Culture Points

Culture Points* by David Goodman (email questions and/or comments)

* Accumulated or lost via participation in particular social, political, and cultural activities. For example, my plus/minus ratio in culture points is affected by the fact that I refuse to see the movie Titanic and I've never watched Survivor.

January 17, 2004

Some predictions for the new year:

* In a tribute to the Bush administration's strategy of pre-emptive warfare, the Washington Wizards
basketball team will again be called the Washington Bullets...

* Weapons of mass destruction will NOT be found on Mars; but Osama bin Laden might be... (but he
won't be returned to Earth until September or October, just in time to help George W. get
reelected).

* When servicemen and women return from Iraq and Afghanistan - if Rumsfeld and Bush ever allow
   them to come home - they will not be spat upon or otherwise disparaged; they will be considered
   the embodiment of the failure of U.S. militarism and empire building. And their experiences "over
   there" will count for something; lending a helping hand, one can hope, to the effort to oust the
   current administration.

December 16, 2003

The column's been on hiatus for a short time while we sort out our feelings about Grady Little and the Red Sox. Well, it was an enjoyable season.

Today, Red Sox hot-stovers are all worked up over a possible deal to get Alex Rodriguez. Arguably the best player in baseball, I'm not sure this Rodriguez deal bodes well for baseball and its fans. We wanted the 2003 version team to get to the World Series. Next year, under the proposed swap, there'll be no Manny, no Nomar, maybe even no Lou Merloni! Second base again is a question mark. The Boston Globe reported this morning that Johnny Damon might be sent back to Kansas City. I like rooting for people, not uniforms. But baseball business demands that overhead costs balance with on the field talent. And so the cost of keeping Manny and Nomar (he's already turned down a 4 year, 15 million dollar extension) provides incentive to the owners to make these deals.

"RADIO with a VIEW" co-producer, co-host Marc Stern has been encouraging me to watch the films of Hayao Miyazaki. He is a Japanese animator whose works include Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. The latter two combine Miyazake's love of Japanese folklore and concerns over human degradation of the Earth's environment. The visuals are spectacular and unlike anything Hollywood (hand drawn or cg) kicks out. The plots include some violent sequences (especially Mononoke and its Samarai battle scenes) but my seven and eleven year old children loved these films. So far, no reports of nightmares.

October 27, 2003

The baseball season is over - the Yankees lost! - and it's time to start thinking about football and the New Hampshire primary. One more thought on the Red Sox, though. The Boston ownership should take a bold step and offer manager Grady Little a new contract. Players are on record saying they love this guy and want him back. (Did you realize the team led the league in number of wins in one run games AND hugs per capita this past season?) Giving the players what they want and bringing Grady back, would place the responsibility for getting the team to the World Series squarely on the shoulders of the ballplayers where it belongs.

October 16, 2003 (19:30 EST approximately 45 minutes before game 7 of the ALCS)

Yankees - Red Sox, Pedro vs. Roger, the cowboys vs. the bombers. Whatever happens tonight, it's been a great playoff and a wonderful season. I'll remember two images above the rest though, and neither involves pitches thrown up and inside or fisticuffs in the bullpen. 1) Nomar striking out against David Wells in game 5 with 2 outs and runners on second and third. It was a defining moment in more than a month of futility from the Boston shortstop. Next day he broke out with four hits and the team won which is ample evidence of Nomar's importance. 2) Trot Nixon - he of the constant trade rumors for the past few years - hitting a two run home run into the right field upper deck of Yankee Stadium. All I can say is: "thank god!"

October 11, 2003

American League Championship Series with the Yanks tied at one a game apiece. Today, Pedro vs. Roger at Fenway Park. A few observations:

Cutting all your hair off as a lucky charm seems counter-intuitive to me. Didn't Samson lose his prowess when the Philistines cut his hair. At least Victor Mature looked a lot better than Trot Nixon or Gabe Kapler.

Former Red Sox general manager Dan "more days in first place" Duquette still deserves kudos for The Trade. Heathcliff Slocumb for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek. No wonder Seattle GM Pat Gillick - who left that post after this season - was afraid to make trading deadline deals to help his team. That 1998 trade's a confidence-shaker if there ever was one.

