The honor of Chris & Chris' presence is officially requested at the ceremonies attending the Inauguration of the President and Vice President of the United States.
How is it you may ask that Christopher A. Gordon and myself, Christopher M. Byrne, were so fortunate to receive not one but two tickets to the Inauguration Ceremonies the night before the big day? No, not by scouring the land for scalpers as I did for Phish in Albany in 1999. And no, we did not beat people up and turn them upside down shaking out their lunch money in hopes of finding two tickets.
The truth is that after watching International Media Sensation, Brian J. Pelletier smoothly and confidently work his way through the mayor of Portland, Governor Baldacci, Senators Snowe and Collins, Representatives Pingree and Michaud, and the New Zealand Ambassador to the United States, Roy Ferguson; I picked up a few tricks of my own. More on that in a bit.
So how is it, you say, that I found myself in a private conference room with the International Media Sensation and Ambassador Ferguson? I am not really sure. After the longest walk of my life (to this point) Brian and I arrived at the New Zealand Embassy promptly after 11 AM preparing to interview the Maine Congressional Delegation, the Governor and anyone else we might find. Little did we know that the Ambassador's handlers had arranged for a one-on-one interview for Brian. I was lucky enough to be a fly in the wall and exchange a few pleasantries with the Ambassador before he was off to his next interview. All of this and we did not even create an international incident! Probably because Brian talked me out of asking him if we could exile Alexander Quincy (or his brother Roni) to New Zealand.
After that interview, Brian and I moved around the room, rubbing elbows with all sorts Maine business folks. Another highlight of this part of the day... meeting Greg Lagerquist. I am still pinching myself that I saw Harry Smith and Greg Lagerquist in the same 24 hour period. Simply unbelievable. Another highlight was sampling a wide variety of foods from Maine and New Zealand including lobster claws (yes, I have never tried lobster before), lamb chops, sea food chowder and much more. They also featured Cold River Vodka and wines from New Zealand. It was quite a pleasant affair.
After we wrapped (as they say in the biz) Brian and I had to haul ass back to the Capitol to meet Congresswoman Pingree and Congressman Michaud for a reception they were holding for Maine residents. Their advantage is that they had a car. We had our feet. Brian and I met the Congresswoman outside of her office building with her Communications Director. We were a little nervous at first as there was a line stretching out many blocks as people from all over were trying to get to their rep's offices to pick up tickets. Not to worry however as with a waver of her hand, Rep. Pingree had us walking right through security in front of everyone with out even an ID check. There is where the magic happened.
Over the course of the reception, Brian was busy landing the final two interviews with Representatives Pingree and Michaud. During this time, I managed to develop a relationship with Ed (the two Communication Director for Rep. Michaud). Utilizing this new found friendship to the fullest and putting into practice some of the suave moves I witnessed from Brian at the Embassy, I casually laid out our plight - Brian with full media access and Gordo and I left out to rot with the 2.5 Million other common folk. And picking up what I was laying down, Ed sensed that I needed his assistance. Approximately an hour later, bam - two tickets to the ceremony in the Silver area. That's how I roll.
Okay, so maybe that is not entirely accurate. I did make friends with Ed. Brian does have suave moves. I was actually fortunate enough to be the lucky recipient of two extra tickets which Rep. Michaud raffled off. My name was in a bucket with about 200 other people for five sets of tickets. I was number four. WOOOO HOOO!! (And Ed laugh and tell me he was glad that he did not have to rig it so I could get the tickets... so that counts for something).
At any rate, as Brian and I were walking all over creation, and actually talking to the Ambassador, the Representatives, Senators and the Governor, and meeting all the other Mainers, and fellow travels on the train... it started to sink in a little bit more.... This is freaking awesome. And that does not even scratch the surface.
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