Month: July 2005

literature

Quotes Meant To Inspire

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I received an email at work yesterday stating that “the tragic events in London late last week require a disruption of the ordinary” which included the 3 quotes below. If you can, take 5 minutes to read and reflect on what those men are really saying:

This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century — solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.
-Elie Weisel

Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.
– HH The Dali Lama

God grant, that not only the Love of Liberty, but a thorough Knowledge of the Rights of Man, may pervade all the Nations of the Earth, so that a Philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its Surface, and say, “This is my Country.”
– Ben Franklin

politics

“You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round…

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…like a record baby right round right round” by Dead or Alive should be the Bush White House’s anthem. Here’s a bit of history (courtesy of the NY Times) which says why:

  • In September 2003, White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said flatly that Karl Rove had not been involved in disclosing [at the time covert CIA agent and diplomat’s wife] Valerie Plame’s name [which is a federal offense].
  • Asked about the issue on Sept. 29, 2003, Mr. McClellan said he had “spoken with Karl Rove,” and that it was “simply not true” that Mr. Rove had a role in the disclosure of her identity. Two weeks earlier, he had called suggestions that Mr. Rove had been involved “totally ridiculous.”
  • On Oct. 10, 2003, after the Justice Department opened its formal investigation, Mr. McClellan told reporters that Mr. Rove, Mr. Abrams and Mr. Libby had nothing to do with the leak.
  • Mr. McClellan and Mr. Bush have both made clear that leaking Ms. Plame’s identity would be considered a firing offense by the White House. Mr. Bush was asked about that position most recently a little over a year ago, when he was asked whether he stood by his pledge to fire anyone found to have leaked the officer’s name. “Yes,” he replied, on June 10, 2004.
  • Yesterday, July 11, 2005, the White House refused to answer any questions about new evidence of Mr. Rove’s role in the matter. Terry Moran of ABC News prefaced his question by saying White House Spokesman Scott McClellan was “in a bad spot here” because he had spoken from the same podium in the White House briefing room on Oct. 10, 2003, after the Justice Department began its formal investigation into the leak, and specifically said that neither Mr. Rove nor two other officials – Elliot Abrams, a national security aide, and I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff – were involved. Mr. McClellan disputed the characterization of the question but did not directly address why the White House had appeared now to have adopted a new policy of not commenting on the matter.

I would believe this administration as far as I could throw a piano left handed.

sports

Lipso Snubbed

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It seems that while the Camden Riversharks will be sending five players to the Atlantic League’s All-Star game next week, Lipso Nava will not be one of them. To all those who snubbed my namesake, I say a pox on all your houses.

music

Mindless Self Indulgence

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My friend and sometimes co-worker Gil knows the drummer in Mindless Self Indulgence and got me on the guest list for last night’s show at Webster Hall which was awesome considering one of my favorite things in the world to say is, “I’m on the list.” The show itself fucking rocked – I really liked their sound, the crowd was crazed (full of amped up angry punk-goth kids thrashing about) and the band played with so much energy they must have lost a few pounds during the performance. I especially liked it how at the end of the show, the guitarist played his axe w/ a sledgehammer and then destroyed it with said sledgehammer. I hope to see them again in the future, even if I’m not on the list. Here is what the Village Voice has to say about them:

“MSI, the greatest punk-goth-industrial-rap-glam-electro-metal band of all time, recently released You’ll Rebel to Anything, 26 minutes of spazzy misanthropic anti-corporate / conservative / misogynist anthems and a Rush cover [Tom Sawyer, which they played]. Buy it for the bitter, confused teenager in your life, especially if that teenager happens to live in your body. Go to the show for the the thrill, the danger, and the gravity-defying hair.”

ramblings

London

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I for one am deeply saddened by the London bombings, especially since I not only used to live in London and am familiar with the areas affected but because I used to take the Edgeware Road stop very frequently (it was right by one building I took classes in). The tube is scarier than the NYC transit system – it is in many places hundreds of feet underground (much farther than NYC) and the tracks and stations themselves are very narrow. If there is a problem, there aren’t many options so I can only guess what the fear must have been like for those trapped below.

