Fireworks, Folklife, and Fine Art
Yesterday was perhaps one of the most pleasant celebrations of America's Birthday we've had. As usual, we joined the hordes on the Mall for the annual festivities. The weather was perfect: mid-80s, sunny most of the day, frequent cooling breeze, and while it got cloudy later the rains stayed away. A welcome change from the usual shvitz-fest and exercise in heatstroke-avoidance, and being chivvied off the Mall due to a window-rattling thunderstorm.
A gold star goes to whoever worked out the security arrangements for this year. They reduced the security perimeters to just the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol grounds, which meant the Smithsonian Metro station could actually be used. This makes it much easier to get to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. We'd been using Federal Triangle the past several years, which means crossing Constitution Avenue in the middle of the Independence Day Parade, which is not easy.
The themes of the Folklife Festival this year were Las Americas (mostly Latino music and South American food), Giving Voice (African American oral traditions), and Wales. I was amused that the display board at the entrance to the Wales section included a picture of Cardiff Bay and the Wales Millennium Centre. Naturally, this instantly reminded me of Certain British Television Programmes and resulted in a certain song of merryb_esq's rattling around my brain for most of the afternoon. There were a number of pavilions and displays related to building and building materials, including stone, carpentry, slate, and iron-working. Two small wood structures, identified as Ty Mawr and Ty Unnos, had been erected to show off some of what the Welsh consider "green building" practices, including sheep's wool insulation and using lime or recycled glass in masonry mortar. I also learned about the tradition of Welsh Lovespoons from a display by artisan Mike Davies. Check out his website; he has some really cool designs.
After a couple of hours of browsing the festival, we were ready for our traditional duck-into-a-museum. I remembered the National Gallery of Art had an exhibit of illustrated manuscripts I'd been wanting to see. My friends who are into traditional music and medieval manuscripts should find it interesting, if you can get down there by August 2nd. Along the way, we also discovered a just-opened special exhibit titled The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain. The exhibit features armor, shields, helmets, and equestrian armor worn or used by Emperor Maximilian I and Charles V, and King Phillip II, III and IV, along with several magnificent tapestries and portraits of the various royals, often wearing the same armor that is on display. This exhibit carries a very high "OOH, SHINY!" factor and is highly recommended to all my SCAdian and Renfest friends in the area. It's at the National Gallery through October (closes November 1st).
We also discovered the National Gallery now has an espresso and gelato bar. Om nom nom!
Walked up to Union Station to get sandwiches from Corner Bakery, then back down to the U.S. Capitol grounds for the annual NSO "A Capitol Fourth" concert. Note to self for next year: aim to get there by 5pm, rather than 6pm. Took us an hour to get through the security line, by which time the West Front steps (where we usually like to sit) were already full and the better sections of the West Front lawn. We found a spot in the northern section of the lawn not far in from the security entrance and the main path across the lawn and the steps. That meant a mostly-obstructed view of the stage and screen, but we could clearly see the top of the Washington Monument over the trees, which meant a decent view of the fireworks.
This was definitely a good year for the concert. And that's even with Barry Manilow as one of the special guests. But then, even I will take ol' Barry over the latest "American Idol" winner or manufactured pop sensation. Like, say, Natasha Bedingfield, who thankfully only performed one song. Aretha Franklin was her always delightful self, exhorting the crowd to "Think", or have a little "R-E-S-P-E-C-T". She also sang the National Anthem. No strange hats this time, however. In perhaps a first for the event, Barack Obama broadcast a message to the crowd, and introduced a segment featuring characters from "Sesame Street", celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. We were treated to the sight of Big Bird conducting the NSO, plus snippets from Elmo, Oscar the Grouch (singing "I Love Trash"), Cookie Monster (guess...) and other characters. The concert wrapped up with "Rhapsody in Blue", the last movement of the "1812 Overture", and the usual array of patriotic songs and Sousa marches as the fireworks started, culminating as always in "Stars and Stripes Forever".
Some of my friends will be amused that we wound up sitting about ten feet away from a father who was reading "Lord of the Rings" to his two young sons to keep them occupied until the concert began.
