A View of the Democratic National Convention

We have lift off

2009-01-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Our 44th President Elect, Barack Obama is now our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama.
Congratulations to him and the United States of America

Thanks to all who supported me and our new president
Good bye, and good luck

A Victory for the Ages

2009-01-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

As I sit here in my living room I was reminded of this blog. I was reminded of the many good days cataloged and the many adventures depicted. I remembered the everything from the Convention to the Debate at Hofstra to Election Day and to this final moment. Because today on this Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 the culmination of everything that I believed in this year, and all of my efforts and hopes comes to together in a moment of true sucess as Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. If there is anyone reading this now. You know the story that has been written this year about Barack Obama and he quest for change. After the convention the posts stopped coming from this blog. Maybe because of the lack of effort or lack of desire that I had. Mostly because of my workload at school. But after everything that has happend. I decided to take a mental health day. Most reading might expect me to be at the inauguration but sadly, no. I was not able to attend this monumental event for one reason or another and so I sit at home and cheer on Mr. Obama to victory. Today is a day of sucess for me and the million or so Americans in Washington DC today. I'm thrilled for Black America who must feel a sense of relief and sucess. To have a dream realized and to see how far that they as a people have come.
Now, let us wait and see the Change.

A Fond Farewell

2008-08-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

All good things must come to an end. And for me, Barack Obama walking off the podium at Mile High Stadium Thursday night was the end of many good things for me.

One, my stay at Denver, which is a great city and was fun to explore.

Two, my brush with stardom. Walking around on the floor of the Democratic National Convention allowed me to meet more famous people than there are on the red carpet.

Three, free stuff. Who doesn't love free stuff?

But now that all of the excitement it over, I have time to think about everything that went on. I won't bore you with too many details.

As soon as Barack Obama finished his speech my mind began to race. I thought about what I wanted to do with my life and what I could do to achieve the success that he has attained.
I now see politics as something that interests me especially when thinking about my future...

But back to business.

I really started getting into my schedule.
Wake up, blog corrections, head out to the city for lunch, go back to the hotel to change, and hit the convention for a night of excitement and politics.
I would have never used those words in a sentence before this convention.

Now the most important part of this good bye post.

I would like to thank Mark Abraham whom without I would never have been able to experience the wonder and excitement that is the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
He got me on the floor to get those pictures. He got me a Canon 5D. And he got me to Denver. I'm eternally grateful for his presenting me with the chance to go to such an outstanding event.

I would like to thank my Mom who pushed me to go and told me that whenever I see someone interesting, to go and talk to them. That is how I met Cory Booker and that is how I have pictures with a myriad of celebrities.

Finally I would like to thank all of the people out there who read my blog, forwarded it, commented on it and sent me emails. It made me happy to see such a positive response to what I thought was more of a personal diary of what happened throughout the Convention. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I just uploaded a photo album of all the pictures I could fit on flickr so go check them out.

I thank everyone for reading and especially any of you who managed to read through the blog in its entirety. I realize that I write a lot. I put a lot of time and effort into this project and to get such a great reception really influences me to pursue blogging in the future.

I thank you all once again, it has been a great journey and I hope that the future is bright for Barack Obama and the Democrats.

Finally, if you got anything out of this blog I hope that it is at least this:

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."

Barack Obama 08'

A Night to Remember

2008-08-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

What was a defining moment in American history was also the most exciting point in my life.

When Michael and I arrived at Mile High Stadium we had no idea where to go and spent the first half hour roaming around the stadium. When eventually we called that guy Jon Sachs that I mentioned in my first or second post, he didn't help us much.

But we did eventually find the digital dark room and from there we went out separate ways. I headed over to the camera stand to the right of the stage, as directed by Stan Ho nda, and Michael to the left. When I went over to Robin, the photographer I usually run for, she told me that she didn't really need my help for the day because she had a computer with which she could upload the pictures.
This didn't make me feel terribly good about myself but at least I had the rest of the Convention to myself.

So I walked around a bit, saw Lil JJ again, saw the Reverend Jesse Jackson but otherwise no one else really notable. Then it started getting exciting. John Legend and Wyclef Jean hit the stage to do a duet.

