This pet pic kind of sums up how I feel right now:
In another thread, we were talking about how much we all love Sousa, and as I write this it is blaring on the parade route.
*** Update ***
It looks like the corner of 300 Bush Street in San Francisco has been given a makeover (via a reader email):
Change you can believe in.
The Grand Panjandrum
Today was a very good day.
demkat620
Now that, is a happy dog!
mgordon
Is it just me or is Jill Biden really hot? And is saying that inappropriate?
South of I-10
I don’t think I have stopped smiling since noon.
Incertus
@The Grand Panjandrum: Yeah. Even by Ice Cube’s standards.
The Moar You Know
That there’s one of them waterdogs.
Blondie
today is an awesome day, and I also feel much like the dog (although a lot less focused- as demonstrated by the fact that I am doing this rather than working as I should be). So I hate to disagree with you on such a fabulous occasion John so I will make it brief. To anyone who as ever played a woodwind, Sousa is the devil.
thank you and have an enjoyable inauguration.
Bey
My best friend is 51. She went out this morning and bought an American flag and the hardware to fly it from her front porch. At noon today she hung her first flag.
Comrade Darkness
Whoa, the Victors … at dirge speed.
Appropriate, akshually.
Radon Chong
@mgordon: Not just you. When they were on the Capitol steps waving to Marine One, and she was wearing those knee high boots? Nice.
JL
@Bey: Your story evoked a few tears. When someone asks how I spent inauguration day, I’ll have to say with smiles, tears and chills.
grimc
According to this flickr link, it’s a lot more than just one corner in San Francisco–it’s every Bush St. sign from Presidio to Battery.
former capitalist
@The Grand Panjandrum: My rooster finally crowed again this morning (symbolically, I suspect). A very good day, indeed.
Tzal
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a formal petition to rename the street. It’s not like there is much history behind it:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/street/stnames3.html
Basically, it is named after the assistant to the guy (O’Farrell) who mapped out the city. It may be a little early to rename it Obama St., but it is still somewhat remarkable that it hasn’t been renamed already, considering its location.
TheFountainHead
My day was somewhat marred by an overzealous wingnut in my office nitpicking the whole day, but now that I’m on the bus this big ol grin is threatening to completely take over my face. I keep hearing the words of the Joker: "And. Here. We. GO!"
Laura W
Great pet pic pick.
So I’ve been sitting here since 5 waiting for a phone meeting to commence. I’m tired of waiting sober.
Pop goes the champers cork.
I am sure my contributions on the phone will be of great significance, if the thing ever gets off the ground.
CHEERS EVERY BODY!
Andre
Is it uncool to be liberal yet?
Incertus
@Tzal: I think Dashiell Hammett fans-all twelve of them–would object, since it’s the street where Sam Spade’s offices were located. They could probably be persuaded to get over it.
South of I-10
@Laura W: You have been patient long enough. Let the festivities begin!
Bey
@JL: For those of us who became politically aware during Viet Nam and Watergate, this is the first opportunity we’ve had to feel unadulterated pride in our country. We grew up cynical and jaded, sure that all politicians were corrupt and untrustworthy.
I don’t recall feeling this good about my country since the moon landing.
President Obama makes me feel like we can do anything we put our minds to. I’ll make the sacrifices he asks, gladly. I trust him and his judgement.
It makes me feel like a teenager again.
smiley
@former capitalist: When the first cannon fired after the speech, the alarm on my watch starting going off. I shit you not. I didn’t plan it that way, I just set it for something else. Coincidence?
KRK
Actually, I always considered Shostakovich the devil. Sousa wasn’t so bad.
Three years ago some friends gave me a flag as a housewarming gift. It has remained in its packaging in the closet ever since. If I had a drill, I’d be hanging it today.
Laura W
@smiley: Coooooooooooolness!
I love it when stuff like that happens.
We Are One!
(er, or whatever.)
Bey
@KRK: That’s what thumbtacks are for, silly.
former capitalist
@smiley: Unlikely. Coincidences are too coincidental.
John Cole
@Bey: Don’t thumbtack it. Then some retard at the Free Republic will take a picture of it, and before you know it Malkin will have it on her website as more proof of liberals “desecrating” the American flag.
