Shutdown

In anticipation of the government shutdown tonight at midnight, they've already gone and drained the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Hopefully they'll reach an agreement on the budget and be able to refill it. I guess if midnight comes and goes without a budget, they'll retract the Washington Monument into the ground and lower the garage doors between the columns on the Lincoln Memorial so no one will be able to look at them. Unfortunately, with the limited walking around DC I was able to do yesterday after arriving, it looks like they've already had to remove most of the cherry blossoms from the trees, as well as most of the green leaves. Now that's a tight budget!

(Problems still persist with Blogger not talking to Picasa.  Pictures may not display properly.  If they appear cut off, try clicking on them to see the full picture.  Google claims to be working on the issue.)

The Pentagon Pictures

OK, long story short. I'm in DC for the weekend. My first stop after getting off the plane at Reagan National was two stops up the blue line at the Pentagon. I went to the 9/11 memorial on the far side of the building. I shot some pictures of the benches that make up the memorial, then I started taking some shots of the block on the side of the Pentagon itself that is engraved September 11, 2001. After only ten or so pictures, a policeman wanders over and tells me I can't take pictures of the Pentagon and demands that I delete all my pictures. After a few half-hearted arguements, I comply.


But as I sulk away, I think to myself, those pictures aren't really deleted, they're just marked as deleted. So I pop out that chip and put in another one to shoot in any direction but the building. When I got back to my friends house tonight, I downloaded some recovery software, and viola! There are the deleted pictures. And here are three of the pictures that the Pentagon police didn't want you to see. Threat to National security? Hardly. Just some shots of a charred piece of sandstone through a pentagonal hole in an iron fence. Enjoy!

5 & 6

I went to the big airshow in Lakeland this weekend, Sun-N-Fun, second largest in America, and maybe the world. Five different visits over three days may be a bit too much for any one human, but I did it. I'll post pictures as I get time, but this shot of the Blue Angels in a perfectly angled dirty pass may be my favorite of all that I took. Enjoy!

Hmmm, the picture isn't showing up.  Stupid Picassa/Blogger issues again.  I think I've got it posted via another link, but let me know if you can't see the picture.