Author: jen-sorensen

Yeah, I know — where is your faithful blogger when you need her? The convention is so immense, I have a constant sense of needing to be everywhere at once, and frustration that the laws of physics do not allow this. If I’m sitting in my assigned area in the main hall, I can’t blog live, and your view on TV is better than mine (if lacking the wicked cool atmospherics). Also, I’m surrounded by stone-faced writers who don’t make much conversation. Maybe I’ve been hanging out with too many amiable cartoonists. I plan to spend more time roaming around the hall today, now that I’ve more or less got my bearings.

Lots of reporters are, in fact, covering the event (at least partly) from remote places — here are a couple shots from the Blogger’s Lounge press filing area last night:

Reporters giving their readers that "From a TV really close to the event" experience

While there, I sat next to a blogger from Democratic Underground who was also having internet issues. Would it really be so hard to blanket the hall with free wireless for the media? I’d take that over the tote bag, nice as it is.

Can I just say having to use the word "Pepsi" all day long is making me feel slightly tawdry?

Hope springs eternal outside Pepsi Center

Two words describe the experience of walking into the Center: sensory overload. The lobby is a sea of bodies, all trying to go different directions. I could barely move without whacking people with my backpack. I finally made my way into the main hall, which I have to say is pretty damn exciting the first time you do it. The dazzling spectacle below takes your breath; it’s like being on the deck of a starship looking out at, uh, a really big political convention in outer space.

My view from the altitudinous Periodical Press Gallery:

The stage is on the left; my view is from slightly behind. If you look really closely, you’ll see the podium — and if you look really REALLY closely, you’ll see Nancy Pelosi standing behind it giving her speech, I swear! (Pelosi: "McCain has experience… being WRONG." Not bad.)

A couple notable sightings: at one point, Jimmy Carter walked right past me in the hallway. Also outside the main hall, correspondent Andrea Mitchell politely said "excuse me" and walked right under my nose. She’s very petite.

Even for someone with a media pass, getting close to Pepsi Center was a challenge.

The light rail stop at Pepsi Center is closed, meaning I had to get off at Invesco Field and walk through a warren of fences and concrete barriers to reach the convention. Feeling like the proverbial mouse in a maze, I had to ask cops how to get out at multiple points. Below is a major highway sealed off, something you don’t get to see very often. It felt a bit eerie and post-apocalyptic.

I passed a lonely-looking parking lot that a bystander informed me was one of the free-speech zones. There were about 5 people gathered there, looking like they were about to do something. The day before, a bunch of anarchist types raised a ruckus on the pedestrian mall (yes, they have one here too — but ours is better). On Sunday, about a thousand protesters briefly shut down access to Pepsi Center, but the only sign of them I saw last night was downtown, several blocks away from the convention. A street had been shut down to accommodate them, causing my exasperated cab driver to say "they need a good whoopin’."

While security seems very tight around the perimeter of the Center, getting through the main checkpoint to the building was remarkably quick — much quicker than many airport lines I’ve been through.

Before I get to today’s happenings, I wanted to share a few photos from last night’s Friends of New Orleans party, a concert and fundraiser boasting a bevy of blues musicians at the Fillmore. High rollers paid $500 a head to get in; the place was filled with folks who looked and smelled nice (hey, I notice these things). Singer-songwriter-deity Randy Newman performed a couple numbers including, appropriately enough, "Louisiana 1927." Here’s a bit more background about the event.

Best-dressed: A Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indian

Randy Newman with a tuba behind his head, performing with Terrence Blanchard.

Did you know Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius’s son is a hottie who looks like Anders from Battlestar Galactica? Now you do.

His Baldness James Carville being interviewed outside of the Fillmore.

Speaking of music, let me just say the house band here at the convention is absolutely smokin’. Earlier this evening they ripped through Lenny Kravitz’s "Are you Gonna Go My Way," something I suspect you won’t hear at the Republican  convention. That was followed up by James Brown’s "Funky Good Time," which by all accounts is what people seem to be having here.

The big party for all media covering the DNC was held Saturday night at Elitch Gardens, an amusement park that combines the aesthetics of the Old West, ski resorts, and Coney Island into one very kitschy package. I met up with my colleagues Tom Tomorrow (whose "This Modern World" also appears in C-VILLE) and Kenny Be, house cartoonist  for Denver’s altweekly, Westword. We doodlers tend to stick together at any event, and the DNC is no exception. Here are some highlights from our meandering:

Entrance to the festivities dotted with large men

Cops outside of Elitch Gardens. Security seemed pretty reasonable — then again, does anyone care about Tilt-a-Whirl-riding bloggers?

A rather baroque contraption. Perhaps we’ll all be riding these after peak oil.

Media and local VIPs snarfing free grub

Yours truly won a Lisa Simpson doll at a "Guess Your Age?" booth. Dude guessed too high!

The waste receptacles were somewhat complicated affairs, complete with volunteers to guide your trash into the right hole. Beer cups = compost? Who knew?

Westword cartoonist Kenny Be wearing my Lisa Simpson plush toy under his shirt, being swatted with nunchucks by a waste receptacle volunteer (don’t ask).

Tom Tomorrow and your hostess eerily illuminated inside a giant snow globe (yes, I’m a sucker for corny promotions).

previous posts!
So Who Am I and What Am I Doing Here?
Welcome to Denver

C-VILLE has landed in Denver, at the center of the convention action!

Actually, right now I’m sitting in a kid’s bedroom with little glow-in-the-dark stars and planets on the ceiling, but will be making my way to more official locales soon enough. I got to see plenty of Denver (and then some) last night on the Super Shuttle ride from the airport, which I believe dropped someone off in Wyoming before arriving at my hosts’ house.

Indications that this city is about to put on a massive party are everywhere – from the airport decorations  to the Hooters Restaurant sign informing Barack Obama “YOUR TABLE IS READY.” Hmm… could Hooters possibly be a tentacle of McCain’s “Hot Chicks Dig Obama” campaign, or was that just Hooters being Hooters? I’m guessing the latter.

Next stop: Journos in FunLand!