A photo set update for you now…
2 minute read
November 23, 2006, 2:13 AM
Every so often, as you know, I like to give updates on photo sets, like when things have changed. I think the most notable update has to be in my Afton Mountain photo set, where the Skyline Parkway Motel was torched ten months after I did the set.
This time, though, it’s a DC area update. You remember when I did Urban Demolition? That showed 1117 North 19th Street in the process of being demolished. Then when I did If These Streets Could Talk about a month and a half later, the site was simply a hole in the ground. The most recent update on that site that I provided was in Part 2 of my Year In Review photo set. There, it was still mostly a hole in the ground, but new structural elements were starting to take shape.
Now, check this out:
Continue reading…Categories: Arlington, Schumin Web meta
An Outlet Village update for you all…
3 minute read
November 20, 2006, 9:45 PM
It’s been about three months since the last time I gave you an update on the Outlet Village, presented in my Building 7 Burns photo set. Since then, the fire training exercises have ended, with Building 1 also being torched for training purposes. Now, work is underway to prepare the site for the new shopping center that will be going up in its place, which will house a Target and a Kohl’s, among other things.
I took all these photos from the car with my cell phone while I was out running an errand on my lunch hour. So here are the photos:
Categories: Waynesboro Outlet Village
I can’t believe that Greta has a better bed than me!
< 1 minute read
November 19, 2006, 6:42 AM
I also can’t believe that I accidentally erased the first version of this Journal entry as I was getting ready to post it. Let’s see if I can remember everything I wrote before as we begin “take two”.
But yeah, Greta got a new bed, and it’s quite nice. It’s all memory foam. Greta’s old bed was a two inch thick piece of foam rubber with a cover on it. The bottom of the old bed’s cover had cow spots, and the top part was some sort of fleece. Now, memory foam is where it’s at.
Compare to my bed, which I’ve had since 1988, back when I was in first grade at Grimes Elementary. The mattress is slightly newer than the bed itself, but now, 18 years later, it’s no longer as nice as it once was. To put it nicely, it sucks. To give you an idea of how not-fond I am of my bed, I had actually seriously considered taking the bed that came with my room in Potomac Hall home with me, and letting Residence Life bill me for it. So many people complained about the dorm beds, but compared to my bed at home, the dorm bed was living large.
I still remember when I first got it. The bed was bunk beds back then, but in 1998 or so, I finally dismantled the top bunk as being of no use to me anymore. I remember that I put a nice gash in the wall when I accidentally hit one of the parts against the wall, which I then had to fix.
So there you go. And when I mentioned it to Dad and Sis, they good-naturedly told me that I could get a doggy bed for myself just like it…
Categories: Greta
The lengths people will go to for video games…
2 minute read
November 17, 2006, 11:00 AM
Sometimes I can’t get over what people will do in order to be the first to get something. Check this out:
Categories: Some people, Walmart
Quite a storm yesterday morning…
< 1 minute read
November 17, 2006, 9:17 AM
Categories: Weather
I got that new winter coat, and did some serious driving…
5 minute read
November 16, 2006, 1:41 AM
First of all, I had fun on my latest Richmond-to-DC trip, where I go up to Washington DC via Richmond, which takes me east on I-64, onto US 250 near Richmond, through downtown Richmond, and then north on I-95. While on I-95, I take US 1 through Fredericksburg before returning to I-95, then continue on I-95 to Potomac Mills.
Potomac Mills put me a hair behind where I wanted to be on this trip, but it was worth it. I went to the Casual Male store, and got a new winter coat. This one is similar to the one I used from 2001 up until last winter, but is a little bit longer, has different sleeve cuffs, and has a detachable hood, which my other coat lacked. The only thing that I didn’t like was the price tag: $99.99. Ouch. Then add another $5.00 in sales tax, and it starts to hurt a bit. But I like the coat, and it feels really good on me. Now I just want a really cold day so I can give it a whirl for the first time.
I also tried on a number of other coats to see what I liked. I even tried on a black trenchcoat to see how it fits. It was interesting, but it was a bit longer than I felt comfortable with, plus buttons to keep it closed seemed kind of cumbersome. Plus I just couldn’t imagine it as a “me” kind of coat. I made the Chuck Taylors very much “me”, but I wasn’t able to pull that same feat off again with the coat. Still, I know what I like, and that wasn’t it. But the coat I did pick is just going to be a dream.
It seems that we did it…
2 minute read
November 13, 2006, 10:12 PM
Categories: Clothing, DC trips, National politics, Retail
And here’s the photo!
< 1 minute read
November 8, 2006, 10:21 PM
Here’s the photo of Cindy Sheehan and me:
There we are, right in front of the White House. Also notice the new camera bag strap on my shoulder, to replace the one that broke a little less than a month ago.
Looks like Virginia is the “Florida” of 2006…
3 minute read
November 8, 2006, 7:15 PM
First of all, just let me say that it was a very challenging ride home from Washington DC last night, because of medium-to-heavy rain for much of the drive home, and wet conditions for the remainder.
However, it was all made more bearable by listening to election result coverage all the way home. On the first half of the trip, I listened on WETA (90.9 FM), Washington’s local National Public Radio (NPR) station. There, instead of the usual BBC World Service feed that they run overnight, we got live election coverage from NPR. On the second half of the return trip, since I finally lose WETA completely at Woodstock, I did a little channel surfing on the radio to continue the live election coverage. For those wondering, I can pick up the local NPR station out of Harrisonburg (WMRA 90.7 FM) from at least as far as Front Royal, but they play classical music during off-times, rather than continuous news and talk like WETA does. And I’m not interested in hearing classical music when I’m trying to stay engaged to drive. I ultimately picked up 750 AM, which is WSB out of Atlanta. I listened to them from Woodstock to Harrisonburg, when I finally switched to WSVA (550 AM) out of Harrisonburg, after I realized that WSB was spending more time on local Atlanta elections that I have no interest in whatsoever, than the races for Congress.
The NPR coverage on WETA was EXCELLENT. They know what they’re doing on there. I quickly found out what was going on before I’d even completely cleared Vienna: the Democrats carried the House of Representatives, and the Senate was still undecided with six races, including those in Montana and Virginia, considered too close to call. As I followed the election coverage through my long, rainy ride home, they, along with WSB and WSVA, were able to call four of them. By the time I arrived home, Montana was still too close to call, but leaning for the Democratic candidate, and Virginia was on a razor-thin margin, flipping back and forth between Allen and Webb. I learned that Allen’s supporters had already gone home with confidence, and Webb’s campaign had already declared victory a little bit after that.
Categories: DC trips, National politics
I met Cindy Sheehan!
2 minute read
November 7, 2006, 8:06 PM
You may remember that previously, the closest that I got to Cindy Sheehan was at the anti-war rally that I photographed at Arlington Cemetery in Octrober 2004. You may recall that this photo was in there, showing a photo of Casey Sheehan. That was before she became a national figure with Camp Casey.
Now, I’ve met her. I even got someone to photograph us together. That will go up once I get home (I’m currently at Pentagon City). I was doing something I do often on my DC trips – walk from McPherson Square station to Lafayette Park, go past the White House, and then walk to Metro Center station. There was a whole bunch of anti-war activity going on this time, and much to my surprise, Cindy Sheehan was there. I was talking to a Code Pink person, and then I saw a familiar face. I said, “Are you who I think you are?” She replied, “Who do you think I am?” I said, “Cindy Sheehan?” It turned out to be her, and my reaction was just like when I met Dr. Ruth at JMU back in 2003. Lack of words for meeting a famous person.
She shook my hand, and I showed her the photo from that rally, which she remembered well. The impression I got from the handshake was that Cindy Sheehan had very soft hands, and surprisingly warm hands! But she was very friendly, and has just an awesome personality. She even described how a Park Police officer helped her pin a number of “Arrest Bush” pins to her shirt in preparation for a vigil in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Hopefully we’ll meet again.
And now, the zero hour is approaching. Ready, set, vote!
< 1 minute read
November 6, 2006, 11:00 PM
All right, folks, the polls open early in the morning, and close at 7:00 PM. It is time to make this person’s statement come true, and let the American people reclaim the House of Representatives and the Senate from Republican rule.
I voted a week and a half ago, on October 25. Therefore, my votes have long been cast. Now the rest of you must make your selections.
I make one suggestion: THINK BLUE.
Categories: National politics
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging, pending appeal. My question becomes…
3 minute read
November 6, 2006, 10:37 PM
I read in the newspaper today that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity, and sentenced to death by hanging, pending an appeal.
But what I’d really like to know is, what will we be accomplishing by knocking Saddam off? Seriously, what is anyone proving by knocking him off? So a former dictator will be put to death. If anything, Saddam’s getting off easy. He will be dead, and therefore his problems will be over. It’s not going to get us out of Iraq any sooner, it’s not likely going to stop the insurgency, and it’s not going to solve the basic problems of the Iraqi people.
Now there are certain things that I’m not going to disagree with. I am certainly in agreement with those who say that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who did horrible things to his own people, and allowed other bad things to happen to his people. I’ll give you that. I’ll also agree that he was something of a wacko. His conduct at his trial confirms his status as a wacko.
But why put him to death? As I mentioned above, I think that lets him off extremely easily, even if the death is by hanging, as compared to something somewhat more humane, relatively speaking, like lethal injection. Hanging just seems so primitive, in my opinion, even for a less-developed country.
Categories: National politics
Virginians: Vote NO to the marriage amendment!
3 minute read
November 3, 2006, 10:09 PM
This advertisement, which ran on page A8 of today’s issue of The News Leader, really burns me up:
Categories: State and local politics
A full view of a radical cheerleader outfit…
2 minute read
November 2, 2006, 3:58 AM
Categories: Halloween
Happy Halloween from your radical cheerleader friends!
2 minute read
October 31, 2006, 11:22 PM
First of all, here’s the costume:
As you can see, I had fun with this one. From the bottom up, I’m wearing my Chuck Taylors, black tights, black shorts (no cheerleader skirt for me!), a red shirt with the sleeves cut off, on which I wrote “RADICAL CHEER”, a black shirt underneath that, black arm things with netting and chains and zippers, a black bandanna around the neck, and a red hat.
Categories: Halloween