Leaky Faucets

What story has been dominating the news during the last week?  Iraq being on the brink of civil war?  The Iranian nuclear negotiations?  The NSA wiretap investigation.  No, it’s the Dubai Ports deal.

I’ve been racking my brain to figure out why Bush has been so ardent in his defense of the deal against the outcry of Congress, the public and the media including many in his conservative Republican base.  First, I was thinking that his love of business and free trade trumps all other considerations including national security.  This could be true, but there may be something even darker at work here.

In a “Monk”-like moment as I was listening to NPR’s “Morning Edition” this morning, it hit me.  Could this whole thing be a set up?  Is Bush throwinga 100 lb. red herring at the American people.  Isn’t it possible and even probable that Karl Rove cooked up this scheme to distract the country from much bigger problems and the President’s rapidly declining popularity, knowing full well that the Dems would go for it hook, line and sinker (pardon the use of another fishing metaphor) as they futiley try to prove they are just as tough as their opponents.  And, perhaps the Republicans in Congress were in on it too.  They could look non-partisan and tough standing up to the President on national security.  As for Bush, he doesn’t have to worry about another election so he doesn’t have much to lose here.  By taking one for the team, he could help the Republicans keep both houses of Congress in November.  Brilliant strategy once again, boys.

Inspired by attending my first ever 9-ball tournament last weekend, I decided to rent “The Color of Money” from Net Flix.  We watched it last night.  Twenty years after this movie was made, it seems a bit dated, particularly Tom Cruise’s character.  His character, which was the height of cool in 1986, is laughable now, especially when viewed through the current prism of his off-screen behavior.  He played the same cocky hotshot role in other movies at the time such as “Top Gun” and “All the Right Moves.”  Every girl in my 7th grade class was madly in love with Cruise.  Looking back now even they would probably laugh at him.  Paul Newman, acts circles around Cruise in “The Color of Money.”  His character is still fresh today, a testament to his strength as a performer.  Keith McCready, mentioned in my previous post, “The Earthquake,” has a cameo role in the movie as the pool champion Grady Seasons.  He was a brash young pool player at the time and probably portrayed himself as Grady.  Aya pointed out that he didn’t age quite as well as Mr. Cruise.  Years of drug and alcohol abuse will do that to you.  One final note: despite her huge 80s hair in this film, I was reminded of why I thought Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was so hot back then.

I have something truly scary to report.  I actually agree with President Bush and the White House on something.  I’m sure our reasoning is completely different, but the fact that we agree is truly frightening.  I’m talking about the whole Dubai Ports World flap.  Together with the Prophet Muhammad cartoon debacle, the West is looking really bad right now; Neither the U.S. nor Europe look like very tolerant societies at this moment.  I suppose this is not that surprising considering our histories, both recent and long ago: imperialism, colonialism, slavery, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib.  These current problems have deep roots that must be acknowledged if we are ever to get past them. 

One thing that this issue is showing is that U.S. Politicians are proving more and more to have no scruples at all.  The most politically calculating of them all is Senator Hilary Clinton of my home state, New York.  (Full disclosure: I voted for Hil in 2000.)  When she jumped into the fray, right then I knew this was utter bullshit.  She, like all the other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that are up in arms about a UAE-owned company controlling U.S. ports, are exhibiting a disgusting combination of fear mongering and election year pandering, which are really inseparable these days.  With Hilary, it’s more about 2008 (gasp!) than 2006, trying to show she’s tough on national security, but really it’s about racial profiling and playing to the xenophobia that’s sweeping the nation.  I thought New Yorkers were more tolerant but I guess underneath it all they’re perhaps the same as the rest of the country. 

This fear mongering and increasing intolerance of Arabs and Muslims is scary but not surprising.  Listening to a discussion of this on NPR yesterday, a few things struck me.  First off, one of the guests, coservative something or other Phyllis Schafly is a certified right-wing nut.  She really went after Bush hard and feebily attempted to defend herself against the logic of another guest, a Palestinian-American, who made some excellent points.  He compared the current climate to World War II when the U.S. rounded up Japanese-Americans (the enemy at the time) and put them in intenment camps.  Will that happen again on our soil?  Why not?  If supposedly liberal senators like Chuck Schumer call for it, who will stop it?  The law-and-order conservatives?  I think not.  As I listened, I also thought about the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” and how the Tutsis were being called cockroaches on the radio and murdered because of their ethnicity.  Could that happen here?  It might seem farfetched now, but the way things are headed, one never knows.  Things are really bad here right now.  It’s like McCarthyism all over again.

Aya recently got an e-mail from someone she knows that included a picture of Jesus being crucified.  The sender is a born-again Christian to whom Aya recently e-mailed something, enabling her to capture Aya’s address and add her to her Christian group e-mail list.  Aya is Catholic but she would never send nor hope to receive this type of e-mail.  Religion to her is a personal matter, not one that should be the fodder for spam mail.  I wonder what Christian chain spam sounds like.  Probably something like this: “forward this message to 10 friends or you will perish in eternal hellfire.”

Much like darts and bowling, pool can hardly be called a sport. I witnessed this first hand this past weekend as I spent the majority of my time watching a 9-ball tournament featuring some of the world’s top players as well as some cagey amateurs. Half the players had pot bellies and several took cigarette breaks during their matches. At least one competitor appeared to be in a persistent state of inebriation. These players can hardly be called athletes. Mika Immonen works out regularly, which probably helps his game, but one of the better players is extremely overweight.

True, some baseball and football players are large (think first basemen and offensive linemen) but most of them can still be considered conditioned athletes. Pro pool players are very talented but they are certainly not athletes and pool is not a sport.

Last weekend, surrounded by Filipinos and Europeans, I found myself in the surprising position of feeling that I had to defend America, as my counrty and its people were under a constant verbal barrage. The attacks were not political because I would not have disagreed, but cultural. It was mostly about how Americans are sloppy, out of shape slobs who don’t dress well, while Europeans are suave and debonair fashionistas. I, myself, often participate in America bashing and much of their remarks were true, but just like a Jew can tell Jewish jokes and get away with it, while a Gentile cannot and should not, America bashing is less nasty when done by Americans. I did not really respond forcefully by cracking on Europe with jabs at their hypocrisy and reliance on American to defend them, but I did gently remind them that I was present, and I am in fact an American born and raised, though not always proud.

On my birthday, I decided to treat myself to some new books. I have a shelf full of unread books but none of them appeal to me right now so I wanted some fresh material. Particularly, I wanted a good novel to read as I’ve mainly been reading non-fiction and magazines lately. So I went down to Strand and decided to give myself a budget of $50. That goes a long way at the Strand where the prices are much lower than Barnes. Going there is as much a political choice as an economic one as I’d rather not by from a big chain whenever possible.

After an hour or so of serious looking, using the folded and creased list that I’ve kept in my wallet for years as a guide, I emerged with the following: “Take the Cannoli” by Sarah Vowell (I’ve never read any of her books but love her on “This American Life” and the hilarious goth makeover piece is in there); “Play It As It Lays” by Joan Didion(I’m half way through “After Henry,” her collection of essays on politics and culture.  I enjoyed it but didn’t want to finish it at this time); “Ten Little Indians” by Sherman Alexie (I read one of his stories in The New Yorker a few years ago and liked it); “A Long Way Down” by Nick Hornby (loved “High Fidelity” and thoroughly enjoyed “How To Be Good”; and “Post Office” by Charles Bukowski.

I started the Bukowski first.  I read the first few pages in the library last year, but didn’t check it out.  How can you not like a book that has this passage on the second page: “But I couldn’t help thinking, god, all these mailmen do is drop in their letters and get laid.  This is the job for me, oh yes yes yes.”  Bukowski’s language is simple and straightforward, yet the images it portrays are remarkably vivid.  Much like Camus in “The Stranger,” he cuts through the flowery bullshit and puts you right inside the demented mind of his main character, Henry Chinaski.

I promise more updates as I get through these books, but I must warn you that I am a slow reader with a short attention span.

This weekend I attended my first ever pool tournament, the Turning Stone V1 9-Ball Classic, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York near Syracuse. We were invited there by one of the participants, Mika Immonen, one of the top players in the world and a friend of Aya’s brother. He placed fifth in the tournament, although he should have done better.

He was “sharked” (or thrown off his game by endless shit talking and other actions that broke his concentration) in his match against Keith “The Earthquake” McCready. McCready is a grizzled veteran in every sense of the word. He has a gravelly face with a reddish nose and several missing or broken teeth. He behaves like a character in a Bukowski novel; he always appears drunk and looks like he’s been in many a bar fight. His first words after beating Mika were “where’s the beer?” He is probably at least slightly buzzed when he competes and maybe trashed. He was a known user of hard drugs and perhaps stil is. McCready talks with a Southern accent even though he grew up in Southern California. Perhaps that’s a drunk accent. He’s very animated during matches in contrast to the sedate, almost comatose demeanor of the other players. He frequently talks to himself in the third person and loves to entertain the crowd with his antics and offbeat commentary. During an earlier match with Dan “Kid Delicious” Basavich he delighted in imitating his obese opponents waddle. During another match, he asked a man hooked up to an oxygen machine to move because the noise from the machine was bothering him. He tries to get inside his opponents’ heads and frequently succeeds. 

If I ever become a Christian, I think I’d like to be an Episcopalian.  There churches are so beautiful: the one on 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights and the old one on Jamaica Avenue.  They are so stately and regal.  Grace Church on Broadway, which I walked by yesterday on my way to Strand is spectacular.   I also like the Episcopal flag.  Besides, Episcopalians are much more liberal than Catholics and other Christian sects in America.  Remember Eugene Robinson, the gay priest from New Hampshire?  He’s Episcopalian.

One of the positive side effects of my broken iPod is that I have been listening to NPR while running.  Today, I did the 6-mile loop in Central Park listening to The Leonard Lopate Show.  This was truly nourishment for both my body and mind.   First up was a discussion of the horse meat industry in the U.S.  Horse meat is illegal to consume in America, but companies are allowed to export it abroad where it is happily devoured by Japanese and European gourmands.  They use it for sushi in Japan.  Animal rights advocates are up in arms about the industry and want it outlawed.  One of the guests, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado was talking about how horrible and cruel to the animals the meat industry is in general, not just the horse meat industry.  It’s a big lie, she said, that these animals are treated humanely.  Her class animals and society turns a lot of people into vegetarians.  I’ve been kicking around that idea myself this past year, an ideal I would have thought ridiculous just a few years ago.  It probably won’t happen because I really like the taste of meat, but I’ll keep my options open and cut back as much as I can, and try to eat mostly organic meat.  While I was listening I felt a little guilty about going to The Palm tonight, hopefully for prime rib, but it is my birthday and the quality is really good so I should enjoy myself.  One interesting thing I learned during this discussion was that Premqrin, the popular hormone replacement taken by menopausing woman is an acronym for Pregnant Mare’s Urine.  According to the sociology professor, horses are kept pregnant to produce Premarin and their foals are slaughtered.  Now that is cruel.  There are many alternative hormone replacements that aren’t cruel such as soy-based ones.

The second segment on the Lopate show was an interview with author Maile Meloy who has a new novel called “A Family Daughter.”  She was a great interviewee and gave some great insight into the writing life.  Any time I hear an author interviewed I get re-inspired to write, reinstilled with the idea that it isn’t too late for me and I just need to put in the effort.  Well, I’m writing aren’t I?