ワシングトン第六番写真！

After leaving the Lincoln Memorial, I walked back along Constitution Ave. I'm not exactly sure what this memorial was for... 'Second Division' is what it says on top. I'll have to look it up on the net.


I walked past Lafayette Park, which is between the Washington Memorial and The White House. Security in force. A lot of landscaping was being redone around the area. Also because of the preperations for the 4th of july, they are putting up lots of temporary fencing and barriers.


The original Smithsonian building, I passed it on my way back.


For lunch I went back to the Air and Space Museum. Here is a Gemini Capsule, the 2nd type of manned space capsule the US sent up.


The WWII gallery, featuring, amongst other things, a P51 Mustang and a Messherschmitt.


Also a Mitsubishi A6M fighter.


They have made a new exhibit on the Wright Brothers' and their 1903 flyer (this one used to be hanging in the main gallery). It gives a lot of background on their early work.


Last but not least, on my way to the cafeteria, I stopped into visit the space suit display. Here are the suits used by Mercury, Gemini and Apollo crew members.


The Apollo one is much more advanced, as its self-contained, which allows for moon walks.

OK, thats it for my washington pictures. I am in San Francisco now, I'll email those pictures tomorrow!

ワシングトン第五番写真！

So the goal of my trip was to visit the Lincoln Memorial. It was a long walk in the heat, but I finally made it! its not quite as big as it looks when you are close up. The stairs are kind of small and steep.


There was some sort of gospel choir singing in front of the reflecting pool.


And here is the big man himself, Abraham Lincoln.



And this is what he looks at... every day since the 1920's. I'm think it'd be interesting to see a time lapse view from this perspective over the years. The years roll by, rallies come and go, but the overall scenery hasn't changed that much over time.


This particular day, this guy was cluttering the view.


I tried to get some nice angled shots w/ my zoom lens of the statue.


When I saw this one, all I could think about was Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear. While bored in a conference session i decided to reenact the scene

Next, I walked to the relatively new Korean War Memorial. Its already 10 years old, but that was after I moved away to San Francisco, so I had never been before:

The memorial is mainly comprised of 19 statues of soldiers on patrol.


To the left there is also a wall with photos etched into it. There are 2000 along the length of the wall. Some of these weren't very detailed so it was hard to really tell who or what they were of in some cases. But regardles... a little bit eerie.


The statues are in a triangular area, each one has a black stone bar in front of it on the ground, but its not exactly clear what these bars represent.


I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo or not, but I thought the quality of the sculptures in this memorial to be somewhat low (compared to other statues in other memorials nearby).


At the tip of the triangle is a reflection pool that has this etched above it.

Anyway, as a whole I was not very impressed with this memorial (as the son of a hypothetical Korean War Veteran). The new WWII one, while also not perfect is definitely better. regardless, this one lacks the power of the Vietnam memorial's striking design.


I took this one by balancing my camera on a anti-terrorist concrete divider wall and using the timer.


I have a few more pictures from the walk back and another visit to the Air and Space Museum. I'll have to prepare those tomorrow. I need to get up and go to the airport for my flight in San Francisco in only 4.5 hours!


ps - despite being overcast most of the time, and trying to stay in the shade anyway, I got a bit of sunburn（日焼！） from my 3 hour trek. :-(

ワシングトン第四番写真！

During the lunch break today, I ran back out to 'The National Mall' part of Washington DC, a few blocks from where my conference is meeting. I took another picture of the Capital, but my goal was to walk down to the Lincoln Memorial, which I didn't get to visit on Sunday when I took the last set of pictures.


I also took the opportunity to stop in a few of the famous museums here. This is the Natural History Museum. I just got this one picture of a stuffed African Elephant. I didn't visit the rest of the museum, I just came in for a minute to cool off, it is really hot and humid in Washington!


Next I stopped at the American History Museum, which I visited many times since I was a kid growing up here. They used to have the original Ft. McHenry 'Star Spangled Banner' flag from the War of 1812 hanging here, but now its been moved to a side gallery where its undergoing restoration. The restoration center is viewable from behind a window, but no pictures allowed. :-(

THIS flag is the one that was hung on the wall of the Pentagon after the September 11th attacks. Not necessarily as historically important. But an appropriate replacement.


But the reason I came in was to get a picture of this. Its a famous (infamous) statue of George Washington that was made in the 1800s. I recall reading that it was stuck in the basement of the Capital because it was considered horribly tacky and somewhat sacriligious to see George Washington's face on an otherwise classical statue. A wait, the whole story is here.

It somewhat reminds me of that ambiguous statue they have in Nagasaki though.


The Washington Monument. Do you notice that the difference in stone color and size at the top and bottom of the monument? As you may know, during the US Civil war in the 1860s they stopped construction and didn't resume for more than 10 years. when they restarted, the stone was slightly different.


