Bringing history to life

Students at the Umana Middle School have helped develop a video game that is set during the Battle of Chelsea Creek, a little-known but key skirmish during the American Revolution that took place just off-shore of East Boston.

A Boston Globe story today talks about the game and other elements of Eastie's history that are on display at the Cultural Exchange Center at 80 Border Street.

Finding Unity in Maine

Boston.com has an interesting story about several Amish families moving into the small Maine town of Unity, which is 90 miles or so northeast of Portland. Central Maine is beautiful, rugged, generally undeveloped and often struggling economically. The Amish have been able to find some relatively inexpensive land and neighbors that admire their lifestyle.

I've been to Unity to attend the Common Ground Country Fair, an annual event that celebrates organic farming and rural living in general. It's an interesting event, with music and food and cool exhibits.

I'm also intrigued by the Amish. I'm not down with their hardcore religious beliefs and the strict patriarchy they usually observe, but there is a great deal to be said for living more simply and closer to the earth. (Disclaimer in advance of sneers: Yes, I own a car, PC, laptop, cell phone, etc.)

Feast canned

Our friends at East Boston Online have posted a statement from Italia Unita announcing that this year's feast has been canceled "[d]ue to the current economic climate..." The group has run a three-day festival celebrating Italian culture for the past 14 years.

Update (6/5): The Gl0be weighs in.

Symphony of horns

Turning onto Saratoga Street today I was greeted by a horn blaring for about five seconds because the driver of an SUV was driving a bit too fast and therefore felt that I had cut him off. He drove right up my bumper with his gas guzzler in a ridiculous attempt to, I guess, intimidate me.

Later, while I was outside grilling in my aunt's yard there was another long horn burst when a pick-up truck came to a complete stop on Porter Street (or, technically, Visconti Road). The driver of the pick-up jumped out and went to the window of the stopped, beeping vehicle and started screaming that he had been cut off. He added, of course, a few curse words and the usual ignorant "go back where you came from."

Are tempers flaring because of the heat, or have we lost any sense of public decorum?

Ignoring the realities of capitalism

Late in the film Michael Clayton, when the title character, played by George Clooney, casts off his role of defending wealthy screw-ups and the giant corporations they work for and gives uNorth -- the mythical agrochemical multinational that's been knowingly poisoning groundwater for years -- what they deserve, the small crowd at the Capitol Theater in Arlington gave out a cheer. Like other films of this genre, the audience is on the side of the renegade lawyer/whistle blower/victim, and that is both the way the director and writer have set things up as well as the way it should be.

However, what occurred to me as I sat there the other night was this: Why doesn't the same emotion expressed in the dark of the cinema follow us out when the film is over so that we may call corporations to task for what they are doing in the real world and how they are affecting our actual lives?

Instead, we shrug and allow this to continue all around us. Maybe corporations are so skilled at diverting our attention and obfuscating the truth that we don't know exactly what is going on; or maybe we look at the problems and just feel like they are too overwhelming to deal with; or maybe, sadly, we are so used to our comfortable and convenient lives that we choose not to look behind the curtain or to avert our eyes even when the curtain is pulled back by someone else.

It is sad and disheartening. Chemical companies continue to pollute the air, the water and the soil; agribusiness corporations and fast-food chains sell us processed food products that wreak havoc on our health; the energy and mining industries rape and pollute the planet; pharmaceutical companies convince us we need to be constantly medicated; retail stores screw workers from the US and abroad by demanding cheaper products to fatten their profit margins; insurance companies go to great lengths to avoid paying benefits to those who deserve them; financial services corporations keep us all in debt with outlandish interest rates; and the beat goes on.

This is not a few rogue elements operating in the system; this IS the system. Capitalism ensures that all decisions made by corporations use the bottom line as the only criteria. As a result, any concerns about public health, the environment or justice take a back seat. Meanwhile, the majority of us sit here and watch, saving our outbursts for darkened movie theaters.

Thoughts on Italia Unita

I stopped by the Italia Unita festival on each of its three days, and I saw a number of people that I hadn't seen in years, as well as all four of the candidates for the open House seat. The weather was nice, so it was the perfect weekend for such an event. I do, however, have a few items that I'd like to point out:

1. The food was much too expensive. I bought very little to eat at the feast because I decided not to pay more than I would regularly pay for something. A bowl of ziti for $8? Are you serious? A street festival is not a license to rip people off, but that's what happens. My understanding is that vendors pay $800 for a booth at Italia Unita, which makes it difficult for them to break even, never mind make a few bucks, during this relatively small-scale feast. It's too bad. I would have liked to try a sausage, some pasta or a slice of pizza, but I'm Italian American, so I eat those all the time. I'm not going to pay a ridiculous amount because it's a feast.

