Al Gore was seated directly behind me (Section 101, Row 35) in the Skybox at Invesco Field at Mile-High Stadium in Denver, Colorado on August 28th, the night that Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President.

Also visible inside the skybox at various times were Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West and other notable celebrities. In town during the four-day event were Jennifer Lopez, Sean Penn, Cindy Lauper, Ben Affleck and Jennnifer Garner, Steven Spielberg (who I did get a side shot of), Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Charlize Theron and her boyfriend, Stuart Townsend, and a cast of literally thousands (delegates, press, volunteers, etc.).

I got to the stadium at 2 p.m. to get a good seat, and it was good enough that the main press officer for the German Embassy was seated directly in front of me and Mo Rocca was within a few yards of my placement.
More pictures to follow

Tonight, I tried to find the Courtyard by Marriott, where an “Iowa” party was being held from 9 to 11, and I would have known Super Delegate Richard Machacek through association with Dave (his Republican brother) and Marcy, my old high school classmate. I came home from the Charlize Theron thing and wrote till 5 and only then took a bath, did my hair and took a nap until I woke up, which, unfortunately, was 9 p.m. I dressed quickly and took my blue Mustang convertible with the GPS downtown, trying to find SOMEWHERE to park it. I was told to “try 17th St.” as 16th Street is a pedestrian mall with “light rail.” So, I saw a big sign that said PARKING GARAGE on Stout Street and entered, drove to the 4th floor and parked. I couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights off, which was a problem that took me at least 20 minutes to solve, and I am driving with what appear to be my “brights” on at all times, as I can’t figure out how to get the “brights” down to “normal” brightness, but the GPS is working like a charm! (Otherwise, I’d be lost the entire week.)

Anyway, after all this, it was close to 11 and the Iowa party was only going to last from 9 to 11, they said. As I exited the parking garage, I asked the attendant how to walk to the Iowa hotel, and she said I couldn’t leave my car there past 10 p.m. ! (It was already 11 p.m.!) I went back UP to the 4th floor, drove my car out onto the street and tried to follow some fairly poor directions about a parking lot that was open air. Just then I saw a place on the street, but what street? I parked and found A Marriott, but not the Iowa Marriott.

However, I knew Illinois was in a Marriott downtown, so I went in there and, sure enough, there was an Illinois party going on and it did not end until 2 a.m. I spent the time with 4 pretty young girls, whom I will feature on my blog. They were very nice to let an oldster like me sit with them. One even bought me my (only) drink. I saw Mike Jacobs and asked Callie King (whose father is the Chief of the Denver Fire Department) to go over with me, as she was a pretty young thing (born in 1984) and I figured Mike Jacobs might actually speak to me if I had a pretty young thing with me. We introduced her as “my chauffeur.” He was quite courtly, speaking primarily with Callie, of course, and he didn’t have a clue who I was. Later on in the evening, he was being fairly loud ebullient with his cronies in the lobby (after the party was over) while I was watching a big plasma TV set, but with no sound,  because I let a different correspondent go tonight (Tuesday, Hillary’s night) and I will go again tomorrow (Wed.) and then go to Invesco Field the final night (Thursday).

I’m tired, but it’s fun!

Now comes the typical party. I couldn’t find my car and,, no, I was NOT drinking at all. (I had one glass of zinfandel in about 3 hours). I was drinking diet Coke, which was free. I finally hired a “pedi-cab,” driven by a kid from Wisconsin and we pedaled around until we found my blue Mustang convertible. I paid him $10, but it only took about 5 minutes on a bike to go around in circles. I then programmed my GPS without incident and arrived home only to discover that the local police have banned ALL parking on the side of the street that my 2427 W. 32nd triplex is. Luckily, there was one very small spot left across the street where it is still legal, and I managed to squeeze into that, and then realized that I never had dinner. I made a peanut butter sandwich and am waiting for my camera to “charge” and going to bed.

