Smithsonian Reynolds Center Reopening

2006-07-04.

It was definitely a Smithsonian weekend, spent almost exclusively at the newly reopened Reynolds Center (or Old Patent Office Building, as Washingtonians still prefer to call it). The museums are pure high-density art, three floors crammed with collections of all sorts, portraits and landscapes and genre paintings and sculptures and furniture and other works spanning all eras of American history. It took us a full museum day just to cover the better part of the “American Origins” collection and the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition (with a lunch break at La Tasca for paella and embutido), then another day to cover the second floor American Art galleries and Presidential portraits. We’re still recovering from museum fatigue right now.

Opening Day had some fun stuff going on: newsboys in early 20th Century style garb around the block, yelling “EXTRA, ETXTRA!” while giving out museum opening pamphlets, a live American Gothic tableau overlooking the F Street entrance, free ice cream and popsicles at the G Street entrance, barbershop quartets, George and Martha Washington, and Charlie Chaplin. Amy and I even ran into Marilyn Monroe in the Great Hall, asking us if we had seen her Warhol portrait yet. I told her I had, and I had also enjoyed her 1953 calendar pinups. (The look I got in response didn’t exactly say “seven year itch.”)

Not all of the building is open yet; the central courtyard is still in progress, filled with a thick, intricate scaffolding which could itself be considered a veritable work of industrial art:

This is a museum worth coming back to again and again; there’s tons to see and learn, and each collection is worth hours of poring over. The Old Patent Office Building is right by Gallery Place/Chinatown on the Red Line. Within the building, the lines between National Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art can be kind of blurred, especially on the second floor, so be ready to wander.

More photos from opening weekend here. Also see Eye Level (the Smithsonian’s official American Art Museum weblog), DCist, ReadExpress, and the WaPo museum page.

Fourth of July 2006 Long Weekend in DC

2006-07-01.

It’s the pre-Fourth of July long weekend (although I still need to go to work a bit on Monday), and DC is buzzing with things to do, beyond the standard museums and memorials and fireworks.

The Smithsonian’s new Reynolds Center (formerly the Old Patent Office Building), home to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, reopens today after years of renovation work. Amy and I are on our way to the ribbon-cutting right now. Free ice cream!
The 2006 Folklife Festival is open on the National Mall, featuring Alberta and native basketry.
Superman Returns is out, and there’s no better way to watch it than in IMAX 3-frickin’-D at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. (The catch is that you need to drive there, because the shuttle bus schedule doesn’t accomodate the Superman showtimes: the first showing of the day ends just as the last shuttle is leaving to go back to the Mall.)
On the Fourth itself, the Independence Day parade starts 11:45 AM at Constitution Ave and 7th Street, which is right by the Archives.
The evening fireworks start just after 9pm; DC Pages has a map of prime fireworks viewing areas. Amy and I are going to try for the Capitol, since it’s closest to home.

What are you up to in your neighborhood for this 4th of July weekend? (Remember, Philippines, this is our “real” Independence Day, too.)

Update: Fireworks photos here.

Green Blueberry

2006-06-29.

It’s a green blueberry! That means it’s not ripe yet. Should I eat it?

Fallen Elm Cleaned Up

2006-06-29.

Passed by the White House while today. The fallen elm has been cleaned up, and the area taped off; I guess they’ll be putting a new tree in soon. Lots of Japanese people about, carrying little American and Japanese flags; turns out Koizumi is here, his last visit to DC as Prime Minister.

Two Weddings Last Weekend

2006-06-28.

Congratulations to two newlywed couples last weekend: Gordon and Kathie from First Baptist DC, and SadEyedArtist and Lhynard, whom I knew from my Baltimore days. To both couples, I wish an eternity of happiness. Here are a couple of photos of Gordon and Kathie just after tying the knot.

(Don’t let the wheelchair fool you, by the way; Gordon is fully independent, and a great guy to be around. He’s a deacon at our church, and a stand-up comedian to boot. He said his vows by himself, without the speech computer.)

Executive Elm Collapses (Bushes still intact)

2006-06-26.

Pull out a US $20 bill. Take a look at the picture of the White House. See that tree peeking in from the right, the 140 year old elm that’s been there since Andrew Johnson? Well, it’s gone. Yup. Fallen over, thanks to the soaker summer storms which have been hammering the Mid-Atlantic in recent days. Cleanup has started, but no word on whether the $20 bill will be needing another update.

[crossposted to Metafilter]

(bushelmatwhitehouse uploaded by biodieselnow)

(Also on Express.)

DC Thunderstorms

2006-06-26.

WaPo: Rain Wreaks Havoc. Low-lying areas of the DC region have been flooded by strong, soaking thunderstorms, and the rain is still going. CapitalWeather reports on flash flood warnings all over the place, and ReadExpress has a surreal photo of a flooded intersection right by the base of the Washington Monument hill. I’m glad I’m not doing that whole DC/Baltimore trip anymore — think of the poor suburbanites who must negotiate Beltway mudslides and other commuting horrors tonight.

I’m already wondering if the escalators in the unsheltered Dupont Circle Bowl are still running. Maybe I should head straight for the south entrance, which has a canopy to protect its escalators.

(It’s just like monsoon season in Manila! I can almost hear Amado Pineda talking about the Intertropical Convergence Zone. “Dat’s da lehtest … prom PAGASA.”)

Parakeet Closeups

2006-06-26.

Birdsitting the neighbor’s parakeet again. He’s such an incredibly affectionate and intelligent bird.

Freezer Broken

2006-06-26.

(Freezer Broken, uploaded by brownpau.)

Friends, this is the freezer box of a compact Kenmore refrigerator from Sears. See the raised labyrinth-like pipes lining the platform? That’s a refrigerant coil. It contains freon (or some other non-ozone-depleting refrigerant substance for newer units). The coil is made of very thin and fragile aluminum. This is why technicians very wisely advise against defrosting freezers with knives or ice picks.

You see, sometimes you’re being very careful to stab at only the ice and not the refrigerant line, but ice is very unpredictable stuff, and sometimes the knife can glance off and hit the coil. The tiniest nick will puncture the coil and release refrigerant with an ominous hiss of freezing vapor. The gas itself is inert and odorless, completely harmless to you as long as your domicile is properly ventilated — although if it’s freon, it depletes ozone in the atmosphere, so it is harmful to the environment. Without that substance, your refrigerator and freezer will not work.

These days, the process of repairing the nick and refilling the refrigerant is usually more expensive than just throwing out the whole thing and getting a new unit, especially in the case of a compact like this one.

So don’t use an ice pick or a knife to defrost the freezer. Instead, turn it off, unplug it, and let the ice melt, making certain to drain the drip drawer when it gets full. If you want to speed up the thaw, boil water in a shallow pan and leave the pan on top of the ice. But don’t be impatient and resort to sharp things.

This lesson brought to you by the Brownpau School of Hard Knocks. And Sharp Things.

Buds and Blossoms

2006-06-25.

Is it flowering season? All of a sudden, every single one of my houseplants has put out buds or blossoms. Here’s the african violet, basil, and coleus respectively.

(Okay, I’m cheating a bit with the coleus; that’s actually a photo from its ancestor in 2004. I forgot to get a photo of the current flowers before pruning them to encourage growth. You generally want to prune flowers off basil, too, since they also stop plant growth, and make the leaves bitter.)

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