Flippin' Off Osama

I am filing some photos at a Kinkos and there was this guy sitting two chairs away from me who keeps mumbling to himself. I think he is reading something that he is writing, but he is also making some weird sounds. He’s a relatively normal looking guy, appears to be a business man. I’m looking down at my laptop and all of the sudden he blurts out “we’re so involved in our laptops we haven’t even noticed all of these beautiful women in here.” I look up and over towards him. He’s looking at me and nodding. I look around and there are about 4 soccer mom types. I look back at him and nod. What the hell was that about?

It’s the anniversary of 9/11 today. I’m doing the proverbial anniversary feature. The search for the said feature has brought me to Lafayette, California. There is a privately owned hillside in Lafayette across from the BART station that is adorned with thousands of wooden crosses that honor the troops that have been killed in Iraq. Some see this as a disgrace. Others see the display as a harsh reminder of how ugly war is.
Today, there is only one man at the crosses. Self-described “pro U.S.A.” activist Mark Kirby is standing alongside in a costume that he says depicts Osama Bin Laden. He has Vietnam era camouflage pants and a dirty white t-shirt with O.B.L. and 9-11 written in black magic marker. His makeshift beard is crafted from a woman’s wig and he is using a grey sweatshirt as a turban. He is attracting a mixed reaction from passing cars ranging from the middle finger to honks as he waves a homemade sign on a broken hockey stick that says “never forget 9-11” and a Styrofoam airplane. The airplane thing was, well, creepy. The honks and flashing of the bird were about equal. As I was standing next to him taking pictures a car honked, he said “I think that one was for you.” I told him that it couldn’t have been seeing that I didn’t have an awesome costume.
My next stop was a few miles down the road where the Lafayette Flag Brigade had set up their annual flag display on the overpass across highway 24. Flags adorned the fencing along both sides of the overpass and people stood between them and waved to traffic on the freeway. An audio system blasted contemporary country tunes and every now and again some local person would sing a song. It was like a small town version of the republican convention. One elderly Chinese man came up to me and asked if I had heard him sing. I told him I had not. He said “that’s o.k., you can just watch it on You tube.” He went on to tell me that I “could tell my friends that I met that guy.” If only I could remember the name of his song. Oh well. The event received a lot of attention. So much in fact that on my way home traffic heading towards the flag vigil was backed up for about 5 miles. Glad I wasn’t going that way.

The Skinny on the New iPods

Fresh off of the political conventions, I am back to work in my town. Apple is having one of their special events where Steve Jobs announces the latest Apple gadgets. Today’s event is at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, a small theatre. Usually, the Apple events, such as Macworld and the WWDC are held in huge halls that fill up with a couple of thousand people. This invite only event will be much smaller with about 300 in attendance.

After sitting outside for about 2 hours with Bob Galbraith from Reuters, we were let into the building a half an hour before the event was going to start. As usual, there is tons of media and we all do our best to cram into a pretty tight space. Some photographers, who I will not name, bring just about every piece of camera equipment known to man in a giant roller and occupy enough space for three people. Despite having a huge piece of property, I am still being hit with their monopod(s).
The show, dubbed “Let’s Rock” starts at 10am. When Jobs came out on stage and you immediately notice how thin he is. He looks gaunt and weak. I’m not going to go as far as Bloomberg News and issue an obit, but he does not look well. Jobs did poke fun at the prematurely released obit by saying that "reports of his death are greatly exaggerated." The picture below is of two frames I have shot of Jobs. The image on the left is from today’s event. The one on the right is from 2005. What a huge difference. His wedding ring appears to dangle on his finger. I’m sure the health questions will be popping up in the coming weeks. An iTunes update was Job’s first announcement followed by a new version of the iPod Nano. New size and colors are being offered along with a new feature that allows you to shake the music player to activate the song shuffle. I hope you can turn that off or else the runners of the world are going to have a messed up string of partial songs. The iPod Touch also had a makeover. New prices and additional memory were some of the latest things to be announced. A man holding a small video camera behind let out an orgasmic gasp followed by a “yes!’ when Jobs described the new “Genius” feature that allows you to hit a button and create a playlist based on the genre of song that is playing. I wonder who he works for. Jack Johnson played a few songs to end the program. Such a laid back dude. I was surprised to hear Jobs say that Jack Johnson has sold more music on iTunes than any other artist. I still don’t believe it. Good for him.
Reporters and guests were now led to a room where they could play with the latest gadgets. Tables were set up with dozens of the new iPods. Jobs and Jack Johnson came by and left after a few minutes. Pretty cool products, just wish the Touch had more memory.