Up next was Sheryl Crowe. She did a whole 4 song set. Then Stevie Wonder did two songs. As always he got the crowd up and singing to "Sign Sealed Delivered" I really liked Sheryl Crowe the best and thought that all of the musical performances were great. The only disappointing part of the whole night actually was the lack of a Bruce Springsteen set. I was really thought he would jump up on stage during one of the dozen times they played "Born in the USA".
Oh well.

Bill Richardson, who didn't get a chance to make his speech last night made a very strong speech tonight. Now I don't have any quotes because I was so overwhelmed by where I was that I didn't get a chance to write anything down.

I was also being hassled by the police and what I guess you can call a "guard" even though they were just normal people keeping other normal people, like myself out of the closer regions of the floor. For this reason alone my night was dampened.

It made me angry because the "authoritative" people keeping me from a good view of the stage told me to keep moving back and "clear the aisle". There is only one problem, there was no where else to go. They closed off the exit to the right wing, if you will, of the field.

So I'm stuck in limbo moving back and forth, getting told to go back. It was probably the stupidest situation I have ever encountered. The speeches go on until Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner, hits the stage for a solid, Pro- Obama speech.

Al Gore went on for a bit about where the country would be if he was elected president. Gore told of a greener future possible if Obama were elected President of the United States. When I see these men and women making speeches talking about how Barack Obama will accomplish what they wanted to accomplish had they been elected to office I hope that the following of these people will take to Obama. That is obviously the goal but if it worked than Obama and McCain wouldn't be 50 50 in the polls!

After Al Gore, Vice President candidate Joe Biden came to the mic to just keep the tone on Obama and warm up the crowd, like they would need much warming up. He said that with Barack Obama the country can become a powerhouse again, a leader and a visionary.

After Biden left a myriad of common people from all over the country came up to the podium to tell their stories and why Obama is their vote for President.

One woman was a republican turned democrat. Another was a man who lost his job to a foreign worker. I found these speeches a wonderful addition to the entire experience. The whole message of the "change America needs". Then a senator from Illinois made a speech followed by a long video telling part of Barack Obama's story.

And without introduction the man himself, the reason we were all the, the future of the country, nay, the world, stepped on to the floor and up to the podium to address the country. Barack Obama opened his speech with his accepting the democratic nomination for president of the United States. It didn't take that long to quiet down the crowd either time due to the respect from the crowd and the desire to hear what their future president would say.

Obama made many important points during his speech. He said that he didn't think McCain didn't care about the problems of the people in America, he just didn't know about them. He also answered some questions brought up over the campaign such as his patriotism. Obama argued that he can't disagree with other politicians without them questioning his patriotism. I also have a take on this. If Obama didn't love this country why would he be doing everything in his power to make it better?

Barack Obama stated that the campaign was never about him but about "you" the people. Obama stressed that the election was not just about politics or even other worldly matters. It is also about reviving the sense of common purpose. To care for your brothers and sisters and to achieve your own goals. This is what Barack Obama tries to drive home with his powerful speech.

"What some people don't understand is that change isn't coming from Washington, but to it" This was welcomed warmly by the crowd because it insinuates that the Obama campaign message of "Change we can believe in" When the speech ended, fire works erupted from all around the stage.

Joe Biden came out and he and Obama posed around the podium while the most patriotic of patriotic music played. When he finished I had chills throughout my body. I had stood for so long that my legs were numb but my mind was rushing. I kept thinking about what I had witnessed and if Barack Obama was the man for the future. I know one thing, if I could vote my choice would be simple.

I just hope the rest of America sees what he will bring and what this country can be capable of with a visionary like Barack Obama as commander in chief.

The 2008 Democratic National Convention ended on the note "Yes we can". I can only imagine what Barack Obama felt as he accepted the democratic presidential nomination. He becomes the first serious African American man to be nominated. He, alone, represents how far the African American race has come in this country. Will he win the presidency? Maybe. Maybe not. But for the first time in my life, someone has come along to bring the change that I need. To help change the future for the better. To secure my chance at being something in this world.

That someone is

Barack Obama

Third Times' a Charm

2008-08-28T00:26:00.000-07:00

There is no biz like show biz and tonight was the closest thing I've ever come to that.

I might as well have walked onto the red carpet. Such celebrities as, The ever present Spike Lee, Jamie Foxx, Chevy Chase, Kal Penn, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, and probably more hidden between the rows of the delegates sections.

