The presidential inauguration allowed for the consumption of food and drink to be mythicized, following Barthes’ notion of inoculation. The consumption of food and drink as a ritual is a comparatively fleeting experience in the realm of of the inauguration itself. However, judging by the amount of food and drink that was consumed throughout inauguration, we can say that not too many people resisted to the idea. Food became part of the culture, part of the experience and inoculation from any counter-logic allowed for the masses to justify out of the ordinary spending habits and commemorative purchases in way that was largely unquestioned.
Examples:
1.) PEPSI PRODUCTS: The Pepsi company has so obviously manipulated their logo to look like that of the Obama campaign (the “faux-bama” logo). Also, the company has gone so far as to put the Obama campaign slogans and put them on pins, replacing all of the “o’s” with their "faux-bama" logo. If you couldn't read, you'd probably think that the can was made by Obama himself.
2.) FIXED PRICE MENUS: $44 dollar three course menus and $44 bottles of wine in honor of our 44th president. In this instance, the swipe of a credit card is the end of your patriotic experience.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Jen Gilmour on Al Jazeera
I had the honor of being asked by the Al Jazeera Washington Bureau to document my inauguration day in the form of a video diary. They provided the camera and I provided the footage. I had to return the camera and they edited it down (a lot) and put it on youtube. The following is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny_DnAjLJ1c&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Inaugural Food and Drink
To all of you who bought food at the presidential inauguration ceremonies...maybe you can find some solace in this blog posting. No, you’re definitely not the only one who forgot to bring money to the cash-only bar, and hey, don’t sweat it, that family of five standing in front of you in line was ALSO forced to buy $7 hot dogs, just like you, since THERE WAS NO OTHER FOOD OPTION ON THE MALL. Ahem.
Then, of course, there were the Pepsi vendors. Lucky for them, their red, white and blue circular logo just happened to look strikingly similar to that of the Obama campaign- and mind you, they shamelessly promoted it that way. Nowadays Pepsi cans are a solid blue with a single, popping "faux-bama" logo- leading your average Joe to actually believe that he is to some extent investing in a piece of history, or at least showing his patriotism, every time he buys a pepsi can. But then again, maybe $3 for a pepsi can SHOULD allow you to feel that way….
If that wasn’t enough, here, have a handful of tiny Pepsi pins. No, really, they’re free, have them. They read with things like “HOPE” and “JOY”, both words having the O’s replaced, again, with the faux-bama symbol. My favorite was the pin that read, “YES YOU CAN.” Again, we have replaced the “O” in “YOU” and we have the oh so clever play on words with the double-meaning of “CAN.” That is, “You CAN better yourself with a democratic vote” or “you CAN enjoy this historic occasion with a historic pepsi drink.” Keep in mind, folks, I too drank a pepsi, and I too have a handful of tiny pins still in my coat pocket. I bought into it too- I just hate myself for it.
So while I, and literally millions of others were eating such nutritious and delicious fare on the mall, let’s take a look at what Obama and his esteemed guests were feasting on.
The inauguration lunch menu provided by the Inaugural Committee was as follows: A first course of seafood stew, a second course which consisted of an assortment of American birds (pheasant and duck) served with sour cherry chutney and molasses sweet potatoes, and finally a third course of cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glace.
According to Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Inaugural Committee, the “Luncheon” tab was the most-visited part of the inauguration’s website. In fact, that was how she introduced the meal. It was as if to say, “what you’re about to eat, ladies and gentlemen, has people drooling across our fine nation- so enjoy it.”
I could probably find enough research to go on forever about the similarities between the menus of Obama and Lincoln, however I would like to think that what was more significant about this occasion were the menus and Obama specials that our new President did not get to try, or even knew existed for that matter.
Tim Carman of the Washington City Paper put it well, saying, “ in one way or another, many of the areas restaurants are plundering Obama’s background, or his place in history, for inauguration day promotions.”
