An all-too-familiar combination of not enough time and not enough energy has the f/k/a Gang feeling particularly cranky today. So, we’re spreading the misery by sharing a quickie-complaint or two (or more) that have been accumulating on our To-Blog list. As usual lately, we’ll be posting in spurts, so come on back later tonight for more.
update (Oct. 30, 2007) We could use an Assignment Editor here at f/k/a — perhaps “TasksterEsq.” Then, we might just remember to remind ourselves and our readers, in a timely manner, of important events, holidays, commemorations, etc. For instance, a nice heads-up would have been helpful about Wellcat.com ‘s annual October 30th celebration of Haunted Refrigerator Night — a time to gather your courage and see “what evil lurks in the refrigerators of men . . . and women.” Around our place, some of the fridge to-do notes are haunted (and faded). Last year, f/k/a celebrated Haunted Regrigerator Day with some haiku and senryu, including:
new fridge
the motor’s faint hum
still therehome alone
sniffing leftovers
in the fridge. . . . . . …………………. . . by Yu Chang – Upstate Dim Sum
from the Haibun “refrigerator” (Am. Haibun and Haiga 2)october 30th
orange mold creeps across
a long dead rainbow trout. . . . . . . . . by Ed Markowski
– Modern Haiku (Vol. 37.2, Autumn 2006)
Advanced warning would also have led us to commemorate October 30th as the 8th Create a Great Funeral Day. Thanks to Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg for inventing the event, and penning an accompanying Workbook. Although it’s an activity even less popular with single guys than refrigerator cleaning, I hope to get back to this important topic in the very near future.
Estupido! That’s the first word to come to mind when thinking about a weblawgger who writes more than a dozen posts about sex offenders, and never reads or links to the related commentary by KipEsquire at A Stitch in Haste. Check out his take on Halloween and Sex Offenders, and his thought-provoking look at the issues raised by the registry listing of minors under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, as seen through the Genarlow Wilson case. [Thanks to Ed at Blawg Review for the tip]
baby sparrow–
his face unaware
of his parents’ fightsscrawny frog, fight on!
Issa
to the rescue………………………. by Kobayashi Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
A few days ago, we offered a big Bronx Cheer to all those New York Yankee fans who couldn’t bring themselves to cheer for the Boston Red Sox in this year’s World Series. The Bronx-Bombing Bad Losers surely went to bed miserable last night, when the Sox won the World Series in just four games, over the Colorado Rockies.
Therefore, although not a Rudy Giuliani fan, I was pleased last week when Rudy, a lifelong Yankee fan, said that he was rooting for the Red Sox, since he always backs the team from the Yankees’ league. It was not at all surprising, however, when the “New York media took Giuliani to task for his team turnabout. In front page placements, the New York Post called the former mayor a ‘Red Coat,’ and the New York Daily News proclaimed him a ‘traitor.’ (See “Giuliani shocks Yankee fans; backs Red Sox in World Series,” CNN.com, October 24, 2007)
October revival
all hands lift
to the foul ball…………………………………………………………. by Jim Kacian
from – Piedmont Literary Review (Circa 1992)
On the other hand, I was shocked Saturday morning when National Public Radio’s Scot Simon took Giuliani to task for his position. See “New Yorker Rudy Giuliani Claims Boston Red Sox” (Weekend Edition Saturday, October 27, 2007) Simon’s Saturday hour on NPR is the only sports show I’ll keep turned on, if I should find it coming out of my radio. That’s because [although his laugh is really annoying] he usually brings an intelligent, often humorous, sometimes ironic, human-interest approach, to sports coverage. Thus, it was disappointing to hear low-EQ, childish intolerance coming out of Simon’s mouth about Rudy and the Red Sox:
“I don’t feel I have the right or sense to judge another man or woman’s religious faith, sexual orientation, or family relations.
“But I’m sorry: Yankee fans don’t root for the Red Sox. It would be like Sylvester rooting for Tweety. . . .
[T]his week’s declaration that he’s rooting for Boston in the World Series makes Mr. Giuliani sound positively Clintonesque. . . .
“If next year’s elections come down to a Clinton-Giuliani contest, it will be interesting to see two Yankee fans run against each other — claiming that really, they’re Red White Sox Dodgers Tigers Cubs Angels Marlins fans; depending on where they need the electoral votes.”
