Folger Shakespeare Library

What a ball we had at the Shakespeare Festival! I have to say there are very few activities which could be held so as successfully as one at the Folger Shakespeare Library celebrating William Shakespeare's 444th birthday.

It is not necessarily fancy but it has irrepressible spirits. The attendees are clearly in their comfort zone, indulging in the luxurious scent of the Shakespearean age.

The festival inspires us to engage in the beauty of the literature world, not to mention it was simply just a load of fun. We visited the Old Reading Room filled with valuable literatures, we watched a performance by various talented young Shakespearean actors, and we even "followed the queen" in the procession. But the highlight of the day has to be seeing the famed Derek Jacobi in all his glorious eloquence - it was truly an oratory masterpiece we have the fortune to witness.

We truly appreciate Mr. & Mrs. Folger for their generosity and the heritage they helped to preserve will benefit generation after generation.

Shakespeare, whoever you really were... We salute you!
Happy birthday!

Note: For more photos, please go to: http://blog.pixnet.net/polar61/post/17029467

Learning to drive in Maryland

Though I drive for 10 years in my country, now I'm relearning the traffic rules of Maryland. While I'm reading the driver's handbook, I found some rules very amusing:

1. Drivers should be especially alert for and yield the right-of-way to pedestrians who are deaf, or have physical disabilities... (how can I tell whether pedestrians are deaf?)

2. Avoid eye contact with other drivers (why?)

3. Always come to a full stop at red lights and stop signs (I understood though a full stop at stop signs in an empty parking lot making me feel like a fool. full=fool?)

4. If you should strike and injure a domestic animal with a motor vehicle, the law requires you to immediately notify the police department having jurisdiction in the area where the crash occurred. The police will contact the proper agency to obtain medical care for the animal. (Then why I still see so many road kills without being attended?)

5. Watch the car ahead of you when it passes a reference point, such as a sign or overpass. Then count "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand four." If you pass the same spot before you are finished counting to one thousand four, you are following too closely. (How about counting one thousand sheep, two thousand sheep, three thousand sheep, four thousand sheep? We are used to counting sheep by all means. :D)

6. We've all seen them - people driving down the road reading the road map or newspaper, shaving, putting on make-up or concentrating on a cell phone conversation. Those are the most obvious examples of driver distraction. (Oh, no! Why police don't fine them much?)

7. You would be better off not driving at all when you are emotionally upset. (No wonder there is less traffic in April tax season.)

8. Avoid abrupt changes in speed or direction. Drive as though you have an egg between your foot and the gas or brake pedal. (Hmmm.... let me imagine that, an egg, huh?)

9. If a collision seems inevitable, do anything to keep from hitting another vehicle; if you have a choice, run your vehicle into a ditch. (If I had a choice, I would rather be able to fly... :P)

10. How to avoid being hit from the rear? If a vehicle follows too closely, slow down and let it pass. (Are you kidding me, then when can I finish my grocery shopping?)

Newseum

Free museum? Sure! Go to Washington D.C. and you'll enjoy bunch of them. But not Newseum! The admission is $20 for adult except the opening day on Apr. 11th. So I definitely cannot miss this chance! Pity that my sweetie cannot come with me because he has more important thing to do: work!

Obviously quite a lot of people think the same as me. Long line queuing outside the museum but who cares? It's free! Each one of us got a Newseum visitor guide which indicates the visitor path, exhibit highlights and each floor map. The booklet still has a lot to improve to be as good as other competition.

Taking the all-glass express elevator is a new experience to me because this OTIS made elevator is the biggest glass elevator I've ever taken though not steady enough as I expected from the brand.


It calls itself the world's most interactive museum, well I don't know about that but I found the Interactive Newsroom the most interactive area of the whole museum.
And the most impressive galleries for me are: Berlin Wall Gallery, Big Screen Theater, News History & Journalists Memorial.

I believe I could spend the whole day in this $450 million built museum if it's not so crowded. It will be fun to read those old time news and media development history. However I did my best spending 3 hours exploring this and that until satisfied.

I'm just curious which city of the world has the most museums ever and what other themes will be taken for the future new museums... Anyway D.C. must be in the top list for sure.

After Newseum, I went to National Gallery again. This time I focus more on Spanish painters like El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo. Not many works there but still good enough... Since it's a Friday there are some painters simulating the masterpieces.

Oh... so nice the spring is here and I can smell it everywhere. It's time to plan many activities to welcome us back alive... OLE!

