The new president!

Man, the inauguration was great! I was going to do a big post on the night, but I am a total lightweight, and was actually relatively tipsy on the two glasses of champagne we had (Sad, but true), and I figure it's best not to drink and blog. They should have an ad campaign on it or something! Man, it was great though. This guy has hope, and I think that even more than be the president, I believe this man is capable of influencing the people on a personal level, to get people hoping again, to get us working with each other. He's just one of those public speakers so full of hope, you actually feel motivated to do what he says. Luckily, he has a good message, I guess! It's nice to not be ashamed of my nation anymore, for the first time in about 4 years, I actually got up and sang the National Anthem with my hand on my heart, it was quite moving! I believe in this guy. He is just so loveable with his giant smile and silly ears. And his silly dance moves. Check it out, someone compiled them together! http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=65I0HNvTDH4

Also, a list of fist pounds, the president's congratulatory method of choice.

Breaking the Pound Barrier 

Fists approach at a moderate speed and brake to the reduced velocity of a bullet in the Matrix at a distance of 8 inches. Continue the slow approach to a separation of 2 inches, at which time both participants make a "boom" or "whoosh" sound as the fists accelerate, collide, and recoil. The hands should open up in the recoil. 

Pound of Flesh 

This starts as a two-fisted pound with fists at shoulder height. After contact, the fists should remain in place as participants execute a manly chest bump. 

Pound of Music 

Begin with a regular right-hand pound, and lock right arms with the other participant. Spin clockwise 180 degrees (360 for added flare), then face each other pound left fists, join left arms and repeat counter-clockwise. Singing is mandatory, though the Austrian garb is optional. 

Poundcake 

Initiate a fist pound at mouth height. During contact, move your head close to the touching fists and pretend to take a big, sensuous bite out of them. 

Napoleon Bonapound 

Note: this requires each participant to be wearing a coat or jacket. Initiate a normal right-fist pound. Slide your hand into your coat and stare off triumphantly into the distance. 

Quarter Pounder 

Pound with one hand but only make contact with one knuckle. 

Quarter Pounder with Cheese 

Same as above, but bring your other hand above the Quarter Pounder to "sprinkle" the cheese. This should involve a light, whispering sound effect in conjunction with wiggling your fingers, perhaps lightly touching the other person's wiggling fingers. 

Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese 

Similar to above. Pound with both fists, making contact with only one knuckle on each, then use both hands to sprinkle the cheese, as described above, right over where your fists made contact. 

Lost & Pound 

Start with a right-fist pound, but miss by veering to the left. Follow it up by connecting with an assertive left-fist pound. 

Zounds of Pounds 

Start by rapidly pounding the other person's fists, alternating left and right. After a few seconds, say in a falsetto voice, "Zounds of Pounds!!!!!" and continue the rapid-fire pounding until someone gives up. 

Knights of the Pound Table 

Begin by executing a traditional right-handed pound. Upon release, bend your arm at the elbow and swing your forearm a little more than 90 degrees to your right. Swing back to the left as if striking swords together; make a clanking noise - "dink" or "clank". Now rotate your arm to the left, preparing to deliver a backhanded clash of the swords. Strike invisible swords again, making the appropriate noise. Conclude with a chivalrous right-hounded pound. 

The Perfect Pound 

Popularized by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire when they were still American heroes, the Perfect Pound endures as a favorite of the masses. You've probably seen it: one person pounds down as the other pounds upward, then switch positions for a second pound, and then finish with a horizontal engagement. This technique is a bit tricky, because there must be an implicit decision as to who starts on top. But if you can solve that problem with grace and without words, you will have the Perfect Pound. 

Mastur-pounding 

Who says you need a partner to pound? Make two fists and pound them vertically such that the first finger and thumb of the left fist make contact with the pinky of the right fist. Great for self-congratulatory moments, or if you've gone too long without a real pound. 

Pound Robin 

Requires three or more participants. The best Pound Robins begin with someone declaring "Pound Robin!", and everyone present must pound with everyone else. Sort of like "Cheers!", but with fists. However, technically, a Pound Robin is said to have taken place if every participant engages in a fist pound with every other participant, regardless of whether it was declared at the beginning. 

Pound Explode, aka Exploding Pound 

An American classic. Start with a regular fist pound, but upon contact, open your fist and quickly retract your hand. Sound effects appreciated. 

The Ticking Pound 

Start with a regular pound, and then retract fists slowly. As you retract, each person shakes his or her fist, and then after an appropriate period of shaking, explode as in a Pound Explode. 

The Reverb Pound 

Execute an Exploding Pound. After hands are open and apart, bring them back together and close into a pound. Retract fists. 

Pound of Goose 

Start a pound. Twist your fists and slide them along one another such that the backs of your hands are touching. As they are sliding along, open your fist and lock thumbs with the other participant. Flap your hands and fly away. 

(Not to be confused with the Pound Birdy, which involves the middle finger.) 

