Live from Las Vegas: Out Partying
I apologize for the gap in between updates. I was having a good time partying, and I might have even posted something brief were it not for the fact that my laptop battery needed recharging. But it's good to take a break sometimes anyway.
Yesterday was an incredibly busy day, and today promises to be just as packed with panels, workshops, press conferences, meetings, and .... parties. DNC Chairman Howard Dean is scheduled to address us later this morning. I'm definitely looking forward to that.
Back to earlier this evening. After doing some blogging (my last post) I packed up and joined other progressive Washingtonians heading for the Triple 777 downtown (a really nice, comfortable restaurant with excellent food, lots of widescreen TVs, and WI-FI. It's also a brewery). About 30 of us were there from Washington (including Eli Sanders of The Stranger) congregating for a few hours to talk, eat dinner, and drink (in my case, deliciously refreshing ice water) and get our T-shirts.
We progressives from Washington State are organized: not only are we all quite well connected to each other electronically, but we also took the initiative in setting up offline gatherings before we even got here. And, thanks to switzer, we have a Washington State YearlyKos T-shirt! Bright orange, stylish, and complete with the names and URLs of most of the major progressive blogs in the Evergreen State on the back.
We could have enjoyed each other's company for even longer, but at around 9 or so we all left, most of us heading for the Blogosphere at the Stratosphere party put on by Governor Warner's Forward Together PAC - which spared no expense in putting on a grand event.
It wasn't just in any old room in the building. The party was at the top of the Stratosphere Tower, which at 1,155 ft (350 meters) is the tallest structure in Las Vegas and the second tallest west of the Mississippi River. It's also the tallest observation tower in the United States.
After the elevator ride up, we were greeted by a band, a huge amount of food (mostly appetizers), ice sculptures, and panoramic views. I ran into a lot of people I knew and some I didn't. I had an opportunity to talk to Susan Gardner (better known as SusanG) of DailyKos for a while. Also at the party I found Dean Nielsen of Progressive Majority Washington and Aaron Belenky of the state Young Democrats.
Governor Warner was predictably surrounded by a crowd for the duration of the party but I did manage to say hello to him as he left the hotel. (The elevator ride, by the way - going up or down- is like being on an airplane. )
After spending two to three hours at the Stratosphere we returned to our own hotel, and I sat down to write this post. I'd better stop writing, or I will be up all night long. So I'm off to get some sleep, and I'll be back early in the morning to continue providing live coverage of YearlyKos. I'll also post another photo montage or two tomorrow.
If you're hungry for more YearlyKos coverage, check out Neal and Lynn on Evergreen Politics.
Yesterday was an incredibly busy day, and today promises to be just as packed with panels, workshops, press conferences, meetings, and .... parties. DNC Chairman Howard Dean is scheduled to address us later this morning. I'm definitely looking forward to that.
Back to earlier this evening. After doing some blogging (my last post) I packed up and joined other progressive Washingtonians heading for the Triple 777 downtown (a really nice, comfortable restaurant with excellent food, lots of widescreen TVs, and WI-FI. It's also a brewery). About 30 of us were there from Washington (including Eli Sanders of The Stranger) congregating for a few hours to talk, eat dinner, and drink (in my case, deliciously refreshing ice water) and get our T-shirts.
We progressives from Washington State are organized: not only are we all quite well connected to each other electronically, but we also took the initiative in setting up offline gatherings before we even got here. And, thanks to switzer, we have a Washington State YearlyKos T-shirt! Bright orange, stylish, and complete with the names and URLs of most of the major progressive blogs in the Evergreen State on the back.
We could have enjoyed each other's company for even longer, but at around 9 or so we all left, most of us heading for the Blogosphere at the Stratosphere party put on by Governor Warner's Forward Together PAC - which spared no expense in putting on a grand event.
It wasn't just in any old room in the building. The party was at the top of the Stratosphere Tower, which at 1,155 ft (350 meters) is the tallest structure in Las Vegas and the second tallest west of the Mississippi River. It's also the tallest observation tower in the United States.
After the elevator ride up, we were greeted by a band, a huge amount of food (mostly appetizers), ice sculptures, and panoramic views. I ran into a lot of people I knew and some I didn't. I had an opportunity to talk to Susan Gardner (better known as SusanG) of DailyKos for a while. Also at the party I found Dean Nielsen of Progressive Majority Washington and Aaron Belenky of the state Young Democrats.
Governor Warner was predictably surrounded by a crowd for the duration of the party but I did manage to say hello to him as he left the hotel. (The elevator ride, by the way - going up or down- is like being on an airplane. )
After spending two to three hours at the Stratosphere we returned to our own hotel, and I sat down to write this post. I'd better stop writing, or I will be up all night long. So I'm off to get some sleep, and I'll be back early in the morning to continue providing live coverage of YearlyKos. I'll also post another photo montage or two tomorrow.
If you're hungry for more YearlyKos coverage, check out Neal and Lynn on Evergreen Politics.
