Inauguration Part 2

Where did we leave off...Oh yeah, heading onto the mall. Our first stop was an amazingly long line of port-o-johns that stretched as far the eyes could see.

Being as I still hadn't had anything to eat or drink at this point I took this opportune time to wander a few feet off and smoke. Come on, are you really surprised by this? Didn't think so. Soon we are all back together and heading in to the main event.


The view was amazing, the people were passive, the energy bubbled at the surface. It was all very calm and unhurried. People took their time, some followed the curving walkway, some cut through and over the tiny chain rope fences. We all streamed towards the hill that the Washington Monument sits on. As the family crested the hill we looked down into what I can only describe as a sea of people. Unlike any concert or festival I have been to it was as though there were nothing but other humans around me.

We decided to walk forward to see what we could and found ourselves at a road that didn't appear crossable. It was being kept clear for emergency vehicles and we couldn't see a way that pedestrians were crossing so we decided to go back to our original position by the monument (about 2 miles back from the Capitol I believe) and camp ourselves by the nearest jumbo tron.

The crowd filled in around us as the minutes ticked by. At 10 the music started, kids singing, trumpets blaring, but to be honest I wasn't paying that much attention. I just kept looking around at all the people. Old, young, groups, single folks, black, white, and every shade in between. No one arguing, no one jostling, no one being rude. It was surreal.

Then the processions of dignitaries (and some not so dignified) started arriving on the big screen. In retrospect probably one of the coolest things about being there live was that there were no reporters I had to listen to. No commentary from some asshole telling me what I am supposed to be feeling or thinking. Just the image of these people arriving and an open mike somewhere that every once in awhile let through a "Hi, good to see you" as people shook hands on the screen.

The crowd cheered when familiar faces graced the screen. Gore got one of the hugest responses with yells of adoration and feet stomping of approval. The kids and Michelle might have been the next loudest. Bush got booed which was no surprise and the combo of Gore and Quail just make people shake their heads at such opposites. I looked for Blago when the Governor's were announced but didn't see him. And I wondered what had happened to Cheney (and then realized I didn't care).

When the actual proceedings began the crowd became quiet like nothing I have ever seen before. I was afraid that the huge speakers lining the jumbo tron would be drowned out by the thousands of people standing around me jostling and talking, but it was like the very workings of our voice boxes had been whisked away by the magic of the moment (my mind quickly flitted over the episode in season 4 of Buffy, Hush, but then came back to the present).

It quickly became apparent that there was a delay somewhere in the massive electronic system. The sound was a few sentences behind the visual. By the time Obama's speech started I simply trained myself not to watch his mouth because it just became to confusing. What was hysterical though was during Biden's inauguration the sound was off just enough so that when you saw Biden's face you heard Stevens voice and vice versa. The end result was that it looked like Biden was swearing in Stevens.

Cheers and applause erupted at each critical moment. Steps behind the visuals we reacted to the sound. Chants of Obama's name sprung up again and again throughout the process (but never overriding if someone was speaking). During the invocation I took the opportunity to look around at my fellow bystanders. Not being a religious person (and pretty much being against Rick Warren with my whole being) I paid him little mind. I was amazed however by the number of bowed heads surrounding me. However when he mentioned the girls names and suddenly became a stereotypical southern baptist preacher I don't think there was anyone that at least didn't giggle if not laugh out right.

By the time Obama was sworn in I thought my heart was going to explode. The crowd let out a sound like one I've never heard before. A release from the past 8 years, a breath of hope and faith, a new beginning. As corny as it sounds it was what I felt in the air around me.

I listened to Obama's speech with as much attention as I could but have to admit I will have to find it online again to really absorb it. I was especially impressed with the well designed bitch slap that he delivered to Bush ("First let me thank you, and second let me tell you exactly how wrong you have done everything in the past 8 years"). The masses cheered at all the appropriate parts, and some around me cried through it all (I myself got a bit teary I have to say).

