Category Archives: random

blogging from the dnc, day 3.

Yesterday was day 3 of the girl power hippie lovefest. And oh girl, it was a good one. I’m going to try and keep it quasi-brief. Brevity really isn’t my thing though.

I went to a tea hosted by Nancy Pelosi to honor to women in Congress. I was fairly dressed up, but some of the women looked absolutely absurd. It was like 2 p.m. and they had gotten their hair did. Whatev. The first speaking guest is introduced. The woman standing right next to me steps up onto the stage. I had been standing next to Annette Bening the entire time and didn’t even know it. Whoops. She was wearing glasses, okay?! Harder to recognize her… I don’t know. Next up to speak was Nancy. The word I always use to describe her is ‘lovely’. Really, she’s quite classy. And during her speech, she announced that Rosario Dawson and Eva Longoria Parker were there. Excuse me? Rosario is hot. Eva is pretty. Enough said about that. As if things couldn’t get any better, Idina Menzel comes out and sings an acoustic “Defying Gravity” from Wicked and a song that she had written. While she was singing, I was busy looking around for her smokin hot hubby, TAYE DIGGS. AHHH. No dice. Didn’t matter– she was amazing.

We were herded like cattle to the Pepsi Center for the delegate vote. Instead of just giving the numbers from the vote, every state made a long speech bragging about how beautiful they were. And I swear, at least three states claimed to be the first state the sun touches each morning. Somebody was lying. I bet it was Maine. I kid. Barack is getting the majority of votes, with some Hillary supporters sticking to their guns. Some states, like California and Illinois had passed. Weird. New Hampshire, New Jersey…everyone is waiting for New York…New Mexico. New Mexico yields to Illinois, Illinois yields to New York. And our girl Hilllllllz steps out to clean up the mess. How dramatic (and symbolic)! She asked that B be announced the winner. She shoots, she scores. Euphoria ensues. People are awkwardly dancing.

All the speeches were good, but some were better than others. My dad and I were discussing how DNC speeches made by unknowns are really just screen tests. I mean, Barack passed his in 2004, didn’t he? So look out for Rep. Patrick Murphy from PA. He did great.

Melissa Etheridge played, more awkward dancing occurred. You could tell people were gearing up for the Democratic savior and the Republican satan, Bill Clinton. He came out swinging for B. And it was genuine. Billy’s still got it. He focused a lot on world diplomacy during his speech. Seriously people treated him like he was Jesus.

John Kerry spoke. Some other people. And then Beau Biden came out. Beau, Joe’s son, is a complete dreamboat. Seriously foxy. RAWR. I was weeping when he talked about his mother and sister being killed in the car accident, and how Joe Biden never left their side. Of course I cried when Sen. Biden came out and hugged his son. I have cried more times in the past couple of days than in the past couple of years. By now we know Biden’s story, but every time I hear it I am convinced more and more that he will be great. And he’s really living up to his role as an attack dog. Slap old Mac around. His wife, Jill, came out at the end and said she had a surprise. Who could it be?! Joe Jonas? Ben Affleck? GEORGE CLOONEY?! And then Barack stepped out. AHHHHHH. People were having political strokes. I wish I could really convey the electricity of the convention last night.

Oh! I saw Mohammed Ali last night! Just walking around the convention with his posse. Pretty cool.

After the convention, I ended up hanging out with people Mallory went to high school with. I still miss you Mal. And now I totally get all of her Denver stories about burritos and bicycles.

The big speech is tonight. Still looking for George Clooney.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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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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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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and this is just the beginning…

Readers, your favorite multiracial blogger (Kathleen) is on her way to Denver today, while I get to sit in bo-ring Washington DC and watch the action from afar. Sigh.

Looks like things are already off to a heated start in my beloved hometown. Take a look at this Fox News video, courtesy of Wonkette, which may be the greatest news clip in the history of the news:

Did you notice Griff stumbling backwards at the beginning of the clip? How about when he said “We got ahead of this marching…er, thing…”? And Griff’s general inability to get any sort of noteworthy information out of the crowd, because they all hate America and don’t believe in freedom of speech? Perhaps my favorite part is the title of this YouTube clip: “Anti-War Protesters Meance Intrepid Fox News Reporter!” Nice spelling, Fox fans. And intrepid? Really? For entering a crowd of stoned peace-loving college students and shouting “What’s your name?!” at them?

It’s going to be a fun week.

[Posted by Mallory]

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joe biden is our vp candidate!

He looks so vice presidential! Good choice, B. OBAMA/BIDEN 2008!

Here is the WaPo story.

And here they are, looking at hope and change on the horizon.

