Kenny Archives - Chris Carosa

Lessons From Failure Of Burning Barn Productions Unlock Success Rules That Drive You Forward (Part II)

By Chris Carosa on April 15, 2025

Inspired by such classic films as The Battle of the Bulge, Burning Barn Products reached its peak with the release of The Battle of Dortmund Circle. Still from the movie.

As revealed previously, (see “Lessons From Failure Of Burning Barn Productions Unlock Success Rules That Drive You Forward (Part I),” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, April 10, 2025), we couldn’t move forward towards success without understanding the initial lesson. After learning our first success rule—get one ally before rallying the group—we were ready to turn dreams into movies. Convincing your peers to jump into the unknown isn’t easy. That’s what my brother Kenny and I faced when our neighborhood film making ambitions took off.

With my brother backing me, it was easy to convince the other boys to go along.

Hmm, maybe not that easy. There were initially too many objections. Remember, we were Continue Reading “Lessons From Failure Of Burning Barn Productions Unlock Success Rules That Drive You Forward (Part II)”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1973, Alien, Ask Big Or Go Home, Battle of Dortmund Circle, Battle of the Bulge, Bigger Better Be Better, Bruce, Burning Barn Productions, carnival, Chili, Chili Avenue, Clint Eastwood, Dad, David, Dortmund Circle, Estes rockets, failure, Feed Their Imagination, Jack, Kenny, movie, Mr. Voegtle, NASA, Novelty Excites, operation sandtrap, Peter Principle, Proof Beats Doubt, robot, sci-fi, Stick to Your Strengths, success, tank, Twilight Zone, World War II

Lessons From Failure Of Burning Barn Productions Unlock Success Rules That Drive You Forward (Part I)

By Chris Carosa on April 8, 2025

The sun shone brightly in this opening still from 1973’s surprise hit Operation Sandtrap

Admit it. You’ve never heard of Burning Barn Productions—and frankly, why would you? It never made the Oscars. Heck, it never even made VHS. But its epic failure holds the keys to your next big win—because sometimes the lessons hidden in our disasters burn brighter than our successes ever could.

More likely, you looked at the title and instantly thought, “What is Burning Barn Productions?” You couldn’t care less about it failing—companies fail all the time—you just wanted to know if it produced movies or television shows. You were curious if you’d ever seen one of their productions.

Chances are, and I can almost guarantee this, you never saw either of the two movies that made it out of the production room. Yes, they were shown to live audiences, but if you’re Continue Reading “Lessons From Failure Of Burning Barn Productions Unlock Success Rules That Drive You Forward (Part I)”

Posted in Business Tips, Memoir of a Real Life Tagged 1973, Battle of Dortmund Circle, Bruce, Burning Barn Productions, carnival, Chili, Dad, David, Dortmund Circle, failure, Jack, Kenny, movie, Mr. Voegtle, operation sandtrap, success, tank, The Godfather, The Wingman Principle, Treehouse Club, World War II

The Empirical Past vs. The Remembered Past

By Chris Carosa on February 25, 2025

If you don’t know it by now, I like to tell stories. While I enjoy spinning yarns on historical events that captivate audiences, I much prefer those drama-in-(my)-real-life vignettes that allow me to explore fun lessons I lived through. Indeed, one of the first Carosa Commentary columns published in these pages told a coming-of-age tale that really took place at the bus stop when I was in fourth grade. It was a three-part series (that began with “Terror at the School Bus Stop—A True-Life Story (Part I),” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, January 11, 1990).

The trouble with these personal stories is that they’re personal. Unless I can figure out a way Continue Reading “The Empirical Past vs. The Remembered Past”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott Parkway, acausal, Carosa Commentary, classical physicist, determinism, entanglement, future, Kenny, memory, past, philosophy, Physics, present, psychology, quantum philosophy, quantum physics, retrocausality, School Bus Stop, Schrodinger's cat, superposition of states, Teresa, Time, Time Travel, wave-particle duality

‘I’ve Been Contemplating The Death Of An Old Friend…’

By Chris Carosa on December 3, 2024

The titular quote comes from the climax scene of the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” While this aired on September 22, 1966 as the third episode of the first season, “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was produced in 1965 as the second pilot for the seminal series. It sets the stage for all that is Captain Kirk.

Briefly, (spoiler alerts here, but if you haven’t watched it yet, that’s another issue), Captain Kirk’s good friend Gary Mitchell (played by actor Gary Lockwood), gains God-like powers when the starship Enterprise becomes the first vessel to go beyond the barrier at the edge of the galaxy (hence, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”). In a fight to the death, Kirk (with a little help) prevails. Despite his near-fatal confrontation, Kirk says Mitchell died in the line of duty because “He didn’t ask for what happened to him.”

“Where No Man Has Gone Before” stands out as a story of the bonds of friendship and its undying importance to Captain Kirk. Of all his friendships, it’s the one between Kirk and Continue Reading “‘I’ve Been Contemplating The Death Of An Old Friend…’”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life Tagged 765874 - Unification, Amok Time, brother, Chris Pine, death, Dr.Tolian Soran, Edith Keeler, Frank Poole, friendship, Gary Lockwood, Gary Mitchell, Kelvin, Kenny, Kirk, Leonard Nimoy, life, Nexus, Picard, Spock, Star Trek, Star Trek II, Star Trek III, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek: Generations, The City on the Edge of Forever, The Original Series, The Search for Spock, The Wrath of Khan, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Whom Gods Destroy, William Shatner

Halloween Memories

By Chris Carosa on October 29, 2024

There’s a certain childlike innocence about Halloween. It’s childlike because it’s best captured through the eager eyes of young children. Perhaps no holiday other than Christmas brings forth more enthusiasm than Halloween for youngsters.

Quite possibly, for a kid, it’s tough to say which yields more joy. Christmas certainly has its upside. After all, who can deny the happiness of receiving a roomful of gifts? But, for a child, these gifts come at a cost. You must wear stiff clothes, suffer through a long Mass, and put up with the boredom of even longer dinners with the extended family. All this keeps you from playing Continue Reading “Halloween Memories”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1964, 1967, 1968, Abbott Parkway, Christmas, costume, Dad, Dad Tax, devil, dinosaur, dragon, Halloween, home economics, Kenny, mannequin, mom, pumpkin, second grade, sewing, third grade

Remembering Father Latus

By Chris Carosa on September 10, 2024

Father Charles Latus presides over the first Wedding Mass celebrated at the new opened St. Catherine’s Church in the hamlet of Mendon, NY on September 28, 1991.

My father and brother erected the family estate with their own hands. After a long search my parents found a perfect parcel on which to build. While I toiled away deskbound in some distant cubicle, the other men in the family conveyed materials in a beat-up Ford pick-up to the site. Reminiscent of “Carosa and Son” (the masonry business started by my grandfather with my father riding shotgun), the two constructed a home of their dreams.

Oddly, it wasn’t their dream home. That would come decades later.

Coincidentally, they located both homes in the Town of Mendon. The first was the ideal family home. The second was the ideal home for retirement.

That first home was more than the “ideal” family home, it was the last home that housed the entire family – Mother, Father, two adult sons, a high school daughter and an elementary school daughter. We were all there. Until the company my father worked for decided to shut down the Rochester office and transfer him to Albany.

But that’s another story. This is a story about melding into a community.

We quickly adopted Mendon as our home. There are three things that make a community a Continue Reading “Remembering Father Latus”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrea, Betsy Carosa, Carosa and Son, Catholic, Charles Latus, Chris Carosa, Chuck Latus, Dad, Father Latus, Hamlet, Heidi, Kenny, Mary Lee, Mendon, Mendon Community Preschool, Mendon Fireman's Carnival, Mendon Youth Baseball, mom, Monsignor Schnacky, Monsignor Schnacky Players, Pack 105, Pre-Cana, St. Catherine's, wedding

The Day ‘The Democracy’ Died

By Chris Carosa on August 27, 2024

JFK Campaign Poster. Source: Unidentified Artist, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two hundred years. It was a great run while it lasted.

I wrote eight years ago how the establishment Republicans’ alienation of Donald Trump signaled the end of that party, (see “The Night the Grand Old Party Died,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, April 14, 2016). A week ago, their counterpart decided to return the favor.

To fully appreciate the significance of this, understand I was raised a Kennedy Democrat, pretty much like every other Catholic who grew up in the 1960s. Every home in my family and every home of my family’s friends had two pictures hanging somewhere among their walls. One was of the Pope. The other was of John F. Kennedy.

How effusive was the Kennedy aura in our family? My brother’s name was “Kenneth.” We called him “Kenny.” My great-great aunt Zia Pepe (that would be my mother’s great aunt and my grandmother’s aunt) watched us when my mother had to substitute teach. She called my brother “Ken-eh-dee.” It was a badge of honor for him. He collected all things Kennedy, at least for a short time.

Zia Pepe was babysitting us when JFK was assassinated. The three of us watched it on TV. She cried. We didn’t know why Zia Pepe was crying. As we were watching, our mother Continue Reading “The Day ‘The Democracy’ Died”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1980 Presidential Election, Buffalo, California, Catholic, Cheryl Hines, Democrat, Donald Trump, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Grand Old Party, JFK, John F. Kennedy, Kenny, New Hampshire, Reagan, Republican, RFK Jr., Ricky, Robert F. Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy, The Democracy, Zia Pepe

Hats Off To Easter!

