Conventional wisdom

The first three days of the 45th National Convention of the Democratic Party have been wildly entertaining. Random observations as we prepare for the big rally tonight in the Broncos' stadium.

-I like the panel seated at the table on stage. They remind me of the Politburo watching a boxing match (veiled "Rocky IV" reference).

-The "Town Hall" hosted by the great Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was strange. TV commentators made it sound like no one in the arena was paying attention to it. In fact, I don't even think the audience had any questions when Sen. Brown asked at the end.

-When the Democrats air an elegy to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, I like to picture all the Republicans across the country becoming nauseous. Other moments that had Republicans reaching for their Leanne-approved barf bags: all of Sen. Clinton's speech, the Sen. Ted Kennedy tribute, President Clinton's speech and when all of the female House members took to the stage.

-The best of the convention takes place in the late afternoon/early evening. It's kind of CNBC's badminton to NBC's gymnastics--far more interesting without all the hype. (For a good story on the frustrating Olympics TV coverage, click here. Thanks to a patternless area correspondent for finding this.)

-CSPAN is by far the best network for watching the convention. No commentary, constant video feed. Yesterday, they kicked off their coverage by showing an assortment of delegates dancing to live music for about 8 minutes. I like the delegate in the donkey costume.

-I liked the camera that followed all of President Clinton's reactions during Sen. Clinton's speech on Tuesday. Sen. Biden is a close second on most entertaining reaction shots.

-DNC Chairman Howard Dean is the best. Even watching him read a motion yesterday was fun.

-Finally, how did celebrities Omarosa and Jennifer Garner get tickets? Egad.

Keith Institutionalized?

Some have questioned my allegiance to Keith on this season's "Project Runway." I mostly was intrigued by his close similarity to bandanna-ed Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir as well as his Mormon upbringing. Keith's dismissal last night came as no surprise. The horrors of last week's tattered outfit and this week's disaster were too much to overcome. And his retort at Michael Kors' criticism last night sealed his demise. Just as Kors said, anyone who presents something to the public has to be prepared for criticism. Keith couldn't handle it and buckled under the pressure. So long, Keith.

Runway clearance

I was shocked when Daniel was eliminated from "Project Runway" last night. He seemed destined to be the pompous type who lingers throughout the season, just to infuriate most of the audience. His outfit was actually better than Keith's, and that's tough for me to say because everyone knows I'm a Keith and Suicidal Tendencies fan.

And Leanne, who could be an extra from "Children of the Corn," used the word "barf" last night.

More hubbub

The Chicago Tribune's Bob Verdi has the latest take on Brett Favre. He takes the position that Favre should have stayed retired and that the Packers made the right decision. I disagree with the latter portion of the position, but the piece is overall a solid critique:

Regularly scheduled programming on sports networks has been shelved, not only by Michael Phelps' quest for gold but by Favre's serial forays into arena addiction and self-absorption, both nourished by his acute appreciation of procrastination for dramatic effect.

And, as if we haven't had enough Favre, Verdi notes that he's gone from the smallest NFL market to its largest. Imagine the Favre hubbub to come.

Mythological Packer

Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard wrote a column about how the mythology of Brett Favre has been broken. A couple of my favorite quotes:

"Did he really believe that rumors and leaks to the media were the best way to go about returning?"

"And once Favre embraced the role of folk hero...he couldn't suddenly bail out. In Favre's case, fans expect his life to read like a compelling narrative."

Ballard also cites a Kelton Research poll that found 53 percent of Americans wishing Favre would stay retired. The numbers jumped to 59 percent in the Midwest. We don't like this wishy-washy retirement stuff.

Wither judo

I don't have too much to say about last night's "Project Runway" other than Blayne should have been eliminated. I haven't seen koolats (sp?) in the board room, but that's just me.

I do have a lot to say about the Olympics. I'm not sure who decided that we all have to watch gymnastics, beach volleyball and swimming every night, but I'm blaming NBC for it. There are so many sports that are receiving zero coverage in primetime. I realize that TV does this every Olympiad, but I could really go for some badminton right now. Or even Muggle Quidditch.