One restaurant promotion which I found particularly smug was a large smattering of restaurants who were offering $44 three course meals to go along with a $44 bottle of wine to honor our nation’s 44th president. Ridiculous. Don’t trick me into being patriotic, thank you. I bought a $10 bottle of wine yesterday and not only was it delicious, but I am also still just as much of an American for having drank it.
If we follow this equation, my calculations tell me that in my lifetime (well say it’s about 80 years (from drinking all that cheap wine, naturally)) then it is conceivable that I could be paying $54 dollars for a meal in celebration of our 54th president. Can’t wait!
I personally took a more affordable approach on the day of inauguration and I took part in a $20 flat rate, all-day celebration at Bohemian Caverns on U Street. Now, for those of you who don’t know, Bohemian Caverns is “the sole home of soul jazz” according to their website. What drew me to their celebration was not the electronica Gospel DJ at DC 9 or the “Barack Bock” at the District Chophouse and Brewery, but it was Bohemian Cavern’s $4 forty ounces of malt liquor special.
I had previously known this establishment to be one of those reserved, candles on the tables, cuddling-couples-places where you go to enjoy soft jazz and sip on that wine ever so slowly. However last night they were offering malt liquor, balloon animals, baked goods and grilled food items. All this, in lights of our first black president- am I the only one who thinks this to be racist or somehow misinformed? Why was this bar, given its usual, more reserved reputation, making this their special on inauguration night? Who was going to be there and why?
I know that I could be treading on thin ice here and I hope that I am not making something out of nothing, but I thought it was cheap. People were loud, drunk, and predominantly white, in fact strikingly so. I’m just not so sure that Obama would like to see his nation’s white youth celebrating his inauguration with forties in hand. This is supposed the “home of soul”, right? Was this the right way to go about celebrating inauguration....well, I'm just not so sure.
Here are a few pictures that I would like to share from last night:
Obama Cupcake!
They were free and plenty...
This is entitled, "A Sociologist's Field Day"
Notice the banner from their proud sponsors, the racial composition of the crowd, and of course, the balloon animal hats.
Then, of course, there were the Pepsi vendors. Lucky for them, their red, white and blue circular logo just happened to look strikingly similar to that of the Obama campaign- and mind you, they shamelessly promoted it that way. Nowadays Pepsi cans are a solid blue with a single, popping "faux-bama" logo- leading your average Joe to actually believe that he is to some extent investing in a piece of history, or at least showing his patriotism, every time he buys a pepsi can. But then again, maybe $3 for a pepsi can SHOULD allow you to feel that way….
If that wasn’t enough, here, have a handful of tiny Pepsi pins. No, really, they’re free, have them. They read with things like “HOPE” and “JOY”, both words having the O’s replaced, again, with the faux-bama symbol. My favorite was the pin that read, “YES YOU CAN.” Again, we have replaced the “O” in “YOU” and we have the oh so clever play on words with the double-meaning of “CAN.” That is, “You CAN better yourself with a democratic vote” or “you CAN enjoy this historic occasion with a historic pepsi drink.” Keep in mind, folks, I too drank a pepsi, and I too have a handful of tiny pins still in my coat pocket. I bought into it too- I just hate myself for it.
So while I, and literally millions of others were eating such nutritious and delicious fare on the mall, let’s take a look at what Obama and his esteemed guests were feasting on.
The inauguration lunch menu provided by the Inaugural Committee was as follows: A first course of seafood stew, a second course which consisted of an assortment of American birds (pheasant and duck) served with sour cherry chutney and molasses sweet potatoes, and finally a third course of cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glace.
According to Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Inaugural Committee, the “Luncheon” tab was the most-visited part of the inauguration’s website. In fact, that was how she introduced the meal. It was as if to say, “what you’re about to eat, ladies and gentlemen, has people drooling across our fine nation- so enjoy it.”
