Redwolf's Journal (continued)

I have a certain respect for, and reliance upon, the media when it comes to knowing what's going on in the wider world. There's a filter, though, even in the best of cases. In this day and age, it's easier than ever to get information - but the veracity and depth of it is often limited. I've often said I find politics to be simultaneously fascinating and nauseating. It's only fairly recently (in the scale of my life) that I've come to really consider the value of states as entities. And the recent trip to DC and seeing some of the history there drove home that the US government was fashioned in such as way as to make it deliberately difficult to pass new, sweeping legislation (it was a reaction to displeasure with a monarchy, after all). Religion is much the same to me. I've known deeply religious people who were some of the best and nicest I've met. And yet, I find the mere thought of any attempt to push such beliefs on another to be offensive. Plus

From the first reveal, the game's looked interesting. A heavily cinematic steampunk game can't be all bad, right? As a PS4 exclusive, though, it's been a given that I wouldn't end up playing it (at least not without a lot more incentive to get a PS4). Then there was talk about fixed "low" frame rates and such in development. But... it still looked pretty good. Then there was the pre-release kerfluffle about short play time and limited variety in the game. But I knew I wanted to at least see it, so... to Youtube for playthroughs! It still looks good. Now, watching and playing are not the same thing. I have experienced the game in a sense, but it has to be recognized how that experience was less than fully direct. So when I level a criticism at the gameplay, one really must take that with a grain of salt. It could be more fun and engaging to play. That said, I'm not new to video games, and I think I have a feel for how I would respond to actually playi

I came across this article today about a training accident that crashed one F-16 while another managed to land missing part of its wing. Thankfully, it looks like the pilots both came out of it okay. The photos really catch my eye. It's pretty amazing to me to see such a chunk of wing missing on a plane that still landed safely. Even more fascinating is seeing the other fighter essentially pancaked where it hit the ground.

Well, I'm glad my main WoW news/article site survived being shuttered by a parent company and lives on via Patreon. It allows me to read things like this that put a point to things I might be thinking in ways I might not have. As I mentioned previously, I'm still a little unclear on why we (at least the Alliance, but probably Horde too) stayed in in Draenor this long. We're told the Iron Horde is a threat that needs to be taken care of, but nothing we're shown proves that, as they got absolutely spanked when we came through the Dark Portal to begin with. That said, I must grant there are some interesting stories to be found in the leveling quests. I like helping the draenei, and especially the arakkoa - heck, I think I found the Spires of Arak plot the most interesting myself. But the story really does falter once you finish the leveling experience. I find the garrison missions and management actually pretty entertaining. I don't feel the dungeon/raid content

Home again. Okay, so it was a rush to get between flights in Denver and my bag got checked and didn't make the connection, but I think I can survive a night without my laptop and some clothes. Between traffic and breakfast crowds, we really didn't get much done prior and just spent time at the airport.

Winding down this trip. Today we drove out to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Lots of aircraft, but fewer "displays" about them and their time frames - mostly just placards for each plane. Buuuut, they have a Blackbird, and that I had to go see in person. The Discovery shuttle orbiter is a good thing too. We easily spent a few hours there, and a few hours total in transit with a lot of traffic in either direction. It was a good trip, though, and worthwhile. They also have a tower with a nice view of some incoming flights to Dulles airport. And tomorrow it looks like we'll take it easy and maybe see one more site before going to the airport in the afternoon for my flight(s) back home.

Let's see... trying to wrap up downtown while we can... We went to the National Gallery of Art and toured through there looking at a good number of paintings and sculptures. The building itself was as impressive as most of the major ones as well. I find I prefer detail over color and realism over Impressionism. Then it was to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, particularly through the Earth Sciences and Human Origins exhibits. Lots of pretty gems and minerals and other stuff to look at. Then we went on to the Smithsonian American History Museum, though only really had time to go through the display on the various wars fought by the country over the years. I find the earlier ones more interesting in general. Tomorrow it's out of town to another Smithsonian Air and Space site. We'll see if that takes all day or not.

Another full day. Most of it was spent at the Newseum, looking at the history of newspapers and the like. I found the earliest stuff the most interesting, with some examples of pamphlets from long ago. And hey, it's right next door to the Canadian Embassy. ;) We had a nice dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill, then walked over to the National Theatre to see Chicago. I'd seen neither play now movie form, so that was interesting. Lots of technical stagework on display, and it was a good experience all around. Tomorrow looks like time at some of the other Smithsonian installations downtown.

*streeetch* Long day. Got up early to get to our White House tour in time. I think we spent more time getting through security than touring the place, but it was still interesting to see at least part of it. Heh. And the First Family's dogs outside being walked. Then we went over to the Library Congress to look around at the impressive building and such. We took a tour of the Capitol Building and even went through the hoops to go side in the galleries above each side. The House was empty. The Senate was technically in session, but had nothing going on and almost no one there until one senator came in to start speaking on the record about funding the Department of Homeland Security... nevermind that she wasn't speaking to anyone really, since there was no one there for all practical purposes. Ah, technicalities. We had lunch in the cafeteria of a building near there, amusingly separated into red, blue, and yellow "cores" which made me think about video games like Doo

Spent the day at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Lots to see there, and we got through most of the displays in our 10-4:30 time there. The one aircraft I really want to see, though, isn't there - we'll have to run out to another Air and Space site to the west (maybe Friday) to see the Blackbird (and other stuff, too). Some light rain later in the day, though it mostly missed us. It's also getting back toward freezing. Tomorrow starts early to get to a morning tour. And it ends late, with a play that starts at 8 pm. The middle is a little bit fluid, but we'll see more of central downtown, and it's sure to be a long day.

*yawn* Should try to keep some sort of notes... Flew in yesterday, saw Greenbelt Park where my folks are staying, and settled in to a hotel. Okay, if nothing special and showing some age. Today, had a fairly full day downtown. We saw the "major" documents in the National Archives (Declaration, Bill of Rights, Constituction) as well as one of the Magna Cartas and some other displays. Could have spent more time there, but needed to go eat and pick up our tickets for the Washington Monument. More impressive in person than any photo. The layout of the buildings in the areas is cool, too. Walked around and saw the various memorials - WW2, Vietnam, Korean War, Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Jefferson before making our way "home" for the evening. So much stuff!

I'm psyching up for my trip. I probably shouldn't, in retrospect, have scheduled a morning flight after a night shift at work, so Saturday morning is likely to suck just a little bit. But Saturday I'm off to Washington D.C. to visit my dad and stepmom and see the sights. Well, some of the sights. A week really isn't long enough to see everything there by any means. We've got White House tour tickets and a couple evening shows lined up, plus plenty of museums and galleries and monuments to see. I'm leaning toward taking my laptop with me, as I may end up with some evening time free due to their schedule, though I'm not fully decided yet. Sadly, it's not real travel-sized, but it would be nice to be able to easily check in. It sort of makes me wish I'd purchased a Surface Pro or the like by now, but I'll procrastinate on that some more. In local WTFery, we've had this story . I got through about half of this story about a 19-year-old robbin

Mmm. So I need to get up early Saturday morning and catch a plane. Wow, I don't feel ready for a trip. Need to do laundry and pack and... aieee!