Pound of Dead Goose 

Combines the best elements of the Pound of Goose and the Exploding Pound. Execute a Pound of Goose, but before flying too far away, someone says "BOOM!" and destroys the bird. 

Pound & Lock 

Simple but elegant. Pound fists, twist them 90 degrees clockwise, and make a clicking noise. 

Pound of Silence 

Initiate a pound, but stop a few inches before contact and immediately walk away as if nothing happened. 

Kilogram Pound 

Perform a normal pound exactly 2.2 times. Most common pound performed outside of the US. 

British Pound 

Pound, then buff your knuckles on your waistcoat. 

The Pound and the Fury 

Start with an innocent enough pound, but proceed to scream incoherently until they put you away. 

# Pound 

Hold right arm up in front of you as if about to swing down a hammer. Cross left arm over right arm with wrist just above the right elbow. Partner arranges arms in same position except with left wrist placed just below the right wrist. The two of you together then make contact to make a # sign. Points of contact should be left elbow and right wrist for you, left elbow and right elbow for partner. 

Ex-Pound 

Pound normally, but narrate the entire exchange and pontificate on the origins of the pound to any present bystanders. 

Dog Pound 

Start with a pound, but as soon as you make contact, flop your tongue out of your mouth and begin rapidly stamping one foot on the floor uncontrollably. "Attaboy..." 

Genghis Pound 

Start with a normal enough pound, then slaughter the other participant. 

George W. Pound 

Lie to the Nation, then do a sweet 'Zounds of Pounds' with your boy Dick Cheney. 

The Pound 5 

One party holds out a fist as if to pound, and the other party, instead of pounding, slaps the fist a mid-5. The second party then reciprocates. 

This is the pound of the future. 

24 Pounds 

A pound performed with Teague Murphy, the precocious 1 year-old pound master of Williamstown, Massachusetts. The name comes from Teague's present weight (that's a lot of poundage per pound!). Some people have suggested that "24 Pounds" could also be known as "Pound of Baby". 

The Ezra Pound 

Execute an exploding pound while reciting Pound's poem "Salutation." 

If a tree falls in the woods and no one's there to hear it, does it make a pound?

Go into a forest and pound a small tree until it falls over. 

Pound of Tea

Begin as if for a normal right handed pound, but lift your pinky fingers and pound with the remaining three fingers, with a similar configuration to a proper teacup-grip. 

Pound Check

Execute a normal pound, but at first contact, say "testing" and tap fists rhythmically while one person says "one...two...three." Repeat as necessary, adjusting volume.

History in the Making!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZCrIeRkMhA


 OBAMA: Hello, Chicago. 


If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. 



It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference. 


It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

OBAMA: We are, and always will be, the United States of America. 



It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. 


It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America. 


It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. 


It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.



A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. 


Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. 


I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead. 


OBAMA: I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton... 



... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. 



And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years... 


... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady... 



... Michelle Obama. 


Sasha and Malia... 


... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us... 


... to the new White House. 


And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure. 


To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them. 


OBAMA: And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe... 


OBAMA: ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America. 



To my chief strategist David Axelrod... 



... who's been a partner with me every step of the way. 


To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics... 



... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. 


But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you. 

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. 


It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy... 



... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep. 


It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth. 


This is your victory. 


OBAMA: And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me. 


You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. 


Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. 


There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education. 

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. 


The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. 


I promise you, we as a people will get there. 


AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can! 


OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem. 


But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. 


What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. 

OBAMA: This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. 


It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. 


So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. 


Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. 


In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. 


Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity. 


Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. 


As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. 

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too. 

OBAMA: And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. 

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. (APPLAUSE) 


That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. 


This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. 

OBAMA: She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. 


AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. 


AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can. 


AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. 


And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. 


Yes we can. 


AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? 


This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. 


This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. 


Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. 


END

So hey! Holy Crap! Obama got in! Whaddya know? His entire campaign seemed to be about hope, change, and well, it almost sound like he had Morgan Freeman as his political advisor! I really, really hope that he can follow through, and I belive he will!

I would do something longer, but it's 7:38 in the morning, and I've got school soon! It think it's saying something about me and my gereration that I ran straight to the computer after watching his acceptance speech to announce it on bebo, and then do a blog about it! Haha! That's really weird, come to think of it. I guess I'll always remember where I was when Obama was elected president. Asleep in my bed.

My mom came in and woke me up with the news "Obama got elected! Get up quick, or you'll miss his acceptance speech!" And what a speech! I only got the latter half of it

As long as he doesn't pull a Broodax,
We should be just fine!

I believe Obama is going to change America, and that perhaps someday the title of "American" will not be met with scowls and anger, but admiration instead. America has been deeply, deeply tarnished during and by the Bush Administration, and I believe that Obama is the guy that can, and hopefully will, be able to polish us back to a shine worthy of the ideals worth knowing about America.

He won by a landslide vote, something like 346 to 183 or something like that!

Just keep him away from clowns
And fire.