Friday, August 29, 2008

Birthday boy stands apart, as the drama's about to start...

It was Baby S's birthday...

We drank rum and cokes, cuddled a baby, ate mind bending pork tenderloin, and watched Obama.

This person - this fantastic lovebug and bearer of sweetness swooped right into my life and made things vastly more perfect in Denver.

I'm just mad about the fella...so, if you know him, if you see him...tell him he's fly...

Happy Day, Baby S!
xox

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bullet in Your Head

So, I got the call at 10:00 pm on Tuesday night that M. had acquired 2 tickets to the Rage Against the Machine/Iraq Veterans Against the War free concert at the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday!
There was to be a march after the show and some peaceful activism and protest in response to what they termed as the "illegal war" in Iraq. It seemed like too monumental an event to NOT go...


This sweet ride was in front of us as we were parking...serious, hot action, my friend!

So, this guy and I rambled into the Coliseum...I didn't bring my camera or my bag because I didn't want to wrangle with security over the contents of my bag. Also, I fell down as we were walking towards the queue and turned my ankle, ripped my pants, and tore up my knee. I blame it on the Peppermint Schnapps.

For a brief description of the show, I'll say a few things:

I've never been a REAL Rage fan. As I explained to M., it always reminded me of disgruntled jocks in high school that found their only outlets for rebellion through Keystone Light and the lyrics, "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me..."
Fortunately, this show really represented Rage Against the Machine's committment to being connected to something political and encouraging a sense of community and obligation to do the right thing in a safe and earnest way.
Rage was good too. I mean, tight, consistent, and full energy! I was won over!

And fine, I'll admit it, I got goosebumps several times listening to the rallying cries of Rage, of the Iraq War Veterans, and the cheers of the thousands upon thousands of fans.
The mosh pits were the most insane I've ever seen...and as I also explained to M., there were many times throughout the show where I felt I was inside a bong chamber!

To read more about the show and the protest, please check this link:
http://www.9news.com/news/elections/dnc/article.aspx?storyid=98552&catid=348

On the whole, it seemed semi-historic. We didn't end up marching to Invesco Field, but we did go get cheesesteaks and decided we should hit the Hope Manifest Gallery's show and the Unconvention concert.

Hope Manifest is doing this amazing Obama show that really cooked my noggin'.

Almost all the art is of Obama or has allusions to Obama.

Clearly, this was one of my faves.

It's pretty powerful to see these accumulated works and know that people all over the U.S. are invested in a national change prompted by one man.

Made of wood.

OBEY OBAMA.

Did you know that Obama has a mole in precisely the same place as Lincoln.
Eerie, right?


Fabio Obama.

Superimposed.

The Unconvention was amazing! Super low key, nice crowd, lovely surroundings! This was Nada Surf doing a little acoustic thing.

Hope.

Cold War Kids! Really super good.


Sunset...don't ever talk to M. about the sunset.

Jam up.

I wish I could have gotten a better nighttime shot of the Hope Manifest sign on top of the building. It was composed entirely of bike wheels and illuminated in pink.

Gavin Newsome! San Francisco's super rad Mayor introducing Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!


They sing about Satan. This always ranks pretty high with me.


Lastly, Silversun Pickups! They were legitimately, really, seriously good.

Their drummer is a mad man!


And who doesn't love a hot, sort of mute girl bass player?!
Also, check that noggin' in the foreground...COMBOVER CITY!


And lastly, here's my side face, M.'s side face, and some unfortunate schmo caught haphazardly picking his nose. Or maybe we just smelled bad.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Democratic National Convention 2008!

I'm pretty sure when crazy national shit like this happens in your backyard...you have an obligation to check it out. So, Co-Worker Michelle and I gathered our cameras and our senses of humor and took to the streets for a three hour walking tour of Capitol Hill and Downtown Denver!

When the first thing you see is cops in full on riot gear with shields over their faces - you know it's serious!

This is Civic Center Park - right across the street from the Capitol. The place was hoppin' with protestors and it seemed that most of them were being peaceful and keeping it real. When Michelle and I returned from our journey, we heard that two people were arrested after some anti-gay hater sauntered in yelling "Jesus hates sin". Last time I checked, Jesus doesn't hate.

For the most part, it was nice to be surrounded by people that felt so strongly for what they believed in.

It is, admittedly, a little daunting to see this many animated, fired up people...it's scary how incendiary that enthusiasm can be.



The puppet in the center-left part of the picture is Jesus.


These 9-11 conspiracy peeps were awesome. Some cameraman asked me some questions about who I thought was responsible for 9-11. After we walked away, Michelle got kind of freaked out about us being in a video. Whatev - 15 minutes, ya'll!




Political Mime.

Some people deal with the insanity by doing some public Tai Chi/Yogic breathing thing.
There was a lovely chanting/Oming sound as we approached them.

The traffic in Denver is crazy. Yesterday, a cab driver flipped me off.

Go with the flow/awesome lady - Co-Worker Michelle

Pundit in the sunshine...

We hit the 16th Street Mall to check out the mayhem there too. And Lordy, it's a ride!

Music x Politics = ugly dudes and bad haircuts.

Still, what a perfect place to rock out!


As usual, this stuff gets me pretty steamed, but everyone has a right to say what they feel is important. Even if all they did was drive around in mini-trucks wasting gas and grossing people out.


The only other thing I will say about this is: You can get your point across without these kinds of pictures.

There are people selling Obama stuff EVERYWHERE. Pins, t-shirts, visors, posters.

It was particularly nice to be out today - 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was declared in effect.

Labor pains for swanky Four Seasons!


Larimer St. is all decked out in flags...and I wanted this picture to be good, but then that little person's head got in the way.

As we got closer and closer to the Pepsi Center, where the REAL action goes down...it got weirder and weirder!

And then we realized, without credentials...you don't go past this barrier. We were still so far away from the Pepsi Center.

If you can't read it, it says: Welcome Sycophants

How could I pass up the opportunity to capture a man fluting away the afternoon!


Picturesque.

This was really the only spirited thing I saw happen today. As Michelle and I were trudging back - sweaty, sunburnt, and totally dehydrated...we saw a barrage of Anti-Choice people (and by people, I mean teenagers/adolescents) standing in front of restaurants with pictures of dead babies. It was sort of hard to deal with and makes you feel anxious and itchy to be involved. The guy with the backpack on couldn't help himself. He just started yelling. In a way, I wish I could have joined him.

This was more my scene - these people were screen printing shirts right there and encouraging folks to keep families together and promoting a reproductive revolution.


Politics. It's weird. It's important.


It's taken over my city. Pay attention - just like the Log Lady said, "Something is happening"...