Recession is like forest fire - - Jim Rogers

Jim Rogers, the investment guru, speaks from Singapore in an interview with Money Morning on April 8th about US Economy.

"Because of such strategic missteps, U.S. consumers could be facing a long and painful economic malaise, similar to the 'lost decade' of 1990s Japan, or the stagflation-riddled 1970s in the United States, Rogers said."

"Rogers also said that:

• Although the United States faces perhaps its most daunting economic challenges in at least a generation, "in America, most people do not understand that there is a problem."
• Because of these weak-dollar efforts - as well as the billion-dollar bailouts - "America is now the largest debtor the world has ever seen. What’s happening in the U.S. is not going to be fun.
• Although the central bank seems intent on engineering a U.S. economic rebound by creating an ultra-weak dollar, no country in history has ever emerged from a serious financial crisis by "debasing its currency."

"Recessions are usually good for the system. They clean out the excesses. The outrageous part is that it will cost more to try to prevent a recession than to have the recession."

"In nature, there’s the natural phenomenon of forest fires. The forest fires are pretty terrible when they’re going on. But nature invented them to clean out the forest so that the forest could then come and grow from a new, sound foundation. That’s what recessions do, too. They’re a natural phenomenon. "

"Nobody likes it when we have them any more than anybody likes a forest fire. But in the end, everybody’s better off. Bernanke thinks he can stop this; he’s going to very well destroy the system by trying to save it."

So here we go: how bad US Economy could go? How it will impact us in every day life? For over half an year the media have been debating whether US economy is in recession with all kinds of index trying to persuade each other. Mortgage numbers have been arising constantly and our 'poor' neighbor moved in and moved out in a few months with all the furnitures and belongings from a big house. On TV more and more decent couples declare their bankruptcy or mortgage status. I truly hope that is only happening to small part of the population on the credit disaster for their poor finance management. However after reading Jim Roger's interview, I cannot help wondering what if the country we live becomes bankrupted while we keep our sanity all the time?! I cannot imagine what would be coming then. Are we strong enough just like our parents bearing a wartime life to face a financial world collapse? Maybe we should simply have faith on the balancing forces of nature so that "in the end everybody's better off"...

DC Cherry blossom

Once again.... we went to D.C. Tidal Basin for the beautiful cherry blossom.

I never thought Washington D.C. could be so crowded before my first visit to Cherry Blossom festival. And after you experience that once, you understand why. Not only the people living near by would take the chance of cherry contemplation but also tourists from everywhere in US want to let cherries awake them out of the long gloomy winter.

This year the weather is a bit chilly in April but just to see so many people join this activity with the spring spirits warm us up. We walked around the area and I took as many photos as possible (though a bit hard with the crowd and my hon thinks I'm a bit obsessed with photo shooting :D).

Everyone looks so happy and that is contagious I think. The spot we took this picture is very hot. Every couple took turn for photo shooting and we helped each other too. Being friendly is surely one of the American qualities.


After the cherry, we went to World War II Monument to take a rest. It's freshing to walk around the fountain and we saw many tour guides explaining this monument to the tourists. I remember the first time I came here there was nobody. Just me and the monument but in April festival season, all the places near the Mall are crowded by visitors. And I think it's a great treat for visitors that all the D.C. museums are free, so they can visit as many as they want during the stay.

Where else we could go to feel the spring more? We chose to walk to National Gallery.

We all face some problems when visiting so many famous museums in an intensive period of time, we'll start to forget which paintings are in which museum. That happens to us too. That's why revisit the museum is a great thing to do. To remember again those paintings to our own taste. I specially paid attention this time on Flemish painters, to check on Rembrandt and Vermeer... We both think The Frick collection in New York has better Vermeer's works than the National Gallery. :D Isn't that amusing? And we also went to see Degas' huge painting of ballet girls and Toulouse' several paintings. I asked why all of the paintings of Toulouse and Da Vinci are covered with glasses and they told me it's because they are more valuable for the Gallery and/or they were like that when purchased before. This made me cheer up to know Degas, Toulouse (my favorite painters) are more valuable than Renoir and Rembrandt for National Gallery.

We all think next time we should spend the whole day revisit each inch of National Gallery again, both west and east wings. You'll never know how long you will stay at one city in your life, won't you?! And before we went back to metro stop, we found Newseum building stood just in front of National gallery entrance which will be open on April 11th. And after check more info about this museum, surprisingly we found out that it probably will be one of the rare museums not free in DC area and admission is $20 for adult except on the opening day. So that means I'll GO for sure. :D