One more sign that summer is indeed ending: the giant pumpkins have appeared in our office in anticipation of our annual carving contest.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Project365: Day 269 - Punkins
One more sign that summer is indeed ending: the giant pumpkins have appeared in our office in anticipation of our annual carving contest.
Project365: Day 267 - TCF (Twin Cities Fargodome)
The NDSU Bison drove south to Minneapolis on September 24 to teach the University of Minnesota Goofers how to play football.
Final score: Bison 37, Gophers 24
GO BISON!
Project365: Day 266 - The New Sabin Hall
The Renovation of Sabin Hall at the University of Northern Iowa is completed. I took this photo while at UNI for the building's re-dedication ceremony.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Project365: Day 265 - First Autumn Colors
I swear it was still summertime when I left for Washington DC. I come home and the leaves are already changing?!
Project365: Day 264 - Washington DC - Day 5
Day 5 in DC was my last day there. I had to head back to Des Moines for work, and Brittany was staying one more day to finish out the conference. Because she was working, I had my last day of the trip to myself to explore the city, find some virtual geocaches, and see some things that I had missed the first few days.
The Old Post Office Pavilion.
Smithsonian Castle in the morning fog.
The National Archives. I was in line right before opening time, which meant there was no waiting to go see our nation's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. As with all of the other sensitive preservation exhibits in DC, no photography was allowed in the Archives.
I made my way back to the WWII memorial for some photos and to find a virtual cache nearby.
After stopping at the WWII Memorial, it was almost time for me to get ready to leave DC so I began to head back to the hotel. On the way, I passed by the South Lawn of the White House for one last photo opportunity in DC.
The Old Post Office Pavilion.
Smithsonian Castle in the morning fog.
The National Archives. I was in line right before opening time, which meant there was no waiting to go see our nation's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. As with all of the other sensitive preservation exhibits in DC, no photography was allowed in the Archives.
I made my way back to the WWII memorial for some photos and to find a virtual cache nearby.
After stopping at the WWII Memorial, it was almost time for me to get ready to leave DC so I began to head back to the hotel. On the way, I passed by the South Lawn of the White House for one last photo opportunity in DC.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Project365: Day 263 - Washington DC - Day 4
The second very excellent tour that we were able to take, courtesy of Senator Charles Grassley's office, was our rainy morning tour of the White House. After stopping by a convenience store to buy a couple of umbrellas (not sure how we forget to pack them), we went to our designated entry point for our tour. Yet again, no cameras were permitted inside the White House premises.
Once cleared through two security checkpoints, our tour entered the White House through the lower level of the East Wing. The hallways and rooms were full of famous paintings, Presidential portraits, and some non-presidential portraits. Many of the presidents were painted posing with some relevant, important object--a copy of the constitution to demonstrate their commitment to upholding the law, a globe to symbolize their international policy strength. The most prominent non-presidential portrait on display is that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She, too, is posing with an object, though not one of any symbolic nature. In her portrait, her hand is resting on a copy of the book she wrote. Hanging in the same hallway as the previous portraits, it reads like a really terrible billboard advertisement. Interesting to note, however, was that her portrait was far more prominently displayed than her husband--the guy who was actually the President.
The most exciting part of the tour for me was that as we exited we passed through the front hall and right out the front door. I was tempted to step out and wave to the throng of tourists gathered a hundred yards away at the fence line as if I were someone they should be excited to see emerge from that doorway...
The Secret Service agent outside the front door let us know that we were permitted to use our cell phone cameras to take a photo now that we were outside the building. We asked one of the other ladies on our tour to snap a photo of us--right outside the door of the White House!
That evening, we returned to the Newseum once again. Though this time it was not to see the exhibits. Brittany's conference had scheduled a reception for all of their members at the Newseum for the evening.
One of the other conference attendees from Iowa was kind enough to use my camera and take a photo of Brittany and I on the Newseum's wonderful roof deck.
The view from up there is good during the daytime, but is nothing short of stunning late in the evening with the sun setting.
