Chris Carosa, Author at Chris Carosa

Brighton’s Council Rock Primary School Must Change Its Name Immediately!

By Chris Carosa on January 4, 2022

This is not the kind of column I like to write. Still, there’s an obligation as a journalist to sometimes cross a line your mother would not like to see you cross. Alas, this is one of those times.

Our story begins where most stories begin: at the confluence of two well-worn travel routes. No one knows the origin of these two intersecting paths. Most likely, they began as something equivalent to a deer run, a track blazed by animals as they wandered from one watering hole to another in search of food.

It was only a matter of time before man followed those beasts, hunting them down for Continue Reading “Brighton’s Council Rock Primary School Must Change Its Name Immediately!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged A. Emerson Babcock, Avon, Ban, Brighton, Canandaigua, Council Rock, East Avenue, Evelyn Sharp, Genesee Falls, Indian Landing, Indian Trail, Irondequoit Creek, Iroquois, Jingle Bells, Orringh Stone, Politically Correct, Revolutionary War, Seneca, Stone Tolan House, Tryon, William Billinghurst, Woke

Just Say ‘No!’ To Drugs

By Chris Carosa on November 30, 2021

On March 31, 2021, then Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). According to the official State website, “The legislation created a new Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) governed by a Cannabis Control Board to comprehensively regulate adult-use, medical, and hemp cannabis. The OCM will issue licenses and develop regulations outlining how and when businesses can participate in the new industry.”

What does this mean?

Well, there are several gears in motion here. The first pertains to private use by adults. Here, the State says “The Office of Cannabis Management needs to draft and issue regulations to implement the law before adult-use sales can begin. However, while there Continue Reading “Just Say ‘No!’ To Drugs”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Andrew Cuomo, Cannabis, CATO Institute, consumption, dispensary, Marijuana, MRTA, opt-out, tax revenue

Busting The ‘If We Ain’t Growing, We’re Dying’ Myth

By Chris Carosa on November 16, 2021

Daedalus carefully showed his son how to apply the wax to affix the feathers to his shoulders and arms. “These wings will work,” he said. “We will finally be free of this prison.”

Ironically, it was Daedalus himself who had created the Labyrinth, a vexing array of “intricate passageways and blind alleys” (at least according to Merriam-Webster). Anyone – or anything – imprisoned in this complicated maze found it nearly impossible to escape. Indeed, mythology claimed only Theseus was able to find his way out of Daedalus’ Labyrinth (primarily because Daedalus gave him a big hint).

Why did Daedalus build the Labyrinth? To imprison the Minotaur, a half-man/half-bull monster (whose origin story is not fit to print in a family newspaper). BTW, Theseus went into the Labyrinth to kill the Minotaur (something to do with the ancient Greek version of Continue Reading “Busting The ‘If We Ain’t Growing, We’re Dying’ Myth”

Posted in Business Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged acquisition, Ariadne, Aristotle, business strategy, Daedalus, debt, Doctrine of the Mean, growth, Icarus, Labyrinth, Minos, Minotaur, risk, The Nicomachean Ethics, Theseus, virtue

Remembering Armistice Day and Celebrating Veterans Day

By Chris Carosa on November 9, 2021

Today is Veterans Day. At the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918, an armistice between opposing sides formally ended the fighting of ‘The Great War.” This was called “the war to end all wars” because the world realized the deadly nature of technology had finally convinced everyone that there was no romance of war.

Perhaps the fact that America learned this lesson a half century earlier in its own Civil War explains our country’s late entry into “The World War” (yet another name used to define the conflict that raged from 1914-1918. Indeed, it was William Tecumseh Sherman who Continue Reading “Remembering Armistice Day and Celebrating Veterans Day”

Posted in Great Speaking Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Armistice Day, Calvin Coolidge, chemical weapons, Civil War, Decoration Day, Dwight D. Eisenhower, lost generation, Memorial Day, Michigan Military Academy, tanks, The Great War, The War to End All Wars, The World War, trench warfare, Veteran's Day, William Tecumseh Sherman, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, World War II

Abandon All Bond, Ye Who Enter Here

By Chris Carosa on November 2, 2021

I don’t usually do movie reviews, but I when I do, I drink water. And I also usually write them immediately after seeing the film. I did that in this case. The editorial calendar, has the review coming out a month later. On the bright side, at least everyone who watched the movie will have done so by now, so I don’t have to warn you about spoilers.

For James Bond aficionados, there’s always been an obvious choice for “Worst Bond Film Ever.”

Following Sean Connery’s “retirement” after the box office smash You Only Live Twice, the film series’ producer Albert Broccoli had to look for a new Bond. It’s said he considered over Continue Reading “Abandon All Bond, Ye Who Enter Here”

Posted in Movie Reviews, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam West, Albert Broccoli, Batman, Burt Bacharach, Burton K. Wheeler, Captain Kirk, Casino Royale, Charles Feldman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, City on the Edge of Forever, Daniel Craig, Dante Alighieri, David Niven, Dick Van Dyke, Dr. No, Fry's Chocolate, George Lazenby, Hal David, Ian Fleming, Inferno, James Bond, Jimmy Bond, Marquess of Queensberry, MI6, No Time To Die, Oliver Reed, Peter Sellers, Roald Dahl, Sean Connery, Star Trek, The Look of Love, The Magical Car, Timothy Dalton, Ursula Andress, Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Family, Woody Allen, You Only Live Twice

A Memorable Week of Cottage Pranks

By Chris Carosa on October 26, 2021

Before there was The Purge (2013). Before there was The Hunger Games (2008). Before there was Rollerball (1975). Heck, even before there was the Star Trek episode “The Return of the Archons” (1967), upon which writer-director James DeManaco based his movie The Purge.

