Chicago Transport

(another non-election related diary I know)

One of the things that has made a large impression on me in Chicago is the public transit system. It's not perfect and with the many layers and parts and capacity it doesn't really offer any lessons to fix Jackson's traffic problems (sorry), but here are a few observations.

Partially due to having started and ended each day with a trip between the city and the apartment I'm staying in, it has developed a somewhat bookendish (new word) feeling to the days for me.

It served as a protected portal to view the city (on the above ground lines) without having to go out and touch and smell it.

Seeing neighborhoods and business blend together and change with housing only steps away from Wrigley Field and beaten down buildings minutes away from brand new skyscrapers was surreal. I'm pretty used to those things being sharply delineated due to our historic system of building codes by zone.

Having some mid-day rides be so very peaceful with only the sounds of the train on the tracks and the brakes and the "doors closing" or "Fullerton (station)" breaking the silence was counterbalanced by rides like tonight's where I was serenaded most of the way by drunk folks joining the car at stations after they had left Lollapalooza. The drinking continued from two suitcases (24-packs) of beer, and the songs devolved from oldies standards like "American Pie" and "My Girl" to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Happy Birthday" by the time I had gotten to the Addison stop where I got off. (I'll post a video of one of the songs sometime soon, likely as part of a longer post on the trip or a series of posts. It's a treat :)

That's all really for now, I just wanted to share something and this was the bite I chose to share. I hope you enjoyed it.

So, I'll be adding a bunch of stuff including video after the primary...

... until then just know that hours ago I shook hands with James Hoffa. :)

Hillary Clinton At Yearly Kos In Chicago

These were her opening remarks at the smaller session she had before the larger forum. She's good. I'll be getting more videos up later. ;)

I've now seen Obama in DC, Edwards in Canton, and Clinton in Chicago in a setting where they were up on their own and I'm bringing y'all with me.

I'll post some more detailed posts starting tomorrow. Check out Daily Kos for a live feed of some of the speeches.

Dispatch From Yearly Kos

The conference started yesterday with a number of panels. I attended several on how to raise/make money blogging. In the afternoon I attended a few caucuses of state and local bloggers. In addition I moderated a Southern bloggers event representing Mississippi. This was a surprise as I only found out that I was doing so minutes before. I probably missed an e-mail. Oops. It was good though. :)

I've liked the people here more than I have at other conferences I've gone to. They appear (overall) levelheaded and very much disciplined and ready to get down to business. People here aren't here to complain. They are here to learn and build.

Howard Dean gave two speeches Thursday evening and I got in to both. I was impressed as he gave two different speeches and both were good. I'll try to get video up of one of them soon (likely after the primary).

One thing he touched on which I was happy to hear was his aggressive outreach to religious persons including Rev. Rick Warren.

Much progress has been made in the last few years with the National Democratic Party and being open and available to religious persons like myself.