Thursday, July 29, 2004

Well, I decided to miss the first bits tonight and just tuned in in time for . . . THE KUCH!

This is the first time I've heard the Kuch speak (read about him, but he didn't campaign where I used to live) and I've got to say, he's got game. Too bad he didn't do better. I would love to see the Kuch get some more power and influence. He says all the right things for my ears (except for his enthusiasm for Kerry, which I hope is not misplaced).

I may go back into nerdmode later.

Until then, COURAGE.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Round Four, from Robert Caro and Teddy to the end.

(18, 19, 17) 18 speakers in round four, total of 72 tonight. 13 boys (11, 13, 11), total of 48, 5 girls (7, 6, 6), total of 24. Verdict: BOYS RULE! GIRLS DROOL!
Of these, 14 were seemingly white (14, 15, 2), total of 45, 3 seemingly black (1, 4, 12), total of 21, seemingly hispanic (1, 0, 0, 0), total of 1, and seemingly Asian (1, 0, 1, 0), total of 2. No one signifying homosexuality, 1 man with a disability [1] (0, 0, 0, 0), and 1 Indian [0] (0, 0, 2), total of 3.

The diversity works when you look at the numbers, but look at round three and you see that something was afoot tonight. I'm not liking the way this is working out.

BUT

Teresa, being of Portuguese descent and having been born and reared in Africa, is a pleasent sort of monkey wrench thrown into standard concepts of ethnicity. What, precisely, is she? I counted her as white but . . . I’ve been thinking about this sort of thing since the moment I decided to be a divider (rather than uniter) of the convention speakers. I figured it was ok to do what I was doing since I figured the planners of the convention would think along these lines. It may, however, be that they didn’t think that way. If they didn’t, that may explain some of the odd numbers I’ve been coming up with.

The male/female ratio is not so easily explained away.

The states have fared slightly better, however.

STATES REPRESENTED (night one in brackets, each person counted only once)
UNKNOWN BY GREG [15] (1, 3, 5, 1) = 10 [two night total 25]
CALIFORNIA [11] (2, 0, 1, 2) = 5 [two night total 16]
MASSACHUSSETTS [2] (4, 1, 3, 1) = 9 [two night total 11]
ILLINOIS [1] (0, 1, 0, 4) = 5 [two night total 6]
PENNSYLVANIA [1] (2, 0, 1, 2) = 5 [two night total 6]
ARIZONA [0] (0, 0, 2, 2) = 4 [two night total 4]
IOWA [1] (1, 0, 0, 2) = 3 [two night total 4]
MISSOURI [0] (0, 1, 0, 1) = 2 [two night total 2]
SOUTH DAKOTA [0] (0, 0, 0, 1) = 1 [two night total 1]
VERMONT [0] (0, 0, 0, 1) = 1 [two night total 1]
RHODE ISLAND [0] (0, 0, 0, 1) = 1 [two night total 1]
OTHER TERRITORIES [0] (0, 0, 0, 1) = 1 (D.C.) [two night total 1]

The above is this last round. Notice several newcomers. Below are some of the rest of the results:

NEW MEXICO [6] (1, 2, 0, 0) = 3 [two night total 9] (an unlikely fourth place overall behind Undeclared, California, and Massachussetts).

NEW YORK [3] (1, 0, 1, 0) = 2 [two night total 5]
MARYLAND [5] (0, 0, 0, 0) = 0 [two night total 5]
TEXAS [3] (0, 0, 1, 0) = 1 [two night total 4]
NEW JERSEY [2] (0, 2, 0, 0) = 2 [two night total 4]
OHIO [3] (0, 1, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 4]
MICHIGAN [1] (0, 0, 2, 0) = 2 [two night total 3]
FLORIDA [2] (1, 0, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 3]
NEW HAMPSHIRE [0] (1, 1, 0, 0) = 2 [two night total 2]
GEORGIA [2] (0, 0, 0, 0) = 0 [two night total 2]
WISCONSIN [2] (0, 0, 0, 0) = 0 [two night total 2]
ARKANSAS [2] (0, 0, 0, 0) = 0 [two night total 2]
TENNESSEE [1] (1, 0, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 2]
MISSISSIPPI [0] (0, 0, 1, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
WEST VIRGINIA [1] (0, 1, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
DELAWARE [0] (0, 1, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
KANSAS [0] (0, 1, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
MAINE [0] (0, 1, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
WASHINGTON [0] (0, 1, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
OREGON [0] (1, 0, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
COLORADO [0] (1, 0, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
MINNESOTA [0] (1, 0, 0, 0) = 1 [two night total 1]
CONNECTICUT [1] (0, 0, 0, 0) = 0 [two night total 1]
SOUTH CAROLINA [1] (0, 0, 0, 0) = 0 [two night total 1]

Unfortunately, neither Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming, non DC territories of the US, nor any foreign countries made the cut during the first two days.

Note that Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia are the remaining Confederate states. I predict we’ll see Mary Landrieu of Louisiana at some point, John Edwards has NC taken care of, and I’ll bet Mark Warner of Virginia appears. Who will represent Bama? My guess is Artur Davis. We’ll see.