When the speech was done it was like a giant hand came down and turned the whole crowd around and whispered "go". The poem and the speech that came after Obama were lost to us as thousands of people in front of us started the flow away from the mall and back to their lives. This crowd, while still mostly decent, was not the same group I felt I had walked into this historic event with. These people were a bit more anxious, a bit more forceful, a bit less "love thy neighbor" which made me sad. But there were equal amounts of people verbally expressing their desire to not be pushed, or shoved, and that we will all get out when we get out so there was no need to rush.

Will finish this in one final post about the process of extracting oneself from a crowd of one million and add pictures when I get home.

My Inauguration Experience - part 1

As many of you know I had the opportunity to go to DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President. The following is what I experienced that day. From the mundane details to the overwhelming emotions. I hope you enjoy. I began this post at work and did not have time to finish it so will turn it into a two part (at least) posting. I am headed back out for vacation tomorrow so at least wanted to get this started. I will also try and get a post up about the rest of the weekend when I return.

At 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning I set my alarm for 5:30 and crawled into my borrowed bed to try and get a few hours sleep before the big day. Unfortunately I have had a life long issue with falling asleep the night before a big event. First day of school (even all through college), start of a new job, these kinds of things keep me tossing and turning for most of the evening. So it was not until 4:45 that I think I finally fell asleep. Luckily all I had to do was wake up, put my shoes on (being on vacation and bouncing from house to house meant I slept in my clothes that night) and walk out the door which is what I did by about 6:30.

Just before 7 a.m. we met up with my father and step mother and the four of us (my brother was there as well) started the walk towards the mall. The parental units live on the Metro line in Maryland and had taken the train to what we had pre planned out was the closest spot that was still easy to meet at. We started at 13th and U Streets. As we headed towards the Mall area the streets slowly began to fill around us. It was a gradual process, city buses much more loaded than the pavement we were pounding cruised by to closer drop off spots. The streets were eerily absent of vehicular traffic. By quarter to eight we were a mile and half closer, standing in line at 12th and E street for a security checkpoint into the viewing area. My family insisted that all areas would have security check points. I disagreed but was out voted and as is my fashion when confronted with family I kept quiet. And so there we stood not moving for probably close to half an hour.

The sun rose onto the street around us during this time. The pavement swelled with people. There was no instructions or help. We simply waited. People chatted with their neighbors. About every 10 minutes we moved forward about 2 feet. It was slow and as the minutes ticked by we began to get worried. Was this where we needed to be? Would we spend this historic moment standing on a street corner with no jumbo-tron, no speakers? Still, all was relatively calm until a young man, early 20's maybe, tried to make a joke when a fellow pedestrian unfolded a newspaper. He tried to make this joke by yelling "gun". It was not so loud that the whole crowd heard it and panicked. But it was loud enough for the 20 or so people around us to become startled. He was quickly admonished by not only his own friends but the crowd as well. And I overheard his companion explaining that that shit is not only not funny it's a felony.


After hearing through grapevine and old school telephone conversations (my friend says that her cousin was told by a guy standing next to her that...) that there was no security at the 18th street entrance. After much debate on whether to believe this and give up our spot or stick with our original plan we decided to send my brother over there to check it out with instructions to call back and report. 15 minutes later my brother called and said that yes, 18th street was totally open. All we had to do was get back up to I street and then come down 18th and we would be in. Just follow the crowds. So my father, thinking he is always so helpful, raises his voice above the crowd in that "I'm a professor listen to me now" tone (which ironically he is so he has down pat) and announces that we have personal conformation from someone who is there that 18th street is open. And then we worm our own way out of the crowd and start heading towards my brother. Later on we discussed how amazed my father was that people didn't seem to listen to his advice at the first check point. I tried to explain that people don't believe people they don't know, no matter how great and euphoric we all were feeling, those people just didn't know who he was, and why should they trust him, we didn't trust any of the reports that came before from others? I neglected to mention that his professor voice also sounds like he is belittling and patronizing you all at the same time (because really, that might just be me). But I don't think he would of understood anymore if I had left that in.

