How is this night different from all other nights? For one thing, it’s the wrong darned night. Don’t let that stop you from attending the third annual Cyber Seder at CarlWeaver.com. This is the third year we have done a live cybercast of our Passover Seder. Unfortunately, we were out of town the first two nights of this important holiday, but we feel that it is important enough to continue the tradition that we are doing it on the third night to play catch-up.

Not sure what Passover or a Seder is? Read all about it here and then come join us. As long as we are here, your wanderings have not taken you too far from home, or at least a virtual representation of it. The broadcast will start at 6:30 and the actual Seder will commence at 7 p.m.

I was flipping around area websites, looking for possibilities for the weekend (even though it’s supposed to be rather frigid, it’s nothing compared to my winters in Chicago) and stumbled upon this tidbit of info.

Seems that Mount Vernon has been capitalizing on the success of the recent Nicky Cage movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets. If you’re not familiar with the movie, there’s a scene where our intrepid puzzle-solving hero (Cage) decides he needs to kidnap the President of the United States (played by Bruce Greenwood) and does so at a garden party at Mount Vernon. And it revolves around a ‘hidden passageway’ in one of the estate’s basement rooms.

When I first saw the movie, I do remember commenting to my wife afterwards that in all likelihood, we’ll see several D.C. sites jump on the ‘free’ marketing bandwagon and promote themselves along with the movie. And lo and behold, Mount Vernon did indeed.

This weekend is the last available date you can go visit the site for the scene. There’s no additional cost - it’s included in the regular admission and you can only visit that space on the weekend. General admission to Mount Vernon is around $13 for adults and is well worth the cost - it’s a beautiful estate right on the Potomac.

It’s interesting - as usual - how movies portray things that are out of context with the real world. The room used in the movie, according to the website, was actually “designated as the ‘Cellar Kitchen’ on a plan prepared by George Washington at the time he planned additions to both ends of the building in 1774. This space appears to have been used as a kitchen for the slaves assigned to serve the Washington household.”

No mention of a secret passage, however. And I would suggest if you go check it out, don’t try - I’ve a sneaking suspicion that Hollywood made it all up…

Sunday is the last day to see the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery . Over 125 of his fantastic photos are featured in the exhibit, including many from his trips to the Grand Tetons (pictured), Yosemite and the Sierra Nevadas.

Much of the art displayed is from his personal collection, which is amazing to contemplate in this day of digital photography. The Mysterious M and I saw the exhibit back in October and it’s just inspiring even to amateurs such as myself. And frankly, I was more impressed with the Adams exhibit than the Leibovitz one next door (that one already closed up shop).

But that’s probably due more to the horrendous crowd that snaked through there - when strangely, the Adams one was all but ignored that day.

No matter. If you’ve not had a chance, go. Sunday’s the last day.

This started with me looking for pictures of Dupont Circle rats on Flickr. You know how the web is. One thing leads to another and before long you are reading about John McCain giving a five-year-old a cigarette while a student at Episcopal High School in Alexandria.

At first I just chuckled but read on. The brief article is about the author’s father, who was McCain’s football coach and a very good role model during his formative years, even if they were mostly spent sneaking into the Gayety Burlesque Theatre in DC. Read a little snippet here and then go read the entire piece. It’s certainly a great tribute to a great man.

My own memories of John McCain are limited mostly to the occasions when he’d be assigned to our house to work off demerits–raking leaves, mowing our backyard, etc. One day I was innocently wandering around the campus and stopped to talk to some of the students at “Egypt”, the school’s designated outdoor student smoking area on the south wall of Stewart Gym, the school’s wrestling gymnasium. McCain was there with Rives Richie, another student and frequent guest at our house. The evil McCain asked me if I wanted to smoke a cigarette and handed me his. I took a puff, inhaling, choked on it and ran home. I could hear McCain laughing.

Here is an old TV ad for the Saionitz & Kirk law firm that used to run all day long in between Lincoln Tech and Jhoon Rhee spots.

I recalled it being even creepier — there may have been a longer, more ominous version.

Why anyone would open up their house for the public to walk through is beyond me, but I’m sure glad they do it. If you’ve never been to one of DC’s house tours they are a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. They give you a chance to see inside many of the homes you walk by every day. Sometimes they are surprisingly nice, other times they are a big disappointment, but overall it is a great chance to take in some history of the area and even get some decorating ideas for your own home.

So if you don’t have any plans this Sunday, be sure to check out the Dupont Circle House Tour from noon to 5pm. Unfortunately the DCCA’s website doesn’t list the homes on this year’s tour, but in years past there have been amazing places like the O Street Mansion. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the tour. Check here for a list of places to purchase tickets.

See you there!

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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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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One of the things I love about living in DC is that I can go over to the Watergate just about any day of the week — yeah, that Watergate — and do my groceries at “Senior Safeway” (also known around this time of year as the “Student Safeway”), a relatively mundane grocery experience in the shadow of historic intrigue and infamy.

Now, however, a new Watergate shopping experience is open to Washington:

It’s a massive liquidation sale! While the hotel closes up for renovation till 2009, they’re getting rid of surplus desks, chairs, chests, armoires, sinks, tubs, toilets, cutlery, glasses, plates, pillows, four-poster beds and more, all worth anywhere from singles to thousands of dollars, heavily used by hundreds of guests, going for bargain prices. The sale runs every day of the week, Mon-Sat 10-7 and Sun 12-5, and there’s a $10 entrance fee to deter non-buying gawkers, but hey, isn’t it worth a Hamilton for the chance to get a piece of history? Or maybe a used desk for cheap? I saw a bunch of people carting off armchairs from there just this afternoon. Word is the bargains aren’t so great, but hey, Watergate!

Go for it! I know I will. Anyone been there yet? Score anything good?

More on this from WaPo, DCist, and DCBlogs.

Anybody here into ancient Japanese theatre arts and music?… C’mon, raise your hand, I see you.

So Heisei Nakamura-Za Kabuki is in DC this Thursday at the Warner Theatre downtown (as if it was anywhere else). I’ve kind of been enchanted with, at least, the music that could be heard, since it’s not ethnically from my “eastern heritage”, namely Russian and German. I’m pretty much am looking for a visual expansion of what is the only traditional Japanese music I have in my collection (and now, dull my ignorance of the genre.. thank you Blade Runner).

Good tickets are still available, although a little pricey, but the cool factor outweighs price at this point. The performance website describes the event thusly:

“The Japan-America Society of Washington DC proudly presents two performances of Japan’s most famous theatre—-Kabuki. Join us on Thursday, July 26 as one of Japan’s greatest actors, Kanzaburo Nakamura XVIII and over 80 members of the Heisei Nakamura-za Kabuki troupe of Tokyo come to the Warner Theatre. On the playbill are Kanjincho, one of Kabuki’s most famous dramatic works, and Migawari Zazen, a more light-hearted play with a universal theme.”

“All balcony seats for this performance will have an obstructed view of the hanamichi”