Goose and Maverick - RNC Fianle

After last night’s big Sarah Palin love fest, how was McCain going to upstage her tonight with his acceptance speech? He’s not really known to have the most dynamic personality out there.

I got down to the hall around 11:30. McCain was expected to do his walk through around 1:30. The stage had been altered for tonight’s show. A short runway led to a podium that they could lower into the floor. Unlike the moveable podium that Obama had in Denver, they couldn’t figure out how to get this one to completely disappear into the floor. The top part of the podium and the microphones stuck out.
Workers continued doing final adjustments to the podium and runway. It wasn’t until after 2:30 that McCain came out to do his sound check. Joe Lieberman came along with McCain, as did most of McCain’s family and advisors. Lieberman was like a lost puppy, he wouldn’t leave McCain’s side. I’m surprised they weren’t holding hands. He had the biggest ear to ear smile. He totally wanted that VP nod and this was as good as it was going to get, he might as well make the most of the moment. Someone tell this guy that he wasn't picked as McCain's running mate.

The cut riser (or pod, as they are calling it) is packed tonight. There has to be about 12 of us on this thing. I got into my spot early since I didn’t think I would be able to squeeze in if I waited until later in the evening. I have so much stuff, I could really use a Sherpa. I'm weighed down with too many cameras and lenses as I try to make it up the steep ladder onto the riser. Packed in like sardines, it was difficult to turn around to shoot anything behind me or to the sides, especially since my cameras were connected to those ethernet cables that were just a tad bit short.
A day after the sign of the day read “service”, today’s sign read “peace.” Hmmmm, that doesn’t really jive with all the war rhetoric I have been hearing all week.
McCain came on stage a little after nine. Illuminated by a single spotlight, The Mac made his way down the runway doing his best to get his arms as high as they would go. He was doing a good job, actually. The arena lights came up and it was a sea of McCain – Palin signs as the fans cheered on their man. It was exciting in a way that you wouldn’t expect from a McCain event, at least one that I have ever been to. Then he started speaking and it was back to the old McCain that I know.

His speech was pretty dull, not that anyone really expected anything different. He did say something about his opponent that none of his other colleagues (especially his running mate) had really said this entire week. The Mac made a very sincere comment about Barack Obama and his supporters, something that reminded me of a McCain from the past when he seemed to be a little more of a centrist. Here is the quote from the speech.

“Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We'll go at it over the next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We're dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.”
The night ended like most other conventions, the families came out and the Maverick waved with his new running mate. But, like the night before, it was awkward. McCain and Palin waved to the crowd only for a brief moment before disappearing to work the rope line. Rope line??? The balloons hadn’t even fallen yet (there was a TON of balloons). This isn’t a night for a rope line meet and greet session. Those two should have been out there in the confetti, hamming it up, kicking balloons and marveling at the fireworks...projected on the jumbotron. Awkward.
As the delegates filed out, taking their state signs and handfuls of confetti with them as souvenirs, Team Getty packed up shop. For the better part of 2 hours, 8 photographers, 4 picture editors, 1 tech guy and 2 runners wrapped up cables, took down the 4 remote cameras and loaded our bags. After two weeks of crazy politicians, It's Miller Time.

Back at the Sculpture Garden - RNC Day 2

The great thing about the RNC is that they start so late in the afternoon you get to have a few extra hours of sleep. Today’s show starts at 6:20 (odd time) and runs through 10 pm. We go to the event site in shifts, rotating the early morning shift every day. I’m with the 11:30 shift today. I also get a brief change of scenery. I am heading to the Minneapolis Convention Center to cover a press conference with the Robot (Cindy) and the Smoker (Laura). The two are going talk about their support of the ONE Campaign, a charitable organization that donates care packages for people doing humanitarian service in impoverished countries. They are going to pack a ceremonial box for the cameras. Laura raced through the assembly line process once and was done. Cindy went through twice, both times with a very determined look on her face.

