Rundown of the week.

One of us saw it live in the arena, one of us saw it live on television. Either way, we were both excitedly in Denver for the following:

Thursday 08.28.08

The big day. Obama's acceptance speech tonight. Goosebumps.

In the morning, a rare Kimberly AND Chris sighting at another breakfast discussion: the National Journal's daily convention briefing at the Tattered Cover bookstore. From left to right in the photo: Chris Matthews (of MSNBC), Joe Trippi (of the John Edwards campaign), Andrei Cherny (former Gore and Kerry speechwriter), Stanley Greenberg (co-founder with another Chris man crush James Carville of Democracy Corps.), Bill Daley (national Obama campaign co-chair), and moderator Ron Brownstein of the National Journal. A lively discussion of the recent goings-on, easily dominated by the cantankerous Chris Matthews. "Let me finish," was a common statement by the MSNBC anchor. Classic. A good time.

After, we (Kimberly and Chris) were supposed to meet at the Starz Green Room, where various films and political documentaries were shown. Hooray! An event to do together! We RSVP'd for tickets for a film dissecting Obama's spine-tingling 2004 Democratic convention speech. Chris got to the Green Room first, then the news struck via text message:

Kimberly snagged a ticket for Mile High Stadium.

It was discussed the previous day that if a ticket were to be acquired, she would give it to Chris so "he could experience the inside of the convention too". Kimberly all week had gained access to each day's events at the Pepsi Center; she had gained access to delegate- or lobbyist-only events during the day; at night she had gained access to parties or dinners hosted by various top-notch Democratic party luminaries. The crux of the matter was this: lobbying and the vast exchange of money for access sits in direct opposition to what Chris feels politics should be. Senator Obama does not and will not take lobbyist money. Chris and Kimberly frequently butt heads over the core of this matter. "This presidential candidate's platform is opposite what the lobbying cohorts are trying to accomplish." vs. "This is how the current game is played, so to push legislation through the game must be played this way until it is changed." Chris was heartbroken when a mere FIVE tickets from North Carolina were distributed for access to "Joe Q. Public" for Mile High Stadium. The chance of then receiving a ticket via lobbying efforts that run counter to one's personal political and/or ethical stance was tormenting. Chris stated that unless there were TWO tickets available to Kimberly, one for each, he would go; but not go alone. Kimberly found this mind-boggling. She wanted Chris to experince what she was fortunate to, and yet he stubbornly refuses...

The time is nigh, Chris is waiting for Kimberly at the Starz event, and Kimberly states she has one ticket. But the Starz event would have to be forfeited to go NOW directly through security at the stadium. Texts are sent back and forth arguing the matter. Chris would LOVE to go, but frankly not THIS way. Not from a lobbyist. Kimberly is even more bewildered. It is stated that as it is general admission, Chris would not in fact have to interact with the lobbyists. The ticket would just get him in and he can sit wherever he wants within the sections involved. Finally, in a bout of acquiescence, Chris says he'll take the ticket and to meet Kimberly soon to make the ticket exchange.

Moments later, all parties have been informed that the lobbying team wants to go together....and it is stated that their apprentice Kimberly is going with them. Now. Right now.

The roller coaster of emotion is complete. Bitter to confused to acceptance up to excitement and finally crash-landing back BELOW the depths of bitter.

Fine. Kimberly will go with the upper crust of the political machine. Fine.

Chris makes his way to the film instead.

Because of the timeframe between the film's ending and the squeeze to get through security at the stadium, the Obama film has been CANCELED. When it rains, it pours. Chris droops below bitter all the way down to despondency. What. The. Fuck.

As a consolation, one of the "delegate-only" Gugenheim filmings of the 30-minute 1968 documentary RFK Remembered is being shown in its place; one that we could not successfullyRSVP to as we were not delegates. This shorter film would give people plenty of time to make it to the stadium and through security. As a consolation, RFK's wife Ethel and one of their daughters Kerry are in the theater and Kerry makes a brief statement after the showing; so all is not in fact lost.

A watch party was planned at Wynkoop Brewing (with $1 off pints of Obamanator), so that is where Chris viewed the acceptance speech of (hopefully) the next president of the United States of America. Wondering if he'd be able to even hear anything, Chris was pleased when the bar dropped to "library quiet" whenever a speech was made: MLK III, Bill Richardson, Al Gore, Joe Biden, all the speeches.

A twist and turn of events, and we both were in town to witness history; albeit in strangely differing ways. Again, a different week than what we had planned....

