Alright, well.... the whole full account of my Vietnam trip has just taken so long that I'm afraid my whole journal is getting out of date. I'll continue to update that story occasionally, and when I finish it, I'll link back to that entry from a new one to let you all know. This will also give Dwen time to get me the pictures.
Anyway, I've been busy the past few days.
Last Saturday, they had an air show at Andrews Air Force Base. Now, I'm biased because I consider fighter aircraft pretty much the sexiest things in the world (not counting women, of course), but I was thrilled to death. Ace Combat is one of my favorite video game series, and getting to actually see the planes I've learned to recognize was satisfying. They had a large number of planes sitting out on the runway to look at, including some of the previous most-secret jets like:
The U-2 spyplane, the famous spy plane from the Cold War era (still in use, though)
The F-117, the original stealth fighter.
The F-22, the newest fighter aircraft produced.
They also had a number of other aircraft, including the F-18, F-14, F-16, AV-8B, A-10, C-130, KC-10, E-3, B-1B, B-52 (for those who have better things to do with their time than memorize model numbers of jet craft, this site has pictures and descriptions of all of those).
There were a few flyovers and demonstration flights, too. A fighter jet in the air is a surprisingly graceful sight: they turn by rolling and then climbing relative to their new orientation, so when they turn they seem to change shape as the side facing the watcher shifts. Of course, the low altitude passes are deafening, but they go so much faster than sound that they've already passed by the time you hear anything, so the sound seems oddly divorced from any source.
The last thing of the show was an appearance by the Blue Angels, the Navy's ace stunt pilots. They fly only about 5 feet apart in perfect formation, as though all one solid object, and maintain it even through loops and corkscrew maneuvers. They also do head-on approaches, where two planes fly straight at each other at 650 mph apiece, and rotate at the last second so that the planes pass each other sideways a couple feet apart.
Afterwards, Dave had a cookout at his place, which was fun if not particularly noteworthy as an anecdote. It was attended by Sonia the cute little Hindi girl, though, so I had another chance to hit on her for a while. She still has the boyfriend (whom I hear doesn't deserve her) though, so nothing that could be called progress there.
Sunday, I went with Lauren and Sean to Wine in the Woods, a wine-tasting festival a couple of towns to the north. I was pretty much the designated driver, so it wasn't the best time ever, but the grounds were pretty, and it was nice to spend some time outside.
Also, today I went to the Open Mic Night at a coffee shop called College Perk (haha, they're so clever, see, because they're in a town called College Park? *sigh*) It's a really nice place, though, permeated with that pseudo-Bohemian atmosphere I love in a coffee house. They had excellent tea, and some pretty good performances by local musicians. I think I'm going to see if I can't convince Aaraa to perform at one while she's back in August. In the mean time, though, there are plenty of cute college girls around, so I'm thinking that will be a place I go regularly...
Pointless update from the next day: I just went out for pizza and the waitress was staggeringly gorgeous. Perfect olive skin over delicate Latin features, brown eyes deep enough to pass for black, jet-black hair in tiny ringlets, and a tiny silver stud in her nose, just enough to draw your attention to her face.
Anyway, I've been busy the past few days.
Last Saturday, they had an air show at Andrews Air Force Base. Now, I'm biased because I consider fighter aircraft pretty much the sexiest things in the world (not counting women, of course), but I was thrilled to death. Ace Combat is one of my favorite video game series, and getting to actually see the planes I've learned to recognize was satisfying. They had a large number of planes sitting out on the runway to look at, including some of the previous most-secret jets like:
The U-2 spyplane, the famous spy plane from the Cold War era (still in use, though)
The F-117, the original stealth fighter.
The F-22, the newest fighter aircraft produced.
They also had a number of other aircraft, including the F-18, F-14, F-16, AV-8B, A-10, C-130, KC-10, E-3, B-1B, B-52 (for those who have better things to do with their time than memorize model numbers of jet craft, this site has pictures and descriptions of all of those).
There were a few flyovers and demonstration flights, too. A fighter jet in the air is a surprisingly graceful sight: they turn by rolling and then climbing relative to their new orientation, so when they turn they seem to change shape as the side facing the watcher shifts. Of course, the low altitude passes are deafening, but they go so much faster than sound that they've already passed by the time you hear anything, so the sound seems oddly divorced from any source.
The last thing of the show was an appearance by the Blue Angels, the Navy's ace stunt pilots. They fly only about 5 feet apart in perfect formation, as though all one solid object, and maintain it even through loops and corkscrew maneuvers. They also do head-on approaches, where two planes fly straight at each other at 650 mph apiece, and rotate at the last second so that the planes pass each other sideways a couple feet apart.
Afterwards, Dave had a cookout at his place, which was fun if not particularly noteworthy as an anecdote. It was attended by Sonia the cute little Hindi girl, though, so I had another chance to hit on her for a while. She still has the boyfriend (whom I hear doesn't deserve her) though, so nothing that could be called progress there.
Sunday, I went with Lauren and Sean to Wine in the Woods, a wine-tasting festival a couple of towns to the north. I was pretty much the designated driver, so it wasn't the best time ever, but the grounds were pretty, and it was nice to spend some time outside.
Also, today I went to the Open Mic Night at a coffee shop called College Perk (haha, they're so clever, see, because they're in a town called College Park? *sigh*) It's a really nice place, though, permeated with that pseudo-Bohemian atmosphere I love in a coffee house. They had excellent tea, and some pretty good performances by local musicians. I think I'm going to see if I can't convince Aaraa to perform at one while she's back in August. In the mean time, though, there are plenty of cute college girls around, so I'm thinking that will be a place I go regularly...
Pointless update from the next day: I just went out for pizza and the waitress was staggeringly gorgeous. Perfect olive skin over delicate Latin features, brown eyes deep enough to pass for black, jet-black hair in tiny ringlets, and a tiny silver stud in her nose, just enough to draw your attention to her face.