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Missing Molly for 2 Years Now. Every time someone down the line is irreverent about authority, I’ll have my monument. Every time some kid who was born a nigger, a kike, a wop, a Polack, a gook, a gimp, a fag, or just a plain maverick lifts up her head and dares anyone to stop her, I’ll have my monument. Every time they peaceably assemble to petition their government for redress of a grievance, I’ll be there. Whenever they worship as they please (or not at all), I’ll be there. Whenever they speak up and speak out and raise hell, I’ll be there. And every time some blue-bellied, full-blooded nincompoop who holds elected office is called to the floor for deciding to keep us safe by rewriting the Constitution, or by suspending due process and holding a citizen indefinitely without legal representation, I’ll be there. Now that is immortality. I don't have any children, so I've decided to claim all the future freedom-fighters and hell-raisers as my kin. I figure freedom and justice beat having my name in marble any day. Besides, if there is another life after this one, think how much we'll get to laugh watching it all.

Molly died two years ago today.

The Department of Betsy has more at OurFuture.org. There's more...

Evan Robinson 2:28 PM | Links to this post

Labels: Molly Ivins, obituary

Clever Girl (From the fabulous cartoonist XKCD; hattip to Jesse)


After I moved back to Texas in 1989, I resurrected a friendship with someone I'd known in college named Mary. She lived in Dallas, I lived in Austin, and in addition to visits to each other's homes, we began going camping once or twice a year during a season when the smaller jewels of Texas state parks would not be overrun. (This was before the Bush Governorship, which gutted funding for state parks.) (Acrocanthosaurus tracks from Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas; photo by Glen J. Kuban)

Thus, in October 1990 we agreed to meet partway between our homes at Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, Texas. We'd gone to this park with other friends back when I was still in college. It has some of the best preserved dinosaur tracks in the world, including a chase sequence between a carnosaur and a sauropod. Many of them were excavated during the 1920s and taken to the American Natural History Museum in Washington, DC, but hundreds still remain. Most of the tracks are located in and around the limestone-ledged Paluxy River, best seen when the water levels were low, as they would be in the fall when we went. We collaborated by phone on a menu and arrived after work on Friday, grabbing a quick look at some therapod tracks before moving into the screen shelter we'd rented, which was simply a wooden roof over a small concrete pad enclosed by screen.

We made dinner, talking animatedly with the ease of old friendship. There was nobody else camping in our entire leg of the park. Mary blew up her air mattress and put it in a far corner: She didn't like her sleep to be disturbed. I put my pad in the opposite corner and spread my down bag on it. It would get cold at night, and the wind was up. By 9:00, Mary was ready for bed, being the early riser type. I had forgotten to bring anything to read, but Mary had gone by the Dallas Public Library on her way out of town to pick up best-sellers she had on hold. She offered my choice of these.

I looked them over. One was by Michael Crichton, whom I knew as a good writer from The Andromeda Strain and The Great Train Robbery. [Note: This was long before he lost his mind over climate change.] This new book was called Jurassic Park. Neither Mary nor I had heard anything about it, but there was a dinosaur on the cover, so with a laugh, I chose it. I crawled into my bag with my pocket flashlight, covered my head with the flap to keep light out of Mary's face, and began reading.

At midnight, I was in paroxysms of terror and my flashlight died. Going to sleep was not an option. I was no longer able to think very clearly, if truth be told. I knew there was a good flashlight in the toolkit of my Honda: the issue was how to get to the car without being run down by velociraptors. I eventually made the sprint and got back to the screen shelter in record time, wheezing enough to need to use my inhaler. I found no way to lock the screen door, then realized it didn't matter, we were simply in Saran wrap from a giant carnivore's perspective. I huddled in my bag again and began draining the battery on a second flash.

An hour later, I realized I should have taken the chance to piss while I was outside the first time. My bladder was stretched tight, from fear and cold, and I wouldn't be able to last until morning. The nearest bathrooms were five minutes away -- we'd deliberately chosen to be away from traffic areas. I scanned the dark for as long as I could bear it, looking for signs of raptors and finding plenty. Finally I bolted outside the door, dropped my pants and let go. In my mind, I'd traveled a dangerous distance from the shelter. In reality, I was two feet from the door and on a slope where the stream traveled down and pooled on the sill, which I didn't realize at the time.

