Where were you when Obama became president?

Well, I try to keep politics to a minimum here at That Austin Girl. (You know, to focus on pressing issues, like dance parties.)

I also know that not everyone who reads this blog is a Democrat, but hey! That's what makes our country great! That we can all have opinions and chime in.

So if you'll excuse me for a moment, I am STILL celebrating -

Obama won!!!!!!!

It's history! I had to hold back tears all day today!

Question: Where were you guys when Obama won?

I was downtown, y'all. And it was so much fun!

R., Nina, Sissel, Jason Silverpants and I were all at Mother Egan's, watching the returns come in. It was a loud, lively, drunk-in-a-good-way crowd, with booing and cheering every time a state's results were announced. Because we have all been so well-educated by CNN's Magic Wall (how much do the anchors LOVE that thing, btw), we knew the ones to watch: Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio. But then, they're always the ones to watch.

First, they announced Pennsylvania. Then Florida. Then - OMG - Ohio! All for Obama!

I gathered up R. We started walking to The Driskill. We were a couple of blocks away, when all of a sudden -

Cars honking.

People screaming.

And a girl, out of nowhere, tearing down the street (um, THROUGH the street - Sixth Street!), yelling, "where were YOU when Barack OBAMA was elected president?"

R. and I started running to The Driskill. When we got there, there were people pouring out, shouting and smiling and holding "Obama Biden 2008" signs high over their heads. We ran inside, up the stairs, and into one of the massive lobbies. And here is who we saw!

Two cute girls, right after the big announcement

This gentleman with the rad shirt, watching the screen

Above, three generations of Obama supporters!

Awaiting Obama's speech!

It was one of the most special nights of my life. I'm so happy I was in Austin for it!

(SPEAKING OF. Do you remember that blueberry-in-tomato-soup metaphor I made? It's no longer true! This election cycle, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and DALLAS - WHAT! - all went blue!! Can you believe it?)

Anyway, I'm still riding an endorphin-wave today, and it was all I could do to not be completely distracted at work. Even now, when I think about his "Yes we can" speech, I feel my face start to mush up and tears wanting to come out. America, how does it feel to have a "rhetorician" as your president? It feels pretty good, doesn't it!!

But. Before we wrap things up - I just want to say one thing.

McCain gave one hell of a classy concession speech last night.

McCain supporters, I remember how I felt four years ago when Kerry lost. It was an emotional, awful day, with smeared mascara and wearing of black clothing. And do you know what one of your people did on that day? A conservative, a Bush supporter?

She gave me a hug. She saw me crying, and she embraced me.

Democrats, may we all be that loving.

Where are you watching the election?

I don’t know about you guys, but in my family, the presidential election is like the Superbowl. Except even more special because it only comes every four years. (And also because my mom and I know nothing about football!)

So I’ve been dying to watch the election tonight in public, somewhere loud and raucous, among my fellow electorate. I got a text today about this one:

From Yelp and Do512:

The Travis County Democratic Party invite you to celebrate election night in the place where LBJ watched election returns in 1960 and 1964 - the Driskill Hotel. 5 huge screens showing election returns. DJ room to watch returns with some music.

Join Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Senator Kirk Watson, Woodie Jones, Representatives Donna Howard & Valinda Bolton, Commissioner Candidate Karen Huber, Jim Coronado, Commissioner Ron Davis, County Chair Andy Brown, Annie's List, Tejano Democrats and more.

And, what’s this I hear? It’s a dance party!!

Election fever!

I've heard Austin's demographics described "a single blueberry floating in a bowl of tomato soup." If you consider yourself part of the blueberry contingent, you might enjoy this benefit concert:

RED STATE BLUES: A CONCERT FOR CHANGE

All the deets:

-$25 General Admission / VIP package $75

-VIP packages includes food, beverages at 5:30pm and extra special pre-show peformances by Chrysta Bell and Paris 49 starting at 6:00pm

-Regular show - with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, James McMurtry, and Brownout! stars at 7:00pm

-Show benefits Travis County Democratic Party and the SIMS Foundation, which provides low-cost counseling and other mental health services for musicians and their families. Neat, huh?

And if you haven't heard Sharon Jones before, here's a little taste.

A vice president for all seasons

With all the speculation swirling around Obama's and McCain's once and future VP's, we were all beginning to wonder what was going on, weren't we?

The leading theory proposed by news networks was that the two were waiting each other out, waiting to see who the other would pick, then they'd make their move accordingly. So, we made our bets. We heard several iterations of the "chess game" metaphor. We rightly assumed that John Edwards was probably out, while others still pointed out that John McCain cheated on his former wife after she suffered an automobile accident that required 23 operations. (Which is not what I even want to talk about, really - Mr. McCain brought up his failed first marriage all by himself on Rick Warren's debate last weekend, so, you know, way to be open about it.)

But now, Obama has made his move! The New York Times reported today that we'll know his VP by the end of the week. And what's more - it'll likely be one of these guys.