AND NOW THE SUMMARY:

-- Robert Caro, of somewhere (white: guy)
-- T. Kennedy (guy, white, Mass). Teddy referred to the Revolutionaries who “fired the shirt ‘round the world”. Sweet. Also, if I recall correctly, Teddy voted against giving Dubyah the power to make war on Iraq. Good on him for that. He gave a good speech, too.
-- Jim Montgomery (guy, black, Illinois). He called Dubyah a cowboy, so cool.
-- Dick Gephardt (guy, white, Missouri)
-- Jeanne Shaheen (repeat)
-- Tom Daschle (guy, white, South Dakota)
-- Neil Hamilton (guy, white, Iowa)
-- Carol Moseley Braun (gal, black, Illinois). I’ve got little against Carol, but I’m curious as to why she’s speaking IF the other candidates don’t speak. So far Gephardt and now Carol, but what of Acting Ensign Clark? What of Holy Joe? What of Al? What of the Kuch? Basically, no one voted for Carol this last time (although she did get elected to the senate once).
DID SOMEONE ANNOUNCE DEAN? I WAS WATCHING “I LOVE THE 80S” AND MAY HAVE MISSED IT.
-- So now we come to Howard Dean (guy, white, Vermont). This will be the first time I’ve ever heard him really talk. I’ve read stuff, but he wasn’t on TV where I used to live.
-- Just as night must follow day, “We are Family” must follow Howard Dean. This is the second time (once last night, once tonight) for this song. It joins “Johnny B. Goode” and “Everyday People” in this status.
-- Christie Vilsack (gal, white, Iowa) doesn’t (or at least didn’t used to) like the way my Momma pronounces words. I don’t like Iowa. Nyah! But seriously, why is she speaking? She’s the first lady of IOWA, for the love of Mike. Surely there’s a congressional candidate from Nevada or a mayor from Hawaii or something who could talk. Even worse, she’s not much of a public speaker. And she’s dressed like Barbie.
-- Janet “Not Johnette” Napolitano (gal, white, Arizona).
-- It just hit me that I may have not counted someone from Indiana last night. I can’t think how, though, and won’t check. Sorry, Indiana!
-- And now a short film of growing up as a member of a minority group and coming to terms with how the Democratic Convention will relegate people like you largely to one portion of the festivities (OK. That wasn’t fare at all. I’m sorry. I only leave it here so that all may witness how mean and petty I can be.).
-- Dick Durbin (guy, white, Illinois). Is this Illinois night? If so, I want some CUBS.
-- No Cubs, but Barak Obama (guy, black, Illinois). Close, I guess, in that he does seem cool. I must, however, take issue with his statement to the effect that in no other country on earth would his family story (poor African immigrants made good) be possible. Dude. If he believes that to be true he needs to travel more. It is possible (and has happened) in lots of countries. In fact, it happened EARLIER in some other countries. Now, maybe he is referring specifically to the children of immigrants from Kenya. In THAT case, he may be right. Otherwise, a pretty good speech.
-- Jim Langevin (guy, white, HANDICAPPED, Rhode Island). A first for tonight and a first for the convention.
-- Ron Reagan (guy, white, California) is the first speaker I know to be an ATHEIST. Hooooo Raahhhh! The Gippling gave a stirring speech. I should point out that he was on “Fresh Air” on NPR a few days ago. If possible, you should listen to it. Good stuff.
-- Ilana Wexler (gal, white, California), the founder of “Kids for Kerry”, looks like Little Orphan Annie. Here’s what you’ll hear about her from Tucker Carlson: John Kerry, too, said a dirty word, Ilana, and he said it in a magazine kids read.
-- A children’s choir from Boston. Every color of the rainbow. Boys and girls. I’m not going to count them as they would muck up my record keeping. They are singing “Simple Gifts”, however, and that’s a good song. The West Virginia Mountaineer Marching Band should be playing behind them.
-- And now, a short film on the life and times of Teresa Heinz Kerry. I learn that she’s from Mozambique (of Portuguese heritage), and studied in South Africa and Switzerland. A fact about Massachusetts and environs: lots of Portuguese immigration to that area. In her case it is coincidence (met and married John Heinz while working with the UN, apparently, and he was a senator from Pennsylvania).
-- Chris Heinz (guy, white, Pennsylvania I guess) seems pretty affable.
-- Teresa Heinz Kerry (gal, white, and I’m sticking her in Pennsylvania) gives us SPANISH, and FRENCH, and ITALIAN, and PORTUGUESE (and what a German friend of mine stupidly referred to as Brazuelisch). Anyway, she gave a very strong speech. I guess if she were going to be an office seeker she would have already done it (she’s 65), so it’s a shame. She says good things. I could dig her as first lady. I hope she does lots of things (unlike I, Laurabot).
-- Matt Norris (?), an Indian guy from Arizona. Cool.
-- Yahya Hendi (guy, I’m guessing central Asian, D.C) is our first openly Muslim speaker and our first representative of the District.

And “Proud Kerry” plays us out . . .

