Sunday, August 31, 2008

Jim Henson


As you may know, in Washington D.C., there are tons of museums. And they are free, basically. Very good, isn't it? But the bad thing is it is hard to decide which musuem to go, especially when your itinerary is tight. That's my case. I have only two days in Washington D.C.

We came to the Mall anyway. And we came across Kermit the Frog. Oh well, a special exhibition of Jim Henson, the creator of Kermit the Frog, at the Smithsonian International Gallery.

I knew Kermit the Frog, but I didn't know about the creator at all. But because she grew up in the States and Maryland where Jim Henson is from, SH was excited to see the exhibition. OK, why not?

... And the exhibition turned to be awesome to me. In the exhibition, you see many puppets which Jim Henson created. At the same time, a variety of his quotes are displayed so you understand what Jim Henson thought of his creative world and, more importantly to me, the media. Because he started his career as a TV commercial creator, he knew the impact which TV has on people. When he started kids' programs such as the Sesame Street, he got rid of commercials. In the video clip from the Emmy Awards back in sometime in the 1980s, which is displayed in the exhibition, he says something really interesting to me. Damn, I don't remember what he was saying. I'd better ask the Smithsonian for the transcript.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Private Tour


SH's friend, R, gave us a private tour in the Capitol. Because he used to work for the Senate and is still working in the Capitol, he is very knowledgeable about the Capitol. He knows the history, system, structure, trivia and everything. So, he was a great guide. I appreciate his time.

James Bond


If you pay $18 to enter a museum, you expect something good. Am I right? I believe I'm right. So, we paied $18 for International Spy Museum.

There was a long line of people to get in. After waiting in a line, we were took to the what floor? The third or fourth floor by the elevator. In the room where you get off the elevator, you are assigned to memorize your fake identity. I picked up an Italian girl as my fake identity and I memorized it. I expected interactive attractions coming up. But I was wrong. The museum is basically all about history. There are some "games" but tons of readings behind displays. By the end of the tour, I was totally exhausted mentally because of readings and physically because the museum is big.

It's worth visiting if you are interested in the history of espionage, but it's not if you expect interactive attractions.

1984


See this scary poster. Yes, it's "1984." A small company arranged the novel to a play. Because it was not officially open, we could tell the price of tickets. It's a neat system, and I like it. The official price is going to be $10. I said $5, because as you know I'm a student. Kind of power abuse? Anyhow, SH treated me. Thank you, SH.

Because even the official ticket price is cheap ($10), I thought I can't expect much. But I was wrong. This play was awesome. I don't remember the name of the playwright, but he/she did a great job. The story is basically the same as the novel, but the play contains more modern essences. And it describes implicitly what is happening in this country. The audience clearly understand what the play indicates. It was great.

One thing I couldn't accept is the temperature of the theater. It was freezing. Actually, we rushed outside for warmth during the interval. I don't understand why some people set air conditioning at such a low temperature. They must come from other planets.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Amtrak Magic


Yea! I came to Washington D.C.!

Before getting excited, I need to write about a miracle Amtrak did.

I was supposed to leave Fayetteville at 1:04 p.m. DM and CM took me the station. Because I was told by the customer service that I need to check in 45 minutes before my departure, we tried to arrive there earlier. We ended up arriving there one hour early. I finished check-in without any trouble or security check. Checking in didn't take time at all, actually. It's not airport check-in, anyway.

Because it was around noon, we had lunch in a fast food restaurant adjacent to the station and came back to the platform around one o'clock. Then, we heard an announcement saying that the train is late for 25 minutes. Well, it's not Japanese railway system. You can't expect much. So, the train came exactly 25 minutes later. In that sense, Amtrak is punctual (?). After saying good-bye to DM and CM (it was sad), I popped on the train.

Because I knew SH was waiting for me in Washington D.C., I needed to let her know that I would be late because of the train delay. Otherwise, she would waste her time at Union Station. I took a nap for a while and came around in Virginia. And I found that I lost signals. Of course, the train was running through ... what can I say ... jungle? My signals came back when the train reached a town. So, I called her and told her to see me around 8:30 p.m. instead of the scheduled arrival time (7:57 p.m.).

