A "Throwaway" Poll for You. . .

I was watching the Inaugural ceremonies this past Tuesday, and actually enjoyed most of the buildup and our new President's Inaugural Address. I'm happy to see some of the things he's done in just the first couple days in office that will start to reverse the damage done by the Bush Administration, and I wish him the best for our nation.

It's amusing that the news media has been taking certain elements of the program and picking them apart, though.

Last night, we found out that the musical number with Yo-Yo Ma and the rest of the gang was (gasp!) pre-recorded. It was still a beautiful selection, very nicely arranged, and performed well. I can understand that, due to the extreme cold, the instruments would probably not have kept in tune and the results could have been disastrous. I'm OK with that.

You gotta hand it to the folks that decided to attend and stand in that weather for a long period of time. I couldn't have done it.

The real amusing thing has been the "controversy" over The Hat, though. Aretha Franklin's grey bow hat with Swarovsky crystals. You couldn't forget it. Not that it wasn't interesting, it was! Not that it didn't go well with the rest of her outfit, it did! But the first words out of my mouth when I saw her come to the podium were, "oh, NO, she DIH-int wear that hat!" My sister, sitting with me, said, "oh yeah, she DID."

Seems that Ms. Franklin has a regular chapeau maker named Luke Soon, with whom she's had a long-term buying relationship. It's actually a combination of two hats that the Queen of Soul saw when she was shopping for her Inaugural duds. Apparently she wanted the bow from one hat and the cap from another combined, which, of course, Mr. Soon was only too happy to do. Ellen Degeneres wore a knockoff (apparently available for $178.00) the next day on her show, and, of course, CNN, Fox, and a few other tv networks had things to say about it.

So, here's the throwaway poll. You can see it in the sidebar. I realize there aren't enough choices to really give a chance to express an opinion, so, please make a comment if you wish as well.

New Stuff? I Need to Apologize

For all my fans, all three or four of you, I apologize for not having new postings up in the last week or so. There has been a family emergency and I've been out of town, not really having the time or energy to think of new things to post. I fully expect that I may have some new stuff at the beginning of next week, so please check back after January 26 and see if I've done so.