Inauguration

Anyone reading this has already read more than they would like to about the inauguration so I'll keep it short.

I felt honoured to be a part of such an important day. Partly to witness the peaceful transfer of power (I'm floored by the very concept) in all its pomp and glory, and partly to celebrate Obama the man and the phenomenon. I told my girlfriend Britta the night of his election (overtaken by emotion) that if I were to dream up the perfect person to lead the US, that person would be Obama: his political views, background, internationalism, temper, intelligence and pragmatism. Time has tempered that but other than for a few issues (trade is a big one) I still think he's close to that perfect leader. Ok, enough with the weepy bit.

For all its inclusiveness and Wow-there-are-black-people-on-the-Mall, the inauguration was impressive mostly for its scale. Obama's speech was good, but not the kind to get a crowd emotional, not the kind make a song of. The selling of paraphernalia was surprising mostly for its tackiness. My favourite was a painting of a dozen black men on horses, Obama leading the charge. The rest included Tupac, Mandela, Bob Marley and Muhammad Ali. Epic.

My pictures of the inauguration, on flickr.

(Whew, so that's over. Now I can to write about other topics! Thanks for your patience Ari and Jacob.)