cop/bad cop. Of course, they have a job to do, but at least they could have found a more polite way of going about it...
There were somewhere around 4 stations before entering the capitol. The first were for the tour gathering. The second, for the security briefing. The third, for the metal detectors and another lecture, the fourth on the front porch, waiting for the tour guide. The Main Hall/Rotunda was filled with beautifuly gorgeous paintings, as well as the ceiling- painted as if it were heaven itself, and just as high into the sky. Next, was the old senate chambers, now the statue gallery. One of the most impressive sights I have ever visited. The room was so acousticly perfect, that a person on one end could whisper, and on the other end, it could be heard clearly on the other end... lol I even gave it a try... it works! Each state had two statues to represent them... In case you are wondering, Kansas' were of Einsenhower (ick) and Ingalls. You would think that they would all be american heroes, but with people represented such as William Jennings Bryan (enemy of science, progress, and evolution), John C. Calhoun (father of sucessionism), and Jefferson Davis (the 1st president of the southern Confederate States of America and traitor to the USA). Appearantly, those dixie states just cant let anything go....
Then, down the stairs to the crypt where the main exhibits were, and then, thats it. Tour was over. WTF?!?!? THATS IT!??!? Appearantly, with all the post WTC BS, in order to get the full tour, one needed a written permission slip from their congressman. Blah. "Hey Mr. Brownback! Yeah Im talking to you shithead! Gimme a Pass!" I guess that congress wouldnt want the public to see how bad they are screwing us over, let alone letting any dissenters in... Congress was out for the weekend, so no celebrities for me *sigh*...
With that done, it was off to the pentagon