The three of us start to head towards my brother at a slow and steady pace. I walk with my camera above my head, trying to get at least one decent crowd shot in the growing light. The streets become more and more full. As we round the corner onto 18th street there are 2 cops standing on the corner handing out something, figuring this might be something useful since they are cops and all I snag one and put it quickly in my pocket (of course then I completely forget it is there).





We manage to find my brother again at the entrance to the Mall and begin the trek into history. We wind around what google now tells me is the Constitution Gardens Lake where I was able to at least stop and get a few pictures.







From here we headed into the main event which I will finish in another post after this weekend. Sorry for the delay. Hope you had your own amazing memories on Tuesday.

Update (since I have nothing more creative to title this)

It's been a bit busy in my life lately and feel I have neglected my half dozen or so readers here for which I apologize profusely. Or as profusely as one can do through a blog. Some updates on life in general - I'm still reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and it's still really good (it's over 1000 pages so this one might take awhile). I went to The Good show last weekend and had a great time (though abandoning the BF and friend while I danced away at the front was probably not the nicest thing to do in retrospect, damn you hindsight and your 20/20 vision). I also am now left wondering how to craft lamps that spell out words (and what words I want). Booked a hotel room for the upcoming Wisconsin winter wedding adventure, $190 freaking dollars to basically just crash at the end of the night is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. There should be some kind of "I'm not going to use any of your child filled indoor water park rides so I should get $80 off the top" pricing. But alas, there is not. So it went on the BF's credit card and I have to figure out a way to pay him back for at least half of it...or figure out a way to not mention it again. Oh and I'm meeting the BF's mom tonight. That is a whole nother post in and of itself. I'm usually pretty good with parents, for the most part they like me, but I am a bit rusty so wish me luck.

Probably the biggest news of all though is that this Friday I'm getting on a plane (cross your fingers on that one!) and heading out to DC for 6 days. Do the math... I'll wait... Yup I'm going to inauguration. Do I have tickets you ask? Nope. Do I care? Nope. While I admit it would be much cooler to actually have tickets to the lawn area I think that just being on the mall during this amazingly historic event will be something I remember for the rest of my life. And more than being excited I am also scared out of my mind. 4 million people freak me out. But I'm crossing my fingers it all goes well and that my camera doesn't freeze, break, or get stolen. I will be back with tales I am sure.

Everyone loves a flowchart

I'm too irate after last night to come up with my own witty statements so I'm leaving it to this handy flowchart I'm stealing from Daily Kos. Enjoy.

I still don't get it

Thanks to the BBC for this wonderful map.

Anger, Fear, and tiny bit of Hope

The biggest banking failure in history. Well to be truthful, I don't know if that's true, but it is the biggest failure in my history, of that I'm pretty sure. And I'm a part of it. This morning when I went to the Washington Mutual homepage I was greeted with this picture.

And it was with this picture that the reality of what is going on in the world around me finally started to sink in. I mean, I've been paying attention, in fact I've been having conversations for months with friends and family that we are in the middle of some serious shit right now in America. But this morning a company that I am a part of, a company that houses my money collapsed and was sucked up into the vortex of another company. Soon my statements will start to say JPMorgan Chase instead of the familiar WaMu, I will get a new card in the mail, I will have access to thousands of more ATM's (at least that is one of the selling points they are advertising to me).

I went in today at lunch to the branch next to my work. Got some cash for a baseball game tonight. So far the re-branding hadn't hit that location yet. Everything still looked familiar. I didn't ask about their jobs, or what was going to happen to them, I figured they had probably already had enough from customers and with a net asset of about $142 I didn't think I rated too high on the effected scale. But 30 minutes later when I was done with my meal I saw the CBS van outside the bank. I saw the newsguy standing in front of the window and could just imagine it being replayed on the 6 o'clock news tonight about the future of WaMu/Chase, the future of banking in general, the future of life.

I have avoided ranting in this arena about the fuckupedness of our current political and economic situation. There are many folks out there just like me who are doing it better, faster, and I personally am just fed up with it all anyway. But I wanted to log in today and give voice to my anger and my fear.

