In-Flight Excitement

Posted on January 23, 2010 by djnpub

I had a little excitement on my flight from Dulles airport to San Francisco. I was sitting in the very last row of the plane. Just as we were taking off it started making a very loud vibrating kind of sound. It didn’t sound normal, but I thought maybe I was just hearing the rumbling of stuff from the kitchen area at the back. After we were up and leveled off a bit, the noise subsided. Shortly thereafter the pilot came on and said, I think we may have hit a bird on take off, so just to be safe we circled straight back and landed at Dulles. Of course we were completely full of fuel, so we we came in “heavy,” which meant that there was more stress on the breaks. As we came to a stop in the middle of the runway we could see fire trucks all lined up. Apparently they were primarily worried that the breaks would overheat and possibly fail. We sat in the middle of the runway for a while and eventually made it back to the terminal. After sitting around a while, they had us deplane, then eventually they found another plane. So we finally got under way, three hours late, this time without any excitement. The event made it into the press (at least online):

Washington Post Article

Washington Post Article (AP)

USA Today Article

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As You Like It

Posted on December 17, 2009 by djnpub

After a hectic day of two Christmas parties and a picture with the Secretary, I saw As You Like It, the first Shakespeare play as part of this year’s STC season. It was entertaining, but different.

As usual, the production values of this STC production were impressive. The acting was also extremely good. The staging of the play itself was done in a way that was sort of interesting, but in the end seemed to distract from the intrinsic drama of the play. Each scene of the evolving story was set in a different era from American history. Starting from an oppressive kingdom of Puritans, the escape to Arden went trough Valley Forge, the pre-war South, post Civil War, the Gold Rush, etc. They used an overarching device of setting the play within an early film production to justify the changing themes. As I said, the acting was great, the staging was beautiful, but it somewhat distracted from the basic play. Nonetheless, it was quite enjoyable. It’s going to be interesting to see my reaction when I again see one of the pared-back productions of CalShakes.

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Much Ado About Nothing

Posted on November 29, 2009 by djnpub

Today I got to see another Shakespeare play here in DC, this time at the Folger Theater. This was a last minute decision, as today was the last day of the run of Much Ado About Nothing. I had thought about getting season tickets earlier, but dropped the ball. When I went online to get tickets, the only thing I could get was at the back, but I thought I’d go for it anyway. It turned out the seats were great, even at the back row, which was only about 20 feet from the stage.

The play was in a small Elizabethan style theater which is part of the Folger Shakespeare Library. It is a beautiful little theater. It was an interesting production, thematically in a Jamaican setting. While none of the acting really blew me away, the production was quite enjoyable. I will definitely try and see more plays in this theater.

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U.S. Capitol Tour

Posted on November 27, 2009 by djnpub

capitol rotunda dome

The day after Thanksgiving I took a scheduled tour of the Capitol building. I had thought that since it was a holiday for me, but not a Federal holiday I would miss the crowds. Wrong. Apparently it was one of their busier days.

The morning started off bad; I dropped my camera onto the hard floor of the elevator. It was acting a little funny, which was more than a little disturbing. Fortunately, it all seems to be working OK now.

The tour itself was quite good (thanks largely to the tour guide). However, it didn’t actually cover that much. We went from the visitors center area, to the “crypt” that holds a number of statues and supporting pillars for the central rotunda, to the rotunda, to a room off the rotunda that was the original house chamber, but now has more statues and paintings. There is lots of history and beautiful artwork there, but I didn’t feel like I could really take the time to look at it in much detail. They keep the groups all together, and don’t let you go exploring around on your own.

Definitely worth seeing. I also learned of the dome tour, which you must request through your congressman or senator, that I will try and get on. That goes up to the top of the dome above the rotunda.

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Regina Spektor at the DAR

Posted on September 30, 2009 by djnpub

Regina Spektor at the DAR Constitution HallSoooooo good! Tonight I saw Regina Spektor at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington. She was excellent. Her voice is so clear, powerful, and at the same time sweet and playful. She’s one of those performers who can really do it live; sing on key, and play the music well.

She appeared first with a backup band consisting of violin, cello, and drums while she played piano and sang. Later she did a bunch of songs solo, playing piano, electric piano, guitar, and just singing a capella. It was all great. The main set lasted 70 minutes, and I’d never heard a large number of the songs, but they were all very good. She came back for an encore and did a bunch of songs that I knew from her albums. She ended up with a funny country-like song. All total her set lasted an hour and 35 minutes. This was definitely worth seeing.

The only two downsides were 1) the opening band was pretty mediocre (luckily I brought ear plugs to preserve my ear drums for Regina), and 2) the audience that was doing a lot of yelling stuff out. Since it’s probably been 15 years since I’ve been to a concert (Eric Clapton), maybe this is par for the course these days. But this was all negligible next to the great performance. I’d definitely see her live again!

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The Taming of the Shrew

Posted on September 11, 2009 by djnpub

Tonight I saw my second Shakespeare Theatre Company production, The Taming of the Shrew. It was this year’s “Free for All” show, which is presented to the public free on a first-come-first-served basis. If I had gotten my act together in time, my season ticket would have enabled me to reserve four free tickets, however all it cost me was two hours standing in line; but I guess it was worth experiencing what has become a bit of a DC tradition. Prior to the show there was a live music duo (guitar and sax) by Pablo and Gabo.

Just like King Lear this had high production values (read flashy sets and effects). Taming of the Shrew is one of my faves. This production chose a more slapstick humor approach; the funny bits were funny, but to me the overall effect is weakened. That is, with Petruchio just a goofball, the “taming” of Katherina just seems sadistic, and her speech at the end is just uncomfortable. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the evening. How can you go wrong with live Shakespeare for free?

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Clock Tower

Posted on August 30, 2009 by djnpub

Clock Tower

The Clock Tower in the Old Post Office building was reputed to have one of the best views in downtown DC. It’s only three blocks away, so it was time to check it out. Great view! The clock tower has an observation deck on the 12th floor with unobstructed views on four sides, you can look down to the capital, overlook the mall, see the monuments, and see the National Cathedral in the distance. This is now on my list of must-see places. I’ll definitely be going back.

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Navy Band

Posted on August 25, 2009 by djnpub

Tonight I stopped by and listened to some live music by my apartment. The United States Navy Band played weekly throughout the summer at the Navy memorial. This was the last show of the summer series, and it was the first one I caught. This was the Commodores, basically a medium sized jazz band, with a very good singer. They were good, but this kind of jazz isn’t really my thing.

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Monuments Tour

Posted on August 17, 2009 by djnpub

Jefferson Memorial

I finally got a space of free time, so I thought I’d take a tour around the monuments near the national mall. I did about a three hour walk and went by the Washington Monument, around the tidal basin, to the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, past the south end of the White House. All very impressive, but I needed a good rest when I got back home.

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King Lear

Posted on July 20, 2009 by djnpub

After getting settled in DC, l was thrilled to discover there is a vibrant Shakespeare production company. This helped make up for the fact that when I left California I had to miss out on my season tickets to the California Shakespeare Festival. I made sure to get tickets for the last play of the season that I’d seen advertised on the streets. This was King Lear starring Stacy Keach.

After 20+ years of attending the CSF, I’ve seen lots of Shakespeare. I’ve seen King Lear two or three times live, and the most recent Ian McKellan version on TV. The Shakespeare Theatre Company production was excellent. The production values were clearly higher than a typical CSF production. A lot of money went into the set decoration and scenery, and the acting was top notch. I had a seat right in the middle, just a few rows back from the front. It was a great afternoon, and I’m looking forward to the next season.

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