Bey
Good point.
I’m sure we can come up with an effective workaround.
We’re Americans, dammit!
FourtyTwo
My friends were the ones responsible for that "renaming" the street signs from Bush to Obama.
The SFPD was surprisingly cool about it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timpratt/3212533037/
The Grand Panjandrum
@former capitalist: Yea. I’m trying to take it all in and savor the moment.
demimondian
@John Cole: Yeah, seriously.
Proper liberals hang a flag up with red tape to match their politics.
R-Jud
Awwwwwwwww, happy doggie!
@mgordon:
A) yes; b) no. She was a model for a while.
The Tim Channel
Isn’t it great!! The joy is tiring however. Looks like Kennedy is going to be ok?
Any audiophiles around here? Have I got the oldest car amplifiers in America?
http://thetimchannel.com/?p=346
Enjoy.
Joshua Norton
Dream on. It’s one of the main streets in the Financial District. I can’t imagine a lot of businesses would be overjoyed to bear the costs and the confusion of having their address changed based on some fit of whimsy. Even here in liberal San Francisco.
John Cole
@FourtyTwo: I should have known that reprobates that hang out here would have been somehow connected/involved in this.
Teak111
I love that my kids are so into it. At 13 and 15, they are finally seeing a president dad and mom are proud of, at least in the first 5 hours of his presidency. They watched the speech and had tons of questions and understand the importance of the moment.
When I was a teen, Reagan was too old to inspire more then a yawn.
Mrs. Biden is hot BTW, and probably cold to in the short skirt.
And it looks like Roberts messed up the oath, not Obama at this historical moment….
Dork
Not if you owned bank stocks.
Found something interesting on Cal’d Risk. In the comments section, somebody compiled a list of 20 banks who’ve been ordered to quantify their lending and their use of TARP funds, plus other things they have to report. EVERY ONE lost value today, and almost every one went down double digits.
Almost as if the crooks can see the policemen showing up. They’re taking everything they can before they’re forced to release these surely-much-worse-than-they’ve-said reports.
John Cole
@The Tim Channel: I had Rockford Fosgates back in the day.
A la lanterne les aristos!
@Tzal: Thanks for the link, I love that kind of nerdy resource.
The Bush St. thing was done (most of the way) once before, btw.
Comrade Darkness
Hey, did anyone else see the Magical Unity Pony being pushed along by the Lawn Rangers?
Isn’t everyone watching the parade?
Joshua Norton
At Christmas time, someone will always rename Noe St. to "Noel" on most of the street signs.
YellowJournalism
When I first read that, I thought it said Joe Biden. Don’t know what that says about me.
I loved watching the part of the parade when the ridiculous-looking George Washington mascot thing waved to the new President, who had this look on his face that was a mixture of amused and humbled all at the same time.
Unfortunately for me, I was watching the Fox News feed (They had a better view of the parade!) and had to tune out Glen Beck and Jonah Goldberg at the same time rage about Obama being "big government" My son, who is one, reached over, grabbed the remote, and flipped the channel back to CNN. He’s smarter than I am.
Face
@John Cole: You spend a wholly unhealthy amount of time worrying about what MM will say about your commenters.
RoonieRoo
I got no work done today. I’ve been alternating between grinning like an idiot and crying all day.
AkaDad
Tonight is a good occasion to bust open the champagne and use it in my bong.
Krista
I cannot believe that woman is 57. Dayum.
YellowJournalism
We should all be so lucky someday.
Unpopular opinion: I liked Jill Biden’s outfit better than Michelle Obama’s. Something was "off" about the cut of Michelle’s coat. The color was great, though.
Best dressed award goes to Sasha.
Carrie
Congrats you guys, celebrate!
You deserve it.
When that helicopter took off, i knew the nightmare was finally over.
That’s when it really sank in.
TheFountainHead
I have Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta on repeat, in case anyone is looking for an appropriate soundtrack for the evening.
Cain
I put my "President Obama" poster back on my kitchen window facing the street again the night before! Woohoo! My mom told me yesterday that she’s never been so excited about Obama.
