September 6, 2012

DU at the DNC: Thursday afternoon update!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting today but we were just enjoying lunch at the Black Finn, hosted by our friends at VisitMyrtleBeach.com. That's right -- after a brief dalliance with the UN yesterday, we're now firmly back in the Myrtle Beach camp.

And THEN, we spotted the Foo Fighters soundchecking in the background on MSNBC, so we rushed back over to the Arena and got here JUST IN TIME to see them packing up. Doh.

Anyway, on with the show. After filing our final Wednesday update last night, we left the Arena at around 12:45am and stopped by the MSNBC stage once more. By the time we got there they had just wrapped up their last show of the night, but we snuck around the back and ran into none other than Chris Matthews, who was hanging out chatting to fans.



And then...



He signed my hat! Awesome.



We also met Darrell Hammond:



And David Corn, who, by the way, is familiar with DU and appreciates that you all post his stuff here.



On to Thursday morning. The first thing we decided to do today was stop by the Google building on our way to pick up credentials:



It was pretty interesting, but a little surreal for the early morning.



So we moved on to the Convention Center and got our Thursday credentials. Note they say "Bowl Press Stand" -- obviously the organizers were expecting tonight's show to take place at the Stadium:



We decided to head down into the bowels of the Convention Center, where the "real" media is hanging out.



The place was HUGE.





That's Jonathan Capehart in the background:

















I don't know who Tim is, but he had a hell of a big sign:



My bad, it's Time:





They were giving these goodie bags away to journos, I guess this is where they dumped all the extra ones:





Next, we decided to go check out the Arena again, to see if we could scope out some good seats for the big speech tonight. On the way we ran into this lady with a great self-made dress:



Then we ran into DUer handmade34, who is working at the DNC. Great to see her!



And this guy with an exceedingly magnificent mustache.



The calm before the storm inside the Arena:





... and that's it for this update. A word of warning, we're not sure how good our Internet connection is going to be when this place is packed to the rafters later today -- we've already had some problems connecting to the Arena wifi -- so you may have to wait until after the speeches for our final update.

In the meantime, check out all our earlier pictures in the DU DNC 2012 Journal!

September 5, 2012

Early evening DNC update -- Mike Dukakis, Abe Lincoln, Dennis Kucinich, and Mosquito Lady

The first person we bumped into after the last update was Mike Dukakis:



But to be honest, I was more excited about meeting Joan Walsh:



The Admins show up on Hardball again:



Because after all, Hardball IS "the place for politics":



Good for MSNBC though -- the hats they were handing out are made in the USA:



And even more good news -- Abe Lincoln is voting for Obama:



So is Mosquito Lady:



Our lonesome Romney supporter was back again tonight, this time advertising his unfortunate masturbation habits:



Meanwhile, Skinner got a nice pic with DK:



Our free beer this evening was provided by the United Nations Foundation:





So at this point I'd like to say fuck Myrtle Beach! The UN rules!

We'll have one more update before the end of the night...

All of our DNC pics are in the DU DNC Journal.

September 5, 2012

DNC Celebritypalooza Part Deux!

But first, here's Skinner being randomly interviewed by someone from the Convention organization team about the delicious local beer he is enjoying (for free):



Then on the way to the Time Warner Arena we bumped into NORML:



Skinner rejoined the HRC:



And here's Roland Martin again, apparently he likes to hang around on this particular corner:



Back at the Arena, we ran into...

James Clyburn:



Dick Durbin:



Carl Levin:



Newman! (Actor Wayne Knight):



Tony Shaloub:



Beau Bridges:



And finally we headed back up to the "unassigned media" area to post. This is how far up in the rafters they've got us:



Oh, and I had to make a very important phone call:



More pics coming soon!

All of our DNC pics are in the DU DNC Journal.

September 5, 2012

DU at the DNC Photo Update: Celebritypalooza!

Our chariot arrives:



The plan today was to pick up Daily Show tickets, but we were unfortunately thwarted. So we headed back into Charlotte's downtown area to see what we could see, and stumbled upon the Fox News outdoor stage...



...which was deserted. So we pressed on to the Convention Center to see if we could spot any celebs. And we had some luck!

Here's Bill Press looking confused:



Jesse Jackson:



Jim Vance (this one's for DC area DUers):



Chris Van Hollen:



Joaquín Castro (Skinner ran into Julian Castro earlier):



Then we found the Fox News Workspace. I don't think I'm supposed to be in here:



Moving on, we saw a bunch of people looking at something. What could it be?



Looks like a couple of motorcades:



This is the back of the Convention Center -- someone important must be about to come out:



The staff at Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar seem pretty excited:



It's Jill Biden!

But wait, there's more...

It's Michelle Obama!





After all that excitement it was time to head back to our favorite place in Charlotte so far... the Black Finn:



More updates coming later!

All of our DNC pics are in the DU DNC Journal.

