Monday, July 25, 2011

Weekend Report: Heat, Peace in Sudan Rally, and a Movie

Considering this was the hottest weekend of the summer, I spent way too much time outside. 

On Saturday, post-GREs (woot woot! I’m done!), I went to the Peace in Sudan rally in front of the White House. This month marks the 7-year anniversary of the date the U.S. declared the conflict in Darfur a genocide, so a group of Sudanese and other supporters gathered in the heat to demonstrate. Rallies generally aren’t my thing, but there is something inspiring about standing up for something you believe in. It was extremely uncomfortably hot (hotter in DC than the Sudan - yes, I checked), but my problems seem pretty minimal when put into that kind of perspective…

When I left the rally (2 hours was all I could handle), SpeedyKate and I opted to escape the sun and do an indoor pool workout at Wilson.

Our pool “long runs” are intense, but in a good way. I actually think I’m getting better workouts in the pool than I would be running outside in this dog’s mouth of a climate. Post-pool I was tired, but that didn’t stop me from making the trek up 15th street to attend LOTR-Emily’s bar-b-q. We alternated between the back patio and her kitchen, both equally hot and sweaty locations. The good news is that when everyone is the same degree of soaked-in-sweat it really doesn't matter.

Sunday was a pleasant high-90s (oxymoron? Yes. But accurate.), so Kate and I tanned our shoulders and noses pool running outside at East Potomac Pool on Hains Point. We spent 90 minutes running, then a few more lounging in the water.

By Sunday evening I was exhausted and ready for a relaxing movie experience. Months ago I bought a Living Social coupon for West End Cinema in Foggy Bottom. I met a few friends to see The Trip, a movie that walked the fine line between funny and weird/boring, and luckily managed to stay on the funny side of that line.

I’m hesitant to recommend this movie, since I imagine a lot of people might hate it. But I can say that I laughed and enjoyed it – I like dry British humor.

The movie is cut together from a six-episode, semi-improvised BBC2 series, the premise of which is that Coogan, commissioned to act as food critic by the Observer newspaper, and actor Rob Brydon, allegedly the last choice among his mates for a traveling companion, embark on a voyage to the north of England to sample the fare at various high-end restaurants. Over several days, doleful Coogan and chipper, long-faced Brydon banter, mock-insult each other (or is it so mock?), recite Wordsworth and Coleridge, and compete to do the best imitations of sundry movie stars." (more info here)