Day 2 at the DNC revisisted in pictures

Exterior of Pepsi center










T


This above pic is of a restaurant that CNN took over, in the secure area of the Pepsi Center and painted the exterior and hung this HUGE neon sign.
This is a rendition of the LOVE art, into HOPE art( and the Co. flag)













Wide shot of interior of Pepsi center for The DNC. All the areas around the stage has the seats removed and desk tops put in. All the ad banners were covered with news organization logos or DNC logos. The rialing you can see at the bottom is the railing that was right in front of me in the writing press stand. So, that is a literal picture of my distance to the stage.








Close up of the stage









Pages called whips were dressed in bright green smocks and their job is to hand out the signs on cue and get the individual states excited. Normally, when you have one candidate heading to the nomination, there will be one set of whips, but for this DNC, there was no decision of whether Hillary would release her delegates at this point in the DNC, so, there were two sets of whips; some for Hillary and some for Barack, not that you could tell them apart. So this night, the Hillary Whips had a petition type thing they were getting the Hillary supporters to sign saying they would lay off the Barack supporters and not cause issue when Hillary spoke.. This actually was an historical event in it's self because the Hillary whips were doing kind of the opposite of their jobs..But in the end, all the signs got out in time to hold up when the speaker would say the words on the sign. Very organized, like they had done this before... :) like a 100 times..



If you are still looking for a woman to support, this is the next hot woman to watch. Kathleen Sebelius from Kansas.. She is amazing!!!! watch for her name in 4 years(or 8 if we are lucky)


People dress up here too, like a concert, but with no band. Uncle sam dancing in the aisle.
CNN live shot..(above)











Gov. Mark Warner from VA spoke.. had to get the home town rep in.

So, all of a sudden and then for what seemed an hour. Photogs were focused into the space directly under me.. and then lots of people started taking pictures, again for what seemed like 45 minutes to an hour. I got home after the event and watched the coverage on TV and Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and Michelle Obama were sitting under me.. hence all the pics taken and the Secret Service based right below me......


signs being passed.. I like the hand shots..









signs being held

Hillary signs and Chelsea introducing her mom.

































Hillary!!!!
Lady sittng behind me, too lit up not to take the picture...
ABC anchors watching

So, that was a whirl wind, i think mostly because it was completely unexpected. On Monday night after Michelle's speech, i was informed that i had credentials for the rest of the week. So Tuesday we went to the Convention and MAN, that is a production. Everyone so excited and everyone so proud to be there and represent their voice and thoughts not to mention their states and counties.
It is a really neat event. But during the evening's program i got to see the Gov. of Montana speak and then Hillary. She did a great job and, I think, successfully persuaded her supporters to support Obama. I have a ton of photos and will be posting them as soon as i get home this afternoon.

After the DNC ended we headed over to the Buel theater to see e-town, the radio show, that featured one of the members of Rage Against the Machine, who has a solo album, but it isn't that good, but he was on the bill, the Ani Defranco was on, and she was good. again, a singer song writer, so by this time, at 10:30 or so, i was getting really tired and kind of bored..
Then they interviewed Edward Kennedy. I think he has a lot of great things to say involving the environment and things, but he voice seems so strained that it is hard to understand, and where we were for photogs/press, it wasn't totally clear to hear.. so that made it harder to keep my eyes open, but i was determined to get some shots of David Crosby, so i stayed.. and they (Grahm Nash and David Crosby) came out and sang about three tunes, and then were interviewed. Then the sang "Teach your children" that brought a tear to the eye.. and then they were done. To be honest, i was about to fall over sleeping standing up, so we left before James Taylor came on, but it was already almost midnight, we had been at the DNC since 2 that afternoon.. so it was time to go home.

Wednesday morning Rage Against the Machine put on a free concert, held by the Iraq Veterans against the War. The venue opened at 9 and you had to claim your ticket and get inside before noon.. so we busted ass over there and got in with no issue. It was a great show.. The Coup and the Denver based band the Flobots were also on the bill.. Rage got the crowd fired up and the kids were loving it, even at 2 in the afternoon.. strange coming out of a show in the daylight, but it was great. By this time, Jeff and i were about to fall over.
We just went home and fell asleep on the sofa for three hours. By the time we woke up it was too late to get downtown, so we stayed home and watched Biden speech on TV. We both really kicked ourselves when Obama came out to wave and say a little something.. But we knew we were going to see history the next day so we tried not to let it bother us that we were missing it..

Yesterday was a life long memory.. I got to witness the first non-white hopeful for the most powerful position in the nation.. and that is VERY EXCITING!!! It was electric in the stadium.. I have a ton of pictures from yesterday as well as the whole DNC... and some video i am trying to get up too. Stay tuned. I will have more on yesterdays event and pictures too..