I could probably find enough research to go on forever about the similarities between the menus of Obama and Lincoln, however I would like to think that what was more significant about this occasion were the menus and Obama specials that our new President did not get to try, or even knew existed for that matter.
Tim Carman of the Washington City Paper put it well, saying, “ in one way or another, many of the areas restaurants are plundering Obama’s background, or his place in history, for inauguration day promotions.”
One restaurant promotion which I found particularly smug was a large smattering of restaurants who were offering $44 three course meals to go along with a $44 bottle of wine to honor our nation’s 44th president. Ridiculous. Don’t trick me into being patriotic, thank you. I bought a $10 bottle of wine yesterday and not only was it delicious, but I am also still just as much of an American for having drank it.
If we follow this equation, my calculations tell me that in my lifetime (well say it’s about 80 years (from drinking all that cheap wine, naturally)) then it is conceivable that I could be paying $54 dollars for a meal in celebration of our 54th president. Can’t wait!
I personally took a more affordable approach on the day of inauguration and I took part in a $20 flat rate, all-day celebration at Bohemian Caverns on U Street. Now, for those of you who don’t know, Bohemian Caverns is “the sole home of soul jazz” according to their website. What drew me to their celebration was not the electronica Gospel DJ at DC 9 or the “Barack Bock” at the District Chophouse and Brewery, but it was Bohemian Cavern’s $4 forty ounces of malt liquor special.
I had previously known this establishment to be one of those reserved, candles on the tables, cuddling-couples-places where you go to enjoy soft jazz and sip on that wine ever so slowly. However last night they were offering malt liquor, balloon animals, baked goods and grilled food items. All this, in lights of our first black president- am I the only one who thinks this to be racist or somehow misinformed? Why was this bar, given its usual, more reserved reputation, making this their special on inauguration night? Who was going to be there and why?
I know that I could be treading on thin ice here and I hope that I am not making something out of nothing, but I thought it was cheap. People were loud, drunk, and predominantly white, in fact strikingly so. I’m just not so sure that Obama would like to see his nation’s white youth celebrating his inauguration with forties in hand. This is supposed the “home of soul”, right? Was this the right way to go about celebrating inauguration....well, I'm just not so sure.
Here are a few pictures that I would like to share from last night:
Obama Cupcake!They were free and plenty...
This is entitled, "A Sociologist's Field Day"Notice the banner from their proud sponsors, the racial composition of the crowd, and of course, the balloon animal hats.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
"It may be 27 degrees, but I'm feeling the warmth"
Well it's inauguration day- finally. My face is wind burnt, my toes are frozen but I have never been more proud to be an American.
This is just an initial post, and I will definitely be writing more on this topic in the days to come, however I thought I would take this opportunity just to post a link of what I did this weekend....before I go out and continue to celebrate.
Some of you may be familiar with Landline TV. It's a New York based production company that makes viral internet comedy videos, using ideas from blogger submissions. Anyways, I was asked as a part of my comedy group (GW's receSs) to be a part of a video that they were shooting this weekend on our national mall.
The gist is that we are a group of kids who mistake inauguration weekend for a huge music festival, and we are convinced that Obama is a musical artist. Remember, it's a comedy video so please don't take offense.
Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xfx2zhdf8U&eurl=http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard
stay tuned.
This is just an initial post, and I will definitely be writing more on this topic in the days to come, however I thought I would take this opportunity just to post a link of what I did this weekend....before I go out and continue to celebrate.
Some of you may be familiar with Landline TV. It's a New York based production company that makes viral internet comedy videos, using ideas from blogger submissions. Anyways, I was asked as a part of my comedy group (GW's receSs) to be a part of a video that they were shooting this weekend on our national mall.
The gist is that we are a group of kids who mistake inauguration weekend for a huge music festival, and we are convinced that Obama is a musical artist. Remember, it's a comedy video so please don't take offense.
Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xfx2zhdf8U&eurl=http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard
stay tuned.
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