Facebook
Change Was Made Uptown
The report that Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke is sad news for all fans of rock music. Bruce Springsteen’s best songs are the ones with The Big Man’s signature saxophone sound. There are some encouraging reports as of this writing.
My first true rock concert was a Bruce Springsteen show. I had been to classical concerts and comedy concerts but the closest I had come to attending a rock concert was going to see “Beatlemania” on Broadway. No wonder the Beatles haven’t interested me since.
I got a job at Wolf Trap shortly after moving to Northern Virginia. One of my co-workers was from New Jersey and was a huge Springsteen fan. When it was announced that the E Street Band was coming to the Capital Centre, we asked our boss to use his connections to get us tickets for The Boss.
Our boss was a guy named John Vaughn. He made a couple of calls and arranged for us to buy good seats at face value. When we got to the show, we realized that our seats were better than good. They were great. The four of us were on the floor in the third row. Needless to say, the experience was amazing and made me a fan of Springsteen and of the rest of the band members too.
Surrattogate
The opening scenes of “The Conspirator” depicted Abraham Lincoln’s assassination exactly like I imagined it after visiting Ford’s Theater and reading “Manhunt.” The film questions whether Mary Surratt should have been executed as a co-conspirator in Lincoln’s death. Those not familiar with that chapter of history might be surprised by the movie’s ending.
In its on-screen logo, The American Film Company promises to make entertaining and accurate historical films. The company’s website features more than enough reading material to keep me busy for a week. I think I’ll start with “Historians View the Assassination.” My wife was interested in the article about J.A.G. Joseph Holt and the subsequent comments debating whether Surratt’s trial was influenced by an anti-Catholic bias.
I went to Chinatown last summer but didn’t realize I was near the Surratt boarding house. According to Wikipedia, it is now a restaurant called Wok and Roll. I wonder if they have any menu items named after the Surratts.
Before the movie we saw a promo for Sprite Refreshing Films. I caught a glimpse of Knoxville Catholic High School student Carla Javier in the behind-the-scenes footage. “Wonderland,” the film Carla worked on, is currently trailing behind the entry from Dallas. Voting is open until Friday, April 22. Text ATL to 777483.
Statue of Limitations
Of all the valuable artwork visible during my tour of the U.S. Capitol, the statues of famous Americans were the most memorable to me. Sure, I looked up at “The Apotheosis of Washington,” which was discussed in Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol,” but the statues were my favorite thing to see. Each state has two statues. Our tour guide, an intern named Logan from Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr.’s office, pointed out that Tennessee technically has three famous sons represented: John Sevier, Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston, who was governor of Tennessee before becoming governor of Texas.
The two figures from California interested me. The states are allowed to replace their statues. The addition of Ronald Reagan sent some other guy into cold storage. The base of his statue in the Rotunda includes a visible ribbon of rubble from the Berlin Wall. Later, our tour guide was pointing out something else in Statuary Hall when he said, “it’s over by the guy with the cross.” My wife and I didn’t need to see the name on the base to recognize the iconic figure of Fr. Junipero Serra, who founded a string of Catholic missions along El Camino Real. Our kids had to each choose a mission and build a model of it in fourth grade at St. Finbar School.
A “portrait monument” honoring three women’s suffrage leaders, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott, appears to be unfinished. Our tour guide said that the rumor around Capitol Hill is that the hunk of unhewn marble will someday be carved into the likeness of our first female president. He also told us that no living person can be represented by a statue in the Capitol.
Astronaut Jack Swigert died of cancer after being elected to Congress but before taking office. His colorful statue, one of the two from Colorado, is on display in the Capitol Visitor Center. He is best known as one of the three crewmen aboard Apollo 13. Kevin Bacon played him in the movie.
In the crypt under the Rotunda, we could stand in the exact center of Washington and simultaneously be in all four quadrants of the city. We were told that many lawmakers rub their foot on the spot for good luck before one of their bills is voted on. Nearby is a model of the Capitol grounds, which we were studying when I looked up to see freshman Congressman Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee’s 4th district. I knew that his incumbent opponent had waged a brutal and misleading mudslinging campaign, which obviously failed. I congratulated the congressman on “fighting the good fight” with a fist-bump on his shoulder. In hindsight, I felt stupid about touching a congressman, even if I had momentarily thought of him as a regular guy from Tennessee.
The Bat’s Meow
The Star Spangled Banner exhibit at the National Museum of American History has gone high tech. Like many Americans, I remember going to the Smithsonian Institution as a kid and seeing the famous flag hanging in entryway. The current display protects it from sunlight and includes a very cool touchscreen that lets you zoom in on specific parts of the flag. As you leave the darkened room, a sign asks you to tweet your comments to @amhistorymuseum.
My wife and I planned our day in D.C. to include a trip to the museum because she wanted to see the old ladies’ dresses First Ladies’ Gowns. While we were there, I wanted to show her Julia Child’s kitchen, even though I saw it last summer. I am a longtime fan of the French Chef. An interview with Julia played on a video screen with an occasional slide saying that the footage was recorded on September 11, 2001. I didn’t notice any reference to that day’s terrorist attacks and couldn’t figure out why they mentioned it.
