Archive for January, 2009
CNN headline T-shirts, the best gift ever
CNN has been selling t-shirts with various headlines printed on the front for a couple months now. If you see a headline on their webpage and it has a little t-shirt icon after it, you can buy it on a t-shirt. Some of the options are just completely absurd. I’m hard pressed to imagine someone wanting any of the t-shirts they are offering but I guess it’s making money because the initiative continues. I suppose there are a handful of people out there that would wear a t-shirt that says “Mom catches surprise twin in pants” on it. I think it’s pretty hilarious, but you won’t find me ordering one. They’re also offering “Shots help boost low sex drive in men” today. Buy two and get free shipping!
Obama Inauguration
Well, I’m finally back after a long day. Leaving home at 6:30 AM, I quickly found the Metro to be at capacity. All the riders getting on further out in Fairfax and Falls Church had overwhelmed the inbound trains. Left with the choice of taking the Metro in the opposite direction and hoping to turn around and make it back into DC on a train with some remaining space or just walking the whole way, I chose to go with walking. I proceeded down Wilson Blvd to Rosslyn where I picked up the Mount Vernon trail to the Memorial Bridge into DC. From there it was a straight shot from the Lincoln Memorial down the Mall. I was attempting to meet up with friends in front of the Natural History Museum but ended up at the wrong spot and then was packed in by the crowd so I ended up watching solo. Around 8:30 when I settled into my spot, it didn’t seem too cold. Within the first hour, the temperature seemed to drop a bit and it was pretty frigid for the rest of the day. They replayed Sunday’s concert on the monitors to keep us entertained until the festivities started. First up was a kids choir that performed several songs. Next a band played, followed by an long stretch of people being announced and entering to be seated. Then Aretha Franklin sang and Rick Warren did the prayer. It was reasonable as far as prayers go, though he got all crazy when he 
pronounced Sasha and Malia’s names. It was pretty odd. Biden and Obama were sworn in and then Obama delivered his speech. I thought it was very good and parts were quite moving. I don’t think it quite lived up to the media hype anticipating possibly the greatest oratory ever to grace the ears of mankind, though they did have me believing it might happen. Immediately after the speech, the crowds began to disperse. They continued to disperse for two hours as a million people tried to squeeze through tiny little crowd control gates, usually to find that they weren’t allowed to go in the direction they desired and instead had to take a much different and congested route. I expected to be able to head straight back down the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, just as I had arrived. Instead, I had no option but to take 14th St south almost to the bridge and then cut west before doubling back to the Washington Monument. This probably took an hour. From there it was a pretty easy walk back. At the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, I ran into Stephen and Nate, some friends of my brother’s who I’ve hung out with a few times. I run into them around DC way more often than you would expect. I’m starting to get suspicious. So, I walked with them back to Rosslyn and joined them at Nate’s place to watch the parade on TV for a bit. All in all, these last few days have been a great experience. I’m certainly glad to be living here for it and to have had relatively easy access to take part. [Click here for all my pictures from today] I also have some video I need to mess with and see if it’s any good.
The Metro is already toast
6:45 AM and the orange and red lines already have “track malfunctions” and delays. After two full cars passed, I gave up and am hiking it the 3-4 miles downtown. The worse the crowds, the shorter I have to walk I suppose.
Inauguration Opening Concert
I headed into DC again today for the afternoon concert. It’s on HBO and CNN right now and will re-air tonight at 7 PM if you want to watch it. HBO is showing it free to everyone today, at least if you have Comcast cable. The crowds weren’t too bad as I arrived 30 minutes before the show began, though the area around the Reflecting Pool and Constitution Gardens was at capacity and closed off. I was able to make my way to the east side of the World War II Memorial and get a spot just a row or two back from the fence. This afforded a clear but distant view. The jumbo-trons and speakers were just across 17th St facing the Washington Monument so it wasn’t really possible to see or hear well from there. After 20 minutes, I walked around the immediate area for a bit and then headed north up 17th St and northwest on Virginia Ave towards the Foggy Bottom Metro station. When I left the Mall, it was looking packed well past the Washington Monument. The walk to the Metro was an upstream effort through thousands more people headed down to the concert. I’ll be interested to see what the final attendance estimate is. It’s much warmer today and I kind of wish I’d gone this morning to stake out a good spot. Oh well, I’m back home now watching it in HD which is pretty nice too. I’ve got more pictures that I need to post but here are a couple for now. [Click here for the rest of my photos]
Inauguration Setup
Today, I biked down the hill into DC to check out the Inauguration preparations before everyone floods in tomorrow for the afternoon concert. I crossed Memorial Bridge over the partially frozen Potomac River and arrived at the Lincoln Memorial. Here they were finishing setting up for the concert. It was 20 degrees outside but that didn’t keep a good number of people from getting out for a preview of the festivities. There are now 5000 porta-potties lining almost every conceivable stretch of sidewalk and path from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. As I was taking a picture of them, a girl next to me who was doing the same turned and said “You just can’t capture the majesty of it.” So right she was. 
I proceeded east and after reaching the Capitol end of the Mall, headed back west towards home. As I approached the Lincoln Memorial again, I could hear a group singing on the steps. There was a crowd at the perimeter watching Bruce Springsteen and a large choir practicing The Rising for the show tomorrow. I got a short video of it. You can see Springsteen in the first 30 seconds or so to the very far left in all black with a guitar. Some people are standing in front of him for the remainder. I’m planning to go back tomorrow and check out the concert from a long way away. There are a bunch more pictures here. That’s all for now…
Bruce Springsteen practicing 'The Rising' - click for video
Visiting Emily, Richard, and Elliott
I stopped by for dinner with Emily, Richard, and Elliott tonight. I hadn’t seen them in several years and had never met Elliott. All my friends have ridiculously cute kids now. Elliott looks so much like Emily that I’d be concerned if I were Richard. It was great catching up and talking about old times. I’ve included a picture of me that Elliott took at the bottom.
Skiing at Squaw Valley
I spent a day skiing at Squaw Valley with Laura. It was sunny and almost 50 degrees out. This made for some icy ski conditions because the snow has been thawing during the day and refreezing at night. It was still a fun day and Squaw has some very interesting terrain. Hopefully I’ll get back there when there’s some fresh snow. We also drove a bit around Lake Tahoe. Here’s a picture from Emerald Bay…
Mmm, lunch
I’ve been slacking on updates big time. I’m in CA for the weekend visiting Laura. Currently in Mountain View and heading up to Tahoe for some skiing in 50 degree sunshine. Hope there’s some snow left. The double-double and fries were delicious. Now to the coffee shop to finish off my day of work.
New Years
For New Years, I had some Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group friends I hadn’t seen in a while over for the evening. We had a pretty chill night. Made dinner, played Rock Band, watched the Times Square coverage, they had a little slumber party in my living room. Here’s a picture of the group the morning after. Constance was also in attendance but bailed on us before midnight.
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