September 5, 2012

One last quick DNC update

Well we just got back to our motel after a LONG day. Sorry there hasn't been much in the way of updates since the last one but we've been in the hall watching the speeches. All great stuff! It was amazing to be inside the arena. Julian Castro had everyone on their feet, and the crowd went nuts for Michelle Obama. From what I've seen inside the Time Warner Arena today, there's simply no comparison in terms of enthusiasm between the DNC and the RNC. People here are pumped up! Can't wait for the Big Dog tomorrow night!

Here are a few final photos before we shut down for the evening:

The intro to Michelle Obama's speech:





The reaction to Michelle's entrance:

Everyone on their way home for the night:





Lots more tomorrow!

All of today's pics are in the DU DNC Journal.

September 4, 2012

DNC 360 -- more Convention pics

Just walked all the way around the upper concourse and grabbed some shots...

















It's still early which is why there are some empty seats, but it's filling up fast.

Edited to add: I only saw the RNC on TV but the Tampa audience seemed pretty depressed. The atmosphere is already electric here at the Time Warner arena. People are happy and excited. The roof is going to blow off when Michelle Obama takes the stage.

September 4, 2012

Quick DNC photo update

We left the free beer emporium, er I mean the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Hospitality Center, at around 4pm. Steve Kornacki was just wrapping up The Cycle:



We headed over to The PPL to see what was going on there. On the way, we saw this cool Obama sand sculpture:



Visit Myrtle Beach!

We also saw lots of cops:



We arrived at The PPL just in time to see Sen. Chuck Schumer, who was dropping by:



Unfortunately the Internet was down at The PPL, making the place pretty useless:



So we left and headed back the way we'd come. On the way we saw our first Romney supporter:



What a tool.

We got back to the MSNBC stage just in time for Hardball:



That's Bill Richardson and Brian Schweitzer with Chris Matthews:



We were trying to get in the shot, apparently Skinner succeeded:



Then we headed back to the convention center. We are in a media space way up in the rafters, behind the stage:





Going to head out and take some more pictures soon!

Earlier posts:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021267402
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021265660
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021264788
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021260689

DU DNC Journal:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/dnc2012

And don't forget: VISIT MYRTLE BEACH!!!!

September 4, 2012

Massive DNC photo update, including our first celebrity sightings!

Straight off the bus, here's Downtown Charlotte:



Helicopters circling incessantly overhead:



Pretty big police presence downtown, but it doesn't seem much worse than Boston 2004 from what I recall:



This is why we took the bus -- driving downtown is not recommended:



Here's the convention center, where we went to pick up our press credentials and attend a blogger briefing:



These are the credentials we need to get inside and pick up our real credentials:



For some reason this says it expired two days ago, but we still got in okay:



All these people are waiting for credentials of one kind or another:



Skinner picks up our media credentials:



Woohoo!



Don't forget the NASCAR Hall of Fame:



This is the Lynx commuter train that provides a shuttle service between the convention center and the Time Warner arena:



Outside the Time Warner arena -- still quiet, convention hasn't really kicked off yet:







Inside the arena -- the convention is taking place right behind those curtains:



We visit the "Unassigned Media" area:



Celebrity sighting! The Daily Show's Samantha Bee doing an interview:



Inside the arena for the first time:



We're going to be spending plenty of time in there, so we decided to go check out the PPL. Security is pretty tight around the arena:





The CNN Election Express:



Celebrity sighting! Roland Martin and friends:



Skinner takes MSNBC's advice very literally:



MSNBC's outdoor stage:



MSNBC's tower of heroes (my name, not theirs):



At this point we were planning to visit the PPL but then we spotted VisitMyrtleBeach.com Hospitality Central, which we had already received an invitation to. We checked it out and discovered they were serving up free booze, food and wi-fi. So here we are!

More updates coming later!

Earlier posts:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021265660
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021264788
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021260689

DU DNC Journal:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/dnc2012

And one more thing: VISIT MYRTLE BEACH!!!!

September 4, 2012

Skinner and EarlG at the DNC: Tuesday

We arrived at the delightful Continental Inn on the outskirts of Charlotte last night at around 9pm after an uneventful drive (with the exception of a somewhat surreal detour through Jerry Falwell's Liberty University).



There are lots of excellent dining opportunities in the area.









Weather: cloudy, humid, warm but not ridiculous. We're expecting rain later.

After a spot of breakfast we're now getting set to head into Charlotte -- our first order of business is to figure out which bus to take. We'll pick up our media credentials from the Time Warner Arena and then check out the madness downtown before stopping by the PPL, a space set up specifically for bloggers just a few blocks from the convention center.

Stay tuned for updates!

Skinner and EarlG's DNC 2012 Journal

September 3, 2012

DU Road Trip! (Updated 7:30pm ET)

Guess where we're going?







































DETOUR!!!!!

















Back on the road...













Woohoo!



Too dark to take any more pictures now -- we're not far from Charlotte, more pics coming tomorrow!