4:30pm MST - Who's the rock star?

Who got the whole crowd on their feet?













It's Kucinich!

No doubt he will get overshadowed in the news by Hillary, coming on in prime time, but his "Wake up America!" sure got everyone fired up. If you can, find a YouTube video of his speech.

The Black Caucus led the memorial moments for Tubbs-Jones, the congresswoman who recently died. Although the whole time was meant to highlight those who passed away in the past year, Tubbs-Jones was given some special moments of her own.

The Alaskan delegates have been pretty popular here. Pictures, requests for interviews, or just shouts of, "Hey! You from Alaska??" are heard round the room.

Alaskan press!

We didn't think there were any members of the mainstream Alaskan press here - just bloggers! - but Tim from Cordova showed up. He heard of someone from the Juneau Empire showing up, but hasn't seen a trace yet.

Know why it's not televised?

There's no one here.

All right - not totally true - most delegates are networking, finding out schedules, coordinating who knows what. It's filling up slowly, but the cameras tend to angle it so all these empty seats don't show up.

Dem-Con in Denver-- the overrated, the underrated the superb and the absurd

Alaska Delegates having a blast..they get an A++

Denver--what a cool city! The scenery is beautiful, the weather has been hot, but beautiful, the public transport is clean, fast and efficient. Also, "hot" here is dry like Alaska so 85 degrees is "bearable" to me, unlike in the Midwest.--"A"

Protesters--come on, folks, get some friggin' direction! Even standing outside of MSNBC we see signs about 9/11 "truth," anti-war, environmental stuff, anti-meat...good Lord! Also, way-to-go starting a riot on Monday...at least it gave something for all the police to do!--"C-"

Delegates--all I can say is "WOW" what a bunch of friendly, wonderful people! Writing Raven talked about our experiences on the Light Rail the other day with the Texas Delegates...they literally welcomed us on board with open arms! Everyone I have met has been fabulous and that's a big part of the fun walking around Denver and visiting the various venues--"A+"

The Big Tent--a facinating experiment and a great alternative for those bloggers who are not credentialed and a really nice option for blog teams who don't have enough credentials. Hopefully they'll have worked some of the kinks out (like the sound) by tonight. The workshops during the day are a nice touch as well.-- "B+"

Republican "Rapid Response" Team--So far I've seen a maximum of 15 "NoBama" McCain drones at one time...and Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani showing up at the Dem Convention is nothing less than PA-THE-TIC.-- "F"

P.U.M.A--The "Party Unity My Ass" idiots have managed to get a lot of press considering their threats won't mount to a hill of beans...nor do they have the support they claim. I've seen one sorry woman with a stack of fliers.-- "F-"

To be continued...

The Delegate Party, Pike's Market in Seattle and now WE'RE HERE just in time for a VP candidate!

Holly Miowak Stebing, the Alaskan chosen to be backstage with Barack at the Thursday speech, was at the Delegate Party. I was very impressed by her intellect, candor and insight regarding her experiences and research of Alaska Native issues.

So, it's been radio silence for a bit but now we're here!

Before we left, I went to the Delegates Party at Club Soroya--it was a great time and a great job! Thanks Cal and Barbara for putting together a great time for all!!!

The Samoan dancers were a wonderful addition to the party!

We took off from Anchorage Airport after 1:30 AM and flew to Seattle where we had a six hour layover. We decided to hit Pike's Market, have breakfast and walk around. What inadvertantly happened is we became incredibly depressed over the difference in prices between Seattle and Anchorage--we Alaskans are so ripped-off!





We then took a walk on the waterfront in Seattle. It was about 65 degrees but I forgot that the dampness in Seattle makes it feel colder. Morrigan was smart and was wearing her new kuspick.






We got back on the plane and arrived in Denver at 4:45 Mountain Time--picked up by my friend Erick. We passed out almost immediately after we ate a yummy beef stew cooked by my friend Kim (Erick's wife) so we didn't get the text message about Joe Biden until I got up at about 7:30 AM. (He was the best choice, by the way.)

Anyway, I'm going to be mostly relaxing today until the media party this evening (the kickoff for the Democratic Convention) which I'll write about tonight. Tomorrow I plan to attend the Faith Gathering and I have media credentials for the Cheryl Crow and Dave Matthews concert! We'll all be putting our heads together over the next two days to come up with a planned schedule (which will probably change constantly) so folks have an idea what I'm planning to do. By the way, feel free to make suggestions!