Chris Carosa

Cuomo’s Albany Red Flags New York

By Chris Carosa on September 3, 2019

Imagine a knock on your front door in the middle of the night amid urgent screams from the other side. Half-asleep, you stretch yourself out of your comfortable bed and stumble your way to your foyer.

More awake now, you’re curious as to where all that light is coming from through the small sidelight windows that sandwich the entrance to your home. The knock at the door suddenly turns into a rapid pounding as your hands fumble around the door knob. “I’m right here!” you shout back. The bellows on the other side get only louder, and deeper.

After a moment, you can feel the lock disengage. You twist the knob and slowly begin to open the door. Perhaps a crack to see what’s going on, you tell yourself.

Only you never get the chance. The moment the bolt is released, the door bursts open and Continue Reading “Cuomo’s Albany Red Flags New York”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1967 Boston Red Sox, Aldous Huxley, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrew Cuomo, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Brave New World, dictator, Fahrenheit 451, Nancy Pelosi, Nazi Germany, police state, Ray Bradbury, Soviet Russia, The Gulag Archipelago, totalitarian

There’s Something Pleasantly Relaxing About a Steady Summer Rain

By Chris Carosa on August 27, 2019

What is it about a steady summer rain that so soothes the soul?

It’s a lazy summer Saturday. Tiny droplets gently pitter-patter on the skylight in the family room. Too soft to be called a “drumbeat,” it’s a beat nonetheless. A stable beat. A mesmerizing beat.

A beat that has you closing your eyes and relaxing. You snuggle a bit as you sink into the comfortably cozy couch cushions. It’s a reclining couch, triggered by a small button strategically placed within easy reach of your left arm. An electric whir compliments the soft thud of the continuing wet beat overhead as you lean back into your leisurely morning.

What is it about a steady summer rain that so soothes the soul?

Continue Reading “There’s Something Pleasantly Relaxing About a Steady Summer Rain”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott Parkway, Boy Scouts, Dad, Dortmund Circle, Kenny, mom

The Liberty of the Ad Lib

By Chris Carosa on August 20, 2019

Did you see what I did there?

“Liberty”…

“Ad Lib”…

Get it?

OK. I have to admit. It is a bit of a stretch. At least from a literal standpoint. The “lib” of “ad lib” doesn’t stand for “liberty.” It’s actually the short form of the Latin phrase ad libitum.

Ad libitum literally translates to “at one’s pleasure.” There’s no “liberty” in it at all. Our word “liberty” derives from the Latin word liber. In Latin, liber and libitum mean two different, albeit not wholly unrelated, things.

The Latin liber means “free” or “unrestricted.” You can easily see how we get “liberty” from Continue Reading “The Liberty of the Ad Lib”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged America, Aristotle, Bill Murray, Caddyshack, Chevy Chase, comedians, comedy, Foundiing Fathers, freedom, Grateful Dead, John Locke, Kodak Center, Libertarian, Marx Brothers, Natural Rights, Rodney Danferfield, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine

The Stormy Beginning When the Erie County Fair First Waded Into The Rock and Roll Craze

By Chris Carosa on August 13, 2019

On the subject of Pat Boone. It’s really interesting. It’s so interesting I thought readers might have a fun time with it.

I found this out while researching the history of my grandfather’s pizzeria in Blasdell, New York. Specifically, I discovered this little factoid when I began reading about my grandparents various marketing efforts. One of those ventures turned into a wholly separate business. To promote their new pizzeria, they accepted an invitation to operate a pizza stand at the Erie County Fair.

The first year they were at the Fair (1956) featured the Erie County Fair’s first ever Rock and Roll concert on its first two nights (Saturday, August 18^th, 1956 and Sunday August 19^th, 1956). Box seats for the concert were $1.50; grandstand and front row bleacher seats were $1; and other bleacher seats were 50 cents.

