Enterprise

I can now add the space shuttle Enterprise to the list of shuttles I've seen. Though it never went to space, this is still considered the first space shuttle. Enterprise was used as a proof-of-concept vehicle. They dropped it at altitude and let astronauts pilot it in to be sure that such an unwieldy and unpowered beast could actually land as designed. It must have worked, because we're still flying space shuttles over thirty years later.

I saw this bird at the Air And Space Museum built by The Smithsonian near Dulles International Airport in Virginia. You hop on a shuttle bus after you've checked your bags (the shuttle costs $0.50 each way, by the way), and instead of wasting time in the terminal you get to see some impressive aircraft. Only problem is that my airline wouldn't let me check my bags more than four hours prior to the flight, and the shuttle only runs every 45 minutes. So the scheduling can be a little tricky. But it's worth the trip.

I think there are pictures out there of the original cast of Star Trek posing with this shuttle after they named it Enterprise. While I was at the museum, they were playing the new Star Trek movie on the Imax screen. Wish I'd had time to see it there.

Stay tuned for pictures of some of the other aircraft at this museum, including a Concord, an SR-71 Blackbird, and the Enola Gay!

Dig The Vodkanauts

Went to a music fest last Saturday, and nearly got rained out. But the rain finally let up and most of the acts went off without a hitch. You might remember some of my posts from Tropical Heatwave last year, and that's the show I went to this year. Unfortunately, I didn't like most of the bands they had this year. There was one good rockabilly group, but I couldn't get close enough to the stage to get any decent pictures. However, I lucked out when I decided to come inside and check out the oddly-named Vodkanauts. The bald guy above was belting out a swinging cover of Judas Priest's You Got Another Thing Comin', and I was hooked. These guys covered everything from Elvis to Prince, hitting the Stones and David Bowie along the way. Highlight for me was a Neil Diamond medley that had everyone in the ballroom jumping like they were playing House of Pain.

I love shooting live concerts, but I really don't have the equipment for it. I need a much faster lens, that is, one that let's in more light and lets you take shorter exposures. It's hard to capture the motion of spirited performers on stage if you have to shoot pictures that need half a second or more of exposure. But I think I got some good ones. The convert lighting was only marginal, and there were so many people in the room I couldn't get to the other half of the stage to shoot the other band members. But I got the lead singer and the guitarist. (I guess you can see the bassist and drummer in the background if you look close...)

Dig the model of the Sunshine Skyway bridge on the back wall of the stage. They had both parts back there, but only one was lit up for some reason.

Sometimes, a longer exposure works to your advantage. I don't think this shot would be as interesting if it were sharp. But most of the blurry ones are garbage. Anyhow, go see the Vodkanauts if they come to your town. They're local to the Tampa-St. Pete area, but you never know when they might branch out.

Speaking Of License Plates

Since I just mentioned license plates, let me show you a current DC plate. Note the tag line "Taxation Without Representation". Seems a little odd for an official item, eh? Well, I guess the citizens of DC are a little peeved that they pay taxes, but do not have a voting representative in Congress. I suppose they have a point there...

Coolest Artwork Ever

OK, so I think the coolest thing I saw at the National Portrait Gallery wasn't the collection of presidential portraits, or the 10x life-size picture of Angelina Jolie. It was this collection of license plates from all fifty states, plus the District of Columbia. And if you don't think it's that cool, then read it. This piece is called Preamble, and the artist is Mike Wilkins. Wish I'd thought of it.

No Colbert

First question I asked when I visited the National Portrait Gallery was if they still had that picture of Stephen Colbert hanging near the bathroom. The guard just laughed and said no, not anymore. I didn't dare ask which bathroom it had been hanging in, so I just shot one at random to show you the spot where Stephen's portrait may have hung. I got funny looks from a girl when she saw me taking a picture of the restroom alcove. She must not be a fan.

Money, Honey

From the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, here are pictures of the original paintings that grace some of the money in your pocket. The unfinished portrait of George Washington above is the one that forms the basis of the picture you see on the dollar bill. I'm not sure why it was never finished, but hanging near it is an unfinished portrait of Martha Washington as well. The picture of Abraham Lincoln below is the basis of the image found on the penny. Lincoln would have turned 200 this year, which would have been quite the feat.

Self Portrait-DC

Here's a picture of me, or at least my shadow, on the National Mall in front of the Capitol Building. I could do a whole series of these, showing my shadow in famous spots. Hmmmm, there's an idea...

9-11-01 The Pentagon

I found myself with a little extra time when I was in Washington DC recently, so I took the Metro out to the Pentagon. There's a memorial area on the opposite side of the building from the Metro station, but it's worth the walk. I'll show you more of the memorial some other time, but tonight I want to show you the spot on the building where the plane impacted on September 11, 2001. You can see the black marble rectangle above, inscribed with the date. That's all there is to mark the spot. Plain, simple, and straight to the point.

Normal tourists like me can't get past the fence, but at least it's close enough that you can see it over there. I can only imagine the lengths they had to go to in order to build a publicly accessible memorial right next to the Pentagon.