2. The bocce court was a dangerous place. In past years I remember seeing old Italian men playing bocce all weekend, but this year all I saw were kids throwing the balls around. At one point Saturday night there were a handful of youngsters wantonly heaving the solid spheres back and forth. The group I was with moved away for fear of being clocked. Here's a suggestion: Have someone on hand to supervise the court and to give bocce lessons. It'd be nice to see those same kids learning the rules and technique of the game. Now that would be spreading Italian culture, wouldn't it?

3. The featured musical performer was annoying. Why were Frank Stallone and his band playing loud rock and roll? How does that connect me to my heritage? I'm sure it's difficult to line up and pay for quality, interesting entertainment, but I just wasn't feeling it this year.

Having said all that, I'm glad there is a feast in East Boston, and I give credit to the Italia Unita organization.

Language police

While the US is mired in Iraq and one-third of our food supply comes from notoriously-unregulated China, a Senate committee today was working to keep obscenity off of our radios and televisions. Are they serious?

It is ludicrous that our society believes there are words that are "bad," and it is outrageous that one can be prohibited from using those words in certain situations. If we stopped treating some words as if they are forbidden, it wouldn't be long before the shock of hearing them would dissipate and we could all move on.

Government limiting free expression is far worse than hearing a few four-letter words. What children hear on the radio and TV is the responsibility of their parents. The rest of us are old enough to make our own decisions about such things.

Italians in Boston

East Boston's Italia Unita will hold their 13th annual Italian Festival this coming weekend in the neighborhood's Central Square area. Having been away from the city for a few years I missed recent incarnations of the festival, so I plan to attend and take some photos this year. As in the past, I'm sure that most of the food prices will be outrageous. Unfortunately, many vendors see this as an excuse to rip people off. However, the fun is seeing people I haven't seen in years.

In today's Globe, Kevin Cullen notes that former Boston mob boss Jerry Angiulo will be in for quite a surprise when he returns to the North End in September after completing a 24-year jail term. Fewer than 30 percent of that neighborhood's residents are of Italian descent, according to census date that Cullen cites. The North End, by virtue of its European-style street layout, plentiful restaurants and short walk to downtown and the financial district, is extremely desirable to young people with money. (Photo above is from the North End celebration of Italy's World Cup victory last summer.)

Eastie, if I remember correctly, is around 50% Italian American. This neighborhood also presents convenience to the city via car or subway, as well as a killer view from Maverick or parts of Jeffries Point, so we have our share of young professionals, but this community's bread-and-butter has always been immigrants looking for a foothold on a better life. English, Irish and Jewish immigrants came in waves before the Italians, and now waves of South and Central Americans follow the same path.

For a look back at the impact of Italian culture in this city there is The Boston Italians, a book written by Stephen Puleo that was published earlier this year. I have not read the book -- and I was unable to attend Puleo's reading at the Orient Heights Branch Library -- but I've read good things about it.

There was a time when it seemed that all of the political leaders in city and state were of Irish descent and that South Boston had an unfair amount of influence, but recently we've had an Italian American governor (Cellucci) and senate president (Travaglini), and we still have an Italian American mayor (Menino) and house speaker (DiMasi), and the Globe and Herald seem to be filled with stories about East Boston. The winds do shift, and there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when Latinos will hold many of the key political offices. That's the way of the world.

Ciao.

Fourth festivities now a dud

When something becomes popular there is always a chance it will be ruined by such favor and attention. Restaurants are often a good example of this, especially when they expand to more locations. The original concept and execution may have been wonderful, but attempts to replicate it -- often because the owner has now become a businessman and not the cook or even the proprietor of a single location -- result in a less than genuine experience of inferior quality.

Bertucci's was once a pretty good place for a casual meal of pizza and some pasta, then they expanded and now have 92 eateries. Each level of expansion -- just as in baseball -- weakened the overall product. There's a story at Boston.com today about how Bertucci's, now owned by a New York holding company, is ready to start expanding more after a two-year moratorium (because of subpar sales...I wonder why?). Maria Feicht, Bertucci's senior vice president of marketing, is quoted in the story as saying, "...it's all about getting [market] share." I'm sorry, Ms. Feicht, but it's all about the food. When your restaurant started thinking in terms of market share, that's when it became lost.

Imagine Santarpio's expanding to 50 or 100 locations. That would kill it. The pizza would become like everyone else's. The same goes for East Boston Slush. If that lemony goodness was for sale on every streetcorner, then the production would have to shift from a back room in a doorway on Bennington Street to a factory, and then what do you have? I'll tell you: Richie's Slush. The unique quality of things is often lost when they are tampered with, and such tampering almost invariably occurs when businesses grow and try to become all things to all people. Look at the transformation of Harvard Square, which is now filled with chain stores and upscale eateries.

