Pictures of the Inaugural, Finally on 18th Street

Finally on 18th Street. But still wall to wall people. It was a slow walk until we got to about E Street or so and some people pealed off towards 19th Street. Then it was more like a normal walk.

There were National Guard troops around helping people out. One thing I will say I think it would have helped if they'd had a bull horn to be able to let the crowd know a little more about what was going on. But as one guy said "we're just going to keep walking. Nothing will spoil today."































































Some signs along the way honoring the new President and Vice President.

Pictures of the Inaugural, The Crowd Begins to Thin

This is the continuation of the journey up 18th Street. Again people, people, people. Did I mention all you could see were people. And yet the crowd was in good humor. No problems that I could see. Finally around I Street it began to thin.


















































This was the typical line you saw at any place to eat. One woman saw a Starbucks in the distance and said all she wanted was to get there. The line there was almost a block long.













































This is a look back down 18th Street toward Pennsylvania Avenue. Again all you could see was you guessed it people.

Pictures of the Inaugural, Last thoughts

These two pictures, to me, sum it up. I found this on my walk home near Logan Circle.

I guess I'm still getting used it. It happened it really happened. History on a scale that will always, always be remembered happened today. And I had the incredible honor to be there when it happened. I will never forget it.

First Thoughts of the Inaugural

Here are my first thoughts of the inaugural.

Off to the Inaugural

Here's my video post. Had a little trouble with my computer couldn't get the sound so I would have done it on that but had to use the video camera instead. Sorry you can't see the buttons really well.


I'M OFF!!!!!!

Inaugural Thoughts

Well I was finally able to post a little from the concert. I was really impressed by the line up of people who performed. Also how quickly they were able to get people on and off stage. Here's what the Post had to say. Or you can read this from Rolling Stone.

Everyone was very good but here's who I thought stood out:

Bette Lavette and Jon Bon Jovi singing A Change Is Gonna Come. They were fantastic together. Their voices together were amazing.

James Taylor, John Legend and Jennifer Nettles who sang Shower the People.

John Mellencamp had great energy.

Garth Brooks really surprised me. He was excellent. Really got the crowd going.

User, Shakira and Stevie Wonder singing Higher Ground.

U2 they're U2 what else can you say.

To close the concert was Beyonce singing America.

What a way to end it.

In all an amazing performance by an incredible group of performers celebrating a truly historic event. And I can say I was there!

Obama's Speech

Here's Obama's speech from Sunday.

Concert

This is some video of the band that played on the ground of the Washington Monument a couple of hours before the concert started. It also gives you an idea of how many people were there.

Concert Development

Well I guess YouTube is taking down any content that people recorded yesterday because HBO owns the rights. Follow this link for more information on it. I'm going to keep trying anyway.

I have noticed there are some videos up from the concert. So I'll guess I'll keep trying.

I am making preparations to go down to the inaugural ceremony tomorrow. I'm getting everything together for it. My plan still is to leave around 8 or so. I'm sure I'm not going to get anywhere near the Capitol so I'm not going to try. I scouted out a couple of jumbotron near the Smithsonian Castle. I think that would be a good place to head for. Anyway that's my plan.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some video of the concert. I'll also post in a little bit what I thought of it. Well something more than just WOW

Concert Video

I had hope to post some video of the concert. So far all my attempts to do so have failed. I've tried three times and can get nothing up. I get to about the last minute of the upload and it times out. I have no idea why this is happening and I'm extremly frustrated by it. I will continue to try but it looks like it is not going to happen.

West Side Story

In all the excitement about the inaugural I forgot to mention that on Tuesday I went to see West Side Story (pictured above are Josefina Scaglione and Matt Cavenaugh, who play Maria and Tony) at the National Theater with my friend Mark. It was very good. You can read about it here.

I think Mark summed it up very well. The women were better than the men and the sharks were better than the Jets. It's not to say the men were bad; they weren't. It just that the women really have more material.

There is an interesting change in the way the musical is staged or I should say sung:

Such is the allure of the performance that even when Scaglione is singing in Spanish -- which she does repeatedly in this novel, bilingual incarnation, directed by its librettist, Arthur Laurents -- an English speaker discerns the radiant spectrum of emotion in a young girl caught between ethnic hatred and desire. No matter how you conjugate them, it seems, the giddy verbs of "I Feel Pretty" (or rather "Siento Hermosa") ring out with verve.