I’m sure glad I kept the car and also very glad I got GPS, although it cost me extra.

I don’t know, for sure, what I’m doing tomorrow besides going to the convention all night. They don’t have a TV set that works here (!) and there is no AC and the bathroom is smaller than Satch’s first bachelor pad and has a tub that is smaller than the one in my downstairs bathtub and an old clawfooted thing, to boot. Still, it is nice to have a kitchen, and I haven’t spent much at all on food, so far.

The DNC (Democratic National Convention) in Denver, Colorado kicked off on Monday, August 25^th, and I was there. I was almost not there, however, because (as outlined in AC content producer Tom Treloar’s story),  major highways are all but closed down, including I25, parts of Speer Boulevard, and nearly all the roads that lead one close to either the Pepsi Center, where the nightly meetings take place until Thursday, or Invesco Field, where Obama will make his acceptance speech.

I began my Odyssey towards the Pepsi Center by cab, because previous walking to interview the protesters in Tent City  left me lame. I waited for an hour for a cab, as some automated cab numbers did not  provide a “live” person to ask for a vehicle, but left you on “hold” for a very long time. Then, the number given me was for a cab service in the mountains. After an hour, a cab arrived, but the driver seemed less-than-informed about street closings. I finally exited the cab, $8 poorer, somewhere in the downtown area.

At this point, things got interesting. In trying to walk to the arena, visible about ½ mile away, yellow crime scene tape limited the ability to walk up the steps provided.

I flagged a city maintenance truck to ask “How do I get from here to there?” (“there” being visible, but not easily reached.) Locals had pointed to a building at least 10 miles away and told me to “walk to that building and come back.” After my merry laughter, I commandeered the maintenance truck and climbed into the front seat between Jorge and Luis, neither of whom spoke much English. Through my gestures, they understood that I wanted to get closer to the Pepsi Center, and, to that end, we nearly drove over some pedestrians on the sidewalks. I yelled, “Ay, Carrambe!” a lot (whatever that means) and they asked, “Hable Espanol?” to which, unfortunately, the response is “No hable Espanol,” [which I probably spelled wrong, as well.] Jorge, Luis and I got close, but no cigar. That is when two men (police? Secret Service?) in a golf cart took pity on me. One got out of the golf cart, I got in, and the golf cart drove me to the front door. (Sweet! Thanks, guys!)

Once inside, my “Hall” level pass allowed me to travel to behind-the-scenes areas, where I stood cheek-to-jowl with Jesse Jackson, Jr., on the “third level,” but, alas, did not secure a photo. I did take a picture of the large room housing at least 400 videotographers and bloggers (only 125 bloggers were allowed inside, I heard), and I crashed the party on the third floor, where larger media like NBC and “Time” (et. al.) is ensconced.

Much of my time was spent in the company of two young students from the University of Akron, who were feeding film for airing on PBS. Jamie Reeves, a junior, and Rebecca Gruccio, a Senior, were staying in Boulder, but getting class credit for their efforts for www.ztvakron.com.  Jamie will not wear high heels on Tuesday night.

After the party platform, gaveled into action by Howard Dean, had reinforced that Democrats want the complete redeployment of all troops in Iraq within 16 months, health care for all (a big topic of the ailing Ted Kennedy’s remarks), a new economic stimulus package, and more taxes on those with incomes over $250,000, the crowd began to swell in anticipation of the evening’s Big Name speakers, which included Nancy Pelosi, a video from (former President) Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg (introducing a tribute to her Uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, who appeared in person), former Republican Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri and, the piece de resistance, Michelle Obama.