I've never been a fan of the rugged, individualist, "winning is the only thing" cowboy mentality. It breeds intolerance and obnoxiousness. So I'm not going along with this silly "cowboy up" thing. There's quite a few southern boys on this team: thanking god every time they catch the ball, acting tough; you can almost imagine the leather chaps and six shooters sitting next to the batting gloves and helmets in their lockers. The players who would talk politics this past season all had knee jerk reactions in favor of supporting the Iraq invasion. One of these cowboys - currently injured relief pitcher Bobby Howry - used his first amendment rights to criticize peace marchers. Howry put a bumper sticker over his locker featuring the universal peace symbol along with the slogan "footprint of the american chicken."

Despite this culture clash, certainly I admire the team's resilience and ability to shake off tough losses, come back the next day and win. And I won't leave a radio untuned or a t.v. channel unselected, as long as there's a post-season game being played. But I can also hope there won't be a sequel to the embarrassing incident in 1996, when Wade Boggs playing as a Yankee, celebrating a world series title, rode around the stadium on a horse.

October 5, 2003

What can you say? David Ortiz had gone 0 for 17 in the series and in the eighth inning hits the double that scores the winning runs. Now it's back to Oakland for a game five match-up between Martinez and Zito.

By the way, I predicted the A's would score, if Sox manager Grady Little left John Burkhart on the mound to pitch in the sixth. Sure enough, Jermaine Dye hits a two run homer into the monster seats. Ortiz may have won this game AND saved Little's job; at least for another day.

October 4, 2003 (bottom of the eleventh)

THE RED SOX WIN! THE RED SOX WIN! Trot Nixon pinch hits for Gabe Kapler, knocks a home run over the right center field wall off of A's rookie Rich Harden, and the Sox live another day. A fan in the stadium holds up a sign that reads: "What Curse?" Shades of 1999, when the Sox came back from 2 games down to beat the Indians? I don't know about that, but my son Benjamin and I - and the rest of Red Sox nation - can exhale, and celebrate. At least until 1:00p.m. tomorrow.

The starting pitching in this game - Derek Lowe for the Sox, Ted Lilly for the A's - was monumental! And the Sox relief corps definitely win the medal of honor. Now if only Manny, Ortiz, and Bill Mueller can get their bats going, we might see something really special.

I have to admit though, that I'm an absolutist when it comes to maintaining the separation of church and sport. During his post-game interview on ESPN, Nixon gives credit to Jesus Christ for keeping his nerves calm so he can hit that home run. But you never hear ballplayers blaming God for errors or strikeouts or bone-headed remarks made to reporters. Does God favor one team over another? Personally, I think SHE's a soccer fan.

(I almost forgot to mention all the wild and weird plays during this game. My favorite: Eric Byrnes, running towards home plate is blocked by Boston catcher Jason Varitek. The ball goes flying but instead of turning around and touching the plate, Byrnes bumps Varitek and starts to hobble away. Keeping his poise and wits about him, Varitek grabs the ball and tags Byrnes out. Score remains 1 to 0, favor of the Sox. This play and the game earlier in the day in Florida where Ivan Rodriguez held the ball at the plate to beat the Giants, provides more evidence that catchers are the ones who really make the difference in baseball.)

October 4, 2003 (top of the eleventh)

Scott Williamson in relief strikes out Ramon Hernandez - he of the game 1 winning bunt hit - to end the inning. Previously, Manny made a great running catch in the outfield off the bat of Eric Chavez. Won't someone put us long-suffering Red sox fans out of our misery soon?

October 4, 2003 (bottom of the tenth)

Jim Mecir of the A's on the mound. Garciaparra on second, Manny Ramirez on first, 2 outs. David Ortiz - the clutch hitter par excellance in the second half of the season - pops out to Tejada... Doesn't anyone want to WIN this game.

October 4, 2003 (top of the tenth)

Boston relief pitcher Mike Timlin, in a performance for the ages, sets down the side in order, now retiring 9 A's in a row. But can he go another inning, if necessary? Top of the Boston order coming up!

October 4, 2003 (Fenway Park, bottom of the ninth, score: 1-1)

Gabe Kapler hits into a double play... Todd Walker, pinch hitting for Damian Jackson, pops out to Oakland shortstop Miguel Tejada... Ay mi dios, extra innings... again.

