This is an interesting short (13 minutes) movie, “Reaching Autumn: A Calvin and Hobbes Movie”, featuring live actors portraying the characters “Calvin” and “Susie Derkins” from the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” once they’ve grown up and entered society as young adults. Calvin is portrayed as a serious businessman who’s abandoned his imaginary world, while Susie is shown as a bohemian, free-spirited artist. They meet by accident and have lunch together, while comparing notes about their childhood memories and their current lives. It’s a tender movie, with flashbacks and many scenes in the autumn woods. Some of the acting is a bit stiff, the timing is not quite right, but the heart is definitely there, and if you have fond memories of the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip, then you won’t be disappointed in this take on it, especially the end.
Well, after walking and walking and walking, I made it to the end of the parade route, where I was able to finally cross Constitution Avenue to the side where the matsuri was taking place. Then it was another 4 block or so walk to get to the nearest entrance to the matsuri, where I stopped to rest for a few minutes. I decided to pace myself after looking in on the huge crowds of people milling about (or trying to!) inside the matsuri fence, because there would be no sitting inside! I managed to spend about 4 hours there, got to see some interesting booths, inflicted my Japanese on some poor folks, and basically had fun. I saw a very high-energy J-Pop band called “M’sh”, and watched some friends perform in a cosplay “fashion show”. After that was over I decided it was time to start the long walk back to my car in the Potomac Park, so I headed back to the Tidal Basin, taking a few more photos along the way. I did stop at the Jefferson Memorial to buy a soft drink and take another short rest, but since I was so close to the car I figured it would be better to keep going. Finally I got to my car at about 5 PM, after starting at 8:30, drove home, unloaded my SD card, and promptly went to sleep!
So, one week later I managed to upload some more photos here! As always, click to see the full-size photo!
Enjoy!
[one_third]There were a few people at the matsuri…[/one_third]
[one_third]… just a few…[/one_third]
[one_third_last]… thousand…[/one_third_last]
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[one_third]And you thought DC *traffic* gridlock was bad…[/one_third]
[one_third_last]Dancers performing a traditional Hokkaido fisherman’s dance[/one_third_last]
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[one_third_last]DC Japan Model Railroad Club[/one_third_last]
[one_third]Some cosplay friends at the NHKWorld booth[/one_third]
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[one_third]A couple of Cherry Blossom Queen candidates[/one_third]
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[one_third]I have a bag, it’s a pink bag, others may have other bags, but this one is mine. Any questions?[/one_third]
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[one_third]M’sh![/one_third]
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[one_third]Rock Guitarist Face #1[/one_third]
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[one_third]ValNika vlogs![/one_third]
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[one_third]Chillin’ at the Tidal Basin…[/one_third]
[one_third_last]It was… a little crowded…[/one_third_last]
So, the last of the cherry blossoms are dropping their petals, and the primary colors are turning from pink and white to green, after a seemingly endless Winter. Here are photos I took during my walk from the Tidal Basin to the DC Sakura Matsuri (street festival) on Saturday.
I’ll have photos from the matsuri itself in a later post.
Here we go, a batch from Tuesday evening (the only time I can get down there is around 5:30. Dang job!). I got some pretty neat pictures of the blossoms, and especially pictures of people enjoying them! I also got some eerie effects by photographing cherry trees at night, lit by streetlights!
So, here are some more, and even more to come later! Enjoy!
Just a few scenes from Washington DC, near the Tidal Basin and along the Potomac River, near sunset Friday night. The cherry trees are just barely beginning to open, especially the “weeping sakura”, the willow-like species from Japan. The main trees, the Yoshino, will be in full bloom in a couple of days, now that our cold weather has (finally!) moved on, allowing the warm Spring air to coax the blossoms out. I will have some photos from the peak in a couple of days.
This past Saturday, as part of the DC Cherry Blossom Festival, they held a kite-flying festival on the grounds of the Washington Monument and on the National Mall. The day was perfect for kite flying, plenty of breezes in the morning, cool but not cold, with just enough puffy clouds in a crystal blue sky to make the kites stand out. I got some great photos of the kites and the flyers (there was as much color on the ground from people’s coats as there was in the sky) of all ages. I also managed to find a couple of early cherry blossoms, on three trees that just couldn’t wait to bloom. Most of the cherry trees along the Tidal Basin have yet to bloom, but they’re in the late stages of budding, so the coming weeks should have an explosion of petals!
Here are some of the photos, I’ll have them all on a photo page soon. Enjoy!
[one_half]桜を見ãŸ! A few lonely little cherry blossoms peeking out of their buds early, getting the jump on their cousins (and getting a couple of early photographers, too!)[/one_half][one_half_last]THERE you are! Another tree with a few handfuls of cherry blossoms[/one_half_last]
