Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Really?
There was a headline on NBC.com that said "Check out Jay's 1984 Lambroghini Countach. The hottest supercar of the 1980s!"
Friday, November 7, 2008
The RNC Election Party
The Capitol Hilton was abuzz with conservative-looking types - guys with crappy hair and Dockers pants and creepy trenchcoats and pale skin that suggested hemophilia. The ties were simple and the mood was OK.
Of the three people I had brought, two were Dems and one "probably would have voted for Obama". We were all excited to be in such a nice hotel, and when we made our way up to the ballroom were were impressed by the chandelier and bewildered by the band, which I think was playing "Mustang Sally" and then played something from the 90s, like Chumbawumba, but not them, and then played "The Twist." We went straigtht to the bar.
Apparently "Paid for by the Republican National Committee" doesn't include drinks, and a separate table sold tickets. Green for cocktails and blue for beers, they were a little overpriced for that sort of thing. Apparently the G.O.P. is looking for handouts wherever they can get them. But one of my posse bought me a beer in return for the ticket, and I went to the food table (food was, thankfully, free) and managed to get a couple of dry oysters down before giving up on them and trying the Pork Chile, which was really quite good.
The giant projector screens were showing the projections, and the crowd cheered when Georgia went to McCain and then when somewhere else went to McCain, and they booed at I think Vermont going Obama.
The room was a large long room, a typical ballroom, with white walls. We entered in one corner that was apparently the back, and the entire front wall was a red curtain, in front of which was the stage where the eight-piece band played it's odd concoction of the history of the pop charts (they played Pink's "I'm comin' out" next). Above the band, on both the right and left, were the giant projector screens, while smaller TVs were positioned along the side walls. The room was in two sides - at the door where we came in were two bars, the ticket table, and the food table that stretched the width of the room. Towards the middle were a few high tables, and then the open space for dancing (although this space was carpeted with the same plush, deep blue rug as the rest of the room, complete with intermittent giant gold stars. There was no real "dance floor"). At the far end of the room, the high tables began again, and the food table, and more bars. A camera crew was set up, pointed at the band.
We were pretty disappointed that we didn't see more famous people, but I led us to the far side because I recognized some folks that I knew. They had disappeared, so I made myself a sandwich of the large leg of beef that they were carving off of, and then piled up a large helping of mashed potatoes (complete with all the fixin's!). I was pissed about paying for drinks, but the food was incredible. Ohio got called for Obama. Our table simultaneously said "Yes! I mean, agghhh!" and giggled at each other like a bunch of liberal pussies.
Obama was easily going to win. He was at at least 220, California would give him 52 more, and if you added Washington and Oregon, whatever they were, he would clear the 279 mark. The band was playing "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama. I had spent all of my cocktail tabs (and the bartender at this side of the room was more open to pouring doubles for the price of one than the stodgy man where we came in) and was eager to look a little more Republican to my city-fied friends. So I sang along as best I could, and high fived the tall southern boy in a blazer behind me who was also singing along. When the song was over he leaned in and said "Hey man, we should secede again!" I said something along the lines of "yeah we better if we want to keep our guns" and returned to my laughing friends.
The fancy food had run out (or it was so clear that Republicans would be suffering major losses that they decided to pull it away from the masses) and was replaced by mini cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and tater tots. Which looked more delicious in my drunken state than more Mashed Potatoes. So I grabbed a plateful and was happily eating when a group of three girls muscled one of my friends out of her spot on the table and dropped a giant stack of burgers and tots on the table.
"That's a lot of food." She was kind of cute in her dark sundress, solid tan and brunette shoulder-length hair.
"It's for all three of us..." Nevermind. She couldn't even form a decent response. Plus, she was rude. Her friend, though, was blonde and had an interesting face, with a kind of sharp nose and small but prominent chin (pointy?). She had on a blue sweater with huge leather shoulder and elbow pads. I was going to ask her if she played football at Princeton back in '32, but she yelled "WHEN I'M UPSET I EAT!" The band played another Alabama song.
When we left, the mood was mellow, but not angry or surprised. A little disappointed, but not unhappy. I've always read that Republicans are cheerier people than Democrats anyway, and I believed it. Even if they weren't as happy as the people screaming and honking in the streets, theirs was a cheeriness that wouldn't be derailed. The euphoria outside could be quickly turned to sharp despair with the news, but the Republicans seemed to have the ability to say "Oh well. I guess we'll have to learn how to live a little differently." And honestly, I felt the same way - and would have if McCain won, too. It made me feel a little left out when, from bed, I read text messages proclaiming that sixteenth street was like Carnivale "with white people". But I guess that's just the way I am. Progressive politics, but a Republican at heart.
