Big celebrations can be for smaller stuff, too

Idid my duty as an American citizen Feb. 12 and watched the Super Bowl. As soon as Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw up a last-second Hail Mary pass that fell short, giving the Chiefs the victory, I switched the channel.

I didn’t have a dog in that fight as I only root for one team, the Raiders, and against 31 others. But I sure as heck didn’t want to watch Kansas City celebrating. If I had, I might have seen the ketchupand mustard-colored confetti rain down on the stadium, and maybe a Chiefs player or two make “snow angels” in them.

I will never personally experience the unfettered jubilation and affirmation of a dream fulfilled by being a part of an NFL team and winning a championship, but that doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate other things with just as much gusto.

And celebrate them I shall.

So today I am celebrating the following:

No backhands at Brenden Theaters

I rarely go to the movie theater anymore because I get so annoyed with other theatergoers. It usually isn’t the cellphone-ringing-thing these days, but other stuff that gets on my last nerve. It’s someone chewing popcorn like a goat, someone else moving their soda straw up and down so it goes Squeak! Squoink! Squank! or some fool tearing open a Snickers bar right when there is a quiet and climactic scene. Beth and I went to see “Avatar: The Way of Water” and enjoyed it thoroughly, and no one there deserved nor received a backhand. An extra celebration is in order as I did not have to get up to go pee during the entire three-hour-plus movie despite all the water in it messin’ with my subconscious and my bladder.

Local legends

I was interviewed in 2019 by a bright young fellow named Frank Jefferson for a Channel 26 show called “Local Legends.” I was talking about local notable folks, not me. Well, Frank took off for greener pastures and is now crushin’ it working for Fox 5 San Diego. The powers that be, city of Fairfield communication wizards Whitney Skillman and Bill Way, asked me to host and I interviewed former Suisun City boy/Huey Lewis and the News member Johnny Colla in 2021.

Well, we shot a few more recently, including interviews with Armijo grad and New York Giants Super Bowl Champion George Martin, Fairfield High hoops star/Armijo High hoops coach Jay Dahl and longtime Fairfield Mayor Gary Falati. Stay tuned!

Motorcycle restraint

At a stoplight on Travis Boulevard a rather scruffy-looking dude on a Harley-Davidson pulled up right next to me. Now, one of my pet peeves is really loud motorcycles. I don’t get why that is perceived as cool. Another pet peeve on top of a pet peeve is loud motorcycles with even louder stereos. I don’t even care if they are playing my all-time favorite song, it still drives me nuts. I rolled down my window, called the guy an inconsiderate moron and told him to turn his music down. Even though I was forceful and a little rude, there was no violence. The guy just rode off when the light turned green . . . because he couldn’t hear me. Thankfully.

Technology

I never get jaded or complacent or take the incredible technology we have at our fingertips these days for granted. Someone in a Zoom meeting whom I have never met in person recommended the Netflix documentary “Stutz” about Jonah Hill’s therapist, Phil Stutz, and the remarkable approach he has to treating people that is very different and evidently more effective than conventional methods. I watched it at my leisure, then searched for one of Stutz’s books at the library. I have started reading it and applying the principles into my life. So new school tech Zoom, Netflix and the library’s website led me to the old-school tech of a book. Awesome.

Scholarships

Assist-a-Grad, which has been facilitating scholarships for local high school seniors for decades, was gonna call it quits because the same folks had been doing it forever and were burned out. Fortunately, others stepped in to help so they are going to happen now. The Armijo Alumni Association is awarding the second highest monetary amount of scholarships ($8,700 total) and the deadline to apply is March 9. Seniors can apply at https://bit. ly/aags2023.

Coming full circle

I wanted to publicize the scholarships so I contacted Armijo journalism instructor and longtime school newspaper adviser Lynne Herring. She had a wonderful young woman named Kayla Smith write a story about me in addition to the scholarship one, which I had not expected. It was a full circle moment for me as I was on the school newspaper from 1979 to 1982 when it was called The Joint Union and then The Arrow. Back in those prehistoric days, we used to have to write the articles longhand, putting each letter of every word in a separate box on graph paper and adding spaces in between words so the borders lined up for the typists. While making the paper back then, we also discovered the wheel, fire and Keith Richards.

Fist bumps to Kayla Smith and to Lynne Herring! I’m making snow angels in purple and gold confetti!

The article in The Armijo Signal: https://bit.ly/ TWArmijoSignal.

Fairfield freelance humor columnist and accidental local historian Tony Wade writes two weekly columns: “ The Last Laugh” on Mondays and “Back in the Day” on Fridays. Wade is also the author of The History Press books “Growing Up In Fairfield, California” and “Lost Restaurants of Fairfield, California” and hosts the Channel 26 government access TV show “Local Legends.”

BRIGHT spot

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