Bon Appetit!

When Mom and Jeff visited a few weeks ago, besides the quick visit I made over to #OccupyDC, we visited the American History museum downtown. There were two big highlights for me there: the restored American flag exhibit, which I remember from grade school trips to the Smithsonian, but also the exhibit of Julia Child’s kitchen.

I’ve got a couple of photos of it here. Like many people my age, when I think of Julia, the first cultural reference that comes to mind is the classic Dan Ackroyd skit on Saturday Night Live, where he impersonates her and has a bloody accident with a kitchen knife. Then there is the movie from a few years back, Julia and Me, which offered a range of inspirational topics for a blogger and a person who just wants to learn how to cook better.

I do remember two of Julia’s PBS series from late in her career – there was the one with Jacques Pepin, where he practically orbited her in the kitchen preparing French cuisine, then another where she invited celebrities in to cook their own specialties. That’s the one I kept thinking of while I checked out the kitchen exhibit.

Getting to the point, I still have one of my “red birds” from the summer, courtesy of Public House Produce – I just took it out of the freezer in fact, and plan to do Julia Child’s Roast Chicken for dinner tomorrow. Here’s a link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-live/roast-chicken-recipe/index.html

Visiting #OccupyDC - part 2

Today, the second part of my visit to the #occupyDC locations last Friday.  There are actually three sites, I'm told - but I only made it to two of them.

In the post yesterday I mentioned that I'd found the message by these protesters to be fairly consistent. Hearkening back to the 1992 election for a good way to sum it up: "It's about the economy, stupid!"  The protests and demonstrations are focused on industries and policies that the occupiers believe are part of the reason we're in the sluggish economic state we're in.

When I came back from McPherson Square, the location featured in today's post, I walked back by Freedom Plaza, the site I posted on yesterday.  My breath was taken away by the sight of the Capitol Building rising from the Hill down Pennsylvania Avenue, so I stopped to compose another photo.

As I did, another person made a stop for a photograph also.  After he said, "That's quite a view, isn't it?"  We struck up a conversation. 

The first topic for me was one of irony - at McPherson Square, I'd seen the signs below, which lay in the grass.  One hit home in particular, which said, "over educated, under employed."  I'd just been informed I would be laid off last week, effective this week, and that sign was positioned approximately 20 feet from a park bench where I negotiated my first post-MBA job after returning to Washington from Los Angeles. 

My next remark to my fellow traveler there was to discuss the fact that at least with this group, I'd found a consistent message.  He was skeptical, and even gave me the stink eye. 

The message here is definitely consistent when you compare it to the Tea Party message of a couple of years back (you pick the one you think they stood for):

• Don't socialize my Medicare
• No need to pay taxes to upkeep the institutions we all rely on
• God hates fags
• Oh no, our president is a black man

Although I didn't start on this bit of politics with my colleague, these were part of my thoughts for the day.  There are so many criticisms of this movement...one of which concerns a perceived lack of focus, again, something I didn't see during my visit.  As we parted ways, he said, "Good luck."

Another observation I had - the number of Vietnam references I found among the "artifacts" in the two encampments.  In fact, there were quite a few Vietnam-era veterans amongst the crowd. 

There is one thing that does bother me about the OWS movement - and that's only because so far I don't understand why it's happening -  and that is the violence that is being reported at some of the demonstrations, especially in Oakland. 

I hope to take another look at that in a future post.

Visiting #OccupyDC

We had relatives in town over the weekend.  On Friday, they wanted to head downtown to check out museums, so I decided that I would accompany them, and figure out how to break away for an hour or so to take a look at the OccupyDC sites that are set up in the area.

The first one I visited was at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania avenue - a couple of blocks from the White House and maybe 15 from the Capitol Building.

As you can see from the photos, this location is pretty tidy.  There were even six rental toilets off to one side of the demonstration area.  Nothing like the squalor I'd been lead to believe I might encounter there.

There was even a schedule posted for events, an ampitheatre area for speeches and such, and a "soap box" meant to invite people to speak their minds.

Another impression I get from some media coverage is that these groups don't have a focused message.  I came away with the distinct impression that at least here, in DC, the focus was on economic issues.  At Freedom Plaza, there was a big display related to the wars of the last ten years...the "War Economy" to be specific.

I do have some comparisons to draw about the Tea Party movement and this one, but those thoughts aren't ready for posting just yet.

At Freedom Plaza, they had a collection of shoes and boots; I supposed this was a reference to some of the American lives lost overseas these last ten years.  I didn't encounter anyone to explain this display to me, or to tell me how some of the soldiers' names became attached to the boots I was seeing there - so I'll hold off on publishing those photos for now.

As I understand it, the city is not reacting as aggressively as has been done elsewhere.  This appears to be a recognition of the fact that Washington, DC is place where people come to make statements, in a long tradition.  And to some extent, maybe there is the thought that, if the demonstrations are ignored here, they'll just go away.

I found some irony in the encounter with the demonstration.  One thought that comes to mind this morning - Congress also occupies this city.  Residents of DC are not represented in Congress as the rest of the country is - yet they pay the same income taxes.  They don't have a direct say in how those taxes are spent either - Congress frequently interferes with the local government in a way that you'd witness no where else.

So Eric Cantor, think twice before you use the word "thug" to describe these American citizens.  Seriously, they could say the same thing about you.  Perhaps a better path would be to begin to listen to these voices rather than those deep pocketed donors of yours in the financial industry.