Once cleared through two security checkpoints, our tour entered the White House through the lower level of the East Wing. The hallways and rooms were full of famous paintings, Presidential portraits, and some non-presidential portraits. Many of the presidents were painted posing with some relevant, important object--a copy of the constitution to demonstrate their commitment to upholding the law, a globe to symbolize their international policy strength. The most prominent non-presidential portrait on display is that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She, too, is posing with an object, though not one of any symbolic nature. In her portrait, her hand is resting on a copy of the book she wrote. Hanging in the same hallway as the previous portraits, it reads like a really terrible billboard advertisement. Interesting to note, however, was that her portrait was far more prominently displayed than her husband--the guy who was actually the President.
The most exciting part of the tour for me was that as we exited we passed through the front hall and right out the front door. I was tempted to step out and wave to the throng of tourists gathered a hundred yards away at the fence line as if I were someone they should be excited to see emerge from that doorway...
The Secret Service agent outside the front door let us know that we were permitted to use our cell phone cameras to take a photo now that we were outside the building. We asked one of the other ladies on our tour to snap a photo of us--right outside the door of the White House!
That evening, we returned to the Newseum once again. Though this time it was not to see the exhibits. Brittany's conference had scheduled a reception for all of their members at the Newseum for the evening.
One of the other conference attendees from Iowa was kind enough to use my camera and take a photo of Brittany and I on the Newseum's wonderful roof deck.
The view from up there is good during the daytime, but is nothing short of stunning late in the evening with the sun setting.
Project365: Day 262 - Washington DC - Day 3
Brittany's office helped us contact the office of Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, who in turn was wonderfully helpful in arranging for Brittany and I to take two very excellent tours while in DC. The first of these tours was of the United States Capitol Building. Tours of the building are open to the general public, but when you arrange for a tour through your state legislators you get a much more personal (read: not in a group of 25 other tourists) tour led by one of their office interns.
Both houses of the legislature were in a lunch recess when we were on our tour, but we were still able to go see the House of Representatives chambers from the viewing gallery. Apparently the Senate gallery is only open to the public when the Senate is actually in session, but the House gallery is almost always open for viewing. Only members of the press are permitted to bring cell phones, cameras, and other media devices into the chambers so, sadly, I was not able to get any photos of the House gallery.
After our Capitol tour, we wanted to go see the Library of Congress as well. On our way we passed in front of the Supreme Court Building, designed by another of my favorite architects: Mr. Cass Gilbert. If you're a Minnesotan, he designed your State Capitol building as well.
The Library of Congress Jefferson Building was spectacular. Though, once again, the most impressive spaces (the actual library collection and the exhibit of Thomas Jefferson's personal library collection) do not permit photography. Nevertheless, I was able to make a few photographs of the amazing, ornate detail in the public lobby.
Continuing with the architectural theme of the day, we spent the afternoon at the National Building Museum. The building was impressive, the museum was not. Many of the exhibit spaces were "in transition" for new displays, so there was not a lot to see there. Except for this enormously awesome atrium.
After the Building Museum, we went back to the hotel and rested for a few hours before heading to dinner and our evening plans: the Monuments at night.
The strongest memories I have of visiting DC almost a decade ago were of visiting the monuments and memorials at the west end of the National Mall at night. Now seeing them again as an adult, I realized why those memories stayed with me. This time, however, I had a camera.
Vietnam War Memorial
Washington Monument, from the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Jefferson Monument
And for those of you, like Brittany, who think I don't take enough photos of people, here is a photo of Brittany and I on the steps of the Jefferson Monument at the end of our night tour.
Both houses of the legislature were in a lunch recess when we were on our tour, but we were still able to go see the House of Representatives chambers from the viewing gallery. Apparently the Senate gallery is only open to the public when the Senate is actually in session, but the House gallery is almost always open for viewing. Only members of the press are permitted to bring cell phones, cameras, and other media devices into the chambers so, sadly, I was not able to get any photos of the House gallery.
After our Capitol tour, we wanted to go see the Library of Congress as well. On our way we passed in front of the Supreme Court Building, designed by another of my favorite architects: Mr. Cass Gilbert. If you're a Minnesotan, he designed your State Capitol building as well.