These thoughts occurred to me as I watched the Boston Pops Fourth of July concert and fireworks last night on television with friends. A cherished Boston tradition seems to have been butchered and rendered as flavorless as a boiled hot dog. Now it's all about the national telecast, the guest host, the mega-star musician and the phony attempts at elevating the new "product" into something special. Host Craig Ferguson claimed excitedly that the fireworks display we were about to witness was going to be "unbelievable." Not only do I believe that such fireworks are possible, but this particular exhibition was lackluster at best.

There's a reason that we often pine for "the good ol' days." Whenever we attempt to move forward there should be an assessment of what we are giving up with such a move. If losing the essence of something may be the cost, then why do it?

Older and wiser

Those of us who are first born already knew this: A recent study shows that the eldest child in a family generally has a higher I.Q. than his or her siblings.

And we're more responsible, too.

Off Target

In an early Woody Allen film called Bananas, his character's attempt to discreetly purchase a porn magazine is foiled when the cashier holds up the item and yells to a co-worker, "How much is a copy of Orgasm?"

Yesterday I was at the Target in Revere, just over the East Boston line, and I witnessed a similar scene. Two male employees, both youngish, were with an older female customer and one yelled to yet another young male employee, who was about 50 feet away, "Where are the hair removal products?!" The third employee hollers back, "You mean, like, wax?!" The poor woman must have been mortified.

If you have any contact with retail stores these days, and if you are older than 30, you've witnessed a decline in the appearance and sensibilities of the cashiers, baggers, stockers, etc. who work at such places. Now I am not saying that I would want to do any of their jobs, and I am not saying that I expect to see a 1950s-style demeanor from them. However, I do think it is clear that employers settle for lower standards among their unskilled workers.

Of course, my approach would be to pay them better and then demand more from them. With wages equal to or less than the salary paid for equivalent jobs 35 years ago (once adjusted for inflation), employers get what they pay for, and we -- the customers -- are stuck dealing with employees that have a less-than-professional attitude.

Wise women from the East(ie)

Many Italian women believe that they know how to determine the gender of an unborn child, so when the Boston Herald wanted to know whether Bridget Moynahan, Patriot QB Tom Brady's ex-girlfriend, is going to have a boy or girl, the tabloid went to East Boston's Don Orione Rest Home.

The consensus that emerged is that the couple will be having a boy, though the women pointed out that to be sure one has to "take a needle or a ring and put it on a string and hold it over the mother’s open palm. If it goes back and forth, it’s a boy. If it goes round and round, it’s a girl.” I have seen women in Eastie actually do this.

In Woody Allen's hilarious film Broadway Danny Rose, Mia Farrow's character repeatedly goes to see an old Italian woman named Angelina, who is able to see the future, and in another scene a mother whose son has been wronged invokes "the malocchio" or Evil Eye. Growing up I repeatedly heard stories about the Evil Eye, and I knew many people who wore a small piece of jewelry called "the horn" for protection from that curse. And once, I even witnessed the ritual that was supposed to undo the Evil Eye.

It was 40 years ago today...

On June 2, 1967, popular music -- and popular culture -- were forever changed with the US release (one day after the UK release) of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

These days critical consensus has shifted from the widely-held belief that Sgt. Pepper was the Beatles' greatest work (and, hence, the greatest of all rock albums) to the feeling that Revolver, released just 10 months earlier, occupies that spot. In truth, Revolver does possess a stronger collection of songs and so I agree with the evolution of thought on the matter.

There is, however, no doubting the fact that Sgt. Pepper still remains a cultural milestone on so many levels. The sound of the music, the logistics of the songs, the topics and lyrics, the concept, the packaging -- all tied together and then blown apart by the groundbreaking conclusion of "A Day in the Life." Pop music would never be the same.

Civility strikes out

I was at the Red Sox game this evening with a friend, who got us the $100 seats from a season-ticket holding friend. The Boston nine won, 6-4.

What stood out most from the night was a number of disappointing episodes where people acted without common civility to those around them. Is this who we are as a society? If so, I don't think I want to be a part of it.

A small piece of culture out back

Walking down Bennington Street to the Wood Island MBTA station yesterday, I was thinking about how Italian-Americans, no matter how small their property or yard, often attempt to fashion some little bit of their culture out of it. As I passed one narrow gap between houses I saw a round wrought-iron table with two chairs that barely fit into the space, and I imagined an elderly husband and wife settling down after summertime dinners for a cup of espresso, with the view consisting of their house, their neighbor's house and a narrow patch of the passing sidewalk.

Then, right next to the subway station, I saw an encased Virgin Mary fastened to the fence overlooking a slightly wider, but still small patch, with a couple plants in the foreground, a pair of tables in the back and, off to the side, twisting grapevines held up by metal poles. I stopped to take a few photos. The brick and iron fence on the right is all that separates this little slice of the homeowners' culture from the buses and pedestrians that stream past 18 hours a day.