I don't know if anyone ever uses these three entrance doors. All the activity seemed to be on the side to the right of this one. It opened up onto a giant parking lot, and a tunnel under a road that led to the neighboring mall.

I was a little nervous about taking these pictures, since there was more than one sign posted that said no pictures. But none of them were in the immediate area of the memorial, so I just kept shooting and hoped for the best.

Moon Over Maryland

Before I forget to post it, here's a shot of the moon over Easton, Maryland, last Sunday morning, about 2:00 am. Looks pretty much the same as the moon here in Florida, I guess, but when I see it, I gotta shoot it.

Kite Flight

I had a very surprising encounter with a rare bird this afternoon. I was on my way to my parent's house when I saw a scissor-tailed kite fly by. That's an extremely rare occurrence, since I'd only seen one of these birds once before in the wild, and only twice before in captivity. Odder still, he flew by again. And again. And then once more. I was stuck behind a bus that seemed unable to turn at the stop sign ahead of us, so I took the hint, grabbed my camera, put on the big lens, and hopped out. Sure enough, this kite just kept right on circling. I got over a hundred shots, and these are some of the best.

Look at that beautiful forked tail! That's a dead giveaway that you're looking at a kite. Nothing else in the sky look like that, at least nothing this large.


A couple of times, a smaller bird tried to run the kite off, but to no avail. He just circled and circled, eventually heading off to points unknown. I wish I could see stuff like this every day.

Fake!

Take a good close look at this bell. Look familiar? Well, it's not the Liberty Bell, if that's what you're thinking. For one thing, this one is not cracked. Secondly, it's in Washington, DC, not Philadelphia. This reproduction is in front of Union Station, where I think you can actually ring it. (Or at least I think you can. I didn't try, but it looked there was some mechanism underneath that you could push to make it ring.) Just try that with the real Liberty Bell.

Ah, the power of the Internet. Taking a second to look this bell up, I discovered that it is twice the size of the real bell, and was cast by the same foundry as the original. This one was made for the Nation's Bicentennial celebration and traveled America on The Freedom Train. I remember seeing the Freedom Train in 1976 as a wee lad, but I don't remember what I saw on board the train. Perhaps this is the second time I've seen this bell.

First Of It's Kind

One of the gems of the Smithsonian's collection of everything is this, the very first airplane to make a controlled flight. The Wright brothers flew this very plane over the dunes at Kitty Hawk, NC, in 1903. Imagine that, the very airplane that made that flight 106 years ago. The wings were covered in new canvas some years ago in case you're wondering why it look so clean and shiny. And some sections of it were rebuilt by the Wright brothers after those historic flights that day, as there was apparently some damage to the plane at the end of the day. But this is still the plane.


One wing is 4 inches longer than the other, to compensate for the weight of the engine not being perfectly centered. It's amazing the things you learn.

On The Wall

I saw this on the wall of an ice cream shop in St. Michaels, MD. I'm not sure what to make of it. Come to think of it, we didn't get any ice cream. Well, we didn't pay for any ice cream. One girl got two free samples, and then we left. But I don't think that has anything to do with the shark eating a baby.

Something About Seaside Weddings

Same as at a beach wedding I went to last year, an osprey flew by in the middle of the ceremony at the wedding I attended Saturday night. So amid all the pictures I have of the couple saying their vows and what not, there are half a dozen shots of this osprey flying high overhead. Heaven forbid I ever get married anywhere near a body of water.

Oh Say Can You See

From the National Museum Of American History, this is the flag that was flying over Fort McHenry after a victory by America over the British in the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key saw it and was inspired to write The Star Spangled Banner. They've been restoring it for a while, and keep it in a very dark room. Tourists can view it, but photography is not allowed. Don't ask me how I got this photo, I'm not allowed to say. Notice the fifteen stripes. There are also 15 stars, but you can't really tell that in this picture.

We The People

OK, enough with the sculpture and the silly observations of Washington, DC for a moment. How about something serious? The National Archives maintains the official records of the United States of America. And in a large rotunda, under lights so dim I am amazed I was able to get pictures, in cases made of titanium and filled with inert argon, lie the documents that laid the groundwork for our country. Above is the Bill of Rights, containing the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

Above is the first page of the Constitution of the United States, with it's famous preamble beginning We The People.

And this is the top of The Declaration of Independence. Not a copy, but the original, the one with all the signatures at the bottom. The signatures are extremely faint and hard to see, with the exception of John Hancock. It was so dark in there that I didn't even try to get a picture of them. It was also pretty crowded, so I only got a few seconds to take a shot without a tourist in the way.

This is a view of the rotunda that contains the documents. To the left and right, outside the frame, are cases containing many more historic documents, arranged in chronological order, I believe. Note the two guard that are standing to either side of the Constitution.