Hour Three, from Reg to the end of the National Anthem (not counting Robert Caro)

(18, 19) 17 speakers in round three. 11 boys (11, 13), 6 girls (7, 6).
Of these, only 2 were seemingly white (14, 15), 12 seemingly black (1, 4), 0 seemingly hispanic (1, 0), and 1 seemingly asian (1, 0). No one signifying homosexuality or disability, BUT 2 Indians [0] (0, 0).

Was this bit intended as a ghetto? Cuz it sorta works like one.

STATES REPRESENTED (night one in brackets, each person counted only once)
UNKNOWN BY GREG [15] (1, 3) 5
CALIFORNIA [11] (2, 0) 1
MASSACHUSSETTS [2] (4, 1) 3
NEW YORK [3] (1, 0) 1
MICHIGAN [1] (0, 0) 2
PENNSYLVANIA [1] (2, 0) 1
TEXAS [3] (0, 0) 1
ARIZONA [0] (0, 0) 2
MISSISSIPPI [0] (0, 0) 1

no other states or territories

SUMMARY
-- Reg Weaver (black gentleman from somewhere) speaks well on education. He dogs Ted Kennedy’s “No Child Left Behind” law (voted for by Carrie Edwards), and NOT just because of underfunding.
-- John Dingle (white gentleman from Michigan)
-- Kwame Kilpatrick (black gentleman from Michigan). I’ve seen him speak before and he’s pretty impressive. Keep your eye on this dood (young, good looking, smart, black, progressive, etc).
-- Warning regarding how to exit the building, should such an unlikely thing be called for. For example, if Peter, Paul, and Mary sing again.
-- Recess for them. I should have hung on before posting that last one, I guess.
-- Steven of Penn (white gentleman) and Kirstin of Mass (black? lady), teen essay winners
-- Nubia Smith Whittaker of Mass (black lady) speaking on behalf of “Kids for Kerry”. I’m pretty high on the active kids, by the way. I should have been like them when I was a kid. Were I not so happy with being a curmudgeon, I’d want to be like them now.
-- Benjamin McKenzie from “the hit TV show the O.C.” and Texas (white gentleman)
-- “The City Youth Dance Ensemble”, black ladies and gentlemen from Mass, counted as one each. After they finished . . .
-- and we got tonight’s first JOHNNY B. GOODE (twice last night, if you’re keeping score).
-- Ossie Davis is back, and I had NO IDEA that he was married to Ruby Dee. Cool. I won’t count him again, but I will count her.
-- Ossie and Ruby are there to start a tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer. I think it is great that Mrs Hamer is getting her due, but wonder about the strategy. I would not be at all surprised to see Repugnicans make hay of how it came to be that Mrs Hamer gained national fame.
-- Bennie Thompson (black gentleman of Mississippi), to introduce . . .
-- Maya Angelou (black ladie from somewhere). I can’t get the image of David Alan Grier doing an impersonation of her reciting poetry in a Butterfinger ad out of my head. My concerns about what the Tucker Carlson set may do are, I hope, misplaced. The tribute was strong. Glad for it.
-- “This Lil Light O’ Mine” sung by a black gospel quartet. Two gentlemen and two ladies. I’ll count each of them if they do the verse “won’t let Satan pfthppttt it out, I’m gonna let it shine”. They don’t, so they get the P.P. and M. treatment. One lady, one gentleman.
-- Mike Honda (Asian American from Cali). We’re goin’ back to Cali! And the Democratic Party’s mea culpa tour continues, as Mr Honda calls attention to the internment camps for Japanese Americans. Again, good that it is done, but I fear for how the Repugs will use this. Mr Honda also blindsides us with lots of SPANISH! No Japanese, though.
-- James Forbes (black gentleman of NY). I’ll just say that, as far as preachers go, he’s not bad. In fact, he’s on the right side of most issues. There’s a big thing he believes that keeps me from totally digging him. Care to guess?
-- A few seconds of dead air rolls into “Shout” by Otis Day and the Nights (not). I do indeed want to shout.
-- I didn’t mention last night that they’re running clever little “switch” ads showing people who voted for Bush (or identify as Repugs) who claim they’ll go Carrie Edwards this time. Unfortunately I couldn’t read them (too far). They seem to serve two purposes (equally laudable): 1) get people feeling groovy 2) fill dead air. I can’t speak to 1, as I’m not there, but 2 needs serious help. Why didn’t they hire some Hollywood type to produce this thing?
-- And by the way, that was an unannounced break (so all my ragging was silly).
-- Michael Ennis and Alicia Chiles, Indians from Arizona, sang the national anthem in their language. Pretty cool, and the first appearance of Indians at the convention (and they came via satellite).

I’m stopping here to post. I may miss some speakers.

Actually, this is the big name types coming up, so I may not even chronicle them in detail.

Hour Two, from John Corzine to Peter, Paul, and Mary.

(18 in round one) 19 speakers in round two. 13 boys (11), 6 girls (7).
Of these, 15 were seemingly white (versus 14 in round one), 4 seemingly black (1), 0 seemingly hispanic (1), and 0 seemingly asian (1). No one signifying homosexuality, disability, or Indian-ness.

