Baron Dave Romm
Tales from the RNC, vol. 1
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts
Still editing pictures and interviews
Between Aug. 21, the first day of the MN State Fair, and Sept. 9, a memorial for my aunt at the University of Berkeley, I did more than 60 interviews and took around 700 pictures. And the dust hasn't settled yet. They're being posted on Baron Dave's LiveJournal when I have a good grouping.
I'll do a more formal column next
week if the Vikings win when I'm over my SF cold,
but for now here are a few images.
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Getting In
The Republican National Convention was held in the Xcel Energy Center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium. It was easy to get in, if you had credentials: Two layers of security and many more layers of helpful t-shirted staffers and polite security personnel in suits. Everyone I talked to, even the riot police, was friendly and professional.
Nonetheless, once you were in it was hard to get out. There were only a few exits, and they were not immediately apparent from the hockey arena. You could get outside the Xcel Center, but you then had to figure out where you were and where you wanted to go, and avoid the double-layer of fences to get to the city.
Early on the first day of the convention, even the main entrance wasn't crowded. Note the two layers of fences. Directly behind me is the metal detectors with armed guards. Further in are more staff and more guards.
This area was more crowded later, with more guards. To the left of the picture is Rice Park, where MSNBC broadcast from.
These are outside the building but inside the metal detectors and the double security perimeter.
Inside
Here are a few of the images from inside the RNC.
All the delegates I talked to were friendly and upbeat, these women especially so. Listen to my interview with them (mp3, 3:26). I kept running into one or another of them in and around the convention, and it was always a pleasure. They would sometimes point me at toward a story.
Most of the formal activities were cancelled on the first day of the convention. Whether out of concern over Hurricane Gustav or simply not wanting to have Bush or Cheney actually come to the convention, the day was spent in other activities.
Outside
Before the convention, people had been arrested. I will check out the story further, but it seems none of them were ever charged and the evidence trumped up. I suspect this story is larger than is being reported by the conservative news media.
So. The RNC. The first day. People played the Expectations Game: Since 50,000 people were "expected" (by whom?) and only 10-15,000 people were protesting, it doesn't seem very newsworty. However, you should double that figure, since the police were keeping people out of the protest area. If you left, you couldn't get back in.
Gov. Tim "Mayor Daley" Pawlenty and/or the RNC political team kept things under a tight wrap, and more and more armed and armored riot police poured in even as the reports of actual violence tended to diminish.
The police response to a very few disruptive protestors was far and away overblown and incredibly embarrassing to St. Paul, the Ramsey County Police and the Republican National Convention. However, the police themselves behaved well. Everyone I talked to, from t-shirted security to armed and armored riot police, were polite and professional. Other observers, who had seen them handle groups who were breaking windows and overturning trashcans, called them "restrained".
I talked to many people who had been in the protests and wanted to get back, or who were newsmen who followed marchers for hours. More interviews to follow on my LiveJournal, and more pictures next week, most likely.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
--////
TOMORROW!
Erin Hart
Join Erin on Tuesday, Sept. 16th, from 6am 'til 10am MDT (5am - 9am PDT | 7am - 11am CDT | 8am - noon EDT) when she fills in for Jay Marvin on AM 760, Colorado's Progressive Talk.
We have so much to talk about: Sarah Palin's interview with Charlie Gibson (can you say Miss South Carolina?).
Shudder. And it was EDITED, too!
Barack Obama and Joe Biden MUST get back in the game--telling the country why they are the best choice!
John is now appearing with Cindy everywhere if Sarah is too busy tanking in her first national interview. Wonder if he thinks bringing a woman brings the female vote?
Nah, they are relying on reported Rovian tactics of vote cadging and fake absentee ballots for that.
Join us in another countdown to the VOTE! See you Tuesday, just seven weeks till Election Day.
Listen Live on www.am760.net!
The Weekly Poll
The current question:
Who should have McCain have picked for VP instead of the 'Hockey Mom'?
The Devil's Advocate Edition...
Ok, Pollfans, it's time to think contrary wise... It's time to pretend yer back in high school debate class. Remember when ya had to argue a position ya didn't agree with?
Huh? do ya? Remember how that irritated the bejabbers out of ya? Well, guess what?
It's that time again... Because the question is...
Ya got the cojones to answer this, eh? Do ya? Bring it on, I'm sayin'!
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob ( BCEpoll 'at' aol.com )
Results Tuesday.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Norman Solomon: Are 'Real' Journalists Jealous of Jon Stewart?
It blows the conformist minds of big-name journalists to see "The Daily Show" regularly slam right-wing rulers.
Froma Harrop: Immigrants and the Safety Net (creators.com)
The conservative economist Milton Friedman famously said, "You can't have free immigration and a welfare state." He was right. You can't flood our labor markets with illegal workers paying little in taxes - and provide good government benefits for everyone.
Susan Estrich: Don't Blame Oprah (creators.com)
Poor Oprah. Of course, Oprah is not poor by anyone's definition (we should all be so poor), but she found herself between a rock and a hard place on the question of whether to invite the newest, and right now probably the biggest, celebrity in the world on her show. To do Sarah or not to do Sarah? No good answer.
