More Pictures - The Reception for Mainers

More pictures have been loaded up. This time of the reception that Representatives Michaud and Pingree held for the residents of Maine who were traveling to Washington, D.C. for the festivities. While there, Brian took a few minutes with the representatives to chat about the Inauguration and other matters of the country and world affecting Mainers. We also spoke with other folks from "back home" and learning their perspective and seeing how everyone else felt about the incoming President and all of the other changes that were happening in the country.

Monday was a very busy day to be sure, but it was great to gain so much perspective from other people from Maine and beyond. Add to that, the fact that Gordo and I were the lucky receipients of two tickets to the Inauguration the next day. The day could not have been more perfect. Well, maybe if we had some Segways to get around on...

The Over Commercialization of Everything

Certainly this blog would not be complete without an ode to a few of the hair brained products street vendors were selling at the Inauguration. Every morning in D.C., while I was doing my radio hits, the question would pop up...What types of Obama products are available? Well, my friends (as a certain other politician would say), you could get just about anything under the sun. I know that isn't a particularly descriptive answer so I have decided to offer my thoughts on some of the products to shed light on fact that Capitialism and the desire to earn a quick buck is still very much alive in America...

Top 10 Obama Products...

10.) A mug with Obama's mug on it. For those of us who rise and shine in the morning and think of how nice it would be to drink coffee out of the President's head.

9.) Obama magnets. Like we need to feel more drawn to the man he won 53% of the popular vote.

8.) Obama belts...we're in a recession tighten'em up!

7.) Obama sweat pants. Because when I'm lounging around the house, working out, or making a late night beer run I want my political leanings to cover my as*.

6.) Obama neck ties...because the business world will take you seriously if you have a picture of the President waving on your formal wear.

5.) Sugar Cookies with Obama's face airbrushed on them. I really hope his Presidency has better taste.

4.) Obama Orange Soda...In case you feel the need to burp hope and change.

3.) T-shirts...One with Obama playing DJ mixing records, another with Obama dunking a basketball on McCain, and a third with Obama standing over a knocked out John McCain Ali style. HILARIOUS!

2.) A black t-shirt with white lettering that said "I was here and you wasn't". It totally could be sold at any event because there was no time or date on it...weird.

1.) Obama air fresheners because as the street vendor put it "smells like Obama" and I've always wanted my car to smell like another man. WTF?!?

Monday and New Pics

The immensity of what we did last week is starting to sink in. Especially when you compare interviewing and eating lobster and lamb chops with governors, senators, representatives, and ambassadors in Washington D.C. to the daily grind back in Maine it just doesn't compare. Last Monday was perfect, we got every where we needed to go on time, the Chris' scored tickets to the Inauguration and something about standing out on the balcony of the Veteran's Armed Services Committee room overlooking the capital dome just hit the spot.

There were downsides to the excursion. Walking all day for at least 10 hours in dress shoes was one of them. The journey from the Metro stop to the Embassy was more than a mile-uphill along curvy roads. Running to catch up with certain people, and having 10 minutes to find an unsecured internet connection and send a couple of sound bites was nerve racking to say the least. But all efforts paid off and were a success. Just one day before history in The District.

New Pictures posted...http://picasaweb.google.com/bpelletier2

A Byrne's Eye View

I must have started and stopped writing this post 1000 times over the last few days. I have been trying to find the words to be able to describe what being part of the Inauguration was like. The first words that come to mind are surreal, stunning, breathtaking, emotional, and incredible.

It was a roller coaster of a day. After the infamous Train o’ Sass and discovering that the city had pretty much gone feral as everyone was scrambling to find their security check point, our number one goal, was to find a jumbotron. After moving around for a bit, we found ourselves behind our checkpoint, in our Silver Ticketed area. How this happened, I will never ever know. We certainly did not pass through security and we did not hop any fences or bribe any officers or anything. It was literally one moment we were half a block away from the mall, so close we could taste the Inauguration, the next moment we were caught in a rip tide of humanity that was whisking us away towards the Mall.