The world as I know it, as you know it, is gone. When you go back and look through the history books (as one sided as they may be) and wonder how could people not stand up and do something, how things could get so out of control - well folks this is how. The way we live, communicate, fend for ourselves and others is drastically spinning into a new time zone. We are hiding our heads in the sand if we think for one moment that any one out there is going to come in and save us - not after the past 8 years of leadership. And to be truthful, it goes beyond just the past 8 years. We have been screwing this planet, these cultures not our own, these civilizations beyond our borders for longer than that. We have held on to the top of the mound of tires, the king of the hill position through standing on the hands of others and those hands are ready to rip our throats out.

Holding off debates so one man can "fix" an economic crisis he didn't believe in a week ago, shielding a candidate for VP from the press to try and hemorrhage the geyser of ignorance and stupidity that seems to flow unceasingly from her whenever she speaks, 700 billion dollar buyouts, socialized debt but no socialized health care, this and so much more Freaks. Me. Out.

I don't know what the world holds. I know it will be radically different than I imagined as a child, but that's not so startling. I know it will be radically different than I imagined in my early 20's. That's a little more unnerving. But there are moments, there always are, of sunshine through the clouds, there are always some things I come across that give me hope. Today I logged into FB to see a friends status update that read ..."So-and-So* is amused by the looks from the businessmen at the hotel breakfast buffet when 1.0 says, “Mom, the bad President should go to jail. He lied to us.". " Now that's the kid I want running for president.

Pull out those old science fiction books folks, dust em off, re-read them for tips, and hang on for the ride.

* Name left out since it's not my status I'm sharing with the world - but she knows who she is.

Really?

Change

It's been slowly breaking all day and now it's done. Obama is officially the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. I just watched his speech from Minnesota - CBS played it live and I watched it grainy and pixely on my computer. I watched it with tears in my eyes, and a few that escaped to my cheeks. I watched it with excitement and enthusiasm for the future. It's been a long time since I've had any enthusiasm for the future. 8 years to be more specific. Even in the past elections I don't think there was a Democratic candidate I was really excited about. I just wanted someone to beat Bush.

But now I'm excited. I want Obama to be my president. I want him to come through on the promises he has made tonight and in other speeches. I want to live in a country with universal healthcare. I want to see my military come home. I want to breather cleaner air, drink cleaner water, I want to have hope that we won't burn out this planet in mere decades.

I want Change. I believe he can deliver that. And for the first time in almost 28 years, I'm excited about November.

Weekend update

As the weekend comes to a close I have to say that overall it was relatively productive. I managed not to go out of town or do any work related thinking, I had a 16 hour long date, and I got to watch The Good rock out Saturday night. I got to watch a friend who "doesn't dance" spend the majority of the night up next to the speaker jamming away, I've recovered most of my hearing, though it's still a little like living underwater which is unnerving, I finished Kafka on the Shore and began Snow Crash which looks promising, restocked my OJ supply and now am ready to settle in for Oscar night.

The headlines when I open up my Internet window tell me that Nader has thrown his hat in the rat race again for presidency. It's been too good a weekend to even glance at the story so I'm putting off any commentary or even the slightest thought about it until at least Monday.

I found out my brother might be swinging through the windy city in a few weeks, so I finally get to show off my digs to him which promises to be fun. I got a haircut, a new 600 thread count sheet and a curtain rod so I am once again able to bathe my bedroom in darkness.

As of 4:30 this Sunday evening life is good, quiet but good.

The Ants Go Marching Two by Two...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances. Courtesy of the Cornell Law School Website

There you have it folks, the first amendment to the United States Constitution, the first section of the infamous Bill of Rights. We are all familiar with it either in theory or practice. It's thrown around a lot in arguments when people feel the man encroaching upon their lives...My first amendment right!, the bill of rights, freedom of speech, freedom from religion, right to assemble, right to bear arms (ugh), protection against unreasonable search and seizure....you know how the list goes. You've said them, you've heard them, you've stood up and righteously protested those that stomp upon them.