As an Iowa native, I was interested in hearing what a Republican Congressman from Iowa would tell the crowded hall about Barack Obama. Among other things, the scholarly address questioned, “Whether it is prudent to borrow from future generations to pay for today’s reckless fiscal policies or elect a leader who will shore up our budgets and return us to a strong dollar. Whether it is preferable to continue the policies that have weakened our position in the world, deepened our debt and widened social divisions or elect a leader who will emulate John F. Kennedy and relight a lamp of fairness at home and reassert an energizing mix of realism and idealism abroad.” Leach called Obama “a transcending candidate, an individual whom I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great President.” His delivery was Leach’s usual thoughtful style, and the true crowd-pleasers were Teddy Kennedy and Michelle Obama.

As State Representative and Delegate Shirley Nathan-Eullian from Maryland gushed to me and Finnish reporter Jari Alenius, reporting for Ilta-Sanomat (a Finnish newspaper), “Michelle Obama was articulate. She was fantastical!”

Barack Obama spoke to the crowd and his wife and daughters via a “live” feed from Missouri. He had been in Davenport, Iowa earlier in the day. The Michelle Obama remarks ended the night’s duties, and delegates adjourned to a series of parties across the city.

I chose to attend “Republicans Happy Hour for Hillary,” an  event at the Paramount Café at 519 16^th St. in Denver, which was scheduled for 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Hillary never showed, but several young supporters wearing her shirts or McCain shirts did.

Alan S. Chartock of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, the owner of 22 public radio stations in the Albany, New York, area, with whom I chatted in the newsroom, said he had interviewed Hillary three times and that she was a “very bright woman,” but that she had “surrounded herself with idiots.” (By this, I believe he meant those who planned her Iowa primary campaign, not Bill Clinton.) While we were speaking, his wife phoned him to tell him that Denver police wear tear-gassing protesters outside the Denver Coliseum near 16^th Street.

The evening closed with me getting as close to Barack Obama as I am likely to get, in the person of a cardboard life-size figure at the Paramount Café. Too bad he wasn’t one of the Iowa primary candidates I posed with during that frozen winter.  Michelle Obama thanked the people of Iowa for turning out to vote for her husband Barack at the snowy Iowa caucuses, the first African-American with a realistic shot at being President.

Right now, rumors swirl that Hillary will ask for a state-by-state vote when her name is placed in nomination, and that she has brought her own camera crew to cover her appearances. A source inside the Texas delegation says the Hispanic delegates have not yet endorsed Obama’s candidacy, and, as Nancy Pelosi said, “To stay wallowing in all of this is not productive.”

It was just announced that former Republican Senator from Iowa James “Jim” Leach, now serving as the interim Director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard is to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado on opening night (Monday, August 25, 2008).

Trotting out this esteemed thirty-year Republican legislator, who endorsed Barack Obama on August 12^th, is a coup for the Democrats akin to the use of Senator Joseph Leiberman, (former Democratic Vice Presidential running mate with John Kerry) at the Republican convention.

Jim Leach is one of the most respected politicians ever to serve. And serve he did…for 30 years, in fact, from 1977 to 2007, when, after being re-elected 14 times, he was upset in the 2^nd Congressional District in eastern Iowa by a mere 6,000 votes by former Cornell College Professor David Loebsack.

Leach, a graduate of Princeton, Johns Hopkins and the London School of Economics, and a Davenport, Iowa, native, has been a voice for moderate Republicans ever since he defeated Ed Mezvinsky (who later served time in prison) in 1976.

If all politicians had the integrity, smarts and scruples of James Leach, this country wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in at this time in our history.

Leach was fiscally conservative, socially moderate, but progressive on such issues as stem cell research, which he supported at a time when “W” was banning the use of all but a few strains. Leach also had the integrity to quit during Watergate, in protest over the “Saturday Night Massacre,” when Richard Nixon fired Eliot Richardson and Archibald Cox. (At the time, Leach was serving as a delegate to the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the U.N. General Assembly). He never accepted PAC money, refused out-of-state contributions to his campaigns, and put limits on how much one individual could contributions.