Next I went to the new WWII memorial and took a few pictures and looked around. Its not too bad, nice classical design, but a bit too much of an unfocused kludge perhaps? The posts around the outside list the names of all the US states and territories at the time, the left side represents the Pacific War, the right side the Atlantic war. In front of each side is a listing of the major battles of each side.

There are also some bronze reliefs on the steps leading into the memorial showing random battle scenes. AND some quotes from famous leaders on the walls in several strategic spots. Like i said, a little unfocused. :-P


Here some old photos were left by the family or friends of someone who fought in the battle of Okinawa. There were several letters, flowers and pictures left at different places around the memorial.


The memorial is at the opposite end of the reflecting pool from the Lincoln memorial.


Some ducks were swimming around.


I took another self portrait.


Next I walked down to the Vietnam War Memorial. I remember when this one was opened in the late 80's. It was very controversal when it was first proposed and constructed. Some veterans complained that it wasn't like a normal memorial that honored a war. But the focus of this memorial is on the war dead, the veterans and their families, not the war itself. The names of all the dead are written on the wall. Which of course makes it a much more personal memorial, and therefore much more unique.



A Yemeni news crew was here filming visitors to the wall. You can see the polished black granite w/ the names on it, and at the base a plaque left by a friend or family member.


Nearby is one of two statues added to the monument. This one shows 3 soldiers, another later addition shows 3 nurses. It should be noted that this wasn't part of the designer (Maya Lin)'s original design, but rather was forced upon the memorial as a compromise to people demanding a more 'conventional' memorial (they really feel like they need a statue to memorialize?)


OK, thats enough for tonight. I have a bunch more picture from the Lincoln memorial and some more from the Air and Space museum (again), that I'll put up tomorrow or friday!

ワシングトン第三番写真！

A continuation of the pics I took on Sunday night:

The next place I parked my car was near the White House.

I was able to walk over and take some pictures from across the Rose Garden. I think Bush was home, can you see him in the window?


I asked some old tourist lady to take a picture for me.



The Segway scooter is being used as a way for giving tours to tourists. I saw a bunch riding around earlier. I guess this was wear they drop off the scooters at the end of the trip.



Then I drove BACK past the Lincoln Memorial. I think this sunset shot is even better than the other one!


Then I went to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. TJ is one of my favorites. He really was the backbone of our country.... writer of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, 3rd President, a man of Science! :-P


Here's his statue viewed from outside


The view from the front steps of the tidal basin and Mall is great. I took this one by balancing my camera on a flower pot and setting the timer. ;-)




Spectacular sunset!


Even though it was late on a sunday night, still a lot of tourists.


Jefferson - according to the info posted on the walls, it took several rounds of reviews before a sculptor submitted this design. Apparently he's wearing a fur collared overcoat - little did he know that he was ispiring a whole generation of 70s pimps...


Nice design. This memorial was started in 1939, but the final statue wasn't installed until after WWII was over, because it used too much bronze, which was being rationed during the war.


TJ gets a great view out the front door of his memorial though.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I have a few more odds and ends I'll post up tomorrow maybe.

ワシングトン第二番写真！

After the conference ended for the day, I decided to cruise around a little in my car to enjoy the famous scenery. Since I am a camera nerd, I decided to take pictures at the same time. Here is the Capital. I think I was on Independence Avenue or Constitution Ave, I can't remember which (behind the Archives).


I snuck into a parking lot i wasn't supposed to stop in and quickly jumped out and took a self-portrait.


I drove down towards the other end of the mall to check out the nice sunset which was brewing. Since it was about 8pm on a Sunday evening, I was able to find a parking spot so I could get a good shot of the Washington Monument.


Since people have been asking for more pictures with me actually in them, I took another self-portrait. Its hard to get me and the scenery in the same shot while keeping the camera straight.


私の車！


As I was stopped at a stop light, the President's helicopter flew by! The White house is right nearby. It probably dropped him off and was flying back to the base. (When the president is riding in it, they usually fly two or three identical helicopters together, so since this one is by itself, it probably just left the white house). You can see the Jefferson Memorial just sticking out behind the car.


Next I tried to stop at the new WWII memorial to get a picture of the Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately the traffic patterns and where you can and can't stop are really a pain, so I ended up making a lot of loops around... including this detour down the Memorial Bridge to Arlington and then back across the river into DC.


I also overshot and got this pic of the Jefferson Memorial while driving the wrong way.


Finally! I double parked and got a few nice shots of the Lincoln Memorial and the new WWII memorial in front of it. Since the WWII memorial is brand new (just opened this spring), I haven't had a chance to visit yet.


A zoom in of the Lincoln Memorial, probably my favorite in Washington.