Tan man

What did we learn during this week's episode of "Project Runway?" That Blayne prefers to tan every other day. That Jennifer's elimination was overdue. That Daniel is too hip to create an Olympic outfit. That Corto and her family left Liberia when she was a child. That Apolo Ohno knows his fashion. And that many of the designers think dresses, Little Bo Peep bonnets and sweaters are appropriate for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

Favre ending

Well, I said the patternless area would be about more than camping, birding, the weather and cycling. Now I have takes on the Brett Favre saga.

First, full disclosure, I am a fan of No. 4. I have followed his career since the Atlanta Falcons took him in the second round and since he made his NFL debut in a Packers victory over Cincinnati. But, even as I enjoyed his resurgence last year, I had already grown tired of his year-to-year wishy-washy retirement decisions. It was too much. It didn't help the team and drew way too much attention to him individually. Finally, when he retired this year on (mostly) a high note (NFC Championship Game appearance), I thought that it might be over. I decided if he ever came back, I would change my opinion of him. And then the reports came that he was reconsidering.

But the Packers managed to botch the whole situation so badly that I again have regained sympathy for the Kiln, Miss., native. How this team could not let him back is absurd. QB-to-be Aaron Rodgers was a No. 20-something pick four years ago. He is not Steve Young. The franchise would be more damaged by refusing Favre than by accepting him back. In fact, accepting him back would only enhance the team's long-term image and short-term gains (and I was at Lambeau two months ago--the place is a shrine to Favre). Instead, the venerable franchise will be sullied by its rejection of a legend.

Sadly, everyone will forget about this in a few years. Who remembers that 49ers greats Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig ended their careers with other teams? Not many. But the marriage of Favre and Green Bay was so great that it is a shame to see it end this way.

Weekend hindsight

We found these sunglasses on Hutchinson Field on Sunday. Hutchinson Field is the grassy area of Grant Park where the AT&T stage was erected for Lollapalooza. For me, these sunglasses represent a lot (insert your own caption here). The mayhem of Rage Against the Machine's show, perhaps. The insanity of a three-day summer festival with more than 225,000 people and eight stages of music.

It's easy to imagine how someone could have lost their glasses this weekend and subsequently have them trampled. Though I like to think that someone, agitated by Zack de la Rocha's anti-capitalist rants, threw down these glasses during Rage's set and did away with Prada and materialism forever. Probably not the case.

One final observation:

Before the Rage show, somewhere deep in the throng, we saw a guy drinking out of a Coppertone bottle. Initial reaction: disgust. Upon further consideration, I wonder if this was one of those branded containers you can buy to hold illicit materials--like the Coke can that is actually filled with beer or the bottle of shaving cream with the marijuana compartment. Later, after the show, we saw one mosh survivor pick up a half-empty bottle of water that was lying on the ground. He studied it for a moment before proceeding to gulp it down. So maybe the Coppertone guy really was chugging lotion-flavored liquids after all, who knows.

Cleveland nostalgia

Trent Reznor got nostalgic Sunday night. "Seventeen summers ago Perry Farrell asked me to join Lollapalooza," said the Nine Inch Nails frontman. "We were just kids from Cleveland who didn't know anything."

Reznor did indeed spend quite a bit of time in Cleveland and grew up in Mercer, Pa., about 90 miles away. He also attended school for one year at Allegheny College.

Nine Inch Nails rocked the Bud Light stage at the north end of Grant Park, mixing old hits like "Head Like a Hole" with newer songs like "The Hand That Feeds." Their light show was phenomenal and they played a few songs behind a cage-like fence. One of the encore numbers was "Hurt," the song Johnny Cash once covered.

Other highlights from Day 3 of Lollapalooza:

-Today was steamier than yesterday but still mostly tolerable.

-Lollapalooza is no place for an agoraphobe. Admittedly, I was tired of the scene a bit today--one too many people bumping into me, a few too many port-a-poddies. Still, a lot of fun overall.

-Girl Talk was fun. It was basically a guy with a laptop (Gregg Gillis, a former biomedical engineer no less), but he almost trumped Gnarls Barkley with a dance party atmosphere at the Citi stage.

-Saul Williams was interesting, harder than expected.

-Gnarls Barkley was good, but I felt played a few too many of their darker songs from their more recent album.

-This was a tiring weekend, and I'm running out of steam now.

Multiple choice

If there's any complaint I have about Lollapalooza it is the number of cruel choices we have been forced to make. Certainly, we're not the only people who have faced these conundrums, but I think they could have spread out some of the big names a bit more. Maybe this is inevitable with eight stages.