Ted Rall: BRISTOL DID THE WRONG THING (uexpress.com)
Those who keep silent about Levi and Bristol's bad decisions--especially those marketing them as examples to be emulated--are doing society a disservice. Levi and Bristol are about to compound one tragedy (unplanned teen pregnancy) with another (involuntary marriage). They're setting a terrible example for other teenagers who will find themselves in their situation.
"Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991" by Scott McCloud: A Review by Chris Bolton
I was a huge comic book fan in the '80s. My brother and I visited the comic shop at least one weekend a month -- though I'm sure we lobbied our mother to take us more frequently -- and it was always a major excursion that took an hour or longer. Those were the days of the "black-and-white boom," when independent, underground comics enjoyed a brief period of unprecedented success following such breakout titles as Love and Rockets and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the original comics incarnation was a far cry from the annoying, kid-friendly cartoon from the '90s).
DAN MACINTOSH: "'He Was Just Starting to Scratch the Surface': Dennis Wilson, Remembered"
Sitting down with producer Gregg Jakobson and Dean Torrence (of Jan & Dean), PopMatters reflects on the genius of Dennis Wilson, who worked on his own time, by his own rules, and in a life that had so much to offer.
David Medsker: An Interview with Jesse Laz, Locksley singer (bullz-eye.com)
[On being negatively criticized for sounding like the Beatles] "That would be like somebody telling a basketball player that your style is too much like Michael Jordan."
Len Righi: Joan Wasser survives as Joan As Police Woman (The Morning Call)
Over two highly personal, emotionally vulnerable albums, Joan Wasser has discovered an important truth: The more she reveals about herself, the less she is interested in concealing.
David Hiltbrand: Flop 'Lebowski' is right down cultists' alley (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Let us now praise the Dude. That's right, the dubious hero - or is he merely the foil? - of the Coen brothers' loopy 1998 comedy, "The Big Lebowski."
Fame Academy (guardian.co.uk)
They grew up to become stars of stage and screen, of literature and politics, of art and sport. But what were today's celebrities like as children? Did they already have that spark that sets them apart? We track down their former teachers to find out.
John Waters: Q&A (guardian.co.uk)
I'd never go to a costume party - I have to dress as John Waters every day.
Roger Ebert: Smilin' through with Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh is 65 years old and universally acclaimed as one of the leading British directors, although "Happy-Go-Lucky" is only his tenth theatrical feature sine 1971. There's a reason for that.
Photo from Marsha
Carolina Mantis
Marty:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warm.
Here's a complete list of the Creative Arts Emmys - 2008
Primetime Emmys
Creative Arts
Cynthia Nixon, who gained fame and an Emmy with "Sex and the City," added a second trophy Saturday for a guest role on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
Nixon was honored at the Creative Arts Primetime Emmys, which recognize technical and other achievements for the 2007-08 season and preceded next weekend's main ceremony.
Other acting honors went to Glynn Turman, named best guest actor in a drama for "In Treatment"; Kathryn Joosten, best guest actress in a comedy for "Desperate Housewives"; and Tim Conway, best guest actor in a comedy for "30 Rock."
HBO's miniseries "John Adams" was Saturday's top winner with eight awards, including best costumes for a miniseries, movie or special. AMC's "Mad Men," the top series nominee, took home four awards, including best cinematography for an hourlong series.
Creative Arts
Here's a complete list of the Creative Arts Emmys - 2008
Visit Haiti City In Ruins
Matt Damon & Wyclef Jean
There were cries of adulation - and also of hunger - as Matt Damon and Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean toured the flood-ravaged city of Gonaives on Sunday to call attention to a humanitarian crisis.
Successive hits from one tropical storm and three hurricanes submerged the city and cut off roadways in and out. Where waters have receded, streets remained a stinking mud bath and homes were left with a carpet of muck and encrusted pots, pans and laundry.
As Damon and Jean surveyed the destruction from the back of a pickup truck in a U.N. convoy, a man on a bicycle followed as far as he could, shouting out, "Wyclef, I love you, Wyclef." Jean raised his hand, but couldn't bring himself to smile back.
"It's inhumane. I wish there was a word in the dictionary. No human should be living like this."
Matt Damon & Wyclef Jean
Wedding News
Altman - Takei
George Takei and his longtime partner, Brad Altman, have agreed to live long and prosper together.
Takei, 71, and Altman, 54, were married Sunday in a multicultural ceremony at the Japanese National Museum that featured a Buddhist priest, Native American wedding bands, a Japanese Koto harp and a bagpipe procession.
The couple, together for 21 years, was the first to receive a marriage license in West Hollywood when the state began granting licenses to gay couples on June 17. The "Star Trek" star and his manager plan to honeymoon in Argentina and Peru.
Altman - Takei
Considered Defecting
John le Carre
British espionage writer John le Carre admitted he was tempted to defect to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper.
The 76-year-old author, real name David Cornwell, famed for his Cold War spy-thriller novels, said he was not attracted to communism but was curious to find out what life was like on the other side of the Iron Curtain in the 1960s.