I finished the book right before dawn. I fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, still shivering, only to be awakened half an hour later when Mary ventured outside in her moccasins to walk to the bathroom. (From the fabulous cartoonist XKCD; click on image to enlarge)


Maggie Jochild 9:29 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Dinosaur Valley State Park, Jurassic Park, Memoir

**Hot, SexXxy, Young**

Teen Prostitution in Oakland

(The EMBEDDED VIDEO isn't linking properly. Sorry. Please go to Huffington Post and watch the video there. Then you can come back here. Again, sorry but we just can't get the embed to work properly. -Jesse)

I know this part of Oakland well.

And these girls.

I've had them in my rig, over and over again.

This is where I worked. This was my territory. These were my clients.

Daughter #1 is 22 -- a hair stylist in West Seattle, formerly on the Junior College All-Star Team as a Defensive Starter for the Western half of the State of Washington in Soccer, her freshman year.
Daughter's 2 & 3, about to turn 21 & 19 are sophomore and freshman at Evergreen State College in Olympia, a really fine liberal arts college.
My son is 16, a sophomore, is in high school down in Olympia.

Given my own background as a teen and in my twenties, I am happy my children made it through their teens (*crosses fingers over my son*) without major lasting damage. We're a first world nation, and life remains unsafe, as near as the streets of our larger cities.

Want to think of something to spend our nation's money on?
Taking care of children at risk, and lost, sounds damn fine to me.

h/t Huffington Post.


Jesse Wendel 2:00 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Families, Oakland, Prostitution, Women


Battlestar Galactica is on tonight

"The Oath" at 10 (9 Central) tonight. (Season 4.13)

Opposition to the Cylon alliance turns violent and supporters find themselves under attack.

http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/ if you want to see the preview, or see free viewings of previous episodes.

iTunes has the previous episodes available for download in both standard and HD.

Anyone who posts a spoiler for a FUTURE episode will be banned from GNB.

Warning to Central/West Coasters: Once the episode starts to air on the East Coast (10 PM ET) we will be discussing it. Do NOT read comments after 7 PM Pacific unless you want to be spoiled for tonight's episode.

In my view Battlestar is the best series I've ever seen, including The West Wing and BtVS.


Jesse Wendel 5:44 PM | Links to this post


Breaking: Blagojevich Convicted

Only 8th gov in U.S. History to be impeached and convicted.


Jesse Wendel 2:47 PM | Links to this post

"Born Again American"

(Born Again American lyrics by Keith Carradine, performed by various artists)
Born Again American was conceived and midwifed by Norman Lear, who collaborated with Keith Carradine and Mark Johnson of Playing for Change. It's a project of Declare Yourself!, a non-profit dedicated to increasing young voter participation and civic involvement.

I'd call it an exercise in citizenship, myself. Despite the evangelical overtones, I don't believe there's any intent here to marginalize other religions or lack thereof, merely an effort to use an existing frame that provides instant context and understanding. As President Obama said in his inaugural address, there is a price, as well as a promise, of citizenship.


a born Again American
I am my Country's Keeper
My President and my
Congress report to me

And so --
I will stay informed and involved
I will make my voice heard
And not just at election time
I can make a difference
I matter
I am an American, Born Again

Born Again American original lyrics, by Keith Carradine:

Aside from being a clear progressive anthem (with strong evocation of evangelical christian fundamentalism*), Born Again American is also a new experiment in crowdsourcing.

* I note that the original lyric is "My Bible is the Bill of Rights", according to Keith Carradine, but the one used in the song generally is "My Bible and the Bill of Rights".

If you go to the site, you'll be presented with an opportunity to "sign the pledge", but more interesting is the remix options. You are encouraged to add your own video (of you singing, presumably), and to remix a copy of the video with the existing videos on site, plus a lot of stock footage of "America Then" and "America Now". There's even a place to add your own lyrical variations. You can also see at least some full length videos of the various versions of the song (here's Keith Carradine's, for instance).

It's for sale in iTunes (iTunes link), and on YouTube (as seen above).

I'll be interested to see what emerges from the crowdsourcing piece of this. I find the song itself inspiring.

(h/t to Seeing the Forest)


Evan Robinson 10:10 AM | Links to this post

Labels: America, Carradine, Citizenship, Crowdsourcing, Lear, Music, Progressive, Remix, U.S. Citizenship


Tech Issues

You're not imagining it - the GNB header and subheads are wonky.

