I didn't catch everything at the Democratic National Convention tonight, but having now seen Michelle Obama's and Ted Kennedy's speeches, I think they've gotten it rolling. I'm hoping that Hillary Clinton, exceptionally forthright today in her support for Barack Obama and denouncement of McCain using her clips against him, will bring some hardcore critique of the presumptive Republican nominee tomorrow night.
Ominous news came with the good, and I hope we can thank the law enforcement personnel in Denver for stopping the only potential horror show in town.
Meanwhile, Zannel and the grassroots bloggers lifecasting on it from the floor of the DNC are providing a completely different view than the mainstream media, compelling, star-speckled, and real. And they've already been featured on CNN.
It's late and I've been traveling a lot starting last Tuesday, but I do want to introduce the new PoliticsBlue channel on Zannel, home of mobile lifecasting like in the widget on the top right of this blog. This is something new, a community channel with 14 contributing members, all grassroots bloggers given the very rare floor accreditation at the Democratic National Convention in Denver all this week.
By odd coincidence I was actually on a plane to Denver this afternoon, oblivious to the fact that this is the day before the huge thing happening in that city starting, like, now, until I passed Obama foreign affairs brain Samantha Power in the front row of business class. Would that I had missed my connecting flight by five days.
But hey, with real-people bloggers from Vermont, Florida, New Mexico etalmicroblogging with video and pictures and even Twitterish text updates all week, I'm starting to feel like I'm there. Like making the drive from Florida with Kenneth Quinnell of Burnt Orange Report:
Or Casey Ann Hughes of The Natchez Blog interviewing a first-time Mississippi delegate:
Or maybe just hang out with Rob Miller's crew from The Utah Amicus:
There's a reason they're called political parties.
The tendency with truly funny movies is to give away some of the choice lines to help entice friends into viewing...so that after they see it you can repeat the lines with impunity until every last heh-heh has been squeezed out of the whole experience. The problem is that giving away any lines degrades the viewing experience of anyone yet to see the picture.
And so it goes with the summer comedy smash, Knocked Up. Writer/Director/Improv Conductor Judd Apatow is two-for-two, since he owned the funniest picture of the year title in 2006 with The 40 Year Old Virgin. The new one is a great companion piece, telling the story of a boy-to-mensch growth experience from a different angle. Fine-boned Steve Carrell has been replaced with pot-bellied Seth Rogen, but once again Paul Rudd locks in the greatness without ever making it seem like a big deal, and another Catherine/Katherine provides approachable girlfriend appeal.
With a stupendous 92% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and word-of-mouth movie studios die for, fourth weekend business is again looking to be brisk.
If you've already seen the picture, here's where you can dig for your favorite lines. There's also so funny user-generated dance videos and photos for a contest at the Web and WAP sites for my place of business, Zannel. Come vote for the best!
Later we can argue over whether the second date line or the Steely Dan line was best-in-the-flick.