After 9/11, I was standing in a long line at the Baltimore Airport, trying hard to get a plane back from a Sylvan Learning Center convention to the Quad Cities of Ia/Il when I happened to notice that the man 2 people back in line was Jim Leach, schlepping his own suit over his shoulder in a garment bag. The lines that day, snaking through that airport, were the longest lines I’ve ever seen in an airport. Airports in Washington, D.C. had been closed and planes had been grounded for days.

I struck up a conversation with Leach, saying something less-than-intelligent like, “Hey! You’re my Representative!”

Everyone, at that time, felt as though they wished they could do something to help, and I sketched for Leach my goal of hosting a fund-raiser for the children of the victims of that tragic terrorist attack. When I asked his opinion of the idea, just then taking shape in my mind, he responded with amusement, “You’re way ahead of me.” I forgot to ask him if he would participate, were I successful in organizing such a fund-raiser, but belatedly thought of this coup and sprinted the length of two airport concourses to ask him (breathlessly), “If I get something together, would you come and be the keynote speaker?” He looked a bit startled, but acknowledged that he would do so.

Fast forward to an Iowa football game one month later in a pancake house in Iowa City, Iowa. Who should be there but Senator Leach, wearing an orange sweater. I went over to his table and said, “Remember me? The Sylvan lady? I’m still working on the plans for the fund-raiser. Can I still count on you?” He chuckled, probably wondering if I were stalking him, but responded affirmatively.

I worked out the details of this event between 9/11 and 11/11, Veterans’ Day. In frequent conversations with the Senator’s office staff, I received word that, although he had many speaking commitments that day, he would, indeed, travel all the way from Iowa City (106 miles, round trip) to the Pleasant Valley High School, whose auditorium I had rented for an event we dubbed “Celebrate Citizenship.” I was warned, however, that, since he had at least 7 prior speaking engagements, he would arrive late.

When Jim Leach entered the hall about halfway through the performance(s) by the Glenview Band, he gave a thoughtful report to the assembled citizens about what was being discussed in the halls of Congress regarding the dastardly attack on the World Trade Center. He was insightful, thoughtful, inspiring, just as I expect him to be on Monday night at the DNC in Colorado.

He did not let me down in my hour of need, and, through the generosity of the people of the Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities and the forthright goodness of this man of principle, we raised $5,000 for the Scholarship Fund established for the children of the victims of 9/11, (with matching funds from our Sylvan Corporate company.)

This is the James Leach who endorsed Barack Obama on August 12^th and who will speak to the nation on Monday, August 25^th.

Jim Leach is one of the good ones.  Lord knows we need more like him now. I hope that, when he speaks, the nation listens.

Back on January 1, 2008, I printed some remarks made by Senator Joe Biden (D, Delaware) as he appeared in Davenport, Iowa, during the Iowa primary campaign season. In light of Senator Biden’s selection Saturday (Aug. 23, 2008) to be Barack Obama’s running mate for the Democratic bid for the Presidency, I’m reprinting some of his more noteworthy comments. (For those who wish to see the original article, complete with photo of Joe Biden and Yours Truly, check the archives on www.associatedcontent.com).

There is no doubt that Senator Joe Biden is a great orator. Sometimes, he has followed in the tradition of “loose lips sink ships,” as when he used a line at an Iowa State Fair speech and failed to properly attribute it (he had attributed it appropriately in prior addresses). This furor derailed an earlier bid for the Presidency with charges of “plagiarism.”

When the position of Chairman of the Democratic Party was up for grabs, it was Dean and Biden who really stood head-and-shoulders above the field and commanded attention. (Dr.) Howard Dean had just come off his unsuccessful bid for the Presidential nomination during the “Sleepless Summer” tour in Iowa, which derailed in Iowa at the ValAir Ballroom in what infamously became known as “the shout heard round the world.” Howard Dean is now DNC Chariman, and the ValAir Ballroom derailing was nothing more than a dirty bit of Republican showmanship. (Ask Joe Trippi, his campaign advisor, if you don’t believe me). Howard Dean has been known to say a few things off the top of his head, to “lip off,” which he may later regret. And so has Joe Biden. But isn’t some candor refreshing after years of Darth Vader Cheney?