And again, sharing a laugh.  Look at them–they are adorable.  ADORABLE.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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Filed under crushes, history, news, politics, random, the hill

kids will google the weirdest things!

One of the nerdier aspects of having a blog is that you can see which search terms people used to stumble across it. These, as you can imagine, are often hysterical and probably a little too entertaining. Here are a few from the past couple of days with my comments and best guess as to what it pulled up next to it. Please note the spelling and grammar.

“tru blood cellular specialist” Tru without the e? Gangsta. Click here.

“sucking katy perry’s boobies” I mean really, who hasn’t Googled this? Click here.

“silly old man” This can only mean one thing. John McCain. Click here, here, here, here or here.

“what does the olypic maskots look like” Answer: Pokemon. And based on the spelling, I’m guess the user is familiar with Pokemon. Click here.

“kevin bacon speedos” Rawr. Wouldn’t it be great if he had his own line of Speedos? Click here.

“super dance youtube sexxy” Uhhh… click here?

Oh, the things people will Google. I hope we don’t disappoint.

Still waiting on that Obama VP decision. Last minute guesses? I’m leaning towards Rep. Chet Edwards or Joe Biden… text me already, B!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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i now kinda like billy mays.

Billy Mays, the Oxi Clean and everything else you never realized that you needed guy, sympathizes with us non-infomercial making simpletons who don’t like to be yelled at. Mays is recovering from hip surgery right now, so he’s been watching a lot of TV. Here is what he said to my beloved Washington Post:

“If I see myself one more time today,” he groans, sounding genuinely weary, “I’m going to pull my hair out.”

I was sick all last week. I hear ya, buddy.

“People used to tell him, ‘Billy, you’ve got to come off the gas a little, there’s no need to shout,’ ” says Anthony Sullivan, a friend, fellow pitchman and owner of a production company where Mays has shot commercials. “He’d say ‘No problem,’ but he couldn’t stop. He has one speed, 100 miles an hour — take it or leave it.”

But after reading this article, Billy, I’ll take it. And even though he sounds like he’s been huffing Oxi Clean for too long, I find him way less grating now than I did before. Strange.

I don’t endorse Billy for Prez, but I would give him a veep nod. I can see him being fierce in foreign policy negotiations.

Teehee:

[Posted by Kathleen]

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changing the game of clue: whodunnit?!

Due to my post-college depression, I don’t like change. Except when it comes with a healthy dose of hope and a large helping of Barack Obama. Haha. But you know what I mean. I feel myself especially threatened emotionally when staples from my younger years are changed. When I learned that Hasbro is totally changing the game of Clue, I immediately found myself drowning my sorrows in a box of Cheez-Its while whining “I’m so olddddddd” to my poor dog. I not crazy, I swear.

Clue is very near and dear to my heart! It was one of the few board games that I could actually win as a child. Monopoly taught me at a young age that I was miserable at math and business, but Clue, ah Clue– Clue made me feel as if I could one day work for the C.I.A. I was just THAT GOOD at finding out who killed Mr. Boddy in what room with what weapon.

According to the AP, the new Clue is updated to fit in with “tabloid culture”. I love me some tabloids, but geeez louise, keep it out of my board games.

The six characters’ last names remain the same, but their first names and bios have been updated. For example, Miss Scarlet is now Kasandra Scarlet, a famous actress often featured in tabloids. And Mr. Green is now Jacob Green, an African-American “with all the ins.”

HAHA oh man. “With all the ins”. What does that possibly mean? Hmmm. I wonder if he makes his final accusations in ebonics? One of my favorites, Colonel Mustard is now Jack Mustard, an ex-football player. Professor Plum is now a video game designer. I’m not making that up. How are we supposed to feel smart playing this game if our characters have gotten dumber?! And here is the greatest part of all, each character now has a special power to help them solve clues. LIke superhero powers? WHAT ABOUT MY SHARP AND NIMBLE MIND?! Ahh this is too much to handle. But wait, there’s more. No more revolver, lead pipe or wrench–instead we have a dumbbell, trophy or poison. Poison? Ehh, alright. Giving us Chuck Norris’ right leg would have been more practical than a dumbbell. Now there’s a weapon.

Clue has even gotten nouveau riche on us. There’s now a spa, theater and a guest house. Mr. Boddy’s classy, beautiful mansion wasn’t good enough. They made it a McMansion!

They are taking the original Clue off the shelves this fall. Go get it now, or forever be burdened with this travesty.

RIP Colonel Mustard. You will be missed. Here he is, in all his glory.

Rawr.

I can think of only one positive thing to say about this whole ordeal. Perhaps with this new version Miss Scarlett will finally be the slootbag we all knew she was/wanted her to be. Perhaps.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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Filed under news, pop culture, post-college depression, random, RIP