Summertime...And The Livin' Is Easy

Ah...Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer. 

With temps mostly in the 90s these past several weeks, it still feels like springtime here in Phoenix.  This is usually a good thing, but I have to say I am itchin' to get into our swimming pool.  With the overnight lows still dipping into the 60s, our pool just is not warming up enough for full immersion.  A couple of weeks ago (during a mini-heat wave when the pool temp creeped up to about 78 degrees) I managed to float around for awhile and work on the tan.  The pool really needs to be at least 80 degrees to approach any kind of comfort level and not have certain body parts try to totally recoil into your body.  Forecasters are saying we are going to be in the 100s next week...so I guess if we don't make it into the pool this weekend, it won't be too much longer of a wait.
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Will probably watch some of the dedication ceremony for the WWII Memorial on Saturday.  It was much more innocent days the last time I was in Washington DC -- back in September 2000 - when you could traipse through the White House with little effort or worry and even end up on the floor of the House of Representatives or on the Speaker of the House's office balcony (thanks to a ballsy AZ Representative office worker turned Capitol tour guide).  Back then, I believe they were about to break ground on the WWII Memorial I believe and its location was the prime source of controversy.  While I certainly thought the memorial deserved a prime location, I admit sided with the purists who argued that it broke up the whole Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool (which I notoriously dubbed "goose shit pond" thanks to the all the... well all bird crap in it...and I chose to blame the nearby multitude of goose-like creatures), Lincoln Memorial sight line.

Now that I have seen shots of the WWII Memorial this past week on TV and in print, I have to say it looks like it fits right in.  The location controversy seems to have died down with more of the recent negative buzz surrounding its design ... too bland, too big, and even those who say it is too reminiscent of Nazi architecture (my linked-up DC bloggers: feel free to tell me otherwise).  But to me, and from 2000 miles away, it looks to be pretty impressive -- and at least a reason to return to DC at some point in the future.
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Fans of the The Amazing Race, there is another show that you might be interested in this summer.  Remember Kevin and Drew, the bald-headed New Yorker frat-bros from TAR1?  They are back for a 3-part "reality" series that is scheduled to air on the Discovery Channel in July.   TV Guide reports that Kevin and Drew Unleashed will follow the guys as they travel cross-country and engage in such activities as alligator wrestling and teaching water aerobics.

In other TAR news, I hope the rumors are wrong that have CBS postponing the planned summer airing of TAR5 until the fall and pushing TAR6 to spring 2005.  I need my TAR fix soon!