Some of the time they're there. Some of the time they're not. People are reporting other problems as well.

We're working to get this resolved. It's taking a while, so please be patient.



Jesse Wendel 2:06 PM | Links to this post

Sourdough Bread Bowls Bread Bowls Are Perfect For Your Superbowl Chili & Dips

For bread bowls you take:


The Minstrel Boy 1:12 PM | Links to this post


The G.W. Bush Presidential Library 
Dear Fellow Constituent:

The Library will include:


Maggie Jochild 2:00 AM | Links to this post


Buffalo Wings Are a Pain in the Ass For Our Superbowl Party We Go Pocho

So, let's start with the chicken itself.


The Minstrel Boy 10:20 PM | Links to this post

Republicans Put Hold on Holder 

Here's my advice for Mr. Holder.

Then do it.

Lie to them. Get the job. Then follow your heart, your conscience, and your legal training. There's more...

The Minstrel Boy 9:26 AM | Links to this post
 Weekend Update 7/11/07

"...and you say this guy Tanbark does political prognostication and can fart whole english phrases in his sleep?!?!?"

"Yeah Chevy!!! Listen to this...":

"Push hard and he'll quit. Thassit, Drift. :o) I'm up to $80 in bets that BOTH he and Cheyney will resign before the elections. :O) I fart 'We told you so!' in my sleep". -Tanbark

Weekend Update 1/17/09 (re-aired 1/24/09) "This breaking news just in... George W. Bush still has not resigned from the office of President Of The United States."


drbopperthp 4:00 PM | Links to this post

Labels: crow, idle hands, idle minds, idle words

What Happened To High MPG Ratings?



Maggie Jochild 3:17 PM | Links to this post

Labels: gas mileage expectations, Honda Fit photo of diamond encrusted elephant downloaded from the cited post

Welcome Back To Pottersville

The Minstrel Boy 12:00 PM | Links to this post


Traveling Home today

Glad we did the coverage and trip.



This is better.

Later my dears.


Jesse Wendel 10:19 AM | Links to this post


The Remaking of the State Department Mark Ralston-AFP/Getty Images

I was a big supporter of Obama over Clinton all through the 2008 elections, and was skeptical of her cabinet appointment, but you know what-- I think she is going to do a good job at State. And I know that her arrival is going to be a huge relief to the staff and diplomatic corp all over the world.

I know many folks who work for the embassy here in Japan and others around the world.

This group, more than most, has been truly held hostage for 8 years. Most are career foreign services members-- and believe profoundly and deeply in diplomacy, cultural understanding, global cooperation and good will. Imagine that is your core belief and you have to work under the Bush administration for 8 years. Many former state folks left, and others held on-- feeling that if they abandoned their posts things would get worse. That at least by hanging in there they could try to mitigate some of the anger and justified disgust at the USA's foreign policy under Bush and Co.

The film footage of Hill's arrival at the State Department says it all. There was cheering and yelling and ear to ear grins. And this from a normally pretty sedate and understated crew of folks.

If Bill stays out of the way, and If Hillary allows herself to be guided by her better angels-- this could turn out to be a fantastic decision. Time will tell.

cross posted from Fighting Liberals


The Littlest Gator 5:31 PM | Links to this post

Labels: Foreign Affairs, foreign services, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, state department

A Little Bit Better



Maggie Jochild 4:40 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Norma Rae, Obama's Campaign Promises, restoring the Constitution


Dinner with Jen Last Night

Two conversations to share

Two pieces of our conversation, I'll share with you:

Dinner was otherwise private.

Feel free to express your feelings and thoughts on the above points. There's more...

Jesse Wendel 12:01 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Blogging, Family, Inauguration, Jen, Steve


Talking 'Bout 'Nauguration (From SomeEcards)


She still didn't know my father, really. (Barack Obama as a young boy) 
Not that there's anything wrong with that. (Image by Alvin Blair.)


Maggie Jochild 3:10 PM | Links to this post

Labels: Have Gun Will Travel, Inauguration, Racism, Rev. Lowery, women as fashion objects

Back in NYC

Drinking Coffee and Taking it Easy

Back in NYC having driven up this morning.