There is so much too much to tell for the amount of time I have before the coffee wears off and my creative mind shuts down. So bear with me, I'll get down what I can tonight and finish it up in the morning.

Today Michael and I headed out for a quick run to the MSNBC out door studio where we encountered the usual characters:

We then hopped on the shuttle to head over to the Pepsi Center for it's last day hosting the Democratic National Convention.
Cutting right to the chase today? That's because we woke up so late due to my staying up until 2.

We arrived at the Pepsi Center earlier than usual. We hung around the dark room and walked around the floor until about 6. A man with Canon approached us telling us that Mark had asked him to hook us up with some Canon 5D's! Now all of my pictures will be high res and awesome to match my writing skills.

Equipped now with my Canon I headed over to my camera stand running into Katie Couric on

the way.

After I entered the convention hall I didn't leave it until the convention recessed for the day.
Almost immediately Robin and I entered the buffer. Our plan was that since yesterday I got locked out I would hand the disks off to Joe, the editor correspondent who would meet me at the gate. This method worked excellently.

The first famous person I met that night will make my mother very happy:

Luke Russert

I found him interviewing someone for CNN in the stead of his father no doubt.

I only ran about 3 times over the course of the exciting, speech filled night. The list of the speakers for the night are as follows:
Sen. Jack Reed
Former Sen. Tom Daschle
Bill Clinton

Sen. John Kerry
Gov. Bill Richardson (Did not speak)
Rep. Chet Edwards
Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth
Sen. Joe Biden (To accept Vice President Nomination)

Right as I began to head down to the buffer I saw, you guessed it, Spike Lee yet again. I was very close to getting a picture but he didn't look to thrilled when he was mobbed by a group of people. So I decided to back off.

It didn't take long for me to find out that tonight would be the most exciting night so far.
Because as soon as Bill Clinton was brought on stage the crowd exploded waving American flags and cheering their hearts out for literally 10 minutes. It took so long to quiet the crowd down that Bill Clinton had to get very serious and tell every one sternly to calm down.

Bill Clinton's speech was pure dynamite. He started his speech by saying that Barack Obama hit the ball out of the park when he picked Joe Biden.

"I love Joe Biden." Was exactly what he said.
Bill Clinton also talked about how people called him "too young and too inexperienced" when he was running for president. "Sound familiar?"

Of course Clinton was hinting that Obama was called that as well. Clinton won when they said that he led America through one of the strongest economic time periods in it's history.

Bill Clinton told the audience that "Barack Obama is ready to lead"

During this speech the coolest thing of the night happened to me. I was crouching down in the buffer and I turned around to see the one and only Chevy Chase! I was so shocked I took a double take. Then as fate would have it a woman came over to him and had the nerve to tell him that he was in her seat. So being a chivalrous celebrity, Chase removed himself and knelt down right beside me.

Some guy said to him "Welcome to our world" and that was when I extended my hand to him and said "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Chase." I'm way too courteous for my own good when meeting celebrities. He shook my hand and I asked him for a picture, obliging, I flipped the camera around and took a picture of us.

Too bad I am such an ugly person or it would have been a great picture.

After Clinton's amazing, true speech John Kerry was up.

A lot of people said that his speech was redeeming. I thought it was pretty good but he looked so old. Just four years ago he looked so young and hopeful. Now he looked old and worn. But his speech "raised him up a step" said Mark.

After a few other speakers the Man of the night, Joe Biden took the stage.
He was an amazing sight. His story is phenomenal. Elected to the senate at 29, lost his wife and daughter in a car crash and spent 4 hours a day commuting from D.C to Delaware just to see his kids.

He also kept up with the theme of the convention: "McCain is wrong and Obama is Right" Simple and true. Biden claims that Obama and him will help raise the minimum wage. And keeping with his "Violence Against Women Act" he stressed equal pay for women who do equal work.

Well the night is over right? Biden gave his powerful, enthralling, speech. But wait, a special guest? Could it be? Oh yes it was:
Barack Obama

When Barack Obama walked out of that door and stepped onto the stage already burning from the fiery energy that was the people in attendance at the DNC I was sent into shock. For whatever reason, seeing this man so close and so alive was just the turning point in the trip for me. I have never been more excited about Change then I ever was that moment. He began to talk, simply congratulating Bill and Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Bo Biden, who introduced his father and the rest of the speakers.

