.. good stuff ... so im going to go a bit more global ... we are a deeply divided country & have been on many if not all issues for a long (long time) , as a young buck : } ... i observe as a european observer ... that the fundamental schism in our america is religion ... religious folks can do anything to their fellow man as long as they tigthe (sp) and repent on sunday ... we progressives pay lip service & some of us dedicate our lives to live the truth every day... they get rich .. we stagnate or slide backward ... now which model twerks ?
The worst "allies" we conservationists have are those who want to seperate us from nature ; don't collect / don't hunt / don't explore the back country ... so it on line as they do ... from sinapore or brussels ... uugghh ... look how many of you here on the FCF espouse dont touch/dont collect ... while they drive their z cars @ take off @ max velocities ...
When will the progressives getta set & call out the repugliCONS & dummycrats ..& demand an "amerixcan peoples party" : pro environment / pro small buisness ( < 25 employees) pro family farmer / pro union ???
Do the rightys via thir righteous volume, get to hold the kareoke mike (& agenda) 4ever ? Send our sons and daughters off to war 4ever ?
Heres a missive i recently experienced ... see if it explains anything for anyone ...
My 1st football game
How it came to be ; one of my racquet ball partners, ( & past chief of police for phx & a negroe fwiw ), asked me if i'd like to go as he had an extra ticket, i stifled my 1st instincts & said yes... after all ... expanding my cultural horizon is on my self improvement plan!
Jerry's idea to use the lite rail access to DT tempe was a great idea.
The pregame street scene was amazing, w/ throbbing music, throngs of people, a few bums, & cops everywhere, from all
agencies, i even saw a lonely game ranger standing guard in front of the stadium. Businesses were pounding out product. Fresh healthy looking young people were everywhere & in pairs to goodly sized groups.
Security dude gives my partner the no on his binocular case, i solve it by stating the case is actually my purse! we get in!
People are pouring in it seems from all directions, all wearing special shirts & colors. Somehow everyone seems to know where to go, i follow Jerry.
Anything for sale inside is outrageous 5.- water 7.5 for a plain hotdog, 6.- for a cushion to sit on... we buy em all.
There must have been 50 or more helmeted players per team ... i think only 11 play at a time... so plenty of xtras. They are throwing & kicking footballs to each other everywhere warming up. I'm amazed no one gets clunked.
A large band is playing on the field, cheerleaders male & female, are warming up their routines, baton twirlers are doing incredible stunts w/ their lighted batons.
A huge HD flat screen possibly 200' x 100' tall is high up at the end of field... i'm in total awe of the public investment in all of the infrastructure for this game. More people continue to pour in, & crowd around us ... my claustrophobia and anxiety meter is hitting ~ 6.5 on a 10 pt scale ...
The teams leave the field & a bizarre video begins to unfold where sparky the ASU mascot (a devil) erupts from fire & hell and begins marching across a backdrop of phx w/ a huge haboob dust wave rolling in behind him ... by the time he crosses mill ave bridge he's huge & the thunderstruck (ACDC) music is so loud, the speakers are distorting.
The crowd is getting amped and the huge screen is telling us to make noise / get louder I realize the group is becoming 1 organism, two tribes preparing for battle ... the borg is forming right in front of me. the industrial strength psychology i had anticipated is happening, i am intrigued yet mortified. I realize i am in the modern roman coliseum, will they feed some luckless soul to a lion ?
The teams begin to file out again, the crowd is clearly condensing into 1, they are the team, not mere spectators like myself, complete w/ tomahawk gesticulations while doing the "fork" .
I am looking wistfully at the sky boxes high above us ... and in dread at the pieces of dark desert mtn. w/ a clear view, surely i muse, there are pre positioned snipers covering these alleys ..yet i know its not so, much more fun to be hunting plentiful .08 blood alcohol cases than preparing for such a highly unlikely event, i force myself to banish further thoughts on that matter, when suddenly there is a series of explosions, i instinctively duck and feel every muscle in my body turn rigid, along w/ an incredible surge of power, power i cannot use as i'm completely encased in bodies ... the tribe screams in unison & joy, as fireworks are exploding above us ... i feel the steady drops of my own sweat hitting my neck.
... damnit Sarah i think to myself why didnt you mention this (she gave me a pre-game briefing)? I deploy deep breathing & it takes most of my residual cognition to suppress the desire to "go find a restroom" (= leave) that ensues, i tell myself ; you must not do that.
The Natl anthem plays, everyone rises ... i suppress my thought to take a knee, & that probably saved my life! fireworks are now being launched from the field, exploding right from the field, the still air filling w/ gunsmoke. I stand at parade rest, many have their hand over their hearts.
The teams square off, there are officials/coaches/aids/ everywhere, all seem to know their jobs, an incredible display of organization.
A particularly festive group of young men, older than students thoughtlessly stand up & block our view, i try to watch sideways on the big screen & finally give in & stand up too.
The game goes on & ASU is getting crushed, the crowd is encouraged on the big screen & elsewhere to get louder & they
do ... some USC fan is really screaming behind us ... i pray to iitoi he will go hoarse & do it soon.
I marvel at the deception & skill the athletes display. Jerry seems to see & know everything & calls out all manner of things i never see but the ref's eventually make apparent. I manage to come down to a 3-4 on my anxiety meter as the game progresses.
The tribe roars boos and taunts the opposition, but they play far better. I secretly feel happy for them.
Jerry predicts as the beating continues that by 1/2 time folks will be leaving, i wonder, as surely this tribe can not be divided now midgame ... Jerry turns out to be right & ~ 10% leave, the night air finally cools ... my shirt is finally beginning to dry out. I'm grateful to achieve my normal baseline level of anxiety.
There are cameras panning the crowd; i study the images on the huge crystal clear screen ... nearly all are whites,
with everything from heavily tattood hippies to old folks (not many) many appear obese, but all are smiling from ear to ear, & making their best "forks" ... their collective joy is palpable, i am happy for them, football truly is a uniter in america. i look for a drone but see none, i dont want them to zoom in on me thats for sure!
I am envious & wonder what sort of huge public event would it take for me to feel like they do ... i cannot come up w/ any idea. Perhaps a mass demonstration to protect our public lands?
It is a sad realization to know that will never happen.
There are no receptacles for trash, it accumulates around us at a astounding rate ... i think about the clean up crew
in the am. Job security. The music blares & the band takes to the field & have their time in the spotlight. Endless
troupes’ of performers come out and do gymnastics &/or cheers ? i am suitably impressed and wonder how much training
was done to perfect their various routines. Awards are given for all manner of veterans / important alumni / community philanthropists.
The game goes on, as does the beatdown, the youngmen in front of us are now engaged in a verbal altercation w/ the
still screaming USC fan behind us ... lovely ... & we're in the middle. i contemplate how i will bodyslam the 1st idiot to try & jump over me to access the other ...uughh, but fortunately, they finally cool it.
Jerry announces somewhere in the 3'rd 1/4, "its over & lets go", i offer no protest & with many others we stream out & into the city ... people & police are everywhere, the party still is full on. On the light rail, most are silent, possibly tired & spent, i suspect they feel they own the loss. A homeless man stares at me as if from another world ... i am
still in amazement from what i have just experienced, but i feel for the moment, i understand him.
I drop Jerry off @ his beautiful home & head back to my sonoran hollow, where i know i will need a big glass of wine & the soft hooting of the owls under the 1/2 moon in order to get to sleep. I also know that while this will surely be my last major football game, i am delighted to have done it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMmTkKz60W8