YES WE CAN!!!!

Oh my god I am so tired

So i don't know how the delegates do it. I have been going downtown and getting in the mix for the last two nights and w0w!! this takes some stamina. And I am not even drinking right now and you know those delegates are...
So, lets see, Sunday we went to the Civic center park and saw the start of a war march, or anti war march, something.. that was cool got some good video that i have not had time to put up yet.. and then we went to Union Station, the train station, and there they were having a Funk the war dancy party.. not very organized, but cute idea. Then we ate some lunch and headed back to the car that was, by this time, miles away. It doesn't sound like much, but i can tell you it was 6 hours and miles and miles of walking..
Then last night I had the opportunity to help out at the official merch booth in the convention center. Not the Pepsi center... but it was ok. there are a lot of great t-shirts.. and then i came home to see Teddy Kennedy and Michelle Obama speak on TV.
Tonight we are heading down to the Pepsi Center.. i got an extra press pass and am going to be able to get in to the convention. HOW EXCITING!!! There a lot of people that don't get to get in the party, and i do!!! i will be bringing my camera tonight and will get the pics up as soon as i can..
This working stuff is really getting in the way of playing...
OH, so when i say that i get to see the speakers, i don't mean just tonight, i mean ALL the speakers.. INCLUDING OBAMA!!! that's right.. I can't believe the luck i have some times...
More later... i gotta get some tapes logged before hitting the DNC tonight..

Call me with your size

So, it's that time in town.. no not powder season (for the ski and boarding bums) and not tourist season, although i do hear a bunch of people are coming to town. and it's not football season yet, and well let's be honest, it's going to be an early baseball season ending this year. so that's not what I am talking about either..
But i saw it today.. the little square tents set up at local gas stations and mexican restaurant that are usually selling football jerseys or oriental rugs or mardi gras beads are up and selling Barak Obama gear. That's right. get your t-shirt, towel, mug or festive hat right here on any given street corner..
Now i know all my family will be obviously upset if i don't get each of them something from the DNC. I know my brother in law would proudly wear an Obama hat while working in Richmond VA,(the most Democratic state i can think of) and I KNOW my step dad is already hammering the website to make donations so i have to get him a full on OBAMA t-shirt to wear to the gym. Don't fret dear family, you have not been forgotten. It's going to be a great christmas this year.. just you all wait!!!!

still missing mikey

So My favorite band, Widespread panic had a very low day 6 years ago Aug. 10th... It still is hard for me to talk about as it is with most fans of the band. I read this and figured i couldn't have said it better myself.. really. So i wanted to post it here to allow you all, those ones closet to me, an insight to panic culture by someone who knows how to write it better than i ever could.
This is an account of the last time i saw Mikey on stage and almost exactly what I saw and how i experienced it... no kidding. whether it was the same day or one of the nights before, i don't know, but I too, got a glimpse of Mikey down the secret stairs heading to the bathroom...
This brings tears to my eyes and really wanted to share it with you all.
Have a great Tuesday. and Happy Olympics!!!

Remembering Guitarist Michael Houser

By Mike Campbell, Boston.com Staff, 08/16/2002

"They tell me it takes sorrow, boy, to help you feel the joy."

- 'Pleas' Widespread Panic


A Rock & Roll guitarist died Saturday. It wasn't from a heroin overdose. He didn't drink himself to death. The motorcycle didn't get out of control. He most certainly didn't end his own life. No, it was cancer - that malignant beast that doesn't discriminate between normal folks and Rock Stars. He was 40 years old. His name was Michael Houser. Or "Panic." Or "Mikey."

Houser was a co-founder and the lead guitarist for Widespread Panic, a group of six musicians, including singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo Ortiz and keyboardist John Hermann. During an 18-year stint that started in the small clubs of Athens, Georgia, Widespread Panic released 10 albums and toured relentlessly, bringing their unique blend of music to a diehard legion of fans.

Houser died of pancreatic cancer in his hometown of Athens, Georgia on Saturday, August 10th surrounded by his family and friends. He leaves his wife, Barbette, son, Waker and daughter, Eva. He also leaves his five band members, and thanks to his gift of making incredible music, he leaves tens of thousands of Panic fans.

Depending upon which music critics you read, Widespread Panic is a Rock & Roll band, a Jam Band, a Grateful Dead wanna-be band, or perhaps a bluesy-bluegrass band. It doesn't really matter however, because Widespread Panic is beyond classification. They're musicians. They play for themselves and their fans, not for the critics or the record companies, and certainly not for classification. They link songs with extra long jams, write lyrics with poetic meaning and play covers from a choice group of writers and musicians that they respect. Their music meanders in and out of light and dark the way we all do, experiencing good days and bad days, light days and dark days. For Widespread Panic and their legion of fans, Saturday was a dark day - the darkest day.

