Washington, D.C.

     It is currently February 2012, these photographs were taken in the Fall of 2011.  I wasn't able to upload and maintain my blog last semester due to an intense academic workload.  No matter how busy I was; I still was able to take photographs at some amazing places.  I just have to backtrack now and upload older photographs and keep this blog alive.

     Washington, D.C. October, 2011.  

     My school's Art History Club sponsored a trip to our country's capital, and the cost was only 5 dollars.  The price was the only motivation that I needed to go.  I woke up at about 10 minutes to 6 am and jumped on the bus for a 6 hour ride to D.C.  I had been to the Capital before, and was excited to visit spots that I had missed on my previous trip.  You won't believe how mad I was at the end of my first visit when a friend asked me "did you see the White House?", and all I could say was "no".  How could I have missed the White House?  Well I put it, and the Iwo Jima Memorial on the top of my "must see list" during this trip.  

     The first place I visited was Capitol Hill.  I just love to see its architecture.  I didn't stay for long because The White House was on my mind.  I quickly headed down some back streets and ended up in Freedom Plaza which was being "occupied" by protesters.  I toke some photographs there, and then finally...... made it to The White House.  I was so happy to finally get to really see it, but as I photographed it an officer began to yell at me.  He screamed and yelled at the crowd "You aren't allowed here, get off of this path!"  I was pretty mad about the situation, but then I headed towards the Lincoln Memorial.

     On the way to the Lincoln Memorial I began to hear a humming noise that filled the air.  As the sound grew, I identified it as the sound of bagpipes.  I walked over a hill, and noticed a man dressed in a kilt playing a solemn song.  The thing took even longer to notice was the fact that, his performance was being recorded, and many individuals dressed in suits were viewing the performance as well.  Feeling embarrassed and out of place I turned around and headed for the Lincoln Memorial.  Before I made it there, I found an officer on horse and asked her where the Iwo Jima Memorial was located.  She asked me "how much time do you have on your hands?", I said "all day".  The officer smiled and pulled out a tourist map, and said "this is where you are now, and this is where you need to go."  I naively said "that's it, alright cool, I'll be there in about 20 minutes, right?".  The officer laughed and gave me the map and I was on my way.  

     2 hours later... I was sweaty and tired, but I was more determined than ever to get to the Iwo Jima Memorial.  I was near Arlington Cemetery when I asked an older woman for some help.  She smiled at me and said "can you walk fast?".  Before I knew it this lady had me walking through the Cemetery at full speed.  She even showed me one of the soldiers from Iwo Jima's Memorial's grave.  I  spend about 40 minutes at the Memorial.  It really is an amazing site to see.  Well here are some of the photos from my trip to D.C.

Capitol Hill

Occupy D.C.

Freedom Plaza with Capitol Hill in the Background

The White House

This Officer gave me a tourist Map, and pointed me in the direction of Iwo Jima Memorial

This Man was an Interesting Find

Vietnam Memorial (They were so life-like)

The Lincoln Memorial 

Boy pushing his Grandpa around the Lincoln Memorial

The Iwo Jima Memorial

Iwo Jima Memorial

Look at what I caught 

Arlington National Cemetary

Photo taken with my iphone

This was a memorial for the Navy

I took this pic of the Washington Memorial with my iphone.

Pervez Musharraf at Drew University

It has been a while since I last photoblogged, but recently my university held a lecture from Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf.  I saw the opportunity to not only listen to another country's politician, but as an opportunity to take photographs of him.  To make a long story short, the speech basically started out as a history lesson on the Middle East, then Musharraf claimed that Pakistan was a victim of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and then there was a Q&A section where the conflict in Kashmir was brought up.  I am personally not a fan of international politics (unless they deal with Japan, a place where I'm trying to get a job, future blog on that coming up), and am not interested in getting into any arguments over this.  My over view of Musharraf's lecture is a simplified version, and were the highlights of the speech in my point of view.  I hope you enjoy these pics.

Chief Lucid preparing to walk Musharraf to the podium 

Musharraf gets to the podium

The lectures scene from the back row

The Greatest Burger in the World

    To be more clear, the Greatest Burger in the World that I have ever made.  Today I woke up knowing that I was going to cook a hamburger.  I didn't know my burger was going to come out amazing, all I knew was that I had 1.5 bounds of ground beef, and a dream.  I looked at that meat and thought to myself, "what do i like about the hamburgers?"  I just stepped back and composed a list.  The hamburger has to have cheese inside the patty, their has to be at least 1 extra meat preferably bacon, and the vegetables need to be grilled. So with a rough idea  I stayed in my room pulled out all the dishes and started sculpting my hamburger patties.  I used my dad's secret recipe as the base for the meat's preparation, but tweaked it a little by adding in tofu cubes as a filler then I began to mix the meat with my hands.  I then flattened out the patties and added cheese to the center's and then wrapped the meat around the cheese.  I then headed to the kitchen on the 3rd floor of Hoyt, and started cooking.
    The burgers were on the grill, the ham and salami were in another pan, and then I started making my "slop".  It was mostly onions, lettuce, mushrooms and pepper, but I added some A1 steak sauce to give it a little tang.  While I was grilling a few people passed by just to look into the kitchen, so I knew I was doing something right.  After I finished cooking I placed the burgers and the "slop" into plastic containers and rushed down to my room to get to the eating.
    Boy, I will tell you what.  Those hamburgers were juicy, cheesy, meaty, saucy, and all around great.  In my eyes my vision of creating an amazing hamburger was accomplished. Here are the pictures from my dinner.

The Raw Materials

Where it all began

Adding some Ingredients

Forming the patties

Putting the cheese inside the patties

Completed hamburgers

Complete Meal

Patties and extra meat on the left, 1 patty and some "slop" on the right

The full meal

There it is, The Greatest Hamburger ever made at Drew U.

The Museum of Natural History with Josh

    During Josh's visit I made sure that we would go to the Museum of Natural History simply because California (our home) doesn't have anything like it.  The closest thing I could think of is the Museum of Natural History at Balboa Park in San Diego, but honestly there is no comparison.  The NYC Museum of Natural History is a colossal building, and I only blocked about two hours of our schedule for it.  I tried my best to remember the museums layout so I could get us through it as quickly as possible.  Nevertheless we attempted to run through the museums exhibit halls, and stopped and read only what we were genuinely interested in.  We spent the majority of our time in the Meso-American Hall, and the Gems and Precious Metals Hall.

    Spending 1-1 time with my brother was great, I don't remember the last time we did something like this.  We really got to share an adventure together.  I usually go to the city alone because I don't like when people slow me down, or when I slow people down.  With my brother I knew this wouldn't be a problem, because although our personalities are so different we have similar mentalities. In the end we were able to get through the museum in about 2 and a half hours, and that was at a rushed pace.  These are my favorite pics of Josh at the Museum of Natural History.

Josh in the entrance hall to the museum

A different view from the entrance plaza

Josh trying to figure out this Aztec Sculpture

Josh stroking a lever

Aztec Calender

Josh seemed really interested

Easter Island Head

I wanted to see how my reflection would appear

Josh and Borg Cube

Some of the minerals

Josh reading about the rocks

Totem Pole

prehistoric Mosquito?  

Spider Crab

Huge Whale in the Ocean Hall

Our youngest brother's school's mascot: the Sea Lion

Dont play on the exhibit

Josh checking his moon wheight

In the dinosaur room

Josh pointing out the shark teeth to me

Josh was interested 

Reflection shot

Josh liked this little cat pot