Issue 31: Entertainment

Featured Response: Alex Zalben || Writer, Nerve.com

Alex Zalben

Hopefully the inauguration means that after eight years of favoring war instead of art, we’re heading in the other direction. At the very least, we know that Obama is a geek: he reads comic books; he just bought his kids a Nintendo Wii; and he’s already arranged a weekly LARP session in the Rose Garden (kidding). Certainly, it seems that his administration has more appreciation for the arts, and I think a lot of artists and entertainers will feel emboldened to do more quality work. We’ve been seeing the dumbing down of American entertainment for the past eight years, and I’d guess that it’s about to head in the other direction. The flip side of the coin is that we’re in a recession, and that’s not going to change in four years (Obama has said as much). This means that people have less money to spend in general…but tend to spend more money on cheap entertainment. As a result things like comedy shows, comic books, movies, and web shows are going to thrive. But most of all, this is the year we’ll all switch over to the metric system, Linux will overtake PCs, and rainbows will bring an adorable puppy to every child in America.

Alex Zalben is a freelance writer living in New York City. He is a member of the sketch comedy group Elephant Larry, a host of the weekly talk show Comic Book Club, and writes for Nerve.com and AMCTV.com.

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44 Issues in 44 Days

Explore and respond to the issues that matter to you.

# 35: Diplomacy

Featured Response: Eric Martin || American Footprints

# 37: Interior Design

Featured Response: Lana Burroughs || Topsy Turvy Style

# 31: Entertainment

Featured Response: Alex Zalben || Nerve.com

# 20: Rural America

Featured Response: Brian Dabson || Rural Policy Research Institute

# 24: Gun Control

Featured Response: David B. Kopel || Independence Institute

# 40: Women

Featured Response: Jina Bolton || Sushi & Robots

Inaugural Insight

  • The inauguration for the first U.S. president, George Washington, was held on April 30, 1789 in New York City.
  • Should January 20 be a Sunday, the President is usually administered the oath of office in a private ceremony on that day, followed by a public ceremony the following day.
  • Immediately following the oath, the bands play four ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief", followed by a 21-gun salute from howitzers of the Presidential Salute Battery.
  • The inaugural celebrations usually last ten days, from five days before the inauguration to five days after.
  • Since Thomas Jefferson's second inaugural on March 4, 1805, it has become tradition for the president to parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
  • According to tradition, in the first inaugural, President Washington added the words "so help me God" when reciting the oath, although there is no contemporary evidence of this.
  • In 1977, Jimmy Carter started a new tradition by walking from the Capitol to the White House, although subsequent presidents have only walked part of the way for security reasons.
  • The War of 1812 and World War II forced two swearing-ins to be held at other locations in Washington, D.C.
  • The new President assumes power at noon on January 20th, regardless of whether or not he has actually taken the oath of office.
  • There is no requirement that any book, or in particular a book of sacred text, be used to administer the oath, and none is mentioned in the Constitution.

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