Before leaving D.C. we got memento copies of The Washington Post to store away. Once we got here, I got Final copies of The New York Times, New York Post, and Newsday. The inauguration and I was there. *smiles* About which I will write my own story -- and many more -- once I've had time to let them sink in and simmer.

Of the hundreds and hundreds of people I've spoken to so far, many only briefly, NOT ONE has said having President Obama in office sucks, stinks, is bad, or even suggested it may not be all it's cracked up to be. The closest is someone today said that no one person could possibly measure up to all these expectations. Oh, wait... that was me.

It was n a conversation with a New York financial analyst (we were having lunch at a deli over by the main library; I had lox on a plain bagel plus tomato and lots of onion) who was worried about four years going by and what will people think if not everything is done?!! I reassured him the Obama team is keenly aware of the problem and is concentrated on what needs to be done NOW, not on everything which could possibly be done given unlimited money and time. Where is the most bang for the buck, given their concerns?

For me, the biggest bang is in shifting the fundamental basis of the dollar from being backed by petroleum (which is a scare commodity) to a dollar being backed by renewable "green" energy (which are abundant commodities, or will be as we develop and move the technologies for them from developmental technologies to production commodities with economies of scale.)

This will result in a contextual shift first to an economy in which the world's reserve currency is backed by abundance rather than by scarcity, to a world where people naturally THINK and then ARE, that is, a world in which people LIVE THEIR LIVES FROM ABUNDANCE as the default condition instead of a world in which people live their lives from scarcity by default. Changing the backing of the dollar -- the world's reserve currency -- from increasingly scare petroleum to renewable and increasingly abundant "green" energy WILL be as large a shift in human development and human rights as the invention of technology (tools) themselves.

Yes, I mean to make this large a claim. The creation of tools contextually arose along with the invention of identity, which brings with it that there is a "me" and there is "all you people." Which in turn brings into existence, especially given the conditions under which human beings lived 20,000-30,000 years ago, their smaller brains, the smaller linguistic space within which they invented their world... the world invented naturally and I assess inevitability, brought with it, scarcity. An "us" v. "them" world of competing for scarce, natural resources which man harvests from the heavens, the seas and the earths (which are infinite, even though the resources they contain ultimately may be scarce.)

Water is scarce. Food is scarce. Fertile virgin women of good families are scarce. Strong powerful men with property and wealth are scarce. Real estate is scarce. Oil, beaver pelts, tulips, cocaine, Percocet, votes, and rivers to build dams on are scarce.

Our economy, the very dollar itself, is build on hydro-carbons which while once seemingly black gold, an endless sea, are now obviously increasingly scarce.

The world-wide economy built from the time of early man till today, build on scarcity down to its very core, is crumbling, rumbling, cracking, crumbling. What we don't think through clearly is this: should the economy actually collapse, the half of the world which is dead broke would probably live. You and I (perhaps not literally you or I, but the so-called First World) would die by the billions. A world-wide economic collapse would produce a species die-off.

An economy built on scarcity has got us this far. Now the world must shift on its foundations. Revolution to the way "everyone knows it is" must occur or the world as we know it will end.

The context of money must change.

Enough For Everyone

This contextual shift means that for the first time since human beings invented tools, captured fire, learned how to slay animals at a distance, planted crops, and began to invent a future together, for the first time, there WILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE AND EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT IS TRUE. Abundant energy as the backing of money means there is enough energy for everything for everyone, and the government backs the money supply with its guarantee. That the full faith and credit of the United States says THERE IS ENOUGH. So says the United States. Count on it.

Having dinner with Jen at 6 tonight.

MUCH more about the inauguration (and New York). Call it, LM and Jesse's excellent adventures... as we get them written. Plus PHOTOS and VIDEOS.

Including the best video GNB has EVER posted. True.


Just spent an hour or so in the the reading room at the Main Library. Then ZOOMED down 42nd with New York pedestrians JUMPING FOR THEIR LIVES as my scooter bore down on them. Muhahahaha.

