First, there was our trip to the big city... where, despite brutally cold temperatures and swirling snow, we did all the touristy things we could, like going to the Empire State Building. Here, Amy makes a new friend:
When we came up the escalator, this dude looked quite stuffed. And, as we'd been joking about King Kong, I sent her across to get a picture. I don't know that I've ever actually heard someone scream "like a little girl" previous to that, but when he started moving...and here we are on top, where it's (duh) snowing.
Times Square looked pretty cool from up here.
Amy discovers that there's still a long way to the top...
And I discover that the stupid building is STILL taller than me.
Eventually, it was time to get on the southbound bus. NYC looks pretty cool the day after it snows.
We got up early on the big day, although not as early as some. Through a trick of fate, we had a ticket upgrade, and didn't feel the need to be in place at the crack of dawn. Thank god for the ticket upgrade, because we honestly wouldn't have made it in if we'd gone to the purple ticket line. If you haven't heard about the Purple Tunnel of Doom...
This is the scene just outside the purple gates, circa 8:45am.
There are three distinct lines here. Can you identify them? No? Well, thanks to wonderful forethought and planning by the United States Congress's Presidential Inaugural Committee, neither could anyone else. In fact, there was neither direction nor organization outside the gates. Here's a series of maps, so maybe you can understand what I'm talking about. First, the official seating chart:
Then, a google map of the area of the purple and yellow gates:
I've drawn in the Purple Ticket Holders' (PTH) line and access point, as well as those for Yellow Ticket Holders (YTH, line drawn in red). Now, it would have been simple to have either a) volunteers directing the lines, or b) movable barricade indicating the direction the lines should take. A very small amount of forethought could have made life much easier for a lot of people, and spared several thousand people with purple tickets the heartbreak of traveling to DC, getting excellent tickets, lining up in the wee hours on a freezing morning, only to be turned away without even reaching the gates. But no, congress felt that 40,000 people (about the combined number of ticket holders for those two areas) could figure it out for themselves. And so people just sorta lined up in whatever direction they saw fit, which resulted in the YTH line terminating into the PTH line, and the PTH line winding it's way into the Purple Tunnel of Doom (out of frame to the north). Oh, did I mention that every other color of ticket holder was attempting to get through the same area? So, eventually, here's what happened, as shown in the following two maps:
As you can see above, the YTH line terminates into the PTH line. The reason for the split in the line is that it couldn't go any further back, so it split into two to make enough room. Now, at about 8:30, when we arrived, there was space between the lines, and things were vaguely clear. Then things started to fill in, as more and more people simply filled the space. Those of us in line did our best to inform people that they needed to follow the PTH line around the building, but we were simply ignored. People crammed the empty space, effectively cutting the PTH line. By 9am, the lines looked something like this:
Now, some of you may be wondering, how in the hell will any of this work? What happened to the YTH line? How will they get through? And how will the PTH line ever figure itself out? Well, I'll tell you. After about 15 minutes of the YTH line not going anywhere, I decided to go on recon. After fighting my way through the Purple Scrum, I discovered that the YTH line had progressed about 100 yards east of Louisiana, and was moving inexorably towards the gates. Upon making this discovery, I returned, rallied my comrades, and off we went to rejoin our fellows in the YTH line. What I came to find out later was that Secret Service is not particularly fond of Scrums, especially the Purple Scrum, and, when faced with it, shut down the gates for a period. A period just long enough to prevent several thousand Purple Ticket Holders from gaining entry to the event.But I knew nothing about the gate closure, or the many suffering, so off we went to the yellow gates, and in to the capitol grounds. Once inside...
There were still lots of people...
Although there were many, many more behind us on the National Mall...
And, of course, we were there too.
I was working on a 5 layer theory, although I only had two on my legs. Coulda used another everywhere. Amy, I believe, was on a 4-2, but she had warmer underlayers than I. Behind us, as you can see, are the Capitol Steps, one side of the grandstand that provided additional seating, and, of course, the Capitol Dome.I'll write more about the speech, and the experience of being there, later.