After hanging up her phone, the conductor came to tell me that Washing was next. My watch showed 7:00. I thought it's weird and tried to think it would take another hour to get to next stop. But, I was wrong. In 10 minutes, I found the train crossing Potomac River. Why did I know it's Potomac River? Because I was seeing Washington Monument in front of me!

Anyhow, in no time, I arrived at Union Station. The clock showed 7:20! I couldn't, still can't, believe what happened. The Amtrak train which was 25 minutes late caught up and arrived earlier than the scheduled arrival time. Amtrak's ability of catching up is much greater than the Tokaido Line, man!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Face on Fire


A saleslady of Mary Kay drove here all the way from Fayetteville. She appears to contact CM eagerly, and because CM needed to buy a moisturizer anyway, the saleslady ended up performing “facial” to both of us—CM and me. Well, I don’t like wearing makeup on, but CM wanted to have fun together. OK.

So, the saleslady chose appropriate colors (foundation, eye shadows and lipstick) for us. The color she chose for my foundation is ... dark brown. “Man, it’s too dark. I can’t believe the American sense of color,” I thought, but I kept my mouth shut because I’m a polite Japanese.

As the saleslady instructed, I applied that dark brown foundation. Then, I saw a ganguro—charcoal painted face—girl in the mirror. Heck!

Following the ganguro foundation, I put on eye shadows and cheek color again as the saleslady told me. Then, I saw a Hollywood created “Asian girl” in the mirror, who is never beautiful by an Asian standard (or at least my standard) of beauty. The flat eye shape is emphasized with strong colors, and you look really mean. Yeah, I’m mean, grrrrrrr.

After the makeup lecture, the saleslady was eager to sell products to me though I explained I’m a poor student. Give up, lady! CM had already bought the basic set by that time. That’s it for today, man.

Right after she left the house, I washed off the makeup. And ... my face hurt, feeling like getting on fire. Because I usually don’t apply chemicals on the face, my skin is kind of sensitive to chemicals. Anyhow, I would not wear makeup again for a while (maybe 10 years?), hee hee hee.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Static


We went to a mass-selling bookstore this evening. Hanging around in the bookstore is one of our pastime.

I came across Amy Goodman’s book which had stayed at the corner of my mind. Since I knew we would spend a couple of hours there, I picked up the book and started reading. “Man, it’s good to read and may be good for my papers in the future,” I thought. I wanted to highlight some sentences. So, guess what. I bought the book.

Now, I got something which requires me to say ohhhs and ahhhs while reading.

DNC

Democrats’ National Convention started tonight in Denver (in a huge football stadium, I guess). I wondered why it takes four days only to get approvals from delegates on presidential and vice presidential candidates. The setup of the venue is like a cheap show (of course, I know, in reality, it costs fortune). People are excited, making noises almost as if they were watching a football game or something. DM and CM told me that it’s all about money. Yeah, I expected this answer. Big events are always good for advertising. See the Olympics. The media broadcast sponsor corporations’ names and products for free (sponsor corporations). And the media also love big events like this convention because they make them cheap! Man, something is wrong. Something is wrong in this world.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Fire Rainbow

No More Karl Marx (for a While)


I finished reading Karl Marx, regardless of digesting his points clearly or not. This is the end of my summer assignments. Phew.

Now, I need a book which I can read without using my brain!

So, I went to the nearest supermarket to look for a mass product book which is normally easy to read (or you may understand the story line without reading). I ended up buying “The Bone Garden”—including mystery, history, and of course murders.

OK, now, I’m going to relax my brain with this.