But Why you ask is this dear writer suddenly so wrapped up in the details of the constitution? Why is she looking up the exact wording of this beloved text? Because I came across this article today in the Chicago Tribune. 8 paragraphs long, I probably would of missed it in the actual paper but thanks to the joys of the Internet, the headline was on the front page. I think it was paragraph 7 that really caught my attention.

The proposal would ban indecent, profane or obscene language, songs,
entertainment and literature at bars.

Literature? First of all, the words literature and bar usually don't go in the same sentence for my brain. Secondly there is no reference point for who will deem what indecent, profane and obscene. This blogger is scared.

And the explanation for the post title...well there is none really except for some reason the song popped into my head after reading the article. Something about marching towards a dictatorship slowly and unknowingly while watching our freedoms slip away one by one, two by two...

From Caucus to Catalogue

And so it begins. Since it is now officially 2008 I can begin to pay attention to the insanity that surrounds presidential politics and start to really look at the contenders. In the earliest primary in my living/voting memory Iowa will start the nation on the roller coaster that is election season tonight. I have to admit I'm slightly intrigued by what will happen (though not intrigued enough to skip my dinner plans this evening) and am secretly harboring the feeling that it's all worthless since I live in Illinois, aka Obama Territory, and it kind of feels like no matter what I do I am throwing my vote out the window like a smoked to the filter cigarette. The dichotomy of this gives me a headache.

So to prepare (also known as avoid) for the upcoming 11 months of political subterfuge and dirty politicking I did the only thing I could imagine. I catalogued my movies. One must be prepared after all when one does not have cable and all that is on is loud mouth after loud mouth spouting off on how they and only they will make the country a better place. I got the idea from Robguy's blog yesterday and just had to try it for myself. Discovered some interesting things about myself via the movies I own....

The top three actors are Sandra Bullock in 7 of my movies and Johnny Depp and Ian McKellen tying at 6 for second place (Depp would of been tied for first if I had bought Edward Scissorhands this past weekend, Damn my frugalness!) It also makes entertains me that my second top sub genre is movies based on books or plays. For a full breakdown check out the full list here and please note that it is still very much a work in progress and half of those movies aren't even opened.

What day is it?

The presidential race of 2008 has been the hot topic of politics for what feels like forever now (in fact I remember talking about it/praying for it to arrive quickly after the announcement of GW's re-election in 2004). The Democratic race has boiled down to three main contenders and if you can't name them I refuse to help you. The Republican side doesn't seem to have a strong front runner but that could just be because I pay less attention to them (that is of course except when one still refuses to even admit that global warming exists - what world are they living on?!*)

It's so much a part of our daily news and lives that honestly I've stopped paying much attention. I know that Iowa is the place to be if you want to find a politician, I know that primaries that used to be in late winter/early spring are now on the cusp of the new year and I know that there are still 11 months of this crap to put up with. So it is with a sigh and a laugh that I bring you this article, in which the democrats prove to us that it doesn't matter how much political clout, money or brain power you have in your camp, it all boils down to the $9/hour fact checkers.

*The quote this is from is a March 2007 interview in which Thompson seems to think that it's funny to try out a theory that it's a solar system wide problem instead our own fucking degradation to this planet.

A little Tuesday News

There is a gruesome and sad story unfolding just over the border of my fair city in the depths of hell known as Gary, Indiana. The story goes like this....car with four black teenage boys crashes early Saturday morning, two manage to crawl out and tell the cops that respond that two more are still in the ravine. Cops do nothing. Story gets out that cops ignored two survivors, uncle of one of the victims goes to crash site the next day and finds his dead nephew in less than 5 minutes. Cops still make no statement. Monday cops release statement that boys were drunk, they were not coherent and that they did look for the other two but found nothing at the scene. Coroners report comes out that the other two died instantly.

I was not there so I don't know if the cops looked for the other two. I don't know the state of the two that crawled out of the ravine. What I do know is that the overall feel from the reporting is that Gary is sticking with the statement that it does not matter what the cops did that night since the boys were dead anyway. This is what disturbs me. Statements like this...

