Monthly Archives: August 2008

yes we can: live at convention!

Remember that great “Yes We Can” video with all of the famous people in it that made you feel all tingly and Democratic and in love with Barack Obama? Well, according to CNN’s Political Ticker, it’s going to be recreated live on Thursday before Obama’s speech. I can’t exactly understand how that’s going to work, but I’ll leave that to the music folks to figure out. Hooray for Kathleen, who gets to actually be there. As for me, I’ll be chasing my tequila with a shot of bitter jealousy.

Presumably, Will.i.am will be there, and CNN tells us that Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, and Jennifer Hudson are also performing. Plus, rumors are still flying that Mr. Bruce Springsteen himself will make an appearance. If that is true, my anger over the fact that I’m not in Denver right now may lead me to explode, right there in whatever DC bar I happen to be in.

So that I can calm down, and for your enjoyment, let’s watch the “Yes We Can” video together and just breeeathe. 

[Posted by Mallory]

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blogging from the dnc, day 2.

Alright, let’s just face it. Live blogging isn’t going to happen. It’s like end of the day round ups. Haha. And this isn’t really edited.

Hello from Denver! (I hate when people say stuff like that. Aloha from Hawaii! Hola from Mexico! My apologies for being annoying). Mal, I wish you were here. I’ve had quite the Democratic day and I think I’m glowing with Democratness. Seriously glowing. I also have blisters that look like moon craters on my feet. Note to self- wearing brand new shoes in attempts to look good is not a wise idea when you’re going to be walking around and standing on your feet all friggin’ day. HOW COME I DO NOT KNOW THESE THINGS?! Anyway, day two of the convention had a few differences from day one. Yesterday appeared to be a lovefest. Today was all about policy and stickin’ it to old Johnny McCain.

Anyway, busy busy day today! A little continental brekky and we were off. A good family friend lives in Denver and offered us the use of a car during our stay in Denver. Imagine my surprise when it was a big, red 1995 Dodge Durango. I wanted to put a sign that said “this is a actually a hybrid car” on the back–I felt so un-Democratic! Ummmm, where’s my Prius with a Barack sticker? All kidding aside, it was great to have the Durango, and cruising around in the Durango was an adventure for sure. Thank the sweet lord I wasn’t driving. It’s a legitimate tank.  Oh, this is funny.  We parked the Durango and then lost it.  Yup.  We weren’t entirely sure where big red was.  But we found it.  Eventually.

Our first big event of the day was Emily’s List. I’ve never been so fired up about having two X chromosomes. Speakers wise, it was the grand trifecta of girl power. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Michelle Obama. I know, I was giddy. People went berserk when HRC stepped out. I mean seriously cra-crazy. She was good, giving shoutouts to Barack and Michelle, and acknowledging the tragic loss of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. (STJ was a huuuuuuuuuge Hillary supporter, but was good about getting behind Obama.) It was a solid Hillary speech. Nancy came out, and I must say, she looked lovely in lavendar. During her speech, one Code Pink wacko screeched “Why aren’t you woman enough to impeach?!” She was booed. For those that don’t know who Code Pink is, they’re a group of extremist women (and every now and then a dude) who wear all pink and yell about impeachment. When the group started, they were anti-war. That’s cool. But now they are so radical and obnoxious that they are counteractive. They get kicked out of every event because they’re disruptive and rude. And to address the impeachment thing, here’s an easy way to explain it. If a house is on fire, the first thing you do is get the people out–not try and prosecute who set it on fire. Bush and Cheney are criminals, and hopefully the big book of the law will be thrown at their bums. But for now, let’s help the people of the nation. If you think Congress doesn’t get anything done now (which is false. The House passes everything. It’s the Senate’s fault. Cough LIEBERMAN cough) then imagine what it would be like with impeachment hearings. Okay. FOCUS.

So Michelle spoke next, clearly she looked impeccable. And here’s the interesting thing about her speech. On Monday night, she didn’t discuss policy at all. It seemed as if they were taking her away from that aspect of the campaign so as to soften her image. But at the Emily’s List event, she was all about policy. Education, health care, choice. You go girl. She seemed a little nervous though. Hmm.

Spotted: Gloria Allred, Chelsea Clinton, Betsy Myers (COO of Obama’s campaign/my hero)

One veterans event, and then the madness of the Pepsi Center. It felt like walking into a rock concert–a Barack concert, if you will. OHHHHHH. Sowwy. That was bad. Anyway, Mark Warner was boring. Yeah, I said it. BO-RING. It’s so obvious that man wants to be el presidente. He will run in eight years. And when I’m right, somebody please buy me a chocolate chip cookie. But there’s this new kid in town that shook things up. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer was a hoot. He got up there in his sexy, sexy bolo tie (rawr) and smacked McCain around a bit. You know how people usually get fired up at the end of their speeches? I legit thought this man was ending his speech eight separate times. He was so fired up that I couldn’t help but be excited too. New political crush, for sure. Blahdiddy blah blah Deval Patrick blah blah. He’s cool. Oh, and then this lady from New York spoke. Um yes, Hillllllz! Now you all know from my previous posting that B is my boy. But Hill deserves some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Her speech was well-written, well-delivered, and exactly what was needed to finalize unity and end the fissure between Barack and Hillary supporters. And oh girl, she had some zingers. That line about the Twin Cities? Priceless. My favorite part was when she asked the Hillary people if they were doing it just for her or the country. That’s what it’s all about. I think that’s why Barack eventually won. His campaign has been about the volunteers, the power of the people and starting a movement. Of course people love B. He’s just so lovable. But Hillary’s supporters, while caring about the country, seemed to be obsessed with Hillary and so focused on Hillary that they forgot about themselves. Don’t freak out on me, that’s just what I noticed. Oh, and Chelsea is looking awesome. Good for her for taking a large role in last night.

