HAPPY HALLOWEEN
...and Blessed Samhain to all who celebrate.
I had such a headache by the time I got home last night, I could not focus enough to post, so here are my delayed thoughts.
Firstly, David Dimbleby is lovely and funny and does a very good job of putting people at ease as well as he does as cutting people off and keeping the program on track. ALL of the behind-the-scenes peoples are wonderful, not a rude person among them (not that I'd expected it). The Newseum was a fabulous venue and their support staff was also great -- although having to exit via the freight lift at the end of the night was a little disconcerting.
The panel was great. Elizabeth Edwards got the biggest welcome, followed by Simon Schama. Simon got off quite a few zingers both at the audience and at his fellow panel members and now I want to enroll at Columbia University so I can sit in all of his courses.
The audience was supposed to have been evenly split by gender and political party, but I heard someone complain after that there were far too many Republicans. My impression was more that they are just extremely frustrated right now and, therefore, more vocal. There was a brilliant discussion on media bias and campaign financing that was not filmed, but that, I think, got that contingent pretty well stirred up.
None of my questions were chosen, though, and although I applauded here and there, I didn't feel strongly enough to raise my hand to comment on anything. The few times I started to the discussion moved on to a new topic.
I had been under the impression that it was going to be taped and then broadcast, but it did go out live, which was sort of strange. It's apparently going to be shown here via BBC World News but I'll be curious to see if it actually goes as the times don't quite coincide with scheduled showings. I'm really curious to hear reactions from any one that was or is able to see it.
All in all, it's was a great experience and I want to publicly thank foldingstar for bringing it to my attention and encouraging me to apply -- though I'm sure he'll harangue me for not raising my hand.
Since we were at the Newseum from 4:30pm until 7:30pm, I was hungry and anxious to get home, knowing that there were still things to be done to prep for Halloween. But I was pleasantly surprised because my husband and son had decorated the house, carved three pumpkins, done the laundry and even made our Halloween costumes (for the adult party on Saturday night - we're going to be Wall Street executives with golden parachutes). I was so impressed and appreciative. I told him he can quit his job and be a stay-at-home dad anytime.
I had such a headache by the time I got home last night, I could not focus enough to post, so here are my delayed thoughts.
Firstly, David Dimbleby is lovely and funny and does a very good job of putting people at ease as well as he does as cutting people off and keeping the program on track. ALL of the behind-the-scenes peoples are wonderful, not a rude person among them (not that I'd expected it). The Newseum was a fabulous venue and their support staff was also great -- although having to exit via the freight lift at the end of the night was a little disconcerting.
The panel was great. Elizabeth Edwards got the biggest welcome, followed by Simon Schama. Simon got off quite a few zingers both at the audience and at his fellow panel members and now I want to enroll at Columbia University so I can sit in all of his courses.
The audience was supposed to have been evenly split by gender and political party, but I heard someone complain after that there were far too many Republicans. My impression was more that they are just extremely frustrated right now and, therefore, more vocal. There was a brilliant discussion on media bias and campaign financing that was not filmed, but that, I think, got that contingent pretty well stirred up.
None of my questions were chosen, though, and although I applauded here and there, I didn't feel strongly enough to raise my hand to comment on anything. The few times I started to the discussion moved on to a new topic.
I had been under the impression that it was going to be taped and then broadcast, but it did go out live, which was sort of strange. It's apparently going to be shown here via BBC World News but I'll be curious to see if it actually goes as the times don't quite coincide with scheduled showings. I'm really curious to hear reactions from any one that was or is able to see it.
All in all, it's was a great experience and I want to publicly thank foldingstar for bringing it to my attention and encouraging me to apply -- though I'm sure he'll harangue me for not raising my hand.
Since we were at the Newseum from 4:30pm until 7:30pm, I was hungry and anxious to get home, knowing that there were still things to be done to prep for Halloween. But I was pleasantly surprised because my husband and son had decorated the house, carved three pumpkins, done the laundry and even made our Halloween costumes (for the adult party on Saturday night - we're going to be Wall Street executives with golden parachutes). I was so impressed and appreciative. I told him he can quit his job and be a stay-at-home dad anytime.