It’s 8am as I type this, and the weather outside is partly cloudy, partly sunny… and undoubtedly cooold.

I am off to watch the inauguration ceremony and parade from The Willard Hotel, right next to the White House, where the New York State Society is throwing a brunch for 1,500 people. 1,500! That’s a lot of bucks fizz and scrambled eggs.

After that, I’ll be dashing back home to write another piece for Orange News, getting showered and jumping into my Kate Winslet Golden Globes 2009 Lookey-Likey Finery, and heading out to the Arizona State Society Ball. Well, when in Rome… you’ve got to put on a frock, drink champagne, dance the night away and try not to shout at John McCain, haven’t you?

Anyway. So: if you don’t hear from me until that little lot’s over, don’t worry, I haven’t been trampled in the crowds or arrested for getting leery at a police horse. MK will be live-blogging here during the ceremony – Barack is sworn in at 12 noon local time/5pm UK time – and don’t forget, you can watch the proceedings on British television here and via the official live stream here.

And if you’re off to a party tonight too, have a wonderful time.

This is an amazing day. We’re about to see history in the making – and, I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say, the start of a new America. Enjoy, everyone.

If I hadn’t been delayed by those 10 minutes, I wouldn’t have happened to be walking down the street towards the Lincoln Memorial concert just as the Obama motorcade went past.

And if I hadn’t decided to walk down to the Washington Monument after learning that there was no chance of getting into the concert ground itself, I would never have passed this man as he happened to be walking the other way:

This man, for the uninitiated – ie British people – is Chris Matthews. He’s one of America’s best-known TV pundits – and one of my favourites – and bumping into him is akin to following a British general election like a total geek, then flying to London only to bump into Jeremy Paxman or David Dimbleby.

It’s true. In America, anything *is* possible.

And here was Barack’s full speech in Baltimore:

As the reporter and my friend K both noted, it’s almost as if Obama is still campaigning. And as I replied, it strikes me that this because he truly wants a sea-change in the country. He genuinely wants Americans to reach out and help each other more, to look after each other and work together; to change the mood of a nation beyond doing so with intangible feelings like hope and optimism. As Obama said on the night of November 4th, his election is just the beginning. And as a result he will, perhaps, have to keep drilling his vision – or rather: the practical application of his vision – into the American people. I doubt he will ever let up. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

*Update* Just found footage from Delaware, including Joe’s full introductory speech. Gotta love around 5 minutes, where all the white secret service agents appear, followed by their black President. Magical :

The site to watch (on Tuesday, from 11.30am Washington time – so that’s 4.30pm UK time) is www.pic2009.org.

(More details here.)

So while my brain is buzzing, I thought I’d at least post some regular news headlines – as opposed to roving reporter blogger ones from your Mann in Washington.

Apart from all the Obama-related news, the main story on TV, of course, is the Hudson River plane crash – which is producing endless upon endless reports, including such gems as “Coming after the break – we’ve got the 911 tapes!” and “There needs to be a new word invented because ‘hero’ isn’t good enough” (or something along those lines). The latter coming courtesy of Larry King – who clearly thinks that the word ‘hero’ is good enough for, say, soldiers or firefighters.

But I digress. Back to the headlines catching my (bleary) eye online this morning:

- Osama Bin Laden has released another tape, challenging Barack Obama over Israel.

- Barack and Joe kick off their train tour – from Philadelphia to Washington – today.

- The White House will be open to members of the public the day after inauguration. Sign up here for your chance to be one of them.

- Malia and Sasha Obama have thrown down the gauntlet to their daddy.

- The Obamas’ first inaugural dance is revealed. And it’ll be sung by Beyonce.

- Obama works the Washington journalists.

- Bush’s staff leave the White House.

- The current crowd estimates for the inauguration is 2 million. In fact, as I type this half-watching CNN on the TV in my hotel room (which is fortuitously re-showing last night’s Larry King Live), a ticker is scrolling across the bottom of the screen which reads:

‘Heading to DC? City officials say you’d better have a plan’

Fortunately, I do.