Paul Moon @ Apr 11th 2008 4:11PM

Just got back from it, opening day. The Washington Post did not say that the building is "really ugly." It's stunning to see and it goes well with its environment, next to the Canadian Embassy which has always been for many if not most Washingtonians the favorite piece of architecture in the greater Washington area.

There is definitely a LOT of technology on hand, mostly for "interactive" silliness like being a reporter, blah blah blah.

George Stephanopoulos (sp?) will be broadcasting every Sunday evening from a studio that faces Pennsylvania Avenue with a prime view of the Capitol. Yes, there will be a glass wall that tourists in T-shirts and tube socks can wave through.

The 4D theater has its grand opening tomorrow, April 12. The preview audiences have said it's kind of silly, and if you want to avoid getting wet, sit towards the sides.

There is an incredibly wide projection screen on the 5th Floor that has an impressive multimedia round-up of major news stories over the past couple decades, and that was for me the highlight. Another enjoyable thing was to browse through drawers on that same level of original front pages of newspapers dating back over a century. Finally, blogging gets its proper recognition, including Matt Drudge ("The Drudge Report") and Anne Marie Cox ("Wonkette"). There's even a special section dedicated to citizen journalism such as cell phone video footage shot by a student during the Virginia Tech massacre.

Unfortunately, all this comes at an insanely prohibitive cost. It is the most expensive museum ever, mostly for its real estate, and the admission price will be $20. Across the street is the National Gallery of Art, containing one of the world's greatest general collections and just about every important traveling exhibition. $0. Then, a couple blocks away, the Natural History and American History museums. $0. And across the Mall, numerous other museums -- $0.

One easily gets the impression that this incredible new space was not primarily created for its museum patrons. They will be repaying the extraordinary costs of construction by hosting after-hours Washington galas and fundraisers, and by taping television programs in any of its several live studios.

Just today, it was widely advertised that the official opening ceremony would be at 2:00 p.m. I asked about it at 1:30 p.m., and was told, "It's by invitation only, but it will be shown on the big screen monitor in the atrium."

That about sums it up.