This diary is very unlikely to be recommended, but I still want to get some thoughts off my chest, about the irritating loudness of the party last night that drove me away.
Thanks to the generosity of JPete, who purchased a ticket for me, I was able to attend the party - for all of 15 minutes. I feel bad saying this considering another Kossack gifted me a ticket, but I was disappointed in many ways tonight.
I should disclose up front that I'm hard of hearing in both ears so I loathe extremely loud music, especially in crowded rooms, and that was the situation at the party. I'm sure glad so many people showed up and they were about to have a really SHOUTING good time, but with that noise level, I couldn't hear a word people were shouting over the music.
What I'd hoped for, just a little, was the chance to hear what other bloggers and activists were up to, listen to them attempt to recruit me for some political adventure, or just hear them rant about the war for oil in Iraq or how awful Bush is. That wasn't the case for me. At best, I was able to read some lips, for the very short time I was there.
The highlight of the party, for me, was when an acquaintance, longtime union and gay power organizer Howard Wallace walked by, passing out flyers for an upcoming talk with two labor leaders from Iraq here in SF. Having Howard push his politics and printed matter at me was like a thirsty man in a desert given a cool glass of water. Thanks Howard for being such a political pusher tonight.
A few observations:
There was only one other bike locked out front that I saw when I arrived. The available bike lock-able poles and parking meters were bereft of two-wheel vehicles.
The bar was not wheelchair accessible. If there was an elevator on the premises, in addition to the very steep staircase and half one had to climb to get into the noise, I didn't see it.
The crowd was overwhelmingly white. Look at all the great photos NYBri took of those who were there. See many faces of color? I can't spot one black man or woman. Well, the DJ was African American, but he's not in the photos. Wonder why no black people were there while I was, or show up in the photos, if they arrived after me.
Lots of people gave off airs of progressive privilege and money, many power suits and attire, which was to be very expected given the location and neighborhood of the bar, and I'm sure glad we have people like that trying to change the system and supporting DailyKos.
This is starting to sound pretty much like I'm just out to knock some very fine people at the party tonight, whose writing and political work I follow and certainly appreciate, I'm not out to just be negative for its own sake.
I wanted to hear intelligent ideas debated, better blogging suggestions made, details on upcoming forums and street demos. Betchya there were some genuine terrific folks present, but I was driven away by the repulsive LOUD sounds, so I didn't get to meet them finally in person. Sigh. Was it wrong of me to expect audible conversation and a true soaking up of words and faces of the fabulous Kossacks?
Honestly, I feeling like such a dunce. Of course a party is going to be loud and not an idea space to dialogue and propose political solutions and ask someone for their blog URL! This party was organized to raise funds to make the yearly Kossask convention a huge success and I'm proud of my 15 minute participation to make that happen.
Since I was clearly the odd man out, and my eardrums needed a quick escape from the loudness, I left and took in a movie at the Castro theatre. Saw Brian DiPalma's "Obsession" and the print was in excellent shape, and in CinemaScope too.
I'm going to end this diary on something of an upbeat, forward-looking tone. Is there anyone on DailyKos who'd like to have a discussion group or two in a neighborhood, say, the Mission or Lower Haight or Castro, just to chat and hear each other? Maybe what I am looking for is more of MeetUp thing involving other Kossacks in SF and the Bay Area, and not a party.
If anyone is planning some SF or Berkeley meetups before the yearly convention, please invite me. I want to hear what you have to say.
[My report above was written late last night, after I came home from the party and my movie. Below are some thoughts written Saturday morning. -mpetrelis ]
I had to go back and read the original invitation as posted, just to see how I may have taken to a notion that there would be good talking and listening at the party. This is why I was so disappointed. Hunter promised I could have "very important conversations." Um, was there a secret VIP room where such talks took place, where I might have been able to actually hear people?
>>At this party, you can do one of two things.
>>If you so choose, you can have very important conversations with other people attending about what YearlyKos is going to be like this year, or about the future of blogging, or about the future of the Democrats, or whether or not you think the Apocalypse will be coming anytime soon.
>>Or you can just have fun with some of your Daily Kos friends that you might not get to see very often. Both choices good.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Or you can show up for 15 minutes, try shouting to be heard and strain to hear, then leave.