I thought the addition of Spanish made the show much more realistic. The draw back on some of the songs is if people in the audience are not familiar with the lyrics to the songs. But no matter what language the show is sung in the power of the songs transcends it.

It is amazing that the original author of the book to the show, Arthur Laurents, is now the director of it. Laurents is 90.

For more pictures of the production follow these two links. This one shows the company in rehearsal. This one shows scenes from the actual show.

Quick Thoughts on the Concert

I'm a little tired so I'm just going to dash off a few quick thoughts. Tomorrow I'll go into more details. I also need to soak in a tub for awhile. There were a lot of people. Probably the biggest crowd I've seen so far (I'm assuming Tuesday will top this). Everyone was good some of the people were fantastic. Garth Brooks was a big surprise to me; he was really good. Usher, Stevie Wonder and Shakira well they just sounded great together.

Tomorrow I hope to post some video. I'm not sure how well it turned out. I got a pretty good spot. You could see what turned out to be the stage. However, in the course of the two hours that I was there and as the crowd filed in, it ended up four very tall guys stood in front of me. They didn't cut off my view of the stage (much) but made it hard to take pictures. I have borrow from YouTube tomorrow as well.

But for now I hear my tub calling.

Concert Photos, Part I

These guys were just outside the security entrance to the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. When you went through security you had to open up your coats. Not that anyone really looked when you did it.

Concert Photos, Part II

This is before the concert got started. There were a lot of people. Some people got up into the trees. Then there was the move to a top the port-o-potties. I can't image actually using one while someone was on top it. After awhile they were told to get down.

Concert Photos, Part III

The first two pictures are of James Taylor, John Legend and Jennifer Nettles singing Shower the People. The next is Renee Fleming singing You'll Never Walk Alone with the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club. The next two are Usher, Stevie Wonder and Shakira singing Higher Ground. The last is Beyonce.

Concert Photos, Part IV

So the concert ended after Beyonce sang a very stirring rendition of America and then everyone began to leave. The cloud of smoke that you see in a couple of the pictures is dust kicked up by the crowd.

Back From the Concert

I just got back a little while ago from the concert. I need to sit down for a little while. I'll post pictures shortly and some video but that probably won't come until tomorrow. Right now I'm going to sit down. HBO is rerunning the concert so I'm going to watch it again.

I will say this:

WOW

WOW

WOW!!!!!!!

Off to the Concert

In a little while I'm going to head off to the concert. I don't really expect to get all that close. If I wanted to do that, I should have left hours ago but it was just a little too cold out for me.

I do think it is interesting the estimates of the number of people that are going to be there. The first I heard was around 300,000. Then it was pretty well settled that 500,000 people will be there. This morning I heard 750,000. How do they come up with these numbers? They seem to me to be pulled out of thin air.

I'm looking forward to going down and seeing all the people. This is a dry run for the inaugural. I figure I'm going to see where all the jumbotrons are on the Mall and pick out one I like and go to that one on Tuesday. It will let me test out how all the pockets on my coat will work. You see you can't bring a back pack down to the Mall for the inaugural so I have to see what fits into my coat pockets. I have four in total. One on the outside of the coat will have the digital camera and the other on the outside will have the video camera. Inside I have two as well. One will be for extra batteries and the other will be for Pop Tarts (after all you have to eat).

So that's my plan. Hopefully I will have pictures and video later today.

Sunday Funny

I think it's always good to get Sunday off on the right foot and what better way then with a cartoon. Enjoy.

All Things Obama

Everywhere you look that's what it is. I cannot recall so much stuff that you can buy with Obama's image. At the "official" inaugural store there are one dollar bills with Barack and Michelle's picture where Washington's would be. There was a sign saying it was legal tender.

Let's see what have I seen. Buttons of course. You can see buttons just about everywhere. I've gotten several. One of my favorites says Yes We Did. There are t-shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies, coffee cups, mugs, stickers, key chains, posters, plates, caps, ties, tote bags, cuff links, collectibles. The list goes on and on.

Here are some of the examples I mentioned.














































































I thought I'd seen everything possible Obama until today. I was in a CVS near my gym. In the CVS were Barack Obama trading cards. You know trading cards like baseball cards only of Barack Obama. I didn't have time to take a good look at them but I'll keep my eyes open and maybe I'll see them again.