In the aftermath, a new form of online news outlet seems to have emerged as well – photo sharing sites such as Flickr, which encourage users to share photos and comments in a communal setting. I suggest you go, look at the pics, read the stories and read the comments. It definitely makes you appreciate how fragile life really is…

As a NYC resident, and as someone who values his apartment for, among other reasons, its close proximity to the subway, I am definitely unnerved. If something were to happen to the 4-5-6, I can only imagine what it would do to my property value, my commute but most importantly my way of life. To me, the subway is one of the greatest things in the world and it’s the heart of my urban experience. If something were to happen to it, my internal compass would be totally thrown off. I thought I was hardened to this kind of stuff by now but I’m not – the panic that shot through me at 9:00 AM yesterday — when first my house phone rang (which I didn’t answer), then my cell phone rang (not a good sign) which I answered to hear Jessie say, “The underground has been bombed” to which I replied “Where?! NY or London?!” — is not something I like to feel.

As a brother, I am saddened that my parents may not let my sister study abroad in London now. She has been looking forward to this experience ever since I was there in 98, hoping to follow in my footsteps in a way and now who knows if she will go, if she’ll be allowed to go or if she even wants to go. She should go. I didn’t move out of Manhattan after 9/11. In fact, I did the opposite – I moved downtown in February, 2002. Jessie and I moved into our first apartment together 2 blocks north of Ground Zero and were part of the rebirth of downtown NYC.

The worst part about this attack is that the sound of sirens again to me is troubling. After 9-11, whenever I heard a siren, I thought “what disaster has just happened?” but that faded over time till it was a normal sound again – “Oh, that siren must be for a robbery, not a disaster; that ambulance probably is rushing a heart attack to the hospital, not a victim of a bombing, etc.” I’ve heard sirens a few times today and always waited to hear more. While I hate this feeling, I will not be cowed, I only hope it fades again, sooner rather than later.

sports

Catch The Damn Ball!

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You know you are pretty bad when, as a fan, your ineptitude is so great that even the AP mentions it in their game recap: “Rob Marchese, a 41-year-old businessman from Queens sitting in a folding chair in the first row in the right-field stands, fumbled away both Rodriguez’s and Giambi’s homers.”

I was watching the Yankee game last night on the tele with my friend Dave.

In the first inning, A-Rod hit one that just cleared the right field fence, the kind of homer Donnie Baseball made famous. The ball went right through the hands of a middle aged guy wearing a gray tee shirt, hit him in his shoulder, then hit his chest, then went through his hands again and bounced onto the field. The second he dropped it he made the biggest commotion, slapping the wall and flailing about because he knew he blew it – he had an A-Rod homer in his hands and lost it. I have never been close enough to even try and catch a ball but I’m always aware of the ball when its hit. Catching a major league baseball is just one of many little things on my life’s to-do list that I hope to accomplish. You just don’t get a second chance on something like that.

Or maybe you do. Like the very next inning. Sure enough, in the bottom of the second Giambi hit one in the exact same place. Sure enough, the same gray tee-shirted guy was there, in the exact same spot. And yes, sure enough, it went through his hands, hit him in his chest, then his arm, and then bounced back onto the field. Again, he made a commotion except this time it was more rueful, as if he knew the Fates were conspiring against him so what are you gonna do, right?
If you’d like to see photo evidence, click here.

Rob: you have the privilege of being awarded 15 minutes of fame due to incredibly poor fielding skills. To that I say, “mazel tov.”

After the jump, you can read what the NY Times had to say about it. It seems that everyone is talking about Rob…

From the July 8th Edition of the NY Times:

It was Rodriguez’s 22nd of the season, and it seemed to delight all but one fan, who might have had the most exciting night of anyone at the game.

The ball hit the 41-year-old Robby Marchese in the chest and the hands, but it fell back to the field. Marchese was crestfallen, slumping his body on top of the wall, his head down, for several seconds.
“I didn’t get all of it, but I got enough,” Rodriguez said. “I think I hit it to the fan in the gray shirt who almost got two balls.”

Marchese’s next chance was just an inning away. Jason Giambi led off the second inning with a liner to right. Casey Blake chased after it, and the ball deflected off his glove – and onto Marchese’s chest. Again, he dropped the ball.

“It didn’t hit me where it was supposed to,” said Marchese, who had never sat in that seat before.

“I’m going to be on SportsCenter for the rest of the week.”