Dancing in the Street
Walked home last tonight after a joyful election party in the West Village, NYC--good crowd, wonderful friends, incredible victory. Felt a bit melancholy, in the way you do after achieving something for which you have striven for so long. It's my birthday. November 5th. Marvelous birthday gift from the American voters. 37. Strange age to be. People shout gleefully on sidewalks. Cars honk happily on streets. High fives with strangers. Arrive at St. Marks Place in the East Village. Crowd on the corner. Cheering. Stand on a pay phone, take photos. Walk down St. Marks, winding through the crowd. Hapless cops make bullhorn shouts. Useless. People crowd the street, shouting and cheering. Mostly young. Some old. Cabs are trapped, honking, some with joy, some with frustration. Cops try to make way for traffic. Useless. Speak to a man who was arrested then freed, after shouts from the crowd. Cops yield, block off the street for celebration. Someone blasts music. From an apartment? Queen. We Are the Champions. People dance in the street. People dance on the fire escapes. American flags wave. Young men clamber onto cars, wave hands and flags. Crowd chanting: O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! Crowd singing: O say can you see... Speak to strangers. Dance. Cheer. Take more photos. Watch crowd. Feel alive.
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Cross posted at dagblog.com, where the party never stops.
Summer of Love has been replaced.
"Dancing in the Street." Martha and the Vandellas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvITn5cAVc
November 5, 2008 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Tom. This post needed a soundtrack. I added the video to the post, along with the hysterically bad Bowie-Jagger video.
November 5, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for sharing G. It was quiet out here in the boonies, but it resonated nonetheless. ;)
November 5, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh yea - Happy Birthday also! ;)
November 5, 2008 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday!
November 5, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great pics. Thanks for posting.
Stupidly, I did not think to bring my camera w/ me, but the scene here in DC was similar.
Some good video here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/11/05/VI2008110500629.html
With about 93% of the vote, he is quite a popular fellow 'round these parts.
November 5, 2008 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know why it didn't occur to me to use my camera's video mode. Probably wouldn't have come out well in any case.
November 5, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
What a memorable birthday! Happy Day!
November 5, 2008 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday dude. Brutal birth date to have though. Every four years, you get people in complete despair or complete elation. Oh well. Free drinks either way, eh?
But this one, what a great one.
November 5, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Forgive me for being so anally-retentive, but it is what I do best...
The election is pegged to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, not the date of Nov 4th.
I leave it as an exercise to the gentle readers to compute how often the appointed Tuesday coincides with a 4-year election cycle to result in the described confluence w/ G's B-day.
November 5, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Like I tell all my friends, I'm great on numbers... 'til you put them on a calendar. I can't tell you what date it is, day of the week, month, hell, even the year and the decade seem to slip off my noodle and into the soup. Now if you want baseball or hockey stats from about 1967 on..... ;-)
But I'm sure some kind soul will come along & tell Genghis precisely how many more times he's going to have to live through the conjunction!
November 5, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Awesome moment - awesome pics. Somewhere a blinking shirt rests in peace with the satisfaction it was sacrificed for the greater good.
Happy birthday :)
November 5, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes.
November 5, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday, G! Thanks for all of the great posts!
November 5, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy birthday.
It was bedlam in the streets of Brooklyn as well. Vanderbilt Ave (where I live, don't come looking) was a mob scene of crowds cheering, dancing, cars honking horns, cops blaring sirens (in celebration, not, as I originally suspected, top begin the counterrevolution), all continuing on until 3-4 am. Just walking down the street, I was high fived by strangers of many different races, backgrounds, classes. Even the sports bar across the street that seems to attract a Staten Island transplant crowd was filled to the gills with giddy, screaming Obamanauts.
All of which left me inspired... even touched. I think I underestimated how much this means. So it's sweet.
Now the real work begins.
November 5, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Love. I'm diggin' the sign "No Standing Anytime" in the midst of celebration. Thanks for the spirit uplift. Peace.
November 5, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday! 37 is a prime number. They get fewer and fewer as you grow older. Enjoy it!
