Cusp of Revolution....

I’m in the hotel room. Things here are still. Last night at the Tenacious D and Beastie Boys' show people kept saying “I cant believe tomorrow is the day!’’ Well, now tomorrow is today and no mater how you look at it America we are on the cusp of revolution...thousands of us have already voted and some have waited in "star wars" like line’s just to get to the voting booth. And today thousands more will.

Some events like 911 and Katrina, really made us look at ourselves deeply to the core, as who we are as a nation and who we want to be. I think to day will be one of those days…

This morning Obama and McCain woke up just like you and I and tonight one of them will go to sleep having made history…how exciting!

DonnY-

Festival the Debate

Nothing says Debate like a good old fashion catfish fry and festival. Rock the Vote, today, organized a two stage hodown in Oxford, Mississippi on the Ole Miss campus in preparation for the debate extravaganza to unfold.

Word on the street was the free t-shirts and swag was the best. Who doesn't love a free shirt?

The other most common comment was about John McCain and the recet revelation that he was going to be attending. Lauren Hempkey is a strong supporter of Sen. McCain. She thought it was awesome they were having the debate because she was hoping it would bring some attention to Ole Miss, but said she would be really disappointed if Sen. McCain didn't show up.

The students have worked hard preparing the campus indeed the whole town for the media, campaigns, and eager and interested citizens that have ascended upon Oxford.

One such distinguished student is Nick Luckett. When I met Nick at the Republican Convention earlier this month he told me he went to Ole Miss and I eagerly wanted to hear about the work they'd been doing to prepare for the debate. At the time Nick was livid because students were only going to recieve a total of 50 tickets to the debate itself. Only 50!

But when I caught up with Nick today he said that number grew quickly to 150. They had many different activities to decide who got them. Different forms of quizes and bowls, and two lotteries - one for campus leaders and another for students.

Nick said the steering committee put in a lot of hard work to make sure everything ran smoothly. Having Sen. McCain say he was pulling out was not something those students wanted to hear.

"(They) were really upset to hear that John McCain might not come. A lot of us worked really hard, and we've been working for months and months. And our university has been working for a year to bring this debate here, and now for him to say he's not coming is like a slap in the face."

Ole Miss students Danelle and Chelsea were both supporting Obama in tonight's debate. That was the major reason that they thought Sen. McCain shouldn't even attend. They had heard by lunchtime that Sen. McCain was scheduled to attend but weren't sure if that was confirmed. Danelle felt like it was a sketchy thing to say. Chelsea agreed,

"Why say you're not going to come and then show up?"

"I think its pretty cool that Obama said he was going to be here even if there wasn't a decision," Danelle said.

Later in the afternoon, Josie and I met up downtown in Oxford for some awesome southern food at Ajax a diner on the square. From there it was to a coffee shop to upload our pictures and begin working with the videos we'd shot from the morning. It was there that we ran into a local reporter for the Daily Journal. He told us that tickets were so hard to come by that even the Chancellor of the College didn't get one. The governor did... but the Chancellor was still looking for ways to get in.

From Bunny to Dinosaurs

In my world, things pertaining to the upcoming Presidential Election are about as up in the air as a fluffy cloud turning from a bunny to a dinosaur right before your eyes. Yet, you know what they say, in every bizarre cloud is bizarre silver lining.

For me that bizarre silver lining is the most recent New Yorker cover with cartoon versions of Barack and Michelle Obama doing the now infamous “Fist bump.” It portrays Barack dressed in a turban and sandals and an afro-ed Michelle in boots and army pants with an AK-47 hanging off of her shoulder padded arms.

If you take a sec to look at the pic, things start to reveal themselves to you like one of those “which one of these things doesn't belong’’ panels you used to find in coloring books. For instance, in the background of the New Yorker cartoon there is a picture of Osama Bin Laden on the wall over a fireplace where the American flag is burning.

When I first saw it I couldn’t help but let out a: ‘Word?!’ Confused is a severe understatement of my initial shock. The picture looks like it was done by one of those guys that you would find at a local fair who draw manic smiles on over sized heads that are supposed to resemble celebrities. (If you give him 15 bucks he will draw you hanging out of a tiny car waving with one hand and holding cotton candy in the other.)

People don’t seem too happy about the picture and I’m sure it will be ripped off of the magazine's bindings. It will most likely also be tacked on many a bulletin board confirming many different things for many different people. For some it will be a affirmation of their fears, for others it's a confirmation of their prejudices and for any one with a twisted since of humor its just a funny picture.

The dudes at the New Yorker seem to be sticking by the picture. I have a sneaky feeling the New Yorker is getting exactly what they want- a bunch of free press.

-The Don Don Mon