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Published: February 12th 2009
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I'm stunned. They actually let me out of school early so I can go watch the Inauguration Celebration. I'm on my way to London, now. First stop....
Madame Tussaud's
(
Madame Tussaud's Official Website)
In 1770's Paris, Madame Tussaud learned to sculpt wax likenesses of people and eventually became the art teacher of King Louis XVI's sister at the Palace of Versailles. She later came to the UK with a travelling exhibition. By 1835, Madame Tussaud's exhibition permanently joined London's Baker Street Bazaar. Shortly after, her works were moved to the current site on Marylebone Road. The venue houses numerous wax statues of celebrities, some of which look exactly like the person. (Some not so much.)
I walk around snapping pictures, but the place is packed today. I'd seen the article in the paper with the headline, "Madame Tussaud's Free for Yanks on 20 Jan." #1, I'm not a Yank! #2, Boo-yeah! I'm there! Normally, it costs like 25 pounds or something like that. Why is free for Americans?
Because the sculptors have just finished a Barack Obama statue. I can't wait to see it. I wander around the rooms, wishing I had someone to get excited with, because some
John Travolta & Samuel L. Jackson
(Samuel L. is from Tennessee, by the way.) of the statues were of really cool people! Finally, I see Obama, standing with his arms folded behind the desk in the Oval Office. He's got a laid-back stance and a big smile. I smile back at him.
"Miss?" a security guard says to me. "The queue starts over there."
I blink myself back to reality. "Queue? For what?"
"For a picture with the Obama statue, if you want one."
"Oh," I feel bummed. "How long is the wait?"
"About half an hour."
Forget it. I'll just take a picture from afar. People really enjoy posing for pictures with him. They sit beside him at the Oval Office desk, and they pick up the phone and pose like they're on an important call with the President right there. It cracks me up. I snap some photos, then turn to leave.
OK, wait, there's Nelson Mandela. I can't pass that up! 😊
Inauguration Party
I'd heard about a party in Islington at Carling Academy, so here I am. I've never been to this part of town before, but it's quite nice. The bar has a big projection screen with Sky TV showing
the ceremony live. I wish the British announcers would hush up, though. All the chairs are taken, and I don't want to stand the entire time, so I plop down on the floor. At first no one joins me, but eventually, people get tired of standing, so they sit down with me. At least sixty people are glued to the screen, watching with rapt attention. I sit beside another Tennessee girl, from Knoxville. And a girl from Washington DC. And a girl from Washington state.
My thoughts:
~Maya Angelou's poem for Clinton's inauguration,
On the Cusp of Morning, was better.
~We love Aretha's hat.
~Yo-yo Ma rules, and I
still wanna learn how to play cello. It's sexy.
~I don't like Rick Warren.
~Chief Justice John Roberts is a narrow-minded dumb-ass. And Bush is an even bigger dumb-ass for appointing him.
~I absolutely LOVE my new president!
Of course, we all cry. We all jeer, boo, and hiss everytime the camera shows Bush. When they film him leaving the White House, we are all waving and shouting, "Bye! Get the hell out!"
Even if Obama makes mistakes, which he will (he's human), I still love him. I
still trust him. I still believe he will always try to do the right thing.
I love him so much, right now I feel like I would take a bullet for him.
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John
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JP2 Rocks, Obama no. Mandella looks like Freeman.