“Shared sacrifice” was a phrase Governor Malloy repeated during his inaugural speech. He spoke to the need for being fiscally conservative and played to the middle, or maybe the fringes, when he said that there was a need to make good decisions, not democratic or republican ones.

The video clip below includes a portion of Malloy’s first remarks as Connecticut’s Governor.

(audio is fine, but the video is shoddy)

Before his speech, the audience inside of the filled Armory was treated to a poetry reading and music. Those who opted to snag seats instead of watch the parade were treated to a medley of Michael Jackson hits; those playing this and other tunes were not cool enough to get listed in the official program, though they should have been.  A portion of “Danny Boy” as performed by Mary Fox can be heard below:

If you have always marveled at how Connecticutians are portrayed in films and on television — as these blue-blooded, elite types — yet never knew where to find them in real life, an inauguration is a fine place to start looking. I did not get the memo about how people not actually taking oath of office were supposed to wear suits, and when possible, fur coats. I spotted one man who had the audacity to break free of these restrictions by wearing corduroy pants. Though the event was free and open to the public, I did not see a single person that I knew from around town. Given how I always see someone I know if I so much as leave my house, this was notable. Not everyone in the audience was stuffy, but there was enough of it to go around. A fur-wearing woman with perfectly manicured nails sat next to me, even though there were plenty of other seats available at that time, and made it a point to clear her throat each time I took a photo (the response to that, of course, is to start taking pictures of her). She was reading a copy of USA Today during parts of the ceremony. What she should have been reading was the back of the program, which provided four paragraphs about what is officially called the Governor William A. O’Neill Armory. According to the program, today’s ceremony was the first time that a governor took the oath of office in the armory. More exciting than that, however, was that President Taft took part in the ribbon cutting at this building, which was once a railroad roundhouse.

Here are a few more photos from the event:

To view more photos, see my Photobucket page.