He told us he'd see us Thursday and proceeded to greet the Biden family and whoever else was on stage.

Right before he left however He pointed at the people in the buffer, right where I was standing and looked everyone in the eye. He covered about a span of 10 feet with this motion and he caught my eye for about half a second. It probably helped that I was the tallest one there.

This made my night.

Or so I thought i had thought...

After the spectacular final day at the Pepsi Center Mark, Michael, Larry (a guy on staff) and myself went out the Denver Diner for some quick food. When we got there however we found that a rumor was going around that Barack Obama would be showing up to eat there that night!

I became ecstatic. I've never eaten a hamburger so slowly before. We all did everything we could to keep us at our table. Ordered dessert, coffee, made small talk with the waitress. But in the end it was just an extra hour of time I didn't have to write up this blog. Because all the signs that were posted up touting "Obama

Biden" were taken down after the "Check out" guy came and left. He came to check on the place and make sure it was safe for Mr. Obama.

Well I guess something went wrong because we never did see Barack Obama in that restaurant. But we were ready for him. All Camera's and handshakes.

So now I sit here in bed at 3 am desiring nothing more than to go to sleep so I can be ready for the biggest day of them all tomorrow.

Hopefully I will get enough sleep. We plan to head over to Mile High Stadium ASAP. So no afternoon posts. But I will have more than enough to talk about tomorrow. But for now

Goodnight.

Peace.

...

2008-08-27T14:02:00.001-07:00

Yes.

Dies Duos of Monesterium

2008-08-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Sequels are never as good as the first they say. Lucky for me the sequel to day one of the Democratic National convention was not a movie.
Though with people like Spike Lee and Charles Barkley present it sure could have been.

I'll start it off with the highlight of my night:

BAM, the Charles Barkley
Too bad I'm not as photogenic as I should be due to the fact that my father is a photographer.

Now that my personal ordeal is over with, Day 2!

No really big speakers tonight except for the number 2 democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.
I guess it is appropriate she spoke on the second night. Other notable speakers in order from first to last are as follows:

Rep. Dennis Kuinich
Gov. Ed Rendell
Rep. Rahm Emanuel
Gov. Janet Napolitano
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
Former Gov. Mark Warner (key note speaker)
Gov. Deval Patrick
Gov. Brian Schweitzer
Hillary Clinton

When I arrived at my station (by the New Mexico delegates) Robin, the photographer I run for had nothing for me to do so I walked around a bit, saw Spike Lee again (wearing his Undrcrwn
t shirt I may add). I also met this guy:

I thought my mom would like that. Again, I wish I was photogenic.

So the night continued on containing some if not most of the thrills of the previous night. But the coolest part by far was going to the buffer.

Down right in front of the stage there is a roped of place called the buffer. It is where all of the photographers with the proper credentials kneel and capture the magic of the speaker. Robin, has those credentials. I do too.

We went down to the buffer where you might as well have been sitting next to the person at the podium. So I'm sitting there, bewildered at how close I am to these famous politicians such as Mark Warner.

When I realize, I'm going to be here when Hillary Clinton comes up! Now I'm not a big fan of hers but I do appreciate all of her efforts and her strong determination to fight the prejudice she faces as a woman. But that is beside the point. So here I am taking these really good shots from my (calling it a front row seat would be an understatement) position when my photographer signals to me to come and pick up some disks.

I begin to head over to her but before I do I encounter some trouble with one of the "overseers". He tells me I have to go wait with the other runners (total runners: 2) but Mark, who was down in the buffer as well told him that I can wait right where I was waiting. I was very grateful to keep my perfect spot, or so I thought I would be keeping it.

I begin to push through the aisle and head towards the dark room. I deliver the disks successfully and begin to head back to the buffer when I am stopped by the guards at the entrance to the convention hall. Apparently no one was allowed in, NO ONE, except of course Bill Richardson who's guards got him through. I did get his signature though.

What happened was the Fire Marshall declared it a fire hazard for there to be that many people in the hall. Well Mr. Marshall don't you think it is also a fire hazard to have at least one hundred people blocking the entrances and exits of the auditorium? No I guess that didn't occur to you, or any one else.

