Back from the Sanity Rally

We got back last night from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in DC. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I've had in a very long time. The crowd was immense: they had 5 rows of jumbotrons, each row spaced almost a football-field's width from each other, progressing farther and farther away from the stage. We showed up 2.5 hours early, and ended up 4 jumbotrons back from the stage. There was no chance of seeing anything on the stage directly. With a 400mm telephoto I could just barely make out figures on the stage. Folks that showed up less than a couple of hours early were so far away, seeing even a jumbotron was unlikely. But for all the size of the crowd, everyone was incredibly reasonable.

The show that Stewart and Colbert put on was totally wonderful. Lots of really good bits: the benediction by Father Guido Sarducci; the singing duel between Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) singing Peace Train and Ozzy Osborne singing Crazy Train - finally reconciled by the O'Jays singing Love Train; and Stewart's heartfelt monologue were at the top of my list. But it was all good.

I took a whole lot of pictures, but not many worked out. When you're in the middle of such a huge crowd, there's no way to get a real perspective on the crowd, and we were so far back that even with a 400mm lens, figures on stage were just blobs.

And folks everywhere had great posters

November 1, 2010