VIVA CARSON CITY

So I've been away for the past two weeks or so, hanging out in the lovely state of Nevada. As AFSCME is wont to do, I was sent there to help out with the Presidential Candidate Forum we held in Carson City with ABC on February 21st.

It was a blast and I had an amazing time with some fabulous co-workers. We had a small amount of time, but kicked ass and took names. That's how we roll.

As you may have already seen, my pick for the ticket has dropped. Governor Vilsack, we will miss you.

So here's my thoughts for my most recent journeys and such:

1. George Stephanopoulos is just slightly taller than me.
2. Us Democrats have some decent choices this time around. I'm especially impressed by the not-so-big names in the race. Senators Dodd and Biden have some really interesting points and Congressman Kucinich is still on the ball.
3. Speaking of Congressman Kucinich, check out the video and see where he almost twirls off stage. He was pretty impressive up until that point. Sigh.
4. How did I manage to become the timer for the candidates and Stephanopoulos? Some dude from C-Span came over before the forum went live and checked out the program I was working on and went, "Great. We're all going off of you today. Don't screw up." Can you say pressure? On live TV?
5. Senator Gravel takes his time when he eats a turkey sandwich.
6. It's Nev-AHH-duh, not Nev-AA-duh. The Nevadans let Stephanopoulos have it.
7. Guess how long it took me to finally spell Stephanopoulos correctly?
8. Taking Southwest Airlines is like being picked for teams in gym class. You hope to hell that if you check in early enough that you won't be relegated to line C.
9. Nevada is nice, but I don't know how I feel about going to a supermarket where I can get medicine, short ribs, and gamble away my savings in one place.
10. Again, why do people bring babies into bars? At 11pm? PST?
11. Hillary Clinton is a celebrity. I've never seen people meeting candidates and crying after shaking their hand. Watch out for this one, folks. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't care what you think of her. People heart her like crazy. I'm putting the naysayers on notice.
    
12. If you're the only game in town, you can expect a heavy police presence. I saw more cops at that forum than NYC cops on New Year's in Times Square. Sheesh.
13. Reno and Carson City casinos are Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos circa 1978-1982. It was like walking into Liberace's underpants going into some of those casinos.
14. Nevada is also very dry. I'm sure you might have guessed that. I had to buy stock in lotion and face cream.
15. Missing the huge snowstorms in the Northeast has it's advantages. Except when you are flying back in the middle of one or between noreasters. And moving out of a storage space in Delaware in the space of two days and have to get back to Albany to go back to Reno.
    
16. Senator Biden and Governor Richardson are much, MUCH taller in real life.
17. Why are buffets so craptastic but sound so good? It's like sequels. They look so appealing but after you watch one, you are all, "Eh. What next?"
18. The boy gets major points for remembering Valentine's Day. Especially when I'm on the other side of the country. He rocks.
    
19. Dealing with different time zones sucks balls.
20. I've never dealt with so many surly waitresses in my life. I always tip well (ever the drama major remembering my buddies) but holy crap. I never thought so many of them could be in one place.
21. I did screw up the time during the forum. Once. No one told me that when you re-set the timer, you can only put in minutes, not seconds. And Vilsack paused long enough for us to think he was done with his question. In all honesty, it didn't take long at all to fix the problem, but I was worried Stephanopoulos might hit me on the top of the head when he came back during the potty break.
22. Jessica is a rock star.
23. The whole ground team kicked ass.
24. Anyone who thinks that the Hillary bust ain't real needs to check her out in person.
25. Anytime the AFSCME staff gets together, there's always fun. Along with plenty of good-old fashioned trouble.
26. We made friends with the 70-year old drummer that plays with the band at the Grand Sierra Resort. We call him Bud. Bud rocks. Hardcore. The whole band is great. Even when the Susanna Hoffs lead singer lookalike tries out a Selena outfit while singing Pink.
27. Not too many mullets in Nevada, but lots and lots of cha-cha bunnies. Hi, the 80's called. They want their bangs back, ladies.
28. I'm in a lot less pain when my spine is where it's supposed to be. I heart chiropractors.
29. After working on something so exciting, it takes a little more energy to get back into the swing of things.
30. And finally, is it really only February? 2007? What the hell?!

This Presidential election cycle is slowly going to kill all of us for the next two years. And we were silly enough to think it would only heat up next year...

Till the next transmission.

A DEPART FROM THE FUNNY...

To something more serious. I think Volansky does a quite good job on detailing Dubya's SOTU speech, so there's really no need for me to assist other than to say his most recent one is really no departure from the previous 6. The most exciting part of the night was the declaration for "Madam Speaker" and that was about it.

But in light of Delaware Senator Joe Biden's foot-in-mouth-moment, check out this interesting tidbit I just found out about:



While we examine the actions of Joe Biden and Mel Gibson and Isiah Washington - even Rosie O'Donnell's recent take on Asians - I'm forced to ask once again: Has much really changed?