What a day for a daydream

Love those Rocky Mountains!

One weekend, two presidential candidates

Last weekend I went to a John McCain rally and a Barack Obama rally in Denver. Colorado is an official 'battleground' state so they want our votes! Here's Friday at the Western Stock Arena, the McCain rally attendance 4,000 strong (sorry, no Palin)::




Former Broncos quarterback John Elway introduced the Senator, as did John Lynch, a really popular Bronco who left last year and is considering another team, I hear.


48 hours later, Barack Obama made history by speaking to over 100,000 Coloradoans at Civic Center Park. A sea of people flooded the Park and stretched all the way to the steps of the Capitol building. In front of me::



See Barack? He's right there, at the podium!

And behind me (click for the larger version)::


It was amazing. I've never seen this before in Denver. I was one of 84,000 people at the Senator's DNC acceptance speech in August at Invesco Field, but this was different. No tickets required, first-come first-serve, early morning on a cold Sunday. People of all ages, hues, ethnicities, heights, temperaments, political affiliations attended this speech. It's a testament to Barack's overall message.



For comparison, last week's Obama crowd under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis reached about 100,000. Obama's excellent adventure throughout Europe this summer peaked in Berlin, where he spoke to a crowd topping 200,000. I counted the crowd while Barack spoke and my final tally was 114,293 people. Denver represent! We'll see if this Denver crowd translates into votes.

Dow-n Jones and My Predictions for Election Day

Yeah, they might as well as add an 'n' to the Dow.

Down, Jones. Down!

It's down 40% from this time last year. NASDAQ down 38%. S&P 500 down 41%. My 401(k) is now a 201(k). No worries, though. I didn't have that much in there to begin with, ha. Good strategy after all, Chris!

Ironically, so many of these stocks look really enticing right now. Still too risky to buy anything, though. But after the New Year (read: after the election), I'm going shopping for some discounted growth-stock mutual funds.

Speaking of the election, I'm going to call it. It's time. Here's how Barack will win the smattering of lean- and swing-states. My home-brewed electoral map, courtesy of MSNBC:



Obama-Biden will take all the swing states, except Missouri and North Carolina. Results will be close in Ohio, and even closer in Colorado. I think CO will go blue with less than a 50,000-vote margin.

The only way McCain-Palin have a shadow of a chance of turning around Obama's 11-point lead in the national polls is:

a) if there's a SERIOUS geopolitical event within the next three weeks (i.e., terrorist attack on the US or Western ally, or Israel attacks Iranian interests, etc.), or

b) Osama Bin Laden walks over to McCain's Sedona ranch and surrenders, or

c) McCain manages to come up with an actually clear, consistent and focused campaign strategy that's agreed upon by the following parties: John McCain, Cindy McCain, Sarah Palin, their campaign strategists, their economic advisers, and their surrogates. So far he's confusing the heck out of his base.

I'm going to be an election judge on Nov. 4th, and I'm wearing a purple tie and purple Converses in celebration of Colorado becoming a purple state. Awww. I promise I'll take pictures. Should be a lot of fun.

Thank the Lordinator (why I hate texting)

Governor Terminates Texting While Driving

One day, driving up 20th Street in Denver, I looked in my rearviewmirror and I saw a girl with her phone in one hand, texting, and a cigarette in the other hand, lit, and I think it was her right pinky finger that was operating the steering wheel.

Another day, driving down 12th Ave, saw Girl On Pink Cruiser Bike; she appeared about twenty feet away and crossed the street in front of me without looking either way. Yep, texting.

And it's not uncommon in this hipster doofus neighborhood of Capitol Hill to find some guy on a mountain bike texting while peddling uphill and having almost no idea that he kinda doesn't have the green light, and that a 2-ton monster of hard steel and oil is about to hit him. Dummie. Gives law-abiding bikers a really bad name.

And this guy died because he was texting.

Oh and that California commuter train that smashed head-on into a freight train a couple weeks ago because the engineer was texting when he should have been working the train properly, which kinda killed 20+ innocent commuters?

Thank you, Governator of Kahlifornia, for passing this legislation. The cyborgs of the future will be much safer now and hopefully every state will follow your state's lead. If anyone calls me while they're driving, don't be offended if I tell you to just call me back. It's because I care. :)

Autumn in Colorado - A Preview

Peak color in Colorado is actually a full week later than usual, so when I got up to Routt National Forest near Steamboat Springs last weekend, I was wishing for more yellows and rusty reds. But hey, green works too. (The pano above will be a gallery wrap above my mother's fireplace. One season down, three to go.)



Some guy's private property (oops)::


I explored this area of Colorado on the suggestion of legendary nature photographer John Fielder. Dunkley Pass certainly has valleysides blanketed in aspen! Definitely rivals that of Kebler Pass near Crested Butte, which is THE autumn drive in this state.



And look at this! I didn't know rock stacks existed in CO, but apparently they do. This appeared out of nowhere on Highway 131, northbound towards Steamboat Springs. Say hello to Finger Rock::


I'll be in Breckenridge and environs this weekend to take advantage of the (hopefully) peak color of golden aspen forest around Boreas Pass, and wherever the magic hour finds me. I think it's safe to say I'm definitely getting married in the month of Baracktober. Until then...