Back at the Sculpture Garden, it was another day of stiff wax-like speakers. The only difference today is the addition of music. ACDC at the RNC? Yup. Contemporary country tunes also rocked the house. At least the crowd seemed to be having fun today. Yesterday was like a funeral.
The costume of the day is worn by the delegates from Alaska. Photographers go wild to get photos of them wearing orange construction vests and hard hats that have a message about drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. A photo on the back of their vest shows animals roaming in oil fields. Cute.
Today’s schedule is chock full of speakers whose names I don’t recognize. It isn’t until the last hour of the program that more familiar names appear. Joe Lieberman? What the hell is he doing here? George Bush Senior and Barbara are in the hall watching from the VIP box alongside Cindy and her adopted Bangladeshi kid. Laura Bush is back on the podium. What’s up with the recycling of speakers at this event? Not enough people to fill the slots I guess. The Smoker introduced her husband, the President. He couldn’t get himself to Minnesota so he phoned it in. Bush on the big screen. Yikes.
I do my best to not fall asleep as I sit atop my 12 foot tall riser as Fred Thompson told us tales about John McCain’s life. He made sure to use the convention’s slogan “country first” in just about every sentence. Lieberman was after him. He still calls himself a democrat. I thought he dumped that party. I need a drink.

The Fried Food Experience

I’ve been at the Excel Center since 9am. I’m trying to find features but am having little success. Photographers pounce when workers peel protective paper off of a mirrored riser. People are bored.

Word came midway through Sunday that the organizers of the RNC are thinking of making changes to the convention due to the imminent landing of Hurricane Gustav. They announced a press conference for 3 pm that would outline these changes. After running tests on our tether systems, I covered the press conference. The room was packed. There had to have been at least 40 stills or more. McCain would be speaking via satellite to announce the changes in the convention schedule.

When McCain came on the TV, the cameras went wild. Thousands of shutter clicks went off during his short appearance. Motor drives gone wild. I felt like I was under fire. Cease fire! Cease Fire!

McCain announced that the first day of the convention would be abbreviated and only tend to official convention business. All of the heavy hitting speakers scheduled for Monday had canceled. The list included George Bush, Dick Cheney and Ahhhnold Schwarzenegger. The six hour program had been cut down to 2 hours. Hurricane Gustav was killing the convention. Could it be karma for the current republican administrations lack of response to Katrina? Did the evangelicals who prayed for rain on Obama’s Invesco field speech get the date wrong? The RNC was getting washed out by a hurricane that was hundreds of miles south of Minnesota. McCain said during his satellite fed speech that “it is time to take our republican hats off and put on our American hats.” What exactly does that mean?

News crews began to trickle out of the convention. Some are heading to NOLA for the hurricane, some are just thinking that this story is dead and scale back their coverage.
With all of our work done for the day, a group of us head to the Minnesota State Fair. The 320-acre fair is a bad food mecca. The fair is known for its huge variety of deep fried food on a stick. You can get deep fried Twinkies, corn dogs, alligator, Oreos and pretty much any other bad food you can think of. There are carnival style food trailers everywhere. There is more food here than anything. You can also buy hot tubs, couches and grain silos. One of the grain silo sellers advertised the availability of “fall erections.” A group of kids took pictures and laughed at the sign. Yes, we did too.
Reuters photographer Brian Snyder had told me about chocolate covered bacon at the fair. I was intrigued. It was my mission to find this delicacy. We walked around for a few hours in search of the bacon. Along the way, a few of my co-workers “got their Twink on” and tried the deep fried Twinkie on a stick. Looked scary.
As the sun was going down we finally found Famous Dave’s, home of the chocolate covered bacon. For five dollars I got a cone shaped water cup filled with 5 pieces of “Sweet and Salty Pig Lickers.” Fairgoers looked on as a group of geeky photographers simultaneously photographed the cup of bacon. I took a deep breath and bit into the greasy confection. Hmmm, not bad. Seriously. Tasted a little like when you have bacon with pancakes and you dip it in the syrup. I wanted it to be more disgusting than it was.

The Historic Money Shot - DNC Finale

It’s a little after midnight and we just got back to the Final Stay. It was nice and quiet in my room so I cranked up my TV to 4 and was watching CNN. At about 1:15 I heard my neighbor walk into his room with a giggling girl in tow. I can hear everything through the paper thin walls. The radio turned on. I know where this is going. All I can say is that guy had stamina. They must have been going at it for over an hour. “Ooooooh, oooooh, yes baby” The tacky gold framed water color painting above my bed was bouncing at one point. If only my TV volume could go past four. I eventually fell asleep and missed the magic moment, the so-called "money shot." This made my stay at the Final Stay complete.