The Library of Congress Jefferson Building was spectacular. Though, once again, the most impressive spaces (the actual library collection and the exhibit of Thomas Jefferson's personal library collection) do not permit photography. Nevertheless, I was able to make a few photographs of the amazing, ornate detail in the public lobby.
Continuing with the architectural theme of the day, we spent the afternoon at the National Building Museum. The building was impressive, the museum was not. Many of the exhibit spaces were "in transition" for new displays, so there was not a lot to see there. Except for this enormously awesome atrium.
After the Building Museum, we went back to the hotel and rested for a few hours before heading to dinner and our evening plans: the Monuments at night.
The strongest memories I have of visiting DC almost a decade ago were of visiting the monuments and memorials at the west end of the National Mall at night. Now seeing them again as an adult, I realized why those memories stayed with me. This time, however, I had a camera.
Vietnam War Memorial
Washington Monument, from the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Jefferson Monument
And for those of you, like Brittany, who think I don't take enough photos of people, here is a photo of Brittany and I on the steps of the Jefferson Monument at the end of our night tour.
Project365: Day 261 - Washington DC - Day 2
Our first full day in DC started with a visit to the Newseum (well, first to the Starbucks in the hotel lobby, THEN to the Newseum). Brittany was very excited to go to this museum, what with her being a journalism major and all. I didn't really know what to expect. Galleries full of bunches of old newspapers probably wasn't going to be my thing. Fortunately, the Newseum was far more than that. This turned out to be one of my favorite museums in DC. The lowest level had a large exhibit on the history of the FBI and the role that the news media played in establishing the public image of that organization. It detailed the coverage and stories of famous FBI cases including the take-down of organized crime bosses, the Oklahoma City bomber, and the Unabomber.
The main level has a large gallery featuring the images and storied behind all of the famous photographs that were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Many of these were very inspiring to see as an amateur photographer.
My favorite gallery, however, was the 9/11 tribute installation on the top floor. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a large, twisted portion of the radio broadcast tower that once sat atop one of the World Trade Center buildings. On the large wall to the north of the tower segment are the front pages of dozens of newspapers from all over the country--all dated September 12, 2001.
After the Newseum we hopped on the Metro (I keep wanting to call it the Tube) and went up towards DuPont Circle for lunch. One of Brittany's friends who knows the DC area gave her a gift card to Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe as a birthday present, so we made use of public transportation to get there.
After lunch we came back down to the National Mall and walked over to see the Jefferson Monument, which we had skipped the day before.
No long rant this time--I like this one ;)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Project365: Day 260 - Washington DC - Day 1
My wife had to go out to Washington DC this week for a work conference, so I used it as an opportunity to tag along on a min-vacation. The last time I was in Washington DC was the summer of 2003 and Brittany's last visit was in 2002--both almost a decade ago. We flew out a couple days before Brittany's conference so that we would get to spend some time seeing our Nation's Capitol together before she had to work. We took the early morning direct flight from Des Moines (yes, we have an airport, remember?) to Reagan National Airport so that we could still do some sightseeing on our first day there.
Rather than making a bunch of plans for our first day, we decided to just wander around the National Mall area where ever we felt like going.
We knew we wanted to check out some of the Smithsonian Museums during the week, so we started off by visiting the main building of the Smithsonian Institute--The Castle.
Washington DC has some fantastic older buildings, but The Castle has to be one of my favorites.
On the plane ride, I had begun reading The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Iowa native Bill Bryson. In one chapter he visits Washington DC and looks back on the history of the Smithsonian Institute:
"The Smithsonian Institution--which, incidentally, was donated to America by an Englishman who had never been there--used to be all one building, but they keep splitting off sections of it and putting them in new buildings all over town....Back in the 1950s and '60s, the Smithsonian was the castle. Everything was crammed into this one wonderfully dark and musty old building. It was like the nation's attic and, like an attic, it was gloriously random."