I’m sorry, Mr. Simon, but there is a great difference between a Clintonesque attempt to be a fan of each team from every electorally important state and the Giuliani decision that, as an American League fan, he wil vote for the AL pennant winner in the World Series — even if it is his Yankees’ historic rival Boston Red Sox. It’s even the politically courageous thing for Rudy to do, since he surely wants New York’s vote in the Presidential election next year (and is unlikely to win the Massachusetts vote under any scenario). Baseball might be a game for men who are still boys, but that doesn’t mean that its fans have to be cry-babies, who never grow up enough to act with grace when a league rival makes it to the World Series.
p.s. For the record: Born in Rochester, NY, I was an avid Yankee fan throughout my childhood, and never switched my allegiance over the decades when I lived out of State. The Yankees are still the nearest big league team to my current home in Schenectady, NY, and — although I don’t pay much attention to baseball during the regular season — I do root for them when they are in the playoffs, despite having gone to law school in the Boston area.
Season’s over, but don’t forget f/k/a‘s Baseball Haiku Page. 
season’s end
every pennant on the stadium roof
pointing south
first red leaves
i swing late
on a change-up
rainy night
a hole in the radio
where a ballgame should be
………………………………… by ed markowski
October revival
all hands lift
to the foul ball…………………………………………………………. by Jim Kacian
– from Piedmont Literary Review (Circa 1992)crack of the bat
the outfielder circles
under the full moon
abandoned ballpark
gopher mound covers
home plate
……………………………………. by George Swede from Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)
“crack of the bat” – Baseball Haiku (2007)opening day . . .
green of the field
through the ticket gates……………………………………….………by Randy Brooks – Baseball Haiku (2007);
Past Time (1999)
Like the New York Times, we wonder why Your Editor’s former employer, the Federal Trade Commission is shirking its duty to protect the American consumer from Intel’s apparently misuse of its market power. See “F.T.C. Goes AWOL” (Editorial, Oct. 29, 2007). After noting that European antitrust authorities have accused Intel of “mproperly protecting its stranglehold of the microprocessor market by offering big discounts and rebates to computer makers who minimize the use of processors made by rival Advanced Micro Devices, and punishing those who stray with higher prices,” the NYT complains that the FTC “seems largely unconcerned . .. [and] is still holding back from opening a formal inquiry into the company’s practices.” They opine that:
“The F.T.C.’s Republican majority clearly shares the “starve the regulators and coddle industry” philosophy that has driven the Bush administration for seven years. It is bad for America’s consumers and it is bad for American business.”
If you’d like to learn more about the facts and policy of this case, you’re in luck: The American Antitrust Institute has issued AAI Working Paper #07-10, byNorman Hawker, which is titled “Wintel Under the Antitrust Microscope: A Comparison of the European Intel Case with the U.S. Microsoft Cases” (Oct. 29, 2007). In it, Hawker provides “a briefing that amplifies today’s NY Times editorial calling on the FTC to conduct a formal investigation of Intel.”
FTC Headquarters, Wash, D.C.
third day raking leaves —
the retiree breaks
for lunch………………………. by david giacalone — see orig. haiga at MagnaPoets Japanese Form (Oct. 29, 2007)
And, why is the FTC spoiling our Halloween fun by warning consumers that “all contact lenses, even those that are cosmetic, require a prescription. Businesses that sell cosmetic lenses without requiring a prescription are violating the law”? Actually, because we do all need a good National Nanny at times. Check out Avoiding an Eyesore: What to Know Before You Buy Cosmetic Contacts.
halloween party —
the shrink dances with a witch
and a cheerleaderPoem: David Giacalone
Photo by Cynthia Miner (1992)…………………………………………see the orig. haiga at MagnaPoetsJF (Oct. 28, 2007)
mistaken
for a mime —
the vampire ________Poem: David Giacalone
Photo by Cynthia Miner (1992)Help from My Friends: You’re invited to help me finish this haiga-haiku at MagnaPoets JF
Sorry, got to run and do a few errands. There will be more kvetsching here later this evening.
leisure time–
in cherry blossom shade
picking fightsescaping the fight outside
my hut’s
fireflies………………………. by Kobayashi Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue