Obama from DC (with photos)
Brian Fung ’10 snapped these photos of Inauguration masses yesterday…
Union Station
“…everybody’s looking at a TV that’s inside the H&R Block. Some guy has a radio that adds audio to the Obama speech.”
Posts tagged ‘inauguration’
Jan 21
Jan 21
Obama, the day after
But here’s a whirlwind mashup of various Obama-media:
- Just in case you missed it, Al Sharpton (who will be speaking at Midd) mistook Aretha Franklin for Barack Obama’s mother-in-law yesterday just before the Inauguration. Yikes.
- As you all have heard, Justice Roberts botched the oath.
- The most oft-said words in the Obama address were: Americas, Nation, New, Every, Must, and People. Well, what’s with Rick Warren’s bizarre tonal emphasis on Obama’s children’s names?
- Sorry if Facebook statuses were changing several times a minute, it’s CNN.com’s fault.
- College kids were blogging, twittering, and flickring left and right.
- Of course, just about every middkid has been to the new WhiteHouse.gov. His web team clearly gets it. Now only if the government owned whitehouse.com.
- The chorus I sang in as a kid, the San Francisco Boys Chorus, were those red-trimmed children singing patriotic songs like the new hit single, “Yes We Can.”
Sarah F. Update: CNN.com is reporting that President Obama has retaken the oath.
Jan 20
Obama from Paris
I’m studying in Paris this semester, and as expected, Obama has quite a few fans over here. People smiled at my Obama shirt on the metro today, there was all day TV coverage of the inauguration and at 6pm Paris time, bars were packed with people watching the swearing in.
Earlier tonight I was talking politics with a French friend of mine who was complaining about President Sarkozy, then proceeded to blast Ségolène Royal (Sarkozy’s opponent in last year’s election). Annoyed with his excessively critical French manner, I asked him what French politicians he actually liked. His answer? “Beh… Barack Obama.”
Granted, the French seem to acknowledge (as do most Americans) that Obama has his work cut out for him. But even from the vantage point of the often-skeptical land of France, one cannot deny the power of Obama’s story.
And if you’ve had enough pomp and circumstance and lofty rhetoric for one day, you can always check out Obama’s new blog.
Here we go, baby…
Jan 20
Fresh Start: Inauguration Day
I wake up. It’s snowing. I wake up to that overnight inch that whitens and reshapes Middlebury in just hours while we’re snuggled up in bed at night. Every morning I look out my window as if checking to see if it is a white Christmas morning. That layer of powder wipes out yesterdays messy slips and falls on iced, brownish sidewalk.
I see fresh tracks. There’s something strangely reassuring, beautiful, and probably poetically cliché about the single pair of footsteps in the pristine snow. Someone has forged ahead, someone has gone before, someone lead the way. You never know who it is who left you the gift of footsteps, but you’re thankful nonetheless. I try to place my steps in the same place as those footsteps before, but I can never match it perfectly. I always end up forging some kind of new trail. By the end of the day, foot traffic rewrites the paths anyway.
Today, I see fresh tracks, a new start. Someone is leading the way. And this time, maybe for the first time, I know who someone is.
Happy Inauguration Day!
MiddBlog will be bringing you reaction coverage of the Inauguration as Middkids in Washington D.C. and back here at Midd report back.
Jan 19
Watch the Inauguration, Midd-style
So you’re not quite lucky (unlucky?) enough to be driving down to DC for the Obama Inauguration (with up to a reported 5 million people descending on the Capital). So how can you hit up the Inauguration in style? MiddBlog has got you covered:
On-campus group viewing locations (10AM onward?):
The Grille: It probably won’t be as crowded as Election Day coverage with Professor Dickinson, but students should flock to The Grille because you can maybe even get a little lunchtime goodness while commenting on whatever style Michelle Obama is wearing…
Dana Auditorium: You have to be a bit of a straight-shooter to hit up Dana. If you’re caught between classes or running off to meetings, swinging by Dana is your best bet because people come and go at will. Won’t be as raucous as The Grille but then again, that could be a good thing if you’re into starting to drink at 11AM…
Axinn 232: Join the film & media junkies in Axinn for a hoot and you may even see some faculty at this gig. Bring your popcorn and a buddy for this location.
Your Local Dorm TV Lounge: This is where it could get a little hairy as students party in style. Bring your solo cups and O-jamas (Obama PJs).
Online: Any number of sites will be streaming coverage live on the Web. Just make sure you’re not at the snowbowl and outside of WiFi range. A handful of Middkids are hitting up the Facebook integration with CNN.com and then live commenting through their facebook statuses. Similar to what MiddBlog did for our Election Day coverage but with online video integration. A sampling of comments so far:
“obamapalooza! anyone making baraktails?” -P.C. (’08.5)
“can’t watch the inauguration because “This product is not available in your service area.” G.S. (’10) from Japan
“feels like he’s standing on the top of a mountain, listening to the thundering entrance of the New Age.” – R.M (’09)
“awaiting renewal.” – J.H. (staff)
“amazed at the number of cases of hypothermia in the crowd.” – C.L. (alumnus)
“feels proud to be American today, watching Obama getting inaugurated from here in France!!!” A.L. (’09.5)
“had a ticket in the first section for inaug and was denied because they oversold.” – S.L. (’09)
“humbled, grateful and mindful…” – E.A. (’09)
And, finally if you can’t get enough:
“The Meaning of Barack Obama’s Election and Inauguration”
4:30 p.m., Juice Bar, McCullough
Associate Professor of History Bill Hart, Professor of American History and Culture Jim Ralph, College Communications Writer Maria Stadtmueller, and first year student Mugo Kennedy will lead a discussion on the 2008 Presidential Campaign and Inauguration.