September 29, 2003

You know you want it... It'll be the best you've ever had... Come on baby, just relax your body and your mind will follow... Ooooooh yes, like that...

Red Sox & Cubs - 2003 World Series - it would be better than that other thing we think about every 30 seconds...

September 26, 2003

I worry that George W. Bush - who thinks he is doing God's work - has control of the "button." I worry that people will actually wake up and revolt - leading to a lot of innocent folk getting hurt - following years of government lies, and huge tax giveaways to the rich, and economic policies that encourage unemployment, and purposeful destruction of the Earth's ecology. I worry that plans are being made in secret to steal the 2004 presidential election.

I worry that poverty and hunger and disease will overwhelm technological fixes and even promises of billions of dollars in aid.

But I'm not going to worry about the Red Sox. They're in the playoffs and it's been a wonderfully entertaining season. In fact, I'm going to grab my fill of joy while it lasts and keep these memories forever.

And I'll let the Cubs fans worry about their team getting in.

September 18, 2003

I know I'm going to lose "guy points" for this entry, but here goes anyway.

My friend and colleague, Marc Stern, and his nine year old daughter, were devastated by the news this week that the Women's United Soccer Association has decided, for financial reasons, to stop operating. This means no more Boston Breakers games for Bronwen and her friends. And I have to say I share their disappointment and frustration.

A hopeful note comes from the players who reportedly have agreed to try and find sponsors willing to resurrect the league in 2005. Unfortunately, without huge commitments of money, women's sports don't have the cache to compete for entertainment dollars on a national scale.

I didn't become a fan of soccer, frankly, until my own children started playing. My son Benjamin, a sixth grader, is pretty good actually. I still don't understand all the rules about sideline kicks and whatnot, but I will say this for American youth soccer: it encourages far more collegiality than any of the major sports.

Last season, my son's team either lost or tied every one of its games. This could have had an awful affect on the kid's self esteem. But a combination of self-effacing coaches and understanding parents helped the players learn a crucial lesson - perhaps the most easily forgotten by cynical, stressed-out adults - that playing the game with energy and enthusiasm, and having fun, is just as important as win/loss records. I've never seen this level of appropriate competitiveness in any of the other sports. (Of course, I'm not counting the situation in other countries, where people get killed over the outcome of soccer games.)

Do I want to see the Red Sox win the World Series? Of course! Would I trade a lackluster, boring team and a playoff spot for this summer's wonderfully entertaining version and its propensity to bash the ball all over the park? No way. I was even lucky enough to attend the Fenway game against the Florida Marlins when the Sox scored 10 runs in the first inning before getting an out. Championship or not, that's a game I'll be talking about until I'm frozen in a cryogenic container.

Soccer (and hockey to a lesser degree) gets criticized all the time for tie scores. The New England Revolution even played to a scoreless tie this week. I would argue that this helps maintain the "also-ran" status of these sports in comparison to the far more popular sports of football (sudden death) and auto racing (photo finishes). Ties conflict with our social training that there has to be a winner and a loser.

In the much more serious world of war and peace, the Bush administration will never accept, for example, that if enough of our soldiers in Iraq are killed, the remnants of Saddam's regime rightfully can claim a stalemate in the ongoing battle there.

But in many aspects of our lives, ties - sometimes emotionally unsatisfying - often lead to more cooperative, less conflict oriented outcomes. The truth is, that as children we are taught to share, but as adults we accept that only the strong survive. Call it the "Big Tie:" this recognition that opposing forces (landlords and tenants, employers and workers, corporations and environmentalists) share a stake in solving problems cooperatively.

In the minds of many sports fans though, ties are unacceptable. Remember how apoplectic people became when Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig declared last year's All Star game a tie? I'm not suggesting that the special task force commissioned earlier this year to investigate ways to make baseball more appealing to consumers should recommend that tie scores become part of the game. But life doesn't come to an end and exhilaratingly exciting events don't disappear from our memories simply because the games end knotted up. We don't kill each other over tic-tac-toe or checkers where ties are apropos. Isn't sex better when both partners climax? On the other hand, we don't bet large sums of money on these activities.