It’s too bad I had to work and not able to absorb the full impact of the day for me. It’s hard to feel proud when you’re busy trying to upgrade a server.
cain
Incertus
Gay and Lesbian band on C-SPAN–CNN very studiously ignoring it. Slap in the face.
And now there are a bunch of walking flowers from Mobile, AL. C-SPAN’s got the good shit, y’all.
John Cole
I gotta admit, even with all the bands and the Souza, my favorite moment of the day is still the kids having their funny uncle (Biden) take pics for them during the ceremony.
Krista
Oh, and I’m a little late to the game on this, but that just delights the hell out of me that at the concert last night, there was some awesome funk playing. For starters, it’s because Stevie Wonder makes me very happy. But also, it seems as though there’s this perception that country music is the music of "real" Americans, and it was so great to see so many great genres of music, ALL of which are beloved by Americans (all of whom are indeed quite real), represented.
Cain
We need to all blog/comment now with here in the background. Go epic box go!
cain
Incertus
@TheFountainHead: That was my Facebook status a few hours ago. Heh.
Xecky Gilchrist
my favorite moment of the day is still the kids having their funny uncle (Biden) take pics for them during the ceremony.
That was pretty goddam adorable.
The idea that the Bush years are over hasn’t sunk in for me yet. I think it’s time to go home, have a drink of some sort, and come to grips with it.
Comrade Darkness
@YellowJournalism: She is not shaped like, nor does she stand like most clothes models. I liked it. It was 1/3 mother of the bride, 1/3 queen elizabeth, and 1/3 afternoon tea. But yeah, the front doesn’t hang right, but no offense to the lady, but like other tall women I’ve known, she tends to slouch down to get in range of the conversation.
Tom Hilton
And at the opposite end of the street, there was this gathering.
Cain
And oggling his hot wife.
cain
theturtlemoves
At the risk of starting a horrible flame war, that drum major from the Lesbian and Gay Band Association quite possibly slapped himself in the face. Watching on C-Span and man, was that dude selling it. He was whipping his arms so hard his jacket was popping over his belly. Pretty decent marching band, too. I like to see any middle-aged folks out there still marching and having fun, rainbow bass drums or not.
mgordon
R-jud: It will be nice to have a Vice President with some game in the White House. I heard Cheney clubbed his wife caveman style to land her.
smiley
The NBC person known as Ann Curry is incredible at 52 or 53. They showed a real-time, hi-def close-up of her today and… I’m glad people my age can look that good, even if I don’t.
comrade rawshark
@TheFountainHead:
Jay-Z’s Dirt Off My Shoulder is my unofficial official Obama song. I gave it that status when he made that wiping off his coat move while giving a speech during the campaign.
TheFountainHead
Friend in CA calling from work: "Dude, I slept through the whole damn thing! Is Bush really gone!?please tell me he’s fucking gone and this wasn’t a dream I had!!"
Yeah, it’s that big.
Media Browski
This was a triumph!
I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS!
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.
John Cole
Never noticed this before, but Obama has kind eyes.
Incertus
Who are these freaky star people dancing to Carribbean music?
Laura W
@John Cole: and a confident smile.
An inspiration to us all.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
phone calls….
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(Commemorative plate reference, just in case.)
John Cole
Another thought. What would Archie Bunker say today?
TheFountainHead
Heh, excellent use of Portal reference, Media.
Neocon Nutters, we do what we must, because we can!
littlesky
It was renamed "Puppet St" in 2001. Pictures and a fun video.
theturtlemoves
@TheFountainHead: For the good of all of us. Well, except the ones who are dead.
KRK
Just made a quick run to the Post Office and listened to a little Vancouver radio on the way. Even the normally very sarcastic, middle-aged classic rock DJs were all hands-across-the-border hopey and changey. They played a few clips from Obama’s speech (heavy on the new face of US foreign policy). I don’t recall them ever playing clips of Canadian politicians’ speeches. Usually just hockey coaches and GMs.
R-Jud
@mgordon:
I heard he sat all day in a wife blind in the woods, and brought her down with a tranquilizer dart.
