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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009One man's reaction to The Inauguration
We have dissected the Inauguration of President Obama: the oath-taking, the singing, the instrumental music, the poetry and the speechmaking. For one man any bungles, infelicities and inadequacies were utterly irrelevant. There are three Americans cut off from the outside world in the Big Brother House in England: Coolio, La Toya Jackson and Verne Troyer. For 26 minutes on Tuesday the rule preventing news from the outside world getting to the housemates was lifted. They were shown a recording of Obama taking the Oath and then his speech. The "big, bad, gangsta rapper" Coolio had tears pouring down his face while watching the proceedings. At the end of the oath-taking Coolio held his right hand up in black power type of salute -- more a symbol of success than defiance it seemed. When the speech was over he stood up, wandered around the room with a happy smile on his face, then went to the bedroom, sat on his bed and started sobbing. He wasn't comfortable there so he moved into the more enclosed space of a clothes storage area. He stood facing a wall and continued sobbing. An hour and a half later when he and the other Americans were in the Diary Room thanking Big Brother for showing the event, Coolio said of Obama: "I've never met him but I can feel ... his presence through the television, and I never felt ... I haven't felt that way about anybody since Martin Luther King Junior. I haven't felt ... I haven't ever had that feeling about *anybody" as a grown man especially, I never felt anybody like that in my life. And uh ... I'm just ... I'm kinda overwhelmed now. I'm a changed man. I'm a different man. That's, that's ... It's changed me. It was very moving. ("..." represents a pause, not an omission.)  SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) On Jan 22, 12:49 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > We have dissected the Inauguration of President Obama: the oath-taking, the > singing, the instrumental music, the poetry and the speechmaking. > > For one man any bungles, infelicities and inadequacies were utterly > irrelevant. [excellent post snipped] What concerns me is that a respected contributor to AUE such as you is watching CBB. I watch it too, intermittently, but I'm beyond redemption. On the night after his inauguration I dreamt that President Obama cooked supper for us. "A simple meal of rice and beans, with plenty of bread, and fish for those who want it", he explained. By us, I mean the whole human race. Will. > On Jan 22, 12:49 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > watching CBB. I watch it too, intermittently, but I'm beyond > redemption. I'm very glad that Peter keeps us up to date as it saves me from watching it. I would undoubtedly become addicted and there are already too many addictions in my life, including aue. > On the night after his inauguration I dreamt that President Obama > cooked supper for us. "A simple meal of rice and beans, with plenty of > bread, and fish for those who want it", he explained. By us, I mean > the whole human race. What a splendid dream. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > billri...@hotmail.com wrote: > > On Jan 22, 12:49 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > What a splendid dream. It was, rather. I do hope he doesn't do a Blair on us. Will. >On Jan 22, 12:49 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >wrote: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >watching CBB. I watch it too, intermittently, but I'm beyond >redemption. Apologies for the slightly delayed reply. I'm sure you can guess what I've been doing! The question of why and how people watch BB has been discussed on BB forums. It seems to be accepted that viewers of the show are doing one of two things: 1. watching it for drama and excitement, 2. "people-watching". I'm one of the people-watchers. I view the show to learn about and understand the individual housemates. Much of this involves eavesdropping on fairly relaxed conversations, particularly after midnight. The main difference between watching people in the BB house and watching chimpanzees or gorillas in Africa is that the primates in the BB house can talk (with varying degrees of articulacy). Some times disagreements and arguments will occur. The people-watchers will be the ones who understand the reasons for the disagreements and the subtleties that tend to be lost when an argument starts. Those watching solely for drama and excitement are much less concerned about the background. >On the night after his inauguration I dreamt that President Obama >cooked supper for us. "A simple meal of rice and beans, with plenty of >bread, and fish for those who want it", he explained. By us, I mean >the whole human race. Bring your own choice of sauce. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) billrigby@hotmail.com filted: >On the night after his inauguration I dreamt that President Obama >cooked supper for us. "A simple meal of rice and beans, with plenty of >bread, and fish for those who want it", he explained. By us, I mean >the whole human race. I'm wiping away a tear....r Signature"You got Schadenfreude on my Weltanschauung!" "You got Weltanschauung in my Schadenfreude!" > billrigby@hotmail.com filted: >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > I'm wiping away a tear....r I'm remembering a dream I had in which Princess Diana was changing her clothes in my bedroom, Prince Charles having volunteered to make supper. "Can he really cook?" I asked her. "Of course not!" she smirked from the wardrobe mirror: we looked out the window, just in time to see one of the plain-clothes men arriving with what were obviously bags from the takeaway. SignatureMike. > billrigby@hotmail.com filted: > > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > I'm wiping away a tear....r Low-carber? Brian SignatureIf televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up. -- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com) >On