After visiting the castle we continued looping around the Mall and ended up by the Museum of the American Indian. We didn't have the chance to go inside (gotta leave some things to do on our next visit!) but we did walk around the outside of the building. When I was last in DC, this museum was just a skeleton of steel and a little bit of stone on the outside. Now it is completed and beautiful. The entire exterior of the building is covered in Kasota Limestone from Mankato, Minnesota. I love Kasota stone and especially love when it is used as wonderfully and skillfully as it has been on the Museum of the American Indian.
Our first stop into one of the museums on the Mall was at the National Gallery of Art's west building. Brittany was excited to see works by some of her favorite impressionist painters, and I was elated to see a number of wonderful paintings by Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt (no photographs of the paintings, sorry).
Washington DC is not a particularly tall city. It's tallest occupant, the Washington Monument, is visible from almost everywhere in town as a result. Though the monument is closed indefinitely thanks to an earthquake and a hurricane, we still took the time to walk by. The lawn around the monument is completely closed off to visitors due to damage at the top of the building. We were still able to get close enough to get some nice photos of the monument.
The World War II Memorial had been added to the National Mall since we were last in town, so we were both excited to go see it.
At the west side of the memorial there is a wall above a shallow pool of water decorated with hundreds of gold stars. Each star on this wall represents 1,000 United States soldiers who were killed in WWII.
Our last stop of the day was to the newly-opened Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. I'll share the photo here before I share my thoughts on it.
The memorials in Washington DC are (in my mind, anyway) divided into two categories: the architectural icons (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln) and the more emotional, experiential landscapes (Korean War, Vietnam War, FDR). After visiting the MLK Memorial, I'm convinced that it does not fit into either of these two categories, and that's a bad thing. It lacks the physical dominance and awe-inspiring presence of the Lincoln and Jefferson monuments, and fails to evoke the powerful silence of emotions like the Vietnam War or Roosevelt memorials. The MLK Memorial is neither moving nor impressive. It really is just a famous guy carved into a big rock.
There are a number of major flaws in the design and realization of this monument that I believe render it weaker than all of its neighbors:
On the side of the stone to MLK's left is a quote that has caused no small amount of controversy and was reported by news channels at the time of the memorial's opening. I agree with the assessments of those who have protested the misquote--the words seem to demonstrate a level of egotism and self-importance that would be atypical of Dr. King. But it is not the misquote itself that I find troubling. Spreading away from the carved figure to the north and south are two long stone walls, each emblazoned with more quotations from Dr. King. Full, unparaphrased quotations. Why, to the designers and creators of the memorial, would you choose to use full quotations by this great man in 99% of the instances and not in 100%? Why paraphrase only one quotation and, by paraphrasing, change its entire tone--its entire meaning?
The design and layout of all of the other monuments nearby are all incredibly intentional and detailed in terms of how they relate to each other. The WWII memorial has a massive stone inscription at its entrance stating why it has been placed directly between the Washington and Lincoln monuments. Every line, every angle created by Maya Lin in her design for the Vietnam War Memorial explicitly relates to the other monuments and important buildings nearby. Jefferson's statue faces the Washington Monument, his predecessor, and the White House. So why, with the opportunity for powerful symbolism plentiful, does Dr. King's grumpy-looking stare aim off into nothingness? He is staring towards the runway at Reagan National Airport as the planes buzz overhead.
Long rant in a nutshell: I love that Martin Luther King, Jr. has a memorial in Washington D.C. among the monuments to most courageous soldiers and most brilliant national leaders. However, the creators and designers of this memorial have failed to seize the opportunity presented to them to create something iconic, something deeply moving.
What we had intended to be a low-key day of casually wandering the Mall actually turned into quite a bit of walking! Less walking, but lots of photos, to come in the next post.
Rather than making a bunch of plans for our first day, we decided to just wander around the National Mall area where ever we felt like going.
We knew we wanted to check out some of the Smithsonian Museums during the week, so we started off by visiting the main building of the Smithsonian Institute--The Castle.
Washington DC has some fantastic older buildings, but The Castle has to be one of my favorites.