To make a long brutal, saddening story short I was stuck in the outer hall for the reast of the night and I missed my perfect chance to snap some great photos of Hillary Clinton.
But as my editor correspondent told me, "Such is life". That allieviated some of the frustration because just because I'm missing Hillary Clinton doesn't mean it should ruin my night. I'll wait until Barack Obama is speaking for it to ruin my night. I should not talk such.

So I listen to Hillary Clinton's speech via television feed and occasionally run back to the gate to try and get a better look.

Her speech was pretty solid, it wasn't Michelle Obama's the previous night but it was extremely Pro-Obama. In her speech she emphasized the necessity of health care for every one in this country. She also talked about how voting in Barack Obama will help to alleviate our massive debt to China. "We can not depend on foreign oil any longer".

She also included in her speech saying that "Veterans should be receiving the care that they deserve" which is something I myself find trouble understanding why we have such a problem. These men risk their lives and when they come home they are resigned to low rate jobs, little pension and most are mentally and physically damaged from their experiences in war.

Hillary didn't seem too upset with Obama's pick of Joe Biden as Vice President either. She said that Joe Biden can help lessen the economic stress in our country because he has been through it.

"Experienced" is a very important quality in this election. People like to know that these men running for president have been through some of what they themselves have been through.
Mrs. Clinton also talked about how John McCain doesn't care about Women getting equal pay for equal men.

This night had its pros and cons.
Pros:
Met Charles Barkley
Got as close as possible to most of the speakers
Got a free pretzel and water
Learned a few more names

Cons:
Didn't get to be in the convention hall for end of speech giving
Didn't see Hillary Clinton's speech
Once again did not finish blog before next day. SORRY!

I am excited for the third day and hope that it gets more exciting. Oh and when we got back to the hotel Death Cab for Cutie was apparently finishing up their set in some warehouse like building across the street from our hotel.

Today Michael and myself will be heading up to the Center early to catch some of the musical acts. So no mid day post like usual.

In other news, KanYe West is rumored to be playing some where around the convention hall and we fully intend to go.

I have posted a photobucket album of all the pictures that didn't make it into the blog. I'm currently uploading them and it takes a while but you can still check it out.

Thats all for now.
Peace.
-Graham

"How not to protest"

2008-08-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

On this third day in Denver Michael and I went out looking for protests.

But what we found was a combination of the most annoying person in Denver and the most impatient group of on lookers.

An anti-abortion protest raged on the 16th street Mall. Complete with brutal, and graphic pictures of abortion victims. It was very unsettling and I had to leave because I just couldn't take protesters shoving pictures of mutilated babies. It was too much.

I am sorry for the camera wrap around. I don't have to much time to edit the video and I didn't want to put the graphic pictures circling the area on display.

So we left and headed for a store we had both been hoping to go to, 400. When we stepped inside the smell of new sneaker circled around me like an intoxicating perfume. I checked everything out they had some 10xDeep, Kidrobot, Upper Playground, Married to the Mob, and most important of all Undercrwn.

I had never heard of Undrcrwn until I went 400. But now I own a piece of their apparel. And that is this beautiful t-shirt:

Undrcrwn X Obama X The400

I bought the gray one. I love this t-shirt and I'm probably going to be one of the only people on the east coast with one because they are sold exclusively at 400.

Well aside from Spike Lee that is. The guy at the store told us Spike Lee came in earlier and bought 8 of these shirts. Too bad we missed him even though I did see him last night and hopefully I'll see him again tonight.

Well we are about to catch the shuttle back to the Pepsi Center for Day 2!
Stay Posted.
Peace.
-Graham

A Big ol' Convention

2008-08-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

2008 Democratic National Convention in The Pepsi Center

So there are comic book conventions, racial conventions, ventions, and divine interventions. None of these things have anything to do with the Democratic National Convention. This year's DNC does not stand for Demorcratic National Convention but for Denver's Non-stop Crazy-party. I walked into the Pepsi Center in Denver and was immediatley overwhelmed by the amount of people.

Flustered, we asked someone where the "digital dark room" was. In the hall on the way I got my first taste of stardom when I saw the Dan Rather. That is where we were to meet Mark and recieve our assignment.

Once there he sent us with an associate name Jon Sachs, the "Student Body President" of the University of Maryland, or at least that is what his business card indicates. He led us through a long hall way and into this:

The energy in the room was ridiculous. Stunned, I stood there in the wide expanse that was the Democratic National Convention, Earth Wind and Fire blasting. I was taken to my group of photographers (for whom I would run pictures for only one of them).