@ John Cole: Kind eyes is one thing. An ability to do pull-ups is another. Lats we can believe in!
gbear
@Bey:
Yep, but I’m sure going to miss my days of preferring leisure over work, and seeking only the pleasures of riches and fame.
demimondian
@theturtlemoves: When you are dead, I’ll still be doing science.
Laura W
@John Cole: Something something Meathead something something?
demimondian
@R-Jud: Nah — he went to one of those "rent a wife to hunt" places.
It’s more his style, you know.
Polish the Guillotines
@mgordon:
Not just you. It’s those shagadellic boots, baby!
R-Jud
@demimondian:
Tee hee. Win!
Litlebritdifrnt
Speaking of hotness, personally I think that the President is hawt, and I NEVER thought I would hear myself saying that! What a fabulous face this couple are going to give America to the rest of the world. Michelle’s platform is going to be military families, and I can just imagine that with her grit and resolve that Military families are going to be getting alot of attention.
AhabTRuler
I assume everyone has seen the "Big" Dick Cheney photograph.
John Cole
@Litlebritdifrnt: Lilbrit, I was talking trash shit about marching bands in another thread. I bet Laura W. will fill you in.
theturtlemoves
@AhabTRuler: We’ve got, you know, armadillos in our trousers. It’s really quite frightening.
Laura W
@AhabTRuler: Good Lord. I need to log off now before I lose my job.
That is some Cruciferous Crotch Action!
Laura W
@John Cole: She’s been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the tote, and her DH told you to Fuck Off, before he agreed with you.
I can multi-task, you know.
AhabTRuler
@theturtlemoves: Watch out for leprosy.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Colostomy bag. I refuse to believe otherwise.
Krista
True. It’s easy to miss due to that smile of his. I swear, he and Joe Biden could do ads for Colgate.
theturtlemoves
I will, but not entirely sure how that followed from a Spinal Tap reference. Watch out for spontaneous combustion or choking on someone else’s vomit, sure, but leprosy has me a little stumped… That was a really horrible choice of words, wasn’t it?
AhabTRuler
I thought it was Fixodent.
Krista
Nah, it’s just another Horcrux. He usually wears it higher up, but it slipped.
John Cole
No idea what a DH is.
Richard Bottoms
Barack Motherfucking-Obama in the house!
Time to finish slicing up the GOP into tiny little pieces we can flush away with the rest of the Bush presidency.
Laura W
@John Cole: Darling Husband.
Seriously? You don’t know that tradition?
Man, I took that bait fast, huh?
srv
I just took a long shower, and I think it was a good start in washing off all the detritus of the last 12 years (W was Governor of my homeland). But it will take time.
Which is why I’m off to the bar to get wasted. I hope I remember about the street signs when I’m not sober.
AhabTRuler
From here.
Just another piece of random data floating in the garbage pit.
Krista
Dear (or Darling) Husband.
The Tim Channel
I SOLD them ‘back in the day’…..LOL. When I was in retail electronics sales, they were very popular. Do you still have yours and are they still operational? I think the Rockford stuff came on the scene much later than the Kenwood amps I have. They were popular with the car subwoofer crowd, and as such, tended to get abused and broken with regularity.
I’m of the opinion that electronics will last almost indefinitely if properly taken care of. It’s just a little more difficult to take car of audio electronics because of the extreme environment and the youthful experimentation (…….wonder if I can hook up twenty seven sets of speakers to this one amp?……lol)
Enjoy.
Krista
Evidently John is NOT aware of all internet traditions.
Laura W
@Krista: I like Darling better, don’t you?
How are you feeling? Left out of the boozefest?
Laura W
@Krista: I think he’s jes prolly trollin’ the ladies, as Fuckhead might say.
If he were here, and not still fighting with John.
Shawn in ShowMe
Another thought. What would Archie Bunker say today?
Tell the meathead I’m not in.
Charity
@mgordon: Yep, she’s cute, and she’s old enough to be my mom and STILL has better legs than I do!
theturtlemoves
@AhabTRuler: Any blog with references to video games, frequent pet and food blogging, political commentary, occasional flame wars, and now science facts concerning rare diseases has to be good. I personally learned all I know about leprosy from the Thomas Covenant novels, so that throws some fantasy literature into the mix.
