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Here's the Video!
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You have to wonder about the sanity of the poor folks who lined up as early as 5am to catch a few second glimpse of Hillary and exchange, literally, a few words with the Great Lady herself. And there they were.
Two distinctly different atmospheres pervaded the event. The organized faithful had brought lawn chairs and were sitting around with their friends, laughing and having a good time. Those less well organized were standing, pinched frowns on their faces, waiting with more resignation than patience on their faces.
Many people know that I am involved in the obscure religious cult of Apple Computer. And Apple cultists have a surprisingly similar ritual to this in the opening of a new Apple Store. It inspires similar long lines spiraling around the mall, but there's a very interesting crucial difference: I don't remember seeing any frowns. Those who attend an Apple Store opening find comfort in talking to their fellow Apple owners, as though they've already found a friend. Clintonistas stick with their groups and don't talk except to fellow clique members.
This makes for a very long day. And Hillary had strict deadlines and other places to go, so she was unwilling to stick around and meet her fans, even in the rushed, "five-second visit" format created for her.
Freepers started showing up around 10:00 or thereabouts, and by 11:00 we were out in force. Well, to the extent that our force existed; the freep attracted about six truly dedicated people. But we more than made up for it in creativity and flair.
Joy Angela made a superbly creative Monica, from her kneepads up to her special hairdo. Diotima joined her in the starring role as Hillary, and Bob J's Clintonnocio 2 was beautifully costumed! Heidy-Ho!
A number of people passed us on our side of the street (opposite to the Vroman's line), and most of them were supportive. Too bad we weren't able to convince any of them to join in, as occasionally happens!
If you define the success of an event by the crowd reaction, this was one of the most successful freeps ever. A loud chorous of BOOO!s was heard as soon as people on the other side figured out what was going on. And then there were the pro-Hillary chants, the false mooning and more. The bored, dispirited crowd was now united as one against us -- and happy, for the first time this morning.
We always love to spread a little happiness and joy here in Free Republic!
I would like to apologise for taking so long to write this report and getting the video out. I was trying out new video compression software which wound out being quite a bit more difficult to use than I'd hoped :-(. In addition, I've been swamped preparing for my trip to Rio which starts today.
As many of you may remember, I dropped my Canon XL1 MiniDV camcorder on Friday while attending thte Century City Freep. You will be pleased to hear that the camera has now been repaired and looks like it's running better than ever! It's going to Brazil with me after all; I am relieved!