| January 20, 2005 | No Place for Thespians... |
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"It's really too bad there's no place for thespians in the parade." -Sam Donaldson on ABC News NOW coverage of Bush's inauguration Starting at 6a.m. PST today I was putting together and monitoring our portal's live video coverage of Bush's second inauguration centered primarily around the ABC News NOW internet-only channel. ABC News NOW's coverage was somewhat off-the-cuff and technologically experimental, so the end result was pretty interesting. It was almost as unpredictable and weird as watching pirate TV. The ABC anchors -- Bob Woodruff, Sam Donaldson and Hari Sreenivasan -- interspersed their inauguration commentary with interviews from high schools around the country via internet cams. They also included short video clips captured with cell phone cams by students and other inauguration attendees. The footage was very raw and grainy, but sometimes amusing. One woman from the "Red Hot Mamas" parade group captured video footage of waiting in the porta potties line, and they showed that on-air. (That clip gave me Burning Man flashbacks.) The use of personal broadcast technology was good to see, but the loose, casual (and at times competitive-seeming) banter between the anchormen themselves was probably the most interesting aspect. One high school student watching a bandmember friend march in the parade identified herself as a "thespian," and Sam Donaldson said, "It's really too bad there's no place for thespians in the parade." Then he asked "Have you guys heard the joke about the guy with the thespian cousin who goes to the all-girls' college?" (He was actually riffing off of how the word 'thespian' sounds like 'lesbian.' It was unbelievable to hear something off-color like that coming out of a newscaster's mouth. I was hoping that Mary Cheney wasn't listening. It was a bit dicey.) Toward the tail-end of the parade, the anchors' commentary became goofier and goofier. As the cavalry groups on horseback passed in front of the bulletproof glass parade-viewing window (umm, can I get one of those added in my apartment?) that the Bush family watched from, Sam Donaldson and Hari began talking about how the president always made a point to give a special wave and thumbs-up to the guys whose job it was to walk a few paces behind the horses armed with shovels to pick up the poop. "That's the kinda thing you can only see on ABC News Now," Sam Donaldson said while Hari directed the cameras to zoom in on Bush's tumbs-up to the poop pick-up guys. "He's a man of the people," Sam said. "That's how he won the election." I suppose there's a lesson to be learned from this. I hope the future Democratic candidates and campaign strategists have taken note. My 5 favorite photos from the inauguration are: #5 Jenna gives the horns of rock (do you think I could get Jenna to come out to The Odeon for some Kostume Karaoke?) #4 Bush gives the horns of rock (like father, like daughter!) #3 Hmmm. Maybe Bush IS a marionette controlled by Satan? (that is, after all, what the Norwegians think. #2 Jenna yawns during the inauguration (too much partying the night before?) #1 Bush's limo gets pelted with a snowball (Sam and Bob also argued over whether or not the anti-Bush protestors were hurling snowballs at the President's motorcade. Sam was pretty certain that the projectiles being hurled were not snowballs. Looks like he was wrong.) posted by Jess Barron @ 8:33 PM 
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