South of I-10
I suppose it could also be damn husband, but since Mr. South just brought me a glass of wine and is grilling fajitas, I am feeling charitable.
Krista
Definitely left out of the boozefest. However, I’ve heard tales of a non-alc beer that is supposed to be quite good, and it’s under Loblaw’s house brand, President’s Choice, so I should be able to get it here. A woman can only drink so much ginger ale and cranberry juice, really.
And yes, there is a certain elegance to "Darling". Speaking of elegance, I cannot wait to see that first dance at the Inaugural Ball. I’m guessing that I’m going to get pretty teary. (Mind you, I’ve also been getting teary at Canadian Heritage Moment PSAs, so my barometer is obviously all out of whack.)
Litlebritdifrnt
@Laura W:
Laura you saw that huh? It was really quite funny how his mind moved from "that was an insult" to "actually it isn’t"
I am so giddy today not even the snow could phase me, listening to Rush about explode and sputtering about how the speech was "nondescript".
Watching the PUMA/Birthers/Wingnuts heads exploding is really just the icing on the cake.
Bey
Can someone tell Pat Buchanan he doesn’t get to refer to the President as Barack anymore?
Comrade Darkness
"leprosy from the Thomas Covenant novels"
That is next on my reading list. I found a cut section from it in Donaldson’s collection Daughter of Regals (which I wouldn’t rec, man, he needs a heavier handed editor) that I had taken on a plane to read.
I got nothing done while reading The Gap series.
South of I-10
What time do the balls get started? I want to see what everyone is wearing.
theturtlemoves
@Comrade Darkness: If you liked The Gap series you should like the 8 books that currently make up Covenant. Still pretty dark, but not quite as dark as The Gap stuff. Not sure how anything could be, though.
AhabTRuler
I was never able to get past the first novel.
KRK
This is a very cool satellite photo of the Capitol and crowd today: http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/gallery/detail.aspx?iid=220&gid=1.
theturtlemoves
I really like them. Some of my favorite books, but I can see how they wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Now, if you want to talk fantasy that makes me want to gouge my eyes out, let’s talk Wheel of Time. 50,000 pages of crap with about 100 of really decent action.
South of I-10
@theturtlemoves: Those books were written many years ago, right? If so, I have read at least 4, but I can’t put my hands on them right now.
theturtlemoves
@South of I-10: Yeah, 77-83 for the first two trilogies (had them handy on a bookshelf). Huge span of time where he wrote stuff like The Gap and now a third trilogy with the third book still on the way. I didn’t really read them when they each first came out. I was pretty precocious as a youngster, but Lord Foul’s Bane would have been rough going in kindergarten.
AhabTRuler
Was it wrong of me to take any enjoyment from Robert Jordan dropping dead before finishing the series?
Laura W
@South of I-10: I was told 8.
I…hope….to….be….off…..the…..phone…..by…..then.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Oh, Jesus, Krista, the Canadian Historical Minutes always get me (as long as they aren’t too cheesy). Halifax.
demimondian
@theturtlemoves: I could never get past the rape scene in the first book. I can deal with anti-hero…but that was too much for me.
(And we’ll not mention that I was in college when it came out, ok?)
theturtlemoves
I read some stuff about him after he died and he seemed like a decent enough fellow, so taking enjoyment might be a little harsh. That said, I don’t think that thing would have ever been finished, even if he’d attained enlightenment and become immortal. If he’d managed to write even one likable female character, I would have slogged past the fourth or fifth novel, but you can only take so many one-dimensional harpies before you start to wonder whether the guy was spanked one too many times by his mom as a child.
AhabTRuler
This was my problem exactly. I was 14 or 15 when I read it (well after it was published). IIRC, I actually made it through the whole book, but I wasn’t running out to buy the next book in the series. Instead I probably just read more PERN porn.
Krista
It was the one about Jackie Robinson that got me.
AhabTRuler
@theturtlemoves: Well, not so much enjoyment as a certain German word beginning with the letter "s," but I already used it in another post today and I’m trying to cut down.
