Category: Here’s To You!

Stuff that’s awesome and deserves praise.

So-So Silver

February 22, 2018

And now for an icy, once-every-four-years edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Team USA Women’s Hockey!”

Winter Olympics. The gold medal match for women’s hockey. USA vs Canada, of course. Two countries who are in absolutely every other context the best of friends, which dissipates the moment a hockey puck is dropped between them.

Team USA up 2-0 into the third period. Then within the last couple minutes, Canada scores two goals and sends it into overtime. And then scores again. Sudden death. Suddenly they’re all on the podium, the gold medal winners grinning as O Canada blares around the arena, the silver medalists in frustrated tears, and the bronze medalists being all “Hi, we’re Finland!”

USA was up until almost the end, pretty much had the gold for sure. And then lost it. A cringeworthy result that, honestly, I as a DC sports fan know all to well. *stares blankly at brief memory of NLDS Game 5 in 2012*

That was four years ago in Sochi.

Last night in Pyeongchang (well, it was mid-afternoon there) came the long awaited rematch, after USA and Canada again prevailed through the earlier rounds to face each other again in the gold medal match. After having already faced each other in the preliminaries anyway, with Canada winning 2-0, in which the last several seconds of the game pretty much turned into an all out brawl.

The match began, and soon enough Team USA scored a goal. Then a little while later, Canada scored two goals, giving them the 2-1 lead. And then about halfway through the third period, USA scored again, tying it at 2-2. Once again, this was the score going into overtime.

It was the score at the end of overtime as well. Time for shoot out! Blocked, score, score, blocked, blocked, blocked, score, score, blocked, blocked. Okay, still 2-2.

Team USA shoots…

Score!

Canada shoots…

Blocked!

And with that, unbelievably, staying up way later than I should have last night when I had work in just a few hours, right before my eyes, right there on my TV… Team USA cheered and hugged and waved big US flags around.

Then they’re all on the podium. The gold medalists are grinning as The Star Spangled Banner blares around the arena, the silver medalists in frustrated tears, the bronze medalists being all “Hi, we’re Finland!”

Amazing. Such a great team. Certainly better than our men’s team who 24 hours earlier lost their quarterfinal to the Czech Republic, FFS.

But, all of that said, there’s something in all this that is very much not amazing.

I’ve been watching every day of these Olympics, as I have for every Olympics going back to Vancouver, with Beijing and Torino having just been on and off, further back mostly just watching the Opening Ceremony. I’m old enough to remember a time when the US athletes marched in the Parade of Nations in cowboys hats. *shudder*

But I digress. Anyway, what is very much not amazing happened in both of these gold medal finals and surely others. Same deal with some events in Rio and maybe others I’m forgetting.

I realize I don’t know the first thing about planning the events and schedules and ceremonies in the Olympic Games. It looks unimaginably daunting. Getting things to happen at certain times and organizing everything makes my head hurt to think about it.

But…

If the silver medalists are crying, maybe give them some time to compose themselves before you have the damn medal ceremony!

I say this whether Team USA are those gold medalists or those silver medalists or neither. Even though they were the teary silver medalists four years ago, and now it had turned about and it was Canada in that position, there’s nothing satisfying about this. When the match is won, the joy is in winning the gold medal, not in the other participants being sad, unless you’re a complete and utter sadistic asshole anyway.

The silver medalists’ feelings are entirely understandable and justified. Once the match was over, for me anyway, any competitiveness vanished and I was looking at the forlorn Canadian players and wanting someone to give them a goddamn hug. Consider any time you’ve worked so hard for something and at the final moment it wasn’t good enough and you still failed. Then multiply that by a whole lot because it’s the Olympics and it’s a fierce emotional fight. Then consider that these are athletes on the international stage who would be used to the highs and lows of it all, and still they can only be so composed upon the end of the match.

As for the medal ceremony, it’s bad enough for them they lost the match at all. But to force them to stand there and receive their medals when they’re still in the throes of processing the loss and project them in that state, that’s just an extra and very unnecessary shot at their dignity. It doesn’t help that the commentators then remark upon this obviously involuntary display of sadness, like “what business do they have being sad? they still got silver!”

