rally from above

packed like sardines

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held a rally on the National Mall yesterday. Just one month of planning led to over 200,000 people showing up. How’s that for the power of social media?

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improving every day

H Street in the rearview

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

H Street, NE, is an up-and-coming neighborhood in DC. Right now, the roads and sidewalks are torn up from ongoing construction, the streetcar tracks are only partially laid down, and many storefronts and buildings are still in need of rehabilitation. But there are enough establishments, new and old, to sustain a vibrant nightlife that will only get better as the community’s revitalization continues.

rally around Glenn Beck

long distance view

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

Yup, I went to Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall on August 28. Truthfully, I wasn’t too impressed — I looked forward to seeing signage and hearing people shouting and chanting Tea Party and anti-Obama slogans. But instead, the demonstration seemed to be a religious revival meeting, with Beck setting himself up as a Billy Graham-esque spiritual leader.

humming the time away

a bird among flowers

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

I’ve been on a bit of a hummingbird kick lately. After finding several DC hummingbird hotspots at the National Garden, the Smithsonian’s Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, and the Butterfly Garden at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, I’ve spent time trying to get these tiny birds on (sorta) film. If you happen to visit these areas in the next month or so, pause for a few minutes, and maybe you’ll see one too!

the inner frontier

patriotic planets

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

This time next year (if all goes well, of course), NASA’s MESSENGER probe will be in orbit around Mercury, becoming the first man-made object to achieve this feat and map the planet’s entire surface.

Meanwhile, Venus has been visited by multiple probes from several nations, and future mission possibilities include orbiters, rovers, and landers. NASA’s Magellan probe mapped 98% of the Venusian surface, while JAXA’s Planet-C (Akatsuki) hopes to explore the planet’s thick atmosphere.

put your limb on my shoulder

a crown full of stars, and a banana on your shoulder

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

The night before the House passed health care reform, the moon passed near the Pleiades open star cluster. I got a few shots of it at the Capitol before the cops told me to put away my tripod.

A few yards away, a few hundred protesters shouted and chanted and sang as they opposed the health care bill, a scene that belied the calm of watching the sky above.

nature won’t leave us alone

alternate route

Originally uploaded by philliefan99

Record snow followed by serious flooding? And allergy season is right around the corner.

I think nature owes us one. Maybe she’ll give us a break from mosquitoes.