What: CNN's E-lection Night Blogger Party

Where: Tryst Coffeehouse in Adams Morgan

When: All day and night.

Who: The regular crowd of hipster novelists-to-be had been cleared out so CNN could host many of the nation's top bloggers. Among them: AmericaBlog's John Aravosis, Atrois' Duncan Black, Reason's Nick Gillespie, Human Events' Robert Bluey, MyDD's Jerome Armstrong, John Amato from Crooke and Liars (who flew in from the West Coast), and Wonkette's Alex Pareene and Liz Gorman. Also present were CNN's dashing internet team—Jacki Schechner and Abbi Tatton—lots of grizzled CNN production folks and two burly security guards in case any of the Pajamahadeen got too rowdy and needed to be taught a lesson in respect.

Scene: It was a brilliant move by the mainstream media—collect the nation's top bloggers in one room, feed them, then crash the internet connection so that none of them can post and the only place for anyone to get news is from, you guessed it, the mainstream media networks. Overall, internet problems notwithstanding, the night was like an Apple-sponsored college reunion of people who hadn't necessarily ever met in college—many of the bloggers had known each other by email or their writing but never met in person before. Laptops covered every available surface, and roving gangs of cameramen and lighting technicians attacked bloggers to record their thoughts on blogging about being bloggers at bloggers party.

Mood: Thrilled to be there. Giddy about election night. Generally blase about the results.

Food: Large buffet dinner, trays of desserts around 11 p.m.

Beverages of Choice: Coffee drinks mostly. Atrios enjoyed repeated glasses of red wine.

Schadenfreude Moment: When Fox News Channel mistakenly sent out an email claiming, "FNC just projected that Bob Casey (D) has defeated incumbent George Allen (R) for the Virginia Senate seat."

Where: Strathmore Hall, Rockville

When: November 2, 2006

Tickets: $175 to $2,000

Funds raised: $1.4 million

Who: Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Myrna Cardin (wife of Senate candidate Ben Cardin), Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, his likely successor Ike Legett, and a who’s who of the area Jewish community.

Real celebrities: Group home residents, many with profound disabilities, who got up on stage or danced in the aisles.

Scene: People donned Washington’s version of California casual to rock with the Beach Boys. Perhaps it shouldn't be too big of a surprise that the suits and ties still outnumbered the Hawaiian shirts. Most of the crowd remembered the Beach Boys before Mike Love went grey and his kid joined him in the act.  

Goodies: Beach balls and flip flops.

What: 17th Annual Fight Night for Fight For Childen

Where: The Washington Hilton, converted into a Vegas boxing ring.

When: November 2, 6 p.m. to late

Who: All men. The city's powerful business elite, associates of founder Joe Robert, Jr.. The 2,000 guests ranged from Cafe Milano owner Franco Nuchese to power brokers like Howard Gutman and Terry McAuliffe to media figures like ABC's Terry Moran, as well as business titans like Jim Kimsey, Mitchell Rales, Raul Fernandez, Tom McMillen, and the night's chair, Chuck Kuhn, as well as local pols Robert Bobb, Adrian Fenty, and Michael Steele. Also present were the legends of sport like Jake "The Bronx Bull" LaMotta, Hector "Macho" Camacho, and Mario Andretti. Basically the only females present were the Redskins cheerleaders selling their calendar, Hooters Girls selling raffle tickets, and a cocktail waitress at each table.

Scene: Fight Night is what the rest of America imagines Washington is really like--lots of men in fancy tuxedos, smoking cigars, cradling bourbon and martinis, dining on steak, and greeting each other with backslaps. Emotional highlight of the evening was the presentation of the colors by a Marine Corps honor guard--Roberts' son is a Marine sergeant and Iraq veteran.

Entertainment: Motown legends The Temptations, laser light show (made possible thanks to the thick cigar smoke filling the room), boxing matches, and--a new addition for this year--a kickboxing match. In the evening's main bout, Junior Middleweigh Billy Lyell defeated Jerome Ellis in eight roungs for the Fight for Children title.

Food: Steak, naturally.

Beverages of Choice: Hennessey cognac; Maker's Mark bourbon, Redwood Creek wine.

Sign of Excess: Mitchell Rales bid $110,000 for a custom built motorcycle from Hardcore Choppers.

Gift Bag Contents: Fight Night t-shirt, cigar, mini-boxing glove, matches, and a  U.S. flag lapel pin. Guests lucky enough to be seated with Zoo Director John Berry also received a stuffed baby tiger.

Fallout: Immediately after the event the hotel has to deploy scores of ionizers to soak up and remove the cigar odor.

Ratings:

Bold Face Guests: 3 (out of 5)
Swankiness: 4 (out of 5)
Food/Drinks: 4 (out of 5)
Overall Exclusivity: 4 (out of 5)

Total Score: 15 (out of 20)