Capitol Steps

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Capitol Steps. The Capitol Steps is a group of actors/comedians (who are also Congressional staffers) who sing/perform skits that make fun of all of the big name DC politicians. Aunt Julie and Uncle Bruce came up for a conference, and the Capitol Steps were part of the entertainment for the conference. Aunt Julie and Uncle Bruce snuck me in (Thanks again guys!) and I'm glad they did. The Steps were hilarious. A must see for anyone familiar with U.S. national politics. My favorite line came from the guy playing George Bush. Without missing a beat the guy says "Uncertain times call for uncertain leadership." Here's to our next President being a little more certain. Although its kind of ironic that the ol' "Decider" himself comes across as such an uncertain leader. But hey at least he doesn't look like Frankenstein, he just has his brain. For those of you who don't know, I'm a Republican just not a Bush fan.

Shear Madness at the Kennedy Center

No there was no riot and I didn't commit a spelling error. "Shear Madness" is actually the name of a play we went to see at D.C.'s Kennedy Center. The play was pretty good. I had actually seen it before (my Senior Year in H.S. to be exact), but it was almost as funny as the first time. This is because they change the jokes in the Play's script to reflect current events in the news and other Inside Edition type stuff. For those of you looking to see a show in DC or elsewhere (apparently Shear Madness is performed in other Metropolitan areas as well) Shear Madness is a good one for laughs. The Kennedy Center itself is pretty neat too. It overlooks the Potomac and at night the view is pretty spectacular. Here's a picture of my friend Haley and I outside of the Kennedy Center and I may be wrong, but I believe that's the Watergate building over my left shoulder.

Thanks

Before I go any further, I should stop and thank my Uncle Mike for putting the word on the street or in his case an e-mail about my blog. And I would also like to thank all of you for reading. Comments are welcome and a courtesy "Go Pack" or "Go State" will score you extra points.

Monument Presentation

For one of our class assignments, each one of us were supposed to go out in the city and find a monument or memorial and tell the class a little bit about it. I discovered my monument by pure accident. I was wandering around the Mall by myself one day when I noticed a small monument in a grove of trees on one side of the mall. As you can see from the picture, it looks like the "Old Well" at Carolina except not as wussy. And yes that was a shot. We're coming for you next year Carowhina. Ok now back to the topic at hand. A little information about the monument:

Name of the Monument: DC World War I Memorial

Location: In West Potomac Park on the National Mall

It’s roughly bounded by the Capitol grounds on the East, Independence Avenue on the south, 15th Street on the West, and Constitution Avenue on the North.

Who was behind the movement to build this particular monument: Citizens of Washington DC, lead by Frank Noyes and the Noyes family.

Intent: The monument is intended to memorialize Washington DC’s citizens (alive and dead) who served their country during World War I.

It may be hard to tell from the picture, but the Monument is in pretty bad shape. This is because nobody has restored it for several decades. The cause: surprise, suprise, government bureaucracy. Both the local and federal governments claim the other is responsible for its upkeep. Wouldn't it be nice if they both wanted to help with the upkeep? I know, I know that's just the way things are and there's nothing I can do about it. I mean "I'm just a Bill up on Capitol Hill." Haha.

Library of Congress

We went to the Library of Congress today. Nothing of interest to report, with the exception that I got to see one of the original Guttenberg Bibles. Oh yeah, and I have a Library of Congress Library Card. Now if I could only find the time or will to use the thing.

School Work Alert, Casual reader beware: Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder Reading and accompanying field trip

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, by Lawrence Weschler, takes a very unorthodox look at museums. The museum the author focuses on, "The Museum of Jurassic Technology", is a hodge podge of exhibits who's only common trait is the ability to inspire wonder among the museum's patrons. The book's focus on the exhibits' ability to invoke curiosity and wonder among the museum's patrons is an uncommon approach to museums in general, but it did cause me to re-evaluate why something is in a museum in the first place. I always thought of a museum as a collection of interesting visuals of important things in a particular subject field, so the idea of a museum with exhibits selected solely for their wonder producing abilities seemed a little far-fetched. But then we went to the National Museum of Health and Medicine on the Walter Reed medical center campus, and I found out these museums do actually exist. I saw skeletons of humans with all forms of rare deformities and abnormalities as well as a variety of other medical maladies. While the exhibits all pertained to the area of health or medicine, it's apparent that they were chosen for display for their head and in some cases stomach turning abilities. If you're tired of the same old mundane exhibits at today's conventional museums, I suggest you check out the National Museum of Health and Medicine. If nothing else you'll pass by the run-down outpatient building that led to the Secretary of the Army getting the boot.

Langston Hughes's The Ways of White Folks

This was another book I read for class up here. An excerpt taken from the paper I wrote pretty much sums up my thoughts about the book. "Langston Hughes uses his gift for story-telling to call attention to the injustices that he and other blacks suffered at the hands of whites during the Jim Crow era. The mere fact that Hughes, who is black and thus is supposed to be an inferior writer, is capable of writing such riveting and motivating stories helps disprove the myth that blacks are somehow less talented due to some inherent flaw stemming from their color. His book and others like it went a long way in showcasing the intellectual ability held by blacks, and in so doing, it helped in the eventual demise of the Jim Crow."