Wednesday 08.27.08

Another early morning breakfast panel discussion on the roof of the Denver Athletic Club. This time, the trifecta of Illinois representative Rahm Emanuel, former South Dakota senator Tom Daschle, and forever man crush presidential historian Michael Beschloss. Chris is a HUGE Beschloss fan. Huge. Second time he's seen him "live", the first was during a forum here at Guilford College. Now, in Denver discussing "the impossible job" of the presidency. Giddy. Rep. Emanuel arrived late, Sen. Daschle had to leave early. A revolving door of elected officials whose itineraries and schedules I cannot even fathom following during this hectic week.

Here's a gaggle of videos from this morning's engaging discussion. Much more lively than Madame Speaker's. Pelosi is never on the verge of dropping an F-bomb like Emanuel is...


Almost an F-bomb in that last one. I love Rahm Emanuel.

During this, Kimberly was at a Democratic Senate Campaign Committee breakfast. Chris's "girlfriend" from the Pop the Cap descent-upon-Raleigh days is Kay Hagan, former state senator (and supporter of Pop the Cap) now running for U.S. Senate vs. that no-good worthless Elizabeth Dole. Chris was hoping to hop over the 3 blocks to see her, but alas, Ms. Hagan was not in attendance. Crap. No rekindling of the puppy love flames for Chris. Afterwards, once both our breakfasts were done, Kimberly and Chris BOTH (shocker!) were able to go out to lunch to Denver Chophouse. Huge ass burger for Kimberly, more meatloaf (this time the non-buffalo-at-Wynkoop variety) for Chris. Tasty. And frankly quite novel to see our spouse during the day while in the same city.

After lunch, Chris took an hour plus drive north up I-25 to Ft. Collins, CO and the home of New Belgium Brewing Co. New Belgium is a leader in self-sustaining practices; from wind power to supply their ENTIRE electricity needs, to recycling, to promoting the bicycle as a means to moving yourself around town (I mean, look at the "parking lot" of bikes outside the brewery!), to utilizing microbes to treat their waste water and reducing the load on the city's wastewater plant from the brewery by 98%. Kudos to New Belgium. Now if only we could actually GET their beers locally in NC!

Too bad Chris needed to get back into town for today's big convention speech of the night, because traveling to New Belgium entails driving directly past TWO other Ft. Collins breweries. On the same street! Fort Collins Brewery and Odell Brewing. Rats. If only there was more time....

Tuesday 08.26.08

Tuesday was a busy day.

Early, early, early into Denver for a 7:30am check-in on the roof of the Denver Athletic Club for "Convention Conversations" sponsored by Politico.com, Yahoo!, and The Denver Post. Breakfast panel discussions with political leaders concerning the election. Chris had RSVP's for today and tomorrow to see some political folks and get his political junkie fix.

Muffins, bagels, fruit, coffee, juice, water, and then....Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.




Afterward, it was close enough to the capitol that Chris walked over and strolled the parks and grounds. But first, more coffee at a Starbucks underneath the daily newspaper offices. Ahhhh. OK, energized again. There is a huge stately golden dome on the building, but sadly Chris was on the wrong side of the morning sun. The other side with the sun behind would have been better photogenically, but for once I was not going to go completely out of my way just to get a good snap.

From here, it was a jaunt up to Union Station to see what there was to see. MSNBC had their "base" near there for their telecasts. Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Chuck Todd, etc. were broadcasting live from there. Up close and almost personal while Chuck Todd was on the air. So close that Chris was broadcast live over the land on MSNBC again (remember the Greensboro Obama town hall where a stage-seated Chris was on MSNBC seemingly every night for a week) as a background head behind Chuck. Neato.

After watching live television, without the bonus of hearing what was being said in Chuck Todd's earpiece, and on the way to Union Station, an energetic man in a hot pink shirt stops Chris. "Is that an official Obama shirt from the website?" Why yes it is, good sir. And this starts the ball rolling in our interaction where it is learned he is a CNN "iReporter" who video blogs the convention. Would it be OK to ask Chris some questions? What the hell, why not? Here is the give and take with the excitable Jose Williams, "MrMan" the CNN iReporter in front of the MSNBC tower:



Afterwards, it was to Union Station to see the trains and just generally explore. Huge trains outside:

And much to Chris's surprise, tiny trains in the basement of Union Station! How cool is that?!?!

