tastelessness at unicon

General
1

I realise that this post may be a little late, I’ve been busy. But I
expected someone else to comment and no one did… so now I will
open the can of worms myself.

Unicon and Politics

I thought there was an understanding that Unicon was NOT an areana for
policital comment. After Unicon 10 in China the Puerto Rician team were
crititsed for having a peace banner ,it inflamed the sensibilities of
some of the US team apparently. So how come at Unicon 11, Jamie Mossengren
got away with his freestyle routine without cries of “keep politics out of
Unicon”?

For those who have forgoten or did not see the routine. It was entitled
something along the line of “Tribute to Americas Heros” and started with
JM atop a tall giraffe, painted in a stars and stripes pattern. A small
explosion partway up the giraffe was the signal for his " tower to
topple" into the arms of a waiting team dressed roughly as fire fighter,
police officer and builder. At this point I turned away in disgust and
refused to watch the rest. I could not avoid hearing th soundtrack however
and had to listen to " patriotic music" and sound bites of the US
president calling for war.

How can this not be construded as a political coment. At an international
event this was at best a tasteless attempt to profit from other peoples
suffering OR worse an
offensive swipe at all those the American war machine has chosen to label
“Against US”. There were riders at Unicon who had had horendous problems
geting permission to vist the USA beacause the US goverment consideres the
Phillipines to be " horouring Terrorists".

In my oppinion, This routine should not have been preformed at Unicon, I
also belive it was wrong of the judging team to place it 5th in a class of
13.

As part of a show, at the NAUCC there may have been some justification for
his routine. But not at an International event, and not for personal
gain.

Opinions Please.

Sarah Miller

2

hopefully no one takes offence at this, but the difference is #1 the unicon was in the usa and #2 the us is the country that people are siding with. If afganistan tried to make a point about all the bombs they’ve been getting for the past 3-4 years nothing would happen. The people who write history are the winners. Agan no offence, but generally americans are patrist. An “accident” killed a few canadains. the americans were the ones who messed up. If canada had a simmlar accident, americans would probably be calling for war. But back to the unicon. I could only see this happning at the unicon if they showed what america has done to afganistan (not to say bin laden was right with the wtc) and if it was done at the parade, or maybe at some non-competing point. I agree that this should not have been in the competion, if at all.

3

I wasn’t there, but from your description, it didn’t sound so much tasteless as self indulgent and naff.

4

Re: tastelessness at unicon

sarah@vimes.u-net.com writes:
>For those who have forgoten or did not see the routine. It was entitled
>something along the line of “Tribute to Americas Heros” and started with
>JM atop a tall giraffe, painted in a stars and stripes pattern. A small
>explosion partway up the giraffe was the signal for his " tower to
>topple" into the arms of a waiting team dressed roughly as fire fighter,
>police officer and builder. At this point I turned away in disgust and
>refused to watch the rest. I could not avoid hearing th soundtrack however
>and had to listen to " patriotic music" and sound bites of the US
>president calling for war.
>
>How can this not be construded as a political coment. At an international
>event this was at best a tasteless attempt to profit from other peoples
>suffering OR worse an

>offensive swipe at all those the American war machine has chosen to label
>“Against US”. There were riders at Unicon who had had horendous problems
>geting permission to vist the USA beacause the US goverment consideres the
>Phillipines to be " horouring Terrorists".

I have generally enjoyed, agreed with, and learned from your posts, Sarah,
so I was astonished at your post about politics and the UNICON. I saw the
act you describe. While I could see how some could find it, as one writer
has mentioned, somewhat self-indulgent (and naff), it did not seem overly
political to me think the title makes it clear: It was a tribute to those
who ran into the Twin Towers to help thousands of others get out. All
together, around 400 firefighters, cops, and EMS workers died that day.
The act was a tribute to them. The part with the flag was a way of saying
that the United States is still strong and so on – which is not so much
political as patriotic. Now, the part of the soundtrack where Bush calls
ppl to war – that seems like a mistake. I agree that this part went too
far. But it was just one part in a whole act that was mainly a tribute.

