Yeah, I know that sounds like a clich?, but it’s true. There’s a ton of stuff worth writing about. Since work commitments are keeping me busy, here’s a quick overview of our trip. I’ll be elaborating on some of the more exciting moments in the next day or two :
Since we flew on JetBlue, we got to watch Sunday’s senate debate on the plane. Sharpton’s attacks on Dean were a perfect example of why I would never vote for him. Dean’s state is 96% white and there were only 6 cabinet-level positions on his staff. Only an opportunist like Sharpton would insinuate that the lack of minorities in those six positions makes Dean some sort of closet racist. I’m glad Carol Moseley-Braun took Sharpton to task for his comments.
Checked into the hotel and watched Fox News for a few minutes. At one point when “The Beltway Boys” (not to be confused with “Good Ol’ Boys”) did a brief mention of Bush’s immigration plan, they featured footage of a bunch of people running across the border. Just in case there was any doubt about it, this settles it. Fox News is xenophobic and evil.
Went to Ground Zero. (I’ll post more about this later)
Bought a bunch of bootleg DVDs and CDs. I’m now the proud owner of Kill Bill and the mono version of Sgt. Pepper.
Hooked up with Dan Perkins (aka. Tom Tomorrow) at the awards ceremony. Overall, I thought the ceremony was more anger and less disappointment (see below). Also, I wish there had been more comedy and less music. I could do without the rapping Margaret Cho and Moby’s cover band.
If we had won, I would have said something along the lines of “George W. Bush isn’t a bad person, he’s a bad president. From the moment we all walked in here, it was obvious that the media was going to spin this as a gathering for angry America-haters. I dunno about you, but I feel like more of a depressed America-lover….” Of course, I probably would have been too nervous to ever say something that articulate.
Dan took us backstage where we met some of the presenters. When I told Al Franken how much I loved his book, his reply was “Well, it makes a great gift” before quickly leaving the room. Later I learned that Stuart Smalley is notorious for blowing people off.
Dan took us to have dinner with Michael Moore, Kathleen Glynn, and a friend/co-producer of theirs whose name I forget. Needless to say, spending a couple hours hanging out and talking about politics with my favorite political cartoonist and favorite political filmmaker was a lot more exciting than winning any award.
Dan scored us an invite to an after-party thrown by Moby. Needless to say, it was as loud, obnoxious and hipster-filled as one would expect. The highlight was that we were able to hang out with the makers of the “Child’s Pay” commercial and get to know them a little.
Overall, it was an amazing trip. I’ll write more later when I get a chance.
posted by greg on January 14, 2004 @ 12:34 pm
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yes, i have to agree… it really was an honor just to be nominated…
in the end, i can see why the other animated one beat us… it had a really funny, and very memorable ending. and i can see why that would appeal to the mass audience. again, ours was too subtle… but before i sound bitter…
the whole event was a surreal and amazing. i had a great time, i really enjoyed the performances (except for margaret cho’s shitty rapping) even by people like Moby, who i wish made music as good as his taste in music (i like all 4 songs he covered way better than anything i’ve heard him do).
it was really great to get to hang out with tom tomorroww and michael moore. i still can’t believe we did that.
but overall, and probably most important- it wasn’t really about winning. it was about trying to voice our opinions about the shitty job that bush is doing with this country. and i’m really glad that greg and i, and the thousands of other people who made commercials, were given an amazing opportunity by MoveOn to do so.
and thanks, once again, to all of you that voted for us. we have more plans for our commercial and we’ll be sure to keep you all posted about that… it’s not over yet. this is just the beginning
Comment by tom — January 14, 2004 @ 1:06 pm
hanging out with tom tomorrow would be so cool. i’m not the biggest moore fan nowadays, but i think it would be cool to listen to the two debate the whole “anyone but bush” vs “a candidate we believe in” controversy.
i know you’ll write more. id be interested to hear where these two powerhouses agreed and disagreed.
anyway, congrats.
oh,and tom, on your angry liberal theme, you should read the drudge report’s coverage of the event. red meat to the lions…
Comment by josh — January 14, 2004 @ 2:03 pm
The Winter of Dean’s Disconnect
Howard Dean wants to be able to comfortably converse with people from the South, who, according to Dean, are more comfortable talking about God and religion in their everyday conversation. To that end, Dean is determined to start including more…
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