Walking out of the convention area was like a carnival. If carnivals included the crazies screaming in your face with aborted baby fetus pictures. Sick. If you want to talk about baby killers, talk about the Bush administration sending young men and women to fight in Iraq. They are practically just babies, and they pay the ultimate price. But I digress. My favorites were the signs and screamers condemning “homo-sex” and screaming about Jeeeeesus. Newsflash, dumb-dumbs. JC stood for love, not hating on our fellow man and woman. The vendors were pretty funny though. The best sales pitch I heard was from a guy standing next to a crazy Christian. “We’re all going to hell!,” the vendor shouted. “Might as well buy buttons!” Well put, buddy. But despite a hearty chuckle, I did not buy the buttons.

Spotted: Bill Richardson, Jack Murtha, John Kerry and some other randos.

One party later and then we went back to the hotel. No Ben Affleck or George Clooney. But I’m looking. My feet are killing me. Time for bed. Day 3: Biden speaks.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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just six words and a picture.

Proof! Some humans look like animals.

[Posted by Mallory]

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guess what copper ate this time?

My parents are hosting some guests back in Denver, and Copper thought he’d welcome said guests by treating them just how he treats us. First, he stole the man’s slippers (and my mom couldn’t find them in any of Copper’s usual hiding spots). Then, he ate AN ENTIRE BOX of Viactiv chocolate calcium tablets that the woman brought with her. Nice, Copper.

My mom tried to research whether this meant Copper would suddenly have a heart attack, but her computer wasn’t working. So far, he’s still alive. Probably gleefully chomping on his new slippers as a nightcap. 

[Posted by Mallory]

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huge political girl boner for hillary.

So I considered live-blogging Hillary’s speech but then I got nervous because Kathleen is way smarter than me when it comes to politics. Now I wish I had live-blogged it. From a nerdy rhetoric student’s point of view, and a weepy patriot’s point of view, and the point of view of some one who thinks Barack Obama looks damn good in a suit, that was a GOOD speech.

She got the weepy stories in; she did some great McCain bashing; and she did an excellent job hammering home the message of “HEY CRAZY LADIES! Voting for McCain or voting for no one is NOT the way to honor my campaign’s legacy. VOTE FOR BARRY!” or something to that effect. And that Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit comment? The Harriet Tubman rhetoric at the end? Killer. Love her right now. 

And I will say, though the orange suit complemented Hill’s skin tone, I thought orange was an interesting choice for the patriotic overload that is a convention. With all the Obama campaign’s branding strategy, I thought it was odd that they allowed Hillary and Chelsea to appear next to each other wearing orange and black. Anyway, Michelle looked great, as per usual, and Joe Biden has really white teeth. 

Stay tuned for Kathleen’s potentially more legit commentary, once she gets off the Pepsi Center floor. Lucky bitch.

P.S. I spoke to my mom before the speech, and she said she and my dad were also getting ready to watch. This shocked me a little, because my dad is a bit of a diehard Republican. My mom was talking about how they were kind of bashing Hillary on the teevee commentary and I was like whaaaa?, because I was watching NBC. Of course my parents were watching Fox, because my dad said it was “the most neutral station.” Tee hee. 

P.P.S. I’m watching Fox now because I got curious, and Charles Krauthammer is speaking. Like a month ago I applied to be his research assistant. Never heard back, shockingly. It was one of those jobs that you just have to send in your resume for, so don’t judge me.

[Posted by Mallory]

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copper has never gone this far.

Lana, one of our millions of New York correspondents, just sent along a very interesting article about a very hungry dog from North Carolina. Apachee, a b-e-a-utiful husky, had to be operated on this week because he had eaten a fork. Yup, a fork.

He had swallowed the fork a few days before the surgery. It sat there for a few days, then punctured a hole in his stomach and “traveled into his chest, penetrated his lung and lacerated his pulmonary artery.” Apachee almost died from internal bleeding and cardiac arrest, but luckily his vets were able to perform emergency surgery and save him. Phew! Copper, don’t get any ideas.

[Posted by Mallory]

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a new party trick for you.

