As mentioned previously, downtown Denver right now resembles nothing so much as a big street fair. Yesterday , a  group of kids from our North Denver neighborhood rode down to the MSNBC stage on Wewatta Street to sell Lemonade for Change and netted nearly $70, + some national news coverage. Not bad for an after school jaunt.

A friend sent this account from the Alliance Center office building next to the Big Tent:

If you haven’t already,  visit the NYTimes website and look at today’s videos near the middle of the page, then select the video titled the Carpetbagger at the Convention. You’ll see the tent next to our building and then. . . wait for it!. . . he goes inside to speak w/ Ariana Huffington- in suite 307! I’ve never been so proud of that unassuming space. Poise and grace infuse every panel of the recycled, non-toxic, carpet squares affixed w/ vegetable-based mastic. Watch the clip. . .

Based on a my junket yesterday afternoon, it’s madness. The building is absolutely full of people, boxes, assorted crap, and the third floor smells like an Aveda salon took over an Indian restaurant. Who knew lentils could be used for aromatherapy? All the back ground noise you hear in the video is authentic; it might be the press interviewing Daryl Hannah whom I stopped to watch only briefly and yes, she is tall. Between us, she went a little heavy on the bronzing lotion but bless her heart, she departed in dramatic and thematic fashion by riding in the back of a bicycle rickshaw. The whole thing felt like a National Lampoon movie set. I emerged from the stairwell on the third floor and the first person to look at me and not acknowledge me was some swami in all white, from turban to toe. Next I held the door for Lenny Kravitz- I swear it was him but it probably wasn’t. There were a couple earnest tenants who were still trying to work in their offices.  And there must have been about 25 20-somethings, all under 5’2” who seemed to be taking their responsibilities very seriously. I’m not sure what their jobs were but I was almost trampled by a stampede of nearly-dwarfs. I saw Ariana Huffington from a distance. I tried to call out but froze when the phalanx of nearly-dwarfs reappeared. Maybe I’ll make another foray tomorrow afternoon but I’ll need to hear what my therapist says about returning so soon.

Also yesterday, a sort of moveable feast of political street theater was everywhere to be seen in lower downtown. In addition to the MSNBC donkeys and elephants on segways, I saw a band of about 10 women dressed up in red white and blue bikinis, looking like a bunch of slightly over the hill Texan cheerleaders, waving a  giant reversable Bush/McCain head, until you noticed the silver, er, accessories they had strapped around their waists.

Back at the lemonade stand, a giant Ostrich puppet appeared and took shameless advantage of the kids’ youthful enthusiasm (and press appeal) by having them chant things about the republican candidate’s head in the sand.

Ostrich chanting

Later, I attended an event for Democratic Mayors at the old Denver Dry Tea Room where, after watching Hillary Clinton’s speech on a large screen TV, guests sampled cuisines of the nation’s cities. There were real Philadelphia Cheesesteaks (and real cheesesteak guys!), Italian/ Portuguese food from Providence, amazing fresh tomatoes and crab from San Francisco, cheesecake from Chicago, Bison from Denver and a whole table of Washington wines and salmon from Seattle.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin with Denver's own Mayor John Hickenlooper

Through it all, the city is functioning, it is not impossible to drive if you know how to get around  (though it is much slower) and in general it all seems to work relatively well. The FREE BIKES at the Freewheelin stations set up all over downtown are being well used (1200 rides the first day and more the second) and New Belgium Brewing Company is providing cool cruiser bikes for the blogging crowd at the Big Tent. Freewheeling folks even helped me make some small repairs to my own heavily used bike when they noticed my tire pressure was low and my chain was squeaking.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom

On Thursday the city will literally stand still for history. Interstate 25 will  be closed for several hours in the afternoon for security at the football stadium, throngs will descend on the venue midday and Bruce Springsteen will play directly after Obama’s speech there. The Google-Vanity Fair party is the hot ticket tomorrow night, though there are doubtless a dozen others as well. With luck, I’ll be sitting in the audience of The Daily Show, one of the best ways to make sense (and humor) from the madness of it all.

Freewheeling bikes