Seriously. I scared the hell out of the mid-town insurance types. The nice ladies I went out of my way to be careful with. And the asshole's so busy on their phone they were knocking the little old ladies out of their way, I made jump for their lives. *smiles sweetly*

Aggressive? Who's aggressive? (*reaches into red bag and takes meds I should have taken last night and this morning. Checks* 'Hmm. Perhaps I forgot to take them. ' *takes meds for entire day...*)

Dropped off the scooter with Alex on the east side of Lexington between 42 & 41. I'll write more about Alex Wong and Big Apple Mobility later - he and his scooters are worth an entire wonderful post. Renting a scooter from Alex was one of the three best decisions of the entire trip. We'd have failed without the scooter, no question.

Walked back over to Park, and up towards 42nd. I'm in the Starbucks on the east side of Park, just short of 42nd.

More from me tomorrow. Today I'm relaxing from the intensity of the last six-seven days, laying back, catching up on a tiny tiny bit of my email, but mostly, relaxing and letting sink in what is happening.

Once it's started to sink in a bit, I'll start writing post after post after post about everything. So much happened, and I want to write. For the first time in a long time -- I've been really wiped out -- I have a need to sit down and pour out good posts.

Sitting here, reading, drinking an enormous coffee, then dinner with Jen tonight.

Talk with y'all soon.


Jesse Wendel 1:40 PM | Links to this post

Labels: Disability, Finance, financial crisis, Inauguration, Money, Rest


Aretha's Hat Wasn't that a thing?

A millenary confection in grey felt, glittering with rhinestones, trimmed in black grosgrain. My. Oh my.

I'm hearing from white friends who thought it was, well, tacky and overdone. I think they missed the point entirely.

Aretha's hat was a full-on diva crown, in the best African-American Sunday Suit tradition.

Hats are tremendously symbolic in the AA community, with a whole lore surrounding them. In traditional black churches, you don't show up on Sunday without your crown -- the sartorial sign of the nobility of black women. You may clean hotel rooms or sling hash in a crummy uniform six days a week; but on the seventh day, your church hat puts the world on notice that you are nonetheless a beloved daughter of God.

That (well, that plus the bitter cold) is why you've been seeing so many men and women wearing them to inauguration events over the past few days. In black culture, hats are still an important mode of self-expression, and a potent statement of respect for yourself and the event you're gracing with your presence.

I was halfway hoping Michelle would make a nod to that tradition, and sport some fabulous headwear of her own. No such luck: she's more modern than that. But Aretha's showstopping topper more than took up the slack.

And it also may have been the first sign of an emerging fashion trend. It's entirely possible that with African America finally Having Arrived -- as of today -- that the love of a great hat will finally make its way back out into the larger culture.

You read it here first. Love that hat or hate it, you're going to see more of them.


Sara Robinson 11:37 AM | Links to this post

Keep Your Lamps

Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning My Friends.

There's a lot of work left to do.


The Minstrel Boy 11:25 AM | Links to this post

Inaugural - President Obama

The Oath of Office

The crowd. rejoiices. Me too.

I am happy this afternoon. I have hope.

Inclusion, not exclusion

Singing of the National Anthem

Presidental Party Leaves

The WORLD rejoices.


Jesse Wendel 9:59 AM | Links to this post

Whoo hooo!

(Video Source: The Lion King, Walt Disney
Video Production: Evan Robinson, Group News Blog)

Evan Robinson 9:49 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Barack Obama, President Barack Obama

Obama's Inaugural Address

My fellow citizens:

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.


Evan Robinson 9:26 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Inauguration, President Barack Obama

Oath of Office

Joe Biden icame out. Giving love all around.

Dick Cheney is in a wheelchair... they had to PUSH HIM OUT; it's the
only way they could get him out.

Bush came out. No one loves him, 'cept maybe his mother.

Obama's coming out. What... You mean Obama's black?

The crowd at 7 am was alread 2.5 million. Now it's a waving sea going
two miles all the way from the Capital to the steps of the Lincoln

The crowd goes WILD. Obama shaking hands. Calm, cool, the man.

The Invocation... Blew. And was Long. Stupid preacher. Not only a
bigot, but a long-winded bigot. *spits*

.Ms. A. Franklin lays America the Beautiful on us, the breath smokey
on her smokey voice. I've never heard it better - her or the song.

Biden is sworn in by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.


Kisses and handshakes all around.

Music like you can't beliieve (I can't spell all the names on the fly,
sorry) - Perlman, Ma, McGill

Obama IS now the President of the United States as per the
Constitution, as it is past 12:01 pm ET

Barack Obama takes the oath of office as given by Chief Justice Roberts.

