I watched most of the Inauguration activities online today. And there is only one thing to say: Thank heavens for C-Span, again. Following the edict of silent film auteurism, C-Span (blissfully) shows, and does not TELL.

The 90 seconds (!) of MSNBC I withstood, while in a Starbucks was enough to make me want to go vote again. This is (paraphrased, but how can one tell?) Chris Matthews, commenting on the chilly weather in DC:
“Well, if people waited 400 years for this day, they can stand to wait a couple hours in the cold.”

Good God! But that was light, it turned out. And I have developed enough “city-stare” to not let the disgust show. Moments (!) later, Olbermann stepped to the plate. Commenting on the size of the crowd, and the distance from any clear visibility of the swearing-in (again, paraphrasing):

“They’re beyond 600 yards. . . How close do you have to be before the president looks like a raisin?”

REALLY? A RAISIN?

Do all presidents look like raisins? Did Reagan? REALLY?

——-
Of course, I dont think either of these guys knew, or had any critical filter working on their words. The problem is they are being paid to be just that: Un-filtered, un-critical monologues. Why? Why do they have to be droning on?

I’m jumping on board this e-ship. Just about every blog I read has pointed to this with the same warning: Prepare to Have Your Day Wasted.

LIFE Magazine’s collection of images, - including the shots on photographer’s rolls never published- are now available on Google.

As Gruber points out, this is Google (and the internet) at it’s best.

Of course, the first thing I did was to search for Gunhild Larking, Swedish High Jumper, whose picture, taken by George Silk at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, has always been a show stopper. True to it’s billing, the Google archive has most of Silk’s other shots on that roll (only one is of her actually in her event).
This is the picture as it appeared in the magazine.

This is something found in the archive:

Yeah… anyway. Prepare to lose your day.

Here’s another example of the gems you’ll find:

-Frederick Douglass
This is a ramble.

I wanted to put in the Youtube video of the infomercial, here. There’s a moment, in the first part, when Obama is listening to a guy who had his pension sliced (are you listening, Pennsy?). Obama says “You earned your pension…” And the guy is just flabbergasted, and can only say, over and over, “Thank you.”

But instead, this might be the most smile inducing clip of the campaign, for me.

This says plenty.

Here’s the Scoreboard.

and some art. I always liked the Poster for the 1924 Olympics, learned from Chariots of Fire.

Andrio Abero

And, on the subject of Chariots of Fire, and keeping up the fight.

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England’s green & pleasant Land.

Pennsylvania, I’m looking at you. You gave up your first chance at greatness dragging your feet and letting Delaware sign the Constitution first.

Don’t let it happen, again. Let us unite the Commonwealths.

Kentucky will have to sit it out.

At first I thought McCain would lose along the lines of Dole, or, yes, even Goldwater. He’d go down, fighting, but true to… well, some principles.
So that’s out.

Then I considered that he would lose in a self destructive way. this was amenable to me as well. Though I never thought of McCain as 90% Bush. I knew that I cannot actually storm the Executive mansion and run the hoodlums out. So McCain’s shitty lowbrow tactics would allow some sort of transference of my 8 year animosity.

Finally, we arrive at the third way. With the 30 minute program tonight, I know how McCain will lose.
He’s just gonna get beat. As Ta-Nehisi put it, moments ago: “McCain should call his family.”

Obama himself narrates the story of the Obama campaign.

On his best day, McCain couldn’t beat that.

I watch Obama giving his stump speech, for the, what, thousandth time? I mean, really, a THOUSAND TIMES. I joke about my lack of patience with the “undecided voter.” But this is the reason he is to be wondered at. To be able to say this, for the thousandth time, and not just scream (thank you, again, Dr. Dean) at people to let him get to work.

So I just think, in a few days, he won’t have to go through this circus any more.

That takes care of thinking for today. Now FEEL this. I could barely see my cheese fries through the tears.