LIVE from Denver: An interesting night

What an evening it has been.

First I had a wonderful Cajun feed courtesy of the Big Tent (more Fat Tire Ale) and then I headed over to the MSNBC sound stage to see what was going on.

My timing was very lucky because I caught a bit of Rachel Maddow on stage with her buddy Pat Buchanan. Despite the limits of my camera I was able to get up close enough to get some good shots.

I'll include just Rachel and Pat, to conserve space, but I enjoyed documenting the revved-up crowd and more cottage-industry Obama merchandisers.

There was also quite a bit of security.

I returned to the Big Tent in time to hear Bill Clinton (our dear "Bubba") speak. He did a really good job of righting some of the damage inflicted during the primaries. He emphasized Obama's readiness to deal with the challenges a President faces. He reminded us that some felt he was too inexperienced in the beginning.

I have a feeling a colleague will cover this thoroughly, so these are just brief impressions. I had heard earlier that John Kerry would speak tonight and I knew it was true when I heard strains of "It's a Beautiful Day" by U2.

I've heard Kerry speak on many occasions, met him several times, and worked on his campaign at many levels so I know that he starts in the stilted Senatorial fashion until he warms up. Warm up he did.

He got in some really good lines and I can't remember them verbatim. Suffice it to say he turned the "voted for it before he voted against it" accusation against Senator McCain, as compared with Candidate McCain.

So the night continues. I'm all set after hitting Office Depot for batteries and like some of my colleagues and those around me, I don't expect to get a lot of sleep. I've been taking plenty of street photos for a couple of other blogs that I share with people in other cities.

I think the most interesting things I saw today were probably members of the Texas delegation drinking at a sidewalk cafe and telling their waitress all the bad things Bush did, and then Obama Girl getting into an elevator.

Then, of course, Rachel Maddow.