inaugural concert photoblogging

Yesterday I joined Nico and a group of friends to trek down to the Mall to see the inaugural concert. We weren't able to get close enough to see the show directly, but were able to watch and hear the concert on one of the many jumbotrons, along with a zillion of our closest friends.

Here are some pics...




our group:



your intrepid reporter:


the crowd:

As we were walking toward the event police cleared the street so a motorcade could make its way through... was it Obama? The crowd seemed to think so. As we cheered the black limos that drove by, flanked by police and other security personnel, I said to Nicolette, "we've taken over the most powerful country on the planet."

But, a couple hours later, singing "This Land is Your Land," along with Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, and the rest of the planet, I realized that I was wrong. Woody Guthrie's message, delivered c/o Seeger, was that this country is ours. Has always been and will always be. It is the Bush/Cheney neocons that hijacked this country. We are only taking back what is rightfully ours.

It's also worth noting that Seeger sang the original, "unsanitized" version, which includes some harsh words that question why we so often fail to live up to our country's promise.


The original lyrics:

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

Pics:

Video:

Woody: