WASHINGTON — The classical music played for millions of people watching President Barack Obama’s inauguration was not the live performance it appeared to be.

Unless you were one of the fortunate few sitting within earshot of the celebrated performers, what you heard was a recording made two days earlier.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill made the decision a day before Tuesday’s inauguration

…

January 22nd, 2009 // comments (0)

More On That Inaugural Trash…

The historic crowd seems to have left an equally historic mess:

Washington trash trucks hauled away at least 130 tons of garbage after the inauguration of President Obama, with more to go. National Park Service workers picked up almost 100 tons on the Mall and near the White House.

Because most trash cans had been removed for security reasons and a record-breaking crowd gathered downtown, the mountain of rubbish left behind was of historic proportions.

“More than any Fourth

…

January 21st, 2009 // comments (0)

Obama Wore ‘Bullet-Proof’ Suit?

miguel

According to some reports, he wore a suit made by a clothier specializing in bullet-resistant clothing during the inauguration ceremonies.

While no one from the U.S. Secret Service have yet to mention any details about the garment’s structure, some are speculating it may have come from the line by Colombian designer Miguel Caballero. As we noted last year, Caballero is well known for his super tough but flexible and business appropriate clothing, such as the $7,500 polo shirt that

…

January 21st, 2009 // comments (1)

WTF?: CNN.com’s Ridiculous Headline

Needless to say, this was changed just minutes later…:

obamaballs

January 21st, 2009 // comments (0)

Snapshot: Full Inauguration Crowd

Check out this satellite image from GeoEye. Click to enlarge…:

January 21st, 2009 // comments (0)

Washington Mall Now Covered In Trash

Inauguration A Nation Gathers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inaugural revelers are lucky they didn’t get fined for littering.

As crowds cleared the city Tuesday, their trash covered the National Mall and Washington Monument grounds after President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

They left behind plastic bottles, newspapers, food wrappers, gloves and even American flags they had been waving. Trash bins overflowed with items people tossed.

Twenty-one-year-old Laura Wiesner of Youngstown, Ohio, was on the cluttered Mall near the Smithsonian’s American History Museum. She says people’s quick

…

January 21st, 2009 // comments (0)

China Censors Obama Inaugural Speech

Chinese officials clearly not so warm to our new President’s rhetoric:

Even as the speech was being broadcast, his reference to the defeat of “fascism and communism” seemed too much for the state’s central broadcaster, CCTV.

It cut away to a flustered presenter, who quickly and nervously had to come up with a question for an unprepared commentator.

Some, but not all, of the major news websites quickly followed suit, posting the full transcript of the speech but with

…

January 21st, 2009 // comments (0)

Inauguration Crowd Estimates Drop

From 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 million — to maybe not even a record at all?:

More than a million giddy spectators convened on the national mall to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office today, but it is unclear if the crowd surpassed the record believed to have been set three and half decades ago at Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 inauguration.

Though early estimates Tuesday ranged as high as 2 million, satellite images of Obaam’s

…