Out & About in DC

shawan_7, fandance and I have been downtown today, looking at the Holiday window and Norman Rockwell exhibits at the Smithsonian.

The holiday window display was a little disappointing. I was expecting room after room of actual window displays, or at least parts thereof. What I got was something about the size of my own living room with pictures of parade floats. (Although it was interesting to see the catalog. Once upon a time, there was a company that sold float bodies; you just had to flip through to find the type of vehicle that you had and what kinds of skins and decorations they made for it.)

Norman Rockwell, on the other hand, was 100x better than I'd hoped for. I've always loved Rockwell, and I'm hardly the only one - both George Lucas & Stephen Spielberg collect Rockwell art. This is their collected works going on tour. There were famous pieces, advertising art, calendar pieces, and even some sketches - in one case, the sketch of a piece next to the final painting. It's an incredible exhibit, and if you're in town before it goes next January, it's well worth the look.

We also said hello to Kermit and checked out Michelle Obama's Inaugural gown, then headed back to our respective homes.


Only related because I bought it at the Smithsonian - for those looking over the list of food history books, I picked up Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West by the gloriously well named Stephen Fried.

Spoilery comment on the SJA promo

I've got one comment regarding the new Sarah Jane Adventures promo: ( which is cut for spoilers )