DISHING BOOZE AND BLOW WITH MOBY AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

I stopped by the dosomething.org and glassboth.org party Tuesday night here in Denver and was immediately disgruntled because I had to shell out $10 for a glass of Pinot Noir. Didn't they get the memo that I'm supposed to drink entirely for free every in single place I go in the city of Denver this week? Anyway, my mood improved considerably when, leaning against the bar and staring balefully at the mean bartender, I overheard musician-cum-activist-cum-tea purveyor Moby telling someone, "I do think it's really funny that Daddy Yankee just endorsed John McCain. I don't know if John McCain understands that Daddy Yankee's hit song 'Gasolina' is about women who like to do obscene amounts of cocaine. Maybe the GOP thought it was a hit song extolling the virtues of petroleum products."
When I finished choking on my wine, I immediately sidled up to him, cursing myself for failing to change into flats. He is about five-feet tall, and in heels, I am nearly six-feet. He didn't seem bothered and we began to exchange the requisite political pleasantries: He's "really good friends" with Hillary Clinton, but then liked Barack Obama and ended up voting for him in the primary; oh, and the only thing he didn't like about Hillary's speech last night was her orange pantsuit, describing it as "not the most flattering choice." Which is fair!

Then, out of the blue, I blurted out: "Is the song 'Gasolina' really about chicks who do a lot of coke?"

I immediately regretted my question. Couldn't I have transitioned a little more subtly? He opened his mouth and I thought he was going to admonish me or walk away or call his publicist/guard dog to escort me, red-faced, out the door. Instead he told me, in his smooth, one-note, slightly garbled voice, that it wasn't wise, when you're throwing a party, to start drinking vodka too early in the evening, otherwise, "When three o'clock in the morning rolls around, you're standing on top of a building with your shirt off screaming 'I'm a Golden God,' and you come back downstairs and there are Eastern European mafia people doing cocaine off your coffee table." He added for emphasis, "One's judgment is seriously impaired by drinking straight vodka very early."

Then he wandered away to sing and I was left, for one of the first times in my life, speechless, in awe over his grasp of the issues.
**Radar online**