By Chris Carosa on March 26, 2024

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My mother once told me what Easter evokes in her mind. She grew up in Lackawanna “on the other side of the tracks.” She’d work in my grandfather’s grocery store on Ridge Road. During the Easter season, as she walked up Ingham Avenue to her father’s shop, the alluring aroma of ethnic cooking wafted through her nostrils.

Those smells told you what neighborhood you were in—Polish, Italian, and a mixed ethnic conclave of everything from Mexican to Croatian. Even before getting her master’s degree in Home Economics, the teenage version of Lena had a nose for food. The yeasts were her favorite. From them, she could tell what type of bread each kitchen baked.

Arriving at her dad’s mom-and-pop supermarket, she entered an aromatic atmosphere that defined Easter, not just for her, but for nearly everyone of that era. The sweet scents of purple, pink & lavender hyacinths mixed with the perfumes of the tulips and lilies. My grandfather sold these potted flowers each Easter so families could adorn their festive tables with colorful centerpieces.

Fast forward a generation and the smells were still there. Only the tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils aren’t in pots. They’re planted along the front of the house between the sidewalk coming from the front door and the wall of pale yellow bricks. The flowerbed sat just below the four rectangular panel windows that open up to the parlor of the modest raised ranch home of my youth.

It’s funny. I don’t remember the smell of those tulips. I do remember the smell of the Continue Reading “Hats Off To Easter!”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott Parkway, Ben Hur, Blasdell, Blasdell Nursery, Charlton Heston, Dad, Davey and Goliath, Dortmund Circle, Easter, Easter Bread, Fran-n-Ceil's, Ingham Avenue, Kenny, Lackawanna, mom, Palm Sunday, South Park, The Ten Commandments

50 Years Ago—A Reflection On Star Trek: The Animated Series

By Chris Carosa on December 12, 2023

What were you doing in September 1973? Were you listening to Art Garfunkel’s first solo album? Watching Billie Jean King beat loud-mouth Bobby Riggs in straight sets? Or how about cheering as the Oakland Raiders’ Ken Stabler threw the winning touchdown pass to give the hated Miami Dolphins their first loss in 18 games?

Well, if you were me, you excitedly anticipated the realization of what you spent years waiting for: the first airing of a new Star Trek episode.

Of course, this would be an animated episode, but at least it would feature the voices of the original crew (except for Chekhov, that is).

Diligently watching the series also presented one of my first moral dilemmas. There was only one thing I liked better than Star Trek (and astronomy and the space program). It was Continue Reading “50 Years Ago—A Reflection On Star Trek: The Animated Series”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, Movie Reviews, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Art Garfunkel, Beyond the Farthest Star, Bill Breon, Billie Jean King, Billy Breon, Bobby Riggs, Chekhov, Chili Lions, Gene Roddenberry, Ken Stabler, Kenny, Livonia Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders, Robert April, Rochester Mustangs, Samuel A. Peeples, Sarah April, Saturday Night Massacre, Spiro Agnew, Star Trek, Star Trek Lower Decks, The Animated Series, The Counter-Clock Incident, The Original Series, Trekker, trekkie, Watergate, Where No Man Has Gone Before

Blasdell, The Beatles, And Brotherhood

By Chris Carosa on October 31, 2023

There was always The Beatles. Or at least it seemed that way.

I was too young to remember a time before The Beatles.

Strike that.

I certainly do remember the years before The Beatles (or, more appropriately, their music) landed on American shores. I can recall several memorable scenes from the time I was one or two years old.

I remember watching Mercury launches on the black-and-white TV in the living room of our apartment. I remember waiting for my mother to return home (from either work or school—that part I can’t remember) in that same living room on 83 Victory Avenue. I remember taking walks on that same street.

I remember staying at my grandparents on Ingham Avenue while my parents went out. I slept in the crib in the back room. Rather, I was supposed to be sleeping in the crib in the back room. What I really did was Continue Reading “Blasdell, The Beatles, And Brotherhood”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1960s, Abbott Parkway, Blasdell, Cub Scouts, Grow Old With Me, Hard Days' Night, Help!, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Ingham Avenue, John Lennon, Kenny, Klaatu, Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, Life Magazine, Now and Then, Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace, She Loves You, South Buffalo Railway, South Park Avenue, The Beatles, The Monkees, The Twist, Tony Sheridan and The Beatles, Victory Avenue, WGR, WKBW