So, WUSA may go the way of the ABL, the women's professional basketball league that folded in 1998, or it may rise like a phoenix in a few years. Soccer fans still have the World Cup to look forward to - and perhaps another resurgence in women's athletics like the one engendered in recent years by the likes of Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain.

To insure success, I've got a suggestion for fans, players, and sponsors: agree to a compromise that allows games to finish in ties AND guarantees bettors half the money.

That way, everybody wins!

September 4, 2003

You can't boil office work down any further than this: removing staples and paper clips from documents, copying said documents, and replacing the staples and paper clips. This is what I'm doing during my latest attempt to make financial ends meet. Now I know how the quantum physicists felt after discovering the basic elements of the atom; you can't distill the building blocks of the universe (or corporate America) any finer. I mean, I don't even have to alphabetize...

August 27, 2003

The Planet Mars hasn't been this close to the Earth since cavemen used crude weapons to kill their food and ward off intruders. This must explain why the Bush administration is so belligerent...

August 22, 2003

Our lights went out tonight. No political intrigue though, as far as I can tell. We had a severe thunderstorm and a bolt of lightning flashed; followed moments later by our electricity dependent home going dark. I actually live in a town with a municipal power system so big power outages only occur when nature (rather than greedy industrialists) gets nasty.

I took this opportunity to teach my kids a lesson about U.S. consumption patterns and to be careful not to take American standards of living for granted. Seems like a good time to talk about renewable energy sources and conservation as well.

My daughter opened a lemonade "stand" this afternoon. She's seven, with raven red hair and a vivacious personality. A tip for marketing mavens and other capitalists looking to sell their products: the public is a sucker for cute kids. Not one "customer" paid the basic $25 cents she was charging per cup. But she did receive tips of 100, 200, even 400 percent.

How will she come to understand the dog eat dog, and kill thy competition formulas underlying our economy if everyone is so nice to her?

August 15, 2003

Amazing to see so many residents of New York City and Cleveland and Detroit helping each other out and cooperating with police and other safety officials during the "blackout of 2003." Sure, people thought it might be a terrorist attack; but for the most part, folks stayed calm under hot, muggy, scary, and uncomfortable circumstances.

But will they remain so complacent when they find out it was de-regulation of the utility industry that contributed to this potentially devastating crisis? Please browse over to Public Citizen's website for a statement on the blackout and articulate arguments in favor of energy regulation.

And by all means, be wary of individuals, websites, and government officials who claim they have irrefutable proof it was the action of terrorists that caused the power outage or any other disaster. We've been attacked that's true... but fear of terrorism is being used by those in power to push us down a road that could lead to fascism. Remember, Jews were blamed for all the world's problems and that led to the Holocaust.

My brother lives in a small, rural town about 100 miles north of NYC in the Catskill Mountains. A short time after the power went out, crowds of people gathered in the streets to discuss possible causes, and as my brother reports, many people seemed prepared to form lynching parties. More than the usual number of pickup trucks - with rack mounted rifles - could be seen cruising through town. The few "people of color" in town kept a low profile, including the proprietor of a local Indian restaurant. Once news filtered through that it was probably an accident along the electricity grid, emotions began to cool off. But my brother says it was very tense there for awhile... and reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode in which space aliens manipulate the citizens of a suburban town into killing each other out of fear and ignorance.

August 2, 2003

While waiting to hear if the IBEW and CWA workers will strike against the Verizon Corporation...

I'm listening on the radio to the Red Sox and Orioles baseball game. Boston's GM, Theo Epstein, made some deals last week, picking up pitchers Jeff Suppan and Scott Williamson. Both men were quoted in the papers saying it's great to be playing for a World Series contender. Whoa guys! This team takes lessons from mythological Greek hero (and fire giver) Prometheus and his raven tormentor: tearing out our livers and other vital organs every summer since 1918. But best of luck to the team... I'll be listening and watching and screaming throughout the season.

Speaking of mythological, those games against the New York Yankees last weekend were spectacular. The Sox took 2 out of 3 from the Yanks and even the game they lost was "edge of your seat" exciting. Then the team lost two games to the Texas Rangers (last place) and the first game in this weekend's series against the Orioles (4th place in the East division). But never discount the hate felt against the Sox by Oriole manager Mike Hargrove. It was Boston after all - coming back from being down 2 games to none - that beat Hargrove's Cleveland Indians during the 1999 American League playoffs. And probably cost Mike his job in the rock and roll city.

