Heroism got short shrift from the media in DC this week. Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the celebrated pilot of US Airways flight 1549, was all but ignored in Obama Inaguration coverage. “Sully” was on page one when he landed his Airbus in the Hudson River, but barely made it to Page Six when he dined in Washington’s Hudson Restaurant.
Captain Sullenburger cooked a pair of geese in New York, but dined on fried chicken in DC.
The first Washington Blogger Meetup of 2009 is this evening, Wednesday January 21st, from 7:15 PM to 9 PM . DC-area bloggers will talk, drink beer, eat burgers and such, and drink beer at RFD (a/k/a Regional Food and Drink), 810 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (202-289-2030). That’s near the MCI Center, a half block from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro station. RFD has beer (did we mention that?).
The Washington DC Blogger Meetup was founded back in 2002, when the Brontosaurus roamed the Blogosphere. To paraphrase the words of new DC resident and Blogger-in-Chief Barack Obama, “Our founding fathers and Moms, faced with PCs that we can scarcely imagine, ordered draft beer to assure the rule of law and the rights of man and woman, a charter expanded by the blogs of generations.”
Mr. O has not yet RSVP’ed for the Meetup, but you can do it right here. Contact organizer Nikolas ‘Atrus’ Coukouma with any questions. Not registered with Meetup? Do it here, quick and easy.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
NotionsCapital presents this week’s Roll of Shame, Washington, DC area music venues that advertise “Live Music” but do not include the names of bands in their ads. You may think this is a mere quibble. Think again.
Outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney coasted through the inauguration of Barack Obama and Joe Biden Tuesday. He was in a wheelchair.
Mr. Cheney pulled a back muscle after spending the weekend hunched over a document shredder in his office.
The former Vice President claims he hurt his back moving boxes out of his old office, but Stanley I. Kutler of the University of Wisconsin Law School says: ”[W]hen the Archives goes to open Cheney’s papers, they are going to find empty boxes.” A federal judge allowed Mr. Cheney to determine which of his official papers should be preserved. Details here.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
The 44th President of the United States of America will be was sworn into office on the steps of the United States Capitol today, January 20, 2009, just before after noon Eastern Time. See the White House web site.
11:30 AM Musical selections – The United States Marine Band, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
Welcoming Remarks– Senator Dianne Feinstein
Invocation — Dr. Rick Warren
Musical Selection — Aretha Franklin
11:46 AM Vice Presidential Oath of Office administered to Joseph R. Biden, Jr. by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
Musical Selection– Itzhak Perlman (Violin), Yo-Yo Ma (Cello), Gabriela Montero (Piano), Anthony McGill (Clarinet)
11:56 AM Presidential Oath of Office administered to Barack H. Obama by the Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr.
12:01 PM Inaugural Address -- President Barack H. Obama
Poem — Elizabeth Alexander
Benediction — The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
The National Anthem — The United States Navy Band and Sea Chanters vocal ensemble
Details from PIC. CBS on the Lincoln Bible. Inaugual FAQs from VOA. Live video coverage from VOA
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Photo from Raw Story
500 people participated in a protest at the White House on President Bush’s last full day in residence there. 40 pairs of shoes were thrown at an effigy of the president, a reference to a symbolic protest by an Iraqi journalist who has been imprisoned without charge since Mr. Bush left Baghdad over a month ago.
Read accounts from:
Condi was there, too.
Monday, January 19, 2009, is the last full day of the George W. Bush presidency. The departing chief executive will be saluted today for his contributions to peace and prosperity.
At 11 AM citizens from all over the country will gather at Washington’s Dupont Circle to enumerate the accomplishments of the departing President, then walk to a location near the White House and throw shoes in Mr. Bush’s honor, in the fashion of Iraqi reporter Muntader Al-Zaidi. Serviceable shoes will then be donated to the families of local folks who lost jobs thanks to the economic stewardship of the MBA President.
[Looking for the program of the Swearing-In Ceremony (starts 11:30 AM 20 January 2009)? It's here.]
We went down to the Pre-Inaugural Concert Sunday afternoon, exiting the Farragut West Metrorail station about 2:30 PM and walking down 18th Street, NW to the Lincoln Memorial and National Mall. Motor traffic was banned from the area, just as it is during World Bank meetings. There was a party atmosphere as the crowd ambled along, and Springsteen‘s voice echoed up from the performance.
The area nearest the Lincoln Memorial concert site was already at capacity and security checkpoints were closed, so we watched the concert on the three giant Jumbotron screens set up between the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument. The jubilant crowd was friendly and well-behaved, and people of all ages and origins from all around the nation and the world joked and chatted amiably, exchanging notes on the music and performers, expressing their relief, joy, and hopes. It may have been a pseudo-event, but the feelings were genuine.
The inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States will be an historic moment in time. It will be an important moment in town, in Washington, but for DC residents it will not be much different from what goes on here every weekend.
Drive into DC on a weekend and electronic signs warn you: “CAUTION — DOWNTOWN EVENTS — EXPECT DELAYS.” There are marathons, fun runs, festivals, motorcycle rallies, marches, walk-a-thons, BBQ contests, tour bus caravans, rolling roadblocks, prayer vigils, demonstrations, motorcades, exhibitions, bike-a-thons, tourist mobs, high school senior trips, and pointless protests (“Mothers Against Bad Stuff”).
On Monday, January 19th, from noon to 10 PM, musicians will celebrate the memory and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as they have for several decades, with an annual jam session at Howard University. Blues and jazz musicians from the DC area and visitors on tour will stop by to perform, listen, remember, and share. This expression of energy and harmony is always one of the most profound musical experiences of this day.
This year’s historic inauguation means a change of venue from Blackburn Center to historic Rankin Chapel. The context and setting will both contribute meaning to this extraordinary, heart-felt event. Drop by this free event. Experience the living expression of Dr. King’s legacy and America’s cultural vitality.
King Holiday Jazz Jam Session
Monday, January 19, 2009, Noon to 10 PM
Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Howard University
2400 6th St NW
Washington, DC 20059
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
