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Rally to Resore Sanity and/or Fear
Oct. 30th, 2010 10:26 pmI will have to do a real write-up at some point, but I am completely dead right now. My feet are in agony even though I'm lying down (should have worn shoes with better support!) and I was feeling very woozy until I had a protein shake. But I concluded a hectic and incredibly social week with the Stewart/Colbert rally, and I'm so glad I was among the 250,000+ people there.
LIST FORMAT:
- I went with a few Embassy coworkers and we got ourselves a decent spot. I could see the stage if I jumped up and down, and I was able to see the TV screens most of the time. I almost lost my spot (and my friends) when I had to find a bathroom, but I got back to them despite some very pissed-off people who didn't want to let me past.
- The guest stars! OMG! I had several joy-related aneurysms: the first was, of course, when Adam and Jaime, aka the Mythbusters, showed up to warm up the crowd. The next one was when Sam Waterson aka JACK FREAKING MCCOY read Colbert's masterpiece poem about all the things we should be afraid of. And then when the poem concluded with the Law and Order CHUNG CHUNG, I shrieked. By the time the former Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) showed up, I was in heaven.
- All the different bits were great. Loved the crack about how there were "at least ten million" people there, Stephen's Chilean miners entrance, the epic debate with Fearzilla (and John Oliver's part was hysterical), and generally all of it.
- John and Stephen also presented the Reasonableness and Fear awards. Reasonableness awards went to people like a woman who was critical but extremely respectful to Obama at a town hall meeting, and the "And I was like, dude, you have no Koran" guy. Stephen's Fear awards went to Anderson Cooper's tiny black T-shirt of disaster and Mark Zuckerberg.
- I wouldn't say the crowd was equal parts liberal and conservative, but there was a mix for sure. And the humor was political but not partisan. I don't think Jon and Stephen made fun of any politicians: their key aim was to satirize the media for overblowing fears and exaggerating our differences, which, I think, is something almost everyone can agree on. Except the media.
- Jon's final speech was sincere and really lovely: I think he's right that a not-insignificant amount of regular people are willing to work together, and do so every day in their own ways. I hope that's something people take to heart. ♥
- Oh, by the way, best costume was four lovely ladies showing everyone what "Muslim garb" looked like: they were in Ninja Turtles outfits with matching hijab. It was freaking awesome.
In conclusion: dude, you have no Koran.
LIST FORMAT:
- I went with a few Embassy coworkers and we got ourselves a decent spot. I could see the stage if I jumped up and down, and I was able to see the TV screens most of the time. I almost lost my spot (and my friends) when I had to find a bathroom, but I got back to them despite some very pissed-off people who didn't want to let me past.
- The guest stars! OMG! I had several joy-related aneurysms: the first was, of course, when Adam and Jaime, aka the Mythbusters, showed up to warm up the crowd. The next one was when Sam Waterson aka JACK FREAKING MCCOY read Colbert's masterpiece poem about all the things we should be afraid of. And then when the poem concluded with the Law and Order CHUNG CHUNG, I shrieked. By the time the former Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) showed up, I was in heaven.
- All the different bits were great. Loved the crack about how there were "at least ten million" people there, Stephen's Chilean miners entrance, the epic debate with Fearzilla (and John Oliver's part was hysterical), and generally all of it.
- John and Stephen also presented the Reasonableness and Fear awards. Reasonableness awards went to people like a woman who was critical but extremely respectful to Obama at a town hall meeting, and the "And I was like, dude, you have no Koran" guy. Stephen's Fear awards went to Anderson Cooper's tiny black T-shirt of disaster and Mark Zuckerberg.
- I wouldn't say the crowd was equal parts liberal and conservative, but there was a mix for sure. And the humor was political but not partisan. I don't think Jon and Stephen made fun of any politicians: their key aim was to satirize the media for overblowing fears and exaggerating our differences, which, I think, is something almost everyone can agree on. Except the media.
- Jon's final speech was sincere and really lovely: I think he's right that a not-insignificant amount of regular people are willing to work together, and do so every day in their own ways. I hope that's something people take to heart. ♥
- Oh, by the way, best costume was four lovely ladies showing everyone what "Muslim garb" looked like: they were in Ninja Turtles outfits with matching hijab. It was freaking awesome.
In conclusion: dude, you have no Koran.