August 1, 2003

I heard a report on the commercial radio news station this morning. Universities around Boston and the nation are warning freshman students visiting for orientation to be wary of downloading music from the Internet. Appears the nasty mega-corps who own and run the music industry continue their efforts to prosecute (and persecute) anyone they perceive as taking profits away from them. (column by Dave Ralis on PhillyBurbs dot com if you're interested!)

For years, colleges have been giving incentives to students to use the Internet; in some cases significantly subsidizing the purchase of computers. Perhaps administrators will have to rethink this philosophy as enterprising students actually use their computers to develop and create software (think the original Napster and Gnutella) that defies and often destroys the business models favored by corporations... many of whose directors make large contributions to college endowment funds.

Another reaction: I guess the problems of sexually transmitted diseases and underage drinking on campuses have been virtually wiped out; supplanted by fears that SONY or Warner Brothers will come knocking on dormitory doors in the middle of the night accompanied by agents from the FBI and CIA.

Warning to students of Middle Eastern ancestry: no downloads of 3 Mustaphas 3 or Ofra Haza please.

Of course, historical xenophobia and current fears about terrorism have never stopped Americans from being influenced by Middle Eastern culture and fashion. I think it was Janet Jackson's 1995 "Runaway" video, with the singer and her dancers dressed like Princess Jasmine from Aladdin and jumping from airplanes to the top of skyscrapers and the Sphynx that caused enough sales of ankle bracelets, toe rings, nose studs, and baggy pants to make even your average, garden variety marketing executives smile broadly.

Me, I think fashion is just another word for conformity.

July 15, 2003

Humans are born to judge. Scientists say our ability to discriminate is the behavioral element that most separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Too bad we're so bad at it.

Rather than give people a chance to demonstrate their "true colors" most of us make snap decisions about others based on such artificially concocted measurements as class, race, and nationality. Not to mention such superficial indicators as clothing.

I carry a purse. It was made for me by my artist sister-in-law using the hide of a caribou elk and reminds me of the satchels used by American indigenous people. It looks very traditional to me. It has tassels. I use it to carry my cell phone and PDA which makes me laugh when I think about it. But it must be too weird for a man to carry such a thing because I get the craziest looks from people.

As I look at their expressions, I can sense people thinking "what kind of a person is this?" Questioning my sexuality; and my role in society. Their assessment may be colored as well by my pony tail. The bus and subway are the two best places to elicit these reactions, I imagine, because it's a captive audience with not much else to do.

And it doesn't matter who they are or what they look like. From black-clad, spiky-haired street kids hanging out in the Harvard Square "pit" to my conservative and conventional neighbors in the suburbs, I get the same disapproving looks. (Uh oh, I have to be careful about judging others...) Sometimes, I feel so uncomfortable about the purse, I don't carry it around. Then I think about what does go for fashionable and I feel a whole lot better about myself.

Perhaps, I'll start a new trend. (but probably not!)

July 1, 2003

I'm making plans for my wife and I to take time off from work and send the kids to relatives. The Supreme Court has ruled that state laws banning sodomy between consenting adults are not constitutional (nor fun!). And I don't want to miss any opportunities before a future group of supreme justices decides states such as Texas and Georgia had it right and re-establishes sexual dictatorship.

Massachusetts still has archaic and authoritarian anti-sodomy laws on the books but the state's highest court ruled in 2002 that prosecutors can't use them unless the people engaging in certain loving acts knowingly continue where the public can see them. I guess our justices have never made out in a car or felt the urge for some voyeurism. I hope they don't find some cold logic in their briefs (pun intended) to deny equal rights to same sex couples when they rule soon on "gay marriage."

A memory from the 1992 presidential election campaign... Comedienne Paula Poundstone commenting on George Bush and Ross Perot said "...at least Bill Clinton has had sex."

Marc Stern and I produce an annual radio program we call the "Christmas Sex Show." Over the years, we've learned that states routinely prosecute owners of adult merchandise (sex toys) stores and that pharmaceutical companies are scrambling furiously to manufacture and sell the female version of Viagra.

We're so damn prudish and intolerant; unless there's billions of dollars to be made.

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