DNC Review

Here's a slideshow recap of my week in Denver:

Click here to see my photos.

And of course, my politics blog has some final reflections.

I got back to New York late Friday afternoon, but my bag didn't make it. It was just delivered as I was updating this blog here Saturday morning, so time to do some laundry and pack the bag back up. I'm off to the RNC in St. Paul tomorrow morning.

My Karl Rove (Non-)Story

A man with thin, gray hair and glasses was making a joke to no one in particular about the men's room two-way mirror as I was walking in, and I replied with something fairly sarcastic.

Then, when I got in front of the sink, I asked myself, "Did I just make Karl Rove laugh?"

>> Read More

Convention Coverage

Here's a recap of what's going on with me in Denver:

+ The MyFox Convention section. This is where all of our network's coverage is, including videos and images I'm shooting. The video is located in the VIDEO RODEO | RAW AND READY section (mine are the 30-second protests), and the CONVENTION PHOTO GALLERY is two sections below it.

+ Our CoverItLive blog. Anyone can live blog, but that technology hasn't picked up the way I thought it would a year or two ago. But CoverItLive takes it to a new level. Not only can you take real-time questions from users (you), but moderators like me can add in images, video and polls that show real-time results. This is very cool and CoverItLive is going to be huge a year from now.

+ My Politics blog. I'll never be a politics expert, but this is kind of a diary that I'll try to update as often as I can these next two weeks.

+ Please follow me on Twitter for Convention updates this week and next.

+ I started a Celebrity Watch blog, also on MyFox, just for these conventions. I can't remember my login, so it hasn't been updated since my introductory note a few days ago, but check back there for updates. I got a picture of Daryl Hannah today. Yay.

Ear Candy

Old bud Troy and I don't talk all that often, but we got in touch via email yesterday. I didn't know that he and Jeff met in Pittsburgh to take in a ballgame over the weekend. I thought it was Pirates-Mets, but Troy corrected me about the visiting team, then offered another interesting tidbit about the short trip:

"Actually Reds vs. Pirates. It was actually quite a bit of fun. Pittsburgh is a surprisingly happening city. I did have to visit the local ER after (Jeff) decided to shove a tic tac into my ear, however. Fortunately, I was able to remove the offending candy from my ear canal before receiving any treatment. Apparently I was pretty low on the triage list."

Valet Jobs Open Doors For All-Girl Staffs

Exploitation, objectification or innovation?

That's the obvious question when debating the merits of all-female valet parking staffs.

That is, if such a debate were to take place.

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Celebrity Plane Crash

I'm sorry to do this, but can we please add Jennifer Aniston to the Celebrity Plane Crash? I know she seems sweet and funny and likable, but I'm so tired of hearing about her failed relationships.

Who would you add?

Leave Spitz Alone

Some newspeople are quick to forget that the reason they have other people's quotations to critique is because their colleagues go ask those people questions. Most of the time, the reaction that's being dissected is exactly that -- a reaction to tiresome questions by pesky media types. Mark Spitz was not seeking out the microphones; they came to him.

I was getting along just fine in the world, not really hearing anything about the 1972 Olympics superstar. But as this summer's games drew near and Michael Phelps appeared poised to break Spitz's record for most gold medals in a single Olympics, naturally, Spitz returned to the spotlight.

Reporters disrupt his life by asking questions, Spitz gives them answers. A centuries-old practice.

People cannot control their feelings. We can control what we do or say, but there's no way to force a feeling. If Spitz feels like he's been slighted by not being asked to join a U.S. contingent in China and support Phelps' gold rush, then he is plenty entitled to feel that way.

Americans celebrate so many things and so often in over-the-top fashion, that it's indeed a surprise that the USOC didn't extend such an invitation to Spitz. It wasn't too long ago that we made a big deal about Hank Aaron not getting too involved in the Barry Bonds hoopla when the surly slugger was chasing down Aaron's all-time home run record.

Though 36 years have passed, Spitz still feels strongly about his contributions to an otherwise tragic Olympics in Munich. I've always been a sucker for passion, especially when for years it's tactfully kept quiet and only brought to the surface by an annoying television reporter whose colleauges later sit on their air-conditioned sets and ridicule a man who accomplished in one week more than we'll achieve in a lifetime.

Obama The Team-Builder

Let me clarify any possibly misleading statements I may have made in a recent post. I'm fully aware that one's public-speaking skills don't win presidential elections. Nor do they lose them. Ten seconds of any George W. Bush press conference proves that.

>> Read More . . .

Top Conventions In U.S. History

My dad died 16 years ago today, and one thing I thought about at such a young age when he died was that he'll never see me do any of the great things for which I had high hopes.

Today is one of those occasions. It's a project I've been working on for two months. We launched a study that I don't think has ever been done anywhere else, and we incorporated a very cool interactive element that I hope you will enjoy.

Click here to see the special section, and when you get to the video portion, please follow the instructions that appear in between the TWO video clips.

Our section appears pretty high when searching various phrases similar to the headline of this post.

Michael Phelps: 2 For 2

Michael Phelps swam the opening leg of the men's 4-by-100 meter freestyle relay, and teammate Jason Lezak closed with an improbable anchor effort and the USA beat a confident French foursome in Beijing Monday.

Phelps remains on course for a record-setting gold collection now with this second first-place finish in two tries.

Please watch this video of the race.

Broadway Brett

I spent an hour this morning annoying Central Park visitors with questions about the Jets' acquisition of future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, also known as the guy from "There's Something About Mary." Responses ranged from "It's great for the team" to "I didn't say you could take my picture." I shot the video, wrote the story and made the poster image.

>> Read More Here

Summer Photography Sale

My last call to the printer for this summer will take place this week. Get my original photography/photostrations while you can:

My Summer Photography Sale

Music At Work

Here's what I listened to at work this morning:

+ "Snow," Red Hot Chili Peppers

+ "Sewn," The Feeling

+ "Set The Fire To The Third Bar," Snow Patrol