And it so very doesn’t help that, well, this is the women’s portion of the sport. On Sunday when the Canadian men beat the Czech Republic (I’m calling that now), when O Canada is blaring around the arena then, let’s see if the silver medalists are crying. I’m sure they do and will be. And I’m sure it won’t be all that obvious to those of us watching at home, because they won’t be so keen to show it. Because that would undermine the men’s dignity.

Update, 2-23-18: Okay, Canada and Czech Republic both lost their semifinals and will instead face each other in the bronze medal match. So we’ll see this weekend what happens with the medal ceremony after the gold medal match between Germany and “Russia”.

Secular Spirit

December 16, 2014

Now for a non-theistic, festive edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, non-religious people who love Christmas!”

Yeah, that speaks for itself. People who aren’t religious but still love Christmas are a special breed as far as I’m concerned.

I think first of my former coworker. First work day after Thanksgiving, she and I were both putting up our respective tiny Christmas trees in our office space, which we both took down at the same time after Epiphany. She had been raised Catholic and remained one into adulthood, but after a while had enough of it. She wanted nothing more to do with religion, but she sure kept Christmas.

You can so easily have the Christmas without the Christianity. Either remove the Jesus element entirely or, better yet, treat it like just another Christmas legend, with the miracle virgin birth in the manger under the star right there alongside the snowman who comes to life when a magic hat is on his head.

I sort of wandered away from Christianity several years ago (as the progression of posts in the Occasional Godliness category sure demonstrate!) but I still go to my old church on Christmas Eve night. And you know what? I’ve always loved Silent Night and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and other classic carols, but I think I’ve come to appreciate them more since I pulled away from the mindset that one must believe these stories actually took place. I mean, who cares if it’s real or not? It most likely isn’t, but there’s no reason that should diminish the holiday at all. If anything, it just takes the pressure off!

And this shout out is to those who adore this holiday season without the “It’s all about Jesus!” junk. This shout out is for those who aren’t hung up on the idea that not being Christian means not having a place in the festivities. And those who gladly celebrate and don’t waste energy whining about traditions being “stolen” from other religious celebrations (which, being non-religious, they don’t believe in anyway).

And even in secular form, still calling it “Christmas” because, hey, why the fuck not?

About Last Night

May 14, 2013

And now for a youth rights historical edition of…

Here’s to You!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Takoma Park!”

I wondered when it would happen, when some American location would finally do it. NYRA and others have been campaigning for it for many years. Some campaigns came close or at least had promise, until they were stalled by technicalities or just plain fizzled out. For each one that did, another cropped up somewhere before long.

For a couple years now, it seemed the first would be Lowell, MA.

Until last night, when Takoma Park, MD, right in the county I live in, beat them to the punch!

First there was the hearing on April 8, attended by NYRAnians Alex Koroknay-Palicz, Bill Bystricky, Alexander Cohen, and me. All four of us went to the podium during the evening and spoke in favor of the proposal. Almost unheard of for youth rights proposals, most of the room was in favor! I was second to last to speak and urged Takoma Park to be on the right side of history, to be the first, to do what Austria, Brazil, Argentina, and other international locations have already done with success, what Berkeley, CA and New Haven, CT had already attempted, what Lowell, MA was currently attempting.

Then a week later on April 15 was the First Reading, when the city councilmembers themselves expressed their views of the proposal. All but one were in favor! Three even started off saying that at first they thought it was a stupid idea but after thinking about it some more, were now gung-ho for it! The one dissenting councilmember spouted a lot of typical “teens aren’t mature enough, I saw one once who wore saggy pants”. When he realized he was outnumbered he instead suggested the change come with a lot of other changes to include young citizens more. So proposal passed 6-1.

And then came the Second Reading, on May 13. The dissenting councilmember suggested the issue be put on the ballot rather than voted on by the council, and the mayor seconded. Uh oh. So the councilmembers each said their piece about this new proposal. It’s okay. It failed 2-5. And then back to the original proposal and some more councilmember remarks.

