Effluvia

Nifty things in Washington, DC:

• Arlington National Cemetery
• The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• The Vietnam Memorial
• Merriweather Post Pavillion

Hear Anthony Burgess as Little Alex.

Bygone Days
Uncensored!

75 YEARS AGO
June 20, 1925

Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Mitchell of Germantown, Shelby County, Tenn., are spending the summer months in Canada.

They will return in the fall as ardent supporters of the ice-hockey, Molson Ice and Loverboy.

And, on this day in 1893, a jury in New Bedford, Mass., found Lizzie Borden innocent of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.

Boss Kenny

"I played the Kennedy Center once, you know. That's in Washington, too."

One Year Ago
Alt.bdsm.memphis.fat. I run. We buy a turntable and drink wine.

I wrote the following Friday afternoon on the iBook and sent it along:

This is nifty. In Washington, in the hotel room, hooked up to the internet and surfing like the nerd I am.

Mind you, it runs ten bucks a day - but hell, I'm on vacation. Sign me up! Put it on the bill! Bring me a couple of steak sandwiches and a bloody mary! Tip yourself fifty bucks, Raoul!

Joe (the nephew) came over last night and I showed him the many ways in which Roxy is cared for. Sonya and I counselled him on college majors and being a waiter. He's a good kid - I think he'll do a fine job dog-sitting. I hope. If my dog is dead I'll have to kill me a relative.

The Wife and I were up late last night, washing clothes and picking up the house. We got out of bed obscenely early this morning and we were at the airport (with Donna, who seemed about as happy to be up as we were. Less, possibly, 'cause she works second shift and usually sleeps well into the day) by the time I've been getting out of bed recently. It was a grumpy scene.

The flight was okay, except for the raging asshole sitting in front of me. He didn't do anything to me, exactly, except put his seat back without warning, jamming my tray table into my stomach. But he was just such a jerk, huffing and sighing at the flight attendants whenever they came by. He was a bald SunCom rep with a beard, and I bet he patronizes cheap prostitutes and doesn't visit his parents on Christmas. Asshole asshole asshole. Karma will get him.

As we were walking out of National Airport in Washington we saw Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson, Tennessee senator. I knew he was somebody, but Sonya made the actual ID.

I was tempted to ask him the question I've been saving up for him for years: "Senator, what is it really like to work with Bruce Willis?"

Important questions about important topics: wonderland 2 is there.

Donna's friend Doug picked us up at the airport, 'cause he's a good guy. He had a test to take online this afternoon, and Donna wanted more sleep, so they went to his house while Sonya and I checked in to the Crystal Gateway Marriott. Lovely hotel; Sonya stays here every time she's in DC. No king bed, non-smoking room, but what the hell. These things happen. We're just leaving our shit here anyway.

So the Wife took me to the Metro and we went to Arlington Cemetery. Choked up at the Kennedy gravesite, choked up when we came upon a ceremony at the Unknown Soldier's tomb, complete with full military band, representatives from each branch of the armed services and a bugler playing Taps. Taps at Arlington - I've never been so proud of my country in my life.

We walked from Arlington to the Lincoln Memorial - it looked like it wasn't that far, but it turns out the Lincoln Memorial is huge and it was miles away. So we had a nice long walk, crossing the Potomac and seeing several big transport helicopters go overhead with "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" painted in big letters across the side. They looked like the helicopter that Nixon left the White House in. Sonya and I wondered if maybe a president of vice president was inside, enjoying the view and the perks of the office.

"Or getting some intern nookie," Sonya suggested.

The LIncoln Memorial is gargantuan - and the man had a huge head. Like Sputnik. The place has a great view, too.

We went to the "Refreshment" stand and grabbed some hot dogs. We sat on the grass and ate. Sonya admired the local birds.

"Look, the pigeons act like normal birds here! They don't harass you!"

We went through the Korea and Vietnam Memorials. Man, that was tough. I was proud all over again, and it made me want to kick my whole generation in the shins for our "whatever" attitude. These people went out and died for shit that didn't even directly concern them. I choked up, again.

Then we went strolling down Constitution, idly looking for the National Archives or, maybe, a subway station. We found the Natural History Museum.

"They have the dinosaurs there, right?" I asked Sonya.

"I guess so," she said.

So we went in and looked at the bones.

After that we walked right out of the museum and there, across the street from us, was the National Archives. There was a mad long line, though.

We looked at the line, dejected.

"Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights," I said nonchalantly, "I'll get you copies before we leave town."

Sonya was happy with this, so we wandered until we found a subway station (I had to ask an FBI agent for directions - saw the J. Edgar Hoover building, too) and came back to the hotel.

The Williams Family is sunburned.

Tonight, dinner with Doug and Donna. After that I address congress. I'm having fun.

Dinner was nice. We wandered around old Alexandria (in Virginia, not Greece) and finally went in a brew pub for dinner - lots of beef and fish. We gorged. Then Doug drove us around, showing us the sights all lit up at night and taking us on a walking tour of the grounds of the American Cathedral. It's a gorgeous, towering gothic monstrosity, more than obviously influenced by Westminster Abbey and Parliament in London. Very impressive for the middle of a green, leafy suburb. Doug took us to Kramer's, then, which is an all-night bookstore and cafe. We had desserts and coffee in the middle of the night and were very impressed with the cosmopolitan-ness of it all. The evening ended shortly after that, though, with me having an attack of the narcolepsy in the back seat of Doug's car. He dumped us at the hotel and the Wife and I passed out in a big way.

