On October 30 I spent a lovely fall day in Washington DC with a large number of reasonable people at the Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear). The spirit of the event is best captured in the variety of signs that broadly but (usually) gently and subtly mocked the fearmongers in the news and the fire-breathing partisans left and right.
Oh, yes, and the Stewart-directed programming. In a word, fun! Yusuf and Ozzy (Peace Train/Crazy Train: awesome!) and Tony Bennett stood out particularly among the musical performers. (Definitely not Kid Rock/Sheryl Crow.) And, of course, the incomparable Jon Stewart.
A highlight of the actual programmed part of the rally was the Mythbusters team doing various tests of group dynamics, including the wave (whole, men only, women only, and then starting simultaneously from the front and back), seismometer tests of the rally jumping simultaneously, and having the audience switch between different noises at 3-5 second intervals (laugh politely, cry, quiet, laugh like a mad scientist).
Above: the wave approaching. Below, as the wave passes.
