Rockin' Goths and a Puck

I love this song. I don't entirely know why. Certainly there is a hook, which is always useful. Plus, I'm a sucker for songs that start out sort of low and mumbly and then get all rousing in the chorus.

Honestly, sometimes I think the only reason I love this song is because of the video. I've never heard the song on the radio, don't own the CD. I don't know if it holds up without the visual. Maybe, maybe not. And I think what I love the most about the video is that it's so old school. It tells a story. There's choreography. The clothes are cool. It's how they made videos in the 80s. Also, I love little goth kids with their makeup and hair who think they are all that and serious when they are really just moony kids with too much creativity for their little adolescent minds. Some of my favorite people got their goth on once upon a time.


I never really did because I missed that trend by a few years. More's the pity.

You probably aren't going to like this nearly as much as me but it's worth it just for the choreography.





My Chemical Romance "Helena"





No? Ok, fine. Just me then. But here's something else that I just couldn't resist. Today is the anniversary of an incredible moment in sports history. At least half of you are entirely too young to remember this. Actually, at least half of you weren't even born when this happened. So let me set the scene:



It was 1980. America was feeling pretty bruised and battered (sound familiar?). Jimmy Carter hadn't done as slick of a job as president as had been hoped. (Not that he was a frakup like W, kiddies...by comparison, Carter was FDR, but except for the Camp David accords, he just hadn't managed to be very effective). We had an energy crisis, with long lines at the gas pumps. (Believe it or not, puppies, even that didn't get anything more than lip service to the notion of weaning ourselves from foreign oil). And to top it off, the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan (damn, this is just so much "the more things change....") and because we were still engaged in a cold war with the USSR, this was a scary thing because the US never liked to see the USSR trying to expand it's scope.

So there we were, feeling kinda gloomy and the Winter Olympics rolled around. No one I knew particularly cared about hockey but the US team, made up of a bunch of cute, young amateurs, started climbing up through the competition, beating teams they weren't supposed to beat. Suddenly, and quite incredibly, they were in the medal round, going up against the Soviet Union. Please note, the Soviets had the best team. Big, experienced players. Pros, if you will. They'd won the gold something like 6 times in a row. Our little team of Davids didn't stand a chance against Goliathski, but it was just cool that they got that far.



I remember gathering in the common room of my boyfriend's dorm to watch the game. And what a game it was, these scrappy kids giving their all against the Russians. And the game was close. Really close. Tied at 3 all until the US scored one more point with just 10 minutes left in the game.



I wasn't a hockey fan and knew nothing about the sport. But it wasn't going to be until the 2000 Mariner baseball season when I was destined to again feel the sort of energy and excitment of a sporting match. These kids were incredible...gliding on the ice, scrapping for the puck, keeping it from the Soviets...who were pushing back hard. It was one of those sorts of deals where everyone knew they didn't have a prayer, that the Soviets would pull it out but ding dong, how exciting that they'd even gotten that far and were still playing to win.



Five minutes passed and the Soviets hadn't been able to tie it up. Then six minutes, then 7....the clock was counting down and the Soviets couldn't do anything. They couldn't keep the puck. Our goalie...a very cute kid named Jim Craig...kept fending off Soviet attempts to score. This led to five of the most exciting minutes in Olympic history:





The young pups went on to the gold medal round against Finland and won, but this is the game everyone remembers. Except, you know, you aforementioned "too young to remember" types.

Consider yourself schooled.