Folklife Festival

Every year on the Mall is the National Folklife Festival, which is a great event showcasing a foreign country and an area of the U.S. There are numerous tents with exhibits and artisans showing culture, geography, local food, and other interesting details. This year was Bhutan and Texas. There were also tents showcasing NASA.

The Buddhist temple was a very neat display. After the festival it is being moved to a U of T campus.

The space shuttle engines were also cool...they are very big!

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After a 1.5 hr rain delay, the soccer match got started.

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At Night OUT with the Nats! The world's first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified ballpark! More about it here.

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Bunsen catches some rays.

Reflecting pool

Why ducks would want to hang out in the cess pool also known as the Reflecting Pool is beyond me. I guess there are some tasty morsels in the pea-soup summer algae and tourist trash. But this pic...ain't it the cutest thing ever?

Capital Pride

The parade on Saturday evening was a little rainy and had a smaller turnout. But the Capital Pride Street Festival was sunny and hot as usual! The festival is on Penn. Ave. which provides some great views. I read somewhere that DC has the third largest Pride in the country...but I find this hard to believe, especially with how rinky-dink the parade is! Shown are pics of out-of-town friends Nick and Steve (shout out to Ch'ville) with Marc, and some on-stage eye-candy/entertainment!

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Happy pride everyone!

Right-wing media, more fiction than fact

Fox News, a.k.a. Fabricated News, has rightfully caught flak for "[referring] to Michelle Obama as "Obama's baby mama" in a graphic on Wednesday, the latest in a trio of references to the Democratic presidential campaign that have given fuel to network critics." How could that not smack of racism?

Another anchor called the husband's and wife's fist bump as a "terrorist fist jab." A third anchor, referring to Hillary's slipped assassination comment, is quoted as saying, "Now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama," she said, quickly correcting herself. "Obama. Well, both if we could."

Welcome to America's #1 news source! Scary, ain't it? I think we should rename the network Frightening News, although it plays more like Entertainment Weekly than real news.

Full story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080613/ap_on_en_tv/tv_fox_obama;_ylt=AvZSEk9vVjbxo0ZYmBp1VYcDW7oF

Change is in the air

Right around 1:15 is what we all wish we could do! Soon enough...

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Smart convert!

Tennis camp, anyone?

This weekend I am playing in a local tennis tournament with my tennis league. I am looking forward to it, despite that it's singles matches, best 2 out of 3 sets, and the weather forecast is high 90s with the heat index approaching 110!

In May I flew out to San Antonio, TX for an adult tennis camp with my friend Marla, her husband, and their teammates from Phoenix, AZ. We spent all weekend doing drills, getting instruction, and doing light match play. Here are pictures of us at the on-ranch bar ($2 margaritas!) and the entire Team Australia on the bleachers. Tennis vacations rock!

(pictures by Amber)

Here are some views of the nice grounds at the Newcombe Tennis Ranch. Meals, lodging, and instruction were included in the price. They also did a good job entertaining us. I played 16 - 18 hours of tennis that weekend! It felt great!

What I would do with my tax rebate...

(...though it's already spent on a graduate class)

I love these electronic book readers that are coming out. The Amazon Kindle connects wirelessly (without subscription costs) to allow you to purchase and download books in about a minute. You can also subscribe to newspapers and have them delivered wirelessly every day. You can view the Sony eReader at Borders stores...when you have them in your hand the screen is as good as having a book in front of you...nothing like reading from computer monitors.

What's stopped me so far from getting one: the hefty price, having too many single-job tech gadgets, and being an avid library user.

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These are the courts down the street from my house. They were recently resurfaced...what's with the color? We had really bad t-storms here and my office had no power for two days in a row. One afternoon I went down to the courts to practice some serves...I have a tennis tournament this weekend with my tennis league. Wish me luck!

And it's decided...

Some thoughts about last night's conclusion of the Democratic primary (and yes, Hillary, it is over):

• Now is the time to forget which nominee you preferred. It's time to get excited about Obama and the energy he brings to the race.
• After seeing Obama's dynamic charisma during his speech, watching clips of McCain was nothing but stale, stale, stale. Plus, he looked SO old and fragile. McCain really does not bring much that is new to the table.
• I was disappointed that Hillary (who I originally supported) did not concede the nomination and did not take the opportunity to bring the Democratic party together. Though I have always thought she would be the strongest leader, last night made it clear that her agenda is not compatible with the Obama ticket and its messages of change and possibility.
• I think Obama will crush McCain with the positive, contagious words he wields. However, I don't think Obama is as strong during debates and will have trouble here.
• Say hello to the next president. Very exciting!

Also from Randi's visit: trips to Great Falls Park and the C & O Canal NHP.