A few of the choices:
-Day 1: The Raconteurs vs. The Cool Kids vs. Bloc Party and Stephen Malkmus.
-Day 2: Broken Social Scene vs. Battles vs. Lupe Fiasco.
-Day 3: Today we face another tough one. Love and Rockets vs. Girl Talk vs. Flosstradamus vs. Gnarls Barkley. Cee-Lo and Dangermouse of Gnarls will win out in the end, but you won't help to wonder what was going on elsewhere. There is a chance we could catch the start of Flosstradamus' set.

Oh, and the granddaddy of all of the cruel choices also is tonight. Nine Inch Nails vs. Kanye West. NIN will also win out, but if the rumored Barack Obama appearance is true we may rue the day we chose Trent over Ye.

Lotta Lolla

Tonight proved that Rage Against the Machine is still as relevant as ever. Its advocacy of unity, human rights and peace (well, mostly) may be more timely now than it was back in the 1990s. Rage ran through its catalog of anthems with the precision of a May Day march. It capped its set with the funk-metal "Wake Up" and a long soliliquy by vocalist Zack de la Rocha about "the last eight years." The encores were early 1990s classics "Freedom" and "Killing in the Name." The show was not without drama, though. De la Rocha cut off the indigenous rights diatribe "People of the Sun" when a crush of people pushed up against the stage rail. He asked that everyone move back, and after a short delay resumed the set. People mostly complied, but de la Rocha kept pleading with the crowd all night.

Other observations from Day 2:

-Lollapalooza is a study in sunglasses. In: Ray Bans. Out: Oakleys. In: Fluorescent frames. Out: Medical sunglasses.

-The weather today was perfect. Blue skies, low 80s.

-We stopped by Perry's stage early in the afternoon, as event founder Perry Farrell was scheduled to make a cameo with a special guest. There was a DJ playing some music when we got there. Eventually, we could see Farrell near the back of the stage dancing. He waved to the crowd and everyone cheered. Fifteen minutes later, he was still doing the same thing. We really didn't understand what he was doing--no band, no special guest, no performance. We got bored and left.

-We had the misfortune of seeing the worst act at Lollapalooza. We took a flyer on Spank Rock, a Baltimore group, and left within 20 minutes. What they did was really an insult to music and all of humanity, in fact. I'm not sure where to begin. The act involved two MC/dancers who were so horrible at being MCs and dancers that we had to leave. And I think Tim Gunn or Michael Kors would describe their outfits as "vulgar."

-I was last at Lollapalooza in 1995. It was a simpler time. No cellphones, no Blackberries, no iPhones, no digital cameras. The Internet was only just becoming popular.

-Chicago MC Lupe Fiasco thrilled the crowd with an eight-piece band. The trumpet, trombone and saxophone on the skateboard anthem "Kick, Push" sounded great.

Sound opinions

"That's the worst headlining band I've ever seen," said one person early in Radiohead's set. He and a friend were storming away from the stage at the south end of Grant Park. Indeed, Radiohead is not typical stadium rock. It's amazing that 75,000 people showed up to watch them tonight as part of Lollapalooza. It's hard to believe this is the same band that recorded "Creep" so many years ago. Radiohead certainly delivered tonight, mostly playing hits of the past decade or so.

Other highlights today:

-Lollapalooza is a study in shirtlessness. The upper 80 degree temperatures had everyone scrambling to take their shirts off.

-Jack White of The Raconteurs is looking more and more like Glenn Danzig, former frontman of The Misfits and Danzig (pictured at right).

-Cadence Weapon left a memorable impression when DJ Weasel climbed onto the scaffolding above the stage, hung there for about 30 seconds and dropped the 6 feet or so back to the stage.

-Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks delivered their fuzzed-out post-punk sound. I saw Pavement (Malkmus' former band) at Lollapalooza in 1995, and all I remember was him hunched over a guitar with a big mop of hair. Hasn't changed much, 'cept I like it now.

-Big festivals are marathons, not a sprint. I haven't been to anything like this since approximately 1997. I learned that you can't assume you will get very close to the stage during any headlining act. It takes precision and planning to get close enough to really see one of the big names. We will take that into consideration tomorrow when Rage Against the Machine tears the roof off this sucka.