Of the three people I had brought, two were Dems and one "probably would have voted for Obama". We were all excited to be in such a nice hotel, and when we made our way up to the ballroom were were impressed by the chandelier and bewildered by the band, which I think was playing "Mustang Sally" and then played something from the 90s, like Chumbawumba, but not them, and then played "The Twist." We went straigtht to the bar.
Apparently "Paid for by the Republican National Committee" doesn't include drinks, and a separate table sold tickets. Green for cocktails and blue for beers, they were a little overpriced for that sort of thing. Apparently the G.O.P. is looking for handouts wherever they can get them. But one of my posse bought me a beer in return for the ticket, and I went to the food table (food was, thankfully, free) and managed to get a couple of dry oysters down before giving up on them and trying the Pork Chile, which was really quite good.
The giant projector screens were showing the projections, and the crowd cheered when Georgia went to McCain and then when somewhere else went to McCain, and they booed at I think Vermont going Obama.
The room was a large long room, a typical ballroom, with white walls. We entered in one corner that was apparently the back, and the entire front wall was a red curtain, in front of which was the stage where the eight-piece band played it's odd concoction of the history of the pop charts (they played Pink's "I'm comin' out" next). Above the band, on both the right and left, were the giant projector screens, while smaller TVs were positioned along the side walls. The room was in two sides - at the door where we came in were two bars, the ticket table, and the food table that stretched the width of the room. Towards the middle were a few high tables, and then the open space for dancing (although this space was carpeted with the same plush, deep blue rug as the rest of the room, complete with intermittent giant gold stars. There was no real "dance floor"). At the far end of the room, the high tables began again, and the food table, and more bars. A camera crew was set up, pointed at the band.
We were pretty disappointed that we didn't see more famous people, but I led us to the far side because I recognized some folks that I knew. They had disappeared, so I made myself a sandwich of the large leg of beef that they were carving off of, and then piled up a large helping of mashed potatoes (complete with all the fixin's!). I was pissed about paying for drinks, but the food was incredible. Ohio got called for Obama. Our table simultaneously said "Yes! I mean, agghhh!" and giggled at each other like a bunch of liberal pussies.
Obama was easily going to win. He was at at least 220, California would give him 52 more, and if you added Washington and Oregon, whatever they were, he would clear the 279 mark. The band was playing "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama. I had spent all of my cocktail tabs (and the bartender at this side of the room was more open to pouring doubles for the price of one than the stodgy man where we came in) and was eager to look a little more Republican to my city-fied friends. So I sang along as best I could, and high fived the tall southern boy in a blazer behind me who was also singing along. When the song was over he leaned in and said "Hey man, we should secede again!" I said something along the lines of "yeah we better if we want to keep our guns" and returned to my laughing friends.
The fancy food had run out (or it was so clear that Republicans would be suffering major losses that they decided to pull it away from the masses) and was replaced by mini cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and tater tots. Which looked more delicious in my drunken state than more Mashed Potatoes. So I grabbed a plateful and was happily eating when a group of three girls muscled one of my friends out of her spot on the table and dropped a giant stack of burgers and tots on the table.
"That's a lot of food." She was kind of cute in her dark sundress, solid tan and brunette shoulder-length hair.
"It's for all three of us..." Nevermind. She couldn't even form a decent response. Plus, she was rude. Her friend, though, was blonde and had an interesting face, with a kind of sharp nose and small but prominent chin (pointy?). She had on a blue sweater with huge leather shoulder and elbow pads. I was going to ask her if she played football at Princeton back in '32, but she yelled "WHEN I'M UPSET I EAT!" The band played another Alabama song.
When we left, the mood was mellow, but not angry or surprised. A little disappointed, but not unhappy. I've always read that Republicans are cheerier people than Democrats anyway, and I believed it. Even if they weren't as happy as the people screaming and honking in the streets, theirs was a cheeriness that wouldn't be derailed. The euphoria outside could be quickly turned to sharp despair with the news, but the Republicans seemed to have the ability to say "Oh well. I guess we'll have to learn how to live a little differently." And honestly, I felt the same way - and would have if McCain won, too. It made me feel a little left out when, from bed, I read text messages proclaiming that sixteenth street was like Carnivale "with white people". But I guess that's just the way I am. Progressive politics, but a Republican at heart.
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