Very white, very male again, but with some good things said. The newish candidates, in particular, sound pretty good.

But P, P, and M are not quite what they used to be. Weren’t they once known for harmonizing?

STATES REPRESENTED (night one in brackets, each person counted only once)
UNKNOWN BY GREG [15] (1) 3
NEW MEXICO [6] (1) 2
MASSACHUSSETTS [2] (4) 1
NEW JERSEY [2] (0) 2
OHIO [3] (0) 1
NEW HAMPSHIRE [0] (1) 1
ILLINOIS [1] (0) 1
WEST VIRGINIA [1] (0) 1
MISSOURI [0] (0) 1
DELAWARE [0] (0) 1
KANSAS [0] (0) 1
MAINE [0] (0) 1
WASHINGTON [0] (0) 1

no others this round

THE PLOT SUMMARY:
-- Back from the break with Jon Corzine (white guy, NJ)
-- Nancy Farmer (white gal, MO)
-- A video tribute to Dems who died since 2000: Did you know Alan Cranston died? Maynard Jackson? Russel Long? Cyrus Vance? Big cheer from the faithful for Paul Wellstone.
-- Tom Carper (white guy, Delaware)
-- Adam Smith (white guy, Wash. State)
-- Jesse Jackson, Jr (black guy, Illinois). Jesse is cool. About time he got up there! Jesse, appropriately, takes the state to go for VOTING RIGHTS. He also mentions CARRIE EDWARDS twice (first time she got name checked tonight).
-- Deb Callahan (white gal, from somewhere)
-- David Passafaro (white guy, Mass)
-- Doug Palmer (black guy, NJ)
-- James P. Hoffa (white guy from . . . WHO’S ASKIN’?)
-- Joe Manchin (white guy from West BY GOD Virginia)
-- Kathleen Sebelius (white gal from Kansas)
-- Denise Stokes (black gal from somewhere)
-- Donald Plusquellic (white guy from Ohio)
-- John Baldacci (white guy from Maine), tipping his cap to CARRIE EDWARDS
-- Bill Richardson (who doesn’t count anymore) introduces . . .
-- Diane Denish (white gal of NM) also favors CARRIE EDWARDS
-- Jeff Bingaman (white guy, NM)
-- Jean Shaheen (white gal of NH)
-- Ossie Davis (black guy of somewhere)
-- Peter, Paul, and Mary perform (if that’s what you can call what they do). I’ll count them as one white guy and one white gal.

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

DAY TWO of the Democratic National Convention

I think I’m going to do things a tad differently. I’m still keeping track of states, though.

18 total speakers in the first hour.

STATES REPRESENTED (night one in brackets, each person counted only once)
UNKNOWN BY GREG [15] 1
CALIFORNIA [11] 2 I think California is going to run away with it.
NEW MEXICO [6] 1
MASSACHUSSETTS [2] 4
NEW YORK [3] 1
PENNSYLVANIA [1] 2
FLORIDA [2] 1
IOWA [1] 1
NEW HAMPSHIRE [0] 1
OREGON [0] 1
TENNESSEE [1] 1
COLORADO [0] 1
MINNESOTA [0] 1

Everyone else, same as at the end of last night.

-- Bill Richardson starts us off (white/hispanic guy, NM)
-- Invocation by Ernest Branch of Mass. (black guy, Mass). Rev Branch is fond of the phrase “Father God”, which always sounds funny to me.
-- Firemen from MA (white guys) and a pipe and drum corps from NH (white guys and gals) march in with the flags. Curiously, the band plays “You’re a Grand Ole Flag”, which doesn’t sound as good as you might think on those instruments. (I’m counting the firemen as One and the band as One).
-- Pledge from a local Mass white guy, I think.
-- National anthem from a Boston firefighter white guy.
-- Tom Vilsack (white guy of Iowa)
-- Bob Matsui (AsianAmer guy of Cali)
THE NEXT FEW ARE ALL CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES
-- Lois Murphy (white gal from Penn)
-- Allison Schwartz (white gal from Penn)
-- Jim Stork (white guy of Florida)
-- Patty Wetterling (white gal of Minnesota)
END THAT SECTION
-- Betsy Cavendish (white gal from somewhere who looks like Scott Thompson)
-- video tribute to the Boston area, featuring Conan O’Brian and Doris Kearns Plagiarist Goodwin. Sadly, Carlton isn’t in the video.
-- John Tanner (white guy of Tennessee)
-- Linda Sanchez (hispanic gal of Cali), played in with “Spill the Wine” by Eric Burdon and War. Odd choice. She gives us our first use of SPANISH of the night.
-- Nita Lowey (white gal of New York)
-- Diana DeGette (white gal of Colorado)
-- Earl Blumenauer (white guy with BOW TIE of Oregon)
-- “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang gets played.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I’m not so keen on the band.

Sara has suggested that I may have been unfair to the Dems in my criticism below. Perhaps. Here's my thinking.