Once things were over, we opted to walk the 3+ miles to the tuxedo rental joint, as there were few cabs and roughly 1 million people trying to ride the metro. Have I mentioned the DC metro? Beautiful, clean, fast, easily understood and efficient subway, completely ruined by a stupendously idiotic fare system. Unlike pretty much every other mass transit system in the world, rather than pay a simple fare to get on, fares vary depending on how far you're going. What this means, in the end, is that, unless you're buying an unlimited pass, you have to figure out the fare before you purchase your ticket. And, when you get off, instead of just leaving the station, you have to pass back through a turnstile to correctly debit your fare. This creates a logjam at the ticket machines, and a logjam at the station exits. Because of this stupidity, I was unable to appreciate the speed, convenience, cleanliness or beauty of the system, but instead spent every trip wondering who came up with such a dumbass way to collect the fare. Whoever came up with this system should be forced to buy single trip fares to different stations every day for eternity.
Anyway, we walked. Got the tux. Got dressed. And it was off to the ball...
Now, this was the Neighborhood Ball. Those of you who watched a ball on TV likely watched this one. I have to admit, I mostly went because hey, when am I gonna have another chance to hit up an official Inaugural Ball? But I was with friends
I was wearing a tux, I had a gorgeous lady on my arm...
did I mention the perfectly perfect, off the rack ballgown Amy found in NYC for the perfectly perfect price of $89?
and holy holy, was the entertainment off the hook. Will.I.Am kicked it off...
Mary J Blige had her say...
Maroon 5 wanted to sing, so they let em...
and they let Mariah Carey sing some pretty shit too...
I'm not sure who these two are, but someone let the dude have the mic for a little while. He was pretty good.
After they came out, it was like some sorta All-Star thing:
The US Color Guard was there...Along with (left to right, or kinda) Queen Latifah, Puffy, Mary J Blige, Faith Hill, Denzel Washington, Sting, Will.I.Am Jay-Z, Vanessa Williams, Alicia Keys, Lucy Liu, Kate Walsh (not in picture, but there, Stevie Wonder, Leonardo DiCaprio, Shakira, Ray Romano, Nick Cannon...)
And why would the Color Guard be there? Well, I think they were there for this (can't get my stupid video to upload, but this one's better anyway):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un_YHXoLwAs
After they danced, to that one, Stevie played a slightly "groovier" dance track for them...
When that was done, they waved to the crowd a bit...
and he chatted a little
Amy definitely heard it all...
They had other Balls to attend, so one more wave...
Then it was time for a little more entertainment. Jay-Z had some cool graphics to go along with his song, like this one:
Faith Hill played, and some crazy dudes with bouncy stilts and chicks on trapeezes. It was cool, but I didn't get good pictures, so you'll just have to look for them somewhere else if you wanna see em.
Once that was over, it was time to go off to the birthday party. People, lots of people, came. We were out till 3am. Here's a brief view of those in attendance:
My oldest homey, AKA Riley
Bill Gibbons, veteran of many states, but Iowa and Nevada chief among them
Most of my NV general election team showed, and a few even made it into this picture
Border State Coordinator Extraordinaire and generally wonderful gal Angelina Burnett (no "e") came too
Shoshona O'Keefe and Brad Hellman joined me, making Team Nevada State Democratic Convention 60% complete.
And even if I didn't want him there, DaveO would've come. Thankfully, I always want him there
A lot of other people came, too. Sadly, my camera decided it didn't want to continue to have battery life, so only memories will remain. And the hundreds of photos other people took and put on facebook.
There's a lot more to tell, and to say, about everything, but that's all the energy I have for blogging right now. Hopefully this will tide over those of you who've been emailing/texting/calling to ask for pictures and stories. More insightful commentary to come, soon.
