Brush with Bill & Hillary

it wasn't really a brush brush but i just kinda liked the way it sounded.

11:30 pm and i just got home. it was a long and tiring day but i had great, great fun. now i know i wanted to be a journalist. hahaha.

i covered two major events today -- the one sponsored by women for gore, which had hillary as a guest speaker and the actual opening of the 2000 democratic national convention. the first one was held at the wilshire grand hotel which is just two blocks away from my office.

hillary had charisma. she's so pretty pala up close. and she knows what she's talking about as well. never mind the bad press (there are news reports that he and bill are "stealing" the limelight away from al gore) hillary is hillary. she had composure, she looked like a tough woman with a heart. while she was speaking, my cell rang. it was d. sorry po at di tayo nakapag-usap po. mas mahalaga po kasi si hillary kaysa sa iyo. hahaha.

after that i proceeded to the staples center where the convention was happening. it was a long walk, i didn't want to take the shuttle because i wanted to walk. hahaha. para daw maka-burn ako ng calories. i had enough time to spare so i looked around. the staples center is a huge huge place, and it took me a while to finish looking. then i went to the media headquarters at the la convention center which is a stone's throw away from the staples.

by 4:30 pm, i started going back so i can catch the big opening.

i saw dylan mcdermott. hahaha. he delivered the declaration of independence with three kids. and that was just the start. then, melissa etheridge sang an america the beautiful medley. golly, malapit ko nang ma-memorize ang star-spangled banner. hahaha. [major aside: when i covered the two official events here in los angeles when estrada went here, the ladies [louie reyes during the dinner and a lady-whose-name-i-forgot during the vets bill signing] who sang the philippine national anthem actually BUNGLED and forgot some lines of our dear lupang hinirang? it was so embarrassing. back to the story...


then there were speeches blah-blah-blah yada-yada-yada. then they presented the six women democrat senators -- two of whom are from california.

then segue to the seventh, the future senator from the state of new york, hillary rodham clinton.

there i was again, transfixed. hahaha. i dunno, she must have cast a spell. then the usual speech. after her speech, there was a video of bill. then, the dramatic entrance. the giant screen had bill walking to the stage, while flashing his administration's achievements for the past eight years.

then the crowd went wild when he appeared on stage. the cheers were deafening. then he spoke. bill clinton is a good speaker, there's no doubt about that. the only thing i noticed was his hair. halos puro gray na. and he joked about it too. he looked kinda older than his pictures. he was so eloquent, nakakabilib.

in between pala, i had to go out to go to the bathroom. and in one of my trips (actually, only one pala) i bumped into martin sheen. then i blurted
out "mr. president!" and he stopped and smiled. hahaha.

cheap thrill lang. i whipped out my media credentials and asked for his autograph. then this woman from the million moms march asked to borrow my pen kasi wala siyang pen. so sinamantala ko na, and i asked if she could take my picture with martin sheen. bobita't kalahati, sabi niya na-press niya. when i checked it out, wa. wash. wala. nainis lang tuloy ako.

as i was about to get in, richard dreyfuss and john lithgow (made me wonder, where are the young hollywood turks. hahaha). i looked at them and went straight inside, mas importante yung slot ko sa loob.

oh well, that concludes my report for monday, august 14, 2000.

reporting lve from the staples center in downtown los angeles, this is momar... ay sa print pala ako. dapat byline lang saka dateline. hahaha.