Here are a few quotes from Senator Biden’s Iowa appearance on January 1, 2008:

“I’ve been a Senator since I was 29. There are only 27 in history that have served longer than me. My Grandpa Finnegan would not believe this. Iowa is the last level playing field in American politics. You can’t do this anywhere but here. We owe you. The whole process owes you. Win, lose or draw, I’ll always be indebted to you. Absent you and New Hampshire, it’s all about the money.”

“I look forward to a country that is proud of its great heritage. The United States does not torture and does not condone torture. The world is not stable. George Bush has done more than mess up. He’s been the worst President in history…at least the worst in the twenty-first century. The next president has to know what they’re about. I am the only candidate with a specific, concrete plan to end the war (The Biden Exit Strategy creating a Federal State of Iraq.). Five years ago, when I visited Afghanistan, you could walk down the street. You can’t do that now. You have to stay in the Green Zone. We may be in the midst of losing Afghanistan.”

[This last nugget of information was seconded by a British Army member I met in Las Vegas recently, who had just completed his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and said that Britain would soon withdraw all its troops, as the situation was untenable and unwinnable.]

Biden: “You have the most dangerous and complicated nation in the region in Pakistan, armed with nuclear weapons. Their population is larger than Russia’s. It’s the place where Bin Laden lives, where the Taliban reside. Imagine a Pakistan taken over by 15% of the Muslim zealots. My God, the lack of focus we have! My god, what hat this President wrought? This is the single most consequential election of your lifetimes. If it’s about experience, well, heck, I win! There’s good change and there’s bad change. It’s not about change or experience. It’s about pragmatic action. Inaction is a decision in itself.”

Moving from the topic of national security, Biden noted that he wrote the Violence Against Women Act “back in the eighties” working alone, and that it took him six years to get it passed. He added, “Initiating change is about taking action.”‘

Biden also quoted the statistics that show him to be “the fourth most liberal Senator and the Crime Bill that helped him put 100,000 more policemen in the streets, with $10 billion of additional funds for the task. “I’ve gotten it done in the past, and I believe I can do it again.”

On the subject of Republicans, in general, Biden commented, “I’ve had it up to here with the moralizing on the part of the Republican party…Where in the bible does it say torture is good? How can a tax cut for the rich, while millions have no health care coverage and millions live in poverty, be good or fair?”

Biden ended that night by saying, “I can hardly wait to debate any of these Republican candidates. I can hardly wait. The test for the Democratic candidate for the Presidency is crystal clear: who can take these guys on and win? Who can turn this nation around?”

[For an exclusive AC interview with Finnegan Biden, Joe's granddaughter, search the Associated Content archives.]

Five “standing O’s” is a lot, but that’s what John Williams and Yo Yo Ma, backed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, earned for their efforts at Symphony Hall in Chicago on Thursday, August 21^st. Orchestra Hall was packed for the prolific composer of themes from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Star Wars,” “E.T.”, and the “Indiana Jones” series. And Williams delivered all of them, including the Superman theme, in performing encore after encore for the packed and delighted house.

Unlike many other Symphony Hall concerts I have attended, the patrons did not start streaming for the exits as soon as the final number (“Flying Theme from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”) concluded. The crowd is generally more mature (read old), but not this night, and there are often empty seats, but, again, not this night.

The opening sequence featured the theme that John Williams wrote for the Olympics, which most of us have heard multiple times since 8/08/08. A sequence of Olympic scenes, including Michael Phelps in action, were synchronized to go with the “Bugler’s Dream/Olympic Fanfare and Theme.” When Williams—who looked a bit like Colonel Sanders with his white goatee, white hair, white jacket and black tie—directed the Symphony in the Spielberg themes he has composed over the past 35 years of working with the renowned director, clips from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Indiana Jones” (new and old) and other films for which Williams has composed the music were shown on a large screen above the Orchestra.