Michael went to the opposite side of the auditorium and so it began.

The big speakers of the night were Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Obama.

Nancy Pelosi did her thing, talking about her being the first woman speaker of the house and first Italian American speaker of the house. She also emphasized her message "John McCain is wrong" Which had the whole crowd repeating her at every utterance of "John McCain".

Then Jimmy Carter made an appearence, walking across the stage and waving to the crowd after a video of an interview with him had played on the big screens around the auditorium.

It was soon time to run my first compact flash card to the editor of AFP. This I did so sucessfully, or so I thought. When I brought the card to the digital darkroom the editor told me that the photos had been corrupted. Downtrodden and distessed I headed back to the photographer, Robin. But to my dismay I was not allowed enterance to the floor due to someone being escorted from the "garage" to the floor. This angered me especially because I had specifically asked all the guards at the entrances to the floor if this would occur and they all told me they didn't know anything about keeping people with the proper passes out. Yet it still happend. Now I am at the highest level of distress of the night.

But I did see someone who would bring my spirits up, Kumar!

When I got back to the camera stand it became smooth sailing in the delivery department, well sort of.

On my way to deliver another card back from the editor I got caught in, what would be the first of many, human traffic jams. So I'm waiting there and I'm pressed up against a bunch of people when I look down and see this guy in a white hat and jacket, I take a closer look and it is none other than....Spike Le e!

When it sunk in that I was standing next to the Spike Lee I hurriedly ripped out my camera and said "Mr. Lee-' this is where I begin to think, what would separate me from other fanboys (something I'm not) "What's up?" Well it wasn't very clever and I wish I could say it worked but it didn't. So I guess that was kind of a failure. Then I asked him if I could get a picture and extended my hand to him. Mind you he was now at an odd diagonal angle to me. He took no notice and tried to shrug me off.
Oh well.
It was still awesome.

Back to some hard politics The Man of the hour took his place center stage shortly after what was the worst of the human traffic jams. That is right, Ted Kennedy, the man being called Obama's most important endorsement.

But right before he went on a girl approached me as I waited in the traffic jam due to Ted Kennedy's upcoming appearance. She introduced herself as a student journalist (whose name slips my mind) for Colorado State University. She asked if I was a student journalist and I told her that I wasn't, that I was here to run pictures from the photographers to the editors. (I am the life blood of AFP, The life blood!) When I told her I was 15 she flipped out.

She told me that she was 21 and it was overwhelming for her, she couldn't imagine what it would be like for someone as young as myself. She proceeded to ask for an interview and how could I says no.

She asked what I was feeling and what I thought of "all this". I told her it was the most overwhelming, exciting expierience of my life. That I could not have anticipated the energy and up beat tempo of this convention.

I told her I was from New Jersey and went to school at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City. After concluding with a generic "I'm so lucky to be here" we thanked each other and parted ways.

Pretty soon signs reading "Kennedy" went up all around the room and occasional outbursts of "Teddy Teddy" broke out. When "Teddy" took the podium during his pro Obama, pro health care speech the place exploded. As many know Barack Obama is very concerned in the welfare of the common person. As Ted Kennedy said in his speech. "Health care should be a basic right".

After Ted Kennedy left the stage the next biggest person up was Michelle Obama but there is a story to be told that happened between those time periods.

Thinking back to my recent acquaintance, Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey; Robin, the photographer I was running for told me to take a break so I headed over to the New Jersey delegate area as marked by the tall, square, blue poles holding the name of each state. Sure enough, there in the front row was Cory Booker being interviewed by some young people. I waited until it was over before approaching.

When I got over to him I said "Hey Mr. Booker" and he stood up and came over to me. We began talking about the convention, what I had been up to, if he was going to be at the convention everyday and just to humor my friend Noah, I told him that he said "Hi".

We parted ways and I headed back out to the floor. I went back to the Camera stand and waited for the final speaker, Michelle Obama.

As an interlude to Mrs. Obama her brother, Craig took the podium. "He is a team player and never backs down from a challenge" said Craig Robinson, on Barack Obama on the basketball court and in life.

Then Michelle Obama took to the microphone to give a speech which gave me chills. She told the story of her father and his determination to live during the last few months until he passed. She told how great a man Barack is.
How they met, and what his strong beliefs are.
"Barack Obama will fight for education for every child Pre-k through college" was a clear statement I remember from her speech.