November 5, 2008 2:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Ghengis. This is great.
November 5, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy B-day, G-man.
November 5, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GHENGIS. What a fine, fine day it is.
November 5, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy birthday, ☠enghis! Love the Martha & the Vandellas vid. I wish I knew how to edit video. I'd love to set that song to footage of the celebrations from last night. What an amazing night/year/election/time to be alive.
November 5, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy 37th, ☠enghis! Melancholy goes with the territory of living in New York. No big thing.
Cheers.
November 5, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
twas the night of Guy Fawkes....
Happy Birthday, Dr ☠enghis.
Nice picts. I too was dancing in the streets last night. I hope you did too! :)
November 5, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Many thanks, everyone. I wrote this post as a personal reflection--this birthday of mine has become intimately bound to this election of ours--and as a way to share the photos of what was an incredible scene last night. I'm surprised and pleased by all the birthday wishes. When I first started arguing with people in the Election Central threads last fall, I had no idea how much the Cafe would become a part of my life and how well I would come to know folks with bizarre screen-names I could barely keep straight.
Wow, this sounds like a valedictory address. It's not, though if I can stand it, I plan to take a little time off form politics once this wild week winds down. But expressions of appreciation need not be reserved for farewells, and so: I appreciate having to gotten to know so many of you, and look forward to sharing more time with you in the future. Thank you all.
PS Warm welcome to new member McBay, a close friend of mine and TPM addict who didn't realize that I'd been blogging here until recently. Watch out for her; she's ferocious.
November 5, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy birthday, Genghis.
Last night, I was too tired to do much of anything except collapse after his speech. But today, I've been walking around all day with a stupid grin on my face.
November 5, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's aliiiiiiiiiiiiive!
Congrats, Orlando. I hope that "McCain will take all your corn" line helped bring Indiana home. ;-)
Well done!
November 5, 2008 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, we discarded that idea and went with "McCain: Foe to cagers everywhere." It kept the margins down in the small towns.
November 5, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Were you wearing Mic's ewwww green shirt? inquiring minds wanna know... ;)
November 5, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy birthday, Genghis!
Thanks for making TPM worth coming back to.
November 5, 2008 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday!
November 5, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy Birthday, ☠enghis!
November 5, 2008 7:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now THIS is what I call a truly USEFUL blog! (I accept you previous criticism).
My daughter is living in New York trying to make it in the fashion world while burning the candle at both ends, going to New Blue and meeting every musician (especially drummers). She told me about the same phenomenon you described. She was at a restaurant, monitoring things on her iphone, but suddenly someone stood up and screamed that "Barack is President!"
People stood up and hugged each other; then they went outside and traffic stopped while people jumped out of their cars and hugged strangers. Later they went to a nightclub with a tv. She said there was not a word spoken during Obama's speech, which is unheard of in nightclubbery.
This momentum of good will and hope can turn things around. Although Bush or McCain couldn't have delivered the same speech, they often touted the same goals. The difference is they never meant it.
I fervently believe that Barack Hussain Obama really means it! I am ready to do what he asks; I am ready to sacrifice personally; I will send him the equivalent of what I donated to his campaign to decrease the deficit! I'll babysit his kids! Hell, I'll even clean up after his new puppy!
This is huge! I am so happy. Thanks, Genghis, for nailing the feelings of this event so well!
November 5, 2008 7:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
OH, BTW, Happy Birthday! My twins' birthday is tomorrow, and my daughter Lucy's BD is Saturday, so November birthdays always make me happy. (We in the Reproductive Medicine field realize what a boring month February's are......)
November 5, 2008 7:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're lucky to live in NYC. I wanted to dance in the streets, but it's kind of quiet out here in the suburbs.
I did love that video of Pennsylvania Ave, though!! Especially when they sing the Star Spangled Banner.
November 5, 2008 9:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
See what happened in this election Genghis. Tena and I are on the same page!! (friendly shot Tena :)). Happy Birthday G., and many, many more.
November 5, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Happy birthday, homie. Not a bad gift, indeed.
November 5, 2008 11:48 PM | Reply | Permalink