Washington D.C. Metblogs » Julia Frey

¡Adios Foggy Bottom!

Julia Frey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:29:19 +0000

(I had to get “Foggy Bottom” into one more post…)

I’m heading back home after two weeks of work and fun here in our Nation’s Capital. I got to see the things I wanted to see most of all: The National Air and Space Museum (both parts!) as well as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.

Have you read the constitution lately? It’s not long. Read it. Pay particular attention to Article I, Section 9: “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

Just getting some soapbox time in before I go.

Ciao, Cheers and Aloha DC!

Crazy for Udvar-Hazy!

Julia Frey — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:05:15 +0000

I freaked. Then I geeked.

I mean, you walk through the entry and the first thing you see is this (click for major geek out):

OMGPONIES!!!!111

The SR-71 Blackbird. The fastest aircraft ever built. Just look at it! Speedy, sexy, awesome. My photos don’t do it justice. Oh and PS, that’s the prototype Space Shuttle back there. You remember The Enterprise, right? Built in the 70’s for approach and landing tests, NASA wanted to name it “Constitution” but Star Trek fans began a write-in campaign to Gerald Ford get the name changed to “Enterprise” and President Ford made it so. (You don’t f*** with Star Trek fans when they start writing in.)

But let’s look at the Blackbird from another angle, shall we?

Dude.

Part of the description on the Wikipedia entry says: “if a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was to simply accelerate.” I love that.

More Udvar-Hazy after the jump…
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Hard Hat Convention

Julia Frey — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:51:37 +0000

Saturday Morning on M Street.

(They moved quickly, sorry for the not so great photo.)

DC and the Movies

Julia Frey — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:53:20 +0000

Yesterday we were working in/near Annapolis at a private residence on a “creek”. It was lovely out there. Apparently fall has arrived and the cooler days are a relief from the first week of shooting in the hot muggy-ness. More about the shoot yesterday in just a sec.

The day before that, my colleague and I were searching for Radio Shack to buy some more equipment. (Luckily, we didn’t need anything made or sold by Hilti.) We need handfulls of LED lights and 3v batteries. Working in the movies is oh so glamorous! While we walked down the street, I looked over and saw this and had to whip out my camera:

Was I excited because I’m a political or news junkie? Sadly, no. I got excited because I’m a movie junkie and All The President’s Men is one of my favorites. (Full disclosure, I have also read the book.) I still love it when I’m actually at a place I’ve only known about or seen in movies.
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Waiting in Line at Foggy Bottom TJ’s

Julia Frey — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:18:53 +0000

Kind Princes Can Often Find Gorgeous Secretaries.

Anyone? Anyone?

Of Crosswalk Countdowns and Missing Bricks

Julia Frey — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:11:55 +0000

I like the countdown crosswalks that have bing springing up all over big cities these days. Very handy for knowing how long you have to cross so you don’t have to do that herky jerky “Should I go? Will it turn yellow?” dance. However, I have noticed that the countdown lights in Washington DC often start at what seem to be random numbers. Sometimes they start at 60 or 30, but more often than not I see them start at 17 or 42.

What gives? Did the crosswalk countdown programmer get bored setting hundreds of crosstimes and just start putting in funny numbers?
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Sunset on 9/11

Julia Frey — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:48:18 +0000

I’m sorry that this picture doesn’t quite do it justice (and click for bigger).

The sunset was beautiful tonight. A nice way to end this day.

A Shining Beacon in Foggy Bottom

Julia Frey — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:45:02 +0000

Friday, after my lovely afternoon at Fort McNair, I returned to the office and had to run an errand to get a particular piece of equipment from the nearest Home Depot. I found the Rhode Island Ave. location and got quick pointers to the Metro and off I went.

First I have to say: nice Metro DC! Carpeted, cell phone reception, AIR CONDITIONING! (It’s really not a dry heat out here.) Plus all the travelers are so polite, standing on the right of the escalators, waiting to the sides of the doors to let folks out before moving all the way into the center of the car. I’m really impressed!

So I got out to Home Depot, which was luckily close to the station, and the item I need is not available for sale because the sales rep is gone for the day. He leaves at 3:00pm (it was about 6:00.) I’m standing there going “Are you FRAKKING kidding me?” I need to spend about $350 on a specific thing (a Hilti Laser Range Meter for crying out loud) And the Hilti sales rep is the only guy with a key to unlock all his miracle treasures to sell to us common people. There was no way for me to part with $350. Crap and damn. So I schlep back to the Metro and exit at my stop: “Foggy Bottom”

Second I have to say: Any city that has a neighborhood called “Foggy Bottom” is okay by me. And that it turns out to be my stop? Even better.

Follow me after the jump for the Shining Beacon…
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The Afternoon at Fort McNair

Julia Frey — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 15:05:25 +0000

Yesterday I had most of the day for myself. There was a brief meeting, then some emails and paperwork to do, but after that, free! So I called my friend David who lives here and we went to lunch. Then he took me back to his office at Fort McNair to show me around and visit some some. He works at the National War College (part of the National Defense University) and gave me a brief tour of his building before he went to a meeting.

Follow me past the jump for your own tour of the place.
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I Thought LA Was Car Crazy…

Julia Frey — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 04:03:26 +0000

We were working/shooting in Baltimore today (not DC, I know) and on the way back we saw this amazing vehicle:

There is a guy in LA who has something similar, but this is way wackier and therefore way better. Has anyone seen this car? Does anyone know about it? (Sorry for the crap video, but it was a quick grab before we lost him.)

More about our shoot at Eastern Market yesterday after the fold.
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