“Batman” was represented at least twice in the museum. In the cafeteria, they had a display of lunchboxes through the years. I saw a Batman & Robin lunchbox that was similar to one I had in first grade. I thought mine also had The Penguin on it, but a Google search makes me think the villains were on the thermos.
After enjoying lunch from the salad bar, my wife and I took the elevator up to the third floor. The doors opened to reveal an assortment of original Muppets from Jim Henson’s days at WRC-TV, before “Sesame Street.” Beyond that we could see Archie and Edith Bunker’s chairs from “All in the Family.”
The museum rotates the display of pop-culture treasures in the relatively small space. The highlight for me was seeing one of Julie Newmar’s Catwoman costumes from the “Batman” TV series. It was placed next to a case with Fonzie’s leather jacket, Phyllis Diller’s wig and few other items.
Around the corner from Catwoman was a room featuring items from 1939. We saw Dorothy’s ruby slippers and a page from “The Wizard of Oz” screenplay in which the slippers were silver, like in the book. I gravitated toward a display case for radio, which held an NBC microphone, Toscanini’s baton and radio’s most famous dummy, Charlie McCarthy. That’s me on the right.
Masonic Ritual
As the “home team” with the higher seed, the George Mason Patriots wore white jerseys when they beat Villanova in an unbelievable come-from-behind finish on Friday. I expect that they will be wearing their kryptonite green jerseys when they play the number one team in the country, Ohio State, on Sunday at 5:15 p.m.
A page on the GMU Alumni Association website directed me to a viewing party at Brion’s Grille, a sports bar close to campus. When the Patriots won, I was hollering and high-fiving strangers, just like everyone else in the place. Both WJLA and WRC sent cameras and reporters to get reactions from the fans. When the game ended, the two stations raised the masts on their live trucks and went live from the bar.
John Gonzalez of ABC7 was one of the reporters present. He filed the report below. When he says it’s been three years since George Mason was in the national championship, he’s referring to Mason’s first round loss in 2008.
Congressional Records
Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. took time to visit with about a dozen constituents from back home on Thursday, including my wife and me. We had arranged for a staff-led tour of the U. S. Capitol, which began in our congressman’s office.
The view from Duncan’s office in the Rayburn Building is spectacular. He was elected to congress in 1988 and got the better space as he moved up in rank. I asked his staff, who told me this is the third office Duncan has occupied.
The congressman went around the room asking each of us, kids included, a little about ourselves. He had an anecdote for every situation, having visited every school in his district. He told my wife and me that he attended Bishop Stika’s 25th anniversary Mass.
I asked Rep. Duncan about his famous vote against the Iraq war. He said the vote would have made his father, a loyal Republican, roll over in his grave. However Duncan also talked about the fiercely independent spirit of East Tennessee, dating back to the Civil War. He told us he had originally voted to support the war in Afghanistan but now wanted it to end. Duncan recapped to us his speech on the floor of the House that morning on the same topic.
I also asked about the drinking water the congressman provides at the Tennessee Valley Fair. He said that the late Tim Russert came to Knoxville for a speaking engagement. During his remarks, Russert said he had some time to kill earlier in the day and that he visited the fair. He was amazed that Duncan could get political capital by giving away water.
Since we were there on St. Patrick’s Day, it made perfect sense that a random bagpiper would be playing Irish tunes as he walked along 1st Street, past the Capitol Hill Club.
Mega Dittoes
Terry Morrow almost crashed into me as he was boarding the Megabus. Neither of us knew that the other would be riding to Washington that day. I told Terry to find a seat near my wife while I went into the Knoxville Transit Center to throw away some empty Splenda packets and a damp stir-stick from Starbucks.
The bus was still on I-40 when Terry and I conspired to send simultaneous Twitter updates. He complained about the guy in front of him while I complained about the guy sitting behind me. When he fell asleep about an hour into the trip, I took a picture and posted it to Twitter.
I had heard Megabus was quick to respond to questions via Twitter. They ignored my questions, some of which were admittedly silly. I didn’t really need to know whether passing truck drivers could see me through the tinted glass. However, I do sincerely believe that Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles would have been a good place to stop instead of a random truck stop in Wytheville.
At least the truck stop had a Denny’s, which was connected to a Flying J. I noticed that the coffee station and soda fountain looked new and that they looked similar to those at Pilot Travel Centers. The two companies merged last year. My wife and hadn’t been to Denny’s since our breakfast with my friend Bean last year in Seattle. Before that, it had been a year since we found ourselves hungry after midnight in Pigeon Forge following the Gatlinburg Screenfest. In Wytheville, my wife and I each got $4 chicken wraps from the $2/$4/$6/$8 value menu.
The WiFi was not working on our single-decker Megabus. Instead of going online, my wife and I watched a movie on her computer. She chose “Fargo,” which keeps coming up in conversation as we plan our trip to the Dakotas for this summer. We are calculating the route to include a swing through Minnesota, possibly Brainerd.
-
Site Search
-
A Word from Our Sponsors
-
With Humble Appreciation:
-
Connections:
-
Welcome Visitors
-
Olden Days Archives
2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- January 2009
- February 2009
- March 2009
- April 2009
- May 2009
- June 2009
- July 2009
- August 2009
- September 2009
- October 2009
- November 2009
- December 2009
- January 2010
- February 2010
- March 2010
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010