Washington, DC

This Weekend in D.C.

Kjersti Wasiak — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:37:31 +0000

17th Annual Doll & Teddy Bear Expo - This sounds like an interesting expo, especially since it is Around the World themed this year. This show is the largest showcase of dolls and teddy bears held in the United States. It is open to the public on Saturday, August 9 from 9am to 5pm and Sunday, August 10 from 10am to 3pm. It costs $15 for adults and $5 for kids under 12 (they can get in free if they were a scout uniform or globally inspired costume). It is being held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. There is also a trade only preview on Friday from 3pm to 5pm. I assume that means those in the related business and/or media.

Ladybug Release - This event is at 10am on Friday, August 8, 2008. It is a release of ladybugs at the National Museum of the American Indian. They are released into the Native Croplands area on the outside the south side of the museum.

SAAM I Am Family Day - This month’s Family Day at the Smithsonian American Art Museum is on Saturday, August 9, from 1pm to 4pm. The featured books are Market Day by Lois Ehlert and The Decoy by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer. There will be a craft activity as part of the program. Also, the usul scavenger hunt activity is available.

Check out weekend sports playing in D.C. on the Sports Events Coming Up This Week post.

These are just few events this weekend. If you have any that you know about in the D.C. area this weekend that you would like to share, then please let us know in a comment to this post.

Book of Week: Inside the CIA By Ronald Kessler

Kjersti Wasiak — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:43:39 +0000

Inside the CIA: Revealing the Secrets of the World’s Most Powerful Spy Agency by Ronald Kessler is a non-fiction book about the CIA. This is an interesting book to learn about the organization of the CIA and its history up to about 1990. The book is kind of out of date, though, having been published in 1992. The most obvious out of date aspect is its continuous referring to the Soviet Union as still existing, which in case you do not know it no longer exist.

The book is organized pretty much as a chronological history of the CIA and as it tells the history it reveals the way the CIA works. It does not really touch on the undercover stuff at all and rather focuses on what the CIA spends most of its time doing, such as the organizing of intelligence and reporting to the President the important stuff they have weeded out from the not so important.

Overall this book is hard to get into at first and I did not find the writing style all that appealing, but near the middle I did kind of get interested and the second half was faster reading. The main reasons I found it kind of hard to read are that it is so out of date in its tone and the chronological sequence gets confusing at times.

Basic Information About this Book:

ISBN #: 0-671-73458-X
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year of Publication: 1992
Number of Pages: 335

If you have a suggestion of a D.C. related book that you would like to see featured in a future Book of the Week post, then please either comment on this post or e-mail me at kjersti.wasiak@451press.net

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Sports Wrap Up and Coming Up

Kjersti Wasiak — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:55:53 +0000

Wrap Up of results from July 28 - August 3

D.C. United (MLS)

8/2 vs. Kansas City Wizards Won 2-0

Washington Glory (NPF)

7/28 vs. Philadelphia Force Won 4-2
7/30 @ Philadelphia Force Won 4-2
7/31 @ Philadelphia Force Lost 2-3
8/1 @ Philadelphia Force Won 7-0
8/2 @ Philadelphia Force Lost 2-3

Washington Nationals (MLB)
7/29 vs. Philadelphia Phillies Lost 1-2
7/30 vs. Philadelphia Phillies Lost 5-8
7/31 vs. Philadelphia Phillies Lost 4-8
8/1 vs. Cincinnati Reds Won 5-2
8/2 vs. Cincinnati Reds Won 10-6
8/3 vs. Cincinnati Reds

Washington Redskins

8/3 vs. Colts (Preseason) Won 30-16

Upcoming

D.C. United (MLS)

8/10 @ New York Red Bulls

Washington Glory (NPF)

8/9 vs. Akron Racers
8/10 vs. Akron Racers
8/11 vs. Akron Racers

Washington Nationals (MLB)
8/4 @ Colorado Rockies
8/5 @ Colorado Rockies
8/6 @ Colorado Rockies
8/7 @ Colorado Rockies
8/8 @ Milwaukee Brewers
8/9 @ Milwaukee Brewers
8/10 @ Milwaukee Brewers

Washington Redskins

8/9 vs. Bills (Preseason)

Finally a Date for Reopening of National Museum of American History

Kjersti Wasiak — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:49:05 +0000

The National Museum of American History will reopen on November 21, 2008, just in time for those visiting D.C. for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. Part of the reopening includes a rare chance to see the White House copy of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on display. This is not a new permanent part of the museum, but it will stay on display until January 4, 2009.

The museum has been closed for 2 years for a $85 million renovation of the building. The main renovation was the redesign of the museum core making it into an atrium. The museum has also been reorganized to give it a fresh feel (I know history and fresh may sound contradictory to some, but that is how I thought it was best to describe it).