And the second and final vote to set it in officially.

Again… 6-1. Proposal passes.

That’s right. It’s official.

Takoma Park, MD has lowered the voting age to 16, the first in the United States.

This is real. I saw it happen. This is a thing that has actually happened. Just like that.

In Takoma Park’s city elections in November, there will be the first legal 16-year-old voters in the country!

And this is just the first, with many to follow. Lowell. And who knows where else? It’s not just a lot of failed campaigns and foreign examples. Here is a domestic success, an inspiration to all others in the country. The beginning of what will lead to larger cities lowering their voting ages, and counties, and then whole states. And the entire country.

May 13, 2013 – NEVER FORGET!

Sacked the Gunman

March 14, 2013

Now for a quick-thinking, death-stopping edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Cypress Lake hero!”

I don’t actually know his name. Very few people do. But he’s a high school student who, when another student on his school bus pointed a gun at someone else and threatened to kill, he and two others leapt up and tackled him, likely saving one or more lives. Yay! They’re heroes!

So they went to school where they got awards and medals not unlike the final scene from Star Wars…

Oh, no, wait, actually he got suspended. For being involved in an incident “where a weapon was present”.

Well, NYRA and others are on it! My always awesome fellow board member Jeffrey Nadel is on the case and has appeared on a couple of news spots and radio shows talking all about it.

Also, here: SchoolBusHero.com

Go there, watch the video, and sign the petition. And get others to do the same.

Seriously, that principal just isn’t backing down on this, insisting that she “knows the full story”. After the original suspension, they made up some junk about the heroic student being insubordinate and uncooperative, something they added after this story got media attention and they wanted to cover their tracks. Yeah, sure, okay. 🙄

Because the student should totally have instead done nothing like a good little boy and watched his fellow students get killed. And because he didn’t allow people to die in front of him, he now has this suspension blemish on his record because “only I know the full story, he was uncooperative! uncooperative!” Genius!

Come on. Expunge the suspension and move on. The school fighting this is nonsense, even by school administrator standards.

A Girl with a Book

October 29, 2012

And now here’s an education desiring edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Malala Yousafzai!”

She’s the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who campaigned for her right to go to school. And then she was shot. Because nothing terrifies Islamic extremists more than the mere idea of an educated girl.

In response to the assassination attempt, there’s been much interest in the right to an education, that all children should have that right. Some even have said those of us in countries like the US or UK should be very glad we had that right. Even, as some made a point to add, if we did not appreciate it at the time.

Oooh, boy, here we go.

Trouble with painting this in such a way is that it pretty much silences concerns over the quality of the education or, of course, the rights of students in those schools that they should apparently be so glad they’re being forced to attend every day. Really, it’s a cousin of the age-old “there are starving children in [piece of crap location] who’d be happy to have that!” as a reason someone (read: some child) should eat food he does not like.

But here’s a question. Is it really so much better to be forced against your will to attend school than to be forced against your will NOT to attend school?

Well, it is. But it’s far better for the decision to be your own!

Yousafzai’s rights were being violated, absolutely. And she fucking rocks for all she’s done to fight for her right to attend school, something withheld from her because she has the wrong set of genitals. But the issue is that her educational choice to attend school was blocked because of oppression. It’s not just a “school is wonderful” deal. It’s freedom of educational choice.

As such, it’s ridiculous to use something like this against students who are in school against their wishes, that they should be grateful. Their educational desires are still being violated, even if they are the opposite desires as those of Malala Yousafzai and others fighting for the right to school. Their grievances are still being ignored and seen as unimportant, just like Yousafzai’s have been by those in power.

So when it comes down to it, it seems for many, Yousafzai is only the heroine she is because she’s being a good girl (by Western standards) and wanting to live the “correct” life of a child by being in school. To her Western fans, she’s fighting for what they are comfortable with, that a 15-year-old girl belongs in school because that is just the way things should be.

