The Maroon Vol. 3… No. 56
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
“Bringing us all to a place we don't want to lose."
Observer: The Mid-Summer Classic
Macky’s New York: Three, Two, One, Jump!
William Peay: Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame: Made For & Inspired By RHS Alumni
Project Arrow: Creating An Online Home For RHS Arrow Yearbooks
Mark Porro: A Cup Of Tea On The Commode
M + A NYC: Mighty Are We As One
James Stroker: Hope Coach
Jim Schoneman: Rock Hound
Siobhan Crann Winograd: Around The Village Council
Kathy & Ross Petras: You’re Saying It Wrong
Observer
The Mid-Summer Classic: Threads Versus Twitter
(MLB) Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game was played last night. Long known as the Mid-Summer Classic, it once featured hotly contested games between two baseball leagues. But, yesterday’s (MLB) All-Star Game was no match for the interest people have shown in the competition between text-based apps Threads & Twitter.
When Baseball for a time ruled our conversations, the MLB All-Star Game is now a secondary event. I love Baseball in all its configurations, because it can be played by boys & girls or mixed teams, young & old, without diluting the essence or inhibiting the pace of this 19th Century pasttime.
Unfortunately, Baseball has been usurped in the public’s attention by events like the Threads versus Twitter competition. Baseball is not in the news everyday while Social Media competitions are everywhere. Mostly its people making guesses as to what will happen in the fickle and faddish social media market. The companies themselves love the publicity and it has caused 100 million Instagram users to sign up to the newer entity Threads via their Smartphones.
As a life-long Baseball fan, I’m not sure the comradery and athleticism displayed on the Baseball diamond during the MLB All-Star Game needed to be replaced. The back and forth about Threads & Twitter is about as illuminating as Coke and Pepsi discussing the pros and cons of their brands. I like a good debate when the subject is not so banal as to replace the talk about a Mid-Summer Classic.
What’s more, the Threads versus Twitter contest is only a prelude to the bigger political fights to come. Our US Congress has turned its Trust-Busting attention to these mega-cap companies, that to date have had very little regulation or government oversight. Privacy advocates are finally being heard and can rightly complain to their elected representatives in Washington, D.C. about the amount of personal information Threads can collect, including health, financial, contacts, browsing and search history, location data, purchases and sensitive info. (This privacy disclosure is documented in the company’s data posted at the App store. Twitter also uses user data to induce advertisers to work with them.)
If the early success of Threads is any indicator of things to come then we are going to see wild claims about usage and much more serious claims about the various kinds of misinformation being spawned by both platforms as comment moderation is sacrificed to boost the bottom line.
We’ll see if technology can come to the rescue and mitigate the worst types of posts. If it does to a small degree, then people will have to be patient as no technology comes out of the box doing everything it is supposed to do or needs to do. That is a fact of Life worth considering during the next pause of a baseball game featuring your favorite team or players.
Macky’s New York
Matthew Cortellesi Photography
July 5, 2023 - Upper Westside
Three, Two, One, Jump!
A young boy shouts Three Two One JUMP as his friend leaps into the fountain.
This is a reflection shot looking east on 60th street.
Time 4pm
William Peay
Tales From The Wood…
South Broad Street
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
Made For & Inspired By RHS Alumni
Visit the RHS Hall of Fame
Digital Printing for the RHS Hall of Fame provided by Tim Boucher, RHS 1988
Project Arrow
Creating An Online Home For RHS Arrow Yearbooks
Details To Be Available Summer, 2023
Digital archiving by Michael Culver, RHS 2002, and his firm 1Row.com
Mark Porro
A Cup Of Tea On The Commode
Thank you all for your continued for "A Cup of Tea on the Commode." Your reviews have been gratifying and yet also humbling. (You might see yours in this video).
Amazon has the paperback on sale; save $3.15 (17%). My mom would be all over that!
M + A NYC
Mighty Are We As One
M + A is a destination devoted to art, artists, artisans and design. We are inspired by art as it relates to design: the soul, the spark that ignites beautiful ideas. We are equally as motivated by craft traditions passed down from generations.
Shop home décor and wearable accessories at www.mplusanyc.com
James Stroker
Hope Coach
It was about six days after the accident that left our family in a state of shock and disbelief, smothered with fear and self-doubt.
The challenges ahead with both children in life-threatening states seemed overwhelming.
Similar to the early stages of grief. We were grieving one life that had left maybe forever
And fearful of another life we were facing
But there was something waiting and the universe has a funny way of crafting symbols and signs to guide you.
Jody and I were on shifts at this point trying to grab as much energy as we could to show strength We didn’t know that we had.
I raced home in the pitch dark that early morning and grab the two dogs to do a quick meditative walk with them over at Somerville school.
Whitey hour 10 inch 14 pound west highland terrier. And Cindy or 23 inch 60 pound golden retriever.
They were both part of a script linked with the universe. It was about to send me a message that I would never forget.
As we got out of the car and walk down to the field, my body did not feel strong in my mind was in amygdala hijack covered with fear.
As across the field, the show is about to begin.
Midway through our walk at the fence line appeared an oversized, incredibly strong, loose male, German shepherd
All 3 of us stopped in our tracks
And I guess hoped and prayed that the worst wasn’t going to happen
But it did !!
At full speed teeth showing the shepherd came out us on the attack.
This universally scripted show started with a golden retriever, putting his tail between its legs and running for its own life in the opposite direction.
Normal crisis hits run and save your own life, abort the mission save your own hide.
I froze.
This is too much to deal with overwhelmed.
Succumb to the opponent. In other words I froze.
Then the hero began its part in the play.
Whitey reporting in at 10 inches, 14 pounds looked up at me straight in the eye gave the hint of a confident smile and then at full speed to cough like David attacking Goliath.
About 20 yards in front of the frozen me an 80 in front of the fleeing, Cindy fight began
For a good 30 seconds at little west highland terrier found something inside that I’m not so sure was possible.
The shepherd was shocked with the fight this dog found inside.
Suddenly it happened!
Sheppard surrendered and sprinted in the opposite direction and Whitey limped back And gaze at me straight in the eye.
This message from this little white dog to its owner could never of been more clear.
The obstacle is the way!
As Mark Twain said so beautifully, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
we got in the car that morning and I raced back the hospital with a mindset adjustment and a confidence kick up that from day on would be changed.
What is it today that’s scaring you in the eye?
What’s your German Shepherd is trying to make you pause and hesitate succumb to fear who are in your own way, procrastinate and run from the true problem?
So beautifully by Marcus Arelious, what impedes us empowers us what stands in the way becomes the way!
Jim Schoneman
Rock Hound
"The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge"
Siobhan Crann Winograd
Around The Village Council
Six months ago I took my seat on the dais. Thank you to our Ridgewood village staff, tireless volunteers & my fellow council members.
Kathy & Ross Petras
You’re Saying It Wrong
Ross & Kathy’s podcast: You're Saying It Wrong is a podcast that looks at what we get wrong—and what we sometimes get right—when it comes to this English language.