The C&O Canal Trail became a national park when Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas challenged the Washington Post to a hike along the former canals in 1954.
The Post then took up the cause to make the lands surrounding the canals from Glen Echo, MD to Georgetown a national park-a dream that became a reality in 1961.
Along the trail, I saw an immature great blue heron and several turtles. Throughout the park, the National Park Service warns visitors that an average of seven people die each year by being swept away in the white water of the Potomac that runs along the canal.
Glen Echo is a national park located next to C & O Trails. It was an amusement park that had been created by Washington D.C.'s streetcar company to get people to use their street cars. Unfortunately, the Metro does not have a stop near Glen Echo-so you have to have a car to get to the Glen Echo National Park.
Glen Echo has been developed into an artist community with a puppet theater, a theater for small children, a carousel, pottery kiln and art classes. The Spanish Ballroom which was built in the 1930's, is used for dances and dance lessons. The former bumper car barn is used for concerts.
Over Labor Day weekend, Glen Echo had its annual art show which displayed photographs, fused glass and other visual artwork from its students.
I also went to the National Building Museum which is housed in the former National Pension Office on F Street NW. The National Building Museum had a exhibition of refrigerator doors that have been created into artworks-to show that the best way to save money (and energy) is to unplug your second refrigerator and replace your 10+ year refrigerator with an Energy Star refrigerator.
The entries include the Marion Appliance Company's entry of a Ohio Buckeye player painted on Shelvador. JACO Environmental created two artworks-one for their client, Sierra Nevada with the front door having a rendering of the Luxor Hotel and one side of the refrigerator being a painting of the Hoover Dam. The other JACO was for another client, Puget Energy of Bellevue, WA and it was a door of mini-refrigerator with two dolpins.
Puget Sound received a Judge's Special Mention for their entry. They used one of their employees as a model and took a photograph of her lookng like a 1950's housewife. They then used recycled metal to create flowers and a garden on the refrigerator to highlight that replacing your old refrigerator is a good way to reduce your carbon footprint.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Planet Arlington and Cool Globes at the Smithsonian
At the Kennedy Center, an exhibition of "Cool Globes"graces the middle of the two main halls.
The "Cool Globes" are painted globes, each with a theme. One talked about how much water is wasted by junk mail. Another talked about 100,000 homes in the nation having solar. Another globe used tiny plastic beads to show that each small step helps the planet.
I had a problem with one of the exhibits. It had tiny faucet pins throughout the globe and talked about how much water is wasted. So its motto was "Save Hot Water." It should have said "Save Water (Hot or Cold)."
There were also "Cool Globes" created by celebrities, including Bill Clinton, Robert Redford and Oprah Winfrey. Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana touted wind power (Montana has an tax incentive to wind power companies that come to Montana). Mayor Rich Dailey had a globe that touted Chicago's excllent environmental programs and their efforts to become the greenest city in the nation.
The third annual Planet Arlington was held on Saturday, and on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Planet Arlington's crowd was fairly modest with approximately 3,000-4,000 people. It started with Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca. Lemvo is from the Congo and has created a salsa band. His music drew a number of dancers, including a group of young people in a line dance. Unfortunately, the sound equipment created feedback that could be heard by the audience throughout the first part of his set.
As the sets were changed, several acts went through the audience, including a line of belly dancers who were trailed by a line of smiling men (including one with a small baby in blue).
The second act was Yang Ying who played an erdu to acoustic music. To my ear, it was dance techno music. The erdu didn't change the sequence and at this point, many of the families began to pick up and go home for dinner.
I used the opportunity to wander through the booths that were between the concert and Arlington Cemetery. Honest Ade was giving away free samples of their product. There were several trailers that were selling food from Mexico and Latin America. One booth was selling African baskets, while another were trying to sell Rosslyn with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds.
The next act was Tania Saleh from Lebanon. Her intro stated that her lyrics used black humor to talk about the pressing issues of the day. While her accompaniment was very nice, the sound system had her mike too low. So the backup band drown out her voice.
The "Cool Globes" are painted globes, each with a theme. One talked about how much water is wasted by junk mail. Another talked about 100,000 homes in the nation having solar. Another globe used tiny plastic beads to show that each small step helps the planet.
I had a problem with one of the exhibits. It had tiny faucet pins throughout the globe and talked about how much water is wasted. So its motto was "Save Hot Water." It should have said "Save Water (Hot or Cold)."
There were also "Cool Globes" created by celebrities, including Bill Clinton, Robert Redford and Oprah Winfrey. Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana touted wind power (Montana has an tax incentive to wind power companies that come to Montana). Mayor Rich Dailey had a globe that touted Chicago's excllent environmental programs and their efforts to become the greenest city in the nation.
The third annual Planet Arlington was held on Saturday, and on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Planet Arlington's crowd was fairly modest with approximately 3,000-4,000 people. It started with Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca. Lemvo is from the Congo and has created a salsa band. His music drew a number of dancers, including a group of young people in a line dance. Unfortunately, the sound equipment created feedback that could be heard by the audience throughout the first part of his set.
As the sets were changed, several acts went through the audience, including a line of belly dancers who were trailed by a line of smiling men (including one with a small baby in blue).
The second act was Yang Ying who played an erdu to acoustic music. To my ear, it was dance techno music. The erdu didn't change the sequence and at this point, many of the families began to pick up and go home for dinner.
I used the opportunity to wander through the booths that were between the concert and Arlington Cemetery. Honest Ade was giving away free samples of their product. There were several trailers that were selling food from Mexico and Latin America. One booth was selling African baskets, while another were trying to sell Rosslyn with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds.
The next act was Tania Saleh from Lebanon. Her intro stated that her lyrics used black humor to talk about the pressing issues of the day. While her accompaniment was very nice, the sound system had her mike too low. So the backup band drown out her voice.
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