Remember, Rock and Roll was a relatively new phenomenon at the time. Elvis had his first big hit in 1954 and Little Richard (“Tutti Frutti”) and Chuck Berry (“Maybellene”) had big hits in 1955. In many ways, though, 1956 was to become a breakout year for Rock and Roll. It Continue Reading “The Stormy Beginning When the Erie County Fair First Waded Into The Rock and Roll Craze”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Bill Haley, Blackboard Jungle, Blasdell, Blue Suede Shoes, Butera, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Donna Rice, Elvis Presley, erie county fair, Gary Hart, Gene Vincent, grandfather, Happy Days, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Johnny Burnette, Jump the Shark, Lassie, Lillian Briggs, Little Richard, Maybellene, Milton Berle Show, Monkey Business, Pat Boone, pizza, Rock and Roll, Rock Around The Clock, Ron Howard, Sonny Dae and His Knights, Stage Show, Steve Allen Show, Superman, The Ed Sullivan Show, Tutti Frutti

A Salute to My Greatest (and Most Favorite) Teacher

By Chris Carosa on August 6, 2019

What’s the difference between a mentor and a teacher? Dictionary enthusiasts will quickly point out a teacher imparts broad knowledge while mentors provide advice and guidance. Teachers offer lessons you can apply generally to all aspects of life. Mentors show us how to live a very specific aspect of our lives. Teachers educate. Mentors demonstrate.

These are very universal terms. Certainly, teachers give advice and mentors instruct. Since I’ve had great teachers and great mentors (not to mention great coaches, a wholly different creature), I want to make the distinction as stark as possible.

By their very nature, it’s likely you experienced your greatest teacher as a young child. There’s a number of good reasons for this. Youth represents your most formative – your most impressionable – years. Elementary school teachers therefore occupy the greatest Continue Reading “A Salute to My Greatest (and Most Favorite) Teacher”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged astronomy, Dad, Galileo, Lackawanna, lowest grade, Mentor, Miss Powell, mom, teacher, Woodlawn Intermediate

Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?

By Chris Carosa on July 30, 2019

I‘ve always been puzzled by this thought: Was I born 50 years too early or 50 years too late? This thought resurfaced this week as I rode the train back and forth to Chicago while the rest of the world dazzled itself with remembering the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

It reminds me of a skit I once did as Cubmaster for Peter’s pack. We had our meetings in the cavernous Mendon Firehall. It was always filled to capacity. Filled with boys, their parents, and their siblings.

That night I donned a pair of Buzz Lightyear “wings” (actually they were my young nephew’s and I don’t know how I fit them over my shoulders without overstretching them). After strutting a few steps with those wings, I added a Woody hat on top of my head.

Maybe one of the Toy Story movies was out that year.

In either case, I asked the pack to guess who I was. Some of the boys says “Buzz” and some said “Woody.” I said “Nope” to each guess. Then I looked up to the parents in Pack 105 and said – in a distinct John Wayne kind of voice – “Well, pilgrim, some people call me a ‘The Space Cowboy.’”

And so it has been in my life. Teetering on the precipice of “born too early” while simultaneously straddling the ledge of “born too late.” Some might view this as a Continue Reading “Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Amtrak, Apollo 11, Apollo 13, astronomy, Buzz Lightyear, Catarina, Cesidia, Chicago, Cubmaster, Hamburger Dreams, History, John Wayne, Mendon Firehall, Miss Powell, Pack 105, Pat, Peter, space, Space Cowboy, Toy Story, train, Woody

We’ll Always Have Paris… How The Business of Sequels Destroyed America’s Youth

By Chris Carosa on July 23, 2019

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. That may be true, but it is also the greatest impediment to progress.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a certain business sense to imitation – and I don’t mean outright theft of intellectual property. I’m referring to the “variation on a theme” that has become a successful marketing trope since well before Beethoven, Bach, and The Beatles.

Companies use the goodwill (and good publicity) generated by a top selling product, give it a tweak here and there, then come out with a “new” product that borrows heavily from the theme of the original. Rarely, however, does this sequel product ever reach the heights of its predecessor.