1. Evan Bayh
Senator from Indiana, looks sorta like an older Ed Norton. And...eh...I know this is neither the time nor place to say such things and only reinforces my odd taste in men, but...kind of a hot ticket? Those two together? It even sounds good on a bumper sticker: "Obama Bayh '08." All syllabically harmonious and everything.

2. Tim Kaine
Governor from Virginia. Two interesting things about this guy (and I'm sure there are interesting things about you too, Mr. Bayh, it's just that I've chosen to objectify you. For the time being). One, Kaine handled the Virginia Tech shooting last year with lots of grace. I think it's saying something that tons of kids are still applying to go to that school, and Kaine probably had something to do with that. And secondly - this was really the clincher for me - he recently refused to sign a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which the legislature voted to place on the ballot. Love!!

3. Joe Biden
The most well-known of Obama's VP shortlist. You may remember him from the early 2008 presidential race - in fact, he dropped out just three and a half months ago. Biden has the foreign policy chops that Obama lacks, and has over four decades of politico experience - but. Would that round out Obama's whole Washington rookie thing? Or is he just a little too "establishment" for Obama's candidate-of-change image? It's a tough call, apparently.

We'll know what Team Obama decides soon, but in the meantime, where o where shall McCain's VP come from? And more importantly: do you care, Austinites?

Well, I get all pumped up about elections, and my money's on Mitt Romney. So he's a Mormon. The evangelical vote is up for grabs this time around anyway, right? He's just glittery and smiley enough for McCain, who I swear to God almost fell asleep during his own speech the other day. I mean, I've caught the man on Daily Show interviews a few times, and McCain's not too bad - he just looks very, very tired.

But speaking of Romney - do you want to see something totally random? This is him in 1969, getting married:



Weird - isn't he just one thick-rimmed pair of glasses away from a Buddy Holly?

And why is it oddly funny that Mitt Romney had a 1969 wedding??

The eminent wisdom of Nick Hornby on e-books, also, Jesse Jackson is going to cut your nuts off

Hi guys.

So, when faced with the task of telling you about either:

A) Last Saturday night, in which I drunkenly gave a "shout-out" live on Hot 93.3 FM to R., Kim, several other people standing around me at Sky Lounge, and lastly to myself (as in, a shout-out from Tolly, to Tolly, all on the radio, and yes I've always wanted to get a "shout-out," never have, so I took matters into my own hands, thank you very much and thank you, DJ Boogie!), OR,

B) The state of the electronic book industry,

I decided I'd skip both and make a compromise: I'll let Nick Hornby tell you about the state of the electronic book industry! Oh just sit back down. I'll also include a brief aside into Jesse Jackson cutting people's nuts off. Happy?

Alright, so I work with books for a living. That being said, I have been vaguely curious about Amazon's dogged commitment to their new invention, the Kindle, which is sort of like an iPod for books. Here's what it looks like:



There are other models from other companies, too - but it's all the same idea. An electronic device you can download e-books, newspapers, magazines, etc. onto. Would you ever buy this? (Those of you who read, I mean?) Well, Nick Hornby decidedly will not:

"There is currently much consternation in the book industry about the future of the conventional book, but my suspicion is that it will prove to be more tenacious than the CD, for the following reasons:
1) Readers of books like books, whereas music fans never had much affection for CDs. Vinyl yes, CDs no. They are too small for interesting cover art and legible lyrics, the cases break easily, and despite all promises to the contrary, they are extremely easy to break and scratch. Books have remained consistently lovable for several hundred years now. For readers, a wall lined with books is as attractive as any art we could afford to put up there.
2) Ebook readers have a couple of disadvantages when compared to MP3 players. The first is that, when we bought our iPods, we already owned the music to put on it; none of us owns ebooks, however. The second is that so far, Apple is uninterested in designing an ebook reader, which means that they don’t look very cool.
3) We don’t buy many books – seven per person per year, a couple of which, we must assume, are presents for other people.
4) Book lovers are always late adaptors, and generally suspicious of new technology."

Read the rest here.

Gospel, right?

Nick makes strong points especially about books being lovable - an old, beat-up copy of Catcher in the Rye is 50 times more magical than a PDF file of the same, no?- and book lovers being late adaptors. Think about it: how many of you (again, those who read) own both a tall, fully-stocked bookcase, as well as a Wii Fit? Exactly. Two different demographics. Book lovers pride ourselves on the appearance of having classic tastes of which cutting-edge gadgets tend to not be a part. We are also lazier.

Switching subjects violently - you know who's not lazy? Jesse Jackson, damn!

I saw the clip like you did, guys - Jesse whispering about Barack talking down to black voters - but I caught on late and just now TODAY saw/heard the cutting off nuts part. Reverend, sir! Jesus would hardly condone that behavior. What would, in fact, he do? Spare Barack's nuts!

I'm sorry...I'm still laughing about this. Mostly because R. just asked, "You think he'll actually do it?"