Hail to the Chief is played.

21 guns are fired.



Jesse Wendel 9:11 AM | Links to this post

Cool! Blogging by Cell Phone!

Instead of having to locate a wireless hotspot...

Instead of having to drag around a COMPUTER everywhere...

Look Mom. Look children. Look wonderful readers!!!

I'm blogging using EMAIL. Ain't it COOL?


Jesse Wendel 1:11 AM | Links to this post
 (LOLObama created by little gator, not to be confused with The Littlest Gator)


When was the last time you felt like grown-ups were in charge of the country?

When did you last trust authority? I'm not talking about Questioning Authority -- for me and my cohort, at least, that's still a daily practice of rationality. But trust?

For me, it was when I voted for Bill Clinton as President, Ann Richards as Governor, and Glen Maxey (an out gay male liberal) as my District Representative all on the same day, back in 1990. It was the first time in my life I'd voted for people I trusted who WON. I was 35 years old.

I trusted Bill about as much as I trust Barack now -- that is, with reservations about their clear stance to the right of center. My expectations are similar. But oh, what a relief those expectations are, in comparison.

A good life, and access to happiness, I believe comes from allowing myself to feel all the emotions as they come along. Grief, fear, anger, and despair, feel 'em and let 'em wash through. And joy, relief, security, connection -- feel that just as deeply. I'm going to spend the day letting myself Feel.

Plus maybe Chicago-style deep-dish pizza for dinner.


Maggie Jochild 12:05 AM | Links to this post

Labels: Open Thread, President Barack Obama, Trust


Every Voice Lifted And Singing Yes, The Most Soulful White Man To Ever Dig Grooves Into Vinyl Was On The Mall Too...

In the bevy of events planned for this weekend / week-start of the whole world's singing “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” with the “B”-side of “Funky President”, the “We Are One” concert on the Mall was the one event I was not necessarily up for. Outdoor concerts just generally sort of leave me a bit cold. I hate how the elements can muck with the audio, and contending with huge crowds in the hundreds of thousands all trying to get home at once is a serious comedown. Did I say they leave me “cold”? Oh yes. They do. And in some cases, literally. Extreme heat is bad enough at an outdoor performance, as I found out at Diana Ross' infamous Central Park summer concert that was punctuated by a massive and sudden wind and thunderstorm, but ass-clenching cold is a whole other smoke. Or icicle if you will. If you've been in the northeast this week, you have no doubt felt the “Hawk's” bite as winter has moved in forcefully. It's cold here in D.C. too. Everyone who came down from New York brought ungainly-assed bags of extra coats and sweaterings. Getting about in the cold was going to be tough enough, but standing there in it for hours for a concert—I don't care WHO is singing—was going to be a bitch. But, with press credentials in tow for what would end up being amazing positioning, off we went.

D.C.'s Metro subway system is as I remembered it—pretty damned efficient, but still echoing of the seventies design styling so prevalent when it was primarily constructed. And folks, we used the hell out of it yesterday, and will today and tomorrow as getting around town by car is increasing in difficulty by the hour. Streets are being barricaded with huge cement slabs fork-lifted from flatbeds every few minutes to secure the place. We drove to the Hilton downtown, bailed there and walked down to Dupont Circle and nabbed the Metro to Metro Center where we transferred to the Vienna / Fairfax Blue (Orange) line and got off at Foggy Bottom—a place with a name so entertaining, that every American citizen should go there once, just to say “Yeah, I rode out to Foggy Bottom...yep.” in their lives. From there we trundled down to the Lincoln Memorial end of the National Mall where the concert was taking place. Let me amend that. Thanks to our press credentials, we were just off to the side of stage left and the orchestra pit. Close as all hell, and well within the view of the sharpshooters who binocular-swept the area for troublemakers. Press from all over the world was there, and some familiar faces, too. David Corn of Mother Jones stood next to me, peering over the riser at things going on, too. And then...

There was a bombastic blurt of the “HBO Feature Presentaion” theme from the loudspeakers, eliciting a massed leap of surprise from most, and perhaps a few sudden urine icicles of shock from others. Joe and Jill Biden came out from behind a moving, trompe l'oeil wall and I looked down the mall for the first time and saw the massive crowd in full for the first time—stretching all the way back to the Capitol dome. This was not Thursday night at Wingate Field in Brooklyn to see a much-decimated version of Morris Day and The Time kludge through four tunes with 5,000 folks “listening”.

