The speech:
There's been some criticism, mostly from pundits who read it before they saw it. Frankly, Barack Obama could read the ingredient list on a cereal box and make it sound eloquent and uplifting. His speech was far from a box of Weetabix, however, and I felt uplifted, albeit slightly cold at the image invoked of Washington next to an icy Potomac. The words were inspiring, the delivery even better.
The poem:
Please, no more inaugural poetry. Poetry-on-demand is difficult, and poems read to the masses inevitably fall flat.
The benediction:
I hated this line: "we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- (laughter) -- when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) -- and when white will embrace what is right." I thought it was divisive, oddly, coming from the not-Rick-Warren preacher.
The dress:
At first I was disappointed by the color. The details of the white dress were washed out on television, and the First Lady seemed to have some trouble maneuvering it. But when I saw it up close, it really looked beautiful. And lucky woman, she doesn't need to worry about a tan, or my personal scourge, freckles. Also, I am inspired by both the First and Second Biceps to get my puny arms back to the gym. Toned is in; flab is out.
The other dress:
I really liked this one. Yellow is such a happy color, even if it's called maize. With green shoes and gloves, it looked like something I'd wear if my husband were being sworn in (rather inelegantly, by Chief Justice Roberts) to the highest office in the land.
The car:
Nicknamed The Beast, this behemoth should more accurately be dubbed The Vampire. Did you know it carries litres of the president's blood on board?
The commentary:
I had a choice between CNN and Fox, as well as BBC and Sky and who knows what else. I mostly watched CNN, cutting to Fox when they took breaks. (Fox must not be feeling the pinch, because they didn't cut to commercials very frequently.) The Fox commentators were actually pretty good; nary a sour note heard all day, until Glenn Beck came on in the evening. CNN's commentary was sometimes just downright goofy. Watching video replays from MSNBC, I thought they were great. BBC and Sky were funny, with their "mal" coverage, but I always feel like I'm missing something if I don't watch American coverage of US events. Plus the interviewees were second rate; all the cool people were in D.C. getting interviewed by the major networks.
Now, I'm off to the gym to work on those biceps.
