Finally, Somebody Said It

I'm not going to go into much detail about how right on this article is. I still don't understand how ingrained sexism is that by the time most people reach high school any woman who can't sell herself as a sex symbol is doomed to mediocrity and neglect and a long up hill battle during which they must achieve far more than men to get the same amount of recognition and respect. To make matters worse even if a woman can use her sexuality to get the attention she deserves to advance herself she then runs the risk of only being seen as a sex object by her professional peers and will never be taken as seriously as her male colleagues. This is a real problem. America, and the world, you must wake up now!

Why Buffy Matters to Me

A few weeks ago Dark Horse Comics held an essay contest concerning the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic that Joss Whedon is writing. The comic is meant to be read as the "8th season" of the hit TV show. The contest stated that all interested contestants should submit a 250 word essay describing how and why Buffy impacted their lives. The grand prize winner would be used as a model for a character appearing in one of the comics and would also be given a autographed copy of the first issue. Several other entries would also be given an autographed #1. Huge Buffy fan that I am, I couldn't resist such a request to write about my love for the show and went ahead and sent in the below entry. The winners were announced today and though I didn't win at all, I don't feel bad about it. To see why follow this link. Otherwise, enjoy the ramblings that follow. 5 by 5, out!

Ever since She-Ra I have been enamored with the female heroine. It made
perfect sense then that my TV guide through adolescence would be Buffy. I
still vividly remember the first night I sat down for the premier,
"Welcome to the Hellmouth", and feeling that perhaps being a freshman in
high school was not such a lonely and misunderstood experience after all.
Subsequently I found myself eagerly anticipating every episode, sharing in
the Scooby Gang's adventures and especially identifying with Xander's
hopeless crush on the Slayer. What guy doesn't yearn after that impossibly
beautiful female friend who no matter how hard you dream will never be right for you? After high school Buffy still remained highly relevant to my life,
particularly impacting my relationships with women. I wanted to be near
those that had an uncompromising strength and desire to change the world
for the better and after all this time that remains the one thing all of
my partners have had in common. With Buffy you were never really alone.
In college bringing up the show was like a secret password that got you
into all the clubs you ever wanted to be a part of, bringing you into
contact with others who highly valued their ideals and had a strong
respect and admiration for their fellow human being. You knew you were in
good company, and as you settled in with these seemingly long lost friends
you looked forward to any future journeys Whedon would take you on
together.

My First Live NBA Game

Last Wednesday I went to my first NBA game at the Verizon Center in DC. Now I have seen professional basketball many times on TV and it always seemed to be a very fast paced, adrenaline pounding, exciting experience. As I am always up for events falling into this category I had been curious for quite a while to see what all the fuss was all about. Well now I know, and in this case knowing is definitely NOT half the battle.

Check this craziness out: As game time neared I looked around in surprise at the emptiness of the arena. Now I was used to this kind of turn out at a DC United game (to be truthful this number of people would have been average for them), but come on DC, this is YOUR team, they changed their name just to make you look better, that's civic pride for you! Besides, according to my limited NBA knowledge, the Wizards are doing uncharacteristically well this season and a game against a known team such as the Philadelphia 76ers should have a better starting turn out. At least as the night progressed the seats did fill out and, looking around the crowd, it seemed nearly sold out by the final blow of the whistle.

Game attendance doesn't even come close to meaning everything when it comes to good sports atmosphere, but the next bit of work I witnessed certainly put a damper on things. Two and a half words: "Flying mini-blimps." That's right, I said flying mini-blimps. At several points throughout the night (as if once wasn't bad enough) these dirigibles floated above the crowd, seemingly strategically dropping coupons and special offers on some lucky personage. By the crowd's reaction I was pretty alone in my disapproval, they shouted at the things as if it would somehow move them closer to getting out of paying their taxes or to obtaining a guaranteed spot in heaven.

And that was sadly not the only time a non-game event got the fans more excited than the game itself. Now of course I expected the cheerleaders to be distracting (wait till I get going on them!), but the last thing I thought I would see was random contests of stupidity to win various prizes. Everyone seemed to love these though, so I guess that makes me a loser (capital L of course). Really, they totally got more excited by flying Chipotle burritos and free pizza than by the fact the Wizards were in a neck and neck battle to achieve the lead and then maintain it. I give up.

So let's talk about those cheerleaders for a bit. I remember cheerleaders from high school and though I wasn't deemed cool enough to speak to these people until my last two years there I always remember them being genuinely excited about the school sports and making their best efforts to get others motivated to promote team spirit. However, these cheerleaders would have trouble motivating the carnal interests of middle school boys, let alone making anyone root louder for the home team. First of all there was no cheering, no gymnastics to speak of, and certainly no impressive feats of team adoration. Instead we were treated to synchronized club dancing of the X rated kind, which the girls invited many comparisons to as they appeared each time with new, smaller, skankier outfits after every break. If they had even been allowed the freedom to interpret their sexuality independently of each other there would have been something to see here, but honestly I have no desire to watch Barbie wannabes strut their stuff vacantly in perfect simulation.

Two more points to finish on: One, the half time show was less interesting than the flying blimps, and that is saying something. They had a dance team made up of kids at local schools do a number on the court, and though they had spirit, they did not fit in the gaming atmosphere at all. But I guess in that way they were simply in place with mostly everything else there. Secondly, how they get to make 34 seconds last five minutes at the end of a basketball game I don't know, but seriously if you are only going to start playing your best that close to the end then you don't deserve to win the game at that point. I mean, come on, the whole thing is only about 45 minutes long (which they stretched to be over two hours by the way), how can you not be playing your best the whole time. If mid-fielders in a soccer team can play for 60 minutes with only a half time break then these much better paid, much taller (sarcasm intended) athletes can do the same!

Oh, almost forgot, there was a moment of the game where they made mention of the guests of honor of the evening, surviving veterans of Tuskegee airmen fame from World War II. As they waved down on the basketball court, I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking about the spectacle before them. Something tells me that they were just as confused as me as to what happened to the game part of going out to see a sporting event. Oh well, at least I got to see some true heroes, and that is ALWAYS exciting.

(Snapshot: The game in many ways became an incidental occurrence to the vaudeville of advertising and fairground antics dominating the evening and the attention of those in attendance. Please, we are saturated with commercialization everywhere else; can't you at least give us our sports pure and free? Thanks for reading.)