Day Williams Al-Mohamed » Photo/Video

International Women’s Day – Suffragette Music Video

Day — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:17:04 +0000

I’m noticing a trend for writing on holidays. Today is Int ernational Women’s Day and the celebrations “range from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements” (via Wikipedia). But for a more formal recognition and what I usually associate it with is the United Nations Assembly’s proclamation of March 8th as the offical UN day for women’s rights. So, combining International Women’s Day with the fact that this is a very important election year in America, I thought that the issue of women’s suffrage would be just the thing to write about. And then I found Soomo Publishing’s Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage video and realized it said things so much better than I ever could. “Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage is a parody music video paying homage to Alice Paul and the generations of brave women who joined together in the fight to pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in 1920.”

For those of you wanting a bit more of the actual history: Alice Paul was a suffragist and activist who founded the National Women’s Party (NWP). In 1916 they campaigned against the President Woodrow Wilson and other Democrats for their refusal to support the Suffrage Amendment. She organized what became the first political protest to ever picket the White House. The NWP was beginning to be more than a little bothersome to those “in charge” and in July of 1917, the picketers were arrested on charges of “obstructing traffic.” Alice Paul was convicted and incarcerated at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. In a protest of the conditions in Occoquan, Alice Paul (having participated in some of the more militant suffrage activity in England), commenced a hunger strike, which led to her being moved to the prison’s psychiatric ward and force-fed raw eggs through a feeding tube. There’s an account of Occoquan Workhouse’s “Night of Terror,” on November 15, 1917 that’ll give you an idea of the conditions that Alice and her fellow suffragists endured:

Under orders from W. H. Whittaker, superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse, as many as forty guards with clubs went on a rampage, brutalizing thirty-three jailed suffragists. They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head, and left her there for the night. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed, and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate Alice Cosu, who believed Mrs. Lewis to be dead, suffered a heart attack. According to affidavits, other women were grabbed, dragged, beaten, choked, slammed, pinched, twisted, and kicked. (source: Barbara Leaming, Katherine Hepburn (New York: Crown Publishers, 1995), p. 182.)

The pressure, combined with the ongoing protests and demonstrations and of course media coverage was too much and in January, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced that women’s suffrage was urgently needed (using World War I as a rationale). And just like the video, securing the vote for women came down to a single vote – Tennessee.

The Lost City of Matildaville

Day Al-Mohamed — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:51:33 +0000

The sign is a little beat up but you can almost read it.

One of the things Renee and I like to do occasionally is have an “adventure.” Usually it involves trying something new or visiting an area where we haven’t been, so nothing too wild and crazy. (Sorry to disappoint all you thrill-seekers). One of the places we discovered recently that really ended up being a great history lesson and a fun casual day-trip was Matildaville, Virginia.

What? You say you’ve never heard of Matildaville? That would be because it doesn’t exist anymore. This “lost town” actually has a really interesting story attached to it. It all starts in 1785 with the creation of the Patowmack Company by a gentleman named George Washington. You may have heard of him.

Anyway, if you look at the date, the United States of America is still a VERY young country, only recently independent and not yet embroiled in the War of 1812. There are 13 colonies but people are pushing ever westward and George Washington worried about the tenuous connection between the more “civilized” eastern states and the western frontier, fearing a break of the union between states. (As we all know, that happened much later and along north-south lines, rather than east-west.) George Washington’s idea was to connect the east coast to the Ohio River Valley through a waterway – the Potomac. His vision was to “bind those people to us by a chain which never can be broken.” Pretty clever, yes?

We took several picture of the Great Falls and it's quite pretty but I will also say that we noticed that the scenic overlook that we took the shots from is much better on the Virginia side than on the Maryland side. We saw the poor folk on the other side crowded together trying to see.

However, as great an idea as that is in theory, there were a few technical difficulties with the creation of a Potomac river east-west waterway. One of the amazing sights we saw and what would become one of the biggest obstacles for Washington is Great Falls where in just one mile, the river drops 80 feet. The only way to get barges up and down the river was to bypass the waterfalls completely by building a canal with several locks to raise and lower the boats, like a giant staircase. That’d be difficult enough to do today, now consider cutting into rock and earth and building a stone-walled canal in 1785!

The remains of the Superintendent's house and the Boarding house. The area was so green and beautiful...

Information from the local historical society and the Park Service gave us some more details – Matildaville came into being really as a result of the construction of the canal – a “construction town” built around the laborers and travellers. The town was named Matildaville for the wife of one of the founders, Harry Lee (who for you history buffs was the father of Robert E. Lee). Matildaville grew to include markets, gristmill, sawmill, foundry, inn, ice house, workers’ barracks, boarding houses, and small homes.

The old springhouse had us both fascinated and I had Renee almost convinced to crawl down in the hole and take a look. FYI it ended a couple of feet in. But if we'd been smarter we would have realized...isn't that a great place for snakes to rest. Eeep!

But the canal was never really profitable. Actually it was a downright failure. Construction costs had been high, and the Potomac route wasn’t useable much of the year because of water levels. The company went bankrupt and the canal was abandoned in 1830. Matildaville followed soon after. Over time the woods reclaimed the town. Now it is part of Great Falls Park and the Patowmack Canal has been declared a National Historic Landmark.

You can find out more about Matildaville and its fascinating history here:

Formation and Development of the Town of Matildaville, Virginia by Debbie Robison
Great Falls Historical Society, Virginia

I hope to post more of our photos from the day soon!

Halloween Photos 2011

Day — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:56:11 +0000

I couldn’t resist this year and so Veni is the Headless Horseman’s valiant and noble…er, dog? Hmm, okay, maybe she doesn’t look quite happy at her equine role. However, I give you Veni, the Steed!