Maybe this is true of other ethnic groups -- in fact, I'm sure it is, though maybe it is manifested differently in those cultures. However, I have been in enough backyards to know that the older the Italians living there and the more recent the immigration from the Old Country, the more likely I am to see a little table, some grapevines, tomato and basil plants, a string of lights, a bocce court and, of course, the Virgin Mary.

Fountain of youth

On Boston.com today there is an article about a current trend: breastfeeding children well beyond their initial months -- and years. The percentage of mothers who breast feed overall has gone up the past dozen years, from 57 to 72 percent, and today one in five are still nursing their child at their first birthday. Some moms mentioned in the story don't wean their children until as late as five years old.

Sounds crazy to most of us, but there are medical references in the story that indicate it's physically good for the child's health and not the cause of any psychological issues that we might assume.

On another front, people who are squeamish about mothers nursing in public are, I think, ridiculous. Get a grip, America.

I couldn't get drunk enough to try this...

I am at a loss for words to describe the stupidity of the people involved in this stunt: Take a look.

Reality TV?

"Jack Bauer is a criminal," according to Gary Solis, a retired West Point law professor. "In real life, he would be prosecuted." Solis speaks, of course, about the character played by Kiefer Sutherland on Fox television's wildly successful program, 24. His comments are part of an article in the Feb. 19 issue of The New Yorker that discusses the portrayal of torture on the show and profiles Joel Surnow, co-creator and executive producer of 24.

Surnow appears to be an egotistical, empty-headed loudmouth -- though I'm sure people who lean to the right could read the piece, which is called "Whatever It Takes," and was written by Jane Mayer, and come away feeling that Surnow is an outspoken defender of all that is good. The part of the article that is most interesting, however, is the middle third, when Mayer discusses a visit to the set of 24 by Gen. Patrick Finnegan, the dean of West Point. Along with Finnegan were "three of the most experienced military and FBI interrogators in the country," and the group came to "voice their concern that the show’s central political premise—that the letter of American law must be sacrificed for the country’s security—was having a toxic effect. In their view, the show promoted unethical and illegal behavior and had adversely affected the training and performance of real American soldiers."

Yikes. It's a scary thought, but according to Finnegan and others, 24 is quite popular among cadets at West Point as well as soldiers in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan, where DVDs of the program circulate widely. One interrogation expert, who was deployed overseas, said, "People watch the shows, and then walk into the interrogation booths and do the same things they’ve just seen.” He added, "In Iraq, I never saw pain produce intelligence." The FBI expert said, "Only a psychopath can torture and be unaffected. You don't want people like that in your organization. They are untrustworthy, and tend to have grotesque other problems."

On TV, Jack Bauer is always presented with the "ticking bomb scenerio," in which getting key information from the bad guys immediately can prevent the loss of thousands or millions of lives. The truth is more complex. First, that situation rarely, if ever, happens. Second, torture rarely, if ever, gets usable information from suspects. In the context of those facts, is it then worthwhile to follow a course that will, in the end, produce little information, eventually scar the interrogator and, as Gen. Finnegan added in the story, hurts America's image around the world?

For his part, Sutherland is said to be upset at the possible fallout from the actions of his character and also "bored with playing torture scenes." He has condemned the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib as "absolutely criminal," and is being asked to appear personally at West Point or in a training film to emphasize that his show is purely entertainment and should not be emulated. Surnow, of course, said, "They say that torture doesn't work, but I don't believe them." I disagree with his position, but what infuriates me is the arrogance of a person who dismisses the input of others -- as well as facts and figures -- so callously. The army interrogation expert said, "They have this money-making machine, and we were telling them it's immoral." Unfortunately, the first half of that assessment is the only part that carries any weight.

This just in...

I am totally up to speed on the ins and outs of Anna Nicole's posthumous legal tussles and Britney's shorn locks, despite my lack of interest in either. One would have to be cut off from every form of media not to be. The cult of celebrity has probably always existed, but it has reached absurd and revolting levels in the past 20 years. Diana was probably killed by it, and individuals such as Michael Jackson and Lindsay Lohan are chewed up and spit out by it.

Meanwhile, people around the world are hungry, homeless, sick, tortured and ignored, but you want find much, if any, of that on the evening news.

Good, bad and ugly

Is morality taught to us or is it ingrained in our genes? That is part of the research being done by a Harvard psychologist and discussed in a recent Globe story.

I'm always impressed when I see cars stopped at a red light late at night when there is clearly no traffic coming across an intersection and no law enforcement around. It's proof that our society is holding together by some shared sense of right and wrong. On the other hand, when young people march off to fight in a war without questioning their elected leaders, I feel like there is too much blind subservience to authority in our world.

Some would say, of course, that morality is handed to us by a higher power, but I long ago gave up ascribing credit or blame -- or anything else -- to anything except physics, chemistry and the machinations of human beings.