Plenty of countries represented themselves with flags on their racing
shirts. Again, not political but patriotic.

I question JM’s choice in the audio portion of his act (and I did find the
whole act a bit odd), but that should be forgiven in light of the
intention of his act. He was expressing his feelings about a horrendous
event which was fresh in the minds of many Americans. People express their
feelings in many ways. I don’t think that JM intended to make a big
political statement. I notice that none of the ppl onstage were in
soldiers’ fatigues, and his unicycle was not done up like a bomb. I guess
I took from it that 9/11 had a big impact on JM’s life and that he chose
to express his feeling that America, victim on that day, will never quit
as a country. I can see how that could be viewed as a political statement,
but I think you have overreacted.

By the way, those who did not watch the act should make no comment since
they are depending on your description and, like all descriptions
(including mine), it’s biased. If you were there, comment away. Otherwise
watch from the sidelines.

Fondly,

David Stone
Co-founder, Unatics of NY

5

Sarah-

Taking issue with the theme behind the performance I can understand. Taking issue with the judging panel I can’t see. Their job was to evaluate the relative merits of the freestyle routines that were presented. They probably weren’t asked to snub or pass political exhibitionism. I don’t know what the nationalities of the panel members were and I don’t care.

I am proud to be a US citizen and I am proud of most of the international and domestic behavior of the entity that is my country. I don’t expect it to be perfect and, frankly, it’s far from it. There is a reason that many people immigrate to the US, Canada, UK, and other western countries and it is not, I think, because one or all of them are industrial military machines. I think rather that it is because they are havens of both opportunity and dignity.

The fact that a few thousand people in this country were killed in a senseless and cowardly act is a disaster. The fact that the sensation was milked by the press for so much and for so long is a disgusting shame. The fact that millions of US citizens suddenly started sporting flags, usually inappropriately and incorrectly, as a result of it is mostly an embarrassment to me. I don’t really understand how tragic and senseless carnage evokes such an outpouring of decorative patriotism. One is either patriotic or not and blind patriotism, at least in this country, is rather counterproductive.

I felt the same aforementioned embarrassment about the performance in question. I don’t think that UNICON was an appropriate venue through which to express frustration, anger, or even solidarity with others for such an atrocity because it is necessarily a political statement. I would also despise seeing the “free” taken out of “freestyle” routine or start seeing bizarre ideas like native attire used in performances ruled as political or inappropriate. Banning always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I enjoyed meeting both you and Paul at UNICON and I’m sorry this incident upset you however mildly. I only hope that the tremendous amount of positive exposure at UNICON this year outweighed this one disappointment. If not, I think you are perhaps over-reacting somewhat.

6

Re: tastelessness at unicon

Greetings

Though I don’t remember seeing the routine in question, I have a general
comment on the matter.

I think Sarah’s position is too extreme, and that such acts that may have some
political overtones (this is sucject to subjective interpretation) should be viewed more
lightheartedly. Where do you draw the line, anyway?

I was considering a routine dressed as an ultraorthodox rabbi dancing to Hassidic
music. Would that be interpreted as evangelism? You can start to read in all kinds
of weird interpretations into a unicycle routine which originally was only meant
to be unusual or fun.

Unicycling is meant to be fun – let’s not be so serious unless the situation really
justifies it, as it did in Beijing with the Puerto Rico team.