Asked if he was genuinely tempted, he replied: "Yes, there was a time when I was, yes."
His career as a secret agent was wrecked by Kim Philby, a British double agent who blew the cover of many British agents to the KGB Soviet intelligence agency.
John le Carre
Hollywood Star #2369
Village People
Disco megastars The Village People were honored Friday for their hits of the late 1970s and early 1980s with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The current group members appeared for the ceremony unveiling the star dressed in their iconic outfits -- as a policeman, a cowboy, a soldier, an Indian chief, a construction worker and a biker.
The popular crooners were awarded star number 2,369.
Village People
Iron Maiden To The Rescue
Bruce Dickinson
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson flew to the rescue of holidaymakers left stranded abroad after Britain's third largest tour operator collapsed, newspapers reported Sunday.
The heavy metal hero is also a Boeing 757 pilot and flew a specially-chartered Monarch Airlines flight from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to London Gatwick Airport.
XL Leisure Group went into administration Friday, leaving some 85,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad.
The Iron Maiden frontman has been a captain with Astraeus, having worked for the British charter airline for nine years.
Bruce Dickinson
Refused Bail In Thai Royal Insult
Harry Nicolaides
The family of a Greek-Australian writer facing 15 years in jail for allegedly defaming Thailand's crown prince have appealed to Canberra to intercede after he was refused bail for a second time, his lawyer said on Friday.
Mark Dean, a Melbourne-based lawyer for 41-year-old Harry Nicolaides, said judges at Bangkok's Criminal Court deemed it to be a "very serious offence" and regarded him as a flight risk.
Lese-majeste, or insulting the monarchy, is a very serious offence in Thailand, where many people regard 80-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej as semi-divine. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Nicolaides was a regular, long-time visitor to Thailand and had been teaching English at a university in the northern city of Chiang Mai, and writing the occasional article for regional newspapers and websites.
Harry Nicolaides
Valentine, Nebraaska
Lewd Vandal
Boy, how people here wish their busiest vandal would find another way to make his mark. Beginning more than a year ago, some man has been skipping from one business to another at night, pressing his naked behind - sometimes his groin, sometimes both - on windows. Store owners, church workers and school janitors have had to wash lotion and petroleum jelly off the windows he selects.
Some residents of Valentine, a town of about 2,650 people, find some humor in the strange vandalism and have taken to calling the perpetrator the "Butt Bandit." But they also can't help but cringe when finding his marks.
Police Chief Ben McBride said no one has reported seeing the vandal in action. The only clue is a blurry picture of him caught by a surveillance camera at the middle school last year.
The man was 6-feet-tall or slightly taller, and slender. He had a dark complexion, and McBride said the man's dark hair was styled in a "1980s, feathered look."
Lewd Vandal
Feds Mixed Messages
BPA
The Food and Drug Administration this week reopens the debate over a chemical used in many plastic products -- including baby bottles -- amid mixed messages on its safety from the U.S. government.
An FDA panel of outside experts on Tuesday was set to review the agency's draft report issued last month saying that bisphenol A, or BPA, is safe. Critics argue the FDA has ignored strong evidence in animal studies that BPA is harmful.
Government toxicologists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health on September 3 reiterated their view that BPA presents "some concern" for harmful effects on development of the prostate and brain and for behavioral changes in fetuses, infants and children.
Critics have argued the FDA's views are based principally on industry-funded studies clearing the chemical even though many other studies have raised health concerns.
BPA
Nepotism Is Hard Work
Luke Russert
The reporter who sat across from John McCain and Barack Obama for separate interviews that aired on NBC's "Today" show Friday was only 23.
Was he nervous?
"Not necessarily," Luke Russert said. "I had prior relationships with both of them."
Would a young man at his age and with his credentials secure such a high-profile job if his last name wasn't Russert? Doubtful, of course. But NBC News might be expected to act paternally toward a person its employees watched grow by the side of its beloved Washington bureau chief and "Meet the Press" host.
Luke Russert
Weekend Box Office
'Burn After Reading'
Joel and Ethan Coen scored their biggest opener to date by raking in $19.4 million in ticket sales for "Burn After Reading" and helping end a seven-week attendance slide at theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Writer-director Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys," starring Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard in a drama about two families from different social classes, debuted at No. 2 with $18 million. Five out of six of Perry's films have opened at No. 1 or No. 2 on their opening weekends, said Steve Rothenberg, president of domestic distribution for Lionsgate.
The top 12 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, as estimated by Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Burn After Reading," $19.4 million.
2. "Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys," $18.0 million.
3. "Righteous Kill," $16.5 million.
4. "The Women," $10.1 million.
5. "The House Bunny," $4.3 million.
6. "Tropic Thunder," $4.2 million.
7. "The Dark Knight," $4.0 million.
8. "Bangkok Dangerous," $2.4 million.
9. "Traitor," $2.1 million.
10. "Death Race," $2.0 million.
11. "Babylon A.D.," $1.7 million.
12. "Mamma Mia!," $1.7 million.
'Burn After Reading'
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