And for those of you looking for a picture of yours truly, below are a couple of shots from the Victorian Day of the Dead Picnic in Rock Creek Cemetery. One is a group shot and the other is a time lapse photo showing our “ghost.” Very cool. We had fun dressing up, met some awesome folks and had a tasty picnic lunch/dinner. Overall, a great and spooky way to spend Halloween!

Group photo by Thomas Izaguirre

Ghost Photo by Christian Meade

Snowpocalypse…in Video

Day — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:03:35 +0000

Ever since Renee showed this to me, I couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s pretty neat and I think really illustrates what all the snow here was like. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, I wonder what this video’s worth?

Snopocalypse, Snowmageddon, and Snoverkill…I think I’ve just had enough snow. Period.

Day — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:33:48 +0000

Like I think most people in the Washington DC metro area, after more than 5 days of non-stop snow, I’ve had enough. One would think with all the snow, and work cancelled, and no going out and not much on television I would become very productive – write a lot, post a lot…you know, accomplish. Unfortunately, that’s not happening. My brain seems quite happy to curl up on the couch with the dog and cat and turn to mush watching news reports of what’s happening, sending out Facebook updates about the snow and watching old NCIS episodes. Now, as much as I enjoy NCIS, I think I’m about done with television, and considering that many of the folks I know are also experiencing this plethora of snow and doing just as little as I, perhaps my ambitions might be better served by actually…I don’t know…doing something.

So…I’m cat vacuuming. Some would call it blogging, but I know what’s really at stake. I’m just putting off actually writing. I can’t say that I’ve done any “real” fiction writing in a couple of weeks; although I WILL say that I’ve been submitting. And have the rejections to prove it. So perhaps I should post a bit about the two most recent rejections which came with comments. But before I do that…and just to keep ya’ll entertained – a few snow photographs!

Veni the dog in snow up to her head. Behind her is the small cleared out potty spot

I love this photo of Veni. She seems so unsure about the whole potty in the snow “thing.”

Veni and Renee in front of the house

And the photo of both Renee and Veni shows our front walk BEFORE we got an additional foot of snow. Let me remind folks, Renee is 6’2!

Trying to catch up

Day — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:28:40 +0000

There is so much going on…and not going on right now. New job, new projects, getting back into fencing, new year of writing with submissions already on their way out…I’m just having a hard time keeping up. Unfortunately, it means my blog and my podcast have been neglected. But rather than make excuses and lament my lack of presence, I hope to simply write.

Today was all about wedding invitations. I never realized there were so many different kinds, and yet there isn’t any that is quite what we’re looking for. *sigh*

I’ve submitted three pieces for potential publication. I’ve got my fingers crossed and I set us up to attend Balticon in May. So now, in keeping with my vow from last year, I’ll have to complete a major writing project or I cannot attend.

Wednesday is the first meeting of the local Coast Guard Auiliary and it is my intention to attend. This is in relation to a promise I made myself a long time ago.

And finally, both Renee and I have been out doing a little geocaching and photography. Below is a photo by a downed tree that was just amazing.

Congratulations!

Day — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:07:50 +0000

Blythe and David, the Fabulous Couple. We love you!

Cabana Day at the Luxor

Day — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:06:12 +0000

Today, we rented a cabana at the Luxor. Wow! They advertize it as an oasis and they aren’t kidding. It is our own little cabin tent with fan and misters. We lay on the padded lounges (there were four of them) and had water misted on us. And there’s more – towel service, stereo, flat screen TV, small dining table w/ 4 chairs, a fully stocked complimentary refrigerator, a gigantic bowl of fresh fruit, and 2 rafts. We also had cabana-boy Chris and waitress-Jess to take care of us. Their service was magnificent, complete with, on their own initative, getting a whole bucket of ice for Veni (making her their adoring, slobbering, happy puppy for ever). Veni even got a cool towel in the afternoon when we did! Well worth it. And the view was amazing.

Any complaints? Only that the pool itself is only 3ft deep and it closes at 7pm!!!!! This is Las Vegas and it is HOT. I don’t understand how a 3 ft. pool that closes early could be beneficial to a hotel. I’d sit out there all night! Hmm, maybe that’s the problem. We’d all be out by the pool instead of in the casinos!

View from Cabana #5 by the Luxor's pool

Eleven Hotels and Casinos in One Day

Day — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:31:09 +0000

My feet hurt far too much to go into too much detail. We actually did visit all 11 hotels/casinos in a few hours. Ouch! In no particular order:
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
Excalibur
New York, New York – with its fabulous roller-coaster
MGM Grand – we DID see the lions
Circus Circus – where the bride and groom proceeded to win a BAG of prizes at the midway. And Renee HAD to go there because it was in a James Bond film
The Mirage – with its indoor garden
Caesar’s Palace – where we managed to get lost and couldn’t find an exit
Harrah’s
Casino Royale – which is NOT in a James Bond film but had tiny $1 margaritas (I believe were virgin)
The Venetian

I LOVE the Venetian, thus multiple pictures there. I’m particularly proud of the photo below. Friends have photos of me laying on the ground in the grand hall of the hotel trying to take a photo. I believe it was worth it. What do you think?

The Grand Hall of the Venetian (taken from the floor)

And from the Arcade…

Day — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:51:39 +0000

I had to post this picture. Our friend Melissa is a marksman. Now lots of people claim to be good shots, but she really is!!! We were down in the Excalibur’s arcade and they had a crossbow shooting game. Basically, it uses a laser and you aim it at various targets. It is kind of like a giant diorama and when the laser connects with the target, it sets off various animatronics, sound effects and music. She played the game about 8 times. Each game, you get 10 shots, for a total of 80. She missed…twice. Managed to get a picture of her in marksman-mode with her first prize of the evening, the teddy bear. Totally impressive!

Melissa concentrating on a target