While, you know, the radical Islamists think 14-year-old girls should be uneducated and forced into marriages, because that is just the way things should be. Radical Islam is considerably worse, absolutely! I mean, it’s obviously much better to be educated and only marry if and whom you want. I even recognize that, for girls in that part of the world, education is their only escape from being forced to stay home and hidden from society, to be told only what their families want them to know, to be nice and ignorant for the man they’ll choose for her, because more knowledge means it’s less likely she’ll good and submissive. But when it comes to what is or isn’t right for a 15-year-old girl, the West and Islamists alike seem to think anyone other than that 15-year-old girl should be the one to decide that, unless her decision is in line with what they think she should be doing anyway.

This is about a young person being blocked from the educational choice she has made, regardless of how we or anyone else who isn’t her feels about that choice.

Usiel the Occupying NYRAnian

December 3, 2011

Now for a youth rights, occupied edition of…

Here’s to You!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Usiel Phoenix!”

She’s the President of NYRA. Jeffrey Nadel’s the Vice President now. I like having the two of them running NYRA as I strongly believe they are our two greatest youth rights activists, though their powers and specialties are in different areas. Jeff’s a pro with the media and public relations and prestige and legal action and that sort of thing. Usi was an emancipated minor who’s had to not only overcome the conditions that led to her seeking it to begin with but the legal hurdles to at long last obtain it. And now that she’s gotten her freedom, she’s dedicated to doing the same for the other youth. She’s experienced more youth rights violations than most and is about attacking the root of the problem and expanding understanding of it.

And that is just what she’s been doing at Occupy Wall Street! Voting age. Behavior mod. You name it. She even stopped a mother from forcing her 15-year-old daughter home from the protests.

And then she was there when NYPD raided Zuccotti Park.

And the cops attacked her. They tried to suffocate her, but succeeded only in cracking a rib. Later they dislocated her elbow when forcing her to the ground.


NYPD DID THIS

And she battles on.

She’s alright now. But, damn, she is one of the bravest people I’ve ever had the privilege to know.

Technically, since one of the main things she’s been doing there is promoting youth rights, she experienced police brutality in the line of duty, so to speak.

Yet due to some weird technicalities her actions were completely left out of NYRA Freedom.

(Good Lord, our own organization is censoring Occupy stuff from its news! LOL)

And this is only the most recent of her wonderful youth rights endeavors. Last year, when we were rallying at the Supreme Court during the oral arguments for Schwarzenegger v EMA (later changed to Brown v EMA, which you may recall we won 7-2), she gave that amazing speech about free speech and voting rights! Not to mention her work leading up to it to find people to share their thoughts on the value of video games for our Amicus Brief. She’s also helped UTEC Lowell with their campaign to lower the Lowell, MA voting age to 17. She testified in DC against the curfew. She gave a presentation at the 2010 Annual Meeting about her emancipation process. And on top of all that, she’s the only board member besides myself who’s a regular at chats, who is interested in what our members have to say. Plus lots of other stuff I’m surely forgetting.

She’s a fierce fighter for the cause. We’re very honored to have her. 🙂

Trick or Treat!

October 31, 2010

Now for a pumpkin-carving, spooky edition of…

Here’s to You!!!

So I raise my glass (or perhaps a Reese’s Cup!) and say, “Here’s to you, trick-or-treating!”

Happy Halloween!

As I write this, I’m sitting at my front door with my laptop, periodically getting up to pass out candy to lots of adorable neighborhood children in adorable costumes! Yay!

I have to say, I’m happy that the rise in helicopter parenting and stranger danger hasn’t totally demolished trick-or-treating, although those have certainly taken some massive blows to it, varying depending on location. When I was living at my grandmother’s house a few years ago, there weren’t very many kids around on Halloween, which was disappointing. But now that I’m in a different neighborhood, there are a bunch!

Yet I get people I know getting apathetic about it, who… ugh… don’t give out any candy and just leave the lights off that night. See, I could never do that. How could I not participate in trick-or-treating? I remember trick-or-treating myself, occasionally having to pass by the darkened doorsteps of my boring neighbors who seemed to be going “bah humbug!” to the whole thing. Makes no sense.