Jan 22, 12:49 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> >wrote: [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >bread, and fish for those who want it", he explained. By us, I mean >the whole human race. Great dream, Will. Can I borrow it? SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs Near Dublin, Ireland -------------------8>< > An hour and a half later when he and the other Americans were in the Diary > Room thanking Big Brother for showing the event, Coolio said of Obama: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > It was very moving. Yes it's difficult, in cynical ol' Britain, to identify with the levels of emotion that Americans display, for the Presidential Office, the flag, the national anthem, & so on. Hearing the national anthem, for us, is the signal to bolt for the door. I sincerely hope that the hopes and aspirations hanging on Obama don't lead to disappointment. He's got a job in front of him. > -------------------8>< >> An hour and a half later when he and the other Americans were in the [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > lead > to disappointment. He's got a job in front of him. we are as they say "a nation of immigrants" we are made up of folks from different heritages so its those symbols you mention that unify us as Americans. so here the flag, the anthem, the ideal that anyone can grow up be the president are quite meaningful. >> -------------------8>< >>> An hour and a half later when he and the other Americans were in the [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > so here the flag, the anthem, the ideal that anyone can grow up be the > president are quite meaningful. And on that last, perhaps the most profound thing he said was about being a man who, sixty years ago, wouldn't have been served in a restaurant in Washington. > > "Appelation Controlee" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message ... > >> Yes it's difficult, in cynical ol' Britain, to identify with the levels of > >> emotion that Americans display, for the Presidential Office, the flag, the > >> national anthem, & so on. Only the office, in my case. I choked up a couple times listening to the inauguration, but it had nothing to do with flags or songs. > >> Hearing the national anthem, for us, is the signal to bolt for the door. > >> I sincerely hope that the hopes and aspirations hanging on Obama don't > >> lead to disappointment. He's got a job in front of him. That's for damn sure. > > we are as they say "a nation of immigrants" When I mentioned that Obama skipped the first immigrants where he might have given them a shout-out, I forgot "the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve" (which William Safire liked). I'm a bit surprised to have seen nothing from Native Americans on that. Naturally they know he wasn't announcing a termination policy, but still, a lot of Indians are strongly opposed to that philosophy. Safire's and other presidential speechwriters' comments: http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/the-speech-the-experts-critiqu e/?ex=1248152400&en=c4e65c8265ebe8bb&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M078-RO S-0109-L1&WT.mc_ev=click or <http://tinyurl.com/c4aefy>. > > we are made up of folks from different heritages > > so its those symbols you mention that unify us as Americans. > > so here the flag, the anthem, the ideal that anyone can grow up be the > > president are quite meaningful. The last one, for me. > And on that last, perhaps the most profound thing he said was about being a > man who, sixty years ago, wouldn't have been served in a restaurant in > Washington. More realistically, he said his father wouldn't have been served. -- Jerry Friedman > And on that last, perhaps the most profound thing he said was > about being a man who, sixty years ago, wouldn't have been served > in a restaurant in Washington. Similarly, I read somewhere recently that when Obama's parents got married, that marriage would have been illegal in 21 out of 50 states. Ah, here it is: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011801154_ pf.html Some other web pages I hit before getting back to that one give different numbers of states, but 21 is about right, anyway. By the way, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that put an end to these laws had an apt name... Loving. SignatureMark Brader "I always hoped that when someone quoted me Toronto it would be because I said something profound." msb@vex.net -- Chris Volpe My text in this article is in the public domain. >-------------------8>< >> An hour and a half later when he and the other Americans were in the Diary [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >I sincerely hope that the hopes and aspirations hanging on Obama don't lead >to disappointment. He's got a job in front of him. American's hopes are so high, they have only one way to go. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs Near Dublin, Ireland > American's hopes are so high, they have only one way to go. It was nice, though, to read the paper this week and think "the President did that? Oh, good!" instead of "the President did _what_?!?" SignatureSML >> American's hopes are so high, they have only one way to go. > >It was nice, though, to read the paper this week and think "the >President did that? Oh, good!" instead of "the President did _what_?!?" How true, Sara. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs Near Dublin, Ireland >-------------------8>< >> An hour and a half later when he and the other Americans were in the Diary [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >emotion that Americans display, for the Presidential Office, the flag, the >national anthem, & so on. I have the clear impression that in this case Coolio's words were so heartfelt and deeply personal that they fell outside the stereotypes of "British reserve" and "American sentimentality". SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) |
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