Last weekend, we got a couple inches of snow in Wisconsin. The precip was nothing by this winter storm’s standards (we’ve even had thunder snow this year) but still, it’s a bummer and a chilling reminder that the groundhog crawled back into his cave, accepting six more weeks of cold weather. Unlike Mr. Groundhog, I decided to grow a pair, and brew some tea to warm life back up.
Photos below.
I’ve always had a knack with branding and an interest in it. I’m not exactly sure what’s particularly interesting in this but here it is for you to decide as well: Brands in English and Arabic. The photos include Coach, MAC, Foot Locker, and Louis Vuitton. I think what attracts me is the question, is the only thing that needs to change for these brands to make sense across cultures is language? Now, if that’s true, damn these are some strong brands. To be honest, I think it’s not the case, and what will be interesting to see is how these brands change from West to East and back from East to West, or how do you say? Evolve.
Bus Slogan Generator thanks to blogger buddy Aziz!
Bottleneck at L'Enfant Metro Station.
Emon woke me up at 3:30 am. I personally thought it was a miracle we made it to the metro station in Maryland by 5 am, and it actually wasn’t too busy despite all the hype beforehand. The foot traffic wasn’t too bad, but getting through the escalators and ticket machines took forever. We ended up taking the L’Enfant Plaza stop.
Metro Crowd at L'Enfant.
The Capitol Building in the distance.
Here’s a shot right outside the station. You can get a sense of what the crowd was like. At this point, I was trying to figure out the best way to get into the mall, and Twittering from my phone. Emon found where to get coffee while I google mapped our way to 14th Street and Independence Ave.
Around 6 am, right outside L'Enfant Metro Station.
We ended up as close as you could get without paying for tickets: around 4th Street, on the mall. Around that time, my phone stopped working. I managed to get a couple emails out to people back in Madison, but the network connection died soon afterward.
Early Morning view of the Capitol Building, around 6 or 7 am.
People started to faint because the crowd at the front was packed tight. So, we decided to comb the crowd and take photos after waiting there for three hours. Turns out, the gates surrounding the mall had a pretty cool subculture going on and was a good place to get away from the huge mass of people.
Hanging out by the gates pre-inauguration. The gates followed along the north side of the mall, along with about a million toilets.
Special Police hanging out at the gates.
A place to sit down.
We caught our breath and headed back into the crowd to wait for the ceremony to begin.
There really were that many free flags. Wish I could say there were free juice boxes.
Blanket nation.
Beach ball toss before the actual swearing-in began.
Cute kid.
After hours of waiting in the cold, listening to the Inaugural concert again on the jumboscreens, and suffering through Shakira’s awkward performance, the ceremony began. First things first, Bush had to go.
The face a guy made when Bush was booed for the second, maybe third time. Ouch!
Reactions during Obama's speech.
The ceremony was epic and Obama’s speech left me without words (hence the photopost). As for the walk home, it was complicated by the exodus of people from the National Mall.
Lots of people, only one metro station.
Many took to the streets, bridges, and even interstate by foot instead.
The walk home. Yes, we can.
All of my photos are hosted on flickr. If you would like to see more from the trip to DC, please check them out!
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose
Before the Inauguration, I came up with a list of words that I wanted to capture with a camera because I didn’t have the words to describe why the event was so historic.
“New media,” “Regular Media,” and just plain “TV Anchor.” Media was everywhere.
“Civil rights” in street art on U-Street.
“Republican.” Enough said. You know they’re thinking it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t thinking about it, too. I love that face.
“Honest Abe” plain and simple.
“Happy tears” while Obama was sworn-in.
“Crowds.” The most memorable crowd was at Ben’s Chili Bowl, where we gladly waited in line for two and half hours. And took tons of photos. Emon has some great photos in Inauguration Day 2. I love this one from outside Ben’s Chili, which was the site of civil rights riots after Dr. King’s assassination.
“Line fail” of all line fails on the way to Chinatown, L’enfant, any metro station after the ceremony.
“Hope” and “Hopeful”
“Weary traveler” a young man sleeps on the marble benches at the National Portrait Gallery.
“Security (threat)” a homeless man is questioned by the cops at the National Portrait Gallery.
I’m saving “historic” for the post I write about the event itself. When I write it.
Tee hee.
On my last day in NYC, Midwest Airlines called asking me if I would like to reschedule my flight. It was the third time they had rescheduled my flight this trip. Also, we had just returned from running around Washington DC for the past four days and five hours in a car traveling back to Manhattan. So, I was already exhausted and fed up with making new travel plans. Enter Emon, who made the best of it. He came up with the idea that we take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and restored my hope in making my extra night in NYC fun and memorable. Photos, captions, and some links below.
Foot traffic on our way to the nearest Starbuck’s. I had to get that fix to even to keep my eyes open at this point: first day back from Inauguration 2009.
“Entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge”
“Cars on the Bridge”
I caught a construction man at work on a building over on the other side of the bridge with my long lens.
“Walking the Line”
Manhattan Skyline (View from the Bridge)
View from the other side!
Bridge, skyline, street all in one photo.
This was the site of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle pressroom (the newspaper was published from 1841 to 1955, and revived from 1960 to 1963). Click on the image for more info from wikipedia.
We caught a glimpse of St. Ann’s Warehouse without anyone around. There was one other man taking photos that night with his dog in the car. Nobody else was around. Usually, the place is bustling with attendees for one of their live performances. Click on the photo for more info about current performances.
About 25 years ago, Jane Walentas began to restore this 1922 carousel. Now finished, it’s stored away in Brooklyn. Click on the photo for more info about Jane’s project.
(The blue is mine)
“Valentines Day Bar”
I’ve been in post-Inauguration rehab for the past week. Before I get back to blogging full-force, here are my photos from our trip back from Washington DC for the Inauguration and my last night in New York City. First, a couple of photos from Union Station (our last stop in Washington DC) and next up, a walk across Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.
The closest I came to meeting President Obama.
Pepsi Campaigned Harder Than Obama
Union Station Clock
Union Station Crowd
Click here to view the entire photo set from day 4 in Washington DC.
