6 July 2013

Week 1, part three, 4th of July (continued)


 
After the Parade which ran from mid-morning until mid-afternoon, we grabbed lunch, came back to where I'm living for a few hours out of the sun, and then headed to the Capitol building, specifically, to the West lawn where we knew the annual concert and firework display would be taking place.
 
 We left hours early because we knew it'd be insane, and we also spent an hour passing through security check points.Whilst we were in the queue (or LINE, because Americans don't seem to understand the work queue) they test-fired the cannons on the Hill. Luckily they warned us beforehand, because it was like standing next to a industrial-sized firework, the air seemed to vibrate, and given the current anxiety over terror attacks it would have been enough to have me leaping over fences and running for the exit, had I not already known it was going to happen.
 
I should mention that before we went out again, we watched an event of epic proportions on the television. It was the annual hot dog eating competition, held on Coney Island, New York. What amazed me was not just the amount of food consumed (the winner ate 69 hotdogs in 10 minutes, including the buns and everything) but the amount of coverage it got. Wimbledon, by contrast, was a sidenote, displayed in a tiny bar at the bottom of the screen, right under where the "dogs per minute" rate was recorded for each contestant. Watching men stuff their faces with hot dogs, whilst being drapped in their own flag, and justifying their activities as "FOR FREEDOM" and "to reprsent the struggle for human dignity" has got to be one of the most bizarre things I've ever watched. But I didn't turn it off.
 

 
Once inside we found a place to sit, amongst thousands of other people, and were able to listen to the likes of Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow and Darren Criss, in a free concert which was broadcast live, nationwide. Before the concert, the national anthem was played, and complete silence fell over the lawn. It was one of the most uncanny things I've experienced, considering there were so many people, who at once got to their feet, held their hand over their heart, and recited The Star Spangled Banner. No one moved. Everyone stood. Grown men cried. This was nationalism in its most pious form.
 
Fireworks followed the concert, to the tune of Thaikovsky's 1812 overture. The fireworks themselves exploited into more little stars, red, white and blue. There was even a good attempt at spelling out USA with fireworks, which was at least discernible.

 
 
Finally, as we left the fireworks we admired how nice the Capitol building looks when it's lit up at night. It's almost so grand it's almost intimidating, but at the same time it's strangely familiar. Either way it's so iconic we had to photograph it.

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