Inauguration Blues

Let's sing those Inauguration Blues!

It came and it went, we now have a President
Obama's his name, stumblin' oaths is his game

etc. etc.

All that colour, all the hope, the God-fearing joy in the streets, all that promise. It was quite a spectacle. But then I switched over from Friends and watched the Inauguration.

And now it's over. For some it was over as soon as they wheeled out the random poet after the oaths had been taken - 'yeah yeah, we've seen enough' - I loved the telling, professional wipe between camera shots, firstly on the poet looking whimsically down the Mall, lingering a moment before pouring from her heart the words she'd contemplated so proudly since she was asked to do the gig, and then the shot fades to the swarm of people walking in the other direction.

Who needs poetry in this day and age?

Or was the crowd's sudden urge to bolt away brought on by the President's compelling speech, the refuelled desire to get to work without delay, to fix the world as soon as possible?

My guess is that they were only there to see yer man taking office, and that once he did, they could go back to their lives on the understanding that he'll fix it all for them. Maybe I'm reading it wrong though. Maybe the world will act on his words and take responsibility for itself, and I genuinely hope it does.

Meantime however, I'll go back to singin' the blues, that old time favourite about the day the world crowned a new King, and whose first act wasn't to suspend trials in Guantanamo, no siree, but instead to chill out listening to his new Court Jesters and his podcast of choice.

Ah, the ol' Change You Can Believe In For the Love Of G...lasgow Song...

Obama, our Scottish Hero

It's been over a week now since I last hit the New Post button, following Alan's powerful, if slightly vampish, rant in the last show about the blog.

But I couldn't hold back any longer, given this momentous day in history, when Barack "Oh Dear God Alex Salmond I Know I Have Scottish Roots So Please Get Over It Because I'd Prefer To Ignore It And No I Will Not Be Attending Your Pathetic Invite To The Scottish Homecoming Dinner And Support Your Fight For Independence Because I Have More Important Things To Do Like Buy A New Dog And Run A Country" Obama is anointed as The Chosen One, The Saviour Of Us All in Washington D.C. later on today.

OK, so that was a whole load of unnecessary capital letters, but if you were to take a casual glance at every TV channel and website the world over, you'd come to understand pretty quickly that the anointing of The Chosen One has been touted as quite a big deal, big enough to push news to one side for yet another day.

Now here's a thing though - I didn't vote for the man, and I'll tell you why:

I'm Scottish.

If I wasn't Scottish however, and instead I was a True Citizen of the Americas, don't get me wrong - I'm sure I would have voted for the man. Whilst I remember the spin and subsequent illegality from the Bush and Blair Administrations, and the spin and jazzily ignored failures of the Clinton Administration, I've still a little hope left inside me that the concept of 'Change' being plastered like a father's promise on every billboard from Hollywood to Holyrood on the back of The Chosen One's election, will actually come to bear fruit all around the world.

It's just that, my gut feeling is that over the coming years, some folks might have to calm the beans about the whole thing, that, as has happened since public relation politics were first created, vomited painfully from the stomachs of weasel elitists, at some point all the shiny gloss we're desperately pawing at might begin to flake off bit by bit, exposing underneath the life we've actually been living.

Either way, arrabest big fulla - here's hoping your tenure will change us all for the better.

And hey, I think all this talk of change is already starting to have an effect on my life. Just this morning I was watching on the news the preparations for the inauguration, all those thousands of happy people descending on the Mall with sloganised fervour in their eyes, and I thought to myself, 'I wonder if Everybody Loves Raymond's on the other channel?'.

Change indeed.