Okay folks, here’s a quick break from politics. So everybody knows the importance of a good party trick. I know, because I don’t have one–until now, thanks to DC correspondent Tim. And, to my great relief, it doesn’t involve alcohol and fire. Always a good combination. Ha! Anyway, this is wild. Enjoy and say “thank you, Tim”. You’ll now be the coolest kid at the party.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

UPDATE from Mallory: Sorry, folks, but it’s a hoax. Our dear NYC Correspondent, Mouse, tried to post this comment but for some reason it didn’t show up:

I was super excited about the popcorn post and did research… bad news:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/07/09/carroll.cellphone.popcorn.cnn

Although I still thought it was cool because I’m a marketing geek.

According to Mouse, it was a viral marketing campaign for bluetooth headsets. If you don’t know what viral marketing is, then you were me five minutes ago. According to our expert, it’s “doing weird things to get people to start talking about things, without overtly advertising them.” Cool, right? Guess this one worked.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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blogging from the dnc, day 1.

So I wrote this yesterday, but couldn’t post it until today. Some live blogger I am.

So here I am, trying to live blog from the convention, yet I find myself live blogging from Boston Logan airport. Such is life. I was, however, lucky that my flight delay coincided perfectly with Michelle Obama’s speech (I only caught part of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s. What I did see, however, was spectacular). I was weeping openly during the video narrated by her mother. And her speech was just incredible. I think that if anybody had any questions about who she was, they were all answered. She gave us a poignant account of who she is and what she has done with her own life. Her brother spoke well when he said that they were proud of her not just because who she had married, but because she was an exemplary public servant in her own right. There was a wonderfully executed balance between showing us who Michelle is without losing sight of Barack. Ahh I love her.

As if you couldn’t already tell how I felt about M.O., here is my gchat gush fest with Caroline, college friend and the witty mastermind behind drunkinarowboat.

Caroline: SHE IS AMAZING
me: i am drooling all over myself
and weeping openly
Caroline: like she should be a movie star
me: i am a mess
Caroline: ive BAWLED LIKE FIFTEEN TIMES
me: her hair looks beautiful
Caroline: I KNOW
love the green
her in that orange dress and bow at age four???
me: oh my god i fell apart

Professional analysis for sure. CNN, yes, I will work for you. All you have to do is ask. Oh and the part with the girls? Perfect. I want the Obamas in the White House. Right. Now.

Once we got into the Denver airport (which is GIGANTIC), it was about 1:30 in the morning. Of course, there were no taxis or shuttles in sight. After calling two cabs and two shuttles, one cab eventually showed up and we finally got to the hotel around 4 a.m. (6 a.m. my time) Damnnnn.

I’m tired, but I’m fired up and ready to go. I will be just like Anderson Cooper (sigh) and let you know everything that goes on. I brought my camera, but not my camera cord, so pictures will be posted on Friday or Saturday. And I will be stalking George Clooney and all other celebrities like it’s my job. (UPDATE: I might be seeing Ben Affleck tonight!)

You know you love me. I love you back.
– Your SWTCTW DNC Correspondent

ps- In case you live under a rock:

[Posted by Kathleen]

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when our work’s done for us.

Okay, so I think the story behind this Wonkette headline is a leetle terrifying. First, take a look at the six-word masterpiece:

“Meth-Mouths Jailed In Obama Assassination Plot.”

Um, slighty scary, right? The backstory is that a bunch of strung-out crazies may have been plotting to kill our boy B at his acceptance speech at Invesco on Thursday night. According to CBS 4 News in Denver, so far four people involved in this assassination plot  — Nathan Johnson (pictured above), Tharin Gartrell (also pictured above), Shawn Robert Adolf, and Natasha Gromek (Johnson’s girlfriend) — have been arrested on drug or weapons charges:

One of those suspects spoke exclusively to CBS4 investigative reporter Brian Maass from inside the Denver City Jail late Monday night and said his friends had discussed killing Obama. 

“So your friends were saying threatening things about Obama?” Maass asked. 

“Yeah,” Nathan Johnson replied. 

“It sounded like they didn’t want him to be president?” 

“Yeah,” Johnson said. 

Maass reported earlier Monday that one of the suspects told authorities they were “going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a … rifle … sighted at 750 yards.” 

Also,

Sources told CBS4 police found two high-powered, scoped rifles in the car along with camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, wigs, a bulletproof vest, a spotting scope, licenses in the names of other people and 44 grams of methamphetamine. One of the rifles is listed as stolen from Kansas.

The appropriately named Adolf was wearing a swastika and apparently has ties to a white supremacist organization, and Johnson told the CBS reporter that “He [Obama] don’t belong in political office. Blacks don’t belong in political office. He ought to be shot.”  Riiight, because intelligent white people like Adolf and Johnson are infinitely superior to PERFECT PEOPLE LIKE BARACK OBAMA. 

Now, I’m hoping these guys are just crazy and their brains are broken from a little too much meth, and that this isn’t actually some elaborate, well-planned assassination plot. Because the thought of that makes me very nervous. Hey Barack? Please, PLEASE don’t get shot.

[Posted by Mallory]

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youtube clip of today: obama girls.

Watch this and try not to smile and maybe weep a little with joy:

Could this family BE any more perfect? I’m seriously high on their cuteness. Obamas for First Family!

[Posted by Mallory]

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