In message “tastelessness at unicon”,
Sarah Miller wrote…
>I realise that this post may be a little late, I’ve been busy. But I
>expected someone else to comment and no one did… so now I will
>open the can of worms myself.
>
>Unicon and Politics
>
>I thought there was an understanding that Unicon was NOT an areana for
>policital comment. After Unicon 10 in China the Puerto Rician team were
>crititsed for having a peace banner ,it inflamed the sensibilities of
>some of the US team apparently. So how come at Unicon 11, Jamie Mossengren
>got away with his freestyle routine without cries of “keep politics out of
>Unicon”?
>
>For those who have forgoten or did not see the routine. It was entitled
>something along the line of “Tribute to Americas Heros” and started with
>JM atop a tall giraffe, painted in a stars and stripes pattern. A small
>explosion partway up the giraffe was the signal for his " tower to
>topple" into the arms of a waiting team dressed roughly as fire fighter,
>police officer and builder. At this point I turned away in disgust and
>refused to watch the rest. I could not avoid hearing th soundtrack however
>and had to listen to " patriotic music" and sound bites of the US
>president calling for war.
>
>How can this not be construded as a political coment. At an international
>event this was at best a tasteless attempt to profit from other peoples
>suffering OR worse an
>offensive swipe at all those the American war machine has chosen to label
>“Against US”. There were riders at Unicon who had had horendous problems
>geting permission to vist the USA beacause the US goverment consideres the
>Phillipines to be " horouring Terrorists".
>
>
>In my oppinion, This routine should not have been preformed at Unicon, I
>also belive it was wrong of the judging team to place it 5th in a class of
>13.
>
>As part of a show, at the NAUCC there may have been some justification for
>his routine. But not at an International event, and not for personal
>gain.
>
>Opinions Please.
>
>Sarah Miller
>–
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
>rec.sport.unicycling mailing list - www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
>

Stay on top, Jack Halpern
Executive Director for International Development
International Unicycling Federation, Inc.
Website: http://www.kanji.org

7

Re: tastelessness at unicon

Unfortunately some people did take offence at the routine, I was standing by
the exit as people left the room. There is a place for blatant politicking
and at an international event in front of an international crowd especially
when there are specific rules in the completion that disallows politics
within the competition; this is not the place. I would agree that a more
appropriate place for this show of patriotism and politics would have been
the parade.
We are an International community and it is often not easy to see why a
political stand point offends other people, which is why the rule no
politics which should be respected.
I am not surprised at a Brit being the person to bring this up, as you can
see by the thread about Britain/British Isles etc. you can see we live with
a delicate balance all the time, we respect each others differing political
views and generally do not voice them in public. We are often reserved in
showing our patriotism because of the offence it causes. We are even very
careful of when and where to show the Union Jack Flag! We were quick to
change the results sheets for the basket ball when it said “England” to “UK”
as our team contained 2 Scots and one Welshman.
Please can we respect the rule that says “No Politics” at UNICON, how ever
worthy you see the cause.

Roger

The UK’s Unicycle Source

----- Original Message -----
From: “uni_boy50” <uni_boy50.adgom@timelimit.unicyclist.com>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.unicycling
To: <rsu@unicycling.org>
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2002 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: tastelessness at unicon

>
> hopefully no one takes offence at this, but the difference is #1 the
> unicon was in the usa and #2 the us is the country that people are
> siding with. If afganistan tried to make a point about all the bombs
> they’ve been getting for the past 3-4 years nothing would happen. The
> people who write history are the winners. Agan no offence, but
> generally americans are patrist. An “accident” killed a few canadains.
> the americans were the ones who messed up. If canada had a simmlar
> accident, americans would probably be calling for war. But back to the
> unicon. I could only see this happning at the unicon if they showed
> what america has done to afganistan (not to say bin laden was right with
> the wtc) and if it was done at the parade, or maybe at some
> non-competing point. I agree that this should not have been in the
> competion, if at all.
>
>
> –
> uni_boy50
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> uni_boy50’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/412
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/20209
>
>

> rec.sport.unicycling mailing list -
www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
>
>

8

Re: Re: tastelessness at unicon

Actually, I don’t think there is such a rule. It was a proposal that failed last fall and details can be seen at: http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/committee/proposal.php?id=5

I think that any rules that limit the political displays at a UNICON should be made by the organizers of the convention, on an event by event basis, by considering what is acceptable in that host country.

9

Re: tastelessness at unicon

ok, I misunderstood. I understood that that proposal had gone through.

But this is a fair discussion. It is important that we realise that when we
present our politics we can offend others and personally I would prefer
never to see it presented during what is a competition. There are forums
for it away from competition where it is more appropriate and expected.

