Convention Notes...

I saw the character actor James Cromwell walking up Congress Street towards the Fleet Center last night around dinner time.
Just what his link is to the 2004 Democratic National Convention is a holy mystery.
He was laughin' and smilin' though.
I also saw the unquiet shade of Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton waft by, she was behind the tinted glass of a Ford Explorer, and I out on the street corner.
I waved my hideous little porkpie hat...no doubt the Junior Senator from New York was off to dinner at the Kerry's for a preview of tonight's acceptance speech.
I also saw Chris Matthews doin' "Hardball" from Quincy Market...Imus is right, Chris is starting to bloat up alarmingly.
The fat in Matthews' head has reached his waistline.
The crowd seemed reasonably charged an enthusiastic...the show's set up was not fifty feet from where JK announced for President last summer.
The delegate's entrance was clogged with the usual mix of hangers-on, volunteers, and political freaks with hangups about abortion, Israel or the war.
The free speech zone is right around the corner, everyone who is anti and agin' is up in arms about being shunted aside but it seems like a reasonable location to me.
The truth of the matter is, whether you worship the first amendment as a god or are a stalwart republican, nobody is gonna share the podium with you if you aren't paying for the hall and microphone.
Other than that, it is a grand show with all sorts of things going on...even the protesters seem content to indulge street theater tactics....the line of orange jumpsuited "free speech detainees" lumbering up Congress Street last night had a police motorcycle escort.
Yes they were being directed to a particular undesirable spot but the police contingent added a touch of verisimilitude to the proceedings.
Meanwhile...the elusive Ben Affleck is what thirty two? He'll be thirty four in 2006...can he run for Governor or something?
I mean he has a nice nest egg from all those crappy hollywood action pictures...and self financing will be a critical thing for the race against Romney. If he is old enough I say we whomp together a citizens for Affleck committee.
Hey the guy just busted up with Jennifer Lopez, nothing like running for Governor to efface the memory of a tacky social climbing bint.

But the real story is parking...I found a parking space on Charles Street at about 5:20pm last night...not even a stone's throw from Senator Kerry's home.
All in all the convention is a great show anyone who can ought to check it out. However lets remember the local merchants near the Fleet Center and North End who took a hit in the pocketbook this week. Everyone should make time this weekend to patronage these establishments and try to reduce their liability a bit.