As a black man raised by his grandparents in the South side of Chicago and in Hawaii, Barack Obama is the epitome of a man who has crossed bridges and made something of himself. He is living proof that everyone should be given an equal opportunity in this country.

Obama has two daughters of his own, Malia, 10 and Natasha, 7. As stated many times throughout the speeches by Edward Kennedy and Michelle Obama, Barack Obama is a man for the people. "Barack feels everyone else's feelings of people from all walks of life. Because he has done all of those things and can relate. He is America's president, candidate"

The night concluded with a live video feed of Barack Obama in Kansas City, Missouri. His message was almost none. He simply told his wife what a great job she did and then said "See you guys Thursday" thus bringing forth a huge cheer from the crowd.

I delivered my last flash card and headed back to the hotel with Michael via shuttle.

It became clear to me on the way back that as the days went on the Convention would become progressively bigger and better. With a lot more people and bringing with them a ton more excitement and energy (Like this convention needs any more).

It is rumored that Thursday, where Barack Obama will give his speech in the Mile High Stadium in Denver, that Bruce Springsteen himself will preform. These are rumors and I can not verify them but I have to say, I am one excited...entity.
And in other news Bon Jovi will probably be playing the same night.

Tomorrow I head out for the second day where there is bound to be more celebrities and better speeches, thus incurring more excitement.
I can't wait.
Peace.
-Graham

Did I mention Lil JJ was there?!?!

A quick story

2008-08-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Protests galore on the 16th street mall. Here are some pictures of my favorite:

The arguments were interesting to hear. Of course the "Homo sex is a sin" advocates were all educated in their topic but all those "Offical Street Preachers" (Yes they did spell Official wrong) are just simple fools who had nothing to do with politics, only to spread their hateful message. They claimed they were not hateful, but helpful.

But once the intellectual people arguing the street preachers left, a bunch of offended street kids came up to the group and began to make stupid arguments. They would say things like "your wrong" and "it doesn't say that in the Bible". Well at least their hearts were in the right place.

Well I'm heading over to the Pepsi center momentarily and then the action will really start.

I'll post later.
Peace.

- Graham

My Favorite Protester of The Day

Night Life

2008-08-24T21:28:00.001-07:00

I know I said I wasn't going to post again but I figured, why not?

To end such an interesting first day Michael, Mark and I headed to Independent Recolorados in Denver. We picked up about 12 cds! I got
...And Here Come the Wolves by Rancid
Keep it Like a Secret by Built to Spill
Rising Down by The Roots
and my favorite:
The Autono by Machines, which I got for 98 cents and which can not be found on the internet.

But that is for a personal blog. This is Politics!

Denver is a really cool city and looks even better at night when everything is lit up. I will seriously consider coming back here as just a fun trip. We ate at Mario's Two Handed Pizza which had really great pizza so going there again will be a must.

I am getting to personal.

Basically the night life in Denver is great and if the weather keeps up like it has been then the Convention will be all the better.
I am excited for the kick off tomorrow and with musical guests like Rage Against the Machine (who at the last republican convention instigated a riot), Public Enemy, Jakob Dylan, Fall Out Boy, Death Cab for Cutie, Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, Cold War Kids, and KanYe West I see no reason for me to not be excited!
Well tomorrow is going to be a BIG blog day so I'll save some talk for then.
Peace.

-Graham Wyville

The day as it was

2008-08-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

The day is not even over and I have some interesting things to tell and show! We (Michael and myself) stepped out of the hotel and walked a few blocks and ran into this: A huge protest and as you can see they are protesting a multitude of things. As we continued through the city we found multiple protests and even a counter protest.

I do have video and it is funny: Yeah the guy in the van was obviously a liberal and the group I was standing in- And let me tell you this I am in no way affiliated with that raging group of conservatives- was retaliating to his "Impeach Bush" attacks with a weak "U-S-A" chant.

So after this we proceed into the park and walk around and pick up the free stuff from the booths. There were some odd people in the theater in the middle of the park who kept leaving and being replaced by even more peculiar people. As seen here: We continued to walk and we saw a band: People's Party They were ok but the dj came over to me and asked me where I was from and I said New Jersey into the mic and I received a small applause.