South of I-10
Seems like I was 14 or 15 when I read those? I’m 38, so you do the math.
theturtlemoves
That does push the anti-hero thing pretty far, I’ll admit. But at that point, he thinks everything is just a dream and when he finally decides it isn’t, he is wracked with guilt about it. And he does redeem himself in the end. I get where you are coming from, though. I couldn’t sit all the way through A Clockwork Orange for similar reasons.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
And Graham Greene as Sitting Bull.
arguingwithsignposts
and apparently he’s rooting for the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
JL
@Laura W: ABC is showing the neighborhood party. Great music!
South of I-10
@LauraW: Still on the phone? Can’t you just get disconnected or something?
Laura W
@JL: I’m goin’ right now! Thanks! Finally off phone!
John started new thread. I’m not sure but I think he’s just waged war or some sort of jihad on blog post titles?
hic
Laura W
@South of I-10: Yes! My porta-phone battery started to beep.
Free at last.
Not that watching Mariah Carey is freedom, necessarily.
JL
@Laura W: Mariah Carey dedicated her song to Obama. More tissues please.
Genine
Today was such a wonderful day. I had to go to work, but none of us got a lot done as we all watched the Inauguration and various activities in the lunch room. hehe
Laura W
@JL: Well, Beyonce and the first dance next!
No "Emancipation of MiMi" jokes re. my Mariah not being equal to freedom quip?
S’Ok. I didn’t get it myself until minutes after posting it.
hic
Carrie
oh fuck these goddamn codes.
JL
@Laura W: John has a new party post and guess what football team he mentions.
That One - Cain
@AhabTRuler:
Me neither. And the fact that the main character was an asshole.
cain
That One - Cain
@AhabTRuler:
He was a good guy.. his first 4 books were really fun to read. I didnt mind the others but yeah, his female characters were very annoying. I’m hoping that the last book might change all that.
I started reading that book when I was in my early twenties. I’m turning 40 and I’m finally going to finish the fucking series. I’ve gotten this far, I’m not going to stop now.. must.. know.. how.. it.. ends..
cain
theturtlemoves
@That One – Cain: I powered through the first, I think, six with the same bloody-mindedness. The characters sucked, the dialog sucked, but the plot was actually pretty cool and I did kind of want to see where it was going.
Xenos
@theturtlemoves:
A Clockwork Orange is exquisite, but you need a degree of masochism to enjoy working out the Cockney-Russian dialect.
There are plenty unpleasant, unreliable narrators, and the shtick gets old pretty quickly, but the experience of reading Burgess and Nabakov (esp. Pale Fire, but Lolita, too) is life changing. I think Jordan was reaching for something like that, but was too poor of an artist. I got about fifty pages past the rape scene, and that was it.
Comrade Nikolita
I am watching the local 6pm news up here in BC, Canada, and they just said that there was a crowd of 2 million at Obama’s Inauguration, and that *2.5 billion people* watched it on TV all over the world. That just blows my mind.
And I’m so happy for my southern neighbour! For the first time since Bush was sworn in, I think I can finally say this and mean it: God Bless America.
Congratulations you guys!! Let’s see what he can do now, eh?
Ash Can
@John Cole: Designated hitter.
@Krista: O’Doul’s Amber (as opposed to regular O’Doul’s, which is decent for hair rinse and not much else) was my cheap beer of choice when I was pregnant (any NA from Germany is good, and Kaliber is recommended as well). Not sure if O’Doul’s A is available north of the US border, though.
jprice vincenz
"In another thread, we were talking about how much we all love Sousa"
robertdsc
After Obama was sworn in and the national anthem was played, I went outside and changed the old flag for a new one. It felt right.
Conservatively Liberal
Aperture Science? GlaDOS? Where is my fucking cake?! You lied and tried to bake my ass!
I wish there was a real portal gun, man would I have fun.
Media Browski
@TheFountainHead: Well, since balloonjuice introduced me to the song and game in a post in December, I felt the alusion was in order.
:) What a great day!
garyb50
Hey, my Katy made it to Balloon Juice ! !
Thanks, John.
And yes, she’s a very happy dog.
And today, so am I.