What other way is there to spend an afternoon with friends in DC? After arising on this national day off, we dined on blueberry muffins (whipped up easily as only Leah can do) continuing the fresh blueberry theme of the weekend. Soon the dishes were done and a plan for the afternoon was concocted. My friend Charles E., a one-of-a kind sort himself, joined us.
Leah and Rich (alas, no Charles and yes, still having camera issues
Stop 1 was an afternoon matinee to see Napoleon Dynamite. I must qualify that this movie was reviewed favorably on NPR so I take full responsibility for selecting this flick. Perhaps one of my three mates liked the film, but I again agreed with Roger Ebert and gave it a low mark. I think there is an element of me being so trained by the structure of a movie that I expect there to be an introduction and some event to happen to send the movie into its main plot line. Here in Napoleon Dynamite, I just kept waiting for something to happen, and it never did. One thing, however, is that there were so many memorable scenes in the movie that I, and the other three, kept bringing up that it must have affected me in some way. This is NOT a traditional movie, but I think it might become one of those cult classics.
After the movie, we moved down to Chinatown and had a late lunch at Full Kee. This was a full meeting of math club. Of course you know I am a member. Charles is a founding member of Math Club. Rich is a lawyer who majored in Math and Leah used to teach Math with me at Lawrenceville and has a PHD in Statistics. You know we talked Math, most importantly the Central Limit Theorem. I have to admit that the three of them nailed me on my decision NOT to see Fahrenheit 911. Charles hypothesizes that I am doing it for contrarian reasons. Leah says I'm succumbing to "willful naievete". It hits home, so I will not yet go on record in this blog with my "supposed reasons". This is to be continued.
The last stop of the day (minus Charles) was a trip to the International Spy Museum. For those of you who visit or live in the DC area, it's an interesting place, but ultimately kind of disappointing. First off, skip the special exhibit on terrorism. It's kitchy and lame. As for the main museum area, it starts off with SO much potential. There is this place where you take on an identity and you think you are going to follow this theme through the entire museum. After the first room, it gets completely dropped. As for the rest of the museum, there are some great things, but also some information overload. The museum is worth a visit, but not something to build the day around if you are visiting.
Lastly, I've always said the DC Metro and the BART are essentially the same. Rich has helped me change my mind on that. BART brings people from around the Bay Area into SF and dumps them there. Here in DC, the Metro goes to most parts of the city and you can hop on and off easily within the district itself. DC's Metro is much better designed than BART.
Stop 1 was an afternoon matinee to see Napoleon Dynamite. I must qualify that this movie was reviewed favorably on NPR so I take full responsibility for selecting this flick. Perhaps one of my three mates liked the film, but I again agreed with Roger Ebert and gave it a low mark. I think there is an element of me being so trained by the structure of a movie that I expect there to be an introduction and some event to happen to send the movie into its main plot line. Here in Napoleon Dynamite, I just kept waiting for something to happen, and it never did. One thing, however, is that there were so many memorable scenes in the movie that I, and the other three, kept bringing up that it must have affected me in some way. This is NOT a traditional movie, but I think it might become one of those cult classics.
After the movie, we moved down to Chinatown and had a late lunch at Full Kee. This was a full meeting of math club. Of course you know I am a member. Charles is a founding member of Math Club. Rich is a lawyer who majored in Math and Leah used to teach Math with me at Lawrenceville and has a PHD in Statistics. You know we talked Math, most importantly the Central Limit Theorem. I have to admit that the three of them nailed me on my decision NOT to see Fahrenheit 911. Charles hypothesizes that I am doing it for contrarian reasons. Leah says I'm succumbing to "willful naievete". It hits home, so I will not yet go on record in this blog with my "supposed reasons". This is to be continued.
The last stop of the day (minus Charles) was a trip to the International Spy Museum. For those of you who visit or live in the DC area, it's an interesting place, but ultimately kind of disappointing. First off, skip the special exhibit on terrorism. It's kitchy and lame. As for the main museum area, it starts off with SO much potential. There is this place where you take on an identity and you think you are going to follow this theme through the entire museum. After the first room, it gets completely dropped. As for the rest of the museum, there are some great things, but also some information overload. The museum is worth a visit, but not something to build the day around if you are visiting.
Lastly, I've always said the DC Metro and the BART are essentially the same. Rich has helped me change my mind on that. BART brings people from around the Bay Area into SF and dumps them there. Here in DC, the Metro goes to most parts of the city and you can hop on and off easily within the district itself. DC's Metro is much better designed than BART.
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