The Day The Earth Stood Still

By far the best part of this class so far has been watching all of these great older movies that i never would have seen. Recently i watched The Day the Earth Stood still which is a fantastic old school sci-fi film which deals with an alien landing on earth to warn of an impending doom if the earth does not end its violent ways. This film fits nicely into the topic of my paper as it shows the absolute stupidity of, not just the american government, but all world leaders. An event such as the one portrayed in this film is one that supersedes any earthly squabble, and requires the human race to stand united as a whole to move past whatever threat faces it. Instead non of the world leaders will agree on any one spot to meet at and the alien is forced to find other means of delivering his message. The earth’s leaders are made out to be so childish and ignorant, that this film must be a commentary on how silly all these trifles between nations really are or were. There is one specific scene where the alien and the little boy are visiting the alien’s spaceship and they get interviewed about how they feel about the recent events. The alien questions how horrible the responses of people have been, and the reporter immediately moves on to another person, acting almost like he is brainwashed. That right there is quite a statement as well. It’s nice to know that back in the day movies could still be jam packed with messages. I feel like the younger generation takes older films for granted and doesnt see them as anything with any value. It’s a shame really. Its nice to know there are still so many great films out there that i have yet to see

Research

So Researching a topic like this is presenting more problems then i would have thought. I have been forced to do something that i always try to avoid at all costs. Use the library. I hate having to check out books and return them, in fact i seriously just dont like being inside of libraries in general. They are too quiet. I was having too much trouble finding a large enough assortment of articles relating to my topic so i needed to find another way. At the library i found three books all directly relating to the American Political Film. All of these books are not only jam packed with information, but they also have extensive bibliographies, giving me even more sources, and then on top of that they have lists of all the films they analyzed, which gives me an even wider selection of useful films to choose from to make my point! maybe libraries arent so bad after all…

DC on Film

At first coming up with a topic for my research seemed like an impossible task. I really had no idea how to come up with something to write about that focused on both Washington DC and film. Then i started to notice a trend in all of the DC set films that we watched in class and that i had seen before. The government is always corrupt or some high ranking government official is using the process to is own personal gain. The portrayal of the “backbone” of our society is always displayed in a negative light. Is this an accurate representation of reality? Is this an accurate representation of how people really see the government? Are directors and writers trying to turn people against the government? There are definitely alot of paths to go down while exploring this topic So now i have a bunch of places i can go with this topic of politics in film. Now i just need to gather as much information as possible, watching films, and start interviewing people.

Weather

It’s so much more humid here then it is back home. I remember it actually getting chili in New York while i was waiting for the bus back to DC and as soon as i got off the bus here i started sweating. It also rains so sporadically here. I feel like in New York it usually starts raining and then doesn’t stop til it’s done, but here it’s just on and off throughout the day. Hopefully the hotter it is during the summer the longer it will be nice out during the fall

A Shot of Home

This past weekend i went home to new york with a friend just to see all my friends and my family and have a good time. The weekend was very solid. All of my old friends from home were there and a few other friends from GW wound up being in the city as well. After having lived down here for the past month it was quite a shock to the system to be home again. One big difference was having meals made for me, which was excellent. I had also gotten used to how quiet things are in DC during the summer, with only a few people around. All of my nights have been relaxed and have ended early. At home i was pretty much out til the sun rose every night and it was fantastic. I know once school starts and there are more people down here the transition will be a lot less intense when i go home for a weekend. It was my friend’s first time i New York in about five years and he had only been there before with family so it was a fun experience for him as well. I definitely plan on going back up for another weekend before school starts i the fall

DC Food

So i am a person with a fairly limited pallet. Therefore i like to have a lot of variety in terms of restaurant choice as opposed to a large menu. Meaning; My range of food pretty much only includes Pizza, Chicken Fingers, Mcdonalds, hot dogs and hamburgers. Not very healthy, i know. This presents a problem for me. The nearest Mcdonalds is about a fifteen minute walk for me and is therefore out of the question. Coming from New York, i am very spoiled in terms of pizza, and as a result, there are only one or two pizza places that i can stand to order from. This leaves chicken fingers, hot dogs, and hamburgers, which i am currently cycling through. In New York you could even order from McDonalds, even tough it was kind of pointless because the nearest McDonalds would always be within three blocks away. It’s either time for me to seriously consider eating more foods or to seriously consider being less lazy and going venturing out farther to different restaurants.

The Walk to Georgetown

So recently i found out that everytime i’ve gone to Georgetown in the past year, i have taken a ridiculously long and impractical route. I live on 20th and F. Normally what i do is walk all the way up to M street and then take a left and walk straight across the bridge into georgetown. This takes about 25 minutes- a half hour. NOW i know that i can just walk straight up F street onto Virginia avenue which intersects with M street just as it goes into georgetown. This new route takes about ten to fifteen minutes and is so much more straightforward. My street is on some weird kind of diagonal/squiggle whereas virginia is literally just a straight shot. I feel like this is the first sign of myself really getting to know the city. Hopefully my street knowledge of DC will continue to increase…

Time For Adventure

I have officially decided that it’s time for me to seriously start exploring the city. So far i really have only seen the Foggy Bottom area. I’ve ventured outside a few times, but briefly. I want to just pick a direction and walk for a good 45 minutes or so and see what there is to see. I don’t like that every time i see something in DC i need to compare it to NYC. So maybe if i get a better idea of what DC is like, I can start to appreciate the city for what it is instead of thinking that it’s trying to be something it isn’t. So, future blog posts will be about my adventures through DC

Blue Line To Metrocenter

So yesterday i took the metro to Chinatown for the first time. I’m fairly confident that had i not had a friend there with me who knew the train system I’d still be trying to find my way back home. I just can’t stop comparing every aspect of this city to NYC, where the train stops every 6 or 7 blocks. In my eyes if you have to take a metro, and then take a cab from your metro stop to your destination, why not just take a cab in the first place? The point of the metro should be 100% convenience. When your stop is 20 blocks from your destination, it’s not too convenient. I will however concede that the metro is certainly cleaner in DC then in New York, and i do like that you are notified of how long before the next train arrives. But still, these are superficial conveniences. The point of a metro is quick, efficient transportation. It was cool to see Chinatown, however. I had never been there before and its a cool aspect of the city. There is definitely a lot more hustle and bustle then there is at Foggy Bottom. Plus i have a friend who manages the California Tortilla there…Free Eats!

Hello world!

It’s my first day back in DC after the first half of summer, during which i was in NYC. Since i got off the bus I’ve started noticing differences between the two. The most off-setting thing so far has definitely been that all the cabs accept more than one fare at once. I was so happy to get a cab as soon as i got off the bus, but then the driver told three other people to get in with me, and my ride was extended by forty-five minutes. Safe to say it wasn’t too pleasant. It’s also pretty off-putting to be around the Foggy Bottom campus with so few people as opposed to during Fall or Spring when the sidewalks are usually bustling with students. I’m sure I’ll get used to it though…At least ill hopefully get to know the city a lot better thanks to this class!