Once we landed at our spot (just off center, about a ¼ mile away) to view the ceremony, we paused and took stock of what was happening. Everywhere around us, people were laughing, hugging, singing, and cheering. You could feel the electricity and the excitement in the air; feelings of optimism, hope, joy… all of these emotions just building and building. It was the type of thing you wish Bob Costas were there to help over hyperbole-ize. It was not until after we heard “…so help me God” when the place exploded like your jiffy pop when you leave it over the fire for too long. Only this time there was not putrid stench of burned pop corn. It was amazing. Gordo and I took turns standing up on a barrier and looking back towards the Washington Monument and all you could see was tens of thousands of American flags waving wildly through the air. Everywhere you looked, there were oceans of people. - Over two million people. That is almost twice population of the entire State of Maine in one place. All coming together for the same thing. It was stunning to see in person and took my breath away. I do not know how anyone could see that sight and not get a little misty eyed.

Equally as amazing was President Obama’s speech. At times during President Obama’s speech, you could probably hear a pin drop. Nobody would say a word unless it was in hushed tones. There was the occasional “O-B-A-M-A! O-B-A-M-A!” chants that would arise. There was also the folks around us who let go the occasional affirmation, “That’s right!” or “Mmmhmmm” and the occasional “Yes sir we do!”. It was incredible. Everyone was captivated, hanging on to the every word, phrase, and expression that President Obama let fly to the crowds blow and the viewers all around the world. At one point, a police officer came by and was taking down the plastic fence that was in front of us. Normally, if the earlier parts of the day were any indication, this would have caused a stampede that surely would have gotten some hurt. However, as he cut the last piece free, he says, “Now listen everyone, you are all happy where you are, you have a great view. Just stay put and do not ruin the event for everyone. Just wait until it is all over.” He then removed the fence and one D-Bag took a step forward and the officer said, “Buddy, what did I just say? Just stay put and be cool” And we did. Nobody moved forward. There was this huge opening of space and everyone just stood back and enjoyed listening to speech. It was wild.

After the speech ended, Gordo and I made our way to the front of the Capital, pausing for a bit to slide around on the reflecting pool, which ranged from 2-3 inches thick to almost a foot. This is why we decided to not get on to the ice at the same time. The water was actually coming up over the ice on the edges, which made us pause for about ½ a second. Then we went on and slid around. One person went sliding by me exclaiming to his friend via telephone “Dude! I am the only person in the history of the world to be doing the ‘Robot’ as I skate on the reflecting pool”. And he was. He threw down a mean Robot. I am sure his friend Alexander was impressed. I then spun around doing my best Katarina Witt impression and over heard a woman ask her significant other “what happens to all the fish? Do they freeze too?” Obviously another friend of Alexander.

The rest of the day, we were walking around the city. Wandering in and out of street vendor stores looking at everything from President Obama air fresheners, to sweat pants. I am certain that if we looked hard enough we probably could have found the “official;” President Obama thong. Much to Gordo’s dismay (and to me and Brian’s relief), we did not. The last thing that I recall before we boarded the Metro to go home was the drum circle outside the Chinatown stop. It was one of those traditional city drum circles with plastic buckets and trashcans, etc as the drums. However, there were about 50-75 people surrounding this circle and with only two drummers wailing away, they all started singing about President Obama and celebrating his Inauguration. It was very cool.

It is not often that one can witness and be a part of a historical moment. The words above do not even remotely do it justice. I am not sure that I will ever find the words. I am just fortunate to have been able to be a part of it.

The Porto Potty Report

This blog is due to a special request out of San Francisco. Candace's friend Christine wanted me to get to the bottom of what quite possibly could have been one poopy situation. I'm pretty sure when Inaugural Executive Director Emmit Beliveau (a Mainer) was going over his 2 million person guest list and he saw Gordo and Byrne's names he immediately ordered up at least 5 thousand porto potties. There certainly were a lot of porto-johns...in some spots they stretched for as far as the eye could see. The toilets were located mostly on the Mall but there were thousands scattered throughout the monstrous downtown area. Many were curiously in proximity to street food vendors, which makes me wonder which was the chicken and which the egg.

