If there is an emerging genetic underclass, I could run for class president or class clown. Read more in ![Fog at Isle Royale [Source: wildmengoneborneo.com]](../wp-content/uploads/2008/04/isle_royale_fog.jpg "Fog at Isle Royale [Source: wildmengoneborneo.com]")
"Brendan, this is what the world looks like all the time to me. Just a little fog. It’s a fine day for boating on the Great Lakes.” Without missing a stroke he turned to dart a skeptical glance at me. Brendan the Navigator. When we named him I didn’t tell his mother everything the legendary Irish name implied. But I imagined him taking on the role of navigator for me. Growing up with Coastal Survey charts and tales of Great Lakes shipwrecks, he came to know Superior as another home. He never doubted the wisdom of canoeing there with a father who was half blind. 
![Charlotte Casiraghi in a red dress. [Source: Stylophile]](../wp-content/uploads/2008/02/charlotte_casiraghi_red_dress.jpg "Charlotte Casiraghi in a red dress. [Source: Stylophile]")
When I figured out who Charlotte Casiraghi was, I realized that I once sent a poem to her mother. 
The legendary Kiki of Montparnasse posed for Man Ray’s 
![Eugène Delacroix. Liberty Leading the People. 1830. Louvre, Paris. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]]](../wp-content/uploads/2008/05/delacroix_liberty_1830_2.jpg "Eugène Delacroix. Liberty Leading the People. 1830. Louvre, Paris. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]]")
Stevie Wonder recognized companies that are making gadgets accessible for the blind at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. [Photo source: AP/NPR]
Call it the barrier de jour. From iPhones to airline ticket kiosks to toaster ovens, the inaccessibility of touchscreen displays is a familiar disconnect for blind people who love their consumer electronic [...]
Entries from January 2009
Stevie Wonder Lobbies For Accessible Touchscreens at CES
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January 29, 2023 at 12:43pm
by Mark Willis
accessibility Add Your Comment
In Paradise, A Prayer For More Snowmobilers
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January 28, 2023 at 10:06am
by Mark Willis
Ordained minister Edson Forrester presides over the Paradise, Michigan ’s annual snowmobile blessing . Edson burns cedar and tobacco, then spreads smoke over each vehicle, saying, “Creator, protect this snowmobile on its travels.” This year, people in Paradise say they’re adding an extra prayer for a better economy next year — and more snowmobilers. [Photo [...]
Imaging America · Lake Superior Add Your Comment
Bill Cunningham Documents A ‘Gospel Miracle’
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January 25, 2023 at 8:37am
by Mark Willis
He didn’t have a ticket to the Inauguration. He didn’t have an official assignment from the Times. Bill Cunningham just got on a train and went to Washington. He stayed on the street, where he had freedom to move and take it all in. At the moment Barack Obama put his hand on Lincoln’s [...]
#inaug09 · Bill Cunningham · fashionista Add Your Comment
Flaneur’s Gallery: Shepard Fairey
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January 25, 2023 at 6:25am
by Mark Willis
Street artist Shepard Fairey’s “Barack Obama/Hope” poster became an iconic image during the 2008 election. This week it was added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. He talked about it on Inauguration Day on the BBC’s The Strand. See also Obey Giant. [Image source: Wikipedia]]
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#inaug09 · Flaneur's Gallery · street art Add Your Comment
Aretha, Baby, Where Did You Get That Hat?
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January 24, 2023 at 5:58pm
by Mark Willis
Aretha Franklin was so cool at the Inauguration that everyone immediately forgot about the Rev. Rick Warner. How could a cheesy TV evangelist hold a anyone’s attention after the Queen of Soul walked on stage in that hat? Then she sang “My Country, Tis Of Thee” and blasted it into the stratosphere. She may not [...]
#inaug09 · fashionista · political theater Add Your Comment
Toronto Celebrates Barack Obama’s Inauguration
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January 22, 2023 at 7:43pm
by Mark Willis
This was the scene at the Bloor Cinema /The Annex in downtown Toronto when Democrats Abroad celebrated Barack Obama’s Inauguration. Ms. Modigliani tells me there also was an outdoor Jumbotron set up at Dundass Square. Here’s what it looked like there on Election night at Dundass Square:
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#inaug09 · Toronto · political theater Add Your Comment
President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration
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January 20, 2023 at 7:09pm
by Mark Willis
C-Span: President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address
See full text.
See Andy Carvin’s video for a crowd’s eye perspective.
See other #inaug09 content on this blog. See #inaug09 on Twitter.