Thoughts While Watching Way Too Much Inauguration Day Coverage

Alright then. No rhyme or reason here. Let's go.

1.) Non-inauguration-speech quote of the day: "He's just a cool dude. They like the way he moves." -Tom Brokaw on why the youth were so smitten with Barack Obama.

Am I the only one who immediately thinks of the Outkast song? I'm not am I. Can't you imagine a music video with Tom Brokaw wearing a big fur coat, rapping about President Obama and the greatest generation? You can't? Try harder. I'm convinced the world would be a better place if Tom Brokaw were to release a rap album. The cadence of his voice is unparalleled. Can we make this happen? YES WE CAN.

2.) "Yes We Can!" "Yes We Did!" "O-BA-MA!" Can we stop the mindless chanting at this point? Please. May I offer an alternative? Whenever Barack appears in a public setting let's all fucking sing "We Are the Champions" in unison. The chanting needs to stop. Sure, chanting can be fun. Have I ever chanted? Of course. Who doesn't love a chant now and then? But all good things in moderation people! You don't like that guy at the ballpark who keeps trying to start chants all the time do you? No, of course you don't. You don't wanna be that guy.

A question: Does this dramatic spike in chanting have anything to do with all these tri-syllabic phrases? Somebody draw up a study. Who do you think had the least chantable surname in presidential history? My vote goes to Eisenhower. The most comedic? Bush.

Haha, Bush.

3.) How much would you pay to know what kind of conversations Barack and G-Dub have had in private? If I were a wealthy man I would pay a hefty sum for such a transcript. They don't seem like the most compatible duo, am I right? I smell a sitcom!!!

4.) Helicopters are crazy.

5.) Hey Chief Justice John Roberts: If you're too cool to use any notes when SWEARING IN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, you better have a good enough memory to remember like, one paragraph of dialogue. You reminded me of Jeff Gordon trying to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

6.) What kind of food did they serve at that luncheon? Christ. Senators were dropping like flies. It's either that or Ted Kennedy swallowed an alka-seltzer like that guy in Eraser. Too soon?

7.) How sick is that new armored Cadillac limo? Can I get an over/under on how many rappers are going to mention it and or attempt to buy it in the coming months? I'm setting the bar at 5.

8.) Being in the Secret Service seems like a pretty sweet gig. If Sinbad can do it, why can't I?

9.) There seemed to be an abnormal amount of personal anecdotes while the NBC news team attempted to fill loads of inevitable silence throughout the afternoon. It must be tough to provide worthwhile content during a day of events filled with such an abundance of downtime and potentially boring live coverage. I don't blame them for rambling. It must be hard. I was hoping for just one wildly inappropriate, non-related yarn where Brian Williams would recount the time he did a bunch of mescaline and set a goat on fire, but it never came to fruition. Maybe next election.

10.) Initially it was very touching stuff, but let's stop rounding up every African-American woman over the age of 75, telling her to say how she never thought she'd see the day, and calling it a news story. I don't mean to sound cynical, but after watching a more-than-hearty share of election and inauguration coverage, I've had my fill. I hoped they'd find one incredibly cute old lady who'd had this year marked on her calendar for decades, but she never appeared. Ms. Cleo, I'm looking at you. Over 75? Not so much. But I like to think her wisdom adds at least 20 years.

11.) Quote from Obama's inauguration speech that I felt was most poignant to our time, stood out above the rest, will have the most historical staying power: "To those leaders around the world who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West--know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

12.) Random, hilarious news headline I found while searching for inauguration pictures: "Vomiting Birds Save Icebox Pair Adrift For 25 Days"


Here's Obama's inauguration speech in full.

And here's a video that remixes Daft Punk's "Aerodynamic"-- a version that doesn't vary far from the original except for some presidential spelling--using stop-motion animation and some crazy legos:


Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland - "Aer OBAMA" from Gold Greendot on Vimeo.

That is all.