Whew, all this activity has left Chris hungry and thirsty. Hmmm, in the land of brewpubs let's hit up another: Denver Chophouse and Brewery. Yum, just like our usual haunt in Washington, DC: the District Chophouse...including their delicious Bourbon Stout.

Lunch in the belly, it was time to head over to go on a brewery tour. Great Divide Brewing Co. No food, just a taproom to order some pints. And directly behind the tap handles? The brewing facility to tour, of course. The usual: big shiny stainless tanks, copper kettles, some wooden barrels. But the most eye-opening of all, the blow-off bucket during active fermentation of their big stout Yeti. You may remember the popped airlock from a recent vigorous homebrewing fermentation here. Well this vigor knocks that vigor completely on its ass:




One of the best taprooms in the country, the COUNTRY, is in Denver: Falling Rock Tap House. Taps upon taps of really fantastic craft beer. "No crap on tap" is the mantra. Delicious stuff. An extremely hoppy IPA from California's Russian River Brewing called Blind Pig IPA was the beverage of choice. Enamel stripping beer. Yum!

Most of the goings on were in the "teens" in Denver: 16th and Wynkoop for Tattered Cover, 18th and Wynkoop for Wynkoop Brewing, 19th and Wynkoop for Denver Chophouse, the entire 16th Street mall, MSNBC's Morning Joe broadcasting live from Sam's Diner on 15th, 14th for the Denver Athletic Club and the Politico breakfast panel discussions. There was a special display of Obama-related artwork all the way over on 30th and Larimer at a warehouse art gallery in an exhibition entitled Manifest Hope. Inspiring and thought-provoking artwork with the good senator as the theme. Intense. Fun. A wonder to behold.


Finally, a nightcap at yet another brewpub, the Breckenridge Blake Street Pub, finishes out a hectic day. Whew.

Monday 08.25.08

The Tattered Cover bookstore, pictured at left, was a home away from home for Chris. Coffee, books, and political ramblings and rumblings all under one roof? Sign me up! The building just SMELLED of books. When you open an old hardcover and stick your nose in the binding, THAT smell. It was wonderful. Getting up early, making the drive into Denver, then waking up completely with good coffee surrounded by books and the granola-types and the pretentious and the learned and the stuffy. Hmmm, what category do I fit in?...

Anyway, it pays to hang around the center of political discourse and whatnot, because look what came home to North Carolina:Neato.

16th Street is a mall downtown where no vehicles are allowed, except for mall buses. Shops and restaurants and boutiques and the like. Blocks and blocks and blocks. Quite a hike from top to bottom, but it was the place to people watch and basically see some of the more, um, "reasonable" people this world has to offer:










Lunch was yet another brewpub: Rock Bottom Brewery on 16th Street. Sure it's a chain, but Rock Bottom always has a soft spot in our hearts, especially when we were chosen to "test out" the service at the Cleveland Rock Bottom right before it opened...and we begged and pleaded and received their recipe for Asiago Cheese Dip and Beer Bread. Yum!

After more sightseeing and browsing, the shining moment of the day: a fundraiser for Al Franken, Democratic nominee for senator from Minnesota. A website that listed all sorts of events for non-delegate, non-lobbying commonfolk had this listed. Being a fellow left-leaning liberal, Chris jumped at the chance to do this. A mere $250 donation to the Al Franken campaign got Chris a ticket to a law office downtown and a private reception with Mr. Franken. Damn, this was so cool. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, and again Fat Tire beer were all complimentary...well, as complimentary as $250 gets you. Before his remarks, a Q&A, and some general socializing and imbibing, he stated he would do something that would "blow our minds away" but he would not tell us what it was until he started to do it. Huh??? So, close to 2 hours of fun, he begins the mind-blowing. Al Franken can draw the contiguous 48 states by memory. Freehand. Pretty cool party trick. Chris may start practicing.

Afterward, it was back to Boulder and a stop at Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery for a fresh dose of Birckenstocks, granola, and hippie. Pretty good beer too. The server was keen on bringing me a sampler based on what beers I enjoy: IPA's, porters, and stouts. Tasty.

Back in town.

Denver was GREAT! A lot of events and things-to-do for the, ahem, not well connected. I say this because one of the Gordons was, ahem, well connected and was able to, omigosh like how did that happen, get into the convention hall (including the stadium) every single day. So it was a bit odd, both being in the same town, for the same event, and yet seeing each other for a total of, what, 40 minutes?

Strange. Not quite the week we planned together.