I know that lots of states (Rhode Island, Wyoming, etc) aren't really keys to Dem victory and therefore don't merit lots of attention but I figure it is a good idea to at least get folks up on the stage for a few words. That rallies the troops, you know. Plus, this was the first day, and especially early on in the proceedings not a ton of people were watching anyway. So why not frontload it with the less important folks? Instead, we got lots of California, and lots of people who didn't give shoutouts to their home states.

Notice also that most of the ethnic diversity (and both of the two homosexual folks and the handicapped woman) were early in the evening. Why not a bit later, so that they could be seen by more people?

As to the religiosity of the evening: I don't see why it has to be prominent. It has been the Dem supporters who have been beating the drum against Dubyah's shirtsleeve religion.

And a word on the South. Clinton, Gore, Carter, LBJ, and arguably Truman are/were at least nominally southern. I know it probably looks like a hard slog, but I figure the party is stupid to not do free campaigning with things like convention speakers.

All things considered, I didn't dislike most of what I saw, but I would have put things in a different order, left out a few things, added one or two others.

We shall see what happens today.

ROUND FIVE Starting with Bill Richardson (asterisk) and Glenn Close (asterisk) and continuing through the Return of the King.

If I never hear “Amazing Grace” again it will be too soon. I blame “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan”. You know that song was written by reformed slave trader, right?

By the way: Bill Clinton is simply a masterful public speaker. He’s a disingenuous ass, make no mistake about it, but he fucking OWNS the stage.

And speaking of owning the stage: Patti LaBelle finds chunks of folks like Christina Aguilera in her STOOLS (to paraphrase Phil Hartman’s Frank Sinatra)!

TOTAL PEOPLE SPEAKING (27, 13**, 7*, 10***) 7* = 65 (including repeats)
DIFFERENT STATES REPRESENTED (14, 6*, 6, 6**) 5** = 20 (I counted funny)
STATES OF THE FORMER CONFEDERACY REPRESENTED (3.5, 2, 2, 1) 1 = 6.5

My verdict on states: I would have had more diversity, and I seriously don’t understand the lack of Southerners.

MEN (15, 9**, 4, 6**) 4* = 38 (including repeats)
WOMEN (12, 4, 3, 4*) 4* = 28 (including repeats)

My verdict: I think it’s fairly obvious that the Democrats are just eat up with feminism (not).

SEEMINGLY WHITE (12, 10*, 4, 4) 4 = 35 (including repeat)
SEEMINGLY BLACK (5, 2, 2, 1*) 1 = 12 (including repeat)
SEEMINGLY HISPANIC (6, 0, 0, 3*) 0 = 9 (including repeat)
UNCLEAR/CLEARLY MIXED (2, 0, 1*, 1*) 1 = 5 (including Richardson)
SEEMINGLY ASIAN (2, 1, 0, 0) 1 = 4
SEEMINGLY AMERICAN INDIAN (0, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 0

My verdict: Whitey FINALLY gets a convention for himself!

IDENTIFIABLY GAY (2, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 2
SEEMINGLY HANDICAPPED (0, 1, 0, 0) 0 = 1

My verdict: Clearly not engaging in tokenism. Yeesh.

CARRIE EDWARDS MENTIONED (2, 0, 3, 0) 0 = 5
USES OF SPANISH (4, 1, 0, 3) 0 = 8
REFERENCES TO STOLEN ELECTION (0, 4, 7, 0) 0 = 11
REFERENCE TO NADER VOTERS (0, 0, 1, 0) 0 = 1 (reaching out?)
SIDEWAYS SMACK AT BUSH’S MILITARY RECORD (0, 0, 0, 2) 0 = 2
“JOHNNY B. GOODE” PLAYED (1, 0 , 0, 1) 0 = 2
USE OF WORD NEWKILLER (1, 0, 0, 1) 0 = 2
“DON’T STOP” PLAYED (for Billary) = 1

STATES REPRESENTED (earlier rounds in parentheses):
UNKNOWN BY GREG (4, 7, 1, 0) 3 = 15 in night 1
CALIFORNIA (6, 1, 1, 2) 1* = 11 in night 1
NEW MEXICO (3, 0, 1*, 1*) 1* = 6 in night 1 (Richardson is a ringer)
MARYLAND (2, 2**, 1, 0) 0 = 5 in night 1
TEXAS (2, 1, 0, 0) 0 = 3 in night 1
OHIO (1, 0, 1, 1) 0 = 3 in night 1
NEW YORK (1, 0, 0, 0) 2 = 3 in night 1
FLORIDA (1, 1, 0, 0) 0 = 2 in night 1
GEORGIA (1, 0, 0, 1) 0 = 2 in night 1
WISCONSIN (0, 0, 0, 2) 0 = 2 in night 1
NEW JERSEY (1, 0, 0, 1*) 0 = 2 in night 1
ARKANSAS (0, 0, 1, 1) 0 = 2 in night 1
MASSACHUSSETTS (0, 1, 0, 0) 1 = 2 in night 1
CONNECTICUT (1, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1
ILLINOIS (0, 1, 0, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1
IOWA (1, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1
MICHIGAN (1, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1
PENNSYLVANIA (1, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1
SOUTH CAROLINA (0, 0, 0, 0) 1 = 1 in night 1
TENNESSEE (0, 0, 1, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1
WEST VIRGINIA (1, 0, 0, 0) 0 = 1 in night 1

THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD WAS IGNORED. FASCINATING.