There are a few criteria for judging a good porto-potty. First, how clean is it? Second, how convenient is it? And third, how much room is there inside? I give bonus points for the built in urinal and the hand sanitizer. My first porto experience in D-C happened Sunday afternoon, it took a little a while to find one near the Capital building that wasn't locked up with a zip tie. A really bad idea by the way to set down hundreds of toilets and keep them essentially padlocked with plastic. It was clean and very spacious, a shelf for setting down my pen and pad, a urinal, and hand sanitizer dispenser were part of the luxury. A near perfect experience. My second relief of that day came after the "We Are One Concert", and estimated half million people packed the mall to check out a musical show of epic proportions. After strolling the city for a couple hours following the show, we visited the WWII Memorial, which was right in the middle of all the action. I'll just say the potty I visited there was a significant step back from my previous experience. My third and final outhouse on a street corner experience came shortly after the Inauguration ceremony. It wasn't too shabby considering the number of people roaming the streets that day. Overall I have to say the porto potty experience in D-C was about as pleasurable as porto potty experiences get and cold temps meant no bugs, which is another big bonus!

2 Million People Came to Watch Me Flex?

So, Chris B. will have his own story about Inauguration 2009. Here's mine...

After we positioned ourselves in probably the Best Seats We Could Get, we just relaxed and took in the show. First Lady To Be Michelle Obama was shown on the screen, and everybody went crazy. I have to say, with all-due respect to Laura Bush, it's nice to have a borderline pin-up First Lady for once. Guess it's time for me to take down my Barbara Bush centerfold that's currently tacked to the ceiling above my bed...

The presidential party and guests were announced: Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Then, they introduced "The President of the United States, The Honorable George Walker Bush." Now, however you feel about President Bush, Tuesday, January 20th, 2009, at approximately 11:45 am was not the time to air it out. Believe me: I was no fan of Bush. He had some of the worst policies ever, time and again he picked business interests over the interests of the American People, etc. etc. But you know what? I didn't travel 500 miles to boo George W. Bush. I traveled that distance to watch Barack Obama get sworn in. And it seemed to me that a lot of people were there strictly to boo George W. Bush. You know what, folks? You will have the rest of your lives to try and bring charges against his administration, and you will have the rest of your lives to protest him wherever he goes. For one friggin' day, JUST LET IT GO. But a lot of people didn't. A cacophony of boos rose from the crowd. It was ridiculous. It was a good thing about 10 seconds later they showed me flexing on the screen, because those boos quickly turned to cheers. Wait, did I say me flexing? I meant Obama walking through the corridor.

When he walked out onto the balcony...the place went bat-shit crazy. Weird how he was wearing a "Wolf Buddy" t-shirt from Teen Wolf, but still....he waved a few times, and then all the formalities started. Dianne Feinstein read a few Hallmark cards, Lil' Jon came out and pumped the crowd up, etc. Then, they swore in Vice President Joe Biden. Immediately after he was sworn in, he was escorted to the Amtrak station to catch the 1:20 home to Delaware, because that's what Joe Biden does. Joe Biden is a man of the people, and if Joe Biden wants to shout every sentence, well that's what Joe Biden's going to do, JoeBidendammit! Joe Biden!

A quartet of famous classical musicians, the only two of which I've ever heard of being Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma-Ma, played "Air and Simple Gifts." Chris B. quickly retorted, "They'll be performing Air Supply." And sure enough, Yo-Yo played the opening chords to "I'm All Out of Love," much to the crowd's - mostly comprised of Australians - delight. Then, Aretha Franklin scaled the top of the Capital building, and after she batted down a few airplanes and ate 15 hoagies, she screamed out "My Country 'Tis of Thee." It was pretty good, I guess. Midway through the song she fell asleep, but John Kerry quickly slid a Porterhouse steak down her gullet, and she belted out the last few lines.

