Hope 'n Nope

Are we having fun yet? How cool it is to live in a swing state during a presidential election? It doesn't help that if I could liquify CNN and infuse it into my system via IV, I probably would. Blitzer on the tube, AC's news on the iphone, super hot anchor Nicole Lapin on the web...what more could one want as two candidates inundate our lives with reasons why they want to inherit the world's biggest problem? I guess it's because they both think they have a plan to fix it.





If you know me, you know I'm not afraid to share beliefs on almost anything. I really believe the past eight years have failed me. According to a study on global well-being, the U.S. didn't even crack the top 10 of world's happiest countries. That gets me thinking of the potential of this country if only it had a proper leader. It has taken someone unique to salvage any bit of hope I have left to make it possible to start my life with the opportunity we all deserve.





Like MLK, it started with a dream. Pretty random actually. Earlier this year, I had a dream that I had a beer with Barack Obama. I was still undecided at the time, but it made me look into his book, Audacity of Hope, which I enjoyed. I felt like I connected with his character. Even though he grew up a totally different way than I did and I didn't agree 100% on all the issues with him, Barack has the ability to inspire Democrats, Republicans and Independents, and create a positive response in such a wide variety of people of all cultures, races, ages, and genders, that it gives me a glimmer of hope that things can be different. A chance for change to ditch the partisanship, lobbyists, greed, and self-interest, to focus on the things people care about.





I had the chance to once again to cover one of the Senator's rallies today in Henderson. Up long before sunrise for check-in, running off of three hours of sleep, I made my way to Coronado High School's football field where Obama would be speaking. With just three days to go he stressed how important it is to vote. And I'll do the same. Vote! Do it! It gives you a reason to care, a reason to hope, a reason to bitch, a reason to have a voice in something pretty damn important. Your life. And if McCain wins, I'm leaving planet earth.




"Three days."

I'll admit, I'm stoked on this election. Things are rough for myself, my family and friends. Each one of them, each time we talk, discuss their money issues and how difficult things are. This is caused by a downward spiraling economy that is declining even further as this parasitic war clings to its inevitable crash. Not to mention health care in an unacceptable disarray, education severely underfunded, unemployment and foreclosures skyrocketing.





You've heard it before: Change. Yeah, we can and yeah...we will. Don't forget, get off work, get to the polls, get other people to polls. Make something awesome happen.

Sent Packin'

Greetings from a relaxing evening in Fort Collins, Colo. With a little time off from traveling, the frequent flier miles are once again rolling, err, flying. I often debate what to bring with me to ensure a speedy and minimally painful traverse of the TSA gauntlet. My Think Tank Photo Airport Security bag has been quoted by security in the past as being a "busy bag."



I normally pack my 400mm, 70-200mm, 24-70mm, and 16-35mm lenses along with two Canon Mark II bodies. 580ex strobe, spare batteries, tape, credentials and other odds n ends fill in the nooks. And of course my Canon G9 point n shoot (took the photo). However, my biggest security worry is my monopod, for obvious weapon-like reasons. My busy bag typically has a 50% rate of getting through without extra screening. Gotta love consistency!

In my Kelty Redwing 3100 backpack (just small enough to count as a carry on, just big enough to hold a lot of crap!) is my laptop, Think Tank Photo belt to wear while shooting the game, clothes, book, snacks, and toiletries. A ton of stuff for 48 hours away from home, but the workout you get from lifting this stuff in and out of overhead bins can't be beat.

My first trip to Fort Collins was a post-midnight, deserted street, freezing weather, iced sidewalk journey into a college town that at first seemed like just another cold Mountain West Conference town. I've been back a half dozen times and love it here more each time. This weekend, the weather is in the 70s during the day and cool at night, giving my California-blooded body a break from the bubbling desert. We made a dinner stop at Bisetti's Italian Restaurant for a damn good marathon of eating indulgence.



College Avenue is what every college town should be like. Rows of restaurants and retail shops, topped with loft apartments and student dorms, framing a pedestrian and bicycle friendly road overlooking places like "The Drunken Monkey." The bar across the street from the restaurant, not the two drunk monkeys about to start a fight in the middle of the road. It had all the atmosphere of a city not too small, not too big. The CSU marching band's fight song echoed down the street where families, couples, friends, meandered for a night out. We even spotted the Colo. State volleyball team together picking up dessert. Could you imagine this on Fremont Street in Vegas?



Back at the hotel, I just watched the media take a quick break from its creepy obsession with Sarah Palin to report the O.J. Simpson verdict. If karma exists, it has an ironic way of debuting 13 years later to the day after O.J.'s not-guilty verdict was read in LA. Unfortunately for him, that's not how justice is done in Vegas. I'm laying here, typing on a king size bed with six pillows in a Marriott, while The Juice lays on a cot in the Clark County Detention Center. Then again, I've never kidnapped, robbed, or wrote a book about killing anyone. I didn't get the opportunity to cover the trial, but I was down there last winter for the preliminary hearing, so as a farewell, here ya go:



The theme of this entry is "sent packin," so in the spirit of sport, I have some shots from the UNR Wolfpack's fourth consecutive successful year in painting the cannon blue. After last year's defeat, I offered some sort of optimistic cheer about getting it back this year. Call it rivalry apathy, but this time I'm exercising some sort of objectivity and say the team that wanted it more, got it. Your defense straight up didn't show up. The other team's QB rushed for 240 yards. Your coach is 0-4 against the in-state rival. 'Nuf said. See what happens next year.