ROUND FIVE BREAKDOWN
a white/hispanic man from NM (Bill R., who will never be counted again in any way)
a white woman from California (Glenn Close)
a central Asian (?) woman from somewhere (Haleema Salie)
a white man from Massachussetts (Gabe Lefkowitz) plays “Amazing Grace”
a black man from South Carolina (David Alston)
a white woman from New York [right! hehe] (Hillary Clinton)
a white man from New York [laughable?] (Bill Clinton)
a black woman from Heaven (Patti LaBelle)
a white woman from somewhere (Roberta Hestenes, a preacher of some sort)

And one final note: there was more than a diaperload of God in this night’s events. The fuck is up with that?

ROUND FOUR, starting with Bill Richardson and the video tribute to Jimmy Carter and ending at 9pm central time (as before, each asterisk represents a repeat speaker).

John Kerry, it turns out, used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack.
Why didn’t they play “My Ding-a-ling” during the ‘92 and ‘96 conventions?

TOTAL PEOPLE SPEAKING (27, 13**, 7*) 10***
STATES REPRESENTED (when origin of speaker is clear) (14, 6*, 6) 6**
STATES OF THE FORMER CONFEDERACY REPRESENTED (3.5, 2, 2) 1 (Georgia repeated)

MEN (15, 9**, 4) 6**
WOMEN (12, 4, 3) 4*

SEEMINGLY WHITE (12, 10*, 4) 4
SEEMINGLY BLACK (5, 2, 2) 1*
SEEMINGLY HISPANIC (6, 0, 0) 3*
SEEMINGLY ASIAN (2, 1, 0) 0
UNCLEAR/CLEARLY MIXED (2, 0, 1*) 1*
IDENTIFIABLY GAY (2, 0, 0) 0
SEEMINGLY AMERICAN INDIAN (0, 0, 0) 0
SEEMINGLY HANDICAPPED (0, 1, 0) 0

CARRIE EDWARDS MENTIONED (2, 0, 3) 0
USES OF SPANISH (4, 1, 0) 3 (several times by Angel from Cali, LOTS from Bob Menendez, a bit from a guy in L.A.)

REFERENCES TO STOLEN ELECTION (0, 4, 7) 0
REFERENCE TO NADER VOTERS (0, 0, 1) 0
SIDEWAYS SMACK AT BUSH’S MILITARY RECORD (0, 0, 0) 2
“JOHNNY B. GOODE” PLAYED (1, 0 , 0) 1 Is Chuck getting paid?
USE OF WORD NEWKILLER (1, 0, 0) 1 (Bob Menendez)

STATES REPRESENTED (earlier rounds in parentheses):
UNKNOWN BY GREG (4, 7, 1) 0
CALIFORNIA (6, 1, 1) 2
MARYLAND (2, 2**, 1) 0
NEW MEXICO (3, 0, 1*) 1*
TEXAS (2, 1, 0) 0
FLORIDA (1, 1, 0) 0
GEORGIA (1, 0, 0) 1
OHIO (1, 0, 1) 1
WISCONSIN (0, 0, 0) 2
NEW JERSEY (1, 0, 0) 1*
ARKANSAS (0, 0, 1) 1
CONNECTICUT (1, 0, 0) 0
ILLINOIS (0, 1, 0) 0
IOWA (1, 0, 0) 0
MASSACHUSSETTS (0, 1, 0) 0
MICHIGAN (1, 0, 0) 0
NEW YORK (1, 0, 0) 0
PENNSYLVANIA (1, 0, 0) 0
TENNESSEE (0, 0, 1) 0
WEST VIRGINIA (1, 0, 0) 0
EVERY OTHER STATE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD: a big goose egg

AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR A BREAKDOWN
a white/hispanic man from NM (Richardson otra vez, con *)
a white man from Georgia (Jimmy Carter)
a hispanic woman from California (Angel somethingorother)
a black woman from Ohio (Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a repeat speaker from Ohio)
a white man from Wisconsin (name escaped me)
a white woman from Wisconsin (Tammy Baldwin)
a hispanic man from NJ (Bob Menendez otra vez, con *)
MY ATTENTION LAPSED AT THIS POINT
a white man from Ohio (name?)
a white woman from Arkansas (name?)
a hispanic man from California (name?)

ROUND THREE, starting with Bill Richardson and the singing of the anthem by Bebe Winans and going on to after the children sang and the woman from Little Rock spoke via satellite (as before, each asterisk represents a repeat speaker).

By the way, I’m not counting people in the videos.

Also by the way (and I’ve got a lot of nerve pointing this out, considering my own skillz), lots of people in the arena wouldn’t know a downbeat if it hit them in their big, smug asses.

Also also by the way, are they going to play The Cars? Boston? Whoever sang “I Love that Dirty Water, Awww Boston You’re Mah Home”?

