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Seattle's Rally to Restore Sanity
Oct. 30th, 2010 08:58 pmIf anyone watches The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, then you surely know about his Rally to Restore Sanity. If you watch The Colbert Report you might also know of Steven Colbert's Rally to Keep Fear Alive. They wound up putting both rallies on the same date, so naturally they had their rallies together. However, the single rally is still called Rally to Restore Sanity with sprinkles of Team Fear among the crowds, including costumed attendees.
The Rally had become a global event, with satellite rallies taking place around the world either the same day or on their own times because of time zone restraints. Of course, there were several satellite rallies taking place in the US, one of which is the Seattle Rally.
If you can believe it, the organizer, Jim Baum, for this event didn't even have cable TV. He was at a friend's house when he heard about Jon's Rally in Washington, D.C., and he along with a team of people got the word out, built a web site, and began accepting donations. After the budget, any extra donations are going straight to DonorsChoose.org, where donors choose a project teachers have posted to donate to. Some comedians were guests of the rally, along with one of Washington's own congressmen, Jim McDermott, and a man called Dave Ross as their MC (turns out he's a host for talk-radio station 97.3 FM up here).
The Seattle Rally was being held at 9 AM this morning. At around 7:45 AM Pacific time I went with Nathan and his school friends Jim, Kayla, and Anthony in two cars, on a crystal clear morning as the sun rose to clouds rolling in from the Pacific, offering a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains when the landscape opened up before us. We didn't get on the highway right away, deciding to catch a quick breakfast at our local Jack-in-the-Crack/Box.
Fall is a very wet time for the Puget Sound area, so naturally we felt thrilled the morning started out so clear and beautiful. It was too much to hope for that kind of weather for the rest of the day, however, it ended up raining about two hours into our rally. We wound up not worrying about traffic, luckily we left early enough. Too bad we paid out the nose for parking at one of the more expensive lots downtown; then again, it was right next to Public Market. It's right on the Sound, and there are 3 levels of shops inside while outside you can buy locally grown produce and locally caught fish. There's even a restaurant called Sound View where one entire wall is windows so you can look out onto the water. It must be excellent in the summer.
At Westlake Center, just a few blocks down from Public Market, the five of us chose a spot under a tree relatively close to the stage. It was directly in front of us, and we had a clear view of the screen they set up so we can view the Live feed from the main D.C. Rally that began at 12 PM Eastern time. Free flags were given away, also several copies of a book called Speak Up, Speak Out, and Be Heard: How to Protest and Make It Count by Jeremy Holcomb. It looks useful for the information it has if nothing else, though the purpose of the Rally is to encourage reason; if we're protesting anything it's hatred, anger, and corruption brought on by fear, sensationalism, and ignorance.
The clouds covered the skies quickly as the Rally began, starting with Jim Baum introducing himself to the crowd and then introducing the crowd to a volunteer to sing the National Anthem, to which we sang along. After a speech to set off the rally itself by Mr. Ross, comedians then took to the stage, with interviews in the crowd in-between. After one more comedian we finally were able to view the D.C. Rally as Jon Stewart took to the stage. Comedy Central was the one controlling what to show, so aside from the occasional lag the broadcast cut off at certain points so we could continue with our own plans. Oh, and for the record we all happily sang along to "Greatest, Strongest, Country in the World"/"No One's More American Than We"/however you want to title it.
It rained, it poured, it showered, supposedly typical of October in the Seattle area. I enjoyed myself despite my hands and feet turning into blocks of ice and despite getting properly soaked (thank god for fleece, it hardly ever soaks through). I wore my voice sore from cheering, and felt happy to be among like-minded people who finally stood up with the rest of the entire world to make a statement and bring sanity back to our everyday lives.
My feeling of everything going down the tube is gone, and I'm reassured about the goodness of people, the desire to make the world a better place, and the idealism I felt being squashed by negativity finally gained new strength to rise up above it all. We all left the rally feeling refreshed, reassured, and with the overall attitude that nothing gets done with everyone just screaming at each other.
No one has to be loudest anymore, rather we should all strive to be informed, serene, and open to suggestions and opinions of all kinds. People in groups can be either very weak or very strong together, it all depends on their state of mind. This is our nation, our home, our soil, our problems we want to solve, ours. The same goes for the other nations rallying in the name of sanity. The world can be harsh, but it's not the end of us.
For once, I'm glad to be up here in Washington. We got to look around the area we parked near (including the Public Market) before we drove home, take in the general atmosphere of the place, and I gotta say it's pretty nice. Redmond's attitude is still a little too stuck-up for me, but I'd get myself lost in downtown Seattle anytime if it meant I could hang out with a bunch of cool peeps. I still miss my home state of Texas, but I think I finally feel "at home" in Washington now. We all needed this Rally in more ways than one.