Here’s an example. Following the tremendous success of Continue Reading “We’ll Always Have Paris… How The Business of Sequels Destroyed America’s Youth”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott and Costello, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Buck Rogers, Casablanca, Charlie Chan, Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, George Lucas, Han Solo, Hollywood, Ilsa, Kirk, Leia, Luke, McCoy, millenial, On the Road, Pepsi, Renault, Rick, serial movie, Spock, Star Trek, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Tarzan, The Wrath of Khan, Two and a Half Men, variations on a theme, Victor Lazlo

To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective

By Chris Carosa on July 16, 2019

To boldly go…
The Quest…
Man’s calling…
To boldly go…

As simple as opening the door to a strange room.

As complicated as unlocking the key to a new science.

The urge impels us all to take that first step into unchartered terrain.

Some would rather give others the initial chance.

But there comes a point when human nature drives us to follow those pioneers into a new land of innovation and invention.

That’s when we undertake The Quest.

The Quest.
To discover the undiscovered.
To explore the unexplored.
To know the unknown.

* * * * *

I wanted to write something special, something personal, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of mankind’s greatest voyage of exploration since Columbus… so far. It didn’t take me long to realize I had already written it and it had already appeared in The Sentinel. This Commentary originally appeared as “The Thrill of Beyond” in the July 20, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel to mark the 20^th anniversary of America’s lunar landing. Here it is in its entirety. (Click the link in the title to see the original in text form.)
Continue Reading “To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Apollo 11, Galileo, International Year of Astronomy, moon landing, RIT, Strasenburgh Planetarium, United Nations, Yale

Betsy Ross, Quarterback Incompletions, and the Real Secret Behind How to Communicate Successfully

By Chris Carosa on July 9, 2019

It’s July and that means training camp and double sessions aren’t far behind. This makes it a great time to offer a metaphor that may just help you be a better communicator.

How many times have you been watching a football game and see a quarterback throw a perfect spiral to… no one but an empty piece of turf? He had all day to throw, was under no pressure, and seemed incredibly self-assured as he released the ball. Despite all these things going in his favor, he completely missed the nearest receiver by more than a mile.

“Stupid quarterback,” you mumble if he’s on your team.

“Ha! Ha!” you laugh if he’s not.

No matter which colors you’re wearing that day, you might be wrong. It’s very possible Continue Reading “Betsy Ross, Quarterback Incompletions, and the Real Secret Behind How to Communicate Successfully”

Posted in Business Tips, Great Speaking Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Betsy Ross, Chevy Nova, communication, Cool Hand Luke, flag, Latin, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, quarterback, receiver, The Beatles, William Shatner

Party Like It’s 1959 – The Beautiful Dance of Strategy and Tactics

By Chris Carosa on July 2, 2019

The gray mid-day sky lit up with a brilliant blinding flash. Moments later came a sharp crackle. Its echo reverberated as if it came from inside a deep canyon.

Thus, were the thunderstorms of my youth. Short. Spectacular. And always worth pulling up a lawn chair and watching through the open garage door. It was only a one-car garage, but the space proved wide enough to fit me, my brother, and my father.

You know the kind of lawn chairs I’m talking about. They’re classic. The thin aluminum piping folded for easy and convenient storage. When unfolded you’d sit on its plastic webbing that cushioned your bottom for comfort. Kenny and I would often struggle to avoid being left with the one with the loosest webbing.

Best of all, these classic lawn chairs could get wet. This was often a risk while watching those wandering summer storms. Sometimes a gust of wind would blow the pouring rain beneath the slight eave of roof covering the garage. When that happened with sudden Continue Reading “Party Like It’s 1959 – The Beautiful Dance of Strategy and Tactics”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Anniversary, Big Tree, Big Tree Cub Scout Pack 489, Dad, Kenny, Lena B. Carosa, Mardi Gras, mom, Patsy D. Carosa, pig roast, PTA, strategy, success, tactics