“You don’t need to boo, you just need to vote!"
So earlier today there was an Obama rally at my school. And it was AMAZING. And I took photos.
Sort of.
See, I'm kind of a shit photographer and I was still getting used to my new digital camera. Not to mention it was at night and I was standing on the other side of the street from the rally.
But no matter. If you want to see high-quality images and video, there are plenty of news-sites. But if you want to see crappy amateur photos from someone who decided she didn't really want to stand in a massively huge long line (seriously, that thing was ASTOUNDING), this is the place.
First, some photos taken in the afternoon about twenty minutes before they told the random people milling about on the quad to please get lost:
People making stuff look all pretty and some guy doing a soundcheck:
Some other guy messing around with cameras:
More messing with flag things (and I have no idea who these people are. Random students I guess, but you can't really tell who they are so whatever):
People in line at night. It wrapped ALL THE WAY AROUND that building, down the street, far down the other way... I suppose the city rallies are worse but I thought it was pretty crazy:
Now, I for some reason decided to walk towards the rally rather than line up away from it. I then found a nice little place from which I could sort-of-not-really see it. To give you an idea of how far away I was, here's a little image I made with the help of Google Earth and PowerPoint:
Some random people who ended up standing in front of me a lot and generally blocking my view:
The people in the big mosh pit bouncing a ball around:
Meanwhile some of the people on our side of the street started climbing the tall pine trees. Not just sitting on the bottom few branches, oh no. Like, almost at the very top. They were there for a while, until the police spotted them and shone flashlights at them and shouted at them to get down.
Eventually people started talking. Boring people like the State Auditor. I have no idea what that is. They also brought some people on to sing, and for some reason the people around me asked me if I knew who was singing. Which I didn't, for the obvious reason of I CAN'T SEE THEM.
And then, around the time Jay Nixon spoke, THIS HAPPENED:
Can you see that? It's ridiculous.
Maybe this'll give you a better idea:
THAT IS A BUS. THERE WERE TWO OF THEM, AND THEY PARKED THEM RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.
This set off a rather loud chant of "MOVE-THE-BUS!" which would taper off after about thirty seconds and then start up again around a minute or so later. And we even commented to the speakers (not like they could actually hear us or anything).
"ARE YOU READY?"
"NO! MOVE THE BUS!"
"IT IS TIME! TIME FOR..." *DRAMATIC PAUSE*
"MOVE THE FUCKING BUS!!!"
"IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, YOU'LL SEE BARACK OBAMA STANDING HERE."
"NO WE WON'T! MOVE THE BUS! MOVE THE BUS!"
etc.
Eventually, though, the Secret Service got involved and moved the buses. I don't have a picture of that because the guy in front of me moved in front of the camera. :(
So the buses were gone. That means I can see, right?
Nope.
I have no idea who that guy in blue is.
But I did manage to get some shots of Obama. (He's standing in front of the E.)
Not bad, right?
Well, to be perfectly honest, they aren't my photos. The nice Irish man standing next to me said he could see Obama and offered to take a couple shots.
So the only photos I have of Obama are credited to him.
All in all, it was an awesome night. And I'm probably going to fail my government exam tomorrow because I haven't studied, but I don't care. It was well worth it.
And apparently I was situated in the Diversity Section. There were College Boys (probably fratboys but I don't want to generalise) in front of me. To my right was the lovely and helpful Irish man. Behind me were a pair of Chinese girls who apparently have been in this country for only three years. They talked in Chinese to each other. And to my left were an "All-American" grandparent-y couple, maybe in their 60s. And then me.
Awesome.
Sort of.
See, I'm kind of a shit photographer and I was still getting used to my new digital camera. Not to mention it was at night and I was standing on the other side of the street from the rally.
But no matter. If you want to see high-quality images and video, there are plenty of news-sites. But if you want to see crappy amateur photos from someone who decided she didn't really want to stand in a massively huge long line (seriously, that thing was ASTOUNDING), this is the place.
First, some photos taken in the afternoon about twenty minutes before they told the random people milling about on the quad to please get lost:
People making stuff look all pretty and some guy doing a soundcheck:
Some other guy messing around with cameras:
More messing with flag things (and I have no idea who these people are. Random students I guess, but you can't really tell who they are so whatever):
People in line at night. It wrapped ALL THE WAY AROUND that building, down the street, far down the other way... I suppose the city rallies are worse but I thought it was pretty crazy:
Now, I for some reason decided to walk towards the rally rather than line up away from it. I then found a nice little place from which I could sort-of-not-really see it. To give you an idea of how far away I was, here's a little image I made with the help of Google Earth and PowerPoint:
Some random people who ended up standing in front of me a lot and generally blocking my view:
The people in the big mosh pit bouncing a ball around:
Meanwhile some of the people on our side of the street started climbing the tall pine trees. Not just sitting on the bottom few branches, oh no. Like, almost at the very top. They were there for a while, until the police spotted them and shone flashlights at them and shouted at them to get down.
Eventually people started talking. Boring people like the State Auditor. I have no idea what that is. They also brought some people on to sing, and for some reason the people around me asked me if I knew who was singing. Which I didn't, for the obvious reason of I CAN'T SEE THEM.
And then, around the time Jay Nixon spoke, THIS HAPPENED:
Can you see that? It's ridiculous.
Maybe this'll give you a better idea:
THAT IS A BUS. THERE WERE TWO OF THEM, AND THEY PARKED THEM RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.
This set off a rather loud chant of "MOVE-THE-BUS!" which would taper off after about thirty seconds and then start up again around a minute or so later. And we even commented to the speakers (not like they could actually hear us or anything).
"ARE YOU READY?"
"NO! MOVE THE BUS!"
"IT IS TIME! TIME FOR..." *DRAMATIC PAUSE*
"MOVE THE FUCKING BUS!!!"
"IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, YOU'LL SEE BARACK OBAMA STANDING HERE."
"NO WE WON'T! MOVE THE BUS! MOVE THE BUS!"
etc.
Eventually, though, the Secret Service got involved and moved the buses. I don't have a picture of that because the guy in front of me moved in front of the camera. :(
So the buses were gone. That means I can see, right?
Nope.
I have no idea who that guy in blue is.
But I did manage to get some shots of Obama. (He's standing in front of the E.)
Not bad, right?
Well, to be perfectly honest, they aren't my photos. The nice Irish man standing next to me said he could see Obama and offered to take a couple shots.
So the only photos I have of Obama are credited to him.
All in all, it was an awesome night. And I'm probably going to fail my government exam tomorrow because I haven't studied, but I don't care. It was well worth it.
And apparently I was situated in the Diversity Section. There were College Boys (probably fratboys but I don't want to generalise) in front of me. To my right was the lovely and helpful Irish man. Behind me were a pair of Chinese girls who apparently have been in this country for only three years. They talked in Chinese to each other. And to my left were an "All-American" grandparent-y couple, maybe in their 60s. And then me.
Awesome.