Roger

The UK’s Unicycle Source

----- Original Message -----
From: “Gilby” <Gilby.aeqag@timelimit.unicyclist.com>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.unicycling
To: <rsu@unicycling.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 2:50 PM
Subject: Re: tastelessness at unicon

>
> Roger Davies wrote:
> > Please can we respect the rule that says “No Politics” at UNICON
>
> Actually, I don’t think there is such a rule. It was a proposal that
> failed last fall and details can be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/19s0
>
> I think that any rules that limit the political displays at a UNICON
> should be made by the organizers of the convention, on an event by event
> basis, by considering what is acceptable in that host country.
>
>
> –
> Gilby - Unicyclist.com Webmaster
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Gilby’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/20209
>
>

> rec.sport.unicycling mailing list -
www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
>
>

10

tastelessness at unicon

Thanks, Sarah, for posting about this. Otherwise, probably, those of us who didn’t attend UNICON would never have heard about it, and I think it’s something that should be discussed. It seems indicative of the current atmosphere of “What May NOT Be Discussed” in the US, that nobody else brought this up til now.

Judging by what is constantly being said by the government and in the media of all types, too many people are forgetting or ignoring the fact that it was not only Americans who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11th last year. That kind of omission goes beyond patriotism.

It certainly seems that the heroes have been sufficiently worshipped in the mass media. It’s unreasonable and redundant to make every public event a venue for more of this stuff. The Winter Olympics were embarrassing enough.

Maybe there could be a separate “Political” category, so that everyone who does not wish to view such … stuff, can have the choice.

Any folks who needed a passport to attend UNICON happen to remember the little questionnaire you had to fill out before getting on the plane to enter the States? Did you have to fill one of those out before you went home? I’m not talking about the Customs Declaration, either.

11

Re: tastelessness at unicon

harper <harper.adljn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

> I enjoyed meeting both you and Paul at UNICON and I’m sorry this
> incident upset you however mildly. I only hope that the tremendous
> amount of positive exposure at UNICON this year outweighed this one
> disappointment. If not, I think you are perhaps over-reacting somewhat.

I wouldn’t even go so far as to say it upset me. Certainly it didn’t make
my enjoyment of Unicon any less. I was just interested to see what other
people thought. At Unicon I only heard the " rather tastless to
Offensive" end of the spectrum, so I was curious to see what the other end
of the comment spectrum was.

I think what I find strangest is the contrast between reaction to JMs
“statement” which included a call to send in the army, and the PR
statement in China which was a call to pull out the army. Not being a US
citizen the PR banner meant nothing to me AT THE TIME, after
all the furore about it I started asking questions and found out what has
been going on in PR. Interesting.

Meeting other people from other cultures always makes
me think about my own, I often get asked questions about things I’ve paid
very little attension to. The Cultural exchange can go way beyond marmite
and root beer and make us think about the deeper stuff that both joins
and divides our societies.

This, I think is a good thing.
Sarah

worm can opening a speciality.

12

tastelessness at unicon

For anyone who’s curious about the “Puerto Rican” incident, which was a controversy over the display of a banner protesting the Vieques Island cause: concerning an island/town part of the Puerto Rican archipelago that is/was being used as a target range by the US military… here’s the link: http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=11864&highlight=peace+banner

13

Re: tastelessness at unicon

“Roger Davies” <Roger.Davies@octacon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:mailman.1031061849.16100.rsu@unicycling.org…
> ok, I misunderstood. I understood that that proposal had gone through.

5 to 1 against, 2 abstentions.
>
> But this is a fair discussion. It is important that we realize that when
we
> present our politics we can offend others and personally I would prefer
> never to see it presented during what is a competition. There are forums
> for it away from competition where it is more appropriate and expected.

I’d prefer never to see competitive presentations censored.

14

tastelessness at unicon

As I said before: Make separate “niche” categories for the potentially embarrassing/controversial/political entries.

Actually, that could be a good title: “Embarrassing and Controversial Political Statement Competition”.