The rambling ceases here.

Denver is a cool place and tomorrow the convention starts! Which means important pictures, news, and updates! Excited? I am.
I'm going to post some pictures from the day and call it a day.

That's all for now. Peace.

This group of people later went on to kill a group of kittens refusing to "fight the power"

What'd you call me?

DO NOT DRINK

In waiting

2008-08-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

It is 10 o' clock on Sunday morning and just browsing around I found a very small article about something we saw yesterday at the welcome party thrown by the DNCC.
This artist Malcolm Farley was up on stage at the Elitch Gardens in Denver painting this picture of Barack Obama live.

Though we showed up later after it was finished it was cool to see such an accurate portrayal of the candidate. I didn't take to it immediately but once I realized that he painted it that day and took into account the accuracy of the painting it really captured my attention.

As you can also see in the background there is what appears to be a tent with three holes in it. It is actually a "green" garbage disposal "station" the Liberals are really showing that they mean business in the department of energy conservation and promoting recycled goods.
That's all for now.

Dies Unus

2008-08-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my blog, A View from the Democratic National Convention!

The title is long and the stories will be longer! I hope that I can keep everyone reading entertained and informed. As you may realize I am in Denver Colorado for the Democratic National Convention. I am here with my friends, the Abrahams. Mark Abraham is the head of photographer credential distribution at the Convention and it is because of him that this is even possible. I thank him to no end.

I have come fully equipped with new laptop and camera. In case your unsure how I am going to get you an inside look on the Convention let me tell you now.

I am going to be on the floor at the Pepsi Center in Denver for the next three days running pictures on discs, cards, running papers, letters, everything that the photographers need to get their pictures and get them to their editors. Of course I will always have my own personal camera and will take photos every chance I get. I intend to also post some video blogging which I will start when I get a minute of time.

Now that you've been filled in I can tell you of all my stories that I have to tell all in the first day!

I woke up this morning, packed the rest of my things, ate some breakfast and drove out to Newark Airport. When I got there I got through security alright but was joked at due to my passport picture (which displayed my once full face and large Afro-like red hair). So my mom and I proceed through the airport eating lunch and buying last second necessities. When we finally sit down at gate C-94 my mom over hears a photographer talking about the convention. She goes into conversation with him until I interrupt them and focus on a large man with a shaved head and a large bodyguard and police officer sit down some ways away.

My mom immediately recognizes him as Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark NJ. She gets really excited and goes over and starts talking to him and I come along to meet him. But then we start talking and he became really interested in my story of going to St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City and me going to the DNC. Soon we part ways and he gets on the plane. After saying good bye to my mom I too head on to the plane and take my window seat. Now I know that this isn't too interesting and maybe it's because I'm not used to doing this but it'll will all come together.

The flight was good, nothing went wrong, I sat next to a kind old Frenchman and I even got some work done. Now here is the best part. I get off the plane and start heading to baggage claim when I run into Cory Booker again. I wave to him and he asks me where I'm going and I told him I heard them say something about unaccompanied minors (which entails me). He assures me it is nothing and asks me to join him on his high security route to the baggage claim. Of course I go with him and we talk the whole way about previous DNC's and fun stuff like that. I said a few things which embarrassed me like not knowing Newark's nickname. (The Brick City)

Eventually we must part ways and I follow Mark from baggage check to pick up Michael.

I will be expecting my invitation to the Mayor's banquet in Newark any day now.

Once we get to our hotel, the Hampton Inn we get situated and head to a press party at none other than, you guessed it, Six Flags. When we got there everything was free. There were even fireworks, it was surprisingly fun.

After the fun filled festivities we headed back to the hotel and that is where I am now typing up this first of many blog entries. So that was my first day in Denver and let me tell you I look forward to the rest of it. Denver is a really cool city and I am really psyched about the up coming events!

As I said before the posts to come will be much more serious. I will work on fixing the blog up and putting some videos up. But you will see a lot of pictures and I will include, as I'm sure you've noticed in my writing, every excruciating detail. The convention truly begins Monday the 25th. If you need any info about it until then go here. But as soon as it starts tune into "A view of the Democratic National Convention" Oh and any suggestions or comments? Email me at fuzzy473@gmail.com

Well that is all for tonight, I need my beauty sleep.
Peace

-Graham Wyville