Today is the big finale of the convention, the much anticipated Obama acceptance speech. The event is so big that we have moved out of the Pepsi Center to the neighboring Invesco Field. This move was a logistical nightmare for the Getty technical staff and field editors. At the conclusion of Biden’s speech on Wednesday, they had to completely tear down the network of computers and spoolers to move the operation over. Our chief photographer Win McNamee also had to move tons of lenses and camera equipment over as well to avoid having to have it all swept the next day. He hung remote cameras and took care of other things until the wee hours of the morning. The move to Invesco was not welcomed by many in the media, especially TV.

The day started out early for us and would go late. We got to Invesco at 10 a.m. for a speech that was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Despite the early start, the shuttle ride from the Pepsi Center and the extra security, this was going to an historic day. This is why I love my job. I get to experience some amazing things.
It’s warm out, but not too warm. The day would have been tough if it was as hot as it had been all week. People began to stream in at noon. By three o’clock the stadium was nearing capacity. Eight Getty photographers were in place around the stadium when the speakers began shortly after three. For the most part, they were pretty dull until the five o’clock hour when Will.i.am and John Legend performed. Shortly after Sheryl Crow did a quick three song set. Stevie Wonder came later. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you.
Al Gore brought the crowd of flag waving democrats to their feet as he took the stage. His speech had a few of those funny Al Gore one liners which the crowd loved. His best one was when he took a swipe at John McCain’s failed policies that mimic the Bush administration. Gore said “Hey, I believe in recycling, but that’s ridiculous.”
The big moment came a little bit after eight. Obama took the stage and 84,000 people came to their feet in a roar. Lights flashed, flags waved. Invesco was alive. Obama walked to the podium, waving to the crowd. He is not one to really ham it up to the crowd like some politicians do. I don’t think I have ever seen him do that pointing thing that Hillary does or the fist pump thumbs-up thing. I like that about him. At the podium, he repeatedly said thank you to the crowd. So far, the pictures weren’t that great. His speech was close to an hour long. From my side position, the photos were limited. The money shot was supposed to come at the end when fireworks, confetti and streamers were to be launched from the top of the stadium. Rumors were going around that the fireworks show would be very Beijing-like. When it all went down, it was pathetic. The families came out on the stage, did the wave thing, but the fireworks and confetti never came. When it did, after they had left the runway stage, the fireworks were wimpy, the confetti was intermittent and the streamers were launched into the wires of the Skycam. I hope they enhanced the fireworks for the TV viewers at home just as they did for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Still, it was history and very cool.

Bring on the RNC and the Tiny Fey lookalike VP candidate. See you in Minnesota.

Billy Joe - DNC Day 3

It is Arctic cold in the Pepsi Center this morning. They crank up the AC so when the crowd comes in the body temperature will balance out the cold and everyone will be comfortable. At 10 in the morning when nobody is in the hall, it is not comfortable. I’m filling in for my co-worker Mark Wilson on the main riser, better known as the “Cadillac” riser. I sat there for close to 3 hours waiting for an unexpected guest to do their walk through and sound check. Melissa Etheridge came out to rehearse her one song performance. She’s doing a medley of Americana songs, like Born in the U.S.A. and God Bless America. Very Patriotic.

Many things are happening today. The first big event was the convention roll call. The delegates officially cast their votes for who will be the party’s presidential nominee. It’s a long drawn out process, kind of boring actually. Both Obama and Hillary are in the running. There was plenty of excitement surrounding the New York delegation. Hillary was slated to announce New York’s votes and the scrum of all scrums surrounded the microphone in the delegation’s area. It was packed tight. I am so glad I wasn’t in the middle of that.

When New York was called to vote, Hillary walked out from the bowels of the Pepsi Center with New York Governor David Paterson and U.S. Senator Chuck Shumer. Hillary asked the convention chairman to cease the voting process and name Barack the nominee. No shenanigans from ol’ Hill as some thought there might be. How is that for unity? The crowd went nuts, people were breaking down and crying. It was quite the scene.