15

I’ve not been to Unicon for a while and haven’t seen any of the events in question so I shall jump in ill informed…

The Peurto Ricans have a ‘peace’ banner and get told off the American chap has Bush ranting about war and gets support. To quote the comic book guy… “there isn’t an emoticon for how I’m feeling”

[ot]sendhair, did Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan? It’ll help with a crossword I’m working on. [/ot]

16

Thanks Sarah et al. for your varied input on the subject. As Sarah so eloquently says, it does further the cultural experience and education of all of us making our UNICON meets much more valuable than taking home a few ribbons and medals. As seen in my posts on Marmite, I think that’s fabulous.

As for Jamie’s routine, my view is obviously biased first as a patriotic American, secondly as a former American military member, and thirdly and especially as a former Pentagon employee.

But trying to lay that aside, I saw Jamie’s performance at both NAUCC and UNICON and was deeply moved by each. I approached Jamie afterwards and thanked him for his very meaningful tribute. I did NOT see the routine as a protest, political statement, or an effort to elevate American interests over those of members of any other country. I saw the routine purely and simply as a tribute to fallen heros who accidently and/or willingly died in the line of duty. I do realize that President Bush’s comments could be construed as political and, maybe in hindsight, Jamie could have edited the recording a bit. But that’s in hindsight and I do not believe whatsoever that the comments were used and included intentionally to be a political statement but simply to present a more complete and realistic picture of what these heros did. I think perhaps if it weren’t for the three costumed men in the routine, the focus of the routine could have been redirected to a more of a political statement. But as such, my family and I all saw the routine as a tribute and thanks to the many fallen heros of that day.

Bruce

17

former capitality

ng, I hope you’re being serious… Unicyclists doing crosswords leads one to anxiety about weather and broken cranks… or worse!

Yes. Politically, from 794 to 1191. Culturally from 794 to 1603.

Literally, “Kyoto” means “Capital City”. If you want to know more, ask me in “Just Conversation” to avoid the wrath of the Topic Police.

18

as an american citicen, i have made some quite humorus, but also qute sad, observations since the WTC bombings.

about 2 months after it happened, some frineds and i were walking around in walmart or something. in the front of the store there was a huge pile of american flag and patriotic merchandise scattered in random boxes labled “25-75% off” mike remarked “wow, that fad really lasted”

i still see people driving around with tattered american flags hanging off their cars. people just bought them, then forgot about them. no one seems to know basic guidelines for taking care of this countrys flag.

our school has a large peice of the WTC as a memorial (clarkson unversity is in NY) and with it there is an american flag that is never brought in, and lies 1/2 on the ground.

so this routine, although, yeah it shows support for america, i find to be somewhat hypocritical. im sure that most of the people involved are good people, but i doubt that many of them even know basic politics, contributing factors, or take the time to think about september 11th outside of what the media tells them to think about.

if you want to have a strictly political discussion, please email or instant message me, thats not what this fourm is for, sorry if i steered this thread that way.

one of the few who is not…
…a bandwagon patriot, loving america since 09/11/01.

19

I’m confused Sarah. How could you turn away in disgust an yet it didn’t offend you that much?
I wasn’t at UNICON but if there is no rule infraction then I don’t see what the problem was.
Unless you have the qualifications to be a judge or are a judge I do have a problem with people criticizing the results, especially if they didn’t see the whole routine.

20

Re: tastelessness at unicon

Unicycling is great and all, but I cannot imagine any unicycling
routine involving the events of 9/11 that wouldn’t come off as
being tacky and stupid. I wouldn’t be offended by the political
nature of the routine but would feel embarassment that a US
citizen would try to ‘memorialize’ the tragedy while on a unicycle.
If you can’t properly pay your respects, then don’t do it at all.

“Sarah Miller” <sarah@vimes.u-net.com> wrote in message news:3d73ab75.142a@vimes.u-net.com…
>
> For those who have forgoten or did not see the routine. It was entitled
> something along the line of “Tribute to Americas Heros” and started with
> JM atop a tall giraffe, painted in a stars and stripes pattern. A small
> explosion partway up the giraffe was the signal for his " tower to
> topple" into the arms of a waiting team dressed roughly as fire fighter,
> police officer and builder. At this point I turned away in disgust and
> refused to watch the rest. I could not avoid hearing th soundtrack however
> and had to listen to " patriotic music" and sound bites of the US
> president calling for war.
>