Obamicons & Inaugural Fashion

I have to admit that even I am a bit Obama'd out from yesterday.  It was a great day for many of us, but pretty darn exhausting.  I had planned to at least do the first part of this post for the inauguration yesterday, but then I got swept up in things and then got tuckered out... and I doubt many people were interested in blog stuff yesterday anyhow.

Sometime last week, I finally found a site that allowed you to "Obamify" (or Obamafy) a photo ala Shepard Fairey's iconic artwork for the Obama campaign.  I had really been wanting to do one of Rocky, since over the past year or so (and hopefully for many years to come!), we have nicknamed him Barocky Obama.  So I thought it would be cute if someone I could transform a picture of Rocky into one of those Hope posters.

And alas Paste Magazine (have to admit never heard of it before this) put up an Obamicon.Me site that pretty easily allowed you to upload a photo, play around with the 4 major colors through use of slider controls, and even put your own message below. 

I immediately created one for Rocky, but then I quickly became addicted and got my creative juices flowing and created some more.  There are really some great contributions on the site, so even if you don't want to create your own it is fun to go to the site and check out the Gallery and "Top Rated" entries... none of my creations made the list, though I think a couple of them deserved it... though with so many entries pouring in, I think only some of the earliest entries gained any traction.  Anyhow, here are the 6 Obamicons I created:

As you see, I definitely went with my own likes... and not with some of the obvious targets (i.e. George Bush and Sarah Palin were frequent targets).  On the top row, is our own Rocky (of course!) followed by two W&C regulars - my favorite tennis players, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.

With the bottom row, I tried to get a bit more creative.  I was surprised that I hadn't seen this one with Cher on the site... as I thought it was a pretty obvious quote line to go with "Believe" for her. 

Next up, is my most obscure but perhaps you remember my obsession fascination with Lisa Kudrow's character of Valerie Cherish in the short-lived HBO series "The Comeback."   I thought of 'ole Val many times over these past few days since I can not see Mary J Blije without thinking "Bilge" thanks to the show!

And finally, I was scouring for another thing to Obamify and for some reason there was a story on Alex Trebek -- so I that immediately made me want to put one of Obama's main campaign themes in the form of a question!

Ok, I should probably end that there... but I would not be doing my duty of perpetuating the stereotypes of a gay man without some comment on inaugural fashion.

First up, there is no possible way I can not address this (even Rahm Emanuel in background bokeh seems pretty amused):

As my beloved Paula Deen from the Food Network would say: Great time of day!  I am pretty sure I heard a collective gasp go up across the country as Aretha Franklin came forth to sing (or should I say... perform!) "My Country 'Tis of Thee."  Ok, sure the bow (just in case you hadn't noticed) could have been a half (or a quarter!) of its size and been just fine... but would we be talking about it today.  As Whitney Houston would say: Hell to the no!   So yeah, totally out-of-hand, but diva-liciuos!

And Aretha's fashion would have been the talk of the day had not Michelle Obama hit a couple of home-runs with her choices for the day...

While I have found the new First Lady to be a bit hit-or-miss (you may recall I was not a fan of the Grant Park outfit), I really had no doubt that she would be wearing something great for the swearing in... and I think she even exceeded my expectation with this number.  Now, I am not gay enough to remember the designer so I will cut-and-paste that it was a "Isabel Toledo lemongrass-yellow ensemble."  One quibble is that I was not a fan of the high/chest level bow, much preferred when she had not had that tied up earlier in the day.   Also, though her inaugural ball gown (again, cut and paste... "white, one-shouldered gown, covered in fabric petals and dotted with beads by 26-year-old Jason Wu") was another winner, though not to the degree of the first...

Now if the first rule of fashion etiquette is that you are not supposed to out-shine the bride, Second Lady Jill Biden (or should I say Doctor (!!) Jill Biden, she earned a Doctorate in Education) certainly followed the rules:

... so I was not a fan of either of her outfits.  Her swearing-in outfit just seemed to be to "Go-Go Girl" / 1960s "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'"-ish for me, which is not to say that it is not a fun look or that she didn't pull it off... but it just seemed a bit too "cute" for the occasion. I couldn't find a decent picture of the grey dress underneath the red coat, but on TV (during the Congressional lunch) it seemed pretty ho-hum... and if that one was a bit too high for my taste, her ball gown was a bit too low... so once again, I am pulling out my "age inappopriate" penalty card... think it could been improved with a couple of straps. 

Comments

[monette]

I was definitely "overhoped" by the end of yesterday, that it felt nice to switch American Idol on and learn that Obama does not have magic in his finger tips to solve the worlds problems in 30 seconds. I really like him, but I'm tired of waiting and ceremonies and want to see some action! The make-over of the White House website was a nice touch, though.

Haven't played with the Obamify Picture thing, but major props for Paste Magazine! It's one of my favorites! And by favorite, I mean I don't always read it when it comes in the mail but it comes with a free CD of music every month which I love! It's kind of an Indie-Pop/Rock/Acoustic music mag that reaches out a bit into pop culture.

[Dubi Kaufmann]

I made a (macs only) photo booth plugin that Obamafy users.
it is free and there is no need to sign up.

[Scot]

Did anybody notice that all the ads for the CBS monday night line-up were Obamafied?
And the Bamma-Bow? You gotta wonder if Aretrha Franklin surrounds herself with yes-people who tell her she looks good in everything. At least she didn't look like a parade float this time.