Monday, August 18, 2008

One More Book to Go


I killed another book—the fifth book for this summer—last night, and wrote an abstract from it this afternoon. Even though this guy—Burawoy—uses plain English, I had a hard time to understand what he says. But finally, when I read the last chapter, the concluding chapter, it made some sense. Damn, I wonder why he didn’t place the last chapter at the very beginning of the book.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Sir Walter Raleigh


I came to Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, with DM and CM. Raleigh is two-hour drive from where they live. We came to visit DM’s former colleague and stay a couple of nights at her place. In the end ... parties every night. People kept coming to her place during the party, and I don’t remember how many people came, actually. They are hippie people, more or less, using foul language which constructs funny conversation! But mind you, they are highly educated people. What a gap! And I like that.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Sheep

People in the South make a sound of “baa,” like sheep, at the end of conversation. I realized that they are saying “Bye.”

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Coming Back to the States

After six days on the road, we finally arrive in North Carolina. Well, it’s kind of a long story to tell about the six days. I flew to El Paso to visit DM and CM on July 30, and they took me to their house there anyway. Anyway. The following day, our journey to North Carolina started. Actually, they moved from there to here. And my visit happened to fall in the period of their moving. Oh, well, I try to think that I’m lucky to travel South by car (moving truck to be exact) because it must be a really rare experience. Not everyone can (or doesn’t want to?) experience driving through South.

When I arrived DM and CM’s house on July 30, it was almost midnight. And I was surprised at the mess in the house. They were just in the middle of packing. Though they planned to move the following day, some pieces of furniture, books and junks were still at large. I wondered how they would pack everything tomorrow in a day. But all I could do that night was go to sleep. So, I went to bed.

The Following Day, July 31

The following day was chaotic. We packed everything and cleaned the house in a day! I was amazed at that we did it! Are we genius?!

By five o’clock in the evening, we were ready to take off. And ... we were caught in a big downpour. Because DM and CM didn’t want to drive far in that heavy rain, they drove a few miles and checked in a motel to spend the night. As a result, the following morning, when we woke up, we realized that we were still in the familiar neighborhood.

Texas Continent

Finally, we hit the road on August 1. From then, we spent a couple of days simply to cross Texas. Texas is huge, man. It can be a continent by itself. Sceneries on both sides of freeway (I-20) were, as a whole, boring—desert, desert, desert, a big city (Dallas), desert, desert, desert. Spending a night at CM’s cousin’s place was fun. They live in a rural town outside of Dallas. They took us to the local flea market (CM calls this the “elephant” market because of the size of market. It stretches miles, actually). We walked around under the scorching sun, but it was fun to me because the sun doesn’t bother me at all.

After passing the Mississippi River, suddenly sceneries changed. From desert, desert, desert, a big city, desert, desert ... to green, green, green, a little big town (?), green, green, green. I felt more comfortable, surrounded by greenery, anyway.

Atlanta


When we passed Atlanta, I became a little bit sentimental. I dreamed of working in Atlanta, specifically CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I was a big fan of CNN when I was younger, and I believed blindly that I would work at CNN. Well, I was young and naïve.

Coen Brothers


South is really different than other parts of the States. On the way to North Carolina, we dropped by at dinners occasionally to have lunch and dinner. The atmosphere of dinners in rural South is exactly what you see in Coen Brothers’ movies. Dinners have country music on, grungy-looking guys in shabby outfits are sipping coffee, talkative waiting persons with big butts speak to you with Southern accent (I don’t understand what they say, to be honest), and so on and so forth. People seem to be more relaxed in South, oh well, putting racial tensions aside.

Anyhow, This is my first experience of being in South, and I was so excited to be in that atmosphere.

Withered Flower

Finally, we arrived in North Carolina on August 5, yea! It is tiring to be crammed in the moving truck for six days. Though I didn’t drive at all, but still I was exhausted of this long journey. But you know, I appreciate this opportunity that DM and CM gave me. This is a really rare experience.


The sun is really strong in South, as you may imagine. I bought a hat in Japan and brought it here. I was wearing it whenever I went outside. The hat has a flower motif on the side. After exposed to the strong sun, the flower was withered :( Well, I’m in South, and what else I can expect.