TOTAL PEOPLE SPEAKING (27, 13**) 7*
STATES REPRESENTED (when origin of speaker is clear) (14, 6*) 6*
STATES OF THE FORMER CONFEDERACY REPRESENTED (3.5, 2) 2

MEN (15, 9**) 4
WOMEN (12, 4) 3

IDENTIFIABLY GAY (2, 0) 0
SEEMINGLY WHITE (12, 10*) 4
SEEMINGLY BLACK (5, 2) 2
SEEMINGLY ASIAN (2, 1) 0
SEEMINGLY AMERICAN INDIAN (0, 0) 0
SEEMINGLY HISPANIC (6, 0) 0
UNCLEAR/CLEARLY MIXED (2, 0) 1*
SEEMINGLY HANDICAPPED (0, 1) 0
CARRIE EDWARDS MENTIONED (2, 0) 3

USES OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (4, 1) Just Spanish so far.

REFERENCES TO STOLEN ELECTION (0, 4) 7
REFERENCE TO NADER VOTERS (0, 0) 1
ODD SLIP O’ THE TONGUE (0, 0) 1 (Gore’s “ecoterr . . . NARCO terrorism”)

“PROUD MARY” PLAYED, WITH STUPID KERRY LYRICS (0, 0) 1
“THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND” SANG SANS RADICAL LYRICS (0, 0) 1
“EVERYDAY PEOPLE” PLAYED (0, 1) 1
“TENNESSEE WALTZ” PLAYED (0, 0) 1

STATES REPRESENTED (first round in parentheses):
UNKNOWN BY GREG (4, 7) 1
CALIFORNIA (6, 1) 1
MARYLAND (2, 2**) 1
NEW MEXICO (3, 0) 1*
TEXAS (2, 1) 0
OHIO (1, 0) 1
FLORIDA (1, 1) 0
ARKANSAS (0, 0) 1
CONNECTICUT (1, 0) 0
GEORGIA (1, 0) 0
ILLINOIS (0, 1) 0
IOWA (1, 0) 0
MASSACHUSSETTS (0, 1) 0
MICHIGAN (1, 0) 0
NEW JERSEY (1, 0) 0
NEW YORK (1, 0) 0
PENNSYLVANIA (1, 0) 0
TENNESSEE (0, 0) 1
WEST VIRGINIA (1, 0) 0

AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR A BREAKDOWN
black man from somewhere (Bebe Winans)
white/hispanic man from New Mexico (Bill Richardson again, so asterisk)
white man from Tennessee (Al Gore)
white man from Ohio (Bill Ray)
white woman from California (Glenn Close)
the female U.S. senators from the Democratic party (they spake not, so count not)
white woman from from Maryland (Barbara Mikulski)
a gang of children, in every color of the rainbow, unidentified and uncounted
a black woman from Arkansas (her name escaped me)

I’m watching CSpan, by the way. I reckon other channels might give more info through commentary.

Through the SECOND intermission (7pm central time) . . .

[asterisk marks repeat performers, by the way, and first round numbers are in parentheses]

TOTAL PEOPLE SPEAKING (27) 13**
STATES REPRESENTED ON STAGE (when origin of speaker is clear) (14) 6*
STATES OF THE FORMER CONFEDERACY REPRESENTED (3.5) 2 (Texas and Florida repeat)

MEN (15) 9**
WOMEN (12) 4

IDENTIFIABLY GAY (2)
SEEMINGLY WHITE (12) 10*
SEEMINGLY BLACK (5) 2
SEEMINGLY ASIAN (2) 1
SEEMINGLY AMERICAN INDIAN (0)
SEEMINGLY HISPANIC (6)
UNCLEAR/CLEARLY MIXED (2)
SEEMINGLY HANDICAPPED (0) 1
CARRIE EDWARDS MENTIONED (2)

USES OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (4) 1 SPANISH “Mi casa” (Marca Bristo, perhaps referring to a specific thing)

USE OF THE WORD NUKLER (1 speaker, Jim Turner)
“EVERYDAY PEOPLE” PLAYED (0) once
“WE ARE FAMILY” PLAYED (0) once
PITTSBURGH PIRATES GET PROPAHS? nope
“DANCIN’ IN THE STREET” PLAYED (0) once
IRONY OF THAT (A RIOT SONG FROM ‘68) BEING PLAYED not quantifiable
JFK’S “LET THE WORD GO FORTH” SPEECH PLAYED (1) 1
MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES SONG PLAYED (0) 1
“WHAT’S GOIN’ ON” PLAYED (0) once
FOX GETS BOOED (0) once
ATTENDEES TOLD TO STAY STILL (0) thrice
BUSH BOOED (0) once
REFERENCES TO STOLEN ELECTION (0) 4
INSPIRING MOMENTS (0) 2 (the MTV Rock the Vote montage and the Bosstones)

STATES REPRESENTED (first round in parentheses):
UNKNOWN BY GREG (4) 7
CALIFORNIA (6) 1
MARYLAND (2) 2**
TEXAS (2) 1
NEW MEXICO (3)
FLORIDA (1) 1
CONNECTICUT (1)
GEORGIA (1)
ILLINOIS (0) 1
IOWA (1)
MASSACHUSSETTS (0) 1
MICHIGAN (1)
NEW JERSEY (1)
NEW YORK (1)
OHIO (1)
PENNSYLVANIA (1)
WEST VIRGINIA (1)
ALL OTHER STATES AND THE REST OF THE WORLD (0) 0


AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR A BREAKDOWN
white man from somewhere (Rod O’Connor)
black woman from somewhere (Alice Huffman)
white man from somewhere (Ed McElroy)
white woman from somehwere (Gloria Feldt)
white man from California (Phil Angelides)
white woman from Illinois (Marca Bristo)
black man from Florida (Kendrick Meek)
white man from MTV (Gideon Yago)
asian woman from MTV (Su Chen Pak)
white man from MTV (Michael Negron)
white man from Massachussets (Tom Menino)
white man from Texas (Jim Turner)
white man from Maryland (Hoyer: counted with asterisk due to 2nd shot)
white man from Maryland (McAuliffe, same deal as Hoyer)

OK. The Drinking Game would have killed me, so I did something else. I decided to keep track of who spoke. What this all means I'm not sure.

Through the first intermission (5pm central time) . . .

TOTAL PEOPLE SPEAKING 27
STATES REPRESENTED ON STAGE (when origin of speaker is clear) 14
STATES OF THE FORMER CONFEDERACY REPRESENTED 3 (and 1/2 for West Virginia)
MEN 15
WOMEN 12

IDENTIFIABLY GAY 2
SEEMINGLY WHITE 12
SEEMINGLY BLACK 5
SEEMINGLY ASIAN 2
SEEMINGLY AMERICAN INDIAN 0
SEEMINGLY HISPANIC 6
UNCLEAR/CLEARLY MIXED 2
SEEMINGLY HANDICAPPED 0
CARRIE EDWARDS mentioned 2

USE OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Spanish: “Muchisimas Gracias”
Spanish: an awfully garbled phrase from McAuliffe
Spanish: “Senor Presidente McAuliffe, su espanol es muy bueno”
Spanish: lots of stuff from Hilda Solis
USE OF THE WORD NEWKILLER
Tom Vilsack of Ohio
JOHNNY B. GOODE PLAYED ONCE

AND HERE IS THE BREAKDOWN (I didn’t start out typing names):
white man from Maryland (Terry McAuliffe)
hispanic woman from New Mexico (Robyn Chavez, Miss Teen NM, singing)
black man from Pennsylvania (pledge)
white woman from Michigan (Debbie Stabenow)
black woman from Georgia
hispanic man from New Jersey
Japanese American man from California (Robert Matsui)
black man from New York
white man from Maryland (Steny Hoyer)
gay white man from somewhere (Andrew Tobias)
white woman from somewhere (Maureen White)
white woman from West Virginia
hispanic/black (?) woman from Texas
black woman from Texas
hispanic woman from California
white man from somewhere (Mark Brewer)
white/hispanic man from New Mexico (Bill Richardson)
white woman from Connecticut (Rosa DeLauro)
white man from Ohio (Tom Vilsack)
white man from somewhere (William Perry)
hispanic woman from California (Hilda Solis)
hispanic man from California (Antionio Villaraigosa)
hispanic man from New Mexico (Bill Garcia)
white woman from Iowa (Patty Judge)
asian man from California (Bill Lann Lee)
lesbian white woman from California (Roberta Achtenberg)
black man from Florida (John Marks)

STATES REPRESENTED:
CALIFORNIA 6
UNKNOWN BY GREG 4
NEW MEXICO 3
MARYLAND 2
TEXAS 2
CONNECTICUT 1
FLORIDA 1
GEORGIA 1
IOWA 1
MICHIGAN 1
NEW JERSEY 1
NEW YORK 1
OHIO 1
PENNSYLVANIA 1
WEST VIRGINIA 1
THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD 0

Monday, July 26, 2004

Here's a nice article on rock music and politics. To borrow from the Clash, you grow up and you calm down: you're working for the clampdown.

By the way, it wouldn't suprise me at all to someday see the following company/Clash synergies:

Wal Mart Supercenter: "Lost in the Supermarket"
an exfoliant brand of some sort: "Lose this Skin"

If I think of any more, I'll add them. If you think of any. . .

I've decided to emerge from my shell to announce that I intend to play Scott's Democratic National Convention Drinking Game.

Do the same?

Also, I'll tell you that I'm currently in Alabama. I visited some folks outside of Alabama, and also went to Gulf Shores. Soon (4 August) I'll be off to Germany.

Birgit has found us a nice, big apartment in Wuppertal. Plenty of room for guests. Come over?

Also: if you've seen "The Princess and the Warrior" (a German film, starring Franke Potente) then you've seen my future home town. If you've not seen that film, you should check it out.


And now MY ADDITIONS TO THE DRINKING GAME:

1) Finish your drink if the protests "get out of hand."
2) Finish your drink if Abbie Hoffman is referenced.
3) Finish your drink if any speaker takes a poke at Ralph Nader.
4) Finish your drink if Ron Reagan departs from his topic (stem cell research).
5) Freak out if terrorists strike the convention.