Did you know?

My uncle sent me a link to the latest 'Did you know?' video on YouTube. A video that was put together to make you think about the future and give you a few eye-opening stats along the way.

YouTube then suggested I watch 'Did You Know?: The 2009 Inauguration Edition' and thus gave me my Lincoln reference for the day. Did you know that the first course of Obama's Inaugural Lunch was served on a replica of Lincoln's china, displaying the American bald eagle, US Coat of Arms, and a border of 'solferino' (a colour popular back in the 1860s).

And of course, but this was already a well-known fact, Obama was sworn in on Lincoln's bible, which hadn't been used at an Inauguration since 1861.

There you have it folks, another day in the world of Lincoln references.

Me vs Obama: who likes Lincoln best?

Since I started my obsession with Lincoln I have been given and managed to track down a few very decent books on the subject, including Dale Carnegie's own Lincoln the Unknown, and Gore Vidal's Lincoln, Thomas Keneally's Lincoln, Faulkner and Kepner's America - It's History and People, along with Chuck Wills' almost-picture-book-quality Lincoln - The Presidential Archives, which comes complete with copies of his letters and other documents.

But more recently I was lucky enough to be given two books, the very funny Secret Lives of the Civil War by Cormac O'Brien, and Pulitzer Prize winner Team of Rivals - The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Team of Rivals is toted around as the book that inspired Barack Obama.

With Obama sharing my obsession with Lincoln (ok so maybe he got in first, he is older than me after all, but I maintain that I am more devoted to my obsession than he is), there are references everywhere. Obama giving his address at the Lincoln memorial, and the 200th anniversary since Lincoln's birth celebrations, have meant that photos of Linc even found their way onto the front covers of lowly Canberra newspapers! There are references in his speeches, references to Obama referencing Lincoln, and speculatioin on Obama's next Lincoln references!

So my Lincoln sightings have certainly been bumped up a notch, but I still prefer the really obscure references when I can get them. For example, while browsing the magazine stand in a local newsagent the other day I did a double-take as my eye caught the top of an old black and white photograph I recognized. I pulled out the magazine to find I had stumbled across a Smithsonian Collector's Edition magazine on Lincoln. It had been imported from the US, and I've never paid $21.50 for a magazine before, but I had to have it for my collection!

Image courtesy of www.zazzle.com