Before all these fictional dystopian fantasies, there was real-life Bladderball.

Bladderball was (notice the past tense) a massive (thousands of participants) game played at Yale from 1954 to 1982. It involved a large (6-foot diameter) leather “exercise” ball and Continue Reading “A Memorable Week of Cottage Pranks”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries

The Italian-American Triumvirate: #3 – Family

By Chris Carosa on October 19, 2021

We begin our third and final installment of the Italian-American Triumvirate to honor Christopher Columbus and all descendants of Italia during October as we celebrate Italian-American Month.

The third item on the list has been known by many names. In fact, those who remember football in the 1960s may also remember the three pillars being defined quite differently (and creatively). Italian-Americans played a prominent role in this.

On June 16, 1970, Brian Piccolo, starting running back for the Chicago Bears, died. Only seven months earlier, on November 16, 1969, Piccolo scored a touchdown on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons. He then surprised his teammates by Continue Reading “The Italian-American Triumvirate: #3 – Family”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged ABC Movie of the Week, Bill Eaton, Billy Dee Williams, Brian Piccolo, Brian's Song, business, career, Chicago Bears, children, Christopher Carosa, Country, family, Gale Sayers, God, grandma, Green Bay Packers, Hawaii Five-0, I Am Third, Italian American, James Caan, M.D., Marcus Welby, Marlon Brando, Santino, Sonny, Superbowl, The Godfather, The Mod Squad, Vince Lombardi, Vito Corleone

The Italian-American Triumvirate: #2 – Country

By Chris Carosa on October 12, 2021

As mentioned last week, October is Italian-American Heritage Month. Not only do we take a day (either the original October 12 or the second Monday) to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian that most influenced America, but, like other ethnic groups, we spend the entire month honoring those who immigrated to the United States centuries after the first Italian discovered a brand new world.

This is the second in a series of columns on “the Big Three,” the three institutions that, though they to some extent describe all Americans, speak especially to the cultural heritage of Italian-Americans.

Recall the meaning of “Italian-American.” It represents an acknowledgment that you are Continue Reading “The Italian-American Triumvirate: #2 – Country”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abruzzi, Accadia, Al Smith, American, Antonin Scalia, Apennine, Apollo, bigotry, Bing Crosby, Carosa, Columbus, Dad, Dominic Salvatore Gentile, Eddie Rickenbacker, Ernest Borgnine, Fontecchio, Frank Sinatra, Gemini, immigrant, Italian, Italian American, Italy, Joe DiMAggio, Jr., L'Aquila, Mercury, NASA, Rome, Rudolph Valentino, Samuel Anthony Alito, Serradifalco, Sicily, Walter M. Schirra, World War II, Yankee Clipper

The Italian-American Triumvirate: #1 – God

By Chris Carosa on October 5, 2021

Each October we celebrate Italian-American Heritage Month. The month is obviously chosen in honor of the Italian that most influenced America: Christopher Columbus. Of course, Columbus’ discovery of the New World predated the creation of the United States by about three centuries, but our country long ago adopted his journey as an inspiration for the nation.

Columbus has since been joined by many Italian immigrants who would become Italian-Americans.

That’s an important distinction: “Italian-American.” It recognizes that you are, in fact, an Continue Reading “The Italian-American Triumvirate: #1 – God”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged and Gold, Aristotle, Baptism, Catholic, Christian, Christopher Columbus, church, Confirmation, Crassius, diocese, Ethos, First Holy Communion, First Triumvirate, Fontecchio, Gaius Julius Caesar, Glory, God, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Italian American, Italy, jesuit, John F. Kennedy, Ku Klux Klan, Logos, Marriage, Mass, Modes of Persuasion, New England, Pathos, Pompey, Protestant Ethic, rhetoric, Roman Republic, Rule of Three, Spain, SPanish, Three Kings, trium virorum, unification of Italy

Remembering Mike Francesco: A Community Builder

By Chris Carosa on September 28, 2021

As I sat in the pews of St. Catherine’s last Friday morning, I couldn’t help but admire the courage and clarity of Andrew Boyce and Conner Boillat as they described and honored the very full life of Mike Francesco.

Mike touched the lives of many in our little neck of the woods, even those who may have never known him. He, together with his late son Michael, Jr., conceived and built what has become the hamlet of Mendon’s community cornerstone.

For almost four decades, I was one of those who was blessed to have experienced the wonder of Mike. While I can’t pretend to offer more than his family, I can share memories – and, more importantly, the context of those memories – that affirm their stories from a non-family perspective.

I met Mike and Rose in the mid-1980s shortly after I moved back to Mendon in the house I Continue Reading “Remembering Mike Francesco: A Community Builder”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrew Boyce, Assembly Drive, Carosa & Son, Chili, Conner Boillat, Dixon Woods, fieldstone, Gates Chili, Karla Boyce, Kenneth P. Carosa, Kenny, Mendon, Mendon Republican Committee, Mendon Square, Mike Francesco, Rose Francesco, Rotary Club, St. Catherine's Church