We had no trouble at getting back to the Metro and getting a seat. Didn't even have to wait to long. The only problem were the usual drunk college students or young adults who apparently never learned the concept of "inside voice" as children.
Hope everyone had a fun Fourth of July!
A gold star goes to whoever worked out the security arrangements for this year. They reduced the security perimeters to just the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol grounds, which meant the Smithsonian Metro station could actually be used. This makes it much easier to get to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. We'd been using Federal Triangle the past several years, which means crossing Constitution Avenue in the middle of the Independence Day Parade, which is not easy.
The themes of the Folklife Festival this year were Las Americas (mostly Latino music and South American food), Giving Voice (African American oral traditions), and Wales. I was amused that the display board at the entrance to the Wales section included a picture of Cardiff Bay and the Wales Millennium Centre. Naturally, this instantly reminded me of Certain British Television Programmes and resulted in a certain song of merryb_esq's rattling around my brain for most of the afternoon. There were a number of pavilions and displays related to building and building materials, including stone, carpentry, slate, and iron-working. Two small wood structures, identified as Ty Mawr and Ty Unnos, had been erected to show off some of what the Welsh consider "green building" practices, including sheep's wool insulation and using lime or recycled glass in masonry mortar. I also learned about the tradition of Welsh Lovespoons from a display by artisan Mike Davies. Check out his website; he has some really cool designs.
After a couple of hours of browsing the festival, we were ready for our traditional duck-into-a-museum. I remembered the National Gallery of Art had an exhibit of illustrated manuscripts I'd been wanting to see. My friends who are into traditional music and medieval manuscripts should find it interesting, if you can get down there by August 2nd. Along the way, we also discovered a just-opened special exhibit titled The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain. The exhibit features armor, shields, helmets, and equestrian armor worn or used by Emperor Maximilian I and Charles V, and King Phillip II, III and IV, along with several magnificent tapestries and portraits of the various royals, often wearing the same armor that is on display. This exhibit carries a very high "OOH, SHINY!" factor and is highly recommended to all my SCAdian and Renfest friends in the area. It's at the National Gallery through October (closes November 1st).
We also discovered the National Gallery now has an espresso and gelato bar. Om nom nom!
Walked up to Union Station to get sandwiches from Corner Bakery, then back down to the U.S. Capitol grounds for the annual NSO "A Capitol Fourth" concert. Note to self for next year: aim to get there by 5pm, rather than 6pm. Took us an hour to get through the security line, by which time the West Front steps (where we usually like to sit) were already full and the better sections of the West Front lawn. We found a spot in the northern section of the lawn not far in from the security entrance and the main path across the lawn and the steps. That meant a mostly-obstructed view of the stage and screen, but we could clearly see the top of the Washington Monument over the trees, which meant a decent view of the fireworks.
This was definitely a good year for the concert. And that's even with Barry Manilow as one of the special guests. But then, even I will take ol' Barry over the latest "American Idol" winner or manufactured pop sensation. Like, say, Natasha Bedingfield, who thankfully only performed one song. Aretha Franklin was her always delightful self, exhorting the crowd to "Think", or have a little "R-E-S-P-E-C-T". She also sang the National Anthem. No strange hats this time, however. In perhaps a first for the event, Barack Obama broadcast a message to the crowd, and introduced a segment featuring characters from "Sesame Street", celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. We were treated to the sight of Big Bird conducting the NSO, plus snippets from Elmo, Oscar the Grouch (singing "I Love Trash"), Cookie Monster (guess...) and other characters. The concert wrapped up with "Rhapsody in Blue", the last movement of the "1812 Overture", and the usual array of patriotic songs and Sousa marches as the fireworks started, culminating as always in "Stars and Stripes Forever".
Some of my friends will be amused that we wound up sitting about ten feet away from a father who was reading "Lord of the Rings" to his two young sons to keep them occupied until the concert began.
We had no trouble at getting back to the Metro and getting a seat. Didn't even have to wait to long. The only problem were the usual drunk college students or young adults who apparently never learned the concept of "inside voice" as children.
Hope everyone had a fun Fourth of July!