It was a great start to the day with Mamfa and I up at 5:30am watching Geelong flog Port Adelaide in the AFL Qualifying final.

It was then another day of exploring the other Smithsonian Museums. Started with the National Gallery of Art. It had collections of Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Jackson Pollock etc which were interesting but skipped the boring older portraits/landscapes. The was a so-called special exhibition of Mark Rothko whose estate apparently donated over 1000 paintings. Given they are the most simple and boring paintings in the world it wouldn’t have taken long to paint that many – probably got some 5 year olds to help.

The sculpture garden however was quite good.

They must have very fat ducks here though as they need a ramp to get into the pond.

Next up was the Natural History Museum which had some great exhibits including the Hall of Human Origins with lots skulls of our various ancestors, African Voices, Ocean Hall and Hall of Mammals among several others. Lots of great information, displays, videos etc.

Mamfa also found his own ancestor.

Another display had an eclectic range of items donated by an avid collector who then donated his own skeleton.

There was a display about mobile phones (likely to get the kids involved) that showed the impact on the planet of the mining required to make a phone.

We finished off with the African American Museum which had an art section and displays of the contribution of African Americans to sport, music, movies, literature etc as well as the continuing struggle for equality.

This day in sporting history (5 September)

1972 Eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and later killed by the Palestinian Black September group at the Munich Olympics