Part of the new exhibit space created is a new housing for the recently restored Star Spangled Banner. The entrance to the exhibit has a waving flag made out of polycarbonate reflective tiles. The room the historic flag is kept in is climate controlled and made to give the feel of it being dawn’s early light all the time in the exhibit. The exhibit will still have the extra object and history about the flag and the National Anthem, which I am sure has been improved and will have multimedia aspects.

A major aspect of the reorganization of the museum is related to the incorporation of landmark objects for the six wings of the museum. The six landmark objects are a Dumbo ride vehicle, the Greensboro lunch counter, Clara Barton’s Red Cross Ambulance, the John Bull locomotive, Horatio Greenough’s George Washington statue, and a telescope used by America’s first woman astronomer. Read more about the landmark objects in this blog post I posted in June.

Sports Wrap Up and Coming Up

Kjersti Wasiak — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:54:56 +0000

Wrap Up of results from July 21- July 27

D.C. United (MLS)

7/22 vs. Houston Dynamo Postponed and Played on 7/23, Lost 0-2

Washington Glory (NPF)

7/25 vs. Philadelphia Force Lost 3-6
7/26 vs. Philadelphia Force Lost 7-10
7/27 vs. Philadelphia Force

Washington Nationals (MLB)
7/22 @ San Francisco Giants Lost 3-6
7/23 @ San Francisco Giants Lost 4-6
7/24 @ San Francisco Giants Lost 0-1
7/25 @ Los Angeles Dodgers Lost 2-3
7/26 @ Los Angeles Dodgers Lost 0-6
7/27 @Los Angeles Dodgers

Washington Mystics

7/23 vs. New York Lost 73-80
7/25 @ Atlanta Won 81-75
7/27 vs. Conneticut

Upcoming

D.C. United (MLS)

8/2 vs. Kansas City Wizards

Washington Glory (NPF)

7/28 vs. Philadelphia Force
7/30 @ Philadelphia Force
7/31 @ Philadelphia Force
8/1 @ Philadelphia Force
8/2 @ Philadelphia Force

Washington Nationals (MLB)
7/29 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
7/30 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
7/31 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
8/1 vs. Cincinnati Reds
8/2 vs. Cincinnati Reds
8/3 vs. Cincinnati Reds

Washington Mystics

7/29 vs. Chicago
7/30 @ Minnesota

Sports Wrap Up and Coming Up

Kjersti Wasiak — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:32:52 +0000

Wrap Up of results from July 14- July 20

D.C. United (MLS)

7/15 vs. Atlante Lost 2-3
7/19 vs. Houston Dynamo Lost 1-3

Washington Glory (NPF)

7/17 vs. Rockford Thunder Won 5-1
7/18 vs Rockford Thunder Lost 2-7
7/19 vs. Rockford Thunder Won 3-2
7/20 vs. Rockford Thunder

Washington Nationals (MLB)
7/18 @ Atlanta Braves Lost 6-7
7/19 @ Atlanta Braves Won 8-2
7/20 @ Atlanta Braves Won 15-6

Washington Mystics

7/17 @ New York Lost 56-77
7/18 vs. Detroit Lost 62-99
7/20 vs. Seattle Won 89-57

Upcoming

D.C. United (MLS)

7/22 vs. Houston Dynamo

Washington Glory (NPF)

7/25 vs. Philadelphia Force
7/26 vs. Philadelphia Force
7/27 vs. Philadelphia Force

Washington Nationals (MLB)
7/22 @ San Francisco Giants
7/23 @ San Francisco Giants
7/24 @ San Francisco Giants
7/25 @ Los Angeles Dodgers
7/26 @ Los Angeles Dodgers
7/27 @Los Angeles Dodgers

Washington Mystics

7/23 vs. New York
7/25 @ Atlanta
7/27 vs. Conneticut

D.C. Photo of the Day

Kjersti Wasiak — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:00:12 +0000

Crystal City Takes Flight, April 2008
Photographer: Kjersti Wasiak

While you may notice most Photo of the Day posts feature photos taken by me, I encourage others to submit their photos to be featured in an upcoming Photo of the Day post. It does not matter if the photo is great, as long as it is not blurry, is related to D.C., and is otherwise appropriate then I will feature it. To submit a photo send me an e-mail at kjersti.wasiak@451press.net with the subject line of D.C. Photo. In the e-mail attach your photo and include your name, date of the photo (just month and year is necessary), website you want me to link to, and a description of the photo, especially including location of photo when it is not obvious.

Top 5 Photo of the Day Posts of 2007

photo, D.C.