The arrow indicates where Barb and I were. #1 is where O was sworn in and #2 the nearest Jumbotron. We had about 2 square feet on which to stand. Latest crowd estimate 1.8 million.
Satellite view of inauguration
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Category Archives: Travel
Inauguration: Day Three
Inauguration Day ended like it began. Standing in the dark, bitter cold in a crush of people. We arrived at the Metro station at 4 a.m. and there were already 50 or 60 people waiting for the station to open.
It’s difficult to describe how crowded the Metro cars were. Very much like the video of Japanese train “car stuffers” cramming people into the already full cars. I must say, however, most folks were pretty friendly and patient.
We reached our security gate (about half a mile from the Capitol?) around 5 a.m. and there was a crowd of a couple of hundred people waiting for the security check-in which didn’t happen until about 9 a.m. Four very long hours, with the bone-chilling cold creeping into your feed and up your legs.
Once through security we hobbled to a standing area about 100 yards from the Capitol steps where our new president was sworn in. We could see President Obama or the others except on the the Jumbotrons, the closest of which was about 40 or 50 yards away. Another 2.5 hour wait. Temp in the upper teens. And crowded.
Just in front of us was a large area filled with row upon row of folding chairs. The cheap seats but better than no seat at all. This is where we saw some celebrities: Chris Tucker; Bruce Springsteen; Spike Lee; Al Franken. I was impressed that these folks were willing sit in the cold with the rest of us.
Behind us, stretching out along the National Mall, all the way to the Washington Monument, was the sea of people you saw on TV, waving flags.
By the time the oath of office was administered, we had been standing in line and fighting for our live son the Metro, for 8 hours. All but 30 or 45 minutes in the cold.
After the ceremony, The million+ people had to go someplace. The streets and sidewalks near the Capital were packed, so we decided to skip the parade and go back to base camp. To say the Metro was crowded doesn’t begin to describe the scene.
After a nap and some food we got in our party clothes and headed down tot he convention center where several of the inaugural balls were being held. Sheryl Crow did a nice set and a little late the new VP and Mrs. showed, which we mistakenly assumed meant Obama wouldn’t make it. We knew cabs would be scarce but after more than an hour in the freezing cold, we gave up and called our friend Dianne (out of a dead sleep). Trooper that she is, she fought the traffic and closed off streets to come down and rescue us. (There will be a small shrine in our basement)
So was our Inauguration Adventure fun? Not by any objective measure. It was… and experience. Like WWII. An important moment in time of which we can say we participated. Would I do it again, knowing what I know now? Doubtful. But that’s true of much in life.
I’ll be processing photos and video for days and will post anything that I think you might find interesting.
A voice was sounding
I have no idea what it was like at previous inaugurations, but everywhere I look, in every face, there’s a real sense of joy and excitement. And these look like people who –like smays.com– never felt like their vote made much of a difference, but do now.
My cynical (“Realistic! Realistic!”) friends tell me I am niave (nice word for chump) to believe/hope Obama is anything more than another smooth talking pol. Once in office, it’ll be business as usual. Well, there’s bunch of chumps everywhere I look. These are the true believers. They think (know?) they can knock on doors and organize and vote and, in time, change things.
Before the Net, you could sway these masses with well placed media buys. I’m thinking that might be changing (have changed). MSM has their own problems and the Net can take a politician down as fast as it can lift her up.
But the people on these cold streets aren’t thinking about that. They see a new day and they’re pumped. They BELIEVE they are part of something big and important and it’s gonna be hard to persuade them otherwise. [Inauguration 2009 flickr images]
Lost camera
Hotel where the MO Dem's had their party reports no found cameras but promised to call. Perhaps it fell out on the cab ride home. Whatever, I really don't feel bad about losing the camera, I have more. But it's a shame the video will never be shared. Nothing earth shattering but man that guy could dance.
If I ever find someone's camera with stills or video on it, you can bet I'll post to flickr and YouTube. Be nice if someone does that with mine. Beyond that, I like to imagine someone taking a great photo or capturing some amazing video with the little Casio. I posted on this somewhere up stream. Finding a camera and trying to solve some mystery using only the images it contains. If anyone stumbles across that post, send me a link.
This reminds me that the camera is a passive thing. Being in the right place, in the right hands, at the right time… that's what makes a great photograph.
And haven't people left cameras in public places with instructions to take some photos and then leave the camera for someone else in a different location? But that would only be fun if the photos were shared. So, if the person who found the Casio Exilim on the evening of January 18, 2009, in Washington D.C. is reading this. Enjoy the camera. Keep it or pass it along to someone else. But post the pix and video online where we all have a chance of find it. Tag the files with "smays.com"
Inauguration: Day Two
After a chilly wait in a long line, we have the coveted tickets to tomorrow’s inauguration. We clumsily asked the nice guys in Congressman Blunt’s (R) office if they were going to the inauguration (“Uh, no”). We forgot for a moment that not everything thinks this is as wonderful as we do.