The day dragged on until Bill Clinton took the stage. The convention floor erupted at first site of Bubba. Democrats LOVE Bill Clinton. It was by far the loudest that hall had been since the convention started. The most surprising thing was that he was actually on time. Bill is NEVER on time. The standing ovation lasted so long that Bill actually said that people should sit down, he wanted to keep things moving. The crowd pretty much ignored him and kept cheering. He responded by saying “I really like this.” A typically stellar Bill Clinton speech followed. This is turning into the Clinton Show. People are now jammed in every open area of the convention floor waiting for the Buh-Buh-Biden to deliver is acceptance speech. The fire marshal isn’t happy. Red signs with “Biden” on them are distributed amongst the crowd. Biden’s son Beau announced his father who came out to thunderous cheers (not as loud as Bill’s though) and hugged his son which appeared to bring tears to the senator’s eyes as he slyly pulled a tissue from his pocket to wipe his eye. The speech itself wasn’t bad. He didn’t stutter, although I wish he would have, just to hear what that sounds like.

The speech ended in normal political speech fashion. His wife came out, they waved. It was cute. But that wasn’t it. Just like Steve Jobs always says at MacWorld. There was one more thing. I got the email from the campaign before the start of Biden’s speech that Obama would be joining his new running mate on stage. I think this was the only thing that could trump Bill Clinton’s adoration from the crowd. It was insane. Arm in arm, they waved to the crowd. Kind of weird move to have them both together a day before Obama makes his acceptance speech. Sort of like the groom seeing the bride on wedding day. After the long day with little food, we were going to try and find somewhere to eat. It was pretty late, around 10:30 so our options were limited. We ended up giving our freelancer Max Whittaker a ride to his hotel about 20 minutes south of downtown. He said he knew of a good Mexican place near where he was staying which piqued the interest of Spencer and Sandy. When we got there, it was closed. Max asked a worker if he knew of any thing that was open nearby and he responded immediately with “there is an Old Chicago about two blocks away.” Determined to not eat at another Old Chicago, we settled for a Perkins.

Hillary and My Favorite Martian - DNC Day 2

Soapy water from my previous days shower remained in the tub as I prepared to take my morning shower. Thankfully, I was able to figure out that the stopper had accidentally sealed the drain. I didn’t have to play Roto-Rooter man like my co-worker Cliff Hawkins did in his room. My room at Final Stay has a kitchenette fully equipped with a microwave, stove, toaster, fridge and an assortment of dishes. It has been nice to make toast in the morning and watch the muted television before heading out to work. This was good until today. Today, the toaster blew up. Put the English muffin in, pressed down the lever and with a dazzling display of light, half the heating elements were gone.

The security sweeps to enter the Pepsi Center have become more efficient compared to the first day when it took us 45 minutes to get through. Originally, the E.O.D. guys were hand searching every piece of equipment, which was a total drag. Now, we just push everything through an x-ray machine, even leaving laptops in their cases. Hey T.S.A., you hear that? And we get to leave our shoes on too!

Today’s line-up looked to be a real snoozer with dozens of boring speakers leading into the big Hillary speech. I laughed when I saw that Dennis Kucinich (my favorite martian) was scheduled to speak at around 5:00 pm. But, when Dennis hit the stage, he put on the performance of his life. Kucinich, who is known for his defiant opposition to the war in Iraq, belted out a spirited speech outlining the Bush administrations neglect to the citizens of America. Referring to high gas prices, home foreclosures, outsourcing business to other countries and even Hurricane Katrina, Dennis flailed his arms about, shouting “wake up America!” He was so into it that he would occasionally seem to be lifting off the ground as he pumped his fists. His wife must be proud.

Fellow photographer Matt Cavanaugh (EPA) and I share a small portion of the “pod” (riser) on the right side of the stage. It isn’t the best spot at the venue, but it’s what we were assigned to cover. We’ve been passing the time during the long 6 hour session by providing commentary during the speeches. We have come to the conclusion that the phrase for this convention is “failed policy.” Every single person that speaks, whether it’s the local dog catcher or Dennis Kucinich, they all say it. Sometimes they say it more than once. If its not in your speech, you’re not with the program.
After 6 pm, the bigger names come out to speak. With each speaker, a sign with a slogan relevant to that person is passed out. For instance, when Michelle Obama spoke the previous night, tall paddle-like signs with “Michelle” written on them were passed out to everyone in the crowd. Kennedy had a more traditional campaign sign that simply read “Kennedy.” Today I saw one that said “One Nation.” I turned to Matt and said that the Obama campaign should avoid the slogan “Obama Nation” – people might get the wrong idea.
Hillary was the big headliner this evening. She hit the stage in her mustard yellow pant suit after a short video of her life and an introduction by her daughter Chelsea. The crowd went wild. They waved signs that read “unity” “Hillary” and “Obama” We had earlier witnessed someone handing Bill Clinton a “unity” sign which he wanted nothing to do with. He wouldn’t even touch it. Looks like the feud between him and Obama continues.
Hillary’s speech was great, she even topped my favorite martian's speech. Like the night before, it brought tears to many eyes in the Pepsi Center. In typical Clinton fashion, she stole the show. She exited gracefully and the night was over.