If I remember correctly, there was a satellite rally in Austin, TX. I can only hope that one went as well as the Rally up here. ^-^ Peace, y'all <3
The Rally had become a global event, with satellite rallies taking place around the world either the same day or on their own times because of time zone restraints. Of course, there were several satellite rallies taking place in the US, one of which is the Seattle Rally.
If you can believe it, the organizer, Jim Baum, for this event didn't even have cable TV. He was at a friend's house when he heard about Jon's Rally in Washington, D.C., and he along with a team of people got the word out, built a web site, and began accepting donations. After the budget, any extra donations are going straight to DonorsChoose.org, where donors choose a project teachers have posted to donate to. Some comedians were guests of the rally, along with one of Washington's own congressmen, Jim McDermott, and a man called Dave Ross as their MC (turns out he's a host for talk-radio station 97.3 FM up here).
The Seattle Rally was being held at 9 AM this morning. At around 7:45 AM Pacific time I went with Nathan and his school friends Jim, Kayla, and Anthony in two cars, on a crystal clear morning as the sun rose to clouds rolling in from the Pacific, offering a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains when the landscape opened up before us. We didn't get on the highway right away, deciding to catch a quick breakfast at our local Jack-in-the-Crack/Box.
Fall is a very wet time for the Puget Sound area, so naturally we felt thrilled the morning started out so clear and beautiful. It was too much to hope for that kind of weather for the rest of the day, however, it ended up raining about two hours into our rally. We wound up not worrying about traffic, luckily we left early enough. Too bad we paid out the nose for parking at one of the more expensive lots downtown; then again, it was right next to Public Market. It's right on the Sound, and there are 3 levels of shops inside while outside you can buy locally grown produce and locally caught fish. There's even a restaurant called Sound View where one entire wall is windows so you can look out onto the water. It must be excellent in the summer.
At Westlake Center, just a few blocks down from Public Market, the five of us chose a spot under a tree relatively close to the stage. It was directly in front of us, and we had a clear view of the screen they set up so we can view the Live feed from the main D.C. Rally that began at 12 PM Eastern time. Free flags were given away, also several copies of a book called Speak Up, Speak Out, and Be Heard: How to Protest and Make It Count by Jeremy Holcomb. It looks useful for the information it has if nothing else, though the purpose of the Rally is to encourage reason; if we're protesting anything it's hatred, anger, and corruption brought on by fear, sensationalism, and ignorance.
The clouds covered the skies quickly as the Rally began, starting with Jim Baum introducing himself to the crowd and then introducing the crowd to a volunteer to sing the National Anthem, to which we sang along. After a speech to set off the rally itself by Mr. Ross, comedians then took to the stage, with interviews in the crowd in-between. After one more comedian we finally were able to view the D.C. Rally as Jon Stewart took to the stage. Comedy Central was the one controlling what to show, so aside from the occasional lag the broadcast cut off at certain points so we could continue with our own plans. Oh, and for the record we all happily sang along to "Greatest, Strongest, Country in the World"/"No One's More American Than We"/however you want to title it.
It rained, it poured, it showered, supposedly typical of October in the Seattle area. I enjoyed myself despite my hands and feet turning into blocks of ice and despite getting properly soaked (thank god for fleece, it hardly ever soaks through). I wore my voice sore from cheering, and felt happy to be among like-minded people who finally stood up with the rest of the entire world to make a statement and bring sanity back to our everyday lives.
My feeling of everything going down the tube is gone, and I'm reassured about the goodness of people, the desire to make the world a better place, and the idealism I felt being squashed by negativity finally gained new strength to rise up above it all. We all left the rally feeling refreshed, reassured, and with the overall attitude that nothing gets done with everyone just screaming at each other.
No one has to be loudest anymore, rather we should all strive to be informed, serene, and open to suggestions and opinions of all kinds. People in groups can be either very weak or very strong together, it all depends on their state of mind. This is our nation, our home, our soil, our problems we want to solve, ours. The same goes for the other nations rallying in the name of sanity. The world can be harsh, but it's not the end of us.
For once, I'm glad to be up here in Washington. We got to look around the area we parked near (including the Public Market) before we drove home, take in the general atmosphere of the place, and I gotta say it's pretty nice. Redmond's attitude is still a little too stuck-up for me, but I'd get myself lost in downtown Seattle anytime if it meant I could hang out with a bunch of cool peeps. I still miss my home state of Texas, but I think I finally feel "at home" in Washington now. We all needed this Rally in more ways than one.
If I remember correctly, there was a satellite rally in Austin, TX. I can only hope that one went as well as the Rally up here. ^-^ Peace, y'all <3