In any event, this unconnected plebian had a great time regardless. A lot to see and do. Some political folks to stalk and idolize. Many many brewpubs to visit in this microbrew mecca. And even made it onto CNN as a "man on the street".

Once pictures and notes are organized, the blogging will continue concerning at least Chris's adventures. Kimberly's on her own with her stories; and with the all-knowing, all-seeing eye of powerful lobbyists peering down, I'm not so sure what can be admitted here in a public forum. Her stories are WAY better, but you'll have to get hers verbally so there's no paper trail of secrets divulged. Seriously.

We interrupt our semi-regularly scheduled blogging.

Trent Reznor in Cleveland and Barack Obama in Denver both await Gordonian arrivals. We're sure some gripping and suspenseful posts will be promptly typed on these very internets upon our return. We apologize for giving you nothing to read for the next week or so, but we're sure all 3 or 4 of you will survive just fine.

We has a sad.

[The multi-repeated query today over the telephone was "Are you kidding me?"]

Chris called the Raleigh "Campaign for Change" office today after work to inquire as to the status of the community credential process for Senator Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The calling process was to occur between August 12 and August 17. Today was the final day and no call to the Gordons yet. Let's see what's up...

After the delegates receive all their tickets to the final night's acceptance speech, calls were made from Raleigh to some lucky recipients of tickets for the historic event. Number of calls made?

Five.

W-w-w-w-WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?

Five.

Are you kidding me?

Out of all the allotted tickets for "common folk", a mere five people in the whole state of North Carolina get the opportunity to witness history firsthand.

Five.

Community credential process started for Denver

The process for acquiring tickets to Senator Obama's acceptance speech in Denver has begun. The directions to do so have been posted online. Apparently, for the very small amount of non-Colorado and non-southwest tickets given away, you must prove to the local Campaign for Change office that you have a) a hotel, and b) a flight to Denver. We have both. We both left voicemails at the NC phone number provided. Holy crap, if this works out....

Step One:
Contact your local Campaign for Change between now and August 12 to request a Community Credential.

Step Two: Notification
Starting on August 12th, your local Campaign for Change office will notify you via email or text message if you have been selected to receive a community credential. You’ll find out when and where to pick up your credential, and you’ll need to verify your travel arrangements. If you are not selected to receive a community credential, you’ll remain on a waiting list in case more spaces become available.

Step Three: Pick up your credential
You’ll need to present a valid photo ID when you pick up your credential at your local Campaign for Change distribution center. Once you’ve received a credential, you will need to activate it through an online, in-person, or phone activation process. Credentials must be activated by August 19th.

Step Four: Come to Denver
When you arrive at INVESCO Field at Mile High on Thursday, August 28th, you will need your activated community credential to pass through a security checkpoint. Please note: Community Credentials are valid on Thursday, August 28th. The above information does not apply to Convention delegates, alternate delegates, pages or guests credentialed for the Pepsi Center, as these individuals will be credentialed in the same way for INVESCO Field at Mile High.

Have we mentioned we're going to Denver?

Let's go change the world.

Denver plans are a-comin' together

If you didn't know, Kimberly and Chris are making their way to Denver next month for the Democratic National Convention. We have plane fare. We have a hotel room. We have a rental car. However, we are not delegates, nor do we have any convention tickets. But just to be there for such an historic event will be ever-so-satisfying. And who knows? Maybe by chance somehow we'll find or talk ourselves getting into something....

If you haven't heard, Barack Obama is moving his acceptance speech from the "paltry" confines of the Pepsi Center to the 76,000-seat Invesco Field at Mile High football stadium. According to Senator Obama's website, the method to acquire free tickets for that historic outdoor encounter will be announced the closer we get to the actual date. To augment our chances on getting in though, we've donated (again) to the cause. Donate by July 31 be entered in a drawing for you and a friend to get in for 2 days and nights to the convention, meet him backstage, and see his speech live and in person. Oh my stars! Donation sent. Baited breath held...


In the meantime, before the convention's festivities begin, there happens to be a little something called a "Rockies / Reds baseball game" Sunday afternoon August 24th at Coors Field. Of course, tickets for that are already coming to us in the mail. Per the luxury of James and Chris's adventure in "Club Level" seats in Baltimore, Kimberly and Chris will have their snacks and drinks delivered to us in our seats for this one too. Section 234, row 11. That's the yellow section immediately to the third base side of the pressbox. Cool.

More Denver excitement to follow....