Yearly Kos: Thursday Night Festivities

Thursday night of Yearly Kos offered keynote addresses by Markos and Tom Tomorrow in the large ballroom of the Riviera, which was very well attended. It is estimated that over 1,000 people showed up to Yearly Kos, and I believe it. The room was packed.

Funky patriotic light displays bathed the walls.

I'm sure that the quality of the speakers was an important reason for the success, but the bountiful free buffet might have had undue influence. It was quite a spectacle--everything from lox to chicken fingers--but that's Vegas. While I stood there, belly churning, I watched John Aravosis of AMERICAblog cut in line.

Is nothing Sacred? John Aravosis, in brown, cuts in line.

To be fair, there was a gap in the line and he was in the middle of a conversation, so he might not have noticed. Either way, what was I going to say? Aravosis is my blog hero.

When people took their seats--I went for food first and had to sit on the floor--there were a few intros and Tom Tomorrow took to the podium. If you have not seen any of his cartoons, check out This Modern World, he pens absolutely hysterical political satire. Tomorrow showed off a bunch of his classic cartoons and even unveiled a few hysterical unpublished ones. Here are a few quotes:

That's what we're up against here most of the time: people who just make shit up.

I noticed that some of our right wing media friends are here, so I'd like to point out that this is satire.

For this weekend at least, what happens in Vegas should not stay in Vegas.

Tomorrow held a book signing on Friday morning (that's a weird sentence). Do yourself a favor and buy Hell in a Handbasket. On Saturday night I hungout with a few people by the pool and had a chance to talk with him. It was funny, out of all the "celebrities" that I me, Tomorrow was the only one with whom I had a real conversation--by that I mean more than 60 seconds. He is friendly guy from New Haven. When I asked about his creative process, he said that basically he locks himself in his office on Monday and Tuesday and works relentlessly for two days. His wife agrees not to bug him on those days if he is a normal husband for the rest of the week.

Markos took to the podium with massive applause and ovation. His speech was riveting and inspiring for blognerds like myself.

Markos at the podium (sorry about my crappy zoom lens)

What most shocked me was his statement that the average Daily Kos reader is 45 years old...He might have said 44; I can't remember. Either way, real adults read blogs. I could go into detail about his speech but I think this quote sums it up best:

We can now choose for ourselves what media we want to consume. The old media are no longer the gatekeepers.

After Markos' speech Will Keenan aired a satirical sketch entitled "Mission Accomplished Man," about conservative reporter, Christian Right. Whose alter ego is republican superhero who frightens people with consevative talking points. After watching Mission Accomplished Man, I think we all need to be very concerned about whether or not the gay immigrant terrorists will win.