Then, it was time for The Big Moment. That's right: Chris B. and I slow-danced across Third Street. No no no, I mean The Other Big Moment: Chief Justice John Roberts administered the Oath of Office to Barack Obama. Now, everybody's heard this story about how Roberts screwed up the oath. And from our vantage point, it appeared somebody screwed it up, but at the time, we weren't entirely sure who it was. You see, there were rows of Jumbotrons and speakers all the way back to the Lincoln Memorial. And every row would receive the video and audio about a second after the row in front did. So, you had tons of overlapping sound going on, and it was clear that Roberts and Obama were talking over each other. Some people started laughing. I really wasn't sure what to think. We couldn't tell who screwed up. But we clearly heard, "So help you God?" "So help me God."

I couldn't tell you what it was like in New York City on September 11, 2001. I wasn't alive when John F. Kennedy was shot. But I'll tell you that I was witness to one of the most encompassing experiences of my lifetime.

Roberts just managed to get out, "Congratulations, Mr. President," and - jeez, I'm getting emotional just thinking about it - the place EXPLODED! Chris B. and I agreed that the sight of 2 million people just overjoyed with about 750,000 miniature American flags waving in the air was one of the most powerful sights we've ever witnessed. People crying, hugging each other, hooting and hollering - it was unbelievable. This phrase is overused, but there are absolutely no words to describe it. I wasn't even looking at Obama by this point. It was crazy. After a few minutes, everything got real quiet, as Obama started speaking. He started off by thanking President Bush for his service to the country, and the boo-birds were out once again. This time, though, they were significantly less, and a lot more people were shushing the haters. One older woman standing next to me summed it up best: "Come on, it's over, let it go. It's over." Chris B. was correct: have some respect for the office. You may not like him, but he was the president.

ANYWAYS, Obama's speech went on for about 20 minutes or so, and I listened to every word. It was a very, very good piece of public speaking. Obama has this voice - and it's actually quite a change from most of our former presidents - that has a bit of a lilt in it, and as he talks about depressing things, like the bad economy, war, etc., it softens a bit. But when he starts talking about how we can face any challenge, his voice starts building - just like a reverend's - and the crowd starts buzzing more, and eventually everybody just starts going crazy again. I could go for eight years of this, by the way.

After President Obama's speech, there were a few more, but the crowd started dispersing. Byrne and I made our way to the frozen reflecting pool, and ice skated across it. The damn thing started cracking as we made our way across. The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. We visited some vendors, met up with Brian, who told us about his ridiculous interview with Don King, and made our way back to Woodbridge.

I have some more serious feelings about the experience, which I'll save for my next post.

By the way, one final story: As we made the rounds with the vendors, there was noise everywhere. Guys shouting their prices, sirens everywhere, the parade going on down Pennsylvania Avenue (no, we didn't go watch the parade), just a Wall of Sound (and Sass) everywhere. About halfway down, out of nowhere, this guy's walking up the street, and he shouts at the top of his lungs:

"DOES ANYBODY HAVE A CIGARETTE?"

It was ridiculous. I think the parade actually stopped for a few minutes so somebody could find this poor guy a Marlboro Light. Needless to say, I almost lost control of my bowels.

Leaving Nothing But a Vapor Trail

Finally.... back to Maine. Back to home. And five minutes earlier than our GPS anticipated.

Today was a long day. We dropped Gordo off at his aunt's house in Bowie, MD and then Brian and I made like a tree and got out of there (a special thanks to Aunt Cathy for the super yummy warm brownies).

We essentially left nothing but a vapor trail and a long line of angered toll both workers up the east coast. Traveling from the DC area all the way back to Maine, we only used paper currency twice. Once, when they refused to accept the roll of dimes, so we had to use a twenty. The second when I made a last second exit to hit the Garden State Parkway (cutting across 6 lanes of traffic at 80 mph in the process). We ended up cutting off an entire line of cars so had to scramble for cash. All in all we had $1.06 left in change.

At any rate, we are home. We will continue posting over the next couple of days as we get more pictures sent up and as the reality of the last five days starts to sink in and we can put it into words.

Cheers