From our Washington correspondent

On inauguration day in the deep south the excitement in the capital arrived over the car stereo as a crackly, intermittent report of distant goings-on. Thankfully, antarcticiana's DC correspondent Mr. Johnny Stuart was on the mall to capture the scene. Obama may not yet have saved the American people from themselves, but nobody will ever diminish that first day of hope and celebration.

"Yes, we can" morphed into "Yes, we did," right before our eyes.

This guy was out of a job almost as fast as Gee-Dubya. Ending the tortures and indefinite detentions of Gitmo was to be one of Obama's first proclamations.

Does this shuka make me look fat? The Kenyan posse, like everyone else, refused to let the sub-freezing temperatures throw a chill over the proceedings.

All photographs courtesy the inimitable Johnny "Danger" Stuart