President's Message
Frank Mobilio, LCCA PresidentToday is the first ninety degree day and I'm thrilled about that. The long winter of my contrariness is now over and we can start the kayaking and biking seasons in their full glory. I've even started running again… very slowly, thanks to my tendonitis.
This past weekend I my sister, her husband, and their two sons visited. They have visited before and Logan Circle has become their favorite neighborhood in DC. They are amazed by the new construction and changes since their visit last summer. They are amazed that people say "hi" to each other in the neighborhood, something they noticed didn't happen in my previous neighborhoods in DC. They used to like Adams-Morgan but it has gotten so crowded since I lived there that it has lost its appeal to them. They also taught me a new name for Caribou Coffee. Using both hands, one sticks one's thumbs on the side of one's head and one waves the other four fingers as antlers while saying "Caribooooo!" This is a trend I encourage many people in Logan Circle to adopt.
Their visit was also an enlightening testimonial to the power of genetics. My nephews are 14 and 11 and it was déjà vu all over again watching them. My father, and all of my uncles are engineers and the kids have that engineering gene that I have managed to ignore. They were here on spring break and aviation was the theme. Kitty Hawk in North Carolina and the site of the Wright Brother's first flight was the ultimate destination for their spring break. They also had other aviation oriented activities in mind: The new Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport was one of our destinations. The other was Gravelly Point, to watch airplanes take off and land at National Airport.
The company I work for designed both Air and Space Museums. Several years ago, before I moved to Logan Circle, my sister's family came to our office and saw the models and drawings for the new Air and Space Museum. When their local paper published an article about the new museum my older nephew gave a "show and tell" at his school. I had nothing to do with either museum building but my nephew was thrilled with the idea of a building that was three times as long as the Air and Space Museum on the Mall and 30 feet higher. The idea of a building that would be that large and house up to 400 airplanes, as well as give the space shuttle Enterprise its own display gallery, was the best thing since sliced bread. The five years of anticipation went by very slowly for my older nephew and every holiday I would be asked "when?"
When we finally went there the museum was everything and more than they could ask for. The view from the museum "control tower" was spectacular and you could see people in the planes as they landed. The building itself did not look that big because the full size airplanes broke up the space. Once you started walking around and ascending and descending the ramps the true size and scope of the building becomes real, especially on your feet. I've seen the Concorde over the years at various airports but it's quite another thing to walk beneath it. I saw the previous Enola Gay exhibit when the plane was disassembled. I had no idea how large it was until I saw fully assembled. There were other gliders and planes hanging from the vault. It was great.
However, the true favorite tourist attraction for my nephews is Gravelly Point. One can see the airplanes take off and land almost on top of one's head. We prefer visiting when the airplanes are coming in over Rosslyn. After our tour of the new Air and Space Museum we had a picnic at Gravelly Point. We ate our picnic lunch under some shrubs to avoid direct sunlight and my older nephew videotaped every landing. This went on for an hour.
I remember as a child I would make my parents go to airports to check out new airplanes. The most infamous time was when I made my Mom drive me into LaGuardia to see a new DC-10 back in 1972. We were visiting relatives in New York City and I insisted on leaving early so that we could catch the American Airlines flight from Chicago when it was on the ground. (Yes I did check the schedule and I was about 13.) She waited at the drop off ramp with my sisters in the car (they wanted no part of this adventure). I went to the gate checked out the plane and walked back to the car. It was a much more innocent time. My trip to Gravelly Point was payback for some of the youthful adventures I inflicted on my family.
Our day of aviation ended with pizza and a mandatory viewing of "2001: A Space Odyssey." I was their age the first I saw the movie with my father. I saw it at the Cinerama Theater in Hartford, Connecticut in 1972 during one of its re-releases with my Dad. My parents wouldn't let me see it when it first came out. They thought I was too young and would be bored. This viewing with my family was at least the eighth time I've seen the movie. These are kids have seen "The Lion King" a million times I reminded my sister as I was given flak about my "many" "2001" screenings.
It was interesting to watch the movie through their eyes. Some of Kubrick's predictions had come through while others are in the distant future. As our neighborhood goes through its growth and changes I wonder what predictions about the future will come through. One of my hopes is that the parking situation never approaches that of Adams-Morgan and that our community remains a walkable place. Another of my hopes is that HR 57 has a long and happy future.
LCCA's Monthly meeting for April 2004 took place at HR 57. Tony Puesan explained the mission and purpose of HR 57. It's not only a performance venue but also a center for research and cataloging the music. He also explained the origin of the term "that's cool", which turns out to be of local origin. We hope to feature more of the cultural institutions in our neighborhood this year and since April was Smithsonian Jazz Heritage Month a meeting at HR 57 seemed like a natural. (Learn more about HR 57 in this month's cover story… or by stopping by!)
LCCA's May Monthly Meeting will take place at Fusebox Gallery at 7 PM on May 19th. We call this meeting LCCA-Standing Room Only. Seating will be very limited. This meeting is one week later than our usual second Wednesday of the month. We are doing this so that Fusebox can complete the installation of the next exhibit. We will be having wine and cheese and Fusebox owner Sarah Findlay will be giving a short presentation on current trends in art.
As our neighborhood goes through an odyssey of its own I hope we can learn from each other and other neighborhoods in the city.
