PARKER: Event raises roof, heat

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 25, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Hot DAM! You'd expect power lawyers Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck to throw one of the hottest parties during the Democratic National Convention, but did it have to be that hot?

More than 2,500 invited movers and shakers jammed into the Denver Art Museum, and the temperature inside soared. Was it the hot air or warm bodies?

At the entrance, Steve Farber stood on the red carpet welcoming VIP guests. "Steve on a red carpet, what could be more natural?" I asked Farber.

"It could be a flying carpet," he joked.

Farber, co-chairman of the Denver Host Committee and the man responsible for a large chunk of change in dough-collecting for Denver to host the DNC, greeted guests in true cheerleader fashion.

"This (snagging the DNC) wasn't as easy as some of you might think, and I'm not just talking about the fundraising," he said. "The Democrats wanted to come out here because of the leadership in Colorado, and that's Bill Ritter."

Ritter, clearly itching to get to his family waiting at the Green Concert at Red Rocks, led with the fact that this was one of 15 events he would attend by day's end Sunday.

"Leave it to Farber and (Norm) Brownstein to put on the biggest event I've been to today," Ritter said. He made the expected remarks about the Western states' Democratic leadership as one of the biggest reasons Colorado landed the DNC. "Now I get to go to Red Rocks and be on stage there with Sheryl Crow," he said.

Seen at the arty party: Ted Turner, Tom Strickland, Tim Wirth, Mark Udall, John Salazar, Mike Stratton, Ed Tauer, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Congressman Steny Hoyer, Joey Pantoliano and the Republicans Bill Owens and Larry Mizel.

COCKTAILS, ANYONE? Denver's present and future leaders partied on top of the Museum of Contemporary Art Sunday overlooking a giant hole in the ground with several cranes hovering above representing Denver's future as a city.

The adolescent law firm Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert - adolescent only in the terms of its growth as a powerhouse law firm - threw a who's who in Colorado society and politics to embrace the first Democratic National Convention here in 100 years.

The cocktail party was catered by Three Tomatoes, along with Tomkins, a green development company.

Seen at the soiree: Sen. Ken Salazar and brother Rep. John Salazar; hotelier Walter Isenberg and wife, Christie; 5280 owner Dan Brogan; retailer Molly Broeren; developer Rick Sapkin; small business owner Josh Hanfling; retired bling king Steve Rosdal.

RAGIN' CAJUN: There were some serious lines for some serious New Orleans fare at the Friends of New Orleans Jam-balaya Sunday at the Fillmore. C'est si bon!

The jam-packed Jam-balaya was the best imitation of New Orleans JazzFest I've ever seen outside of the Big Easy. Musician after musician rocked the stage while Cajun- Creole dishes were served, supervised by famed N.O. restaurateur Ralph Brennan and executed by chefs from NOLA and Cade Nagy, owner of Catering by Design.

"Promise me sometime next year you'll come back to New Orleans," said one of the event organizers from the stage. The Friends of New Orleans mission is to raise money for the continued relief effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Count me in, y'all.

ON THE SNOOZE: With the hours he was putting in between the Beijing Olympics and the Democratic National Convention, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams decided to catch the few zzzzzzs he could on the comfy couch inside 9News news director Patti Dennis' office.

Still jet-lagged from the Olympics, Williams transitioned straight into the DNC when NBC learned late Friday that Sen. Joe Biden was going to be named Barack Obama's running mate.

Plan to see his gorgeous mug on 9News newscasts as well as on NBC programs this week.

THE SEEN: Caroline Kennedy and syndicated columnist Maureen Dowd brunching together at Rioja on Sunday.

Today show staffer Ann Curry having drinks more than a mile high at the Peaks Lounge on Saturday in the Hyatt Regency Convention Center Hotel.

ABC news anchor and political adviser George Stephanopoulos hanging with pals on the patio of the Samba Room on Saturday.

Some of the Cincinnati Reds, in town to face the Rockies at Coors Field on Sunday, chillin' at Suite 200 on Saturday.

EAVESDROPPING on two women in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center Hotel: "I'm voting for Obama because I don't want a president who's in bed by 8 p.m."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.

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