Six or seven months ago, the rumors started. "Did you hear about Mikey?" "They say he's got cancer. It doesn't look good." Then the band cancelled a tour of Europe. Hushed murmurs prevailed, but the train kept rolling, and the band and its fans traveled in April from North Carolina to Georgia to one of their favorite venues - The Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Pelham, Alabama.

I had a group of friends that drove straight from Colorado for those three nights in Alabama. I got a call immediately after the last set of the last night. "He looks good," they told me. "He played as hard as he could. They covered 'Don't be Denied' (a song by Neil Young). JB sang it directly to Mikey. Unbelievable. People were crying"

The caravan of goodwill and good tunes moved out of Alabama and on to Tennessee, then over to Texas and up to Colorado. Each summer, the band plays three shows at Red Rocks, an outdoor amphitheater built into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, about 15 miles west of Denver. Upon first seeing Red Rocks, you know God must be a true fan of music to have created something so beautiful. Some call it the 8th wonder of the world.

My girlfriend and I flew into Denver the morning of Friday, June 28th and met our friends at the airport. Within two hours we reunited with another group of friends who had flown in from San Francisco. Widespread Panic, and Mikey in particular, gave three full nights of powerful music to the more than 10,000 fans that flock to the venue each year like pilgrims to their Mecca.

It was obvious that we were a part of something special that weekend. Mikey played with everything he could give, but you could tell his health was declining. He was pale. He was too skinny. He was slow leaving the stage between sets and stopped to rest against a speaker during the short 20-yard walk. But no one spoke a word. What could you say?

Three days later, on July 2nd in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mikey played his last show with the band. George McConnell - a guitarist and friend of the band started filling in - and helped Widespread continue their fall tour. Two weeks later Mike released a statement, clearing the rumors and letting it be known that he had terminal cancer and everything that could be done, had been done.

My only regret as a fan of Widespread Panic is that I didn't find out about them sooner. I've only been going to shows for three years - a 'newbie' compared to most fans - but everything about them is what I believe music should be. It's about fans who reunite in the parking lot with hugs and laughs; extra tickets sold at face value because asking for more money than you paid would be, simply put, bad karma; the free and unrestricted use of recording devices to capture live shows; the experimentation of sounds and styles; the addition of musical guests on stage and the open flattery shown by covering other musician's songs.

Every Panic fan has their own memory, their own vision, of Michael Houser - Perhaps it's his long, curly, black hair; a particular riff or solo; lyrics to a favorite song; his unique style of sitting on stage, avoiding the gaze of his fans, while he played; or maybe it's a combination of all of these things. For me, it's a hot Sunday afternoon at Red Rocks.

We entered the amphitheater early for the third and final show. A couple hours beforehand, I went to use the men's room and get a couple ice-cold beers. To the right of the stage, down a little-known and little-used metal staircase there's a set of restrooms that never have a line. On my way back, while climbing those stairs, I saw a lanky guy get out of a van. He wore black jeans and a gray t-shirt. He walked slowly, languidly, deliberately through the Colorado heat towards a stage door. His long, black, curly hair hid his face.

"Whaddya say, Mikey?" I yelled to him.

He looked up at me, the white sun shining against his too-gaunt, too-pale face, and smiled a wide, tooth-filled grin. I'll never forget that smile.

Thanks Mikey. Thanks for loving your family, your friends, and most of all, for loving what you did.

Monday again

so, first i want to say that i am sorry for not writing very often these past two weeks. Nothing has really happened to keep you abreast of and I just haven't wanted to type if i wasn't getting paid for it.
But here we are, another few weeks gone, and by the time i know it, the summer will have done passed me by... I am still trying to get my base tan and it is the middle of August. I guess i need to put some more work into it.

It has been really nice and rainy the past few days which puts a damper on wanting to go swimming.. but i have been Reacquainting myself with my quilting stuff... It's almost time for quilting season again.. seems like something to do next to the fire place. Maybe that's why i haven't sewn in a while.

Did some shopping yesterday. it felt good to get some new clothes. I have been wearing the same stuff going on two years now. I just don't have the extra cash it takes to buy new clothes. so i just don't most of the time. But i have found that i am out of things to wear. I had a dress strap break and a skirt get a bad stain on it and all of a sudden i was out of stuff, except my jeans, to wear, so i got a new pair of capris that i can wear to work and a new warm up suit that was on major sale for the winter.. I need some new walking shoes but those are going to have to wait...

That's about it.. just gearing up for the DNC here in Denver in the next few weeks and then a quick trip to the beach and to see my folks :)

Have a great monday and check back.. i am geting more in the mood to write..