On the plane ride, I had begun reading The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Iowa native Bill Bryson. In one chapter he visits Washington DC and looks back on the history of the Smithsonian Institute:
"The Smithsonian Institution--which, incidentally, was donated to America by an Englishman who had never been there--used to be all one building, but they keep splitting off sections of it and putting them in new buildings all over town....Back in the 1950s and '60s, the Smithsonian was the castle. Everything was crammed into this one wonderfully dark and musty old building. It was like the nation's attic and, like an attic, it was gloriously random."
After visiting the castle we continued looping around the Mall and ended up by the Museum of the American Indian. We didn't have the chance to go inside (gotta leave some things to do on our next visit!) but we did walk around the outside of the building. When I was last in DC, this museum was just a skeleton of steel and a little bit of stone on the outside. Now it is completed and beautiful. The entire exterior of the building is covered in Kasota Limestone from Mankato, Minnesota. I love Kasota stone and especially love when it is used as wonderfully and skillfully as it has been on the Museum of the American Indian.
Our first stop into one of the museums on the Mall was at the National Gallery of Art's west building. Brittany was excited to see works by some of her favorite impressionist painters, and I was elated to see a number of wonderful paintings by Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt (no photographs of the paintings, sorry).
Washington DC is not a particularly tall city. It's tallest occupant, the Washington Monument, is visible from almost everywhere in town as a result. Though the monument is closed indefinitely thanks to an earthquake and a hurricane, we still took the time to walk by. The lawn around the monument is completely closed off to visitors due to damage at the top of the building. We were still able to get close enough to get some nice photos of the monument.
The World War II Memorial had been added to the National Mall since we were last in town, so we were both excited to go see it.
At the west side of the memorial there is a wall above a shallow pool of water decorated with hundreds of gold stars. Each star on this wall represents 1,000 United States soldiers who were killed in WWII.
Our last stop of the day was to the newly-opened Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. I'll share the photo here before I share my thoughts on it.
The memorials in Washington DC are (in my mind, anyway) divided into two categories: the architectural icons (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln) and the more emotional, experiential landscapes (Korean War, Vietnam War, FDR). After visiting the MLK Memorial, I'm convinced that it does not fit into either of these two categories, and that's a bad thing. It lacks the physical dominance and awe-inspiring presence of the Lincoln and Jefferson monuments, and fails to evoke the powerful silence of emotions like the Vietnam War or Roosevelt memorials. The MLK Memorial is neither moving nor impressive. It really is just a famous guy carved into a big rock.
There are a number of major flaws in the design and realization of this monument that I believe render it weaker than all of its neighbors:
On the side of the stone to MLK's left is a quote that has caused no small amount of controversy and was reported by news channels at the time of the memorial's opening. I agree with the assessments of those who have protested the misquote--the words seem to demonstrate a level of egotism and self-importance that would be atypical of Dr. King. But it is not the misquote itself that I find troubling. Spreading away from the carved figure to the north and south are two long stone walls, each emblazoned with more quotations from Dr. King. Full, unparaphrased quotations. Why, to the designers and creators of the memorial, would you choose to use full quotations by this great man in 99% of the instances and not in 100%? Why paraphrase only one quotation and, by paraphrasing, change its entire tone--its entire meaning?
The design and layout of all of the other monuments nearby are all incredibly intentional and detailed in terms of how they relate to each other. The WWII memorial has a massive stone inscription at its entrance stating why it has been placed directly between the Washington and Lincoln monuments. Every line, every angle created by Maya Lin in her design for the Vietnam War Memorial explicitly relates to the other monuments and important buildings nearby. Jefferson's statue faces the Washington Monument, his predecessor, and the White House. So why, with the opportunity for powerful symbolism plentiful, does Dr. King's grumpy-looking stare aim off into nothingness? He is staring towards the runway at Reagan National Airport as the planes buzz overhead.
Long rant in a nutshell: I love that Martin Luther King, Jr. has a memorial in Washington D.C. among the monuments to most courageous soldiers and most brilliant national leaders. However, the creators and designers of this memorial have failed to seize the opportunity presented to them to create something iconic, something deeply moving.
What we had intended to be a low-key day of casually wandering the Mall actually turned into quite a bit of walking! Less walking, but lots of photos, to come in the next post.
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