Yo Yo Ma, the world’s greatest living cellist (and Pablo Casals succssor for that title) was a joy playing Suite for Cello and Orchestra, the music from “Memoirs of a Geisha.” He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself and he and Williams hugged repeatedly following the performances, with the audience refusing to let the symphony, which Williams pronounced “Arguably the greatest Symphony Orchestra in the world,” leave the stage without encore after encore. The program, which began at 7:30 p.m., ran on until nearly 10:00 p.m., as applause and “bravos” from the audience kept the performers onstage long after they usually exit. Truly a memorable night with Yo Yo Ma and John Williams, who has been nominated for 45 Oscars and won seven.

Williams has composed the music for over 100 movies, including “War of the Worlds,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “The Patriot,” “Angela’s Ashes,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Amistad,” “Seven Years in Tibet,” “Sabrina,” “Schindler’s List,” “Jurassic Park,” “Presumed Innocent,” the “Indiana Jones” trilogy, the “Star Wars” trilogy, “The Witches of Eastwick” and “Jaws.” A student at Julliard, Williams was a jazz pianist in New York City after he studied privately with Rosina Levhinne.

In Los Angeles, his career included working with Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, and Franz Waxman. During the sixties, Williams won four Emmys for his music for television. In addition to his multiple Academy Awards, he has received 7 BAFTAs (British Academy Awards), 20 Grammys, 4 Golden Globes, and numerous gold and platinum records. After 14 seasons as conductor of the Boston Pops, Williams retired to become Boston Pops Laureate Conductor and artist-in-residence at Tanglewood and has continued to score nearly all of Steven Spielberg’s films, which saw him write over 350 different versions of the 5-note musical “greeting” used in “Close Encounters” before he and Spielberg settled on the final sequence.

Truly a memorable night with two musical geniuses.

The collaborative effort “Ghostly Tales of Route 66″ which Michael McCarty and I have been working on for over a year has finally reached us. It has not yet reached Amazon.com or other such order services, but my box of books arrived two days ago and the stories are actually bound in book form.

On October 4th, I will read from the book at a celebration of the Route 66 bridge in St. Louis. I will be at the original Route 66 Mississippi River crossing, the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The bridge, now closed to auto traffic, is used for hiking, biking and walking.  Classic cars will be displayed on the mile-long bridge and the exhibits, stages, live music, vendors and speaker tents will be located on park grounds on both the Illinois and Missouri lead-in to the bridge. I will read one story about Webster Groves, Missouri ghosts on one side of the bridge and then read the story of the Lemp Mansion Curse on the other side of the bridge. It should take about 15 miinutes to read each story. I’m excited to have been asked and I will be selling copies of the books (which are only $10) at the event, as well as sending one to you, should you ask. (contact me at EINNOC10@Aol.com).

After the event is concluded, we will travel on to Nashville for the Town Hall meeting involving Obama and McCain on October 7th.

I’ve been in Las Vegas lo these many days past, taking in Jay Leno’s show at the Mirage, the Beatles “Love” show, and watching then film an episode of “Prison Break” in our hotel, Planet Hollywood.

The gambling did not go so well for Yours Truly, although the husband claims to have won $700. (One never knows.)  I was content to watch the Olympics, which began the day we arrived (8/08/08) and to tour friend

Dan Decker’s new downtown theater project, where he hopes to mount plays in as little as twelve weeks.

I have beaucoup photos to post, if and when I can figure out what happened to the cord I need to use to post them. For now, suffice it to say that the group of 8 enjoyed all the sights and sounds of Sin City, and, despite the fact that our luggage was lost for a while and we had to fly through Lincoln, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado and then fly back at midnight, a good time was had by all.