This...was a crowd. The Bidens stood at a podium and then The President-Elect and his wife were introduced and the Mall fairly twinkled like a Christmas tree as thousands of flashes went off to catch their entrance. The four stood there waving, and then went right—to their seats behind a bullet-proofed glass partition. No hates for the fellas as they sat with their wives and the adorable Malia and Sasha, who would tuck her head between her mom's left arm and side for warmth and a little extra love. Denzel Washington led off things as the first actor of many speak and quote Lincoln and other figures from history and how they related to the nascent Obama presidency. These folks were interstitial—dropped in between the acts that performed. From a “Why him?” appearance by Kal Penn, to a “When Is he gonna break into a mock-metal guitar howl and air guitaring frenzy?” (But he never did!) Jack Black, to the odd but rewarding pairing of Steve Carell and Jamie Foxx for a reading, capped off by Foxx's eerie impersonation of Senator Obama's Grant Park speech, you never knew what was coming next. Tom Hanks' appearance brought not groans, but a few “Sigh! Well of course Tom Hanks. Mr. Gravitas...blah-blah-blah” from some in the crowd. But he was good. Typically every-mannish and good guy-esque, Hanks was Hanks and most said “Thanks”—for his statesmanly handling of his part. The music though...the performers were a whole 'nother smoke.

The festivities kicked off with “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen doing the do with a live Gospel choir augmented blast of “The Rising”. Bruce was intense, guitar held high up, as is his want when he's really feeling it. A smart move to kick off with one of the best live performers in Rock over the last 25 years. A rousing start indeed! Southern Soul Goddess Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi sang a stunning rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come”—with LaVette's Memphis horn-like voice, sweet and squalling, and Bon Jovi's noting for me, (for the first time) an odd, Sam Cooke-ish influence (more on Sam later). Jon Bon Jovi can flat-out sing. And didn't seem to look at the massive, lyric-crawling TelePrompter even once. End of story, folks. Will.I.Am and Sheryl Crow, who last teamed up in Denver for the convention were a little off with their rendition of Bob Marley's “One Love”. A flubbed note here and there and a bit of disconnection between the two kind of washed that performance out. Eh.

Usher's and Shakira's opening take on Stevie Wonder's “Higher Ground” was a tight-wire act, with many wondering if Usher would break into some of his signature moves—spins, spine-snaps and crucifixion poses, and the rest fearing Shakira's “hips not lying” and Michelle suddenly having to slap hands over Malia and Sasha's eyes over the ensuing display. Thankfully, this did not transpire, but what did next was stupendous. The song's scribe, one Steveland Morris, a.k.a. Stevie Wonder emerged on piano and was as Stevielicious as ever, elevating the song to the ground its lyrics inferred. When Stevie gets to hammering out block chords with his left and hitting those jazzy light counterpoints with his right while singing, he starts killing it, folks. He had Barack and Michelle on their feet stomping and clapping the two and four with more perfection than any other President and First Lady in memory—sorry Bill and Hillary. Stevie found the pocket, and took everybody else in with him. He ended his time with a melismatic acapella singing of Barack Obama's name to the tune of his “Take Me Up To Paradise” as he was led off. Just an impromptu, emotion-filled blurt that kind of summed up the feelings of many of the assembled.

