Mile High and Oodles to Do

So what's happening in Denver other than the convention itself? Turns out plenty.

There seem to be 6 main categories of events:
1) Caucuses -- interest groups for women, people with disabilities, GLBTs, Asians/ Pacific Islanders, seniors and the like meeting to "form party policy and submissions to the party platform". I'd go to some of these if there weren't so much other stuff going on.

2) Wonky panels (loads of them) by groups such as the American Prospect, Common Cause, the AFLCIO and Families USA on topics like the economy, health care, and Israel/ Palestine. Wonky stuff is my element so I RSVPed for tons of these until I realized that my 'dance card' now has 4-5 events for the same time slot. Tuesday afternoon is especially crowded.

3) Parties galore -- 400 of them according to recent NPR story -- some of them hot, some hip-hop, some celebrity-laden, some all 3, but most all of these are invitation only. And my name isn't on any of those invites. The only parties I'm likely to attend are those of the NC delegation. But then I'm not a party girl anyway.

4) Entertainment -- concerts, documentary film festivals, comedy shows, etc. -- all with a political twist. I'm on a waiting list for 1) a freebie Willy Nelson concert; 2) live performances from a new film , based on Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States ” -- with actors Ben Affleck, Josh Brolin, and Rosario Dawson; and 3) an award celebration for a new film called 14 women (the women in the US Senate) with Annette Bening, Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee, Alan Cumming, Rachel Leigh Cook, & Quentin Tarantino.

5) Protestor parades /demonstrations -- at locations designed to remain far out of sight of the delegates at the Pepsi Center. Plus there are elaborate plans to process those expected to be arrested at an industrial warehouse with chain-link cells topped by razor wire -- a facility some have compared to Gitmo. A sign there reads "Electric stun devices used here." I'm planning to go out of my way to see what the protestors have to say. I'm hoping peaceful protests and that the Police behave themselves this time around,

6) Miscellaneous activities from arts projects and poker / golf tournaments to a tour of wind farms. All good stuff (well, not the poker and golf), but who will have the time?