So I’ve actually made it into this thing. At the current time I’m sitting on the lower deck of the St. Petersburg Times Forum waiting for the presentation to begin. I’m surrounded by media representatives. Bloggers. Journalists. Newscasters. I haven’t seen anyone I recognize yet as far as media personalities are concerned, and I really don’t suspect that at this particular event that I will. I’ve heard mention of Politico.com so far, and there is a large group from NBC sitting right in front of me.
For a moment when I first arrived I really wondered if I was actually going to be let into the door. They asked for my credentials, and I had to tell two different people I was registered as an independent blogger. When I mentioned that I had per-registered, though, they whisked me right through. I have an official badge with my name and web site on it and everything.
Lord, that makes me sound like an utter and complete rube, doesn’t it?
Tampa seems to be going all out to make a nice presentation. We were all given swag bags that have various items from sports teams and other organizations in the area. Bright House networks is on hand offering information on their internet access packages, so that causes me to wonder if there will be free wi-fi during the event itself. I may want to be safe and get myself a cellular modem just in case.
I’ll take pictures of all the various swag I’m picking up later. I’m feeling out-of-place enough without whipping the camera out during this thing.
The event itself should be starting shortly, so I’m going to finalize this post and make the rest of my updates via the live blog feature. I’ve recently updated the plugin so my individual tweets aren’t going to be linking back to this page any more. Check back here if you want to see non-truncated updates.
-
- View from where I was sitting during the first event.
-
- RNC Chairman Reince Priebus
-
- Delicious Republican baked goods!
-
- This is where the talk radio shows will be broadcasting from.
-
- Silly Hipstamatic view from the second floor of the convention center.
-
- More Hipstamatic stuff.
-
- The Press Corps loves free food. True story.
-
- This is the cranky dude from Reuters who was upset about the "Double Mag"
-
- Tampa sky line at night during the reception.
-
- Another shot of the Tampa sky line.
-
- So I've made it over the first hurdle. Now to get approved to attend the actual convention.
09:00 PM
The gallery should be showing up on the master post now. http://bit.ly/vWm6xJ
08:32 PM
And finally a gallery of images to wrap up the day. I had a blast, and I really hope I get to go back for the actual convention.
06:27 PM
Time for me to bail. It is just fattening food and booze at this point. Foot is in the door for the convention in August.
06:24 PM
Convention center isn’t serving any local beers to the out-of-town press. Really?
06:11 PM
Found the one food station at the reception that had vegetarian food. Republicans like their animal flesh.
05:57 PM
“We’re gonna have a lot of fun with the Democcrats in Charlotte (during their convention)” RNC Chair
05:56 PM
“Where are your office spaces going to be here?” “Away from yours!”
05:53 PM
There is a very cranky dude from Reuters sitting next to me. He kinda looks like Moe Howard.
05:51 PM
Out-of-town reporter just asked if anything was going to be done to dress up the “drab” buildings in the area.
05:42 PM
Just had a lovely conversation with someone from DC about Florida politics. I am sorry to report that other states really do laugh at us as much as we are afraid that they do.
04:35 PM
Killing time now while waiting for the next event to start at 5:45. Too many tempting sweets around.
03:45 PM
Shutting down now while we tour. We are regrouping at 5:45 at the convention center.
03:41 PM
Ahhh. I understand the earlier question now. They are concerned that they are going to have to go through two security check points when traveling between the convention center and the forum. Looks like that is going to be the case.
03:36 PM
Question was just asked about whether or not there was going to be a “secure” walkway between the two venues. The person asking was concerned about having to go “double mag.” Not sure what he meant at all, but the answer caused some grumbles from the crowd.
03:33 PM
Q&A with the press starting now.
03:27 PM
Ryan Price is speaking now. More logistics being talked about.
03:26 PM
Wow. They have reserved 15,000 hotel rooms in the area for the convention. Guess you can’t argue about the amount of money the convention is going to bring to the area.
03:17 PM
Julie Shugar, Director of Media Operations, is now up. Not much going on at this point that’s relevant to general politics, but it’s interesting to see the nuts and bolts of an event like this. Apparently they are going to be building a covered walkway between the Forum and the Convention Center where one doesn’t exist now. They are going into specifics on credentials now. Apparently the Media committee is handling the credentials for Independent Bloggers like myself.
03:11 PM
Specifics about media rules and accommodations are now being presented.
03:08 PM
“The General Staff of these two facilities (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa Convention Center)…Have the most aggressively cooperative staffs that I’ve ever worked with.”
03:07 PM
Bill Harris promising that this convention will be “new and different.” Says his staff is dragging him “kicking and screaming” into the modern world (technology-wise).
03:05 PM
Bill Harris, CEO of the convention committee, is taking the lectern now.
03:03 PM
“We will have a convention worthy of our nominee, and worthy of the next President of the United States.”
03:02 PM
Reince Priebus is speaking now. Giving big props to the Tampa Bay area for helping to facilitate the convention. “Tampa Bay is an exceptional host community.”
02:59 PM
Chairman of the Republican National Committee is here. Wasn’t quite expecting that.
02:58 PM
Hrm. Some NBC/CBS trash talking going on. I’m caught in the middle!
02:55 PM
Geeze Louise. They just used some massive air horn that they use during hockey games to get our attention. We’re all awake now!
Sexy Halloween History
I have a real problem with revisionist history and perceptual reality. Namely, I take issue with the whole “things were better back when I was a kid” statement. Our parents said it, and their parents said it, and despite the fact that we grew up swearing we wouldn’t say it members of my generation are saying it now, too. This commonly crops up when we talk about the fact that the “streets were safer” back when we were kids. They weren’t. In fact, the violent crime rate has been steadily dropping over the last 20 years. What’s different now from 1991 is that we didn’t have such a huge proliferation of information at the time. In this modern 24 hour news cycle era we sit glued in front of our tiny glowing screens eagerly lapping up the latest gory news. We analyze it over and over again and rail about the injustice of humanity.
We obsess.
The reason I’m thinking about this so much today is because of the number of complaints I’ve seen about “sexy” costumes, as if this were some kind of new phenomenon. I will admit that some of the “sexy” costume subject matter is a bit much (sexy Little Orphan Annie? Really??), but to say that the “sexy” costume is a recent phenomenon is to ignore history.
To prove my point I have used the magic of the internet to take a trip back in time to find some examples of “classic” sexy costumes…Come with me children, as we explore the sultry side of Halloween Past…
Continue reading »