Saturday morning we hop up and get ready, then get on a train to Metro Center to meet Donna for a day o' tourism. Once on the street, though, Sonya and I realized that our dark-colored t-shirts weren't going to work in the hot-and-sunny high-humidity pressure cooker that is Washington, D.C. We all trooped into Hecht's, a department store, and we got white t-shirts - Sonya's was Calvin Klein, mine was Russell Athletic.

Back on the train and over to the Holocaust Museum - tickets for later on that afternoon. We went in their cafe for kosher sandwiches.

The Air and Space Museum was just down the street, so we went there. Planes! Rockets! Space ships! Very, very cool. Walked back to the Holocaust Museum. In the rain.

I don't have the words for the Holocaust Museum. It made me mad, and sad. Do check out their web site for some idea of what it's all about. At the end there was a chapel. I went in, lit a candle. Prayed some, cried some. It was rough, but very necessary. The world needs a place like that.

One thing I did see there, though: a video clip. It's from after the American troops have arrived at the camps. A man - skinny and in striped clothes, so he's obviously a prisoner - has a German soldier by the hair and he's just beating the fuck out of this soldier, who's tall and in good shape and could obviously take the prisoner. But finally the prisoner slings the soldier away, and he comes up with his hands high in the air. It's then that two American soldiers move in from behind the prisoner, rifles trained on the German.

They were letting that prisoner get a little revenge. I know it wasn't nearly what he had coming to him, but I was proud of those American boys. They did the right thing. I knew that if the German had even thought about fighting back they would have perforated him.

We were spent after the museum, so we got back on the train and rode out to Doug's neighborhood, where he took us in and led us to to his favorite Mexican restaurant. We changed clothes and got in the car in the (now pouring) rain to go see the Cure.

If you ever need to go there, I can tell you that the Merriweather Post Pavillion is deep in the woods of Maryland - not Blair WItch deep, but close. I had to pee fiercely as we made the long trek from the car to the gates of the place, crossing a little wooden footbridge and entering the woods.

"Is this place in a motherfuckin' treehouse?" I bitched, walking funny the whole way.

I made it to the bathroom and we got drinks and headed for our seats just as the show started. I snagged the following setlist from A Chain of Flowers - thanks!

Out Of This World, Watching Me Fall, Want, Fascination St., Open, The Loudest Sound, Maybe Someday, Shake Dog Shake, Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Inbetween Days, Sinking, Prayers for Rain, 100 Years, End, 39, Bloodflowers

1st encore: All Cats Are Grey, Drowning Man, Faith
2nd encore: Lovesong, Play For Today, Just Like Heaven, A Forest
3rd encore: Boys Don't Cry, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab

The sound was great, the band was excellent, Bob's voice was at 100% and we had good seats, about halfway down the covered part fo the pavillion. The third encore was sublime, and 100 Years was just fuckin' excellent. I don't know that I've ever seen a better big-time rock show.

After, we met Donna and Doug at the appointed place. I got some t-shirts (one for me and the Wife, one for my nephew, who dog-sat) and then we had a lovely walk across the parking field, hunting for the car. We found it and sat in it, wainting for the crowd to thin so we could leave.

We drove around some more in Washington, Doug being the excellent tour guide - he showed us the Mormon temple there, which is like some sort of fairy tale castle. Very impressive. We saw the Watergate, too, and the Kennedy Center. Neat! But then Sonya caught the narcolepsy, so we were dropped at the hotel again for another evening of exhausted sleep.

And then, the next morning, we got on the plane and came home. Tip: if you get the vegetarian meal on Nortwest and you get dinner you get a salad and an apple. Good, but nothing special. But for breakfast you get a bagel and cereal and milk and a banana and peanut butter and jelly to go on you bagel! True, if you get the non-veggie meal you get nearly the exact same breakfast, except it has cream cheese instead of pb and j. For me, the veggie is far superior.

After we got back Donna and Sonya and I went to Dimsum Then Some for a real lunch. Silly name, but tasty little food. The tasty little food was better than the entrees, actually. Sonya and I discovered that we share a mutual dislike for udon noodles.

"Kinda slimy," Sonya observed.

Yes, and hard to eat with chopsticks. But for me, everything is hard to eat with chopsticks. Donna and Sonya mocked me.

Donna got this bowl o' rice and goodies with a fried egg on top. She took the fried egg off before eating. Our waiter noticed this.

"If you mix the egg in it gives you meal a whole different taste," he said disapprovingly. Donna dutifully put the egg back in. Later, I started picking the sprouts out of my dinner.

"You'd better not let the waiter see you do that," Donna warned me.

Sunday evening Sonya hit the couch while I went to visit with some high school friends I re-hooked up with at the reunion last weekend. We ate and gossiped about the classmates who showed their ass at the reunion. That could only go so far, though, so we talked relationships, community gossip and the ever-popular who's fucking whom. It was a nice evening.

Yesterday? Today? Nothing. Though it is casual week at work this week (I paid five bucks; it's for a good cause) so I got to wear my Arsenal kit yesterday and my new Cure shirt today. So that's good.