Our tickets are in South Standing (see blue area of map above). Call it emotional proximity. The plan is to hit the Metro as early as possible (4am?). Gonna be another long, cold wait. After the event, a mob scene for sure as we try to make our way to Barb’s office at the other end of the parade route. Then back to base camp for party change and a return to convention center for the ball.
Not expecting to be able to do much more than Twitter tomorrow (if that).
Inauguration: Day One
Not counting Saturday since that was just travel. But today was a full day. We rode the Metro from the northern part of the district where we’re staying down to the National Mall. Got there around 9 or 9:30 a.m. Not a lot people there yet except media types getting set up or already in place (MSNBC).
Couldn’t get the GPS on the iPhone working until George suggested I reboot. You don’t want to be at an event like this without a fully functioning iPhone.
Walked down to the Capitol (as close as we could get) and then all the way down Pennsylvania Ave to the end of the parade route, mostly to locate the office of the firm at which Barb works.
By then the crowds were flooding in to get seats for the opening ceremony and concert. If today is any indicator, tomorrow and Tuesday are gonna be scary. But I must say everyone seemed happy (joyuous?). Lots of little kids, even as cold as it was.
Tomorrow we head back down to pick up our tickets, at which time we’ll have some idea of where we’ll be for the Big Moment.
The historic nature of this event is starting to get to me and it’s hard not to feel a real bond with the millions that will be here. You won’t find many in this crowd who think O is “just another smooth talking pol.” We are all believers.
Pardon me, but I believe that’s my bag
Uneventful trip to DC. The city is clearly gearing up fo The Moment. Big concert tomorrow –if we decided to endure a smaller crowd (150,000?). Then some kind of party tomorrow night for political bigwigs from Missouri. Barb’s going to try to pass me off as a client.
We’ll use tomorrow as a dry-run for Monday and Tuesday. See if we can do the buses and metro. Will try to post pix on the fly and post any video after we return to base camp.
Packing extra Depends
“TV news crews being dispatched out “in the field” to cover the Mall and other key gathering points are being told to pack for survival conditions, which includes likely toting along a five-gallon jug to use for bodily functions. Sadly, bathrooms may become the big issue as the big day unfolds. The city’s subway system is planning on locking all of its bathrooms for security reasons (they will post a total of 150 or so port-a-potties outside of the stations, concentrating them in the suburbs, outside of the city itself; Metro may also close some of its escalators to help with crowd control, leaving newly minted riders to walk up steep metal steps 100 to 200 feet high). The rest of the city plans to deploy up to 5,000 jiffy johns, which works out to something on the order of 10,000 people minimum per bathroom, optimistically assuming that not everyone will have to “go.” – The Daily Beast
Inaugural ball: “Like a massive high school prom”
Latest inauguration horror story (AP):
“Thousands of people converged on the coat check from three balls at the Omni Shoreham hotel. Fur flew, and not always to the rightful owners. Judges, politicians and assorted bigwigs rushed the coatroom and banged on the door.
“It was a mass of finely clothed and jeweled individuals starting to chant ‘We want our coats! We want our coats!'” said Martin, a Washington-area voiceover performer. “There were elderly women in this crowd, and they weren’t going down without a fight.”
Police were called, and the mob was sent out in the freezing cold, coatless.
“It’s like a massive high school prom, is the only way I can describe it, in terms of the crush of people and the level of sophistication,” said Sheila Tate, who was press secretary to Nancy Reagan. “It’s just packed.
The rest of the story describes the kind of situations I have spent my adult life avoiding. Should be some good photo/video ops.
http://twitter.com/inauguration
A week or so ago I got a ping that @inauguration was following my Twitter feed. I assume they just searched all Twitter feeds for "inauguration" and found me. As I always do, I checked the profile page and found:
"Get tips and helpful scoop as you plan for the Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama takes the oath of office."
There was a link to a website but I didn't click it.
@inauguration has been a great source for news about the upcoming event. With links to lots of news sources.
I finally checked the url on the Twitter page and learned that the feed belongs to WUSA-TV in D.C. Thinking back, a lot of the tweets have taken me to pages on the WSUA website.
We're they being sneaky by not clearly identifying the TV station? Doesn't feel that way since I now know they pointed me to a variety of sources for relevant news about the inauguration.
My point here is WSUA didn't just feed the latest news from the station website. They didn't just promote their coverage. Someone was smart enough to understand how Twitter really works and use it. Cost: zero.
This will be the norm for any big event. And it won't always be news organizations doing it. It will often be the event organizers. And should be since they will have the most information and have it first.
Yes, I could have set up a Google Alert for "inauguration" but adding @inauguration to my feed was just one-click.
Seasoned Twitter users will remind me there's a hash tag (#inauguration) that aggregates tweets from ALL Twitter users, not just one source. True, but there's a lot of noise in that stream. Takes too long to separate the wheat from the chaff.
And to bring it down to the individual level, I could set up a Twitter page just for my tweets from the event, so that my "followers" aren't drowned in my tweets from DC. Probably won't be posting enough for that to be a problem, however.
In conclusion… I quickly determined that the @inauguration Twitter feed had useful and interesting information. I didn't notice or care who was behind the feed.