• "I'm telling [the officer] about my injuries and my two friends and the accident, and he tells me to sit on the curb,"
• But Gary Police Chief Thomas Houston pointed out that no matter how fast the department's response had been, neither Green nor Smith could have been saved.
• "Law enforcement did not cause this accident and these deaths,"

Law enforcement might not have caused the death but they sure as hell didn't do a damn thing to prevent them either. The family of at least one of the boys is reported to have an independent autopsy done. I will be interested to see the results of it.

In more worldly news, it looks like Iraq is threatening to kick out all the Blackwater guards running rampant in their country. A friend and I had a conversation about it last night with the final thought being they will probably just reincorporate, rename themselves, and saunter right back in....So readers here is a poll for you - what do you think the new name will be?

Cable

You know what sucks the most about not having cable? There is no place to hide when George WhatTheFuckWasThisCountryThinking Bush decides to address the nation.

Links Galore

I started keeping a running draft of articles that I came across that intrigued me, figuring that at some point I would do more in depth posts about each...yeah that ain't gonna happen. So instead, because they really should be shared with the world, I will do a quick summary and let you read the rest....

In an attempt to thwart the bureaucracy that is the New Zealand government, a couple is doing an end run in naming their baby. When The Man shot down their attempts to name their baby "4Real" they decided to be tricky and choose "Superman" (but will be calling the baby 4Real to its face). Yes, this is a legitimate story. And yes, I am making just about as much fun as I can of it....4 Real!

I don't drink a lot of milk so I was in the dark that there is a clandestine milk market out there. I think my favorite part was the quote about the Amish supplying the black market in NY and Boston.

According to the New York Times layout guy, women ordering meat on their dates is considered "Fashion and Style" (and of course I am thrilled that I finally have permission to order what I want when dating - ugh)


Why does this never happen to me? I think it's time to start putting aside the books, knick-knacks, and old clothes that I'm trying to hawk online and move on to good old saintly images - $1500 bucks for a grease stain? Sold!


And in case you missed out on getting the son of god to show up on your garage floor - you can always get good old dad to show up in your vegetable drawer


Some kid is getting killed in Texas because of a law that says because he was in the car when someone else got out (with no warning to the rest of the vehicle) and shot someone he can be held accountable - this is my WTF for the day. It's a short article so if anyone has any more information I would gladly take it (I have to work at some point in the day)



Anyone have $208 they want to just randomly give me? It could be a lot of fun!




Oh dear god. Why do they let these people run the world? With weapons?

And as a follow up to the camo bible link (the one right above) today's Chicago Tribune was kind enough to have this story on the cover of their Metro section.*** Some asshole has started the new sport of extreme aerial bowfishing. Yes, that's right, they go out in boats, and shoot big fucking arrows at fish that jump from the tremors from their motorboats. And as an extra special bonus, the online article comes with video, now I am work so can't watch it, but I started it and the first two seconds show a girl in a bikini on a towel and a guy holding a bottle of Bud Light. I think I have to go throw up now.

Cheers, enjoy the links and have a great day!

***Update - my apologies for the corrections I need to make about this article. One, it was actually the cover of Tempo, not Metro. And two, the Bud Light and bikini girl was a commercial before the story not part of the actual story. Still, it's fucked up and weird

Debate Time

Tonight their will be a Democratic presidential debate hosted at our very own Solider Field. All the candidates will get together and do the traditional back and forth that we will hear until the party picks a candidate and then we will watch that person (I am making no bets yet) go head to head with who ever is picked for the other team. Pretty simple, basic stuff, so you are probably wondering why the hell I am mentioning it here. Well, turns out due to the fates aligning and having a pretty sharing boss, I am going to be at the debate!

Now truth be told (argh, I hate to admit this) I don't think I have ever sat through an entire debate on television. At some point I always get distracted and wander off to another channel, or simply turn the damn thing off. But, keep your fingers crossed, being as this is live, my attention might actually stay tuned on the candidates.

I will be back tomorrow (and if anything interesting happens maybe even later today) with an update and let ya'll know how it goes.
Cheers!