It was beer time. A few nights earlier we had gone to a chain restaurant across the street from the Final Stay called “Old Chicago” which has some 110 beers on its menu. It’s kind of a gross place, typical chain restaurant type of fare. So, tonight, we thought we would go out somewhere in downtown Denver. Somewhere fun that was cool and local. We walked out of heavily guarded Fort Pepsi walked across the bridge and right into an Old Chicago restaurant. How pathetic are we?

Addis Ababa Yabba Dabba Doo

It was difficult to leave the Addis Sheraton after a 3 hour sleep. The hotel is pretty amazing. We were originally scheduled to stay there for two nights with a little bit of down time on the second day. It would have been fun to do a little exploring.

We were off to a village called Debre Zeit where bill would tour the Godino Health Center, one of the facilities that is funded by Bill’s foundation. The hour and a half drive in a tiny bus would take us through several villages and towns. The imagery was incredible. There were so many times that I wished I could have hopped off the bus and snapped photos of the great street scenes. The pungent smell of diesel accompanied us the entire way as buses and trucks belched black clouds. Most of the journey was on paved roads, but the last half an hour or so was on pot-hole ridden dirt paths. We all bounced around as we looked out at the farmers tilling rich soil using oxen and homemade plows. Washington Post reporter Anne Kornblut managed to sleep the whole time we navigated the rough road. We sat in amazement as remained asleep despite her head being whipped from side to side as we bounced along. She later told us that she can sleep anywhere.

The village was very cool. At least a thousand villagers came out to see Bill. Kids marched in big groups down the dirt road to a field where the president would speak. They carried Ethiopian flags and sang songs. It was incredible to see. All of the different faces were so amazing to look at. The women were stunningly beautiful. Several people wanted to take the cute kids home with them.

Bill arrived late, as he normally does, and toured the medical facility before speaking to a large crowd. It was set up like a campaign event, but didn’t play out like one. The president spoke in short sentences and his words were translated. The crowd politely applauded and waved their country’s flag after each line. There were a few nice moments for pictures. I was feeling like the trip had turned a corner and after all the delays we were finally rolling.

And then, the tide began to turn again.

We were all set to move with the motorcade to the airport. The large crowd had now left the field and had crowded behind the motorcade. The press and delegation quickly made their way to the vans for an immediate departure. We were taking on a few more people than we had arrived with so space was getting tight. The motorcade started to move…but we weren’t moving. The motorcade left, we were being held. Just our van, nobody else. The ABC crew had not made it to the van yet as they were trying to feed tape back to NY via their BGAN.

So, now we’re out of the motorcade, the dirt road is filled edge to edge with the villagers and we’re barely moving. The delay has set us back 30 minutes behind the rest of the group.

The ride is bumpy and hot. We have taken on more people in the tiny bus than when we traveled out to the village. It is really cramped. People are starting to feel car sick from the erratic driving and diesel fumes. I thought for sure Anne was going to barf on Jay Carson. If we would have been on the road 5 minutes more, I think she would have.

We finally get on our beloved Air Bon Jovi and go wheels up to Kigali, Rawanda where we would be taking helicopters to a coffee plantation. A short thirty minutes into the flight we got the news. We’re turning around and going back to Addis Ababa. The president’s Google 767 aborted a take off and was out of commission with engine trouble. Could it be possible? We all laughed it off as a joke. It wasn’t a joke.

Air Bon Jovi circled back to the airport where we would take on Bill, some of his staff and Secret Service detail. Ted Danson and the rest of the VIP folks were staying in Ethiopia. Now they can experience our Newark experience. Bill came back and held court on the 707. He was shown where Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi used to sit. Not sure he was impressed with that. Not even sure he knew who Richie Sambora was.

Arrival in Kigali wasn’t until after dark. The helicopter ride to the coffee plantation was canceled. Instead, Bill had dinner with the press which I didn’t go to in order to see my pal Jonathan. We ate dinner on the patio with some staffers and watched Bill hold court through the window.

May the plane gods be with us tomorrow.