It’s great! Sitting all evening with a bowl of candy I’m totally taking from now and then. The kids come up, dressed up in costumes they put some amount of effort in, all smiles, and I give them some candy and they smile even bigger and say “thanks!” Awww! 😀

I sometimes wonder if this contributes to the objectification of children. I guess, the idea does seem to be “aww, you’re so cute! here’s a treat!” But I suppose that’s more a side thing, while there is good in the social aspect of visiting neighbors under happy terms, walking around the neighborhood on a lovely autumn evening (seriously, in my entire life, I think it has rained on Halloween only once or twice!). And it is an evening when, despite the occasional presence of parents to make sure Pedobear doesn’t attack, the kids themselves truly run the show. Therefore, we must keep up trick-or-treating, not grow apathetic, and keep Halloween and all the good clean fun it carries with it alive!

And to not ruin it by trying to make it more adult.

Although, for your information, absolutely none of the little girls I’ve seen out tonight, or on any Halloween, despite what the news says, have been dressed like prostitutes! 🙄

March Forth!

March 4, 2010

Now for a scholarly, collegiate edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, college protesters!”

Today, March 4th (“march forth”, get it?! ha ha ha), at a fuckton of colleges around this country students are occupying their school buildings and even interstates! It’s a beautiful thing!

What for? What else? Tuition keeps going up, yet there are constant layoffs, lower quality education, cut programs, and all kinds of other ways the students are getting the royal screw job. So GOOD FOR THEM for all their activities today, standing up for themselves! I’m at awe at all that has gone on!

Look at this! A map of all the day’s student protests and occupations. Look at that! Holy crap!

Look at all that has happened! Mostly in California, but also stuff right around here at good old College Park. 😀

Go here for more info on everything.

Yay, students! Kick some ass! :doitnow:

Two Decades of Yellow Goodness

December 17, 2009

And now for a stateless, animated edition of…

Here’s to You!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Simpsons!”

It was twenty years ago today the pilot episode “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” first aired. Nah, I wasn’t watching. Didn’t start watching until the second season actually. But even before then, for some reason, I decided Bart was my favorite character. They were on the cover of a TV Guide, and I showed it to my dad’s friend and pointed to him saying “that one is my favorite”, and he said “You mean Bart?” and I’m like “oh, is that his name?” Something like that. To this day, I still call Bart my favorite character, though it’s really sort of a three-way tie with him and Lisa and Maggie, depending on the episode.
Continue reading “Two Decades of Yellow Goodness”

Cut to the Chase

December 16, 2009

And now for a Christmas miraculous edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, NYRA!”

For today, after several weeks of toiling and bugging the crap out of everyone for votes in some Facebook contest sponsored by Chase bank, NYRA has met with success. Amazing, breathtaking, miraculous success on this December 16, 2009, nine days before Christmas and 6th night of Chanukah…

NYRA has won $25,000.

For so long, we’ve been a small-budgeted organization, weak next to bigger stronger organizations who can run big ass campaigns and hire staff who aren’t starving to death. For so long, we’ve had members who wanted to help out but didn’t know how and we didn’t know what to have them do. We’ve always been great at keeping ourselves afloat during adversity like a cork in the bath tub, but we’ve still been seemingly without direction and without a future.

Perhaps God showed us mercy. What is known is that all our people had to do was vote for us. What with it not costing anything and being very straight forward instructions, it had a recipe for success. What is known is that, somehow or another, we built our miracle at last, through Keith’s incessant calling of members, through Alex’s exhausting tabling, and the invaluable efforts of our other members, who all came together, believing that this could be done.

We built this Christmas miracle. Or Chanukah miracle, as Hal suggested, seeing as it is Chanukah right now and a lot of our members are Jewish. It wasn’t just handed to us. Well, the opportunity arose, but it took us, all of us, our determination and efforts, and we made it happen. We waited all day today for the results to get posted, biting our nails nervously, worrying it may all have been for naught. And then, around 6pm, Alex got the e-mail. And then, we found the miracle we had been building up had happened, had shown bright before us. Shining bright the future of the youth rights movement that merely six months ago we thought may just be a pipe dream. Shining bright for us to walk into and build it up together.