Philadelphia VII - get out the vote!

Checking door knockers was pretty boring, but after we were redeployed to a more southern area office we were sent out to knock on doors and to remind people to vote.

I was lucky enough to be paired with a wonderful woman who lived in the area, knew her way around and clearly felt at ease there. And we were lucky enough to be working in areas which were nearly 100% black, so we never had to ask if someone was considering voting for Obama. In fact, quite a few people took great pleasure in pretending, momentarily, to have voted for McCain.

The areas we were in were pretty poor, including a set of streets called "the box" which is notorious for having the most drug dealers anywhere in Philadelphia, and some others where my canvassing partner had seen a teenager firing a gun the previous week. Many houses were boarded up, and many others which looked uninhabitable contained families (in the lower photo of the street you can see a man opening the door of a house that looks completely boarded up).

We knocked on hundreds of doors in the course of the day, and struggled to find a single person who had not already voted. Almost everyone said they had voted before work, at 7 or 8am. Some people had family members who had been unable to sleep, and had arrived at the polling station at 6 (they didn't open for voting until 7) just to make sure they would get a chance to vote. Someone who had arrived at 7 was the 160th person to vote at his station. Unlike in other parts of this city, and the country, there were hardly any queues after this initial rush, and no one reported being turned away or unable to vote for any reason.

But there was a festive atmosphere around the polling stations, even without queues. One had been set up in a small flower shop (see photo), another in a funeral home. Outside another, in a local park, a man had set up an amplifier and was playing covers by Dave Matthews Band, with a small Obama sign. Other people around him were sitting on park benches or standing around, often with their children, holding Obama signs, while others gave out coffee and pretzels to voters as they arrived (the 36th ward office had a huge supply of pretzels for people who had to wait in line, but since no one in our area did they were distributed relatively freely).

By 6pm we were mainly just telling everyone to have a great night and enjoy the celebrations, as people started to come out into the streets, to greet everyone they saw with "have you voted?" and drive around honking. People also started to tell us to be careful and stay safe, and since everyone seemed to have voted we left happy (and exhausted from all that walking!).

New York

As I came into New York on the bus on Friday I was amazed to see so many children out in the streets, all fully dressed up for halloween, carrying pumpkin-shaped bags for candy, and often accompanied by parents in fancy dress. Shops more than homes seemed to be the best target, perhaps because so many people live in apartment blocks.

But halloween in New York doesn't end there - there is also a parade and a liberal amount of fancy dress partying by adults. The subway is packed and everyone is dressed up in some way.

The parade was a mixture of floats and marching music, similar to Notting Hill carnival, but at night and with more gratuitous nudity, and random people who have dressed up and exhibit themselves along the parade route, where thousands of people stand waiting to take pictures of the best costumes. My photos didn't come out at all well, but these from 2007 will give you some idea...

After the parade we went to a party in the west village at the house of Amy Winehouse's bassist. I wondered what we could learn about 2008 from the costumes on display. A lot were timeless (witches, football players, the sunmaid maiden etc), but others seemed more "dated". A lot of references to economic downturn - a downward arrow inscribed with "the economy"; a haggard old woman covered in dollar bills and gold coins. And a large number of Sarah Palins, wandering around winking and miming shooting large mammals.

She's been on the receiving end of quite a bit of mischief this week (as every week!) - Alex reminded me that Palin puts the "alas" into "Alaska". Carolyn sent me this flowchart: understanding how SP decides what to say to a difficult question. And Maggie sent me this article, showing that Brits are turning against her, including burning her effigy.

Only two days left and everyone is getting twitchy with nerves.

I ❤ Chicago

Let me count the reasons.

Great public transport, tons of cyclists, crisp autumnal weather, neighbourhoods with local high streets and (at least) one great pub that shows the football... hmm - maybe because it's just like London?

Am treating today as my birthday instead as it was so perfect: to start with, the museum was actually open today. Then Arsenal won 4-2. Then the sun came out, and I found a pair of woolly cream coloured tights. And I listened to Sufjan Stevens and danced home.

To top it all, we are about to go to a bluegrass gig!

Joy.

Musical diversion

I just got really excited because I found that my friend James and I are on the NPR website! Proudest moment of my life.

Seattle II

Walking home last night I began crossing the road, even though it wasn't my right of way. The only traffic was a parked bus, and when it pulled out I ran the rest of the crossing in order not to get in its way.

As I continued along the street, the bus pulled up beside me, driving very slowly and the driver opened the front doors. He was speaking to me but I had my headphones in playing loud Beirut and I couldn't hear what he was saying. But I feared the worst - remembering warnings when I was a child that in some states jaywalking (crossing when it's not your right of way) is illegal...

I finally got close enough, sans headphones, to hear him. He said "I'm sorry I pulled away - were you hoping to get on this bus?"

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania II

http://videobama.mirandajuly.com/

In case the sight of two sexy women wrestling helps you want to donate to Barack Obama...

Cleveland, Ohio

I have found reasonably convincing proof that America is a more advanced nation than England:

1. Peanut butter pie
2. Peanut butter cup Ben & Jerry's ice cream
3. No waiting list for an allotment (here at least)

On the other hand, there are a few stikes against:

1. One train per day out of Cleveland in each direction - both between 2 and 3 am
2. No pedestrian access to Cleveland's long distance train station (!)
3. Local taxes spent buying the most expensive site in the city and building an America Football stadium on it - used only 9 times a year and unaffordable for the majority of residents of the city...
4. Black poverty levels which make some streets look a lot closer to Umtata, South Africa than the rest of the USA

Most surreal experience in Cleveland: going to a public chalk art festival where a Caribbean band performed an hour of songs about how everyone should vote for Obama.

Word on the street is that he won't carry Ohio, and McCain knows it, so will campaign hard in the area in order to deplete the Obama camp funds.