Erased

I knew as soon as I saw this sculpture in the National Sculpture Garden that I'd seen something similar before. The piece is called Typewriter Eraser and it's by artists Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen. Compare this to their piece Free from Cleveland, and you'll see that they do not stray too far from their artist desk for inspiration.

Coincidence?

No lie, I spotted this black squirrel on the lawn of the White House! All the others I spotted on my trip were plain old gray, but there was this black one. Do you think it's a coincidence that we have a black president, and there are black squirrels running around on the White House grass? I don't know... And with those evil red eyes, too. Oh, wait, that's just an artifact from the flash. It was really dark, and I got rained on pretty badly about 10 minutes after I took this shot, thus ending my picture taking for the day.

Down Penn

While walking around (and around and around and around) DC, I was often surprised to come across famous views. You know, views of the city or of landmarks that are well-known, either through art, movies or TV. This time, I was walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, turned around, and there was the Capitol Building down at the end of the street. So I hopped up on a bench and took a few shots. I think this view shows up on the news all the time when they're talking about something the White House sent to Congress, and that's because the White House is behind me. Unfortunately, there are only a couple of spots on the ground from which you can actually see the White House, and this isn't one of them.

That Other Calder

Here's that black Calder stabile I mentioned earlier. This one is located outside of the National Gallery of Art-East Building, and those blocks in the background were evidently designed by I. M. Pei (but more on that later). I was unable to find the name of this piece, but it's got to be Alexander Calder. And something I missed during my trip was one of his mobiles inside this very building. That's what I get for not doing my research beforehand.

COPS

The DC police are a little strapped for cash, and have been for a long time. They're still using police vehicles from the sixties to patrol the streets of the District. I guess if something really bad happens, they'll let the FBI handle it.

Yet Another Pomodoro

I spotted my third sculpture by Pomodoro while in DC. This one was in Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, near the Hirshhorn Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution. I didn't walk down into the garden to get a closer look, or to find out the name of the piece, because once you've seen one Pomodoro sphere, you've pretty much seen them all. The other sphere I saw was in New York last Fall, and before that I saw one of his disks in Charlotte, NC. Searching online,. I believe this one is called Sphere No. 6.

Another Calder

Lookee, lookee, I found another sculpture by Alexander Calder. This one is called Red Horse (or Cheval Rouge), and it was in front of The National Archives in the National Sculpture Garden. Everything in Washington DC is National this or Official that. Nothing is plain or ordinary. I think I saw another sculpture by Calder on my trip, but I need to figure out where it was and get the name. It looked very similar to this one, only it was black. If I had to guess, I'd say it's gonna be called Black Horse, but we'll see.

Upon Arrival

First time in DC, I pop up out of the Smithsonian Station Metro Terminal.

I look to my left, I see the Washington Monument.

And to my right is the Capitol Building. How cool is that? OK, so maybe I had to walk a little ways onto the mall before I could see anything. But it wasn't far, honest.

Heavy Metal

One of the more surprising statues I saw in Washington DC was this sculpture of Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. I wasn't able to find monuments to Robert Plant, Jimmy Page or John Bonham, though. Jones must have a really strong lobby in Congress.

I guess this could also be the naval John Paul Jones, famous for his exploits at sea against the British during the Revolutionary War. Maybe...

I'm Back!!!

Well, I just flew back from Washington, DC, and boy, are my arms tired. Actually, all of me is tired. After the wedding and the reception Saturday, I spent almost two full days roaming about our nation's capitol, pointing my camera at all sorts of things. No, I did not see President Obama, but I did spot his picture at the National Portrait Gallery. I also saw The Declaration of Independence, the first airplane, the grave sites of John & Robert Kennedy, The White House, the place where Lincoln was shot, a space shuttle, the spot on the Pentagon where the plane hit on 9/11 and so many other things that I'll be posting them from now until Christmas in July. But nothing now, I'm going to bed for a few days. I need a vacation from my vacation.

Ah, Weddings

The wedding went off without a hitch last night. Sunny skies, light breeze, and plenty of lovin'.

Welcome To Hel

So, in case you were wondering, Hels Half Acre is located somewhere between Easton and Oxford, Maryland. Who knew?

Where In The World

So where did I jet off to today? A little town in Maryland called Oxford for a wedding, that's where. I thought it was a small affair, but it appears to have been announced on the billboard in front of the local firehouse. They didn't get top billing however, that's reserved for the upcoming company drill. And it's only on the one side. But the Alexes are the folks I came here to see get married. (They're both named Alex, I kid you not...) Now if this overcast would just clear so I could get some pictures...

On The Road Again

Well, here I sit in yet another airport, on my way to some new exotic destination. Well, maybe not exotic, but new. Add Tampa International Airport to the list of airports that are nice enough to provide free internet. That really helps to fill the time when you heeded the TSA's advice and arrived two hours early, only to breeze through security and find your self with 1 hour and 59 minutes to kill. Oh, well, at least I got to eat some breakfast. I'm not going to tell you where I'm headed, only that it's yet another wedding (the second this year), and it's likely to add three new states to my total. Well, two states and a District. Pictures soon...