Garth Brooks was a high point. I've never seen him live, but have heard that he is a blazing performer. You'd best believe that. His energy is next-level. He ran to the lip of the stage and you thought he'd perhaps stage-dive into the orchestra pit, he was so fired up. He did a pitch-perfect “American Pie”, roaring through the song and looking heavenward with glee. He medley-segued into The Isley Brothers' “Shout!” with the massed hundreds of thousands pogo-ing in all the right spots as you looked down the Mall. He turned and “conducted” the choir along, cajoling them into a frenzy with the crowd. He had the press section jumping as well, and I admit to being fully ready to fall on my back and “waterbug” like John Belushi in “Animal House” when the time came...but thankfully for all gathered, I chilled. He ended his segment with a heart-pumping “We Shall Be Free”, with him skipping across the stage, whipping off his wireless mic and hat, and again Toscanini-ing the choir into the D.C. sky with their voices. I don't like “Country” music, but this son-of-a-bitch rocked the bells yesterday. I now understand those who've raved about his stage presence. Totally. And then, there was James Taylor. “JT” is one of my favorite all-time performers. He is for me, one of the most naturally “soulful” White performers who've ever released a record or mounted a stage. You see, “Soul” isn't a sound. It's a feeling. There have been folks like The Righteous Brothers' Bill Medley who could sort of get the sound, if not quite the feel, and those like the dreadful Michael Bolton who think that “Soul” is vocal stress, grimacing, and histrionics. That ain't soul, foilks. Soul is a bouncy, singing from the very heart—its beat and the whoosh of blood after its thump. It's easy and just sort of natural. It's never forced. It skates between beats and lands after a timed hover...justso and makes you go “Mmmmph!” when it's right. James Taylor does this easily (Along with George Michael and the much unheralded Boz Scaggs). There's a Country, folk-y sound to him and a simultaneous and free-flowing bit of the Sam Cooke sound to his style. Little vocal runs on a lyric, doubling the beat, adding breaths and ad libs and landing on that “Mmmmph!” note. Taylor came out alone with his baby blue Strat singing his classic “Shower The People” and sounding as good as ever, his slightly nasal twang curling the ends of his smooth tenor notes as we've always heard it do. He was joined by the ubiquitous John Legend and Jennifer Nettles. Taylor was able to do more with less (in my mind), complementing on his fills unlike Legend and his tendency to over-sing when he should be supporting as a background player. Legend's leads on the Taylor chestnut kind of reeked of, “Watch me take this song and make it my own with its owner right next to me!”

It didn't work John...sorry.

Taylor wrested his song back from Legend's tune-twisting hands and brought it back to the sing-along it was meant to be—and not the one-upmanship show it could have become. And he exhibited more effortless “Soul” than JL could conjure with far more work involved. Take a note, br'uh...and take it easy. It won't hurt you. The show was capped off with Springsteen returning for a rousing “This Land Is Your Land” with one of its venerable old-school interpreters, Pete Seeger, plaid-shirted and banjo in hand as you've always remembered him. As the song hit the three-quarter mark, Seeger swapped with Springsteen, letting The Boss hit the main melody as he took the 'tween moments to presage the next line quickly, neatly and with such a breezy effervescence that you easily forgot that he was 89 years old—until you remembered he's had that white beard for the entire forty years since you first saw him on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”. This unabashed former young Communist, and later civil rights activist whose decidely left-of-center views would hold him hard in the sights of wingnut central from the days of McCarthy until now...now stood at Lincoln's feet as a guest of a president and was ushering him into office on a musical wave of positivity. The Boss, feeling it again brought his guitar up high, to hear those notes up close, and he looked over at Seeger and smiled a “This is unbelievable!” smile and closed his eyes to strum a little harder seemigly savor the moment. Beyoncé would come out and lead all who performed—spoken and sung—in a well-turned “America, The Beautiful”, with Stevie chiming in on harmonica and everyone else assembled, including many on the Mall proper filling in “We Are The World” style in unison. The diva did not fail, saving up a big, high note whoop for the song's end while radiating an rare (for her) understated fabulousness. Not the most lyrically expressive singer, as she like Legend is also prone to over-tickle a melody to where nothing stands out, she turned in a nice job on this one. Still more eye candy to me (and what eye candy she is, honestly) than a voice to be reckoned with, she was surprisingly good. And that's a lot coming from me as I'm still hating on her a bit for her exuberant performance while in Destiny's Child for Bush's 2000 Inaugural Ball at the behest of Education Secretary and shyster from her home town of Houston, Rod Paige. The “Crazy In Love” video did a lot (ahem!) to move me into “B's” camp, but as for her singing, which can get a little screechy, I give her a thumbs-up here. Very “Inaugural-icious” as she might intone.

With that, we were done and backtracking on the Metro to our base in Arlington for the night. Travel back was much easier than coming in, thanks to the many native Washingtonians who were so courteous and helpful with us getting around. A stop in Dupont Circle for food, and then home for the night where we passed out after many, many hours runnin, plannin' and writin'.

In the end...it was worth every one of the recuperative forty winks we got.


LowerManhattanite 11:41 PM | Links to this post

Labels: Celebration, Inauguration, Music, Professionalism

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